Keebler-elmo: LOL yeah it was a mean cliff hanger wasn't it? Meh never
fear, there's many more of those to come :P
Once again I apologize beforehand for any jacked up spacing that may occur in this or any future chapters :) _____________________________________________________________________
The True Heir of Slytherin Chapter Twelve: "The Yfel"
"Avada Kedavra."
Those words echoed through Harry's mind as Siren spoke them. Harry had heard that the last seconds of your life could pass by very slowly, allowing your life to flash before your eyes. He didn't know it was actually true. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Harry looked at Siren's wand. A green star appeared at its tip, and began to shoot out towards him. In that same fraction of a second, Harry saw his parents. They were in his mind. The image he had seen of them in the Mirror of Erised during his first year at Hogwarts was now flashing before him. He reached out to them, but as he extended his arm, the image disappeared. He was distraught, but it didn't matter. No bother. He knew that he's be seeing them soon enough.
And still in that fraction of a second when the green star shot out from Siren's wand, Harry could see something zooming toward him. It was a black blur as far as Harry could tell. A black blur with a pinch of scarlet buried somewhere within it. As soon as it had zoomed past Harry, Siren was knocked from her broom, her wand falling with her, the green star of the incomplete curse disappearing as Siren let go of her wand.
Nothing moved in slow motion any longer. Things were back to normal speed, and Harry could hear shouts and screams coming from the crowd, mixed with the thunder of a hundred feet scurrying out of their seats, trying to get to safety. Harry looked up to see what that black-scarlet blur had been. It was Krum. He had pushed Siren from her broom only milliseconds after she had said the incantation. Luckily for Harry, Krum had gained that sort of speed playing professional quidditch. He and Harry stared at one another, both in disbelief.
Malfoy slowly flew towards them. Harry could see the stunned look on his face. Malfoy looked down at Siren's body, lying motionless on the ground.
"Is she dead?" Malfoy asked quietly.
Harry looked down as a scatter of staff members rushed towards Siren. He could see Dumbledore looking at her, and Madame Hooch checked for a pulse. Snape, McGonagall, Lupin, Sirius, and Hunter (who had landed to see if Siren was alright) were surrounding her body. Snape was simply staring at her in disbelief.
"Are you alvright?" Krum finally asked Harry, flying a bit closer to him.
"Yeah," Harry murmured. He wanted to fly down, but as he moved his body a bit, he felt a great pain in his chest. He cringed and screwed up his face. "I think something broke when she was hitting me," he added, his voice shaking with pain. Harry then realized that he couldn't move at all, because when he did, his chest began to burn, and an unbearable pain struck him.
"Probably broke a rib," Malfoy said mechanically, still looking down at Siren's body with a ghastly look upon his face.
The other players looked quite the same. Those who weren't on the ground with the teachers were all hovering silently, looking down at Siren's body, all mortified. Krum looked like he wanted to say something comforting, but couldn't. He, instead, flew over next to Harry.
"Do you need help?" he asked Harry.
Harry was still slightly hunched over. "I can't move," he said through gritted teeth. "It hurts too much."
Krum looked around helplessly, trying to figure out what to do. He looked to Malfoy, who was the only other player near them. "Help me guide Harry's broom to the ground," Krum said to him.
Malfoy looked up. "What?" he spat, "I have no reason to help-"
"Just do it!" Krum yelled desperately at him. Malfoy looked hesitant, but he was so confused by the whole situation that he just gave in and helped Krum to lower Harry's broom to the ground.
Harry found that it was easy to stand, but he couldn't move his torso without cringing in sheer agony. Ron and Hermione ran out on to the field.
"HARRY!" Hermione yelled as she and Ron ran towards him. "Goodness, are you okay?!"
Harry was trying not to gasp for air, because each time he inhaled, a sharp pain rose in his chest.
"I think he broke a vrib," Krum answered for him.
Hermione looked around through the crowd of teachers. "Sirius!" she called out, spotting him a few meters away. Sirius saw her standing next to Harry and rushed over. "Harry," he gasped, "Are you alright?"
"He broke a rib, we think," Ron replied, "We have to get him to Madame Pomfrey."
Sirius looked around frustratingly, trying to figure out what to do. "Geez," he sighed, watching a group of first year Ravenclaws trying to push their way out of the crowds of people in the stands. It was chaotic. No one knew exactly what to do. Harry was reminded of the time when he had escaped from Voldemort during the Triwizard Tournament; once the crowds had seen Cedric's dead body, they reacted in quite the same manner as they did now.
