Lives and Loves of Ravenclaw Girls

Chapter 17 – Facing Lord Voldemort

By: Julie and Megan with help from Soretta

-----------

Shannon and Sam spent a little more time in the room with the wine. Sam had finally regained her composure long enough to have a conversation.

"Why did they have to come?" asked Sam, looking at the ground disappointedly.

"No one knows hunny. But we both know we can't change the past. We have to put this behind us, and get over it."

"We won't be able to get over it. Not with Megan depressed, and Tag missing," said Sam, nursing her third glass of wine.

"I know. But Tag will find his way back to us," said Shannon, not looking up.

"Do you really believe that?" asked Sam quietly.

Shannon gave no response; she just hung her head in silence. She tried to fight back the tears prickling her eyes.

-------

Thousands of miles away, in a dark and dreary cell Tyler Anderson regained his consciousness.

Tag looked around his surroundings with his one good eye. He didn't even try to open his puffed up and bloody eye, just to see the darkness in the room around him. He was being held in a makeshift cell, which in reality was once a very small walk-in closet. He groaned and tried to move but found that he magically bound to the ground.

"Screw this crap," he groaned. Light blinded his eyes and then a shadow fell over him.

"Well, well, well, Anderson," came a woman's voice, "you haven't broken yet, but you will." Tag looked up to see Bellatrix Black smirking down at him.

"Screw you, Black," he growled but Bellatrix just laughed, "or get on with it."

"That pleasure isn't mine today, Anderson."

"What's the matter, Trixie? Aren't up to torturing people today?"

"Shut up, you muggle-loving twit."

"Oooh, I'm shaking in my boots, Trixie." Tag almost felt like laughing, if only his face didn't hurt so much.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix yelled in a high pitched voice that wasn't usually her own. But Tag didn't care about her; all he cared about now was the pain. When the pain had stopped Bellatrix was gone and someone else was standing in the doorway. Tag recognised the greasy hair belonging to the death eater before he even uttered a word.

"Snape!" he gasped, the aftermath of Bellatrix's Crucio curse was still raging through him. Severus Snape took off his mask and sneered down at Tag.

"That's right, Anderson." Severus' upper lip was curling at the sight of him.

"When were you planning to tell Samantha about this? You do realise that she hates dark magic of any form and description."

"She will come to my master, as I did." Swear words that Tag wouldn't have dared say in front of Professor McGonagall came poring out of his mouth like water.

"Do your self a favour and shut up, Anderson," Snape spat. He whipped his wand out of his pocket. Tag flinched when he flicked it at his face. He looked up to find the door to the wardrobe slamming shut. Tag cautiously opened his bad eye. He couldn't believe it; Snape had taken the swelling away from his eye.

Whose side is he really on? Tag thought to himself.

-------

Breakfast that morning was a noisy affair. Today was the first day of classes since the attack. Megan and Sam were still in the fifth year dormitory while Heidi, Shannon and Julie walked to breakfast with the marauders, Lily, Kassie and Will.

"Where are Docura and Adams?" Lily asked politely when they go to the doors of the Great Hall.

"In our dorm still, they said they'd be down soon."

The ten of them fell into a pit of silence and broke off into two groups when they reached the Gryffindor table.

"Who's that?" Julie asked, pointing to the teachers' table at a black-haired woman who was engrossed in conversation with Professor McGonagall.

"Wouldn't have a clue, maybe someone from the ministry?" Heidi guessed. Shannon shrugged at both of them and started shoveling food in her mouth.

"Slow down, Shan," Julie giggled at her.

"I have to meet Potter in five minutes," she said with her mouth full.

"Ugh, Shannon!" Heidi exclaimed, "Say it, don't spray it!" Shannon quickly swallowed.

"Sorry." She grinned before shoveling more food in her mouth.

"Why do you have to meet Potter?" Julie asked curiously.

"It's a surprise for Lily," Shannon lied.

