Part 8 - I Smell a Rat...

"What do I do?" It was Sirius' voice, sounding extremely panicked, that woke me. The answer was muffled. I could tell someone was talking, but not who, or what about. It was rather frustrating.

I felt like crap, and that certainly didn't help. My body was freezing, yet I was sweating; my head was pounding; I could barely breathe; I couldn't see straight,; I was extremely disoriented because I was definitely not where I remembered having been, not that I remembered where that was either.

I groaned loudly, and curled up onto my side. Immediately, I had nausea to add to my long list of infirmities.

The door opened a bit later, and I cracked my eyes open just enough to be able to see Sirius, Remus, James, and Lily padding quietly towards me. It was then that I realized I was in my bedroom, and I suddenly remembered everything about what had happened up until I fainted, the playdate with Bill, freaking out and going home after he faked dying, and being in the shower. I felt even worse.

"Hey there, kiddo," Sirius cooed softly, sinking to his knees beside my bed as he gently smoothed my choppy bangs out of my eyes and back from my sweat-slicked forehead, "How're you feeling?"

"What-," I answered, my voice sounding like a soft croak, "What happened?" He gave me a sad smile, then I felt the bed bounce on my other side.

"That little Weasley boy made you upset," I could tell it was James, but I still put all my energy into turning over to see. Indeed, he was stretched out beside me on the bed, smiling goofily, but still slightly worriedly. He mussed up the hair that Sirius had just straightened, making it fall into my eyes once again as he went on, "And I guess you got yourself a little cold from being in the shower too long. Hasn't anybody ever told you not to do that?"

I kinda blinked, and didn't answer. Lily smacked James upside the head, scolding, "Don't tease her, you git. She's sick." The poor guy rubbed the back of his head, grumbling guiltily, "Sorry."

Next it was Remus, leaning over me with a kind smile as he held out a large glass of something neon pink, and steaming. "Just drink this, and you should feel better," He said, and the next second James and Sirius were gently manhandling me into a sitting position. Remus held the glass up for me to drink, but I pulled back after I got the first mouthful. It tasted like something between rancid tuna smothered in bleu cheese, and the smell that used to over power our entire street when the sewer system got backed up at the height of summer.

I wanted to spit it out. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to demand why the hell they were trying to poison me. But I couldn't do any of those things. Some of the foul liquid escaped down my throat, and I found that I couldn't do anything at all. My body went limp, my eyes rolled back into my head, and then everything went black again.

xxXxx

"Prolonged malnutrition and sleep deprivation can increase susceptibility to infection," That's what I woke up to the second time, and it wasn't a voice I recognized. I groaned, trying to fight when I realized that someone was touching me, taking my pulse from a vein in my neck.

"Weak pulse," The voice, it was a woman, went on, "She's most likely dehydrated on top of everything else. When was the last time she ate?"

"Uh..." It was Sirius who answered, "Last time I saw, was... breakfast, three days ago. She's been really out of it since Moon- er, Remus gave her that healing potion, fat lot of good it did anyways, and she's just been kinda moaning, and thrashing around in her sleep. Lily said that if her fever stayed up for more than three days, then I should call you. So, is she gonna be ok?"

I was like, "What? Three days? What is he on? I was just talking to him a few minutes ago..."

"Hmmm..." The woman's voice was back, "Non-responsive to magical medication? That's not very good. She seems to have gotten a nasty strain of the flu, and pneumonia on top of it, and if the potions don't do her any good she'll just have to get better the muggle way. I'll refer you to a muggle doctor I'm acquainted with, and he'll be able to tell you more."

"What? No!" Sirius yelped, "You're supposed to fix her!" He sounded like a child trying to comprehend that there is no Santa Claus. The woman answered, "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do if she doesn't respond to magical medicine. If you don't mind, I'll use your floo to make a call to the muggle doctor, and he may be able to come over and see her right now."

