A/N: So, this is the last time I'm posting this month, as I need to catch up with my writing. Enjoy!
I own nothing :D
Chapter Thirty-Seven – The-Girl-Who-Died
Organized chaos.
There was no other way to describe what was happening in the once Chamber of Secrets.
The defence of Azkaban had been much harder than they ever imagined. Instead of a couple of dozen of Death Eaters they had faced close to hundred… and the entire population of Dementors that lived in the prison.
Many had been Portkeyed to their Infirmary not only an hour into the battle, their magical core exhausted and almost depleted. It had not matter that Hermione's constant power-boost rituals had made them more powerful than the average wizard, it had not been enough to face the demons they had that night.
Others, thankfully less than those depleted, had Portkeyed once their wounds had hindered them too much to keep fighting. They had several broken bones, some contusions, many gashes, many bruises and a severed arm that was reattached just because someone had been thoughtfully enough to Portkey the missing limb not long after the wounded arrived.
The rest, most of those that had fought before coming back, arrived until they had not found anyone else to kill. The last of them arriving just minutes before Amelia Bones stormed in, the Aurors that were part of the Fight close on her heels.
"What the hell was that?!" She demanded as the less wounded that were mingling around parted like the Red Sea to let her pass.
Hannah sighed and trade a look with Susan as Pansy did not even bothered looking up from her patient. The three almost-Mediwitches were working hard on curing everything as fast as possible, the less time they took between injury and healing the better chances for less scaring and less resting time. They had already administered Pepper Up to those depleted and had stabilized those more gravely wounded, yet they still had hours to go before their work ended.
"We are a little busy, Mum." Susan answered the twitching Law Enforcer. "Go talk to Drake and Nev. They're in the Arthurian Room, they've just go there."
Madame Bones scowled at how she had been brushed off, yet she could see reason behind her niece's words. Still, there was something she wanted to know before she went to their War Room. "Where you there?" She asked the other redhead.
Susan smiled gently to the woman that would forever be her mother. "Nope. My job is here, not in the battlefield."
Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. While she was sure her niece was as capable as her Aurors it still made her heart stop to think of the teen in a battle. Sure, she knew she had not gone out before to thwack the Death Eater's attacks, but this time it had been different, instead of the usual ten-wizards teams that went to save the day most of the Fight had gone to Azkaban.
She had feared Susan to be one of them. There were things she knew Susan had seen, but what happened in Azkaban was not one of those she had wanted her niece to live through. Too many deaths and too many Dementors had plagued the night.
"Did we have any loses?" She asked to the working witches.
"As far as we know, we are complete." Pansy answered. "Check with Draco, he was the one counting heads."
The Director of the Magical Law Enforcement nodded and left the witches to their jobs. She was as trained as any Auror in medical assistance, but she knew she was of better use not hindering their actions than actually healing around. So, leaving her Aurors behind to be checked by the witches, she made her way to the Arthurian Room.
"No!" She heard Draco's voice once she was close enough the open doorway. "They must be around somewhere!"
"They haven't arrive yet." The voice of one of the Weasley Twins answered him. "And we didn't see them for most of the night."
"Dammit!"
"What's going on here?" Amelia asked just after Neville's curse left his mouth.
An always immaculate, yet paler than chalk, Draco sat at the table with the Twins, one of the redheaded had a bandage around his head covering an eye and ear and the other was missing his both his eyebrows, yet they looked to be complete and healthy. Neville, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth, worrying his lip and playing with his hands as he ignored her question.
"Maya and Luna are missing." Draco answered when it was obvious no one wanted to come forward with the information.
"What?" The older witch asked shocked. If there was someone she did not expect to fail were those two. "Is somebody else missing?"
Draco shook his head and the woman could see the plaster that covered the back of his head. "They all came back."
"Any casualties?" She wanted to ask what they were going to do without their two leaders, but she knew there were more pressing matters to discover first.
