Authors Note: Protective James, time-turner drama – this chapter has it all! Also, as a little sidenote, I was listening to an old playlist of mine and I rediscovered the song 'The Heart is a Cannibal' by The Cat Empire. I think it is a good representation of what James feels for Cordelia.

Disclaimer: This is all the property of J. K. Rowling. And I very loosely based one of the scenes on Doctor Who.

Cordelia awoke on Monday feeling like she had been punched all over her body. She had had enormous trouble getting to sleep the previous night … and the last two weeks before that. Cordelia was operating on pure willpower.

It had been hard walking out of the room that apparently contained a dark secret. Hermione and Audrey did not breathe a word about what they had read.

So much for answers.

Yes, Cordelia had received help; those papers hadn't been useless, but the two women looked at her as though they were arranging her funeral. It wasn't the most comforting notion.

As she angrily brushed through her hair, Cordelia looked in the mirror, trying to find some sort of weakness in her eyes. Why did people think she couldn't handle the things she was given? She placed a hand below her eyes, touching the black rings below them. Her life kept going in circles, one moment it was fine and the next something brought her right back down. A vicious cycle that had started to take a toll on her body. Cordelia spotted a bright green make-up bag, Ella's. Taking it quickly, she used the concealer (after figuring out how to use it) on the rings, making sure she didn't look too ridiculous. Make-up had been one of the things that made her different from the other girls. Only used on special occasions, Cordelia really didn't see any point to the products she was given by auntie's and other female relatives.

She had survived nearly six years of walking through the school with Ella and watching boys' heads turn as she walked past. After a while you just accept that this is the face you've got.

Cordelia exited the small bathroom and packed her bag for the day, making sure not to forget her graphs she needed for Arithmancy; she had already done that twice.

The common room was quite deserted as it was early and most students were still in bed. Cordelia continued out the portrait hole, figuring someone would be at breakfast.

Cordelia entered the great hall, stomach grumbling to find only five other students awake (not including teachers). Two Slytherins, one Hufflepuff, and …

Ella and Louis.

What was the world coming to? Ella didn't rise before 7:30.

And the other thing was, Cordelia had been avoiding this with all her mind, body and soul.

A meal with a couple.

And not just any couple, the sickliest sweet pair ever to haunt the halls of Hogwarts. It just wasn't fair! Now Cordelia had to deal with completely un-funny inside jokes, absolutely terrifying anecdotes and kissing … lots and lots of kissing.

Did she have time to run?

"Hey Cordelia!" Oh damn, she had been seen, abort abort. "Come and have breakfast with us," called Ella excitedly.

Something died inside of the young witch as she walked towards the happy couple. The thing was, Cordelia didn't know whether she was uncomfortable because of the whole Bea thing or if it was just because they were so cringe-worthy. Well, she was about to find out.

"Hey you two," said Cordelia, sitting down opposite them. "I thought I'd be the only one here."

"Do you usually eat breakfast alone," asked Louis, digging into the bacon.

"I start it alone, but then I'm interrupted by you lot."

Ella laughed, "Well I hope you don't mind joining us this morning, I promise it won't be that bad."

"No, no, I was kidding," replied Cordelia, hoping her smile didn't look like a grimace.

They all fell silent, eating their breakfast until Ella leant forward, an intense look in her eyes. "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"The thing about …-," prompted Ella.

"I've literally just arrived," said Cordelia, stopping her in her drabble.

Ella blushed, "Right, of course … I just get carried away." She sat up straight, brushing over lapse in confidence. "See that girl over there? Magdalena Biros?" Cordelia nodded, seeing one of the Slytherin girls with sharp features and olive skin. "Well, I overheard them talking and they said they saw aurors in the grounds!"

"Aurors?" asked Cordelia carefully. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," said Ella, appearing excited to get Cordelia's attention. "Supposedly they're here on the same business as last time … you know the one where that random guy possessed you?"

Cordelia gave a chuckle, "Yes, I generally remember the times when I've been possessed." So Hazel hadn't told Ella about Kieran Karkner. Ella was not allowed to go to the trials because her parents said she wouldn't understand it. Cordelia and Bea sat there alone as Hazel's story was shot to pieces, even though every word was true. "So why are they in the grounds then?"

