A/N: Thanks to ChrisW96003 who showed how i messed this up--i'm sorry about the confusion guys! thanks again!
Fight Song
"Louis, if you don't stop snoring…" I hissed as I smashed my pillow over my face. I was lying on the ground of James Potter's room, along with Louis, Albus and Lily Potter (James's little siblings), Rose and Hugo Weasley, and James. The bed had been spelled into storage somewhere and had resulted in all six of us lying on the ground like idiots.
However, it was a necessity.
Louis's parents and Dominique were in Albus's room, because they lived in France and it was a pain in the butt for Domi to travel because of her wheel chair. And Lily's room had turned into where Vicky, Teddy, Fred, Molly, Lucy and Roxanne were all sleeping. And the master bedroom was still Mr. and Mrs. Potter's.
As it turned out, James had more relatives than I'd first thought.
Now, most of them were younger than Jamie and Louis--Fred, Molly, Lucy, Roxy, Rose and Hugo--but it was still really weird realizing that these two boys who I considered now to be my complete and total best friends had this entire life outside of Hogwarts. Especially now that I was, in effect, homeless.
"That was a great threat, Ser." James muttered back, but he kept his voice down: Lily, Hugo, Albus, Rose and Louis were all out cold. Somehow, insomnia had only struck James and me. "I'm really worried about him." James continued sarcastically, and I removed my pillow from my face to glare at the ceiling of the Potters' home.
It was our first night at the Potter home, and we--including the kids who weren't just home from Hogwarts--were exhausted. I'd never had a big family, and practically no extended family considering that Mum's muggle family members thought we were weird and Dad had one cousin Fergus who was actually the biggest creeper on the continent. So this had been a really new experience for me--about forty people who were all delighted to see me and intent on stealing any of the good desserts I'd managed to snatch before I ate it. It was, to say the least, really weird.
It'd been nine o'clock by the time the entire family had stopped trying to say hi to each other and delighting in how exciting it was to meet me, and then eleven by the time that James, Louis and I could manage to extract ourselves from the flood of people.
"So you're super excited to be up at one in the morning?" I whispered to James confused, turning my head to look at him, and James turned to me and grinned half-heartedly, his teeth white against the darkness.
"Just in a good mood." Jamie supplied, his voice quieter, and I lifted my pillow from my face to look at my friend, a small frown on my face, but mostly just because I didn't think I'd ever heard James admit to being in a good mood.
"Let's go in the hallway." I whispered back as, beside me, Lily turned over. "I don't wanna wake them up." James nodded, sitting up already, and I turned over and crawled forward, then stood
"Good plan." Jamie murmured as I opened his door a fraction, trying to not wake Hugo, who was pretty much asleep against the door. I scowled down at him, then looked back at James, who grinned, chuckling a little. "Hugh sleeps like a rock, I think we're okay." He told me gently, and I rolled my eyes, then shifted Hugo over a little with my foot, and opened the door fast, and James pushed me out the door hurriedly as Hugo began to wake up. I grinned and Jamie caught the back of my shirt to pull me back upright as I stumbled forward, but I caught myself against the banister, and Jamie grinned.
"So did you lie or did he just break character?" I demanded of James, who grinned at me as I turned to face him.
"Eh, he just woke up, no big deal." James murmured as he shrugged. "Let's hit the kitchen, I'm hungry." Jamie said after a moment, and I smirked, but nodded, following him down the steps.
"You're always hungry!" I protested softly. "How is that? Your stomach is bottomless." James shoved me a little as I hit the landing, and I stuck my tongue out at him, shoving him back but not hard enough to really do much. "No, seriously, James. How many people do you know who can eat every candy on the Hogwarts express, then have a dinner that rivals any meal that's ever graced the halls of my house, then decide at one twenty four in the morning that they're hungry? Hmm?"
"Louis," James began, and I snorted in laughter. "Fred. Teddy. It's a guy thing." I raised my eyebrows. "No, serious--Wes. Wes eats more than anyone on the planet."
"Yeah, he's also five ten at fourteen-years-old, there. You're scrawny." I retorted, and James glared at me before he slung his arm around my shoulders, and I put my arm around his waist as we walked into the kitchen.
