It All Fell Down | A Marauder's Story

Fourteen

"She was brave and strong and broken all at once." - Anna Funder

     The news came on a particularly cheery day. Most people think that bad news has to be accompanied by grey skies and pouring rain, but most of the time the news came on days that the sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Most of the time, the weather doesn't match the sadness of the soul.  

     The group of seven were in their potions class, listening to Professor Slughorn give his lecture on polyjuice potion. Lily and Marlene were sliding a piece of parchment filled with scribblings between each other; James and Sirius were nodding off into the palms of their hands as they had read up on polyjuice potion by the time they were fourteen; Peter was in the back napping, non-so-discreetly with his head leaned back against the stone wall; Remus was taking casual notes in an attempt to make himself pay attention because he, like his other two friends, had read up on this years ago; his desk mate, Charlie, was staring out the window at the three crows perched on the window. 

    Charlie muttered something that fell muffled on Remus' ears. "Did you say something?"

     She shook her head, but she never took her eyes from the three birds. They sat there unwavering, and it unsettled something deep within Charlie's bones. 

     There was a knock on the classroom door. All of the students' heads turned out of habit to see Professor McGonagall enter the room; her face was a blank mask. 

     "I'm so sorry to interrupt, Horace," she spoke with a careful voice. "But, could I see Miss Riggs, please?"

     The potions master nodded. "Of course, Minerva. Off you go, Charlie."

     Charlotte Riggs got to her feet and took a step towards her head of house, before she was stopped. "Bring your things, Charlotte." 

     Something churned in her gut. She grabbed her bag from the floor beside her chair and scooped the items on the desk into her bag before she made her way towards the door, looking back at her six friends with a concerned expression. They all stared after her, even after the door shut and Slughorn got back to his lecture. 

     Eventually, they all turned to face their professor once more, but their attention was elsewhere. Only a moment passed, before the door opened once again. 

     "Actually, Horace," Professor McGonagall said as she re-entered the room, sounding rather hollow. "Could I see the others as well?"

     Professor Slughorn nodded; Minerva's red rimmed eyes were not lost upon him, but he said nothing. "Potter, Evans, McKinnon, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin with me," she spook crisply. "And, bring your things."

     They all got to their feet, grabbing their respective items and began to walk out of the room. Sirius ran through all of the things in the past couple of days that could be placing them all in trouble, but he was coming up blank. They had been relatively tame as of late. As he studied his friends, he realized they were just as lost as he.

     Professor McGonagall closed the door to the potions classroom as they entered the hallway. She cleared her throat as she turned to face them, and each of them felt cold as they saw the sorrow buried deep within her irises. Something was terribly wrong.

     She cleared her throat again. "Something has happened. I am not at liberty to give away another's students privacy, but something bad has happened concerning Charlie. She ran off after I gave her the news. I know you all are her friends. Please, go find her. I'm giving you permission to skip class and look for your friend. Just...find her. Make sure she is alright."