Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off. Thank you for your cooperation.
I cannot afford to stand against the Queen openly any longer. The shop has been officially closed, and I have finished packing what belongings my family and I can take. Charles would surely think me less of a Gryffindor for retreating like this, but my family is more important to me nowadays than some trivial house pride. Perhaps when my life is at its end, I will see him once more…supposing that is that the separation caused by being in Wonderland is not the same in the afterlife…
Sighing in remembrance of his older brother and his former life, Archibald Potter softly closed his well cared for journal. His beloved Tabitha had always been the one to keep his thoughts from turning so dark with reflections on his past, and he felt the loss of her presence more and more with each day that passed since her demise. It was only due to the comfort provided by his remaining family that the madness of this place was unable to slip into the cracks of his defenses and take hold in him. The city had become a much darker place since his youth, and knowing he would be retreating into its depths did little to comfort him. No matter that that place was the only supposed glimmer of light in these dark times.
A high pitched whine from across the room broke Archibald out of his musings as he looked up from his desk at the source of the disturbance. A warm smile graced his face as he beheld his daughter tending to his young grandson's needs and successfully banished the dark mood that threatened to settle upon him. The young toddler appeared to have hurt himself somehow and his daughter was attempting to comfort her little boy.
"Shhh, its okay sweetie," Adeline cooed at her son, "Did you hurt your hand? Let mummy see." His grandson sniffled and nodded as he offered the injured hand while Archibald began walking towards them. Little David had inherited the Potter family hair it seemed as he got older, though it held the darker brown tones of his father unlike the jet black of his grandfather; much of which had become peppered with gray in the last few years. Adeline's lovely blonde hair thankfully came from his late wife, and seeing her always reminded him of the good times he once shared with Tabitha. He watched as his daughter kissed the injured hand with a smile before picking David up to rest on her hip.
When David looked over to see Archibald, he held out the injured hand once more with a pout, "Owie. Paw-paw make better too?"
Unable to resist the little two year old's request, Archibald lightly held David's hand between his own and channeled a bit of his magic to heal the minor injury easily. David's face splitting grin once he finished was enough of a reward for him and he leaned in to kiss the boy's brow. "There you are Davie, Pa-Pa made it all better." The toddler nodded and said 'tahnk-oo' once prompted to do so by his mother.
"You really need to teach me how to do that properly Da'," Adeline smiled, "I can't have him running to you every time he scraps his knee yeah?"
"Perhaps once we've settled into our new home we can pick up on your lessons again," Archibald replied and attempted to be positive about it, but his daughter could clearly see the sadness in his eyes of having to leave his home of so many years. Not wanting to worry her though, he continued on, "You have all the shrunken parcels then? The food, clothes, and personal belongings?"
Adeline pursed her lips but nodded, "They're in my bag on the chair there. Davie was playing in it like mummy told him not to, which is how he hurt himself and he's not going to do that again, is he?" She gave a practiced maternal look of disproval at the young toddler and Davie shook his head negatively. Pleased with his response, she smiled and looked back at her father, "I know you're not happy about leavin' Da, but none of us can stay here any longer. You know that." He knew more than Adeline did about how bad their situation was, so he put on a smile for her and just nodded. They'd be leaving soon anyway so there was no need to worry her excessively.
The pounding of footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway, and all three of them turned to face it, though Archibald was ready with a spell on the tip of his tongue should the person be unfriendly. None had tried to break in since he'd boarded up the doors, but that didn't mean their wouldn't be a first. He let out a sigh of relief though as his son-in-law Terrington Hatter skidded to a halt into the room, one hand steadying the short brimmed hat on his head from falling off from his momentum.
"Da!" Davie yelled joyfully and held his arms out in the unspoken gesture of wanting to be held.
"We've got ta go," Terrington quickly stated as he took Davie on to his hip, "There's a few hands of Suits coming this way, and they don't look like they want a cuppa." Adeline gasped and grabbed the bag containing all of their belongings, slinging across her shoulders. The loud banging that echoed down the empty hallway betrayed just how close the Queen's men were and Archibald knew he had a decision to make. It was an easy one all things considered.
He turned back to grab his beloved journal and passed it to his daughter, "Put this in there too. You three run out the back way and I'll meet up with you-"
"Da, no!" Adeline objected, "You're coming with us! You can't stay here, they'll kill you!"
"I know dear one," Archibald smiled, "but they are upon us already, and someone has to stay back and distract them so we can escape. I'll meet up with you at the Library as soon as I am able." Adeline looked like she wanted to object, but the noise from his former shop front increased in volume and he leaned down to kiss her brow, much like he had done with Davie. "I promise Adie, as soon as I can," he stated and she sighed in resignation before nodding and giving him a kiss on his cheek. Archibald turned to look at Terrington's grim, but resolved face, "I'm counting on you to take care of our family Terry."