"Ya, ya," Sirius answered, sounding significantly brighter, "Please, do that!" There were some footsteps, and then silence. I felt the bed sag, and then Sirius' hand was on my forehead, smoothing back my hair again. I whimpered slightly, because his hand felt so hot. It made me realize that I was freezing.

"Hey, kiddo," He said softly, "You awake?" I groaned, and, after a rather long, strenuous struggle, managed to crack my eyes open. No lights were on, yet I still had to squint because the room seemed so bright. It was kind of spinning a little bit, too...

"Hi, doll," Sirius cooed, and I could just barely see that he had a very big, very tired, very relieved grin on his face, "How do you feel?" I really just wanted to go back to sleep, but he looked excited about having my answer, so I figured I could tell him something. "Ok," I rasped.

"Liar," He teased, combing through my hair with his fingers, "You're still sick, huh?" I closed my eyes, and nodded, a new wave of nausea and dizziness washing over me as I struggled to draw air into my lungs. His touch was just so soothing though. I was still in pain, but it didn't seem to matter when he was petting my hair like that. Consciousness became even more of a struggle.

"Don't worry," I heard him say softly, "You're gonna be alright." I totally believed him, because I never thought not to. Sirius had never lied to me before, and I really trusted him because of that.

We sat in silence for awhile longer, though, again, I'm not sure if it was minutes, or hours. I was kind of in a half asleep state where I could tell what was going on around me, tell that Sirius had stayed with me the entire time, but I couldn't do anything and didn't have the strength or focus to move.

Eventually, the door opened, and a very short, very old, blue-haired woman wearing a white apron stepped in. She smiled warmly at me, and was followed a few seconds later by a short, gray-haired old man in a white lab coat. He smiled, too.

I figured out that they were both doctors. The woman, who introduced herself as Madame Mary, was a magical doctor, a healer, and then man was just a regular muggle doctor.

Dr. Vargus, was how he introduced himself before he started poking and prodding me, but that was the one time I ever saw him, so he's not that important. In the end, his diagnosis agreed with Madame Mary's, and he handed Sirius some pills, instructing him to give me two, five times a day until they were all gone, and, also, "Make sure she drinks lots of clear liquids, and doesn't do anything strenuous. That means you stay in that bed, young lady." I had no problems whatsoever with that, because the only thing I had any desire for at the time, aside from some relief from the pain, dizziness, and nausea, was sleep.

Both the old people left after some time, and Sirius summoned me a glass of ice water and some dry toast. I drank the water, but not much, and just looking at the toast made me sick to my stomach, so I didn't want to have anything to do with it. "Please, kiddo," He pleaded, waving a triangle under my nose, "For me?" I sighed, and managed to force down one bite, for him.

After that, though, my stomach felt so bad that I had to lay down again. I rolled over onto my side, curling in on myself to relieve the pain. The last thing I remember from that was Sirius laying down beside me, hugging me close to him, and softly singing some disjointed little tune that I still find myself randomly humming to this day.

xxXxx

Long story short, I got sicker. After that initial three days of complete unconsciousness, a week passed where I was alternately throwing up, nearly going into respiratory arrest, and overheating to the point where I started having hallucinations (and I had some pretty damn weird ones, too).

But, that week was the worst of it. Sirius devotedly made sure I was well taken care of at all times, he even sent Noah and Judy to the Potters' so he could concentrate on me. It was also so they wouldn't catch anything, seeing as how Judy had a tendency to gravitate towards people, places, and things that she was told were off-limits, and Noah was just constantly trying to get in to see me because he was so upset about me being sick.

Sirius made sure I was well hydrated, medicated, and fed, and he also kept me entertained during my brief periods of lucidity. I will never forget the puppet show he put on at the end of my bed. He saw that I was awake, and just randomly ripped off his stinky, sweaty, holey socks, put them on his hands, and made them start talking to each other. The even funnier part is that they were talking about me. It went something like...

