Authors Note

Hi, it's me again! I'm actually going to apologize for making this chapter so long. I kind of wanted to break it in half, but couldn't quite justify splitting it…So here it is! Shoot me a Review? You know? After you read it?

Oh yeah! Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling… but y'all already knew that…

Chapter 26- Wake Up

"Do you actually know where we're going?" Sirius asked, as Oakley led him through the dimly lit seventh floor.

"Sirius, if you ask me that one more time, so I help me I will turn your hair silver and green." Oakley was in no mood to put up with Sirius right now, but for some reason he insisted on coming with her. She looked over at him, and received a cheeky grin. Ugh… can't fucking stay mad at him… Fuck…

"I'm just saying, this is the fifth time we have walked this way. I'm pretty sure we aren't going to find her here." He said simply.

Oakley threw her hands up in the air. "I don't even know where to look! She's not in our room; she's not in the library!" She yelled. She glared over at Sirius who raised his hands in surrender.

"I know, but we aren't going to find her by wandering around." He said calmly. 'Why is he so weirdly sensible all of a sudden.' she thought

Oakley took a deep breath. "Alright. Let me try to think again." 'Alright, if she isn't in the library, the common room, or practice… Alright… the courtyard, or maybe the Owlery?' Oakley thought. 'She did mention something about mailing a letter later.'

"Well, she might have gone to the Owlery. But I can't really think why she wouldn't have waited until after practice…" Her voice trailing off.

Sirius nodded, "Well, it's a start." He said, leading the way.

They walked in silence, Oakley going through scenarios in her head.

A: She got side tracked and forgot to go to meet Charlie and go to practice. This was plausible, Mercy had a tendency to be scatterbrained, but Oakley thought it was unlikely because Mercy was talking to her on the second floor, just down the hall from the library. Even she didn't usually get that badly sidetracked.

B: She was with Remus… A definite possibility but Remus was unlikely to encourage her to skip doing her homework and going to practice…

C: She got into some sort of trouble.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft "psst" repeated several times with the sound of snapping fingers and tapping on the ground. There was a soft meow, followed by some almost non-perceptible murmuring.

As Oakley peered around the corner, and her mouth opened in shock.

Blake, Oakley's roommate, was crouched on the floor holding out a treat to Mrs. Norris. Oakley wanted to jump at her and stop her before she got her eyes clawed out by the demon cat, but resisted. That cat hated Oakley plain and simple, mostly because Oakley kicked her the year before and would probably run and get Filch at the mere sight of her. The cat padded slowly over to Blake and… ate the treat? Blake began stroking her ears gently, and then began caressing her back.

Mrs. Norris was purring. PURRING! Oakley looked over at Sirius in disbelief. Sirius's face reflected her incredulity. "This is just wrong." He said, with a shudder. Oakley and Sirius walked back the other way they came.

Oakley's mind began to wander, as she cast her thoughts back to the day she and Mercy had become friends.

Oakley knew she shouldn't have set off the dungbombs in the corridor, but Avery was asking for it! Even as she sprinted down the hallway, she heard the soft padding of Mrs. Norris's feet behind her. 'I can't run forever.' She thought, turning around to see how close the damned cat was.

"Oof!" She felt herself collide into someone else and they crashed to the ground. She pushed herself up quickly, looking down at the person she had knocked over. Huh, it was one of the other Gryffindor first year girls. 'She was one of the first people sorted… its Mercedes or something'. "Sorry" She said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. She looked down the corridor and the cat was almost on top of her. 7

"Bloody Hell!" She grabbed the girls hand and dragged her away from the cat.

"What!? What's going on?" The girl asked, providing unnecessary drag.

"Just run! We don't want to get caught by that cat!"

"Well, let go of my arm; I can run for myself!" Oakley looked at the girl with a smirk. The second she let go the other girl took off, red hair fanning out behind her.

They turned a corner, and Oakley was dismayed to see it was a dead end, but the other girl wasn't looking. She was instead gazing back at her, a mischievous grin on her face.

Oakley skidded to a stop. "Look out!" Oakley warned. The girl turned around but not soon enough. She flailed her arms, but couldn't slow down her momentum and Oakley closed her eyes, expecting to hear a thump as her companion flung headlong into the wall.

