Author's Notes- Hi all, it's me again. Well, that's pretty obvious, but
that's not the point. Anyways, here's the next chap. Hope you enjoy it.
Sorry that I left you on a minor cliffie, but you'll get over it. Now.
Hehe. Anyway, enjoy! REVIEW!!!! After you READ!!!!!
Disclaimer- The usual. I own nothing, it all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. I am not get paid.
Erika – The Legacy of Lily and James
"Erika, what's wrong?" Meg repeated, coming forward.
She picked up the letter, read it, and passed it onto Lucy, then to Avery. Within two minutes everyone in the room knew what had happened.
"Erika..." Lucy started.
I shook my head, "I... I have to get home. Harry needs me. Sarah needs me. We
have to find her. I have to get home."
"Erika, calm down," Meg warned.
But I was already moving towards my trunk, ready to pack, in a daze. Meg
caught me, and grabbed my arms.
"Erika, you can't just leave. The letter said..." Meg started.
"The letter said, the letter said, I KNOW WHAT THE LETTER SAID!" I shouted.
Meg looked startled, and took a step back. Overwhelmed, I sat down on my bed
and buried my face in my hands.
"I can't believe this is happening. She can't be dead, she can't be," I
muttered into my hands.
"No one said she was dead, Erika. The letter just said she was missing,"
Lucy reminded me.
I shook my head, "She's been kidnapped by Death Eaters. Death Eaters, Lucy!
They don't take hostages they kill! And they're going to kill Sarah."
"Erika, you have to calm down, you're going to make yourself sick," Lucy
said.
"I don't care. I don't want to calm down! I don't want to!" I shouted,
beginning to cry.
Then I broke down, crying. My roommates stood around, uncertain of what to
do. I couldn't believe it. Sarah was a captive of those ruthless, merciless,
evil Death Eaters. In the short time I'd known her, Sarah had become a
sister to me, and I didn't want her to die. Why did it seem like whenever I
got close to anyone they died or left?
There was a knock at the door, and Avery quickly scuttled over. She opened
the door to reveal Anya and Professor McGonagall.
They rushed into the room, full of concern. Anya sat down beside me, and
wrapped her arms around me.
"Calm down, Erika, it's going to be okay," she whispered in my ear.
"We just got the news," McGonagall told me.
I continued to sob.
"Erika, you have to listen to us. It's very important. There's good news
too, really, there is," Anya told me.
I looked up at her, and asked, "What, is Voldemort dead? Because that is the
only thing I'd consider good news right about now."
"Erika, we don't think Sarah's dead," Anya told me, "In fact, we don't even
think Voldemort has her. Apparently there have been two distinctive groups of Death Eaters in Voldemort's services for quite some time, which is bound to happen when you have such large numbers. Voldemort has always encouraged the competition between the groups because they did better and were more
obedient. But now it looks like one group's decided the best way to become the most favored is to do something without orders."
"Snake Eyes," Meg breathed, "Named for Voldemort himself. That's the group I know it. They always were the more drastic actors."
Anya nodded, "They attacked Diagon Alley and what luck, found Sarah Johnson, the fiancée of the hated Harry Potter. But it seems Voldemort wasn't as pleased with them as they thought he would be. All our sources are telling us there is still a distinct hope that she's alive and being held by them."
"Erika," Meg said, "I know these men. They won't kill her and they won't give her to Voldemort until he agrees to their terms. And he's so selfish and self-obsessed that he won't. He can stand people disobeying him. She's alive, for now."
"Your brother's working at finding her," McGonagall said
What she left unsaid I knew: the Order was doing the same.
"I want to talk to him," I decided, "I have to talk to him."
"Not now. He's still trying to find her. And it's too dangerous right now for Professor Dumbledore to let you leave the school," Anya said, "But we'll tell Harry that you want to talk to him."
I asked, "Not even by Floo?"
"No. There's no time," Anya said, "Every moment is crucial. Now, I want you to try and get to sleep."
I shook my head, wiping my eyes, "I don't think I can. I'll be too worried."
"Yes, I thought of that," McGonagall said, then handed me a vial, "This is a dreamless sleep potion. Take it if you can't sleep. Don't waste your energy, Miss Potter, do try to sleep."
I nodded, and took the vial, setting it down beside my bed.
"You are excused from classes tomorrow, as well," McGonagall said, "The Headmaster's orders."
Anya stood up, and whispered, "Be strong, Erika, and try to be calm. We'll find her."
She and McGonagall left the room, leaving the four of us alone again. There was silence in the room for a moment. The silence was followed by uncomfortable conversation, as we all got ready for bed. I changed into my nightclothes automatically, mechanically. I was in a daze. I still couldn't believe Sarah was captive.
About a half hour later, followed by quiet whispers between Avery and Lucy, both were asleep. Meg and I sat up in our own beds. My curtains were open so I could see the window; I didn't care about the cold.
I kept hoping to see Hedwig with news, her beak tapping against the window.
"Erika," Meg whispered, "You have to get to sleep. You heard what McGonagall and Anya said. You need sleep."
"I don't want to miss Hedwig. What if they find her and I'm asleep?" I asked.
Meg sighed, and then replied, "I'm a light sleeper, and I'll wake up, then tell you. Take the potion, Erika."
