Lives and Loves of Ravenclaw Girls
Chapter 28 – A Message From Beyond
By: Megan and Sam
-
Megan was restless. She'd owled her friends to tell them she had found Tag and the others and that they were at the hospital. She was now waiting for Dumbledore to tell her she could come see Tag.
She and Julie were sitting on the couch in front of the fire place. Megan had been up and pacing until Julie told her she was making her dizzy. Megan sat down with a sigh, "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"I think he will be," Julie said, smiling. "He's strong."
"Why was he taken though?" Megan puzzled. "Why him of all the boys at Hogwarts?"
Julie didn't have time to answer as the flames in the fireplace turned green and a body appeared there. It was Rick closely followed by Shannon. "You found him?" Rick asked out of breath. Megan leaped up and hugged him.
"Yeah, he was on that mountain path not too far from here. All the others were with him," Megan said, releasing him and hugging Shannon.
"Kyle was with them," Julie added. Kyle was one of Tag's best friends, a sixth year Ravenclaw.
"Figured as much," Rick said, giving them a small smile.
"But why ..." Shannon started but was interrupted by the fireplace lighting up again and Heidi appearing there.
"I came as soon as I heard," gasped Heidi, grabbing Megan in a hug. There wasn't much time to explain as the fireplace turned green and Sam appeared.
"Is it true?" she asked as soon as her head had stopped spinning.
"Yeah, he was unconscious when we found him," Julie explained because Megan had gone back to pacing. She told them the story about how Megan had called her over and they had decided to go on a walk.
"I still can't believe you guys found them. It's just amazing," Sam said shaking her head.
"Dumbledore is supposed to come get her when they've made sure he was okay," Julie said, nodding towards Megan, who was now pacing behind the couch. She was oblivious to their conversation and jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.
Dumbledore stood smiling, "We need to talk before we go see him." Megan nodded and looked over at her friends. "They must stay here." he said answering her unasked question.
"Hey, guys," Megan said and they all turned to see her and Dumbledore standing there. "I'm going with Professor Dumbledore. I'll owl you when Tag wakes up. Make yourselves comfortable." They all nodding solemnly, knowing she would do as she said.
Megan took Dumbledore's offered hand and they apparated to St. Mungo's tearoom. "Now, Miss Docura," Dumbledore started, "Before you go see Mister Anderson there are some things we need to talk about."
"Like what, sir?" Megan asked, clearly confused.
"Like the matter of why Tyler was taken," Dumbledore stated his eyes loosing their twinkle.
"And why is it that he was taken, sir?" Megan asked, relieved that she was finally going to get the answers she had been looking for.
"You must understand that you must tell no one of this," Dumbledore said, his voice serious. "Not even Miss Walsh."
"But, sir," Megan started, "what could possibly be so bad that I can't tell my best friend about it?"
Dumbledore sighed, "You mustn't tell anyone."
"But," Megan started.
"Promise me, Megan," Dumbledore whispered, "This is top secret. I shouldn't even be telling you this."
"I promise, sir," Megan said, curious as to what this top secret thing was.
"You know Tyler is advanced in his classes?"
"Yes, sir. He always gets high marks."
"And you know that he has been getting private lessons from me?"
"Yes, sir," Megan said, raising an eyebrow. "But what does this have to do with the Death Eaters taking Tag?"
"I'm getting there. Tyler was getting private lessons from me, but not the kind you think." Megan leaned forward, wrinkling her forehead.
"You see, Miss Docura. Tyler was one of the best students in the school, he was adamant about being against anything dark, and he had a heart full of love. He was perfect for the program I was preparing to run.
"When I approached him about joining he said yes without question."
"What program, sir?" Megan said, trying to grasp what Dumbledore was saying.
"They call themselves the Elite. And that's what they are, the elite students of Hogwarts. They are smart and strong and hated the Dark Arts. I taught them to be smarter, to be stronger, to strategize, to fight. They learned and I told them things, gave them missions. They fought against the Dark Side. They went under cover. They...they were the best of the best.
"They knew what they were up against and they kept fighting. They knew they might die, they knew they might be caught; they knew there was a chance that they would be discovered as the Elite. And yet they still fought. I'm sure you are one of the many reasons they got out. Tyler wanted to see you again. You were his only weakness, Megan. If he couldn't see you nothing really mattered.
"I put charms on them protecting them from telling the secrets when tortured. But that didn't mean they couldn't tell anyone willingly. My worst fear was that one of them would betray the others. That they would be captured."
"That's why the Death Eaters attacked us at Hogsmeade. They were after the Elite members. They were after Tag," Megan said, suddenly understanding. "Someone betrayed them."
"Yes," Dumbledore sighed. "My worst fear had come to past. I could only hope none would crack. That Tyler, their commander would keep strong."
"And he did," Megan said. "He broke out of there and he tried to come back."
"Yes, he did."
"But why were they unconscious, sir?" Megan asked, trying to piece together the puzzle.
