Pt 2: Welcome, Sophia Jackson
A/N: AHH so with school and my lovely forums I've been neglecting my homegirl Lina and I'm AHH sO sorry! Anyways enjoy! I'm determined to see her through til the end! Also I think there'll be four more chaps until I end the series. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I'm already emotional and I'm probably gonna be sobbing when I write the epilogue. I'm sorry that i haven't been writing lina as much as I could've and writing oneshots instead but idk. SPEAKING OF ONESHOTS like i'm looking for someone who's a dedicated writer to join my Quidditch league team bc i am down a player and i really wanna beat my friend on the opposing team so like PM me if you're interested aha
Enjoy the next chapter of, 'The Meaning of Life!' :)
Lina
It was Brooke. Standing behind her was Crabbe and Goyle, and next to her was the one and only pug.
"I'm so afraid of you," I scoff.
"You should be," says Brooke, offhandedly. "I intend for one of us to come out of this Battle alive. And I don't plan on it being you."
"Oh, so do I, sister dear. Thing is, I intend on coming out alive and killing you," I say in the same offhanded tone.
Crabbe and Goyle crack their knuckles menacingly at me.
"Oh. Oh! You dimwits want a piece of me? Think you can kill me and my friends, huh? You may be three times my size but I can and will burst you both to flames if you try killing any of them," I hiss at them.
"Oh, what do you know about killing people, Miss Light Side?" asks Brooke, shaking her head.
"I've killed beasts before. People who're on power trips should be easy. One stab, dead." I retort coldly, sticking my chin out haughtily.
"How dare you," she hisses at me, her eyes narrowed to slits. "You know, let us not forget our second year, dear sister, and the exact River I bathed in."
"So I just have to stab you everywhere then until I find your Achilles?" I ask sweetly.
"Tsk, tsk, Alina. You're scaring your boyfriend," she mocks, motioning at Draco who's face was pale.
"Oh, honey. I bet you're the one scaring him," I say sweetly. "Too innocent for your shit."
"He's mine," whines Pansy, "I bet Quimbitch has him under a love potion, Brookie." But Brooke seemed to have vanished. I merely smirk at what Pansy called me.
"As if I would ever go within a three foot radius of worthless pugs," hisses Draco.
"You're both vile people and I honestly want to just Avada both of you," I smile sweetly. "I think it'd do this planet a great service." Crabbe and Goyle seemed to have vanished, leaving us with her. I was worried; had they decided Harry was a better target and to go after him instead?
"You can't honestly tell me you prefer that over me," Parkinson tries appealing to Draco. "You know, I can give you whatever you want after this War. I will be under your command if you join our side. She, however, would probably be a handful. Quimby will have you under her knees like a dog, under her command when it should be the opposite. She'd be pursuing Auror, not you. If you support her and her side, and her and Potter end up winning the war, her status will be far greater than yours. Tell me, is she ready to give it all up just for you? Doubt it. I mean, sure she'll provide you luxury and riches. But I can provide pleasure."
"That is not true," I hiss at her, "You know, he betrayed the Death Eaters to be with me. Left his home just for me."
"If you and I were the only two people on the planet: it's still no," growls Draco, eyeing Parkinson with hatred and placing an arm around me.
"Oh please. You're worthless. Draco's probably still lying. He'd never want someone like you. Who would anyways? Guys like their girls submissive and loyal, not...whatever you are. You've gone through the most well known and most desired guys in this school, the Chosen One and the Slytherin Prince, somehow managed to be the first kiss of both, and both got tired of your annoying nature eventually. If they got tired of you, what does that say about everyone else?"
Annoying? At least I don't look or sound like a pug. Sure, I'm annoying, but she's a million times worse. I roll her eyes at her form of a comeback and was about to just leave her, but then she started to cross lines:
"I doubt your family even wanted you. I hope that Jackson woman's baby dies along with her - you know! That's where we should go next! Where are they? The Hospital Wing? Guess we know who our next target is - "
"How dare you talk to her like that," hisses Draco, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Leave her!" I order him. Pure anger soars through my veins as I finger my wand.
My father's enticing voice. "You're not Light, and you know it. You know the spell Alina…"
I step back from her, as if feigning hurt. I even manage a few fake tears. She smirks triumphantly as if she got me. But while she was distracted, I scream viciously: "CRUCIO."
Parkinson collapses on the ground, screaming. Draco gasps in shock and turns to me to see my face contorted in absolute fury at the thought of Annabeth in the Hospital Wing. I imagine Anne's currently in there with them, catching up...and Parkinson and Brooke coming...attacking Annabeth's stomach...maybe they'd ask some Death Eaters to do it for them…
"That's what's gonna happen if you go to the Hospital Wing to hurt Annabeth. She's basically my sister and my only link to the old days. Also for all the first-years you probably tortured. Now tell me, are you gonna attack Annabeth?" I growl. "ARE YOU AND MY PATHETIC SISTER GONNA TAKE AWAY PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT?!"