"Something about the forest, I think Teddy mentioned something about a person hiding in there," answered Louis.

"You didn't get anything more than that?"

Louis smirked, "Well … he was quite preoccupied that a certain sister of mine is dating someone else."

"Oh, I think James mentioned that," said Cordelia. She had liked Teddy, he was always making people laugh with his feature-changing abilities. Very charming and cheerful, Teddy had been in love with Victoire since they were children but unfortunately their short fling had gone down the drain due to some stupid fights. "Why did they break up again?"

"Something about socks as I recall, but the family knows they're going to get back together. The question is when. Mum keeps inviting Teddy over for dinner which Victoire complains about and Dom laughs about in their letters," said Louis.

Cordelia sighed deeply, "Girls are so petty sometimes … it's ridiculous."

"Yes, not many people can pull off a relationship without faults," added Ella sadly.

"I believe we've done a pretty good job don't you honey?" said Louis, looking lovingly into Ella's eyes.

"I agree," replied Ella before they sunk into a deep kiss. Cordelia cleared her throat and looked around for a sharp object to throw at them before someone tapped her on the shoulder. She swung around to see a welcome face.

"Hi Roxanne!" said Cordelia in an overly cheery voice, welcoming the girl into their midst. "What can I help you with?"

Roxanne stood there, awkwardly watching the couple across the table and Cordelia realised Louis was her cousin. That family was huge. "I just came to … ask you … er, something," said Roxanne quietly.

"Sure thing, I'd love to help with 'er something'. Do you want to go somewhere private?" asked Cordelia, picking up her stuff.

"Yes please."

Ella looked up, releasing Louis who now had lipstick all over his face and didn't seem to notice. "Are you going already?"

"Yeah, sorry," said Cordelia, not wanting to sound sarcastic.

"Well we'll have to do this some other time then," said Ella, grinning like this was a great proposal.

Cordelia smiled back. "Oh we definitely should … someday," she said, guiding Roxanne to the opposite end of the table. "… or never."

"Are they really that bad?" asked Roxanne curiously. "I mean I've heard stories, but-."

"Oh they're bad alright," said Cordelia sitting down. The great hall had started to fill up and they had found one of the only seats with no people around. "So, what's on your mind?"

Roxanne's grin faded and she looked at the table. Something was certainly weighing on her mind. This occurrence was strange because Cordelia never really interacted with Roxanne unless she was with Lily or Hugo, she came across as a shy girl; an opposite to her brother.

"I … I need advice," started Roxanne uncertainly.

"That's absolutely fine Roxy, what kind of advice? I can do boy trouble but I'm not sure I'm the most qualified," said Cordelia comfortingly.

Roxanne giggled, "No, it's not that … I'm worried about Lily."

"Has something happened?" questioned a slightly concerned Cordelia. "Maybe you should talk to your family about this."

"No. I need to talk to someone outside my family and you're a prefect so …" said Roxanne.

"Shoot."

"Well, it's just that Lily has had a lot of boyfriends …" she stopped and looked inquiringly at Cordelia who nodded and waved a hand to continue. "I'm a bit worried that she might be seeing someone that is hurting her."

Cordelia raised her eyebrows, surprised and said quietly, "You don't mean abusing do you?"

"Oh! Definitely not," cried Roxanne, correcting herself. "Just in an emotional way … like her feelings are being hurt-."

She stopped talking when Fred and James dropped into the seats either side of them. Cordelia shot her a look but Roxanne shook her head, stopping the conversation. Getting up from the table she kissed her brother on the cheek, laughed when he tried to move away and left to find Hugo.

"Do you mind?" said Cordelia, annoyed at the two boys. "Roxanne was trying to ask for advice."

"Advice? You?" said Fred. "Why didn't she come to me?" He gave her a stern look, "What were you talking about?"

"Wow that's a lot of questions," said James. "Do you want me to write them down, Cordelia?"

Cordelia felt like banging her head on the table, she loved helping people and her quest had just been squashed by the two morons sitting next to her. "Roxanne came to me because it was something she didn't want her family to hear."

That was a mistake.

Their ears perked up and they looked very curious. "What was it?" they said in unison.

"Never you mind."

