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In this chapter, prepare for a lot of emotions. We are picking up the morning after the Halloween Dance, and something is not quite right. Azzura's worst fear has begun to become her reality. She is sick with fear, and James is numb and regretful – the both of them need each other in the worst way…but neither of them are in a place to take on the role of being the strong one in their relationship. This chapter is the beginning of Azzura's repetitive visions' significance's being revealed.

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Ravenclaw_Illusions

…

I ran down the subway stairs, and hopped the turnstile. My lungs burned, and my stomach cramped between the running and laughing.

"You ditched me!" Dean laughed, as he joined me.

We took a moment to catch our breath on the train platform.

"Then next time run faster," I smirked.

"This has nothin' to do with speed. It was that stupid guy at the hot dog cart, he got in my way."

"Got in your way?" I laughed so hard I brought on another spasm in my side. "More like you tripped over his feet."

"Nobody asked you, smartass." Dean narrowed his eyes at me.

"You know, I don't need to be asked, in order to give my opinion." I stared down the tunnel to see if our train was on its way.

There was a forgotten 'unused' subway line in the city that was now magically sealed off. We used it to get around. Mostly students from Sleepy Hollows Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry used the magic subway. Scattered amongst the students were also professors and random wizarding professionals from the area. Not to mention, the worst, wizarding tourists.

"So where to next, partner in crime?" Dean smirked at me.

"Goin' to visit Is." I looked down at the bag that we had spent the morning 'filling'.

"Are you sure? I heard there's a concert in Brooklyn that we could get into."

I stared at him pursing my lips.

He got the point.

Walking into the building I already felt nauseous from the overwhelming sterile stench. A few staff members knew me by face, and nodded hello as we walked down the corridor to the elevators.

"If Rosa is there I'm not coming in," Dean warned me in the elevator. "Last time, we were here when she showed up, and I ended up getting escorted outside – remember?"

I remembered all too well. "Dean, please, just keep your mouth shut. If anyone from my family is here today, for me, just pretend they don't exist."

He mumbled something to himself, probably an immature insult about Rosa.

The elevator dinged and the doors parted open. We got off, and turned left down the corridor. I knew the way, so well; I could walk it in my sleep.

I turned into the second room on the right hand side of the hallway. "Wait outside," I instructed my boyfriend. He sat outside the room, an aggressive look on his face. He was always on edge when we came here.

"Azzura!" Isabella cheered from her bed. "I knew you'd make it! I just knew you wouldn't forget!" She was smiling widely and bouncing in place.

I smiled slightly, as I stared at all the tubes and machines she was tethered to. "Of course not, Is, how could I forget your birthday?"

"Mamma and Daddy were here yesterday." She informed me. "Rosa came this morning."

"And what about Vinny?" I asked, although I had already known the answer.

"Mom and Dad said he sends his love." She shrugged. "Don't think I'll be seeing him anytime soon. Besides, he always forgets birthdays."

I sat on the end of the bed. "So what'd you get?" I asked excitedly.

"Mamma and Daddy got me a new doll, and a violin," She held up her brand new stuffed lavender unicorn. "They said a nice old lady is going to come and teach me how to play the violin every Wednesday."

I smiled. "You're on your way to Broadway kid just don't forget me when you grow accustomed to life in the orchestra pit."

It was her life-long dream to play the accompaniment in musicals on Broadway.

"Me, forget, you? Never," She grabbed my hand.

"I brought you some things," I turned away to get the bag I had brought with me, and to wipe a stray tear from my face.

I handed her the purple gift bag and she was beaming.

"Thank you," She said quietly.

"Don't say thank you, Is. You don't even know what I got you, yet."

She giggled and smiled at me. She then started to pull items out of the bag. "New books," She cried. She individually examined each cover and read the titles aloud. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by W.W. Denslow. The Giver by Lois Lowry. These are magic books!" She squealed.

"They are the best kind of magic books," I smiled. "They're the kind of books that are about the magic in your heart." I pointed to her chest.

"That's like the kind of magic you have Azzura," She whispered. "And magic in your brain," she added, "Because you're so smart."

"Look what else I got you," I prodded her to check the bag.

She took out a shiny purple notebook, with matching purple pens, and her eyes grew wide. "They're beautiful," she said seriously.

I couldn't help but laugh. "And one more thing," I held up my index finger.

She reached into the bag and held out a pair of bedazzled purple sunglasses.

"I remembered you told me, last time, that the lights in here bother you after your treatment," I recalled. "So I figured even if you don't feel too glamorous on treatment days, these will make you look glamorous, and help your eyes feel better."

She wrapped her arms around me, "Oh thank you so much! Azzura, they're perfect."

…

I woke up in tears; the room was still a little dark as I peeped outside my bed curtains. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. That was the last time I saw my sister. Before I left for Hogwarts I went to visit her, but the nurses said that she was too weak for guests. I didn't get to say goodbye, I didn't even get to tell her why I wouldn't be seeing her for an entire year.

