Again, no one said anything. They just stared at the rubble, and what braved the storm. Five bodies, two bound on the floor of the hall, three stone cold dead, as E.J stood right in the middle, dirty, welted, bloody, robe torn, cuts, and with one arm horribly disfigured. I mean, imagine it. Five bodies on the floor, and one girl standing at about 5'3 at the most right in the middle. She didn't say anything. For a while there, she just looked at the bodies on the ground, before she knelt down and started to remove one of the hoods. The man lying there had hair dark brown hair, and cold, pale skin. He wasn't even recognizable. But even as she stared into his dead brown eyes, E.J trembled with fear. Actually, I'm pretty sure they were all trembling with an inkling of fear, because…none of them could say anything. She didn't look at any of the guys, and none of them could really say anything to her. And then, more fear stepped into the hall. Students galore, looking at what she'd done. Staring at what she'd faced. Judging her… fearing her… hating her. Teachers; judging her… fearing her… hating her. And then her friends; judging her… fearing her… hating her. She couldn't take it. Even the girls that she'd saved were staring at her in shock. In all the time they were together, they'd never seen her do anything like that. She'd just boss them around and keep them safe. And then…when she looked at her mother. None of this was right. For a moment, E.J knelt there, staring the dead man in the eye. Then, she looked up, hopped up and hopped away…no one daring to follow her.

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"It's like she never even came back! Where is she!!!?" Lily screamed, as she paced around their head dorms. All of them stood around the room attempting to understand what had just happened. And then, someone finally asked.

"What the bloody hell happened over there? Did she kill that Death Eater- those Death Eaters?" Kay asked, looking at James for some sort of answer. When he didn't say anything, everyone looked away, and then around. And then, someone asked the question that everyone had been thinking about. Finally. "Why the bloody hell does… you know, why care about a school in Puerto Rico? Why is he trying to kill these girls, and if he wants one of them, why would she bring them here to endanger us all?" Okay. She only asked one question that they wanted to know. Who the hell cared as long as they were all together? And at the moment, they weren't all together, because E.J was nowhere to be found.

"Kay, if you would just shut your bleeding trap, then we could answer these questions, couldn't we?" Lily asked, looking up at her before she rolled her eyes. "Now, you know what we should find out? We should find out what the bloody hell is going on with E.J, and then we could be happy, now couldn't we? Even better, we should find out where she is. If she's safe and if she's alright." It'd been about three hours since E.J got back, and they hadn't seen her. And, while they now knew that she could take care of herself, they were somewhat afraid for her. But then, they didn't have to worry. They didn't have to worry because the door to the Heads Dorms was opening, and in walked Dumbledore and McGonagall- followed by the young girls that E.J had saved. But, the million dollar question… where was E.J? And the billion dollar questions…which of these girls was the target? They each, and none of them would admit it, scanned each of these young girls, searching for some clue, but none of them could find one? With almost every immense power in the magical world, there's a distinguishing physical mark. Lily scanned each girl, and she couldn't find one thing. She was shaken out of her double check by her head of house speaking.

"I don't believe that I need to say it, but, Ms. Potter will be staying in the Hospital Wing overnight. And since our young visitors have not suffered any severe physical damages, they don't require a stay in the Hospital Wing." McGonagall said, looking around. "However, there is an issue." Oy- that was an understatement. There were many issues. However, they weren't sure which ones were to come next. "Do any of you happen to speak Spanish?" When she asked this, they all looked at James.

"Why are you all looking at me?" he asked. I mean, she was his cousin.

"She's your cousin." Remus said. "So, can you?"

"I can understand it. And I can speak a little bit." James said, before McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he wasn't sure if any of them had noticed this, but…since when did McGonagall do all the talking? I mean, they expected the updates from Dumbledore if he was there. But, something that was even odder was that the headmaster seemed extremely troubled.

"Okay. So… you are to watch after them until Ms. Potter gets out of the Hospital Wing." McGonagall said, sitting down and looking at James.

"And when will she be getting out of the Hospital Wing?"

