Chapter 18

"How much farther?" asked Ron. They had been traveling on their broomsticks for at least an hour. There was no place they could floo to near the muggle town.

"Just a few minutes now. The town will be in sight just over this hill. Be careful not to be seen!" warned Lupin.

"So have you been here before?" asked Emily.

"Only once to visit your mother. You had just moved in and were very young. She made me leave almost immediately. She said I might be leading Voldemort to where you were." The sadness in Lupin's voice was almost unbearable. Emily searched his eyes for an explanation. He really missed his family. He risked his happiness to keep them safe. There was no way he could have left them for Tonks. He must've truly believed he would never see them again if he had gone out with her.

The wind blowing in Emily's face, making her short brown hair fly back and whip her neck, Emily began to recognize the landmarks of where she had grown up.

"There's the stream I would play in when I was 9!" She pointed out excitedly to Hermione. "And there are the woods that I would practice levitating things in! God, it looks so different from up here!"

"Look, Emily, Mancini Middle School!" cried Jon, pointing to the place where they had met.

"Hard to believe we were there just a few weeks ago," Emily shrugged, her eyes wide. "Look, I think I see Sarah Levanthal! Remember her, Jon? She was in my homeroom and lives just down the street from me. I'll be right back."

Emily flew down behind a house and dropped her broom on the ground.

"Sarah!" she cried.

"Emily?" Sarah looked confused. "Where've you been? Everyone's been looking for you. You and your mom, that is."

"What, what do you mean?" Emily asked, a little worried now. "My mom's not at home?"

"Emily," she began, slowly. "You haven't been to your house lately, have you?"

"No," Emily chuckled unsure. "Why? It's not like…did something happen to it?"

Sarah gulped. "You may want to sit down."

Emily shrugged. "It can't be that bad. What happened?"

Sarah took a deep breath. "A few weeks ago there was an explosion there. The authorities think there was a bomb, or some kind of pipe broke and caught fire. They said it was like nothing they'd ever seen before. Emily,…you're whole house is gone."

Emily couldn't believe it. She didn't take anything in. Sarah was calling her name sounding concerned, but to Emily it was just dull noise in the background. 'My house?' she thought. 'Of all things Voldemort had to take, he had to take my house. Why couldn't he have taken my life instead? I don't think I can live without…my mom! Where was she when this happened?' Emily felt light-headed.

"Sarah, I gotta…gotta go. Thanks for telling me, okay?"

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked, as if Emily was going to faint any second.

Emily nodded. "I'll be fine. I need to do something quickly. Was anything left of my house after the explosion?"

Sarah replied, "No. It was weird. There's just a large scorch mark where your house used to be. Your neighbors' houses look a little blackened on the sides, but it's nothing some paint can't fix. I'm sorry Emily."

Emily walked back behind the house and mounted her broom. She found the others waiting nearby and tonelessly told them what happened.

"Was Leila there?" asked the upset Lupin.

Emily shrugged. "I…I don't know." She struggled to admit it, but Voldemort could have already destroyed her mom for all she knew.

The sympathy on Harry, Ron, and Hermione's face was embarrassing. Jon's look of shock made Emily want to cry. Lupin's eyes were closed and he appeared to be praying or something.

Emily turned and ran the block and a half to her house. She couldn't understand how what had once been her run-down house, nevertheless still her home, was now completely nonexistent. There wasn't even a board of wood left. Mr. Kopler's house next door was completely intact. Emily wandered onto her property. Something caught her eye in the middle of the property.

Walking over, Emily found a note with a green snake on it. Feeling sick, she picked it up and examined it.

"Hey, you girl! Get off of there! That's a crime scene. Didn't you see the yellow Do police line?"

Emily tucked the note in her pocket and found a chubby policeman yelling at her. She actually hadn't noticed the police line. She had ducked under it without thinking.

"Sorry," she apologized, climbing over it.

"You'd better be," growled the cop.

As Emily left she opened the note. The paper was green, and felt almost slimy. Emily felt disgusting just touching it, but she read on:

"Dear Miss Leila Lupin,

I know your secret and you won't escape me this time…"

Emily gasped before she even finished reading the letter and began to run back towards the group. "Professor, professor, she's alive!"