Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Girl With a Question

Alex stayed quiet as they walked at a hurried pace through the Dark Forest, watching only her own feet as they moved along. Rose and Xavier had called up wisp lights, a spell the other two hadn't learned yet, and were huddled on either side of Firenze, who walked steadily onward into a clearing where a small abandoned cabin lay.

"You may go in there and rest. I will wait here," Firenze told them. Glancing at each other unsurely, first Xavier than the others stepped in, looking around. In no time Xavier had a fire going, and as they so often had before, the girls pulled from their pockets some snacks they kept handy for emergency situations.

"Too bad we don't have any marshmallows to roast," Mandria said cheerfully. "It'd almost be like camping."

"Are you all right, Alex?" Rose asked concernedly.

"I guess I'm just tired," Alex said somberly. "Do you think everyone is all right?"

"Certainly! Hogwarts was built to withstand more than one measly old dragon," Mandria said unconcernedly.

"Essie wasn't in the school at the time, and I'm not sure Sagittari and Mum would have made it back in either."

"Who was she, anyhow? This Essie person, I mean. I don't think I've seen her at Hogwarts before." Xavier asked.

"She's my adopted brother's sister. I'm not sure why she was there. Perhaps she saw something. My parents don't really talk about it, but my brother once mentioned that she has the Sight. Why she's off running a Slumber Sheep farm instead of using her talents, I don't know," Alex said. "All I know is, she doesn't do anything like that without a good reason. She doesn't like to get involved in things. Not like Corey, who in some ways I think is more like my parents than we are."

"I thought Corey Willowby ran an apothecary?" Rose said.

"Oh, he does, but that doesn't mean he isn't into things," Alex said carefully.

"Look sharp, there are more centaurs out there now," Xavier said. The girls got up, joining him next to the cracked open door.

"It is one thing for you to do as Sagittari has asked, but why did you listen to the other? We are not the servants of the humans, Firenze," the one in the center said.

"Nor do I think so, Ronan. But they are not our foals. I had promised to protect them, but I do not profess to know how best to take care of them. It would have been unwise not to follow direction, and as I have told you, it was well that I had," Firenze said.

"Were you able to speak with Sagittari long enough to tell him we will not be drawn into this?" Franz asked. "She is not in the stars. She is not of this world, and her coming is not fated."

"Yes, Father, I did tell him that, and more."

"Not too much more I trust," Ronan said sternly. "We will wait for you in the glen," he added, turning around.

Xavier quietly closed the door.

"I wonder what they meant by that? If she's not supposed to be here, then where is she supposed to be?" Alex asked.

"Something must have happened that wasn't supposed to happen that caused her to be here," Xavier mused. "Some sort of accident."

"Some accident," Mandria said. "Oops, I accidentally let out a psychotic immortal bent on destroying the entire universe! I doubt whoever did it lived to tell about it."

"Do you think she might have been in some sort of prison, or trapped in another dimension? Like those banishing spells we were talking about in Defense class, Xavier?" Rose asked.

"Well if she was, I'd love to meet who put her there. We could use him about now," Xavier sighed.

"What makes you so sure it was a man?" Mandria asked challengingly.

The sound of a knock on the door thwarted the crushing reply, and they opened the door to let Professor Craw in.

"There you are! Thank goodness you're all alright!" she said with relief, hugging Alex.

"What happened? Is everyone all right? Why was Ciardoth here? Is the castle all right? What about Essie? And all the animals? And Pepper? And-"

"Alexandria! Slow down!" Jennifer chuckled, waving away all the questions. "We had best be getting back. I don't want anyone to worry," she said, stepping out to greet Firenze again. "Thank you for looking after them, Firenze."

"All is well. But I am afraid I shall not be able to help again, and would not have had not the circumstances been dire and had I not been there for different reasons."

"I understand," Jennifer smiled, nodding solemnly. "Come along, students. Let's go get you something to eat."

"We had dinner at Sagittari's," Mandria said.

"If only I were that lucky," Jennifer said as they headed down the path. "But it'll be awhile before he can cook again. There's not much left of the hut or the pens. I suppose he'll have to be operating out of the castle for awhile, and the courtyard will have to house the animals until we can come up with a new pen for them."

"Poor Sagittari. And those poor animals," Mandria said. Alex said nothing.

"Was anyone injured in the attack?" Xavier asked.

"Well, yes, Lucius Malfoy. And it's a miracle he isn't dead, especially considering he's not supposed to come to the castle in the first place. He tried to take on Ciardoth himself, and he would have died if Professor Snape hadn't gotten there."

