If Love is a Game...

Lanni Weasley

Story Summary:
It's the Marauders' final year at Hogwarts and they have everything - and that includes a few big problems. James matures and finally wins over Lily; Remus falls head over heels for Lucius Malfoy's cousin; and Sirius finally gets the girls of his dreams. But that girl is supposed to marry Malfoy and her parents hate Sirius and her friends. Soon, she must choose between being the next Mrs. Lucius Malfoy or the early deaths of Sirius and her friends. Deep trouble is on the horizon of bliss.

Chapter 39

Chapter Summary:
It's James's and Sirius's Seventh Year at Hogwarts and they have everything - although a few big problems. James matures and finally wins over Lily; Remus falls head over heels for Lucius Malfoy's cousin; and Sirius finally gets the girls of his dreams. But that girl is supposed to marry Malfoy and her parents hate Sirius and her friends. Soon, she must choose between being the next Mrs. Lucius Malfoy or the early deaths of Sirius and her friends. Deep trouble is on the horizon of bliss. CH39: Catherine, Krystyna's aunt, overhears Samuel, her husband, and Marcus Malfoy planning to murder Sirius and Co. Descisions are made - and something bad happens to Lorena.
Posted:
05/03/2005
Hits:
768
Author's Note:
Thank you for all the reviews! This is making me really sad...


Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Good Betrayal

Marcus,

Lorena has found out. I don't know how she found out, but she did somehow. Something's wrong. She practically shouted it out to everyone right outside of the Great Hall. She didn't say who, but she pointed out four people: You, father, Mr. Melanie, and Samuel.

She's probably confronted Krystyna about it, but she made her promise not to say anything about it. Now Lorena's probably fed up with this. Something doesn't seem right. I think she told the others about this and they're probably going to do something. They might tell Dumbledore. You have to do something about this or they might find out your jobs.

L.M.

Lucius re-read the letter as he stalked up to the Owlry. He rolled the parchment up and put it in an envelope before he walked into the room. He found his eagle owl and attached it to its leg. He muttered for it to hurry up and opened up the window. It took off and he watched it fly away elegantly.

As he walked back down to the dungeons of Slytherin hastily, he wondered what would happen when they got the letter. He wondered if chaos might happen or if they would calmly talk about it before doing something about it. He mused on what may possibly occur to Lorena. Would she get punished or would she just get talked to? He mumbled the password and stumbled inside the Slytherin common room; he mulled over what might come to pass when they found out.

"Lucius, are you okay? Did Fawcett hurt you? Were you injured?" Narcissa Black just basically pounced on him when she saw him enter the common room. She was too busy fawning over him to notice the look of exasperation on his pale face. He brushed passed her as quickly as he could. She just followed him around the common room, saying how toadying he was. Really, it was beginning to become annoying; no matter how much he liked it when she flattered him again and again.

"Listen to me, Narcissa; just leave me alone for right now, okay?" Lucius snapped agitatedly, looking at her shocked expression dully. "This is not the time to annoy me."

She nodded her head, looking crestfallen, and let him trudge away from her and sit on a couch by himself. She then glowered at him a little and returned to talk to her "friends" about something. She shot the couch an occasional glare, but he appeared to be taking a nap or thinking with his eyes closed. After a few more minutes of doing this while talking feverishly about the latest gossip, she got bored and stopped looking at the couch all together. He would notice her one of these days, she supposed.

~*~

"So what happens if he tries to hex us?" James asked out loud. A few people looked up at them. They were, after all, in the library and talking about "hexing" was usually not talked about in there. Besides, he wasn't really trying to keep his voice down.

"James, hush up or lower your volume," Lily reprimanded sternly. Her boyfriend nodded his head obediently and then rolled his eyes. She fought the urge to slap him upside the head again. He smirked.

"Um--we duck, yes, that's what we do," Sirius answered lamely. Sara shook her head and sighed with frustration. This was getting them nowhere.

"No, no, if it's not the Killing Curse"--Remus ignored an odd squelching noise that came from Peter--"then we can block it with the Defensive Charm. We've used it countless times."

