Parts (52-56)
VII
Chapter 12
The Right Direction
Part 1: Learning
Scorpius was relieved to return to Hogwarts and find it perfectly intact with no disastrous attack, while he didn't doubt Molly there was clearly a factor of the Shadows needing to be aware he left to attack and they didn't instantly know. He wasn't sure what to think of the meeting, it hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped but Brutus still hadn't said no so it may still prove fruitful, then again he still wasn't sure how reliable Brutus was. He wished he'd thought to ask Brutus to let him know either way because he'd need a new plan if Brutus refused, he wasn't actually sure where to start if Brutus refused. At any rate, he was glad it was over at least and he clung to the hope Brutus would help him, he'd seemed to care about Calderon at least.
After that, it was just a case of waiting out the last few days before the Easter break ended and everyone returned to Hogwarts. Or not everyone as he noticed the absence at that first meal back, Michael filled him in on Oathan's attack on his brothers and the twins needing time to recover as well as his time in St Mungo's to explain how he knew that. Scorpius hoped they'd be okay, he didn't even want to think how awful it would be for Orous if they couldn't get him back on his literal feet.
"Did you ever go see Dawn in the end?" Albus asked of Michael, his slightly hopeful tone earning a dark look from the werewolf who hesitated before replying.
"No," Michael said finally and Albus didn't look the slightest bit surprised, just nodded sadly in acknowledgement and went back to picking at his meal.
In fact, everyone who'd gotten back from seemed… quiet. Albus – who was usually vocal and hungry – and Abby picked quietly at their food trying not to look at each other, Michael wasn't as bad bust still quieter and while Rose alone seemed in good spirits she was also strangely not talkative about her break then Maurice wasn't there obviously. Scorpius wasn't sure if he was missing something or they were just tired from the journey, maybe it'd be better tomorrow. Or they could say more when not in such a public place? He wasn't sure. At any rate, eventually they trudged up to the dormitories.
"There," Michael stated strangely when their other roommates Angelo Jordan and Reuben Tear went into the bathroom, depositing a handful of food scraps onto the bedside table while Albus flopped down onto his own bed, "Eat up."
"Wh- Oh," Albus started to say but changed his sentence as Wyatt flew onto the table, giving Michael a grateful look before starting to eat up the morsels, "Wasn't sure he'd be back, hey lizard guy."
"He's back and I figure it's not good to let him starve to death so should feed him."
"Wait, you didn't feed him before?" Albus wondered incredulously, sitting up and gaping at Michael while Scorpius shared the surprise. He'd assumed Michael just fed him more discretely, it's not like it would be easy for him to get food when he was guarding Michael, "What the hell, Michael?!"
"I thought he fed himself at night!" Michael protested defensively, folding his arms stubbornly.
"Of course he doesn't, he stays and guards you. That's like the whole point of him being here."
"I know that now."
"How could you not know it before?! Even I knew that! Has drinking drowned all of your brain already?!"
"It's an easy mistake to make, get off my back!"
"Maybe it's a good thing you're such a deadbeat douchebag ditching his own kid because you'd clearly suck at taking care of it when you can't even take care of an animagus lizard," Albus snapped at him viciously, throwing himself back down onto his bed on his side facing away from them while Michael just turned away, not even trying to defend himself… somehow Scorpius thought there may just be a bit more to it than just Michael bothering him, "Sorry."
"It's okay," Michael muttered quietly.
"Something bothering you, Al?" Scorpius questioned of Albus cautiously, not really expecting him to say anything but to his surprise Albus turned back to him hugging a pillow.
"AbbyandPentakelaregettingengaged!" Albus blurted out before bursting into tears and burying his face in his pillow. Scorpius exchanged a confused look with Michael, the werewolf looking equally bemused by his behavior.
"Erm… I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Scorpius pointed out as politely as possible, Albus raised his now snot covered tearstained face and took a breath to try speak calmer.
"A- Abby a- and P- P- Pentakel are g- getting engaged."
"What?" Michael wondered in surprise and Albus started sobbing again.
"I said it clear enough that time!"
"How do you know that?" Scorpius prompted instead, thinking Albus was being a touch irrational, "She didn't say any-"
"He c- came t- to my house and told me," Albus interrupted to explain, sniffing miserably, "Wanted us to get along. He k- kissed her g- goodbye on the platform, either he hasn't done it yet or they're keeping it quiet but i- it's a thing. They're going to get married, I've lost her forever."
"It's not too-"
"Yeah. It is. I gave up," Albus admitted hopelessly and wiped his snotty nose unceremoniously on his sleeve, he hugged his pillow and gulped, "I want her to be happy more then I want her to be with me, she loves Pentakel and its best just to let her go be happy."
"It's not best for you," Michael pointed out immediately.
"Well that's… mature of you," Scorpius said at the time.
"I guess, it sucks being mature," Albus sniffed, wiping his eyes and glanced at Michael who was looking at him like he'd gone insane, "But we all have to grow up sometime, it's for the best even if it hurts a little."
"You're a good person, Al," Scorpius offered comfortingly, feeling a strange mixture of respect and sympathy for his friend. He couldn't believe Abby was already getting married, he'd been with Molly even longer then she'd been with Pentakel and even he didn't feel ready for marriage yet. He did love her though and miss her still, it had been months since he'd heard from her, "How was Molly?"
"Fine," Michael brushed it off quickly as he sat down on his own bed and Wyatt finished his food, scampering out of sight as Reuben and Angelo returned, "Seemed fine from the little I saw of her anyway, she's keeping pretty busy with stuff."
"Well long as she's okay," Scorpius sighed as he lay back on his bed and trying not to feel disappointed by the lack of news.
After that they were swept back up in the tide of regular Hogwarts, arranging Quidditch practices and drowning in schoolwork because the pressure was on for the final quarter before NEWTs.. Abby never mentioned whether she was engaged or not but definitely seemed to be in a relationship with Sequoia at least, she still referred to him as such and got letters from him. Albus was clearly unhappy over her engagement in private but he never showed it in front of her, after a few days he seemed to get used to being around her and acted more like himself. Michael got back to normal with some rest and he learned Rose had been quiet due to her good mood coming from being reunited with her father over the break, for normal school life she was her usual chatty self.
He also continued his apparation classes, now alone since Orous and Maurice weren't back yet. They probably wouldn't be back before the classes ended, not that it mattered since they could already do it and would have to wait to take their test due to their July birthday. It mattered to Scorpius though, he was painfully reminded of the humiliating fact he was in a class full of people the year below him because he'd failed it when he was supposed to learn it. On the way out of the second class back he even heard some of them mocking him, the Seventh Year who still couldn't apparate even though all those Sixth Years could. Why was it so hard for him?! He couldn't even severely splinch himself again, getting worked up probably wasn't helped him but the week after was literally the final class. His very last chance to succeed at apparating so he could take his test, it was also the full moon and strangely enough there was no message this time. He was glad, he didn't want to worry about freaking PAW right now, he wanted to apparate.
Scorpius tried. He really, truly tried. Even if he could just splinch himself it was something dammit, he didn't know what he was doing wrong. All around he could hear the cracks and pops of successful apparation, not a single one of those being his own. Finally the class ended, they gave the same speech from last year and told them to file out. But Scorpius didn't, he stood rooted to the spot with his eyes squeezed shut, willing his useless body to appear in the ring in front of him.
"The class is over now," someone commented.
"I know," Scorpius growled through gritted teeth, "But just give me a minute, I can do it. I know I can do it – I splinched myself before! - I have to do it."
"Scor," Professor Ashain said gently and he opened his eyes as he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's over."
"But I want to do it!" Scorpius protested desperately, turning on him, "I need to be able to apparate, it's an important magical thing to do! I have to do it!"
"But you can't," Professor Ashain emphasized firmly but not unkindly, Scorpius hung his head unhappily, "Maybe someday, when you leave Hogwarts you can pay for a tutor and maybe you'll do better without all this stress and pressure to do it before lessons run out. But here and now? It's over, the course is over. I'm sorry."
Celestine continued doing what he was doing, being a good boyfriend to Gabrielle, working undercover for his angel and working on practicing his full Patronus. It wasn't easy but after a few months he was getting the hang of it, thinking of his angel gave him the joy he needed to conjure it though. He still wasn't sure why they needed him to do that but Harry was certainly pleased with him for it, he seemed to think it made him trust worthy due to the inability of Dark Wizards to use it and taught him a technique to make his Patronus talk to pass along messages. It was only then they got back in contact with him, encouraging him to take a few days vacation to work on it and come to some house. He did so, excited at the prospect of spending time with her to learn to control Specters and had to try very hard not to let the smile light up his face the moment he saw her. But she wasn't alone.
"Cel, I'd like to introduce you to Brutus," Sal told him, pointing to a muscular man to her right he'd managed not to notice. Celestine thought it was a man anyway, he was clearly deformed and looked about as ugly as Celestine envisioned himself to be except with extremely dark auburn hair, "Brutus, this is Cel."
Brutus grunted in acknowledgement, staring at him with an expression too deformed for him to figure out if was friendly or not. He didn't really want to know, his face was rather disgusting to look at. Celestine supposed he should give him credit for staying in shape though, obesity still disgusted him even more then the freak's face and… hands? He had six fingers on his hands too, all the wrong lengths too and at slightly differently angles, all drumming along the table.
"Brutus will be teaching you to control Specters," Sal told him and his head snapped back to her in shock.
"What? Why?" Celestine asked, unable to stop his disappointment shining through, "I thought you would do it."
"Nope. They're bound to me so they obey me, controlling them is a bit different when you're using the ones bound to others so it's easier for Brutus or Rabastan to teach you so I'll leave you to it," Sal offered, standing and to Celestine's jaw dropping shock she kissed Brutus. On the mouth. Passionately, "Love you."
"Love you too," Brutus said as Sal stepped back and vanished into the darkness, "Close your mouth or you'll catch a fly."
Celestine closed his mouth quickly, his mind still struggling to register the scene before him. He wasn't sure if it was from considering her angelic or because he had loved her for so long but he'd never thought for a single second she might be with someone else, he felt as if he'd literally just taken a knife to the gut and been eviscerated. And Brutus was the one holding the knife. Celestine refocused his eyes on the man, feeling the most intense rush of hatred he'd ever felt for another human being. If Brutus could even be called that, he was ugly! He was the most grotesque, hideous freak he'd ever seen, Voldemort looked more human then him. What in the world could she possibly see in him? She was the smartest, most beautiful and powerful woman to ever grace the planet, she could have anyone she wanted so why, just why was she with him?
"Are you ready or what?" Brutus growled at him, his voice deep and gruff. Celestine couldn't help but glare, the taste in his mouth suddenly so bitter he was tempted to spit out a refusal and leave. But he didn't, he loved her too much to walk away.
And so he learned, through gritted teeth and glaring eyes. With enough power you could force the Specters to obey you by hurting them, they may not be entirely sentient but they learned to obey or suffer pain. Since most people – pretty much no one but his precious angel – had that power, a Patronus was necessary to hurt them instead. It was also important because to get them to obey you had to let one share your body to command them even if you used One the smartest Specter to keep the others in line, unlike the one it was bound to it didn't feel any obligation to not destroy your soul so you needed to be able to cast a Patronus to defend yourself and quickly too. When it got used to you it happened less but you still needed it.
He learned to command, control and call them over a period of several months of weekend training session with either Rabastan or Brutus. He liked Rabastan infinitely more than Brutus, the man also confirmed Brutus' relationship with Sal and that she was very dedicated to him and had had a crush on him since she was a child. Rabastan didn't seem to mind, he and Sal's relationship was more familial and he spoke highly of Brutus. Celestine didn't think highly of Brutus, he couldn't even look at his disgustingly deformed face without feeling a mixture of hatred, jealous and anger swirling in a tight ball within his stomach.
And that was that.
He learned to control the Specters, he continued to serve his angel and his mentor and was gradually given more and more power within both organizations – the Soul Eaters and Auror Department – he served. Of course only one of those he truly was loyal to even if she was in the arms of a wretched abomination of life she called a man, was he really worse than Brutus Ashain? No one could possibly love or be more dedicated to her anymore than he did, Brutus wasn't even loyal! Selfishly wanting his family to live – Celestine had murdered his family for her! – and of them all he was always the most critical of her plans and ideas, even trying to talk her out of them if he thought the pain outweighed the gain. She was flawless and he was not, she could do whatever she wanted so Brutus had no right to complain! He hated Brutus, it was no wonder she suffered so many miscarriages with that for a father.
The next few years just passed in a blur of work, keeping up his act on all fronts including building up a network of Shadow Aurors, keeping up his impressive track record with his Auror career, staying close to Harry, keeping up his relationship with Gabrielle and taking the necessary steps for it including living together and marriage when Sal desired, he even kidnapped children and had to try hard not to think about what would happen to them. He still couldn't look himself in the mirror, sometimes he'd also get a niggling feeling in his stomach when he had to do something especially bad but he wasn't a monster, angels couldn't be served by monsters. She was an angel whether she realized it or not and as the war began, he had no doubts a new age had dawned and he'd gladly follow her into it.
James Potter strode through the ruins of… some dumb Canadian city, he forgot the name. It didn't matter, if they wanted the name remembered they should have fought harder. Instead he was overseeing it as Stephan raised the corpses of the dead to join them while other Soul Eaters were gathering up those who survived and dividing them by age, gender and whether they were magical or a muggle. He was pretty familiar with it by now, it was standard practice. There wasn't much to it really, they Soul Eaters already knew what they were doing and they had Elites from the Training Tower there too who were especially efficient. Instead he let his mind wander, wondering what was for dinner and fantasizing about what he'd do to his slave later. He was sure he could find some excuse to punish Yanis, probably his attitude because if James didn't know any better he'd actually think Yanis didn't like him.
"NO! GIVE ME MY SON!" a hysterical man screaming distracted James, he turned to see a muggle – presumably, he wore muggle clothes and wasn't using magic – trying to grab a bundle of crying blankets back from a Soul Eater who was struggling with subduing him due to also having to hold the baby. James felt a surge of jealous anger towards the man, he wished his dad could've been bothered to pay him that much attention, "WE WON'T BE YOUR SLAVES!"
"Little help?" the Soul Eater growled irritably at James when he caught him looking. "This guy doesn't want to give in."
James raised his wand to kill the man but hesitated, he didn't like killing very much. He much preferred torture, it was fun but the dead couldn't feel pain. Besides, torture wasn't very serious but killing was and he tried only do it in self-defense plus his number of kills was climbing higher then he'd like. Instead he hit the guy with a blast of the Cruciatus Curse, sending the man to the ground screaming in agony. The edges of his lips curled into a satisfied smile, until a jet of green hit his victim killing him instantly. He glanced back to see Stephan was the cause, the General frowned at him.
"What's the policy on resisting enslavement, James?" Stephan queried of him, folding his arms while the now fatherless child continued crying.
"That we kill them?" James suggested, pretty sure that was correct but not sure why he was being asked such a dumb question.
"Correct. So why didn't you kill him?"
"Erm…"
"Take that baby to be sorted before I slit the both of your throats," Stephan interrupted to snap at the other Soul Eater, the man's eyes bugged and he hurried away with muttered apologies, "James?"
"T- Tortures more fun," James answered finally, uncertain and thinking that answer might've come across the wrong way, "Plus I think my kill count is getting pretty high."
"High?" Stephan snorted in amusement, "I've killed so many I've lost count, thousands die at the very least when we take a city and I've been leading the charge often enough."
"That's a bit different though, isn't it? I'm not leading the charge."
