Dreamer of Fears
By: Shadow Chaser
Author's Notes/Disclaimer:
All characters with the exception of my own belong to J.K. Rowling and her wonderful sense of creating a massively great universe to play in. Also, my version of the King Arthur/Merlin myth is based partially on the book the "Crystal Cave" and on the TV movie "Merlin" that played here in the U.S. back in the late nineties.
Story:
Chapter 9 – Fayding Recruitment
Harry had scrambled out of the chair he was occupying and ran towards the windows, peering out. He could not see anything, as if a magical fog had appeared and surrounded the castle and grounds, blotting out the sun. It looked so eerily like the prelude to a dementor attack, but Harry could feel no chill, nor the phantom screams of his mother dying in his head.
"Selwyn! Wait!" Ron's shout made him turn around just in time to see Ginny rise up from her bed, still dressed in pale hospital robes and walk quickly out, Ron and Hermione both scrambling to try to grab the edges of her robe to stop her, but their hands couldn't grasp anything.
For a split second, Harry clearly saw the High Elf Selwyn overlaid with Ginny's startling cool, yet angel-like features as she walked out of the hospital wing. Selwyn looked magnificently beautiful, powerful, every inch the warrior that had defied her parents and ran away from the Glade and her duties as High Princess of the Rumeni Glade. He saw the lines of battle across her face, the weariness she carried within herself, the exhaustion of fighting day after day against the forces of evil who threatened the world.
He saw how she died, killed by Nimue in a fit of jealousy, how she had wasted away, pining for her love of Merlin, yet unable to do anything as he was bewitched by the Lady of the Lake. Hers was a heartbreaking story of love found and love lost and he saw all of that in the split second before the door closed behind her, snapping Harry back into reality.
However while his mind's eye was seeing all of that, his body was already on the move, having been partially taken over by Merlin's influence to get him to chase down Ginny and Harry sent a grateful thought to the influence. He and Ron nearly collided in the middle of the hospital wing as they ran towards the door and exited the hospital wing, Hermione on their heels. Neville's shout was all but ignored as they dashed out of the castle, pushing past a few bewildered and frightened students who were rushing into the castle following the trail of Ginny's hospital robes.
"Selwyn!" Harry shouted, also hearing Merlin's concern for his leftenant. He did not know what Faydes were, but he knew that Ginny running into the eerie magical fog was not a good idea. Merlin heartily agreed with him in his head.
"Merlin what are-"
"Hey!"
"Move!" Harry shouted, shoving a blonde-haired female Auror over to the side as he pushed past the guards at the front door of the castle, ignoring the startled cries of some of the teachers who were helping the students still outside evacuate inside. He glimpsed Alice Longbottom, hurrying children from the greenhouses along with Professor Sprout and a couple of other Aurors, but his eyes were still focused on the back of Ginny, her pale green hospital robes flowing behind her as she ran deeper into the unnatural fog.
"Wait! Wait! Those are Faydes!" McGongall's call went unheeded as he, Ron, and Hermione charged after her.
Harry thought they had probably ran to Hagrid's hut when he suddenly stopped, nearly crashing into the back of Ginny as she stopped, the fog enveloping them, licking their feet, head, skin, surrounding them like a blanket.
"Ginny?" he whispered cautiously, reaching a hand out to her before she suddenly turned to him and he recoiled.
Her eyes were a blinding white. He could not see her pupils behind them, but somehow, she was staring at him, a half-smile on her face. Her features looked more like Selwyn's at this close range and he wondered if Selwyn had completely taken over Ginny, possessing her. But Ginny had said that she and her Dreamer persona had worked out things a couple of nights ago…
"Harry," if anything, Ginny's voice sounded normal, if more ethereal and he figured it was probably Selwyn who was also talking, "you should not be here."
"But-"
"Grindelwald does not send Faydes for any purpose. He knows you are here. He knows you are Hopes, and he knows you do not fight alone," it was frightening to see Ginny speaking like this, seemingly filled with more knowledge of the war that engulfed this world than they knew.
"Ginny, what can you do?" Hermione whispered her hands close to her mouth, frightened.
