I have to admit, I am shocked that I got this chapter written this quickly. Normally, it is weeks before another update. This is going to be less than a week, isn't it? Who knows. All I know is that this chapter basically wrote itself. There is basically a little bit everything in here. I didn't get a chance to spell check it so I hope that everything turned out write and I caught all my mistakes during the first (and only) and very brief check I did. I don't really know what else to say right now except that I want to thank everyone who has reviewed/alerted/followed this story. You are all marvelous.
Please enjoy this next chapter and please leave your thoughts at the end in a nice little review.
The next Friday, they all sat munching on their food. Ursula and Elyse were talking to Marlene and Alice while the boys were discussing how they needed to figure out more Quidditch time/strategy. The morning was surprisingly bright, the sun reaching through the Great Hall ceiling illuminating all the students. The good mood was paused when the owls began arriving with the morning papers.
Ben and Remus quickly split the paper and began speed reading through it. Conversation had ceased to happen as the other five watched for any indication of something happening.
"Anyone we know dead?" Sirius asked calmly as he tried to keep his voice purposefully calm.
Both Ben and Remus shook their heads.
"There was another inferi attack on a muggle town not far from Ottery St. Catchpole. Thirty-five were killed. Some giants attacked a group of Ministry workers and three of the nine were killed. Two others are in a coma. There have been what muggles have been reporting as tornadoes that have cost about twelve million pounds in damage. So far three town and one suburb of London has basically been leveled. They have found dozens dead in the wreckage." Ben reported.
Remus folded his paper up and reported, "There have been forty-nine individual deaths of a witch or wizard in the past week. They listed the names but I didn't see anyone we would know. There is suspicion that Lord Voldemort is personally working his way closer to Hogwarts. He was sighted at Dufftown two days ago but he's vanished since."
"Well that settles that. You guys aren't going to Hogsmeade tonight." Ursula affirmed, grabbing Ben's hand and giving Elyse a hard look.
"What! They'll be fine. Voldemort wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore so close!" Peter tried to reason.
Ursula shook her head, "I wouldn't send you there and I'm sure as hell not going to let them go when Lord Bloody Voldemort is nearby."
"Isn't that hypocritical," Ben said. "You were probably going to try to compromise that you needed to tag along to make sure we're fine tonight. Am I right?" Ursula's silence was answer enough for him to continue, "We are going to be fine. We'll have the cloak. We'll get the firewhiskey and get right back asap. There's nothing to worry about."
"That doesn't make me feel any better about this," Ursula muttered.
"Don't you trust Ben?" Peter challenged.
Ursula's head shot up and she looked shocked at Peter's question, "Of course I do!"
"Then he'll be fine with Lucky in Hogsmeade. If you trusted him you wouldn't worry about it."
Ursula glared at Peter. Sirius, ever in tune with his twin, reached over and smacked Peter quite hard on the back of the head, "Shut it Wormy. Go nibble on some cheese or something."
"Go chase your tail," Peter shot back.
Sirius's face flushed, from anger or embarrassment (though it was likely the former) and narrowed his eyes at his friend, "At least I'm actually useful! Unlike your ratty—"
"Sirius!" Ursula yelled, stopping her brother before he said something he regretted. "Stop."
"No, damnit, you're not my mother and Peter's pissing me off so I'm bloody rant if I want to!" He fought back.
"I'm aware I'm not your mother. Who pissed in your tea this morning?"
"Someone obviously did! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to class since I have to stop," at the last word, he glared at Ursula before storming off towards their arithmancy class.
James was quickly shoving food into his mouth his voice was muffled as he said, "I've god'dis." Then he too stood up and started to leave. There was a loud yelp that came from outside the doors. James quickly sprinted the rest of the way, Ursula getting up and running as well with the others behind them.
It wasn't Sirius who had made the noise. No, it was a second year Slytherin that was currently red and hanging upside down. James lifted his wand when, of course, none other than Lily walked around the corner. She froze midstep and stared at James with absolute revulsion. "JAMES POTTER!" She yelled.
