The next afternoon, the four friends sat around the lake. The morning classes had gone by quite quickly, and they had the rest of the day off. Harry and Christine were laughing at what Hermione was drawing on Ron's face while he slept. When she had finished, she hid her wand in her pocket and called out his name.
"What?" he whined as he slowly woke up.
"Nothing, we just thought you'd like to join us in the land of the living instead of sleeping your life away," Hermione answered quickly.
"Why would you think that?" he asked with a smile. Hermione hit him. "Hey now, was that necessary?"
"Yes, now please try to stay awake. Then I won't have a chance to draw anymore pictures on your face," she added. Ron's face turned from a sleepy, lethargic look to one of panic. Harry and Christine erupted into laughter as Ron examined his reflection in the lake.
"Ron! I can't believe you just did that, it's freezing out here!" Hermione scolded him as he pulled his head out of the water. He just gave her a cheeky grin, sending the other two into another round of laughter. After the small and meaningless argument between Ron and Hermione, the group relaxed into a comfortable silence.
Harry was sitting against the trunk of the beech tree with his arms around Christine as she was snuggled against his stomach. Ron was lying with his head on Hermione's stomach watching the waves on the lake.
"I wonder what makes the waves so big or small," Ron said thinking this was a very smart question.
"The moon," the other three answered absent-mindedly.
"Bloody hell, how do you know that?" he asked surprised at the quick and simple answer his friends had given him.
"Muggle education," Christine stated, "In primary school, the older students learn about the ocean. Seeing as you didn't go to muggle schools, it's not surprising that you would wonder about that."
"We'd better be getting back," Harry suggested, "It's starting to get dark." The others agreed and began to pack up their blankets when they heard a loud scream from inside the Forbidden Forest.
"What was that?" Ron asked stupidly. Before anyone could answer a silver hawk flew past the group then came back. It circled Christine until it disappeared in a wispy silver cloud of smoke.
"Whose was that?" Harry asked urgently.
With tears in her eyes, Christine looked up at Harry and answered him in a voice barely above a whisper, "Careen's."
"We have to get a message to Dumbledore," Hermione said.
"By the time we get up there, she could be long gone," Harry replied. "Hermione, send your patronus to Dumbledore telling him we're in the Forbidden Forest. By the look on Christine's face, it doesn't look like she's going to stay here."
"I'm going with you too," Ron added.
Harry, Ron and Christine took off across the grounds toward the Forbidden Forest while Hermione scribbled down a note for Dumbledore and sent it to him. Then she took off after them.
The forest was getting darker by the second as the sun set. The group had no idea where they were going or what they were going to meet once they got there, but they were determined to find Christine's sister. As they were creeping through the vines and bushes, Christine realized something. This was exactly the situation that Voldemort wanted to create.
"Harry, you have to go back," Christine explained.
"No, I'm not going to leave you and your sister in the middle of the Forbidden Forest with a bunch of Death Eater's around."
"But Harry, we're playing into his trap. If we go deeper into the forest, there's a more likely chance we're going to meet Death Eaters."
"She's right Harry," Hermione agreed as she caught up to the group. "If you think you're ready to finish this now, then we should go on, if not, don't put yourself in a vulnerable situation."
"Look, I'm not turning back and if you want to turn back then you all go," he stated firmly with an obvious emphasis on the word 'you.'
"I have to go help my sister. I'm staying," Christine said simply. "But I think Ron and Hermione should go back."
"What? Why?" Ron asked a little insulted.
"Because, one, you know what is going on down here and if you go back you can help Dumbledore to locate us. And two, the less people we have sneaking through the forest the more of a chance we'll have at finding my sister and getting away."
"She's right," Harry said, "Now, you two go back and we'll keep going. We've already lost too much time standing here." Harry and Christine turned to leave.
"Wait!" Hermione shouted. "How are we going to find you? You're not going to be in this spot when we get back."
"The Marauder's Map," Harry decided. "Accio Marauder's Map!" The thin piece of parchment came zooming into the woods a few minutes after it was summoned. Harry and Christine glanced at it for a second. "Pettigrew has her," Harry announced dejectedly, "And he's heading for…no, he can't know about that!"
"About what?" Christine asked.
"He's taking her to the spot where I asked you out. Look, he's disappeared, but we can still see Careen. That's where they've been meeting!" he shouted all of a sudden. "This place fits the description Parvati gave us! River's curled, the water winding around the little patches of land and there was no snow, the snow unswirled."
"That means more Death Eaters," Hermione spoke up.
"Get to the castle and show Dumbledore where this place is on the map. He'll be able to bring help from there."
Having no choice but to go along with the plan, Hermione and Ron sped off back towards the castle with the map and the information. Harry and Christine went in the opposite direction of their friends, very slowly and very quietly. Their walk to the entrance of the isolated hideaway was not long. As they were on the reverse side of where they had entered the first time there, the pair didn't have to climb through the caves.