"I am Faith," she tilted her head at them and smiled, not a scary one, but one that was kind. One that truly showed who Ginny Weasley was and who Lady Selwyn of the High Elves was. "I understand now, you see, I was confused before. I understand what I have to do and what I need to do. We are protectors and we are guardians. We must guide our selves to take up the mantle of this world or else all will be lost."
"Ginny..." Ron looked scared, "you're not-"
"You will understand soon enough," Ginny looked at her brother, "you have awakened, but you have not fully embraced your powers. Godric protects you, but he cannot become you."
"Cannot become..." Harry couldn't blame his best friend for his flabbergasted look, even he was starting to become a bit wary of Ginny and the thought crossed his mind on whether or not to stun her. However, they were in this unnatural fog and he had a feeling the Faydes were causing the event. "Ginny!" Ron suddenly grabbed Ginny's hand and just as suddenly tumbled backwards onto the ground, as if shocked.
"Ron!" Hermione immediately knelt by his side, checking his pulse as little curls of smoke rose from his body. "He's...he's alive...Ron, oh Ron!"
"What did you-?" Harry whirled around to face Ginny when he froze as he saw a tattered black...thing...emerge from the fog, hovering over the ground. It looked similar to a dementor, but instead of skeletal hands and cold feeling, it looked like a heap of black rags. Its head, if it could be called that, was part of the mass of rags, and two white -like things he thought were probably its eyes peered out from the folds. They stared hungrily and Harry fumbled for his wand before drawing it out.
He felt a trickle of fear run through him like sweat down his back, whatever Faydes were, they did not exist in their world and he had no idea what kind of spell would be effective against them. He certainly did not feel the happiness drain away from him like dementors, but it was unnerving to see such a pile of rag-like things emerging from the fog. Suddenly the lead Fayde of the emerging group opened its maw, right below the white eyes and Harry could see rows upon rows of sharp razor-like teeth in them and screamed.
Harry somehow knew that at point-blank range, the scream of a Fayde should have made him, Hermione, and Ginny writhe on the ground in pain. It should have somehow killed them. He did not know why he knew this and suspected that Merlin may have had a hand in such knowledge, but all he knew at that moment was that the sound was oddly muffled, as if listening to it underwater from far away.
Faith...
That was it. He had to have faith that Ginny knew what she was doing. She needed their trust and support. She wanted them to know that she was still the same Ginny, the same girl he had come to love and admire. The same girl who loved him unconditionally, understood who he was and what he had to do when he left her at the end of the school year a year ago. The same girl who had completely understood why he needed to go on his year-long quest to destroy the Horcruxes and ultimately kill Voldemort.
Faith...
Harry stared at Ginny, who was standing in front of the lead Fayde, her eyes a blazing white. They were protected by her newly awakened powers, he realized. Her powers as the Dreamer of Faith was acting like a shield to the deadly cry of a Fayde.
"Stop," it was one word, but to him, sounded like a command from Ginny and to his surprise he saw the Faydes close their mouths, staring at them through their floating mass of rags with baleful white eyes.
Just then, a seemingly sucking sound emerged from the lead Fayde's mouth and Harry realized the dark creature was drawing breath to speak. "Our master seeks an alliance with you, will you consider it?"
It was almost impossible to decipher the Fayde's words from the vacuum sound it make to draw breath and speak, but Harry started. Grindelwald wanted an alliance with them?
"Why have you attacked us?" Ginny asked quietly, but imperiously. "One who seeks such an alliance would never attack their potential ally first. Your master has no wish to seek such an alliance if this is how he conducts himself."
"Lies," the Fayde replied, "we were attacked first."
Harry could scarcely believe it, but Ginny tilted her head, staring at the dark creature for a few minutes before nodding reluctantly.
"G-...Selwyn, you can't believe them?!" Harry felt Merlin's influence take over him, preventing him from saying her name like he had been for the past few minutes when he felt a tendril of caution from the Dreamer influence. He wondered why, but the influence kept a hold on him, urging caution in his words.
"She is correct," Neville's voice, altered by Nathan Hufflepuff spoke up behind them and Harry whirled around, surprised to see Neville limping towards them, hampered slightly by his boot. The fog had parted enough for him to appear and curled around him, seemingly embracing him into their folds. "Her Faith allows her to perceive the truth in the words of others. I too sense that these creatures have been speaking the truth. They were attacked first."