Right Hand: Hey, Leftie!

Left Hand: Ya, Rightie?

RH: Ivy's sick!

LH: I know! It's that little Weasley wanker's fault! I reckon we should beat up him, ya?

RH: Nah, not until after she's better, that way she can watch, and maybe we'll finally find out what he did to her. But I think right now, we need to make her some more toast (the sock puppet turns to me) Ivy, love, would you like us to make you some more toast?

It was at that point that I started laughing so hard I could barely breathe, and Sirius had to halt the show in order to help me. It was worth it though. I still can't look at argyle socks without cracking up...

Anyways, after seven days, I began to get better. I was still weak and confined to my bed, but I started to be able to hold food down, my fever mostly subsided, and my breathing got much easier. Another week passed before I started going completely stir-crazy. Sirius tried to help, really, he brought me books, and played games with me, and told me stories about him and the Marauders, but that only went so far. I wanted out of the room.

"No," Was his flat reply ever single time I asked, "You're still not completely well, and I'll not having you give me another scare like that again."

"But," I argued on more than on occasion, "Can't I just walk around some? I really do feel better, and I'm bored. I miss the twins, and I want to go outside. Please?" Every time, he only responded, "We'll see how you feel tomorrow, deal?" And I really didn't have anything to do aside from grumble, "Deal." Then, he'd usually force his latest very sad attempt at chicken soup down my throat. It was amazingly bad. Statistically speaking, with the number of tries he made he should have at least accidentally come up with something remotely edible, but, of course, I'm not that lucky.

That next Friday, Sirius got a letter in the afternoon. He was with me, and had been the entire day. He was teaching me exploding snap, and, surprisingly, I was winning. The poor man had singed off nearly half of his goatee, and his face was completely caked in ash. I could tell he was getting a tad frustrating that he was having his ass kicked by a little girl, but he remained upbeat, cracking jokes entirely for my benefit.

The owl tapping on the window broke us out of our game just in time for the cards to explode once more in Sirius' face. He swore softly, then let the bird in, and shut the window behind it. I sighed. He'd been stubbornly insisting on keeping it shut so I wouldn't get chilled from any drafts coming through. Not that it was a big deal, but some fresh air every once in awhile would've been nice.

I was distracted with my thoughts about the window, and didn't even notice that he'd started reading the letter until he swore once again, loudly this time. "What is it?" I inquired innocently. He blushed when he realized that he'd sworn in front of me (he swore in front of me a lot, but never stopped trying not to, which I think was very sweet), and grumbled, "Nothing. I just have to go send a letter. Will you be ok for a few minutes, love?"

"Ya," I responded, trying not to sound too annoyed at the question, "I'll be fine." He grinned, and stormed out.

xxXxx

He was gone for a long time, and I fell asleep again. I was woken up by the sounds of a muffled, but definitely heated argument coming from downstairs. Since Sirius was nowhere to be found, I jumped at the opportunity to get out of my bed, and went to investigate.

From the top of the stairs, I could see that Sirius was yelling at Dumbledore, and another man, who I'd seen on several occasions but had never been introduced to. He was very tall, and extremely handsome, with chiseled features, rich brown hair, and lots of clearly defined muscles.

"I'M NOT DOING IT, ALASTOR! GET SOMEONE ELSE!" Sirius screamed, pacing between the pool table at the couch. His usually perfectly groomed hair was disheveled, and sticking up in weird directions, like he'd been continually running his fingers through it. He went on, "I can't go now! I have to watch Ivy! She's still sick, and I'm not gonna just leave her!"

"Quit being daft!" The handsome man ordered, "I've heard from Mary that the girl's doing fine. It's only you that's been keeping her in bed, and she's not going to die if you're gone for one day!"

