*Sorry for the wait everyone, lost my muse for quite some time*

Chapter 15

Hermione seemed distracted at dinner and was separated from the rest of the kids in her year. Alli asked Katie to sit on the other side of Hermione to close the gap because she knew her sister had trouble making friends. Fred sat next to Alli and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder since the little bit of coffee had worn off awhile ago.

During dessert Alli took Hermione's hand under the table and squeezed it. When they locked eyes, the expressions shared said that they would meet up after dinner to talk. The group walked to the common room together and was almost pushed over the stair's railing by a bunch of rambunctious boys that included Harry and Ron. Fred and George yelled for their brother to stop acting like a bloody idiot. The twins retreated to the dormitory to work on something, but they wouldn't tell Alli what, and Katie went to meet Eddie in library, leaving Alli time to concentrate on Hermione. The common room was full of students, so the two choose Alli's curtained off bed, in an empty dormitory, to talk.

"So, what has been bothering you lately? You aren't the same girl here as you are at home." Alli leaned back against her pillow.

"People don't like me here. The only friends I've been able to make are yours and they are all older than me." Hermione laid next to Alli and took her hand.

"Oh Hermione, it's only the first month of school and you are only outgoing when it comes to classes. I don't know if you've noticed but you come off as a bit shy." Alli tried to giggled a bit to help Hermione relax. It didn't work. Hermione rolled onto her side so she could rest her head on Alli's shoulder and began to cry.

"I should have never left the Muggle world. I just want to go home right now and forget about these stupid powers."

Allestra held her sister until she calmed down because she knew that Hermione was only venting and wasn't thinking clearly. Hermione ended up falling sleep so Alli slipped out to avoid disrupting her.

She still had an hour before her meeting with the headmaster, so Alli decided to wander the halls until she thought of something better way to pass the time. She visited the kitchen to see if there were any new house elves and if any of them were the one that served her the other night. No luck. Then she decided to see if Prof. Trelawney had some free time.

The professor was polishing the student crystal balls as if a good, vigorous rubbing with a frayed cloth could improve the chipped, cracked, and grubby spheres that had been dropped at least over a hundred times. Allestra took up a rag as well to help her teacher and they chatted as they worked. Alli felt that Prof. Trelawney was the only person she could talk to about her prophetic dreams, no matter how crazy everyone else said she was. Time past quickly and Alli soon found herself running down the hall to make it to her meeting on time. As the staircase revolved to the reveal the door to the headmaster's office, Alli grumbled about how she needed to ask her mother for a watch for her birthday so she could stop running everywhere.

Prof. Dumbledore wasn't in the office when Alli entered but Fawkes was on his perch and squawked a hello. She was also greeted by the past headmasters that occupied their portraits. Allestra made small talk with them for about ten minutes until the headmaster returned to his office.

"Sorry for making you wait Ms. Jerrings, had to discuss a few things with Prof. Snape before I talked to you." He sat down in one of the chairs that were around a circle table located behind his desk. Alli joined him and he waved his wand to produce a tea set and a plate of cookies and they enjoyed some hot cocoa.

"Was anything decided?" Alli nibbled on a cookie. She didn't want to spend her entire night here so she tried to get straight to the point. Dumbledore wasn't taking the bait instead he began to ask about her classes, her upcoming birthday, and her health. She answered all the questions but kept the answers short and barely went into explanation even when he asked for it.

"Alright, I see we won't be having our usual friendly conversation that I've grown so accustom to." He peered over both the brim of the tea cup and his half-moon spectacles.

"I'm sorry, headmaster, I just have so many questions and I'm very tired or I would love to sit here and share stories."Allestra slouched in her chair.

"Very well, that is understandable. Now to answer your previous question, no, nothing permanent was decide. Instead we have formed a plan. Every weekend you will stay in your uncle's office until we have enough information to decide whether you can remain in the dormitory. Also, your uncle is thinking about staying at your house or having you stay at his over the breaks just to make sure you are safe, but that is something you will discuss with him privately. So that is all I have to report, do you have any more questions?"

"Just one. While I was in Uncle Severus's office the other night and talking to Prof. Mcgonnagal, I made a comment about wishing I had my books and assignments. Suddenly a house elf appeared and said that I was his master. I think he said his name was Kreacher but I don't have a house elf and it wasn't the one that works for the Malfoys. Do you know why he came to me."

The headmaster chuckled a bit and said, "I have a theory but will have to investigate a little more. If I find anything out before next week I will get the information to you." Allestra thanked him and headed towards the door but stopped short when he called to her that he had forgotten something. Allestra walked back to him but did not retake her seat, anxious to get back to the dormitory and check on Hermione.

"As I tried to talk about earlier, next week is your birthday. And since I will be busy overseeing the preparations for the Halloween celebration at that time, I wish to give you your present now." Alli stood patiently while the professor went to the back of his office. He returned with a simple envelope that he handed to Allestra. Inside was two pieces of parchment, the first one made her incredibly happy.

"You're letting me bring Saharia back here!"

"She'll be waiting for you in your uncle's office by dinner time tomorrow. But she has to stay in his office so that the other students do not believe you are getting special treatment. Is that clear?" Alli nodded as she flipped to the other note. All that was written on that one was an address without a name. She turned the piece over and reread it to see if she was missing something before she looked quizzically at Dumbledore.

"Please sit down." He motioned to the empty chair and Alli obeyed out of curiosity. "That address, my dear, is the address that you could send a letter to and it would be delivered to a prisoner in Azkaban. It took some negotiating and arguing but the Minister has agreed to allowing me to give this to you. You can write to your biological mother or step father if you wish. I only gave you the address right now but if you decide to write to them you can come to me and get the number that either one or both are listed under." Alli continued to stare at the note trying to process what he was saying.