"But..." Harry trailed off lamely, staring down at Ron's unconscious form, then to Hermione who shook her head, bewildered as he was, then to Neville whose eyes were not shining white like Ginny's, but instead shone a golden-yellow. When did Neville awaken to his Dreamer powers was beyond him at the moment, but he felt so confused. For the first time in a long time, he felt powerless to do anything.
"It does not excuse you from attacking the students and teachers on the grounds of this school. You come as emissaries and yet you attack," Ginny continued, "you do not come for peace or for the purpose of delivering a message. You come to kill."
The lead Fayde made a noise of anger that sounded like a plunger being stuck in a toilet for a long time, only to be pulled up with great effort. It opened its maw, wider than what Harry thought was possible and screamed.
He could literally see the sound waves of the horrific scream ripple through the unnatural fog, yet the noise sounded muffled to him before he saw Ginny narrow her eyes and point an outstretched hand at the Fayde. "Reducto," she whispered.
The Fayde instantly exploded with the force of a grenade, showering them with bits of black rags and Harry thought he felt the squish of a body part on his leg, but he didn't dare look down because at that moment, at least several more black rags had come forward to take the place of their fallen leader. Each one of their white eyes were tinged with flecks of red and he had a feeling that they were very angry.
He wondered if it was such a great idea for Ginny to blow up their leader...
"Merlin," Hermione's voice was just a whisper and he grabbed her hand in reassurance as the two of them stood over Ron's unmoving body, determined to protect it. He wanted to grasp Ginny's hand, but he didn't dare touch her, lest he end up like his best friend on the ground.
Ginny had finally drawn out her wand and held up aloft. However, it was Neville who spoke up, "Faydes can only be killed by pulverization." He waved his wand towards another direction and Harry saw a path seemingly open up in the fog, "Merlin, you and Rowena need to take Godric to safety. We will clear a path for you and put an end to this madness."
"But Nathan..." Harry did not want to abandon his friends.
"We have awakened. You and Rowena have not. You are in greater danger than we are. Grindelwald is after you. Selwyn was right, even though they were provoked, they were sent with a mission," he had never known Neville to have such a serious look in his eyes and dumbly nodded.
But his Gryffindor pride pulled at him not to leave his friends behind, especially Ginny, and he hesitated until Neville gave him a none too gentle shove towards Hermione who had already picked Ron up, her body bent under his weight a bit. "Trust us...we will deal with these creatures."
He gave a hard stare at Neville for a few seconds before nodding resolutely. He had to trust his friends, like he did days ago when they had destroyed the last of the Horcruxes and had finished off Voldemort. Neville had long proven that he was trusted, especially since he had even killed Voldemort's snake Nagini. He would trust Neville to protect Ginny from harm.
Nodding once more for a silent good luck to Neville, he turned and helped Hermione carry Ron through the path in the fog. He turned once to see the fog envelop both Ginny and Neville the bright flashes of spells being slung towards the group of converging Faydes before facing forward again and they hurried along the tunnel. He couldn't see out of either side of the fog tunnel, but he thought he had heard the whispers of rags dragging across the ground coming from the edges of the tunnel. Other than that, it was completely inhumanly silent, save for the hard breathing of him and Hermione carrying Ron.
The silence grew as they trudged their way along the tunnel, hoping that it directed them back to the front entrance of Hogwarts. He did not know how far they had run when they were chasing Ginny. Just then a distant thump echoed along the tunnel and he and Hermione glanced at each other, each reading the slight fear in their eyes.
Another thump, this time closer echoed and both of them looked back towards the source of the sound. It sounded like someone or something was trying to get into the tunnel.
"Protego," Harry awkwardly conjured up a shield before Hermione murmured something, pointing to her own arms and the suddenly lifted Ron to her shoulders in a fireman's carry.
"What are you-"
Harry never got to finish his sentence as suddenly a crack, like glass breaking brought their gazes to a little beyond the bluish shield he had conjured up to see swarms of Faydes swarming into the tunnel, all headed towards them. They bounced off of the shield that he had conjured up and some hissed their anger at them before opening their mouths.
"Run!" Harry shouted, pushing Hermione along, noticing a light golden-hue on her arms and shoulders. He realized that she had cast a strengthening spell in order to carry Ron the way she did. However, her height made it so that Ron's head was nearly kicked by her ankles as she ran, him following behind her. He was glad that his best friend was not conscious otherwise, he would have suspected that he would be embarrassed by the situation.
