About the James being a seeker/chaser thing:
James was actually a chaser, but the movies went egotistical and all and made him out to be a seeker. He was playing with a snitch in the fifth book but he just stole that after a game.
Woohoo holidays! I was finally able to write up the chapter. Woot!
Anyways, thanks to: the mystirious kid :D, HGDM lova, Natalie G, Aidyl, hpfan142, Lauren, Margwet, VaNiTyFaIr and Romistic for reviewing!
Visits
Moonlight shone in through the dusty window upon a woman slumped in the corner of the room.
Her hair fell tangled around her tear-stained face as she lay motionless on the dusty floor. Ropes tightly bound her wrists and ankles, and a handkerchief had been crudely tied around her mouth, preventing her to shout out; to alert anyone of her existence in this place.
She had long given up hope of escape. She had tried many times before, but it was useless. There was no way out.
Only once did she come close. Once, she had been able to free herself from the coarse ropes, and hid in the shadows behind the door. When her captor entered to give her a dinner tray as he usually did before sunrise and sunset, she attacked him and fled out the door. But alas, she had not anticipated the other one to be there, ready with wand in hand.
She had been badly beaten and punished for that.
A clatter sounded from behind the door and a man entered the room. Still she made no movements.
Sneering cruelly at the woman, he set a tray down on the floor. The silver tray held a small plate of food, a glass of water, and two napkins. She would have to eat it with her hands; no knife or fork had been given for fear she would use them to defend herself. It had happened before.
The man pulled out a newspaper from his robes and dropped it carelessly in front of the woman before leaving the room and carefully locking the door behind him.
Low murmurings came from behind the door and the woman strained her ears to hear what the people were saying.
"… more time… about Jennifer… don't understand…"
There was an angry bark and loud footsteps echoing from the corridor. Then silence.
Quietly she dragged herself across the floor and drank some of the water. It dribbled down her chin and dripped onto the floor as her bound hands found it difficult to manoeuvre the glass properly.
As she ate the small meal, she scanned the newspaper, her eyes straining in the dim light for anything to suggest someone had noticed her disappearance.
Nothing.
With disgust she threw down the paper and collapsed back down onto the floor.
There was a flutter from outside and a small owl perched itself on the windowsill.
Her dark eyes flickered upwards at the feathered creature, preening itself gracefully in the silvery moonlight. She glanced feverishly at the door before crawling painfully towards the window.
"Here Birdie, Birdie…" she whispered.
She reached up to the barred window and desperately heaved at it, praying it would open for her now, unlike all those times before when she had thrown herself frantically at the bars.
The bars on the window had been constructed inside the room, so anybody who came past would not notice them and become suspicious. This meant she couldn't open the window… but she might be able to slide her hands between the metal shafts and slip something underneath.
Panting, she turned from the glass and searched the room recklessly. This could be her one shot at escaping. She must act quickly.
Footsteps echoed from beneath her and her heart leapt as she realised her captor was returning.
With difficulty, she grabbed the newspaper and hunted through its pages.
Professional Seers Help Mediums Bring Out Their Gifts.
The title glared up at the woman, but she wasn't interested in the article about amateur seers attempting to foretell the future.
She tore at the paper, her heart thudding wildly. She could hear noises outside in the hallway. The small section of paper came free as she raced across the room ignoring her aching legs as she fell to her knees before the window and slipped the ripped paper through the gap between the window and the sill.
"Take it…" she whispered to the owl. "Take it to anyone you can!"
The handle rattled and the door began to open.
Terrified, the woman flung herself to the floor by the tray.
Outside the dingy room upon the windowsill, the owl cocked its head and stared at the two words printed on the paper.
Help Me
Lily yawned and headed up to the dormitories after a long night of study. Groaning, she realised the next night she would be on patrols, meaning she would have less time to study.
Sleepily she climbed the stairs and collapsed into her bed. Settling comfortably, she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep.
A shrill scream echoed from the bed next to hers, jolting Lily awake. She jumped violently, then scrambled out of bed and rushed to the hangings, tearing them apart.
