Dreaming Of You

Dreaming of You

Part 6 - Return To Sender

Chapter 10

Return to sender

Address unknown

No such number

No such zone.

~*~

"I'd want to work for the Daily Prophet," Erin said thoughtfully.

"What for? Aren't they all idiots there?" Autumn asked.

"No, but Rita Skeeter gives all the reporters such an awful reputation," Erin explained. "I'd like to show everyone that not all reporters are like that."

"Good luck." Hazel smiled. "So we have a reporter, a Minister of Magic - "

"The first evil Minister of Magic," Autumn corrected.

"Right, and an Auror - "

"I can't believe you want to be an Auror," Lianne interrupted.

"Harry wants to be an Auror," Erin pointed out. "And you never said what you would be."

"The person who draws those moving pictures," Li said, grinning. "Couldn't you guess?"

"I dreamt I saw one of those," Hazel spoke up. "There was this girl dancing with a guy. It reminded me of you."

"I can't dance."

"I know, but it made me think of you anyway." Hazel shrugged, and looked back at her book, Winds of Fury.

"Huh. I wish I could see moving pictures," Lianne said wistfully.

"You can," Autumn told her. "They're called 'movies.'"

~*~

Lianne looked down at her picture of Sirius. She'd stayed up late to finish watercoloring it, and she thought - she hoped - it looked good. Normally, she'd've been in bed long before this, but her mother and her brother were out at school play he'd been in, so no one had been home to insist that she put her art away.

"I wish it would move, though," she murmured, sighing as she put the picture down. She ought to go to bed, or she'd never be awake in time for school tomorrow.

Lianne flipped out her light, shivering in the darkness as she got into bed. It had been ages since the dark had frightened her, but lately, ever since she'd started seeing Sirius in her dreams, he hadn't been in the shadows to protect her. And that scared her.

Don't worry, she told herself. I'll see him tonight. Secure in that thought, she closed her eyes, and fell into a more comforting sort of darkness.

~*~

Lianne's first thought as she woke up was, I didn't dream of Sirius! She tried not to cry as she opened her eyes. Her second thought was -

"Where the heck am I?"

She was lying on a narrow white bed in a room with white walls, a tile floor that was actually clean, and dull metal cabinets. This is definitely not my room.

And there was a needle in her arm. Li was just about to pull it out when a woman rushed in.

"No, no, dear, you mustn't do that!" She swatted Lianne's hand away from the needle. "You need that."

"Why?" Lianne stared at her. The woman was wearing a white doctor's coat, yes, but under it she was wearing some sort of long black dress. "Am I in the loony bin or something?"

"No!" The woman looked shocked. "This is the Maryland State Healing Hospital. I'm Dr. Janice Allbright. I've been your doctor since you were brought here after that nasty car crash."

"What car crash?" Lianne demanded. "I was in bed asleep!"

Dr. Allbright smiled sadly. "No, Lianne, dear. You were in a car crash. Denial is often a symptom of shock, but I'm afraid it's quite true."

"But... I remember being at home..." Lianne looked at the needle again, feeling a little sick. "What was I doing in the car?"

"Coming home from your brother's school play," Dr. Allbright replied.

"Josh's play..." Lianne gasped. "Josh! Is Josh ok? And Mom..." She trailed off at the doctor's expression. "No. Oh, no. It's a joke. Tell me this is all just one big, not-very-funny joke, and I swear I'll never fail a geometry test again. Please."

"Lianne, dear," Dr. Allbright said gently, "I'm very sorry - " She stopped. "Would you like to be alone?"

"Yes," Li whispered. "No. No, I want my mother. I want my mom!" As the sobs began to come, Dr. Allbright sat beside her. The doctor wasn't her mother, wasn't even a decent substitute... but she was a shoulder to cry on.

~*~

"Miss Treyvan?" One of the nurses, Alison, looked in. "You have a visitor."

Lianne nodded, putting her book down. She hadn't really been able to concentrate on it, anyway. All she could think about was what had happened, this car crash that she still couldn't remember, and what would happen to her now that she was all alone.

She'd expected her visitor to be Autumn, or Hazel, or Erin, or maybe Nichole. Someone from school, anyway. She hadn't expected some man she'd never seen before. Especially not some man wearing a dress. She watched him suspiciously as he came in and sat down.