"So, what is it?" Heidi pressed.

"Can't say." Shannon leapt out of her seat and grabbed her bag, "Gotta go!" Shannon virtually ran out of the hall. Heidi and Julie looked at each other and then over at the Gryffindor table where James Potter was excusing himself.

"What are they up to?" Heidi asked shaking her head.

"Let's find out."

-------

Heidi and Julie hurried after James, but made sure they were far enough behind him for him not to notice. Shannon was waiting for him by the library and they disappeared in there together.

"Come on," Julie whispered to Heidi. When they entered the library Shannon and James were nowhere to be seen. They walked towards the secret room when they heard Shannon's voice from the corner of the library.

"I've decided to tell her, James," they heard Shannon say.

"Shh, keep your voice down." Heidi motioned for Julie to creep closer.

"I'm not going to lower my voice, there's no one else in here."

"Okay, okay," James whispered, "What about your other friends? Docura, Singe and Walsh would want to know."

"I keep going to tell them, but something happens and then I miss my chance, perhaps you could tell them, James?" Julie looked at Heidi before speaking up.

"Tell us what?"

-------

Megan and Sam entered the great hall sometime after Heidi and Julie had left in search of Shannon and James. They found seats at the Ravenclaw table.

"Wonder where the others are," Sam mused. Megan merely shrugged uninterested in anything that didn't have to do with Tag. Sam frowned at Megan's reaction but started eating breakfast.

"Megan I–" Sam suddenly gasped. Megan looked at Sam and then back at her wrist, which she quickly covered with the sleeve of her robes.

"Megan, what was that on your wrist?" Sam tried to sound casual but couldn't, she knew exactly what those cuts where.

"I fell over," Megan lied.

"Megz, I was not born yesterday," Sam leapt up from the table and grabbed Megan's elbow.

"I'm eating, Sam!" she tried to exclaim.

"No you're not, you're coming with me."

-------

"Heidi? Julie?" Much to Shannon's relief her two friends where standing around the corner with their arms folded.

Well, well, well," Julie started, "What's going on here?"

"You think–" Shannon shook her head and beckoned them around the corner.

"Hello, Potter," Heidi greeted.

"Singe and Walsh, what a pleasure," James grinned.

"Okay, okay, enough niceties," Julie said, "What's going on here?"

"Well, I think," Shannon told them, "And James agrees with me that Snape is a – well, that he's a Death Eater." Julie and Heidi looked at each other with dawning comprehension.

"Oh!" was all Heidi could say.

"So that's why he didn't get hurt!" Julie exclaimed, "I did wonder, but I never thought about it any further."

"Ladies, we've got to be going now," James said standing up, "We've got Defense against the Dark Arts."

"Ugh," Shannon groaned. "I don't think I can handle Professor Malfoy at this hour!"

"Come on!" James called on his way out the door.

"Off to class, girls," Madame Pince said coming around the corner.

-------

Shannon, Heidi and Julie entered their Defense against the Dark Arts class expecting to find Sam and Megan sitting in their usual spots, but they weren't. Confused, they went to their seats at the back of the room.

"Wands out, books away!" Professor Malfoy called as she walked into the room. None of them noticed the woman who followed Malfoy in the room. Everyone hurried to put their books back in their bags and get their wands out of their robe pockets.

"Class, I'm going to be absent for two weeks after Christmas," Malfoy announced, "During that time you'll be taught by Professor Rodriguez here."

The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor class murmured a response as Professor Rodriguez smiled at the class.

"Today you will be learning the Patronus Charm." Professor Rodriguez told them, nodding to Professor Malfoy who was sitting behind her desk with the attendance record set out in front of her.

Several hands shot up.

"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew?" Malfoy asked.

"Isn't that very advanced magic, Professor?" Peter asked timidly.

"Yes, Mr. Pettigrew, it is," Professor Rodriguez answered kindly, "Professor Dumbledore feels it is prudent for you all to know how to do it."