"Thanks for coming." James said quietly after a minute of silence, and I smiled a little uncertainly at him as I hopped up on the counter. James moved to the refrigerator and opened it, browsing his food selections.
"I'm just happy I've got somewhere to go over the holidays." I murmured back, running a hasty hand through my hair as I wondered how this conversation had gotten so serious so quickly. "I don't remember if I told you this--my house is gone." I told him softly, and judging by the way James glanced sharply back at me, I would have guessed I hadn't told him. "Like, the structure's still standing, but according to Dean and Monica, everything inside is gone." I chuckled morbidly, rubbing my arm and looking away from James. "I don't even have a home anymore. Just a brother."
"Hey," James said softly, closing the refrigerator again as he turned to face me, a small frown marring his features. His hazel gaze met mine worriedly, but I just held his gaze there. "That's not true. Louis and I are here and you know we'd kill for you." I smiled a little, swallowing at the sudden lump in my throat at these words: they were as close to you're important to us as I was going to get with James, and to be perfectly honest, I hadn't been sure he'd have enough self-esteem to actually say it. "And Rory and you are pretty good friends." He went on after a minute, blushing a little as he stepped beside me. "And Edie likes you, I think. She's just scared of Daisy." I chuckled at this: who wasn't scared of Daisy? "No, I'm being serious, Ser."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm just wallowing in self pity." I said softly, smiling ruefully at my best friend. "Sorry."
"It's fine." James paused, giving me a last long look. "Look, Ser, you're--I don't know if I could do what you're doing." He told me softly. "You're just…hang in there. I know this really all sucks for you but you're handling it really…well." I bit my lip with a shy smile and slid off the counter and pulled James into a tight hug and press my face into his shoulder, and he hugged me back tightly, resting his cheek on my hair.
"Thanks Jamesie." I murmured softly, and he squeezed me tightly for the last second before he released me, and he kissed my forehead as he pulled away.
I pulled back too, unwinding my arms from around the boy, grinning as I took a step back, and James smiled shyly.
"What are you two still doing up?" Teddy demanded from the doorway, and James and I turned identically scarlet as we turned guiltily to his god brother. Teddy's eyes narrowed before he grinned hugely. "You're both scarlet." He pointed out with a huge grin. "What were you doing?"
"Nothing." James said in his usual monotone, and I glanced at him: his expression had turned stony, and the blush was quickly fading as he turned back into the sarcastic kid I knew and loved. As in, like, best friend love. Nothing more.
"James was hungry," I murmured after a second, chewing on my lip.
"Merlin, Jamie." Teddy said, shaking his head in wonder as he came forward and ruffled James's hair. "That's insane. You had a lot to eat for dinner." He paused. "Besides, it's one in the morning." Teddy continued. "Go to bed."
"But it's Christmas break," I whined as Teddy put a firm hand on my back and guided me towards the door. I glanced back at James pleadingly, but he just kept his head down, going along with what Teddy wanted. He'd gone from being so incredibly nice to being his usual immature self, and I rolled my eyes, but complied with Teddy's orders.
"Now, if you guys go to bed like good little boys and girls, Victoire and I will take you with us to Diagon Alley to buy Christmas Presents tomorrow." Teddy said happily, and I rolled my eyes but twisted around to smile at him. "Now. To bed."
"What'd you get me?" Louis whined as he followed Lily and I into Madame Murdoch's Tea Spot the next day. "Seriously, Sera, considering what happened when you tried to get me a birthday present, this might be the only time I get to have this present, and I should be begrudged it because…" Louis continued, but stopped as I shot him a dark look, my gaze flicking to Lily in the process.
"She's not telling you," Lily sang, flashing a grin at Louis, and I grinned down at her, strolling up to the countertop.
"What d'you guys want to drink?" I asked them as I pulled my wallet out and leafed through the bills I had: I'd withdrawn the money from the Finnigan Gringotts bank account, which Wes had told me I could do. And it was, technically, his money in the absence of my parents.
