One day, towards the end of the Christmas holidays, Isabella returned to her room to see Zala sitting on her bed, feeding owl pellets to Fret.

"Castro's back," the girl told her, nodding towards the bottle-green bird. Isabella sighed with relief. She had been getting worried about Castro's continued absence, sure that either he was hurt or the message he was carrying had been captured and Luna punished.

The augury looked distinctly worn and Isabella felt horribly guilty. She had sent the poor bird across the Channel in the middle of winter; he must be exhausted.

"Grazzi, mia bella," she told him, pulling out a piece of a Circe chocolate bar and feeding it to him. "Avete fatto bene. Well done." He nibbled at her hand affectionately and allowed her to remove the letter tied to his leg before fluttering under the bed where it was warmer.

Isabella frowned at the writing on the letter. It wasn't Luna's cramped, titled scrawl but larger, spiky lettering. She unfolded it and realized that whoever it was knew the secret spells she, Luna, Alex, and Morgan had used in writing their letters. That made her nervous, but she undid the coding spells and began to read:

"Bella,

You sent a letter to Luna, but I'm afraid she isn't here anymore. They took her on the Hogwarts Express when we were all going home for the holidays. Death Eaters, definitely. We don't know where she is. Possibly Azkaban. I'm so sorry, I know how close you were. We all miss you and Luna terribly.

Ginny never came back from the Christmas holidays, but she's okay. She and her family went into hiding when the Death Eaters found out Ron was traveling with Harry.

I'm still in the DA and we're still fighting Snape's regime, but without Ginny and Luna Neville's really struggling. If only you were here; you'd probably be great at leading us.

Alex never came back after Christmas, either, but no one thinks she's hurt or captured. Morgan thinks she's probably gone into hiding, like Ginny. The few weeks before the break the Carrows were asking her a lot of prying questions. They aren't too happy about her and Ginny not turning up.

I hope you're doing okay. I'm sorry we never talked much last year, but I hope you can forgive me. I guess you've already heard that Morgan and I broke up.

Sincerely,

Terry."

"Any news?" Zala asked. Isabella set aside the letter and began to massage her temples. Portia slunk out from under the bed, clearly annoyed at having to share the space with a cold, wet bird. The kneazle jumped onto Isabella's lap and curled up there. Isabella began to absent-mindedly scratch Portia's chin.

"Too much," she told Zala. "One of my best friends has been... she's... captured. By Death Eaters."

"Oh, Isabella," Zala whispered, her eyes wide. "I'm so sorry!"

"Some of my friends went into hiding," she continued, her eyes shut tightly. "And no one seems to know where Alex is."

An image flashed, unbidden, to her mind. An ancient archway, peaked and crumbling, with a tattered veil.

Isabella firmly shut off the image and searched inside herself for that little golden spark that hid under her heart. It was harder to find today, dim and faded. Once she found it, Isabella dove into its light and transformed into a lioness. She curled up on the now creaking bed, her back to Zala, and tried to go to sleep.

"You know, I really wish you'd tell me when you're about to turn into a 270 pound carnivore," Zala muttered as Isabella drifted off to sleep.