Chapter 11:

Sarah cracked an eye, yawning. The sun filtered in through window, making its way across the bed, where a young girl sat, watching. Sarah frowned. "What? What are you looking at? Do I have bed hair?"

Amelia looked confused. "No… you were having a nightmare. It sounded bad."

Sarah shrugged before standing. "What's new?"

She stretched languidly before falling onto the floor, in pushup position. She counted out twenty reps before rolling over, counting out twenty quick situps. When she finished she stood, walked over the cupboard and removed a set of breeches and a tunic shirt. She grinned at the idea of wearing normal clothes, and then quickly shook her head. When had she gone from thinking jeans and a t-shirt were normal to thinking breeches and a tunic shirt were normal?

She bathed and got dressed quickly in the bathroom before reviewing Amelia's uniform with a tsk. She pulled out the wand, even as the girl stayed sitting in the bed watched, and muttered 'Scourgify!' the dust from when she had fallen on the flagstones disappeared and Sarah shook the uniform out, laying it across the chest at the foot of her bed. "There you go. Go get yourself cleaned up and we'll head down to breakfast."

The girl still stared. Finally she asked, "Weren't you scared by your nightmare? You were panting and muttering and tossing and turning… weren't you frightened?"

Sarah smiled grimly. "I stopped being scared of that nightmare a long time ago. See you outside."

She walked into the living room she shared with Alanna, picking up the volume of 'Defence Against the Dark Arts; Volume Seven'. Sarah flicked through the theory on centaurs; she already knew a lot about the creatures from Daine and Numair. She came across the section on Boggarts and felt a frown crease her forehead. "Hey, check this out." She called Alanna over. The red head had just entered the room; now she walked over and peered down at the script on the page. "It turns into whatever you fear most… Let's hope Voldemort doesn't have any of those on his side."

Alanna nodded seriously before squinting at the text. "What does it say there? Something about a spell… Ridikulus?" Sarah read on and giggled.

"Yeah, Ridikulus… you just think of your fear in a ridiculous manner…" Sarah shook her head and glanced up as Amelia entered the room. "Ready for breakfast?" The young girl nodded. Sarah closed the book and stood, making her way to the door. As they entered the hallway they noticed Hermione, Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny walking a few meters ahead. "Wait up!"

They waited for the trio to catch up and together they made their way to the dining hall. When they entered all conversation inside came to an abrupt halt; faces turned to stare at Amelia. "Looks like the gossip's off me for a change." Sarah muttered as she led the young girl to the Gryffindor's table.

The girl moved to pull herself out of Sarah's grasp, trying to make her way to the Slytherin table. "Uh uh." Sarah muttered. "Ignore the idiots in Gryffindor, we all want you there and no one's liable to poison your food after you serve it up if you sit with us." She raised her voice. "Alanna, sitting with us or the teachers today?"

Alanna had taken to sitting with the Gryffindors some mornings, and this morning she nodded. "You."

Amelia shrunk further and further into Sarah's grasp as they made their way closer and closer to the Gryffindor table. When they sat down, with Sarah on one side of the girl, Alanna on the other, she was pale, stealing furtive glances towards the door. "Calm down." Sarah muttered as food appeared in the middle of the table. "No one's going to hurt you. Take a look around; no one means you any harm." In fact, they were surrounded by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Fernando, providing a barrier of warmth and friendship against the hardness of the other students' glares. Amelia calmed down a little after that, managing a half decent serving of oatmeal before they were scheduled to leave for classes.

Sarah left Amelia's in Fernando's care, rushing to catch up to Professor Snape before he left the dining hall. "Professor!"

He turned to her, a grimace on his face. "What is it, Gibson?"

"She's not returning to the Slytherin dorms. I won't allow it. I need your help to gather her things." She steeled herself against an argument. She wasn't disappointed.

"Who are you to decide whether a student in my house returns to the dorms? Making demands when you need my help!" Ice dripped from his voice.

Sarah's eyes flashed. "If you looked after your house properly then we wouldn't be having this problem! She's been tormented all year because she doesn't hate mudbloods and she isn't a Death Eater wanabe!"

Snape sneered. "You think you could have done a better job? Fine, the students will be happy to have her out!"

