Our Endless Numbered Days

Chapter 9-Fear City

Don't move. Hide. I'll come get you when it's all done. And then he had left Josie in the alley, to crouch behind the dumpster, her entire body shaking with fear.

What's going on? She couldn't get a straight answer out of him. Just stay here. Everything will be alright. I promise he had said, and then took off, his wand in his hand. Screams echoed through the air, poor, innocent people being tortured by these…these…monsters.

Her breath came in short bursts as she fought the urge to cry. Crying wouldn't help. Crying was a loud activity. But this was scary and all she wanted to do was run away and cry. So far, no one had ventured down this alley. She was safe. The screaming was getting closer, the sounds of breaking glass echoing on the walls, flashing, different colored lights, reflected off the wall. She squeezed herself behind the dumpster as far as she could go, although her feet still stuck out a bit. It would have to do. Stay here. Don't move. She repeated the mantra in her head, trying to calm herself down.

How long she had been hiding in this alley, she didn't know. Time seemed to have slowed down and sped up all at once. On one hand, it felt like forever since she had crouched down behind the dark blue dumpster that smelled like rotten Chinese food. But the rate at which the bad guys—she couldn't for the life of her remember what they were called. It didn't matter much, either—approached was far too quick.

Wasn't magic supposed to be all powerful? Why couldn't the good guys just wave their wands and make everything okay? Why did the bad guys have to have magic too? Only now did she finally begin to understand the life that these people had been living. She wasn't quite sure how they did it. There was another loud crash—this one sounding like part of a building falling to the street—and Josie closed her eyes tight and wished for it all to be over with.

Don't move. Stay here. Her lips moved to the words, but no sound came out. Don't move. Stay here. The sound of footsteps in the alley made her entire body freeze. She held her breath as the boots stomped down the alley. She couldn't tell if it was a good guy or a bad guy, but she knew, most definitely, that it was not Sirius. The footsteps were too heavy and the shoes easily not the worn trainers that she had watched him put on this morning.

"The alley's clear. There's no one here." The voice was too deep. It was frightening. "Let's get out of here." The footsteps moved away and Josie breathed a sigh of relief. "What was that?" Had they heard her sigh? Had she accidentally moved the dumpster? She kept her eyes closed—perhaps, if she couldn't see them, they couldn't see her. It was childish and stupid, but she had no other option. She was trapped. She had stayed, just like Sirius had said, and now she had no other options. Maybe they wouldn't see her. Once more, Josie moved, trying to make herself as compact as possible. The person in the alley definitely noticed the movement. The footsteps quickly moved back her way and Josie knew right then and there that she was done for. The jig was up.

Don't move. Stay here.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"What is it, Dolohov?" a new voice that Josie hadn't heard before. It was a woman's and it scared her more than the man's. She sounded unhinged.

"Well, it seems to be a scared, little, muggle girl, LeStrange." And suddenly, she was upside down in the air. Her eyes snapped open and she stared wildly at the two people holding her captive. They were dressed the same, in black robes. The man had a silver mask over his face, but the woman had removed hers. The woman's eyes were crazed, excited at having a victim to torture. The man was stoic, and he appeared to be the one levitating her, if the fact that he had his wand pointed towards her was any indication. Josie didn't move, terror keeping her in place. Stay here. Don't move.

"Are you frightened?" The woman asked. Josie was compelled to answer her; she nodded. "That's good. You muggles should be frightened. That's the only smart thing you stupid creatures have ever done." Josie whimpered.

"Already whimpering? I haven't even done anything to you yet."

"Please," Josie whispered, her throat far too dry with fear to say more.

"Please she says, Dolohov. Should we do as she says and please her?" Dolohov ignored her.

"She looks familiar, doesn't she, Lestrange?" The woman peered at her, eyes squinted, examining her features closely.

"I believe she does. What luck! It looks like we have the ickle little daughter of the Prime Minister."

"Ah, I thought I recognized that face." Lestrange's smile widened; it sickened Josie.

