Samantha ran. Ran through the troll room. Ran across the giant chess board and into the enchanted key room. Ran to grab a broom. If it were possible to run while on a broom, she'd have run there too. She made it over the Devil's Snare and through the trapdoor. She avoided Fluffy and burst out of the door.
It was an eerie sight. The castle was dark and empty while floors below, Harry was fighting Snape... or possibly Voldemort.
"Samantha!" Leslie cried. She pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and jumped into a hug. That was when Samantha noticed she had tears in her own eyes. "Sam, what's going on, Hermione didn't have time to explain!" Leslie was sobbing.
Samantha brushed her own hair out of her face, throwing the broom on the ground. "Harry's down there, there was only enough potion for him to go, we need to get Dumbledore, Snape or someone else is already there," Samantha said brushing the tears out of her eyes to no avail.
"What- potion? Sammy, what's happening?" Leslie asked.
The girls were screaming, clutching onto each other, tears falling down their faces. "Where's Max, what happened up here?" Samantha yelled.
"He went with Hermione, I stayed in case anything happened," Leslie said. "Sam, what's happened down there?"
"We need Dumbledore, we need Dumbledore or Harry might die!" Samantha screamed. She was surprised no one had come running yet, with all the noise the two of them made.
Leslie grabbed Samantha's arm and the girls began running through the hall, towards the Owlrey.
"Max!" Samantha cried, running into his arms. "Where's Hermione, where's Hermione?" she asked frantically.
"She took Ron to Madam Pomfrey, I came here to send an owl, I've just sent Athena," Max replied, pointing to the distant blur out the window.
"We should go to Ron!" Leslie said suddenly.
"Someone should go back to the corridor!" Max urged.
"I'll go!" Samantha offered, and before waiting for a response from the others, she sprinted back to the third floor corridor.
It was then she noticed how much pain she was in. Her head felt as if it might explode. 'Harry's in danger' was all she thought as she writhed and screamed on the ground, wishing more than anything for the pain to be over with.
And then, miraculously, it was. Her fists unclenched, she could see again. She was alone on the cold, stone floor of the castle, blood dripping from her palms where her nails had broken the skin. She lay panting, curled in fetal position, exhaustion begging to take over. But she couldn't. No, she couldn't. She had to stay awake...
What if the pain going meant Harry had been killed?
The thought struck her like a bullet. She sat up, suddenly wide awake.
"No... no..." she muttered. She found her wand on the floor and was ready to go back down when the door burst open. Dumbledore was holding Harry, unmoving, in his arms.
Samantha began to sob harder. "Is he alive? What happened?" she asked.
Dumbledore paused. "He is alive," he answered. "As for your other question, we won't know until he wakes up."
"When? When will he?" Samantha asked. Dumbledore was now walking to the hospital wing, and Samantha struggled to keep up with his ling stride.
"That, I cannot say," Dumbledore told her. Samantha hurried along with him to the hospital wing.
Madam Pomfrey was tending to Ron. Hermione, Max, and Leslie were seated around his bed. Their eyes widened when she saw Harry, and, Samantha realized, she must not look great either, covered in blood and sweat after writhing on the ground for minutes.
Max jumped up and ran straight to Samantha, wrapping her in the best hug she'd ever had.
"I saw you- it was scary- you wouldn't respond to any of us-," he said.
Samantha shook her head. "Shut up," she told him. She pulled her head away from him. Their eyes met, and she knew at once what she must do. They shared the best kiss yet, not caring about their audience.
Samantha collapsed onto Max, holding onto him like there was no tomorrow. "I thought I would die, I really did," she sobbed.
He stroked her matted hair. "Shhh..." he cooed. "You're safe now... everything's fine... Harry's fine, you're fine, it's all fine."
Eventually, they got her to calm down. She took a long, warm shower and then rejoined the group of people in the hospital wing around Harry and Ron, who had woken up again.
"So... what happened down there?" Leslie asked. "After Hermione...?"
"I'm not sure she wants-," Max started, but Samantha cut him off.