"Well if we keep working on your Inferi control you can possibly lead the charge soon enough but I see your point anyway, I'll have to find a better example," Stephan commented thoughtfully and gestured for James to follow, meandering through the streets which were only slightly less rubble strewn then the places buildings had stood. They approached a trio of Elite Soul Eaters, two were on opposite sides of the street helping survivors out of the rubble before shoving them to the third who guided them on where to go, they approached the latter first, "Hey Lyda."
"Yes, Master Stephan?" the woman – presumably Lyda - queried while killing an old man who tried to run, as usual with Elites her face was blank.
"Quick question, how many have you killed?"
"A hundred and eighty nine including that man," Lyda answered equally deadpan, James' eyes widened in shock.
"A respectable number, especially considering you had some time off for pregnancy," Stephan nodded appreciatively, "I take it my brother is in the Training Tower by now?"
"Yes, Master Stephan," Lyda repeated and while the answer seemed genuine, James couldn't help but notice the flicker of something resembling sorrow in her eyes, "I am sure Xerxes will grow up to be a good soldier his father would have been proud of."
"Hopefully," Stephan gave another derisive snort as he moved over to one of the others, James followed and earned a backwards glance, "You see, James? I doubt you've killed that many."
"I haven't," James confirmed as they stopped by one of the others, the lone man of the trio. He was pretty cute, he had handsome youthful features behind his sheet of red hair along with iron colored eyes and a lean but potentially nice body.
"You," Stephan addressed the Elite who paused to pay attention to the conversation, his face was as blank as Lyda's, "How many have you killed?"
"Twenty-four," the man answered simply and Stephan looked surprised.
"Why so low?"
"I was captured by resisting humans early on in the conquest of the US and kept prisoner for a long time, I didn't have much opportunity to kill while imprisoned."
"Were you tortured for information?" Stephan questioned interestedly, resting his chin on his hand thoughtfully while the man continued looking blank.
"Extensively."
"Did you break?"
"No."
"Well good," Stephan commented before whipping his wand out without warning, slashing the man across the right eye. He screamed and fell to his knees, clutching his face. It happened too fast for James to tell what spell but he saw blood seeping through his fingers and was breathing through gritted teeth against the pain while Stephan's expression had darkened but there was a hint of a sadistic smile on the curling corners of his mouth, "But you were still weak enough to allow yourself to be captured and failed to escape so you deserve to be punished. Don't let it happen again."
"I won't," the man promised, still clutching at his wounded face, "I apologize for my failings, I already was punished and I shall do everything in my power to serve as the loyal soldier I am… May I get healing now, Master, so I can continue to fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities?"
"No. No magical healing for you, you can work injured until I'm satisfied with your progress."
"But… I predict I will lose my eye if I cannot get healing," the man said, an unusual flicker of emotion in his voice as if he was against losing his eye.
"Then I guess you'll lose your eye," Stephan decided cruelly, actually causing the man to try glance at him with his unhurt eye with clear surprise registering that James shared in, "Get back to work."
"Yes, Master," the man agreed, his tone back to blank as he stood shakily while they walked away.
"What was that all about?" James wondered of Stephan, "He's not a slave, he's one of our people."
"He's an Elite, he needs to be you know… elite," Stephan insisted as they approached the final Elite in the immediate vicinity, "They may not be slaves but they're still soldiers instead of people, they exist to serve us not to live real lives. You wouldn't pity a wand, would you?"
"Of course not."
"Same difference," Stephan told him as they reached the girl, this one he knew and had been one of his tutors in torturing. Her face was blank and she also paused in her task to look at them in readiness, "How many have you killed?"
"Two-hundred and sixty seven," Einarr answered without missing a beat, her face still blank and emotionless, "And that's in spite of time spent teaching torture instead. Is there anything else, Master, or can I continue performing the duties you assigned to me?"
"Carry on," Stephan brushed her side and she went back to it as he turned back to James, "Do you see what I'm getting at or do I need to find the kill counts for more?"
"I get it," James admitted, although a little uncertain, "You're saying I shouldn't worry about how many I kill."
"Exactly, my friend," Stephan told him with a twisted smile while James noticed a muggle trying to flee down an alley, "I know you enjoy the torture but taking lives is necessary too, it's not all fun and games. You still need to pull your weight, understand?"
"Avada Kedavra," James cast, sending a fatal streak of green at the man who immediately toppled as Stephan's head shot to it quickly, "I understand. It's not a problem, just don't expect me to like it."
"Deal."
Part 2: The Ball Rolls
Myriam Leebin was awakened by a bang, followed by mild cursing. She glanced up and saw the cause was – as expected – her husband, Flan, who was at the desk and threw down the glasses he'd probably been trying to put on again despite how it clearly upset him. He had been doing better since joining Gray, despite their best efforts he could still only cause explosions not spellcasting but he had been overcoming a lot of the things that freaked him out just not glasses. Apart from Molly being captured, he'd taken that pretty badly and felt responsible.
He sighed and rested his head on his hand as she sat up cautiously, trying very hard not to disturb Lysel who had been curled up against her sleeping and hadn't been woken by the bang. It was the full moon tonight, hence why they were at the Gray base and sleeping so early while Flan hovered around to get them anything and feed Lysel his medication. Maurene was off with Ivy and would bunk with her tonight, there wasn't much point to them being around. She glanced to the clock on the bedside table and felt her stomach clench a little in dread, it was almost time. She pushed it aside and went over to sit beside Flan, he looked up as she approached.
"How are you feeling?" Flan asked gently.
"Not too bad considering," Myriam admitted, while she did feel exhausted she had felt much worse. He nodded solemnly and she reached out slowly to squeeze his hand comfortingly, she was relieved he didn't flinch, "You'll get there, sweetheart, you just have to be patient."
"Maybe. Doesn't matter anyway," Flan shrugged it off, his cyan drifting beyond her to Lysel, "It's almost time for his potion."
"Yeah, I should be heading down to Prosper too," Myriam said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't mind pulling her weight and saw the logic of a werewolf guarding another werewolf as an extra precaution, however spending the night with the man who kidnapped her son and tortured him still wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Want me to go down with you?"
"Nah, I got it. Just take care of Lysel," Myriam offered and gave him a peck on the cheek, which he also didn't flinch from. He could handle a kiss on the cheek now but the mouth freaked him out badly still. She got up and went back over to the bed to say goodbye to Lysel, stroking his hair and giving him a kiss on the cheek as the alarm went off for his potion, "I'll see you later, Mummy loves you. Please be okay."
She left him as Flan came over with his potion, scooping his fragile body up gently making Lysel stir weakly with a look of pain crossing his face and he cuddled into Flan instead. Lysel was not having a good full moon but then he never did, he'd been even worse since PAW had taken him. She sighed sadly as she walked away, being a werewolf wasn't exactly pleasant but it was even worse seeing her son suffering.
She walked through the corridors with her eyelids getting heavier, relieved when she reached Prosper's door which was always guarded. Heather was on guard today, Myriam held up a hand in greeting and the blond magically unlocked the door then opened it for her. She went inside the room they used for his cell, straight for the mattress and blanket set up for her a few feet in front of the door. Opposite was the mattress and blanket Prosper had, the teen wrapped up in the blanket like a cocoon. There was a door to his right leading to a small bathroom, a small barred window in the middle of the wall opposite the entrance and nothing else but the dusty wooden floorboards. Myriam slumped down onto her mattress, leaning against the wall as Heather closed the door and wrapping the warm blanket around herself. She let her eyes flutter shut, she could've very easily fallen back asleep.
"Myriam?" Prosper's voice queried and her eyes snapped back open, narrowing on the teen who had now sat up and was watching her interestedly.
"What?" Myriam growled at him, not wanting to speak to her son's kidnapper.
"I erm…" Prosper stammered nervously before swallowing, "I just… I wanted to say that I'm sorry for taking your son."
"Really?" Myriam wondered with heavy sarcasm, not believing him for a second and he looked abashed.
"Yeah, had a lot of time to think in here-"
"Wow, you can think?" Myriam couldn't help but snap, she probably shouldn't but he'd taken her son, a completely innocent toddler. And they'd hurt him and he'd almost died, he had nightmares about it, "I'm sorry, go on."
"What I'm trying to say is I've done a lot of thinking since I'm… a werewolf-" Prosper spat the word in disgust as if saying it made him feel dirty to say it "-now and on Wolfsbane I really don't feel any different or like hurting anyone and I haven't. And spending these past full moons with you and you're also a werewolf but you haven't hurt me even though you clearly hate my guts, it makes me think that… well maybe PAW is wrong and we don't need to kill them all."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously," Prosper insisted with a resigned expression as he leaned back, "I regret for my actions and if Gray is still interested, I'll help them stop PAW."
"So how many classes do we have to get through today?" Orlando wondered with a yawn as they headed down from Ravenclaw Tower for breakfast, Andreas Webb spared his friend a glance. He was walking sluggishly, having just come off a full moon and still wasn't feeling at full strength.
"Four," Andreas recalled and his friend groaned.
"Great."
"You know if you really don't feel up to it they'd probably let you take the day," Andreas pointed out and had to bite his tongue to stop himself adding they were soft like that, not that it was a bad thing they were soft but compared to the Training Tower it was still soft but that comment could be construed as weird for anyone not from the Training Tower.
"What? And miss a whole day of classes when there's only two months of school left?" Orlando questioned before shaking his head vigorously, "I can't do that."
"You really need to relax about that."
"How can I relax about that?! I waited an extra year before starting, I should be Second Year already so if I fail I'm not sure they'll let me repeat a year," Orlando reeled off anxiously and Andreas had to bite his tongue again from pointing out he very much doubted they'd be back next year, when Scorpius left – be it graduation or stupidity – the place would fall. That was a depressing thought though so he tried not to think about it.
"A day won't kill your grades," Andreas insisted, both because he felt it true and he wanted Orlando to enjoy this last year while he could, "Besides, aren't you going to learn more if I fill you in while you're focused then if you're struggling to stay awake and force yourself to pay attention."
"Hmm… I guess. Maybe," Orlando offered thoughtfully and gave another yawn as they reached the Great Hall, "I'll think about it."
"Excellent," Andreas grinned and clapped his friend on the back, realizing unfortunately it would mean being alone in most of the classes but whatever, he enjoyed talking to other people too and one of those classes was with Gryffindors.
On that thought he shot a glance over to the Gryffindor table, his friends were already there. Sebastian had his head resting on his arms and was possibly asleep, Antonius was awake though eating some breakfast. He'd made a kind of sandwich with toast containing bacon, sausage and egg, Andreas wasn't sure whether to laugh at the strangeness or think it was creative and cute. A lot of times he was conflicted on things like that with Antonius over his odd beliefs or opinions, the boy drove him crazy sometimes but… well maybe he liked being driven crazy sometimes. Antonius caught him watching and managed to dribble egg yolk down his chin while his eyes widened in surprise, he sat upright quickly as if a steel rod had just been shoved up his spine and went bright red as he hastily tried to clean himself up. Andreas averted his eyes to spare him, smirking at the flawless boy doing something so human. He sighed. He wished Weedy Larry didn't have the stupidest rigid seating plan of all time, he wouldn't grieve if that guy died soon.
"Aren't you going to open that?" Gaston wondered, drawing Andreas' attention back to the Ravenclaw table where the older boy was addressing Orlando about a package.
"Nah," Orlando brushed it off tiredly, "Dad sends these sweet packages all the time, might as well wait until I finish off the last one before opening this one."
"Weird he'd send you this when he just saw you for the full moon."
"That's Dad," Orlando shrugged and glanced at him, "Hey Drea, remember that time he sent me a package a day because Honeydukes were doing a different flavor a day for a week instead of just waiting for the week to be over and sending them in one?"
"Yeah I remember," Andreas confirmed, smiling at the memory, "Never would've thought lemon cactus flavor would taste so good."
"Me either," Orlando laughed, "Unlike spinach turnip, that was just awful."
"I think I got a Bertie Botts flavored like that before," Gaston said thoughtfully, "Not as bad as he shit flavored one though."
"No way!" Andreas exclaimed in shock as he started putting scrambled egg onto his plate, he was more used to the vegetarian meals of the Training Tower, "They wouldn't do that."
They continued discussing strange flavors they'd had as they ate, mostly him and Gaston as Orlando nibbled through his food sleepily with head nodding as he tried to stay awake. On the bright side, it was nice to see Gaston being more conversational. He was sure the older boy had been lonely even if he would never admit it, he'd stopped trying to avoid them anyway. Until the bell went for class and Gaston went off to his different classes.
"You know, Drea," Orlando yawned as they left the Great Hall, passing a couple arguing loudly, "I think I am going to take your advice and take the day off, I'm dead on my feet right now."
"Well I'm glad, let's get you back to the dormitory," Andreas offered, changing direction to lead his friend back to Ravenclaw Tower.
He sure as hell wasn't letting him walk back alone with killers on the loose and he wasn't going to let him rest until he'd put a shitload of protective enchantments to make sure Orlando would be okay. They answered the riddle and got back into the Common Room, it was only then he started to hear an odd ticking sound. He paused to look around, it didn't look like there was a new clock making the sound and while there were people bustling around grabbing things for class or putting things received from home back in their dormitory, some settling in to study while they had a free period but none of them seemed to have a clock on them… What else made a ticking sound? It wasn't even counting seconds, it was just getting faster.
"You know, this might not be candy after all," Orlando said curiously, glancing back to him as he'd walking on ahead and was holding the package up to his ear, "I think it might be a clock, a broken one."
"DROP IT RIGHT NOW, ORRY!" Andreas yelled and the suddenly panicked boy threw the package.
Before it hit the ground or he could draw his wand, it exploded.
Andreas felt like he'd been hit by a train that was on fire while screams bled into a deafening bang that drowned out all sound, he was propelled back through the air and felt something sharp spear him through the gut. He cried out in pain but he couldn't hear it.
He wasn't sure if he blacked out for a second but he was definitely face first on the ground now, vaguely aware of screaming through the ringing in his ears. He struggled to pull himself up with burned hands gasping for breath, a quick glance informed him the sharp pain in his stomach was a fire poker he must've been flung into. He tried to breathe, his lungs felt as if they were on fire and the smoke stung his eyes as well as making it hard to see. Actually, he didn't think smoke was supposed to be yellow.
He fumbled for his wand and cast the Bubble-Head Charm, whimpering in pain as touching anything chaffed the charred flesh on his hands. He gasped for breath once he cast it, gulping down desperately needed lungfuls of clean air although his throat and lungs still ached a little. The ringing was starting to recede and he could hear fearful cries or screams, he was sure the acrid scent of burning flesh latched into the inside of his nostrils wasn't just his own. Orlando…
Andreas tried to crawl towards the direction he thought his friend had been in based of his being beside the fireplace because it was hard to see through the smoke drowning him, he screamed instead though at the wave of pain it caused burns on his legs, the front of his body really hurt. He kept trying though and darkness swooped down on his vision instead, threatening to drag him into unconscious from the pain. He had to find his friend though, he could hear people wheezing and choking through the poison fog which was either bad or fatal and Orlando couldn't cast the Bubble-Head Charm to protect himself. His hands found charred mangled flesh and nausea writhed in his stomach.
"Orry?" Andreas questioned, the words scratching his throat painfully and his voice coming out as a rasp, "Orry, can you hear me?"
No response. He inched closer, hopelessness settling down on him like a dark cloud as he saw how still the body was. He finally reached Orlando's face and saw his eyes gazing sightlessly outward, the look on his now burned face one of a panic.
"No…" Andreas moaned and collapsed weakly, grief twisting like a knife in the heart.
He tried to get up, accidently making himself roll onto his back instead. High up he spotted words had been scorched into the ceiling that his mind just about managed to comprehend before darkness claimed him: Thought we were done? We won't be done so long as dogs roam these halls. Those who continue to harbor them are just as deserving of death, the school will be purged.