"Well, I think I'm going to enjoy this even more now." In the next instant, the woman whipped out her wand, "Crucio."

Josie's screams echoed in the alleyway.

In theory, Sirius concluded, anti-disapparition jinxes were a good thing. They kept out people you didn't want to enter your home. But the problem with anti-disapparition jinxes was when the people you didn't want entering your home got a hold of them. Conceivably, he could have just disapparated from the street, got Josie home safe and sound, then gone back to help. In fact, that was his first instinct. And then the damn anti-disapparition jinx came into play. He couldn't leave. He gathered that the death eaters put it up to prevent the aurors from crashing in and ruining their fun. And it was this charm that was probably taking them so long to get here. Sirius had no idea where the boundary for the jinx began or ended, and likely, the aurors were having problems locating this line too. He had sent out his patronus, sounding the alarm a long time ago. Now he was just waiting. He was firing off spells as quick as he could shoot, but he was clearly out numbered. He was surprised he didn't have more damage done to his person at this point. He had a cut down his face, and while there was a lot of blood, the damage was minimal. He had taken a fall a little while back and maybe his ribs were cracked. But all in all, it was nothing a trip to a mediwitch couldn't fix. He'd be right as rain if he could survive to the end of this.

And suddenly, the death eaters began to vanish. More flashes of light flashed through the air, although this time they weren't directed at Sirius. In fact, they were going the opposite way. The aurors had arrived and with them, the anti-apparition jinx was lifted. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief when he set eyes on Mad Eye Moody and a team of aurors standing strong behind him.

"Black," Moody acknowledged.

"Think you can handle things here, Mad Eye?" Sirius asked, shooting off another couple of spells at the small amount of Death Eaters that were sticking around, still fighting. The tables had turned and now they were outnumbered. Sirius wouldn't have put it past Mad Eye to cast another anti-apparition jinx, which meant that they couldn't leave. "Flanders is hiding out and I need to get her out of here."

"Go," Moody dismissed Sirius, as the rest of the aurors did their job and took down a couple more Death Eaters. Sirius didn't need to be told twice. He took off running, looking left and right for some sign of the alley that he had left Josie in. The landscape was so changed by the attack that Sirius was having a hard time orienting himself. And then he heard it—the scream that chilled him to his very core. He pushed himself farther, running faster, trying to get to Josie as quick as possible. What had happened to her? She was supposed to be okay! She promised him that she'd stay put and hide, but that didn't explain why her screams were still echoing around him, ringing in his head.

In no time at all, he located the alley where he and Josie had parted. He paused momentarily to take in the scene—his cousin and a still masked Death Eater standing there, wands out, Josie in the air, barely conscious. He saw red.

"Expelliarmus," he hissed, but his spell missed. Bellatrix moved her attention from Josie to him.

"Well if it isn't my dear cousin."

"You're no cousin of mine, Bellatrix. I wouldn't claim relation to you if it would save my life. Stupify!" He yelled out, but Bellatrix easily dodged the spell. As much as Sirius hated to admit it, Bellatrix was a good dueler and was actually very clever when it came to battle.

Without a word, Josie flew through the air until she was in Bellatrix's arms. Immediately, the witch pointed her wand at her throat. Josie was conscious, but clearly not registering what was going on around her; she didn't struggle or fight back at all.

"Back off, or she's dead." Sirius glared.

"Drop her, or you're dead." He responded, his wand still raised. The two stared at each other, their eyes locked, daring the other to make the first move. And then, without warning, Bellatrix moved, pointing her wand at the building to her left. She pushed Josie forward, towards Sirius. She stumbled, barely able to stand on her own two feet. And then the explosion came. Brick came tumbling down from above, made to land right on top of her. Sirius ran forward, tackling Josie to the ground and moving her just out of the way. The rubble crashed to the ground and when the noise stopped, Sirius looked up. Bellatrix and her companion were gone. He breathed a sigh of relief before quickly turning to Josie. "Josie, Josie, wake up, love," he pleaded, worry taking over his body. She moaned in response, her eyes fluttering open slightly before closing again. She was still breathing, Sirius told himself. She wasn't dead. But it was clear that she needed immediate medical attention.

