This chapter is a bit on the short side.

It is with sadness that I report that this will be my last chapter until mid-March. My next break is around the 14th of March and I'm off for a good week, so I'm hoping to pump out two or three chapters, maybe more if I'm lucky.

For those of you going back to University for the spring semester, or anyone going back to school – Good luck with your classes! Remember, your physical and mental health is more important than your GPA. (That's something I need to remember too.)

10 points to you if you recognize something in this chapter. ;)

Thanks for the reviews, CharlotteBlackwood, Nova5621, and thewritternword87 (D'aww shucks, you're sweet.) :D

Reviews if you're alive, please? :P

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS QUEEN!

CHAPTER 89

"How is she?" Remus asked, as he walked with Sirius around the debris. It was beginning to snow.

"Terrible, of course…She's keeping herself pretty well together…but I can see it's killing her." Sirius sighed, looking up at the sky. "I-I can't imagine what that's like…if I ever saw you, Marly, James, Lily, or Sarah like that…I wouldn't be able to deal with myself."

Remus nodded, he then stopped in his tracks. Sirius gave him an odd look, Remus pointed to his ear. Sirius listened; he could hear something very faintly.

"Marlene?" He asked, looking at his friend.

Remus nodded. "She's on the other side of the clearing, she's helping look for survivors."

"Remus?" Marlene's voice was louder now.

He exchanged a look with Sirius and the two began to run to the other side of the clearing.

Marlene, Lily, James and a few other Order members stood in a circle around a section of debris. As we got closer, there was this tiny, weak, noise. It sounded like a cross between a scream and someone gasping for air.

"What's going on?" Remus asked, as they reached their friends.

Remus and Sirius made their way around their friends, trying to see whom they were talking about.

She was this tiny little thing, not much bigger than Anastasia. She was curled up in a ball, inside of a burnt, hollow tree.

She looked like a miniature version of Airleas.

"She won't let us touch her." James said, frowning. "She doesn't seem to trust us…"

"Understandable." said Thayer, the vampire Sirius had met earlier with his wife and Edgar. "If I hadn't met ye' I wouldn't trust ye' either."

Sirius scowled, everyone but Thayer saw. They'd ask him about it later.

The Order members watched as Thayer crouched down to meet the small banshee. He extended a hand to her, but she backed further into the tree.

"I guess she doesn't trust vampires, either." Remus mused, looking at Thayer.

"Werewolf?" He asked, his eyes scanning Remus.

He nodded.

"I'm going to get Audrey." Marlene said, breaking off from the group and running to the medical tent.

"Why didn't I think of that?" James asked, scratching his head.

"Well, she's been in the tent for a while." Sirius replied.

"How's Teagan?" Lily asked.

"Not so well." replied Sirius, frowning. "She was hit hard."

There was a small gust of wind, and Audrey appeared next to her husband.

"What's going on?" She asked, her eyes were red from crying. She wiped them quickly.

"There's a small banshee hiding in that tree." James said, pointing. "She's just a child, she's wounded…"

There was such a heavy sadness that I felt for the child, she was most likely orphaned. She had seen so much; I could only imagine how frightened she must have been.

"Can she shriek?" Audrey asked quietly.

"She's been trying to, but it seems she's either hoarse or something happened to her." replied Remus.

Audrey got down on her hands and knees and crawled closer to the burnt log.

"It's okay." She called, into the log. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise."

The group watched her; unsure of the words she spoke.

"How do you speak?" asked the little one.

Audrey gave a tiny laugh.

"I am like you, but different. My mother was a banshee, my father was something else…a crossbreed, so to speak."

The child came closer to the opening of the log, looking at Audrey with wide eyes.

"You look like us." She said.

Audrey nodded with a small smile, she let her teeth change to the sharp points that people rarely saw. The child gave a small smile.

"What is your name?" Audrey asked softly.

"Isabelle." said the child.

Her name was the only thing we understood, she had a very small French accent.

"It's lovely to meet you, Isabelle. My name is Audrey." She replied. "Et tu parles francais, ouais?"

"Ouais, je viens de Calais." said the child.

"Well I'll be damned, she speaks French." said Thayer, looking around at the others.

"I don't like him." said Isabelle, switching to her native tongue. She nodded her head at Thayer. "He is strange…I've never seen someone like him before…"

"Have you ever heard the tale of Ivonne et l' étrange prince?"

"Yes." She replied.

"He is like the prince…he consumes blood." Audrey said.

"They're real?" The child's eyes widened.

Audrey nodded with a small smile and pointed to Edgar. "He's one too, he's a very good friend of mine. They are mostly very kind."

Edgar waved to the Isabelle, she waved back, still nervous.

"He's harmless, like a thestral." Audrey smiled.

The child looked very unsure.

"Won't you come out?" Audrey asked softly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise."

Isabelle slowly crawled out of the log, blood caked all over her.

Isabelle was the only child recovered at the site, I was grateful and horrified. What had they done to the young?

Audrey picked her up and balanced her on her hip.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Audrey said, walking with the child. "There's someone I'd like for you to meet."

"Where are you going?" James asked.

Audrey turned around and replied.

"To get her treated of course!"

There were murmurs when the two arrived in the tent.

"Is that a child?"
"I didn't think…"
"I don't believe it.

"I'll be right back." Audrey said.

"Do you promise?" The child asked, she was frightened.

"I promise, Isabelle." Audrey gave her a small smile.

Audrey made her way to the left side of the tent; it was getting harder with every step. She didn't want to see them again…the images were forever burned in her mind. She looked down as she walked.

"Luc?" Audrey asked quietly.

He turned around.

I had never seen someone so broken before.

"I…I want you to meet someone."

"Audrey, I don't think I'm really up for-"

"Luc, please. She needs you just as much as you'll need her. She's no more than six years old…" Audrey choked.

"A child?" Luc asked, shocked.

"She's the youngest survivor."

"Take me to her." Luc demanded.

We left the clearing just as the sun began to set, we couldn't risk leaving in the dark. Luc had swiftly made the decision that Isabelle was to live with him. After what had happened to Catherine, Tara, and Tierney, I understood why. For the last four years, we knew what happened to these colonies, but we never thought they would rob us of our loved ones.

Anastasia slept at the Weasley's that night, I had a feeling Arthur had told Molly that Sirius and I were emotionally drained. It hadn't fully hit me until we were finally home. My body felt so heavy, I didn't want to move.

This was the start of the nights we did not discuss…the nights where I would not speak a word and Sirius would drown his sorrows. I envied him in the beginning…it's nearly impossible for creatures to become intoxicated. Remus and I were always the sober friends at the parties. Sirius was normally a magnified sap when he was drunk, but the times have changed.

And so had he.