"But-" Sirius kept trying to argue, but Dumbledore raised his hand, immediately making him stop. The old man smiled kindly, "Mr. Black, you are the only person for this mission. If you are serious about helping the girl, you will do her much more good investigating the information than you will playing the warden. However, if you are that deeply concerned about her well-being, I am sure we can arrange for a temporary replacement." Sirius looked confused, asking, "Who?"

And, of course, because I have the best luck in the whole world, I managed to trip and fall down the stairs at that exact moment. It was partly because my legs were kind of weak from the long period of being confined to my bed, but it was probably mostly just because I'm a klutz.

I wasn't hurt, just really disoriented. My head felt like someone had taken it off, shaken it violently, then put it back, and I was dizzy as hell. Sirius was at my side when I could finally see straight again, and he looked a little mad, but mostly just worried and scared. "Are you alright, kiddo?" He asked frantically, checking me over for injuries, "Did you hit your head?"

I honestly couldn't remember, and I probably had, but I shook it anyways. Immediately, the dizziness returned, tenfold, but I still went on, "No. I'm ok."

He seemed very skeptical, but didn't say anything as he scooped me up from the ground, and carried me back to bed.

xxXxx

James, Lily, and Remus all visited me briefly later that day. They said they were stopping by before going to an Order meeting. Sirius had been unusually quiet when he wasn't yelling at the owls that periodically brought him letters. Just as Remus was leaving, though, he got one that he didn't yell at. He didn't look very happy about it, but the reaction was definitely much better than any of the previous ones.

"What is it?" Remus asked, trying to read over his friends shoulder. Sirius gave him an unreadable look, "Wormtail. He said he'd do it." Remus smiled softly, "That's good, right?" Sirius shrugged, "I guess..."

xxXxx

"Ivy, love," I was woken up later by someone gently shaking my shoulders, "Wake up. Just for a minute."

I groaned. I wasn't sure how late it actually was, but I was exhausted. However, I struggled and sat up anyways, fiercely rubbing my eyes as I peered into the dim room.

Sirius was on my left, between the bed and the door, and another man was behind him. I couldn't see him very well because he was standing in a shadow. He was shorter and fatter than Sirius though.

"Hey, kid," Sirius said with a grin, sinking down beside my bed as he petted my hair, "I've gotta go somewhere for a day or two. It's something really important. While I'm gone, my friend's gonna watch you. Anything you want, you just ask him, and if you start to feel sick again, you tell him, and he'll call Madame Mary, ok?"

I nodded sleepily, and Sirius looked pleased, yet still uneasy. He turned, waving the other man forward as he said, "Alright, good. Ok, this is my friend, Peter."

Reluctantly, the man finally stepped forward into the light. Like I had originally thought, he was short, and rather plump. He had grayish-blond hair, pasty skin, and watery gray eyes. All his features were pointy, and those, coupled with his skittish demeanor, reminded me of a rodent. A rat, perhaps.

"Hullo," He greeted quietly. I remained blank. I wanted to go back to sleep. Sirius seemed to figure this out, smiling softly as he said, "Go back to bed, kiddo. I just wanted to let you know about him so you didn't get worried when you woke up and I wasn't here." I managed a small nod as I laid back down and let my eyes drift shut. Before I went back to sleep, I heard him say, "Goodbye, kiddo. I'll see you soon."

xxXxx

A few hours later, I woke to discover that I was locked in my room. It probably wouldn't bother many of you too much, but, remember, I'm severely claustrophobic. It's true that my bedroom wasn't as tiny as a closet, but being trapped automatically seemed to shrink it quite a bit.

I pounded on the door, trying to scream but unable to make my sore voice go above a hoarse whisper. I gave up after a half hour or so. If anyone was going to let me out, they would've done it already. I opened one of the windows, and that kind of helped, but it also made the room cold, so I had to huddle beneath my blankets and try not to freak out. I bitterly realized that Sirius had been right about me getting chilled if the window was left open.

