Chapter Twenty-eight: The Battle of the Department of Mysteries
I disclaim all that is recognized as famous.
Yeah, be shocked, I updated twice within 24 hours. Enjoy!
Kailey's Point of View:
It was eerie running around the Ministry at night. There was no movement and every shadow looked like a Death Eater. It didn't take us long to find the Department of Mysteries, but we weren't the first ones there either. Not even the second ones.
"Don't move," the witch hissed from behind her mask, aiming her wand at me as I pushed Alianna behind me. She was guarding the door to the chamber that led to the rest of the Department.
"I could say the same to you," I growled back. "If Voldemort couldn't take me down, what makes you think you have a chance?"
"You dare speak his name?" she demanded.
"At least he doesn't hide behind a mask!"
A loud crash erupted from behind her and Alianna gasped from behind me.
"Are you calling me a coward?"
"Damn straight!"
Without lowering her wand, she lifted her other hand to remove her mask. Alianna gasped again and muttered something but I only smirked.
"I stand corrected; you and your son are both cowards!" I laughed in Narcissa Malfoy's face. "I've taken him down more than once at school."
"You're just a jumped up half-blood! And who's the little mouse behind you? Some baby mudblood?"
Alianna growled from behind me, peeking past my arm with her slender wand aimed at Narcissa.
"I'm your cousin's daughter!" she shouted before letting a blast come through her wand. Narcissa dodged it, crying out in shock.
"Sirius's child? I expected a rebel out of you," she sneered once she had regained her balance. "Just a nuisance like your father, I'm sure."
"Don't talk about my dad!" she shouted, taking aim again, but I held her against me.
Narcissa took the chance and bolted through the door, not bothering to slam it shut behind her. I followed her through with Alianna glued to me, though she kept her wand aimed at anything that moved. I watched as Narcissa slammed a random door shut behind her and suddenly the circular room was spinning rapidly. Alianna squeaked and buried her head in my robes as I closed my eyes, listening for the spinning to stop. The wind died down and I opened my eyes, looking around the room. There were huge X's fading on the doors; Hermione's flames were dying. The others had already come through.
"Which way?" I asked, turning us so that we were standing back to back. "Do you have any idea?"
"No but if those flames are going out it means whoever put them there is unconscious; isn't that what happens? A spell ends when the caster is unable to keep supplying magic to it?"
"Something like that," I muttered, thinking hard. If Hermione was already knocked out, then Neville and Harry should show up any—
A door to my left flew open and three people toppled out of it. Harry and I aimed our wands at each other for a moment before we realized who the other person was.
"Harry! Thank Merlin!" I rushed forward and slammed the door shut behind them. "Colloportus!"
"Kailey, you were right, I'm so sorry," Harry shook his head, one hand clutching his wand, the other clutching a glass sphere that had some sort of smoke inside of it. He kept speaking, ignoring the spinning walls. "We don't know where the others are and Neville's wand broke and Hermione's…"
"She'll be fine," I replied, cutting him off with a hug. "We need to get out of here."
"Which way do you dink?" Neville asked as the walls halted.
Alianna opened her mouth to answer when a different door burst open on our right. Ron, Ginny and Luna fell into the room. Ron was giggling and lurched toward Harry, talking to him at too fast of a pace for me to follow. I went forward and pulled Ginny over to the middle of the room.
"I-I think it's b-broken," she whispered, trying to keep her breathing under control.
"Probably," I answered as Ron began explaining to Harry how they'd seen Uranus up close. I moved to help lift her up. "C'mon, though, we need to get out n—"
"There they are!" screamed a voice as yet another door burst open.
Harry flung open another door with a crash and Luna raced through it, pausing only to take Alianna's hand. I carried Ginny through with me and Harry took care of Ron before going back to help Neville carry Hermione through. Just as Harry slammed the door shut, I shouted "Colloportus!" again, my voice chorusing with Luna's as she aimed at a different door.
Those of us still holding wands as well as the ability to move sprinted around the room, sealing the doors as we went. I heard a bang and a scream and wheeled around in time to see Luna fly through the air before landing with a sickening thud behind some desks. She did not move again.