Ron Weasley crept out of the base nervously, they didn't want him to leave for his own good but he wasn't sure if they'd go as far as to actively stop him if they caught him. He pulled the hood of his cloak down over his head as he ambled on in the opposite direction to where Agnes was practicing with Latimer, they were too far and focused on their own thing to notice him thankfully. He wasn't sure how long he'd need to walk to be out of the wards range to apparate so he'd just have to walk for a while, not a fun thing. Sure it was a nice day but the activity was already causing the old wound to ache painfully, something he now knew was courtesy of that traitorous son of a bitch Cel.
So he trudged through the fields, thinking maybe a heavy hooded cloak wasn't the best clothing choice in the spring sunshine although necessary to hide his identity. Not that he was sure he even would be recognized, he looked older then bloody Bill by this point. Damn Shadows. He was out of breath before the base was even out of sight, eventually – thankfully when the base was actually out of sight – he even needed to take a break. He wasn't going to be able to explain anything to his wife very well if he met her gasping like a beached fish, it was frustrating. He was only forty-four, it shouldn't be this hard. Getting old was one thing but getting old before you were even old was the worst.
He sighed and leaned back against the tree he was sitting under, closing his eyes and letting the gentle breeze caress his face. He wasn't even sure this was the best idea he'd ever had, it wasn't like he didn't see their point about it being safer to stay away but… well he trusted his wife. Hermione was still the smartest person he ever met and the love of his life, if anyone would believe the truth without needing proof it was her. He'd left once before during a war and still regretted it immensely, he didn't want to be apart from her now and sitting around unable to do anything to help when he knew in his heart Hermione would believe him was hard. He'd also be lying if he said he didn't miss her, as happy as he'd been to get to see his kids if anything it just made the urge to go home even stronger and well… he was done waiting. He was going to go home to his wife, if he couldn't convince her he deserved the inevitably death it would lead to.
With renewed vigor he got to his feet and apparated to outside their home, taking a deep breathe he went inside with the spare key – the Shadows had taken his when he was captured – his kids had given him. He felt a warmth inside being home but regardless crept cautiously through the living room, looking much neater without him to mess it up. He went to move into the kitchen to the right beyond but found himself facing his wife with her wand aimed at him.
"Hermione, it's me," Ron told her, tossing his hood back and did truly fear for a second she might not recognize him so he added, "Your husband."
"I know who you are, Ronald, and I know what you did," Hermione said testily in that shrill way it got when she was angry, unwavering with her wand while stung a little but wasn't unexpected. He was still glad to see her, bushy brown hair billowing behind her and all. She was still beautiful, "Hand over your wand."
"Oh, sure," Ron agreed willingly, drawing and tossing his wand aside casually, "I didn't come here looking for a fight, I won't duel you."
"Then why are you here?" Hermione questioned as she picked up his wand carefully, keeping hers steadfastly on him, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't stun you right now and haul you off to Harry."
"Because I love you?"
"Ron!"
"Look, I'm innocent okay?" Ron insisted and she gave a disgruntled sigh, "You really think I'd join those psychos? After everything they've done? They killed two of my brothers!"
"You confessed to Harry! You have the Shadow Mark!" Hermione shrieked at him, her wand trembling in her rage.
"I can explain that!" Ron protested determinedly, "Look when Flan was taken I knew it was Cel so I confronted him, he said he had James and Lucy hostage. He showed proof of having them and said if I didn't play long for Harry he'd kill them, not knowing they'd gone dark side and what a miserable fucked up shit James was at the time I went along and he gave me the Shadow Mark. I didn't get away, I was held prisoner for like a year – that's why I look like shit – until Gray rescued me a couple of months ago so I've been laying low with them ever since."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth, Hermione," Ron said with the utmost sincerity and the intensity in her gaze dimmed a little, "I don't have any proof really, just Gray and they don't know I'm here because they think it's dumb of me to reveal myself since if you do turn me over Cel's gonna know and have me captured or killed."
"Well I can see why they'd think that's dumb," Hermione conceded, "If it's so risky and you have no proof why did even you come here?"
"Because you're my wife. I love you and I miss you, I trust you," Ron admitted quietly and he saw her expression softened, "I was a prisoner for a year, I want to be free and I'm not really free if I can't go home. I'm not a Shadow."
"Ron…" Hermione started to say before trailing off, she sighed heavily and pocketed her wand, "I guess you must be telling the truth, you're not stupid enough to try something like this if you were guilty."
Ron started to smile but his mouth was captured in a kiss instead as Hermione threw herself at him, he didn't have the strength to pick her up of her feet this time. Instead he just wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and kissing her back equally passionately. They finally broke apart to draw breath but he continued to hold her close, relishing the feeling of her warm body in his arms. He'd thought he'd die before he saw her again, he smiled to himself. Least now if he died, he could die happy having seen her and their children again.
"I hope Gray has some open spaces because I have to be in now," Hermione told him, looking up at him and he smiled as he cupped her face in his hand.
"I'm sure they can find some place for you," he promised, he couldn't see why not but he pushed that thought aside as he leaned in to kiss her again.
Michael Sanford left the Hospital Wing in low spirits, he'd been helping out caring for all the Ravenclaws injured in the explosion in their common room. They'd lost nine. Nine kids had died because of a stupid prejudice, eight of which hadn't even been the subject of said stupid prejudice. Five had died in the initial explosion before they got there, the other four had died on the way to or in the Hospital Wing. Fourteen more had been injured, even some who hadn't been struck by the explosion had had organs damaged from the poisonous gas. He'd been helping out because of the sheer number, no matter how amazing a healer you were you couldn't help every single person at once after all. The whole thing just sucked. It just completely, utterly and thoroughly sucked.
He was on his way to the Great Hall, the survivors were stable and they wanted everyone in one place while the Aurors scoured for anything else likely to harm anyway. People had been freaking out, in response to Ravenclaw Tower some Hufflepuffs had beaten Hugo into a bloody pulp to try prove to the killers they were against werewolves if it meant not dying, if Martha hadn't stepped in Michael wasn't sure how far they would've gone. It had been pretty vicious, they'd had to heal him too obviously. And he'd heard things were still chaotic, he just missed most of it due to having been focused on saving lives. It made him long for a drink, he could drown his mind until people weren't assholes anymore.
Wyatt chirped loudly and abruptly into his ear, causing him to jerk his body to get away from the sound. It was a good thing he did because a spell soared past his ear where his head had just been, Wyatt leaped off his shoulder transforming as Michael turned in the direction of the attack. He went to draw his own wand too but Wyatt was faster, he'd already landed as a human and launched a Knockback Jinx before Michael had finished turning. It seemingly caught the attacker off guard and he was flung back, slamming especially violently into the wall with enough force to knock his wand from his hand.
Wyatt kicked the wand away from the boy and kept his own wand on him, his laid back expression replaced by a look off anger that had the boy hold up his arms as if innocent. Michael finally turned his attention to the attacker gaping in shock, he'd expected it to be something along the vein of Hugo's attack with Gryffindors turning on him but it wasn't. It was the burly Ravenclaw, Rocky Russo, who they suspected of being one of the attackers. Now he understood why Wyatt was angry.
"Okay, you better start talking you fucked up piece of shit," Michael growled at him, aiming his own wand on the boy who eyed him darkly, "Nine dead. Fourteen injured. Only one of those was even a werewolf. What possessed you to bomb Ravenclaw Tower? It's your own bloody house!"
"I didn't do it!" Russo insisted defensively, looking guilty.
"We're not in the mood for this crap," Wyatt snapped and Russo glared at him instead, "You just tried attacking Michael with Dark Magic and you were friends with the other dead killer-"
"Don't talk about Ryan like that, he was a great guy," Russo interrupted, seeming genuinely upset by it.
"We hear the two of you like beating up werewolves. That's one hell of a coincidence if you're not guilty of sin right now, guilty of killing innocent kids even by PAW's meager standards."
"Yeah, you're going to prison no matter what so you might as well give up your partner," Michael pressed further at the mention of a partner Russo's face went white. He looked around, fidgeting uncomfortably for a minute.
"There is no partner," Russo said finally, swallowing nervously, "I don't know why you'd think that. You're right, it was me. I did it, I did it all. Alone."
"You just said you didn't do it!"
"I lied, it was me. It was all me," Russo insisted and Michael exchanged a look with Wyatt in confusion at the sudden change.
"Well that seems a little hard to believe," Wyatt pointed out, "You're not the best liar. We know there's a partner, a girl. The Aurors will probably go easier on you if you cooperate."
"There is no partner."
"You looked guilty before when I accused you of the bomb and spoke up about your friend, doesn't seem like the actions of someone solely responsible for both of them."
"Well I was," Russo reiterated more confidently although still looked remorseful, "And you better not mention a partner to the Aurors either, not unless you want me to rat out your animagus bodyguard."
"We-"
"Hey!" a voice down the end of the corridor called and Wyatt immediately transformed back, diving into the hood of his robes out of sight as Maximus Nott rushed over to them looking confused, "Who was that guy?!"
"What guy?" Michael lied, feigning innocence as Maxie's eyes darted around in every direction looking for Wyatt before shifting back to Michael and practically bugling out of their sockets.
"The guy that was just here! The random stranger in the school!"
"No idea what you're talking about."
"I didn't see a guy," Russo confirmed and Maxie looked between them incredulously.
"He was holding a wand to you!" Maxie insisted in frustration at their oblivious looks, "You couldn't have missed him, he was right there! Come on, you had to have seen the tall handsome blond standing right next to you holding you at wandpoint, even I noticed from a dist- Michael, why are you also holding this guy at wandpoint?! Did that mystery guy screw with your minds?!"
"He attacked me," Michael admitted with a nod to Russo to emphasize he was speaking about him, "He's the werewolf killer, he confessed."
"That's insane, why would-"
"He's right I did it all," Russo confessed and threw Michael a warning glance as if to insist Michael hold up his end of the deal he hadn't agreed to, he figured he should. He needed someone backing up his story now Maxie had seen Wyatt, they also had no chance to find out who the partner was since they had to turn him over now Maxie knew, "Alone. I'm fed up waiting, I want the dogs dead already."
"That's what he said," Michael confirmed resignedly and Maxie quickly drew his wand, Russo looked relieved. Michael supposed it was good that they got him, except now they still had the unknown partner. Was it love or fear that made Russo so loyal?
Orous was breathing heavily as he gripped onto the railings either side of him, grasping it tightly but the burns had healed into scars over the past few weeks so it was a little uncomfortable but not painful now. His legs trembled with the weight of his body but they were taking it now, Cade hovered protectively by his side as usual. He lifted his left leg, the limb feeling more like a log of rubber then an immovable slab so it still didn't feel normal yet but it was a bit easier to manage even if it still felt heavy to lift. He set it down a few inches in front of him before lifting his right leg to join it, setting it down with sweat running down his brow – he had been at this for hours now - but he was doing it.
Orous wasn't satisfied yet though, continuing the still frustratingly tedious process of relearning to do what he'd learned in infancy with more ease. At least it was progress though. He grabbed further along the railing and lifted his left leg again, pressing forward until he'd reached the end of the railing. He smiled weakly to himself, as abysmally pathetic as he was sure it was he still felt happy every time he'd made it to the other side.
"Great job, Orous," Cade offered in a tone of sincere encouragement, smiling at him warmly.
"And that's enough for today," Tabitha decided as she came over.
Orous didn't argue and lowered himself into his waiting wheelchair, he actually was getting along with a cane by now but it still tired him and since walking tired him even more they'd learned using a wheelchair was still best for this. He had had to deal with accepting his limitations, pushing himself too hard set him back rather than making him progress faster. Cade wheeled him out and they headed home after Tabitha punched out she apparated them back to their new house, it was nice albeit a little empty as they were still filling it.
It was spacious, across three floors there were a whopping total of seven bedrooms and three bathrooms along with a large backyard with plenty of the room for the dogs and Caradoc to play. They had been looking for a five bedroom but this had worked out cheaper as the top floor needed work so two bedrooms and one bathroom were basically unusable, they didn't need those though so they could live comfortably until and work on them as they needed them. It was still quite empty, most of their stuff had been destroyed and Tabitha's apartment belongings hadn't been enough to fill the whole house. The past few weeks had actually flown by, he wasn't sure there'd really been a time he was doing nothing. If they weren't shopping for furniture or even things like clothing then he was doing physio to work on walking and if he wasn't doing that he was doing his best to help with the decorating or playing with Caradoc, Maurice also dedicated a lot of time to continuing his studies while home but Orous certainly didn't care enough about his school work to do that. He hated class since Vern and Corin were gone, he was stuck all alone.
Despite all that chaos though, Orous had actually found himself relaxing. Actually relaxing. He knew he'd been withdrawn since Vern's death and he'd actually forgotten how much he did genuinely enjoy spending time with his family, his anger at Maurice had kind of dissipated when he'd almost died and after that he couldn't muster the same anger when he was relieved his twin survived, the dogs were great and then Cade was his usual awesome supportive self. Tabitha was nice enough and the more time he spent with Caradoc the more he got attached to his new 'brother,' it had taken him awhile to realize Caradoc walking slowly alongside him when he tried to walk and pointing at his legs was his attempt at trying to show Orous how. While utterly useless, he thought it was sweet. It made him feel guilty though, he didn't feel like he should relax when his friends were dead and unavenged.
"Cada!" Caradoc shrieked excitedly, running with the dogs over to greet them as Maurice had been watching him back at the house. He threw himself at Cade and his dad picked him up to give him a cuddle, Caradoc loved being cuddled and it never ceased to amaze him just how long the baby would be content doing nothing but babbling away happily snuggled up to you. He didn't think Caradoc had gotten much affection like that with his real parents so he relished it now, "Yuvu."
"Love you too," Cade assured him, kissing the baby on the forehead affectionately while the dogs sniffed them all interestedly.
"Hey," Maurice greeted them as he wandered into the front room, he was doing much better than Orous was. He still had to be on a strict died for a bit but he was basically better, he'd conjured his black magical hand again and had been weaned off the potions so he was coherent again, "How'd it go?"
"Good," Orous answered readily while Tabitha went off to go change out of her Healer robes, Maurice smiled and gave a nod of approval.
"I finished packing for tomorrow by the way, Dad, I'm ready to go."
"Great," Cade said, not sounding like he meant it but then he probably didn't. They had been supposed to stay another week but in light of the bomb in Ravenclaw Tower, Maurice had asked if they could return tomorrow instead since they were picking up Amadeus from Hogsmeade anyway right next to it so Orous had asked to go too. While Cade had agreed, Orous knew he'd wanted them to have that extra week to settle in a bit with Amadeus and wasn't convinced Orous would be okay in Hogwarts. Orous wasn't convinced either but the last thing he wanted was to not be there when his friends were being murdered, besides their next Quidditch match was in two weeks so he really needed to be practicing. Cade sighed, "You know it's not too late for either of you to change your mind and take that extra week?"
"We know," they said in such perfect unison it could've been planned, "Sorry."
Part 3: People
"I can't believe you went out to your wife!" Varanian complained in exasperation after he heard, smacking his hand to his face in exasperation.
It was kind of the last thing he'd wanted, he was working exceptionally long hours these days. If he – along with other Gray - wasn't scouring Shadowland for information and mapping locations then he was scouring Canada, learning their fighting techniques and warning any towns he knew would be targeted next. Some chose to fight and he told them all he knew on what to expect and some chose to evacuate, he'd help with it. He really wanted some way to get them out of Canada altogether but there was too many for Jack/One and he as unwilling to keep phasing a couple of people back to England, he wasn't even sure that was wise considering the imminent plans of attack the Shadows had for them. Where was safe? This was a global war across all continents, more countries were joining and the Shadows had started picking off smaller island countries effortlessly now they had the numbers for it. They could just throw Inferi at them until they caved. They were looking for Molly or dealing with PAW but there was enough of Gray now he tended to delegate that to Dom to deal with, there were enough of them to do multiple things at once which they kind of needed to so split up frequently. No luck on Molly but Prosper had recently agreed to help, they were just waiting him to recover from the full moon. After all that, he came back to this.
