Emily and Draco didn’t go down to dinner that night, staying in Emily’s room. Emily continued to cry into Draco’s shirt, even more now that Jamie and Alicia left. She couldn’t help but think it was all her fault, though when she voiced that thought, Draco shot it down. Hermione and Harry brought them their dinner, so they didn’t have to leave the room.

“We need to go find her,” Emily whispered after she finished the last of her juice. Draco had already finished and was leaning back against the bed frame, watching her. She nestled into his side and laid her head back on his chest.

“Tomorrow we leave for Hogwarts, I’m sure she just went back early… Her and Jamie are fine,” he soothed as his fingers drifted up and down her spine.

“It’s all my fault,” she repeated for the hundredth time. She could already feel Draco shaking his head.

“No it isn’t, I promise… Black was asking for it,” Draco whispered. Emily sniffled and Draco held her tighter to his body. He knew her tears had started again. Emily shivered once and Draco started pushing down the covers from underneath them so that they could get under them. He tucked the quilt in around her and she whispered a muffled “Thank You” into his neck.

“Will you stay with me tonight? I don’t want to be alone…” she whispered, her thoughts returning to Alicia.

“Of course,” he murmured. They stayed like that for a little while longer until Emily finally sat up. “What is it?” Draco asked, looking around for what alarmed her.

“I just can’t sit here, waiting… You heard what Alicia said about Voldemort… We need to go look for her, please?” she whispered as he sat up too. He studied her face for a minute and she just stared back, wondering what he was seeing.

“Okay, let’s go look for them… We need to leave a note for the others at least,” he said quietly as he scooted out of bed and started slipping on his shoes. Emily was already a step ahead of him, scribbling on a piece of parchment.

Left to find Ali and Jamie. Don’t come after us.

Draco nodded as he read it over her shoulder. She placed it on the bed, near their pillow, and slipped into her flats. Draco held his jacket out for her and she slipped her arms through the sleeves. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and then took his hand as they quietly made their way down the hall to the front door.

As they made it to the street, Emily and Draco glanced around cautiously, seeing movement across the street. It was Jamie, walking back in forth as he cursed himself, occasionally kicking a pebble away.

“Jamie!” Emily said to get his attention. Jamie stopped pacing and looked around. Draco and Emily jogged over to him. He pulled Emily into a hug before he started pacing again.

“Jamie, where’s Alicia?” Emily asked cautiously.

“I don’t know,” he said in frustration. “She was gone before I had the chance to come after her…”

“I’m sorry, Jamie, this is all my fault…” Emily whispered. Draco squeezed her fingers, shaking his head.

“No, it isn’t, Ems… She’s just being her… Somebody needed to tell Sirius to stop acting like that and you and Alicia just happened to be the ones to do it,” Jamie said as he shook his head.

“Do you have any idea where she may have gone?” Draco asked quietly.

“I think she must have taken the Knight Bus, but I don’t where she would have taken it to,” Jamie replied.

“Only one way to find out,” Emily murmured as she started thinking about being in need of the Knight Bus. She stuck out her wand and it arrived seconds later in front of them, the glossy purple gleaming in the moonlight.

“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening,” said a man in a purple uniform, reading from a note card. He eyed the three of them suspiciously for a minute, his pimples standing out on his pale face.

Emily started moving toward the man, towing Draco along. “It’s eleven sickles each, but for firteen you get an ‘ot water bottle an’ a toofbrush in the color of your choice,” he went on.

“Here,” Emily said as she rummaged in the small purse she remembered to grab on her way out of her room. She handed him an equivalent of thirty-three sickles. He narrowed his eyes at the money, but then let them on board. The bus was filled with half a dozen of bedsteads, rather than seats. Emily and Draco sat down side by side on one of the beds and Jamie sat across from them.

“No luggage?” Stan asked suspiciously.

“No,” Emily said shortly. Stan grunted as he sat on another bed, looking at the three of them. Nobody else was on board, and Emily was disappointed. She was hoping that Alicia wouldn’t have had time to get to her destination before they got on board.

“Where to?” Stan asked impatiently, still eyeing the money to see if it would disappear.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Emily said slowly. “We believe you transported a friend of ours somewhere… She’s our age,” Emily began.

“She probably had black hair at the time; she was angry you see,” Jamie added, looking expectantly at the conductor.

“So, you want to know where she went?” Stan said with the hint of a smile.

Emily nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, can you tell us?”

“No, I can’t… Sorry. It’s me job if I ‘old you that. It’s part of clause four, where—”

“We don’t bloody care about your clauses,” Jamie said angrily. Emily kicked his knee and he started rubbing it immediately, scowling at her.

“Look, we need to know where she is; it’s important,” Emily began again. Stan was still shaking his head.

“Fine then, take us to Hogwarts,” Emily said in frustration.

“Take ‘er away, Ern,” he said to the driver. There was a loud BANG and then they were off.

“Why Hogwarts?” Jamie asked her suddenly.

“I figure she either went to see Hagrid or…” Emily began.

“Firenze,” Jamie finished, hitting his head in the process.

A few moments later, Ernie slammed on the brakes and they all fell forward, Emily falling into Jamie.

“Sorry,” she mumbled as he helped her up, laughing lightly.

“No problem,” he chortled. Emily looked around and noticed the snowy village of Hogsmeade. She had a feeling that this was as far as they were going to be able to go.

“Thanks,” Emily mumbled to Ernie and Stan as she started walking toward the exit.

“Now what?” Jamie asked angrily as he paced back and forth in front of the gates of Hogwarts.

“Now, we send word of our arrival… But who to send it to?” Emily said, more to herself than to the boys.

“How about Hagrid?” Jamie asked after a second of thinking.

“I guess so… I have some parchment in here somewhere,” she mumbled to herself as she rummaged for her parchment and a quill. She found it a minute later and sent her note off to Hagrid.

After lying about wanting to come back early and telling him they’d go straight to bed and what not, they snuck into the woods, searching for Alicia.

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