"Well, she suffered a substantial amount of damage. She has a few cuts and scrapes, some broken ribs, internal bleeding, a broken leg, a shattered arm, she has some 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree burns, and she may be suffering from concussion. Magically, she has a few curses to be lifted… Madam Pomphrey said that it's nothing too serious. She's in treatment now. So… she should be out in at least… two days." McGonagall said, making them nod. "She's perfectly fine." And without waiting for their responses, the professors left.

"Hold on!" Kay screamed, looking around. "If they're here… and he followed them all the way from… what's to stop the You-Know-Who from coming to the school to get them?"

"Kay-" James started.

"I mean, sure, your cousin was able to escape them until she got here… but… he could kill us all. And it would all be to save some girl that's been lying the entire time." Kay said, looking around to see if she'd made a dent in. "Some girl that we don't know." They all looked around staring all of these girls in the eye, wondering which one here had something that Voldemort wanted so badly that he would kill. Well… he pretty much killed for whatever he wanted, but why was he killing in Puerto Rico? What did these girls have?

"Hold on, Kay. You just said why we should care. Girl…none of them are any more then twelve or thirteen. In my eyes, that's enough of a reason to save any one of them. And they, as children, deserve to be as safe as we are, as adults." Lily said.

"El bano?" Maria said, making James point in the direction of the bathroom, before telling her to hold on. Before he walked her, James looked at Kay.

"Relax. We're safe. Dumbledore has us safe, and everything's going to be alright." He said, before he left. As soon as he was gone, Kay looked at the rest of them.

"I don't want things to be alright. I want things to be good like they have been for the past few weeks." Kay said, before Emily nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." Emily said, making Lily look at them.

"You do realize that for the past few weeks, his cousin, and our best friend…she's been missing. We thought she was dead." Lily said, making Kay shrug.

"Yes…but they wouldn't have come here to get her." She said, before she plopped down on the couch.

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Looking down at her sleeping figure, he wondered how she would adjust back to the life that she had so utterly attempted to burn before she left. And then all of a sudden, she sat up and choked him, before throwing him to the floor, then gasping for air, realizing what she'd done. Whoa…he wasn't even sure that she was conscious, but…I guess she was.

"Oh- Lupe, I'm sorry." E.J whined hopping out the bed and helping him up before she brushed her teeth in her bed. Remus rubbed the nape of his neck and looked at her before shaking his head.

"No, no. Its okay." he said, sitting down again and shaking his head some more. "I'm sorry that I frightened you."

"You didn't!" E.J said, running her hand through her hair and shaking her head. "No, I wasn't- you- I'm just antsy. I haven't be… what's going on?"

"Um… you." Remus said, inhaling deeply. "I wanted to let you know that the castle was deemed secure an hour ago. And I was wondering if you wanted to hang out when you get out of here." E.J looked around, then at her arm that was still in a splint.

"Yeah." she said, nodding her head quickly and looking around. "Um… how are the girls?" Remus laughed and shrugged.

"I honestly can't tell you. I don't- I can't understand a word they're saying."

"Remus, they speak English." E.J said, making him laugh.

"They won't speak English in front of Emily and Kay who are always there, so… we can't talk to them until we're alone, and when we are…they're half asleep."

"Um… Madam Pomphrey says that I've been healing well. I may be able to leave today." E.J said, making Remus smile.

"So…um…what happened there?" E.J shook her head.

"Nothing really. I have an emergency bag for events like that…so I was amply prepared."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah." E.J said showing him the gold bag pendant that hung from her chain.

"Well…what can you hold in there?"

"10 suite tent. Fully stocked magical fridge. Weapons. Invisible cloak. Extra wand. Four years worth of clothes. Stuff like that."

"You have a double life in your chain?" E.J sat up and looked at him.

"Wouldn't you?" she asked, making Remus smile at her and then place his hand over hers.

"What happened, E.J?" E.J looked down at her arm and sighed.

"Nothing happened." She said, making Remus look at her. "Alright, well something happened, but nothing serious happened."