"Protége, remember?" Lorena added, nodding her head. "You can't block the Killing Curse."

"Of course, you can never stop death, but everything else you can hold off," Krystyna sighed grimly. They all glanced at her sharply and she shrugged her shoulders. Peter had gone a strange white color, but they tried to block out the fact that he looked ready to faint or die.

"Do you feel lucky?" James suddenly asked in the silence. They all looked at him oddly. "I mean, do you think we're gonna get through this alright? Or do you think he's gonna kill us all and then make Krystyna marry Malfoy and then make Lorena marry..."

"Not Rodolphus Lestrange," Sara put in quickly.

"Oh, no, who's he marrying then?" Sirius inquired quickly. James snorted. One second ago, they had been talking about if they thought that they might die today and the next second they were talking about who was marrying who. How they flipped through a strange range of topics.

"Word has it that he's going to marry Bellatrix Black, but that's just what I heard," Sara replied calmly, shrugging her shoulders and flipping through the pages of a Muggle Studies book. She looked back down at it when he tried to stop from laughing.

"May he have a wonderful life with my sadistic cousin," Sirius chuckled, grinning into his Ancient Runes book. They rolled their eyes at him and shook their heads. "So that would mean that Lorena shall marry..."

"Snivellus," James snorted derisively. The table started chuckling no matter how hard they tried to stop themselves and turn their attention back to the open books that lay in front of them. They were trying to study for the N.E.W.T.s and failing miserably. Both Remus and Lorena shot James heated glares, but he was too busy trying to stop himself from chuckling. "We'll owl you frequently. We'll have to write out the names, Severus and Lorena Snape."

Sirius, James, Lily, and Sara could barely contain themselves. And that was saying something. When Lily might not be able to contain herself, it must be bad. Krystyna had her face pressed in an upside down Potions textbook. Lorena was frowning, but it soon turned into a grin.

"You laugh, but I wouldn't be surprised if my family tried to pull that one over my head," she mumbled lowly, flicking James. He shoved her hand and then looked over at Remus.

"Oh, no, if you don't like that name, we shall start calling you Lorena Lupin," James teased jokingly. Her cheeks immediately turned pink and Remus turned a little red. The others started chortling a little louder than before. Even Peter had to hide his amusement. Lily slapped James on the arm playfully. "Yes, sounds lovely, doesn't it, Remus? Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, where are you going to live? Lorena Lupin...hehe..."

They must've been too loud for Madam Pince's taste. She trudged over to them. "If you cannot stay quiet in the library then you can certainly go back to your common room!" she hissed sternly, waving her hands in the air. They gathered their things quickly, still chuckling. She ushered them out of the library rather quickly. "Out with you rule breakers, please! Some people need peace and quiet to do their studying and you are not helping them in any way!"

"Now look what you've done; you've gotten us thrown out of the library," Remus complained, though he was red in the face from embarrassment and not anger. He frowned at James and Sirius, who were laughing freely now that they were out of the library. Krystyna kept her face hidden behind her upside down Potions book.

"Oh, no, we've smudged your good name with the Hogwarts librarian," Sirius said in a melodramatic voice in between his bark-like laughter. "She'll never look at you the same again!"

"Woo is me!" James exclaimed, putting the back of his hand on the forehead and getting in a dramatic position. Remus rolled his eyes at them and shook his head. He started heading for the Gryffindor Tower so he could take a shower. Lily leaned on him.

"It's 'woe is me', James," Lily giggled cheerfully. "Honestly, they say you're a brilliant mastermind." They continued to laugh uproariously as they caught up with Remus.

It was nice to be all friends again. It was very nice to smile and laugh again. Krystyna thought she might jump for joy when Sirius put his arm around her shoulders again. How great it felt to be back to the life she cherished.

~*~

Marcus was reading the Daily Prophet and eating breakfast when the eagle owl flew in. Estella brought the letter to him and dropped it on the table in front of his paper. She returned back to reading her section of the newspaper to see if she liked how it looked. He folded up the newspaper and sat it down to his side, looking down at the letter.