I still didn't want to, and turned to face Meg. Her face was hard.
"Erika..." she started.
I nodded, and reached for the potion. It tasted awful going down, but I drank it. I set the vial back on my bed stand.
"I'll wake up, Erika, I promise," Meg whispered.
Against my wishes I felt myself slipping into sleep.
When I woke up brilliant sunlight was streaming through the windows. The dormitory was silent.
At first I was confused because the dormitory was empty, and then everything came flooding back. Sarah was missing. Meg, Avery, and Lucy were at classes, and I was alone in the Gryffindor Tower.
I leaned against the headboard, and squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want any of it to be true. I wished I could turn back time and erase it, make it so it never happened.
But I couldn't, so I got out of bed. There was a note on my bedside table.
"There was no news. I'll see you at break. Meg."
I sat down and wrote a short letter to my brother, asking him to send me news as soon as he got some. I got dressed, went to the Owlery, and then returned. I settled down and resigned myself to waiting.
As she'd promised, Meg came to visit during break.
"Avery and Lucy, or rather, Lucy, wanted to come too but I told them not to," Meg told me, sitting down on her bed, "Any word yet?"
I shook my head, "None."
"Well, I talked to Dumbledore for an hour this morning, so I hope it gets better. And Lucas told me to tell you he's hoping they'll find her soon," Meg continued on.
"How did he know?" I asked.
Meg suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"His parents owled him this morning. They're in the Order, too, remember?"
I nodded, "I remember. But there's something else you're not telling me. I can read you like I do Harry. What is it?"
"There was an article in the Daily Prophet as well," Meg said, "I have a copy."
I didn't read the article until after Meg left. It was front-page news, the top of the article titled "Attack on Diagon Alley: One Missing".
"Yesterday afternoon, just after the noon hour, a group of ten Death Eaters appeared in the crowded Diagon Alley. The crowds panicked, and chaos ensued immediately. The Death Eaters began to shoot curses into the crowd. When the dust finally cleared the Death Eaters were gone, as was one of the witches who had been present before the attack.
"The missing witch is none other than American Sarah Johnson, the fiancée of the famous Harry Potter. Eyewitnesses say she had been shopping with her sister, a Miss Rebecca Johnson, who had been visiting from the United States. When the Death Eaters appeared Sarah Johnson quickly told her sister to apparate, as many of the others were doing. Meanwhile, the elder sister brandished her wand and pushed through the panicked crowd, apparently intent on fighting the Death Eaters.
"On lookers believe Sarah Johnson was taken captive by the Death Eaters while the younger sister stood, still lost in the crowd. Rebecca Johnson, weeping, told this reporter, 'She was there. I saw her, running through the crowd. The next moment she was gone, just like that!' That is the only quote we are able to receive from the young Johnson.
"Likewise, we only received one quote from Johnson's fiancé, the famous Harry Potter, who has not been able to comment. Potter did, however, say, "We'll find her. I'll look for her. She's not dead yet." What leads him to these beliefs no one can really be sure.
"There has been no news on Sarah Johnson or her current state. Stay tuned to the Prophet for updates."
"Figures," I whispered, putting the newspaper down.
Around dinnertime Meg came running into the room, her face red from the running.
"Erika!" she shouted, "I just talked to Anya. Harry's coming to talk to you tonight, but only for an hour!"
I stood up, pleasantly surprised.
"Really?" I asked.
Meg nodded, "Anya told me to tell you to be in Dumbledore's office at eight o'clock."
"Okay," I said.
Avery and Lucy arrived later, both with comforting words (or what they thought was comforting) for me. While they settled down to do homework I waited until eight. At a quarter to eight I set off for Dumbledore's office, walking silently down the hallway.
Anya was waiting for me at the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"How are you doing, Erika?" Anya asked.
I shrugged, and replied, "I really have to talk to Harry."
"That's why he's here," Anya replied, "He's talking with Dumbledore and McGonagall right now. But they're waiting for you."
We walked up to Dumbledore's office in silence. When we entered I quickly looked around the room. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk, Professor McGonagall was standing not far away, and Harry was leaning against a wall, talking.
Everything fell silent when we came in.
Immediately I rushed to my brother and hugged him. He hugged me back.
"Miss Potter, we've been waiting for you," Dumbledore said, going to stand up.
I nodded, and asked, "Is there any word? Any at all?"
"We have some ideas where she might be. They're looking right now. Meg helped us out; she knows where a lot of the old safe houses are. Professor Snape is helping too," Harry answered.
"So you're going to find her soon?" I asked.
Anya nodded, "Yes, soon."
"I can't stay long, Erika, I have to get back to the search," Harry told me.
I had expected that. He looked really tired, and I doubted that he had slept at all since Sarah had disappeared.
"How's Becky?" I asked.
"She's okay. She tried to help with the search effort, but Dumbledore cautioned her against it. She's not a member of the Order. But she's okay," Harry answered.
"What about Mrs. Johnson?" I asked.
Harry broke a small smile, "She came over as soon as she got the news, and has practically driven Sarah's room-mate off a cliff since then."
I managed a smile as well.
We talked for a little while, then Harry had to leave.
