Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters, I just write about them…

A/N: There were a lot of questions that I can't answer all at once now, but I will try and put them all in the story at some point, and I changed the first chapter and added a paragraph or so to the second chapter stating that Lauretta is a Metamamorphagus (I have no idea how to spell that and I'm too lazy to look it up right now).

The next day was a Saturday and the fifth years first trip to Hogsmede of the year. Lauretta quickly let Hallie in on her plan and they excitedly plotted all during breakfast before leaving for Hogsmede. Just before they left Hallie suggested that they go visit Jack and ask him if there was anything that he wanted from Hogsmede.

Lauretta wasn't sure why, but she had a very bad feeling about going to visit Jack before they left, but she kept it to herself as they walked purposefully to the hospital wing. Hallie eagerly pushed open the door when they got there, and the two girls entered.

The scene that greeted them would have been perfectly normal to anyone else, but to the two of them, who had visited the hospital wing so many times in the past few days the scene was strange. All of the beds were empty.

"Oh," Hallie said quietly, "I guess he was allowed to go back to his dorm." She turned around to go, and Lauretta scanned the room quickly, trying hard to ignore the sick feeling she felt. Something was not right. "Maybe we'll see him at Hogsmede." Hallie continued, her tone brightening. "Come on!"

Lauretta and Hallie did not see Jack at Hogsmede anywhere, and Hallie made sure they looked everywhere. Finally, after a long day the two of them settled dejectedly in The Three Broom Sticks to rest.

As they got their butterbeers Lauretta scanned the room for any familiar faces. She caught sight of the Gothic Weasley sitting in a corner by herself, staring back at the two of them. Lauretta continued scanning the room, pretending like she hadn't seen her, buying time to decide whether or not she really wanted to go talk to her.

Within the past few weeks, they'd been civil enough to work on the project together, but Lauretta hadn't tried to have an actual conversation with her. Lauretta glanced at the girl again, thinking that even if they hadn't been very friendly, it was a shame that she was alone on one of their free days at Hogsmede. Lauretta knew from experience last year that being alone at Hogsmede was no fun whatsoever.

"Let's go talk to Carrie." She suggested to Hallie turning towards her. If Hallie says no, then I'll agree with her, if she agrees then we'll go, Lauretta thought to herself.

"Okay!" Hallie said brightly as she got up from their table. Lauretta sighed; she should have known that Hallie would think it was an excellent idea. No one ever really seemed to faze Hallie. But there was no backing out now.

Thankfully Lauretta didn't have to do much of the work. Hallie really did think it was an excellent idea and practically dragged Lauretta over to the table where Carrie sat. "Hi Carrie!" Hallie greeted her enthusiastically.

Carrie, who had been sporting a full on scowl when they'd walked over, failed at trying to hide her smile, as Hallie was beaming at her so openly. "Hi." She mumbled back. The three of them stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, trying to figure out some common grounds to talk about. "What did you guys buy?" Carrie finally added politely.

"Oh nothing really," Lauretta said, as Hallie immediately began dumping everything onto the table. Lauretta felt like sinking into a hole in the ground as Carrie eyed over their purchases. For some reason everything they'd bought so happily hours before seemed stupid and worthless when she looked at it through Carrie's eyes. But to Lauretta's surprise, Carrie picked through the objects with genuine interest.

"It looks like you two had fun." She said, staying polite.

"Oh yes, we did." Hallie agreed happily. "I'm a little worried about Jack though. Have you seen him at all?"

"Who's Jack?" Carrie asked, looking confused.

"The boy who was attacked," Lauretta explained quietly.

Lauretta had gauged Carrie's reaction well, and was not surprised as the girl's expression darkened into one of mistrust once again. "No I haven't seen him." Carrie replied icily, glaring back and forth between the two.

Hallie's face fell, and she looked noticeably disappointed. "Oh." Her face brightened slightly as she tried again. "Do you know him?" She asked eagerly.

Lauretta could not understand how Hallie could be so brave; the look that Carrie gave them made her want to crawl under the table. "Slightly." Carrie responded.