Verity squirmed in her bed, drenched in sweat, her arms clawing the air above her frenziedly.
Lily clambered onto the bed and shook Verity roughly.
"Verity!"
The girl's eyes opened suddenly as she gasped and choked.
"Are you alright?" Lily leant over Verity, staring anxiously at her friend.
Verity was panting as if she'd run a thousand miles. Images flashed through her mind.
She clutched Lily's arm tightly. "Emily! She's been attacked!"
"What?" Lily drew back.
"I was there! I was at Mungo's!" she sobbed. "Someone came and put a pillow on her face!"
She put her face in her hands and rocked back and forth.
"Shh…" Lily soothed.
Crystal, Margaret and several other Gryffindor girls had gathered around the bed.
"Oh, go crawl back into your holes." Lily said crossly as she patted Verity's back comfortingly. "She's just had a bad dream – that's all."
"Verity, listen to me. It was just a dream. Emily is fine."
Verity shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "She's not. I saw it. It wasn't just a dream! It was real!"
"Was it just as real as your other dream about your mother?" Lily said evenly. "You were so sure that dream was real too, but it wasn't. Your mother was fine; and still is. So Emily should be too."
Verity calmed down slightly. "Maybe you're right…" she said softly.
"Aren't I always?" Lily grinned.
Verity sighed and sank back down onto her pillow, wiping the tears from her face.
"So, you're alright now?"
Verity nodded.
Satisfied, Lily climbed back into her own bed, drew the hangings and went to sleep.
Verity, still slightly shaky, climbed out of bed the next morning and collected her books before leaving for breakfast.
Ritually she combed her hair, put on her robes and slipped her amethyst necklace over her head.
"The dream wasn't true. It was just a dream. I'm perfectly fine." She told herself as she climbed carefully down the winding staircase.
She shrieked and threw her books into the air as Margaret's cat shot out from under a table and tore up the stairs.
Crystal and Margaret were looking worriedly at her from across a table.
"Oh grow up, everybody has nightmares," Lily said scathingly, as she grabbed Verity and accompanied her to breakfast.
Crystal stared after them doubtfully but followed with Margaret.
Lily read through the Daily Prophet that had been faithfully delivered by her owl as she gathered her meal.
"Hey, Lily, can I borrow your paper after you finish? My owl's late today." Verity said as she checked her timetable.
Lily nodded and turned the page in the paper.
There was a bang at the end of the hall and Miranda Cerritus stormed in, before throwing herself sulkily onto a bench by the Ravenclaw table.
"What's with Miranda?" Margaret asked.
Crystal shrugged. "When is anything not with Miranda? Silly git has to sulk about something – she's an attention seeker."
Margaret waved her hands cautiously for Crystal to be quiet; Sirius was only sitting a few seats away, but unfortunately he'd heard.
He stood up angrily. "I'm sorry did you call my girlfriend an attention seeker?"
Crystal turned slightly pink and opened her mouth.
"Well, actually, she called her a silly git first." Karina interjected. She stood up threateningly.
"You don't scare me." Sirius scoffed.
"Oh really?"
Lily rolled her eyes and turned another page in the paper as Sirius and Karina started to shout at each other.
She stared in disbelief at the article on the next page.
ATTACK AT MUNGO'S
Late last night, two hospital patients were brutally attacked at St Mungo's Hospital for Maladies and Injuries.
Emily Apylbie, a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry student, was the first to be attacked, then another patient, Katherine Chambers.
At approximately midnight last night, a man made his way past the hospital security and attempted to suffocate Miss Apylbie with a pillow as she lay asleep. Another hospital patient, Miss Chambers, happened to wake up during the attack. She tried to prevent the attacker from harming the seventeen year old, but was then stabbed.
Nurses heard the shouts from other patients who had awaken during the assault and tried to subdue the attacker, but he fled the scene.
Aurors are unsure of why the attack occurred and are hunting the man down.
Miss Apylbie and Miss Chambers are currently recovering from their ordeal.
"Oh my God." Lily gasped.
