I would like to sincerely apologize for the despicable lateness of this chapter. I honestly never thought that it would take me this long to write it but it turned out that tech week hours were longer than they had been in previous years. So on top of end of the year things, i had five consecutive rehearsal that were five hours each from Sunday to Thursday with no break and then three shows from Friday to Sunday. It was stressful but I can't really complain since I love playing in the pit. But I do kind of have a legitimate excuse for being so late, I kind of - sort of broke my hand when striking the set. A piece of percussion equipment hit my hand and I couldn't move it for almost two days without horrible pain shooting up my arm and down to my fingers. But I'm all better now so it's all good.
Writers block was also my enemy here. Trying to move on after killing off a character and causing such a shift in one of the main characters that affected the rest of them has been really difficult. I think that I am going to write one more chapter and that be it for this book before fifth year begins. I should have that chapter up before Christmas (knock on wood) so just be aware.
I would like to take a second to thank all the phenomenal reviewers for the last chapter. I have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to personally respond to each and every one but know that every time I get a review, I don't want to say it warms my heart, but it makes me extremely happy and motivated to write the next chapter. The only problem is getting the time to write the next chapter. :P
Anyway, one with the story!
Ursula came to a skidding halt at the foot of the stairwell. Curls were flying lose from her ponytail, her face was flushed a brilliant red, her Quidditch uniform was covered in grass, dirt, and sweat stains; she looked like a mess. Her face was twisted into a disbelieving yet terrified grimace. Not expecting such a sudden stop, James, who was in a similar state as Ursula, crashed into her. He grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
Before Ursula could even mutter thanks, James was dragging her up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Soon the sound of their booming feet and frantic breath mixed with the muted shouts emerging from behind the Fat Lady.
Halfway up the last staircases, James shouted, "GRINDYWILLOWS!"
The Fat Lady glared at them and started ranting about "rowdy, good for nothing students" but the pair paid no mind as they ran into the Tower. The screaming and shouting increased tenfold. Ursula and James froze for just a moment as they took in the scene; Sirius was screaming obscenities at Ben while Remus, Peter, and a few boys in the upper years tried to separate them.
Almost instantly, James sprang forward and started pulling the two boys away from each other. He wrapped his arm around Sirius's neck and dragged the now choking boy away from his friend. "HELP ME!" James shouted at Remus, who instantly jumped to James's aide and wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist and pulled him back. Ben stumbled back rubbing his jaw, a nasty bruise already forming. His ferocious glare nearly burned Sirius's entire being.
Ursula couldn't move, her heart felt like it was in her throat. Sirius, her brother, was still screaming unintelligible words at Ben, the boy she cared deeply for. The entire scene reminded her too much of the fights at Grimmauld Place, where the screaming never stopped; the hatred, screaming, violence, oh, the hatred.
She stumbled forward as Elyse bumped into her as she finally made it back to the Common Room. At that moment, Sirius seemed to be calmed down enough that James and Remus loosened their grip. But then he muttered something at Ben, who had just turned to walk back to the sofa, where his stuff was now scattered about.
It was a firework reaction. With a guttural snarl, Ben tackled Sirius to the ground. The only sound Ursula heard was a sickening crack as Ben's fist connected to the side of Sirius's skull. A terrified scream echoed through the room, Ursula didn't even realize it was hers. Without a second thought, she ran forward and shoved Ben off her brother. She cradled his head in her hands, gently tapping his cheek to see if he was semiconscious. Her attempts were in vain. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head.
In the back of her mind, she heard someone that sounded suspiciously like James petrify Ben. Then the portrait door opened again and Professor McGonagall stormed into her house tower, demanding to know what was going on.
But Ursula didn't notice any of that. The only thing that mattered was her unconscious brother lying in front of her, blood trickling down the side of his face from the powerful blow. "Padfoot…Sirius…please, wake up."
~10 hours earlier~
It had been one week. One week since the funeral. One week since Ben had spoken to anyone. One week since anything had been normal. Elyse saw the disintegration of her friend's secret (like they could keep a secret from her) relationship. Sirius had been harassing her daily about talking to Ursula about what was wrong, James spent all his spare time with Ursula nowadays, Peter was following after James and Ursula, and Remus was still recovering from the full moon. The only small comfort Elyse had was a letter from Pat.
Elyse,
I am so sorry about the loss of your friend's sister passing. Knowing what if feels like after Seamus died, I can only imagine what he is going through. If he ever needs someone to talk to, any friend of yours is a friend of mine.
It sounds selfish asking this, especially at a time like this, but I wanted to know if you wanted to visit over Spring holiday? I know you like to stay at school but maybe coming home might help you out a little bit too. That and honestly, I miss you. You don't have to answer right away, just think about it.
