Lives and Loves of Ravenclaw Girls

Chapter 15 – Aftermath

By: Megan with help from Soretta

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Once every one had gotten the okay from the healer in charge they went in. Heidi and Shannon went straight to Megan's bedside where Julie already was curled up telling Megan to wake up. Heidi lay down on Megan's other side as Shannon sat on the foot of the bed. The boys stood around awkwardly, not sure of what to do.

All of the girls were exhausted and quickly fell asleep, so James and Remus made their way up to the tearoom. "She'll be ok, right?" Remus asked James.

"Megan?" Remus nodded, "Of course she will, she's a strong girl. She'll pull through."

"Julie would die if Megan didn't make it. They've been friends since they were five and Megan pushed her down in the sandbox at the playground." James laughed at this.

"Megan's always been a fighter, since day one. I heard she has 5 brothers, all older, and that's how it was at her house. Beat or be beaten."

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The boys eventually went back to Hogwarts, waking the girls briefly to tell them. The girls slept on and on. When Megan's family came by, all 5 brothers' and her father, they woke up and left the room while they "talked" to Megan.

They went back in and fell asleep, Julie on one side Heidi on the other and Shannon at the foot of the bed, when Megan's family left again. They were solemn and couldn't stand seeing Megan that way and left soon after they came.

When morning came the boys came back to find all the girls the way they had left them. They shook them awake and took them upstairs to get food from the tearoom.

"Has she changed at all?" Remus asked as he held Julie's hand.

"No, she's not responding to anything. It's just like she's asleep or something."

"Sleeping Beauty," mused Shannon, when she got confused looks she continued, "Sleeping Beauty had a spell put on her by an evil witch so she would sleep until true love's first kiss."

"Tag," James responded.

"Tag." everyone else confirmed.

"Where do you suppose he is?" asked James.

"Who knows," Julie sighed, "who knows?"

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"This is your last chance, Anderson. What are Dumbledore's plans?"

"Never," Tag said spitting blood on Brandon's robes, "I'll never tell you anything."

Brandon pulled out a knife, "You know, Anderson, there are worse things than the Crucio. You want me to show you?" And Brandon took the knife and pressed it against Tag's cheek; he slowly dragged it across the skin leaving a deep cut on Tag's cheek. "Damn it, Tag," Brandon said dropping the knife to the floor, "They're going to make me kill you if you don't cooperate."

"Why, Brandon, I didn't think you cared seeing as you like to torture me, killing me is not much worse than this. You already hurt Megan."

"I killed the whore," Brandon said eyeing Tag's face.

"No you didn't," Tag said smiling, "Megan survived and she's going to come after you and kill you and anyone who stands in her way."

"It's good you still have hope, Tag, your not going to have it for much longer. One of my fellow followers saw the auror's pull her out of the rubble, she was dead." Tag ripped against the chains holding him back.

"Liar!" he yelled, "You piece of shit! Megan's alive and she's going to come for me."

"Too bad you won't remember her when she does," Brandon said pulling out his wand again, "Crucio!" he watched as Tag crumpled trying to stay awake, trying to withstand the pain. He was getting stronger and stronger each time Brandon tried it. He lowered his wand and Tag fell limp, his only support was the chains digging into his wrists. "Tell me his plans, damn it." Tag brought his head up and laughed.

"Screw you, Miller! Dumbledore would never let any of his plans out, even if he did tell me. There's no way for you to get it out of me. It's locked up inside me, you see, like a vault."

"So let's rip you open and find this vault." Brandon said reclaiming his fallen knife.

"Good luck with that, Only Dumbledore can get it out of me. I guess you'll just have to kill me anyways," Brandon lunged at Tag with the knife when the door opened again and a girl stepped inside.

"Don't kill him, Miller. There are ways of getting information out of him yet," Bellatrix Black said sidling up to Tag and drawing a finger across his cheek, she brought her face close to his and then whispered, "Isn't there Tag?" before she licked the blood off his cheek, "I can find her for you, I can find Megan and bring her here and kill her in front of you. Would you like that?" Tag jerked away from her slamming his head against the wall and cracking it.

"Don't touch her!"

"Oh, we won't, if you tell us what his plans are."

"I told you I can't."

"Then the bitch dies, fair and square."

"What's fair about this?" Tag asked jerking his chained hands and feet.

"All's fair in Love and War." Bella whispered before kissing his forehead and leaving the room with Brandon behind her. The door clanged shut with a defeating sound.

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The boys had left again and the girls went and visited a barely-woken Samantha.

"Hey guys, where's Megz?" Sam asked.

"She's here."

"Where?"

"In St. Mungo's, she's in a coma, Sam. A brick wall fell on her and Tag's missing."

"So what you think there was a fight?" Sam asked.