James jumped and the color drained from his face. Before he could even get a word in, she laid into him, screaming, "HOW DARE YOU! I THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD CHANGED, MATURED! THEN I SEE THIS!? YOU ARE STILL A NO GOOD, EGOTISTICAL PRAT! YOU DISGUSTING, VILE—"
He didn't even try to defend himself from her tirade. He just stared at her like a broken man, his eyes hollow and sad. Remus had reversed the curse and was now helping the lad stand up straight. Ursula kept on trying to interrupt Lily but it was to no avail.
"EVANS! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sirius shouted as he rounded the corner, either hearing her yelling from where he was or hearing the gossip that undoubtedly already spreading around the school.
Lily spun around and was about to start yelling at Sirius when he silenced her with a dark look, one that made it possible for people to see the upbringing he was raised with, "No, you are going to shut up and actually listen for once. I get that you are the brightest witch of our age but you are incredibly thick! I was the one who hexed that little brat. Not James. But because you have it preset in your mind that James is the he-devil, you can't see that he was actually trying to help the kid. So you are going to chill the hell out, apologize to James, and stop looking at him like he is going to bully this school into submission every five seconds.
"I owe him my life so I will say this once, Evans," his voice had significantly lowered as he stood only a few inches from Lily, looking down at her with his steely grey eyes, so much that only Lily could hear him, "I would have probably ended up killing myself without James. So know this; he is a good man, possibly the best. He has sacrificed things for people most wouldn't give two shits about, aka me and Ursula and Remus and Peter. The things he has done for us… we will never be able to repay him but I will try until the day I die. You make him happy. So, please, give the poor bloke a chance so I don't have to listen to anymore dreadful poems he has written." He added the last part humorously, but his eyes only portrayed integrity and truth.
Lily simply stared at him in shock before wrapping her arms around his middle in a surprising hug, "When did you become so mature?"
He pulled away and placed his hands on her shoulders, "When it comes to James, I'll defend him to the end. This has nothing to do with maturity."
"Yes it does," she disagreed as she pulled out from under his grasp. She saw James standing over to the side trying not to look jealous that his best friend was hugging the girl he fancied but failing horribly. Lily walked over to him and pulled him into a hug that surprised him. He stared over her shoulder at Sirius in panic. Sirius laughed and motioned for him to wrap his arms around her. James quickly did just that.
"I'm sorry for overreacting," Lily apologized. "Perhaps you've changed in more than just one way," she conceded. She stood up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek, turning a brilliant shade of red and quickly scurried into the Great Hall for breakfast.
James remained where he was standing, not moving, not blinking, possibly not even breathing.
Elyse poked him in the side and when she didn't get a response, she laughed, "Me thinks Lily broke 'im."
"I think she broke him a long time ago," Ursula laughed along.
Ben snorted, "It takes more than a mere woman to break a man," he teased.
Ursula put her hand on her hip and raised a single eyebrow, "Really?"
He nodded, "Of course, our ment—" he was cut off as Ursula grabbed the front of his robes and yanked him down a couple inches. Before he could even shout in protest of being manhandled, her lips silenced him. Any and all rational thought left his mind. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, sure that she could feel his heart trying to jump out of his chest. It wasn't overly passionate, it wasn't obscene. But one of his hands went to the back of her head, tipping it back so that he had a better angle to kiss her. Her hands reached up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck and at that moment, he swore he almost went into cardiac arrest. Her fingers left a trail of fire of his skin, her touch was intoxicating.
And then she abruptly pulled away.
Ben stood there, unable to even form a coherent thought. Ursula smirked, "What was that about a mere woman not being able to break a man?"
He broke out of his haze and grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, "I am but a mere boy in the face of love, looking upon my dark haired goddess in disbelief, wondering how a mere mortal such as myself has won the affection of such a divine creature. For how could such a thing be so innocent if not the love of two children, unbridled by the pain of the world; both searching for eternal truth in each other's hearts?"
Ursula simply stared at him, her words failing her.
"Damn," Elyse chuckled. "King, I think yeh just broke her."