"STUPEFY!" I shrieked aiming at the Death Eater that had struck her.
"GET POTTER!" Bellatrix screamed as the other Death Eaters charged into the room, avoiding their fallen comrade.
"Harry! Hey Harry! Look! Brains!" Ron called, still giggling and swaying as he walked. "Really Harry, look!"
"RON, NO!" Harry shouted but it was too late.
"Accio brain!"
The whole room froze to watch as the top of the brain tank flew back and shattered on the floor as one of the brains zoomed out towards Ron's outstretched hand. He caught the slimey, dripping thing and giggled.
"It feels weird it—wait—no, I don't like it—wait, stop! Stop!" Ron began trying to frantically get the brain to release its hold but the harder he fought, the faster the tentacles wrapped around him.
Alianna flew to his side and began trying spells to get the brain to release him. Ginny tried to move closer to her brother but she was hit in the face with a stunner. I cursed the Death Eater who had hit her. Neville was spinning beside me, aiming his wand at every Death Eater in sight, but nothing was happening with Hermione's wand. I stunned as many as I could manage, trying to defend Alianna at the same time.
Suddenly Harry sprinted from the room, holding the prophecy high above his head as he went.
"GET POTTER! THE REST DON'T MATTER!" Malfoy ordered and the remaining Death Eaters retreated.
"Stay here!" I called to Neville, but I only heard him echo my order at Alianna. I glanced back to see that she had finally managed to get the brain off of Ron, though he was now unconscious. Neville bolted through the door just ahead of me and I followed him, sealing the door behind me so that she could not follow us.
"He's dot alone!" Neville shouted just ahead of me. "He's still god us!" he continued as I leapt through the door behind him.
"STUPEFY!" I screamed, aiming at a particularly large Death Eater. He fell to the ground in a heap just behind where Neville was standing. I looked up just in time to see a jet of purple light racing towards me and I dodged to my left, my elbow landing on the ground with a sickening crack and a sharp pain.
"STUBEFY!" Neville tried but nothing happened. "STUBEFY! STUBEFY!"
"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed in reply and I heard Neville's screams echo throughout the room.
They cut off abruptly and Bellatrix supplied Harry with an ultimatum. I heaved myself off of the ground and aimed my wand at the back of one of the Death Eater's heads.
"STUPEFY!"
Malfoy jumped and Harry dived off the dais just as the door behind me opened again. Sirius, Remus, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, James, Lily and Keena all sprinted into the room. I turned back and began throwing as many spells as I could think of at the Death Eaters.
Keena's Point of View:
We had taken Kaleb back with us to Grimmauld Place. He was shaken and wanted to see his sister immediately.
"Please, won't you just take me to see Kailey? Please?" he begged, his breath coming in shallow gasps. "Then I'll go home, I'll leave you all alone, I swear, but please let me see her?"
"Calm down, Kaleb," I said, placing my hand on top of his. "It's alright, Kailey is fine. She's at school and she'll be coming home for the summer in a week or so. You can see her then, I promise. We're not here to hurt you."
"M-mom, I h-heard her t-t-telling my dad the other night," he didn't seem to really be listening to me. "She said th-that Kailey i-isn't safe to h-have around. H-he wanted her to c-c-come home to us b-but mom said she's a t-target. I-I had to come and g-get her. I had to," he shivered and covered his face with his hands.
"Kaleb, she's safe with us," Lily promised. "You'll see her soon, sweetheart, I promise."
"B-but I w-want to see her n-now," he looked up at Lily with tears in his eyes.
"We'll see how soon we can get you to her," Sirius said, speaking to the frightened child for the first time. Kaleb had been wary of all three strange men, hardly a surprise considering the last strange man with dark hair he had met had kidnapped him. "It'll be fine, you can trust us."
"Th-that's what h-he told m-me…"
He trailed off as he gazed at the fireplace with wide eyes. The rest of us looked over to see that the flames were bright green and suddenly Snape stepped out of them.