"Protego, Protego!" he shouted, ignoring the slight twinge of pain in his throat, casting two more shields like barriers behind them as the Faydes' scream shattered the first shield before advancing hungrily towards them. He held one hand to his ears in a futile attempt to stem the painful screaming the Faydes were unleashing upon them. Gone was the underwater sound of the scream and he realized that Ginny had probably used her Dreamer powers to protect them while she had faced down the Faydes.
With each successive implosion of his shields, he could literally feel a pressure on his ears, he thought he felt a trickle of something falling from it, but he held his wand aloft, running backwards, making sure Hermione had Ron secured as they dashed towards the end of the tunnel and what they hoped was safety. It was on a quick glance over his shoulder that he noticed blood streaming from Hermione's ears...and starting to trickle from her nose.
He realized that Faydes killed by sound waves. And their destructive screams would end up rupturing all of their blood vessels if they had a chance.
"REDUCTO!" he shouted, his throat suddenly searing with pain, waving his wand as the last of his shields fell and his spell shot towards the converging group of rags.
Several of the Faydes exploded their deathly cries of pulverization dim to Harry's ears. He blinked owlishly as stunned at the force of his spell when a movement in the corner of his eye made him turn slightly to see Remus brushing past him, wand drawn, eyes glowing a light blue with his Dreamer powers and the muffled cries of the Faydes returned once again.
"Merlin! Merlin!" his name sounded so far away, murky and Harry turned the other way to see Professor McGonagall, hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him backwards. He shook his head as he saw her lips moving, but could barely hear her words.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several Aurors rushing forward to help Remus contain the Faydes, mufflers covering their ears. Only Remus' ears were not covered, but Harry suspected that somehow he was protected by his own Dreamer powers.
McGonagall's insistent tugging at his shoulder made him reluctant to turn away from the battle, but as raised his wand again to fire off another spell, he opened his mouth and suddenly coughed. Harry instinctively put his hand to his mouth and spat out something wet. Lifting his hand, to his horror, he saw globs of blood in his palms…his own blood he realized dimly.
It was also then that he finally noticed a coppery taste on his tongue and realized that not only did Faydes kill by sound; their screams pretty much damaged anyone's vocal chords to the point where they could not speak any spells to defend themselves. He looked up at his former teacher, eyes wide as he felt fear run through him. Just how close was he, Hermione, and Ron to death? How close were they if they had not reached the front doors of Hogwarts?
"Ginny," he mouthed silently as he stared outwards towards the battle, it hurt so much now to even move his mouth much less his throat or swallow for that matter.
He had shunted the pain from his damaged throat while he had been casting the shield spells, he realized; something he had been doing all year long. Shunting and ignoring the pain to his physical self as he was determined to finish whatever task was set to him.
"We should go," he thought he saw McGonagall's mouth move to the words, the sounds of battle all but very muffled in his ears. It was like having the muffliato spell cast on his ears, except worst. He could literally hear the silence descending upon his ears and a fierce anger filled him. He did not want to be a liability to anyone in this world. He would not cower behind anyone else when he had agreed to help this world get back the hope it so desperately needed. How would the others think if he turned his back from Remus and the other Aurors to rush into the hospital wing to be treated? How would he feel if he did such a thing when he knew others were outside, fighting for him?
It had been different when he was searching for the Horcruxes. Now, he was searching for the hope that they needed and if he turned his back in cowardice and fled to the hospital wing, then he was no more a coward than the beaten look almost everyone wore these days. Plus he needed to see if Ginny and Neville were all right… They had been in the thick of the battle.
He shrugged off McGonagall's grip on his shoulder and pointed his wand above Remus and the other Aurors' heads. He could feel the Dreamer influence pulsating in his very core and mind, feel the added strength and the knowledge that he somehow, knew what he had to do. Anger filled him as he directed his hate towards the Faydes for attacking everyone that he cared about once more. Anger at Grindelwald and Voldemort for launching another attack so soon after yesterday's Hellhounds fiasco. Anger at the fear that had filled him, the doubt that he had that he knew he couldn't push away.