At exactly midnight, I heard someone try the doorknob. "Hello?" I croaked, immediately jumping up and running forward to once again pound on the wood, "Hello? Who's there? Let me out!"

"Ivy?" I stopped the second I heard Bill's tentative voice. As much as I wanted to be saved, I still didn't want anything to do with him. I hadn't talked to or seen him since I fled his house after he faked dying, and that had been just over two weeks previous. After a few seconds of silence, he said again, "Ivy?"

"Bill? What are you doing here?" I answered quietly. More silence, and I could hear him shuffling his feet around before he answered, "I came to see you, to say sorry. I didn't mean to make you sick."

I paused, then responded, "You didn't." He really didn't. I recognized that he hadn't done one single thing to cause my illness. It had been all me. After another few seconds I heard, "Ok, but then I'm sorry for pretending to die. I guess it really wasn't that funny..."

"No," I replied, my voice barely audible, "It wasn't."

A lot more silence followed, and I was starting to shiver from being out of my nice warm bed for so long. I said, "Bill, can you open the door, please?"

He jiggled the handle a bit, then reported, "It's locked. Who locked it?" I shrugged, "I don't know. It was like that when I woke up. Go ask Peter."

He was silent again, then, "Ivy, there's no one here. I looked, because I'm not supposed to have came over. All the grown ups are at the Order meeting, at the Potters' house."

"Stupid rat-dude..." I grumbled mentally before saying, "Well, can you look for a key, or something? I don't like being locked in, and I'm getting cold." I heard his loud footsteps as he ran, screaming back, "Ya! Just let me see what I can find!"

About ten minutes later, the metallic jangle of keys snapped me from my thoughts. I looked out from where I was swathed up under my blankets just in time to see the door open and Bill step through. His hair was a lot shorter than I remembered, cropped close to his skull, and he had circles under his dark green eyes. His skin seemed paler, almost sickly, making his freckles stand out a lot more. His smile looked wary, and tired as he said, "Hi."

"Leave it open!" I yelped when he went to close the door behind himself. I blushed when he gave me his funny look, and added weakly, "Please."

"Ok," He responded, moving farther into the room, "Because little places make you sick, right?" I nodded and pulled my blankets tighter, "Ya. Thank you."

He sat on the end of my bed, bouncing me slightly as he shifted around to make himself comfortable, crossing his legs in front of himself. He looked... sad.

"I'm sorry," He said after a few minutes. I didn't answer, and stared down into my lap. However, that didn't deter him from his apology, "I didn't know you didn't think it would be funny. I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Ya, ok," I responded. I realized that Bill really didn't mean anything by what he'd done, and I may have overreacted just a little, but I didn't know how to explain everything to him, how to explain why I acted the way I did.

"Are we still friends?" He asked sheepishly, seemingly very concerned about my answer to the question. I smiled softly, "Ya, we are. I'm sorry, too. You didn't know." He smiled brightly, "That's ok. I know now, and I promise I won't ever do it again, just like I promise I won't make you go in anymore caves." I laughed, because it was kind of cute.

"I brought the book," He stated abruptly, pulling a large volume of literature out of his pocket, "When I'm sick, I feel better when my mummy or daddy read to me." I recognized it instantly as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which we had started together the first time I'd met him. I was excited about finishing it now that he was here, but there was something else just a little more pressing, "How did you fit that in your pocket?"

The book was huge, and his pocket seemed normal sized. I thought it was rather odd. He grinned, "Enchanted pants-"

I started laughing hysterically before he could finish, and after only a few seconds began coughing violently. Bill freaked out a little bit, jumping forward to help me so quickly that he smashed his forehead hard against mine, which kind of hurt.

Eventually, though, I got calmed back down, though I was still giggling and wheezing pitifully. Bill smiled suspiciously, "You ok?" I grinned, snickering hoarsely, "Ya, fine. Keep going about the enchanted pants."