"No. We'll be tender for a week or so, but we all made it out alive." Draco smiled tiredly. "What about yours? Any loses?"
Amelia returned the smile. "No one died." And what a great relief was to say that. Ever since the Fight had joined the Aurors against the Death Eaters the number of casualties had reduced to almost non-existent on their end. The Death Eaters, though, fell like flies left and right. "What about them?"
"We are waiting for Severus to return and tell. He sent word he'll be back before classes start but he doubts he'll be around for breakfast."
The witch nodded. "So, Hermione and Luna?"
"Missing in action."
Neville's stoic answer did wonders to erase the little relief Draco and Amelia had shared. They had their two most powerful assets no longer with them and they were not dead. Dying would immediately activate their Portkeys as their magical core would instantly deplete, triggering the Portkey to take them to the Chamber. No Portkey at least meant they were alive. "When was the last time you saw them?"
While the Fight's uniform made it hard to differentiate between them it was truly impossible to miss Hermione. The shortest Fighter, and often the deadliest, was always accompanied by Luna, whose waist-long hair on its own made her recognisable in between their ranks. So while many could be lost during the battle those two stood out like sore thumbs.
"When we entered the building." Neville said. "Drake and I took left and they took right."
Fred nodded. "We were behind them," He signalled to his twin. "We followed Nev and Drake and Kathie and Lavender followed Maya and Luna."
Amelia quirked an eyebrow. "And have you asked Misses Bell and Brown if they saw them?"
Draco winced. "Lavender is unconscious and Kathie has already told us what she saw last. They were some of the late comers. They accompanied them until they were able to, but in the end they are as clueless as the rest of us."
The older woman sighed and took a seat. She had retired the Aurors on site as soon as it looked they had ended their job and had sent another fresh team to clean up and took account of the dead. She had made sure no one of the Fight was still around when she called back her forces so she was sure there was no Hermione or Luna in the prison… or did she miss something?
"I didn't see them." She told them. "Are you sure no one else followed them?"
Draco shook his head. "They were tired, yes, but fine. Kathie and Lavender just followed as provisional backup, they were not needed."
Amelia frowned. "Then how they ended injured?"
Neville finally sat down next to the blond Lord. "There were several Dementors waiting for them, both came back depleted. Lavender's worse than Kathie, but it's nothing serious. Hermione and Luna offed those quickly, just not quickly enough to save the two the exhaustion." He rubbed his face. "They came back half an hour ago, when did you leave?"
The witch frowned. "I called back my troops about an hour ago, after checking the prison for anyone that might have been left behind."
Neville echoed her frown. "So you called them back when there were still fighting Dementors?" He asked with some incredulity in his voice. "Why would you do that?"
Amelia shook her head. "I swear we checked the entire place. There was no one other than the dead and the prisoners."
"Did you went to the High Security Wing?" Draco asked her.
The DMLE quirked an eyebrow. "Why would I? We stopped the Death Eaters before they reached there, besides, the runes and wards around the area made it almost impossible to enter without the passcode."
Neville sighed as Draco groaned. "They were headed there." The Hufflepuff said. "They weren't going to pass the opportunity to kill the Death Eaters. That's the reason they entered Azkaban in the first place. Believe me, they were more valuable outside, facing the hordes of monsters that were trying to enter."
The older woman blinked shocked. "They didn't have the code to enter." She said after a minute.
"So?" The twin with the missing eyebrows scoffed. "They're Hermione and Luna. There's nothing impossible once they set their minds on something."
"But-"
"They might still be there, then." Neville said, effectively interrupting her protests. The relief was evident in his face and voice. "We just need to wait then."
"But-"
"They're fine." Draco sighed, not letting her voice her questions. "It's just taking them longer than expected to kill those bastards."
"But-"
"INCOMING! INCOMING!" This time around her voice was drowned in the loud alarm that the Twins had created to tell whenever a Portkey was delivering someone in the area. That damned alarm had been going on like crazy and those that had been left behind, Pansy in particular, were ready to throttle the redheaded duo for coming with that stupid idea.
