The Keeper

Chapter 38

I listened to Johnny Boy by Twenty One Pilots, Call Me by Blondie and 505 by the Arctic Monkeys.

Please vote and comment <3

*

"Y/N."

I groaned. It was finally the weekend and the last thing I wanted to do was to be woken up by someone else.

"Y/N!"

I jolted up, the first thing I saw being Sasha's face inches from my own.

"You need to get dressed as soon as possible and come with me," she whispered, her eyes never staying still.

The utter look of panic on her face was enough to spur me into action. I threw on my robes, tugged a brush through my hair and tied it into a (very) messy bun. Sasha was waiting for me in the common room, tapping her fingers on her knee. She stood up sharply when she saw me.

"McGonagall knocked on our door," Sasha explained as she dragged me out of the common room, "and said you need to go to see Dumbledore as soon as possible. She didn't say why but I'm willing to bet any amount of money that it's about Gillian."

I blinked rapidly while processing the information. It was difficult to stay focused considering I was asleep less than fifteen minutes ago and I was currently being pulled through the halls of Hogwarts on the way to talk to the headmaster. I didn't even know where his office was.

I'd lost track of our location a minute or so before Sasha stopped dead in front of a grand statue of an eagle. Nervous about my tardiness already, I was expecting her to mutter some eloquent incantation.

Instead, she bit her lip and turned away from the statue to face me.

"Professor McGonagall said she'd meet us here to let us in," Sasha said.

"And Professor McGonagall was correct."

Sasha whipped around. Professor McGonagall stood next to the statue, her lips pressed together tightly.

"Y/L/N, Preden, please follow me." Her voice commanded obedience, so Sasha and I waited for the professor to utter the password before the floor started to rise. 

"Ah. Our company is here."

I was too preoccupied with ogling Professor Dumbledore's magnificent office to register the headmaster starting a conversation, or, in fact, the person sat in front of his desk.

"You may join Wood at the desk," Professor McGonagall instructed. She turned to leave.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I gingerly made my way up to Oliver, Sasha right behind me. Dumbledore smiled which helped to ease my nerves slightly.

"I'm sure you know why I've called you here," he said, "although I must apologise for my choice of timing. But I do prefer to be discreet with situations like these. Wouldn't want your roommates to be awake and see you whisked off to my office."

We were all too uncomfortable to say anything.

"Anyway. Onto the matter at hand."

Sasha sat up a little straighter. "If I may, professor," she began. He nodded. "We all know what you want to discuss, but may I ask why I've been included as well?"

"As you're Y/L/N's closest friend, I believe, I decided you'd provide a useful insight."

Dumbledore smiled warmly before proceeding to the point of the meeting. He described his understanding of how this fiasco began, with my relationship with Oliver. It was scarily accurate, leading me to question how much Dumbledore actually knew and for how long. I had a slight inkling that Madam Pince had been a valuable source of information.

"Then she slipped Oliver some amortentia but one day she didn't manage to refresh the dosage, so to speak."

Oliver nodded, the only one out of us to do so.

"Now," the professor sighed, leaning back in his chair, "Miss Brabbing has disappeared. This leads me to ask if any of you know where she is or why specifically she's gone."

I spoke up because I sensed that the others wouldn't. "Without being disrespectful, sir, I think we all know why Gillian's gone. She didn't want to face the consequences of her actions. She knew that any one of us or our friends was going to say something and I guess she didn't want to deal with it." I was slightly scared that I had let my anger get the best of me, but Dumbledore didn't seem to mind.

"Exactly the theory I had in mind," he replied. "Yet the question of her whereabouts still remains. She wasn't present in your lessons yesterday, correct?" He didn't wait for a confirmation before moving on. "And she hasn't been seen in the Ravenclaw common room or your dorm."

"Her things are all very neat, sir," Sasha added. "It's like they haven't been touched for days."

"Filch tells me she has left school grounds," Dumbledore continued, taking a note of Sasha's comment. "I shall send an owl to the ministry and once they set their team off, it won't be long at all before she's found. I can assure you that when we do find her, she'll be dealt with accordingly."

The headmaster dismissed us and we left his office in silence. We weren't told off for anything, but I still felt extremely uncomfortable.

It was just breakfast time and we headed to the Great Hall. Aleeza and Louise weren't downstairs yet, as per usual, so the three of us sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table, as far away from everyone else as possible.

I immediately poured myself a cup of coffee. I needed some caffeine.

"Well that was interesting," Sasha muttered.

Oliver scoffed. "You could say that again."

I sipped my coffee. I knew that Gillian would be found and returned to Hogwarts, and when she did, I knew that the consequences would be life-changing for her. But whether that was a good thing or not, I wasn't so sure.