Sarah looked ready to strike the man, but stopped herself. With a curt nod she headed in the direction of the Slytherin dorms, the potions master following her. When they entered the first year Slytherin girl's dorms, Sarah gasped. One bed, which had to be Amelia's, had the words 'muggle lover' painted on the bedspread with a pink substance; when Sarah walked over to Amelia's trunk at the foot of the bed, where she found the contents soaked with the same substance.

When she touched the substance she found it was sticky; attempting to scourgify the contents of the trunk yielded no result. Sarah growled and closed the lid, hefting the box and sticking it by the door. She walked over to the set of draws by Amelia's bed and pulled them open, almost afraid of what she would find. She wasn't disappointed.

Photographs had been torn to pieces, her knick knacks had been broken. Rage overwhelmed her as she stared at memories destroyed. She pulled out the belongings, broken or not, and looked for a bag to pack them in. She found one under the bed, but when she picked it up the bottom fell out. "The little snots thought of everything…" Professor Snape was standing at the doorway, incensed by the destruction that had occurred in his house under his nose.

Sarah whipped off her tunic, leaving her dressed in her button up shirt and her breeches, and spread it over a clean section of Amelia's bed. She bundled the younger girl's belongings on the shirt, and set the bundle atop the trunk at the doorway. She turned, one last thing to do. Whipping out her wand, she pointed it at the pink goo, muttering, "Putrefy." And wrinkled her nose as she left the room. Already it was beginning to smell. When she looked at Snape, waiting for an objection, she found him watching curiously.

"Your ideas of punishment seem… unusual. I daresay it will be quite effective in getting the students to clean up this mess. I'll inform the houseelves to keep this room as it is." Sarah grinned at his response, and hefted the trunk.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Amelia had been upset at first, when she saw the state of her belongings. Every piece of clothing needed to be replaced. All of her knick knacks had been broken; Hermione and Sarah had repaired them with their wands, but there were still hairline cracks where they had been smashed against flagstones. Sarah watched Amelia's reaction carefully when she showed her the photographs; she wasn't surprised to notice indifference on the girl's face.

Sarah had watched sadly, and after a few minutes she gently prodded the girl towards the dining hall; it was lunch time and they were missing out. When they walked into the room Sarah frowned. There were gaps at all of the tables; largest at the Slytherin table. Sarah did a quick check; the missing weren't from any particular age group. She led Amelia to the Gryffindor tables before heading up to the dais, a question on her mind.

When she stood before Dumbledore she asked, "Headmaster, what's going on? Where are all the students?"

He regarded her carefully. "Miss Gibson, have you been reading the Daily Prophet?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Why? What poison has it been dripping?"

He frowned. "It seems someone at the Daily Prophet has decided that with you here, at Hogwarts, it makes the school a target for Death Eater attacks. They published an article stating just that yesterday. Since then, thirty parents have written in, looking to have their children removed from enrolment."

Sarah gaped, aghast. "You're kidding! Who published the article?!"

"A reporter named Rita Skeeter. She-" McGonagall began, but Sarah cut her off.

"Caused a bit of trouble in the past, hasn't she? With Harry?" Sarah didn't need to be answered. She turned and headed down the Gryffindor table, noticing Seamus was missing. When she reached the section where Hermione, Ron and Harry sat, with Amelia sitting between them, she asked crossly, "Why didn't you tell me? You should have shown me the article!"

Ron glanced at Harry guiltily. "We were going to show you… but then Hermione said not to."

"Ron!" The other girl cried, outraged. Sarah just stood there, tapping her foot on the flagstones, waiting for a straight answer. Hermione sighed. "We all thought it would be better you found out later, considering there was nothing you could do about it and when you get angry you get…"

"Scary." Amelia muttered from her seat next to Harry. Sarah glared.

"Fine. Whatever. If people are stupid enough to think they're safer away from the one place with the strongest wards in the world with some of the strongest wizards in the world…" Sarah trailed off as the implications sank in.

Harry wordlessly scooted over, letting Sarah sit between him and Amelia, with Ron and Hermione sitting across from them. Sarah dug into her lunch, barely noticing the others watching her. She finished up the meal in silence, before standing to leave. Her eyes lingered on the empty gaps at the table before she left, her head down, her face creased in thought.

The rest of the day was spent training in the Room of Requirement, sparring against opponents the room provided for her. Alanna popped in for a time, training with her, before it was time for the afternoon lesson. There were only three seventh years left for their lessons, but Alanna and Sarah didn't amalgamate the class with the sixth years, instead taking advantage the small class size to teach one on one.