"They've gone to the Ministry," he said without waiting for us to react. "The Dark Lord gave Potter a vision of Kailey's brother being—" he stopped when his eyes landed on Kaleb. He cleared his throat. "Never mind, but they're at the Ministry. It must be a trap."
The men jumped up and so did I, though Lily glanced at Kaleb.
"We need to go now!" James shouted.
"We should bring some back-up," Lily argued but just as she said it there was a knock on the door.
Remus ran to get it and brought Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye running into the room with him. They must have come to check on Kaleb.
"What's this about the Ministry?" Mad-Eye growled.
"The Death Eaters set something up, we need to go now!" Sirius shouted.
"Severus, would you stay with Kaleb and the baby?" Lily asked, her eyes pleading. He looked like he wanted to refuse, but he nodded. "Good, let's go then," she added to the rest of us.
We all apparated to the Ministry, cracking as we arrived.
"Where in Merlin's name are they?" James shouted, though he took off running for the lift.
"The Department of Mysteries!" Remus called out without pausing to think.
The eight of us managed to fit into the lift and as soon as its doors opened, we sprinted down the hall. As we approached the circular hall, I could hear the sounds of a fight. Someone was just beginning to scream.
Remus raised his wand and halted the doors, forcing them to all change shape and size.
"They're in the Death Chamber!" Lily shouted pointing to a door that was thin and tall.
James charged through the door first, but Sirius was a close second. I took in the scene before me. Kailey spent only a second to look at us before turning back around and firing off spells of her own down towards the dais. I saw Harry dive off of it and crawl towards Neville and that was all the motivation I needed to start raining curses down on the Death Eaters below.
The others moved forward to get in closer range but I held back a moment.
"You stay up here to fight, understood?"
"But I—"
"NO! It's that or leave!" I ordered. She gave me a look but nodded. I raced off towards my husband to distract one of the duelists that he was fighting.
It was just another duel, just another dance. I flung out yellow and orange light and dodged red. I was surprised my partner wasn't aiming green at me, but kept going anyway. We came closer together before dodging away from one another, dipping and diving around in a circle. I could hear the shouts of the others; Remus was yelling at Harry to take Neville and run. My back was to the exit, I had no idea what Kailey was doing. Suddenly, my partner stopped, ripping her mask away from her face as she stared wide-eyed behind me. I didn't turn, just held my wand out towards Narcissa's chest, realizing in the back of my mind I could only hear Sirius as he taunted Bellatrix.
"SIRIUS!" Kailey's scream forced me to turn and watch as a jet of bright red light slammed into his chest. He started falling, falling towards the veil in horrible slow motion. But he wasn't close enough to it, he wouldn't fall in and my heart unfroze itself for a moment.
But Bellatrix raised her wand and a blast of terrible green light was hurtling towards him now, it would push him over the edge. I started forward, reaching out, knowing I would be too late to save him, screaming as I felt arms wrap around my waist.
As suddenly as it had happened, another body lunged forward, colliding with Sirius. I watched in shock as Narcissa's body went limp as the green light hit her. A look of determination was on her face just before she fell into the Veil.
I ripped myself out of my brother's grip and landed next to Sirius, touching his face, a sob escaping from my lips when I realized he was still breathing. Whatever she had done, Bellatrix had not hit him with a lethal curse.
"He's alive, he's alive," I panted, looking up at James' worried face.
He let out a breath before his face hardened and he charged back to fight someone else. Dumbledore appeared on the stone floor beside me and was rounding up the remaining Death Eaters with no trouble. I looked up at the sound of a scream. Lily was writhing on the floor, twitching and Bellatrix was racing away from her as James headed for his wife.
"Harry," I muttered, looking around to find him as I heard his angry yell. "HARRY, NO!"
I watched as he charged up the stairs after Bellatrix. Remus tried to chase after him but was blasted aside by a wayward curse. At the top of the stairs, Kailey sprinted after him.
Kailey's Point of View:
"Where's the way out!" Harry shouted just as I skidded into the room behind him.