"Aw, gag me. Let's get to class because King turns into the next Bard. We don't need any more bloody poetry." Sirius grumbled, grabbing Ursula's shoulder and shoving her forward to walk with Elyse and Peter. Sirius hung back by Ben. He turned to him, "You know, I could very easily hate you but then you go and say that stuff to her and I can't do it. I swear that if you don't end up marrying, Voldie will be the last of your problems. Understand?"
"Understood," Ben said, his tone light and jovial. He didn't even care what Sirius said. His eyes were focused on the dark haired beauty that was before him.
"Hey King, think you can help me write some poems to Evans?" James asked.
Ben shook his head, "Contrary to popular belief, I don't think that you need to do much to win over Lily."
"She does seem to speak a great deal about you when we have rounds together. She was particularly interested after she heard about what you said to Stacy earlier this week," Remus confessed.
That added an extra skip to James's step and an extra bit of joy to his smile as he practically skipped down to the arithmancy room with half the group while Elyse and Peter headed off to go study for Charms. When Lily smiled at James when he walked in the room, his smile became even larger that it was surprising that it didn't hurt. But he didn't care. Abandoning his usual seat, he sat next to Lily, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other students in the class. A universal thought went through their minds simultaneously. Finally.
"And you have my bag right? I gave you the right one? And you still have the mirror?" Ursula questioned Elyse for the tenth time in the last ten minutes.
Elyse exasperatedly nodded, "Yeah. Yeh gave me teh bag wit teh undetectable expansion charm 'n wit no weight o' wootever 'n yeh's mirror is in me pocket. Yeh already asked twenty times."
Ursula huffed but didn't say anything. Ben wrapped his arm around her shoulder, "You need to relax. We're just running to Hogsmeade. We'll be back before you get back from tutoring Harlon. Just let us go. The sooner we leave the sooner we'll be back," He kissed her gently. It wasn't a goodbye kiss. No, it was a kiss promising that there would be more in the future.
"If you die, I'll kill you," Ursula swore.
Elyse laughed, "Good luck doin' that."
"Shut it spare. I can replace you with Lily but Ben's one of a kind," Ursula quipped, trying to ignore the bad feeling in her stomach.
Elyse feigned outrage, "I see how much our friendship means ter yeh. Fine! King, let's go!" she grabbed Ben's hand and yanked him towards the door. Secretly, she was just as eager as Ursula to get back to the castle safely. It wasn't a bad feeling per se but she didn't like the idea of going out at night when they weren't supposed to, even if they had been planning for a while on this trip.
They found the secret passageway easy enough. It was very much like the Hufflepuff common room where they needed to tap the right combination and right rhythm. It had been Ben who found it when he was bored and waiting to talk to professor Flitwick and had started tapping away at the wall with his wand.
The bricks slid away to reveal the dark and moderately narrow corridor. They had to go in one at a time but they at least had some room on their sides.
"Nox." And with a flick of his wrist the hallway was illuminated. He held his wand in front of him as they started the trek to Hogsmeade. He felt Elyse place her hand on his shoulder to steady herself when she almost fell over a crack in the floor.
Elyse pulled out the map, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she muttered. Unfolding what felt like a never ending piece of parchment, she finally found their footprints. "We're almost there," she told him. Her voice eerily echoed around them.
Ben shuddered and pulled his jacket closer to him, "It's getting colder. It's probably snowing."
"It's always bloody snowing," Elyse griped. She had not thought about the fact that it was always snowing in Hogsmeade and she was wearing a light zip up jumper. Ben frowned and took off his jacket and held it towards her.
"Here. I'm fine without it."
"Ben…" Elyse began, shoving the offered warmth away but Ben persisted so she begrudgingly took it, grumbling about stubborn gingers. That is until Ben pointed out that she had the same hair color as him and then she just glared at him in fuming silence.
They climbed the stairs at the end of the corridor and came up to Hogsmeade in an alley. Elyse squinted at the extreme lighting difference. It may have been cold but it was still sunnier than it has been in a while. Ben and Elyse set off down the alley, purposely trying to act nonchalant.
"So Ben," Elyse began, "when're yeh goin' ter man up 'n tell Ursula yeh love 'er?"