"Okay," Sirius finally replied, "we have to get you to the hospital wing."
Harry still had to find out what had become of Siren. "No," he replied, lifting his head to try and get a better view, "I have to see if she's okay first."
Sirius looked at him oddly. "But Harry-"
Sirius' words were cut short as louder screams erupted from the crowds. Sirius turned around and took out his wand, as the other staff members had done. Siren was now standing up. She had a menacingly evil look upon her face. Her eyes were dark grey. Her hands were held out, each with large blue flames upon them.
Harry gawked at her. How did she get those flames to appear without using her wand? He didn't know she as that powerful.
"Siren," Hunter said from behind her, looking very afraid himself, Harry noticed, "Siren, don't do this, not now - you'll get yourself hurt-" "Siren," Krum added, taking some daring steps toward her, "Vot's vrong vith you? Vhy are you doing this? Siren?"
"That's not Siren," Snape said aloud, who was standing the closest to her, and next to Dumbledore as well. "It can't be."
"What do you mean, Severus?" Dumbledore asked calmly, keeping his eyes on Siren.
Snape didn't answer. He continued to look at Siren closely. "Who are you?" he asked her darkly, "Where's Siren?"
Siren looked at Snape and smiled wickedly. "So you are the traitor?" Siren said, but for some reason, she had a thick Russian accent. "My heirs have told me much of you."
"Your heirs?" Snape repeated, unsure of what she meant.
Without warning, Harry fought his way past a bunch of teachers, and came face to face with Siren.
"Get back, you fool!" Snape scolded.
"You're Andreala!" Harry yelled angrily, "I've seen you in my visions!"
"Clever young boy," she replied, "You found out my little secret." She put her arms down and the blue flames disappeared. Her eyes turned grey.
"Where's Siren?" Harry yelled, trying not to let the pain in his chest get to him.
"You know," Andreala replied, ignoring what Harry had said, "your professor Winston found out about my secret, too. But I took care of him. And in time, I shall take care of you as well, young Gryffindor."
And with that, she disappeared.
*****
While the other staff members tried to figure out what had happened, Sirius, along with Ron, Hermione, and Krum, had taken Harry to the hospital wing. Once Madame Pomfrey had repaired Harry's wounds (two broken ribs, some nasty bruises and a severely damaged liver) she told Harry to rest and wouldn't let Ron, Krum, or Hermione see him. But Sirius, being an auror, was allowed to see him in order to further investigate what had happened.
"What happened, Sirius?" Harry asked. "How is Andreala here? I don't understand..."
"Neither do I," Sirius replied, "Voldemort must have used a very powerful resurrection spell to bring her here."
Harry sighed and laid back in his hospital bed. He and Sirius sat in silence for about a minute, both trying to comprehend what had just occurred.
"Do you think Siren's alright?" Harry finally asked, "I mean, she can't be far, right? I saw her right before I went to Dumbledore's office..."
"I don't know," Sirius replied glumly. He sat back in his chair and sighed deeply. "I don't know, Harry."
Harry felt terrible. Not only didn't he know what was going on, but he felt terrible for accusing Siren of killing Professor Winston. He should've known that she never would have done something like that to an innocent person.
"So it was definitely Andreala who killed Winston, then, right?" Harry asked Sirius.
Sirius sighed deeply and nodded his head.
"Did you know him?" Harry asked.
Sirius nodded his head again. "He was about two years below me when I was in school," he replied, 'he was a Gryffindor. Your father knew him pretty well. He was on the quidditch team and everything. I think Remus was pretty close friends with him over the past few years, though. He's been taking Winston's death pretty hard."
Before Sirius could say anymore, the doors to the hospital wing burst open, and in rushed Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Professor McGonagall followed them briskly. Snape was carrying someone's limp body in his arms. Harry quickly saw it to be Siren. She was badly beaten, all bruised and bloody, and she was unconscious - or was she dead? Harry couldn't tell.
Madame Pomfrey rushed towards them. "What on Earth? What happened to her?"
"We found her in an abandoned classroom," Dumbledore replied in a very concerned tone. "She looked as though she were beaten and left for dead."
"Quick, bring her here," Madame Pomfrey said as she led Snape toward an empty bed, and Madame Pomfrey waved her wand to a medicine cart, which then quickly rolled towards her.