"I thought they were told I was dead?"

"They were but neither believed it. I'm not sure if they have come to accept it or if they still fight the idea."

Allestra nodded again and slowly rose, stuffing the papers into her robe pocket. She left the office in a daze and walked absent-mindedly back to the dormitory thinking the entire time about the address in her pocket and how to use it. By the time she sat on her trunk at the end of her bed, since Hermione was still asleep in hers, she had thought about the note so much it felt like a bludger hit her in the head. She decided to fold up the paper and stick it in her knee-high sock in hopes that it would eventually irritate enough that she would throw it away. She could not bring herself to do it just yet.

The next few days passed in a fog. Alli couldn't remember doing her homework or going to class, though she knew those events did happen. She even would have forgotten her birthday if she hadn't been greeted by flying sparklers spelling out "Happy Birthday Alli" across the Common Room, along with other gadgets created by the twins that boomed, cracked, and whizzed so loud that those still in the dormitories ran out in a fright. The scene was so chaotic and funny that Alli couldn't suppress her laughter, which that made a good beginning to the day and allowed her to relax. Each teacher kept her after class to wish a happy birthday, and her uncle gave her a few obscure potion ingredients along with his gift of allowing Saharia to spend the school year in his office.

The day was going great, but that changed at lunch when Alli tried to talk to Hermione but got nothing in return. Hermione seemed very distracted and barely touched any of the food on her plate. As soon as it was time for class, Hermione rushed out before Allestra could stop her. During Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Prof. Quirrell seemed distracted and let the class out after only twenty minutes. Alli felt great the rest of the day and as she walked with Fred to dinner she realized that it was the first day since school started that she did not have a headache. As they turned down a side hallway, Hermione rushed past them and into the nearest bathroom. Alli sent Fred on to get seats and she followed her sister.

Upon entering the lavatory, Allestra could hear Hermione's sniffles.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Alli whispered while tapping on the metal door. Through tears Allestra could make out, "Leave me alone. I don't want to talk right now."

Alli knew that trying to talking to Hermione while she was like this was useless. "Fine, I'll give you twenty minutes to calm down and then I expect you to be sitting next to me. It is my birthday today so I am the only one allowed to cry. If you don't come, you know I'll come back and drag you out." Alli laughed a bit so Hermione would know that Alli was only trying to make her laugh.

In the dining hall, Fred and George had saved a seat between them for her, and had already filled a plate with her favorite food. They also had several packages stacked on the table. She ate what she could then slid the plate to the side for Fred to finish what was left, then she pulled the gifts closer. She knew it was getting close to the deadline she had set for Hermione, but did not want to make her sister come out before she was ready; so she planned to check on her after dinner if Hermione did not make an appearance. Alli tore open the first present to find a picture of her and Katie in their uniforms with Hogwarts in the background. Alli remembered Fred taking the picture right before they left for the train. It was in a silver frame that had a rose in each corner. Then she opened the one from George which had assorted potion ingredients that Alli knew would cause a colorful explosion. "Come on, why don't you test them now" George elbowed her in the side. "Um, no. I don't feel like getting detention on my birthday. So, tomorrow before lunch we'll do it."

Before she could get to the last few presents, the doors to the hall flew open and Prof. Quirrell ran in babbling about a troll being loose in the castle. Students began to scream and run to the door. Katie grabbed the unopened gifts, Alli grabbed the ones that she already opened, George grabbed what food he could, and Fred grabbed Alli. Dumbledore quelled the mayhem and ordered everyone to go the dormitories while the teachers took care of the troll. As the group made their way to Gryffindor Tower, Allestra was pulled to the side by her uncle. Fred stopped with her, but Prof. Snape ordered him away and Alli assured him she was alright.

"Uncle, where are we going? Shouldn't you be helping everyone else with the troll?" Snape pulled her up staircases and into a hallway on the third floor. "They can handle it, but I think it is just a distraction." He pushed her behind a suit of armor and they were both hidden in the shadows. "If I am correct, he should be here any moment."

"Who uncle?" but he wasn't listening to her, he just kept staring at the door. Then Alli could see a figure moving down the hall. She looked her side and her uncle was gone. As the figure drew closer, Alli's head started to hurt and if felt like someone was pressing down on her chest. It passed her and entered a door at the end of the hallway. She heard dogs barking and two men yelling and fighting, then the figure ran from the room and into the armor that Alli was behind. It fell onto her and the figure continued away. Her ran after it but he was walking weird and Alli found drops of blood on the floor. She felt lightheaded and knew she had bruises from the armor falling on her, so she made her way to the infirmary. She met Percy in the halls and he agreed to tell Fred that she was alright. Though Percy was a stickler for the rules, he learned that Alli had a different set of rules. She spent the night in the hospital wing, because Madame Pomfrey wanted to be sure none of her injures got more serious.

Snape entered a little while later, and Alli could see that he had a severe wound on his leg which explained the blood she found on the floor. He did not say anything to her, he did not even look at her. She was going to go to him and ask for an explanation, but Madame Pomfrey had given her a potion that helped her relax and made her drowsy. When she heard what happened that night, Alli was amazed that she wasn't involved in the mayhem caused by Hermione and her new friends Harry and Ron. She was happy that her sister had made friends with her boyfriend's bother, but her friendship with Harry worried Allestra. But, she knew she could not interfere and let her sister live her own life and just keep an eye on her.