CORONUM! He thought and the spell leapt forth from his wand in a near blinding white light, but Harry wasn't done yet and kept targeting the remaining Faydes. SEMPRA MAXIMUS! REDUCTO! SECTUMSEMPRA!
His three spells, chained together one after another as he wordlessly hurled them towards the Faydes and the resulting blinding flash even made him squint before a spectacular explosion engulfed the area where the ragged creatures used to be. When it finally died down, he noticed that the unnatural fog was dissipating and what were rags was now a smoking crater. It was also then that noticed almost every single eye save for Remus' and Dumbledore's, the headmaster having moved along with the converging of Aurors to help Remus earlier, were staring at him.
More than a few jaws were agape and Harry suddenly felt self conscious as he felt Merlin's presence retreat slightly, his anger slowly seeping away, replaced by weariness. A sudden wracking cough, deep from within his chest and throat seared agonizingly up and he placed his hand on his mouth to cover the expulsion of blood that he could taste. He was dimly aware that he had hunched over, trying to desperately stop the coughs, but to no avail. Exhaustion from his travels and from the past few days finally caught up to him and Harry saw the stone steps beneath him blur with his vision.
The last thing he remembered seeing before merciful darkness engulfed him was Ginny and Neville, running up towards Remus and Dumbledore, looking a bit worst for wear, but otherwise seemingly unharmed. Then…everything was black.
Sirius rubbed his eyes in what he supposed was the fifth time that night. He was exhausted, even though it was only around eleven at night. He had his night patrol in a few minutes, but he wondered if he could convince perhaps one of Crouch's Aurors, Emmeline or even her companion Alena to take the shift for him. All he wanted to do was to go back to his room in the staff wing and sleep.
But since Moody had okayed him to leave the hospital wing in the morning and resume his patrol duties, he knew he had no choice. He had not participated in the battle against the Faydes early in the afternoon, and instead was running back and forth from the front entrance to the hospital wing, shuttling wounded students, fellow Aurors, and a few professors including Hagrid who had been evacuated by the Aurors who were patrolling the grounds.
"Please don't start yawning," Peter's simpering tone grated on Sirius' nerves and he glared at his friend before deliberately yawning wide and a bit noisily just to irritate him.
However, his fake yawn suddenly turned into a real one and he automatically stretched his arms outwards after finishing the yawn, feeling a few tendons and bones crack along his spine and shoulders.
"Aw man…now I'm," Peter covered his mouth, "yawning…thanks…"
"Always glad to be of service," Sirius replied, giving him a sarcastic smile. He was in no mood to be conciliatory towards anyone tonight, not after what had happened and what they had all learned as soon as the battle was over.
Taking a quick look at James' sleeping form, he was glad that his best friend was not able to participate in today's battle. Otherwise, he probably would have gone spare or have blown up completely. He wondered if anyone else noted, but ever since Merlin and his Knights had arrived from their world and time, James had opened up a lot more than he had in the past few years. It wasn't by much, but Sirius could see that Merlin especially had an impact on James' demeanor.
A brief, but absurd thought suddenly took hold of Sirius as he stared at the other side of the room, Merlin occupying one of the hospital beds; Godric next to him along with Rowena. He knew of the terrible events that had befallen his best friend on that fateful Halloween night in 1981, and knew that besides slowly losing Lily to Severus, he had also lost his year-old son.
Merlin looked eerily at times like James, except he had the brightest, emerald-like green eyes, almost like Lily's. Sirius barely remembered any baby pictures of little Harry, James and Lily evidently destroying them so not to remind themselves of what happened that tragic night, but could Merlin really be…him…from another world? Remus said that Merlin and his Knights were who they seemed to be…
"Nah…" Sirius whispered softly, shaking his head to get rid of the phantom thought. It would be too much of a coincidence and would be a very cruel trick to whomever decided to make baby Harry all grown up and then fling him into this world.
But still, as he stared at Merlin's prone form, the teenager had a lot of spirit and he felt a kinship with him. In the past four days since they had arrived, he somehow wanted to protect Merlin, wanted to protect his friends. Teenagers like them should never have fought in a war. He wanted to go back to their time with them and make sure that they survived the horrors of the constant war from Queen Mab to eventually Nimue. He knew some of the history, courtesy of Marius Sadow, and wondered if he told Merlin of the treachery and betrayal he would face in the hands of the witch Nimue would he not suffer such a cruel fate?