Sirius looked at Harry, then stood up and walked over to where Siren was. Harry decided to go, too. He walked over and stood just behind Dumbledore, trying to get a good view of Siren, without getting in Madame Pomfrey's way.
"Andreala's work, I'll assume," Sirius said aloud.
"More than likely, yes," McGonagall answered, an obvious amount of fear apparent in her dry voice.
Madame Pomfrey quickly concocted some sort of potion or medicine (Harry couldn't tell what it was, exactly). She put it up to Siren's face. Harry expected her to pour it down Siren's throat, but she didn't. She simply held it below Siren's nose and waited. After about fifteen seconds, Siren's eyes opened wide, and she started to breath very heavily.
"She's in shock," Dumbledore said, keeping his eyes on Siren, and holding her left hand in a comforting way.
"Calm down, child," Madame Pomfrey said gently, "You're safe now."
"She tried to kill me!" Siren gasped, "He wants me dead!"
Dumbledore curved his eyebrows in concern. "Voldemort?" he asked.
"He sends her to kill people," Siren replied in a shaky voice, obviously terrified, "and he sent her after me!"
"You know better than that," Snape said calmly to her, "He can't kill you. He needs you, remember?"
"Then why the hell did her send her after me?" Siren cried.
"To show you that he could," Snape replied, "He knew she wouldn't kill you. He knew we'd find you. He wouldn't dare kill you, especially not now."
"Don't you get it?" Siren snapped, "He wants me dead! And he won't stop until he's done it!"
Madame Pomfrey handed Siren a cup, obviously containing some sort of tonic. "Drink this, dear," she said, "it will calm your nerves." Siren knocked Pomfrey's arm away, sending the cup crashing to the floor. Siren then sat up, trying to get out of the bed. Snape, however, restrained her. "Sit down," he said harshly.
"No!" Siren screamed, trying to fight him off. "No! Let me go! I have to hide! I have to get the Yfel and hide!"
"Forget about the Yfel," Dumbledore said gently, placing a hand on Siren's shoulder. "He already has it." Siren stopped struggling. Tears stained her face now, and she turned her head to look at Dumbledore. "No," she cried, "he can't..."
"He's had it for quite some time now," Snape replied, "Ever since he moved back into Salazar's dark castle."
Siren sighed and curled up into a ball on the bed. "I'm not safe here," she whispered.
"You're safer here than you would be anywhere else," McGonagall said, breaking her temporary silence. Almost as though some previously unknown maternal instincts had taken her over, McGonagall sat on the side of the bed, comfortingly caressing Siren's long, dark hair. "You need to rest for a bit," she said softly, "you'll feel better if you do."
Siren sniffed. "I just want to be alone right now," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow which now covered half of her face.
Dumbledore nodded at the others, and they all left Siren's side.
"Make sure she's healed as quickly as possible," Harry heard Dumbledore say to Madame Pomfrey, "I have a feeling that we'll need her to be at her strongest, very soon."
Everyone - Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall - left the wing, and Harry and Sirius returned to Harry's hospital bed. Harry got comfortable in the pillows, and looked over at Siren. He was surprised to see that she was looking right back at him, her eyes as harrowing as her grandfather's. Harry noticed the physical resemblance between Siren and Voldemort the strongest as of now, and it frightened him enough to make him turn his head away.
*****
"How vas Siren?" Krum asked Harry shortly after Harry had been released from the hospital wing.
"Not too good," Harry glumly replied. "Andreala beat her to a bloody pulp. When I saw her first, she had blood all over her front, and the left side of her face was all bashed in-"
"Harry," Hermione scolded quietly, "you needn't be so graphic."
"Are we allowed to see her?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry replied, "I think she's being interrogated by some Ministry workers."
Harry had already told them all the details about what had happened to Siren as they were walking to Potions class. They had arrived in the dungeons now. Krum turned to Hermione, saying, "I'll see you after class." He kissed her on the cheek, and took off up the stairs. Hermione, Ron, and Harry all went into the classroom and sat down at their desks. Hermione and Ron continued to talk to one another, but Harry zoned out, trying to fully comprehend what was going on with Siren, Andreala, and Voldemort. He soon found it impossible, however, considering that there were still many unanswered questions. How did Voldemort bring back Andreala? And what in the world was an Yfel?
Harry watched as the group of Slytherins entered the room, led by Malfoy, of course. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle took their seats across the aisle from Harry. Harry noticed that Malfoy somehow looked legitimately disturbed, almost confused.