…

I attempted to go back to sleep, I ended up tossing and turning until it was time to get dressed. In no mood to chat, I got ready in silence. Once I was ready for a day of library time, and quidditch, I left my dorm room. I walked into the common room, looking for Lily, so we could go down to breakfast with each other. She wasn't in the commons. So I checked the fourth year dorm room, she wasn't there either.

She must be down at breakfast already.

…

I entered the Great Hall, and scanned the room of lethargic students. She wasn't at the Ravenclaw table. I headed in the opposite direction, towards the Gryffindor table.

"Morning, love," James smiled at me.

I kissed him good morning.

"Hello," I said to Lysander who was sitting beside James.

"You care to sit with us?" Lysander said between chews.

"Where's the little one?" James looked around me. "Is she not feeling well?"

"I don't know, I can't find her," I stated. "She wasn't in her dorm room, or in our commons, or at our house table, and she's not here."

"That's strange," James looked uneasy.

"Do you think Albus or Rose would know?" I asked.

Both boys shook their heads.

"Albus, and Scorpius already left for the pitch," Lysander informed me.

"And Rose said she had to drop a book off at the library before the game started." James added.

"Maybe she met up with Rose at the library," I shrugged hopefully.

…

The dark clouds loomed over the Forbidden Forest as I looked out the window in the library. Today was that miserable, yet miraculous, day that I was surrounded by books and could care less about them. I held tightly onto my bag, closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

She has to be somewhere. I just hope she's alright.

I tried my best to ignore that weighed down panicked feeling, and trudged further down the aisles of bookshelves.

I checked every section, every aisle I passed. As I poked my head into one aisle I saw Lysander doing the same. He was working his way from another end of the library. I met him at the study table in the middle of the aisle and dropped my bag onto it.

"Azzura, sit, please," Lysander gestured to the chair that I was standing in front of.

I sat down as he rounded the table, taking the seat across from me.

"Do you have any feelings on her whereabouts," Lysander asked seriously. "You know 'feelings' like the kind you get when you can't find James or when we try to sneak up on you."

I shook my head. "No, I can't sense her presence," I cleared my throat. "As intuitive as I may be, I mostly can only do that with James, I think it comes along with a matching patronus."

"Try, please," Lysander pleaded. "Just, do it, for me."

His eyes were wide and piercing like that of someone who is frightened and devastated, when they have prepared themselves to hear the worst.

I nodded my head, "Okay, Lysander, let me see."

I closed my eyes and took full breaths. Focusing on Lily, I tried to reach for her…but nothing came from it. I opened my eyes, to see him leaning forward in his chair.

"Well," He said expectantly. "Anything?"

I shook my head, "No."

Lysander grabbed my bag from the corner of the table. He flipped open the top and dug a hand inside, searching for something. His eyes were resting in their right corners as he rummaged through my personal belongings. If it were any other day I would have said something. He knew better than to touch my stuff, but then again, I had never seen him so distressed before.

"What are you…"

I was cut off by Lysander placing my crystal ball in its stand down in front of me on the table.

"Focus," He ordered.

"Lysander, take a breath, you're not helping me focus by acting how I feel."

He inhaled, "We really need to find her," He exhaled.

I focused on the ball, and as the clouded sphere started to clear I could see Lily at the dance last night. She had excused herself from the dance floor, leaving Caleb, who did not look pleased. She walked out of the Great Hall and into the entrance hall and then the image started to fade away.

I looked up at Lysander. James had joined us while I was focusing; he too was waiting beside his friend.

"She left the dance early," I explained. "She was dancing with Caleb, he must have said something to piss her off and then, she left the Great Hall."

"And where did she go after that?" Lysander questioned.

I rubbed my temples, "I don't know. That's when the vision clouded over."

Lysander gritted his teeth; he clenched his fist and unclenched it.

James was silent. He sat next to us, frowning - his eyes distant in thought.

"Let me talk to Caleb, maybe he knew where she was going when she left." I stood up from my chair.

James picked his head up. Lysander held his head in his hands, with his elbows propped up on the table.

"And what I meant by, 'let me talk to him', was let me talk to him." I pressed my hand to my chest.

"I'm coming with you though," James's eyebrows knitted together, and he got up from his seat.

"You can only come with, if you understand that I am the one doing the talking. You already said you don't like the guy, if you talk he'll get you all riled up and we'll get no information from him." I stared down my boyfriend. "And I am not tracking down veritaserum and forcing it down his throat unless it's a last resort."

"Fine," James growled. "Let's go."

…

"What are you talking about?" Caleb smirked at me.

"I'm asking if you know where she was going?" I repeated the question.

"She said she was going to go to the bathroom," Caleb replied. "You know, she didn't even have the decency to tell me the truth." He looked annoyed and slightly hurt.

"What do you mean? Is that not where she went?" I spoke very loudly and annunciated to make my questions sound clear.

"She never came back," my quidditch captain shook his head at me. "I figured she was still mad at me for our argument on the pitch and she decided to make a fool of me for sport."

I knocked him upside the head, "She's missing ass-hat."

"What do you mean – she's missing, maybe she's just on her period, and is purposely avoiding people."