"N-no...t-take it off! TAKE IT OFF!"
"Funny, is it? Never expected it of me, did you Parkinson? For a so called light side member to fall this far?" I ask her, laughing harshly. "Brooke's a threat, but you! You're just scum!" I raise my wand again,
Draco tries intervening. "LINA! NO! SHE ISN'T WORTH IT!" I couldn't stop myself as I repeated the curse, and I harshly push his hand away from my wand arm
"CRUCIO."
"YOU'RE JUST AS VILE AND DARK AS OUR SIDE ANYWAYS!" she screams in pain. I grimace at my father's voice in my head, the enticing voice-
"Very good, my daughter. You torture mercilessly. Just like me. You mean it. Your torture curses have effects. Unlike Potter. How I've watched you suffer this year. Oh, my dear, let her FEEL it! Let her feel your pain…oh, you can't be done already! One more!"
Feeling all the rage over the past year, I raise my wand a third time, ready to use the Unforgivable curse again. I felt like I was using Parkinson as a punching bag. I was loving every second.
"CRUC -"
"Expelliarmus!" Draco's firm voice echoes through the room, my wand flying straight out of my hands.
"What the hell?!" I scream furiously.
"Thank you for saving me and choosing me over her!" says Parkinson breathlessly, still twitching in pain on the floor.
"I didn't do it for you, Parkinson. You deserved it," Draco rolls his eyes, sneering down at her, "I did it to stop Lina from going too deep."
"TOO DEEP?!" I scream, "This bitch wants to kill Annabeth and the baby! Are you having sympathies for her?" I challenge, my voice cold.
"No, of course not. If I hadn't stopped you you might've tortured her to insanity."
"Good," I say softly, before turning off to find the others.
"It's that Mudblood!" I hear Crabbe's voice roar, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
I growl, noticing with relief that Ron protected Hermione from that. But I still wanted Crabbe soup. I'm prepared to torture and kill Death Eaters in exchange for getting everyone I loved safely out of Battle.
"Quimby! Crucio!" I dive underneath the rubble, sending a blast of fire and hoping it hit Goyle.
"HERMIONE!" I yell, running straight for her. "What's going on? Where's Harr - "
"Tell me, sister dearest," a dangerous voice interrupts me, as I take a breath. Brooke had her wand pointed at me. I look around, Draco was nowhere to be seen. "Why is my ally on the floor, twitching, as if someone just gave her the Cruciatus more than once?"
"She deserved it," I sneer. "She threatened to kill people I care about but you wouldn't know about caring for people, would you?"
Brooke and I raise our wands at each other, but were interrupted by Ron and Crabbe running up towards us. "Like it hot, scum?!" roars Crabbe. We look behind us to see a big, roaring fire. Brooke yelps and turns into Death Eater dust.
"RUN! RUN! CRABBE'S SET THE BLOODY PLACE ON FIRE!" exclaims Ron at all of us.
Hermione rushes towards us as we run from the fire. Harry also runs into us.
"Did you find the Diadem?" I ask Harry in a panic. He shakes his head, looking with trepidation at the fire coming for us. I grimace and raise my arms, trying to counter it with my own flames, but that only seemed to make it worse.
It wasn't normal fire.
"RUN!" yells Ron, grabbing Hermione's hand.
"DRACO!"
"Lina, you can't be serious!" scoffs Ron.
"WE ARE NOT LEAVING HIM HERE, I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH YOU HATE HIM!" I roar.
"It's not like we can leave anyways!" squeaks Hermione, "It's circling all around us!"
"It's like Greek fire or something, even I can't surpass it," I say breathlessly.
"There!" Harry finds three broomsticks and hands them to me and Ron. We climb on them and Ron hoists Hermione onto his.
"I'm going in for Draco!" I yell.
"IF WE DIE FOR YOUR FERRET I'LL KILL YOU!" yells Ron, as I soar deep into the rubble. Both Crabbe and Goyle had fallen into the flames, and Draco with to my shock Blaise were hanging onto the cupboards for dear life. Literally.
"Well shit."
"We have to save Zabini too?" yelps Ron.
"Get Hermione out of here!" I yell to Ron. "She doesn't look too good. We'll take care of Malfoy and Zabini!"
Ron hesitates.
"GO!" I scream furiously, and he hesitantly flies off with a protesting Hermione.
Harry and I circle them.
"Lina-flower!"
"Grab on before we get destroyed by Greek fire! What the hell is Zabini doing here?" I scream, motioning for Harry to try and grab Blaise.
"Grab on!"