Verity looked over at her. "What's wrong?"
Lily covered her mouth; starting to shake. "It's Emily… and your Aunt…"
"My Aunt! What happened?" Verity cried. She grabbed at the newspaper roughly and read the article.
Her head swirled suddenly. Her dream was true. Emily had been attacked.
Her Aunt had been stabbed.
But the dream was true.
Lily's words from last night echoed in her mind.
"Was it just as real as your other dream about your mother? You were so sure that dream was real too, but it wasn't. Your mother was fine; and still is. So Emily should be too."
But Emily wasn't fine. Would her mother be?
Everything blurred and spots of light drifted past her eyes. She swayed at the table and knocked her breakfast onto the floor.
"Verity?" Crystal's voice came floating from across the table; as if from a distance.
She slid backwards off her seat and lay sprawled across the floor. Lily cried out and clambered to help her.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Verity's eyes rolled back in her head and she didn't reply.
"She's dead!" Margaret screeched.
"Shut up, she's not dead!" Lily shouted.
She peered closer at Verity. "She hit her head, I think."
Groaning, she hoisted the girl off the floor and propped her up against the table.
"Wait no, you're meant to have her head on the floor and her legs up." Margaret pointed out.
"Why don't we take her to the Hospital Wing?" Crystal said.
"I'll help!" James scrambled around the table and came up to them.
Lily grimaced but gestured for him to help.
Together the three girls and James hauled Verity up to the first floor and knocked on the Hospital Wing.
"Oh Lord, not you lot again…" Madam Pomfrey sighed as she opened the doors. "Bring her in."
Lily noticed Lyla sitting up in a bed nearby.
"Hi… Lyla?" she said cautiously.
Lyla nodded. "Madam Pomfrey says I'm getting better. I should be out soon."
Crystal grinned. "So you've recovered?"
Lyla nodded again. "Well, she thinks I have. We'll just need to wait and see."
The four left the wing and began to depart for class.
"Lily, wait!" James called.
Lily turned and stared at him.
"I'm, I'm…" he blushed suddenly.
"You're what?"
"I'm sorry for hurting Sniv…. Uh, Snape." He gabbled. "Even though he deserved it."
Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Well, uh, the point is, I'm really sorry, but, uh, I, uh, I really like you. And I'm sorry for doing stuff. But will you go out with me?"
"Um…" Lily was starting to feel slightly flustered. "But, there isn't another Hogsmeade visit for a while, because the holidays are coming up."
"Oh…. Well would you, uh, like to go out in the holidays?" James was waving his hands around. "Like, we can get into a group and….I don't know…" he stared at his feet.
"Um, we could watch a movie?" Lily said. She mentally smacked herself. You should have said no and walked off.
He looked puzzled. "What's a movie?"
Walk away. Walk away. Walk away. "It's really fun.We should get together in the holidays and see one." She mentally smacked herself again. Why did you say that? You should have said no!
"Oh." James brightened up. "That's great! I'll, um, owl you in the holidays!" He turned and hurried off down the corridor.
Lily felt strange. She'd just said she'd go out with James Potter. But for some reason it felt good.
Puzzled, she set off to her next class.
Verity woke up drowsily and tried to sit up in the bed.
She shook her head. "Where am I?" she mumbled.
"Oh you're awake. You're in the hospital wing. You passed out and hit your head."
Verity eyes opened and she saw Madam Pomfrey in front of her.
She produced a small green bottle which Verity recognised from one of her previous visits to the Hospital Wing.
"You have a concussion. Drink this."
Verity winced and made a face as she drank it.
"How many fingers?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she waved her hand before Verity's face.
Verity coughed. "Um… two."
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Well you can go now. It's lunchtime."
Verity slid from the bed and made her way to the Gryffindor common room.
Lily was sitting at the table, finishing an essay on the positive and negative effects of dragons blood when applied to mandrake roots.
"Augh I haven't done that…" Verity sighed as she sat down next to Lily.
"Well you better get started." Lily said. "You also have that report on Snidgets due next week."
