Chapter 29 A Terrible Ending

Mondays were always slow at the Midnite Inn. The dinning hall was near empty, only two witch sat in the corner with their cups of coffee. Madame Bootlet was wiping down the tables with the mild bleach rag, complaining to herself about Warren not being back yet, her voice drowned by the steady hum of the oven. When suddenly some thing very heavy fell on her.

"What the-" she cried struggling, to no avail, to stand up

"Oh my God we did it Shayna!" Warren yelled happily "We really made it!"

"Yes that's great" Shayna laughed "Now could you get off me and Michelle?"

"Yeah sorry"

Shayna and Warren stood up and brushed themselves off. And then they realized that Michelle hadn't moved. "Is she ok?" "I don't know" Shayna knelt down and shook her sister gently "Michelle, Michelle honey wake up. Michelle, we're safe now! Come on girl get up." She was starting to get very nervous looking down at her cold face

"Shayna! Warren!" Madame Bootlet roared finally getting to her feet "What in the name of Albus Dumbeldore-"

"Dumbeldore!" Shayna cried at once"Warren we gotta tell Dumbledore what happened!" And with that she picked up Michelle and the three of them left a very confused Madame Bootlet with the coffee witches.

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Dumbledore sighed gravely as Shayna and Warren finished the story. Michelle lay quite still on a bed in the hospital wing, Shayna sat at the end of it, Warren standing closely behind her.

"Headmaster" Severus said breaking the silence "Now we must do as I suggested! It is the only place they will be safe." Dumbledore simply shook his head. "But they can not be safe with Muggles. Voldemort has plans for them and he will not give up on them easily." Shayna swallowed hard and looked down. Warren took her hand again, and she was grateful, for the shock took away the fear for a time.

"Severus" said Dumbledore "It is the best place for them and they will be safer then you think." The headmaster seemed to be lost in thought, and Shayna suddenly wished that Sanpe was too. He had caught sight of Shayna and Warrens hands and was now eyeing Warren as a father does his daughter's first boyfriend. And Shayna found herself praying that Warren didn't recognize this look. "Now if you would go and see to it that this brave young man is added to the P.D.W. list. I trust Lord Voldemort will not be too pleased with him."

Snape straitened up giving the boy a dark look. "Mr. ...." "Just call me Warren" he said taking a step forward "Fine, if you would follow me."

Shayna and Dumbledore were now alone with the sleeping Michelle, whom Shayna was watching very closely. "She will be alright" Dumbledore assured her

"I don't understand why is she knocked out? I mean she's like super sensitive. When the dark mark appeared on her arm it stung her for days. And too should have seen her when he spoke-" Shayna broke off

"You are correct" he explained "she is unusually sensitive to the dark arts and all things connected with it. I believe this is because of her fist encounter with Lord Voldemort. Severus has told me of yours, but none have been able to get Michelle to say anymore then that he visited her once. This will be a problem for her in many ways, but I believe it will also become a great help."

Shayna nodded even though he'd lost her somewhere along the way. She turned her eyes to the window. It was frightening that there were people around her, and yet she still felt completely alone. Scared and lost, two things she didn't want to have to put up with when she was looking at 3 months with Muggles. And what would the difference be when she got back. No one would understand what she was going through, not even Jes or Amber. This only scared her more, she could always talk to them before. What was there to help her now? Sooner or later she'd have to stop running, and then what? As these thoughts filled her mind tears over took her eyes. Shayna looked quickly to the floor.

"I told Harry to be sure to take things one day at a time and try not to worry for now. But that won't be enough for you will it?" Dumbledore thought out loud, but then he leaned toward her, those blue eyes of his piercing right through her "So I will tell you this. Don't forget it, don't just set it on the shelf. Fight him Shayna. I intend to do so and there are those who will fight with me, I have already sent Sirus for them."

Shayna sighed "What help can I be? I'm just a Slytherin student."

Dumbledore smiled brightly "What good could Harry Potter do? He was just a baby! you will be of more help then you think Miss Riddle. Do not despair, we won't let him win."

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The sun hung low in the afternoon sky as Dumbledore saw the Riddle girls to the Hogwarts Express once more. Michelle still looked awful, her eyes were red and all the curl had fallen from her golden hair. She had not spoken a word since she awoke. She was just climbing onto the train when something made them all turn.

"Shayna, Michelle!" Warren called as he ran toward them "Wait up!" Severus was walking behind him, eyeing the boy with a growing distaste.

"It's all taken care of Head Master" he said, and he turned to Shayna as Warren followed Michelle onto the train. "You alright?" She nodded and he smiled weakly at her. Something was still wearing on his mind, she could tell. But she knew better then to ask, he wouldn't want her to worry about any of his problems.

"Good luck" she smiled

"With what?" he asked, failing to mock suspicion

"What ever it is that's got you so worried" She smiled "And don't worry about me, I'm not gonna let him break me."