"I can't! Get out while you still can. I love - "
I gasp for air against the fumes, holding my arm out as far as I could while managing to stay on my broom. One slip and into the fire we go…but I'd rather go into the fire than leave without him. "Yes, we know, you love me because I'm awesome. I'm not leaving you here."
After several tries, cursing, and sweaty palms, I manage to get Draco onto my broom, and Blaise on Harry's.
"You saved our lives, flower," says Draco breathlessly.
I smirk, my eyes twinkling, "Wouldn't be the first time...HARRY! THE DIADEM!" I look below to see the tiara.
"Hold on tight, ferret," I mutter, swerving the broom so I was racing straight towards it.
"LINA! Where the hell are you going?!" he screams. I sweep down into the flames, grabbing the tiara and tossing it to Harry. We aim for the exit and leave the room, coming out and gasping for air.
"Before anyone goes anywhere," my eyes flash, turning to Blaise. "How the hell are you here?"
Ron's eyes narrow, his wand straight at Blaise. "She has a point. If you're here who knows how many Slytherins on the other side are about."
Blaise rolls his eyes at Ron. "I saw those four coming and decided to follow them, thinking I'd find Draco. I was really worried about you, mate."
As the two of them embrace each other tightly, I take a deep breath. What was this gonna mean now?
In the corner of my eye, I see Anne struggling with a Death Eater. "Anne! Anne!" Tearing away from the Quartette plus two, I rush to her aid.
"Lina!" I hear a voice call, but ignore it - I had to get to Anne.
"Stupefy!" I scream at the Death Eater when he was distracted with her, who crumples to the floor. Anne shoots me a grateful look. Death Eaters were all around the school. The others caught up with me, and we all dove into the battle, shooting spells at rapid fire.
I had no idea where Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia were. And it scared the shit out of me.
"Hello, Minister!" I hear Percy Weasley bellow, shooting a jinx at Thicknesse. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"
"You're joking, Perce!" exclaims Fred, "You're actually joking - "
The air explodes suddenly. A large force pulls me back into both Draco and Fred, and the three of us crumple onto the floor, separated from everyone else. Noticing Fred right in the line of fire, I push him away just as some rubble hit the ground with a thump.
We slowly rise up, and we were all frantically trying to find each other.
"Anne!"
"Lina!"
"Draco!"
"Blaise!"
"Ron!"
"Hermione!"
"Harry!"
"Thank goodness," I say breathlessly, scanning everyone, my eyes discreetly noticing Fred returning to Battle. "We're all alive."
"For now," mutters Blaise darkly, and Ron, Hermione, and I shoot him death glares.
"I'm going to check on the pregnant couple," I say breathlessly. "Anne?"
Anne nods quickly, "I'll go with you, Lin-Bean."
"Blaise and I'll go with you too, flower," says Draco.
I narrow my eyes at him. First of all I don't approve of Draco and Thalia like, anywhere below a five feet proximity of each other. "Fine. What about you three?"
Hermione takes a shaky breath. "We need to find the Horcrux."
I nod, "Then we separate. Annabeth is vulnerable in the middle of a War, she comes first."
With that, I run through the Battle with Anne and Draco and Blaise at my side (never thought I'd ever see that day), as we lash out at any Death Eaters that try attacking us along the way.
"Open up! It's Lina Quimby!" I scream through the Hospital Wing door, knocking desperately. Madam Pomfrey opens the door, letting me in, before her eyes widen in fear. "Those two - they're Slytherins - we're in Wartime! - "
Draco rolls his eyes coolly, "I assure you if we were going to attack this place, we would've long ago."
"Just let us in," I hiss. She lets us in reluctantly, and I rush to Annabeth's side.
"How's it going?" I ask breathlessly, but was ignored due to a heavy contraction.
"Are you okay?" asks Anne.
"The baby's almost out," replies Madam Pomfrey. Percy didn't even notice us enter the room, his attention completely focused on Annabeth.
"Where's Thalia?" I ask hesitantly, noticing she wasn't in the room.
"I didn't even notice her leave," gasps Annabeth, taking a deep breath as she tries to push again. I frown, that was cold, but she was in deep pain. "Please tell me you're not going back out there."
"Well, I have to," I say bluntly. "I've no choice. I can't leave everyone out there."
"OH MY GODS!" she suddenly screams furiously. "No, Lina, not you, it's these horrid contractions…"
A loud crash could be heard from outside the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey turns to us, her face grim, "Someone's trying to break in."
"But we're delivering a kid!" I screech, holding Annabeth's arm tightly.
"That's not gonna stop Death Eaters from breaking in," mutters Blaise and I growl his direction. The break-in noises cease, and a loud wail echoes all throughout the Wing. Annabeth takes a deep sigh of relief as Madam Pomfrey gently takes the baby into her arms to clean it up.
"Gender?" asks Anne, her voice soft.
