Disclaimer: I still own no one but Adele!! Please don't sue me!

Chapter 13
Harry, Ron, and Hermione trudged slowly down the halls of Hogwarts towards the dungeons.

"Potions..." Ron muttered bitterly to himself, shaking his head. "Why are we in this class again
this year?" Neither Harry nor Hermione answered him; instead they continued walking slowly down
the hallway, being careful not to walk so slowly as to be late to class. They were trying extra
hard this year not to give Snape too many reasons to take away points from Gryffindor. On Monday,
the first day of Potions this year, he had already given them a lecture about his expectations.

"As you are now sixth years and N.E.W.T. level students, I expect to see an increased maturity
level. I know that this will be nearly impossible for many of you," he said, sneering at Parvati
and Lavendar as they flipped through a "Teen Witch" magazine hidden under Lavendar's desk.
"You should know that Potions this year will be much more advanced than last year, and mistakes could 
be potentially lethal. However, as you have all scored high enough to get into this class, you should
be able to refrain from killing yourselves." He glared at Harry. "Or shall I say, MOST of you
scored high enough..."

Harry shook himself internally, trying to get rid of the idea that he could be killed in Potions,
of all things. He found himself staring at the heavy door to the Potions room; Ron and Hermione
were entering. Sighing to himself, he too pushed the door open, expecting to see an angry Snape
staring up at him from his desk. Instead, he saw a blonde curly-haired witch, slightly on the 
plump side, surveying the room from Snape's desk, a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face.
Ron stopped in his tracks.

"Who's that?" he hissed. Hermione nudged him.

"We must have a substitute today, Ron, go sit down!" she whispered. Grudgingly, he took a seat at 
a table with Harry, Hermione and Seamus. The woman at the front of the room stood up, still smiling.
She reminds me of Umbridge, Harry thought to himself. 

"Good morning, class! My name is Professor Macalester and I will be teaching you today, Professor
Snape had other needs to attend to..." She scrawled her name in loopy letters on the chalkboard.

The class ended up being more boring than Harry could have imagined. Today's potion was quite simple,
a headache remedy, and most of the class was done halfway through the period. Hermione, who had 
finished nearly 15 minutes before Ron and Harry, was doodling in her notebook. 

"I think I'll start that essay for Charms tonight, won't you?" she asked suddenly. Harry groaned
inwardly and Ron looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

"Charms? Essay? The one that's not due for nearly a week?" Ron asked her wearily.

"Well of course, silly, we only have one! It would just be so nice to have it out of the way."
Ron made a face at Harry behind her back and they both had to stifle their laughter. They turned
around suddenly as they heard a rap on the desk next to them.

"Children, please. If you are done with your project, you need to be sitting quietly or working on
other homework! There is no talking allowed during class!" Professor Macalester looked at them
warningly, the stupidly fake smile still on her face. Reaching for his notebook, Harry began to 
write.

What's with this cow, she seems a little strict. Kinda seems like Umbridge to me.
Looking to make sure she wasn't watching, he slid the notebook across the table to Ron, who read it
and then pulled out his own quill to answer.

Yeah really, we finish before everyone else and just get yelled at. D'you know who the other
prefect is that was chosen for our year?
Harry grabbed the notebook back quickly, just before Macalester had turned back around. Close one,
he thought to himself. He wrote back:

Nah, I haven't heard yet. But I'm sure we'll find out at the prefect meeting tonight. How are 
things with you and Hermione?
The usual. What's with you and blondie over there?
Harry read this a few times, confused. He looked up at Ron, who nodded to his left. A plain-looking
girl with dirty blonde hair and pale green eyes smiled up at him from her cauldron excitedly.
Looking away quickly, Harry scrawled back a message to Ron:

Who is she? What do you mean?
Dunno mate, but she definitely has a thing for you...
Ron snickered as Harry read this final message. Frowning, he shook his head at Ron.
"Of course she doesn't, what are you playing at? I don't even know her, never seen her before in my
life..." he hissed across the table to Ron.

"Boys! I believe I told you to work silently? Ten points from Gryffindor!" Professor Macalester's
singsong voice broke the hushed whispers. Harry and Ron looked at each other, glaring.

"Cow," Ron mouthed from across the table, and they both fell into silent fits of laughter. Hermione gave
them both a reproachful look, gathering her books as the bell rang for the next class.

******************************

The Headmaster of Hogwarts paced his office floor, hands clasped behind his back. This was taking too
long; he knew that something had to be wrong. He was too afraid to guess at what might have happened.