He noticed it was addressed to him in messy, quick handwriting. He picked it up and on further inspection, came to the realization that the handwriting belonged to Lucius. After slitting it open, he pulled the hastily written letter out of the envelope. He dropped the covering onto the table as he began to read the letter hurriedly.

After he finished reading it, he crumpled it up and stood up. Estella looked up at him. "Where are you going?" she asked calmly.

"Erm...I heading for work early, Stella," Marcus replied. It was partially true. "It's been rather busy this week and maybe if I head in earlier than usual, I can get off at normal time."

She smiled at the idea and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek goodbye before he took his cloak and Apparated.

~*~

"Samuel? Samuel!?" Marcus called, fiddling with his wand in his pocket with one hand and crumpling the note even more in his other hand. "Where is that guy?" He stomped into another room in the house, but he was nowhere to be found. He stopped and scratched his head. "Samuel, it's Marcus! I need to talk to you so get out here now!"

Still, he got no response from Samuel. Marcus wondered where he could possibly be. It was morning and this was his house. He usually didn't leave for another hour. He sighed with frustration. If Samuel didn't show up soon, he was likely to break something in aggravation.

Suddenly, a door behind him opened. Marcus turned around, and started to say, "There you are--" when he saw that it was not Samuel walking into the room. A very slimmer Catherine Banks-Melanie had walked into the room after hearing his calls for her husband. "Catherine, do you know where Samuel is? I need to speak with him badly. Something from work came up."

"Um, I believe he's getting ready in the bedroom upstairs, Marcus," Catherine told him coolly. She turned back around and walked back through the door. Marcus followed her quickly. They traipsed up the stairs and rounded corner to walk through a dark hallway. She stopped and knocked on a door. "Sam, there's someone here to see you!"

There was some shuffling behind the door and then a clicking sound, like someone was unlocking the door. It cracked open a little and a messy haired Samuel looked out at his wife. He was fixing his tie over a white oxford shirt.

"Is that so?" Samuel replied with an eyebrow raised. He jerked at this tie and then loosened it up a little again. She nodded her head slowly.

"It's Marcus; he says something came up at work," Catherine told him coolly, appearing to be tired, "says he needs to speak to you badly."

"Okay, tell him I'll be out in just a minute and to wait in the formal living room," Samuel said. He smiled at her and she mirrored one. He shut the door and she walked over to Marcus, who was waiting a little ways down the hall.

"Yeah, he's still getting ready and he'll be out in just a bit," Catherine sighed quietly. "You can wait in the formal living room in the time being." Marcus nodded his head and followed her to the formal living room quickly. When they got in there, she turned around to face him. "If you need me, I'll be just right over there with my little boy."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Marcus muttered as he looked around the room he'd been in plenty of times before. She merely nodded her head and walked across the room. She bent down and happily picked up a small baby boy. She moved around the room, bouncing him softly and letting him play with her larger finger.

Marcus stood there in silence by himself for a few minutes with his hands clasped in front of him, but realized that the tension was getting to him. He silently stalked over to where she was in the room and looked over her shoulder at her baby boy.

"Thomas is his name, if I remember correctly, right?" Marcus conjectured. She looked up at him from over her shoulder calmly and nodded her head. She looked back down at her baby.

"Mmhm, yes, that's his name," Catherine said lightly, letting her child grip her finger tightly. She sat down on the couch abruptly and crossed her leg. "How's life been treating you?" She tossed her hair out of her face and looked up at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Good, I suppose," Marcus replied evenly. She nodded her head and looked back down at the baby in her arms. He always knew that Catherine was more--how should he put it?--nicer than most Pure Bloods.

She was very different than Estella, who could get snappish and wasn't always concerned. She also wasn't like one of those girls that practically lived in magazines or make up. When they had been at school, she had been on the Quidditch team; she was different. She didn't need make up really, anyway. Now and then, he wondered how Samuel ever got her to marry her and how he married Estella.

Unexpectedly, the door swung open again and Marcus looked up at it to see Samuel walking inside, trying to flatten his unruly black hair; it was naturally messy and he couldn't have that. Marcus was blessed with naturally neat hair. Catherine had not looked up. He walked over to them and shook Marcus's hand.