Neville grinned. "There they are! Took them long e-"
"NON!" Fleur's anguished cry echoed in the Chamber, making them all tense with dread. "NON!"
"Shite." Draco cursed before he sprint from the room, the rest following close behind him.
"NON!" The French's cries did not get any better the closer they approached the area reserved for the Portkey arrivals. That the girl was being restrained by Tonks, Raven and three others confused them for a second before they saw why Fleur was trying to escape her captors. "NON! Ill ne peut pas être! Mon Dieu, non!"
"WHAT THE-?! NO!" Draco's own cry made Fleur's look like mere whispers.
The blonde witch looked at the young Slytherin as she deflated into Tonks arms, her face red, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Se il vous plaît dites-moi ce ne est pas vrai." She whimpered to Draco. "Se il vous plaît!"
The young Lord Malfoy shook his head as his own tears started falling down his cheeks. "It can't be." He whispered as he collapsed to his knees in the catacomb-like silence that followed Fleur's quiet plea. "It can't be…"
All around them the Fight gathered. There was no eye that was dry nor there a face not pale with the realization of what had happened. Injured and healthy, witches and wizards, young and old, all were crying and mourning. All were stunned and disbelieving. All were sad and crushed.
"Where's Luna?" Neville asked. His quiet voice carrying all over the place as he felt the tears dripping down his chin.
Tonks looked up from where she had crumbled to the floor, following the distressed Veela that was now wailing on her chest. "She arrived alone." She informed through her own weeping. "Luna's not here."
Neville closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again the pain was still visible in them yet there was also a light of strength that made many feel a little relieved. He turned to Daphne, one of the very few that was winning the fight against their tears, not that a couple had not already escaped her. "Go tell Myka and Helena. Tell them to use their Portkeys and to hurry!" He ordered more harshly than he intended, there were few outlets for his pain and unfortunately Daphne had been at the end of one of them.
The blonde witch nodded as she sniffled before running towards Hermione and Luna's room, where Hermione always had a communication mirror that could be used to contact the witches on America. She could not believe what had happened.
"All of you!" The young Lord Longbottom called out. "Those still injured, go back to the Infirmary! Pansy, Hannah, Susan, get back to work! The rest that can move, go back to your dorms! Get some rest and wait for further instructions! Move!"
"But-" Benji, the second year Puff, tried to ask before he was reminded he was in an army-like organization.
"GET MOVING PEOPLE!" Neville yelled with all his might, prompting the area to evacuate quickly of those not close to their Leader.
"Was that wise?" Amelia questioned him when only those of higher rank reminded. Her eyes were not dry but she had the necessary experience to know how to handle her emotions better than most. Tonks was still cradling the distraught Veela as Padma and Parvati held to each other for dear life. Draco was immobile on the floor and not even Ginny's vice-like grip on him was getting him out his funk. The rest that remained hung around, too shocked to believe what had happened.
Neville rubbed his face. "I needed the space." He confessed. "I can't believe this happened."
Amelia saw the body that laid crumbled on the cold stone. The girl looked younger and much more innocent than she had ever seen her. Her dull brown eyes were still open, seeing something only the dead could see and her mask had fallen out her face, revelling her pale complexion and her scratched cheek. "I can't believe it either." She whispered.
Yes, Hermione was close to her thirties in mental age, but she was still a little girl and she did not deserve the fate that had been bestowed upon her. She had died once already trying to protect those close to her heart, she had sacrificed herself once already to give their world a second chance. It was not fair she was no longer with them. It was not bloody fair she was dead!
"Come on." Neville's defeated voice made her made a double take. The boy was always so confident and now… he sounded so broken. Gently, as gently as he could, he approached the unmoving body and gathered it in his arms. With the care one would gave their baby children, he cradled it to his chest and let its head rest against his broad chest. "It doesn't deserve to be in the cold." He said as a mean of explanation to the quizzical look Amelia sent him.