As the whistle sounded from the steam engine Snape pulled Shayna into a hug. "You owl me this summer or I'll drop you to intermediate potions." he instructed "I promises" she laughed, and it was good to laugh a little

Shayna left Dumbledore and Severus on the platform and set off into the train to find Michelle. She and Warren were sitting in a compartment near the front, across from eachother laughing quietly about something. Shayna fell in the seat next to Warren with a deep sigh. "I'm sorry I got you involved in all this." She mumbled, watching her feet

"Hey it's not you're fault." he said softly Shayna smiled at her feet in spite of herself, that was the way he'd talked to her the night of the ball. "Don't worry so much Hogwarts girl, think of what I got you involved in. Think of what I am! You're not gonna get any judgments from me."

Shayna brightened up a bit "Oh, except for the one's about me being a preppy little Hogwarts girl right?" Warren rolled his eyes "Hey speaking of Hogwarts ... " Shayna said as it occurred to her "what are you doing on the train?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed "They added me to that P.D. whatever list of yours, and they;re sending me to live with an elderly couple in Canada."

"That's not the best part" Michelle piped "His new parents are gonna pay for him to come to Hogwarts next year. He's taking some Kwickspell classes over the summer to catch him up a little."

Shayna shrieked with laughter "Oh, that's great!" She threw her arms around him, just as the compartment door slid open.

"Slyth?" "What are you doing here" Fred and George stood in the doorway, a bucket of water carried by each of them. Shayna blinked at them in disbelief. "Are you boys still doing detention for Snape?" They shook their gloomy red heads.

"So what are you ladies doing here?" George asked sitting next to Michelle

"And who's this?" Fred asked spying Warren "You gone and got yourself a man Riddle?"

Warren turned a little pink and then burst into laughter. Shayna threw a punch into his stomached (which didn't shut him up) and turned to the twins. "This is Warren. We're still here cause we had some things to straiten out with Dumbledore so he could come to Hogwarts next year." It was a very rushed lie, but in their exhaustion from cleaning the boys didn't seem to notice. And the twins told them how they'd ended up with a summer detention. It seemed that they and some friends cursed Draco Malfoy and his friends. This did not please his father, who complained to Snape. And the only people Severus could find was the twins.

Night fell and the witch who normal pushed the snack try came along and brought them each a bowl of tomato soup and cheese toast. Shayna ate all of it despite her distaste for tomatoes, hoping it would warm her insides, which had been cold since she'd failed to get on the train that morning.

The twins decided not to finish their work of cleaning the train. ("What's he going to do? Take points form Gryffindor?") But they stayed in the compartment and told them all about Ludo Bagman cheating them out of money from the Quidditch World cup. And how it had looked like the Weasley Wizarding Weazes would never get off the ground.

"And then Harry Potter gave us all the money he'd won from the tournament. Said he didn't want it, and that we'd all need the laughs." George looked as though he didn't believe it himself as he told the story "All those galleons. Imagine not wanting them."

"He's such a sweet boy" Shayna said, and everyone shot her an odd look at once "He is!" she exclaimed "even if he is a Gryffy!"

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At 11:30 the Hogwarts Express pulled into platform 9 and 3/4 and the group slipped though the barrier. The Weasley's mother was there and upon seeing them she hugged them both tightly. Then she proceeded to tell them off loudly about cursing students. A tall cold woman in a gray suit stood tapping her foot. "You are very late" she said bitterly

"Sorry ma'am" Michelle said timidly She turned around and hugged Shayna tighter then she had yet "I'll miss you" she whispered "Promises you'll write me?" "Of course"

A couple in white robes approached Shayna and Warren as Michelle left with the cold woman. But she looked pasted them and saw Mr. Krum looking very grumpy. "Are you Warren?" the old woman asked He nodded. "Well it's so nice to meet you. I'm Marsha Wolfton and this is my husband Walter. the Ministry decided to send you to us because both my husband and I are wolves too. They thought it would help you to adjust."

Warren smiled as politely as he could. "I'll see ya" Shayna said But before she could turn away he pulled her into a hug that made her smile to herself, his arms wrapped around her. "We're cool now right?" he asked "Well for the most part" Shayna laughed "If we were completely cool all the fun would be gone." Warren laughed in agreement

She tried very hard not to look back at him as she picked up her trunk and followed Mr. Krum to the car. "You're mother and the kids are back at the motel. I've been waiting since noon. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry" Shayna said airily as she shut the car door

"Sorry? Sorry! We had to cancel our plane tickets. Sorry isn't going to cut it. Oh you'll be cleaning for so long that ..." But Shayna wasn't listening, she had removed Salazar from his box and he was now resting on her shoulder. "We should have gotten here hours ago, what happened?" he asked actually concerned, despite the fact that he'd been in the box all day

"Latter" she hissed Her gaze was out the window. She watched as King's Cross Station got farther and farther away. It was a terrible ending to the year. Simply because it didn't seem like an end, but a beginning. And one annoying question hung on her mind as Shayna turned to look out the front window, What next?

A/N Alright so that's that. I wanna know what you all think. I will SO be writing more in the life of Riddle when the next book comes out ... yes I will wait till then I cause I like writeing her into the plots.