Cordelia bid goodbye to Henry in the common room after their Monday night rounds. As she walked up the stairs, her mind drifted away from the thought of a nice warm shower and to something that had been bugging her mind since that morning.

What were aurors doing searching the woods?

No, Cordelia assured herself, don't be so ridiculous. Aurors are too busy to bother with some teenagers' problems all the time. The magical barriers might need testing … or maybe Hagrid bought another dangerous animal to Hogwarts. Maybe Hogsmeade had a break in and the culprit took to hiding in the woods. The possibilities were endless but Cordelia couldn't stop the nagging feeling that her worst fear was right.

The door made the same creaking noise it had always done since first year when Cordelia entered the dormitory. Ella and Beatrice were fast asleep, breathing deeply but a light was shining through Hazel's hangings.

As Cordelia tiptoed across the room, her elbow banged into the wardrobe and she couldn't help but swear loudly, dropping onto her bed. Beatrice rolled over, murmuring about 'waddling ducks' or 'modelling trucks'. Many a night had been spent listening to the weird and wonderful things Beatrice would say in her sleep. It was, in fact, how they had found out about her crush on Louis.

"You just get back?" asked a sleepy voice. Cordelia looked up to see a tired face peeping through the hangings on the bed next to her.

"Yeah," replied Cordelia irritably. "We found three Ravenclaw girls doing something strange to Professor Vectors classroom and Fred and Jasper were wandering around the fourth floor doing nothing. I tried to find James but the other two must have been distractions because they kept distracting me. Anyway, I gave them all detentions but it took so long."

Hazel appeared amused by this story and said, "Well, you could have left the shouting outside the dormitory."

"I bumped my elbow!"

"Even so … sleep is very important."

"Oh really? What were you doing?" asked Cordelia forcefully, feeling the pain of her not funny funny bone.

"Reading," said Hazel. "Or at least I was."

Cordelia sighed, "You're a real pain sometimes, did you know that?"

"Yes," replied Hazel proudly. She leant back and continued her reading, a peaceful expression drifting over her face. Cordelia smiled, as creepy as it sounded she liked watching people, especially when they were in their own head. Merlin only knew what she looked like when she was troubled.

The clock clanged softly in a corner and Cordelia realised that it was already eleven at night. If she was going to go for a walk in the morning she needed a good night's rest. She swept through her nightly routine and was ready to sleep twenty minutes later.

Hazel was snoring now, her book sliding out of her grip. Cordelia picked it up and placed it on her bedside table before recognising the volume as her own. She chuckled and brought it over to her bed. Just as she was about to put the book back in its rightful spot, Cordelia noticed a sheet of crumpled parchment resting, partly concealed, behind her Advanced Potion Making textbook. Holding Hazel's theft under one arm, she picked up the letter and found no address.

Strange, she thought.

The parchment was rough and badly bent, as though someone had written it in a hurry. She opened it with some difficulty and viewed the contents with confusion.

Inside the letter were three pictures.

Horrid realisation spread across the young witches face as she looked more closely. Her stomach dropped and the book fell to the floor with a thud.

Adrenaline overtook her body; Cordelia threw on a coat and shoes and ran out of the room, shutting the door to ensure no one followed her.

She had promised herself they wouldn't get to her, but merlin they had.

Cordelia hurried into the night, leaving no trail to be followed.

James settled down in the great hall on Tuesday. He was a bit put out that Cordelia hadn't shown for his Quidditch practise that morning but she usually only came to one a week so maybe on Thursday he'd have more luck.

But as James looked around at his group of friends he realised something was missing.

"Where's Cordelia?" he asked casually, reaching for the tea.

"Er …" replied Fred, peering around at the group. "Not here."

James was torn between chuckling and scowling, "Thanks for that, very informative."

"I saw her last night for patrols-," started Henry.

"Oh yeah," interrupted Fred, laughing. "So did I."

Henry gave him a pointed look. "Cordelia seemed pretty tired James," he said intently. "We were kept up late because of you three idiots."

"Hey! I wasn't even there," protested James.

"Are you sure?" asked Henry, raising a single eyebrow. "Because I can think of about twelve places on the fourth floor that you might have been while Fred and Jasper were guarding."

James deflated a little, "You know me too well."