After the lesson they were joined once again by Amelia, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Fernando, for their extra training lesson. Once again Sarah focused on her physical prowess, rather than her Gift, preferring to train that in private with Alanna. When they were suitably exhausted they made their way to dinner, looking forward to a hot meal. What they got was a shock they hadn't imagined.

The dinner had started off well enough, until a lone owl swooped down the Gryffindor table, dropping red envelope on Amelia's plate. Everyone stared, and Sarah frowned in confusion. "I thought mail only came in the morni-" Sarah was cut off when the letter hopped up in the air of its own accord.

A mouth formed as they all stared. "Blood traitor!" A shrill voice screamed in Amelia's face. "You will return home this instant, and I will know exactly why you've been sitting with mudbloods and traitors, you worthless muggle lover!"

Everyone sat staring, in shock, even as snickers were heard from the Slytherin table. Malfoy; who had remained while many of his year mates left, the loudest of them. Amelia's face was pale, tears welled in her eyes as she stood up jerkily. "Amelia-" Sarah started, but stopped when she saw the girl shake her head. The younger girl made her way to the door, exiting the room as everyone stared.

Sarah stared for a moment longer before rushing after the girl. She caught up with Amelia three corridors away. "Wait up!"

Amelia didn't listen; she only stopped when Sarah spun her around to face her. "You don't have to go."

A voice sounded behind them. "I'm afraid she does."

Sarah whipped her head around to face Dumbledore. "What? Why? You heard the message; she won't be received with warm arms there."

"But her mother is her legal guardian; Miss Jones' personal feelings have no bearing as to her accommodation." He replied, his face carefully guarded. "Perhaps, we should continue this conversation in my office?"

Sarah followed, leading Amelia, a frown of confusion on her face. When they were in Dumbledore's office, with the door closed behind them, the old man turned around to face them seriously. "There is, perhaps, a way that Miss Jones can remain here, under the guardianship of a Ministry official."

"How? And who… Fudge is a Ministry official, we'd want one that isn't a total prat." Sarah said practically.

Dumbledore turned to Amelia, his face kind. "My dear, are the rumours about your mother's connection to Voldemort true?"

Amelia shrunk in her seat, her face uncertain. "Sir… I… My mother…"

Sarah scowled, laying a hand on the other girl's shoulder for support. "Why does it matter? Don't ask her to-"

"Yes." Amelia's voice was quiet, nevertheless it stopped Sarah in her tracks. "It's true. One day Lucious Malfoy and Lestrange- I don't remember his first name- came to our house and discussed his rising. They were all excited… Mother sent me out of the room before they started talking, but I listened at the key hole…" The young girl hung her head, wringing her hands in her lap.

Sarah closed her eyes in regret, opening them when Dumbledore spoke once more. "Is there any proof, my dear?"

"Amelia, you don't have to do this." Sarah said quietly. The young girl turned to face her.

"Yes, I do Sarah. You don't understand. Sure, she's my only family, but she's destroying families by following You Know – V-Voldemort. She's destroying families by following Voldemort." Sarah gazed at the ten year old with sympathy, watching as she raised her head to face the headmaster. "She keeps her Death Eater mask in a draw in her study."

Sarah's jaw dropped, even as Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "That should be enough, I'm sure. You've done the right thing, my dear."

Amelia nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. She let out a sob before covering her face with her hands. Sarah grimaced and stood, lifting Amelia gently to her feet. "Will you deal with the logistics, Dumbledore?" The old man nodded, and Sarah led the young girl out of his office, down the stairs and back to the rooms they shared with Alanna. Amelia allowed Sarah to lead her silently, quiet and withdrawn.

When they entered the quarters Sarah shook her head quickly, telling Alanna to stand down. The red head settled back in the seat she had been sitting in as Sarah led the ten year old into her room.

Sitting her down on the bed, she walked into the bathroom, retrieving a wash cloth and wetting it, before returning to the other room. Sarah knelt before Amelia and gently wiped the tears away. "Amelia?" She asked quietly.

The girl stared for a moment longer, before throwing herself face down on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Sarah moved to sit next to her, rubbing her back in sympathy, and watching in concern as the girl cried herself to sleep.