"She." Fleur's whimper hung in the air.
"What?"
The French witch looked up from within Tonk's arms as she levered Neville with a harsh glare. "She does not deserve the cold." She told him, her voice firm as steel. "Not it. Never it."
The boy nodded as he carried his burden to the Arthurian Room. Truth was, he could not think of the body as Hermione's. He simply could not. Otherwise he would not be able to have a clear head to do what was needed to do came morning.
The Fight had decided that if any of them fell in battle their bodies would be burned in one of the Chamber's many unused rooms with Fiendfyre and their ashes then would be spread in the Forbidden Forest. They would be simply labelled as missing by the school and government after a week or so of not attending classes and that would be it. They all knew they were in the line of duty and that their lives were at risk all the time. The simpler their funerals were, the better. It was pretty similar to what they had all those years back when they were a small faction hidden in the woods trying to fight the devil that was Voldemort.
If Neville thought of the body as Hermione's… he doubted he would be able to cast the spell. And he doubted there was anyone else capable of casting it either.
XxXxX
"Where is she?!"
Amelia cringed. Apparently it was either sepulchral silence or Wired Sister's loud with them at the moment. Not that she was judging, but when the room had been so quiet for so long, the scream was too loud in anyone's ears.
"Here!" She called in an equally loud voice. She was, after all, the only one with enough guts to remain in the Arthurian Room after Neville deposited Hermione's cold body on the table. She had taken care to close the girl's eyes and arrange her body in such a way that it looked more like she was sleeping than she was a corpse. With her hands resting over her stomach and a light blanket covering her to her chest, she did look like a small girl napping. That her face was the most relaxed she had ever seen masked all the horrors she had seen in her life.
"Where is she?" Helena asked again as she rushed into the room, Myka following her a second after.
The older witch nodded to the table, not surprised in the lightest that the American witches had taken just five minutes to arrive. It was the middle of the week and the middle of the day back in the States, Amelia was sure both had daytime jobs, yet they had clearly left them to rush towards the girl they both appreciated.
"What happened?" Myka asked her as Helena went and checked the body.
"Today an army of Death Eaters attacked our prison." Amelia shook her head as she made her way to the Room's entryway. Something told her not to let Helena hear what was happening and that Myka would be the most reasonable one. "We defeated them but apparently Hermione decided it was a good enough chance to go and kill His supporters for once and for all. No one saw her after she stormed her way in the building with Luna. I thought there was no one left in there, but her Portkey activated and deposited her body here."
"What about Luna? Fleur?" Myka moved to follow the older witch, knowing full well that Helena was barely containing her own distraught.
"Fleur was given a Sleeping Draught, she couldn't calm after seeing her like this." She again nodded towards Hermione's general direction. "We have no idea where is Luna."
Helena sniffled and it was then that Amelia looked to see how she was cradling the girl in her lap, her trembling lips close to the girl's ear, moving in a prayer.
"What a mess!" Myka hissed. She run a hand through her chestnut hair, frustrated. She levered the other witch with an unreadable glare. "How did she die?"
Madame Bones quirked an eyebrow at the direct question. "A Killing Curse. She doesn't have any markings that indicate otherwise."
Myka sighed with what suspiciously sounded like relief. "Good, good." She muttered more to herself than the other woman. "No signs of Luna, you say?" She asked in a louder voice.
Amelia simply nodded, not too sure why she would think Hermione being hit with the Killing Curse was a good thing.
"Dammit. Helena," She called to her lover. "She was hit with an AK."
The relief in the other brunette was plain to see. "Thank Zeus." She breathed out. With a small smile she told in a loud whisper. "Now, Little One, come back to us. There's people here waiting for you."
"Helena," Myka called her again. "I'll go look for Luna. Inform me if she's back before I am."