"If you want to have a staring contest, Potter, just say so," Malfoy snickered. It was then that Harry noticed he had been staring at Draco for quite some time now. He didn't reply, but turned his head away in silence. Harry looked around the room. He didn't see Snape anywhere.
"I wonder where the old git's gotten to now," Ron said, also noticing Snape's absence.
The class chattered nonchalantly for about five minutes, until Snape finally entered the room briskly, with a look of hidden devastation on his face.
"Class has been cancelled." He didn't hesitate to announce this right away. "All students are to return to their house common rooms immediately."
"Why?" Malfoy asked aloud.
"Don't ask questions," Snape replied stalely, "just do as you're told."
Ron, Hermione, and Harry all looked at one another with confusion, then gathered their things, stood up, and left for their common room. When they arrived, all of the other Gryffindors were already there, speculating as to what could have happened.
"Maybe Professor Ridge has gone mad again," Harry heard a third year student say. It was then that Harry realized that nobody else at Hogwarts really knew that Andreala had been resurrected.
"Attention all students," a voice rang throughout the school.
"It's McGonagall," Fred Weasley said aloud, "Everyone shut up."
"Prefects," McGonagall continued, "you are to immediately escort your houses to the Great Hall. Headmaster Dumbledore has an important announcement to make." Everyone looked around at everyone else in curious wonder.
Hermione presently took charge. "Everyone follow me," she said, "I'm to escort you all to the Great Hall now."
"Yeah," Ron said after her, "You know, in case we get lost on the way there."
Everyone else laughed except Hermione, who gave Ron a scornful look. She then began to lead everyone through the castle to the Hall. Once they were all there, they took their seats at the Gryffindor table. All of the teachers were seated at the staff table, including Siren, who looked much better than when Harry has last seen her.
The last house to arrive was Ravenclaw, and as they all took their seats, Dumbledore immediately began to speak.
"As you all know," he said, his voice slightly echoing throughout the Hall, "some awful things have happened these past few days. I have gathered you all here to share some very unfortunate news. For reasons I am not yet allowed to discuss with the public, Hogwarts will be closed as of tomorrow, and you will all be sent home."
__________________________________________________
*gasp* Oh no! Nehehehe. I hope you liked it! Please review :}
-Summer :)
Once again I apologize beforehand for any jacked up spacing that may occur in this or any future chapters :) _____________________________________________________________________
The True Heir of Slytherin Chapter Twelve: "The Yfel"
"Avada Kedavra."
Those words echoed through Harry's mind as Siren spoke them. Harry had heard that the last seconds of your life could pass by very slowly, allowing your life to flash before your eyes. He didn't know it was actually true. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Harry looked at Siren's wand. A green star appeared at its tip, and began to shoot out towards him. In that same fraction of a second, Harry saw his parents. They were in his mind. The image he had seen of them in the Mirror of Erised during his first year at Hogwarts was now flashing before him. He reached out to them, but as he extended his arm, the image disappeared. He was distraught, but it didn't matter. No bother. He knew that he's be seeing them soon enough.
And still in that fraction of a second when the green star shot out from Siren's wand, Harry could see something zooming toward him. It was a black blur as far as Harry could tell. A black blur with a pinch of scarlet buried somewhere within it. As soon as it had zoomed past Harry, Siren was knocked from her broom, her wand falling with her, the green star of the incomplete curse disappearing as Siren let go of her wand.
Nothing moved in slow motion any longer. Things were back to normal speed, and Harry could hear shouts and screams coming from the crowd, mixed with the thunder of a hundred feet scurrying out of their seats, trying to get to safety. Harry looked up to see what that black-scarlet blur had been. It was Krum. He had pushed Siren from her broom only milliseconds after she had said the incantation. Luckily for Harry, Krum had gained that sort of speed playing professional quidditch. He and Harry stared at one another, both in disbelief.
Malfoy slowly flew towards them. Harry could see the stunned look on his face. Malfoy looked down at Siren's body, lying motionless on the ground.
"Is she dead?" Malfoy asked quietly.
Harry looked down as a scatter of staff members rushed towards Siren. He could see Dumbledore looking at her, and Madame Hooch checked for a pulse. Snape, McGonagall, Lupin, Sirius, and Hunter (who had landed to see if Siren was alright) were surrounding her body. Snape was simply staring at her in disbelief.
"Are you alvright?" Krum finally asked Harry, flying a bit closer to him.
