Please don’t blame yourself. You did nothing wrong. You have been the only light in my life these past few months.
I’m Sorry.
Love Always,
Sara
He couldn’t breathe. The air had turned to lead in his chest as helplessness invaded him. Harry grabbed the package and ripped it open, desperate for more than the few words in her letter.
There were three things in the package. A very old book,Celestira,a thick envelope, and a flat velvet box. The third item grabbed his curiosity and he set the other things aside to open it. There was a scrap of paper, which he removed, and a crimson amulet, flat and thin, like her Fortificus Charm, but square and swirling with a shimmering liquid. He read the note that accompanied it.
This is an Amoridon and it holds the essence of my love. It will live as long my love for you endures but never fear, Harry. It will never turn black.
He slipped the gold chain over his head and tucked the essence of her love in its thin diamond shell under his shirt where it was warm and comforting against his skin.
The envelope, he found, contained stacks of Muggle money, a credit card with his name on it and another note.
For our house.
Contact the barrister, Brad Silverman, for any needs this cannot cover. I have left instructions for him to hire a gardener and a housekeeper.
Harry tossed these things onto the bed, anger rising like the tide, grief twisting around despondency and wringing the shock from his mind. “This can’t be,” he told his shaking hands. “Sara would never do this to me.”
There was a soft knock at the door and Dumbledore pushed it open. Harry’s head shot up, thinking it might be Sara, having changed her mind about leaving. Harry leapt to his feet and made to speak, but Dumbledore held up a hand.
“She’s gone, then,” he said, grave and saddened. “It’s as I thought.”
“Where is she?Professor, I know she must have told you.”
“She did not. I only guessed her plan last night and she neither confirmed nor denied it. As to the nature of the dilemma from which she suffers, she gave no indication.”
“I don’t understand! Why would she leave like this? In the middle of the night with a last minute note and no explanation? Was her life in danger?”
“I don’t know.”
“She would tell me if it was! She knows I would protect her. I don’t understand! It makes no sense!”
“Harry.” Dumbledore stepped closer. “Sara doesn’t wantus to understand. Last night, while we were talking, she said she had lost herself. I believe she has gone to find herself again and that sort of healing must be done on one’s own terms, and often alone.”
“But she took the ring!” he argued, his frustration building. “She’s coming back, I know she is! A few days, maybe a week, right? Don’t you think?”
“There’s no way to be sure.”
Snape appeared in the doorway, looking solemn, as if entering a funeral. “She took the ring?” he asked. “You proposed and she accepted?”
Harry felt oddly embarrassed and his anger spiked at discussing such a private moment with Severus Snape. He held it at bay and nodded his head, feeling defeated.
“Andshe tookthe ring?”
Harry dropped his eyes and wandered away from the bed, putting his back to them to hide his anguish.
The Girl in the Tower Chap 17
Start from the beginning