"Hot Chocolate." Lily decided, her voice like chimes, and I smiled. I loved James's little sister--legitimately, I was considering kidnapping the red-headed eight-year-old and renaming her Lily Finnigan. She was one of those little kids who you knew were going to be happy adults: she lit up rooms as she walked in, and was always incessantly chattering or giggling. And considering that I'd only known her a day, she wasn't annoying yet, though James thought she was. "I love hot chocolate."
"It's the best." I agreed with a smile. Louis came up beside me and jumped up into one of the stools next to me, spinning himself around with a lazy grin. "Lou, what d'you want?"
"A Butter Beer." He told me with a grin. "With extra--" There was the alarming, gunshot-like sound of a mass apparition behind us, and Louis, Lily and I twisted around to face seven cloaked men, all of whom had their wands trained on us. The entire room around us froze, as everyone held their breath, praying that these men somehow, improbably had an innocent aim. But Louis was already reaching for my sleeve and beginning to pull me behind him when they grabbed Lily.
"No!" I cried as a man grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her off her chair, pointing his wand to her temple, and my moment of fear threw the room into a panic, like a match in a dry forest starting a wildfire. There was a sudden flurry of movement and crush of people: Lily jerked free of her captor as he as nearly bowled over by rushing bystanders, and I caught her with Louis, grabbing her hand and Louis's as we struggled through the crowd.
"What's going on?" I demanded frantically of Louis, who just shook his head, keeping a firm grip on Lily's shoulder as we pushed her ahead of us through the crowd: letting her behind us would have been too much of a risk. She was so small--her falling behind was a very real risk.
Someone's hand closed on my hair, jerking me to a stop, and I cried out in pain, stumbling backwards against a man who pull me up against him, pressing his wand against my throat with bruising force. Louis pulled Lily back behind him as he stopped, turning to face us with a panicked expression as his eyes darted back and forth between my face and my captors.
"Miss Finnigan." The man hissed in my ear, and I swallowed in fear as I felt the man's hot breath on my cheek. Oh, God. I met Louis's gaze frantically. This man knew my name--he was after me, this was another attack. It hadn't even occurred to me they'd continue outside of Hogwarts, but of course they would--they must have been ten times easier to orchestrate when I wasn't surrounded by adults and older students. "You are one damned hard girl to find."
"You are one damned stupid man." I murmured back, trying to keep my voice strong: the only thing I could do, really, was verbally fight back. "Because this is happening in a street full of witnesses and--Louis, behind you!" I cried, my gaze flicking to a man coming up behind Louis with a predatory grin, and my captor slid his arm around my throat and squeezed, a punishment for warning Louis and Lily that we were being boxed in.
"What do you want?" Louis asked warily, his gaze flicking up to my captor as I gasped, trying to get oxygen through my constricted throat.
"A pony." One man who pushed up beside us drawled sarcastically, and I vaguely recognized his voice: he'd been in the field, near the Shrieking Shack with James, Rory and me. I couldn't remember which, though: the adrenaline flooding my veins was making it hard to think, hard to breathe. Of course, that might have been the fact that the man was choking me, too. "No, we've got what we want." He went on to say, shooting me a sideways look. I shifted my hand into my pocket, grabbing my wand and praying that none of the men would notice before I had a chance to do the damage I intended to.
I gasped for breath more loudly, now, as I ran out of air almost entirely: I was in trouble, now. I couldn't hold my breath for very long, and I'd never needed to before. Louis was looking absolutely frantic as he held Lily in front of him, his hand on one of her shoulders, and in the other, his shaky hand was holding a wand. The crowd around us had thinned considerably, and people had realized that there was something very specific about this attack, that it wasn't just a general scare tactic. It was the most intense attempted kidnapping maybe ever.
The man released his hold on me a little, realizing I was going to pass out from asphyxiation long before we left the street, and I gasped in large gulps of breath as my knees buckled. Finally I caught my breath enough to get out what I'd wanted to say since the man had pressed his wand to my throat. "Louis, take Lily and go." I pled softly, and Louis shook his head. I bit my lip and nodded once, before I stomped on my captors foot, jutting backwards with my wand and the frantic thought of a curse: the man stumbled back a few feet, clutching his hip with a strangled cry. I slammed forward to Lily and Louis, and Louis turned, so that we sandwiched Lily between us, both of us with our wands out. But we were already cornered: several men were around us. Was this what being in a war felt like? Because if so, I had an entirely new respect for my parents' generation.
