Twenty-four Hours

[Allegra Thornton]

Not even a day after the fire, most of the student body had adopted a less rigid definition of 'lockdown', roaming the halls and gathering gossip, but not exiting to the grounds. Three meals had been served in the Great Hall, but Allegra hadn't been to any one of them. She was currently curled up in her brother's favorite chair, staring at the fire and clutching the note her Aunt had sent by owl late last night.

Your parents are on their way. They'll be in Hogsmeade in 24 hours

[arianna]

Though she would much rather be elsewhere, Arianna knew she couldn't avoid the Ravenclaws forever. Better sooner than later anyway. If they had any questions about where she had been or if she knew what had happened, Arianna would rather have them now and get it over with. In all honestly, though, she didn't know much. Bah, they'd still ask her though. She was certain of that.

Hesitating just outside the entrance, the girl took a few deep breaths and muttered the password to Stoney. He leapt aside and Arianna stepped in, Juni and a very smelly bundle of clothes in her arms. She intended on heading straight up to the girl's dorms, but stopped when she noticed someone in Drew's chair. For a moment she thought it was him, but felt her heart sink when she realized it was not.

"Legra?" Arianna called out softly, stepping slowly toward the chair. The older girl was probably taking this worse than she was. Though Drew was like a brother to Arianna, it wasn't the same as actually BEING your brother.

"You....okay?" she questioned, her voice cracking slightly. Juni lept from her arms and curled up near Allegra while Arianna set her bundle down and sat down on and arm of the chair so she could wrap her own around the Head Girl.

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra wiped her eyes with her free hand before looking up to see who had come in. She had already managed to get a weak smile on her face as she nodded back, but the older girl knew she couldn't fool Arianna for a moment. While Drew could be the biggest pain in the butt sometimes, he was the best brother she could ever dream of. Both she and Ari were taking this whole thing pretty badly.

"My parents are on their way," she answered, leaning into her Ravensister.

[arianna]

"When will they be here?" Arianna inquired, leaning her head against Allegra's. She hadn't thought about the Thorntons possibly coming to Hogwarts. She hadn't thought of anything much, really, but for the fact that Drew was gone and no one seemed to be able to figure out where he was at just yet.

[Allegra Thornton]

"A couple of hours I figure," Allegra answered with a sigh and she wrapped her arms around Arianna. "I want them here, but I'm also scared. If they have to come, that means that it's really really bad, you know?" she asked in a low whisper. She still wouldn't let her self think of how high the possibility was of Drew being dead.

[arianna]

Arianna bit her lip and nodded. She wasn't sure if she should say anything to Allegra about everything she'd seen last night. Arianna's only glimmer of hope was the fact that no bodies were found in the greenhouse and the signs of escape. That didn't mean they didn't take him somewhere else and...Arianna didn't want to think about it. Why would anyone want to do that to Drew anyway?

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra sniffed and wiped her eyes again, failing miserably at keeping her tears under control. "He's okay, right?" she asked, barely above a whisper, wishing for anything positive at this point, even if it was a flat out lie.

[arianna]

"I....I hope so," Arianna murmured, wrapping her arms tighter around Allegra. She wasn't sure what else to say. All of Drew's stuff had been left behind and while Arianna didn't doubt that he could find find a way back without his wand, it would make things more difficult.

"H...he hasn't been answering," her voice squeaked as she explained how she had woken nearly once every hour to message Drew again and again on her pendant. Even now it remained silent. "I don't know why...." Arianna sniffed again. She hated to think that she couldn't do anything to help. Especially when she had something that might've been of some use in finding Drew.

[Allegra Thornton]

That bit of news made Allegra bite on her lip. Despite her warnings, Drew had insisted on wearing the dragon pendant, even when he found out Ari's had been taken and replaced with a jinxed one. He had been determined to find Ari's and was positive he would be able to fight off any curse that might come through. Had Allegra known he had succeeded, she would have told Raynor about it as soon as she had gotten the news that Drew was missing.

"Whe... when did you get it back?" she asked.

[arianna]

"Um...a week or so ago," the girl replied. She currently couldn't remember the exact day nor how Drew had gotten it back. He'd talked to Pat, that's for sure, and Arianna was sure it took a lot more effort and frustration on Drew's part to get it back than he would let on. Even though she was still wary of the pendant, Arianna was still grateful to Drew for getting it back to her. But now she couldn't help him in return.

[Allegra Thornton]

"He's not answering?" she asked, the news filling her with a deeper sense of dread. He might not use it to call for help, worried about putting someone else in danger, but to not answer if Ari called out to him? Never.

"Doesn't it... tell you where... where he is?" she asked, not wanting to think of needing to find a body.

[arianna]

Arianna blinked at Allegra. How could she have forgotten? Well, of course, she hadn't ever used that function on her pendent. There were other things it could do, too, but she hadn't felt the need to use them.

"Yeah..." she replied, pulling the pendent out of her shirt. She watched it carefully as she pressed it's middle a few times. It did nothing. Just sat there like a normal everyday necklace. Arianna was sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Even if Drew wasn't wearing the pendent, it should have at least told her where the necklace was.

[Allegra Thornton]

Allegra's frown deepened. She wasn't sure if this was good news or bad. On the one hand, it led to the conclusion that the pendants weren't working, which explained why Drew hadn't answered. On the other hand, it begged the questions about why they weren't working... and where was her brother?

[arianna]

Arianna sniffed. She felt like she was going to cry again. Either her pendent was broken, or Drew's was. Whatever had happened, the poor girl felt even more helpless than ever. Why was it that when she got the chance to help Drew that she just couldn't? After all the times he'd helped her out of sticky situations....She knew it wasn't her fault, but it didn't keep Arianna from feeling like a terrible friend at that moment.

"I shouldn't have let him go," she muttered, her voice breaking slightly. She lifted her hand to wipe off a stray tear.

[Allegra Thornton]

"You couldn't have known," Allegra answered, hugging Arianna again, hoping to give comfort as well as get it. "Even if you had, he wouldn't have listened. You couldn't have stopped him." Her brother was too stubborn.