"No, it's fine," she said. "Well, the next obstacle was Quirrell's, which was this giant troll, but thankfully it had already been knocked out, and then it was Snape's. That was a riddle. There were flames in both doors, and one potion would get us through to the last obstacle and one would get us back where we'd already been. There was also some poison and wine. I solved it, but there was only enough for one of us to go forward. Harry... Harry's the one that needed to do it. I can't explain why, but it had to be Harry, we both knew that," Samantha said. "So, I drank the potion to get me back, and that's when I found Leslie, and you know what happened after," she finished.
Leslie took a deep breath, but no other sound was made.
"So then... what happened after, to Harry?" Samantha asked, looking at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore sighed. "As I said, we'll never know until Harry wakes up. However, I do think I have a good idea of what went down," he started. "Harry proceeded into the final room with the final obstacle, set up by myself. In there, he met Professor Quirrell."
"What?" Leslie and Hermione asked together, shocked.
Samantha turned white. "I had a feeling..." she whispered.
"Your feeling was correct," Dumbledore said. "The last obstacle was the Mirror of Erised."
"I show not your face but your heart's desire," Samantha said very softly.
"Indeed. Quirrell had Lord Voldemort attached to the back of his head," he told them.
Everyone but Samantha winced."He had WHAT?!" she cried, jumping up.
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. "He wanted to give the Stone to Voldemort so his body could be restored. Because Quirrell wanted the Stone for greedy purposes, he was seeing himself using the Stone, but could not acquire it. Harry, however, who wanted to keep the stone safe, was able to get the Stone. Quirrell tried to take it from him, but seeing as he was inhabited by Lord Voldemort, was unable to touch Harry without serious physical pain," Dumbledore said.
"Is that... is that what I felt?" Samantha asked.
Dumbledore nodded again. "That is what I believe, yes," he said. "I was able to get to Harry quick enough, but Quirrell died there. Voldemort, I regret to inform you all, has escaped once more, and is still out there, although, he is still body-less," Dumbledore told them.
"Could he... could he come back, eventually?" Samantha asked.
"I believe it's probable," Dumbledore responded.
Samantha's hand found its way into Max's, and she held on for dear life.
The next day was the Quidditch match. Harry was still not awake, so Samantha took his place and Alicia took hers as Chaser.
Although she was hardly as talented as Harry, she was still decent, and managed to score a win for the team, which lifted Gryffindor's spirits about losing the Cup again ever-so-slightly.
The next day was torture, though. Samantha, although she told herself not to, kept thinking that Harry would never wake up. She sat in there with him all day as people came in and out, and the only thing that cheered her up was when Fred and George came in holding a toilet seat, which Madam Pomfrey quickly took away.
The next day was the second to last one of the year. Samantha began to worry what would happen if Harry remained unconscious. That day, she sat with her friends talking about what happened that night, something she hadn't done yet.
Suddenly, Hermione and Ron ran up to her. "Samantha! Harry's awake, Harry's awake!" Hermione cried.
Samantha jumped up and bolted back to the castle with them, where Madam Pomfrey (albeit reluctantly) let them into the room.
Harry proceeded to tell them everything that had happened while they snacked on the treats left around his bed.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Samantha said.
Harry smiled. "I had to keep my promise," he said.
Samantha bit her lip and smiled.
"So, with the Stone gone, Flamel's just going to die?" Ron asked.
"That's what I said, but Dumbledore said, what was it? 'To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure'," Harry quoted.
"He's off his rocker," Ron chuckled.
"So what happened to you guys?" Harry asked.
Hermione explained about getting Max, who'd gone to the owlery, and taking Ron to Madam Pomfrey. Samantha told Harry about the pain she'd felt.
"It was so scary. She was just... on the ground, rolling around and screaming bloody murder, and she wouldn't respond to any of us. She just kept screaming, and no one could touch her, and we couldn't see what was causing the pain, and Dumbledore came and told us to go, and he went into the room with Fluffy, but we could hear Samantha's screams even at the hospital wing, and then it stopped, and we thought... we thought..." Hermione explained.
Samantha nodded. "That's what I thought too... well, about you," she told Harry.
