"Fifth Year"

•••••••••••••••••••••
Sirius POV:

"She was just trying to protect me."

"What do you mean by 'she was just trying to protect you'? Protect you from what?" I asked the sobbing redhead, with a furrowed brow.

"Severus, Bellatrix, and a few other Slytherins  had been extra cruel during their regularly scheduled program of 'terrorize the muggle-borns'. They left me and this first year pretty banged up; cuts, bruises, the lot."

"Well, I don't really give a damn about your cuts and bruises, Evans! Nora is in a bit more of a severe state, than some cuts and bruises!" James snapped at the redhead, making me try and calm him down.

"James, you can rage later, but you won't do Nora any good if you loose it." I tell the bespectacled Potter boy, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Let Lily finish the story."

The Seeker simply nodded his head reluctantly, letting out a frustrated huff and running his hand through his curls.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so I wasn't planning on telling her about what happened. But when Nora saw what they did, she completely snapped. She made me tell her what happened and then she just left. I tried to stop her, but I lost Nora in the breakfast rush crowd."

"I was an idiot to think that she'd be perfectly fine on her own. I should have known better, considering the last time she fought them. Now my best friend is unconscious with multiple puncture wounds and a possibility of never waking up." Lily sighed, wiping her tears away with her hands.

"Madam Pomfrey will know what to do. She'll find out what spell was used and heal Nora. Nora will wake up and everything is going to be fine." Remus spoke for the first time since we came into the Hospital Wing, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself of his own words rather than us.

"I hope you're right, Remus." I muttered, pulling one of the spare blankets over the sleeping form of Nora's little brother.

"I hope so too."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Nora POV:

It's cold where I am and it smells dusty like  the room I'm in hasn't had a decent clean in a while. The ground around me feels damp like I'm outside, but that doesn't explain the dust smell.

I try to open my eyes or talk, but I can't. I can't move at all and it scares me.

I take a deep breath and focus on moving just a small  body part like my toes. I feel them twitch after a while of trying.

Near where my head lay, I hear the faint ruffling of leaves fill the previously torturous silence. My stomach drops as the footsteps begin to encircle where I lay.

My heart pounds rapidly in my chest and I try harder to open my eyes. I'm now able to move my hands and feet. I'm still unable to see anything, as I hear the person that was walking around my stiff body, squat beside me.

"Easy there, Love. Your mind is still adjusting to this realm." Their calm and deep voice rings in my ears. "You need to open your eyes and get up, right now. If you don't, you will be stuck here forever."

"You don't think that I'm trying, you git." I snap in frustration, surprising myself that I'd regained the ability to talk.

"You're talking already! That's good!" He cheered excitedly. "And you never lost your ability to talk. Your mind is panicking and as a response to your current physical state, is shutting down slowly."

"How–?" I begin to ask, but am cut off.

"Oh, right! Well, you see, Lenora.... this is all in your head." He explains, before casually stating. "And if you don't get to the heart of the Labyrinth, you'll die."

••••••••••••••••••••••••
Newt POV:

I was sitting in my study and writing a note on the first page of a blank journal, when Tina burst into the room. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she tightly held onto the letter in her trembling hand.

"What's wrong, Love? What's happened?" I asked, standing up from the writing desk and approaching my wife.

"I–It's Lenora. Something's ha–happened to our l–little girl." She sobbed, holding out the letter to me and muffled her cries with her free hand.

My blood ran cold and my stomach dropped at the news that left my wife's lips. I shakily took the parchment with the broken Hogwarts seal and read it with wide eyes.

Dear Mr and Mrs Scamander,

I regret to inform you that your eldest daughter, Lenora, has been in a horrible accident. Around nine o'clock this morning, she was found by a fellow student, badly injured due to an unidentifiable curse. Your daughter is currently unconscious in the Hospital Wing, in critical condition.

You're presence is requested at Hogwarts, in the knowledge that the both of you have a right to be with your daughter and to comfort young Michael during this time.

I have sent Hagrid alongside Professor McGonagall to fetch you both. They should be arriving in a few minutes after your receiving of this letter.

Sincerely,
A.W.B Dumbledore

P.S. Do have hope in your daughter's snappy recovery. Lenora is a strong young witch and a determined Hufflepuff. She is a Scamander after all.

"Godric Gryffindor...." I trailed off in a staggered breath, my right hand shakily tugging on my strawberry blonde curls.

"What are we going to do, Newt?" Tina asked me in a barely audible whisper, her brown eyes glassy.

"We have to get to the school." I told her, bringing the short haired brunette into my arms. "We need to see our daughter."

"Grab your coat, Darling. They'll be here soon." I tell my wife softly, swallowing the lump in my throat. She nods quickly and makes her way out of the room.

"Hold on, Lenora. We're coming, Mum and Dad are coming."

••••••••••••••••••••••

"Where is she? Where's our daughter?" I ask worriedly as Tina and I burst through the familiar doors of the Hospital Wing.

Near the far end of the room, Albus Dumbledore and seven students stand around one of the beds. I grip my wife's hand tightly and lead her towards the group.

"Mum, Dad!" Michael exclaimed, before running up to us and hugging me tightly around the waist.

"Oh, Mikey." Tina sighs, brushing his hair back and planting a kiss on the crown of his head.

When we unwrapped from the hug, I shook Dumbledore's hand and muttered a greeting. "Hello again, Professor. Thank you so much for informing us of this."

"Newt, you haven't been a student here in a long time. It's Albus." The older man told me with a sympathetic smile.

My green eyes landed on the pale, unconscious form of Lenora Creedence Penelope Scamander. A lump formed in my throat and my heart stopped at the sight of my only daughter in such a state.

"How did this happen?" My wife asked sharply, an arm around our son.

••••••••••••••••••••••••
James POV:

I sat at Nora's bedside, my head propped up by my elbows and my fists pressed against my lips as I stared down at the gorgeous girl. I let out a sigh, as I could no longer handle everyone's bickering about who's fault it was.

"How about instead of fighting like children, we find the worthless sod that cursed her and hex them into oblivion?" I snapped in irritation, before looking up at the group before me.

"I agree with James, fighting will get us nowhere." Mr Scamander stated simply, sending me a brief nod. He turned towards Dumbledore and asked the headmaster. "Can you trace who's wand cast the curse?"

"Not without checking every single student's wand and even then, I'm afraid that we wouldn't even know what spell to look for." The headmaster replied sadly with a shake of his head.

"We wouldn't have to check every student's wand. Just the wands of the Slytherins that Nora went to confront." Lily spoke up for the first time since Nora's parents had arrived.

Mrs Scamander's eyes lit up and she grinned. "That's genius, Lily! Great job, kid!"

"What are their names?" Newt said in a tense and hostile tone.

"Bellatrix Black, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black, and Severus Snape." Lily told them immediately, sharing a determined look with our best friend's parents.

"I'll have every member of the faculty looking for them." Dumbledore told us, before telling McGonagall to alert all the teachers.

"Let's find these sods."