"Hello, Lianne," he said, smiling cautiously. Lianne noted with mild interest that he had a British accent. "I'm Joseph Harvey."

"Hi." She waited patiently for him to continue. For once, she didn't feel up to being cheerful and bubbly.

"I expect you're wondering what's going to happen to you now?" Mr. Harvey said.

"Yeah." Lianne sighed. "Foster home, maybe?"

"Well, yes, that's a possibility," Mr. Harvey agreed. "But... how would you feel about boarding school?"

"Boarding school?" Lianne stared at him in disbelief. "Leave home? You've got to be joking! I want to stay at my high school, with all my friends!"

"Lianne, please hear me out," Mr. Harvey said persistently. "Now, this may sound a bit strange to you - "

"I don't want to go to a boarding school!" Lianne flung her book at him angrily. Then - "Oh, my stars."

The book was hovering in front of Mr. Harvey. Five feet off the ground.

"As I said," Mr. Harvey continued, "this may sound a bit strange. But I think you've just seen enough proof to believe me. You're a witch. And you are invited to attend Hogwa - "

"I hate you."

Mr. Harvey stopped, confused. "I'm sorry?"

"I said I hate you." Lianne glared at him. "Look, just go tell whoever hired you that if they're trying to cheer me up, it isn't working. This isn't funny."

"Well, of course not," Mr. Harvey said. "It's true. Look." He pointed at the still-hovering book.

Lianne bit her lip hard to keep from crying. She'd been shedding enough tears lately. "Look, I don't know how you rigged that, and I really don't care. I'm not going to play this game with you. I don't believe in magic anymore."

Mr. Harvey stepped closer to her bed. "What if I could prove it?"

"Get out."

"What if I showed you it was real?"

"Leave me alone."

"What if I gave you evidence that not even you could ignore?"

"What if I screamed for the nurse and sued you for harassing me?" Lianne pulled away from him. "Leave. Now."

Mr. Harvey took a stick from the pocket of his dress. "In a moment."

"If you're not out of here in ten seconds I'm going to yell," Lianne warned him.

"Feel free," Mr. Harvey replied. "They can tell from where they are that you're fine. And they know what I'm trying to explain. I'm afraid that you're in a wizarding hospital. Both your nurse and your doctor are witches."

"Lunatic," Lianne muttered.

Mr. Harvey just smiled. Li held her breath as he raised his stick. And continued to hold it, as he pointed his stick at one of the metal cabinets. "Do you like rabbits? I was always rather good at them." Lianne didn't answer. She just kept holding her breath.

Mr. Harvey had just begun to say some absolutely nonsensical words when Nurse Alison came running in. "Miss Treyvan! Mr. Harvey, what - "

"Alison, he's harassing me!" Lianne cried with as much indignation as she could muster.

"And he made your heart beat go irregular?" Alison gave Lianne a suspicious look. "You've been holding your breath."

"Because he's crazy!" Lianne insisted. "He's going on about you being a witch."

"Oh, that." Alison nodded. "Yep, went to school at the Maryland Witchcraft Academy. Aren't you?"

"That's what I was trying to tell her," Mr. Harvey said impatiently. "She wouldn't believe me."

"Oh?" Alison frowned. "Really? Doesn't she know already?"

"Stop acting like I'm not here!" Lianne screamed, before Mr. Harvey could respond. "Why are you doing this to me? I'm not a witch, and neither are you! Isn't it bad enough that I don't have a family anymore? Do you have to make fun of my fantasies, too? It doesn't happen this way! Girls don't get whisked out of hospitals at the last second to go learn to be witches! Not in the real world! In the real world, people die, and they leave their children to go to foster homes! Not magic schools! Things don't work like that! They never work like that! There's no fairy tale ending to this story, and there's no magic spell that will make everything ok!"

Mr. Harvey and Alison were both silent for a moment. "Perhaps I chose the wrong approach," Mr. Harvey said at last. He pointed his stick at himself. "Abire."

And he disappeared.

Lianne froze. "Where - what - where'd he go?" she asked, feeling like a preschooler at a trick magician's show.

