Ch. 14- Deadly Ambushes

I'm thinking 'bout other things I heard about today
All this week and tomorrow
And how these hands could create some better things for bettering
but you see for now I got my own things I cant help it
I got too many issues I own so I cannot help I'm afraid, yeah
But keep on preaching, preaching and heal the world
Lip service makes up look great

Do you feel
The weight of the world singing sorrow
Or to you is it just not real
'Cause you got your things
Yeah we all have our things I guess

Do You Feel- The Rocket Summer

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As much as I'd wanted to stay away from Sirius and everyone else I was finding that very hard to do. First off because Fabian and Gideon didn't seem to grasp that I didn't want to be Susie Social Bee and make friends with every member of the Order. They'd taken it upon themselves that first night to introduce me and I could see the smirk in their eyes the entire time. Then, during the first week, I'd picked up almost every night to give the regular healers, who had been working the triple shifts, some time off- which meant that I was at headquarters quite often. The other person that was there all the time was Sirius- just my luck.

"Hey, do you get off soon?" He asked me one night.

"Why?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"I was just thinking that maybe we could go get some tea or coffee or whatever it is that you drink," He replied with a shrug. "That is, if you want to."

I just looked at him for a minute. This had been going on for over a week now. Every night or morning- depending on the shift- he'd asked this same question. Up until that night I'd just turned him down. He said he wasn't interested, but he sure was bloody persistent for someone who wasn't.

"You've asked me out every night or day since I started and every time I've turned you down- don't ya know what no means?" I asked him crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well, not really," He joked trying to get me to smile. When all I did was raise my eyebrow higher he added, "Look, I'm sorry if I'm getting on your nerves, but you'd really be doing me a favor if you'd just say yes."

"Really? And why is that?" I asked more curious than annoyed now.

"Well, my best mate, James, has been pushing and nagging me to ask you out on a date and he won't rest until I've done it." He explained, pulling a hand through his hair- which looked just as it did when I'd cut it almost two years ago. "It's just this really stupid thing and I promise this isn't some lame way for me to get into your knickers." He added and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, just so long as you're sure I suppose coffee or whatever wouldn't be so bad," I replied smiling. "You got yourself a date, Mr. Black."

"Please, call me Sirius."

And that's how I found myself in a little muggle coffee shop about an hour later, talking and laughing with Sirius. I kept telling myself that I was going to blow everything if I didn't just walk away, but the longer I sat there the harder it became to convince myself of this. It had been so long since I'd seen Sirius smile at me in a way that wasn't mocking or sarcastic or forced- even though he didn't know it was me. But it was nice to sit there and see that side of him that I'd fallen in love with.

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The day of the ambush came quickly enough and I was the healer on duty. It had been pretty quiet around headquarters all day and I was expecting the night to be the same. From the sounds of it they were going in well prepared and ready to kick ass.

Around eleven-thirty, I went down to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. I was about to take a bite when I heard a crack sound from upstairs. I put the sandwich down and walked out into the hallway, looking up the stairs to the second floor.

"Hello?" A familiar voice called out, strained and panicked. "Whoever's here, I need help!"

I ran up the stairs and into the second room on the left. There was Fabian, holding up a barely conscious Sirius up, looking much worse for the wear. But if Fabian looked bad, Sirius looked like death itself. His robes were torn in various places and his face was scarcely recognizable beneath all the bruises covering it. But what was most astonishing was the deep cut that stretched diagonally from just above his left eyebrow to his cheekbone, just barely missing his eye.

"Fabian…what the bloody hell happened?" I asked, rushing forward to help him and forgetting Bailey Anderson for the time being.

"We were attacked- they were waiting for us. I dunno if it was a trap or if someone tipped them off, but it's bad, Bailey," He explained quickly as we laid Sirius down on the nearest bed. "Listen, I've got to back and help Gideon- there's too many for him to handle. Potter's apparating back with Lupin as soon as he can find a safe distance- Lupin's in pretty bad shape."

"How bad?" I asked starting to look over Sirius for more injuries than ones I'd initially seen.

"Not quite as bad as this one, but still…listen, take care of him, alright? Make sure they make it- if anyone can do it, you can," He said to me, turning me away for a minute to look me in the eyes.