"I'll owl you as soon as anything changes," Harry said.
I nodded, "Okay."
With that he stepped into the fire and disappeared.
"Miss Potter, it is time you return to your dormitory," Dumbledore said, "Madam Pomfrey has given us another dreamless sleep potion for you, if you wish to use it. I strongly suggest you rest."
"You may also sit out classes tomorrow, if you like," Professor McGonagall added.
I nodded, "I'll think about it."
Anya led me back to my dormitory, where Avery, Lucy, and Meg were all waiting up for me, all of them eager for news.
I just shook my head, and told them there was no change. Finally, Avery and Lucy went to bed, and I was able to talk to Meg alone.
"It sounds like they're really close," Meg said, "That's good, isn't it?"
I nodded, "Yes."
"Are you going to go to classes tomorrow?" Meg asked.
I shrugged, "I might."
"It'll help with the waiting," Meg reminded me, "So you won't just be sitting around, waiting. It'll help pass the time."
"That's true," I whispered, staring up at the canopy of my bed.
"You'd better take your potion," Meg said, "So that you can get some sleep. You look horrible."
So I did. The potion took a minute or so to take affect, and I fell asleep, still talking to Meg.
The next morning I did as promised. I went with Avery, Lucy, and Meg down to breakfast. The entire school seemed to be watching me, knowing that someone I knew was a captive of the Death Eaters.
I had barely sat down when Lucas came over.
"Hi Avery, Lucy, Meg," he said, nodding to each of them, then continued, "Hi, Erika."
"Hi Lucas," I whispered.
Lucas smiled, "They're going to find her, Erika. They've got everyone working on it."
He said all this in a whisper, so only Meg and I could hear.
He gave me another smile and sat back down at his own seat. I turned around to face my own plate to see Lucy piling it with food.
"You look absolutely horrible, Erika. You're all pale. You need to eat," she said, piling a load of eggs onto my plate.
"I never eat this much, even when I'm well," I told her.
She shrugged, "I find people eat more when they're distressed."
So I ate what I could, knowing people were whispering to their friends about Harry, Sarah, and me. I bit my lip, and said nothing. When breakfast was done we went to our classes.
Meg was right, it was a good distraction to have to concentrate on my lessons. I was glad none of my professors had easy lessons in store for us.
In fact, in our late afternoon Potions class, Snape gave us a particularly hard potion to brew.
He told us that the potion was likely to show up on our final, and set us to work. Meg's presence always kept him calm around our class, mostly because the sight of Meg set him off at anger at Ruth and made him remember his dead family.
We started on our potion, all of us confused at what to do. Avery made a funny noise when she dropped in her frog legs instead of her frog eyes. When she tried to fish them out with her ladle the potion began to bubble over.
Snape had to come over and make the potion disappear, but told us that we had to help her clean it up. He left with a sneer on his face. I glared at his back, but helped Avery clean up anyway.
We weren't even halfway through when there was a knock at the classroom door. One of the prefects entered, and started looking around the room.
"Professor, I have a summons from Professor Dumbledore," the prefect said, "He wants to see Erika Potter right away."
I looked up from my cleaning.
"Potter!" Snape shouted.
I stood up, and asked, "Yes, Professor?"
"The headmaster wants to see you. Clean up your workplace, then you can leave," Snape said.
Quickly, I cleared my workplace, stuffing my books and things back into my bag. I glanced down at Meg, Avery, and Lucy, who all looked confused, before following the prefect out the door.
My stomach was clenched. Something had happened, something big. Had they found Sarah? Was she dead?
I barely remembered the trip to Dumbledore's office, and found myself standing at his door without even knowing how I'd got there.
I knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in," Dumbledore called from within.
I opened the door.
"Miss Potter. I thought it was you," Dumbledore said.
He was not alone. Ron stood nearby, obviously just getting done telling him something. He looked very dirty, and his red hair was matted with dirt.
"Erika, Harry sent me to tell you. We found Sarah, just about an hour ago. She's all right, well, she's alive at least," Ron said.
I felt as though a huge burden had been dropped and I could breathe free again. I smiled, weakly.
"She's okay. When we found her she was pretty beaten, but she's okay. Harry's with her, they took her to St. Mungo's. Harry wanted me to tell you so that you would know sooner," Ron told me, "It was as we thought, a group of rebellious Death Eaters kidnapped her, and when Voldemort found out he refused to even think about them, really, so he didn't have her."
I looked over at Dumbledore, and asked, "Do you think you could let me leave for the weekend, professor, so I could go visit her?"
Dumbledore shook his head, sadly, "I don't think so, Miss Potter. It is very dangerous for you to leave the school right now. Voldemort will be very upset that the Order managed to save Miss Johnson, and we can't risk sending you from the school."
I knew what he said was true, but I was sad nonetheless.
"I have to go, Erika, there is more work to do," Ron said, "Expect word from Harry soon, though."
I nodded, "I will. Thanks, Ron."
"Don't worry about it. Goodbye, Professor, Erika," he said.
Dumbledore and I replied and watched as Ron stepped closer to the fire.
With one last wave he stepped into the flames and disappeared. I turned to Dumbledore, who was smiling faintly.
