Potter | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 195

Epilogue

Jenna's eyes slowly started to open when she finally came back to consciousness. Her mind was blank at first as she blinked a few times, trying to recognize where she was.

She was laying down on couch and she could make out the red flames of fire in the fireplace before her.

       But the moment she remembered what had happened, Jenna shot up and sat down, gazing around her in horror only to find herself in her childhood home with Dumbledore sitting on an armchair nearby, in the Potter Manor's enormous living room.

      "Miss Potter," Dumbledore breathed out anxiously, getting up to his feet. "Good. You're finally awake."

      Jenna found herself unable to speak at first, still in shock. She didn't know what she was doing there or how she had ended up here. But at that moment, there was only one thing she cared about.

      "Sirius... Where's Sirius?" she asked urgently.

       Dumbledore paused for a long while before finally saying, "I'm so sorry, Miss Potter... but Mr. Black is gone."

      "Gone?" Jenna gaped up at him, her eyes still burning and her stomach in pain. "What do you mean, gone? What the hell happened tonight!?"

      "Miss Potter..." Dumbledore said softly. "The Dark Lord has fallen... or at least, for now. It all happened at the Godric's Hollow. Something must've stopped him, but no one knows what."

       "But how could he have known where they were?" Jenna muttered in disbelief, feeling her tears resurface.

      "Mr. Black was the Potters' Secret Keeper. And the only way Lord Voldemort could know about their hiding place was if the Secret Keeper had told him —"

      "If you're suggesting that Sirius sold them out to him, then you're wrong! I — I need to get to him. I want to see Sirius —"

       "He's been taken away, Miss Potter," Dumbledore repeated himself. "After the incident, Mr. Black went after Peter Pettigrew. Word has it that he tried to kill him, and blasted the street and killed twelve other Muggles in the process. They had to take him away."

      Jenna shook her head in disbelief. "That's insane... Sirius... He — he would never — What do you mean they had to take him away!? To where?"

      "To Azkaban."

      "No..." Jenna's face fell. "No... that's impossible! When's the trial!?"

       "They didn't hold a trial, I'm afraid."

      "WHAT!?" Jenna shrieked, jumping up to her feet. "But — but Sirius is innocent! Professor, please — you knew Sirius! You knew that he loved James as his own brother! He would never — never betray him! He's innocent!"

      "Can you prove it?" Dumbledore asked gently, but Jenna fell silent and looked away. "He was the Secret Keeper."

      "It doesn't matter!" Jenna yelled. "There — there has to be an explanation for this! There just has to! Sirius would never — he would never betray James — or to kill Peter — or all those Muggles — he's innocent! He has to be!"

      Jenna fell back down on the couch, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed into her palms, crying desperately.

       "There's nothing I can do for him, Miss Potter," Dumbledore whispered. "But there's still time to save you."

      "Wh-what?"

      "The Ministry is after Death Eaters and they still think that you are one. I could've tried to convince them that you're innocent, but they're not holding trails and won't give us time. As for those Death Eaters who are still free... they're looking for someone to blame for their Master's downfall. In their eyes, you're one of the traitors," he explained. "There's no time left. You must leave. This is for your own safety."

     "What!? No!" Jenna shook her head again. "I — I can't just leave! What about Harry!? I promised Lily I would look after him. I promised her!"

       But Dumbledore knew better. He knew that the spell that Lily Potter had casted bonded Harry to a family of Lily's own blood, which meant the Dursleys.

      If Jenna knew about Harry, there was no way she was going to leave and would've insisted on keeping Harry, which would've only put the boy in more danger, seeing as the whole Wizarding world was after her. Dumbledore knew there was only one way to keep them both safe.

      "I'm sorry, Miss Potter," he said. "But Harry's gone."

       Jenna clapped a hand to her mouth, crying her eyes out. It was too much to take in one night, or even in a lifetime, for that matter.

      "There's a safe house awaiting you in a town near North Carolina," he said, taking a key out of his cloak and handing it to her. "I've arranged a Portkey for you that will take you straight into your new house. You can stay there until the time is right for you to return."

      Jenna couldn't believe what was happening, and how everything had happened so fast.

But all she knew was that with Lily, James, Harry, and Sirius gone, she had no reason to stay behind anymore.

It took her some while of sitting there before the blazing fire in silence to finally look back at Dumbledore, nodding.

The Portkey was awaiting her outside, because the enchantments inside the house couldn't allow her to travel within the walls.

So with that, Jenna walked out of the manor and under the pouring rain, where the Portkey was awaiting her right under the same willow tree her and James had carved 'J.P' on its trunk when they were kid.

       Jenna glanced back at her childhood home, her memories flashing right before her eyes. Everything that made that house a joy to her once was now ruined. Everyone was gone.

She was all alone.

Jenna tried to wipe her old tears clean and blink the new ones away, her whole body soaked underneath the raindrops which fell upon her mercilessly.

And so with one last glance at where her old life had begun, Jenna reached out for the Portkey and vanished into thin air, wishing for her memories to be borne away by the pouring rain.

~The End~