"Yeah," Harry murmured. He wanted to fly down, but as he moved his body a bit, he felt a great pain in his chest. He cringed and screwed up his face. "I think something broke when she was hitting me," he added, his voice shaking with pain. Harry then realized that he couldn't move at all, because when he did, his chest began to burn, and an unbearable pain struck him.
"Probably broke a rib," Malfoy said mechanically, still looking down at Siren's body with a ghastly look upon his face.
The other players looked quite the same. Those who weren't on the ground with the teachers were all hovering silently, looking down at Siren's body, all mortified. Krum looked like he wanted to say something comforting, but couldn't. He, instead, flew over next to Harry.
"Do you need help?" he asked Harry.
Harry was still slightly hunched over. "I can't move," he said through gritted teeth. "It hurts too much."
Krum looked around helplessly, trying to figure out what to do. He looked to Malfoy, who was the only other player near them. "Help me guide Harry's broom to the ground," Krum said to him.
Malfoy looked up. "What?" he spat, "I have no reason to help-"
"Just do it!" Krum yelled desperately at him. Malfoy looked hesitant, but he was so confused by the whole situation that he just gave in and helped Krum to lower Harry's broom to the ground.
Harry found that it was easy to stand, but he couldn't move his torso without cringing in sheer agony. Ron and Hermione ran out on to the field.
"HARRY!" Hermione yelled as she and Ron ran towards him. "Goodness, are you okay?!"
Harry was trying not to gasp for air, because each time he inhaled, a sharp pain rose in his chest.
"I think he broke a vrib," Krum answered for him.
Hermione looked around through the crowd of teachers. "Sirius!" she called out, spotting him a few meters away. Sirius saw her standing next to Harry and rushed over. "Harry," he gasped, "Are you alright?"
"He broke a rib, we think," Ron replied, "We have to get him to Madame Pomfrey."
Sirius looked around frustratingly, trying to figure out what to do. "Geez," he sighed, watching a group of first year Ravenclaws trying to push their way out of the crowds of people in the stands. It was chaotic. No one knew exactly what to do. Harry was reminded of the time when he had escaped from Voldemort during the Triwizard Tournament; once the crowds had seen Cedric's dead body, they reacted in quite the same manner as they did now.
"Okay," Sirius finally replied, "we have to get you to the hospital wing."
Harry still had to find out what had become of Siren. "No," he replied, lifting his head to try and get a better view, "I have to see if she's okay first."
Sirius looked at him oddly. "But Harry-"
Sirius' words were cut short as louder screams erupted from the crowds. Sirius turned around and took out his wand, as the other staff members had done. Siren was now standing up. She had a menacingly evil look upon her face. Her eyes were dark grey. Her hands were held out, each with large blue flames upon them.
Harry gawked at her. How did she get those flames to appear without using her wand? He didn't know she as that powerful.
"Siren," Hunter said from behind her, looking very afraid himself, Harry noticed, "Siren, don't do this, not now - you'll get yourself hurt-" "Siren," Krum added, taking some daring steps toward her, "Vot's vrong vith you? Vhy are you doing this? Siren?"
"That's not Siren," Snape said aloud, who was standing the closest to her, and next to Dumbledore as well. "It can't be."
"What do you mean, Severus?" Dumbledore asked calmly, keeping his eyes on Siren.
Snape didn't answer. He continued to look at Siren closely. "Who are you?" he asked her darkly, "Where's Siren?"
Siren looked at Snape and smiled wickedly. "So you are the traitor?" Siren said, but for some reason, she had a thick Russian accent. "My heirs have told me much of you."
"Your heirs?" Snape repeated, unsure of what she meant.
Without warning, Harry fought his way past a bunch of teachers, and came face to face with Siren.
"Get back, you fool!" Snape scolded.
"You're Andreala!" Harry yelled angrily, "I've seen you in my visions!"
"Clever young boy," she replied, "You found out my little secret." She put her arms down and the blue flames disappeared. Her eyes turned grey.
"Where's Siren?" Harry yelled, trying not to let the pain in his chest get to him.
"You know," Andreala replied, ignoring what Harry had said, "your professor Winston found out about my secret, too. But I took care of him. And in time, I shall take care of you as well, young Gryffindor."
And with that, she disappeared.
