The Ueda kids were shaken awake by a nerve-racked Shiro early the next morning. He looked quite pale in the face as he told each of them that they were to go fight after everyone got dressed and had a very quick breakfast. No one commented as they were led out the door and into the forest.
The farther into the jungle they got, the wider their path became. Alex gripped her mother's shirt tightly as distant screams, crashes, and cold laughter became audible above the soft crackle of plants beneath their feet and the intimidating noises of the forest's creatures. "Mr. Gillis has assigned us to the temple deep within this forest… There are only a few of THEM in there, we should be able to handle it," Shiro whispered. He halted, causing his family to do the same. "We all have to be completely silent. Our lives just might depend on it. And I want every one of you to know I love you SO much, and I have faith in you all. We can do this. I KNOW we can do this." The others nodded firmly and, even though they wanted to hug each other tightly, began to walk on.
They slipped unnoticed passed the main battlefield, where the ex-Death Eaters were clashing with the island's residents and some Ministry members. The din of everyone's screams, laughter, and even cries was unbearable. Bodies lie everywhere; some of them bloodless, others incredibly gory. Alex had to bite her lip very hard and turn away. She was almost glad when they made it to the church-like temple; but then she remembered what lay before them.
Shiro slid out his wand, motioning for his family to do the same. He murmured a charm that allowed him to slowly and silently open the grand stone doors. The Uedas stepped inside as soundlessly as possible, and Shiro placed a spell on the doors so that nobody could get in but anyone inside could get out. He did the same to all of the surprisingly intact stain glass windows.
In the next moment, it happened.
Exactly 13 people- 9 wizards and 4 witches- jumped down from the upper pews, coming from all sides. The look in their eyes matched that of a tiger that had been locked in a cage too long and was seeking vengeance on the one who'd caged it up. Spells were shouted out from every angle. Ducking or dodging would have been futile, so instead all of the Uedas called out "Protego!" The ex-DE's all shrieked with shock and pain as their spells recoil.
The battle went by surprisingly quickly. Kiskei had shouted "Expelliarmus!" every time an enemy in his range of sight raised their wand, and while they scuttled to retrieve it one of the other Uedas- usually Austin or one of the twins- would call out something like the Leg-Locker Curse, "Stupefy," or "Incarcerous" then snatch up the disarmed wand. They then broke it in half and used "Mobilicorpus" to throw the victim out the door.
It wasn't 10 minutes later that only 8 of the ex-Death Eaters remained. However, every Ueda except for Alex and Raye had sustained some form of wound. "Kiseki, are you alright?" Raito called over his shoulder, ducking to avoid a hot beam of light shot his way.
"I-I can't see right! M-my eyes are stinging!" Kiseki shrieked, backing into a wall with his face in his hands. Grinning maniacally, one of the ex-DE's scrambled to their feet and ran toward him.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Raito and Shiro shouted in unison. Both of their silvery big cats bolted after the man, knocking him to his feet. Raito's chased the abruptly terrified man out the door, while Shiro's decided to rally up two men and a woman that had cornered Kathy.
Only four left.
Those that remained put up much more of a fight. The same could be said about the Uedas, though. Konata had quickly restored Kiseki's vision, but soon afterwards the poor boy received a gash on his arm. Austin, who was covered in small peck wounds from birds that'd been summoned after him, dove to retrieve Kiseki's wand as he dropped it in pain. He gently pressed it back into his precarious palms, leading him toward the rest of their family. All 8 of them nodded at each other and raised their wands. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" they bellowed in unison.
For a very brief moment, you were able to see the assortment of silvery-blue animals that had appeared. After that second passed, however, you probably would have gone blind from the light that exploded throughout the room. The light pulsed throughout the temple, shaking the walls and nearly drowning out the screams of the remaining ex-DE's. When the light faded and the Uedas regained their sight, the ex-Death Eaters were gone.
"Accio," Shiro, Konata, and the twins called. The four wands that had been left behind flew into their hands; they snapped them in half.
"I can't believe it… We've won our portion…" Alex breathed, her knees beginning to wobble.
"I wouldn't count on it, runt."
Alex's heart stopped. She knew that smooth, masculine voice all too well… Quite frankly, she loved it.
"Jonah," Kiseki hissed, hatred filling his expression. Sure enough, from the deep shadows of the temple emerged the freckled fifth year Ravenclaw that Alexandra had a crush on.
Jonah smiled casually at Kiseki. "Hey buddy. Come now, don't look at me that way… I know I'm a prefect and you're not, but that's no reason to hate me."
Kiseki's glare intensified; he began shaking a bit. "I hate you because I've always known something's up with you. You disgust me."
