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Chapter Three
"Hello Seamus," I smiled. He grinned back at me.
"Still the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he winked. I rolled my eyes.
"Arm," I demanded. He held out his mangle limb. I cringed at the sight, it was bent in at least six different ways and was 12 different colors ranging from black to bright pink. It was easily fixed. I muttered a few spells and his arm was back to normal.
"Wow, thanks Jenna!" his eyes glowed. I smiled and moved on to the next person. I was able to get through ever patient, some I knew, others I didn't. I found myself once again exhausted at the end of the day, so I relaxed by the fire, listening to Nicole and Josh arguer over something.
"We already searched through the remains of Hogwarts," Nicole said impatiently. "There was no sign of her, no clue, nothing! There's no point going back, again!"
"She was last at Hogwarts, she has to still be there, hiding with some spell, or enchantment, probably that one that has a secret keeper," Josh replied. Nicole opened her mouth to argue then stopped.
"Actually, that makes sense," she rubbed her finger along her chin. "But the question is, who's her secret keeper?" My eyes snapped open from the sleep I was about to fall into.
"I am," I whispered.
"Did you say something?" Josh turned to me.
"I'm her secret keeper," I looked up at the pair. Nicole stared at me.
"That's not possible, she didn't have contact with you before she disappeared," she replied.
"Yes she did," I sat up straight. "In the 6th year, that's when she made me her secret keeper!"
"You aren't making any sense Jenna," Josh raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head.
"In the 6th year, when Harry and I were fighting, something weird happened to me," I started to explain. "I was transported into the future, and I met Hermione there, the future Hermione. She was Headmistress at Hogwarts, and told me she'd been guarding important papers. The school was in ruins, but I found her, her office was perfectly intact, it was the only thing left of Hogwarts. Don't you see? She told me where she was then! It's genius of her!"
"You went back in time?" Josh asked. Nicole smacked him in the back of the head.
"I thought I was the stupid one," she mumbled. "Come on, we're going to find her now!" She waved her wand and sent our coats towards us. With Josh in the lead, we wound through what seemed like an endless tunnel until we finally reached a wall. Josh tapped his wand to it, and it dissolved.
"Wow," I breathed. Nicole grabbed my arm and dragged me out. We apparated to what used to Hogwarts. I slowly looked around at the masses of rubble. Pieces of tapestries and furniture were strewn about here and there, while piles of bricks laid burned and crumbling. I stood in awe, unable to react.
"Jenna, we have to find Hermione," Nicole pulled me back into reality. "Where was she?" I looked at my surroundings and then spotted it.
"She's there," I grinned. Josh blinked, his jaw dropping.
"That wasn't there a second ago," he said.
"Well duh, the secret keeper had to tell us first," Nicole answered. "Really, you used to be the smart one, what happened?" We headed towards the single room that wasn't blown to bits. I climbed up the long staircase that was in front of it. I took a deep breath, then knocked hard on the wooden door. I heard a thump, and a shuffle of feet.
"Who is it?" a shaking voice asked.
"It's me Hermione," I answered. "It's Jenna." I hear a squeal and she threw the door open, throwing her arms around me.
"I knew you'd figure it out! I knew it!" She couldn't stop grinning.
"Come on, time to go back to the cave," I smiled back.
"Harry's dead?" Hermione gasped. We'd returned back to the hiding place, and filled her in on everything she'd missed while in hiding. I nodded solemnly in response to her exclamation.
"Oh Jenna," her brown eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry." Why did everyone tell me they were sorry about Harry's death? I know I was his best friend, but they were his friend's too. I guess they expected me to take it hard. I was taking it fine…or so I told myself. My recent dreams said different.
"I'm ok," I gave a brief smile. "Really." I knew she didn't believe me. I stood up and grabbed my coat.
"Where are you going?" Nicole asked.
"Out," I replied. Josh grabbed my arm, shaking his head.
"It's not safe Jenna," he said sternly. I sighed, placing my coat back on the rack, and heading to my room. I laid on my bed, letting my thoughts wash over me. Around midnight, I crept out silently. Nicole and Josh had fallen asleep at their work table, and everyone else was in their rooms. I stole past them, and into the tunnels.
"And where are we headed?" came a voice from the shadows. I spun around to face Wood.
"I…why do you care?" I narrowed my eyes at him, defense mode setting in. He crossed his arms over his chest and just looked at me. I stood uncomfortably, my gaze to the ground.
"You know it's not safe out there." Was that concern? What the hell happened to Wood? I looked up.
"I just have to go," I answered. He nodded.
"I'll come with you then," he replied. I shook my head.
"No, I have to go alone," I answered. He looked me over then sighed.
"Fine, but if something happens to you…George will kill me. Be careful Atkins." I smiled and did the unexpected. I hugged him. It caught him off guard, and I left before I could catch his reaction. I apparated to Hogwarts, pulling my coat closed against the icy wind.
I stared not at the ruined castle but at the Black Lake. It's waters rippled as though time never changed. As though blood wasn't being spilt, and it's grounds weren't littered with broken pieces of this and that. I made my way towards the shore, looking for the spot. Our spot. I found it quickly. The grass was still compacted down from all the times we'd laid there together. Innocently of course. There was my spot on the left, and his spot, longer because he was taller, on the right. Whenever one of us had a problem, we'd find the other out here. We laid opposite ways, so that our heads were next to each other, but our feet weren't. Sighing, I laid down in my spot, staring up at the cloudless night sky. The stars burned brightly, like many nights before. It felt as though the war wasn't happening, that I was a million miles from everything. I closed my eyes and let the wind blow a loose strand of hair over my face. I hadn't felt this peaceful in forever. I could feel Harry's spirit here, and that was my reason for coming. I wanted to connect with him one last time before I truly let go. Call it psychotic, but it's what I had to do. I opened my eyes and stood up, stretching.
"Time to go home I guess," I whispered, looking out at the lake. "Goodbye Harry." Suddenly, a hand was covering my mouth, cloth was covering my eyes and an arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me against someone else's body.
"Don't fight me," a voice hissed in my ear. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll remove my hand, but don't scream. I don't want to have to stun you." I nodded and the hand lifted.
"Come with me," the voice requested, pulling me away. I had no choice but to follow.