He did so quite happily, "My uncles did it for me, but don't tell my mum, she'd get mad, and it's supposed to be a secret. It's so I can carry lots of stuff with me when I go places! The pockets get as big as I want!" I nodded, still giggling as I stated, "Cool."

xxXxx

Bill read to me, and we finished the book in a few hours. It was amazing. He was jumping all around my room, screaming and severely overacting as he did all the scenes. The best was when he did Aslan, the lion-king of Narnia.

Anyways, after the book finished, he collapsed back onto my bed, laying beside me with one arm tucked behind his head. He grinned up at me, "Good story, huh?"

I smiled, "Ya, it was great!" He nodded, "And Mrs. Potter said there's more books. It's a series! We can start those next time!" I yawned hugely, "Ok! Sounds fun!" Despite my excitement, my energy was starting to run out. Just one more reason why being sick totally sucks.

He gave me one of his funny looks, "Are you tired? If you're tired, then you should go to sleep, because Mum always says that that's what sick people need a lot of to get better. That, and chicken soup, and orange juice, and kisses..." He kind of trailed off, blushing darker than I'd ever seen before. His blushing made me start blushing, and neither or us could talk for a few minutes. We just kept muttering, stuttering, and tripping over our words. Ah, youth.

"Um..." Bill finally managed, "Ya, so, you should sleep. I'll just go back to the Order meeting. I put Charlie in charge of the little kids, but he doesn't like it very much, so I should go back to help him."

"No!" I shouted, then immediately blushed once again. Bill gave me that funny look as I went on sheepishly, unable to make eye contact, "Can you just... stay... I don't want to get locked in all alone again..." It was embarrassing to have to ask, but I really was terrified of waking up and being trapped by myself in that room for a second time.

Bill grinned broadly, his deep green eyes immensely kind as he agreed, "Sure. I'll stay with you." I sighed with relief as I lay down again in my bed, "Thanks."

He shifted a bit next to me, and we ended up both on our sides, snuggled under my blankets and looking straight at each other. After a long silence, Bill smiled, "Don't worry, I won't go anywhere." I nodded, and let his assurance guide me into a peaceful sleep.

xxXxx

Later, a noise startled me awake. I looked around frantically, and, after I calmed down a bit, discovered that Bill was out cold beside me. Actually, almost on top of me, snoring softly, and at some point he had slung an arm around my waist. He whined sadly when I struggled my way out of his grasp, and I got out of the bed to investigate the noise that had woken me to begin with.

I looked out the window, and discovered nothing but darkness, and heavy fog in the trees surrounding the house. That's when I started hearing strange music. I wasn't sure what kind of instrument it was from, and it actually didn't seem to be any one in particular, but a whole bunch. It was like it was calling me to it. I was instantly entranced, and the only thing I could think of was following that sound and finding its source. For some reason, I thought that if I could just find it, everything would be... ok.

After that, the next thing I remember is voices, and my vision gradually fading out of a dark fog...

"Scrawny little thing."

"That bitch squib was starving her."

"She's so pretty!"

"And she looks just like him! That should help us, right? I mean, the Dark Lord should let us have her if she looks like him. It just makes more sense."

"Don't be stupid. That's not how he's going to decide it."

"He should let us have her because that slut Nenmoi got him killed!"

"Please, hurry. You said you just wanted to see her. This is going to blow my cover."

I blinked away the last of the fog, and I was suddenly outside. Because I was still barefoot and in my pajamas, I was freezing, but I had some bigger things to worry about.

I was surrounded by a bunch of men, four of them, to be precise, and though they all varied to some degree, they looked very much like my daddy, tall, burly brunettes with strong features. However, I was still scared. I tried to back away, but I only ended up running into one, the tallest, and burliest of the group.

I tried to run again, but he closed his huge hands over my shoulders, holding me still as he smiled kindly, and knelt down in front of me, still towering over my small frame nonetheless. Despite seeming big and frightening, he looked like he was about two seconds away from bursting into tears. He had the same dark hair and eyes as my daddy, and me even, but his features were larger, his eyebrows bushier, and his lips thinner than my daddy's.