-------

Megan tried pulling back from Sam numerous times and only managed it when the bell for class rang and startled Sam enough that she loosened her grip on Megan and Megan jerked away running down the hall and loosing her self in a crowd of 7th years. "Damn." Sam cursed when she lost sight of Megan. She started in the direction Megan had taken only to find the corridor completely deserted. "Damn, damn, damn." Reluctantly Sam headed back for her class and stepped in 3 minutes after the bell had rang. She slumped into her seat beside Shannon and said, "Damn." when professor Malfoy spotted her.

"I think fifteen points from Ravenclaw will do for your tardiness, Miss Adams," Professor Malfoy said smiling slightly at Sam's glare.

"Where's Megz?" Julie whispered back to her once Malfoy had walked away.

"I don't know she took off after breakfast," Sam said, for the moment Megan had her secret.

"10 points for talking during my lesson." Professor Malfoy said, cutting their talk short. "Professor Rodriguez will be taking you for this class while I take Miss Adams to Mr. Filch for a lesson about talking in my class.

-------

Once Megan had effectively lost Sam by walking with the 7th years she slipped down an underused hallway and made her way through the school, not thinking about where she was going, her thoughts on Tag. So it was no big surprise to her when she ended up outside the door to the room of requirement. She went up to the mahogany door and gingerly touched the doorknob. She sucked in a breath when she entered the room. It was completely bare except for a single table in the middle of the room. On the table was a photograph of her and Tag. He was on her shoulders in the mountains, on a trail she had loved when she was little. Julie was behind them holding the hand of her current boyfriend, laughing as Megan huffed up the trail, determined to carry Tag the whole way. Tag had hurt his knee about 3 minutes into the hike, and had tried to continue when Megan had walked over to him and told him to get on her back. He had laughed telling her she couldn't carry him, "Prove it," Megan had said, "Get on my back." And Tag had laughing up until the point when Megan had started walking.

"You're not serious, are you?" he had asked, "I'll kill you."

"As long as you're not hurting I'm fine." Megan had said, and she continued all the way up the trail, about 3 miles, with him on her back until she got to her favorite place. Megan didn't realize it back then but she did now, Tag was all that mattered as long as he wasn't hurting she would be fine, but he was hurting, and that's why she wasn't okay. That's why when Tag's knife appeared next to the photo on the table Megan picked it up and brought back to her arm.

She pressed the blade hard against her wrist, drawing a red line. Each time she cut she went a little deeper, and each time she did she felt a little better. Like somehow if maybe she was hurting she could take away Tag's hurt. "Why?" she asked, "why do I have to feel like this?" and she made another cut, "Why do bad things keep happening to me?" another cut, "Why aren't you here, Tag?" another, another, another, and another.

Megan looked at her arm, covered in blood and throbbing, and she began to cry. For when she had been cutting herself she had written out one single word, "WHY"

Why was she cutting herself?

-------

Why was she cutting herself? Sam thought. Though Sam didn't really know register that she was thinking it. Megan was currently washing her arm watching the blood go down the sink as if it were her life.

Sam couldn't concentrate all day; she hadn't seen Megan since she had run off and she was worried. The other girls didn't know why she was so worried and didn't dare ask her why.

When they went to lunch the table was eerily quiet without Megan's constant chatter. The day went by uneventfully and when the girls went to dinner Megan was once again missing. By now the other girls were worried as well.

"Where is she?" Julie asked as they went to their dorms to drop off their books. When they stepped in they found Megan's usual mess on the floor and that her curtains where drawn. Julie pulled them back to find Megan sound asleep. It was a good thing, Julie decided; Megan hadn't slept since the accident. Julie could tell by the silence in the dorms when she went to bed and woke up. Megan always breathed heavily when she slept, as she was now.

Julie went back downstairs to announce to the girls that Megan was fine, she was just asleep. Sam stood up and went upstairs without a word. "What's with Sam today?" Shannon asked what was on all their minds.