"I am glad Miss Johnson is safe," he said, "And I am glad you are happy. I expect you can head off to dinner, the rest of the school will be there shortly."
"Thank you, Professor," I replied, and left the room.
I felt exuberant as I walked down the hallways towards the Great Hall. Sarah was safe! The Great Hall was silent when I entered, but not five minutes later the rest of the school began to file in. Meg, Avery, and Lucy rushed over as soon as they saw me.
"Sarah's safe. They found her this afternoon. She's at St. Mungo's, but she'll be fine!" I exclaimed to each of them, their faces clearly apprehensive.
Meg and Lucy hugged me, and Avery shook my hand (I expected this had something to do with the fact she didn't much like me, still, and I found it highly amusing). After dinner, back in our dormitory, I found it VERY hard to concentrate. I was so happy when Hedwig appeared at the window, with a letter from Harry.
Meg and I were alone in the room, as Lucy and Avery were in the library.
"What does it say, Erika?" Meg asked, looking up from her work.
"Dear Erika, I expect Ron's already told you, as I asked him to, but we found Sarah. She's safe, at St. Mungo's as I write this. She's suffering a few complications due to some charms they used on her, but she's okay. The Healers decided she could leave tomorrow morning. I expect you want to know about how we found her. Well, Meg and Snape told us about some of the secret safe houses Death Eaters use, and we found her at one of them this afternoon. We had several Aurors helping us (rather, those still under Ministry control but loyal to Dumbledore, a strange situation, really), and we managed to capture ten Death Eaters for questioning and eventual trial. Six escaped they probably went back to Voldemort. Sarah wants me to tell you that she's okay and she's happy to know you were concerned. Becky and Mrs. Johnson are both here right now, so I'll send this off with Hedwig. P.S.- Becky and Mrs. Johnson both want me to tell you they send their best. Both look entirely stressed from this entire situation, but, really, who isn't? Harry."
"That sounds promising," Meg said.
I nodded, "Yeah."
I sat down to write a reply when Avery and Lucy entered the dormitory, both looking very excited.
"Erika, look at this." Lucy said, throwing a copy of the Nightly Prophet into my lap.
On the bottom of the front page was another article.
"Missing Witch Found," I read.
"Read on," Lucy said.
"This afternoon a group of Aurors as well as friends of the missing witch, an American named Sarah Johnson, stormed a Death Eater hideout. Ten Death Eaters were captured to be questioned and stand trial. It is reported that a few others managed to escape the raid.
"Found in the near ruined building was Miss Johnson, fiancée to Harry Potter, who was among her rescuers. Johnson was reported to have been in fair condition, and was taken by friends to St. Mungo's immediately for treatment. Sources tell us that she will be released the following morning.
"For information on the captured Death Eaters, see page 3."
I set down the paper, "It doesn't tell me anything other than what I already knew."
Meg took the paper and opened it to page 3. A few minutes later, she looked up, surprised and excited.
"Erika, they caught Crabbe, do you remember him? He went to school with Harry," Meg said.
I looked over her shoulder at the page. There were pictures of all the captured Death Eaters as well as their names. Sure enough, the ugly oaf glared up at us. Two columns below I read another name and saw the picture, another man not much older than us, with brown hair and menacing eyes. Meg saw my gaze.
"My half-brother," she whispered, "Always knew he would be caught. Too drastic of a character, he is."
"If he's being questioned, that's a good thing. But it also means another Riddle in the Ministry's control. Think you can handle it, Meg?" I asked.
She nodded, "As long as they don't make me talk to him, which I doubt they will, I can pretend he doesn't exist. That's what I've done for the rest of them."
The next morning I received an owl from Sarah, and it was very nice to see her handwriting. It basically said what Harry's letter said, except she had been released early that morning. They promised to come visit as soon as they could.
Meg told me at breakfast, coming in late after a meeting with Dumbledore, that she'd Seen while she'd slept last night.
"It was about those six Death Eaters who escaped, back to Voldemort," Meg whispered, "He's going to execute them. I Saw it."
I looked around to make sure no one had heard, and motioned for Meg to follow me into the deserted hallway.
"What'd you See?" I asked.
Meg shrugged, "It was really bad, really. The six of them were standing in a line, and he and Ruth were looking at them. He told them that for betraying him they were going to pay with their lives, or something along those lines, I don't really remember. And then Ruth asked if she could kill them, for practice. I remember this part the best, really.
"And he sneered at the Death Eaters and said, 'They don't deserve my wand, nor yours. Bring the other children here. They can practice a bit.'
"Then he brought the other children in, and they're mostly quite young, most of them can't do the death curse very good, not enough to kill efficiently. So it took more than an hour before the lot of them were dead, and mostly from torturing from what little the children could do."
I shuddered, "That's horrible."
Meg nodded, "Do you think they deserved it, Erika?"
I hesitated, and thought.
"I dunno, they did horrible things, but to die like that, knowing you were going to die, and when you know you just want to get it done with. Knowing you don't have a chance, and waiting in such pain I dunno, Meg," I whispered.
Author's Note- Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to my fabulous beta-reader, Glaz (previously known as Galagirl). Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, I owe you guys. Have a jolly good summer. The next chap might be a little slow in coming, I will be, sadly, away from computers for about two weeks. But I'll try to write it out normally and type it ASAP. REVIEW!!!!!