"Professor Snape? Is Ciardoth dead?" Xavier asked.

"No, we don't think so," Jennifer said. "He was just able to use one of her own spells against her and she had to retreat. Malfoy is going to be in the hospital for a few days, though."

"No one treated him here?" Rose asked.

"He's safer not being here," Jennifer said curtly.

"What does that mean?" Mandria asked.

"It means that Malfoy has a lot more enemies than friends at Hogwarts," Alex grinned. "Why did Professor Snape save him anyhow? I thought you both hated him."

"All right, Alex, that'll do, enough questions!" Jennifer said, throwing up her hands. "I've already told you as much as you need to know."

"What about whatever it is you were going to tell me about tomorrow?" Alex suggested slyly. "You have time now."

"Using my own words against me, are we?" Jennifer sighed with resignation. "Very well! Perhaps it'll give me a chance to sleep in if I tell you now! This morning while we were at Myrkinbrek, Ciardoth went to Gringotts Bank and was able to get past the security measures there. I'm afraid she's gotten all the diamond sets from there."

"What?" Alex exclaimed, looking upset. "You didn't do anything to stop it?" Jennifer blinked and looked over at her daughter.

"Of course we tried, Alex," Jennifer said quietly, "but sometimes you have to lose a battle to survive a war."

"But Corey's told us all sorts of stories about all that you and Professor Snape did when you first came to Hogwarts," Alex protested.

"Alex, we were different people then, and felt we had very little to lose and took a lot of risks we probably oughtn't have," Jennifer said with a sigh. "I'm not sure I can really explain what I mean to someone your age, but believe me when I say that when you have children, your idea of what is worth risking your life for changes."

"Isn't the end of the world worth risking your lives for?" Alex demanded in such an angry tone that Jennifer stopped short, glancing at the other three who were completely silent.

"Alex, we're still not technically on school property, so I'll pretend for a moment you didn't just blow up at a teacher," Jennifer said sternly. "But let me assure you, everyone is doing everything in their power to do what they can to stop her without causing any more deaths, including myself and your father. We had better get back. It's nearly past curfew now."

In no time Jennifer had them whisked into their rooms, staying long enough to tell the rather large group of Ravenclaws still talking about the dragon to go to bed.

"I shouldn't need to remind you that most of you have a Potions test either tomorrow or the day after," she warned them with a frown, nudging individual students off couches until she was satisfied they were well on their way.

But as she returned to her own room, Jennifer dreaded having to deal with whatever mood Severus was still in. Quietly she slipped into her sitting room and onto her couch.

In fact, she was so tired from the day's events that she hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep until she opened her eyes to see a pair of studious black eyes looking into hers.

"You could have come to bed, you know," Severus said.

"Were you going to order me there too?" Jennifer challenged him, sitting up.

"Oh, so that what this is all about," Severus said, slipping on his gloves. "Well, I don't have time to spar with you right now. Your father is already going to complain that I'm late."

"Yes, I'm sure he'll be real happy hearing what happened last night," Jennifer said sarcastically.

"Yes, well, I have every intention of telling him exactly who it was that insisted on saving him," Severus said, putting on his cloak.

"Of that I have no doubt."

"I am not going to let you risk your life to save someone not worth saving!" Severus snapped.

"And yet you can? Explain to me how that makes logical sense!" Jennifer retorted.

"I wasn't risking my life! You would have been!" Jennifer grew very pale.

"It always comes down to that, doesn't it? The fact of the matter is you don't think I can cut it, and you never have. You're always criticizing everything I do professionally… always trying to babysit me every step of the way! Might I remind you that I didn't get to be a Sentinel on your merits, and I can damn well make my own decisions on whether or not I can handle something!"

"And just because you are a Truth Seeker doesn't mean you know everything!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you have a nasty habit of jumping to conclusions!"

"Well, you have a lot of room to talk –" there was a knock at the door and Jennifer quickly bit her tongue, folding her arms and sitting on the couch but looking hardly composed as Severus opened the door.

Minerva looked at Severus' face with surprise, turning rather sheepish.

"I'm sorry, have I interrupted something?"

"I was just leaving for Azkaban," Severus snapped. "Unless you need something?"

"No, I was looking for Jennifer…."

"When you find her, let me know," Severus said, storming out of the door.

"Well! Perhaps this is the thirteenth year after all," Minerva said with amusement.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Minerva," Jennifer said, walking over.

"Nonsense. You wouldn't be human if you didn't have conflicts now and again, Cosmic Match or not," Minerva said with a sympathetic smile. "I was going to ask you to lunch to discuss scheduling for the OWLS, but now I think perhaps I should ask you to lunch for other reasons."