Before they could be seen, Harry and Christine took cover behind a dead tree trunk lying on the ground and the bushes that had grown over it. Their eyes scanned the area for any signs of Careen, and when they finally found her it was not what they were hoping for. From what they could see, she was unconscious; at least they wished she was. She was tied to a tree and her head hung loosely in front of her. A huge open gash covered the right side of her neck and several bruises and scratches ran down her arms.
Christine was on the verge of tears and thought she was going to be sick. Harry searched for any other Death Eaters besides Pettigrew, and found seven to their right and nine to their left.
"We're going to have to wait for Dumbledore and the others to get here, there's too many of them for just the two of us," he explained in a whisper.
"Harry, we have to get her up to the Hospital Wing. Look at her; she'll die of blood loss if she doesn't get there soon." Harry looked around to double check he had counted the Death Eaters correctly and began to piece together a plan.
"All right, this is what…," Harry silenced himself as the Death Eaters began shouting to one another.
"She's not going to tell us anything! Pettigrew's beat her up too badly for her to speak," one of the smaller Death Eater's shouted.
"Yes, but when she comes to, she could be a very good source of information," another much more threatening Death Eater argued.
"Ennervate!" a cold female voice shouted exasperatedly. Careen's head slowly lifted up and rested against the tree trunk as if it were too heavy to hold. "Tell us what Dumbledore is planning or we will make you suffer," the same voice said simply. Careen remained silent and glared at the Death Eater. "You were in Gryffindor weren't you? Well, all that courage and loyalty won't save you now. It just signed your death certificate. Avada Kedavra!" A lightning fast bolt of green shot out of the wand and hit Careen in the chest; her body went limp.
It took all of Christine's strength to keep herself from screaming and she was crying freely into Harry's shoulder as he held her. The Death Eaters argued back and forth before dispersing within the area and went back to whatever they were doing before interrogating Careen.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," Harry whispered. They began to look for a chance to escape. When they thought the Death Eaters were immersed in their own business, they crept back toward the entrance. As they neared the forest, they heard a loud noise from behind them and before they knew it, they had been spotted.
"It's Potter!" an alarmed Death Eater yelled. In a hurry the rest of the Death Eaters had grabbed their wands and began firing spell after spell at the couple. Harry pulled Christine through the woods, ducked them behind trees and managed to keep them out of the line of fire long enough to get to the open Hogwarts grounds where most of the teachers and order members were approaching the forest.
"They're right behind us!" Harry screamed as he and Christine raced up the hill. The Death Eaters, oblivious to the extra help the pair now had, came charging out of the forest shooting spells. Without a moment's hesitation, the teachers and order members fired back.
The Death Eaters refused to retreat and pressed forward, eventually reaching a distance that could have warranted hand to hand combat. Stunning spells, Unforgivable Curses, torture hexes and all kinds of spells came hurtling from the wand tips of the Death Eaters. Christine was fighting back with a vengeance. Spells flew from her wand faster than the wind and hit their mark more often than not.
The fight raged on. Soon the small group of evil wizards and witches began to realize they were outnumbered and outmatched. The Order and teachers were far too advanced in their fighting skills for the on coming attackers to have a chance. After only a few of the Death Eaters had fallen, a retreat was ordered and the remaining Death Eaters made a dash for their hideaway. Some of the order pursued them into the forest while the others rounded up the ones lying on the ground and returned them, tied up, to the castle where they would wait to be shipped to Azkaban.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were looking for Christine on their way back to the castle. They came across her sitting by herself in the middle of the field, elbows resting on her knees and her head buried in her arms.
"What happened?" Hermione asked as she rushed to her friend's side and tried to look into her face.
"They killed her, Hermione! They killed her," she cried as she briefly looked up at her friend before breaking down again. Hermione gasped and tears began to form in her eyes. Harry picked up Christine in the same fashion he had when he attempted to take her to the Hospital Wing; she didn't fight his grip this time, but sobbed into his chest as they walked back to the school.
Harry and Ron sat in the Gryffindor Common room while Hermione and the other Gryffindor girls tried to comfort Christine.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, where are Miss Davet and Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall questioned somberly as she walked through the portrait hole.
"They're in the sixth year dorms," Ron replied quietly. Professor McGonagall disappeared for a moment into the girls' side of the tower and returned with a very desolate looking Christine. Hermione had her arm around Christine's shoulders and looked as if she had been crying as well. Harry rushed up to Christine and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he embraced her in a tight hug.
"If you four would kindly follow me, the headmaster wishes to speak with you," Professor McGonagall explained.
The students grimly followed their head of house up to the headmaster's office.
"Please take a seat," Dumbledore said from behind his desk. The students did as they were told. "Miss Davet, I would like to apologize to you." Christine looked up at him confusion written on her face. "You see, I was beginning to get worried when I didn't hear from your sister. In fact before you turned up in my office yesterday I was going to send Remus and Alastor to find her. But when you told me that Eric was here, I assumed that she was safe in France. I failed to realize that once Eric's feeble attempt to abduct you, Voldemort would lure you in through a different angle." Christine was in tears again, as was Hermione, but the headmaster was obligated to continue.