"But it worked out!" Ron insisted determinedly, they were gathered in the kitchen, "Hermione believed me just like I said she would, she wants to help us. I don't see why you're so against this, you're fine with others here. I didn't tell her where we were because I knew it might flip you out but I'm telling you she's trustworthy and Head of the whole Law Enforcement Department, she could be useful."
"Exactly, she's Head of the Department of Law Enforcement!" Varanian protested the blatantly obviously, "We're not exactly on the right side of the law here and she's also one of the brightest witches of the age, pretending to be sympathetic to find our base to arrest us all is exactly the sneaky smart thing she'd do. She could be playing you."
"No," Ron said, his tone shifting from trying to convince him to just one of absolute conviction as if this was fact to him, "Just trust me, she's not. We talked a lot and… stuff, she's really on our side, I know my wife. Like you said she's the brightest witch of our age, she's smart enough to realize the truth when she's hearing it. And I didn't even tell her everything, again not to break your trust so I don't get why you're mad."
"It's just… risky," Varanian insisted stubbornly, folding his arms.
He didn't want to risk the base unnecessarily, it was risky enough knowing Molly could cave at any second and while he kept enough people with an evacuation plan he still didn't like extra risk. He did ideally want to move but it was hard to find somewhere, his in-laws were looking but it was hard to find another suitable place especially being so many of them living there now. All the backup locations weren't enough and he didn't want to split them up, the protection would be weaker divided amongst several locations after all. So many of them was also why he didn't want to take chances, not all were Elite fighters some were just innocents under their protection – like Crystal and her kids - or not in the best condition to defend themselves – like his pregnant fiancée… he wasn't going to let Annie and their unborn baby meet the same fate as Ethel and his children.
"Isn't it a risk worth taking?" Ron pleaded, "She wants to help and she can, look at PAW."
"What about PAW?"
"Since Prosper is nothing to do with the Shadows or has any known connection to us, he could just go to her as an informant and she could set it up to bring the Auror force on PAW. Since its PAW not Shadows, it's not like the Shadow Aurors will stop it and if anything they want PAW gone since they use werewolves as one branch of their army. Aurors outnumber Gray and they can legally deal with PAW, it'd be good if they can take them out not us and if they miss any we can just clean them up."
"Maybe," Varanian muttered, it was still risky but it would kind of be preferable for the Aurors to deal with these people.
"And if she proves herself with that, you could let her in as a real member," Ron continued hopefully.
"Don't push your luck," Varanian growled, still kind of annoyed with him for risking himself especially considering what Molly might've lost to save him, "But I'll think about it."
Orous woke early the next day and pulled himself out of bed, his jelly legs still uncooperative but he could still get himself up and dressed - albeit with some difficulty – moving around with his cane. Well, it was some kind of muggle cane that kind of doubled as a crutch which was helpful, it twisted around his forearm. He'd packed his things the night before ready and went out to the smell of breakfast, his room was downstairs for now due to being easier with his crippling spinal injury. Even though he was making progress and it was near certain that he'd be able to walk, they still weren't sure his spine would completely heal. He had to remain optimistic though.
The others were already up, probably because it didn't take them as long to get ready. Cade was cooking breakfast, Maurice was entertaining Caradoc and Tabitha had been about to check on him. Instead she lectured him on his health, like he shouldn't push himself too hard, he needed to see Marigold daily for his potions and exercises, if he didn't feel up to it he had medical permission to miss class et cetera. Orous knew this already, she had made sure he knew before agreeing he could return. They ate breakfast, Tabitha left for work and Orous was left entertaining Caradoc while Cade and Maurice brought down their things. Then they just had to wait for the Ministry representative to come, had to make sure Amadeus was handed off properly or something.
When she finally arrived – and late no less - Cade introduced the little middle-aged witch with large rimmed glasses, Mrs Dickenson her name was. Only then did they go outside and she summoned the Knight Bus for what was Orous' first and hopefully last experience. Mrs Dickenson seemed completely unfazed but Orous found it unpleasant and he feared being knocked around the bus like a ping pong ball wouldn't be good for his growing spine and he didn't like the disgusted way the conductor looked at Cade. Caradoc thought it was great fun, Maurice was very green though and looked as if he was putting all his effort into not spewing his breakfast across the bus. On the bright side, at least it was fast sparing him from Mrs Dickenson's story about the time her great uncle the dragon tamer had had a chunk of his spine clawed out by a dragon. He might have gotten the feeling back, they didn't know because he'd died while the Healers were working on him.
"You okay, Maurice?" Cade asked his brother as they stopped outside Hogwarts to drop off the trunks since Cade had at least wanted them to meet Amadeus, Mrs Dickenson was handling it. Maurice apparently didn't trust himself to speak as he answered with a shaky thumbs up.
Mrs Dickenson returned with their trunks now on the way back to their rooms and literally a minute later the bus had stopped again, on the opposite side of Hogsmeade and they got out. It was a fairly large house on the outskirts in a more residential area so not a place Hogwarts students visited frequently, approaching the door the sounds of children playing could be heard. Mrs Dickenson knocked raptly on the door, it was opened a minute later by a plump dark skinned lady.
"Mrs Donna Doherty?" Mrs Dickenson queried.
"Yes. You're here for Amadeus?" the woman – presumably Donna Doherty - asked in greeting and Mrs Dickenson nodded, "Thank you. Come in, please."
She stepped aside to let them into the small entrance hall, there was a door either side and a staircase in front of them. She over two young girls dressed in fairy wings and crowns who ran between the two doors chasing each other as they shrieked in laughter, Orous say they were also wearing some kind of muggle school uniform.
"How many times do I have to tell you no running in the house?!" Donna yelled at the girls and he heard a chorus of apologies through the walls as a tall dark-skinned man dressed in muggle clothing came in from the same door, "Shane, these are the people here for Amadeus. This is my husband."
"I'm aware, we at the Ministry keep records on our registered foster parents," Mrs Dickenson told them formally.
"Well great. Amadeus, come here!" Donna muttered disinterestedly before it became a yell, there was a minute of silence, "Amadeus! How many times do I have to tell you you're supposed to come when you're called!?"
"Amadeus never obeys instructions," Shane told them grimly, "It got him expelled from two schools, he never did any of the work and wandered outside of class or even the school completely. He does that, you're in for a real treat."
"AMADEUS!" Donna screamed but still nothing, she sighed, "I'll go find him."
"I didn't know there were schools in Hogsmeade," Orous said in surprise as she stomped off angrily yelling for the boy, he'd thought wizards only homeschooled children before Hogwarts.
"There isn't, we enrolled the children in muggle school after the revelation of magic. We feel it's good to help with integrating the two societies," Shane explained while Cade scooped up Caradoc when he tried to peer into the other rooms interestedly, "We're dropping them off after this, didn't have time waiting for you."
"Now would also be a good time to get any possessions the child has," Mrs Dickenson pointed out, "There's some paperwork we need to go over."
"Of course. Let's get that now, your boys can wait in the kitchen," Shane said and gestured on the door to the left before motioning for the adults to follow him upstairs, Cade handed off Caradoc to Maurice promising to return in a minute.
"Is there anything else I should know about Amadeus?" Cade asked curiously as he and Mrs Dickenson followed Shane up the stairs.
"A lot, he's a nightmare…" Shane started to explain, his voice trailing off as they went out of sight.
"Cada…" Caradoc whined, looking after Cade with a distraught expression.
"Let's wait in the kitchen I guess," Maurice offered.
They went on the door to the left to a kitchen with black and white tiles making the walls look like a chess board, there was a large table wedged by the window opposite the kitchen area. The room actually wasn't empty though, there was a boy sitting at the table already also in uniform and looked around five. He had raven black hair and glaring flinty eyes, one of them bruised and old scars on his hands that were clearly from burns.
"What are you freaks looking at?" the boy scoffed immediately, leaning back in the chair and folding his arms while they took seats near the door away from him much to Orous' relief. Orous was reminded strangely of Oathan, something in his tone and the way he held himself.
"Are you Amadeus?" Maurice queried having missed the hostile insult, putting his free hand to his necklace to translate.
"No, Amadeus is a retarded moron who doesn't speak. Clearly not me."
"What happened to your eye?" Orous asked, even though this boy didn't seem very nice he shouldn't be hit.
"What happened to your spine?" the boy countered readily, surprising him.
"How'd you know it's my spine?"
"Because you walk like both your legs are fucked up the same, more likely a spinal injury then identical injuries to both legs."
"How'd you even know what a spine is? You're like five."
"You were given the Vanharisk Potion, weren't you?" Maurice asked instead, confusing Orous but the boy looked at Maurice with a smug look.
"Yes," the boy answered proudly, "My parents – my real parents, not this rabble of idiots I got saddled with – gave it to me so I'm not the same as the braindead fools running around chasing each other like stupid animals."
"What's Vanharisk Potions?" Orous inquired of his brother.
"It's a potion that makes the brain develop faster, making kids mature faster but it's very damaging both in the short and long term because forcing the brain to develop that fast messes up the brain chemistry," Maurice explained to him, "It can cause seizures, migraines, emotional difficulties, insanity, a bunch of stuff I don't remember all offhand. It's easily fatal though and even those that survive have shortened lifespans because their brain is older, it's illegal because of the damage and risk of death. It most distinctly causes bleeding from the ears, like Oathan. Sound about right, kid?"
"No pain, no gain. That's what my father always said," the boy answered with a dismissive shrug.
"Where's your father now?"
"Prison," the boy spat, his expression darkening, "My older sister died from Vanharisk so they put my parents in jail for it, its complete bullshit. My mother is the one who gave her the potion, Father shouldn't be punished because just because his wife's worthless drug addict who can't even do one thing right. I can't wait until the Shadow Master razes that moronic Ministry to the ground."
"How can you possibly want the Shadow Master to win?!" Orous demanded of him and boy blinked in surprise.
"How can you not? Did you not see her on the television box?" the boy questioned, his little face lighting up the way a normal kid might over candy. Had that potion made Oathan psychotic too? "She's amazing, so powerful and beautiful and powerful and smart and did I mention powerful? She's a fucking badass, she's brought the world to its knees and changed the course of history. Why wouldn't you want to follow her? I can't wait until she conquers this shithole and I can be a Soul Eater."
"She's an evil, cruel psychotic maniac destroying the planet, there's nothing admirable there," Maurice snapped but the boy was unfazed, "And you don't want to serve them, they'll hurt you."
"Planet's already at rock bottom, things can only get better," the boy pointed out before pointing to his black eye, "And I'm not exactly unhurt now, may as well gain something from it."
"Sly, did you ever think maybe you wouldn't get beaten up so much if you didn't express love of the Shadows to Shadow orphans as well and insult everyone you meet?" a new voice asked and Orous glanced behind him to see a scrawny boy coming into the kitchen, he looked maybe twice the other boy's – Sly? – despite his small size. He was very pale too with wavy buff-colored hair and olive green eyes, his tone was very polite but the look Sly gave him was murderous.
"Fuck off, Terry!"
"Donna told me to make sure the guests were alright."
"Apart from being idiotic crippled freaks they're fine, fuck off Terry."
"I apologize for Sly," Terry offered to them apologetically, "He's mean to everyone, just ignore whatever insults he says. He has issues."
"I do not have issues! Fuck off and die Terry, you perverted piece of shit," Sly snapped at him murderously and while Terry didn't look pleased, he didn't look surprised either.
"Like that. So can I offer you some refreshments? We have some pumpkin juice or there's milk, some snacks if you'd like."
"We're fine," Maurice brushed it off, possibly still a little nauseous, "We won't be long, Cade just wanted us to meet Amadeus before we return to Hogwarts."
"Cada…" Caradoc whinged at the mention of his name, fidgeting in Maurice's lap and continuing to stare in the direction they'd come from anxiously.
"Cool," Terry grinned as he walked over to them, going to take a seat but Sly kicked it over angrily. Terry calmly picked it up and sat down, "I can't wait until I get to go to Hogwarts and learn magic, what's it like? What spells do you know? What houses are you guys in? My friend Steve went, he's a bit older than me obviously."
"Is he even still even there?" Sly questioned before they could answer, glaring intensely at Terry, "He's a violent brute with barely enough brain cells to function, if he hasn't failed out of the school yet then Hogwarts has even lower standards then I thought."
"What did Hogwarts do on you?" Orous asked tiredly while Terry threw Sly a dark look, hoping Amadeus was nothing like this kid.
"Cada!" Caradoc cried excitedly as Cade returned carrying an almost empty garbage bag, Maurice set him down so he could run over to hug Cade happily. Shane and Mrs Dickenson – who was looking over a scroll - were there too along with a chubby blond around seven who was chattering away to Shane, showing him some scribbled drawings.
"Hey kid," Cade offered gently.
"Looks great, Timmy," Shane told the boy encouragingly.
"He's lying," Sly shot out immediately, "It looks like shit, a blind brain dead bat could draw a more coherently then you can you fat tub of lard."
"Sly!" Shane snapped as Timmy ran off crying.
"Yes run off sobbing like a pathetic cowardly crybaby, they go far in life."
"Still not civil I see," Mrs Dickenson commented disapprovingly at the boy.
"Still a bitch I see."
"Terry, would you go make sure Timmy's alright? Tell him I'll be with him when I'm done with this and to not listen to what Sly says, he's not being very nice and his picture is lovely," Shane told Terry while Mrs Dickenson got out a quill and some ink from her satchel, "Sly, we'll have words later."
"Yes, Shane," Terry agreed readily and hopped off to obey.
"And stay gone you fucking faggot," Sly spat at him as he walked off.
"Sly!" Shane chastised him again but Sly didn't seem to care even slightly, instead the man sighed and glanced at Cade, "Don't suppose you'd be interested in taking Sly as well?"
"Err… not really, sorry," Cade offered apologetically before they were distracted by a loud gasp from Caradoc.
Donna had returned with – presumably – Amadeus, keeping a grip on his forearm to lead him. He didn't actually look much like Caradoc, his hair was much darker then the baby's brown and was also very wavy not straight, a bit longer too. Amadeus didn't have the deep crisscrossing burn scars on half his face but he did have some very faint scars across his fairly bony face, made even more noticeable due to how pale he was. He had dark eyes which only looked darker combined with the dark rings beneath them, he didn't look like he slept much. He was small and thin, Orous knew he was only four and with his free hand clutched a small toy car protectively to his chest. His face wasn't very expressive but his eyes widened in surprise as they focus on Caradoc, the baby's face had lit up and was split by a massive smile. Donna let go of his arm and he moved it protectively to his chest as well.
"Amada!" Caradoc cried excitedly, taking a few steps towards his brother then a few back to Cade then seemingly deciding it was real and running over to hug Amadeus. Amadeus flinched from his touch but Caradoc didn't notice and hugged him anyway still smiling, Amadeus relaxed into the embrace and hugged his brother back. His face was still expressionless but he blinked back tears before Caradoc pulled away, turning back to Cade while pointing to Amadeus.
"Amada!" Caradoc repeated happily, "Amada! Cada, Amada!"
"Yes, is that your brother Amadeus?" Cade queried, smiling at Caradoc's happiness over the reunion. Orous wasn't sure whether to feel touched or sad, after all there was no hugs reuniting with Oathan just brutal murder.