A door to his right flung open and he ran out of it, not seeming to notice that I was even there.
"Harry, this is not a good idea!" I panted beside him as he ran towards the lift.
"Then don't come," he snarled, but he let me step up inside of the lift with him anyway.
We said nothing more to each other as the lift ascended. I rubbed my broken elbow for a moment, but when the doors opened, Harry burst out of it, looking wildly in each direction. Bellatrix was just ahead of us and turned back to shoot a spell at Harry. He dodged and I shouted out "Protego!" and her spell rebounded towards her. She ducked and I joined Harry behind the fountain of statues, panting.
"Oh won't you come out and play? I thought you wanted to avenge your mummy, baby Potter?" she called out in a horrid, baby-voice.
"I will!" he bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the corridor.
"Ah, the baby loves his mummy?" she crooned.
Harry's face contorted into a fury I had never seen and he leapt out from behind the statue. "Crucio!"
Bellatrix's laughter cut off in a scream and I stood up and placed myself next to Harry, raising my wand. Bellatrix stood up, glaring at Harry as she shot off a curse in retaliation.
"Haven't tried that one before, have you baby Potter? You've got to mean it. Here, let me show you!" she shouted, aiming her wand at me this time.
Harry pushed me out of the way, jarring my injured elbow and I cried out in pain.
"You cannot beat me, Potter!" she screamed. "I was and still am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant! Even your girlfriend's father has not been taught as much as I have from the Dark Lord! Surrender the prophecy and I will spare both of your lives!"
Harry looked at me and I stared back and nodded.
"I guess you'll just have to kill me!" he shouted after a moment. "Your precious prophecy is gone!" he winced and clutched at his forehead before he smiled. "And your mate, Voldemort? He already knows that you've failed him!"
"Wh-what do you mean?" she cried out in fear.
"It was smashed back there, when I was helping Neville. I wonder how much Voldemort will thank you for that?"
"YOU'RE LYING!" she shrieked. "GIVE IT TO ME! GIVE IT TO ME NOW! ACCIO PROPHECY!"
She screamed in anger as Harry began to laugh at her.
"She can't take a hint, can she?" he said loudly to me.
"I suppose not," I agreed, letting only the barest of smiles through. "I vote we leave now."
"It's not true! MASTER I TRIED, I TRIED!"
"He can't hear you from here!" Harry taunted, standing up slowly, pulling me up by my good arm.
My breath caught as I watched Voldemort materialize in front of us.
"Can't I, though, Potter?" he asked softly.
Harry shoved me behind him without a thought, but beyond that he seemed to be frozen.
"Master, please, master, I knew not, I was fighting against traitors and fools!"
"And you killed one of my Death Eaters in the process," he snarled.
"What? No, Master, I would never! The one I killed wore no mask!"
"Idiot woman, did you not recognize your own sister?" she gasped aloud and he spared her a glance. "I will deal with you later. Now, Potter, I think you have lived quite long enough."
I clutched harder to Harry's robes, bracing myself for my nightmare to come true as Voldemort raised his wand and sent rushing green death towards us when suddenly a headless statue flew forward and took the curse, rebounding it to the ground.
"Dumbledore," I breathed in relief just as Voldemort realized the same.
The two began to duel ferociously, darting first towards one another and then away, all the time dodging out of the way of bright lights. Harry tried to get out from behind the statue, raising his wand, but it and I held him firmly in place.
"Please, Harry," I begged quietly as the two duelists paused for breath, exchanging words. "Please, don't leave me alone."
We watched as their fight escalated and suddenly Dumbledore sent a whip of flame flying at Voldemort. He twisted away from it, but it enveloped around him. Harry relaxed against my hold for a moment when the flame suddenly reared up as a snake, hissing furiously at Dumbledore.
"Look out!" Harry shouted and I buried my face in his back when suddenly I heard Fawkes' cry. I looked back up in time to see the phoenix explode in a burst of flame and ash.
Dumbledore banished the snake into a cloud of smoke before manipulating the water to surround Voldemort. He writhed beneath the glassy surface for a moment before he disappeared entirely. Harry took a step as Bellatrix screamed.