"Ahgh!" There was an exclamation from the girl, but Oakley heard no thud. She looked up, and found herself alone in the deserted corridor.

"Where? Whah-!? Where are you?" she asked, walking toward the wall.

"I'm here!" She heard the girl call, somewhere beyond the wall. She reached her hand to touch it and felt the cool brick under her hand. She turned, hearing the gentle but ominous meowing quickly approaching. She leaned backward, but instead feeling the strong rock that she expected she kept going. She caught herself before she fell flat on her back. Turning, she saw the other girl staring in awe at the room they had just found.

It was vibrantly green, full of floating baskets of flowers of every color. In the very center, there was a fountain filling the room with a soothing sound.

"Isn't this gorgeous?" The girl said, looking over to Oakley.

Oakley nodded. "Yeah. It is."

"I'm Mercy… by the way." The girl said, extending her hand.

"Oakley." Oakley gave her a high- five. Mercy smiled crookedly, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Oakley was pulled from her thoughts as Sirius opened the door to the Owlery with a creak. The room was full of feathers, hoots, and fluffy owls of many colors yet empty of people. Oakley sighed.

"Well, I have only one more idea, and if she isn't there…" her voice broke. She didn't know why she was having such an irrational reaction to this whole situation. She looked over at Sirius, his olive skinned face in a solemn expression. 'It doesn't suit him', she thought tiredly. He was undeniably attractive, you could ask anyone. The way his hair fell neatly and effortlessly, his striking grey eyes, high cheekbones. But without his grin, his eyes felt cold and lifeless.

Again fucking brain! Must you check Sirius Black out now!?

"Well, then we just head back to the common room." He said. He threw his arm over her shoulder, flooding her nostrils with a pleasant smell that she couldn't quite place. Ugh… he even has to smell good. "Don't worry so much. She'll probably be there when we get back."

Oakley shrugged. "I'm about to start charging a fucking worry fee."

Sirius let out a quick bark of a laugh. "That sounds expensive." He's so much more attractive when he smiles. Oakley sighed. Alright brain, here's the deal. Yes he's hot; you need to just let it go. Oakley thought about the many girls Sirius had pursued. The girls he dated were usually more like snogging partners than girlfriends. Is that what you want to be, just one of those girls? One of his temporary flings when he gets bored?

And why are you thinking about this now! Your best mate is missing and all you can think about is some bloke? What kind of a horrible person are you? She looked forward again, trying to squelch her anxiety.

"Let's go." She said. She grinned, but in light of the circumstances it felt false and uncomfortable. She ducked under his arm and headed toward the trophy room.

888

Remus felt the weight of his tiredness seeping into his body. Usually, his transformations didn't affect him this much before the full moon. It was going to be a challenging one, 'not that they aren't usually.' He sighed and continued his way up the Grand Staircase.

"Moony!" Remus looked up and saw James peering down at him from three or four flights above.

"James? I was just headed up to the common room." Remus said back, as James plodded down the steps 3 at a time. Remus was also faintly impressed that he didn't come tumbling down the stairs and smashing his round framed glasses. As he skidded to a halt, Remus noted a rare expression for James. There was a thoughtful worry on his face, which put Remus on edge. James was rarely this serious about anything. "What's going on?"

"Do you know where Mercy is?" James asked.

Remus stared blankly back at him, a ping of confusion in his mind. "What? No. Wasn't she just at practice with you?"

James pulled out a piece of yellowed parchment. "She didn't show. I thought she might have forgotten or something. But Oakley said…"

"Why are you getting out the map?" Remus interrupted. James glanced up at him.

"I'm trying to tell you. No one knows where she is." He said, pulling out his wand.

Remus struggled to make sense of it all. 'Merce wouldn't have skipped Quidditch without a reason.' He thought. "Charlie doesn't know?"

James shook his head. "I just talked to him. She was supposed to meet him in the library earlier, but he said she didn't come." He put the tip of his wand on the parchment. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." The familiar lines appeared, spreading like ripples from the tip of his wand. Their map of Hogwarts filled in within the folds of the paper.