Ben groaned and stopped walking to turn to face her, "Listen, Elyse, I know you're my friend and you're Ursula's best friend but everyone needs to stop asking me this. It's my personal life and I don't want to make it a relationship between Ursula and me and everyone else. Just stop."
"Alright, touchy, touchy," Elyse said, holding her hands up in defeat. While she wanted Ben to tell Ursula, she understood him wanting to keep things private. It was just that she knew that Ursula needed to hear that he loved her. She hadn't had much love growing up, only coming from her brothers. For her, the concept of someone who wasn't blood related to her or an adopted parental figure loving her…it was almost impossible. Elyse just wanted her friend to feel the same love that she had with Pat. The same one she saw James and Lily having in the near future.
And though she would never tell either of them, she had known their fate the day she met them on the train, seen them kissing on the Quidditch pitch after winning a game, and countless other moments that had come to pass. She still got a kick out the time Ben said he would never act like Annabelle and Gideon and kiss in front of the entire student body when he did that before (and after) each game. To be honest, they were what made her believe in true love. Them and James and Lily that is. She saw their love and how pure it was, sometimes getting a glimpse into the private moments they shared. While she felt mildly guilty about the invasion of privacy, she still loved those visions because it reminded her that there was still some good in the world.
"Thanks for understanding. Let's just get the firewhiskey and get out of here." Ben said. He quickly started towards the Three Broomsticks. They received some odd looks since they were obviously underage but no one stopped them. The streets were too crowded as everyone rushed home anyway so there was no time or space for them to stop.
Ben grabbed the door to the Three Broomsticks and held it open for Elyse. The pub was fairly crowded but there was still room to walk. Elyse saw a pile of magazines on a table and her hand itched towards them. In her opinion, wizard magazines were interesting because they were so different than the ones she grew up with. Ben noticed her interest and said, "Take a look at those. I'll get the bottles."
She handed him the bag and cloak with a thanks before she grabbed the first magazine and started flipping through it.
Ben had just finished stuffing the invisibility cloak into Ursula's bag when he got to the counter. There was no one there, which wasn't that surprising since he assumed that Rosmerta. He leaned against the counter absentmindedly looking around the pub. It fascinated him, the amount of people. They all had life stories, amazing tales to tell, loved ones and friends, and were all uniquely them. It was a trait he had inherited from his father, his curiosity about people.
"Benjamin White!" Rosmerta gasped when she saw who was standing at her counter. She quickly went behind the bar and nervously cleaned some glasses, "What are you doing out of Hogwarts young man?" she scolded. It would have sounded firm had her voice not started to shake halfway through.
Ben's eyes narrowed, a bad feeling settling in his gut, "Rosmerta, what's wrong?" he asked quietly and scanned the bar as if he could find the answer in one of the patron's faces.
She shook her head rapidly, "Nothing! Nothing! What do you want dear?" she asked quickly.
Putting his concerns aside, he said, "Three bottles of firewhiskey. My birthday was in October; I'm legal."
Instead of putting up the fight like he thought she would, she nodded and quickly got the bottles. She returned and when she leaned over to hand them to him, she spoke so softly and quickly that Ben had a hard time catching what she said, "There were men who came in about ten minutes ago looking for you and Elyse. They let when you showed up. Find her and leave."
His face gave nothing away. He smiled in thanks, "Of course I'll be mindful of the snow. It can be quite treacherous with the ice under the snow. Thanks for the warning."
"Be safe," she cautioned again.
"Of course. I would never hear the end of it if my father caught wind of me falling down." He said as he put the bottles in the bag. He looked up and their eyes met, Ben praying that she understood what he was trying to say.
The double meaning was not lost on Rosmerta. She nodded and quickly scurried away to inform the Ministry of suspicious activity in Hogsmeade.
Ben stalked towards Elyse, who was still oblivious to the danger they were in. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her away from the magazines without a warning. Despite her protests, Ben kept a hand on her and pulled her towards their escape.
Elyse tried to fight him but then she saw the look in his eyes. His face may have been calm and impassive but his eyes were darting around as if he were expecting Voldemort to jump out behind every corner. There was something different about him, something that made him look older and…fearful? That was when reality hit her like a ton of bricks to the gut. Ben was scared. Ben was scared. He didn't get scared unless something completely horrible was about to happen.