"Ah, sorry about that; I wasn't expecting anyone until at least eleven," Samuel apologized calmly. "I see you've seen Tommy."

"Yep, good looking little chap, too, I'd say," Marcus said, trying to keep his cool composure. She again abruptly stood up, still holding the baby in her arms.

"I'm going to make lunch now," Catherine explained softly. He nodded his head and kissed her before she walked out of the room. He watched the door shut and then turned back to Marcus, who had been trying to patiently wait.

"Okay, you said it was something important?" Samuel questioned smoothly. Marcus nodded his head quickly. "Okay then, tell me now, because I have Nott, Mulciber, Eleanor, and Rookwood coming over here at eleven."

"Of course, of course, but this is gravely important and could probably ruin this entire deal," Marcus said hurriedly. Samuel stood up straight at this. He unraveled the letter from his younger brother and handed it to Samuel, who read through it speedily. He mouthed something after he finished it and looked up at him. They both looked troubled. "I don't how that little cretin found out about this."

Something clinked in Samuel's mind. He raised his eyebrows. "Actually, I believe I do know when she found out about it," Samuel noted. "That night we came over to your father's house to tell you two that Krystyna had given in. Remember, she fell down the stairs right when we were getting ready to leave. She said that she didn't hear anything..."

"But she did; she lied," Marcus growled angrily. "Lucius had told me that Lorena had gotten a little more tensed and had been frequently getting stuck between arguments involving James Potter, Sirius Black, and Krystyna."

"I guess she just couldn't take it any longer and told them before Krystyna could stop her," Samuel sighed with frustration. "What are we going to do?"

"We do what you told Krystyna what would happen if she told someone," Marcus replied evenly, as if the idea of hurting--or even murdering someone--didn't bother him one bit. Samuel nodded his head slowly, thinking about what he was going to do. "You're the new School Governor. What can you go up there for to cover your tracks?"

"Inspection? You know, the Governors have been talking about doing that for a while," Samuel replied, snapping his fingers together. "We're having a meeting tonight and I'll convince them into doing it. You just tell your father about it and I'll tell mine.

"We'll do this tomorrow night, okay?" Samuel explained quickly. Marcus nodded his head. "I'll give out the idea of a little Muggle torturing tomorrow night also. And you know Mulciber won't be able to resist that option."

"The Evans family, I suppose?" Marcus pointed out sharply. Samuel nodded his head and looked back down at the note in his hands. He crumpled it up. Marcus suddenly snorted. He looked up at him. "Maybe we can stop on the Potters' doorstep and ask them to join, eh?"

Samuel grinned. "Hey, we could do that too," he replied calmly, grinning a little more. "That wouldn't be such a bad idea. Perhaps you can bring the idea up in the next meeting. I'm sure the Dark Lord would be very happy to get such a prominent Pure Blood Traitor filled family out of the way."

"So remember, all you have to do is... give the Grim a little help with Black and while you're at it, maybe you can do a Remus Lupin in," Marcus explained smoothly, nodding his head. Samuel raised an eyebrow at that last part.

"Remus Lupin? Isn't he one of Krystyna's friends and one of Lucius's enemies at school...?" Samuel said rather bemusedly. Marcus nodded his head slowly. "Why do you want him to snuff it early?"

"Lucius told me that he's Lorena's boyfriend," Marcus muttered grumpily. He raised both his eyebrows and started to chuckle. He snorted moodily and shook his head.

"Her boyfriend? I didn't know Lorena was the type yet," Samuel chuckled with a grin. Marcus rolled his eyes and shook his head again. He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? Okay, you got yourself a deal. One Remus Lupin shall snuff it along with his buddy, Sirius Black. Too bad that James Potter is Head Boy and in a different dormitory now. He could've gone, too..."

"Yes, I should get going if I want to catch my father before he goes to his other job," Marcus sighed, a little calmer than he had just been before. He would have to go to the foyer to Apparate because it was impossible to do that in any other part of the house.