Breakfast was disappearing fast and James filled his plate to the brim, nursing a healthy appetite after Quidditch training. After a few more minutes, Hazel and Beatrice walked into the great hall which meant Ella left Louis at the Ravenclaw table and came to join the boys.

"Where's Cordelia?" said Bea curiously as they sat down. The small girl got Jaspers attention and wiped off a spot jam off his chin while he blushed furiously. The scene was ruined by Fred and Hazel pretending to vomit in the background.

"I thought she was sleeping," continued James worriedly. "Wasn't she in your dormitory?"

A crease was forming in Ella's brow as well. "She wasn't there when I woke up around six."

"Six?" cried an astounded Hazel. "Since when?"

"Since I realised that the mornings are when Louis' alone," replied Ella distractedly, still looking worried.

"You all need to relax," said Hazel firmly. "Cordelia does all manner of strange things. She's probably walking around the lake, greeting the mermaids."

Everyone nodded at Hazel's intelligent reasoning and continued their breakfast.

But there was something niggling at the back of James' mind.

Something wasn't right.

"Alright, I take it back," said Hazel with a hint of anxiety. "Cordelia's gone."

"Gone?" exclaimed James, he too was nervous. "What do you mean gone?"

Hazel started pacing the courtyard to work off her nervous energy, it was evening and the whether was nippy. "I mean I checked the hospital wing and she wasn't there."

"Well that doesn't mean she's gone. The others are still going."

"The library was empty?" asked Hazel.

"Yep, and I asked Madam Pince and she said Cordelia hadn't been in there since yesterday," said James bitterly. "Hardly knew who she was and Cordelia's in there all the time."

Running footsteps caused the pair to turn and they saw the other five come out of an arched doorway.

"You didn't find her?" questioned James, their head shakes causing his hopes to disappear. Only he knew what sort of trouble she might be in and it was scary to think what she might be facing at that moment.

"James," began Henry, breathing heavily. "Should we be worried?"

The wizard hesitated, he couldn't tell them anything. "She's not here and there are aurors around. It's not the first time something strange has happened to her this year."

"So … yes," said Beatrice who was starting to get angry.

"We … we don't know anything yet and we shouldn't work ourselves up over nothing," said James.

Hazel nodded, "I agree. Cordelia could be somewhere we haven't checked yet. She wouldn't like it if we overreacted."

Everyone nodded and James drew a deep breath, feeling calmer. Cordelia was safe, she was smart, she would have found a way to contact them if she was in danger. Everything was okay.

They walked out of the courtyard and James saw Hagrid's hut, blending in to the trees behind it. But it wasn't this that sent his heart racing, it was the scene next to the cabin that scared him. A small group of black-robed people with their wands out, facing the forest and moving around as though they were trying to find a door.

Before his friends could say otherwise, James jogged towards the aurors, trying to spot his father amongst the mass. He waved to the man with identical hair and Harry turned around, greeting his son with a grim expression.

"What have you heard?" said his dad before James could speak.

"Nothing but I'm thinking you have," replied James, even more confused and worried than before.

Harry stood back, looking at the aurors who were still tapping away at the invisible thing. "It doesn't matter … we'll sort it."

"No," said James. "Tell me because Cordelia's missing and I think you know where she is."

His dad closed his eyes like he was dreading his answer. "James," he started slowly. "We are here because someone trespassed into the grounds a couple of days ago, they've blocked off the forest."

"And what's that got to do with Cordelia?" pushed James.

"A girl described by Neville as tall with blond hair ran straight through the barrier just before midnight," said Harry heavily.

James shook his head, "But that could have been anyone."

"She dropped this," said his father, holding up an envelope. On the outside it simply said 'Cordelia Bode'.

"She's in there?" shouted James, feeling sick. "And you've just been standing here!"

Harry placed a hand on his son's arm. "As far as we know she's fine. Do you really think she's the type of person to knowingly wander into danger?"

"Yes," James said. "If there was something she needed to do."

His dad nodded, understanding the type of situation, "We can't break through the wards this person has created. They're very powerful."

"How did he get in here?" asked James.

"We found two Hogsmeade men, seriously wounded, at the gates. We believe he used this as a distraction before walking through. People can walk through the gates; they just can't come through magically."