"We think he was kidnapped. You know he was pretty close to Dumbledore, they probably want information," Heidi said.

"Wanna come with us to stay with Megz?" Shannon asked; squeezing her hand as Sam nodded. They slipped out of the room and down the hall into Megan's room. There wasn't a spot on her that wasn't bruised or cut. They slid Julie's bed next to Megan's and crawled in, Julie on one side Heidi on the other and Shannon and Sam on the other bed. They all stayed close until about noon when there was some shuffling in the bed.

"What the hell?" a voice cried out.

Julie opened her sleepy eyes to see Megan looking at all the girls surrounding her, asleep. "What are you all doing in my bed?" she asked.

"SHE'S AWAKE!!!" Julie screamed waking the other girls and enveloping Megan in a bone crushing hug. The other girls quickly awoke and hugged Megan too. All chanting "She's awake! She's awake!"

"OW!" Megan said when they released her, she rubbed her already bruised and broken ribs, "Why do I feel like a brick wall fell on me and why am I wearing a nightgown?"

"Well because a brick wall did fall on you and you're at St. Mungo's." Heidi said stating the obvious.

"That creep, he did this." Megan said trying to get out of the filled bed and failing because one of her legs was currently being sat on by Shannon.

"What creep?" Shannon asked.

"Brandon Miller. Shan, get off my leg I think you broke it."

"Well actually I think it already was broken. And what did Brandon Miller do?"

"He attacked me and Tag. The bastard attacked us, he's a death eater guys."

"Brandon Miller's a death eater?" Sam said dubious.

"I know what I saw." Megan said glaring at Sam for doubting her. "Where's Tag?"

"He's ..." Julie elbowed Shannon in the chest.

"Not here," She didn't think Megan could take it if she heard from them that her love was missing.

Just then the Healer came in. "Oh, my, Megan you're awake."

"Yes, last time I checked I was."

"And back to normal I see."

"As normal as I can be. When can I get out of here?"

"I don't know, hunny. You sustained a fair few injuries. Julie Walsh, you on the other hand are free to go. As are you Miss Adams. I need you girls to go back to the castle and tell Dumbledore that Docura's awake and will be fine as soon as I patch her up."

"Yes, Miranda," They all knew Miranda because she was Megan's regular healer, and as everyone knew Megan was quite a clumsy person and usually ended up in the hospital every other week, so of course all the girls knew Miranda.

The girls all filed out of the room as Miranda set about healing Megan's injuries as she talked. "Now get some rest, Megan, you'll need it to heal." Megan lay down under her covers and was almost asleep when she remembered something. "Miranda?" Megan called just before the healer left. Miranda turned around at the door, listening. "Tag's not missing, is he? Only I think I dreamt that he was."

"I'm sorry to inform you, Megan, but yes, Tag is amongst the missing."

"Oh, thanks for telling me the truth," Megan said calmly, but on the inside she was screaming "NO!!!"

"Megan?"

"Yeah?"

"I have some more bad news."

"And what's that?"

"You lost the baby."

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Megan sat against the wall between her and Julie's bed in the dormitory. It was dark and the only light came from the moon shinning through the window behind her, casting her face in shadows. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to keep the tears from coming. Tag was gone. Her baby was gone. And she couldn't do anything about either one.

Slowly the tears came and when the first one landed on her arm Megan was startled at ho warm it was. She felt so cold and alone, how could she produce something so warm. She tried to wipe the tears away but it hurt too much to move. 'That's what a ton of bricks falling on you does,' she thought bitterly, "It hurts."

She said the last bit out loud and it came out stronger than she felt. She started to tremble with cold but made no move to get a blanket. She shook with sobs and shivers for a long time before anyone came in.

Julie walked in and lit the torches with a wave of her wand and then spotted Megan. "Found her!" she shouted behind her. And the rest of the girls came running in. "We couldn't find you," Julie said, "the hospital said they released you but didn't know where you went."

"I came here." Megan said and her voice cracked with emotion. "I feel safe here."

Julie knelt beside her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"What isn't?" was Megan's cynical answer, "Tag's gone. He went missing after the attack."

"We know. Dumbledore just announced who was all missing. We went to the hospital and your house. You weren't there."

"I didn't want to go home. I'm not safe there, not safe anywhere. Only here," Megan said patting the ground to emphasize the here. Ever since they had got to Hogwarts in their first year Megan had claimed the spot she was sitting in to be her haven. "It's peaceful and I feel safe." she would say.

"I know. We can't even go to Hogsmeade without being attacked," Stated Sam gloomily.

Megan looked up then and saw how worried they had all been and how relieved they were to see her. Suddenly she didn't want them to be happy at all. Their boyfriends were all fine, they could still kiss and hug and touch them. Megan couldn't and didn't know if she would ever see Tag again.

