The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

53. Trapped

"What do you mean she left?" Harry shouted, facing Hermione.

"This doesn't make sense," Imani agreed. "She wouldn't do this."

"Read it for yourselves," Hermione said grimly, handing over the letter in her hand. Imani took it and Harry and Andre gathered around to read it.

Dear Hermione,
I'm so sorry to do this to you, but I can't keep doing this anymore. I'm leaving. Forever. I hope you won't miss me too terribly. I love you.
- Dioleh

"This isn't like her at all," Imani said, looking up with furrowed brows. "Like, first of all, why is it so vague? Second, why didn't she just tell us in person?"

"Imani's right," Andre said. "There has to be another reason. Something's happened to her."

Frowning, Imani added, "The handwriting is all wrong too. Look."

Andre stared at it a moment, trying to remember Dioleh's handwriting before he replied, "I'll just take your word on that one. I honestly don't remember."

"What do we do?" Imani asked. "We need to find out what happened to her."

"I'll help," Harry said instantly.

"No," Imani countered. "You need to focus on the task. Andre and I will take care of it."

"Maybe we should go to Dumbledore," Andre suggested. She nodded and they both instantly rushed off.

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Dioleh lost track of how long she had been in the trunk with Moody but she was finding it wasn't all bad. She was able to get them water whenever they needed it and at least they had each other to talk to. Dioleh was laying, staring at the ceiling when she asked, "What made you want to be an Auror?"

"Family legacy," he replied weakly. "My parents were both Aurors. I thought I'd join in on the family fun. What about you?"

"My dad was a jeweller but he passed away three years ago," she replied. "My mom died when I was young, so did the rest of my family other than Dad."

"Eastern American Tribe, then?" he said. She sighed There wasn't a point in hiding it anymore.

"My mom was killed when I was four," she explained. "The massacre was when I was five or six." Before they could talk more, the trunk opened. Looking up, Dioleh winced, her eyes narrowed from the harsh and sudden light. They saw Crouch glaring down at them.

"Getting on nicely, are we?" he said manically. Dioleh rolled her eyes. He threw down some food and a bottle of water before locking them in again. Dioleh leaned back against the wall with a sigh. She was scared, even if she hadn't let it show yet. Moody crawled forward for the food, but Dioleh didn't move an inch.

"You need to eat," he said. It had been a long time since either of them had eaten. With a sigh, Dioleh grabbed some of the food and began nibbling at it, but she had no appetite. When she had gotten down as much as she could, she gripped her necklace and tried to hold back the tears that were desperate to fall.

Covering her mouth with her hand, she let out a quiet sob. Falling on her side, she curled up around herself and cried into her hands. Moody didn't say anything. He had expected tears eventually so he wasn't in the least surprised. He did not, however, know how to comfort her so he stayed silent as she cried. She stayed like that for hours until she had finally cried herself to sleep.

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"Professor Dumbledore!" Imani shouted, knocking on the gargoyle. Nothing happened. She looked desperately at Andre before it opened. Dumbledore himself was standing at the top looking down at with worriedly.

"Come in," he said.

The students followed him up and into his office and, without even taking time to sit down, Andre explained, "We think something's happened to Dioleh. Look at this." Dumbledore read through the letter.

"And she didn't say anything to either of you?" he asked. Both of them shook their heads. "What was the last conversation the two of you had with her?"

"We had gone down to the hideout," Imani explained. "Andre wasn't there because he had some studying to do, but Dioleh and I went. We were just swimming around before she started asking me if I would ever settle down with a wizard."

"Have you any idea why she would ask such a question?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes," Imani admitted. "One of the students told her they liked her. She hadn't ever considered dating a wizard before so it caught her off guard."

"I see," he replied. "And you, Andre?"

"When she and Mani asked me if I wanted to come with them," he explained. "It was a brief conversation. I just said that I couldn't and then that was it."

"All of her things are still here," Imani added. "None of it is gone."

"Do you know if anything was left that's exceptionally valuable to her?" Dumbledore asked. Imani bit her lip as she thought.

"Her mother's necklace is gone, the jewellery Draco gave her is gone...I can't think of anything else she values," Imani said. "But she would've said goodbye to us and she wouldn't have been so vague. She would have known Hermione would show that to us. She would tell us which tribe she was going to head towards so that we would be able to find her."

"And you're sure?" he replied.

"Yes," Andre said firmly. "Dumbledore, she wouldn't do this to us, especially not Hermione and Imani. They're both like sisters to her."

"It's true," Imani said. "Something's happened to her."

"Very well then," Dumbledore sighed. "I want to keep the Ministry out of this. They will have her killed. We'll have to work on our own. Andre, look around the hideout and see if you can find anything. Imani, look in your dorm and see if you can find anything. See if clothes are missing. Things of that sort. I need to worry about Harry. Let me know what you find."