The Wandmaker simply nodded as she kept encouraging the girl to 'wake up', never bothering to look up to her partner. The smile that she was sporting did little to erase the unease that had mounted in the DMLE's stomach with the exchange the other two had had.
"Madame, come with me." Myka asked. "We have much to do."
"Wait a second." Amelia prevented the leaving witch to take another step by putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's going on?"
The American witch smiled, a happy and carefree smile. "I'll explain on the way, we need to get moving."
It was a confused Amelia that followed her out the Room and all the way to the Apparition point, passing by witches and wizards that still mourned the passing of their small leader. That the witch she was following showed none of that mourning made her unease and a little concerned for the woman's mental health.
But it also, strangely enough, made her feel relieved someone knew what to do.
XxXxX
A coopery smell tainted the air, hanging heavily in the stillness of the darkness. Her heart was calm, or as calm as it could be after all the exertion she had had not half an hour before. Her breath came in short, small pants that barely let her get in enough air to the lungs.
Her arm ached, as did most of her right side. She was sure she had pulled something and she had at least a couple of ribs broken. Her left shoulder was pulled out its socket and she could feel the tears in her stomach. There was a dull sting at the back of her head and she felt blackness cloud the edges of her vision, yet she knew she could not go to sleep until someone checked her skull or risk not waking up.
But, then again, why would she care? It was not like there was anything left for her to live for.
Before her laid the fruits of her efforts. The place was so quiet and still, no one would ever thought what had happened not an hour ago. They had been so foolish entering the wolf's cave without backup. Yes, they were the most powerful of the group; they had been doing power-boosting rituals practically since they had been teens the last time around and although most of them expired in months, having done so many rituals had left them with more power than when they first started doing them.
Yes, they had the most magical repertoire of them all; Hermione had a memory so perfect it borderline on photographic and the branch of Occlumency they practiced let them store information in such a way that nothing was lost in their minds.
Yes, their wands were made from such a strong core that they channelled their magic in a way they never experienced before; having a big magical core and vast repertories were useless if the wand could not support the energy, and while they were proficient in wandless and silent magic, nothing was more accurate and lethal than a wand.
Yes, they had been the force behind most the Death Eaters' deaths on their previous life, yet they were far from murderers; choosing to kill the bastards trapped in Azkaban in cold blood had been a choice not taken in a whim, both had known it was their best shot and the risks of letting them live was greater than the shame of murdering unarmed people.
Yes, they were, had been, hailed as heroes; but even heroes hurt, even heroes bleed, even heroes fell, even heroes made mistakes, even heroes died.
And the greatest hero of them all had died in front of her in such a stupid and so preventable way.
Hermione took an Avada Kedabra to the back and Luna had been so caught up in her thirst of revenge that she never heard the footsteps of the five Death Eaters that came after them. She had been so caught up in the crazed Bellatrix that she simply shut out the world. And it had cost her the highest price ever.
She was dead.
She was gone.
Everything she did, searching for years for an alternative, facing down an ancient god, selling out her soul, everything, everything she did was for naught.
What was the point of changing history if she would not be there to see it unfold?
"Luna?"
The girl blinked slowly, feeling her eyelids struggle to open and close as they should, the sticky substance that marred her face hindering them in their job. Her arms too were soaked in it and she felt them sluggish and in a way leaden-filled, though she did not know if that was because they were heavy with the stickiness or because she was too tired.
Her mind was also filled with images from times gone by, back where she was still alive, back when they went to dates to Hogsmeade, back when they fell asleep intertwined in each other's bodies, back when the most beautiful thing to see was her sleep-mussed hair in the mornings, back when she knew she needed to return home, because she was her home, her heart, her love, her everything.
And now, apparently, she was also hearing voices. There was no one around, she had made sure of that.
"You still here? Luna?"
Myka and Amelia rounded the corner to come face to face with something that would for ever haunt the older witch and made the American one remember her worst times, the times when she still served as Ares' Champion and killer.