"Don't move, Harry!" Dumbledore shouted, fear tracing his voice.
My heart rate sped up as Harry suddenly lurched forward, yelling in pain. I released his cloak and tried to take a step back, but he spun around, both of his hands grabbing at my throat.
I gasped out for air, dropping my wand to claw at my best friend's hands as they gripped me tighter and tighter. I looked into his eyes, but the green was tinged with blood red.
"Pick one, Dumbledore," Harry's lips moved, but it was Voldemort's voice that seeped out. "You say that death is nothing? So pick one to die."
I made to kick my legs out at him, but he dodged and kneed at my left elbow. The last of my air escaped and I sank to the ground, clawing at his hands harder than ever. My head reeled as I realized Dumbledore had picked. I saw splotches of black but just before I fell out of consciousness, the red left Harry's eyes…
Keena's Point of View:
Once Dumbledore had given everyone orders to keep the Death Eaters bound, he raced out of the room after Harry and Kailey. I looked down at Sirius and raised my wand cautiously.
"Rennervate," I said softly, praying it had just been a stunner.
After a few moments, he opened his eyes, groaning and sitting up.
"Merlin, Sirius," I sighed, tears springing to my eyes. "I thought—I thought…" I trailed off and buried my face in his chest.
"I'm alright, I'm here," he murmured into my hair as I began to sob. "You can't get rid of me that easily."
I let out a slightly hysterical laugh before calming myself down. I pulled away from him for a moment before leaning up and kissing him. He returned the favor with interest and when we finished he gave me one of his lopsided grins.
"I should get knocked down more often," he said, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder.
"C'mon, let's check on the others."
We made our way over to Lily and James. She was shuddering in his arms, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Neville, sitting beside Kingsley who had his wand aimed at the Death Eaters, kept glancing nervously at the two of them.
"Where's Harry, Keena? James won't tell me," she said softly, looking up at me with pleading eyes. James gave me a look from behind her and I got the message.
"He's with Dumbledore and Kailey," I replied without lying, but without giving her the whole truth. "You just rest for a minute, alright?"
She nodded and I tugged Sirius' arm, pulling him over to where Remus was trying to revive Tonks with Mad-Eye.
"I don't know what she was hit with," Remus muttered frantically. "She has a pulse but I can't wake her up."
"Calm down, Remus," I ordered. "It won't help her to wake up with you all panicky."
He didn't seem to hear me at first, but he calmed down slowly. After a few more tries, Mad-Eye finally woke her up. Her face shifted into a look that reminded me of her mother and she smiled at Remus.
"Did we win?" she asked softly.
"I think we did," he answered, accepting the hand that she reached towards him.
"Alright, 'm gonna sleep now, 'kay?" she muttered. "Promise, it's just sleep."
"No, Tonks," he said, shaking his head. "You hit your head when you fell, we have to stay awake for a bit," he continued and she glared at him.
"Just a nap?"
"No, Tonks."
"You can't make me," she yawned.
"Can so, Nymphadora."
Her eyes shot open and she glared at him.
"Don't call me…that!"
He laughed at her and I was satisfied that she was alright for the moment. Sirius tugged on my arm this time and led me over to sit on one of the benches.
"What happened after I got hit?" he asked.
"Bellatrix tried to hit you with the killing curse," I whispered, looking away from him.
"She tried? Did she miss?" he asked, frowning and turning my head so that I was facing him again. He read my face before his expression morphed into worry. "Who did we lose? Who was it?"
"You won't believe it," I mumbled, shaking my head. "But it was Narcissa."
"My cousin?" he asked, dumbstruck.
"How many Narcissas do you know?" I asked, shaking my head. "I don't know what made her do it, but she just…pushed you out of the way."
"Well, we'll just have to bring her back and get her to tell us!" he whispered urgently.
"Sirius…" I sighed and his face grew even more concerned. "She fell through the Veil."
He sucked in a breath before blowing it out. I looked at him with concern but he only shook his head.