The rest of his letter was full of information on the goings on in Kiltimagh and both of their families. A stab of guilt hit her heart as she thought about the lie she'd fed to her boyfriend; Ben's sister was killed in an automobile accident. But no matter how much she wished she could, she couldn't tell Pat the real cause of death; murdered by Lord Voldemort with the Killing Curse. Pat was just a muggle. He would never fully understand the magical world.
Elyse was just settling down to write a letter back to Pat when the door opened and Ursula walked in. She threw her Ancient Runes stuff on the bed and moved to lean against Elyse's bed post.
"Lucky, do you remember what time practice is today?" Ursula asked.
"Wood said 'e wanted oos 'ere by six." Elyse responded, "Why?"
Ursula shook her head but moved back to her bed, "No reason." She mumbled.
"Woot?"
Ursula sighed agitatedly, "It's nothing, just drop it!"
"Ursula," Elyse said sternly, only to be ignored by her friend. So she took a deep breath and said, "Muse, stop." Ursula froze with her back to Elyse. "Yeh've been avoidin' talkin' ter us and it's scarin' us. Talk ter me," Elyse practically begged.
"He's hurt right now," Ursula admitted after a moment, softly whispering to her close friend. "He's lost, in pain, suffering, grief stricken – hell, he's falling apart. But he's still there somewhere and I have to find him. I need Ben back, not this person who looks like him. I can't just abandon him, no matter what he said." She said.
Elyse nodded understandingly, "So woot're yeh goin' ter do?"
Ursula didn't answer, she simply grabbed her Quidditch gear and walked towards the door. Elyse sprang up from the bed and blocked the door entrance, "WHERE'RE YEH GOIN'?" Elyse demanded with her eyes blazing. "We've already lost King ter all this mopin' around crap, but I'll be damned if yeh start!"
Ursula looked abashed, "I'm going to sit outside Flitwick's office. Ben has practice there every Friday night with the choir. Since he's moved his seats in all our other classes….this is the only chance I'll get."
Nodding, Elyse stepped to the side and allowed Ursula to walk past. She couldn't help but think that this was a bad idea.
Three hours later Sirius got bored just sitting in his dorm room after James had to leave for Quidditch practice. Deciding that he would go 'Git Hunting', as he had dubbed the search for Snape, he grabbed his wand and James's cloak before setting off. He, however, came across an odd finding about fifteen minutes into his trip. He found Ursula sitting next to the room the choir would rehearse in. In her hand there was the prototype of the Marauder's map, hidden but still recognizable to its creators.
"Ursula, what are you doing here? Practice starts in five minutes."
She jumped up in shock, "What!? What time is it?"
He shrugged, "I'm not sure but James left about twenty minutes ago and you two usually show up together with Elyse."
She swore and ran her hand through her hair and frantically pulled it up. As she did that, she handed the map off to Sirius, "I'm waiting for Ben to get out of the choir room. When he gets out, could you please talk to him. We need him back," she begged softly, knowing that her brother was still furious at Ben for punching her in the jaw three weeks ago.
He nodded and tucked the map into his back pocket, "I'll try to be civil."
"Thanks Sirius," she gave him a quick hug before sprinting down to the Quidditch field.
With his plans to harass Snape effectively ruined, Sirius sat down where Ursula had previously been and leaned his head back. If the droning singing was anything to go by, they were going to be a while. Unwillingly, he felt his eyes flutter close, nodding off to sleep by the dirge. Before he was completely out, he grabbed the invisibility cloak and threw it over himself before falling asleep.
When he awoke, the sun was already set and the music had stopped. It took him a moment to comprehend when he realized that. He sprang up and quickly activated the map and looked for Ben. When he saw Ben's dot in the Gryffindor Common Room, he swore. Just as he was about to walk back to the Tower, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick turned around the corner. Sirius threw the cloak over him and followed the pair into the charm's office.
"—I barely knew what to say Minvera!" Flitwick squeaked, "I had never seen him look so cold before!"
McGonagall shook his head, "Benjamin's lost a lot in the last few weeks; he isn't going to bounce right back from his sister's murder." She said defensively.
Flitwick shook his head, "I mean no offense against your house, but I have students who have lost family members themselves in the last few weeks, they aren't going around like Mr. White is."
"What did he say?" McGonagall asked as she rubbed her forehead.
"He walked up to me before rehearsal and said that he quit. He even refused to practice with us! I asked him if he had spoken to his friends about it, specifically Miss Black since she is particularly close to him." At this Sirius leaned closer, waiting to hear what Ben said about his sister. "He said that he never wanted to be associated with any of them, especially Miss Black. What he said about her—I never would have thought he could say such things! Then he stormed out before rehearsal even began."
McGonagall was barely able to hide her shock, "What on Earth did he say about Ursula?"
Flitwick shook his head, "He called her a good for nothing traitor."