The young man's collapse after the battle and subsequent rush to the hospital wing had scared all of them. He thought he was scared seeing Rowena and Godric rushed in before, Rowena looking worst for wear with blood streaming out of her ears and out of one nostril; seeing the sight of Merlin brought in moments later, covered in blood across his face, Minerva yelling about his throat and chest hemorrhaging blood, it had terrified him.
Almost no one save for one person he knew, survived after their vocal chords had been damaged and they were coughing up blood after a Fayde attack. And even that person was already dead, having died from a different cause…
Sirius clenched his hands violently in an effort to suppress those set of memories from coming to the forefront of his mind. He did not need to think about him…it hurt too much and he blamed himself for that person's death…he did not need a reminder.
As he continued to stare at Merlin's prone form, he could only hope that the young man was healthy enough to make a full recovery, but at least he was stabilized after five hours of intensive magical surgery by Madam Pomfrey and her nurses.
"Oh!" Peter's soft exclamation and the obscuring of his vision with a set of dark blue robes made him look up to see his partner for tonight's patrol standing in front of him, her lips pursed in a neutral expression.
"Figured you would be here," Marion Sadow shook her head, her long black tresses falling across his shoulders before she absently brushed them away. "We're already five minutes late in relieving Kester and Pointe."
Sirius pasted a smile on his face, knowing that it looked half tired, "You think maybe Emmeline and Alena could-"
"Don't even try it, Black," Marion glared at him with her icy blue eyes. "They have the night off. We don't. I don't care if you're tired; you'll do the patrol even if I force Pomfrey to give you a Pepper-Up potion."
Sirius grimaced at the suggestion and got up, stretching once more before waving her along. "No thanks…I'll walk…" He hated the taste of the Pepper-Up potion, having taken it one too many times during his years at Hogwarts. Most of the time it was trying to keep up with Remus' werewolf form during those years, especially during exam week.
They headed out of the hospital wing and towards the Great Hall to relieve Kester and Pointe. As soon as the handoff and goodnights were said, Marion directed them towards the dungeons to start their patrol around Hogwarts. On their way down, they passed by another patrol group and all four Aurors nodded to each other cordially before heading continuing on.
While the school was home to the teachers and students, some like him kept quarters in the staff room, but it was very limited. Most Aurors had homes in Hogsmeade or if they were really lucky, homes out in the different areas of the United Kingdom that weren't under too much surveillance from the other Ministry. Sirius knew that Marion and her brother Marius owned such a home, a modest manor named Ravenloft somewhere near Cardiff.
However, he also knew that both Aurors took temporary homes in Hogsmeade, especially since Marion was the second-in-command of Crouch's Aurors and the man relied heavily upon her. Sirius had his own opinions about Crouch relying on Marion and the fact that James was so adamant that she was neither a traitor nor a double agent within their group, but he mostly kept that to himself.
"You're quiet tonight," Marion spoke up and Sirius raised an eyebrow as they ascended the stairs to the third floor, having finished checking the first and second floors.
"Lots to think about," he knew he would usually be cracking jokes to his patrol partner by now, Marion included, but tonight…tonight he had too much on his mind. He wondered if Remus had finished talking with Dumbledore.
They walked in silence, passing up into the fourth floor then into the fifth when suddenly Marion spoke up once more. "I'm sorry…"
"Huh?" Sirius was rarely caught off guard, but hearing her apologize was like hearing Crouch Jr. say that he wanted everything to be full of flowers and happiness. He nearly stumbled on a crack in between the floors and stared at the always-icy Auror. Marion's reputation, even amongst Crouch's Aurors was one not to be trifled with. She had a very deep and dark background with the Dark Arts and had achieved notoriety in the Wizarding world even before there were two Ministries. Her actions in the Veela Attacks of 1983 should have landed her a life sentence in Azkaban, especially for multiple uses of the Killing Curse, but instead, fate did not put here there.
"For Marius'…actions," she said stiffly, not looking at him and kept her wand aloft, the tip of it shining their way through the darkened halls of the fifth floor.
"Oh…that," Sirius instantly knew why she was apologizing. He still did not expect an apology from her, but he had to admit, it was comforting to hear that even she too was a bit disturbed by today's events.