"That makes no sense."
"We'll see if Kailey knows anything," I replied softly.
Before he could reply, I shivered violently before I froze, staring at Sirius.
"Something is wrong."
The words had hardly left my mouth when a silver phoenix flew into the room, coming to hover in front of me.
"Follow me," Dumbledore's voice commanded.
I blinked at it and stood up, hesitating and glancing back at James and Lily.
"Go, we'll be right behind you," James said, helping Lily to stand up.
Sirius and I ran up the steps and out into the corridor, following the phoenix all the way to the main floor of the Ministry. I hardly took in the fact that the statues from the fountain lay in scattered pieces all across the floor or the surrounding Aurors and Ministry officials, all of whom were talking in terrified whispers. My eyes went straight to the center of the room where Harry and Kailey both lay unconscious, Dumbledore bending over the two of them.
I skidded to a halt beside him.
"What happened to them?" I demanded.
Harry's face was pale and drawn but Kailey's lips looked a little blue and she had red marks around her neck, some spots blossoming into purple bruising.
"Voldemort possessed Harry," he said quietly. "He used him to choke Kailey."
"Is she—?" Sirius began as I gasped.
"No, she's breathing, but just barely. I want her taken to Madame Pomfrey immediately," he stated, looking up at Sirius. "I will give you a Portkey if you believe you have the balance."
"Of course," he replied, bending down slightly to lift Kailey into his arms. "I'll see you back at the school," he added to me as Dumbledore handed him a bit of broken statue.
The two of them disappeared with a faint flash that I would have missed if I had blinked. I looked back down at Harry's unconscious face again.
"Will he remember what he did?" I asked quietly.
"Yes," he answered, looking up at the sound of hurried footsteps.
I looked up as well to see Lily and James come into view. The crowd parted to let them pass and she stumbled over to kneel beside me, lifting a hand and brushing the hair out of her son's face.
"Will he be alright?" she demanded.
"I believe he will," Dumbledore replied. "But you should know, Voldemort took possession of his body."
"Where's Kailey?" James asked after a moment of digesting this information.
"Voldemort attacked her; I had Sirius bring her to see Madame Pomfrey."
"Voldemort attacked her…?" James repeated before his face was consumed with fury. "He used Harry's body, didn't he?"
"Unfortunately," Dumbledore nodded and Lily gasped.
"Will she be alright?"
"Yes, I believe she will be."
A soft groan from Harry halted our conversation and we all looked down at him.
"Harry? Harry, it's alright now, son," James called softly and my nephew's eyes opened slowly to take in the scene around him.
"Dad? Mum?" he moved to sit up and James helped him, supporting him. "Where's…where's Kailey?" he asked, his voice trembling as he glanced around to see everyone in view.
"Harry, tell me, are you feeling well?" Dumbledore asked, not answering him.
"Yeah, yeah, 'm alright," he rubbed his head. Then he froze, his eyes opening wider in terror. "What did I do?" he let out in a horrified whisper.
"Nothing," I said quickly. "Nothing, Harry, she's fine, Sirius took her to the castle. She's going to be fine, love."
He started shaking and looked around between the four of us.
"Where's Ron? Is he alright? What about Hermione and Neville and Luna and Ginny? What about Ali?" he demanded, his voice trembling.
"Alianna is here too?" I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked to hear that.
"Neville is fine, Harry, we haven't seen the others, but I'm sure they're okay," James took over as my panic began to climb back up.
"Here, James, Lily, take Harry with you," Dumbledore said, lifting up another piece of rubble and handing it to my brother. "I will see you in half an hour," he added just as Fudge made his way over to us.
The three of them disappeared and I looked up at the headmaster.
"Go and find her."
I didn't need to be told twice.
Kailey's Point of View:
I woke up because my throat was sore. Breathing in and out hurt, but my lungs were hungry for the air. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the throbbing around my neck, and sat up to find myself in the Hospital Wing. I wasn't the only occupant.
