Chapter thirty-nine (probably the last chapter, because I enjoy uneven numbers…)

And so life goes on.

That afternoon, Sarah emerged from the Dark Arts rooms while the other students were at lunch, and spent the rest of the day sitting outside, talking to Hoggle, Ludo and Didymus, and watching Numy play with Ambrosius.

She didn't notice the sun set, nor did she feel the cold wind that began to blow, until someone placed a warm blanket around her shoulders.

She turned slowly and came face to face with Jareth.

"Hey" He said carefully.

"Hi." She said, choking on tears.

"It's ok to cry Sarah." Jareth said, pulling her in and holding her close against his chest. "With what you've been through, it's more than ok to cry." Sarah sobbed, long and hard, til the front of Jareth's shirt was almost completely soaked. Exhausted, she began to drift off.

"Hey, wake up Sarah!" Jareth said, holding her at arms length. "Come on; let's get you back to my rooms."

He pulled her up and supported her as they walked slowly back to Hogwarts.

"No wait." Sarah said softly.

"What's the matter?" Jareth asked, stopping.

"Take me to… take me to my room."

"Are you sure you want to be alone right now?"

Sarah nodded.

"Ok then." Jareth said. "Gryffindor dorm rooms it is." And they continued along the path.

NOTE… I WAS GOING TO HAVE Sarah KILL HERSELF FOR A MOMENT… BUT THEN THERE WOULDN'T BE A SEQUEL!

WELL, THERE WOULD… BUT IT'D BE BORING…

There were only a few students in the Gryffindor common room, as dinner was about to begin. The few remaining students were busying themselves with last minute gift giving, Christmas well wishing, and mistletoe kissing.

The pair standing in the doorway under a certain green plant were very surprised when the door was pushed open, and Sarah Williams was helped through by their Dark Arts teacher.

"We should be used to those two by now, but… we sort of… aren't" one girl was heard to remark to her friend.

Jareth helped Sarah up the stairs, subtly using a crystal to numb the sirens as he did so. He took Sarah into her room and turned around as she put on her pyjamas. Sarah was still drained of her crystal magic, and had yet to receive the new wand Dumbledore had ordered for her.

Jareth heard the shuffling of covers as Sarah lay down.

"Ok, I'll be going now. Do you want something to eat?" Sarah shook her head. "Ok. If you need anything, call me on this." He placed a crystal on the bedside table next to Sarah's bed. After kissing her forehead, he walked to the door, turned the lights off, and left.

Sarah rolled over and fell into a deep sleep…

THERE ARE A LOT OF BREAKS IN THIS CHAPTER… I THINK…

TWO SO FAR… AND IT ISN'T A FULL SIZED PAGE YET!

"Ah, professor Sidhe." Dumbledore said as he took his seat. "And how is young Sarah?"

"She is sleeping at the moment. I believe she is still going through shock. Physically she is healed, although mentally…" Jareth trailed off.

"I see." Dumbledore said. "I believe that I should enlighten our students as to what has happened. They will probably know in a few days anyway." He said with a glint in his eye.

Dumbledore stood and walked to the front of the dais. The students went silent.

"Students, I believe it is time we told you of the events which took place yesterday. Yesterday morning, a student, Sarah Williams, was taken prisoner by Lord Voldemort, and was put through quite an ordeal, which I must ask you to respect her privacy about and not question her. It was only with the help of Professor Sidhe, myself and a group of Aurors who had been called in to help in this emergency situation, that she was brought safely back to the sanctity of our walls."

The room filled with the buzzing noise of students chattering. Jareth was dumbstruck. That wasn't how it had happened… was it?

"Silence please, silence. I must assure you that Lord Voldemort has been taken care of, and he is in our custody. So you have absolutely nothing to fear. Once again, may I remind you that Miss Williams is in an extremely fragile state, and must not be disturbed. Is that clear?" some students nodded. "Excellent." Dumbledore said, and returned to his seat. The moment he sat, the tables immediately filled with food, and the sound of talking, scraping cutlery, and chewing began again.

Jareth, who had paled noticeably, whispered to Dumbledore:

"I don't really think I'm hungry. I'll be off then." And snuck out the back door used by many teachers on such occasions (like the time the twins had snuck pink food into all of the teachers' food… but we don't talk about that much anymore…)

But he had been noticed by two pairs of keen eyes.

I THINK WE SHALL MOVE ONTO SOME HP CHARACTERS NOW… WOULDN'T YOU AGREE?

"Harry, what happened out there?" Hermione whispered.

"I can't tell you know, but I will after dinner, he whispered back, before turning to Ron and talking to him.

After gulping down her breakfast as ladylike as she could, then waiting for Harry to finish talking, Hermione whisked her boyfriend back to their dorm room, which was still quite empty.