"But why would he take Careen? It seems like too much trouble to go through, especially since she was in France and we're here." Harry choked out.
"Because he knew that Christine would do anything to help her sister, he gathered that much from Eric. And knowing that Miss Davet and you were engaged in a relationship, he believed that you, Mr. Potter, would follow as well. I believe that all the Dementors we believed to be lurking about the grounds were merely a diversion so that we would think something bigger was planned."
"And we played right into the trap," Christine sighed again as more tears followed.
"Again, I'm sorry for assuming the safety of your sister was definite. The mistake of an old man has cost a young woman her life, and I will never forgive myself for that."
"Is there anything else Professor? I'd like to talk to my parents tonight if you don't mind," Christine explained.
"That is another topic I wish to discuss with you. Would you three mind waiting outside?" Dumbledore said. The others left silently and waited for Christine outside the door.
"Christine, I was hesitant in contacting your parents. Sending an owl would give the location of your home to anyone tracking it and since they are Muggles, the Ministry of Magic will not connect them to the Floo Network. I have, however, have been given permission to send you home by Portkey."
"How long will I be there?" she asked, hoping she would have enough time to talk about this with her parents.
"This is where it becomes difficult," he started. "You see, if you were to return home, now would be the safest possible moment for you to do so. I'm still not sure if you're parents' letter about the move is credible, but if it is, it would be best for you to stay there instead of returning."
"Do you believe the letter to be valid?" Christine inquired.
"I believe the first one to be so, yes," the headmaster admitted.
"Do my parents know anything about Careen?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Then I have to go home tonight," she determined. Dumbledore nodded his head in understanding.
"Be back here in half an hour with your belongings."
"Yes sir." She exited the room and returned to the others.
By the looks on their faces, Christine knew that her friends wanted to ask what had happened but were keeping their mouths shut out of consideration. Christine smiled sadly.
"I'm leaving tonight. My parents don't know what's happened and I don't want some stranger telling my mother that her daughter has been murdered. Her worst nightmare is that some man shows up on her doorstep to tell her that my dad has been killed and I'm not going to allow that to come true for my sister," she explained as she began to walk back to Gryffindor Tower.
Nobody tried to talk her out of going home. They knew that her family was important to her and they understood why she had to go home. But it still hurt, especially Harry. He waited for her in the common room while she went up to gather her things. It seemed all of Gryffindor house was there waiting for her.
She descended the stairs slowly while trying not to tip over her trunk. Harry got up to help her. Christine made her way through the common room saying her goodbyes to everyone. The last two people were waiting for her near the portrait hole; it was Ron and Hermione.
"I'm going to miss you," she said to Hermione as she gave her a hug. "I'll write to you every week. I know you'll be studying for N.E.W.T.'s so I will try to write on the weekends." Hermione laughed a little.
"Bye Ron, I already told Ginny this, but I want you to tell your family goodbye and thanks for everything. I don't think my summers would have been half as great if I didn't get to visit the Weasley's."
"I'm sure they'd love to have you anytime, just don't forget about us all right?"
"There's no chance of that happening," she laughed as she gave him a hug as well.
She turned and with one last goodbye, climbed out the portrait hole, closely followed by Harry.
"I'm going to miss you most of all," she whispered to him as they walked down the halls. "Harry, I want you to do me a favor," she continued when he didn't answer back.
"Anything."
"Promise me that you will try to date some other girls. We don't know what the future holds, and I don't want you to miss the chance of finding happiness."
"But I've already found it. It's just taking a vacation for a little while."
"Promise me, you won't feel guilty about dating someone else."
"Is that what you're planning to do?"
"Promise me, Harry. And you already said you'd do me this favor," she begged completely ignoring his question.
"I promise." They reached the steps of Dumbledore's office.
Christine gave him a hug and kissed him. "I'm going to miss you," she repeated.
"I'm going to miss you too." She let go of him, and walked into Dumbledore's office.
"Here you are, Miss Davet," Dumbledore handed her a shiny trinket that even Hermione had never heard of before.
"Goodbye Miss Davet. I wish you well in your future and if you get the chance, please try to come back to England. I daresay that our young Mr. Potter will make several attempts at locating you, but England is a much better place to live than Australia."
"Thank you sir, for everything," she smiled. Dumbledore tapped his wand on the trinket and Christine felt the familiar tug behind her bellybutton. Hogwarts vanished from her view.
She arrived back home. Her mother was packing the last couple of boxes. The rest of the house was empty and cold looking.
"Christine, what are you doing home?" her mother's soothing voice sounded.
"Mother, I have something to tell you," Christine choked.
AN: Well there it is! The End has come and gone. I hope you all enjoyed the story and I'm thinking of doing an epilogue, but if I don't get a lot of feedback on this then I might not do it. I've kind of steered away from Harry Potter fics so far as writing goes and I'm writing my own story called Loving A Stranger that has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter. So if you get bored one day, head on over to and read my story! Adios, amigos!