Hermione lay in the bed next to me, so still that it scared me until I saw her chest rise and fall. Ron was across from her and beside him was his sister. Mrs. Weasley was seated between the two at the moment, sleeping soundly. On Ginny's other side slept Luna and on my other side laid Neville, his grandmother snoring softly in the chair in between us. Hermione's parents weren't here and neither was Luna's father, at least not at the moment. Alianna and her parents weren't in the room either. I hadn't expected to see my father.
"M-ma-" I tried to call for Madame Pomfrey but found my voice to be uncooperative. It hurt my throat when I tried anyway, so I flung my covers aside and stood up shakily, heading over to her office, where a light was shining in the little window that she had.
I knocked softly on her door, looking through its window, and she looked up, startled when she realized it was me. I pointed at my throat and she stood up, opening the door.
"Goodness, Ms. Snape, you should not be out of bed!" she whisper-yelled at me.
"I-I-" I gave up again and pointed at my throat.
"Is it bothering you?" she asked kindly. I nodded then winced at the movement. "Alright, dear, let me give you some pain potion and then a dreamless sleep."
I tried to grin at her as I followed her back to my bed, but I found it difficult to put the expression on my face. I took the potions and fell asleep quickly.
When I woke up the second time, it was because of the sunlight and the voices all around me. I opened my eyes to see Neville back in his uniform, talking to his grandmother about his wand. Ginny and Luna were also back in uniform and were discussing something about last month's Quibbler. Mrs. Weasley was fussing with Ron's pillows and he was wincing every so often, reaching up to scratch huge welts that were covering his arms. Hermione was still asleep by the looks of it.
"Kailey, you're awake!" Ron called and everyone was suddenly looking at me. "D'you know where Harry is? He's usually the only one in here and now he's the only one not in here."
I just shrugged, not wanting to test out my throat again. And not wanting to talk about Harry.
"Well did you see him at all before you passed out?"
I nodded.
"And he was alright?"
I nodded again.
"Kailey, you've got something on your throat," Ginny said, squinting to see what it was. "Did you get hit with a spell?"
My chest constricted and I slid down my pillow, wishing it would just swallow me whole. No way was I going to explain this with charades.
"Ah, Ms. Snape, I see you're up again," Pomfrey came out of her office and walked towards me. "Is your throat feeling any better?"
I nodded, grateful for her distraction.
"Could you try speaking a bit, dear?"
"Y-yeah," it came out as a breathy whisper, with hardly any sound to it at all.
"Just as I thought," she muttered to herself, searching around on the bedside table next to me for a bottle of potion. "It may take a little while for your voice to return to normal, dear, so don't push it too hard," she handed me a vial of green liquid, which I eyed apprehensively. "Just drink it, it will numb the pain and help improve the bruising."
I sighed and gulped the vial down in one go.
"Bruising? What did she get hit with?" Ron asked, frowning between me and Pomfrey.
Before she could answer, the doors to the wing swung open. Keena and Alianna entered the wing, followed by Sirius, who was holding a squirming Aradia. Alianna bounced over to my bed and sat down on the end of it.
"How're you feeling?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
I shrugged, not really sure how I was feeling.
"Thought so," she nodded. "Oh and guess what?"
I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm grounded for the whole summer!" she squealed. "I'm not allowed to have any friends over or go over to any friends' house. Oh and I'm not allowed on my broom either. Nobody else got grounded, though, since everyone else got hurt."
And you're excited because why exactly…?
"But it isn't like I don't see you and Harry everyday anyway, right? So it's not like being really grounded."
"Ali, where's Harry, do you know?" Ron asked and the little girl's face fell.
"He doesn't want to come," she said quietly, her eyes flicking towards me for a moment.
Even though I knew it was a horrible thing, I felt relieved at that. Half because I wanted the bruises around my neck to heal first.
And half because I was afraid of Harry.
Drama, drama, drama! I hope you're all happy that Sirius lived (I know I am!)! And I'm curious, did anybody figure out it was Narcissa who was going to bite the big one? I won't be insulted if you thought it was obvious, I meant it to be. Well, until next chapter!
:-D