"You know, Sirius is right. I think we should add a title section." James said thoughtfully. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Later, James. Can we just find her?" He said, scanning the map. 'Not in her dorm… nor the library...' He saw Oakley and Sirius's dots walking together toward the courtyard Mercy had shown him the other day, but oddly that room wasn't on the map. 'No, not right now. Later.' He thought.

"There!" James pointed to one of the hidden corridors on the second floor. And Mercy's dot was set stationary at the very edge of the corridor. The sight made Remus uneasy.

"Let's go." He said, and they ran down a few flights of stairs, before the one they had intended to use shifted to the opposite side of the second floor.

"It's fine. This will get us closer to her anyway." James said, glancing at the map. He tapped it with his wand. "Mischief Managed." He shoved the map in his pocket as they headed down the large corridor that led to the library. They ducked into one of the side hallways, stopping at a wall between two suits of armor. "Here," James said striding through the wall.

"Shit!" Remus heard him exclaim, and quickly plunged in after him. Remus didn't see James immediately, until he looked down. James was crouched on the floor next to Mercy, who was lying motionless in a pool of what appeared to be her own blood.

"Call for help!" He yelled at James, diving down next to her. James got up, and began yelling for a teacher. Remus glanced as he sprinted down the corridor, but refocused in on Mercy. Her usually expressive face was blank, her skin even paler than it usually was. Her eyes were shut; it was almost as if she was dead. He reached for her wrist, feeling desperately for a pulse. A slow rhythm thumped against his fingers, and he breathed a sigh of temporary relief as he saw her chest rising up and down faintly. "Hold on Mercy." He murmured, releasing her wrist, moving his hand to rest on her forehead.

888

Mercy felt tired and heavy. No, heavy wasn't the right word. She cast her mind around, weighted? Cumbersome? Burdened? She felt like rubbing her face in her hands. What are words…?

She became aware of something akin to a hum in her ears. The sound would pulse with every breath she took. My breath… it felt strained, slow and difficult, like her chest didn't want to move. Odd.

Mercy felt an urge to stir. But mentally refuted herself. Her body felt warm and comfortable, but also… heavy? Again, it wasn't quite the word she was looking for. It was as if even if she tried to move, she wouldn't be able to.

As if through a long tunnel, Mercy heard some queer sounds she couldn't quite place. A faint rustle, repeating periodically every minute or so: A quiet rustling sound, a quiet drip. Then there was a sniffle. Is someone crying? Why? Who? The rustling sound cut over the scratching. Paper? Books… is someone writing?

Where am I? She briefly considered the idea that she had fallen asleep at the library… No… I don't remember… being at the library… None of her thoughts felt even the remotest coherent or sensible.

She tried opening her eyes, but they too had an impossible heaviness to them. "HELP!" She tried to say, but no sound came out. She again tried to force her eyes open, but the blackness pulled her in and she failed again.

The rustling and scratching and quiet sniffling were swept away, replaced by the humming. The sound was madness, and Mercy wanted to cry, scream, and thrash, but the heaviness and the darkness threatened to suck her in deeper.

A voice pushed through the pulsing, a soft whisper.

Wake up

It echoed; its sound and potency increasing as other voices added.

Wake up Wake up!

Wake up, Mercy

Wake up Wake up

Mercy! Wake up!

Merce. WAKE UP!

A cacophony of the voices: All calling out to her. Mercy tried to call back. "I can't!" but still no sound came out. A lump of pain and sadness gathered in her throat.

Heavy. Everything is heavy. AND LOUD! Too Loud!

As soon as she thought this, the voices began to fade: being consumed in the hum.

The thought of the voices going away filled Mercy with terror, and yet she could not place where those feelings came from. "No! Don't leave me!"She cried in vain.

She was struck by a sharp cutting pain slashed across her abdomen, causing her back to arch. She no longer felt warm and comfortable, lying on the cold, hard ground. A sudden wetness. Wet and hot. Hot and oozing, sliding down her sides and soaking through to her back.

The hum disappeared, as did the weight on her eyelids.

Wake up, someone whispered.

Mercy's eyes flew open.