"Hello," He greeted me softly, "My name is Samuel." I was still wary, but he didn't seem like he was going to do anything bad to me, so I replied quietly, "Hi."

My answer made him overjoyed, and the tears in his eyes threatened to spill over as he went around the circle of other men, and introduced them as well. He started with the one to his right, stating "This is Benjamin." The man had much more pronounced cheek bones than my daddy had had. He was a little shorter, and pudgier, too, but still smiled kindly, stating, "Hello, darlin'."

After that, Samuel went on to the next one in the circle, whose hair looked to be a few shades lighter than the rest had, possibly from sun exposure, and who had much tanner skin as well. He was also skinnier, with a wirier build than my daddy had had, "This is David." The guy grinned broadly, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waved and greeted, "Heya, cutie-pie!" He seemed rather nice, if not a little twitchy.

The last man, though, looked just plain mean. Aside from the scowl that marred his handsome features, he was a younger version of my daddy. It was uncanny. Samuel introduced, "And this is Gabriel."

"Charmed, I'm sure," The man spat, barely looking at me. "Watch it, little brother," Samuel scolded angrily, "She was Noah's, and that makes her ours."

"She's only half ours," He responded grumpily, "And the other half is Nenmoi. Just because I don't want them to get her, doesn't mean I have to like her." I was very, very confused.

"What are you doing?" Someone suddenly yelped, I turned in time to see Peter come running, looking scared out of his mind, "You said you just wanted to see her! She wasn't supposed to know, and you weren't supposed to talk to her! Now she's gonna tell Sirius!"

"Oh, shut up, rodent," Gabriel spat, whirling on him, "If I wanted your opinion, I would've paid you for it!" Peter went completely silent, paling considerably as he shrank back a few steps. Gabriel looked rather pleased, but I didn't have much time to dwell on him because my attention was drawn back to Samuel.

He lightly petted my choppy hair, still looking like he was about to cry as he whispered, "You look so much like him..."

"Who?" I responded dumbly. The rest of you may have already figured out what was going on, but, at the time, I hadn't. Give me a break, I was sick.

Samuel's smile turned slightly sad, "My little brother. You have his eyes." That was when the warning bells started going off in my head. These were my daddy's brothers, and they weren't even supposed to know that I was alive, let alone what I looked like and where I was. They were bad people, Sirius had said so, and they were going to try to take me away. But, at the same time, most of them had been nothing but nice so far. Maybe Sirius had been wrong about them...

Regardless, I took a step away from Samuel, returning to my previous position in the center of the circle of men. Samuel looked hurt as he stood to his full height, easily over seven feet, asking, "What's the matter, honey?"

I nervously bit my lip and said nothing, trying to calculate how to get out of there. "Really, I think that's enough," Peter cut in, seeming to have regained his ability to speak, "The deal was for you to see her, and you've seen her. Now you need to go. I'm probably going to have to obliviate her as it is-"

"Then a few more minutes won't make any fucking difference!" Gabriel shouted, breaking the circle to advance menacingly on the poor man, who cowered in fear against a tree. Gabriel just screamed at him for awhile, seeming like he'd much rather torture the fat man than deal with me.

But as that was going on, the others turned back. The one that had been introduced as David, the one with the sun-lightened hair, and sun-darkened skin, held out his hand to me as he said, "Hey, sweetheart. It's nice to finally meet you. I don't know if you knew about us, but we're you're uncles, your daddy's brothers. We're family."

"Ok," I responded blankly, not taking his hand and unsure of what else I was supposed to say. That didn't stop David's grin, however, and he was bouncing up and down, and incessantly tapping his fingers on his thighs as he went on, "Don't you want to have uncles? We're really cool, I swear. Well, most of us..." He smirked as he nodded towards where Gabriel was still screaming at Peter.