"Wounded how?" said James testily.

Harry, in his typical way, was oblivious to having a tactful answer, "We're thinking cruciatus curse so the village would hear, one of them was bleeding from a deep cut."

A buzzing filled his ears as James felt like his world was spinning out of focus. Something switched on in his head. Cordelia could be screaming in pain 50 metres in front of him; he imagined her writhing around on the ground as a man laughed at her pain. He vaguely heard his friends group behind him but that didn't matter.

Three people grabbed him as he lunged forward. Fred, his father, and Teddy had recognised what he was about to do and stopped him.

"James, no one can get through," said Teddy who had just joined them. "The first person who tried was thrown backwards. Saving your friend will take brains, not strength."

James calmed down just long enough to pull out his wand. "I am not sitting here and waiting."

Harry nodded. "I would have been disappointed if you had."

Cordelia opened her eyes and found herself staring at a pile of twigs and dry leaves. Her whole body was stiff and her head was throbbing painfully.

She pushed herself up slightly and instantly threw her left hand up to her head to stop it ringing. Someone had hit her hard.

"I thought you would stay down for much longer," said a deep voice behind her. Cordelia rolled over to see a figure standing in the gloom of the trees. "Hello Cordelia."

"What-?" Cordelia began, trying to remember. The letter, running through the forest, catching her coat on branches and scratching her face, stepping past a big oak tree and BAM, no more memory. "Why did you bring me here?"

The man advanced a few steps, keeping his face in shadow. "I believe you have it backward. You came here completely at your own resolve; I was merely the one who greeted you."

Cordelia stood up, appraising her surroundings to see if she recognised any of the trees or rocks. "Where am I?"

"Don't worry," said the man, the whites of his teeth leering at her. "You are quite far from your friends. It must be a relief to you, knowing you are away from that pesky Ella."

A chill ran down the girl's back, this man had been watching her.

"Your friends are very special too you, so I've noticed. You are the definition of a loyal, stubborn young Gryffindor. Some would call that stupid," sighed the man.

"What do you want with me?" said Cordelia firmly, already knowing the answer.

"I don't like your tone … I'm only trying to help you. But, if there is something I require, it is around your neck."

"No."

"No?" said the man, almost laughing.

"No," repeated Cordelia, strongly facing up to her attacker. "I will not give you the time-turner."

"But my dear, I don't think you have a choice," said the man in a cheery voice. "Or have you already forgotten my gift to you?"

Cold air seemed to fill up Cordelia's lungs as she responded, "You will not touch them!"

"You can't stop me," he hissed. "I have seen many things in my time and I swear, nothing, NOTHING, is going to stop me."

Silence filled the chilly air between them as they both glared at one another, looking for weaknesses.

"I'm sorry," said Cordelia finally.

"What?" said the man, sounding shocked at her words.

Cordelia closed her eyes, blocking out her fear. "I'm sorry for whoever you lost. But you can't save them."

"You don't know anything."

"No … I probably don't. But the one thing I do know is that the person you loved is gone and they will not appreciate you hurting others to get them back," said Cordelia.

The man hesitated slightly. His head tilted to one side like he was thinking about something curious and Cordelia really believed she had gotten through to him.

Suddenly, the man ran forward, so quickly that Cordelia didn't even have time to think before she hit the ground, his heavy breathing in her ear. "You think you can trick me? I know what I want and it's around your neck." He pulled at the chain so hard it cut into Cordelia's neck and she screamed with the pain. He struggled with the necklace, trying to pull it off while she was keeping it close, stopping him from strangling her. Cordelia squirmed under his weight, reaching desperately for her wand but her coat had lower pockets than her normal robes and it was out of reach; all the while her vision was turning black. "I will kill you!" he screamed, sending a wave of dread over her body. This man was crazy.

But, as suddenly as he came forward, the man disappeared. Cordelia clutched the pendant to her chest, taking in huge gulps of air. When she was stable she stood up, facing the trees around her.

Something tickled the back of her neck and she swung around. There was no one there. Slightly panicking she continued to turn around, looking for him.

"Go on then! Do it!" she shouted at the darkness. Nothing responded but the wind, rustling through the trees. "I'm not going to hand it over so you're going to have to kill me."