"Isn't he nice?" Hallie pressed on.

"Ummm, I think we should go." Lauretta said, standing up abruptly. "Come on Hallie."

"Oh but I haven't finished my butterbeer!" Hallie protested.

"Hallie please." Lauretta begged, too scared to look at Carrie.

"Oh alright." Hallie finally agreed. "I wanted to go and look around for Jack at the castle anyway. Bye Carrie!"

Lauretta had to practically drag Hallie out of the pub. Once outside they saw Madame Pomfrey running towards the pub. "Have you seen Professor Granger?" She asked quickly, looking worried.

"No." Lauretta replied, taking in the panting nurse whose face was flushed from running. She'd never seen the school nurse looking out of sorts before.

"Well the two of you run along back to school okay, and wait for me in the Infirmary. There's something we need to talk to you two about." She added before dashing off.

"You'd think Professors would have an easier way of communicating." Hallie said puzzledlly as they watched after her.

Lauretta sighed, wishing sometimes that Hallie were a bit more aware of what was going on around her. She had a feeling that Madame Pomfrey wanted to talk to them about Jack. She'd known all day that something was wrong.

They hurried off towards the school, and as they did, who should they meet but the Weasley triplets hurrying on their way to Hogsmede. Lauretta kept her head down, not sure if she should say anything, and hoping that Hallie for once would have the sense to keep her mouth shut. Hallie did know that her friend wanted to avoid a confrontation, but couldn't help it when Giovanni was the first to speak.

"Hi Lauretta!" He shouted, winking at her as she looked up. "How are you old pal?"

Lauretta smiled uncertainly at the three of them. "Fine thank you Giovanni." She replied.

"Aww, you two aren't going home already are you?" Lee asked sounding extremely disappointed.

"But the day's still so young!" Giovanni added.

"We've already had a long day though." Hallie said slowly, unsure of what Lauretta would want to do.

"We're actually kind of in a hurry to get back." Lauretta said quickly, still looking downwards.

"Well Randy, you didn't really want to come anyway right?" Lee said quickly. His eyes still sparkling as he plotted. "Maybe he could go back with you two, and you could find something more interesting to do?"

Giovanni laughed with his brother.

Lauretta and Randy were finally forced to meet each other's eyes. "Well, actually we were headed to the infirmary…" Lauretta continued, looking down again, upset that she still muddled everything.

"Oh, well. That's okay then." Randall muttered sullenly.

"Well maybe at Hogsmede Randy will find be injured and will end up at the infirmary and you can visit him." Giovanni grinned brightly.

Hallie laughed and the two of them turned to head back to the Infirmary. They could hear behind them Giovanni and Lee trying to explain to Randall that a simple fracture just wouldn't do, they'd have to make it something extraordinary.

Demetrius waited in the silence for some sort of noise that would alert him to what was going on, but nothing came for along while. He was surprised when the next voice that spoke was a soft female whisper. His ears perked up, hoping it was Claire, but the voice was the same one that had spoken before.

"We've got him." She whispered to some other person in the room.

"Really?" A male voice whispered back.

"No you fool, I'm just lying to you." The female voice replied, dripping with disdain. "Of course we've got him."

"Does… does he know yet?" The male voice asked.

"No." The female voice responded, back to being serious. She started to continue, but a door opened and she was cut short.

Were they talking about him? Demetrius wondered. He hated not being able to see who they were.

"Well, well, well." A new voice said, slicing through the air. Demetrius had to muster all his will power not to shudder at the newcomer. "I was wondering when they'd finally get you." More than not being able to see the other people, Demetrius hated not being able to talk back. He'd never been one for obedience. "I must admit, I overestimated you. I was hoping you'd kill a few more of these fools." The voice continued arrogantly. It was hard for Demetrius to believe that this man used to have been his best friend.

A/N2: Okay I admit it. This is an awful chapter. I felt really badly for not updating for about a year or so… so I just kind of wrote… and I didn't send it to anyone to edit it, so if the grammar sucks… also sorry. But at least I updated…