Note: WOW 2 chapters in one day! Don't thank me yet, though, not only is this one super short but you might want to kill me when you read the end of it...

Don't forget those sequel titles! =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, now am I making any profit from this piece of writing.

19: He's Coming to Get Me

It was precisely 1:34am when Carrie Winters was awoken by the shriek of the telephone under her pillow. Resisting the urge to let out a shout of surprise, the muggle hurriedly fumbled for the receiver and hit the answer button.

"Hello?" she said groggily, attempting to blink the sleep from her eyes.

"Carrie, it's me!"

At the sound of Cleo's voice, Carrie sat bolt upright in her bed, heart instantly beginning to race.

"Cleo?"

"Well yeah...were you expecting somebody else?"

"Have you seen something?"

"It's Mr. Goyle, I think. He's just walking down the driveway."

Carrie fumbled to throw the duvet off of her and got out of her bed, pulling on her slippers and dashing for her bedroom door. At the door she paused when Cleo said:

"Wait..."

"What?" Carrie hissed, reaching to open the door as quietly as she could.

"I don't think he's sleep walking...I think you've done it wrong, Carrie...Carrie? Carrie are you there? Hello...?"

"Shh!" Carrie crept across the landing and down the stairs, and when she deemed herself far enough away from her parents' bedroom door she asked: "What's he doing now?"

"He's walking down the road."

"Towards school?"

"No, the other way...wait...wait I can't see him anymore..."

"You can't?"

"No I...I think...Carrie I think he's just disappeared!"

Having just reached the bottom of the stairs, Carrie heard the distinct pop of apparation.

"This is it!" she cried, reaching to switch on the driveway lights and making a dash for the living room window, ignoring Cleo's bemused:

"This is what?"

Abandoning the phone upon the window sill, Carrie grabbed hold of the video camera and hurriedly turned it on. She was just hitting the record button when she noticed movement outside.

"Yes!" she whispered triumphantly to herself as Mr. Goyle appeared at the bottom of the Lupins' driveway.

The light outside was not too good, and Carrie hoped that the camera footage would be clear enough to identify Mr. Goyle, as he stood looking up and down the street, no doubt checking that nobody was around. He had the sense to wear dark clothing, the same big, black coat that he had been wearing the first time that Carrie had seen him, but then he reached for something in his pocket and quite suddenly his face became illuminated by the soft glow of wandlight.

As she stood, camera clutched in both hands, Carrie grinned.

This is it, she thought to herself, heart still hammering in her chest, this is it! I've done it, I've caught him...

Mr. Goyle raised his wand, and a thin jet of silvery light shot forwards towards the Lupins' front door, only to evaporate mere meters into its journey, as if an invisible barrier stood between him and the house.

"Ha!" Carrie smirked, sticking her tongue out mockingly at the man. "That's not going to work, Mr Lupin's much too smart for you!"

Seemingly this was a very accurate description of Mr. Goyle's efforts, for he stood flinging spells at the invisible barrier for some long minutes, each with a more frustrated flick of his wand than the last. And Carrie found herself having quite good fun, sitting there pulling faces at the oblivious intruder.

It was then that she noticed that muffled talk was still coming from the telephone. Carrie reached to pick it up again, camera held carefully in one hand.

"Cleo?"

"At last! I've been yelling your name for AGES...what's going on?"

"Not a lot." Carrie supplied, pausing to blow a raspberry at the man outside...

Only to freeze and bite her tongue when she realised that he appeared to be staring directly at her.

"Oh no..." she breathed, practically dropping the camera in her attempt to hide it from view. Cleo's confusion fell on deaf ears as Carrie stared in mute horror out of the window.

Mr. Goyle stared right back at the little muggle girl who was peering out of her living room window at him.

And then he turned and took a few steps on past the Lupins' house.

And began to walk purposefully up the Winters' driveway.

Carrie dropped into a crouch below the window, eyes screwed shut in pure terror as she squeaked:

"He's...he's coming to get me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cleo asked, sounding more than a little irritated at her friend's odd behavior. "Who's coming to get you? This is silly, Carrie, you should just go back to bed..."

"Mr Lupin!"

"...Mr. Lupin is coming to get you? Carrie, what..."

"NO! Shut up Cleo! Just...just listen!"

"Okay, calm down..."

"Shut up!"

"Okay..."

"I need you to do something for me, it's very important!"

"What...now?"

"Yes!" Carrie paused to hug her knees to her chest as she heard the formidable crunch of gravel underfoot coming from outside. "I need you to wake Mr. Lupin up for me."

There was a long pause, Carrie felt hot, terrified tears begin to trickle down her face before Cleo said:

"Don't be mental, Carrie, it's in the middle of the bloody night..."

"I mean it, Cleo!" Carrie hissed as she heard heavy booted feet step onto her front step. "I've never meant anything more in my whole entire life! You have to get out of bed, go and get your bike..."

"It's the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!"

"...ride over here as fast as you can and wake him up!"

"You're out of your mind."

"Please Cleo! Please, please..."

"I'm not going outside now, I'll probably get murdered or something. And I don't even KNOW him..."

"Cleo, listen to me..."

"What would that look like? Hi, you don't know me, sorry I just woke you up in the middle of the night but my mate told me to..."
"CLEO!" At Carrie's voice breaking into a desperate sob, Cleo finally stopped talking. "I need you to do this, Cleo." Carrie whispered as she heard the distinct sound of the front door handle being tested. "I...I'm in trouble! I'm in t...trouble and...and the Lupins are...are the only ones who can help me."

Again, there was a pause, and to Carrie's horror she heard the sound of a lock clicking.

"Wow..." Cleo breathed, sounding more than a little stunned. "You're not messing with me, are you?"

The front door was being pushed open. Carrie attempted to wedge herself in between the sofa and the radiator.

"Wake...wake them up and...and tell them...tell them I...I need help..."

"You do realise you're scaring the crap out of me, don't you Carrie? Carrie? Hello...?"

As she stood peering out of her bedroom window at the Goyles' house across the road, Cleo Clancy frowned deeply.

"Carrie!" she hissed, heart beginning to pound in her chest. "Say something will you? I mean it, this isn't funny, you're scaring me...Carrie?"

It was at that very moment that the phone went dead.