"Someone stunned them. Someone who was with them. Some of my graduated Elite members followed their tracks back to an abandoned house. They had been tortured there. Told lies, been beat beyond belief. It's amazing that they even escaped. Most of them have head concussions, broken bones, and gaping gashes. They had someone who had escaped with them stun them, then he also escaped."
"Sir, can I see him now?" Megan asked, hearing all she needed to.
"Yes, you may. He's not awake yet but you may go see him."
"Thank you, sir," Megan said, standing and shaking Dumbledore's hand. He then led her down some stairs and peeked into several rooms before allowing her into Tag's.
"He's in the bed on the far right," Dumbledore said, leaving her at the door.
Megan stood in the doorway for a whole minute getting up the nerve to go look at him. "This is stupid," she said to herself. She walked down to his bed and drew back the curtains. She gasped when she saw him. He was stark white and his cuts and bruises stood out bluntly on his face. His hand was wrapped and she could see where the blood had soaked through it. He had his other arm wrapped and in a sling, shoulder dislocated. She slid into the bed next to him and wrapped her arms around him gently holding him as she cried onto his shoulder, telling him she would never let him get hurt again.
-
Julie sat on the couch sandwiched between Sam and Anthony. Rick and Shannon sat on the floor, Shannon sat behind him playing with his hair as he kept his eyes closed, muttering something. Heidi was on Sam's other side and she kept looking at her watch and then the fireplace.
All the sudden the fireplace lighted green again and Dumbledore's head appeared. "You may all go see him now," he said his eyes twinkling. He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. The teenagers stood and one by one threw floo powder into the fireplace and disappeared with a cry of, "St. Mungo's!"
When they were told where Tag was they walked in to find Megan asleep next to Tag, her arms wrapped tightly around him, her face tearstained.
"Hey," Julie said, poking her gently.
"Hey," came Megan's hoarse voice as she rubbed her eyes and sat up slightly.
"This is unreal," Rick said, dropping Shannon's hand and sitting down next to Tag. "We have him back."
"Has he woken up yet?" Heidi asked, sitting on the end of the bed gently.
"Naw," Megan said, looking down at him and smiling. "But he's alive. And that's all that matters."
-
Everyone in the room stayed as long as they could. Tag's parents had come in and everyone but Megan had left. Amazingly enough Dumbledore showed up right after Tag's parents did.
"Will he be alright?" was the first thing Naida Anderson had asked upon entering.
"The healer said he should be as right as rain," Dumbledore said with smile. Megan stayed sitting next to Tag as Lamar Anderson inspected his son.
"Are you sure he will be fine?" asked Lamar.
"Calm down Mar," said Naida soothingly.
"I still don't understand what happened to him," grumbled Lamar.
Megan looked away as she squeezed slightly on Tags hand, held in her own. She gently stroked his knuckles with her thumb, thinking of when he would finally wake up.
"Is it true that you found him, Megan?" Naida asked, bringing Megan out of her thoughts.
"Yes," she answered not taking her eyes off of Tag's face.
"Thank God," Naida whispered and pulled Megan into a hug. Megan hugged her back not being able to restrain herself. She always felt that Naida was like a mother to her.
When she started sobbing uncontrollably Naida squeezed her tighter and whispered comforting things to her. "Naida," Megan gasped, closing her eyes tight. "I thought I had lost him. But he came back to me. He came back."
"I know sweetie, I know," Naida tried to comfort her. "You've been strong, baby. So strong."
"At the word 'baby' Megan started to cry harder. Naida was confused. "Naida," Megan said, "We need to talk."
"Ok, sweetie," Naida said, looking back at Lamar who was still inspecting his son. "Lamar, we're going to the tearoom. Stay here and watch on Tyler for us."
Naida led Megan up the stairs, holding her around the shoulders and supporting her as they walked.
Once she had sat Megan down on a couch and kneeled in front of her she saw Megan's frightened face. "Megan, what's wrong?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Don't be mad, okay?" Megan said, stifling her tears. "I –" Megan sighed not knowing how to phrase it. "Last month I skipped my period and I thought I was pregnant. Only when I took the test thing it said that I wasn't. So I was happy. And then the Death Eaters attacked Hogsmeade and that brick wall fell on me. When I woke up my healer told me that I had lost my baby. I had been pregnant all along and now my baby and Tag were gone and I didn't know what to do. I still don't know what to do," Megan said all this very fast and Naida eyes opened bigger than Megan had ever seen them. "Don't be mad." Megan pleaded.
Naida sighed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not mad, okay?" she said nodding to reinforce it. Megan nodded, not entirely convinced. "I was only a little older than you when I had Tag." Megan widened her eyes. "I was very in love with Lamar and our first time together I wound up pregnant. Lamar and I fought about keeping him. I wanted to; Lamar didn't want me to have to give up my life." Megan smiled, having already had that same conversation with Tag. "I convinced Lamar that it was for the best. When Tag was born he was the most handsome boy I had ever laid eyes on. As he grew I couldn't imagine a life without him. He was my life; Lamar saw that and married me because he wanted to have what I did."
"A little part of me wished I still had that baby, Naida. Is that bad?"
