Part 4 - Black Snowflakes Falling Up In the Summer

They only asked her two questions before it became official: "Can you read?" and "Can you do basic math?" Since the answer to both was yes, Cooper, Isabel Morgan, was added to the first year roster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, all that was left were supplies.

The same day that Professor Dumbledore sent out an owl to locate Jordan Cooper and inform him of his sister's whereabouts, one also arrived from an anonymous source, carrying with it a small, but substantial sum of money and a letter instructing it to be used for 'the education of destitute orphans.'

It didn't really take a genius to figure out where it came from, especially since two days after delving into Izzy's mind Severus Snape still couldn't keep food down, couldn't sleep without having vivid nightmares, and couldn't stand to be touched in any way. But his physical and psychological pain was nothing compared to the guilt he had to endure as he watched the skeletal ten-year-old with the dark eyes, much too large for her head, in his opinion, suffer through the same symptoms without the hope of temporariness he himself could find slight comfort in.

After a few more days in the hospital wing, inconsolable and still refusing to eat, Izzy suddenly sat up, and asked very politely if she might please have a glass of water and some crackers. The kindly matron practically tripped over herself summoning the house elves, who came bearing enough food to make an elephant sick. Izzy may have eaten barely any of it, but she ate, and that's the important thing.

Izzy decided that she didn't want to be sad anymore. Being sad isn't very nice, after all, and what would Jordy say if he saw her wasting away in some hospital bed, feeling sorry for herself when she could be trying her hardest to find her way back home to him? Besides, there will be plenty of time to cry once she finds her way home.

Of course, finding your way home is quite a bit easier when you know where you are in the first place, and Izzy still has no clue. Well, she sort of does, but she doesn't think that the name of this place could really be Hogwarts. It just sounds like a made up word, and she's sure that they must've been playing a trick.

When it is determined that she's strong enough, Madame Pomfrey allows Izzy to leave, and be escorted to Diagon Alley to gather the supplies she will need for her year at school. Outside the entrance, still in the baggy jeans and flannel that she arrived wearing, Dumbledore kindly introduces little Isabel to a very large, very sweet man.

"'Ello thar', lil' one," Hagrid smiles broadly down at the girl hiding shyly behind Dumbledore's billowy robes.

"Hi," She breathes quietly, slowly taking in the vast expanses of the Hogwarts grounds, searching for a possible clue to her exact whereabouts, and a possible escape route.

"I'm Hagrid," He tells her, smiling as he squats down in a useless attempt to bring himself down to her height, "What's yer name?"

She hesitates, looking between Hagrid and Dumbledore, searching for any sign of cruelty in their eyes. When she's reasonably satisfied that she's found none, she answers quietly, "Izzy."

"That's a very pretty name," He tells her plainly, keeping in mind to try not to scare the shaking little thing, remembering all of Dumbledore's instructions regarding looking after her for the day of shopping.

"I'm gonna bring ya to Diagon Alley today," He goes on, smiling, "Yer gonna get a wand, 'an uniforms, 'an books, 'an lots of other fun stuff fer yer school year. We're gonna 'ave a very nice day t'gether."

Izzy considers the big man with wide smile, and decides that he's nice. "Where's, um, Diagon Alley?" She asks tentatively. Scratching his bushy beard, and never letting the warm smile disappear from his face, he answers, "It's in a special part of London."

"Home," She thinks, "Jordy."

"Ok," She smiles sweetly, "Let's go."

xxXxx

"Whoa," She gasps an inexplicably short time later as she steps off onto Platform 9 3/4. She definitely doesn't remember being on anything that fast ever before in her life, and the scarlet steam engine certainly wasn't going that fast the last time she was on it. If she had more in her stomach, she thinks she might've been sick.

When she feels a large hand on her shoulder, the small girl flinches, and instinctively shrinks away from it. But when she looks for the culprit, she finds that it's only big, kindly Hagrid.

"Sorry," He tells her with a guilty, apologetic smile, "Fergot." She fiddles with the fraying edge of the large red flannel shirt, her eyes downcast as she shuffles her feet nervously and says, "That's ok."