Jonah scowled. "Slytherin scum," he spat. Kiseki began to lunge, but the twins held him back. Alex, however, managed to take a step forward.
"Jonah… What are you doing here…?" she asked weakly.
"Oh, just visiting… And helping the Dark Lord, or at least a new one, rise again," he replied plainly as if he was talking about a TV show he'd seen multiple times but never quite enjoyed.
Alex stopped breathing for a moment. She stumbled backwards, shaking her head and moving her mouth wordlessly. "I had a CRUSH on you!" she managed to squeak quietly.
"DID you now?" exclaimed Jonah. Alex's face went crimson and she covered her mouth: he wasn't supposed to hear that. Jonah linked his hands behind his back, staring at the ceiling innocently. "Oh, that's sweet Alexandra, I'm truly flattered. But you see, there's too much risk… You're far too young, and I fear you have some competition, but if you-" In less than a millisecond, Jonah whipped out his wand. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Though Alex's mind worked incredibly fast, it was too slow to register what was going on. Before she could so much as scream, she was blinded by a green light, and hit the ground like a stone. All the Uedas immediately jumped forward with their wands outstretched, except for Konata: she dashed to kneel by Alex's side.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" shrieked all the remaining Ueda kids, besides Kiseki, who was too shocked to get his voice to work. The combination of the attacks not only sent Jonah's wand flying about 15 feet in the distance, but knocked him onto his back a good expanse away. He sat upright, rubbing his head, and abruptly began scrambling for his wand. Before he could come close to finding it, however, Shiro stormed over, a fury he'd never before experienced ablaze in his normally calm blue eyes. "CRUCIO!" he screamed. Jonah automatically cried out in terror, his body giving a disturbing lurch. Tears streamed down his face as he felt like magma-hot needles were being jabbed at him from every direction.
"I don't care if I go to bloody Azkaban for this, NOBODY lays a damned finger on MY family!" Shiro boomed, twisting his wand this way and that to increase the torture tenfold.
"That's enough, Dad…!" Austin called nervously after about a minute. Most people who'd experienced the Cruciatus Curse had only felt it for less than 30 seconds, and the pain was still so intense it almost drove them to insanity.
Shiro hesitantly yanked his wand back, giving Jonah a final horrible jolt of immense pain before ending the curse. Panting heavily, sweating buckets, and still sobbing silently, Jonah crumpled over sideways. Kiseki went to retrieve Jonah's wand, making sure to spit on him as he passed. Breaking the wand in half wasn't good enough for him. Instead, Kiseki broke it into eighths, tossed it on the ground, and stomped it into dust. Throwing another furious glare at Jonah, he ran to join his family around his only little sister. Recalling what had happened mere moments ago, his feelings of hatred seeped away and feelings of dread and agony bubbled up to replace them.
"Konata, why are you SMILING? Our daughter is dead," Shiro was saying in a choked whisper. Raye had her hand clamped over her mouth and looked on the verge of tears; Raito hugged her to him tightly.
Konata glanced up at her family and, sure enough, she was smiling, dry tears leaving splotches on her cheeks. "Not dead, love… Just a bloody good actress." At these words, Alex's eyes opened, and she sat upright. Immediately, her siblings dove to give her hugs.
"HOW did you do it? Nobody can live through that curse, except for Harry Potter!" Kathy breathed, staring at her little sister like she was a gift from the gods.
"You see, it didn't hit me. It…" Alex got on hands and knees and crawled around the floor. "Ah! Here we go." She picked something up with her pointer finger and thumb, and when looking closely, the others saw it was a fly. "This little guy happened to buzz by at the EXACT moment Jonah used the curse… It hit the fly, not me. I just pretended to die so he wouldn't try again and ACTUALLY kill me," she explained.
"That's my girl," Shiro whispered, kissing her head and helping her to her feet. Some of the others opened their mouths to speak, but Shiro held up one finger to silence them. "Wait, you hear that? Quietness. Merlin, I think we've won." He walked toward the gray doors, motioning for his family to follow after him. They did so, holding their breaths in anticipation of what they might see. As they Shiro and Raito heaved the doors open, and sunlight seeped into the temple.
Outside, it was quite evident a miniature war had taken place. Plants were burnt, ripped up, or damaged in some other way; people were nursing others' wounds; broken wands were scattered every few feet; some blood stained the ground; the atmosphere was heavy. Still, the Uedas' hearts felt light: the ex-Death Eaters had lost. It was all going to be okay.
The next day was quiet. Shiro and Konata had a feeling that not all of the "bad guys" had been defeated, and made the children hang low inside the house. The kids couldn't really complain: they were still sore from fighting.