The petite blonde was crumbled on the floor, nestled in a corner and hiding mostly form the barely there light casted by the torches. All around her were the dismembered bodies of maybe ten wizards, if the count of heads was anything to go by. Arms, legs, hands, feet, torsos… parts of bodies were scattered all around and the stench they had so far thought was the prison's greeting card, was in reality that of the mess they were in front of.
"What happened here?" Amelia asked as she fought with her nausea. Never in all her years in the force had she ever witnessed a massacre so brutal, so ruthless. So animal-like. She had already served in a war and was now trying to prevent another, yet she knew this would give her nightmares for years to come.
Myka did not try to answer. It was obvious what had happened and who was responsible for not only the bodies out in the hallway, but also those inside the cells. Luna was drenched in blood and various liquids she knew from experience came with the killing of so many so messily. She instead approached the small blonde, her hair more copper than anything, making sure to have her hands in front of her where Luna could see them. "Hey," She murmured, knowing too well that startling the girl was in no one's best interest. "We've come for you."
The girl simply blinked and what Myka saw in her eyes stabbed a knife through her heart. Those pools of majestic grey mist were now muddled and dull, clearly telling that whatever than once made them shine was gone. Luna did not move, did not acknowledged that the older witch was speaking, trying to get her attention. She did not care. Nothing mattered anymore.
"Luna." Myka murmured, seeing if the younger witch recognized her or even answered to her own name. When she did not, Myka knew there was only one thing she could do. She had seen too many in the state that Luna was in, she herself being one of them, and she knew that now that she had wreak revenge there was nothing else for her to focus he pain on. "I'm sorry." She whispered, not surprised Luna ignored her. With a slight wave of her hand and a silent incantation, Luna's slumped form fell forwards, paralyzed.
"What did you do?" Amelia asked, trying to focus on the blonde girl rather than the bodies around. She was glad she had not eaten in hours, otherwise the contents of her stomach would have joined the mess in the floor minutes ago.
Myka took out her wand and started sending cleaning spells to Luna. "We need her out of here before your people arrive."
The other witch nodded, they had at most minutes before they were discovered, Hermione and Luna having practically barrelled their way to the High Security Wing and they left quite a bit of destruction behind them. It would not take long for the Investigation teams to discover it and follow the not so subtle path to them. Yet she was confused as to how they were going to take the girl back to the Chamber, it had taken some effort on their part to bypass the Aurors already on site. "You didn't stun her." She observed. "Shouldn't you do that?" She really did not want to be around a person who had just slaughtered ten armed men and a dozen of defenceless prisoners, even when there were teams of her people out there. And well, a stunned person was easier to transport.
Myka shook her head. "In a moment." She commented as she kept cleaning the younger witch. "You sure did a number to your clothes. You'll need new robes and another mask." She said with a wan smile to the unmoving girl, trying to ease her as much as possible and knowing she was failing miserably.
Amelia just watched as the American witch gathered the now mostly clean girl in her arms, the spell she had cast on her making her whole body lax and easy to manoeuvre, though she still believed it was easier for them to have her stunned. Easier and safer. "How are we getting out of here with her?" She asked.
Myka simply smiled. "Come and take her hand." She held out her own hand to the Director, beckoning her to them.
"What?!" A just-a-tiny-bit freaked out witch asked her, her voice a pitch or two higher than normal.
The older brunette just rolled her eyes. "Come, take her hand." She deadpanned. "I'm gonna stun her to activate her Portkey so we can head back directly from here."
"Oh." The woman many considered the most ruthless witch to serve in the Ministry said lamely. She took a hesitant step towards the other two and gulped slightly.
Myka sighed exasperated. "She's out of it." She practically barked. "She's too far gone in her head to harm you, woman."