"Yes! Amada…s. Amadas. Cada, Amadas!"
"Babies are so fucking stupid," Sly complained with a roll of his eyes but it was ignored. Considering Oathan was as psychotic as this kid, maybe Orous shouldn't feel weird about trying to kill his brother.
"Yes, it's your brother Amadeus," Cade confirmed and Caradoc took Amadeus' hand, making the boy tense as he was led over to Cade.
"Amada, is Cada. Cada yuv," Caradoc told his brother, pointing to Cade then grinning again as he looked back to Cade and let go of Amadeus' hand. Amadeus again pulled it to his chest over his other hand clutching the car, looking up at Cade still expressionlessly, "Cada, Amada."
"Hi Amadeus, it's nice to meet you," Cade offered to his new foster child, Amadeus said nothing, "My name is Cade and those are my sons Orous and Maurice, you're going to be staying with us for a while. Are you okay with that?"
Amadeus' eyes drifted around for a second before he nodded a few timid times.
"Great, let's get that paperwork signed then," Donna said enthusiastically.
The adults signed the scroll Mrs Dickenson had gotten out while Caradoc babbled away excitedly to Amadeus, Sly just watched thankfully silently but kept the permanent scowl that seemed ebbed into his face. He did seem slightly less harsh though. Regardless, the seconds dragged by and Orous could not be gone fast enough. Finally though, they were done and Amadeus waved goodbye to Sly.
"Good riddance," Sly scoffed irritably and stalked off back into the house without another word, leaving Amadeus looking a little confused.
"Deal with him in a minute," Shane brushed it off before turning back to them, "Good luck with him. And make sure you hold his hand outside, he doesn't like it but if you don't he will run off. It's not an issue in Hogsmeade but he has ran into traffic before and got hit by a car so seriously, watch that."
"I got it," Cade assured him, slinging the garbage bag over his shoulder which it occurred to Orous must be Amadeus' things. They headed outside and Caradoc's little mind looked like it was blown again when Amadeus walked outside with them, he shrieked again with delight.
"Cada, Amada!" Caradoc cried happily to Cade, pointing to his brother.
"Yes I know," Cade reiterated while Mrs Dickenson put out her arm to call the Knight Bus, "Can't we just walk through the town?"
"I have to get back to work," Mrs Dickenson complained as the Knight Bus pulled up.
Amadeus screamed in terror at the sudden appearance of the bus, grabbing Caradoc's hand and wrenching him as close to the wall as possible to be out of the way. It was unnecessary as the bus stopped plenty short but Shane clearly hadn't been kidding when he said Amadeus had been hit by a car before, the boy had started hyperventilating and was shaking like a leaf in a thunderstorm as he slumped to the ground and hugged his knees to his chest.
"It's okay, Amadeus, it's okay," Cade offered gently, trying to put a comforting a hand on his shoulder but Amadeus only tensed and shied away from his hand so Cade backed off but still looked concerned, "The bus isn't going to hurt you."
"Oh, did it upset him?" Mrs Dickenson wondered, correcting her glasses.
"I think it just shocked him. Why don't you go on to whatever and we'll walk through the town and let him calm down?"
"Well alright, the paperwork has been signed so I can leave the foster child in your care. Good day, Mr Knox," Mrs Dickenson decided and gave a nod of acknowledgement before getting onto the bus.
"Amadas…?" Caradoc whinged in confusion and gestured for his brother to get up.
"Look, it's all gone," Cade offered gently to Amadeus.
Despite Cade's efforts it still took rather a lot of minutes – enough that Orous sat down to rest – to calm him down and coax him to get back up. Even then Amadeus still seemed shaky, Cade had to hold his hand to get him to move with them and his eyes continued to dart around fearfully. He did seem to gradually calm down going through the village, Caradoc still seemed quite excited pointing out things he must've thought was interesting but not wandering over to them since he seemed inclined to stay around Cade and Amadeus. Orous lost interest in that though, walking was hard enough and they had to keep slowing down to match his abysmal pace and offering to take a rest. He was out of breath by the time the entry to Hogwarts was in sight, Amadeus had also calmed down and tried to walk as far from Cade as still holding his hand allowed while the other still clutched his toy car to his chest. A weird item to treasure considering his fear of them.
"Orous, are you sure you want to go back already?" Cade asked of him with a worried sigh, "I know you want to get back but there's no shame in taking a bit of extra time to recover."
"I'm sure," Orous insisted determinedly, trying to sound less out of breath then then he was, "I made it this far, didn't I?"
"Alright," Cade sighed not looking convinced before hugging him, carefully with his spinal injury, "Take it easy, okay?"
Scorpius was not in a good mood following his failure to apparate, despite what everyone said he still felt like he'd missed his last chance. He'd be full time Gray once he left Hogwarts, how useful was he really going to be when he was incapable of doing something as basic yet important as apparating? He also had a strange dream not long after, he was so used to either Calderon's memories or nothing it caught him off guard. He dreamed Molly was in a cage dying, injured and bleeding. He tried to get to her but his friends kept getting in the way, by the time he'd gotten through to her she was dead. He was pretty disturbed, he figured it might be out of guilt from the lack of contact. It had been her birthday that month, her twentieth but he hadn't done anything since she had asked for a lack of contact. Another time he thought he heard Calderon calling his name again.
And then there was the bomb in Ravenclaw Tower. Even if it led to Rocky Russo's capture, it didn't change the fact innocent kids had died. Scorpius felt like he should've done something, should've done more. They had known he was most likely guilty, they had no proof so he wasn't really sure what they should've done but it weighed on his mind all the same. In a way it was actually bad he'd been caught since his partner was still unknown, knowing it was a girl only narrowed it down to half the students in the school which wasn't that useful. Catching Russo had calmed things down a bit though, Rose's brother Hugo had been beaten within an inch of his life by his own house for fear of being targeted and the Wireless had been crucifying Weedy Larry and Harry Potter both for allowing the attack but everything calmed down when Russo was caught – by Michael and Wyatt no less – and confessed. And then Maurice and Orous returned.
"Hey Maurice," Albus greeted him in a friendly when he rejoined them at lunch, food falling out of his mouth as he spoke unthinkingly before Maurice had even put a hand to his necklace, "How are y-"
"Still deaf," Maurice pointed out crisply as he took his necklace and sat down opposite them with a scowl in place, he looked a bit thinner than a few months ago but otherwise no worse for wear, "So tell me, what happened with Rocky Russo and this bombing? Weren't you keeping an eye on him? Didn't keep an eye on any suspicious packages sent to the werewolves in the school? There are charms you can use to detect Dark Magic, work from a distance so you don't even need to get up close."
"Well um…" Albus stammered as they exchanged nervous looks, Maurice rolled his eyes.
"Have you at least been looking into who the other killer is?" Maurice questioned of them, "Seeing if he hangs out with any girls? If he's dating anyone? You have the cloak and the map between you, this shouldn't be hard."
"We didn't think of that," Michael admitted lamely, "We just thought…"
"That it'd randomly stop?" Maurice finished his sentence for him irritably and shook his head, "And Cade wanted me to stay home another week."
"Well it's good to have you back, buddy," Albus offered while Scorpius felt even worse.
"Aw, don't feel bad Scor. I'm sure you did your best," Calderon's voice spoke clear as day and Scorpius froze, "I'm sure…"
"You okay, Scorpius?" Michael asked in a tone of slight concern, the others also showed no signs of hearing Calderon.
"Fine, I just need the bathroom," Scorpius said quickly and hurried out of the Great Hall, he didn't even go into the bathroom just the closest empty room, "Calderon? Calderon can you hear me? Can you speak? Are you aware of things happening?"
Silence.
"Please hear me," Scorpius pleaded into the silence.
Nothing. Scorpius waited a few minutes, straining his ears for any sound from his cousin but nothing. Scorpius trudged slowly – in case Calderon did speak, he could hardly talk to him in front of his friends - back to the Great Hall unhappily, wondering just how conscious and aware Calderon was. He didn't know how this worked, Savas didn't try to slow the process down so kind of bypassed what Scorpius was going through. He still hadn't heard back from Brutus either.
"Are you alright?" Michael asked him when Scorpius sat back down.
"Fine," Scorpius lied quickly, "I'm fine."
Antonius was upset by the recent turn of events, not only had there been a bomb with some students dying but one of those was actually his friend. He wasn't as close to Orlando as others but he was his friend all the same and he was sad he'd died, it made him feel guilty for being so relieved Andreas had lived. He stayed with him all night in the Hospital Wing – having a dad for a professor came in useful for bypassing Marigold's visiting hours – and only left in the morning before Andreas woke up, he didn't want Andreas to know he cared about him that much.
He visited him over the next few days with Sebastian, they both seemed sad and quiet. It was the mood of the whole school really although Rocky Russo's confession had calmed down the outrage, as well as seeming to improve the public opinion of both the Auror Department and Weedy Larry. They all thought Russo acted alone though, Antonius knew it was a near certain they had another killer still on the loose though so the danger wasn't over yet. On the bright side Maurice and Orous returned, Andreas was released from the Hospital Wing after a few days. It was the weekend by then though, Antonius had already decided he wouldn't mind leaving his usual friends to be with him but he didn't see him. Andreas spent the weekend confined solely to Ravenclaw Tower barring meals and was unable to see him then due to Weedy Larry's stupidly strict house table thing. So he couldn't see him until Monday and of course he didn't have any classes with Ravenclaw until the very end of the day, he did have Defense Against the Dark Arts first though and he was sure his dad wouldn't mind him being late for the sake of checking on his friend. With that in mind, he headed after the Ravenclaws shuffling along to Potions when he left the Great Hall instead.
"Andreas!" Antonius called after his friend, Andreas keeping to himself and walking with his head hung low but he glanced back at the sound of his name in surprise.
"What?" Andreas wondered, his face devoid of a smile and his tone missing his usual cheerful enthusiasm.
"I erm…" Antonius trailed off and swore inwardly, why hadn't he thought about what to say beforehand? "Erm… I didn't see you over the weekend. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Of course I'm okay, Orlando's the one who died," Andreas snapped a little but his heart didn't sound in it and his eyes drifted off sadly.
"That doesn't mean you're okay," Antonius pointed out and Andreas glanced back to him sadly, giving a slight shrug.
"Well I just felt like being alone," Andreas admitted, looking around at the emptying corridor as everyone else had gone on to class, "Still do really, I'm thinking about coming down with a sudden cold and blowing off class today."
"You can't hide from class forever."
"It's not like they torture you for not showing up here," Andreas said bitterly and sighed, moving over to the closest window and sitting down on the edge. Antonius sat down beside him, noticing the black bags beneath his eyes.
"You're not the only one who misses him, you know?" Antonius pointed out gently and Andreas glanced at him, meeting his eyes, "He was my friend too."
"He was the first friend I ever really made, you can't do that at the Tower. Friendship, I mean. Even if you're nice to them they have the personality stamped out of them, its why I love the people here so much," Andreas explained solemnly, averting his eyes again, "Orlando was so anxious and afraid of not fitting in because he was a werewolf, I could relate in a way so I tried to make him feel welcome. And he became my first real friend. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I never told him who I really was," Andreas told him, his voice cracking slightly and he wiped at his eyes, "About being a soldier, the Tower, the Shadows… he'd probably hate me if he had known. Assuming he didn't hate me already for not saving him."
"It's not your fault," Antonius said seriously.
"I was right there, I was right there, Anton, but I couldn't save him," Andreas insisted, his voice cracking again as he tried not to cry and blinked the tears from his eyes, "I'm a soldier, I'm supposed to be good but I'm not and I failed and my friend died. How is it not my fault? If this was the Tower they'd be torturing me right now for my failure."
"Well you're not with those psychos right now, we don't irrationally blame people," Antonius protested determinedly, "You may be a 'soldier' but there's something really important about being a soldier that the Tower didn't teach you."
"What?" Andreas wondered, seemingly genuinely at a loss to what he was talking about.
"That soldiers are still human and humans aren't all powerful beings, none of them, even the Shadow Master has had losses and made mistakes. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do," Antonius told him seriously and Andreas averted his eyes, "It's not your fault, it sucks but it's not your fault. Orlando wouldn't blame you and he wouldn't want you to blame yourself either."
"Maybe," Andreas sighed thoughtfully, his expression still unhappy though. He was silent for a minute and Antonius was debating whether or not to say anything else or wait for him to respond when he did, "I guess I'm really just not looking forward to classes without him, death is hard enough without being reminded by the silence from the empty seat beside me, he was so worried about his grades... I hate death."
"Don't we all," Antonius said sadly, clapping Andreas on the shoulder comfortingly, "You're not alone."
"Thanks," Andreas sniffed, wiping his eyes hastily.
"Want to go for a walk until you feel up to going back to class?" Antonius suggested since Andreas still seemed upset.
"Won't you get in trouble for that Mr Goody-Two-Shoes?" Andreas commented, his tone a bit more his usual playful one but his smile was still forced.
"It's not like they torture you for not showing up here," Antonius quoted as he jumped back up, offering his hand out to help Andreas up and the Ravenclaw took it. Despite desperately trying not to, Antonius couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat at the feeling of Andreas' hand in his own and let go of it quickly for this reason when he was up, "Besides my dad won't mind."
"Now that sounds more like you."
Part 4: Oh
Life continued and Calderon's voice had fallen silent once more, Scorpius remain nervous about it and it was the final push he needed to finish Savas' journal which culminated in murdering his wife for wanting to leave him and his son just about to get back from Hogwarts. Nothing more on soul but as he'd noticed and Rojer had told him, there were still those bizarre segments of randomness. Others had tried and failed to decipher it so it had been discarded as mad ramblings, Scorpius didn't think it was though. From reading the journal written by Jack the Ripper himself he did feel like he got a sense of his mind, there was no denying Savas was psychotic but he was smart and coherent enough to do all this, if he was losing his mind the more coherent part would've noticed or removed the rambling but he didn't. Scorpius also thought it was pretty convenient how the nonsense cropped up at times he was most secretive, when it linked to anything he wanted to publish papers on or experiment with concoctions. The only time it didn't – and Scorpius did check this – was when the subject was things he had published and been credited for like the Eye of Thestral potion. Not that any of this was useful, even if he was right he had no idea how to decipher it and others probably more qualified had tried.
He was tempted to ask Maurice for help but he was busy, heck so was Scorpius. They only had two months of school left so work was piling on, the only classes that weren't were ones were they had their own projects which if anything was even worse because trying to get all that work done in time on top of homework was hard. Scorpius had Quidditch practices to not only take part in but plan on top of that and while Maurice didn't, he did have Head Boy duties and extra work as he was playing catch up from what he'd missed. On top of that, they still had a killer on the loose contrary to what the general public believed despite PAW falling. He felt they were much better off on that now Maurice was back, contrary he kind of wished Orous wasn't. It wasn't that he wasn't glad to see his friend but Orous didn't seem properly healed, he went everywhere at a snail's pace with a crutch and was out of breath from going anywhere. He had an adapted timetable to cope with it and spent a lot of time in the Hospital Wing doing physio, Scorpius would rather he be at full strength especially with a killer still on the loose.
He had a good idea why Orous was back though, he spent most of his time not with them or Marigold but on the Quidditch pitch practicing intensely for his match in two weeks although Martha had done her best to arrange practices in the interim. While Scorpius would of course be rooting for his friend, he also couldn't help but feel it was probably too little too late by now. May was turning out to be a hot month, the sky was clear and the sun beat down on them but life still wasn't as cheery as the weather. There was a memorial outside Ravenclaw Tower where students conjured flowers for the dead, the Shadows had also started picking off smaller island countries, they didn't stand a chance and a lot of places just started to evacuate preemptively. The ones that didn't, they didn't hear from again.