"I will- and you, Fabian," I said firmly, "you come back to me alive, you hear?"

"Of course, love, I promise," He replied and pecking me quick on the cheek, he disapparated.

I turned back to Sirius and took a breath. I just looked at him helplessly for a few seconds before starting on him. I pushed his hair out of his face seeing that the bruises extended all the way to his scalp. As I summoned the potions and ointments that I needed I glanced down the rest of his body, wondering what I would find beneath the torn robes. But then I saw something else that made my breath catch and stomach drop- a blood soaked section of his robes.

"Alright, let's see," I muttered to myself, as all the vials arranged themselves on the tray next to me. First, I helped him force down with a pain potion and then I picked up a dreamless draught and uncorked it. "Here we go, that's right, nice and gentle," I said to Sirius, tipping the contents in his mouth and watching as he struggle to swallow. He managed and in a few seconds he was out cold.

Using my wand I cut open his robes as carefully and gently as I could and slid them off his body. Pulling a sheet up to his waist for modesty and privacy, I examined the spot where the blood had been coming from. It was a deep gash, identical to the one on his face, that extended from the middle of his left rib cage to his right hip. In addition to this deadly wound he had even more bruises- they seemed to cover every inch of his upper body. The two cuts were the ones I needed to heal first and as I set to work I came to realize quickly that it wasn't going to be easy. Clearly whoever had done this knew what they were doing and it was obviously dark magic. The gash on his abdomen was the worse of the two and that was the one I'd started with. I'd just finished bandaging it up when there was a crack from behind me, I turned and saw James standing there holding up Remus, who looked better than Sirius at least.

"Bailey!" He exclaimed sounding relieved and panicked at the same time. "Thank Merlin! I need help!"

"Here, let's put him right here," I said only just remembering to put on the American accent. "What happened? Fabian said you were attacked, but I thought they weren't supposed to know you were there."

"They weren't- we were compromised." James said and I handed a dreamless draught to him. "There's a leak on our side and that's how they found out. We walked into a trap." He added as I turned back and started healing the cut on Sirius face.

"James, how are you at healin'?" I asked not looking up from the task at hand.

"I'm alright- not nearly as good as you or any of the other healers, but fair," He replied sounding confused.

"Well, that'll work for now- get started on Remus, whatever you can do and if you come across somethin' serious let me know," I said and he nodded.

"How's Sirius?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Well, I think he'll live," I said finishing the bandaging on his face. "He's gonna have a couple of scars, that's for sure, but I've stopped the bleeding and healed the gashes as best I can. The bruises aren't going to go away any time soon, either," I added with a sigh. I grabbed a bottle of ointment and started rubbing it carefully over all the bruised areas. "James, how did he get all these bruises?"

"I dunno exactly. Everything happened so fast and I was busy trying to fight off a couple of Death Eaters to really notice much else." He said shaking his head, looking at his best mate with a look that broke my heart. "I know that there were, like, five of them wailing on him- muggle style. He was already down for the count by then, but they just kept going at him. Then the next time I looked up Fabian had him and Remus and was dragging them back into an alley. I finally got past the Death Eater I'd been fighting and followed him. He said he was taking Sirius because he was in more critical condition and he couldn't carry the both of them. He disapparated and I was about to follow him, but then more Death Eaters found us."

"I'm just happy you guys were able to make it out alive," I said checking over Sirius, making sure I'd done all I could, before moving over to Remus' bed. "Did you send out an alert?"

"Yes, Just after Fabian disappeared with Sirius." James replied with a nod. Then after a second he said, "We're just lucky you were here tonight- you're the best healer we've got and I dunno if any of the others would have been able to handle this- especially Sirius."

"I do the best I can."

I cleaned Remus up the best I could and then James and I collapsed into the two chairs that were between the beds. James was looking at Sirius as though he didn't know him and couldn't believe that this was his best mate- brother, really- laying there. I, myself, still couldn't believe what had happened. My mind was trying to catch up with my body.

"I hate seeing him like this," James said after about an hour of silence. "You know, Sirius was the invincible one, always coming out of impossible situations unscathed and cracking jokes. Drove Remus and me insane, but I never thought that this could happen."