~*~

Catherine leaned against the wall outside of the room right beside the door. She hadn't gone to the kitchen to cook dinner like she had said, but had put Thomas in his crib in his room instead. She had immediately come back to the room. It wasn't like she didn't trust Samuel, but she just had a strange feeling that something was wrong. She had not been expecting to overhear something like this.

She felt suddenly sick to her stomach once more. They were talking about Muggle torturing and killing people--like they enjoyed it? She felt very nauseous. She could hear someone's footsteps coming towards the door. Marcus was leaving. She scrambled into the kitchen and shut the door silently. She took her wand out and got all of the pots and pans out.

"Nelly?" Catherine called out uncomfortably. Nelly, their house elf, appeared in the kitchen at her side almost immediately. "Nelly, do you think you can get me some medicine for my stomach?"

"Is Master Cathy not feeling well today?" Nelly asked in a very high pitched voice. Catherine shook her head and the house elf bowed out of the room. "Yes, Master Cathy."

"Thank you, Nelly," Catherine rang before the house elf disappeared completely. She put her hands on the counter and took a few deep breaths. She flicked her wand and a few knives began peeling the potatoes in mid-air. She started to boil water in two pots. With another flick of her wand, the chicken came out and began to fry on a pan. Another knife began cutting up some lettuce.

"Cat," Samuel said loudly, walking into the kitchen and standing behind her, "I'll be in my Study if you need me." He put his hands on her shoulder. She dreadfully hoped that her hands had stopped trembling by now. She nodded her head quickly.

"Okay, Tom is taking a nap in his bedroom," Catherine replied, flicking her wand and turning the chicken over in its pan. He nodded his head.

"Alright, can you tell me when my associates from work get here if it's not too much?" Samuel asked calmly. Catherine nodded her head. "I mean, if you're busy, the house elf can always get it--"

"No, no, it's fine, I'll get it," she told him quickly. She looked up at him and smiled. He grinned back at her and kissed her on the cheek before he walked out of the kitchen. She sighed and looked back at the food in front of her.

In minutes, Nelly had come back with a bottle of nausea medicine and she almost drank half of it. She sat the glass on the counter hard. She gulped again and ignored the horrible taste. You'd think that if you had the magic to make such good medicine, you could make it taste better too.

Catherine had been thinking long and hard about if she should do anything. And even if she decided to do something about this, she didn't know what she could possibly do here without it looking suspicious or being caught. Plus, this was her family she was betraying. She would be betraying Samuel, her husband, but she didn't know that he was into that kind of stuff. She didn't know he was into the Dark Arts. She shuddered at the thought.

Though her family was sometimes in the Dark Arts and sometimes not, Catherine had grown up not liking it at all. Many boys her parents had tried to get her with did the Dark Arts and that was why she had downright refused to marry them. They had once tried to set her up with a boy named Odin Lawson, who she knew did the Dark Arts because they had gone out for a month.

That was when she had met Samuel Melanie. He and Odin were friends. She had married Samuel because she loved him and she thought that he didn't do the Dark Arts. Oh, how wrong she was. He was more than just into the Dark Arts. He was a Death Eater for Voldemort. She took a sharp intake of breath. Now, people could die or get tortured and here she had a chance to put a damper on those plans--the plans of her husband and his friends.

She clenched her fists tightly and thought hard about what to do. Finally, she decided. She walked out of the room quickly and slipped into her own bedroom, locking the door by magic. She grabbed a piece of parchment and dabbed her quill into ink.

Catherine suddenly stopped and let the ink drip onto the once clean parchment. Who could she possibly write this to? Who would listen to some random letter about such things? Who could do something about this? She bit her lip and thought harder. After a minute or two, she put the ink to paper:

To Whom It May Concern:

It has come to my knowledge that the lives of two students by the names of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are in danger. I have no idea why they could die, but I do know that a Death Eater is going to come by the school tomorrow night for an "inspection". Do not trust the person. Immediately alert authorities once you hear this.