Any Additional Comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111aol.com
Disclaimer- The usual. I own nothing, it all belongs to the great Harry Potter people. I am not get paid.
Erika – The Legacy of Lily and James
"Erika, what's wrong?" Meg repeated, coming forward.
She picked up the letter, read it, and passed it onto Lucy, then to Avery. Within two minutes everyone in the room knew what had happened.
"Erika..." Lucy started.
I shook my head, "I... I have to get home. Harry needs me. Sarah needs me. We
have to find her. I have to get home."
"Erika, calm down," Meg warned.
But I was already moving towards my trunk, ready to pack, in a daze. Meg
caught me, and grabbed my arms.
"Erika, you can't just leave. The letter said..." Meg started.
"The letter said, the letter said, I KNOW WHAT THE LETTER SAID!" I shouted.
Meg looked startled, and took a step back. Overwhelmed, I sat down on my bed
and buried my face in my hands.
"I can't believe this is happening. She can't be dead, she can't be," I
muttered into my hands.
"No one said she was dead, Erika. The letter just said she was missing,"
Lucy reminded me.
I shook my head, "She's been kidnapped by Death Eaters. Death Eaters, Lucy!
They don't take hostages they kill! And they're going to kill Sarah."
"Erika, you have to calm down, you're going to make yourself sick," Lucy
said.
"I don't care. I don't want to calm down! I don't want to!" I shouted,
beginning to cry.
Then I broke down, crying. My roommates stood around, uncertain of what to
do. I couldn't believe it. Sarah was a captive of those ruthless, merciless,
evil Death Eaters. In the short time I'd known her, Sarah had become a
sister to me, and I didn't want her to die. Why did it seem like whenever I
got close to anyone they died or left?
There was a knock at the door, and Avery quickly scuttled over. She opened
the door to reveal Anya and Professor McGonagall.
They rushed into the room, full of concern. Anya sat down beside me, and
wrapped her arms around me.
"Calm down, Erika, it's going to be okay," she whispered in my ear.
"We just got the news," McGonagall told me.
I continued to sob.
"Erika, you have to listen to us. It's very important. There's good news
too, really, there is," Anya told me.
I looked up at her, and asked, "What, is Voldemort dead? Because that is the
only thing I'd consider good news right about now."
"Erika, we don't think Sarah's dead," Anya told me, "In fact, we don't even
think Voldemort has her. Apparently there have been two distinctive groups of Death Eaters in Voldemort's services for quite some time, which is bound to happen when you have such large numbers. Voldemort has always encouraged the competition between the groups because they did better and were more
obedient. But now it looks like one group's decided the best way to become the most favored is to do something without orders."
"Snake Eyes," Meg breathed, "Named for Voldemort himself. That's the group I know it. They always were the more drastic actors."
Anya nodded, "They attacked Diagon Alley and what luck, found Sarah Johnson, the fiancée of the hated Harry Potter. But it seems Voldemort wasn't as pleased with them as they thought he would be. All our sources are telling us there is still a distinct hope that she's alive and being held by them."
"Erika," Meg said, "I know these men. They won't kill her and they won't give her to Voldemort until he agrees to their terms. And he's so selfish and self-obsessed that he won't. He can stand people disobeying him. She's alive, for now."
"Your brother's working at finding her," McGonagall said
What she left unsaid I knew: the Order was doing the same.
"I want to talk to him," I decided, "I have to talk to him."
"Not now. He's still trying to find her. And it's too dangerous right now for Professor Dumbledore to let you leave the school," Anya said, "But we'll tell Harry that you want to talk to him."
I asked, "Not even by Floo?"
"No. There's no time," Anya said, "Every moment is crucial. Now, I want you to try and get to sleep."
I shook my head, wiping my eyes, "I don't think I can. I'll be too worried."
"Yes, I thought of that," McGonagall said, then handed me a vial, "This is a dreamless sleep potion. Take it if you can't sleep. Don't waste your energy, Miss Potter, do try to sleep."
I nodded, and took the vial, setting it down beside my bed.
"You are excused from classes tomorrow, as well," McGonagall said, "The Headmaster's orders."
Anya stood up, and whispered, "Be strong, Erika, and try to be calm. We'll find her."
She and McGonagall left the room, leaving the four of us alone again. There was silence in the room for a moment. The silence was followed by uncomfortable conversation, as we all got ready for bed. I changed into my nightclothes automatically, mechanically. I was in a daze. I still couldn't believe Sarah was captive.
About a half hour later, followed by quiet whispers between Avery and Lucy, both were asleep. Meg and I sat up in our own beds. My curtains were open so I could see the window; I didn't care about the cold.
I kept hoping to see Hedwig with news, her beak tapping against the window.
"Erika," Meg whispered, "You have to get to sleep. You heard what McGonagall and Anya said. You need sleep."
"I don't want to miss Hedwig. What if they find her and I'm asleep?" I asked.
Meg sighed, and then replied, "I'm a light sleeper, and I'll wake up, then tell you. Take the potion, Erika."
I still didn't want to, and turned to face Meg. Her face was hard.
"Erika..." she started.