"People died, E.J. What happened?" E.J closed her eyes for a minute, before she ran her hand through her hair and sighed. She was extremely jittery, and he wondered whether it was a potion or if she was just this shaky because of the plethora of events that had occurred.

"I got to my dorm after the dance. I got back early because I didn't stay the entire time. And when I got there all the younger girls were getting ready for bed, when they all wanted to have a sleepover. So, I let them all sleep in my room. We had snacks, and they asked about the ball. And they were all so mad that they couldn't go. And so… I decided to surprise them and take them around the school in our pajamas, because I had a living map made of it. And there's an escape hatch in my room… and I told them that if they promised not to tell, we would have an adventure." E.J looked at him and ran her hand through her hair. "And so… the hatch to my room leads to the outside. So we go outside for a while…about two hours- an hour and a half and we hang out and we're laughing and playing, until little Mayan says that she's sleepy. So, we go back up, without the map… because I know the way. And when we get back up…I was the first one to leave- see, I use the adult behind the kids system to make sure I don't leave anyone behind. Anyway…when we finally reached my closet, Maria went through first and she looked at me and gasped. My room was ransacked. And suddenly, I looked at the map and I knew. I put them back in the closet and…I was gonna go back to help the other girls… because I could hear him torturing Grace. And she's crying…and she's begging him to leave her alone. She's begging him…and they're all begging them to stop hurting her…she's the youngest one. And then…she wasn't crying anymore…but instead Mayan was right behind me…and she was crying. And they were all out of the closet and staring at me. And I couldn't move for a minute. And then it happened."

"What happened?" Remus asked, watching E.J at the most emotional that he'd ever seen her. She shook her head and groaned loudly, before she shook her head again and looked at Remus with a plastered on smile. It was almost as if she didn't know what she should be feeling, and so…whatever it was that she did feel was incredibly creepy, because… she was smiling as she spoke about death. Then she closed her eyes, sniffled a bit, and looked down, mouthing something and wiping her eyes, before she looked up and the words actually came out.

"Mayan asked if we were gonna die. She asked if the bad men would get us."

"What did you say?"

"The truth. I told her the truth." E.J rubbed her eyes with a shaky hand and looked at Remus. "I told her that we were going to play a game…and that if we all did really well, there'd be a treat in it for all of us. And so…I led them all to the closet…and we left as quietly as we could."

"E.J, only four girls were supposed to be in your dorm that night." E.J nodded and ran her hand through her hair.

"I know. I know." Then her voice began to crack. "She-" She stopped speaking, and Remus could see her visually harden after she gulped what had to be a lump in her throat. She sat up and looked him in the eye, her voice was steadier than it had ever been, and she looked as if nothing had happened to her at all. "Grace wasn't supposed to be there. She came over to borrow a book from our private library. I told her she could do her homework there if she needed to." Remus looked at her and held her hand.

"What about all of the updates and weird things that were happening? What about the dark mark?" E.J didn't soften so much as she showed him truth with her eyes and herself. The looks of regret and everything that she was probably feeling showed up in her face and body, and she looked at her hands.

"I did that." Remus looked at her in shock, but attempted to cover it, as she started to play with her hands, deeming her more nervous. "I stripped the wands. I made the explosion go off in the farm, and I left the bodies disfigured and battered."

"But they confirmed you guys by dental records." E.J nodded and wore a look of pain, before she closed her eyes.

"That was the hard part. I had to hold them all down- each and every one of them. I had to hold them down and pull their teeth from their gums, without any charms- or any sort of muggle anesthetic. I had to make copies of their teeth, and then I had to magically put them back in. Then I had to make dead bodies, and look for distinguishing marks on each girl, using an absurd amount of dark and black magic. And… I can't even tell you the worst part."

"You said the tee-"

"No…I said that was the hardest part." E.J closed her eyes and covered her face for a minute, before she shook a bit. When she looked at him, he smiled.

"You saved the lives of seven young girls."

"Yeah… and I also scared them half to death. Do you know when Death Eater's strike?"

"No."

"Yeah…there's no particular time. Anytime after the sun goes down is a good time. Early morning is a good time. Do you know when most people are out of their homes?"