St. Mungo's was his first thought, but he quickly tossed out that idea. While it was true that on occasions like this, St. Mungo's took in muggles, there was no way Sirius was going to let Josie out of his sight. He calmed himself down—he needed to—and thought of the happiest memory he had. "Expecto Patronum," he murmured, sending off a message to Marlene McKinnon to meet him at 10 Downing Street.

It was the middle of the night when Josie awoke, gasping for breath like she was emerging from the depths of the ocean, and a scream in her throat that never quite made it out. She was shaking, although she didn't know why; the room was, if anything, stiflingly warm. It was the middle of summer after all. She tried to stop the shaking, to calm herself down, but it didn't work. She was in her room, (she could figure that out at least) but how she had gotten here, she didn't know.

Her musings were put to an end as the door opened, flooding the room with the hall light. The woman at the door paused, seeing Josie sitting up.

"Oh good, you're awake," she whispered, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. She approached the bed, and withdrew her wand from her pocket. Josie stiffened and seeing this, the woman paused. "Oh, right, didn't think of that. It makes sense though, your being wary of wands and magic and our sort of things. Anyways, I'm here to help. I'm a friend of Sirius'—Marlene. I fixed you up. Now that you're awake, I need to see if there are any lasting side effects from the spells, is that okay?" Josie nodded and Marlene walked forward.

"What," Josie croaked out before clearing her throat. "What kind of side effects are you looking for?" She asked. Marlene held up a finger to her lips, indicating that she be quiet.

"I just got that one over there to get some rest," she spoke quietly while Josie turned toward where she pointed. Sirius was asleep in a chair pulled right up next to her bed. "If he didn't, I was going to force a sleeping potion down his throat."

"Well I guess you'll just have to do that," Sirius said sleepily, his eyes still closed. "I'm awake now." Marlene sighed.

"I'll deal with you later Sirius. First order of business is checking up on Ms. Flanders here." Marlene pulled out her wand and began her examination. After a few minutes she stopped. "Well, you seem to be alright." Sirius sighed in relief.

"Thank Merlin."

"Sirius, keep an eye on her for the next few days. If there's any change at all in her condition, drop me a line, yeah? I'll come right over. It was nice to meet you, Josie Flanders," Marlene commented as she began to move out of the room, "I just wish the circumstances were better."

"Me too," Josie responded, mustering a small smile. The door clicked shut behind her and Josie turned to Sirius, who was still sitting at the side of her bed. The image of him, staring so concernedly at her, was what caused her to break. The tears began and they soon developed into full out sobs. She felt the bed dip with the weight of another person and the next thing she knew, Sirius had wrapped his arms around her and was holding her to his chest, rubbing her back in comforting circles as she cried. He didn't say anything—what could he say that would make any difference?

"You promised me. You promised me. You said everything would be fine if I just stayed put and didn't move."

"I know," Sirius responded. The guilt that he had been carrying around since that afternoon seemed to weigh more on him now. He wasn't just blaming himself—clearly Josie blamed him too.

"It wasn't alright. You promised," Josie continued to ramble, still sobbing into Sirius' chest.

"I know, I know," was all he could say back. Things weren't alright. And it was all his fault.

A/N: Just squeezing this in before school starts again, at the request of Solitaireclay07 (who is awesome. You should all read her stuff and leave her reviews because they would make her happy). Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. It gave me more trouble than I thought it would. First time writing any thing of the sort. Hope it's not that awful. Next chapter is one I've been looking forward to for a long time now. In fact, when this one was giving me trouble, I worked on that one instead haha. I can't tell you when it'll be up, but it'll be March at the latest.

Feel free to review and let me know what you think. Until next time,

NaP