It has also come to my knowledge that a Muggle family, the Evans family, is in danger of an attack by You-Know-Who's Death Eaters tomorrow night. There could possibly be Death Eaters arriving at the residence of the Potter family. Also, another student of yours, Lorena, could possibly be in grave trouble. Please make sure that Krystyna Melanie is in a safe place.

Please make sure that the Ministry of Magic, Order of Phoenix, Aurors, or whatever other people are told of the possible attack of the Evans and Potters. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are in danger. The girl named Lorena is in trouble with... family. Krystyna Melanie needs to be kept in a safe place.

Please do as this letter says, ASAP.

Catherine re-read the letter quickly. She rolled it up and slipped out of her room again. With the note in her pocket, she traveled into the room where their owl was. She tied it to the leg of the owl and whispered the words, "Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts."

She opened the window and let it fly out. She locked up the window again and pulled the curtains over it. She hastily made her way back into the kitchen where she continued to cook the food. The doorbell rang and Catherine tensed up immediately.

~*~

Lorena walked out of Dumbledore's office hastily. She hadn't done anything wrong, but he had called her into the office right as she had walked in front of it. Apparently, someone knew that Samuel and Marcus knew that she knew and that everyone else knew (complicated). She had been the closest one to call and it was very lucky, actually, that she had been in the library very late after Quidditch Practice had ended.

Now, she was heading for the Gryffindor common room very quickly, still in her Quidditch uniform, and her nose in a Potions book. It wasn't like she needed to study for the Potions N.E.W.T. because she really didn't, but it was something she could easily re-read while walking. She had the book in her face and she was flipping a page when something caught her ears.

"Oy, Lorena!"

Lorena froze in her tracks, although her mind was telling her to run away. Her feet seemed to be glued to the ground and her nervous system wasn't working correctly; she wasn't running away. She held the page with her fingertip and heard someone walking up from behind her.

He's not supposed to be here yet. It's not tomorrow night yet. He's here early, Lorena thought, horror flooding through her mind. Bloody hell, what happens if that means that those bloody Death Eaters are going to Lily's house or James's house tonight?! I have to tell Dumbledore now! Wait; I can't tell him now because Samuel is right behind me... I'm too young to die! Run away!!

But her feet wouldn't move. She tried to move them--or at least she thought she was trying to get them to move--but they weren't budging. She cursed them under her breath. Samuel caught up with her, looking rather breathless.

"Lorena, I'm here for my first inspection of the school and I thought I'd drop in and say 'Hi'," Samuel told her calmly, waiting to see how she would react to this. She didn't do anything so he persisted. "Do you know where Krystyna is?"

"Yeah, in Hogwarts--in the Gryffindor Tower--in a bathroom--taking a shower--so she's busy and can't be seen right now," Lorena said quickly. He opened his mouth when she blurted loudly, "And so are Remus and Sirius!" She dropped her Potions textbook and clamped her hands over her mouth.

Smooth move, Fawcett; that so didn't come out right and that was a bad move, you twit! Argh...Lorena thought very sourly. He then raised his eyebrows.

"And I would want to know that because...?" Samuel asked coolly, grinning at her a little. She dropped her hands to her side and bent down to pick up her book slowly. She smiled very nervously.

"Er...BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO MURDER THEM AND YOU'RE A DEATH EATER!!!! Hehe...goodbye!" And she took off running, hoping against hope that Dumbledore had heard her scream. She really hoped that he wouldn't hex her.

That was when she was unlucky and tripped over an untied shoelace. She came crashing to the ground and skidded against the ground. Maybe it was actually lucky because some type of spell had flown over her head. In very much pain and her head spinning more than ever in her life, Lorena scrambled to her feet clumsily and tried to continue her running, but the hallway seemed to be turning sideways. At this rate, she thought she might be running upside down.

She had no idea where she was going. She knew she had taken a wrong turn somewhere and this wasn't the way to the Gryffindor common room. Though she had been here for almost seven years of her entire life, she was lost in Hogwarts. She cursed her luck and decided to wake everywhere up in the castle as a last resort.