"Girl," says Percy.
"Name?" I ask hesitantly.
Percy and Annabeth look at each other and smile, "Sophia Jackson. Sophia Lina Jackson."
"You have fought valiantly," Voldemort's cold voice rings throughout the Hospital Wing, and I shiver, clutching baby Sophia tight as she wailed at the unfamiliar sound. "And have suffered many losses. You have one hour. Harry Potter, I speak directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than facing me yourself -"
I suck in a breath. It'd been an hour's time I'd been in the Hospital Wing helping Annabeth. It's time for me to go out and see the damage. Help battle. A horrid feeling comes inside me,
What if Thalia...or Ron and Hermione…
I survey Anne next to me, and Draco on my other side. So far 'Get-Everyone-Out-Safe' is going good. Hopefully it stays good. I check back in just as Voldemort finishes:
"- or I shall kill every man, woman, and child who tries to conceal you from me. You have one hour."
I stand up abruptly, handing Sophia over to Percy. I share a look with Anne. "I have to go back out there," I whisper, my voice shaky.
I look at Annabeth and Percy. They were all sweaty from the delivery, in no condition at all to go out to fight. I look at Anne's determined face and Draco and Blaise's grim ones.
"I'm going with you," says Anne firmly.
"You know, I'd prefer it if all of you stayed here," I say shakily.
"I'd prefer it that you stay here," Anne challenges.
I bluster. "I can't stay here, but you all -"
"She has a point," says Draco, "What makes you so incapable to lie low and stay safe?"
"Um...friends need help? Friends might be dead?" I challenge.
"Point is, that we go with you," says Anne.
"Fine. You all can go with me," I relent. "Except you two, but I doubt that was even an option." Anne and I each wrap Percy and Annabeth into big hugs while Draco and Blaise stand there awkwardly. I plant a soft kiss on Sophia's cheek. She was now cooing, totally unaware of the shit going around her.
I want to be her.
Percy and I glance at each other. I knew what he was thinking: I can't let you go out there alone.
"Stay for Sophia," I whisper softly. "I'm seventeen, Sophia hasn't even lived an hour yet."
I exit the Hospital Wing; Draco, Anne, and Blaise by my side. The Battle seemed to have ceased, but I know it was only "halftime." I also knew that Brooke had to be killed tonight, and I still haven't figured out how to kill her damn Horcrux.
People were sobbing over dead bodies, and my heart went out to them. People glanced at us, giving me questioning looks. I realized how bad I must've looked; I didn't look like I'd been in much battle, and I had two Slytherins and an underaged girl with me.
"No!" I gasp. I see the Weasleys clustered around two bodies. Remus and Tonks. They were holding hands, which made the situation even more sad.
"Lina!" exclaims Hermione, noticing me. She wraps me up into a tight hug.
Thalia was there too. She hugs me, "Is the baby out yet?" she demands.
My eyes twinkle. "A girl named Sophia Lina Jackson. Let's all pray we get out of this shit alive."
"Agreed," she mutters, hugging me again. She says something about going to see Sophia before leaving the Great Hall.
But what really broke my heart was the way Sirius was staring at Remus as if the world stopped. I pry myself off of Hermione and Thalia and cautiously walk toward Sirius. He didn't notice me as I moved to stand beside him.
"Sirius?" I ask gently.
No response.
"Sirius?" I try again, placing an arm on his shoulder.
Still nothing.
"Lina!" a voice hisses.
"Yes?" I ask, turning to Blaise.
"Draco and Anne have disappeared. And it's not like they left. One second they were there, and now they're not."
Someone taps me on the shoulder. It was a blonde girl, and she smiles at me brightly. It was Lilly…disguised so no one would suspect her as a Death Eater...
"YOU," I snarl, flames already dancing from my fingertips, my wand out for a Crucio. Blaise stands behind me, his face mutinous.
"You won't kill me," says Lilly/Brooke in a sweet voice. "You won't hurt any of us, my dear Alina! Because if you do, lover boy and Prior are gonna...meet an unfortunate end." She took out a mirror and waves her hand, and Anne and Draco were bound with shackles deep in the Forbidden Forest. Both struggling like hell to get free.
"See, the way to get you out of the way is to target everyone you love, as you don't seem to care about danger in the slightest," simpers Lilly/Brooke. "To play on your worst fear. Fear of loss," she mocks.
My heart was racing.
"Submit to us, dear sister, and I'll let them live."
A/N: And that's the chap! A lot happened here lol. And yes, Lina has potential to drive someone to insanity with a Crucio, which can actually be very dangerous. I was actually aiming for this to be a flaw of hers, with impulsiveness and all. One more, the EPIC FINALE, and then the Battle's over! ;) Hopefully I can update quicker!
I hope you liked the chapter! :)
Please R&R :)
-Ana