Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

58- Leaderless

Sara started going to Hogwarts several times a week, after her meeting with Dumbledore. Although the work was dull and repetative, Sara didn't mind, as it meant she got to be in Hogwarts again.
Having a task to do, also gave her life focus, and structure.
That, combined with weekly catch ups with Remus, and Molly inviting her for meals at the Burrow multiple times a week, meant that Sara had begun to forget how lonely she was.
After losing Sirius, Sara thought she would never be truely happy again, but the surviving members of the Order had made her feel whole again.
But to make sure that she never forgot Sirius, Sara had transformed one of the spare bedrooms in her house, into a shrine for him. Everything he had ever bought her, combined with all the things he'd left her in his will, were placed in this room. And Sara visited it once a day, to make sure that Sirius remained a part of her life.

On one particular evening at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had informed the staff that he would be leaving the school for a few hours, so he had invited more guards to join them for the night. This meant that Remus and Bill, joined the night shift along with Sara, Tonks, McGonagall and Flitwick.
Sara thought that Dumbledore was being rather paranoid, since Hogwarts was one of the safest places in Britain.
But her and the rest of the Order obeyed his instructions and made sure that all the secret passages were covered.
Sara enjoyed roaming the corridor's, as it reminded her of being a student, only this time she didn't need to worry about getting caught by Filch.

After several long hours, Sara made her way towards Remus, so that they could chat, to make the time go quicker. But when she reached him and Tonks, a bunch of students suddenly ran into them.
Harry was not with them, but Sara recognised Neville, Ginny and Ron, who seemed to all be out of breath.
"What's happened?" She questioned.
"It's Draco. He's managed to get Death Eaters into the castle, and they're on their way towards the Astronomy tower" panted Ron.
"That's impossible" replied Remus.
"Well clearly not. And Dumbledore must have been expecting something this, which is why he called in extra guards. We need to get to the Astronomy tower as quickly as possible" announced Sara.
Remus nodded, and the group removed their wands, before turning and running down the corridor, where they were joined by Flitwick, Bill and McGonagall, who had heard the commotion.

When the group finally reached their destination, a fight broke out, as the Death Eaters tried to stop them from going any further.
There was such chaos in the room, that Sara struggled to focus on everything that was going on.
Spells flew in every direction, and time seemed to be going faster than normal.
McGonagall sent Flitwick to fetch Snape, since they were vastly outnumbered, and needed back up.
A few moments later, a Death Eater who Sara didn't recognise, lay dead on the floor, killed by a spell that had been meant for Remus.

But the death of one Death Eater was nothing to celebrate, as Bill had been savaged by Greyback, and Neville had been thrown across the room, by some invisible curse that stopped them all from going upstairs.
Remus also tried to make his way up to the top of the tower, but he too was repelled backwards, like Neville.
Yaxley, was firing off spells so randomly, that he came close to hitting his fellow Death Eaters, several times.
For Sara it felt like she was back in the first wizarding war, but she knew that this time she didn't have Sirius or James to come and rescue her. So she would have to defend herself.
Sara had to fight with everything she had in her, which wasn't easy, as the Death Eaters all seemed prepared to fight to the death.

Sara had seen Snape enter the fight a few moments before, but he had dissappeared from view, and she had no idea where he'd gone.
Suddenly one of Yaxley's spells flew out of control, and smashed into the ceiling, causing it to explode.
Sara didn't have time to react, as she was suddenly burried by a mountain of rubble.
Her head was in serious pain, and her vision was starting to go blurry.
She could still see the fight that was going on, through a gap in the rubble, and when she saw Snape appear, she sighed, as she thought this meant that they'd been saved, since Snape was one of the best fighters she knew.
"It's over!" Shouted Snape, who then began exiting tower.
His words confused Sara, but her mind was starting to go fuzzy, and she couldn't seem to focus on anything.
Sara's eyes fluttered, and she saw blood sliding down her face, before everything suddenly went black.

****

Sara opened her eyes, and saw a black-haired, spectacle wearing boy, leaning over her.
"Harry" mumbled Sara, as she tried to push herself up, but her body seemed to resist.
"You should lie still Miss Burne" warned Madam Pomfrey, who was stood on the right hand side of Sara's bed, opposite Harry.
"Wha-what happened?" Asked Sara, who's mind was all fuzzy.
She had remembered fighting in the Astronomy tower, but had no idea how she'd ended up in the hospital wing.
No one answered her, so she frowned and pushed herself up into a sitting position, despite Madam Pomfrey's warning.
Her body ached, but Sara ignored it, and looked around the room at the dozen or so people who were in there with her.

Lying in the bed on her left, was an unconscious Neville Longbottom, and on her right was Bill Weasley, who's face was covered in deep cuts.
Around Bill's bed stood Molly, Arthur, Fleur, Ron, Ginny, McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, and Hermione.
But there was one important member of the Order missing, which confused Sara.
"Where is Dumbledore?" Asked Sara.
"Sara... Dumbledore is gone" revealed McGonagall, who looked more distraught than Sara had ever seen before.
"Gone" mumbled Sara, hoping she had heard wrong.

"He's dead. Snape killed him" announced Harry coldly.
"What! No, that can't be right" gasped Sara.
"It is. I was there. I saw him do it"
"But Snape was one of us. He was on our side".
"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens. We all knew that Sara. If he wanted to hide his true intentions from us and Dumbledore, he could have done it easily" admitted Remus.
"But we trusted him! Dumbledore trusted him, he always swore that Snape was on our side" replied Sara.
"I guess we've all been fools. Snape played us all, and came out on top"
"Yes... So what happens now? Dumbledore was always so strong. He was our leader, how are we supposed to continue on without him?"
"I... I don't know".

Sara stared at all the miserable faces around her, who were all feeling exactly the same way as her.
Despite all the people Sara had lost over the years, Dumbledore was someone that she thought would always be around, to help them stand up to Voldemort.
He planned all their missions, and was the person who had created the Order of the Phoenix in the first place. And now he was gone.
Dumbledore was the one person that Voldemort had always feared, and Sara didn't think that they stood a chance against him now, without their leader.