"Oh, there was a Quidditch match, wasn't there? What happened?" Harry asked.
"I played Seeker, managed to scrape a win, but barely. We're still losing the House Cup," Samantha answered.
"Well, can't win everything," Harry said.
"Anyways, you've got to come to the end of term feast tomorrow, it's amazing," Samantha told him.
"If Madam Pomfrey lets me, I'll be there," Harry agreed.
The next day, Samantha waited in the Great Hall, seated with all of her friends from Gryffindor around her.
"Harry!" she said suddenly.
The Great Hall quieted, looking at him, and then the conversation increased in volume.
Harry came over and sat with them, in the empty space between Hermione and Samantha that they had saved for him.
A few minutes later, Dumbledore stood up and began his speech. After he revealed the totals of the House Points, the Slytherin table erupted in cheers.
"Yes, yes congratulations to Slytherin," Dumbledore said. "However, recent events must be taken into account."
The Slytherins' smiles faded just a bit.
"I must award a few last minute points. First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award to Gryffindor House forty points," Dumbledore announced. Ron turned bright red, and the Weasley brothers all started shouting.
"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for unwavering loyalty to her friends and remaining calm in the face of danger, I award Gryffindor House forty points," he said.
Hermione buried her face in her arms, and Samantha could hear quiet sobs.
"Third, to Miss Samantha Potter, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire and for remaining strong for others, I award Gryffindor House fifty points," Dumbledore said.
Samantha cheered along with everyone else. They were now seventy points behind Slytherin.
"Now, to Mr. Harry Potter, for bravery while facing immense danger, I award Gryffindor House sixty points," Dumbledore said.
They were now only ten away. Samantha waited with bated breath.
"Finally, to Mr. Max Langbert and Miss Leslie Carter, for watching over and taking care of their friends, I award them ten points each."
Gryffindor table burst into cheers. The decorations were changed from Slytherin's silver and green to Gryffindor's red and gold, and the giant serpents changed to towering lions.
The feast that night was better than anything Samantha had ever tasted.
And then, soon enough, their bags were packed, slips were handed out telling them not to practice magic at home, and they were walking out of the castle to the carriages.
"You guys still can't see the horses?" Samantha asked.
"You're crazy," Leslie told her, and they spoke no more of it.
They made the most of their last few hours able to do magic and be together, planning to meet up in Diagon Alley that summer.
At last, they were at King's Cross station.
Harry turned to her right before they stepped through the barrier. "Ready to go home?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm not going home. Not really," Samantha answered, and they stepped through the barrier together.
They were quickly joined by the Weasleys, and walked to where Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Carter were standing and talking.
"Thank you for the sweater, Mrs. Weasley," Samantha said.
"Yeah, it meant a lot," Harry agreed.
"Oh, it was my pleasure," Mrs. Weasley said.
"You'll have to come by for a visit this summer," Ron said to Harry.
Suddenly, Samantha felt someone hug her from behind.
"Samantha!" Lauren cried.
"Lauren," Samantha said warmly, turning to face her and hugging her back. "I'm so glad to see you."
"Me too," Lauren agreed.
"Ready, are we?" Uncle Vernon asked.
"Here, I'm just gonna say bye to my friends," Samantha said, and turned back to where the Weasleys, Harry, Hermione, Max, Margot, and his parents, Leslie, Jack and their mom stood.
"Oh, you must be their family," Mrs. Weasley said pleasantly to the Dursleys.
"In a manner of speaking," Vernon said. "Hurry up, we haven't got all day."
"I'll write every week over the summer," Samantha promised Leslie.
"And I'll write back," she said, before the two girls hugged.
Then Samantha hugged Max. "I'll miss you so much," she whispered.
"You can come and stay with me this summer," Max whispered back.
"I'll see if I can get away," Samantha told him, and went to Harry.
"Have a-er-good summer," Hermione said, eyeing the Dursleys.
"We'll try," Harry replied, smiling.
"We'll have some fun with Dudley this summer," Samantha said.
The six friends shared one final group hug before parting to join their families.