Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is a story written for entertainment purposes anyway. Enjoy, review and excreta, etcetera.
Chapter 12
I instructed the other professors to take care of the students and the house-elves to take care of the mess. The others made their way down to Sal and Hel's private rooms while I took the shock ridden Helena Anderson to the hospital wing. I sat her on a bed that she curled up into a ball on and tended to the arrow wound in my shoulder that was on the verge of developing a raging infection. It was there that I had one of the hardest conversations of my life. I told her what her father had done, and I had told her why. I held her as she cried and made my offer for her to stay at Hogwarts full time if she chose or to return to her estate. Angry, upset and hurting she left to her dorm to consider it.
I made the announcement to the school, telling them what had happened and why. There was outrage and conflicting opinions. By the time I had sorted everything that needed sorting it was night and I was tired and my eyes burned with the force of not expelling my tears. The idea of returning to my empty room was daunting, as guilt and pain ate away at me. I did not know if my presence would be welcomed with the others but I found my feet journeying that way anyway.
I went in without knocking and observed the tornado of destruction that seemingly whirled through here. Cleaning it up with magic and following it to the bedroom whose door stood ajar. Pushing it open I saw them all congregated in a heap on the bed. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and made my way half way into the room before their gaze fell upon me. All my hard maintained composure I had been desperately trying to keep shatter at my feet.
"I-m sorry," I whimpered my words slurring together around my constricting throat and I fell to my knees great wracking sobs making my entire body convulse, "I-m sorry. I-I-m so, s-so sorry. P-plea-please forgive m-me. I sh-should-da done so-someth-thing, a-anythi-ing. I-m so-sorry. For-forgive m-me, please."
"Shh," someone cooed in my ear pulling me up onto the bed. I was shaking so hard I thought that I was going to shatter into a million pieces. My head ached with the sheer amount of tears coming out and blurring my vision. They were crying to, and trembling as we all held each other together. As if physical closeness was the only thing keeping us together.
"It is not your fault," Hel's said hoarsely through tears of her own, "It is not."
"We forgive you," Sal's desolate voice forgiving me for not being enough, for never being enough, was worth far more than any vehement insistent protests that it was not my fault. I should have done more. We lay in crying, hugging heap until the sun rose and there were not any tears left to fall, for they have all been shed already.
"We have other problems that need to be dealt with," I said as the sun pinpricked it's was into the room. Rowena gave a very unladylike snort.
"What could possibly matter now?" she sighed bitterly.
"The kings men are heading our way and we have no way to stop them from invading the school," Sal said, "Even if we had killed every muggle present before we left it would have been for naught. They had sent word before we had even arisen."
"We fight them before they get here then," Ric said resolutely, "We have a fortnight, nay a week, to prepare for them." I wanted to bang my head repetitively against a wall. The major problem that consisted with muggles was the purebloods who would help them, to prove the point and make them seem more dangerous than they are. Then they, in all there twisted minds think that they shall be able to hunt and kill them like the animals they believe them to be. It was sickening.
"What do we do about those with magic that fight on their side to further their own ends?" I asked bringing up the problem, "Any wards we could lay with the knowledge we possess..."
"It would not be worth laying them," Hel's sleep clogged voice said blowing out a sigh, "There are too many conflicting and untrained magic's here and getting them down, keeping them down and integrating them all so we do not explode sky high is a futile undertaking in the best of times. Now, on a week's time and with the possibility of magical assault, nay. There would be no point."
"We would have to face the opposing armies at no more than two at a time," Ric said running a hand through his hair, "That leaves three to alternate between teaching and protecting the castle, and replacing us when we are overly injured or exhausted."
"What of the girl, Lord Anderson's daughter, Helena I believe," Row said looking at me, "She is of my house, has any spoken to her?"
"I did, I offered her a place at Hogwarts, even during the summers," I informed her, "Or the option to return to her estate. I am sorry for making the decision without discussing it with you first but it needed to be done, and you were preoccupied."
"You are right, this is quite a decision to make on your own, why?" Sal said simply.
"Because I killed her father, the only family she had in the world," I said raising my hand to stop the flood of comments they moved to interject, "No matter what kind of pathetic excuse for what did not run down his mother's legs he was. If she wants to stay here, she deserves to." They were appreciative of the intense use of one of Ric's favourite insults.
"Now all that remains is to see to the total demise of the muggle village responsible for Ella," Row said in a clinical detached way that bellied the murderous fury banked in her eyes.
"We cannot," I said softly, knowing that they would not want to hear it. I did not want to hear it.
"Why?" Ric hissed. Sal had a look of pained understanding across his face, but it was Hel whom actually spoke up.
"Because my daughter is dead," she said in a furious tone, "And even though I will not get her back, I refuse to dishonour her death by playing into that dead, genocidal twats hands. My daughter will not me a pawn, her life traded for that. I will not allow it." Her eyes flashed dangerously and her chest heaved in her anger. Although none of us like what she was saying we all agreed, no matter how much we wished that it was not the case. In the list of qualities the vaunted founders had possessed in the future, spite was not among them, in this moment I thought mirthlessly that it should be.
The next week passed in a flurry of crying fits, curious and depressed students, and constant planning. True to Ric's intuition, the invading army came in a week's time. We fought hard, valiantly and continuously but they encroached ever deeper towards the school. I had spent the time frantically trying to find a way to protect the castle and its grounds but no matter how hard we had looked for something to use there was nothing.
The problem with my memories of Hogwarts was that the castle had been so full of magic… so… well, alive. It occurred to me that the reason that our search for the knowledge in warding the school had failed was because the knowledge did not exist yet. Not here, anyway and as such I began creating my own. Needless to say, however one spun it, there was still nothing big enough to power it.
Until an idea began creeping into my mind, fed by the memory of a book that wrote back to you and muggle fairy tale. The worst part was it all came together in my mind like beautiful symmetry. A ritual that could protect not only the inhabitants of the castle now, but forever. I was not desperate enough to try it yet, but as they increased ever closer, I began to be.
Little did I know I was a single push from making up my mind, and as the proximity alarms went off I did not even realise that this particular push, was arriving now.
I know it seems like I've completely skipped over all the fighting but I haven't it's just in the next chapter. Enjoy, review before my muse starves and you're left forever wondering the end to my tale…. Please?