Verity groaned. "You're not even in my class and you know what's for homework."
Lily shrugged carelessly. "Are you at least feeling better?"
Verity frowned. "I don't know. I mean, with Emily being attacked… that's made me think that maybe now my mum could be at risk. I dreamt about her. I dreamt she was pushed down the stairs. What if she is?"
Lily thought for a moment and put her hand on Verity's shoulder.
"Well I asked Professor McGonagall for you about that trip to St Mungo's. She said you could if it was just a day trip and you caught up immediately with all the work you missed, then you could go. She said you could probably go on Sunday. And there's a big chance you'll meet up with your mum at the hospital."
Verity smiled and hugged her friend. "Thanks heaps."
Verity packed up her telescope at half past eleven that night to attend the last class of the day; Astronomy.
"See, this is why I didn't take Astronomy." Lily said as she left. "I don't feel like tramping up to the tallest tower in the castle at midnight."
Finally at the classroom, Professor Sinistra stood majestically before them. She was quite a young witch and rather new to the school.
"Now, you have to hand in those star charts in tomorrow, yes?"
The class shook their heads.
"Tomorrow's Sunday, Miss." Corrected Karina.
The teacher nodded. "Yes, Sunday. You can deliver them to my office."
The class groaned.
"Ok, well then, set up your telescopes and locate for me the constellation of Ophiuchus. Then direct your telescopes 5 degrees to the left and…"
Verity fiddled with her telescope and tried to make it fit, but the gears had jammed. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she bent down and tried to loosen the stand on her telescope. A whiny voice flitted near her.
"I mean, he doesn't have time for me anymore…" Miranda complained from in front of her.
Verity listened closer.
"I mean, seriously, he's 'too busy' but auuugh I just hate him!" she sighed.
"Oh come on Miranda, your father is busy. You know parents have lives too." said her friend Allison.
"My father doesn't have a life."
Verity rolled her eyes. "At least you have a father," she said to herself quietly.
Miranda sighed again and began to find the constellation Professor Sinistra had been talking of.
Verity's telescope wasn't working. She growled and hit at it angrily and began trying to loosen the gears once more.
"Darn stupid telescope!" she snapped.
She kicked the telescope in annoyance, causing the loosened gears to finally come free. The telescope flew off the stand and soared through the air and smashed into Miranda's stand, causing it to topple to the floor and slide across the room.
"Sorry!" Verity exclaimed.
Miranda gasped. "You broke my telescope!" she screeched.
"Now, now, Miss Cerritus, I'm sure it's not broken." Professor Sinistra said as she knelt by Karina's telescope. "But will anyone clear that mess up? I'm still helping Miss Russell on her constellation."
"I'll get it!" Peter Pettigrew leapt up and bounced across the room and gathered up the telescopes.
He started to make his way back to the girls but he lost his footing and stumbled against the wall of the tower.
"No!" Miranda shouted, but alas, it was too late.
Peter had fallen against the window, and the two telescopes flew majestically out towards the darkening sky and hurtled towards the lake.
The class gaped at Peter.
He gazed out the window. "It might not be that far down…"
Karina stared at him. "Dude, we're in the tallest tower of the school."
"You owe me 50 galleons!" Miranda shouted at Verity.
"I didn't throw your telescope out of the window! He did!" she pointed at the cowering boy.
"Do I look like I care?" Miranda shot at her. "I want my money!"
"Now, now, girls." Professor Sinistra same forward. "I'm sure we can fix your telescopes…" she trailed off as she stared out the window. "Then again, they landed in the lake."
"You cow! You destroyed my telescope!" Miranda lunged at Verity.
Verity dove out of the way and Miranda bowled headfirst into Liam Clemens who was at the telescope behind Verity. He hit the floor with a loud thud but Miranda didn't seem to care.
"Good Lord, Miss Cerritus! What are you doing?" Professor Sinistra ran forwards but Miranda ducked under her arms and came for Verity again.
"I'm sorry!" Verity yelled as she tried to hide away from the girl.