I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say. Benjamin took his turn, "We don't want to hurt you, darlin'. We just wanted to see you because we loved our brother very much, and we love you, too." I nodded, "Ok."

All heads snapped up when a sudden, far-off cry of, "IVY!" echoed through the trees. It was Bill, I was sure of it, and made a mental note to seriously thank him later.

"IVY! WHERE ARE YOU!" His voice was getting closer, and the men looked a little uneasy. I heard Gabriel turn on Peter, growling, "I thought you said no one was home!"

"T-There wasn't! Sirius is on a mission, and everyone else should be at the meeting!" He squeaked, shrinking away. Gabriel looked ready to smack him, "Well, you were obviously mistaken!"

"I think we should go," Benjamin announced, "We don't want to be seen." The others nodded briefly, and started to walk away. Samuel hung behind, still looking like he was going to cry. Before I could prevent it, he picked me up off the ground in a massive, spleen-squishing bear-hug. "Bye for now," He said as he finally set me down, one single tear having escaped down his cheek, "But we'll be back. Don't worry."

"Come on, Sam," Benjamin said quietly as he took one of the man's elbows, "We have to go."

"IIIIIVVVVVYYYYY!" Bill was definitely nearby. I could've probably screamed, and he would've come running, but, for some reason, I couldn't. Samuel sniffed, blinking away more tears as he broke out into a soft grin, "Ya, alright. Come on."

"See ya later, squirt!" David shouted, ruffling my hair as he zoomed past me, grabbing Gabriel by the back of his shirt, and yanking him off of Peter. I hadn't even noticed that Gabriel had assaulted the rat man until that moment. In the next second they were gone, Peter, too.

"IV- OH! THERE YOU ARE!" I turned, and Bill was running towards me through the thick fog, looking frantic, yet relieved. When he got to me, he was out of breath, and bent over slightly as he panted, and asked, "What are you... doing out here?"

I looked at him, and I suddenly didn't know. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream, and I wasn't sure if it was real or not, "I... I don't know... Samuel... David... Benjamin... and Gabriel... Peter... Where did Peter go?" I looked around frantically, barely aware that I was shivering, and found nothing.

Bill looked at me strangely, then drawled, "O... K... Maybe you should go back to bed. I think you're getting sick again."

I let him grab me by the arm, and gently lead me back to the house.

xxXxx

"You must have imagined it," Peter told me the next morning after I asked him about what had happened, "All of it. I was here the whole time, and I never saw any of those people you said talked to you. As for Bill, he must have snuck in after I went to bed. I'll have to talk to his mother about that. Don't worry though, the rest was probably just another fever dream."

I stared down into the plate of eggs he had brought me for breakfast, but the sight of them, as well as the smell, was making me nauseas again. What kind of idiot serves scrambled eggs to someone with the stomach flu? "I didn't imagine it," I asserted softly as I squeezed my eyes shut, "It happened, but Bill was gone when I woke up today, so I couldn't ask him..."

"Well," He asserted right back, walking aimlessly around my room, "It seems to me that if you have to ask other people to see if something actually happened, then you aren't so sure yourself. Don't worry, girl, from what I've heard from Sirius you've had lots of fever dreams, strange ones. This latest proves nothing other than you're not completely well. I wouldn't say anything to him about it if I were you. He might keep you in bed for longer." He stopped abruptly, then turned back to me, and seized the plate away, "Anyways, I'll be downstairs. Just shout if you need me." With that, he stormed from the room, slamming the door behind himself.

After I got out of bed, opened the door back up, and then got back into bed, I sat beneath my covers and thought very hard. I was almost sure it had actually happened, but not entirely. It still felt dream-like, and I had been sick. I guessed that it was possibly I imagined everything. Before I fell asleep again, I resolved to ask Bill the next time I saw him.

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