Listen To Your Heart

Part Two-End of Year

Chapter Fifteen-On The Way Home

We all packed our belongings at the end of the term. We were all looking forward to next year, however, Gillian wasn't.

"I sort of had a dream as well," Gillian admitted. "I dreamed that Remus went missing and when we found him, he died and You-Know-Who stormed the castle, killing students."

I looked at her.

"Wow," I said wide-eyed. "That's horrible."

Gillian nodded.

"Suppose that was like your visions? Suppose I was seeing what would happen next year?" she asked fearfully.

I frowned.

"Have you had them before?"

Gillian shook her head.

"Then I doubt that it was anything," I said brightly. "It was probably just a very bad dream after Eric did that to you."

Gillian looked absolutely relieved now.

"You're probably right," she said nodding then a look of fear came across her face. "I've got to go home with Haylie Lynn. My parents don't know about her."

"I'm sure they'll be understanding," I said softly. "Try not to worry okay?"

Gillian nodded, but still looked terrified.

We spent the remainder of the day together. Severus was with us as well.

Finally, night time came and we all headed off to bed.

The next morning, we all headed from the castle to the train station. The Hogwarts Express, a scarlet colored steam engine had already pulled into the station. A thick cloud of gray/white smoke billowed from the smokestack and hovered toward the ground. Students were already loading their belongings onto the train, giving one another hugs and wishes to see them next year.

We put all of our stuff onto the train and the whole lot of us found an empty compartment.

On one side was Severus, me, Gillian and Lily. Across from us were James, Sam, Remus, Sirius and Peter. I was nervously sitting, twisting a strand of hair around my finger.

"Relax," Sirius said softly. "We're going to be fine. You'll see."

I just gave him a halfhearted smile before looking out the window again. I was sitting by the window with Severus on my left, Gillian on his left with Haylie Lynn and Lily on hers.

After a few moments, the whistle blew and we began pulling out of the station.

Sirius was making faces at Haylie Lynn and she was giggling. Peter and James played a game of Wizards Chess; Mario and Remus began talking about the upcoming year and what we would have to face as far as tests. Gillian and Sirius talked while Sirius played Peek-A-Boo with Haylie Lynn. Lily closed her eyes, taking nap. Severus turned to me.

"I can feel you shaking," he said scrutinizing me. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm not going to be fine until we pull into Kings Cross Station," I replied.

Severus put a hand on mine.

"Nothings' going to happen," he said softly.

I looked at him and smiled. I could feel Remus' eyes burning into me.

About an hour into the trip, the snack witch came around offering treats. James and Sirius bought Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and shared them with us.

"Eww," Gillian said frowning. "Vomit flavored."

"Yum," Sirius joked. "Aw man…I got the booger flavor."

"That should be right up your alley," Remus teased. "You eat them often enough."

That set of a chorus of laughter followed by a loud round of 'Eww's'.

Just then, it got dark outside. We could hardly make out the landscaping.

Thunder boomed and lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating the moors and landscape.

"Wow," Lily said leaning over Severus. "It looks pretty nasty out there."

"Yeah," James admitted.

Everyone picked up their conversations. Rain water streaked diagonally across the window and it drummed against the train.

Suddenly, the pistons screeched and it was coming to a sharp stop forcing us to fall forward off of our seats. I heard startled screams and the crunching of metal. The car we were in began violently sliding sideways. Haylie Lynn was screaming. Gillian was holding onto her tightly as the car then suddenly flipped over. Mario was thrown into the air briefly before he came crashing down on the window and broke through it. The car rolled over and Mario had been tossed out of it.

I was rolling inside the car as well as Remus, Severus and the others. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the car stopped rolling and everything was silent. Blackness swallowed me up.

SEVERUS.

I moaned and slowly and shakily got to my hands and feet.

"Guys?" I asked my voice sounding harsh and rough. "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm fine," I heard James' voice.

"Fine," came Lily's.