*****
While the other staff members tried to figure out what had happened, Sirius, along with Ron, Hermione, and Krum, had taken Harry to the hospital wing. Once Madame Pomfrey had repaired Harry's wounds (two broken ribs, some nasty bruises and a severely damaged liver) she told Harry to rest and wouldn't let Ron, Krum, or Hermione see him. But Sirius, being an auror, was allowed to see him in order to further investigate what had happened.
"What happened, Sirius?" Harry asked. "How is Andreala here? I don't understand..."
"Neither do I," Sirius replied, "Voldemort must have used a very powerful resurrection spell to bring her here."
Harry sighed and laid back in his hospital bed. He and Sirius sat in silence for about a minute, both trying to comprehend what had just occurred.
"Do you think Siren's alright?" Harry finally asked, "I mean, she can't be far, right? I saw her right before I went to Dumbledore's office..."
"I don't know," Sirius replied glumly. He sat back in his chair and sighed deeply. "I don't know, Harry."
Harry felt terrible. Not only didn't he know what was going on, but he felt terrible for accusing Siren of killing Professor Winston. He should've known that she never would have done something like that to an innocent person.
"So it was definitely Andreala who killed Winston, then, right?" Harry asked Sirius.
Sirius sighed deeply and nodded his head.
"Did you know him?" Harry asked.
Sirius nodded his head again. "He was about two years below me when I was in school," he replied, 'he was a Gryffindor. Your father knew him pretty well. He was on the quidditch team and everything. I think Remus was pretty close friends with him over the past few years, though. He's been taking Winston's death pretty hard."
Before Sirius could say anymore, the doors to the hospital wing burst open, and in rushed Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Professor McGonagall followed them briskly. Snape was carrying someone's limp body in his arms. Harry quickly saw it to be Siren. She was badly beaten, all bruised and bloody, and she was unconscious - or was she dead? Harry couldn't tell.
Madame Pomfrey rushed towards them. "What on Earth? What happened to her?"
"We found her in an abandoned classroom," Dumbledore replied in a very concerned tone. "She looked as though she were beaten and left for dead."
"Quick, bring her here," Madame Pomfrey said as she led Snape toward an empty bed, and Madame Pomfrey waved her wand to a medicine cart, which then quickly rolled towards her.
Sirius looked at Harry, then stood up and walked over to where Siren was. Harry decided to go, too. He walked over and stood just behind Dumbledore, trying to get a good view of Siren, without getting in Madame Pomfrey's way.
"Andreala's work, I'll assume," Sirius said aloud.
"More than likely, yes," McGonagall answered, an obvious amount of fear apparent in her dry voice.
Madame Pomfrey quickly concocted some sort of potion or medicine (Harry couldn't tell what it was, exactly). She put it up to Siren's face. Harry expected her to pour it down Siren's throat, but she didn't. She simply held it below Siren's nose and waited. After about fifteen seconds, Siren's eyes opened wide, and she started to breath very heavily.
"She's in shock," Dumbledore said, keeping his eyes on Siren, and holding her left hand in a comforting way.
"Calm down, child," Madame Pomfrey said gently, "You're safe now."
"She tried to kill me!" Siren gasped, "He wants me dead!"
Dumbledore curved his eyebrows in concern. "Voldemort?" he asked.
"He sends her to kill people," Siren replied in a shaky voice, obviously terrified, "and he sent her after me!"
"You know better than that," Snape said calmly to her, "He can't kill you. He needs you, remember?"
"Then why the hell did her send her after me?" Siren cried.
"To show you that he could," Snape replied, "He knew she wouldn't kill you. He knew we'd find you. He wouldn't dare kill you, especially not now."
"Don't you get it?" Siren snapped, "He wants me dead! And he won't stop until he's done it!"
Madame Pomfrey handed Siren a cup, obviously containing some sort of tonic. "Drink this, dear," she said, "it will calm your nerves." Siren knocked Pomfrey's arm away, sending the cup crashing to the floor. Siren then sat up, trying to get out of the bed. Snape, however, restrained her. "Sit down," he said harshly.
"No!" Siren screamed, trying to fight him off. "No! Let me go! I have to hide! I have to get the Yfel and hide!"
"Forget about the Yfel," Dumbledore said gently, placing a hand on Siren's shoulder. "He already has it." Siren stopped struggling. Tears stained her face now, and she turned her head to look at Dumbledore. "No," she cried, "he can't..."
"He's had it for quite some time now," Snape replied, "Ever since he moved back into Salazar's dark castle."
Siren sighed and curled up into a ball on the bed. "I'm not safe here," she whispered.