I slapped him across the face, and held my wand to his throat. "You learn some respect, Captain, and I suggest you do it fast, because next time I won't be so nice."

I left the common room with James right behind me. Once we had reached the hallway, he pulled me into a hug and kissed me softly.

"Thank you," He kissed each of my hands.

"For what?"

"For getting rough with that prat," He cracked at smile for the briefest moment. "It took all the strength I had in me not to say anything, otherwise, hurt him. I must say, love, your restraint is admirable. I don't think I'd be able to stop myself if I hit him."

"Another skill I thought you'd never see of mine," I groaned. "I'm can be a highly effective interrogator when I have to be."

…

We searched the castle. Every classroom, bathroom, and broom cupboard was checked. We started at the top and worked our way down to the first floor.

By the time we were walking to the first floor girl's lavatory, students were just starting to make their way back into the castle from the Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff match.

"Alright, ready to interrogate Myrtle," James did not look excited to be visiting this specific bathroom.

"If I have to," I breathed. "Let's go."

Entering the bathroom, we already could hear Moaning Myrtle sobbing from her stall.

"Myrtle?" I called to her. "Myrtle, can I ask you a question?"

She floated up and out of her stall and stared down at us. "Oh it's you two," She sneered. "I have nothing to say to you two."

"What did we do, now?" James asked defensively.

"If it weren't for you two, I would've gone to the party last night." She sobbed, "But you came trampling in here, and scared off my date."

"Myrtle, if you answer our questions, Albus will take you to the Yule ball," I babbled.

I didn't quite think that one through… Poor Albus.

"What's the question," she perked up immediately.

"Did you see Lily Potter in here last night?" I asked. "You know, Lily, she's my friend. She has beautiful red hair, freckles, she's very petite, and she was wearing a lilac gown last night."

"Oh, yes, she looked radiant," Myrtle said dreamily. "She came in a long time after the party started. She was muttering to herself as she came in, and then she got into an argument, with another girl. Nasty one. You could tell she was older than the poor girl but she picked on her anyway."

"What did the other girl look like?" James asked.

"Well, she had golden hair, it curled in spirals. She was a bit average looking, not short, not tall. She wasn't very pretty, but she also wasn't ugly."

James and I shared a glance and nodded at one another. "Medusa," we stated in unison.

"What happened after their argument?" I asked.

"Terrible, really," Myrtle frowned. "The poor girl never saw him coming."

"Saw who coming?" James and I implored.

"There was a dark hooded boy; he came in just as the older girl cornered her. She never saw him from behind. He stupefied her and dragged her off."

"Where?" I stared at the bespectacled tween ghost.

"Which way did he take her?" James demanded.

"I don't know, they left my bathroom after that," Myrtle informed us.

…

We headed straight for McGonagall's office.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Head Mistress asked as she saw us sitting in her office, waiting for her.

"We don't mean any disrespect by coming in here without your consent, Professor." I tried to soothe her outrage.

"How did you know the password?" She walked over to her desk.

"We realized that you have been using former Head Masters and Head Mistresses as the password recently, so I took a few guesses."

"Well, bravo, Miss Di Napoli." She still looked rather perturbed that I cracked her code. "Any way, why are you here?"

"My sister is missing, Professor McGonagall." James stated sadly.

"How do you know that she is missing," McGonagall questioned. "She could have been at the quidditch match."

"She wasn't in her dorm room or our commons this morning," I recounted my day. "She never came down to the Great Hall for breakfast. We looked all over the castle, the library, every bathroom, closet, and classroom. We even sent Lysander down to the infirmary to check if she was there."

"Even more so," James continued. "Was that when Azzura asked Moaning Myrtle if she had seen Lily, she said that she came into the bathroom last night during the dance, and she had an argument with Misty Wrenn, and then some guy in a hood came in and stupefied Lily, taking her away."

"Are you sure of those allegations Mr. Potter?" The Head Mistress looked horrified.

"Yes, I am sure," He replied.

"You can ask Myrtle to retell the whole thing," I added for good measure.

"I'll look into it," McGonagall said gravely. "I'll ask Myrtle a few questions, and send some professors down to the chamber, to make sure she wasn't dragged down there."

I glanced at James, he looked so defeated, so sick with worry.

"I promise, Mr. Potter, I will get to the bottom of this."

…

Thunder rumbled through the castle from the storm outside. Lighting flashed in the dark grey sky. I had the chills just thinking about the possibility that she was out there.

"Hey," someone said behind me.

I turned around to see Albus standing in the middle of my house commons.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, with Lily missing, the lot of us thought that it might be best for us to all be together." Albus started to explain himself. He looked miserable. "So we wanted to know if you would like to join us in the R.O.R. for a sleepover."

"Who are 'us'?"

"James, Lysander, Rose, Scorpius, and myself, plus you – if you'll join us," he stated. His dark green eyes were glazed over by a guarded and saddened expression.

"Of course, I'll join you." I responded to his invitation. "Let me grab my bag and a fresh pair of pajamas and I'm good to go."

Albus dropped onto arm chair he was standing in front of. "I'll wait here."