"Hey, Allie, I'm uh… Sorry about your crush," Kiseki said that evening. All day, he'd been glancing at his little sister and telling himself, "You're going to express your sympathy," but it took a long while for him to consent.
Alex, who was sitting cross-legged in an armchair with one hand stroking Butterscotch and the other supporting a rather lengthy book, looked up at him. She felt her heart give a shudder: she'd removed Jonah from her mind ever since the previous day. "That's quite alright…" she said after a moment. "He was a terrible person. I'M sorry I ever crushed on him, I know how much you disliked him."
Kiseki shook his head in alarm. "No, no, don't YOU be sor-"
"Someone's at the door," Alex interrupted, shifting her rabbit into her arms and dashing to the front door. She opened it hesitantly, but smiled brightly at the visitor. "Mr. Gillis! Hi! I'll go get my dad," she exclaimed.
"Very well, thank you dear." Mr. Gillis looked quite different from the man he was on day 1 of the vacation. His youthful vibe was dimmed, as if someone had put a lid on it. He looked awfully tired, and was supporting himself with a wooden crutch.
"Oy, please come in, Mr. Gillis!" Shiro called as he joined them in the room, his face beaming.
Mr. Gillis waved the hand that wasn't holding his crutch. "Oh, no, I just have a few things to say. First off… I'd like to thank you immensely for helping us fight, the world owes you and your family for your bravery. Second, I'm glad to say that all the surviving Death Eaters- no point in saying the ex, if you ask me- have been shipped off to Azkaban. They won't be seen again for a LONG time. Not to mention YOU'RE already clear for using a Forbidden Curse. Don't worry about getting in trouble for it."
"Why, that's fantastic! I… I really don't know what else to say," Shiro breathed.
Mr. Gillis clapped him on the back his spare hand. "No sense in trying to think of something, then, hm? Well, enjoy the last few days of your vacation. I can assure you they won't be disturbed. Oh, and one more thing: the townsfolk are throwing a party tomorrow night. Why don't you all come down?"
"Alright, I think I'm ready… What do you think, Scorpy? Too casual? Not casual enough?" questioned Raye the next night. Shiro and Konata had decided to allow their kids to invite one friend each to come to the party with them and spend the night. Alex's and Kiseki's friends came by Floo Powder (there was a fireplace in Mr. Gillis's house); the others were all capable of Apparating.
"Don't worry, you look just fine," Scorpius Malfoy assured his wife with a peck on her cheek. He put his arm around her shoulders and went downstairs to join the others. Raito had brought Presilla Parkinson: the black haired, gray eyed niece of Pansy Parkinson. She had been Raito's girlfriend for 4 years, though he'd been pursuing her since they were 11 (he didn't care that she was a Slytherin, he thought she was gorgeous). Presilla hated almost everyone that wasn't part of the Ueda family. You couldn't really blame her, though: her parents were dead, she'd been raised by Pansy, and the only "friends" she'd had throughout her years in Hogwarts rarely even looked at her.
Austin's date was Radha, whom you've already been generally introduced to (Ravenclaw, Padma Patil's daughter, same age as her best friend Kathy… Ringing a bell?). She looked an awful lot like her mother had when at Hogwarts. Kathy brought James, which upset Shiro a lot, since everyone would be sharing a bed with their guest. ("James, I AM fond of you, please don't get me wrong, but I don't like the idea of you," he gulped, "sleeping with my daughter…")
Kiseki had brought one of his only friends, a thin, black-haired Hufflepuff named Drew. He had been adopted by Gregory Goyle, but when he was sorted into Hufflepuff, he disowned him. Drew lived in an orphans' home currently, but was still one of the cheeriest people you could meet. Oh, and Drew is Kiseki's… partner. Yes, Kiseki is gay (the only girl outside his family that he'd ever liked was Rose Weasley, who used to have a crush on him but soon gave up).
Alex was the only one who hadn't brought someone she was dating. She'd brought her best friend, Jenna: a brown-haired Gryffindor and the only child of Lavender Brown and her husband. She looked almost identical to her mother, but was much kinder and less obnoxious than she'd been.
The party, which was held in the town square, was a blast. There was lots of energetic music and exotic foods, plus some impressive magic shows. A man had even brought a dragon onstage and "tamed" it. Raito and Austin grabbed each other's arms, wordless in excitement, as they realized it was the dragon that'd chased them.
Upon Konata's request, Mr. Gillis snapped a group photo of them all. The couples all stood with at least one arm around the other; Scorpius and Raito even lifted their girls into the air, Scorpius holding Raye bridal-style. Kiseki failingly tried to calm his blushing as Drew embraced him, and Kathy jokingly scolded James for only half looking at the camera (his pose involved putting one arm around Kathy's shoulders and kissing her head, one eye open and glancing in the direction of Mr. Gillis).
