Here We Go Again (Sierra Lestrange Book 3)

Chapter 2: Here I Go

Early the next morning, I got all the supplies I needed and left. I didn't want to risk seeing Angela or the traitor.

I had to shadow-travel. It was the only way, of course. They'd be monitoring all lines again.

There was one person I wanted to see right then. That person was Hermione. Hermione Granger.

Shadow traveling between continents was much harder than traveling across a country.

First off, you had to concentrate. Or else, you'd end up on some random ship or worse, in the ship's shadow. Second, it's a lot harder to stay in the shadow place.

And it tires you out to near unconsciousness. But, I'd rather do that than have to stay at camp with Angela or him. I appeared in the forest near Hermione's house.

I whistled three short notes. A minute later, the one small hellhound puppy came bounding through the woods.

He left out a loud Arooooof!!! and pounced on me. "Woah! Boy, woah! I missed you, too, buddy," I said rubbing his head.

"Shadow! Where are you?" a voice came through the woods. "There you are! What are you doing? Oh, you silly little guy." She pulled him off.

"I'm terribly sorry, miss. He doesn't do that usually. I don't know what got into him." Hermione knelt next to the 'dog' and patted his back, her back to me.

"Nah, don't worry about it. That happens to me a lot with hellhounds." She froze and turned around slowly. "Sierra!" I gave her a hug. "How have you been?! I haven't seen you in so long!" I smiled.

"I'm okay, I guess, " I replied. She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. "Your lying. What happened?" she asked. I gave a fake smile.

"Well....." Now that I was here, I wasn't sure I could tell her, or anyone. "I don't really want to talk about it right now. How are you?" I asked. She frowned sadly.

"I'm, I'm fine." She tried to discreetly wipe a tear from her eyes, but I saw it. "Hermione, what's wrong? You can tell me," I said, putting my arm on her shoulders. She started to cry. I hugged her tightly.

"It's okay, Hermione." Even the little hellhound sensed something wrong. He whimpered and put his front paws on Hermione's chest. He licked her face. She smiled.

"Why does life have to be so hard?" she asked quietly. "Two wars within three years. Why? First the titans threatening to destroy the Earth and then You-Know-Who comes back. Life is horrible."

I didn't say any thing. I had often thought the same thing over the last few months. "Why can't we just be normal, Sierra? Life would be so much easier." I stared at her in shock.

"Are you joking? Hermione Granger, normal? Sierra Lestrange, normal?" She laughed.

"My name isn't even normal! If everything was normal, I wouldn't exist! The daughter of a psychopathic witch and a supposedly non-existent god. I don't know about you but normal isn't the first that pops into my head when hearing that."

She laughed again.

"Besides, normal is another mortal word for boring. Hermione, I would rather die than be normal. Being normal would mean I wouldn't have met you, or anyone I know and care about today."

I grabbed her hand, smiling. "We'll get through this, Hermione. I'll always be there for you."

 She smiled and sighed. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small pouch.

"Here. Now you'll always be able to contact me, as long as you have water."

She opened it and frowned. "I can't take all these. It's worth way to much."

She held out the sack of about ten to twenty drachmas. I shook my head.

"No. You are keeping these. I need you to be able to contact me." I closed her hand around the bag.

"Alright. But, Sierra, How will I know where you are?" she asked. 

"Oh, it'll be easy. I' m going to a place you know very well. Under-cover, of course."

She thought for a minute. "You're not," she said incredulously.

"I am. We need inside eyes. I'm going to Hogwarts"