His young son-in-law nodded resolutely, "Always Archie. I'd do anything for them."
It was with a sad smile that he watched them for what was likely to be the last time. While still fairly spry for a man of almost one hundred years of age, Archibald held no illusions as to who was likely to win the upcoming battle. Hopefully Adeline would forgive him one day. He pulled on the hidden latch under his desk and felt the warmth of magic spread up his arm as he grasped the wooden rod within the compartment. Birch wood and dragon heartstring, twelve and a half inches. His wand. He was only a frightened third year when he'd fallen into Wonderland, and his wand was one of the first things to start acting up on him as his magic changed. Archibald had come to the conclusion years ago that it was due to the magical overload of this world compared to his own that caused his wand to fizzle out after a few spells, though more information than that was impossible to test since he'd never been able to find his way back to Hogwarts. Still, it added a power of it's own to his spells and he'd need every edge he could get.
Hurriedly making his way down the hall, Archibald hid behind the empty counter near him. He could see light coming in as the sounds of boards being ripped off were clearly distinguishable now. Loud voices were demanding his surrender, and he gripped his wand a little tighter as he waited for the right moment. As soon as he heard the sound of the doors bursting open, he popped out to the side of the counter and yelled, "Stupefy!" The beam of red light burst forth and knocked one Suit back into another, but only the direct hit was knocked out as the second man was caught by a fellow Suit. Cursing his luck he ducked back behind the counter and waited as the sound of gunfire fell over him. Holding his wand hand just around the side and pointing it towards the wooden floor near the entrance he shouted, "Incendio!" Shouts of alarm sprang up among the Suits as the floor quickly lit on fire and he could hear the scuffle of footsteps as some Suits moved further into the shop to escape the flames on the non flammable floor. Sadly, this was all he could take in as his wand emitted bright sparks that burned when they reached his skin, causing him to drop it and have it roll away. Damn it! He'd expected it to last longer than that! Smoke was beginning to flood the room at an increased rate now as more things caught on fire, and his coughing gave away his position apparently as pain erupted in his left shoulder. Hissing through his teeth in pain, Archibald looked over to see blood beginning to seep out of a bullet shaped wound and swore once more. Knowing there wasn't much more he could do, Archibald steeled himself to prepare his strongest wandless spell and ignored the throbbing of his shoulder. A Gryffindor till the end anyway, eh Charles?
With one last calming breath he stood up as fast as he could and held his uninjured right arm towards the main room, noting the spreading fire and confusement among the six or so men in the building while more waited outside. Archibald released his strongest pure blast of magic, something which had saved him from would be captors on many an occasion, and watched as the wave swiftly radiated from a center point in the room, flinging his attackers backwards and unfortunately himself as well. He grunted as he slammed into the nearby back wall right before falling to the floor. Impacting head first with the hard concrete there, and knew no more.
Adeline Hatter held David close to her as she sat huddled in a corner of the Great Library. She was beyond tears now, having cried herself dry hours ago after watching the blast emit form her father's former shop. Terry, sweet Terry had tried to console her with false hopes that Archie may have made it, but some how she knew that she'd never see her father again. He'd had this noble streak to him for as long as she could remember that she'd always idolized while her mother had warned would get him killed one day, even though the results his bravery created always made her smile as well. The loss of his constant presence only three months after her mother was devastating, and she was at a loss as to how she was going to explain to Davie that he'd never see his 'Pa-Pa' again. He had only just accepted that 'Gran' wouldn't be around any more just over a month ago.
There was no comfort in the knowledge that her father's prized journal was held in her long forgotten sack of belongings, and she didn't know if she'd ever be able to read it really. Certainly no time soon though. Instead, Adeline just held her little David close to her chest as she tried to ease the ache in her chest while he slept. Terry had come up behind them at some point and wrapped his arms around her in silent comfort for what seemed the dozenth time that day. With his added presence on top of her emotional drain, their small family was finally able to fall asleep along the many refugees among the stacks of books and scrolls on the floor of the Great Library.
Author's Comments: Depressing, I know. But surely you didn't think Archie had died peacefully in his sleep? Well here you can see the complete connection of Hatter's heritage for my stories. I'm a bit angry at myself for losing my paper with all the original names I'd given everyone so hopefully you like these. Yes, Terrington is a take on the name from Tim Burton's new movie. It fit well enough and served as a nice little tip of that to it if you will, though it's obviously not the same character. If the line family decedents leading to Hatter doesn't make sense to you, just let me know and I'll explain it in a pm.
Some topics that I'll be addressing in the sequel are hinted upon here as well and I'm interested to see if anyone can spot more than one. :) See all the neat things you guys get to know before all those who aren't reading this? Shame on them as the next one or the one after will have a very important scene that deals with Harry's initial disappearance from Dumbledore's view point. :P :smiles: till the next bit then...