"Either way, I'm coming," Jennifer sighed.

"I'll see you in about an hour then, in my office?" she smiled again as Jennifer nodded. Minerva walked back down the hall.

Jennifer closed the door and sunk to the floor. It was true that these issues had been brewing for years, but did they have to come out just when so much was at stake? Part of her wanted to just crawl back into bed and forget the world existed for awhile, but the sensible part of her won out, making her get up to take a shower, don freshly pressed robes and walk out the door. At least she didn't look as bad as felt, she mused, refusing to look in the mirror to confirm or deny the claim. But the moment she opened the door to Minerva's office, Jennifer forgot her troubles as her nose took over, peering at the basket on the table with delighted surprise.

"Sagittari was restless and somehow convinced the House Elves to let him have the kitchen for a few hours. I hope you don't mind," she said.

"I should say not!" Jennifer said, shutting the door before helping Minerva unpack the lunch and immediately started in on one of the stuffed grape leaves. "I can't believe he felt like cooking. How is he doing?"

"Alright, I think, although I seriously doubt he's comfortable in the castle," Minerva admitted. "We've had to ban students from the courtyard, however, they kept upsetting the animals. Fortunately, Sirius decided to have one of his classes help rebuild the pens, so they shouldn't be put out for too long. How are the students?"

"Unscathed, for the most part," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "Alex is more troubled than the others are about it. In fact, I'm afraid she's losing sleep over the whole situation."

"She knows quite a bit about what's been happening," Minerva said, "Probably too much. But at least she has plenty of close friends to confide in."

"Well, she's not confiding in Xavier," Jennifer said. "At least, not according to Severus."

"Ah, I was wondering about that," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Although I'm not sure we should be using our students as spies."

"Oh, well, as for that it was Xavier's doing more than ours," Jennifer said. "From what I understand, he latched onto her the moment she hit the train. You know how he is."

"Always trying to find ways to stay at the top of a teacher's student list," Minerva said with a smirk. "Well, he didn't get away with that in my class. I was on to him from day one."

"I wonder if perhaps Alex has been on to it too, and for some reason just chooses not to do anything about it," Jennifer said. "But I suppose I'm getting off the subject. It feels rather odd talking, well, about such trivial things, when if it hadn't been for Essie's vision, we'd have lost them."

"We've been very lucky," Minerva agreed, sipping her tea. "Malfoy, it seems, has been having similar luck. It appears that he is going to come through with little more than a few bruises, although, there is one slight complication. The hospital wants to evaluate his mental stability, and they'd like a report from you on the nature of the curses that were on that seal to help prove his endangerment to others."

"Oh, no," Jennifer said, holding up her hands in protest. "I am not going to give him yet another reason to try and get around the curse I put on him! And you know as well as I do that that he's bound to find some way out of an insanity charge, no matter how insane he really is. My father would have."

"Well, there is the fact that Severus did save his life," Minerva mused.

"That will only just add fuel to his fire. If I know Malfoy, that'll only make him hate us even more," Jennifer sighed. "But that doesn't give us the right to ignore a situation where someone in this castle is in peril."

"Yes, Albus and I do agree with you, Jennifer, and I'm sure deep down Severus understands as well, although I hardly blame him for his reluctance to do so after everything that has happened," Minerva said gently.

"No, I don't either, it's just that he acted like… like…"

"Like Severus Snape?" Minerva said amusedly. Jennifer propped her head up on the desk with complete resignation.

"Oh, Minerva, what am I going to do? I hate fighting with him, and I know he trusts me on a personal level but professionally… well, that's always been another story, and lately we can't seem to keep them apart!"

"Jennifer, ever since the two of you got involved together, you've insisted on leading two separate lives…"

"At your insistence as well," Jennifer said defensively.

"I merely stressed the importance of your appearance to the students. I didn't ever suggest that the two of you take it to the extreme that you have. I can't even begin to imagine what that must be putting Alex through, seeing you act so differently than what I'm certain you do at home. But first thing is first. The two of you have been doing everything in your power to hide, divert, or bury your problems with each other rather than hurt the other, and I dare think that after thirteen years, the two of you should grow up and learn to take a bit of criticism from the other. It's no wonder the two of you keep fighting over not trusting one another with you not telling him about your trouble with the children all of these years, and his not wanting to tell you about anything you might get upset about. In fact, I'm quite surprised it took this long to blow up. I don't care if you are Cosmically Fated to be together, Jennifer. If the two of you keep on treating each other like children, pumpkin anniversary or not, your marriage won't last another year."

