The girl was heavily bandaged and nearly unrecognizable. Alex put a hand on her shoulder, trying to wake her up. The curtains opened and the others saw her.
"Laura…" Alex whispered.
"Oh no…" Hermione cried onto the person nearest her. That person happened to be Ron.
Ron turned pink, and then looked at Laura. "Blimey…I feel bad now."
"What happened?"
"Mr. Potter, did you send Dobby the House Elf?"
Harry hesitated.
"Yes…" he said.
"It's a good thing you did or we may not have saved a life."
"Sir?"
"Miss Madley has a younger brother about three years old."
As if to prove this, a loud cry came from the second bed. Madam Pomfrey pulled back the curtains and picked up the boy.
The small boy saw his sister and began crying harder. He had small scars on his arm, but looked healthy otherwise.
"Miss Madley was found to have several bruises, scars, and cuts. Many of these abrasions are relatively fresh. It seems that her brother was hurt and she possibly tried to intervene to defend him. She was also subjected to several dark hexes and what I believe might be sixteen Cruciatus Curses."
The group stared at Professor Dumbledore in utter shock.
"S-sixteen?" Colin gasped. "But…that's-"
"Deadly." Neville finished.
"It is. We do not expect her to survive the next few days. We are going to send her to St. Mungo's, but her brother is in danger."
"He can stay at my house." Malcolm said.
"Would you mind taking Alexander to the Room of Requirement? I shall be there momentarily. Please take Mr. Madley with you."
Luna smiled at the three year old who lifted his arms towards her, sensing something familiar.
…
Professor Dumbledore found the sad group in the Room of Requirement. Alex was entertaining Laura's brother by chasing him around. The little boy had given Luna a paper that looked severely crumpled. They stopped when the Headmaster entered.
They looked at the comic book. A folded parchment paper was tucked inside it. The note on the cover said "to Dennis 'Calvin' Creevey", but the note was addressed to all of them.
"Dear Forest Children,
It may be strange hearing from me since I presume that by this time, I am no longer of this earth. No, I have not taken my life, but a rather unforeseen circumstance has. It has been an amazing adventure getting to know all of you. I wish nothing but the best for you and for Alex. Please understand that I do love life, just not the one I live. I live for my baby brother. If it wasn't for him, I would have left long ago. I refuse to let my brother become monsters like our parents. Yes, I admit our parents are Death Eaters. They constantly spoke about making me spy on Hogwarts, but I refused, and when I did I was tortured.
Harry. Thank you for accepting me into this group, you are very kind and I hope you are able to win whatever battle comes next.
Ron. I know we never got to talk one on one, but I know you see me as Luna. Honestly, it doesn't matter, you still were not mean. Thanks for letting me stay.
Hermione. I can tell that Alex views you as possibly a mother substitute or a protective sister like I am to my brother. Please make sure you all survive this. Thank you for being the protector.
Neville. You really are funny, even if you don't think you are. Those jokes honestly did make me laugh, I wasn't kidding. Thanks for the laughs.
Luna. Thank you for listening. You took in everything I said and gave me advice. You are very kind and I admired you.
Ginny. Thank you for not passing judgment. Thank you for treating me as one of the gang.
Colin. You really have great stories to tell and I hope you get to continue telling them. Thanks for the stories.
Dennis. Thanks for being Calvin. I say that because you helped me keep going, reminding me of my brother who needed me. Thank you for pushing me.
Stewart. Thanks for believing in me. To answer your question, I hide because that's what I do best. I often hid with my brother, reading to him so he wouldn't have to think about our parents.
Malcolm. Thank you for being the underdog. I truly hope your voice is heard. I have wanted to for years, but was afraid of what would happen to my brother if I spoke out more than I already have.
Alex. Thank you for being a friend. I enjoyed teaching you and being able to hang out with you. I wish nothing but the best for you, my friend.
Don't worry for me because I am in a better place now. Please care for my brother; he does not know his name. My parents refused to name him until they were able to brainwash him. They called him 'child' but never by name. Please tell him that I love him, tell him his name, and make sure he is loved."