A voice came out of the darkness, close to her ear, "You will give me the time-turner." Cordelia turned in the direction of the voice but it was just thin air.

"I won't."

"You will, you saw what will happen if you don't," said the voice.

Cordelia clenched her fists in anger. "So kill me. If you don't, how can I believe you have the capacity to kill others."

"You will be destroyed along with those you love."

"Fine then! Destroy me! I'm not scared of you," shouted Cordelia.

A gust of wind made her hair flow in the breeze which meant her neck was exposed. An invisible hand brushed gently against it, sending goose-bumps across her arms. "You can be tortured; the pictures did enough I think."

"That's a smaller threat than the last, you're losing power."

"When you feel pain, you will relinquish the necklace to me," said the man.

Cordelia took a step backwards to get away from the invisible hand that was touching her. "You don't scare me anymore because I'm already extremely terrified- … of dying. And I will endure a lot of pain before I give up the thing that is keeping me alive, how long have you got?"

The wind stopped and the forest was silent, causing a bubble of dread to rise up within the witch.

"Let me go and I won't tell a soul. You can offer me my life but you cannot threaten it!"

The air rippled in front of Cordelia and the man reappeared, his face still in shadows. He grabbed her arm before the surprise wore off and held it firmly, drawing a knife from his pocket. "I can't take the time-turner by force, you are attached to it. But you will give it up."

A sob escaped from Cordelia's mouth and she dug her heels into the ground, trying to move away. The man was too strong and he stared intensely at her. This was too much and a tear rolled down her cheek, breaking the strong façade she had kept up before now.

"Okay, okay, yes, I am crying. It's just because I am very frightened of you and if you knew anything about normal people you'd stop this and let me go," cried Cordelia, gasping with fear as he tried to hold her arm steady, lowering the knife to her skin.

"Stop, stop, stop, please," she screamed, falling to her knees. "I will not tell you, I can't –," she screamed again, feeling the pain and trying not to give in. "Why did you send that letter to James?"

The man hesitated. "I'm not going to answer your questions."

"Well you might as well kill me because I'm not doing anything until you do," said Cordelia, breathing out, feeling a sense of relief at her words.

The man looked like he was weighing up whether she was lying but, nevertheless, let her drop to the ground, standing back and watching her pathetically whimper while trying to regain her fire.

"Your friends are far away, sleeping in their beds, your family is across the country and no one else cares about you. I can do this for a long time," he said.

"I may be loyal, but if there's one thing I know it's that, if my friends are who I think they are, they will have my back," said Cordelia toughly, despite her position.

The man grinned awfully at her, rubbing in the fact of how alone she was. Cordelia started to shake, if this was going to end, it was going to end badly. Her vision clouded with new tears and she began to cry.

BANG!

Cordelia's head snapped up to see that the man was gone, leaving nothing but the scars he had left on her. She heard loud voices and thumping footsteps but she was too gone to care. Her arm ached and she just wanted to be free from the pain, free from her emotions that were running around her head.

"Cordelia," someone said above her. She heard them curse with anger as they lifted her bleeding arm. "What have they done to you? Please wake up, you've got to wake up. Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia." The voice faded into the background and she felt a pair of arms go under her, lifting her weak body off the leaves.

A minute, five, ten? Cordelia didn't know how much time she spent feeling the jolting motion of someone running with her against their chest, but once they were out of the forest she was placed carefully upon the ground. She was aware of lots of movement around her as she was fed with a nourishing potion that made up for the meals she had missed and her arm was carefully tended to. There were many people her but Cordelia could only see one person.

"Are you all right?" asked James sounding on the brink of tears himself. "I- I'm sorry you were hurt; I should have done better."

Cordelia shook her head slightly, "Don't you dare take this on yourself."

James took her hand when he saw the hurt in her eyes, "I never doubted you would be strong, though. I will always be there for you and you will always be there for me."

A grateful look went through her hazel eyes and he brought her hand to his lips, giving them a quick kiss.

"Cordelia?" said a very familiar voice. Cordelia twisted around to see Julie Bode standing behind her, looking very pale and worried. "You are going to tell me what's going on right now!"

Authors Note: Next chapter will be up soon, hope you enjoyed this one! I'm open to any feedback.