"Lily, if you get the chance," I whispered to the sobbing eight-year-old, "I need you to run, sweetie. Louis and I'll get out of this one on our own, you just need to run and find your parents, or Teddy, or any adult who you know." She nodded against my back, hugging me tightly from behind, and I just kept my shaky wand pointed at the men.
"What about you guys?" She whispered, back, and I rolled my eyes a little internally: she was such a Potter kid. No other eight-year-old on the planet would ask what would happen to us if she ran--just what would happen to her. She was so much like James, in that respect.
"We'll be okay, Lils." Louis murmured comfortingly, with a brief smile for his younger cousin. "Just run, I'm serious, if you get the chance. It's important, just as important as us fighting these guys."
"You won't get the chance, so don't worry about it, sweetheart." The man who I'd recognized from before said in a predatory way, and I saw a flash of a wolfish grin under his hood as he raised his wand, leveling it with me.
"Sectuse--"
"Stupefy!" Louis and I cried frantically at the same time, in the vague direction of the man, and our red spells hit a shield spell of his, exploding in sparks, and then Louis, Lily and I were standing in the middle of what turned into, essentially, a fire fight.
"Protego!" I screamed desperately as four spells hurdled toward us, and Lily screamed in fear as my spell buckled then shattered. Louis shot a curse at one of the men and I shoved all three of us down into uncomfortable crouches as spells slammed over our heads. This was a freaking death trap.
"Expelliarmus!" I said hoarsely, slicing my wand through the air. "Stupefy! Stupefy!" My spells either didn't hit their marks or glanced off of them: something sliced past the side of my head, opening a cut on my temple, and Louis fell to his knees as something the back of his head. Tears began in my eyes as I threw my arm protectively over my dazed best friend and Lily, remembering the spell that James had cast in the forest that had shot out the red sparks. "Relashio!" I screamed desperately, and my sparks seared through the air, climbing into the air thirty feet above my head and exploding like a firework. "Help!" I screamed desperately as Lily clung to me desperately. This was such a disaster--I was running on empty and Louis was what I assumed to be down for the count, and I had a sobbing eight-year-old clinging to me. This couldn't go well--there was just, literally, no good ending here because I didn't believe that someone would find us before I'd either been killed or captured.
Something collided with my chest, and I fell back a little, pushing Lily back as I stumbled, tears streaming freely down my face as I tried to maintain some kind of handle on the situation.
"Avada--" One man began, but I slashed my wand in his vague direction, too desperate to remember the words for what I intended to say. Red, raw power seared from my wand and slashed towards him: he dodged it easily, but it stopped him from saying the killing curse.
"Stupefy!" I cried, then coughed, and my spell hit the man's leg: he dropped, barely conscious. It would have been better to hit his head or chest, but I would take what I could get.
"Incarcerous!" Louis muttered, sounding exhausted, but it was the first sign of consciousness since the spell hit his head, and I felt a surge of relief hit me like a load of bricks: he was still alive. I wasn't quite in this thing alone.
His spell hit home: a man was suddenly bound and tied, and tottered for a moment before he hit the ground, hard, and I shoved Lily to her feet, grabbing Louis's hand dragging him up with me as we took off in the opening he left in the circle of cloaked men around us.
Lily, Louis and I fled down the now-empty streets, and spells were fired off left and right, shattering store windows and once, setting fire to an awning. One hit the back of my ankle, and I stopped with a scream of pain, falling to the ground and clutching at my calf as the searing pain made me dizzy. Spells sped past us, searing the air and leaving a colorful trail of sparks, and one smacked Lily's arm as Louis and I tried to tug her out of the way: she screamed as a cut opened on her arm, continuing to sob even as we pulled her between us. I pulled my sweatshirt off quickly, tearing it off my arms before putting it around the smaller girl's shoulders, and Lily clung to it tearfully, looking up at me with big eyes.