"Ben, woot's g—"
"Listen to me and listen closely," Ben said under his breath, barely moving his lips. "If I tell you to run, you run. Get back to Hogwarts and get Dumbledore and as many teachers as possible. Understand?"
"Woot's—?"
"There are Death Eaters here and they know we are here. Right now you need to hide."
That nearly made Elyse topple over. Death Eaters. Here. How Ben was still able to rationally think was beyond her. Flashes of all the times she fought Lord Voldemort's followers ran through her mind, much like the blood in her veins was running like ice.
"Woot about yeh?" she whispered in horror, realizing that Ben's plan didn't involve him getting out safely.
He smiled grimly at that, "I'm the Minister's son so I'll be a bit of a catch for Voldemort. They'll focus on me and that's fine. It'll give you time to run if need be. Better me than a seer that can see the future. He can't find out, Lucky. So do what I say and when I say run, run."
"But—"
This time she wasn't cut off by Ben. Instead, there was a shrill scream as black cloaked figures appeared out of thin air. Ben shoved Elyse forward, "GO!" he screamed at her before he ran the other direction as a little child sat in the middle of the road.
There were explosions. There was screaming. There were people falling over dead in the middle of the streets. The Death Eaters took no notice as to who they cut down. Ben blindly ran down the street, his heart pounding away in his ears. He didn't remember how he got there, but he was standing in front of Maestro's shop, guiding children and some adults in as the store owner ushered them into a hidden room in the shop. He tried his best to fight off any Death Eaters that came near, blindly shouting spell after spell. Anything that would buy them more time. An explosion right next to the door, sent Ben flying back. He crashed into a crate full of candy in front of Honeydukes.
"Lookie here, we've got the Minister's son," one of the Death Eaters cackled.
"Go to hell!" Ben grabbed his wand and shouted the first spell that came to mind, "Reducto!"
The Death Eater dodged the spell and instantly shot one back nonverbally. In return, Ben nonverbally put up a shield charm, causing the spell to reflect and hit another Death Eater. Before Ben had time to cast a spell of his own, he was just a second too slow as another spell hit Ben right in the chest, sending him flying through the window. "Damn," he groaned, feeling the glass dig into his shoulder.
"Where is the boy?" a wispy voice asked. "I wish to speak to him, Rudolphus."
The Death Eater that had blasted him through a window roughly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him through the window frame. He unceremoniously threw him to the ground in the middle of the street. The brief fighting had stopped. Death Eater stood around them while other witches and wizards watched from the safety of their hiding places.
Ben look up, his vision slightly fuzzy from the hitting his head on the ground. There was someone wearing impossibly black robes, a pale and clammy looking hand wearing a gaudy ring holding a dark wand, and then finally there was his face.
There was terror. There was fear. There was pure panic.
Those words don't even begin to describe what Ben felt when he made eye contact with Lord Voldemort. His nose was misshapen and his eyes were bloody red. He almost looked like a snake, in Ben's opinion; half man, half snake.
"Rise Benjamin White." Voldemort commanded.
Ben struggled to his feet, his injuries from taking an unexpected trip through a window screaming in protest. He cradled one of his arms against his chest.
"What do you want?" Ben demanded, his voice cold and strong.
Voldemort looked mildly surprised as he began to slowly walk back and forth in front of the youth, "Why, young Benjamin, that is hardly a way to speak to your superior."
"You aren't my superior," Ben sneered. "You're nothing more than the trash lining these streets."
In retrospect, Ben would realize that saying that to Lord Voldemort was a bad idea. But it was too late to take it back when he felt like his entire body had been lit on fire. His back arched and his head flew back as he was brought to his knees. He gasped as ever muscle clenched and it felt like thousands of knives were piercing his skin. Liquid fire was running through his body and a nails were being driven through his skull.
Just as quickly as it started, it ended. He fell forward on all fours, gasping for breath.