"No you aren't! You've always been out to get me! Now I'm going to get you!" She punched for Verity but hit Bethany Marian's telescope instead.
"Hey!" Bethany cried.
Miranda's fist swung again and Verity jumped backwards. Tripping as Peter had done before her, she hit the open window.
With a scream she toppled out.
I'm dead... she thought in panic.
But then hands gripped her ankles and she halted.
The world spun around her as she was hauled her back through the window. As her vision cleared she saw her saviour, Liam, standing before her.
"Oh, oh my Lord, Miss Chambers! Are you alright? Oh dear, oh dear." Professor Sinistra fretted. She looked close to tears.
Verity gasped for breath and abruptly threw up.
"Everybody pack away your telescopes, class is finished." The Professor announced shakily. She grabbed Verity around the shoulders. "I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing."
Verity stumbled and tripped as she tried to make her way down the spiral staircases that lead down from the forbidding tower. Her heart was still beating at a million miles an hour and she was having trouble walking.
Liam came up behind them. "I'll help." He offered.
"Thankyou Mr Clemens." Professor Sinistra said.
Verity found she was shivering. She coughed and swayed slightly.
Liam took off his coat and put it around her shoulders.
Verity looked at him. "Thanks."
The arrived at the Hospital Wing and the Professor knocked loudly on the door.
Madam Pomfrey opened the wooden doors and peered out. "Miss Chambers? What did you do this time?" she exclaimed.
Professor Sinistra explained the situation as Liam led Verity to one of the beds and she sat down.
She drew in a deep shuddering breath and put her head in her hands.
The two sat awkwardly for a minute while Madam Pomfrey bustled off to find a potion of some sort.
Liam tried to break the silence. "Well, uh, how have you been lately?"
"Um, fine thanks." Verity said. She played with her necklace nervously.
He glanced at the amethyst shining between her fingers.
"You're wearing the necklace!" he blurted suddenly.
Verity looked at him. "Sorry?"
"I, uh, nothing," he stammered.
Madam Pomfrey came up brandishing a small jug filled with a silvery liquid.
"This is to help with the shock." She interrupted, handing Verity a small cup and pouring the liquid into it.
"Oh ok. Thanks." Verity sipped the potion slowly.
"Err, well I'll go now then." Liam got up rather quickly and edged out of the room.
Verity's head cleared after she finished the cup. "Thankyou," she gave the cup back to the Matron.
"Oh!" she realised she was still wearing Liam's coat. "Can I go now?"
Madam Pomfrey sniffed. "If you feel better."
Verity nodded and ran out of the room; jogging up to Gryffindor tower.
"Liam!" she called as she climbed through the portrait-hole.
He was sitting by the fire and leapt up; startled.
"Sorry," she apologised. "It's just, I still have your coat."
He blinked. "Oh right. Thanks."
Still holding the coat, she decided to take a chance.
"Did you send me the necklace?" she asked.
Liam hesitated and fidgeted. "Well, yes."
"Oh... Well, thankyou. That's really… sweet."
"Um, you're welcome." The boy was bright red by this stage.
Verity bit her lip. "Did you also send me those tulips?"
He smiled shyly. "Erm, yeah."
"Well… thanks for those as well. I really like tulips."
He nodded anxiously.
"Well, um, I'll go to bed now then. It's like 1am. But thanks for... everything." Verity said. She turned to climb the staircase but Liam started forward.
"Wait, do you…" he trailed off and blushed even more.
She paused at the stairs. "Do I…?"
"Do you want to... go on a picnic… sometime?" he stuttered. "Like… in the holidays?"
"Oh, well I'd really love to." She stopped and thought. "But I don't think I'm going home for the holidays."
"Oh…" he said, looking disappointed.
"But, but I'd really love to go." Verity said quickly. "As in… maybe… another time? I like picnics."
He nodded, looking happier.
"Well then, I'll, um, see you later." Verity said as she headed towards her dormitory.
"If you do go home for the holidays though," Liam called after her. "Would you go?"
Verity nodded. "Sure."