The day of the match came and it was again clear blue skies, reminding him of Molly both because it was the color of her eyes and it was the kind of weather she'd appreciate for Quidditch. He really missed her, no contact at all the past few months was painful. He wondered if it was as hard for her, he didn't want to spend this much time apart from her again and was very envious of Orous still finding time to spend with his girlfriend. At any rate he found himself in the stands with his friends and Antonius' friends, Andreas was sharing snacks making him rather popular and Sebastian alone was kitted out in Slytherin colors amongst a pocket of Hufflepuff support.
While Orous had been getting gradually better, he still limped slowly across the pitch using his broom for support and seemed out of breath by the time he reached the center to shake Lorcan's hand. Even from a distance Lorcan looked extremely tense when shaking Orous' hand and dropped his hand extremely quickly. Scorpius had thought Orous' actual flying ability wouldn't be effected by his injury much like Latimer's prosthetic foot didn't affect his but he was wrong, at first Scorpius didn't notice but compared to Lorcan he did start to see he was having trouble turning especially quickly or sharply. Scorpius guessed it was hard on his spine? Something like that, Scorpius wasn't a Healer. It gave Lorcan an immediate advantage on getting the Snitch, good thing both seemed pretty focused on getting their score up first. The Quaffle bounced around the pitch like a muggle ping pong ball, Slytherin Chasers were clearly more on point but Martha was the better Keeper so they remained pretty even. The Beaters seemed more evenly matched, the score never varied more than three goals and who was in the lead switched frequently. It was probably going to come down for the Snitch and it did. Orous saw it first but by the time he'd turned Lorcan was already into a dive, Orous still shot downwards like a rocket. For a second Scorpius thought he might catch up but Lorcan grabbed it first, securing a win for Slytherin 350 to 230.
"Scor…?"
"So are you clear on the plan?" Varanian questioned abruptly and Prosper jumped nervously, in truth this was like fifth time Varanian had gone over the plan so he already felt like he got it. Didn't make him any less nervous though as he nodded, "Are you sure?"
"Would you like me to say it back to you again?" Prosper suggested but Varanian shook his head.
"No its okay, I believe you," Varanian said but didn't sound the slightest bit convinced of his own words, "Let's go then."
On that note Varanian led him out, it was the first time Prosper had been out of the room since his capture. Despite everything, he couldn't help but feel a small bubble of excitement at the novelty of different scenery. A bubble that quickly burst at the thought he should get used to it, after this he'd be sent to New Azkaban for his crimes and again be confined to a room for the rest of his life. Well he wasn't sure what the penalty was for being PAW but even if it wasn't a life sentence the Shadows were probably going to attack again at some point, he'd rather die than join them so he'd probably be killed. He was kind of hoping he'd just die here stopping PAW, Prosper didn't want to die but since it was inevitable he'd kind of rather it just be over and done with rather than spending even more in a cell dreading it. It wasn't much of a life in a cage anyway. He deserved it though, he knew that, he wouldn't have agreed if he wasn't ready to pay the price for his actions plus he was a werewolf.
He should just enjoy this last ouch of freedom while he could so he pushed those thoughts aside, instead focusing on seeing the rest of the building he was being held in or at least the part of it Varanian was leading him through. They passed other people in there, many of them throwing him disapproving looks but it was outside Varanian led him. Prosper couldn't help the smile that slid onto his face as he stepped into the daylight, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face and the gentle breeze through his hair. Been awhile since he'd felt that and now it probably was for the last time. He sighed as he followed Varanian through the fields, he guessed to get away from whatever apparation charms were undoubtedly in place, PAW had the same kind of deal. They went towards the man waiting for them, Ron Weasley he'd been told who had been framed for treachery. Prosper had to do a double take, he barely looked anything like his chocolate frog card.
"Ready?" Ron queried of them brightly and Varanian shifted his appearance to a younger man with dark hair, he was impersonating an Auror on their side. Prosper had to call him 'Hal.'
"Yep," Varanian confirmed and grabbed Prosper's arm.
"You know I can appar-" Prosper started to say but was cut off as Varanian simply apparated them both, reappearing in another field this time right beside Hermione Granger. Now she looked more like her chocolate frog card, just a bit older. And a little ill actually. Ron appeared an instant later, his grin widened at the sight of his wife and he gave her a kiss and a hug in greeting but her expression remained serious.
"When this is over come see me, I really need to talk to you about something," Hermione whispered to her husband as he pulled away, he raised an eyebrow but she'd already moved on, "So this is our informant. So are you clear on the plan?"
"Yes, I know the plan!" Prosper insisted in frustration at the thought of going over it again, he could see why the two were allies, "Varanian made sure of it."
"Alright then. We shouldn't dawdle or Harry will come looking for us, wouldn't want him to find you," Hermione said, directing the last at Ron as she pecked him on the cheek before grabbing Prosper and apparating. Were they just afraid he might escape or did they really think he couldn't apparate?
At any rate he found himself now in the Ministry atrium as expected, Varanian followed an instant later as 'Hal' and hovered over him like a guard. This was what he was supposed to be, there was supposed to be an Auror there as backup with a potentially dangerous informant. Prosper was led through the ministry, he could only hang his head in shame as he was brought to an interrogation room where Hermione and Varanian both left him. He fidgeted nervously, feeling uncomfortable left alone as the all too familiar silence ate away at him. He wondered if he'd have a cell mate in prison, he missed being able to talk to people but then he didn't think some kind of psychotic criminal would be good company. Maybe one PAW would even be the cell mate, that would be awkward and he'd do doubt die faster then. Prosper jumped as the door burst open, this time it was just Hermione and the famed hero Head Auror Harry Potter himself. You didn't need to see his chocolate frog card to recognize the scar.
"Prosper Bacchus Blackbourne? Thank you for coming in," Harry Potter said surprisingly politely as two of the famous trio sat down opposite him, a small part of him wanted to squeal in excitement at meeting such legends… if only they didn't kind of hate him for being kind of an enemy.
"It was nothing," Prosper shrugged it off before recalling the plan was wanting a deal to save his own life since it was believable and they definitely didn't want it to link back to Gray at all, those guys were the only hope of winning against the Shadows in Prosper's opinion, "I mean it's not nothing but it's for the best, now I'm a do- a werewolf they're going to hunt me until I die so taking them down is good. Plus being a werewolf gives you some perspective, extinction doesn't seem as erm… important."
"Well I'm glad you feel that way. Hermione tells me you're bound by some unbreakable vow so you can't tell us the location of their main base but you can take us there?"
"That's right, I can also give you information on the building itself," Prosper confirmed with a nod at Hermione, "You said that's important too?"
"It is, any information you can tell us will help us plan the assault better so it'll go down smoother," Harry explained informatively, "Are you're sure you're willing to do this?"
"I'm sure," Prosper reiterated for what felt like the fiftieth time today and the pair nodded, Hermione took out a scroll and put it in front of him.
"This is a copy of the confession you wrote out earlier along with the details of this deal," Hermione explained, taking out a quill and also putting it on the table, "If there's nothing else and you're satisfied, you can sign it now to make it official."
"And remember the amnesty is only for the crimes listed here," Harry added as Prosper picked up the quill, not bothering to read it since this was just part of the act, "You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for any crimes beyond this, the deal is also null if this information doesn't amount to anything for whatever reason and you will be charged, your confession can be used against you."
"Yeah, yeah that's fine," Prosper brushed it off as he scribbled his signature onto the allocated line, tossing the quill back down. Hermione and Harry both signed the parchment as well, "Can we please just get this over with?"
After that things moved along in a fast blur, he went over what he knew of the main base although he knew nothing of where the new lab would be. Harry presumably went to go tell the other Aurors and prepare things, he was introduced to more Aurors and they conjured a map he could adapt awkwardly as he wasn't sure of the layout, it wasn't like he'd seen it from an overhead view. He did his best though. He was then whisked off and briefed on their plan of attack, pretty much just a more detailed version of what Varanian had said it would be. He shouldn't be there for the attack but since he'd need to take them to the location there was a risk of him being sucked into it, especially as PAW had guards and it was too far from the town to be able to discretely point it out. When they arrived, they'd have to go in wands blazing and try stop PAW escaping as quickly as possible.
After what felt like an age yet also no time at all, he was being apparated to the village and leading a group of scouts to the base. As soon as it came into sight the alarm went off and the Aurors sent a Patronus off to alert the back up to their location, he suddenly felt like he was in a thunderstorm with all the cracks of apparation as Aurors rushed in and descended on the house. It kind of depressing, while he did feel he was making the right choice there was no denying he was a traitor. He also didn't feel like they were as evil as everyone thought, at least not all of them. Yes, they were doing wrong but they also were doing it for good reasons, they wanted to make the world a safer place. If he hadn't been turned and captured, Prosper could very well still be one of those misguided people about to feel the wrath of the Auror Office fall upon them. He supposed that was just how it had to be.
"And that's that," Varanian mused and Prosper glanced at him, 'Hal' had been supposed to watch him so of course he was still there as they hung back from the battle. Aurors were coming out now with people bound, people he knew captured, "Hopefully it's the bulk of them anyway. At any rate you're done, kid, try stay out of trouble."
"That'll be easy when I'm in jail," Prosper scoffed and Varanian looked at him like an extra head had sprouted from his shoulder, "What?"
"Didn't you miss the part when you signed a deal giving you amnesty for turning on PAW?"
"Well yeah but wasn't that an act?"
"How can a legal deal you signed be an act?" Varanian wondered and Prosper scowled in confusion, feeling actually upset at the thought of not paying for his crimes.
"So I'm really free?"
"Yes."
"But that's not fair, I wanted to take responsibility for my actions," Prosper pointed out unhappily but Varanian didn't look like he cared, "What am I supposed to do now?"
"Whatever you want," Varanian shrugged and turned to leave but Prosper grabbed his shoulder desperately, feeling a light click in his brain.
"Wait!" Prosper pleaded, earning a scowl and recalling this was the part where he exchanged places with real Hal but it was important, "Can I join you?"
"What?!"
"Gray," Prosper hissed in a whisper, not that anyone would hear over the clash of spellfire, "I want to help, I've been against the Shadows from the start and it's obvious you're the only ones who stand a chance. I've already been to your base, I'm not totally incompetent with a wand and I'm willing to do whatever it takes. It's not like I have anything better to do or anywhere to go… you could probably use an extra wand at least, doesn't seem like you have that many people."
"Well…" Varanian said, looking rather bewildered for a minute before composing himself, "I'll think about it, I really have to switch now but I'll be in touch later if you're acceptable."
"Thank you."
Michael threw himself into schoolwork after Russo's capture, he really had to because it was the only way he could stay on top of it all and even that was hard. Usually he had extra time compared to the others to make up for his Dyslexia but they wouldn't exactly extend the end of the year for him so it was just hard. He hated words. He hated numbers. He hated reading. He hated writing. It was the worst, it was so bad he even considered asking his friends for help but they were busy to. He missed Mirra, her help would be greatly appreciated right now. He didn't even feel like it mattered what he did, it was such an awkward struggle he didn't think there was any way he could pass. He just had to hope he'd filled out Hogan's stupid scroll correctly or he'd be screwed.
The only real positive he supposed was that it kept his mind occupied, he didn't have time to think about the war or the killers or how his friends were distant, or about Flynn's death or how badly he wanted to drink until failing his NEWTs didn't matter anymore. Most importantly, he did not want to think about Dawn's progressing pregnancy. She was well into her second trimester by now, over halfway through and the risk of miscarriage was greatly decreased. The fetus could move now, she'd probably be able to feel it kick if she was still pregnant. He wondered if he was a horrible person to cling to the tiniest sliver of hope the baby would be lost somehow, he just didn't want this to be happening right now. He didn't want to be a father, not now, not like this. Still he found thoughts of his child haunting him as he lay in bed at night trying to sleep, or in his dreams.
However all that did make him think of something else, he had been opposed to dating due to his lycanthropy and paranoid fear of following in his parents' footsteps. Now that he actually had his worst fear again come to pass and the sky hadn't fallen, he was kind of feeling more open to it. He only had a month and a half left of Hogwarts, as busy as he was he thought it'd be even harder to date after Hogwarts with Gray and – hopefully - a job in St Mungo's. Plus if he was to have any chance with Rose, he really needed to do it now before she got serious with Montague. Rose was who he wanted to ask out of course, he'd liked her since First Year and as much as he tried to deny it he did like her still. It was just a question of working up the courage to and if it really was something he should do, the more he thought about it the more he thought he should especially since he had Wyatt – who he was making an effort to treat better - with him constantly. He didn't want to give up on her the way Albus was stupidly doing with Abby, if anything Albus doing that made him want to give up even less.
And so the question of whether to ask her tormented him whenever he happened to be alone with her, what really ended up kicking him off the fence was after the Hufflepuff vs Slytherin match. The final Hogsmeade trip of the year was the week after and while he was banned, Rose was not and she was planning on going with Montague. If they went on another date it was serious and who knew how long before she'd be single again? He had to just bite the bullet and go for it. So when they were in the Library and she needed the toilet, he waited a minute before also excusing himself to go to the toilet and waited for outside in the corridor between the nearest bathroom and Library for her to pass him on the way back. He figured it was probably better to ask her when she wasn't desperate to pee.
"Rose!" he called to her desperately as he caught sight of her returning, he swallowed nervously and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his knees as discretely as he could, "What's up?"
"Fine… what kind of life changing event did you expect to happen while I was in the bathroom?" Rose countered in confusion.
"Um… nothing, I just err… wanted to urm… speak to you about something," Michael admitted still nervous and ran an anxious hand through his tangled mane of hair, "Is that okay?"
"I guess," Rose shrugged, flipping her long red hair back over her shoulder as it wasn't tied back into a ponytail today, "What is it?"
"I erm…" Michael stammered awkwardly, feeling painfully reminded of her prior rejection but he couldn't let it stop him, "Would you like to go out with me?"
"Go out with you? Like… a date?" Rose wondered, looking shocked.
"Yeah."
"You know I'm kind of dating Montague now, right?"
"All the more reason why I should ask now before you're serious about him," Michael stated defensively and took a step towards her, "I finally feel ready to try dating and… I like you Rose, I always have – a lot – you know that. I may not be able to go to Hogsmeade but we can still do things here, please give me a chance."
"Michael…" Rose began but trailed off and sighed, "Look, I know I've dated quite a bit but I'm still a virgin and I'm not interested in losing it in a dumb one night stand. I don't want that-"
"When did I even mention that?!" Michael blurted out in bewilderment, wondering how what he'd said could be misconstrued.
"Come on," Rose scoffed as if it was obvious, "You got banned from Hogsmeade for having a one night stand with a hag of all people and you got another girl pregnant, not that you care. It's obvious you're only after one thing but I want a real relationship, Montague's really nice and we like a lot of the same books."
"I do want a real relationship," Michael insisted, trying to stop his face flushing with embarrassment, "Those were just mistakes, drunken mistakes and I'm not even drinking anymore! I've been sober since… you know."
"I'm sorry, Michael," Rose said, averting her eyes and giving a quiet shrug, "I… I'd rather see how it goes with Montague."
"I understand," Michael nodded solemnly, feeling his heart slump in his chest and he hung his head as Rose made to move past him. She paused when he didn't go to follow, opened her mouth to ask why, "Just need a minute, I wasn't lying about needing the toilet."
Rose nodded in understanding, Michael wasn't sure if she knew that was a lie but she thankfully went off anyway. He sighed heavily, leaning against the wall feeling utterly ashamed and miserable. That was three times he'd been rejected by Rose now, strikeout. And all because of his own stupid mistakes, he knew his friends didn't have the best impression of him of late but he hadn't realized they thought that lowly of him. Did everyone? He needed a dri- Dammit! He had to stop thinking like that.
