Jillian sobbed loudly in a silent room as the bonds on the chair made it impossible for her to run forward, grab Peter’s face and kiss him as passionately as possible. Through her tears, she saw Peter walk forward quickly and kneel down beside her. “Shh, shh, Jillian. It’s okay. We’ll get you out of all this. It’s okay.”
Even though his words sounded calming, it only caused her to cry louder and lean her head on his shoulder. She had been so scared. She may not have realized it at the time, but that was one of the scariest (not to mention most boring) things that had ever happened to her. Why did kidnappings seem so much more exciting in books?
Finally, the room around her burst into action as Kirsten ran forward, shrieking and questioning her about what happened. Others were running to find teachers, while other just seemed to want to see this weird phenomenon. Lately, it seemed that Jillian always ended up as the strange phenomenon.
Thankfully, Peter didn’t move from his spot, where he continued to rub the back of her head while she sobbed into his shoulder. It felt comforting and painful at the same time since Kirsten was pulling at her arms, which were still tied to the chair. When she finally got a hold of herself, Jillian pulled her head away and snapped, “Kirsten, that really hurts. Would you stop?”
Kirsten burst into tears, making Jillian feel even worse. “Um, Kirsten, I’m sorry for yelling like that, but it really did hurt.”
“I-I’ve been so w-worried,” she sobbed. “W-when I couldn’t find you before, I came to ask this Slytherin, but we both couldn’t find you, and it was s-so s-scary.”
Jillian turned to Peter and asked, “Whoa, how long have I been gone?”
“Two days,” he answered. “We were going to go find a teacher after searching the library one more time. We thought you might have gotten too caught up in a book.” He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head as if he felt stupid. “Then you suddenly show up, tied up and, um, shouting.”
“Shouting,” she repeated thoughtfully, then suddenly, blushing, she looked down. Omigosh! Had she really shouted to the whole library that she loved Peter? She glanced up and noticed Peter was also blushing, which made her feel a little better. Wait, this was not time for falling in love! There was an evil plot being put into action right below their feet!
“Peter,” she whispered, “Listen. Kilicus got me and was holding me prisoner. I saw him and his companions. They were making some kind of potion below the school. They had me tied up to a chair, and there was this Evil Guy, and they kept chanting for what seemed like forever. They’re definitely onto the final phase of whatever plan they’ve been planning.”
Peter looked at her and nodded. “Okay, let’s get you out of these ropes, then we’ll talk about it some more.”
Jillian nodded, and they waited until Professor Flitwick burst into the library, being held aloft by three students. They brandished him in front of Jillian, and, flustered, he performed the counter for the ropes before scolding the students who had carried him there.
Jillian groaned and pulled her arms out of the position that they had held for what seemed like eternity. It amazed her that her arms even came forward at last since they were so against coming out of a familiar position. Peter rubbed her arms, which actually helped, and helped her stand up. But, when she fell, he swooped her up just like a fairy tale princess. Jillian held onto his neck, gasping at the sensation of being carried. A few people oohed and ahhed as he walked her briskly out of the library and down the hall toward an unfamiliar part of the castle.
Looking behind Peter, she noticed that no one had followed. Curiously, she looked ahead, but nothing looked familiar. Finally, Peter carried her into a room full of seven other students. Each one of them was wearing the robes of a different house, two for each color. She recognized one of the girls, who wore the green robes of Slytherin like Peter, as the girl who had come to get Peter in the library and told his last name. Otherwise, the rest looked unfamiliar.
Peter sat her in a chair as Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Madame Pomfrey walked into the room. All of them pulled up a chair and sat around Jillian as she continued to gape at everyone.
She turned to Peter and blinked. “What in Merlin’s name is happening here? Why are all the Professors here, and why are there students here, too?”
Peter sighed and sat down beside her. “Um, this is going to be hard to explain, and I doubt you’ll believe half of it.”
“Well, then you’d better get started,” she retorted, leaning back and folding her arms.
Author's Note: Whoa, that took a lot longer than usual. I didn't think anyone had actually continued to read this story, then I just happened to log in and see that there were people still expecting an ending, and since I hate stories that have no ending, I guess I'll finish it. It'll probably all conclude within the next two chapters or so, so enjoy!