The following morning was spent catching up on essays and other due work. A visit to Professor McGonagall confirmed that Verity would be allowed to travel to London, provided all work would be caught up on.
Verity lay on the floor of the common room, a quill poised above the page in front of her.
"The Ministry of Magic is making reserves for Snidgets… do you know where they are?" she asked Lily.
"This is your essay not mine." Lily protested as she started on an essay of her own. "But I think I read in the Daily Prophet that they're setting up one in the remote parts of Wessex."
Verity grinned. "Thanks, Lil."
She soon finished her Snidget essay and began on her star map.
"Lily, can you hand in my star map for me tomorrow?" she asked. "Because I'll be in London."
"Oh, but I'm coming with you remember?" Lily said as she filled in the properties of Polyjuice Potion when applied in certain circumstances.
"Huh? You're coming with me?"
Lily nodded. "McGonagall told you this morning. You were listening weren't you?"
"Oh… uh sure."
Lily sighed. "Obviously Professor McGonagall isn't going to just send off a single student on her own. Plus you have no idea where the hospital even is. So she's sending me with you."
"Well that's good I suppose." Verity said as she filled in the last constellations needed on her star chart.
She threw down her quill in triumph. "I finished!"
"Then I suppose it'd be a bad time to tell you that you did the Vela constellation wrong?" James remarked from his chair by the portrait hole.
"Huh? Where?" Verity cried.
James grinned. "Only kidding."
A book flew at him.
"Good shot." Lily said.
The next day Verity and Lily walked to Hogsmeade station and caught the train from Hogsmeade to King Cross.
Nervously Verity followed Lily as she weaved her way through the streets and navigated to St Mungo's.
They soon arrived at a shop called Purge and Dowse Ltd. It wasn't a very attractive building and a "Closed for Refurbishment" sign hung on the doors.
Lily stopped and peered into the window.
"The shop's closed." Verity pointed at the sign.
Lily snorted. "You really have no idea where Mungo's really is. This is the hospital."
"Oh." Verity said. "Well it looks lovely."
Lily laughed and stood in front of an ugly dummy standing alone in the window. She started to talk to it.
Verity's gaze wandered across the street. She shivered suddenly and her anxiousness grew more.
"Verity!" Lily called and beckoned. The two walked through the bizarre window and found themselves inside a gleaming white reception area.
Lily walked to a window where a bored looking witch sat.
"Err, hi we're here to see a Miss Katherine Chambers, on the fourth floor?"
The witch grabbed at a book and flipped through it. "You can find her… in the Grogan Stump Ward… err that's ward five."
She smiled broadly at Verity. "Why, you're a little cutie." She said. "How old are you?"
"Uh, seventeen?" Verity said quietly.
"Oh! Oh, dearie me I'm sorry. You look young."
Verity turned red as Lily thanked the witch and ushered Verity away.
"Oh you're such a cutie pie." Lily teased.
"Shut up, it's not my fault." Verity said irritably.
The two climbed up the winding stairwell.
"I know wizards don't like muggles, but I could really use an elevator right now." Verity puffed.
They finally reached the fourth floor for Spell Damage and made their way to the fifth ward.
Verity leant into the room and with a sinking heart saw two forbidding figures standing over the bed.
"It's her and Patrick." She growled.
"Damn, I was hoping to avoid them." Lily whispered. "Whatever you do, do not lose your temper. It's not going to do anything for you. You're better off playing to your strengths. And fighting isn't one of them."
The two sidled into the room cautiously and edged towards the bed in which laid Kate.
Patrick looked up. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.
"Visiting my aunt." Verity said.
Lily jabbed her slightly with her elbow. She leant forward and held out her hand.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Lily Evans. I've heard a lot about you two from Verity." Her smile quickly faltered and she realised that might not have been perceived as a compliment.
"Well this is awfully dreadful isn't it?" Lily said, trying to fill in the silence. "Verity just wanted a quick chat with her aunt, and then we'll probably go back to Hogwarts. Shan't bother you too much, I'm sure you'll want to spend a lot of time with your sister."