A knock on the door behind him caused him to turn around. His lips curled slightly into a smile that did
not reach his worried eyes. "Enter," he said.

"Severus," he greeted his Potions master warmly as the door opened. "What did you find?"
Professor Snape shook his head.

"She's gone. Boxes are all packed, everything's in its place. Looks like there was a struggle though...
I doubt she left of her own accord."
Dumbledore exhaled, shutting his eyes tightly. 

"Then you know what you must do, Severus. I will keep Ms. Macalester here as long as necessary to watch
over your classes. Good luck; you will need it."

Professor Snape nodded in thanks, and strolled briskly out the door, robes billowing behind him.

****************************

Harry sat in a chair in the Gryffindor common room with Ron, pouring over their Transfiguration homework.
Ron was studying a chart that depicted the wand movements needed to change a stone into a chicken; so far,
it had become a turkey and a crow. 

"Aaaahhhh!" he yelled, as the small rock turned into a vulture. "Finite Incantem!" The vulture disappeared
and the pebble fell to the ground, narrowly missing Harry's head. He did not even look up.

"Watch it, Ron," he muttered, his eyes still on the book he was reading. 

"Someone's in a bad mood today," Ron mumbled, turning to ask Hermione a question.

Harry was in a bad mood. Most of the day he had been preoccupied with thoughts of Adele Fleur's prophesy.
Who was she? He just couldn't figure it out. He also didn't like the thought that someone's life depended
on him. Come on, Potter, the WORLD depends on you, a little voice inside his head said. He 
shivered at the thought. He just wanted to be a kid; he didn't need this kind of responsibility....

The common room door banged open and Professor McGonagall entered. The cheerful chatter that had filled
the room only moments before was silent; all eyes were on the Transfiguration professor as the Gryffindors
waited to find out who was in trouble. Finally, she spoke, her voice slightly unsteady.

"Mr. Potter, come with me." He sighed to himself. Not AGAIN, he thought. Silently, he followed her, 
down the stairs and through a few corridors to the headmaster's office. She knocked firmly on the door.

"Enter," said the muffled voice of Professor Dumbledore from inside. Opening the door, Harry was surprised
to see almost the entire Order of the Phoenix assembled inside; every chair was taken and people were 
crammed all along the walls. Quite a few of them looked up at Harry, some puzzled, others clearly 
resentful. Confused, he walked quickly to where Tonks sat in a puffy blue armchair and seated himself on
the floor. Professor McGonagall took her place beside the desk. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"I have called this emergency meeting to tell you all that Adele Fleur has been kidnapped. As of now, we
are uncertain as to her exact location, but we assume that Voldemort is behind this." Several people
gasped. Mad-Eye Moody, seated to the left of Tonks, showed no emotion; he didn't even move, except for
his magical eye, which was spinning quite dizzily. Harry looked up at Remus Lupin, sitting across the 
room from him; instead of looking surprised, he just looked saddened, a tear running down his face. 

After a few questions from Order members and a formal meeting set for that evening at Number 12 Grimmauld
Place, all of the members left the office, with the exception of the teachers. Dumbledore placed a hand
on Remus' shoulder.

"Remus, your classes for tomorrow will be cancelled. Please use the day to collect yourself. I will be
in to check on you later." Nodding, Remus stood also, and left the room. Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"Mr. Potter, under no circumstances are you to leave the Hogwarts grounds. Lord Voldemort is quite 
obviously attempting to lure you to him; he must have you present to kill Ms. Fleur, and he will want
to do this as soon as possible, as it is the first step to his rise in power. I am sure you understand
the importance of this situation." Harry nodded, and Dumbledore smiled. "Good. Then you are free to 
return to your common room. Please remember to be safe." Turning, Harry left Dumbledore's office and 
walked alone down the spiral staircase.

******************************

Adele Fleur lay cold and shivering on the wet cement, coughing and gasping breathlessly for air. The
torture probably would have killed me if I didn't have that stupid prophesy... she thought to
herself. In this state, she would rather die. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself.
She knew he couldn't kill her now; she had to be protecting the "one who will vanquish the Dark Lord",
whoever that was. She knew Voldemort had said something about "Potter's prophesy"... maybe this 
person was somehow related to James? Only one way to find out, she thought to herself.
I'll have to talk to Sirius... Clenching her eyes shut she whispered an incantation and Sirius'
name. She was breathing hard; maybe this wouldn't work. She didn't know, she hadn't done it in nearly
fifteen years... Then, inside her head, she heard a husky voice.

"Adele? I knew you'd come back."

"Sirius!" she answered him, tears running down here face. "I need to know what's going on..."

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