"Well, come on then. Let's git goin!" He announces as he leads her toward a brick barrier. "Ya hafta run through," He instructs, smiling when her eyes go wide with fear and disbelief. "Don' worry," He tells her, "I'll go firs' an' show ya." She nods, and he takes off at a run toward the solid brick.

The second before she's about to yell for him to stop, he disappears through the barrier. After a moment or two of blank shock, Izzy remembers how she ended up on the platform with the red engine in the first place. Without another thought or reservation, she walks to the barrier.

It feels like normal brick as she runs her fingers lightly across it, but, with just a little increase in pressure, she watches, this time in fascination instead of horror, as her arm sinks in all the way up to her elbow. Wicked, She thinks as she steps through.

And then, it's like she's come back to reality after a long stay in fantasyland. The familiar bustle of mid-morning in King's Cross Station is soothing, more soothing when she thinks just how close to home, and to Jordy, she is.

Hagrid smiles down at her, "Ready?" She nods, "Ya. I'm ready to go home." Confused, Hagrid blinks, and then she's gone, lost in a swell of bodies and baggage.

xxXxx

Even though it makes her light-headed, and a little sick to her stomach, she doesn't stop running until she reaches the corner of the street that her home should've been on.

As far as Izzy can tell, she's been away for a little over two weeks, and she urges herself forward with thoughts of how much Jordy had to have missed her, and how happy he'll be that she's back.

But when she reaches that corner, and the familiar battered roof isn't melding with the hazy soot of the sky in the distance, she stops.

She doesn't think she could've possibly gotten lost, I know my way home better than just about anything, but, still, she checks the street signs just to be sure.

It's definitely the right street. But then why can't I see home? She moves again, sprinting toward the building, much faster this time because she fears the worst. And that's what she finds.

A blackened crater, still smoldering and crackling beyond the bright yellow police tape, is all that is left of her home for the past four years of her life, the only home she can remember.

In a frenzied panic, she ducks under the tape, paying no attention to the ash and debris crunching under her feet as she sprints to the center of the lot and whips her head around. She doesn't understand, not at all.

What happened? Where's home? Where's Jordy? None of it makes any sense, no sense at all. Buildings just don't disappear...

Completely frustrated, she gives a blackened plank by her foot a hard kick, sending it hurtling across the lot, and losing her balance in the process. She falls, hard, onto her back, into the ash, causing little particles of it float up all around her from the force. "...Black snowflakes falling up in the summer..." She observes in stolid silence, "Ya, that's the whole world right now..."

xxXxx

It's starting to get dark, and it's starting to get cold, and her flannel shirt is starting to feel like it's too thin to keep her chills away for much longer. The lingering smoke makes the air hazy, and she's inhaled too much of it. Her throat burns, her eyes itch, and her lungs feel dangerously tight. She still sits among the ashes, hugging her knees, and waiting for Jordy to come and find her. "After all, even if the house is gone, he wouldn't just leave without me. He would never do that..."

xxXxx

It's dark now, and it's cold, and the flannel is far too thin, and the smoke is still smothering the girl's little lungs. And Izzy is shivering in the ashes. Because Jordy is bound to come back eventually. "He just has to..."

xxXxx

It gets darker, it gets colder, and the flannel seems to get thinner. Izzy's body is continually overtaken by violent coughing fits, and there's still no sign of Jordy. Her face is completely black from lying in the ash, until a tear spills from the corner of her eye and tracks a white line down her cheek. "Where are you, Jordy?..."

xxXxx

In the morning, the sun doesn't come up. Everything gets less dark, but thick gray clouds block hope from the sky, and seem to work with the smoke and ash to smother the small girl who never managed to fall asleep as she sat the entire night on the desolate, scorched plane that used to be her home. She doesn't know what to do. So she just stays, and waits, struggling to breathe from heart ache and smoke.

xxXxx

And that's where Hagrid finds her. Another day is almost over when he spots the little shivering mound in the center of the burned-out lot. A homeless man he showed a picture of Izzy to recognized her as a girl he used to see coming and going from a building a few streets over.

