CHAPTER TWELVE: A bad Christmas begins.

I sighed and wished I could just go to sleep now. Martin and I had grabbed the table and chairs nearest to the warm fire, and I was nice and tired. Henry, carrying a stack of books that was nearly bigger than him, sat down at the table. "I can't believe Snape has given us so much homework. Doesn't he realise that its Christmas in two days?" He complained unhappily.

"You think you've got homework." Greg muttered. "Look how much we've got to do to get ready for our OWLS."

"Oh cheer up." Francine said, poking him in the arm. "It's Christmas gloomy guts."

"Yeah and I'm going to be spending the holidays doing homework." Greg said with a dramatic sigh.

"Well perhaps if you didn't leave everything to the last minute you wouldn't be in so much trouble." Francine suggested with a grin.

"Hey you guys, do you know why Aunt Hermione and Uncle Fred are coming up to the school tomorrow? Mum sent me an owl this morning and said we could catch the train back with them." Georgia asked suddenly.

I jumped, nearly upsetting my inkpot, which I hurriedly caught. I gave Martin a look which reminded him we weren't meant to tell anyone, and he wasn't even meant to know.

"No, I didn't know they were. Did Dad say why?" Greg asked looking thoughtful.

"It's probably because she's so sick. I wish they'd let us in to see her. If it's so contagious couldn't they give us masks or something to wear?" Francine complained.

I quickly lowered my head to my books again, not wanting to have to lie again about Jenny's whereabouts.

*****

"Mr. Potter, a word please?" The headmistress asked after the last transfiguration class before the holidays.

"We'll meet you at the feast." Martin called as he and the rest of my Gryffindor classmates went off. My stomach rumbled, and I hoped the feast wouldn't begin before I got there- especially if it was anything like last years!

"I trust you haven't told anyone about Jenny in the last two weeks." The headmistress asked.

"No." I lied, but I don't think she believed me because her lips narrowed slightly, but she didn't comment on it. "Do you have any clues?" I asked now.

She sighed and sat back down in her chair. "I wish I could say we do."

I felt like my legs couldn't support me anymore, and I held onto the edge of the desk tightly. "She can't be dead can she?" I asked, voicing the question which had been worrying me so much lately.

"I don't know anymore." The headmistress admitted. "We've tried everything we could think of to do with the Serpent of Slytherin and we can't find her. And before you start-" She said as I opened my mouth. "-the Chamber can't be opened again."

"I wasn't going to say that." I said. "I was going to ask you something. Professor McGonagall, can you tell me why Professor Mitchell is here under a false name?"

The headmistress looked shocked, her jaw dropped open, and it was a moment before she could speak. "How do you know that?"

"We looked him up in the past yearbooks. He might have been here when my Dad was here mightn't he?" I asked.

The headmistress looked as though she were going to deny it, but then she nodded slowly. "I believe he was here in Harry's last year yes."

"Professor, does he..do you know him very well?" I asked, wondering how I was going to get to my point.

"I taught him Potter so I should think I know him." She said, and then she added "Spit it out Potter- I want to get to that feast."

"Well." I said slowly. "The thing is, I heard a weird conversation between Professor Snape and Professor Mitchell."

"Weird conversation?" The headmistress looked at me over her glasses.

"Well it sounded like Professor Snape was trying to get Professor Mitchell to do something he didn't want to do." I explained in a rush. "Professor Snape sounded really mean, and Professor Mitchell sounded as though he was agreeing to do it only to keep Professor Snape off his back."

The headmistress was silent for a moment. Then she spoke. "Sam, are you trying to suggest that one of them- or even both- is the serpent of Slytherin and might have taken Jenny?"

I didn't answer.

"Let's get to the feast Potter before you make any more terrible allegations against my staff. Next thing you know you'll be telling me Professor Sprout is growing illegal herbs in the greenhouse." She said standing up.

"But Professor-" I began, however she interrupted me, her voice sharper than before.

"Potter rest assured that neither of them have anything to do with your friend's disappearance." The headmistress said, as she began to walk towards the door, with me following her.

"Then why are Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron coming up to the school? What are you going to tell them?" I demanded.

She stopped. "We're going to have to tell them the truth Potter. That Jenny has disappeared and we don't know where she is." Her voice broke on the last note, and I felt sick. The girl I'd grown up with, the girl I thought of as my cousin was gone!

"Come on Potter. Keep your chin up. Maybe we'll work something out." The headmistress said, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn't sound as though she believed it much. I followed her to the feast, and forced a smile onto my face. But what was going to happen tomorrow when Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron arrived at the school? My cousins were going to find out what had happened, and everyone was going to be as miserable as I was feeling inside. The headmistress went in first, but I muttered something about having to do my shoelace up so I had a moment to compose myself. It wasn't shaping up to be a very good Christmas, I thought with a sigh as I walked into the hall.

"Excuse me Potter." Alforth said knocking into me as he went towards his table. "What's with the crybaby look? Upset about your friend Jenny are you?" And he walked over to his table, Carlos at his heels.

I ignored him and went and sat down with my house.

"What did McGonagall want?" Martin asked.

"Oh nothing much, she just wanted to tell me that I did very well on the last test." I said with a shrug. "No big deal."

The headmistress stood up and started to give us a small speech about how glad she was with our behavior and marks thus far, and that she hoped we all had a great Christmas, when a thought occurred to me. Alforth had been pretty quiet all year, he hadn't even bothered to tease me as much as normal, and then, on the way in, he'd asked whether I was upset about my friend Jenny? I looked over at the Slytherin table. Alforth was sitting with his friends, and his sister Alison was sitting there looking miserable. I couldn't help but wonder: did the Malfoy's have something to do with Jenny's disappearance? They did hate the Weasleys! I decided that after the holidays I was going to have to keep a close eye on the Malfoys.