"Relashio!" I screamed again, now in unison with Louis, and our spells combined, the sparks shooting a hundred feet into the air and exploding with a soft boom sound, and I prayed that someone would get the idea that we didn't just like fireworks. James would, I know, ut would anyone listen to him? I knew from experience that eleven-year-olds weren't well trusted. "Protego!" I coughed out: my throat was still sore as hell from being choked into submission by that guy. I would have some nasty bruises, if I didn't already.
"Stupefy!" Louis's spell came out as more of a plea, but it still effectively exploded part of the ground (although I was pretty sure that he was aiming more for a guy, but whatever, I would take what I could get), and I shoved Lily's head down as a spell rushed past, glancing off my cheek even as I turned my head and squeezed my eyes shut. No cut opened, but I knew for a fact that I'd get a black eye soon enough.
"Lily, go," I ordered frantically, grabbing the younger girl's shirt to emphasize my point. "Go get your dad, okay? Tell him where we are--or any auror, or even just Teddy." I told her, and she nodded hurriedly, stifling a small sob before she turned and ran: I put up a shield spell protectively, but when the men didn't pursue Lily, save one spell that wasn't really that thought out, it confirmed what I already knew. They were after me. "Louis, you should go too," I whispered softly, and Louis had the good humor to smirk.
"No big deal, but I can't really stand, much less go sprinting off." He told me softly, and I didn't even bother to force a smile. There wasn't anything to smile at. "And aside from that? I'm not leaving you here." I threw him an irritated look, then ducked as a few spells flew over our head.
"Miss Finnigan, this is just sad." One of the men said tiredly, lazily flicking his wand in my direction and sending a burst of anonymous curse towards me, which I dodged not-so-skillfully. "And boring. We'll let Bill Weasley's child go if you throw your wand over here."
"Hell no." Louis responded before I could agree, and I grabbed Louis's forearm, looking him straight in the eye.
"This is as good a deal as we're going to get." I warned him softly. "I can't walk, Lou, and they really want me--I'm absolutely no help in getting out of here. Get back, go find your parents and get somebody out here: but you and I are a mess. You're at least one that I can help." I stared at him. "Please don't stay on my account." I begged him in a whisper, and Louis stared at me before he sighed, shaking his head hesitantly.
"I can't leave you here." He told me softly. "We're best friends, Sera, and I'm not doing that to you." He smiled a little at me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it comfortingly. "That'd be a totally crappy thing to do. And I'm not--Protego!" He cried suddenly, his voice rising in volume as he pushed me down, but something slammed into my lower back, and then something hit Louis, making him jerk then fall back--please let him only be unconscious, please God. He'd just told me how he wasn't leaving me here by myself: it would be too cruel for him to die doing that.
I leaned over Louis, ignoring the blood running down my side from my back and the shooting pain in my ankle as I patted his cheek, tears flowing down my face openly, now. "Louis?" I asked softly. "Oh, God, Louis, please wake up." I whispered, feeling panic siezed my chest, making it harder to breathe. Or maybe that was when more spells hit me: I couldn't really be sure, anymore, as my grasp on reality had slipped substantially. I swallowed against my tears, clutching my wand as the world around me spun, my vision turning into small tunnels with pin pricks of light. No, I couldn't pass out: Louis needed me. We were going to die if I didn't get my act together, but no matter how many times I tried to focus on something, anything--the sparking spells that threatened us or the men's angry faces, everything just stayed blurry and confused. My stomach turned over as I shot up a shield spell wordlessly--Louis was unconscious, I was getting there, and we were in no condition to hold up against these freaks any longer. Even my shield spell was near useless: it sparked a little as it spread around us, and there were visible weaker spots in it. I could only pray that someone had seen our sparks. "Relashio," I mumbled, pointing my wand in the direction I sort of hoped was up: I couldn't see enough to really know.
"Miss Finnigan, we can leave Mr. Weasley if only you'll come with us." A man offered me in his sleaziest voice, and I shook my head tearfully, putting my hand on Louis's chest possessively: I didn't believe them, not for a second. I was lethargic and a little crazy from blood loss but I wasn't stupid. Louis was the nephew of three war heroes, and James and Louis had revealed a little to me regarding the security on their home because of the constant fear of kidnappers. They'd never leave Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley's nephew and take the daughter of a quidditch supply shop manager. Sheer logic promised me that.