"No."

"Noon to sundown. Do you know how many magical people live in fields?"

"No."

"The masses. Do you know when a good time to go unnoticed by the magical world?"

"No."

"6-7 am. Four weeks to get around the world on foot, and truck, and…crawling through muddled hell. Mayan crying for her mother…to sleep…to…eat."

"E.J you got them here."

"And what am I supposed to do now? Any and everything that I do- that I did… it didn't do anything but piss him off and want it more."

"Want what?"

"I have no idea." E.J said. "But now…it's more of a challenge…and…he wants it." Remus leaned forth and hugged her as she sniffled softly into his chest. "And mate, now everyone in the school thinks that I'm crazy." And then a throat was cleared, and Sirius was walking in with a teddy bear. E.J didn't glance at it. She just looked Remus in the eye and whispered, "Do not question me." Before she pulled him down with her good arm and kissed him. And again…like the night that she left…it was crazy hot, probably more so than it should've been…and when she pulled back, Sirius was gone. Thank Merlin.

"What was that about?" Remus asked, making E.J look up at him.

"Lily told me about Julie." Remus looked down at her and rolled his eyes. "You like her, I know you do. And…she'll never go out with you if you're not going out with anyone else. And so…now, I'm yours." Remus laughed so hard that he threw his head back. "What? I'm not cute enough for you?"

"You're too cute for me." Remus teased, still laughing. "E.J, you and I would never go out." E.J looked at him and rolled her eyes before she touched his cheek softly.

"What makes you think this is only about Julie?" she asked, before she kissed him again. Only this time, she pulled him down on top of her…and they laid in the hospital bed together. This was slow and sweet…very comforting. Even made some sexual feelings arise. Or…made some things in Remus rise. When he pulled back, he stared at her.

"You actually want to do this?" he asked, making E.J pull him back down and kiss him again. When she finally pulled back, she looked him straight in the eye and told him the truth.

"In all honesty…" she started off so tender, it was almost as if she wanted it. "no." This made him laugh and shake his head. "Don't get me wrong…I find you gorgeous, I love you, and…you're probably perfect for me…but…I'm only doing this for you. And…Sirius just saw us…which means that James, Lily, Kay, and Emily will know in less than ten minutes, which means that the school will know within half an hour, which means that it won't take long for Julie to know." Remus looked at her and shook his head.

"You're crazy. But, thank you."

"I'm insane. And…you're welcome. Just do me a favor and don't lose sight of what we want. This is how every movie has started for the past five years."

"E.J, before you kissed me three months ago…I thought of you as a sister."

"And now?" Remus looked down and nodded ran his hand over his hair. Then he looked at her.

"You know…it's a bit skewed, but…overall, yeah."

"Ms. Potter!" Madam Pomphrey sang as she walked into the Hospital Wing. "Your chart says that you're free to go. Everything healed exceptionally well last night, and I just kept you around for observation…and you're fine. You should however come back the moment you feel anything unusual.

"Okay." E.J said before Remus lifted her out of the bed. "Swift." Remus leaned his forehead against hers and laughed. "So…you love me?"

"I love you." He said, before he kissed the corner of her lip. "But, just so you're not surprised, my friendship with Sirius is shot to hell." E.J laughed and shook her head.

"No, it's not." She said, pinching his cheek. "You're so dumb. He is going to be especially nonchalant about this, because he doesn't want to admit to the world that he's hurt or embarrassed or anything. So the most he'll do is asking you some questions." Remus looked at her.

"I'm trusting you, girlfriend."

"As you should." E.J said, hopping out of his arms and hopping around.

"If your chart says that you're all healed up, why are you hopping around?"

"My kneecap was shattered…so, I have a new one, and I'm not used to it." Remus looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Are you serious?" he asked, making E.J laugh and nod.

"Yes." She said, before she began to put her new kneecap to use. "Oh…it feels new."