"Okay," Remus called next.

"Been better," Sirius joked but he sounded scared. "But otherwise alright."

"I'm alright too," Sam replied next.

The lights had gone out inside the car. I pulled out my wand.

"Lumos," I whispered.

A bright, clear light appeared at the tip of my wand illuminating the inside of the car.

The seats were above us and I realized we were now resting on the roof that was now the floor.

Lily and James both had a few scrapes but were otherwise fine but shaken; Sirius had a cut lip that was bleeding and a black and blue on his jaw; Gillian and Haylie Lynn were shaken but untouched; Remus was lying on his back with Roselyn on top of him; Sam had a cut across his cheek and Peter was cut but again alright. Mario wasn't anywhere in the car.

"Roselyn? You alright?" Remus demanded.

She didn't answer. Remus quickly but gently slid out from underneath her and gently turned her over. She had a bleeding gash on her temple.

"Rose," I said urgently.

Remus began gently shaking her. After a few moments she came around.

"What happened?" she asked propping herself up onto her elbows.

"Dunno," James said cringing. "I think my arm is broken."

Sure enough, his left arm was being held close to his body, and I could see a bit of the bone protruding from his arm just above the elbow.

"Where's Mario?" Roselyn demanded automatically scanned the compartment.

"Not sure," Remus said. "I think we should leave the car and see if everyone else is alright."

Remus crawled out of the broken window. We followed him out of the car.

Once outside the over turned car, we got a full glimpse of what happened. Our car was resting on the roof with the wheels pointing to the sky. The rain belted down on us drenching us. My hair clung to my cheeks and forehead.

The rest of the Hogwarts Express was derailed. Some of the cars lay in a zigzag pattern. The engine was resting sideways across the track.

A majority of the students were standing outside, hugging themselves as the ice cold rain poured down. Our car had become uncoupled and was pushed off the track completely. Our robes and uniforms were covered in mud.

I saw someone lying face down in a mud puddle.

"Mario!" Roselyn cried rushing forward.

We all hurried forward and I dropped to my knees beside him.

"Are you alright?" Roselyn demanded anxiously turning him over onto his back.

His eyes were closed and his face was badly cut and bleeding.

"Mario," James said holding his broken arm tenderly. "Are you alright mate?"

Again Mario didn't reply.

Roselyn began getting panicky.

I crouched down beside him and placed two fingers on his neck, searching for a pulse.

There wasn't one.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "He's gone."

Roselyn burst into hysterical tears. Remus dropped down beside her and put his arms around her comfortingly.

"Are you guys all right?" several 7th years came running forward.

"Pretty much," Gillian said sobbing as she hugged Haylie Lynn. "We lost one."

Roselyn was completely devastated as Remus slowly helped her to her feet. He practically had to drag her toward the rest of the group of students.

I felt awful for her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Not sure," one of the seventh years said. She was in Ravenclaw. "Everything was pretty much a blur."

"It felt like we'd hit something," the second seventh year Hufflepuff replied. "Something solid across the tracks."

"Did the conductor make it?" Sirius asked wiping rain water out of his eyes.

"No," the Ravenclaw said shaking her head. "We're sending an owl back to Hogwarts explaining what happened."

She held out her arm and a pretty eagle owl landed there. She had tied a piece of parchment on the owl's leg and shortly, the owl took flight.

"We really should get this baby out of the rain," James replied.

"Yeah," the Hufflepuff said nodding. "The last car is fine. Everyone's okay. We can wait there."

Roselyn was still absolutely hysterical as we headed to the last car that had remained on the tracks. The rest were derailed or lying on their sides. I really had hoped everyone was alright in them, but it didn't look like it.

We climbed into the last car. There were several 3rd year Slytherins, as well as 4th year Gryffindors, 6th year Hufflepuffs and 2nd year Ravenclaws already there.

