It was a dream. It had to be a dream. But somehow, when I woke up in a soft, warm bed in a dark room, I knew it really wasn't a dream.

I sat up and felt my head throb. Immediately I was pushed back down. My eyes began to come into focus and I saw a flash of pink, but the force of the push made everything blurry again.

"Lie down. You need to rest," the voice said coldly, but a new voice shouted, "She's awake! Thank goodness!"

I sat up again and this time nobody pushed me. As things came into focus once more, I realized I was in the hospital wing. Curtains hung around the bed I was in and faces formed in front of me. I recognized Dora and Andromeda. Why were they here?

"You really should lie down," Dora said, and I realized by her pink hair that she was the one who had pushed me down.

I looked at the two of them for a few seconds before saying, "What happened?"

"You passed out," Dora said. Her voice was icy, even angry.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"Lindsey, I'll explain..." Andromeda said softly. "The night after the Hogsmeade trip, one of the students-Hermione Granger, I think it was-reported to Professor McGonagall that you hadn't been seen since all of the students left for the trip. They realized you weren't in the castle, so Professor Dumbledore alerted the Order because he knew you were associated with them. They got Nymphadora and Remus Lupin to search the village for you and they found you unconscious in the Shrieking Shack. You hit your head really hard on the floor and fell on your wrist badly. They brought you back here to be treated. Then Nymphadora told me what happened and we came here with Lupin. We've been waiting with you ever since. Madam Pomfrey said you'd be fine, but she wasn't sure when you'd wake up."

I slowly raised my left hand to my throbbing head and felt a bump the size of an egg. I also realized my wrist was wrapped in a bandage. I looked at the two of them again. Andromeda looked sympathetic but Dora had a blazing look in her eyes, as if she wanted answers.

"So...so how long have I been knocked out?" My voice was weak.

The two exchanged glances and Andromeda said, "Almost two days."

They both looked at me and I knew they wanted an explanation. Finally Andromeda had the nerve to say, "Lindsey...do you...er...remember anything?"

My mind drifted back to the encounter with Bellatrix. The details flowed into my head as clearly as possible. "Yes," I answered.

"Then what happened?" Dora demanded. "Why were you in the Shrieking Shack and why were you unconscious? Were you attacked?"

"No," I said. "But...I need to...I can't discuss it with - "

"Mum," Dora interrupted. "You may want to butt out now."

"No," I said. "I need you to go away, Dora. I need to talk with her alone."

Dora looked like I'd slapped her in the face and was about to argue, but Andromeda said, "Nymphadora, you should go."

"Fine!" she said. "But I think I have the right to know this! If she was attacked, the Order needs to know!"

"I wasn't attacked!" I yelled, but that was a lie. The truth was that I had been attacked, that just wasn't what had caused me to pass out. "And I'll tell you, Dora, I just want to talk to her first!"

"Lindsey, calm down," Andromeda said gently. "You need to relax. Tell me what happened. Nymphadora, please just step away for a few moments while she explains."

With a final glare at the pair of us, Dora walked away from my bed and sat down at Madam Pomfrey's desk in the front of the ward. To my surprise, Remus Lupin was already sitting there. I remembered he had helped Dora rescue me. Had he been here the whole time?

"I don't want anyone to overhear," I told Andromeda. "It's important."

"Don't worry..." She pulled out her wand and cast a spell over the perimeter of out area. "Now no one can hear."

"Okay," I said. I took a deep breath. "Andromeda...it was her. She found me." I felt tears pool up in my eyes as I remembered what happened. I looked into Andromeda's eyes and I saw the comprehension in her face. Startled, she said, "You don't mean - ?"

"Yes!" I said with a sob. "She...she attacked me..."

"You said you weren't attacked!"

"I'm sorry! What I meant was I didn't faint because she attacked me! Please listen!"

She exhaled deeply. "Okay. Calm down and explain."

"She pulled me into the shack and we talked...she explained some things..." I told her about our conversation up until the point before she used the Cruciatus Curse on me. I wanted to skip this because I knew Andromeda would freak, but I couldn't. I stopped talking, gasping for breath.

"There's more, I can tell," Andromeda said. "What happened next?"

"She...she...when I refused to join Voldemort, she...attacked at last. She used...she used..." I was sobbing so hard I could barely breathe, let alone talk. However, I didn't need to say anymore. Andromeda knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Lyra..." she said, gently wiping a tear from my face as I shook with sobs. "That's awful..."

I figured she couldn't put her thoughts into words. Once I'd calmed down slightly, I went on.

"So...then she Disapparated. But before she left, she said, ‘You are no daughter of mine.' And then I fainted, and that's all I remember." I put my head in my hands - feeling a stabbing pain through my left wrist; I'd forgotten it was bandaged - and sobbed some more.

"This is terrible," Andromeda said. "I can't believe she would do something-"

I glared at her. "You can't? Why can't you? Do you still think she's your once-innocent older sister who never joined the Death Eaters?"