"E.J…are you sure about this?" Remus asked, making her look at him as they walked. "I mean, I know how you feel about S-" The look that E.J gave him made him not mention the name. "And he's sorry about the Emily thing." Again…stop speaking Remus, while you still have…while you're still alive. "Look, I understand-"

"Remus, I'm not that girl. So, if you're thinking that I'm doing this to make him jealous…you're wrong. And if you think that I would use you for that, you're also wrong."

"Well…that's what you're asking me to do."

"No…I'm telling you to…and it's different. I don't even know this Julie girl. Okay, I'll admit that I am using you in a sense…I just don't want anyone bothering me, and I figure that this way…they'll be less inclined to ask if I'm okay."

"E.J, everyone is worried about you."

"Well, I don't know why." E.J said, as she looked at Remus for the password of the Gryffindor common room. When they got inside, E.J looked around before she remember that she wasn't a registered student, and she had no choice but to go to the Head Dorms for a minute. And so…she did. "Fine…" As they walked to the Head Dorms, Remus continued to look at her. "What?"

"You really don't wanna see them?" E.J looked at him.

"What did you think of me when you saw me that day? You thought 'man, now, she's bringing targets to our safe haven'." Remus laughed and shook his head.

"No, I thought- 'oh thank Merlin, she's not dead.'" E.J looked at him.

"But, did anyone else say it?" she asked, making Remus look down. "Yeah…I thought so." When Remus got to the portrait, he gave the password, and led E.J into the head dorms, where the others were all lounging around. When they saw her, most of them stood silent, before James jumped up and hugged her. Lily followed suit, and then it was just Sirius who stared at her, as Emily nuzzled his neck and draped herself over him. And then they all stared at her, except for James, who was teasing her about something.

"So…what happened out there?" Kay asked, making E.J look around.

"What she means to ask is if you're okay." Lily said, running her hand through her hair and making E.J nod. "I mean, are you hurt still?" E.J pointed to her knee and gave them all thumbs up.

"Why aren't you speaking? Remus got your tongue?" Emily asked once she surfaced, making E.J look at her, then look around as they all gave her the prodding look that showed that they were asking the same thing pretty much. E.J looked back at Remus and raised her eyebrows, making him laugh.

"Um…is it true?" Lily asked, making them all look at her.

"What?" Remus asked, as he walked up to E.J and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "This?" E.J looked at Remus teasingly, before she looked at the others and shook her head.

"No, no." she said, running her hand through her hair, then having Remus help her in removing her splint. "This is just an extension of friendship." Remus looked down at her and E.J laughed. "Come on, we Potters never could resist the lure of the blondes." James looked at her and laughed, before he slung his arm over E.J's shoulder. "I hope this isn't weird…"

"Why should it be weird? We all knew you'd get her one day, Moons." Sirius said, looking at the two, then standing up and extending his hand to Emily. Then he left without any more words.

"So…where are the girls?" E.J asked, looking around.

"Their parents came for them yesterday. We weren't to tell you because you were still recovering." James said, making E.J raise her eyebrows. "I know, right? But, Dumbledore wants to speak to us, so…we've gotta go to his office." E.J nodded, and looked at Remus, making him kiss her cheek before he shooed her off to James.

As the two walked through the halls to get to Dumbledore's office, James continued to look at her.

"So, which one is it?" he asked her, making her look at him and raise her eyebrows questioningly. "You know what I 'm talking about."

"No… seriously, I don't." E.J said, making James nod.

"Are you playing with Sirius here? Or are you playing with Remus?" E.J looked at him and raised her eyebrows.

"That's nice. I don't blame you really, a few months with Kay and you can't trust anyone, can you? Then again, it could be that you know what it's like to play games. Tell me, Jaime, which one is it? Kay or Lily?"

"E.J, these are my friends." James said seriously, making E.J look at him.

"They are…" she said, before she looked at him. "And Lily is my friend. What's your point?" They didn't say anything for a while, as they walked. And then, he looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I like Remus." James looked at her for a minute, and she looked at the broom closet, making James follow her eyes. When he saw this, he closed his eyes and his nostrils flared. "Jaime, I really, really do like him. And I'm happy." When they moved on and got to Dumbledore's office and E.J knew that it was safe, she looked at James. "What the hell is wrong with you?" James looked at her.