Sitting on one of the couches in a corner of the room, Hermione asked Harry again what had happened.

"Alright, I'll tell you. When we got there, Professor Sidhe was sitting on the ground holding Sarah, who he said had escaped and he had found her. I think he said… he said…"

"What Harry, what did he say?" Hermione asked

"She'd been through the imperious and the imperious curse Mia. Can you imagine what that would be like?"

Tears fell softly from Hermione's eyes.

"Oh Sarah, what pain you have been through…" She turned and buried her head in Harry's chest, crying softly. Harry, nearly in tears himself, put his arms around Hermione, calming and comforting her.

Neither of them heard the sounds of movement upstairs…

OOH, RATHER FOREBODING, EH?

Jareth, tired of being asked questions by the other teachers about what he had done to Voldemort, and what had happened back at the manor, transported himself to Sarah's dorm room. He knew that it was probably against the rules, but he had broken them so many times before, it didn't matter anymore. And these were special circumstances.

The last few days had been trialling for him, as they would have been for anyone.

He had almost faced the pain of losing the one thing he loved the most in the world.

"I love her." He whispered, lying in the bed next to Sarah's. "God Dammit, I love her and there's nothing anyone will do to stop that."

He turned to look at Sarah. The way the soft moonlight streaming through the window fell onto her face. The curves her body made beneath the blanket. The way she breathed softly and slowly, sleeping, peacefully he hoped.

"Never again, Sarah. Never again will you leave my side."

HMM… DO I LEAVE IT THERE?

And so life went on. Sarah came out of her shell, rejoining classes when the term began. She refused to talk to anyone about what had happened those few hours, not even Jareth.

She still loved him, but she couldn't tell him that, nor anyone else, bar his sister, who became her confidant.

Jareth refused to allow Sarah to play quidditch, or to fly her broom anywhere. Although she eventually convinced him to let her go, if he came too. He never got over his fear of flying, but chose to join her in his owl form, so long as she didn't go too fast.

Sarah's lessons in crystal magic continued with Jareth, and she finally learnt to transport herself properly, and to get herself some Mongolian food. Though she never felt the same about it again.

They eventually realised that the scent Sarah had thought belonged to her mother was the one that Karen had used to bathe Toby the night he had been taken.

Karen never forgave Sarah. Her father sent her letters though, even sending off little drawings Toby had done for her.

Harry and Hermione finally told everyone that they were together.

The reactions were mixed. The twins said they knew all along, Ginny was excited, and Ron… swore revenge, along with Colin Creevey.

As the summer holidays drew closer, bringing with them the OWLS, the students began to study furiously. A special test was designed for Sarah to show off her unique skills, though some claimed the mark unfair, as the person testing her was the only other person who had the same powers as she did…

"So Sarah, where are you staying these holidays?" Hermione asked. She, Harry, Sarah and Ron were sitting in the common room, near the twins, who were working on potions, and Ginny, who was sitting with her latest beaux (whichever one it was…)

"Stay with me." Ron said.

"Or you could stay with me" Hermione added

"I'd invite you to stay with me, but, you know…" Harry said regretfully.

Sarah chuckled.

"Thanks a lot guys, but I think I've got someone lined up." She said, smiling up at the white owl sitting on the windowsill watching them.

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT…

Holy crap!

IT'S FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOWEE!!!!

I've never finished anything this big before…

Thankyou SOOOO much to everyone who's reading this! You guys have supported me throughout this entire endeavour, and I bow to you.

hugs everyone Man, I'm so excited that I actually stood by this til the end… and wrote so much in such a short time! It must have only been about four or five weeks… maybe I'm exaggerating a bit…

But don't despair over the open endingness, because I will be doing a sequel… eventually.

Umms…

As I said in one of the break lines, I was considering Sarah killing herself for a while, but then realised that I would probably be killed myself, and then I wouldn't be able to put in a sequel…

I just realised that I don't think that there were any bad reviews of this story… which is a bit of a brag for myself, but still totally awesome… unless people were like OMG THIS SUCKS ME NO READ NO MORE! And didn't review…

If that was the case, then I totally wouldn't have cried at your review… much

I guess I shall sleep now… more school tomorrow. Maybe some sequel this weekend, or some twist in the tale…

And then there were none…

Queen of the Nymphs, who now gets to relax instead of thinking about this story all the time…lol

PS!!!!!!!!!!
Final WC 1,858 words! YAY!!!!!!!!

Quite longish… not the longest, but not the shortest, eh?

PS…s!!!!!! This would have been up last night, but then my mum came in and got angry at me cos it was just after eleven… so yeah, sorry about that…!