Disclaimer- I'm not a wizard, and cannot do transfiguration. Therefore, under no circumstances, should you mistake me for JK Rowling. True, she owns the idea of Hogwarts, and its teachers, which are all mentioned in her books, and I'm shamelessly borrowing them, but despite that I do not claim to be her nor claim to have come up with her ideas.
Departing
After the holidays passed, Luke and Jessica were never quite as good of friends as they had been before. It might have been because of the punishment he'd recieved for poking Snape in the eye with one of his large blue spikes on Christmas, or the fact that he'd kept the kitten which Jessica did everything to keep away from, but for whatever reason they were no longer close.
Jessica had been growing more and more depressed, with such a lack of friends, and a complete lack of anyone close to her. She was becoming isolated. Dinner hours were spent alone in the library, thinking of her family and learning to hate her mother with even more of a vengeance.
Her sister's eleventh birthday, March 3rd, passed without event. She'd thought of sending a present, but knew her mother would more than likely dispose of it before Chelsea recieved it. It was a week after her birthday that Dumbledore arrived in the Ravenclaw common room just before dark, with a grim face and asking for Jessica.
She'd followed him out of the portrait hole, the young prince on it having tea with a small girl, and to his office. She hadn't time to admire her surroundings and the trinkets on his desk when he made a small noise in his throat and looked at Jessica with tears in his eyes.
"I'm deeply sorrowful at the news I've recieved. Jessica," He motioned for her to sit in a hard plastic chair across from his desk, and set his hand on her shoulder, "Your sister has died."
Everything went black.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She awoke in the hospital wing, with Madame Pomfrey looking down at her with a sympathy washed face.
"What happened?" She spoke in a hushed voice, her hands rising to her eyes which were damp with tears.
Madame Pomfrey stood and straightened her apron, blowing her nose on a pink hankie. "Upon hearing the dreadful news, you fainted."
Jessica looked at her with a bewildered expression, clutching the light blue blanket on top of her tightly. "What news?"
"About your sister, dear." At this Madame Pomfrey blew her nose again and walked away, as if unable to bear the sadness, her black heels clicking on the tile floor.
That's when reality flooded her senses, and Dumbledore's voice filled her mind, "Your sister has died."
"NO!" She screamed, bringing her hands towards her head, pulling at her hair and screaming her sisters name. "Chelsea.. no.."
Dumbledore watched from the door. He bent his head and turned, his black robes swishing in the air that had seemed to cool so rapidly.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When she arrived back at the common room the next day it was empty.
Everyone else was at their classes, or so she thought.
After settling herself on an arm chair facing the window she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps coming from the boys' wing.
"Jessica?" An unfamiliar voice called.
She turned to see Alex, standing by the portrait hole, his dark hair slightly dishelved and blue eyes filled with worry.
"I couldn't tell you.." He began, but upon closer inspection of the girl, he stopped.
The sorrow he'd expected to see in Jessica's eyes, however, was not there. Instead he saw something hateful, a yearning for revenge.
"I don't need your sympathy, Alex. Leave me alone."
He meant to argue with her, but her harsh words and expression, the set thin line of her mouth, chilled him as he realized the pleasant girl he'd met on the train and had been avoiding all this time was gone.
A corpse had replaced her. A living and breathing corpse.