"You're safer here than you would be anywhere else," McGonagall said, breaking her temporary silence. Almost as though some previously unknown maternal instincts had taken her over, McGonagall sat on the side of the bed, comfortingly caressing Siren's long, dark hair. "You need to rest for a bit," she said softly, "you'll feel better if you do."
Siren sniffed. "I just want to be alone right now," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow which now covered half of her face.
Dumbledore nodded at the others, and they all left Siren's side.
"Make sure she's healed as quickly as possible," Harry heard Dumbledore say to Madame Pomfrey, "I have a feeling that we'll need her to be at her strongest, very soon."
Everyone - Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall - left the wing, and Harry and Sirius returned to Harry's hospital bed. Harry got comfortable in the pillows, and looked over at Siren. He was surprised to see that she was looking right back at him, her eyes as harrowing as her grandfather's. Harry noticed the physical resemblance between Siren and Voldemort the strongest as of now, and it frightened him enough to make him turn his head away.
*****
"How vas Siren?" Krum asked Harry shortly after Harry had been released from the hospital wing.
"Not too good," Harry glumly replied. "Andreala beat her to a bloody pulp. When I saw her first, she had blood all over her front, and the left side of her face was all bashed in-"
"Harry," Hermione scolded quietly, "you needn't be so graphic."
"Are we allowed to see her?" Ron asked.
"No," Harry replied, "I think she's being interrogated by some Ministry workers."
Harry had already told them all the details about what had happened to Siren as they were walking to Potions class. They had arrived in the dungeons now. Krum turned to Hermione, saying, "I'll see you after class." He kissed her on the cheek, and took off up the stairs. Hermione, Ron, and Harry all went into the classroom and sat down at their desks. Hermione and Ron continued to talk to one another, but Harry zoned out, trying to fully comprehend what was going on with Siren, Andreala, and Voldemort. He soon found it impossible, however, considering that there were still many unanswered questions. How did Voldemort bring back Andreala? And what in the world was an Yfel?
Harry watched as the group of Slytherins entered the room, led by Malfoy, of course. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle took their seats across the aisle from Harry. Harry noticed that Malfoy somehow looked legitimately disturbed, almost confused.
"If you want to have a staring contest, Potter, just say so," Malfoy snickered. It was then that Harry noticed he had been staring at Draco for quite some time now. He didn't reply, but turned his head away in silence. Harry looked around the room. He didn't see Snape anywhere.
"I wonder where the old git's gotten to now," Ron said, also noticing Snape's absence.
The class chattered nonchalantly for about five minutes, until Snape finally entered the room briskly, with a look of hidden devastation on his face.
"Class has been cancelled." He didn't hesitate to announce this right away. "All students are to return to their house common rooms immediately."
"Why?" Malfoy asked aloud.
"Don't ask questions," Snape replied stalely, "just do as you're told."
Ron, Hermione, and Harry all looked at one another with confusion, then gathered their things, stood up, and left for their common room. When they arrived, all of the other Gryffindors were already there, speculating as to what could have happened.
"Maybe Professor Ridge has gone mad again," Harry heard a third year student say. It was then that Harry realized that nobody else at Hogwarts really knew that Andreala had been resurrected.
"Attention all students," a voice rang throughout the school.
"It's McGonagall," Fred Weasley said aloud, "Everyone shut up."
"Prefects," McGonagall continued, "you are to immediately escort your houses to the Great Hall. Headmaster Dumbledore has an important announcement to make." Everyone looked around at everyone else in curious wonder.
Hermione presently took charge. "Everyone follow me," she said, "I'm to escort you all to the Great Hall now."
"Yeah," Ron said after her, "You know, in case we get lost on the way there."
Everyone else laughed except Hermione, who gave Ron a scornful look. She then began to lead everyone through the castle to the Hall. Once they were all there, they took their seats at the Gryffindor table. All of the teachers were seated at the staff table, including Siren, who looked much better than when Harry has last seen her.
The last house to arrive was Ravenclaw, and as they all took their seats, Dumbledore immediately began to speak.
"As you all know," he said, his voice slightly echoing throughout the Hall, "some awful things have happened these past few days. I have gathered you all here to share some very unfortunate news. For reasons I am not yet allowed to discuss with the public, Hogwarts will be closed as of tomorrow, and you will all be sent home."
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*gasp* Oh no! Nehehehe. I hope you liked it! Please review :}
-Summer :)