With that Sirius snapped. Not even bothering with subtly he stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him. He had been trying to figure out what had been wrong with his sister for the last weeks. He thought it was just because she was still grieving over Annabelle. But to find out it was her boyfriend, their friend, the bloke she bloody trusted so much; Sirius was furious. He had trusted Ben with his sister's heart and he had betrayed her in the worst possible way. Ben was going to die.
The Quidditch team finished their practice after the sun went down. They had just touched down when Mary MacDonald came running out into the stands, "URSULA! ELYSE!" She shouted to get their attention. "YOU NEED TO GET TO THE COMMON ROOM! NOW!"
"What's wrong?!" Ursula shouted back up.
Mary's face was pale and she was panting heavily, completely winded from her run, "Your brother and Ben are muggle fighting! No one knows what happened! Sirius just stormed in and punched Ben!"
Mary was only halfway through the explanation when James and Ursula shared a panicked look before the pair sprinting towards the castle. Once inside the castle, they ran through some of the crowds, shoving students out of the way and not listening to their indignant shouts. Ursula came to a skidding halt at the foot of the stairwell…
Madame Pomfrey had assured the friends that Sirius was fine and he would be awake the following morning. That didn't quell any of their concerns and they all stayed until they were forcibly removed from the Hospital wing. James shoved the invisibility cloak into Ursula's hands, nodding at her once, before sneaking back into the hospital wing. She settled down in the chair next to Sirius and looked at her brother's face.
In the pale moonlight, his skin looked almost transparent. There were two bruises, one on his jaw and one on his temple. His knuckles, gently resting on the blankets, were bruised and cut up in some places. The healing potion he had been given earlier was just starting to kick in and all the bruises and cuts on his body. The one on his temple was the last one to heal over.
Ursula simply sat next to him and looked out the window down at the Hogwarts grounds. Her brother had attacked her boyfriend – her ex-boyfriend, she mentally corrected. She couldn't image what Ben had said to cause Sirius to attack him in such a way. Absent mindedly, she wondered if Regulus had been told about their brother being in the hospital wing. The news of Sirius's and Ben's fight must have reached Slytherin ears by now.
She was broken out of her musings when Sirius's eyes fluttered open. Ursula pulled the cloak off of her and quickly went back to his side, "How are you?"
Sirius chuckled darkly, "Like I just got the shit beat out of me."
"Seriously."
He smirked, "I always am."
She gently smacked his shoulder as she laughed with him. As the laughter died, her expression turned somber, "What happened today?"
Sirius turned his head so he could look at her straight in the eye, "I waited just like you asked. He was never in there; he quit. When Flitwick asked him if he talked to us about it, Ben said something about him never wanting to speak to us again, especially—"
"Especially who?" Ursula asked. The look on his face said it all. Her chest tightened and she smiled sadly, "Me."
He just nodded.
"So what did he say that set you off like that," Ursula asked.
"Sissy," Sirius warned.
Ursula leaned forward and grabbed his arm, "Sirius, tell me what he said."
"A good for nothing blood traitor." He muttered. He didn't need to say it louder in the silent room. Ursula heard it and she was sure that he in return could hear her heart shatter. But she smiled grimly.
"Tell me what you said that got you knocked out."
"I told him that Annabelle would be ashamed of him."
Ursula hissed, "That was below the belt,"
"He deserved it," Sirius tried to rationalize.
Ursula shrugged, not wanting to argue with her injured brother, "Is there anything you need?"
He nodded, "You would think for a magical school, the pillows here would be nicer. They feel like bricks. Could you grab my pillows, oh and while you are there, grab my slippers and night robe, this is not comfortable at all."
"I'll be right back," Ursula promised as she threw the cloak back on. She jogged to Gryffindor Tower, grabbed the bag Ben gave them for her birthday a few years ago, and ignoring the pain in her chest, she went to the boys' room. Quickly, she grabbed Sirius's requested items as silently as she could so she didn't wake any of the others. She was just about to leave when she saw a pile of splinters littering the floor near Ben's bed.
Curiosity that would probably get her killed one day caused her to pull out her wand gesture at the area, "Reparo."
Into her hands flew a beautifully crafted violin, made of Cedar, a Christmas gift to Ben from Annabelle three years ago. On the back of her hand, she felt something there so she turned it over to see the engraving in Annabelle's handwriting, When life gets tough, when it seems like everything is falling down, my wish for you is to play. Love, Annabelle.
Ursula teared up when she read the words. Had Annabelle ever thought that her words would have such a poignant meaning? Ever thought of the implications of the words? It appeared that Ben hadn't been able to handle the message and destroyed the gift, unable to cope with the words his sister left behind for him.
Without a word, Ursula gently placed the violin in its still open case and put it inside her bag, swearing that one day, when her Ben was back, she would give it back to him.
Please let me know what you thought or if there is something you would like to see in the next (and probably last) chapter of this book. I take all suggestions into consideration and sometimes one idea branches out to another idea and I end up writing a few chapters at a time. So please, REVIEW!