I nodded, and reached for the potion. It tasted awful going down, but I drank it. I set the vial back on my bed stand.
"I'll wake up, Erika, I promise," Meg whispered.
Against my wishes I felt myself slipping into sleep.
When I woke up brilliant sunlight was streaming through the windows. The dormitory was silent.
At first I was confused because the dormitory was empty, and then everything came flooding back. Sarah was missing. Meg, Avery, and Lucy were at classes, and I was alone in the Gryffindor Tower.
I leaned against the headboard, and squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want any of it to be true. I wished I could turn back time and erase it, make it so it never happened.
But I couldn't, so I got out of bed. There was a note on my bedside table.
"There was no news. I'll see you at break. Meg."
I sat down and wrote a short letter to my brother, asking him to send me news as soon as he got some. I got dressed, went to the Owlery, and then returned. I settled down and resigned myself to waiting.
As she'd promised, Meg came to visit during break.
"Avery and Lucy, or rather, Lucy, wanted to come too but I told them not to," Meg told me, sitting down on her bed, "Any word yet?"
I shook my head, "None."
"Well, I talked to Dumbledore for an hour this morning, so I hope it gets better. And Lucas told me to tell you he's hoping they'll find her soon," Meg continued on.
"How did he know?" I asked.
Meg suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"His parents owled him this morning. They're in the Order, too, remember?"
I nodded, "I remember. But there's something else you're not telling me. I can read you like I do Harry. What is it?"
"There was an article in the Daily Prophet as well," Meg said, "I have a copy."
I didn't read the article until after Meg left. It was front-page news, the top of the article titled "Attack on Diagon Alley: One Missing".
"Yesterday afternoon, just after the noon hour, a group of ten Death Eaters appeared in the crowded Diagon Alley. The crowds panicked, and chaos ensued immediately. The Death Eaters began to shoot curses into the crowd. When the dust finally cleared the Death Eaters were gone, as was one of the witches who had been present before the attack.
"The missing witch is none other than American Sarah Johnson, the fiancée of the famous Harry Potter. Eyewitnesses say she had been shopping with her sister, a Miss Rebecca Johnson, who had been visiting from the United States. When the Death Eaters appeared Sarah Johnson quickly told her sister to apparate, as many of the others were doing. Meanwhile, the elder sister brandished her wand and pushed through the panicked crowd, apparently intent on fighting the Death Eaters.
"On lookers believe Sarah Johnson was taken captive by the Death Eaters while the younger sister stood, still lost in the crowd. Rebecca Johnson, weeping, told this reporter, 'She was there. I saw her, running through the crowd. The next moment she was gone, just like that!' That is the only quote we are able to receive from the young Johnson.
"Likewise, we only received one quote from Johnson's fiancé, the famous Harry Potter, who has not been able to comment. Potter did, however, say, "We'll find her. I'll look for her. She's not dead yet." What leads him to these beliefs no one can really be sure.
"There has been no news on Sarah Johnson or her current state. Stay tuned to the Prophet for updates."
"Figures," I whispered, putting the newspaper down.
Around dinnertime Meg came running into the room, her face red from the running.
"Erika!" she shouted, "I just talked to Anya. Harry's coming to talk to you tonight, but only for an hour!"
I stood up, pleasantly surprised.
"Really?" I asked.
Meg nodded, "Anya told me to tell you to be in Dumbledore's office at eight o'clock."
"Okay," I said.
Avery and Lucy arrived later, both with comforting words (or what they thought was comforting) for me. While they settled down to do homework I waited until eight. At a quarter to eight I set off for Dumbledore's office, walking silently down the hallway.
Anya was waiting for me at the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"How are you doing, Erika?" Anya asked.
I shrugged, and replied, "I really have to talk to Harry."
"That's why he's here," Anya replied, "He's talking with Dumbledore and McGonagall right now. But they're waiting for you."
We walked up to Dumbledore's office in silence. When we entered I quickly looked around the room. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk, Professor McGonagall was standing not far away, and Harry was leaning against a wall, talking.
Everything fell silent when we came in.
Immediately I rushed to my brother and hugged him. He hugged me back.
"Miss Potter, we've been waiting for you," Dumbledore said, going to stand up.
I nodded, and asked, "Is there any word? Any at all?"
"We have some ideas where she might be. They're looking right now. Meg helped us out; she knows where a lot of the old safe houses are. Professor Snape is helping too," Harry answered.
"So you're going to find her soon?" I asked.
Anya nodded, "Yes, soon."
"I can't stay long, Erika, I have to get back to the search," Harry told me.
I had expected that. He looked really tired, and I doubted that he had slept at all since Sarah had disappeared.
"How's Becky?" I asked.
"She's okay. She tried to help with the search effort, but Dumbledore cautioned her against it. She's not a member of the Order. But she's okay," Harry answered.
"What about Mrs. Johnson?" I asked.
Harry broke a small smile, "She came over as soon as she got the news, and has practically driven Sarah's room-mate off a cliff since then."
I managed a smile as well.
We talked for a little while, then Harry had to leave.
"I'll owl you as soon as anything changes," Harry said.
I nodded, "Okay."
With that he stepped into the fire and disappeared.