"THERE'S A DEATH EATER IN HOGWARTS!!! WAKE UP!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! TAKE COVER!! JUST DO SOMETHING, OKAY?!! DEATH EATER INSIDE!! DEATH EATER!!! WAKE UP!!! DEATH EATER!!!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist and jerked her to the ground by accident--or on purpose. They were trying to say something, but she just kept screaming at the top of her lungs. The person put their hand over her mouth.

"Fawcett, do hush up!" Lorena looked up to see that it was not Samuel who had a hold of her wrist, but it was once again Professor Lector, who was looking older every day. She tried to breathe, but it was sort of hard so she collapsed onto the ground in a tired heap. "Now, are you saying that there is a real Death Eater inside of Hogwarts?"

"WOULD I LIE ABOUT SOMETHING AS SERIOUS AS THAT?!!" Lorena screamed hysterically. He must be crazy. He had to believe her. He seemed a little tired, but other than that he looked angry and a hint of concern. "HE'S GONNA KILL SIRIUS AND REMUS AND JAMES AND LILY AND SARA AND--OH, ME!"

"Miss Fawcett, I want you to stay in my office until things are settled," Lector advised her. But she tugged her wrist out of his grip quickly.

"No, I have to warn them before it's too late!" Lorena told him worriedly. She took off for the Gryffindor Tower, realizing that she was in the Slytherin dungeons.

"Miss Fawcett! Fawcett! Get back here this instant!" Lector commanded loudly. She didn't reply to him, but kept on running as fast as she could. She just kept running as fast as she could. She saw Professor McGonagall walk out of her office suddenly.

"Miss Fawcett, what is this racket about--?" she demanded sternly. Lorena kept on running.

"Tell Professor Dumbledore to alert the Ministry of Magic about an attack on Lily Evans house and James Potter's house! Death Eaters--there--one--here!" McGonagall had no time to ask any questions because Lorena passed her up and jogged up the stairs. When she saw the portrait, she gasped loudly. There was no portrait at all; there was just a large hole in the wall!

"Oh, God, please don't anything to have happened to them," Lorena cried softly as she jumped through the hole in the Gryffindor common room. "Please let them have gotten away. Please let them be safe. I won't forgive myself if they aren't."

Lorena ran up the steps and wrenched the door to the boys' Seventh Year dormitory open. What she saw made her almost shriek. The place was a mess. There was no one in the room, but it was trashed. It was completely shattered. The window was also broken. She ran over to the window and stuck her head out, but could see nothing in the dark.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," Lorena sobbed, shaking her head constantly. Tears began to stream down her face as she clutched the cover on Remus's bed tightly. She let go of it and kept back up, shaking her head again and again. All of a sudden, she felt a hand go over her mouth. Her scream was muffled.

"Shut up, Lorena," a voice hissed in her ear. It was Samuel. She bit his hand and he let go of her almost immediately. "Ouch! Lorena, get back here!"

Lorena looked back as she turned the corner, and then someone dragged her into a closet. They put a hand over her mouth again.

"Lorena, it's me, Remus," another voice whispered. She looked up and saw the reflection off of his eyes, and she immediately knew it was him. He took his hand off of her mouth slowly. They heard Samuel stomp past the closet door.

"Where are--?"

"They're safe so don't worry; I just stayed behind to get you," Remus whispered. He went silent and listened closely. He bent down and picked up a mirror. He opened the door and they silently tread for the stairs.

"Avada Kedrava!" Samuel yelled, jumping out in from the left. Remus put the mirror out in front of him and it hit the mirror instead, cracking it. Samuel growled with frustration.

"You broke a mirror! That's seven years bad luck, mate!" Remus shouted, chucking the mirror at Samuel before hurrying Lorena down the stairs. "C'mon, the Great Hall--now!"

All Lorena knew was that her mind was spinning and that she was running to the Great Hall as fast as she could. Remus helped pull her along. She sincerely hoped that they could get there in time.


Author notes: Thank you for reading and please review!

Guess what. The next chapter is the last and final chapter. Can you believe it? There are 40 Chapters. And the next is the last. But fear not (lol...sorry), I have a sequel to this. I'm just sad that the next chapter is the last.