"You know what else sucks?" Megan asked looking directly at Shannon as she did. "Losing a baby you were told you didn't have."

All the girl's faces wrinkled in confusion and then their eyes widened as it dawned on them.

"Megz ..." Shannon began but Megan cut her off.

"You said they were negative!" She yelled.

"That's what they said! I swear I read it right!"

"Well, you didn't! You were wrong, Shannon!" Megan yelled and then in a whisper said, "I was going to keep her." the tears streamed down her face. "Me and Tag were going to take care of her, love her. And she's gone, She's gone!"

"Megan ..." started Sam.

"No! Do you know what it's like to have a healer tell you 'I'm sorry but your baby didn't make it'? Do you? Do you know what it feels like to be so close to something and then have it ripped away? The healer didn't know why I was so confused. I had to explain to her that I wasn't pregnant, my best friend had assured me I wasn't. And then to have that healer tell me she's sorry for my loss. She acted like I bloody lost that baby, like I lost my sock or something! I didn't want to lose her," Megan sobbed, "I wanted to keep her, I wanted to see take her first steps, to hear her say her first words, to see her open her Hogwarts letter, to watch her grow up, and become a beautiful, powerful witch. I ... I ... I want to die now and be put out of my misery. I can't have lost them both on the same day. I don't even have Tag here to help me get through this." Everyone was silent; Julie was the first to move. She crawled over to Megan and wrapped her arms around her. Megan hugged her back, sobbing on her shoulder as she clenched Julie's sweater. "I didn't want this to happen." She whispered over and over again.

"Of course not, sweetie, no-one wanted this to happen," Julie whispered back.

"They're gone, they're really gone."

"I know, but we'll get back the bastard that did this to you, okay? And we'll get Tag back and he'll be okay," Julie said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"We promise." Heidi said sitting down and hugging Megan too. Soon Megan was enveloped by all her friends and they were all crying now.

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Docura's boyfriend is missing," Chris told the Ravenclaw Quidditch team that night at their honorary practice.

"Who, Tag?"

"Yes, and he's a Ravenclaw. We have to find a way to get him, and the other students that were captured, back." Chris told them heatedly

"Wow, wow, wow, Chris. We're NOT Gryffindor's! We don't just go head-a-long into a battle we don't have a hope of winning."

"We have to do something!" cried one of the chasers.

"We are going to do something. I just don't know what that is yet."

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"Have you seen Snape recently?" Heidi asked while Samantha comforted Megan in their dorm.

"No, not since he told us that stuff about Bellatrix," Shannon replied. "I can't say what I really think of him, because he's Sam's boyfriend."

"Yeah, you know how she gets."

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm going to go over to the Gryffindor common room, wanna come?" Shannon said brightly

"Sure, I haven't seen Will since Megan woke up."

"Same here with Rick."

Shannon and Heidi set off out of Ravenclaw Cellar and off up to Gryffindor Tower. Shannon was puffing slightly when they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" The Fat Lady said with her hand to her stomach.

"Quidditch," Shannon told her and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole halfway up the wall.

"Will!" Heidi screeched across the common room. He was seated with some members of Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"Heidi!" he got up and met her half way across the common room. Shannon tagged along as she couldn't see Rick in the common room.

"Do you know where Rick is?"

"No, but, how come you two didn't come with Julie?" Will asked, pointing at Julie, who was seated with her back to them in front of the fire with James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily and Kassie, "She's been up here for ages." Heidi and Shannon looked where he was pointing.

"We figured she wanted to be alone with Remus," Heidi said taking Will's hand and leading him back to where he was sitting with his friends.

"I'm going to sit with Julie," Heidi waved her off and started snogging Will. Meanwhile Shannon waded across the common room to where Julie was seated.

"Hey, Julie!" Shannon smiled and sat next to Peter, "Hey, guys."

"Hey," they all replied at different times.

"James, can I talk to you for a sec?" Heidi asked.

"Sure," James stood and motioned for Heidi to follow. James led her to a deserted corner of the common room.

"So, what's on your mind?" he asked, running his hand through his messy hair. "Something that requires the help of the almighty James Potter?"

"Haha," Shannon said sarcastically, "Anyway, I have to have your word that you will not breathe a word of this to ANYONE."

"I'll have you know that I'm an excellent secret keeper, Shannon."

"Well, this is something I've been thinking about since what happened in Hogsmeade," she said swallowing nervously, but pressed on anyway, "It's just that Sam was hurt by Bellatrix Black and Snape was in close proximity to her when it happened, otherwise he wouldn't know who did it. But he didn't get hurt."

James nodded, keeping his true thoughts off his face. "And what do you think that means?"

"I – I think–" she started.

"You think …" he prodded.

"I think that Snape is a Death Eater."

--End Chapter 15