"You're playing two friends against one another, what's wrong with you?"

"Remus has a crush on a Ravenclaw named Julie. She's a popular home wrecker type…that's the only reason that we're even doing this. And the only reason that Sirius needs to be screwed with is because it affects how Kay and Emily relay the news." James looked at her and made E.J look at him.

"You are…terrible."

"I know."

"Moons, really? A crush? On a Ravenclaw? I personally don't see the appeal." E.J looked at him and laughed. "But then why would you mention the Lily thing?"

"Because you mentioned the Sirius thing. You deserved it." James looked at her and hugged her.

"How are you?" he asked, making her sigh as she buried her head in his chest.

"Broken." She said, making James look at her. She didn't want coddling…she didn't need it either...and that's the message she gave him with her eyes.

"Well…suck it up." He said, before she nodded. When they got into Dumbledore's actual office, he and Professor McGonagall were there, waiting. When they saw E.J and James, Dumbledore smiled. Okay…this is who they were used to. He didn't seem so disturbed…at least not like he was the last time that James had spoken to him.

"E.J, James…" he said, making them look at him and smile back. E.J laughed, when he looked at her and ran her hand over her hair.

"Professor." She said looking around.

"Well, I asked you both here because, it's no surprise that your mother believes that it is in your best interests to stay in Hogwarts for the remainder of this year, and so…you need to schedule your courses. And, it has been suggested that you stay in the Head dorms for the remainder of the year." E.J looked at him and shook her head.

"With all due respect, Professor, if this had happened to any other student, I believe that-"

"With all due respect, Ms. Potter, you are not just any other student. You were not only next in line for Head Girl, but you are close to the two heads, which makes it a non issue." McGonagall said, standing up briskly. "There has been an additional room added to the Head's Dorm. Now as for other issues, such as the young ladies, a select group of aurors have been prepared to take them back to school, and guard the school."

"What about- who's going to care for them?" E.J asked, looking around. "I mean, every other girl that they really knew is dead, so- who's going to take the post as Heads there?" McGonagall shook her head.

"We have no say in what will happen to the young ladies." She said, before she looked at a roll of parchment. "Ah- the house will be replaced by the second best student in each grade." Then McGonagall looked at Dumbledore and nodded her head.

"E.J, this is only the good news." Dumbledore said, before he looked at another piece of parchment. He looked up at her with a soft smile to mask the conflicted look that he'd been wearing since they last saw him. James finally understood…whatever the hell he had to tell them now was…well, it was what had seemed to be bothering him. E.J didn't say anything, and James could feel her stiffen next to him. What the hell was going to happen to her next? But, even with the insane amount of scenarios that they'd both cooked up, neither of them were prepared for this. "The ministry has informed me that…there'll be a hearing." E.J closed her eyes and sighed.

"I don't wish to testify." E.J said, making Dumbledore look back down at the parchment. And that made E.J scoff in a way that said that she couldn't believe what she was hearing…or deducing. Then her breathing became labored her body jerked a bit…the motions resembled silent laughter, without the smiles…and this was no laughing matter. Dumbledore looked up at her, then began to speak again.

"Three of the parents requested the hearing, claiming that you harmed and endangered their children. And the ministry has requested testing your wand, because of the three dead ministry officials." E.J scoffed and bit her lip bottom lip, before her new knee almost buckled, making her stand on it alone. Then she ground her teeth a bit, before she looked down and nodded, while making an almost inaudible nose that sounded an awful lot like 'I see.' "The ministry has demanded that while this hearing is in place, you will not be permitted to attend courses with other students, because some of the parents of these students have file a petition. You will, however, be housed, but, in order for us to do so, I'll need you wand." E.J looked off to the right and James could have sworn that he saw her mist up a bit, before she inhaled deeply…angrily. Dumbledore nodded slowly and looked at her. "And the lead chair heading this case against you will be Er- your father." As soon as he said that, E.J raised her eyebrows in a way that said 'that part doesn't shock me.'