"He Disapparated." Alison shook her head. "It was horribly rude of him to just go poof like that. He ought to have at least warned us first."

"Well, I would have," Mr. Harvey said, popping back beside Lianne's bed, making her jump. "Except I wanted to make certain Lianne here believed me." He looked down at her. "Do you?"

"But..." Lianne pointed vaguely at the empty air where he'd been standing before. "But you..."

"You said you used to believe in magic, Lianne," Mr. Harvey said, plucking her book from the air and handing it to her with a smile. "Do you think you can again?"

~*~

"So how come I can't just go to witch school here in America?" Lianne asked, frowning. "Alison said there's one right here in Maryland."

"Yes, each state does have a wizarding academy," Mr. Harvey agreed, trying not to wince at the way Lianne insisted on calling it a "witch school." "But in America, the magic standards are somewhat higher than they are in England."

"What?" Lianne shook her head. "Use smaller words. Single syllables."

"You don't qualify as a witch in America," Mr. Harvey explained. "Every person has a different level of magic, and there's a level each country requires you to have before you'll be accepted as a witch."

"So I can't be a witch in America, but I can be a witch in England? Is that it?" Lianne sighed. "And I thought the drivers' license laws were complicated."

"Yes, it is rather confusing." Mr. Harvey smiled sympathetically. "But if you come to England's wizarding boarding school, you can be trained as a witch, then come back to live in America. I'm afraid you'd have to leave your old school, but you will get to learn magic."

"How come England wants me?" Lianne asked suspiciously.

"Well, it's not England so much as Headmaster Dumbledore - "

"Dumbledore?" Lianne went white. "Ok, this I do not believe. I just don't. Next you're going to say something like I'll be in class with Harry Potter, or something, aren't you?"

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Mr. Harvey frowned at Lianne. "Are you feeling all right? You haven't been overdosing on any medicine?"

"I'm fine." Lianne reminded herself to breathe properly, so as not to make her heart beat irregular again. That annoyed the nurses ever so much. "It's just - this is way too much like the books."

"What books?"

Lianne stared at him. "You know, the Harry Potter books? The most popular book series in the entire world?" He continued to look blank. "Harry Potter. He saves the wizarding world when he's like a year old, grows up with Muggles, and goes to Hogwarts. Four books are out now, three will be released in the future. Does this mean anything to you?"

"I'm afraid not." Mr. Harvey's frown deepened. "You say this is a real book series?"

"Yes!"

"Well, it sounds to me like a witch or wizard somewhere has been leaking information," he said thoughtfully. "I'd better mention it when I fill out your transfer forms. You say this author's written four books already?"

"Yeah." Lianne bit her lip in dismay. "You won't stop her from writing, will you? She's really amazing."

"We'll see," Mr. Harvey replied. "It really depends on how much of the truth she's put in there. What's her name?"

"Joanne Kathleen Rowling," Lianne said promptly. "She's British, not American."

"Ah. Then I should tell our Ministry, as well." Mr. Harvey looked quite concerned at this point, but continued anyway. "At any rate, you'll be going to Hogwarts. You're required to buy your own materials, so before you leave, you'll have to go buy a wand, your spell books, and some decent robes."

"Will I be leaving very soon?" Lianne asked in surprise.

"Oh, yes." Mr. Harvey nodded. "As soon as you're released from the Hospital - the day after tomorrow, I believe. Time enough for you to say your goodbyes." He paused. "I trust I don't have to remind you not to tell anyone about becoming a witch."

"Not anyone?" Lianne looked up at him pleadingly. "My friends - some of them would love to know magic is real - "

"No one," Mr. Harvey repeated sternly. "I warn you, Lianne, I will not hesitate to stop you from telling anyone, if I must. A temporary Memory Charm is quite simple."

"But..." Lianne shook her head. "All right, I won't say anything." She glanced up. "Not even one person?"

"No."

"Not even if they guess?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"No - yes!"

"Just checking."

~*~

"I don't believe this!" Lianne slammed the hospital phone down angrily. "Three phones, and they're all out at the same time!" She almost suspected Mr. Harvey of meddling, except that he hadn't the faintest idea how the phone worked. He seemed to have the impression that there was a person standing on the other side of the wall listening to her through the cord.