She nudged Verity who walked to the edge of the bed.
"Stop!" Patrick ordered.
Verity halted.
"We don't want you – either of you – to talk to Kate!" Patrick pushed Verity away from the sleeping woman.
"Don't you touch me!" Verity pushed him back.
"Don't you touch my husband!" Leanne stepped between the two and raised her hand threateningly.
"I want you to get away from my sister." She said in a dangerous voice. "Both of you, get out now!"
Verity backed away, but bumped into Lily who pointed across the room. Emily Apylbie was sitting in one of the beds, looking hopefully over at them.
The girls started to make their way further into the room over to Emily.
"What are you doing?" Leanne said icily. "I told you to get out!"
"You don't run this hospital." Verity snapped. "We're going to see our friend."
"Hi!" Emily said.
"Hi…" Verity said. She looked at Lily. "Is she Emily or still Bubbles?"
Lily shrugged.
"I'm Emily." The girl piped up.
"Oh that's great." Lily said. "So you're getting better."
Emily nodded. "The Healers told me that the shock made me better. They have no idea why, though."
Verity blinked. "I see. So… what happened was actually good for you?"
"In a strange way, yes."
"That's scary." Lily said. "So does that mean you'll be coming back to Hogwarts?"
Emily shook her head. "My parents are going to get a tutor for me at home. I'm not going back to Hogwarts until the end of the year so I can do my NEWTs."
"Seriously?" Verity asked.
"We had a talk about it before mum and dad went up to the fifth floor to get some tea. They think it'd be best if I didn't go back."
"Oh…" Verity said, disappointed. "Well, we'll all miss you then."
Emily glanced over at Patrick and Leanne who were glowering at the girls and whispering between themselves.
"Those two are an odd pair." She said in a low voice. "All they've done is shooed away anyone who tries to go near the woman."
Patrick noticed the three staring at him and lumbered over. "That's it, it's time for you to go!" he said roughly.
He grabbed Verity and hauled her to her feet.
"Ouch let go of me!" she yelled.
He started to drag her towards the door.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Lily shouted.
Verity struggled and slapped him across the face; Patrick growled and threw her to the floor.
Lily rushed beside her and helped her to her feet. "You evil…" she was cut off as two familiar people walked into the room; one was carrying a tray of tea. It was Mr and Mrs Apylbie.
"What's going on?" Mrs Apylbie said, confused.
A few nurses appeared behind her.
Verity opened her mouth to shout obscenities at Patrick, then stopped.
Play to your strengths Lily had said earlier.
She remembered the receptionist lady from the ground floor: Why, you're a little cutie.
She decided what she had to do.
She looked around at Patrick and the others waiting expectantly around her.
Then she burst into tears.
Of course, Patrick hadn't been much prepared for that. Leanne hadn't been either.
And so the caring nurses comforted the poor girl as Lily and Emily shouted abuse.
And so Leanne and Patrick were thrown out of the hospital.
And so Verity was able to talk to her aunt.
But she wasn't able to talk much. Only that she was recovering well and glad that her niece and her lovely friend had come and how a terrible fiend had come along during the night.
"Do you know who he was? Had you seen him before?" Verity asked.
Kate replied that no, she didn't know who the man was. But she did feel as if she'd seen him somewhere before.
"Of course, it was in the dark, so I could have been mistaken. But also… I felt… as if… I was on fire. Quite odd isn't it?"
"What do you think that means?" Verity asked Lily as they left the hospital.
Lily shrugged. "I have no idea, but mind you, she did get stabbed – maybe it was the pain from that?"
But Verity wasn't so sure.
They soon arrived back at Kings Cross, to the dismay of Lily. "Do we have to go back so soon? Like, can't we go shopping or something first?"
"We'd get killed by Professor McGonagall if we did anything other than go to Mungo's. Can you imagine?"
"I suppose." Lily said sadly as she gazed wistfully at a line of stores nearby.
Verity rolled her eyes. "One shop."
"One shop?"
"Fine."
Lily cheered and dragged Verity behind her to a clothes shop.