"I expect the Headmaster to be lecturing him right now," she shrugged, "he deserves more than a lecture, provoking the Faydes…"
"I hope not," Sirius vividly remembered what had happened during the time when Merlin was in surgery. Lady Selwyn was furiously angry and had stormed past the bedraggled fighters only to punch Marius straight in the jaw before yelling at him in front of everyone for provoking the Faydes into their deadly assault. How she had surmised such a thing was beyond him, but he figured that it was something to do with her Dreamer powers.
Faith had a nasty tendency to perceive the truth from those who told falsehoods and those who had deception. Such was the case when Lily was the Dreamer of Faith and with Lady Selwyn fully awakened to her powers; it was the same thing once more. Both Remus and Dumbledore had come in quickly after and both had neutral expressions on their faces. Sirius wondered what his good friend was thinking as they watched Lady Selwyn publicly take down Marius, but he did see the distinct twitch of his friend's jaw muscle, a sign that even he was very angry at what had happened.
"Sirius, I know you're fond of Merlin and his Knights, but even you should see-"
"No, I meant, that your brother shouldn't get anymore punishment only because it would end up looking like a bandwagon affair. Lady Selwyn's public mocking of him was enough to make him realize what he had done," Sirius scratched his chin as they rounded up to the sixth floor. "By the way, did you find anything in Dunloff?"
She shook her head, "Nothing worth mentioning. All the villagers there claim that they did not see any hide or hair of a Hellhound. Owen Young tried to scry the area, but there weren't any remaining magical traces."
He had a feeling that Marion wasn't telling him the whole story, but he also knew that pushing the issue would be moot. He would be able to get the full story from James once Marion made her report to him…after all, James trusted her and if she did not tell the truth, well then there was one mark against her as being loyal to the Order than to Crouch or anyone else. There was another reason why he suspected she may be holding information from him, but he did not want to really go into that theory. It would reopen the wound that was between them.
"Ah…seventh floor…" Sirius announced grandly before smirking at the withering look Marion gave him as she brushed past him.
"You're just happy because now we can walk all the way down instead of continuing upwards to the Astronomy tower," she grumbled to him and he decided to press his luck. The basic patrol took him up to the seventh floor. Aurors were stationed on the floors above, but since that area was smaller and narrower, they did not need to patrol it as much as the first seven floors of the school, eight if the dungeons were counted.
"You don't want to see the lovers' tower?" he asked in a light voice, "perhaps-"
Sirius nearly walked into Marion's wand, such that it was pointed at his chest, the light from its end illuminating the stone cold look she wore. A part of him realized the shadows that had stretched across his face from the little light had made her look eerily a little like a Veela, even though he knew that she had not even a single drop of their blood in her veins.
"Say one more word and I will cast the Cruciatus Curse on you, consequences in be damned," she hissed quietly and he held up his hands in a placating gesture.
She must have been more wound up and tired than he was. He remembered of the rare times that they had patrol together; she would either ignore or wave away his comments about the Astronomy tower. This one…this was new…
"All right," he backed up slightly, "I know we're all tense here, on edge, but…sorry, all right?"
She stared at him for a few more seconds before withdrawing her wand and started down the hall once more. Sirius scrambled to catch up to her, a frown on his face. Her reaction in just a few short steps from her sarcastic tone to sudden chill puzzled him. Did Crouch do something tonight to warrant such an extreme mood swing from her? He wished he had the power to help her with her problem, but she had said time and time again and even occasionally hexed him to stop him from interfering in her affairs. More than one occasion it was James who had interfered, saying that he would handle it and talk to her and the next time Sirius had seen Marion after those times, she was back to her normal cool, icy self.
Sirius knew that a majority of the incidents between him and Marion stemmed from his discovery of her secret regarding the Veela Attacks of 1983, but each time he had tried to talk to her about it, he had been violently rebuffed. He did not know why she ran to Crouch at those times, but he couldn't help but feel that he had some sway over her, something that he only barely knew about.
He knew that it was slight jealousy that gnawed at him, but it was also worry for her. After all, they were classmates back in their school years and she was the bookworm, geeky Ravenclaw girl who always had a witty comeback to every line and a cheerful smile. She was like the little sister of Lily's group of friends, even though she was at least a year and half, almost two years older than Lily. It was generally accepted when Lily started dating James back then that both groups of friends became like family…
Oh how times had changed.