"I am inclined to say I am impressed," Voldemort commented, running his fingers up and down his wand, looking at the piece of wood curiously, as if he hadn't just tortured a seventeen year old student. "You didn't scream like your sister did."
That was when the world stopped spinning. "What?" his mouth had gone dry, his tongue feeling like sandpaper. It felt like he couldn't breathe. It was Lord Voldemort that killed Annabelle. He had thought it was another Death Eater acting upon his orders. But no, Lord-Bloody-Voldemort killed his sister and nephew.
Voldemort chuckled, the sound send chills down Ben's spine. "Ah, yes, Annabelle Grace White. A very powerful witch. I see a lot of her in you. So I will make you the same offer I gave to her."
Ben struggled to his feet, "Whatever it is—"
With a wave of his wand, Voldemort silenced Ben, "Your insolence will not be tolerated. Be grateful that I am feeling merciful today. What I want to offer you, Benjamin White, is a position in my army. My sources report that you have a brilliant mind, you have such magical power, and you are descendent of one of the purest blood lines in the Wizarding world. You would be welcomed with open arms. So join me. Join me and live."
"Hell. No." Ben spat.
Voldemort smirked, that is, Ben thought it was a smirk. It was basically hatred incarnated in a turn of the lips. "Fascinating. She said the same thing before she died."
"You sick bastard," Ben ground out, raising his wand. He knew it was incredibly idiotic. But looking that pathetic excuse for a man, for a wizard, hatred like Ben had never known before consumed him as he looked at his sister's murderer.
That seemed to infuriate Voldemort further. "Ah, ah, ah," he tutted, a glare that sent even his Death Eaters stepping back a foot or two. "Before you die, I have one purpose left for you."
"Seriously, just kill me already." Ben snapped. "I'll never tell you anything."
"Really? Would you tell me in exchange for Ursula Black's life?"
That made Ben freeze. "How do you know about that?"
Positively gleeful (or about as gleeful as Voldemort could be) he said, "how do I know that you are currently in a relationship with the blood traitor Ursula Black? How do I know that the Blacks live with the Potters. How do I know that your mother write you every day in code in case someone intercepts the owl?" he stepped closer to Ben with each question. He was merely a foot from the young adult when he asked in his papery, wispy voice, "how do I know that your friend Elyse O'Brian is here right now?"
"Those are lies," Ben said, desperate to say anything to throw Voldemort off track. In reality, he was panicking that the darkest wizard of this time knew all that about him and his friends.
"And how do I know," Voldemort paused for dramatic effect, letting Ben's mind run wild with all the things that Voldemort could know about, "that O'Brian, though a mudblood, is a seer?"
Ben stopped breathing, as did his heart stop beating for two seconds.
"Ava—"
Ben closed his eyes, not wanting to see that man when he breathed his last. He thought of James and Sirius, the two boys who had changed his life for the better. He thought of Peter, his friend who had saved the first day on the train. He thought of Remus, possibly his closest friend out of the other six, the one who was a werewolf. The one he became an illegal animagus for. The one he would have died for. He thought of Elyse, the girl who brought the wonder back into the magic that he had grown up with, making it wonderful again. He thought of his parents, how they would have to bury another child, how they would have both their children murdered by Voldemort. They would never have grandchildren. They would never see him graduate Hogwarts. They would never see him marry, have children, get a job, live life.
He thought of Ursula, the woman he was madly in love with but never got to tell her. The girl that he dreamed of marrying and having half a dozen little black haired and brown eyed children. She was the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with, simply loving her because there was no one else for him. She was his miracle, the reason for his existence. And she would never know. He would never be able to tell her any of this.
And that thought hurt.
A loud explosion cut him off. Everyone turned to see Elyse standing near a blown up barrel of butterbeer. "'Ello, Voldie. Lookin' fer me?" Before anyone could response, Elyse was sprinting away from the confrontation. Ben took advantage of everyone's distraction and ran after her. It was then that the fighting started up again. But this time, teachers from the school appeared, as did Aurors.