And he told him about the fire, and about the man who set the fire, screaming, and sobbing, and raging as he called for his sister, and lit the rag in the beer-bottle filled with gasoline. The man told Hagrid in great detail how the man cursed everyone and everything, crying as he tossed the bottle and set the dilapidated building ablaze, laughing at the people he locked inside, a small gang of thugs that he deemed responsible for 'taking Izzy.' He told Hagrid how, after the last of the screams from inside died down, the man threw himself on the fire.

He said that the police carted away quite a few bodies, but there were survivors, and he didn't know for sure which group the man who set the fire ended up in.

Beams snap beneath Hagrid's feet as he steps over the yellow police tape, and walks slowly forward to deliver the news to the girl who he has a feeling isn't strong enough to handle it. "But," he thinks, "she should know..."

"Izzy?" He calls softly as he squats beside her, remembering this time not to try to lay hands on her, even as a comforting gesture. She brings her head off her knees, still struggling to breathe, still crying, and with one look at her ash-blackened, tear-streaked face, Hagrid knows he'll never be able to tell her about her brother. "Come on," He coos, "Let's git outta 'ere, and git ya cleaned up."

"No," She sobs, her voice small and raw and breathless, "I can't! He's coming to get me! He wouldn't just leave me!! Even Jordan wouldn't just leave me..." Her voice breaks as she lets her head fall back down on her knees. A fit of coughs has her gasping for air.

"Ya really love yer brother, doncha?" He asks as he takes a seat beside the little girl, not caring a lick about the filth he's setting himself into. "Uh... Huh..." She responds between sobs and coughs.

Hagrid remains quiet for a moment, and then goes on, "Well, I've never met 'im, but he 'as ta be a good man ter 'ave such a sweet lil' girl like you love 'im so much. 'An' if he 'as a brain in 'is head, he loves ya like crazy righ' back. I'm not sure where 'e went, but doncha think e'd want tha best fer ya, an' want ya ta be taken care of?"

Weakly, she nods, and Hagrid keeps going, "Yea. 'E wouldn't want ya sittin' 'ere cryin' over 'im, 'E'd want ya ta go ta school, an' get an education, an' make friends, an' be safe."

Izzy thinks about the man's words. Jordy had always regretted not being able to send her to school like a normal kid. He'd even taught her reading and writing himself for awhile, until he changed.

She makes a decision, bringing her head back up and startling Hagrid slightly with the shine from deep within the big, round pools of the most beautiful brown he's ever seen, like the bark on the trees outside his hut just after they've been rained on, a dark, wet, earthy amber.

"Can I leave him a note?" Izzy asks suddenly, her voice gravely as she wipes at her cheeks and eyes with the backs of her hands, only succeeding in smudging the black soot into a dull, pasty gray, "So he'll know where to find me, and that I looked for him, and waited?"

Hagrid smiles as he digs in the deep pockets of his ratty coat, "'Course. I think I 'ave some parchment 'ere somewhere... AH!" He hands over a small white scrap, and a ragged quill, and Izzy busily takes them and scratches a note in handwriting that is far too neat and elegant for such a young child.

As they leave, she tacks it to a small bit of a chimney that has managed to remain standing...

Dear Jordy,
Where did the house go? Are you ok?
I looked for you and waited for you to come back, but I had to go.
I'm going to a school called Hogwarts and everybody's real nice.
When you get this come and find me please.
I miss you.
Love,
Your sister,
Izzy

xxXxx

Scrubbing the soot from her small body is a short job, but Izzy stays in the shower for almost an hour anyways. The lock on the door works good, she checked it, and she can still hear Hagrid whistling from inside the inn room, so she's able to allow herself to relax, and enjoy the sensation of hot, clean water pouring over her. She can barely remember the last time she had a real shower, let alone a hot one.

A knock at the door makes her jump. "Izzy?" It's just Hagrid's voice, so she calms down a little as she calls back over the sound of the water, "Ya?"