We quickly dried ourselves off with our wands and sat down. Gillian managed to calm down Haylie Lynn. Sam stayed with Gillian and the baby and Gillian snuggled up against Sam. Lily and James were comforting each other. Sirius was just staring out the cracked window and so was Peter. I had a cut above my left eye and it was bleeding but I didn't care. Remus was trying to keep Roselyn from lunging out of the car to go back to Mario. She managed to break free of his grip.

"Don't let her out!" Remus said.

I grabbed her and pulled her back against me.

"Lemme go!" Roselyn protested struggling to break free of my grasp.

"Rose, you can't help him!" I said.

She continued to struggle but finally relaxed against me. She turned around and threw her arms around my neck and rested her chin on top of my shoulder. I slowly and shyly wrapped my arms around her drawing her close.

She sobbed hysterically.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered in her ear.

ROSELYN.

It felt good to be held by Severus. He somehow had this calming effect on me. I just shut my eyes against the gentle blackness of his robe.

I lost my brother…the only one who ever really cared about me.

"I lost my brother," I whispered voicing what I was thinking. "The only one who ever really cared about me."

Severus pulled back from the embrace.

"That's not true," he said softly and quietly. "We all care about you."

"He's right," Remus said nodding as tears formed in his blue eyes too. "I'm so sorry about Mario."

I sat down beside Severus and rested my head against his shoulder. Remus came and sat beside me on my left.

There was an eerie silence before a deafening roar and explosion erupted.

We all screamed and dove to the ground.

"What was that?" Sirius demanded.

"One of the cars exploded," Remus said looking out the cracked window. "It was a car filled with a group of first years behind the engine."

He swallowed looking pale.

Lily began sobbing now as well as Gillian. Sam kept his arms around Gillian and Haylie Lynn. I could see the orange flames reflecting off the glass.

A few moments later, several of the teachers including Professor Dumbledore had arrived via the coaches drawn by Threstrals. I couldn't see them before but now I could see them plain as day.

Dumbledore brought us back to Hogwarts and sent owls to the parents. They were going to have to come and get the students via Apparation, Floo Powder or any other means of transportation.

Severus sat with us at the Gryffindor table. Most of the students were badly shaken and it looked like Slytherin suffered the most loss. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were next followed by Hufflepuff.

Shortly, the parents began arriving. Severus' parents arrived and immediately hugged him.

Sam's came next, followed by Remus, James, Lily, Peter and mine. Gillian's came and she began explaining to them about Haylie Lynn. Mr. Ross was angry but Mrs. Ross opened her arms to her daughter and hugged her. I was glad to see that they loved their daughter and Gillian had the measure of them all wrong. I waited for my parents to come.

After about a half hour, no one arrived.

"Where are your parents dear?" Mr. Snape asked curiously.

"Probably upset that I wasn't killed," I said bitterly as tears formed.

"I don't believe that," Mrs. Lupin said sadly. "You have no where to stay for the summer?"

I shook my head and felt the tears forming.

"I told you," I said bitterly to Lily, James, Remus and the rest. "They were more worried about Mario than me."

I broke down again and buried my face into my hands as I sobbed.

"You are certainly welcomed to stay with one of us," Mrs. Snape said kindly. She was pretty with shoulder length dark blond hair and brown eyes. Mr. Snape looked exactly like Severus, except his hair was shorter and cropped closely to his head.

"Exactly," Mr. Lupin said nodding. He too, looked like an older version of Remus.

"Why don't you stay with us?" Remus asked stepping forward. "We live close to Kings Cross Station. We can owl everyone and we can certainly get together at some point…the whole lot."

I slowly pulled my hands away from my face.

"Really?" I asked my voice cracking.

Remus nodded.

"We'd love to have you," Mrs. Lupin beamed.

"Okay," I finally said nodding.

"Alright you guys," Sirius said. "I'll see you all next year!"

That caused a whole mess of group hugging. The Lupin's loaded my belongings into a Muggle car, a Ford Taurus and soon I was off with them.