"You okay?" a female voice asked and he looked up, seeing a pretty girl he didn't recognize although he was strongly reminded of Sebastian, right down to the honey-colored hair.
"Yeah I just…" Michael started to say but trailed off, gesturing vaguely to where Rose had gone.
"Got rejected? Yeah I saw," the girl interrupted, giving him a look of sympathy, "I'm sorry. Rejection's hard, my boyfriend dumped me a while ago. I was rough."
"I'm sorry," Michael offered, it wasn't quite the same but he could still relate, "Although don't feel too bad for me, I can't blame her for rejecting me. I made a lot of mistakes lately, I don't deserve her."
"People make mistakes, it's only human."
"I'm a werewolf," Michael scoffed bitterly, "Not a human."
"Werewolves are people too, Still Human, right?" she suggested with an impish smile at her play on words for the support group.
"Right," Michael confirmed, returning her smile weakly before she held out her hand.
"I'm Lauren. It's nice to meet you."
"Michael," Michael told her as he took her hand.
Albus was not having a fun time. Studying was hard, he remembered why he didn't like it. He had to though, he had to be able to provide for little Lydia. He was afraid what he was doing wasn't even good enough, he almost wished he wasn't on the Quidditch team after all that effort trying to get onto it so practices couldn't cut into studying. That'd mean spending more time with Abby though and he'd rather not, she still hadn't said anything but she was still dating Pentakel so he could only assume they were engaged now. He felt awkward and sad around her, he did his best to act normal around her but it didn't make it any easier. If anything it just made him feel sadder.
He tried to stay positive though, he always did. PAW was pretty much – or at least mostly – done for, less worry about them was good. The final Quidditch match where they'd go up against Ravenclaw was next week, Quidditch was fun and it would also mean no more practices cutting into his vain attempts to not fail completely at Hogwarts. This week though was the last Hogsmeade trip of the year, meaning he would get to see Lydia. In person, not just pictures Olivia sent him. He was making a scrapbook of them, he wanted to take it to Vern's grave on the anniversary of his death and tell him about how the first few months of his daughter's life were going. He thought Vern would be proud… he hoped Vern would be proud, unless Michael was right about him not caring. He was still upset with Michael over that and really just really disappointed in him for how callous he was over his own child.
"Well time for Potions," Rose announced briskly on Friday afternoon while they were in the Library working, she was great at keeping an eye on time.
"Runes for me," Scorpius said as they all started packing up their things, except Abby who didn't do Potions or Runes. Orous had already left for class and Antonius wasn't there because he was still in class, younger years didn't have the more scattered schedules of NEWT students who were expected to do things in the free time.
"Great," Michael sighed irritably, rubbing at his eyes, "I was hoping to get this essay done before class so I could focus on other things after Charms."
"Well it is the weekend after today," Albus pointed out, trying to be helpful, "I mean we have Hogsmeade tomorrow but you're banned so you an extra day."
"It's the full moon tomorrow, I'm going to crash and burn pretty soon."
"Oh."
"Since its down to just me, Hugo and Sebastian we don't have to go to Still Human though and can just sleep in the Hospital Wing again," Michael informed them as they slung their bags over their shoulders ready to leave for class, "So that's more convenient at least."
"See you for Charms, Abby," Albus offered, holding up a hand in farewell as they headed out.
"Is that really as safe though with a killer still on the loose?" Scorpius complained.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Michael brushed it off dismissively, "Marigold will be there and a certain winged scaly friend."
"Hey Al!" a voice called and he glanced back to see Abby hurrying after them, "You forgot your Potions book."
"I did? Dammit," Albus complained and saw she hadn't brought it with her, he waved the others to go, "I'll catch up."
"Okay," Rose said as the others continued on, Scorpius in a different direction and Albus sighed unhappily in embarrassment.
"I can't believe I forgot it, I need to not make stupid mist-"
"You didn't forget," Abby cut him off quickly and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet nervously, "I just really needed to talk to you."
"Oh," Albus said in surprise.
"It's hard to get you alone lately and we're really busy but… I wanted to talk to you before tomorrow."
"What is it?"
"Um…" Abby trailed off before glancing around at some Ravenclaws passing by and quickly pulling him into an empty classroom off the hall, presumably for more privacy. He was starting to feel nervous now.
"What is it, Abby?"
"Well…" Abby started to say but trailed off again, she sighed and refused to meet his eyes, "Sequoia and I are engaged."
"Really? Congratulations," Albus said with his as much false surprise and enthusiasm as he could muster, despite expecting it they were still painful words to hear.
"You never were the greatest liar. Sequoia already told me he went to see you."
"Oh," Albus muttered, feeling embarrassed now, "Yeah, he saw me. Said he was going to propose and stuff… I didn't know he'd actually done it yet though…"
"It was perfect," Abby told him, gazing off, "Just like I'd imagined it as a kid."
"I'm glad."
"He said it was your idea."
"Oh," Albus said for what felt like a lot of times during this conversation, he wasn't sure if Pentakel's honesty was annoying here or honorable, "Well… yeah, I mean I guess it was… So what?"
"So…?" Abby repeated and trailed off again, she finally met his eyes, "So it was incredible you remembered that, that you even told him. I just… I wanted to know if you still meant what you said before… about… you know, being in love with me. I need to know if you still feel that way."
"Oh."
"So?"
"So what?" Albus wondered, stalling as he felt his heart race furiously in his chest. What was even supposed to say?!
"So do you?"
"Do I what?"
"Still feel that way!" Abby reiterated, sounding a touch frustrated but mostly anxiously as her eyes captured his, "Do you still love me? Do you still want to be with me?"
Yes! Yes, I still love you, of course I still love you. I meant it when I said it before, I never meant anything more in my entire life. You make me smile, you make me laugh, you make me feel glad to be alive. No one understands me like you do and no one understands you like I do, you're smarter than you think and more beautiful then you know and I want to be with you forever. You shouldn't be marrying Pentakel, you should be marrying me and I'm so sorry that I didn't realize it sooner. We could be happy, Abby, in your heart you know we would be happy.
That was what he wanted to say, his heart ached to speak and the words clung the roof of his mouth ready. But he couldn't. She was happy with Pentakel, she'd chosen Pentakel and he'd vowed to not screw that up for her anymore.
"No," Albus said instead, feeling his own heart break inside, "You were right before, it was just another phase."
"Oh," Abby muttered, looking surprised and… disappointed? Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.
"Me and my dumb phases, I realized it when he told me about proposing. He's alright, Pentakel, I was just being an idiot," Albus continued and gave her an empty smile, trying not to cry while she gazed at him expressionlessly, "You have my blessing. I'm sure you'll be happy together."
"Thanks, Al," Abby nodded finally, returning the smile, "I really needed closure on that."
"No problem," Albus told her brightly.
On that note he headed for the door, she didn't go to follow and he was glad because he wasn't sure he trusted himself to be around to her right now. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against again, letting out a shaky sigh and silent tears rolled down his cheeks as he gazed up into the sky. Just when he thought nothing could feel any worse than telling Pentakel how to propose to the woman he loved, he had to go and tell her he didn't. Mother of Merlin.
And he couldn't even dwell on it, he had a stupid Potions class that was stupidly important to his stupid career plans. Plus Abby would leave the room in a minute. Albus sniffed, wiping at the tears streaming from his eyes. He needed to grow up because he had responsibilities, he was a man now and men didn't cry. With a heavy heart, he pushed off from the door and walked away.
Part 5: Crying Wolf
"Where's your brother?" Albus asked curiously of Maurice when they were waiting for their permission slips to be checked, he noticed the albino's absence as well as his sister's. Abby and Rose chatted nearby about their double date plans… he didn't really want to know, he was just trying to act normal and avoid Abby without seeming like he was avoiding Abby which was why he was talking to Maurice right now. He usually didn't one on one but Scorpius and Michael couldn't go to Hogsmeade.
"He didn't feel up for the long walk," Maurice shrugged dismissively, "The weather's so good he and Lily are just having a picnic instead, they were trying to decide which was the best place around the lake to have it yesterday."
"Oh. Well, that's nice," Albus said unenthusiastically, as much as he liked Orous he still didn't like him dating his little sister, "What about you? You got a date?"
"No," Maurice scoffed as if it was obvious before seeming to want to defend this, "I mean, I tried. Rose is still mad and me and dating someone else, Etta wasn't interested after I already cancelled on her twice before and the only other girl I could think of was that one who asked me out before that I rejected because I was against the social construct of dating at the time."
"How did that go?"
"Not good," Maurice answered and cringed, "She gave me the same lecture on how dating was bad that I gave her and stormed off angrily and then her friends laughed at me."
"That's rough, buddy," Albus offered sympathetically, clapping Maurice on the shoulder.
"I miss Lenore."
"I-"
"Everyone inside!" Neville yelled abruptly, cutting him off while Maurice kept looking at him expectantly. It took Albus a second to remember Maurice was deaf and had no idea Neville was speaking, "Go to the Great Hall, immediately. It'll be explained then!"
"Albus?" Maurice prompted in confusion and it took Albus a second to remember Maurice was deaf so hadn't heard this.
"Neville's telling us to go inside," Albus informed him as the crowd started shuffling inside, many grumbling about wanting to go to Hogsmeade and the delay while others looked more concerned.
"Dad, what's going on?" Abby asked as Neville passed them on his way back inside, the one armed Herbology Professor paused to turn to them and he seemed to hesitate slightly before replying.
"There was a threat made," Neville told them reluctantly in a hushed tone, "We don't know how serious this is, we're taking precautions after what happened in Ravenclaw Tower so just go to the Great Hall."
They headed hurriedly into the Great Hall where everyone was being gathered, not just those who'd been waiting to go to Hogsmeade but those too young to go or those just staying so they went over to stand with Scorpius. When seemingly everyone was there, the Heads of Houses did a roll call to make sure everyone was accounted for. The waiting continued though as the Aurors did sweeps of the castle and grounds looking for the threat, Cassia – who was wearing a worryingly short skirt – came over to keep him company and engaged him in a game to pass the time which consisted of Albus picking something he liked and she having twenty questions to ask to figure it out. Whatever made her happy, he thought she was pretty lonely with Antonius as a student now because she was being really nice to him this year. He wondered if he should've gotten her more than a card for her tenth birthday a few days ago.
At any rate, they were stuck there for hours and by the time the school had deemed it safe it was also considered pointless to have the Hogsmeade trip so it would be tomorrow instead. Albus was kind of disappointed but he'd rather tomorrow then never, next week was the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match then the week after was the last before the dreaded NEWTs and he had to study. He was glad the threat had turned out to be nothing though, maybe the whole thing had actually been good in the long run since the teachers would've copped on there was still a killer out there although it was strange they'd made a threat but not acted on it.
"She might've been just trying to instill fear," Maurice suggested at dinner, "Or maybe they reacted faster or better then she expected and alone wasn't able to carry out her plan without getting caught, or it's just not today the attack is set for since it's the full moon tonight and they tend to attack after. We should be careful, this is the second last full moon of the school year plus PAW have been mostly arrested or killed so if she still wants werewolves gone she's running out of time."
Albus hoped it was that she'd been unable to carry out her plan because of the school reacting better, it was about time the security actually offered some security. Since the only werewolves left were a poor kid, his cousin and his friend he really wanted security to work. Nothing seemed to happen though, it was only after dinner they were finally allowed to leave the Great Hall by which point it was pretty much just time for bed anyway. Nothing continued to happen in the night or the morning and finally Albus was outside waiting for his permission slip to be checked, this time Maurice had opted to stay in Hogwarts to be on the safe side if something happened. Albus flashed his slip and finally after what felt like forever, he was off to see Lydia.
"Albus?" Olivia wondered in surprise as she opened the door for him, "Weren't you coming yesterday?"
"I couldn't, there was this threat so they delayed the trip for a day. There wasn't anything I could do," Albus explained and felt a stab of nervousness, "Can I still come in?"
"Oh, sure," Olivia agreed, stepping back to let him inside so he went in, "Sorry for the mess, it was better yesterday."
"Its fine," Albus brushed it off and grinned widely as he spotted Lydia, propped up on pillows on the floor playing with a rattle. He hurried over to her happily, "Hi Lydia! Who's the cutest baby in the world? How you doing?"
She turned to him and smiled, waving her rattle and gurgling randomly. Albus scooped her up to cuddle her, she was getting bigger but she was still soft and squishy, and smiley. He was glad, he wanted her to be happy. Plus she had her dad's smile, he liked being reminded of Vern.
And so Albus was finally able to spend time with Lydia, playing with and talking to her – and to Olivia of course - and cuddling her. Even stuff like changing her diaper didn't faze him, sure it was stinky and gross but he was happy to help and one Vernish smile from her made it all worth it. It wasn't like caring for the ever stoic cold-hearted Vale, Lydia was all bubbly and smiley and she'd recently discovered laughter. He loved spending time with her, he was looking forward to having more of it after Hogwarts. Despite that, Michael niggled in his mind distractingly. Both because of how Michael was planning on missing this wonderful experience with Easton and because of how he'd accused Vern of potentially wanting to do the same, he felt like it a dark smudge on his memory of his cousin to think he might've walked away. After putting Lydia down for her nap, he found Olivia had also fallen asleep on the couch so he took the time to clean up a bit to make the apartment all nice.
"Sorry, I must've dozed off," Olivia apologized guiltily and Albus turned to see her approaching as he finished off the dishes, "I'm used to sleeping when she does, she's gotten a lot better but still doesn't sleep the full night yet."
"Don't worry about it," Albus offered gently and she blinked in surprise.
"Did you just clean up? That's so nice of you."
"It's the least I can do," Albus brushed it off, he didn't think it was a big deal but she looked very grateful as they went back into the main room, "I want to help."
"You're sweet, Al."
"I'm not that great," Albus admitted truthfully, his smile fading as he thought of how Abby loved Pentakel not him. He couldn't be that great.
"Are you okay?" Olivia wondered gently, looking at him with concern.
"It's nothing," Albus tried to smile, "Don't worry yourself with it."
"Is it about Gray? I still want to join them," Olivia told him seriously, he'd managed to convince her it was better to wait until the Hogwarts year ended since a bunch of them were joining together but she still wasn't entirely happy with doing nothing until then, "I feel like a sitting duck waiting for the next attack to come."
"It won't come," Albus assured her, knowing as long as Scorpius stayed in Hogwarts they'd be okay and he was sure they'd have a plan for graduation, "We'll handle it, we'll protect you and Lydia then we'll join Gray together and it'll be fine."
"And I appreciate that, Al, really I do," Olivia said with emphasis as if afraid he'd doubt it, "But I don't want to have to rely on others to protect me, I'm of age now and I'm a mother. I want to be able to protect my own child and the others I love."
"It's only one more month, when I finish Hogwarts it'll be better and I can help with babysitting for Lydia."
"I know," Olivia sighed, leaning back and looking anxious, "I just worry is all. I love Lydia to death, I'm terrified of losing her too."
"It's just my love life, it's really nothing to worry about," Albus decided to admit to put her mind at ease, "Someone I love is with someone else so I can't be with them, it sucks for me but it's hardly life threating."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Olivia offered sympathetically, "It's hard not being able to be with the one you love… I still miss Vern. I cried my eyes out when I realized tomorrow was his birthday."
"You're right, it is," Albus realized, horrified at having forgotten and feeling sorrow give him a new punch to the gut, so forcefully tears pricked his eyes, "He'd be of age tomorrow if…"
"I know," Olivia admitted, wiping at the tears trying to form on her eyes.