-------

Tyler Anderson came around yet again. He was back in the master bedroom of the Riddle House in Little Hangleton. The last Crucio had left him knocked out for days, sometime between then and now he had been moved and possibly tortured some more. Light was streaming in one of the mullioned windows. Tag guessed it must be day time. He could hear the carefree sounds of children down the street. Their laughter brought him back to his state of depression. Was he ever going to get out of here? He hadn't seen anyone other than Death Eaters since he got here. Was he the only one who had been captured? What was it about him that Voldemort wanted? He didn't know very many of Dumbledore's secrets. Only the one's he had overheard his parents discussing and he was pretty sure that those were common knowledge, not enough to warrant kidnapping someone. He groaned as he heard footsteps approaching the door. He knew he wasn't going to go long before having a visit from a Death Eater.

"Guess who!" Bellatrix simpered as she opened the door.

"Trixie, so great to see you," Tag said sarcastically, "How's your boyfriend? What was his name? Voldemort or something?" He laughed hoarsely.

"How dare you speak my masters name?!" Bellatrix spat. He could tell by her heavy breathing that she was seething with anger.

"Oooh," Tag said pretending to quiver in fear, "I'm so scared, I spoke his name."

"You won't be laughing long, Anderson," Bellatrix sneered at him. An ironic thought came to him then that he just had to laugh out loud. Bellatrix continued sneering at him, but finally asked, "What are you laughing about mudblood lover?"

"It's just …" he couldn't get it out; the idea was just too ridiculous.

"Ugh, spit it out, Anderson."

"Don't worry, Trixie," He tried to grin at her but the look on her face stopped him, "Go on, I know you're going to Crucio me. Get it over with." Bellatrix grunted at him and shook her head.

"No, you're to come before my master." Fear swamped him. Her words spun around his head. Voldemort, he was going to see Voldemort.

Bellatrix took out her wand and flicked it at his bindings. He was free, if only for a second before Bellatrix pointed her wand her wand at him.

"Imperio!" Tag felt his worries and pain leave him. He felt like he was floating. A voice, soft and motherly was calling him and he followed willingly. The voice led him out of the room and into another and suddenly he snapped out of it and fell to his knees.

"No!" He told the voice.

"Stupid boy!" he heard Bellatrix snarl from behind him, "Imperio!" The floating sensation was back. This time the voice led him through a connecting door.

"Get on your knees," the voice said and he did as it commanded. Then the spell was lifted. Tag was dimly aware of the ten other death eaters in the room, but what had captivated his attention was the man sitting on a throne-like chair in front of him. He had raven black hair, a serpents nose and scary red eyes. Lord Voldemort.

"Master, I bring you the mudblood lover, Anderson," he heard Bellatrix behind him. He heard hissing from behind the masks at the word mudblood.

"Tyler Anderson," the high pitched voice of Lord Voldemort said, "You have been called forth to my presence by one of my loyal followers. She tells me that you will not comply with Lord Voldemort."

"I can't tell you what you want to know, Tom."

"You will tell Lord Voldemort everything!" he screamed in indignation at being called "Tom"

"I will never tell you anything about Professor Dumbledore's plans!"

"Are you sure about that?" Voldemort sneered, "Crucio!" Blinding pain. The room slid in and out of focus. Pretty soon the pain subsided and the room came back into focus. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were laughing mirthlessly.

"Why would Dumbledore tell me anything? I don't know anything about his plans!" Tag forced out before gasping for breath.

"Tell me about the Order of the Phoenix!" Voldemort screamed.

"I don't know anything about it!"

"You lie!" Voldemort hissed, "Lord Voldemort can sense lies!"

"Even if I knew, which I don't, I would never tell you!"

"Then you will die!" Voldemort's eyes blazed with anger, "Avada Kedavra!"

Tag ducked and heard the curse wiz over of the top of his head. It hit one of the windows and made it shatter.

--End Chapter 17