They passed the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet, very unsuccessfully as usual, and out of habit for the last four days since Merlin and his Knights arrived; he glanced at the blank wall opposite the portrait. He wondered if Lady Selwyn and Nathan were asleep or were they up, worrying over the health of their friends.
Madam Pomfrey had allowed no visitors to Rowena, Godric, and Merlin's sides, saying that this night was very critical to all of their health, more so to Merlin than the others, but nonetheless had forbidden Lady Selwyn or Nathan to stay. Sirius had seen the hurt looks each gave, but the head of the hospital wing had brooked no sympathy from their gazes.
They finished their patrol of the seventh floor, Sirius silently wishing that he had the Marauder's Map with him to make sure no scheming Gryffindor was planning to get out like the Weasley twins had a nasty habit of doing during their years at Hogwarts, but that parchment belonged solely to Dumbledore now. The rest of their patrol was silent as they walked the floors once more, heading back down to the Entrance Hall where they would once again, go down into the dungeons and sweep the area before climbing back up to the seventh floor once more. It would usually take around three times up and down Hogwarts before the next patrol would relieve them, finally allowing Sirius some sleep for the night.
However, when they arrived at the second floor to the Headmaster's office, they noticed that someone was limping, braced by another person and both hurried forward. Sirius skidded to a halt as he saw that it was Marius, supporting none other than Barty Crouch Jr. who looked worst for wear. There were no visible bruises on the man's face, but his lips were pinched together with pain and his skin was pale with sweat dripping down his sides.
"Sir!" Marion rushed forward, shooing her brother away as she took over supporting her boss.
Sirius felt a twinge of jealously run through him just as quick as it disappeared he glanced at Marius. He suppressed the instinctive anger that filled him, reminding him of the blunder the untrained Auror had made. Marius Sadow was never an Auror like his older sister, and instead had opted to help their older brother run an apothecary in Diagon Alley. The apothecary had done well until ten years ago when the two Ministries were formed, the puppet and the real one. Marion and Marius' older brother, Melchior had died ten years ago when they had retreated from a majority of the United Kingdom and had established their exiled Ministry at Hogwarts. There was no name for the battle, only that it was called the Black Day. It was also the day that-
Sirius once again violently suppressed the memory with a clench of his hands and forced himself to focus on Marius. "What happened?" he asked, gesturing with his chin towards Marion who was slowly helping Crouch, whispering to him in low tones.
""It's…nothing," Marius looked away in shame and Sirius wondered if what he had suspected had happened. He had heard rumors, though he had no first hand accounts, of the occasional time when Dumbledore used physical punishment to make sure the person in question knew of his disappointment. He thought such a method was crude and unnecessary, especially since the Headmaster was exceedingly polite and couldn't possibly commit such an act.
Maybe it was Marius who was forced to punish his own boss for his ineptitude? That would explain why he was very reluctant to talk about it. It would be embarrassing.
"Sir, we should get you to the hospital wing-"
"Just take me to my quarters, Sadow…" Crouch's gruff tone cut off Marion and he looked over to see her reluctantly nod before helping him down the stairs.
"Marius!" she looked up at her brother and Sirius narrowed his eyes slightly, making sure that she got the message in full. He was not happy to see her with Crouch. She ignored his look and instead continued to talk with her brother, "Finish my patrol with Black. Let Moody know of the change."
Marius only mutely nodded before tugging on his sleeve to direct him down the other end of the second floor where another set of stairs would be able to take them to the back of the Great Hall and to the Entrance Hall from there. Sirius watched as Marion led Crouch to the staff room and only when she had disappeared from his view he turn and stalked off, Marius hurrying to follow him.
He resolutely ignored the twinge of jealously within him.
Author's Notes:
Thanks to my beta reader, Algae09 for checking this chapter! Yes there is tension between Marion and Sirius, yes I will get to the history behind the Black Day, Halloween 1981, Veela Attacks of 1983, and why Sirius refuses to think of what happened that day – its actually quite sad really. But then again, you, the readers, knew that this world is very bleak and depressing. Almost everyone has issues of sorts… ^_^ Woooo! Hopefully next chapter will be out within a week or so! Thanks for reading and reviewing!