"Miss Potter, it is time you return to your dormitory," Dumbledore said, "Madam Pomfrey has given us another dreamless sleep potion for you, if you wish to use it. I strongly suggest you rest."
"You may also sit out classes tomorrow, if you like," Professor McGonagall added.
I nodded, "I'll think about it."
Anya led me back to my dormitory, where Avery, Lucy, and Meg were all waiting up for me, all of them eager for news.
I just shook my head, and told them there was no change. Finally, Avery and Lucy went to bed, and I was able to talk to Meg alone.
"It sounds like they're really close," Meg said, "That's good, isn't it?"
I nodded, "Yes."
"Are you going to go to classes tomorrow?" Meg asked.
I shrugged, "I might."
"It'll help with the waiting," Meg reminded me, "So you won't just be sitting around, waiting. It'll help pass the time."
"That's true," I whispered, staring up at the canopy of my bed.
"You'd better take your potion," Meg said, "So that you can get some sleep. You look horrible."
So I did. The potion took a minute or so to take affect, and I fell asleep, still talking to Meg.
The next morning I did as promised. I went with Avery, Lucy, and Meg down to breakfast. The entire school seemed to be watching me, knowing that someone I knew was a captive of the Death Eaters.
I had barely sat down when Lucas came over.
"Hi Avery, Lucy, Meg," he said, nodding to each of them, then continued, "Hi, Erika."
"Hi Lucas," I whispered.
Lucas smiled, "They're going to find her, Erika. They've got everyone working on it."
He said all this in a whisper, so only Meg and I could hear.
He gave me another smile and sat back down at his own seat. I turned around to face my own plate to see Lucy piling it with food.
"You look absolutely horrible, Erika. You're all pale. You need to eat," she said, piling a load of eggs onto my plate.
"I never eat this much, even when I'm well," I told her.
She shrugged, "I find people eat more when they're distressed."
So I ate what I could, knowing people were whispering to their friends about Harry, Sarah, and me. I bit my lip, and said nothing. When breakfast was done we went to our classes.
Meg was right, it was a good distraction to have to concentrate on my lessons. I was glad none of my professors had easy lessons in store for us.
In fact, in our late afternoon Potions class, Snape gave us a particularly hard potion to brew.
He told us that the potion was likely to show up on our final, and set us to work. Meg's presence always kept him calm around our class, mostly because the sight of Meg set him off at anger at Ruth and made him remember his dead family.
We started on our potion, all of us confused at what to do. Avery made a funny noise when she dropped in her frog legs instead of her frog eyes. When she tried to fish them out with her ladle the potion began to bubble over.
Snape had to come over and make the potion disappear, but told us that we had to help her clean it up. He left with a sneer on his face. I glared at his back, but helped Avery clean up anyway.
We weren't even halfway through when there was a knock at the classroom door. One of the prefects entered, and started looking around the room.
"Professor, I have a summons from Professor Dumbledore," the prefect said, "He wants to see Erika Potter right away."
I looked up from my cleaning.
"Potter!" Snape shouted.
I stood up, and asked, "Yes, Professor?"
"The headmaster wants to see you. Clean up your workplace, then you can leave," Snape said.
Quickly, I cleared my workplace, stuffing my books and things back into my bag. I glanced down at Meg, Avery, and Lucy, who all looked confused, before following the prefect out the door.
My stomach was clenched. Something had happened, something big. Had they found Sarah? Was she dead?
I barely remembered the trip to Dumbledore's office, and found myself standing at his door without even knowing how I'd got there.
I knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in," Dumbledore called from within.
I opened the door.
"Miss Potter. I thought it was you," Dumbledore said.
He was not alone. Ron stood nearby, obviously just getting done telling him something. He looked very dirty, and his red hair was matted with dirt.
"Erika, Harry sent me to tell you. We found Sarah, just about an hour ago. She's all right, well, she's alive at least," Ron said.
I felt as though a huge burden had been dropped and I could breathe free again. I smiled, weakly.
"She's okay. When we found her she was pretty beaten, but she's okay. Harry's with her, they took her to St. Mungo's. Harry wanted me to tell you so that you would know sooner," Ron told me, "It was as we thought, a group of rebellious Death Eaters kidnapped her, and when Voldemort found out he refused to even think about them, really, so he didn't have her."
I looked over at Dumbledore, and asked, "Do you think you could let me leave for the weekend, professor, so I could go visit her?"
Dumbledore shook his head, sadly, "I don't think so, Miss Potter. It is very dangerous for you to leave the school right now. Voldemort will be very upset that the Order managed to save Miss Johnson, and we can't risk sending you from the school."
I knew what he said was true, but I was sad nonetheless.
"I have to go, Erika, there is more work to do," Ron said, "Expect word from Harry soon, though."
I nodded, "I will. Thanks, Ron."
"Don't worry about it. Goodbye, Professor, Erika," he said.
Dumbledore and I replied and watched as Ron stepped closer to the fire.
With one last wave he stepped into the flames and disappeared. I turned to Dumbledore, who was smiling faintly.
"I am glad Miss Johnson is safe," he said, "And I am glad you are happy. I expect you can head off to dinner, the rest of the school will be there shortly."
"Thank you, Professor," I replied, and left the room.