"RUN!" Ben screamed at Elyse when she turned around when there was a particularly blood curdling scream from behind them. "TRANSFORM!" he shouted at her. She nodded and in mid run, she morphed into a rabbit that flew over the snow and ducked between people's feet. Ben shoved people left and right trying to get lost in teh chaos while almost making things blow up or fall behind them to make it more difficult for their pursuers to catch them. He had never run that fast in his entire life; even when James would push them at practice. It felt like his feet weren't even touching the ground.
They sprinted down the alley and Ben quickly tapped out the pattern and made sure Elyse got in before him.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" a voice shouted from the entrance of the alley. Ben hit the dirt and the spell passed over his head. It continued into the tunnel and exploded a rock, inches from Elyse's animagus form.
Knowing that the Death Eaters had seen their getaway, Ben snatched up Elyse and with his free hand, pointed his wand at the walls, "BOMBARDA!"
It was a domino reaction. The walls crumbled behind him, some small stones landing on his head. He grabbed Elyse and held her shaking form to his chest, trying to protect her from the falling stone. The amount of times he almost tripped was astounding. It was truly miraculous that he didn't end up flat on his face and end up crushed by the caving in corridor. Adrenaline pumped through his system, the only thing he felt was fear and the slight hope that they were going to actually live through this.
He jumped out of the exit, the familiar aroma and safety of the castle envolping him. He collapsed against the wall, slowly sliding down to the ground, still clutching Lucky tightly. She transformed, not even bothering to move. She grabbed onto Ben, both of them shaking horrifically.
"We're alive," she croaked as her terror had taken her ability to speak. Tears started to spill down her face, "how're we alive?"
Ben shook his head and just grabbed onto her tighter, the fear of her dying still running through his head. He started a mantra in his head. Elyse is alive. You are alive. You are both alive. Elyse is alive. You are alive. You are both alive.
He buried his face in her curls as she sobbed into her chest, the reality of what just happened sinking in for both of them.
Lord Voldemort had almost killed Ben.
Lord Voldemort knew Elyse was a seer.
But he was alive. They had both survived.
"Elyse…mirror. Get Ursula. James. Sirius. One of them," Ben muttered, not able to have the energy to say anything else.
Elyse grabbed the bag and pulled out the mirror but she was crying so badly that she could form words. So instead, Ben took the mirror. "Ursula Black."
Ursula's face appeared seconds later. The instant she saw his face, all the color drained from her face, "What happened?" she demanded.
"Something went wrong." That took all his energy. His hand fell and while he heard Ursula yelling at him to answer her and tell her where they were, he simply couldn't.
She found them ten minutes later. Remus and James were with her. Apparently Sirius was off getting Pomfrey and Peter was nowhere to be found. Ursula came to a skidding halt next to them, dropping down to their side, "What happened? Are you hurt?"
"Voldemort. We saw him," Elyse muttered, her eyes staring out blankly in front of her. They were glazed over and her hands couldn't stop shaking.
James immediately took control of the situation. "Remus, help me with King. Ursula, get Lucky. We're taking you to the hospital wing."
"No. Rest. I just want to sleep." Ben complained.
Ursula knelt down next to him and placed her hand on his cheek, "Ben, please, you need help. Please let us take you to the hospital wing."
Ben reached up and wiped away the tears that were flowing down her cheeks, "Don't cry. Please. I hate it when you cry."
She chuckled, "I hate it when you go and almost get killed. Please, if not for me, then for your mother and father."
"No," he grasped her hand tightly, "For you. It's always for you."
"Then please go." She begged.
They had a silence conversation where they just stared at each other. Finally Ben nodded and let Elyse go. Ursula helped Elyse get to her feet while Remus and James practically had to carry Ben between them since now that the adrenaline had worn off, Ben could feel every cut, bruise, burn, and sprain.
He didn't know how they were going to explain it but somehow James made up a completely plausible story on how they got their injuries.
Thankfully, for Elyse, it wasn't a lot of physical injuries and she was released quickly. By that point, Sirius had rejoined them and had agreed to take her back to the Tower. Ben was given a sleeping potion and told that if he healed properly overnight, he would be allowed to leave in the morning. Thus his three remaining friends were forcibly removed from the Hospital Wing.