"That's the thing you've got to remember, though," I said and he looked over at me. "Nobody's invincible or untouchable- some people just happen to have an extraordinary amount of luck."

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"No, no let her sleep- she doesn't need to hear this first thing after everything she did last night," I heard a distant voice breaking into my sleep. I stirred a little bit and opened my eyes.

"Wassa goinon?" I asked groggily. I sat up and stretched, my back and neck cracking.

"Oh, you're awake," The same voice said. I looked up and saw Zoey standing there, James and Lily beside her. They all had that bad news look on there faces and all the grogginess melted away immediately.

"What? What happened?" I asked looking from James to Lily to Zoey.

"A-er, Bailey, we've got some bad news," She said sitting down next to me. "You see, last night…well…how do I put this?" But I already had an idea of what she was trying to say.

"Who died?" I asked looking up at James who looked back sadly.

"Gideon and Fabian Prewett," He said after a second and I froze.

"Bailey, you okay?" Zoey asked, moving closer to me. "Hey, hey, breathe- c'mon, take a breath," She added and when I did breathe I started to hyperventilate.

I slid from the chair to the floor and was gasping for air, my body convulsing. Everything around me fell away and then all I could hear was my own ragged, wheezing breathing and my heart pounding in my ears. Gideon and Fabian- but I had talked to Fabian just hours ago…how could he be gone? He promised he'd come back alive. They just couldn't be dead…and yet they were.

I'm not sure how long my break down lasted, but time seemed to stop. And then I felt James picking me up by elbows and leading me to the room across the hall.

"Hey, calm down, calm down!" He said setting me down on a bed and eased back until I was lying down. "Bailey, you need try and control your breathing." He added firmly.

"James, I'll handle her- you go back to your friends," Zoey said, gently pushing him toward the door. He nodded and closed the door as he left.

"Addi, listen to me- James is right. You need to slow your breathing down and relax." She said softly, sitting next to me. "Good, that's much better. Just take deep breaths."

"I can't…believe it…Fabian…Gideon…dead!" I said closing my eyes.

"I know, I know," She said taking my hand in hers. "Don't think about that now- just concentrate on calming down."

Soon I fell asleep again, only to dream about Death Eaters and the Prewett brothers and the despair that seemed to be settling into my bones. When I jerked awake a few hours later Dumbledore had replaced Zoey.

"Miss Pogue, how are you feeling?" He asked as I slowly sat up.

"Bloody awful and yourself, Professor?" I replied rubbing my head.

"I have been better, I'm afraid," He said sadly. "But right now I am here to discuss you."

"What about me?"

"I want you to take a few days to recover from all of this. I can only imagine how trying and exhausting this has been on you and it will do some good to get away." He said looking at me over his half-moon spectacles. "This means from work, as well as from the Order."

"But, sir, what if something else happens? I need to be here-" I started but he held a hand up to stop me.

"Miss Pogue, what you need to do is allow yourself some time to get over this terrible loss. It will not do to have you handling more than you can- we need you strong if you're going to be continuing to fight in this war." Dumbledore said firmly. "This is not a request, it is an order."

"Very well, sir," I said looking up at him.

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I took three days to grieve and mourn the loss of the Fabian and Gideon Prewett. But after that I was ready to move on and take on whatever came. I swore to myself that I'd do anything it took to bring Voldemort and his Death Eaters down.

"Hey, you're back," Zoey said as I walked into Headquarters on Wednesday.

"Yeah, I'm ready to be back. How have things been here?" I asked as I hung my coat up.

"Well, Remus has been moved for, er, personal reasons and Sirius is impatient to be released." She replied with a laugh. "He seems to think that the fact he can barely walk is insignificant."

"That figures- he always was restless." I said rolling my eyes. Only Sirius would be able to shrug off almost being killed like that. "Well, what's for lunch? I'm starving."

"Whatever you can find, I suppose," She replied shrugging.

I rummaged around and found nothing but some crumpets and muffins. I'd just sat down opposite Zoey and began eating when James walked in.

"Hey, Zoey, how are you?" He asked, grabbing a cup and pouring himself some tea.