Amelia nodded. She understood that what had happened was not something the young witch could had controlled, going berserker after a loved one died was a case way too repeated in her line of work. The Unspeakables had more than once tried to pinpoint what actually made the witches and wizards lose their mind and control over their magic when in dire emotional turmoil, many had gone mad and in their madness most had done things to end in Azkaban. No matter in which state of mind the person was, committing murder in those cases was still as punishable as any other type of homicide.
She understood it. She really did. Yet a part of her was still uncertain about the girl and what she had done. Those cases that she had attended when a person killed out of grief had never been as brutal as this one, those persons mostly killing with an Avada Kedabra or a similar curse to just one of two other. To see the girl, a thirteen-years-old girl, no matter how old was she on her head, kill what amounted to probably twenty-five was just too much.
"Hurry up, woman." Myka snapped. "I need her near Maya."
Amelia nodded again and, gathering all her Gryffindor courage, she took Luna's limp hand just a second before Myka stunned her, activating the Portkey that would get them out of there, far, far away from the massacre the small blonde had created.
XxXxX
The painful hammering in her head was the first thing she noticed. The way too bright light behind her eyelids, the second. The third, the third were the voices that were gradually becoming clearer and clearer.
"… too long…"
"… she'll come around… just… a little more…"
"… should we wake her?… the Draught was not… for a reason…"
"She needs to be here when she… She needs to see her wake."
"Helena, love, I've never doubt you-"
"Yes you have."
Myka snorted. "Fine. What I mean is, are you sure it'll work out?"
Helena's voice was soft and it stirred something in her that made her want to be hugged. "We've done this before, Xena, we've come back before."
"Yes, but we've never been killed like this. How can we know it'll work?"
"He's told us. You know that, you were there."
"Yes… but-"
"No buts, Myka." Helena's voice was hard. "Now wake Luna, she needs to see her come back."
"Lu-Luna?" She croaked out as she fought to open her eyes. The voices were clear now and the light was not so bothersome, but she hurt all over. Her head was killing her and her chest was painfully protesting when she spoke. Yet, at the sound of her love's name she needed to know what was going on. "Luna?"
She felt a gentle caress on her cheek and she involuntarily leaned on it, soaking the comfort like a sponge. "Easy there, Little One." Helena said. "Luna's fine. Myka is going to get her now."
Hermione was eternally grateful when the lights were lowered, letting her open her eyes a crack. She fought with her pain and tried to sit up, just to have the older witch push her gently back down. She was too tired to fight it, so she instead tried to get answers. "Wha-?" She coughed. "What happened?"
Helena smiled down at her and she realized she was lying on the spare bed they had at their, Luna and hers, bedroom in the Slytherin Dungeons. Why was she back at Hogwarts? They had been in Azkaban… "You were hit with an Avada Kedabra."
Any pain left in her was suddenly forgotten as she sat up straight at that. "What?!"
Helena was instantly in motion, catching the girl as she swayed almost out of the bed. Sitting up that quickly had not been a smart move and as she tried not to vomit the little girl let the older brunette explain. "A bastard hit you with a Killing Curse on the back, Maya… Luna made sure he won't make that mistake again."
"How?" Hermione managed to ask through her nausea.
She did not need to see to know the older woman was smiling. "The gods favour you, Maya. He watches over you and makes sure your soul doesn't wander too far from your body."
The small Slytherin tried to make sense of what she was hearing, yet her mind was still muddled and the headache was not making things easier. She was going to continue asking questions when a voice she was all too happy to hear echoed in the room.
"Maya?" The whimper came to her seconds before a mass of sobbing relief tackled her back to the bed. "Oh, Maya!"
Hermione blinked back the pain as her arms automatically rounded the weeping girl to her chest. "I'm here, love, I'm here…"
"You- you died!" Luna wailed. "You we-were gone!"
"Shhh, Little Moon." Hermione cooed, trying to calm her girlfriend down. "I'm here, all is well. I'm here." She searched Helena's eyes, silently asking the question that was plaguing her.
What the hell happened?!
A/N: Leave a review?