"No," Naida smiled, "It's in a woman's nature to want to raise a baby. It was in my nature to want to nurture you when I found out your mother had died."
"Will I always feel like something's missing until I have another baby?" Megan yearned for the answer.
"I hope not, because to have something missing for that long is never a good thing. You'll heal eventually."
"Thanks for listening, Naida," Megan said, hugging the older woman and standing to go.
"Megan?" Naida asked, stopping Megan in the doorway. "What were you going to name her?"
"Bailey Rose Anderson."
Naida smiled, "Very beautiful."
-
Megan decided the best thing she could do was to talk to him there wasn't much point in sitting by his side silently was there?
She thought to herself. "What would she tell him?" Was there anything to actually say?
She sat silently for a moment until the healer came into the room and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Dear?" She whispered.
"Maybe you could talk to him. Although it may not seem like he's listening it is going in somewhere sweetheart," said the healer.
"Yea I might just try that." She smiled slowly.
"But what to tell him," she thought.
"Tag," she whispered "Can you hear me? I hope so."
"Well where to start? Your mum and dad have come in to be by your side. I haven't left your side," she said so softly she could barely hear herself.
Tears started to fall as she thought of more things to say, of how upset Rick was, how much she had missed him, about her cutting and mainly about the baby.
She wanted to tell him so badly but what would his reaction be this time.
Would he love her and care for her like he said he would? Or would this cause another fight?
She decided to just go for it he said he loved her she loved him they share everything. Why not this?
"Um, Tag, sweetie there's something I really need you to know," she started slowly.
"Remember when we had the mishap with the test and Shannon said it was negative and I read it wrong?" here she paused.
"Well I hope you remember that because when that brick wall fell on me I lost the baby." Tears started to fall harder now.
"Apparently I was pregnant." she looked to the floor.
"Then they told me you had disappeared, and I lost the baby I didn't know what to do."
"The two most important things in my life and they had vanished in a matter of hours" She grabbed his hand and leant in to kiss his forehead.
"That's where things started to
go wrong. I didn't know how to cope and I-I-I I started to cut
myself. I thought that you had really left me forever and that our
baby was gone aswell there was nothing left to live for.
I felt so
empty I felt like I needed to find you to be with you no matter if it
were life or death I would have been happy with you." She
started to sob uncontrollably as she curled into a ball by his side
and cried her self to sleep.
-
Megan had fallen asleep at Tag's side once again. She dreamt that he woke up and that he was sorry for leaving her and then he turned into Dumbledore who told her that Tag would have to be taken away, far away. Megan had gotten so mad that she had punched at Dumbledore but her fist went right through him as he disappeared. Someone tapped her shoulder and she whipped around to find no one there. The hospital room she had been in had changed into an old church chapel. Megan walked out the doors, into the rain. A fork of lightening lit up the sky as she walked purposely towards the cemetery. She stood in front of a single tombstone, an angel with a single red rose held in her hand. Below the angel there was a name written.
Alexandria
Elizabeth Staton Docura
1933-1964
Beloved Mother, Devoted
Wife
Although distances hold us apart ... You'll always be in
our hearts.
On each of the other six sides of the stone were written little quotes from her children.
How time flies
...
Before I realized it was time to say Goodbye.
Love,
Mikie
You've left behind ...
... shoes no one can
fill ...
... and nothing will be the same without you.
Love,
Caleb
Life goes on and so must we,
But the times we
spent together...
will always remain special to me.
Love,
Jeremy
You're on my mind...
and in my heart...
a
lot ...
I miss you a lot.
Love,
Braden
It seems like
you are a world away...
I miss you so much.
Love,
Anthony
There'll be miles between us tomorrow...
And
I'll really miss you,
But what I'll miss the most is ...
What
I am when I'm with you.
Love,
Megz
Megan touched each of the quotes, tracing each word with her finger. "Mum, there's so much to say ..." Megan began. "So much to share, I wish you were here to listen." As the tears began to come Megan felt another tap, but this time when she turned someone was standing there. "Mum?" Megan whispered staring at the woman, clad in white, standing before her. She couldn't believe it. Her mother was standing right in front of her, looking very much like the angel statue on top of her tombstone.
"I'm always here to listen, baby," she whispered, gathering her little girl into her arms.
"Do you know what I've been going through, Mum?" Megan asked.
"I may be away but I know, distance can never change the love I have for you in my heart."
"I lost them, mummy. I lost them both and now Tag's back and I don't know what to do."
"Just ... love him. With all your heart and soul. Show him you never once gave up the hope of finding him. And remember, sweetie, even if he doesn't," Alexandria gripped Megan's shoulders, "that true love, like the kind you two have, never dies."
Things started to go black and Megan tried to hang on to the image of her mother as she was shook awake. When she opened her eyes Naida stood before her, "Sweetie, I'll watch over him. You go home, take a shower, get some rest."
"But ..." Megan said looking back at Tag's sleeping form.
"But nothing. He's safe now, you have every right to go home and rest." Megan nodded and left the room, taking one last glance at Tag before leaving.
-End Chapter 28