I felt exuberant as I walked down the hallways towards the Great Hall. Sarah was safe! The Great Hall was silent when I entered, but not five minutes later the rest of the school began to file in. Meg, Avery, and Lucy rushed over as soon as they saw me.
"Sarah's safe. They found her this afternoon. She's at St. Mungo's, but she'll be fine!" I exclaimed to each of them, their faces clearly apprehensive.
Meg and Lucy hugged me, and Avery shook my hand (I expected this had something to do with the fact she didn't much like me, still, and I found it highly amusing). After dinner, back in our dormitory, I found it VERY hard to concentrate. I was so happy when Hedwig appeared at the window, with a letter from Harry.
Meg and I were alone in the room, as Lucy and Avery were in the library.
"What does it say, Erika?" Meg asked, looking up from her work.
"Dear Erika, I expect Ron's already told you, as I asked him to, but we found Sarah. She's safe, at St. Mungo's as I write this. She's suffering a few complications due to some charms they used on her, but she's okay. The Healers decided she could leave tomorrow morning. I expect you want to know about how we found her. Well, Meg and Snape told us about some of the secret safe houses Death Eaters use, and we found her at one of them this afternoon. We had several Aurors helping us (rather, those still under Ministry control but loyal to Dumbledore, a strange situation, really), and we managed to capture ten Death Eaters for questioning and eventual trial. Six escaped they probably went back to Voldemort. Sarah wants me to tell you that she's okay and she's happy to know you were concerned. Becky and Mrs. Johnson are both here right now, so I'll send this off with Hedwig. P.S.- Becky and Mrs. Johnson both want me to tell you they send their best. Both look entirely stressed from this entire situation, but, really, who isn't? Harry."
"That sounds promising," Meg said.
I nodded, "Yeah."
I sat down to write a reply when Avery and Lucy entered the dormitory, both looking very excited.
"Erika, look at this." Lucy said, throwing a copy of the Nightly Prophet into my lap.
On the bottom of the front page was another article.
"Missing Witch Found," I read.
"Read on," Lucy said.
"This afternoon a group of Aurors as well as friends of the missing witch, an American named Sarah Johnson, stormed a Death Eater hideout. Ten Death Eaters were captured to be questioned and stand trial. It is reported that a few others managed to escape the raid.
"Found in the near ruined building was Miss Johnson, fiancée to Harry Potter, who was among her rescuers. Johnson was reported to have been in fair condition, and was taken by friends to St. Mungo's immediately for treatment. Sources tell us that she will be released the following morning.
"For information on the captured Death Eaters, see page 3."
I set down the paper, "It doesn't tell me anything other than what I already knew."
Meg took the paper and opened it to page 3. A few minutes later, she looked up, surprised and excited.
"Erika, they caught Crabbe, do you remember him? He went to school with Harry," Meg said.
I looked over her shoulder at the page. There were pictures of all the captured Death Eaters as well as their names. Sure enough, the ugly oaf glared up at us. Two columns below I read another name and saw the picture, another man not much older than us, with brown hair and menacing eyes. Meg saw my gaze.
"My half-brother," she whispered, "Always knew he would be caught. Too drastic of a character, he is."
"If he's being questioned, that's a good thing. But it also means another Riddle in the Ministry's control. Think you can handle it, Meg?" I asked.
She nodded, "As long as they don't make me talk to him, which I doubt they will, I can pretend he doesn't exist. That's what I've done for the rest of them."
The next morning I received an owl from Sarah, and it was very nice to see her handwriting. It basically said what Harry's letter said, except she had been released early that morning. They promised to come visit as soon as they could.
Meg told me at breakfast, coming in late after a meeting with Dumbledore, that she'd Seen while she'd slept last night.
"It was about those six Death Eaters who escaped, back to Voldemort," Meg whispered, "He's going to execute them. I Saw it."
I looked around to make sure no one had heard, and motioned for Meg to follow me into the deserted hallway.
"What'd you See?" I asked.
Meg shrugged, "It was really bad, really. The six of them were standing in a line, and he and Ruth were looking at them. He told them that for betraying him they were going to pay with their lives, or something along those lines, I don't really remember. And then Ruth asked if she could kill them, for practice. I remember this part the best, really.
"And he sneered at the Death Eaters and said, 'They don't deserve my wand, nor yours. Bring the other children here. They can practice a bit.'
"Then he brought the other children in, and they're mostly quite young, most of them can't do the death curse very good, not enough to kill efficiently. So it took more than an hour before the lot of them were dead, and mostly from torturing from what little the children could do."
I shuddered, "That's horrible."
Meg nodded, "Do you think they deserved it, Erika?"
I hesitated, and thought.
"I dunno, they did horrible things, but to die like that, knowing you were going to die, and when you know you just want to get it done with. Knowing you don't have a chance, and waiting in such pain I dunno, Meg," I whispered.
Author's Note- Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to my fabulous beta-reader, Glaz (previously known as Galagirl). Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, I owe you guys. Have a jolly good summer. The next chap might be a little slow in coming, I will be, sadly, away from computers for about two weeks. But I'll try to write it out normally and type it ASAP. REVIEW!!!!!
Any Additional Comments can be given to me at StarlightEve111aol.com