"Oh, come on, Minerva, surely you're exaggerating a bit, I mean, we just had a little argument," Jennifer said, laughing uneasily. "We never really fight!"

"Perhaps that is part of the problem," Minerva said quietly, sipping her tea.

"Besides, we'd never do anything to upset the kids. You know that," Jennifer said, picking through the basket again.

"Really?" Minerva said thoughtfully. "And what exactly do you think you're doing to them now?"

After tossing and turning, Mandria slowly awoke to try and distinguish what it was that woke her. After a moment, she heard the noise of soft sobbing and sighed, slipping out of bed and over to Alex's, nudging her shoulder.

"What is it?" Mandria said softly.

"It's my fault," Alex whispered, "All of it."

"What do you mean?" Mandria asked.

"Sagittari and the animals losing their homes, and us nearly getting killed. Don't you see? She's looking for what I have, for me, and because of it, someone got hurt."

"Only Malfoy. Neither of our families even like him, so why are you worried? Besides, who's to say she wasn't here for other reasons, or looking for another set of diamonds?" Mandria asked softly.

"She wasn't," Alex said, "I know she wasn't."

"Then tell someone! Go to Dumbledore! You said he helped you after that New York thing," Mandria said.

"There's a big difference between playing a little hooky and stealing, Mandria, even if it was from Ciardoth. No, I've got to find a way to get rid of them, or hide them somewhere that she'll never find them," Alex said, turning around.

"Like where? She can get into places like the Chamber of Secrets and the lower levels of Gringotts. Where would be safe enough?" Mandria asked.

"I don't know, but we have to come up with something. Tomorrow I'll make arrangements to meet Rose for a Willow picnic. Then we'll think of something," Alex said, turning over again and rubbing the tears off her cheeks.

But as lunch approached and Alex still couldn't think of anything, she was almost as reluctant to meet her friends as she was attempting to get her homework done for her next class.

"Not like it matters much," Alex muttered to herself as she stepped out the back. Spring had come to Hogwarts at last. The birds were chirping, the sky was showing patches of blue peeking through the grey, and the air was scented with blossoms. Despite that, Alex still felt glum as she went over to her friends. They were speaking quietly to each other while they were putting out some sandwiches. "I suppose Mandria told you why I called you both here, Rose," Alex said as she sat against the tree.

"Yes, she did," Rose said, glancing at Mandria. "And actually, we've been here for a while. We've been talking and we think you should turn the diamonds in to Dumbledore or your parents."

"No! I promised my brothers and sisters that I would watch over them, and I swore I wouldn't tell. We have to find a way to dispose of them," Alex said.

"Don't you think that if there was a way to dispose of them, your godfather and Dumbledore would have done it by now?" Rose asked..

"She's right, Alex. We don't have the power to protect them," Mandria said. "Whether you approve or not, whether you go along with us or not, we're going to tell Dumbledore right after lunch, and we'd rather you went with us."

"How could you do that? I thought you were my friends!" Alex said angrily.

"That's why we have to do it, even if you don't forgive us for it. You can't do this alone, Alex!" Rose told her firmly.

"I didn't think I was alone, until now! I should have known better. Rel always did tell me never to trust anyone who wasn't a blood sibling, and now I'm beginning to agree with him!" Alex said angrily.

"Maybe someday you'll understand," Rose replied calmly.

"If you tell them about it, there may not be a someday. Did you think of that?" Alex snapped.

"If we don't tell them, Alex, there won't be," Mandria said, walking towards the door. Rose gave Alex a sympathetic glance before getting up to follow.

"Oh, great, now what do I do?" Alex said to herself, leaning her head back against the trunk.

Well, there was only one thing she could do, she knew. She was going to have to get a hold of her sister and run away. But to where? She sighed, realizing that the quicker she sent the note, the more likely she would get out without being detected.

But as she stood up, she heard a creaking sound as the Willow began to move. Angrily it began to lash out, but not at Alex. At first, she couldn't see anything but shadows and branches as the tree moved above her.

It was the roar that told her it was the dragon. Ciardoth had returned. Fire burst into the limbs above her head, and Alex screamed as the Willow turned into a torch above her, still lashing out angrily. But Ciardoth was not about to give up on its prey so easily and landed on the ground just out of the tree's reach. Raising her wings, she cast a spell on the fierce tree instantly turning it to stone, the fire smoldering as it ran out of fuel. Alex, huddled next to the tree with her hands above her head, had no time to react as the dragon grabbed her in its claws and carried her into the sky, farther and farther away until Hogwarts could no longer be seen.