But it couldn't be coincidence, could it? She tried dialing another number, Autumn's this time. It rang once... twice... then - "We're sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected. Please try again later."

Lianne glowered at the phone as she hung it up again. That's Erin, Hazel, Autumn, and Nichole. Four phones out now. What is it, some sort of massive power outage?

"Lianne? Are you all right?" The nurse on duty, Marcia, came over to look in. "There was a loud noise...?"

"The phone." Lianne glared at it. "Every time I try to call one of my friends, it says the number has been disconnected."

"Could your friends have new phones?" Marcia asked, examining the phone dubiously.

"What - oh, you mean new numbers?" Lianne frowned. "Not all at once. Maybe one of them, but not all four at the same time." She looked down at her hands sadly. "They must be awfully busy. They never even came to see me."

"I'm sure they'll be by soon," Marcia assured her quickly.

But Lianne wasn't reassured. She'd been in a hospital once before, when she broke her arm, and she'd gotten visitors every day. A few family friends had dropped by, as well as people her own age. Now, she hadn't gotten visitors, hadn't gotten flowers, hadn't even gotten a card. Not that she meant to complain, but she was starting to get the definite feeling of being ignored.

"Look, do you have a computer? To connect to Muggle hospitals?" Lianne asked.

"I think so." Marcia blinked. "Why?"

"Would you look up these people for me on the Internet?" Lianne looked around for a sheet of paper, and eventually scribbled four names onto a tissue. "My friends' parents. I don't want to go off to England without saying goodbye. Try to get their phone numbers."

"Sure, if I can." Marcia smiled. "Why don't you write to them? I've heard Muggle phones break all the time, but letters are always safe."

"Yeah." Lianne nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll do that."

~*~

So I'm going to boarding school in England. I should be back home in a few years. I'll try to write, ok? Talk to you soon.

Love,

Lianne

Lianne put the pen down, finishing her last letter. I wonder if there's a way to write to Muggles from Hogwarts... She hoped so. She'd hate to lose her last link to this life.

"Lianne?" Marcia entered, frowning. "About those names you gave me..."

"Did you get their numbers?" Lianne looked up hopefully.

"Not exactly," Marcia replied. "I can't work the computer, but David, one of the Muggle-born volunteers, looked these up for me on something - he called it Yahoo? Well, anyway, you did spell these names right? Because David says that they don't exist anywhere in the city."

"What? None of them?" Lianne blinked. "It must be a computer glitch, or something. I know I spelled everything right, no one has a particularly difficult name. It really says they don't exist?"

"Well, he found a Calvin Randel living in Pennsylvania," Marcia offered. "But we thought that was a bit far."

"No, Hazel lives here in town." Lianne shook her head. "I guess it's down to the letters, then. Or," she brightened, "maybe they'll come see me before I leave tomorrow."

"I'm sure they will," Marcia said. "It would have to be something pretty major to stop me from seeing my friend at a time like - well, when she was in the hospital."

"Yeah." Lianne frowned slightly. Somehow, that wasn't very encouraging.

~*~

"They didn't come. I don't believe they didn't come." Lianne swallowed back against her tears. "I guess - I guess we weren't as close as I thought." She twisted in her seat to watch as the taxi carried her and Mr. Harvey away from the hospital.

"Don't worry, Lianne," Mr. Harvey said. "Maybe they just didn't realize you were being released today." He cast about for something to cheer her up. "Oh, I have some good news for you."

"Really." Lianne wasn't particularly interested.

"That book series you like so much, about - was it Henry Potter?"

"Harry. It's Harry Potter."

"Yes, well," Mr. Harvey cleared his throat, "there haven't been any complaints lodged against it. As for your Ms. Rowling, she isn't registered as a British witch. I haven't been able to find copies of her books in any of the bookstores I've checked, but it sounds to me like someone's just made a series of extraordinarily lucky guesses."

"Maybe." Lianne frowned suddenly. "You couldn't find copies of the books?"

"I'm afraid not." Mr. Harvey shrugged. "The employees were rather unhelpful about it. They seemed to feel that I was making up an author name to be difficult."

"But - everyone's heard of J. K. Rowling - " Lianne sighed. "Oh, what does it matter? As long as you aren't going to stop her from writing, that's all that's important."

