We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 56 - Idiots

~Wren~

The Thursday of the last week of school was turning out to be a very normal sort of day. There was the Charms exam that morning, and Potions in the afternoon. Ciara, Poppy, and I had decided to study for our History of Magic exam after dinner. I invited Colette to join us, but she told me she'd studied enough (which meant hardly at all) and was working with Professor Haverna on the final touches of a spell that evening, anyway. She did assure me that it wasn't simply not wanting to be around Ciara, at least, which I appreciated. She seemed to finally be trying to be civil, which was a very big deal with Colette.

As we were leaving dinner, Albus asked how long we were planning on studying. When Poppy glanced at us quizzically and said, "Probably until curfew?" he made a show of being disappointed. It was a little over the top, but I didn't think a lot about that at the time. Maybe he was still figuring out how to deal with the whole "telling Astra he'd liked her for most of their friendship" situation, and all that confusion was making him act odd around everyone whose feelings might be involved.

We didn't end up studying till curfew, mainly because we all knew the material well enough that we got through our notes from the whole term in only an hour and a half. Then we talked for a while about our plans for the summer (leaving out the part about my summer plans possibly being settling into a DA safe house), before Poppy yawned and Ciara suggested that it might be time to wrap up for the night. We parted ways at the doors of the library, Ciara and Poppy heading downstairs and me heading up.

None of my friends were in the common room when I got there, which I didn't think much about. James had told me he would be off studying somewhere quiet with Colin, Lillie, and Roxanne for their Charms N.E.W.T. the next morning, and Colette and Haverna would probably be working until midnight. I couldn't imagine where Astra and Albus had disappeared to, though. I asked around, but no one else seemed to have seen them either.

Despite the fact that I didn't see a real reason to feel worried, a little knot formed in my stomach.

It wasn't curfew yet, I reasoned. Maybe they were in the library, researching like always. I hadn't seen them come in, and Ciara and Poppy and I had been pretty close to the doors, but maybe I just hadn't noticed. That was it, surely.

So why did I still feel a little sick?

Without meaning to, my mind flitted back to my conversation with Poppy the night before, and the worries it had sparked. I'd tried to put that all out of my head, telling myself that surely Astra and Albus weren't stupid enough to go running off to Stillens' manor by themselves.

They weren't that stupid, right?

I was getting panicky again. I needed to find them. I needed to make sure they were at least still here at the castle. I thought about trying to find James or Colette to help me, but I was worried there wasn't enough time for that. Instead, I darted up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, and prayed James hadn't taken the Marauder's Map with him tonight.

It was there, hiding in his trunk beneath his cloak. I pulled it out and opened it, saying the words so quickly I nearly messed them up. As ink started spider-webbing across the page, I spread the map on James's bed, scanning it as quickly as I could for any sign of Astra and Albus.

At first, I didn't see them. They weren't in the castle, and I briefly wondered if maybe they were just in the room of requirement. But I noticed movement at the edge of the map, and felt my spirits sink as I saw the two dots moving toward the edge of the grounds and the road to Hogsmeade: Astra Lestrange and Albus Potter.

"No, no, no," I whispered, shaking my head. Maybe they were just sneaking out to Hogsmeade? They'd done that to use the internet for research before. Maybe it was just that again. Something told me that wasn't the case tonight, though.