"Hurrah! Clothes!" She trotted happily around the store.
Verity wandered aimlessly past a rack of shoes, and a certain pair caught her eye. They were strange and the sort she'd never seen before.
"Hey, what are these?" she beckoned Lily to come.
"Oh. They're stilettos. I tried on a pair once. Very hard to walk in."
"I think they're funny." Verity peered closer.
"Haha yes they are." Lily coughed suddenly. "I feel a bit cold. Let's go back now."
Verity nodded and the two started to leave the store when a chill ran up her spine.
"You alright?" Lily looked at her worriedly.
"I feel… strange." Verity admitted. "Also when I was at Mungo's."
"Oh that's not good." Lily patted her back. "You probably picked up something at the hospital."
"No it wasn't like…" she trailed of. In the midst of the crowded street, a cloaked figure stood waiting.
Verity swore. "He's here! Lil, we gotta go!"
She tore from the store, Lily at her heels. Running like the wind, they scrambled up the station steps at King Cross.
Gasping for breath, Lily clung to her arm as they slowed down. "Did we lose him?"
Verity looked around wildly. The man came tearing up the steps after them.
"Run!" she shrieked.
The two pelted down the station and ran into the familiar wall of stone that led into Platform 9 ¾.
A blue train much like the Hogwarts Express waited at the platform. They ran breathlessly and flung themselves onto it, before hiding in one of the compartments.
"Have we lost him now?" Lily whispered.
Verity peeked out of their compartment.
The door of the carriage opened and slammed behind the man who entered.
She ducked back through the door, her heart beating wildly.
The man strode to the compartment in front of him and kicked the door open, before searching the room.
"What do we do?" Lily asked frantically.
The compartment next to theirs was brutally kicked open. Verity's heart leapt into her throat.
"Under the seat!" she hissed.
The two wriggled under the seats as their door crashed open. The huddled together in fear as a pair of black boots came into view as the man checked the luggage racks above the seats.
Verity held her breath as he circled the compartment before stalking out.
He was gone.
But still, neither moved from their spots until the train had reached its destination.
That night, Verity and Lily sat on the floor of their dormitory.
"We have to tell Professor McGonagall." Lily said tearfully.
"That what? We saw a guy at the station who walked onto the same train as us? That blue train is for wizard and witch use between Kings Cross and other magical country towns. Anybody's allowed on it. He could have been anybody." Verity said dully.
"He was after us!" Lily wiped at her face. "He was going to get us."
"We can't prove it."
"But what can we do?" Lily hugged her knees.
"We can't do anything. All we can do is keep out of his way."
There was a long silence between them.
"Why is he doing this?"
Verity shook her head. "I don't know. I've asked myself a million times… but I don't know."
There was a noise at the window and a small owl appeared, trying to get in.
"May!" Verity crawled to the window and unlatched it. "Where have you been?"
The owl dropped a scrap of paper to the floor and looked very happy about herself.
"What's this?" Verity picked up the paper and tried to focus on the words printed on it.
Help Me
She stared, confused at the paper.
"What is it?" Lily asked, leaning over her shoulder. "Who's it from?"
Far away, in London, a woman lay crying in the corner of a dark and dusty room.
Her captor had found she'd torn his newspaper. For that she had received no dinner, and a savage beating.
"They'll find you!" she shouted hoarsely. "Someone will realise what you're doing!"
She sobbed slightly. "Do you hear me!" she screamed.
The door opened and light spilled into the room. Shielding her eyes she cringed as the man walked slowly up to her.
"Shut. Up." He scowled.
He inspected his fingernails. "You have no-one. So stop your silly whining."
He walked back to the door and slammed it behind him.
The woman raised her face to the moon behind the bars, high up in the sky. She remembered the little owl, fluttering away with her message. Someone would find it. Someone would investigate it.
And someone would find her.
Author's Note:
Thanks to Anjali, Emma and Lydia for reading this over before I posted!
Also thanks to Angela for the picnic idea. :o)
Can't update until my next holiday break though, really sorry. But I'll try.
Little Kity
