HP, Chapter 7, continued

Hagrid practically ran up the lawn to the steps, and Albus thought he was going to be sick. Both from what had happened in the Forest and from all of the bouncing. "Hey, how was-" Albus heard his brother's voice as Hagrid walked up the steps and through the big doors leading into the school. Albus caught a glance of James and Samantha, who were evidentally both standing there waiting for him and Andrea. Albus was still crying and tried to hide his face from James and Samantha as they walked past them. After just a few minutes, Albus realized he was being sat down in a chair. He looked around and realized he and Hagrid were in Professor McGonagal's office. Hagrid and McGonagal were talking, and all of the portraits were staring at Albus. Albus wiped his nose of his robe sleeve and tried to stop crying. His eyes hurt from crying so much...

"Albus, I need you to tell me what happened in there." McGonagal said softly but urgently. Albus nodded and sniffed, trying to stifle his sobs.

"We went down one of the paths while Hagrid and Fang went down the other one..." Albus began. McGonagal glanced over at Hagrid.

"Which path?" She asked. Albus wasn't sure who she was asking, but Hagrid answered.

"The safe one!" Hagrid said loudly as he threw his hands in the air. "I sent 'em down the safe one! I knew this was a bad idea." Hagrid mumbled the last bit, but McGonagal still heard.

"What happened next?" McGonagal asked Albus.

"We went down the path and came to a clearing, and it stunk." Albus hiccuped and McGonagal's brow creased.

"What did it smell like?" McGonagal continued her questioning.

"I'm not sure... We got there and we both heard something, so we turned to look. I heard something snap and I looked for what it was, and then-" Albus stopped and began crying again.

"Then what?"

"She screamed, and she was gone." Albus put his head in his hands and tried to curl up into a ball, but it was rather hard to do when he was sitting in a chair. Professor McGonagal stood up and talked to Hagrid some more.

"We'll send out some teachers to find her, and you'll be going out too. She can't be too far from there." Albus heard her say. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Albus looked up to see Hagrid standing there, a grim look on his face. Professor McGonagal looked up at Hagrid and gave him a quick nod.

"Come on, Albus. Back to your common room." Hagrid said, gently lifting him up. Albus walked out of the room, down the staircase, and back through the hallways to his common room. Albus walked through the door and realized Hagrid wasn't next to him anymore.

"Albus!" Holly cried as soon as he walked through the door. Albus looked up and wiped the tears out of his eyes. He had cried so hard that he didn't think he could cry anymore. He saw the rest of his friends standing near by, including James and Samantha. Holly ran right up to him and gave him a hug.

"W-where's Andrea?" Peter asked hesitantly. Albus looked up, and found to his surprise that he could cry some more. Samantha walked over to him and wrapped him up in a hug.

"It's okay, it's okay." She whispered in his ear. Albus didn't really think it was.

No one said anything for a while, they all just stood there like they were. Holly and Samantha hugging Albus and the others just staring. Albus didn't know how many people walked through the common room while they all just stood there... He didn't really care, either.

Suddenly, the door flung open and Professor Longbottom ran in. He stopped when he saw Albus being hugged. Longbottom walked over to him quickly and Holly and Samantha stepped back. Longbottom bent down to Albus's level and looked him in the eyes. Longbottom opened his mouth to say something, but didn't seem to find the words. So, he just hugged Albus quickly then walked farther into the common room, evidentally looking for something.

"It'll be okay, Albus. They'll find her." James said softly as Albus numbly made his way over to a chair in front of the fire. Albus curled up on the chair and watched the fire dance. He wondered what had happened to Andrea back there...and if they really would find her... Before he knew it, he was asleep...