"Protego!" I muttered as my vision began to clear, but things were still hazy, still spinning, and all my limbs felt like jelly. "Stupefy! Incarcerous!" I paused, trying to catch my breath, but my breath wasn't really coming: had I hurt my ribs? Or was this just panic? "Relashio!" This time my voice was an actual scream, and my sparks slammed into the air faster and higher, exploding with a loud boom sound that shook the world once more, and Louis moaned, disoriented--he was alive. Dead people couldn't moan.
"Miss Finnigan, your father is just dying to see you." One man said as I prepared to start another string of desperate defensive spells.
What was I supposed to do with this?
"We won't hurt him if you come with us."
Oh, no. Please, no.
Dad. They were bargaining with me for my father. I had no idea in hell whether they even had my dad, and this might have been a trick, but I couldn't just walk away and hope to God that they weren't about to go back to their secret hide out or something and tell my father that his daughter didn't care enough about him to go with some idiots, or kill him just to prove a point.
"Sera, don't." Louis mumbled hoarsely, his eyes opening infinitesimally as he grabbed my hand with a weak hand of his own, and I glanced down at him tearfully. Good news was that he wasn't unconscious anymore--bad news: he wasn't looking or sounding too good anyway. "Don't."
"And we'll leave your brother be--but of course, he's being smarter about this. You're just so easy to get into a tight spot, sweetheart, and the crowd you run with--why, the Potters are just too easy to track--" A spell shot over Louis and I to slam into the man and he crumpled to the ground. I twisted around to look behind me--James's Mum and Dad, Louis's Mum and Dad, and lots of others who I'd either met briefly last night or had never met before. Either way, these were the good guys. We might not die now.
"Avada Kadavera!" Someone behind me shouted, and I wordlessly slashed my wand, a shield spell springing up as I ducked, praying that would be enough to protect me from the spell that had taken James's grandparents' lives. And it was, because the explosion of spell sparks above me told me that I would be one dead girl had my shield spell not been up.
"Sera!" That was James's voice. I looked up desperately, searching for my best friend, and suddenly there were adults around us, aurors blocking any sight in or out of the tight circle that had been formed around Louis and I--and we were safe.
"Louis?" I asked my friend, leaning over him and touching his face. "C'mon, Louis, wake up…" I pled softly, swiping away the tears streaming down my face with the back of my other hand. The aurors were glancing back at me, but I ignored them, just trying to get some sort of response out of the blond-haired boy on the ground in front of me. "Louis, please, I'm being serious--"
"Sera, I'm awake, shut up." He groaned quietly, and I bit my lip as he opened his eyes and smiled weakly at me, and I sobbed in relief, and Louis hauled me down for a hug, wrapping his good arm around my neck, but there was a rushing feeling in my head as I leaned down to hug him, sobbing entirely, now.
Then Mrs. Potter was putting a hand on my upper back, and another on my upper arm as she helped me to my feet, but I cried out softly as I put weight on my ankle and my lower back sparked with pain that threaded down my thigh, and she picked me up effortlessly, then passed me to someone--Teddy, I figured out after a second.
"Jesus, Sera." Teddy murmured as my eyes fluttered and I struggled to stay conscious: things were moving too fast though--with Teddy sprinting as he was and the blur of worried faces around me. "You're a mess." I just closed my eyes, turning my head towards Teddy.
"Someone has to get Louis," I mumbled softly.
"His Dad's got 'im," Teddy told me softly.
"They knew about my dad." I told Teddy, but my words were slurring together at this point, I wasn't sure that my words were getting through. "And they knew my name, and they told me if I went with them Dad wouldn't get hurt but then Louis told me not to. And they'd leave Wes be." I wasn't sure why I was telling this to Teddy of all people, but he happened to be here, and I had to tell someone so they'd know: Louis, Lily and I hadn't just happened to end up with these guys.
Wait, Lily.
"Lily?" I asked after a second, but this time the word came out as a murmur, impossible to understand, and then colorless dots appeared in my vision and expanded until there was nothing but empty space around me, and I was unconscious.