The three year old looked up at Luna with sad eyes.
"Lowa?" He asked.
At that moment, a silvery Patronus appeared.
"She's gone, Albus." Madam Pomfrey's sad voice said.
"Lowa?" The three year old asked again.
"I'm sorry." Luna said, giving the child a hug.
The boy began crying.
Dennis read the crumpled note. It looked as if it was written quickly.
"Malfoy Manor. Death Eater meetings. Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater. Don't ask, don't question. Take care of my brother. "
Dumbledore paled.
"I wasn't supposed to read that, was I?" Dennis asked.
"None of this leaves the room." The Headmaster said. He grabbed the note and stood up. "I shall be back." He left the room.
"Now what?"
"Who me?" The three year old asked.
"Laura." Alex answered.
"Huh?"
"Laura brother, name Laura."
"You want us to name him after Laura?" Stewart asked.
Alex nodded.
"How about Laurence?" Hermione asked.
"Laurie for short." Ginny added.
"And his middle name is Calvin." Colin said.
The others nodded in agreement.
…
A few months later, Laurie had been sent to Malcolm's house to live with him and his mother. The school had been told of Laura's death, but they started muttering during Dumbledore's speech.
Furious, Malcolm dragged Stewart and Dennis up to the high table and ranted to the school, telling them basically what he had told Snape. He challenged the school to think instead of just going along with rumor.
…
They took Alex to Ollivanders and got him a wand. He swished it around happily, remembering the rules that he was told.
Finally, it was the Easter holidays and time to bring Alex for evaluation.
Professor McGonagall saw the boy and blinked, he looked like any other student who had been brought to the Headmaster's office. The boy was a little nervous, but clean and as happy as he could be after losing a friend.
The Headmaster seemed pleased and took the Sorting Hat down. Alex, having had this explained to him, politely refused.
"Why not?" The Headmaster asked.
"Forest." Alex said. "I am not…Hogwarts…I am Forest's…"
"I get it. He's the Forest's child, not Hogwarts." Hermione said. "He wants to learn magic, but he doesn't want to be sorted."
"In an odd way, that is understandable." Professor Dumbledore said. "Alright then, good luck Alexander."
Alex smiled.
…
Alexander returned after the Battle of Hogwarts, having hidden in the Forbidden Forest during the school year. Professor Snape never told the Carrows about Alex and he wasn't formally introduced to the school until after the battle.
After the events, no one was really shocked or cared very much. They were thinking about the battle and still bore the scars of last year, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Laura's parents perished in battle and Laurie was put up for adoption. Malcolm's mother offered to adopt him, saying that the little boy was already a member of the family.
Unfortunately, Colin did not make it. He had been worried about Alex and thought he was in the battlefield, went to search for the boy but never returned.
Alex grew up to become a pretty good wizard. He decided to become a naturalist since he was already in tune with nature.
Dennis tried to move on without his brother and became a pretty good photographer. He decided to journey with Alex and take pictures of their findings.
Stewart went on to be a brilliant researcher who had opinions that were normally unspoken. He was well liked for his wisdom.
Malcolm decided to take on the post of Potions Professor and Head of Slytherin House after Slughorn officially retired in a lavish style. He decided that he'd pay attention to his students and make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible, even the underdogs.
Inter-house unity improved slightly, but the dark reputation of Slytherin lingered a little.
The ten remaining Forest Children always included Colin and Laura in their fantastic tale. Laurie eventually learned of his sister's life and wrote stories about her. He became the unofficial member of the Forest Children.
They often joked that the Forest Children were divided into subsections.
The Golden Trio: Harry, Ron, and Hermione
The Silver Trio: Ginny, Luna, and Neville
The Calvin kids: Laura, Colin, Dennis, and Laurie who was added later.
And The Three from the Trees: Alex, Malcolm, and Stewart.
But they all agreed that Alexander was the original Forest's Child. Somewhere in space, two stars seemed to flash brighter as if to agree.
A/N: I felt this story was not one of my best, but I didn't want to leave anyone hanging. Hopefully I can make better Harry Potter stories in the future that actually have a good ending. Thanks for reading.