The Uedas danced, sang, ate, and in Raito's case, made out with their date, until the party came to a close 3 hours after it had began. They reluctantly climbed back to their house, breathless, laughing uncontrollably, the booming music still ringing in their ears.
"Did everyone have a good time?" Shiro asked in what normally would have been a shout, but came out at normal volume. Everyone either nodded, gave double thumbs-up, or punched their fist into the air. "Good, I'm glad. Not too late now, all of you."
"Jen, you can get dressed in the room, I'm going to go say good-night to everyone," Alex indicated as they decided it was bedtime, at about 9:30. Jenna nodded and disappeared into their room.
Alex knocked on her parents' door across the hall from her. Without giving it a second thought, she opened he door, but immediately regretted it: her parents had been laughing softly, while sitting in their PJs on the bed, and the moment Alex walked in, they kissed. Noticing her presence, they spun away from each other, a classic look of flustered embarrassment crossing their faces.
"I-I'm sorry guys, I didn't think…" Alex said quickly.
Shiro smiled good-naturedly. "Oh, no harm done. 'Night, Allie." "I love you bunches," Konata and Shiro said in unison. Konata kissed her fingers and held them toward her youngest daughter.
Alex grinned sheepishly and nodded, also kissing two fingers and holding out her hand. "I love you too. 'Night." She slipped out backwards and closed the door in front of her. Before she even opened Raito's door, she knew she should just move on: she could hear Presilla moaning gently, and Raito murmuring, "I'm sorry you gotta wear your bra 'n undies, and I gotta wear my boxers, but y'know…"
"Don't apologize, baby, I get it. I'm just glad to be with you…" responded Presilla in a purr of a tone. Alex shuddered and walked away as it became Raito's turn to moan. She hesitated before knocking on Raye's door.
"You can open it," Raye called.
Alex did so, but barely more than a crack. "Good-night, Raye. Good-night, Scorpius."
Fortunately, both Raye and Scorpius were fully clothed in their pajamas, and looked like they were just sliding in to fall asleep. They smiled warmly at Alexandra. "'Night Alex," they retorted. She proceeded to Kiseki's room, where she bid good-night to her brother and Drew but witnessed them share an amorous kiss before closing the door all the way. Kathy and James were standing out on the balcony, but still turned and politely told Alex good-night. Radha looked to be asleep, though Austin returned Alex's "good-night" with a wink.
The next day, the Uedas all went to the beach with their company. As Drew and Kiseki splashed up and down in the shallow ends of the water, Kiseki ended up tripping but Drew caught him by the waist. He then proceeded to give him a kiss on the nose, which made Kiseki's cheeks turn crimson. Scorpius and Raito laughed as Raye squealed quietly (she'd been a yaoi fan girl since she was 10). That night they had a bonfire, where they roasted hot dogs, made s'mores, told stories, goofed around, and just plain had a good time. Soon after, they bid farewell to their guests and went up to bed.
All the Uedas slept in that morning. After everyone was awake, Konata whipped up the largest breakfast she'd made all week, and her family seemed to savor every bite. Once their plates were cleaned up, they went back upstairs to pack. When they were ready, they piled out onto the porch.
"Oy, there's Dad!" Austin called after waiting under the umbrella at the picnic table for a good 15 minutes. Shiro came back looking completely dazed.
"How much did it come out to?" Konata questioned, digging through her bag and pulling out Raito's rat.
"Mr. Gillis changed his mind… He only charged me 20 bucks," Shiro whispered.
Konata almost dropped Chester onto the porch instead of Raito's outstretched hand. "20…? Blimey, that man is TOO kind!"
Shiro smiled softly, looking more awake. "He said it was because of the 'services we provided to the island' and, well… He says I remind him so much as his son who died in a horrible when he was only 9. He said that he loves me as if I'm part of his family… And, well, he said that there's a 100% family discount, and then he gave me a wink."
The kids all had the same reactions as when they first were told they'd be going on the vacation. "So we… can come back any time?" Kathy asked quietly.
Shiro grinned. "Well, not ANY time, but yes, we're always welcome back. Now then! To the portkey!"
Alex took a last glimpse of the house, then to her family. She thought about how she had been face to face with death; about how they had helped take part in preventing a breakout of dark witches and wizards; about the little adventures they'd had on this island; about what her family really meant to her. Imagining coming home with Tippy eagerly waving them inside, she smiled to herself. Did all of her family live in the same house as her? No. Were they always with her?
Absolutely.