"Lyra, no...that's not what I meant...I just wasn't thinking..."

I sighed. "That's okay."

"Well, I think you should stay away from Hogsmeade from now on. Don't leave Hogwarts grounds, whatever you do."

"Why would I have a reason to leave Hogwarts?" I asked.

"You wouldn't." She sighed. "Anyway, if you need rest, I understand. And I'm sure - " (she shot a look at Dora, who was talking with Lupin) "-that Nymphadora will understand too. But if you're up for telling the story again, I think she'd like to know."

"I can retell it."

"Okay, then." She stood up and called across the wing, "Nymphadora!"

Dora turned away from her conversation with Lupin and mouthed "What?" angrily. Andromeda told her to come over, and, perking up slightly, she motioned for Lupin to stay there while she talked to me.

She came over and I told the story again, only with less crying this time. Once I finished, I asked, "Dora, you can't tell the Order about this."

"Why?" she asked harshly. "They need to know so we can protect you."

"No. Then they'll know who I am, and I think it's best that I remain under my false identity." For the first time in my life, I was grateful for what the Ministry had done.

She sighed and gave me a hard, annoyed look before motioning for Lupin to come over. When he approached, he gave Dora a somewhat expectant look, but she said, "For her benefit, I can't tell you what happened."

Lupin nodded, understanding. He turned to me and said, "Lindsey, we have to leave. I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, we'll see you later," Dora said. "Take care. Don't go back to Hogsmeade. If you need anything, write to me. I'll tell Madam Pomfrey that you're up so she can give you medicine. See you."

I nodded my head, blinking back tears. After what happened, I could hardly imagine going back to normal school life. I rested my head as Dora, Andromeda, and Lupin walked off, wishing that I could escape the world forever.

Madam Pomfrey fed me some of the worst tasting potions ever. I could barely swallow as she stood over me and made me drink. After that, she stalked off to let me rest. She wasn't in a good mood - Andromeda had explained to her that I couldn't tell what happened, and she'd argued that she should be allowed to know since she was treating me.

However, she left me alone and allowed me to sleep. Eventually it became dark and she went to her office for the night. I was freely alone now - I was the only patient in the wing. After a day of being still with nothing to occupy me but my thoughts, I was growing restless. Now was my chance. I could get out of the wing for awhile. I realized I wasn't tired.

I stood up, and the room spun for a few seconds. Once I could see properly again, I grabbed my wand from the nightstand next to me. I cast a Disillusionment Charm over myself-Dora had learned how from her Auror training and had passed that knowledge on to me. Hoping I'd done a good job, I walked to the door of the wing and turned the knob.

Locked. I wasn't surprised. I took out my hand and muttered, "Alohomora." It clicked open. Ha! Madam Pomfrey's security wasn't as great as she thought. It was either that or she didn't expect me to sneak out. Knowing her, she probably didn't think I had enough energy or strength to even pick up my wand.

I went into the hall and, after locking the door behind me, headed for the stairs. I was on the fourth floor and was aiming for the seventh. Walking quietly and blending in with the surroundings, I reached the seventh floor and began to walk to my destination. I was headed for the Astronomy Tower.

That door was locked as well, but I was still able to open it. Once inside, I walked up the spiral stairs to the top of the tower where it opened to the night sky. This was where classes studied Astronomy at midnight, but it was much past that. The only things I had to worry about were the presence of Peeves, Filch, or Mrs. Norris, and I didn't think any of them were likely to come here without a reason.

I put my hands behind my head, being extremely careful with my hurt wrist. Then I stretched out on the stone floor of the tower and gazed up at the stars. It was a clear night and the moon was bright.

Normally I stargazed to get my mind off things, but tonight I was doing the opposite. When I was at home I did this a lot. But it was near impossible to sneak out of the dormitories at night, so I couldn't do it at Hogwarts. I had to make an exception for tonight, though.

I picked out Orion instantly. From years of studying astronomy, I could easily find my favorite constellations. Orion was one of them. It wasn't really the constellation that I liked-it was one of the stars within it, Gamma Orionis, also known as Bellatrix.

This had always been my preferred star. Every night during Astronomy classes when Orion was out, I found this one. Staring at it made me feel somehow serene. I couldn't explain it, it just did.

Thinking about how far away Gamma Orionis was made me feel insignificant. Oddly, that was what I liked about staring at the stars. They were so far away, and it was possible that they had planets and life of their own that had their own issues. It made me feel like my problems were tiny and unimportant in the vast universe.

With the glimmering stars staring back at me, I began to think of the recent encounter with my mother. If she was once an innocent star like Gamma Orionis, what had happened? Was it because of Rodolphus or her parents or just being in Slytherin house? What had caused her to change...to supernova? I felt determined to find out.

Eventually I realized truly how tired I was, so I crept back to the hospital wing. For the first time in a long time, my mind was clear enough for me to sleep. As soon as I climbed back into my hospital wing bed, I forgot about everything as I slipped away from consciousness.