Albus instinctively pulled her into a hug, both wanting to comfort her and wanting to feel comfort himself. However he strangely regretted, he'd never really noticed how… female Olivia was until then. He pulled away slowly and she looked as tense as he felt, looking at her in a new light as she gazed back at him with the same expression.
"It's not like we don't get along," Olivia said quietly.
"We both can't be with the ones we really love anyway," Albus added equally quietly.
"We can't. And it'd be good for Lydia."
"I love Lydia, I want what's best for her as much as you do."
"It's weird though."
"So weird," Albus agreed fervently, feeling very aware of how close they were all of a sudden.
Cautiously – ever so cautiously - they both leaned in and their lips touched, they pulled apart after a second though and thoughts of Abby and Vern flashing before his eyes. His heart ached and he felt uncomfortable, Olivia wiped at the tears on her face and he realized tears had seeped from his eyes too. He wiped them away also.
"I'm not ready," Olivia admitted.
"It's too soon," Albus said at the exactly same time and they sighed at their eyes met, "Maybe we just need time."
"Maybe sleep on it too."
"Yeah, we should do that."
"How are you feeling?" a female voice questioned... Rose?
Michael fought to open his eyes, feeling like he had to claw for consciousness and just the effort of opening his eyes made him like he'd ran a mile. He hated the full moon, it was the day after and as usual he not felt drained.
"Tired but not so bad for the full moon," Sebastian's childish voice answered.
Michael's eyes flicked open to see that disappointingly, not only was Rose not the speaker but they hadn't even been talking to him. It was Lauren checking on her little brother, he'd heard bad things about her but when she'd spoken to him – he hadn't realized who she was at the time - she'd seemed really nice and genuine. He let his eyes flutter back shut again as the Libra siblings talked quietly amongst themselves, not quite sure if he was awake or asleep as he zoned out.
BANG!
Michael heard screams of surprise followed by a familiar hiss, by the time he opened his eyes there was already smoke stinging them. He started choking as he sat up, trying to see through the haze. Sebastian and Lauren had been opposite him one to the left and still seemed to be from the shadowy outlines, Hugo had been opposite down a few more beds but it looked in pieces now and a distinctly Hugo shaped lump was coughing on the smoke. Or was this just a nightmare brought on by the attack on Ravenclaw Tower? At any rate, instinct to live compelled him to fumble for his wand off the bedside table even though his eyes and throat were burning from the gas engulfing the roo-
BANG!
This time Michael was thrown off his bed from the force of the explosion and there was an agonized scream that sounded like Hugo, he hit the ground painfully still choking on burning smoke. He had no idea where his wand was now though, his bed had been overturned and he couldn't see the bedside table from on the floor. Hugo was still screaming, Michael thought he'd probably been injured. He saw Lauren moving towards the door, guiding Sebastian who she had her arm around and was crouched slightly to make them a smaller target, she'd also put Bubble-Head Charms on them both.
"Come on, Sebastian, got to get you out of here," Lauren was saying with concern as they moved out of sight.
Them moving revealed Marigold, he was lying face down on the ground unmoving. Michael wasn't sure if he was alive or just stunned but either way, he was far enough from the blast someone had to have hit him before it started. He tried to crawl towards him shakily, feeling strangled for air. Out of nowhere a Bubble-Head Charm engulfed his head so he could breathe once more, hands helped him up and he saw his savior was Wyatt who despite having a Bubble-Head Charm himself seemed to be breathing a little raggedly as small lizard lungs and burning poison air had probably not been a good combination. Michael leaned on Wyatt heavily for support as he gulped down much needed air, his legs wobbled beneath him as they made towards the door almost tripping over Marigold which made him feel guilty so pushed Wyatt away from himself.
"Help Hugo and Marigold," Michael told him, "I can make it out from here but they could die, it'll only take a second and I'll be okay."
Wyatt looked reluctant for a second before nodding and heading back over to them, Michael continued limping on to the exit and holding on to the wall for support. He almost ran into Lauren, she looked surprised for a second before hooking his arm around her shoulders so he could lean on her for support and get out of the Hospital Wing. Michael was grateful, he was so drained despite the chaos his body just wanted to sleep and he felt very much like he could drop off even standing as he was.
BANG!
"Shit, we have to move!" Lauren urged in panic and he just let her guide him quickly away from whatever chaos was happening in the Hospital Wing.
Scorpius sat in the Library with Maurice since Antonius was with Andreas at a different table, mostly working in silence as they poured over work for their NEWT projects while everyone else was in Hogsmeade or the Hospital Wing in Michael's case. Only two weeks until they had the exams so it was pretty important, it was even less until the Quidditch match so that was a little more pressing but Scorpius could hardly call a practice during a Hogsmeade trip. Well he could but no one would come.
He was distracted by an abrupt cawing sound as Wyatt landed on the parchment in front of him, Scorpius looked around in surprise for Michael since he should be resting after the full moon but he wasn't there. Scorpius' heart caught in his chest, this couldn't be good.
"Where's Michael?" Scorpius asked, realizing an instant after he said it how pointless it was just after the words left his mouth.
"He can't answer as a lizard," Maurice pointed out while Wyatt gave an annoyed caw.
"I know, come on," Scorpius said instead, scooping up Wyatt and hurrying off with Maurice in tow. He just went to the nearest empty room to the Library, letting Wyatt go so he could transform back while Maurice closed the door behind them with his wand flicking out Silencing Charms, "Where's Mic-"
"I don't know," Wyatt cut him off quickly and Scorpius was surprised to see his clothes covered in dust, "There was just an attack on the Hospital Wing, they're probably going to be gathering students into the Great Hall any minute now for safety."
"What happened?"
"Everyone to the Great Hall immediately!" Professor Durante's voice came from outside the door as if on cue.
"There was an explosion that started spewing that poison, Marigold was stunned and before I could react there was a second explosion that hit Hugo really badly. Lauren was there seeing her brother, she got Sebastian out and I transformed, got up a Bubble-Head Charm on me and Michael then tried to get him out. Michael told me to save the others though and considering how fast acting that gas is and how badly Hugo was hurt it seemed like a good idea. I revived Marigold, Bubble-Head Charmed both of them and he went to help Hugo but there was then a third explosion," Wyatt explained hurriedly, his words tumbling out a little breathlessly, "The ceiling started crumbling, I managed to stabilize it before it could kill them and transformed back although Hugo is still in a really bad way. I went to check on the others but they were gone, when staff started arriving they didn't seem aware of what happened to them either."
"Oh no," Calderon's voice moaned, sounding on the verge of tears but Scorpius didn't have time to try communicate with him right now.
"The map probably knows," Maurice commented but Scorpius was one step ahead of him and already pulling it out, "Maybe the last killer took them."
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Scorpius said, tapping the map to activate it while Wyatt shook his head.
"I think the killer is Lauren," Wyatt told them seriously, "That stunner came from within."
"Got it," Scorpius announced as he tapped the location on the map where 'Michael Sanford,' 'Sebastian Libra' and 'Lauren Libra' were alone in a room together.
"Where are we going?" Sebastian's voice asked worriedly, jolting Michael to reality so abruptly he wasn't sure if he had been asleep. He was still leaning against Lauren for support as they ambled along.
"Somewhere safe," Lauren answered, there was a click of a door and a second later they were pushing through it, "Just somewhere where they can't find us."
"Do you think Hugo and Marigold are okay?"
"I don't know," Lauren admitted and let Michael down finally, he dropped a bit painfully onto the stone ground, "Sorry, you're kind of heavy."
"S'okay," Michael mumbled sleepily, he could understand that
She cancelled out the Bubble-Head Charm since they were no longer necessarily, a second later he heard her footsteps moving back across the room. He wanted nothing more than to lie on the surprisingly comfortable hard stone and sleep but concern for the others compelled him to try stay awake, he forced his still stinging eyes back open and was grateful to realize he was beside a wall so he could pull himself easier up into a sitting position. They were in an empty room, Sebastian was standing a few feet away leaning against the wall weakly but he still seemed to have had a better full moon then Michael. Lauren had gone back over to the door, she locked it and cast-
"Wh- Why did you put up a Silencing Charm?" Michael wondered in confusion as alarm bells went off in his mind.
"Why? So no one can hear you scream of course," Lauren told him with a sadistic smile.
On that note, she slashed her wand at him and Michael was too wiped to react. He screamed as pain tore through him, he felt as if he'd just been gutted with a knife. He doubled over in pain, clutching at his now stinging stomach. When he moved his arm away, he only saw red.
"Does it hurt? I need more blood for the next message," Lauren said unashamedly, "I'm kind of out."
"Lauren, what are you doing?!" Sebastian cried in horror.
"You never really got over your hatred of werewolves, did you?" Michael wondered breathlessly through the pain, looking up at her.
"Of course I didn't," Lauren scoffed, her expression twisting darkly while Sebastian looked heartbroken, "I just wanted the Aurors to stop suspecting me, you also catch more flies with honey."
"So- So you killed those kids?" Sebastian asked and she flicked her cold eyes to her brother.
"They're not kids, they're animals. They deserved what they got."
"And the other Ravenclaws?"
"Anyone who was fine with dogs sleeping in the house deserved to die," Lauren answered, her tone and expression devoid of remorse, "It's a shame more didn't die but what can you do, mixing magic and muggle technology is still experimental."
"What about Ryan?" Michael questioned, recalling Rocky Russo had seemed bothered by that, "He was on your side."
"His legs were broken, there was no way we'd have been able to escape with him slowing us down and I couldn't risk him blabbing, he hadn't practiced Occlumency like me and Rocky. He should've been glad to die if it meant our cause could continue, he should've been glad to die a martyr rather than live as a traitor. I don't know why Rocky had such a hard time accepting that, I had to threaten to kill to for him to even step up again after that. Pathetic."
"You're insane."
"It just seems that way to you because you're a dog," Lauren shrugged dismissively as she raised her wand to him, Michael felt a stab of fear. There was nothing he could do, he didn't have his wand or even strength to move. He was helpless, "And it's about time we put you down."
"No!" Sebastian cried and jumped – much to Michael's shock - in front of him, putting himself in between Lauren and Michael while holding out his arms protectively, "Don't kill him, Lauren, don't kill anyone."
"Get out of the way, Sebastian!"
"No, I'm not going to let you kill anyone else," Sebastian told her tearfully, "Michael doesn't deserve to die, none of them did."
"Don't mistake saving you for last as sparing you," Lauren scoffed coolly, "PAW isn't even a factor anymore so the deal Aaron made with Helmut to not kill you is completely irrelevant, get out of the way or I'll just kill you first."
"I'm still your brother, Lauren, I love you," Sebastian sobbed and Lauren's eye twitched a little, "Please, just stop this. You're going to be killed or arrested if you don't, I don't want to lose you too. Just stop, it's not too late to do the right thing."
"You're absolutely right," Lauren admitted, lowering her wand as her lips curled once more into a sadistic smile, "It's not too late. You know, as much as I want revenge for my family I have to say I saved you for last partially because I am hesitant to kill you. Father died trying to save you, Aaron made a deal to save you and even Mother locked you inside a cage instead of taking your life so maybe of all the dogs there is still good in you, a reason to spare you. But only if you prove yourself."
"Prove myself?" Sebastian wondered in confusion, wiping his eyes with one sleeve.
"Yes, stand with your family instead of with those dogs. Stand aside, Sebastian, let me kill the dog and you prove yourself," Lauren offered and Sebastian's arms lowered slowly, "Stand aside and I'll forgive you, stand aside and after I kill the mutt we can be a family again. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"Yeah," Sebastian said quietly, "More than anything."
"So stand aside, dear brother, stand aside and join me."
Sebastian glanced back to him, his expression apologetic. Michael didn't know what to say, he could hardly blame him and he could hardly ask the eleven year old kid to put his life on the line for what he wasn't even sure would save either of them anyway. He couldn't even imagine his own siblings acting like Lauren, let alone how he'd feel if he was in Sebastian's shoes. He regretted not being able to live to repair his relationship with Agnes or to become a Healer to support them, that he was going to die with everyone still hating him for his recent actions. He didn't want to die like this. Sebastian made to take a step forwards but stopped, his shoulder's slumping.
"I can't," Sebastian sobbed shakily as he held up his hands again, "I'm sorry, Lauren, but I can't. It's wrong, I can't just let you kill innocent people. I have to do the right thing, I have to be good."
"I knew you'd say that you filthy family-destroying mutt," Lauren scoffed, shaking her head as she raised her wand again, "So be it."
With that, she sent a spell spiraling towards Sebastian. He screamed.
"What's going on?" Antonius asked as they left the room, he was with Andreas but Wyatt had transformed back into a lizard before they left so they were good, "Was there another threat? Or attack? You ran out of there pretty quickly and they're telling everyone to go to the Great Hall."
"There was an attack on the Hospital Wing, Sebastian and Michael were taken by probably the killer so we're going to them," Scorpius answered quickly while Maurice was running, "Get help or something!"
Scorpius didn't wait to see if either listened or not, he just ran on after Maurice racing through the corridors and hoping they would get there in time. They reached the room and Scorpius rechecked the map to assure they were still in there, in front of their dots… Scorpius purposely ignored how his own name was flickering much like Professor Ashain's had when possessed by Ashylos. The door was locked – further supporting it was the right place despite the silence – but Maurice made short work of it so they could finally burst in.
They were greeted with the sight of Lauren standing near the door aiming her wand at the werewolves, Michael was sitting against the wall clutching at a wound in his stomach. Sebastian was standing in front of him being struck by a familiar spell to Scorpius, he recognized as the Dark curse that had been used against Sol before, the one that was like acid eating away at organic matter. Sebastian fell to the ground screaming in agony, his chest a gory mess. Maurice threw a stunner at her immediately, Lauren didn't have time to counter so she instead simply threw herself out of the way.
"Someone give me your wand!" Michael yelled at them desperately, "I can save him if someone gives me a wand!"
Scorpius hesitated for a second but Antonius threw Michael his wand readily, he and Andreas had seemingly followed. Lauren was outnumbered even with Wyatt still animagi and Michael using Antonius' wand to save Sebastian instead of fighting. Scorpius went to turn his attention to the fight but he was distracted by a strange light coming from Michael, his locket was glowing.
"Good thing I came prepared," Lauren smirked, taking his attention back.
BANG!
There was an explosion from the ceiling above them but there was a cry as someone cast a spell, presumably Andreas as blue light came from the wand he jabbed up at the ceiling and an eerie thrum filled the entire room. In some kind of slow motion, the shards of rock and smoke starting to billow out all started to go back from whence they'd came. Not just rock, Scorpius realized, but parts from the actual bomb as slowly all the fragments reformed into a small Snitch sized metallic ball while any damage done to the roof above fixed itself as if nothing had happened.
Andreas' face was a mask of concentration the entire time, he was trembling slightly and the tip of his wand continued to glow blow as the eerie thrum – loud enough to muffle Sebastian's screams to barely be audible – continued to pulse out as the bomb ball slowly floated towards him. Scorpius noticed it was hard to move as well, almost as if he was in water and judging from the sluggish movements of the others it was the same for them. Andreas held out his shaking hand and the bomb ball dropped safely into it without further explosion, it felt like everything dropped. He lowered his wand arm and his whole body slumped, the light and thrum stopped as well as the strange feeling vanished. He staggered back weakly until Antonius put out a hand to stead him, blood oozed from one nostril.
"Not again," Andreas breathed breathlessly, shaking his head slightly.
Scorpius was abruptly reminded of Lauren, she looked completely shocked at the turn of events. Both he and Maurice sent a stunner launching towards her, she deflected Maurice's but was struck down by Scorpius' as there wasn't enough time in between stunners to stop it. Lauren went down and everyone breathed a mental sigh of relief as staff and Aurors rushed in but it was over, it was finally over.