It's good for Erin, Hazel, and Autumn, I suppose, she thought, with more than a touch of bitter resentment. I can't believe they really didn't come. She sighed, staring through the window as the streets blurred by. At least they'll get my letters. They'll feel bad then.

Lianne never knew that the letters were sent back to the hospital. On them, it big, bold letters, was stamped -

RETURN TO SENDER. ADDRESS UNKNOWN.

~*~

Chapter 11

Return to sender

Address unknown

No such person

No such zone.

"Does anyone know where Lianne is?" Autumn asked. "She said she'd lend me her graphing calculator for my Pre-Calc test today."

"I haven't seen her," Hazel said, staring dismally at a page of notes on John Donne's "Valediction." "But if you do, tell her I'd like her to smash a compass for me."

"I'll see her in art, second period," Erin offered. "When's your test?"

"First period."

"Ah." Erin shrugged. "Well, I tried." She glanced across the courtyard. "Why don't you go ask that girl - what's her name? Nichole? She and Li are friends, aren't they? Maybe Lianne's with her."

"I'll try that." Autumn got up and walked over. She tried not to wince as she approached the group of preps that Nichole hung out with. Could be worse. They could be cheerleaders. "Hey, Nichole?"

A blonde looked up, wariness and confusion in her eyes. "Yes? Do I know you?"

"I'm Autumn Vance, a friend of Lianne's," Autumn explained. "I was wondering if you knew where I could find her."

"Who?" Nichole blinked. "I don't know anyone named Lianne. For that matter, I don't know you."

Autumn stared at her. "What are you talking about? Lianne said you and she had been friends since sixth grade!"

"Well, either she's lying, or you want someone else." Nichole rolled her eyes and turned her back on Autumn. "Really, some people..."

Autumn stood there for another few seconds, then turned and walked slowly back to Erin and Hazel.

"She didn't know?" Erin asked.

"Not exactly." Autumn frowned pensively. "Are you sure that's the right Nichole?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." Erin nodded. "Why?"

"She just said she didn't know anyone named Lianne." Autumn shook her head, puzzled. "I could've sworn it was the same girl, too, but I must've made a mistake. Weird."

"Look, borrow my graphing calculator." Hazel pulled it out of her backpack. "Just don't break it, ok? And don't load any games onto it."

"Ok, thanks." Autumn took the calculator. "I'll ask Lianne about Nichole during lunch. I must've had the wrong girl."

~*~

"So is anyone absent?" Ms. Holland, the art teacher, glanced over the class, mentally checking people off as she waited for one of the group to mention missing people.

Erin raised her hand. "Lianne's not here."

"Who?" Ms. Holland shook her head. "Very funny, Erin. I thought the class outgrew that sort of ridiculous, immature joke after the first week."

"What joke?" Erin asked blankly. Ms. Holland ignored her. She turned to Jesse, the junior sitting beside her. "What joke?"

"Give it up, Erin," Jesse said, sighing. "You aren't fooling anyone."

"About what?" Erin demanded, annoyance beginning to color her words. "I tell you I don't know what you're talking about!"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "There's no Lianne in this class and well you know it. I thought you were the smart one who never tried to pester Ms. Holland, huh?"

"But - " Erin stopped, unsure what to say. She'd noticed when she walked in that some of Lianne's artwork had been taken off the drying rack - all of it, actually - but she hadn't thought anything of it. Lianne liked to take her finished pieces home and hang them on her wall. Erin had assumed that had been it. But maybe not...

"Did she get thrown out?"

"What?" Jesse turned to face her. "What are you talking about?"

"Lianne. Did she get kicked out of the class? Or," Erin thought of something a bit more likely, "did she get moved to a higher level?"

"Erin. Stop. You are not funny." Jesse looked at her in disbelief. "Will you give up this whole Lianne thing already? I need these notes on perspective, my buildings are always crooked." He proceeded to ignore her throughout the rest of the class period, no matter how agitated her questions became.

~*~

"Ok, is anyone starting to think this is getting strange?" Autumn stared at Erin incredulously. "Erin, if it were anyone but you, I'd suspect you of making it up."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Erin insisted. "Everyone said - "

"I know, I know, I believe you!" Autumn said hastily. "You wouldn't make something like this up. Lianne, now, she might... but not you."