"Jus' checkin' to make sure yer alright. I hafta go downstairs for a bit ta owl the school. I brought ya some pajamers, so I'll jus' leave 'em 'ere by the door. Alrigh'?" She slumps her shoulders and pushes some wet hair back from her face, battling her still tender throat in order to call back, "Ya. Ok. Thank you."

"No problem. Jus' holler if ya need anythin'," He replies, and she hears his footsteps retreat, and a door open and shut, and then she's all alone again.

Slowly, she climbs out of the shower, wrapping herself in an impossibly fluffy blue towel, and cautiously returning to the inn room. She smiles when she sees her pajamas, a green and blue striped button up shirt and pair of pants that look like they were meant for a boy.

"A big boy," She decides after she dresses and observes in the mirror how the cloth hangs off of her wiry body. But they're warm, and clean, and the colors make her happy, so she doesn't mind at all.

She isn't quite sure what to do with herself, and the room doesn't exactly provide many options. Two twin beds are against opposite walls, and a small couch and a table are off by the door. It doesn't exactly offer much in the way of amusement.

She settles for the couch, sorely tempted by the beds, but unsure of which one she should take so not taking either. She hugs her knees, and waits silently, feeling her curls come back to life as they dry.

When Hagrid returns, carrying a tray of much too much food, she's asleep on the couch, her legs pulled tightly into her chest, her head resting on her knees, and her bouncy amber curls covering her face. He smiles, setting down the tray that's meant for her on the small coffee table before attempting to move the girl to one of the beds.

But, as soon as he touches her she becomes nothing but a mass of shrieking, flailing limbs, struggling so hard to get away from him that she knocks herself roughly to the ground. Disoriented and scared, she doesn't stop scurrying away until her back hits the wall, and, when it does, she finally realizes who it was that woke her.

Hagrid has his hands held defensively in front of himself, looking guilty, and worried, and sad as he soothes softly, "I'm sorry. I jus' though' ya'd be comfier in the bed."

She nods and takes a deep breath, the first one since she woke, filling her lungs with a blast of warm oxygen as she tries to calm down and assure herself that this humungous, intimidating man isn't going to hurt her. "It's ok. It's ok. It's ok. Everything's ok..."

"Erm..." Hagrid interrupts cautiously as he kneels in front of her, wincing when he sees Izzy flinch, "I'm sorry. Are ya alright?" Again, she nods, still trying to shrink away from him despite knowing that this particular wall isn't going to allow her through it. And knowing that Hagrid means her no harm.

"Yer sure?" He presses, knowing clearly that she's not, "and probably won' ever be..." But still, she nods, her eyes wide and frightened. It's all she can manage, even though she really wants to scream for him to get away from her.

"Alrigh'" He states warily, "Well, are ya hungry?" She shakes her head, and breathes a little easier when he moves away to grab a plate off the tray, offering it out to her as he says, "Oh, come on now. Ya mus' be hungry. Ya gotta eat. Yer such a skinny lil thing, yer gonna disappear if ya don't."

Again, she shakes her head, cowering and hugging herself as she wishes for his words to be true, wishes that she could just disappear.

Kicking himself, Hagrid finally concedes, "Well, alright. Ya cen just go ta bed then. Pick whichever one ya want." Without another word, in a desperate crawl of stick-thin limbs, she scurries away from him.

She's a virtual blur as she dives into the bed farthest from the door, throwing the blankets over her head and curling into a ball beneath them. She can hear Hagrid moving about, hears him get into his bed and click the light off. It's not until his breathing turns into window rattling snores does she dare poke her head out from her warm little cocoon.

It's dark, and scary, but Izzy is used to being scared during the night, and during the day as well, so it doesn't matter. She closes her eyes, because then she can pretend that the lights are on, and that Jordy is there, and her parents are, too. They're still alive when she closes her eyes.

And when she sleeps, she's not afraid anymore.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Woo. Home for the holidays. I don't know if that will be beneficial or detrimental to my writing, but we'll see. Cross your fingers and review please