He ended up waking up around midnight and deemed himself healthy enough to go back to the Tower. As he climbed the multitude of stairs, he had to take a couple breaks to catch his breath or stretch out one of his protesting limbs. When he got to his dorm, everyone was asleep.
A degree of comfort he felt when he stepped into the dirty and disorganized room was something akin to elation. He never thought he would feel that way about seeing Sirius's dirty socks thrown about the room, James's Quidditch gear, and Remus's own personal library strewn around the room. But when you think that you would never see something again, stuff like that was beautiful. He stepped up to the window near the bed and saw a flickering light coming from the Balcony on the girl's half.
Knowing it was a terribly stupid idea; Ben grabbed James's broom and flew out the window anyway and up to the Balcony. It was incredibly difficult to land but when he did, he was met by the startled shout of Ursula. She jumped up from the canopy that she had hung. The ceiling had been changed so that it was like the Great Hall, allowing her to stare up at the night sky.
"Ben!" She grabbed him tightly.
It seemed like she knew exactly what he needed. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the vanilla and warmth. He held her tightly, his grip so tight that he was fairly sure that it might bruise. His shoulder screamed in protest but he didn't care.
They stood like that for one, five, ten minutes; Ben didn't know. All he knew was that when she pulled back, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the canopy. They laid down together, Ursula cuddled against his side. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders while she took his other hand in hers and playing with his fingers.
"What happened?" She asked softly.
He told her everything. From what Voldemort had said about his sister, to him knowing about her and knowing about Elyse's ability.
She was silent after he finished his tale, "So what you're saying is that there is a spy in Hogwarts that is feeding him information about us. To know so much that would mean the person is in Gryffindor."
"Or someone just happened to overhear stuff in the hallway," Ben tried to defend his House but he knew in his heart, she was right. There was someone in Gryffindor in league with Lord Voldemort. That thought alone was terrifying.
"You know," Ben said, not wanting to think of a traitor, "when I thought that I was going to…um…when he raised his wand to kill me, there was one thing I would have regretted."
"What?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his torso and held him tight.
He kissed her forehead and pulled back so he could look her in the eye, "I would have never told you how you are the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing at night. How there are days when I don't understand what I ever did to deserve you. You are my everything; my sun, my moon, my guiding light. I was messed up when my sister died and I said horrible, horrible things but you somehow forgave me. You gave me a second chance and I've spent every day since trying to earn that. Ursula Walburga Black, I've fallen in love with you." He admitted.
The look on her face was shock mixed with disbelief and denial.
So he kept talking, "I know that we are going to be facing death in the face and one of us could die at any moment once we graduate but I don't care. We don't get to pick when. We only get to pick who we spend out moments with and I want to spend every single one of my moments with you. Because every moment without you, it feels like the darkness is sneaking up on me, waiting to consume me and destroy me. We've known each other since we were eleven and I know that we are a shot in the dark, our backgrounds as different as can be, but that's why I love you. You are my other half, the part of me that I've been missing my entire life. And ever since you ran into me at the station, a part of me has been falling for you and I've finally landed. So I'll say it again, I love you. I love you now and forever. I solemnly swear," he took her hand and brought it to his lips and gently kissed the back of it.
"Ben…" Ursula breathed, unable to say anything else.
He nodded and cupped her face with his hands, "I know. You can't say it yet and I don't care. Because I love you and all your faults and weird quirks, like how you always put jam on half your toast and fold it in half before eating it, or you always leave your tie undone because you don't lie feeling restricted, and that you fly with your left hand even though you are right-handed. I know that in another time and place your dream job is to be a Transfiguration teacher. I know that, contrary to what you think, you are the most compassionate, beautiful person I have ever had the honor of knowing. And I will cherish every day you spend with me because I love you."
Her grin was watery, "I know," she whispered, her voice slightly raspy from holding back the tears. She reached up and pulled him down to kiss him.
They may have been young and naïve, but after three years of dating, six years of knowing each other, they knew more about each other than some married couples did. They had to grow up quicker, learn more, fight more, deal with more; it made them into miniature adults. Adults who had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Except one thing.
They had each other. That was all that mattered.