"Maybe she did get moved out of the class, and that boy just never knew she was there in the first place," Hazel suggested. "We could ask in Guidance."

"We can do that?" Autumn asked, surprised. "They'll tell us?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't." Hazel shrugged, closing her notebook with a snap. "I'm done eating, and if I have to look at John Donne and his poetry another moment, I may tear something up. Should we go now?"

"No reason not to." Erin stood. "Onward?"

They trooped into the main building and down to the Guidance office. "Can I help you?" the lady at the desk, Mrs. Brandon, asked.

"We want to know about a class change," Erin said politely.

"All right." Mrs. Brandon opened a drawer. "You'll need to get the teacher of the class you're switching out of to sign this form - "

"No, no, we don't want to switch classes," Autumn interrupted. "A friend of ours did, and we want to know what she switched into."

"Can't you just ask her?" Mrs. Brandon wanted to know.

"She's not here today," Erin replied. "Can you tell us, please?"

"Sure." Mrs. Brandon swiveled her chair to face the computer and clicked an icon, opening a program. "All right. What's her name? Last name first."

"Treyvan, comma, Lianne," Hazel said. "T-R-E-Y-V-A-N, and the 'Lianne' has two N's and an E at the end."

Mrs. Brandon smiled as Hazel recited this, but the smile faded as her search of the records was completed. "I'm not finding anything. Are you sure she really has switched classes?"

"We thought she had." Erin, Autumn, and Hazel exchanged worried glances.

"Well, I'll check the main records." Mrs. Brown typed something more. "That's T-R-A-Y - "

"E," Erin corrected. "T-R-E--Y-V-A-N. Treyvan."

"I don't even see any records for a Lianne Treyvan," Mrs. Brandon said, frowning. "There's a Josh Treyvan, but no Lianne. Are you quite sure you've got the spelling?"

"Well, we could be wrong," Erin conceded reluctantly.

"Why don't you just ask her about it tomorrow?" Mrs. Brandon suggested. "I can't help you if you can't spell her name."

"Thank you. We'll do that." Hazel smiled, before they left. But her smile clicked off like a light the moment they passed through the door. "I did not spell her name wrong! That was her brother, Josh, that the records turned up. Something is wrong here!"

"Look, lunch is nearly over," Erin pointed out. "Her house is on my way home, why don't I swing by and ask Lianne herself what's going on?"

~*~

"May I help you?" A rather harassed-looking woman opened the door. Li's mother. Definitely, Erin thought. The woman's hair was strawberry-blond, but she had Lianne's same green eyes. "You must be here to see Josh?"

"Uh, no," Erin said. "I'm here for Lianne, actually. She wasn't in school today?"

"Lianne?" The woman cocked her head slightly as she frowned, one of Lianne's little mannerisms. "Is she one of Josh's girlfriends?"

"I hope not." Erin was starting to get a decided feeling of deja vu. "Isn't she your daughter?"

"I haven't got a daughter," the woman said, bemused. "Just my son Josh. The lady next door has a daughter, though. Maybe you just have the wrong house."

"Aren't you Mrs. Treyvan?" Erin asked. Not that there was much point. This woman had to be a relative of Li's. The way she held herself, the way she spoke, all of it mirrored Lianne.

"Ms. Treyvan," the woman corrected. "Yes, but I really don't know what you're talking about." She frowned. "If this is a joke, you are not at all amusing."

"It isn't!" Erin insisted, refusing to give in to the panic that threatened. "Please, Ms. Treyvan, tell me where Lianne is. Please."

"I don't know a Lianne," Ms. Treyvan said coolly. "Now - whoever you are - if you don't leave, I'm going to call the police." She shut the door in Erin's face.

Erin stayed there, all but frozen in place, for a moment more before going slowly back to her car. This isn't a joke, she thought dazedly. It isn't. It can't be. Then she remembered something.

She grabbed her backpack and pulled out her notebook, her private notebook, where she had her last letter from the person who claimed he was Remus. I don't believe it, I don't, I've remembered wrong, I must have remembered wrong -

She found the letter and scanned through it without even bothering to pull it out. She exhaled sharply. "Oh, no way. No possible way."