"Alright, I'm hanging in." She said with a nod. "What about you? You look like a train wreck."

"Thank you, I feel like one too." He replied sarcastically. "But between Sirius and the Order and work…well it's just been a rough week. Do you know when Bailey's going to be back? Sirius refuses to let any other healer work on him since the pepper-up incident."

"What 'pepper-up' incident?" I asked and James whirled around, sloshing some of his tea down him.

"You're back! Thank Merlin!" He exclaimed waving his wand and cleaning up the tea. "Well, that one healer- the loopy one- was trying to help him with his bruising ointment and decided that she wanted to give him a pepper-up potion, to make him feel better. Which would have been all well and fine, except she didn't exactly give him a pepper-up potion…actually, we're still not sure what she gave him. Whatever it was made him swell up and look like a sick plum. We manage to fix it, though. Anyway, after that he refused to let anyone except the witch who saved his life work on him."

"How long ago was this?" I asked taken aback.

"Hm, about two days ago," He said shaking his head. "He's let me help him with the ointment, but those bandages on his gashes haven't been changed in a while. He won't see anyone but you."

"Didn't the other two healers do well enough? Why does he need me?" I asked confused.

"I dunno…he seems to think that the only person good enough is the healer who saved him." James replied with a shrug. "Besides, he wants to thank you personally. C'mon, let's go."

I looked at Zoey, who just shrugged and shook her head. I wasn't sure if I was ready to see Sirius in his injured state after just getting over Fabian and Gideon, but I really had no choice but to follow James upstairs. He opened the door and stepped inside, but I paused just outside. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and went in.

"Hey, buddy, look who I found," James was saying as I closed the door.

I turned to look at Sirius- he still looked like he'd been through hell and back, but it was still a sight better than he'd looked three days ago. The bruises had faded from blackish-purple to a yellowish-green. He was sitting up, reading a book, and looking like he was going insane with boredom.

"Finally! Someone who won't try to kill me when they're supposed to making me better," Sirius exclaimed, snapping the book shut and laying on the table beside his bed. "Just where have you been the past few days?"

"I've been on leave, but I'm back now," I said walking over to check his cuts. "I hear we've had a rough couple of days, Mr. Black. Refusing to be treated and here I thought ya wanted to get out of here."

"I do, but good help is so hard to find." He replied with a sigh. "And I thought we established that it Sirius," He added with a mischievous grin.

"Alright, then, Sirius," I said rolling my eyes, "how are you feeling? Any pain or bleeding?"

"Hm, well, the bruises throb every now and then, but that ointment has been doing wonders. And the cuts have been okay, but they still hurt sometimes." He replied with a shrug.

I removed the bandage from his face and saw the cut had mostly healed, leaving a fairly noticeable scar behind. I touched the spot and heard him take a sharp intake of breath. I looked down at him.

"Well, it looks like the cut has healed as best as it's going to. Still tender, I see, but that will go away with time." I told him, moving down to his stomach. "Hm, this one seems to be taking a little bit longer to heal, but it doesn't look infected, so that's good."

"See, Prongsie, I told you I'd be fine," Sirius said turning to James.

"Merlin, Padfoot, even when you almost die you can brush it off," He voiced what I- and probably everyone else- was thinking. "One of these days, Sirius, you're going to get into something you can't get out of."

"Oh don't be so overdramatic, James." He replied rolling his eyes. "So, how's Remus doing?"

"Well, me and Pete-"

"Pete and I," I corrected automatically. And then, about two seconds later I realized the colossal mistake I'd just made- and that James and Sirius had realized it too.

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A/N: dun dun dun- what will happen next?! haha well, I told you guys there would be a lot more action in this chapter, hoped you all liked it!! just a reminder: there's only one more chapter left till the epilogue, so we're winding up here. Also, for all those who have read Sunshine and have been wondering what the hell happened to the sequel, Bloody Brilliant- I am SO SO sorry, but I got kind of sidetracked and wrapped up in this story and I kind of lost interest for a while, but as soon as I post the last two chapters for this story, I promise that I'm going to go back and work on it. hopefully I'll another chapter out soon. so don't worry, I am still writing that story:p oh, and we all know how much I love my reviews ;p