This is so long over due, I can't even count how many months this is overdue on one hand. It's been that long! Oy. I'm so sorry for the time lapse in posting. I started law school in August, and it, basically, took over my life. Long story short, I decided that I'd rather go to grad school for English than finish law school. No one should be sitting in Constitutional Law and working on their fanfiction. It's just not right. So, here's Aly's triumphant return to the web. I really hope it lives up to all those months of pining for her.
XxXxX
Sirius did serve a detention for the incident in the library. He didn't tell Aly about it until afterwards (with good reason.) Aly threw a fit. Sirius let her rant and rage around the common room. After putting out the fire that had been set to one of the curtains in the room, he took her in his arms, and it was all soon forgotten.
The cold set in unusually slow. It came as a shock when the warmer weather finally broke on the last day of classes. Most students were headed home that day, and the train had to be extricated from the immense amount of snow.
Christmas went by much faster than Aly would've liked. Sirius spent the beginning of break with the Potters, but reappeared on Boxing Day. Aly wondered what he would get her for Christmas since he had already given her his crest ring. To her surprise, he managed to top it. He presented her with another family heirloom. She sat and stared at it for a good five minutes before she managed to stutter, "Tha, tha, thank you." It was a 33 carat pure black diamond. It was cut in a pear shape and was surrounded by diamonds.
"Where did you get this?" she asked, afraid to touch it. She ran her fingers around the edge of the box it sat in.
"My Uncle Alphard just died, and he left me a whole bunch of family things. And a lot of money. He apparently had a bunch of family heirlooms when the rest of the family disowned him. My great-great-and-so-on grandfather Kornephoros used to hunt in Africa. Apparently, he had found a crapload of diamonds. This one is the Amsterdam Diamond. It's a treasured possession of the Black family because of it's color. And now it's yours."
Aly looked up at him, her jaw falling again. "Why are you giving it to me? It's too big. I'll never be able to wear it."
He smiled at her like she was a child, "Why would I need a diamond? I won't use it, and, who knows, maybe, someday, you will have a place to wear it."
"You could sell it," Aly suggested.
Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. It was becoming more and more doglike every day. "I just told you, my Uncle Alphard left me a huge vault of gold. I don't need to sell it."
Aly still looked weary so he took her hand and told her, "Just keep it. It's yours now. And, if it makes you feel any better, this way I'll know that it's in good hands."
XxXxX
January brought with it harsh winds and dreary days. The death on the train wasn't forgotten, but it had been pushed to the back of everyone's minds.
A Hogsmeade weekend had been scheduled for the last weekend in January, and Aly was antsy to get off of school grounds. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the company. The Marauders found ways to amuse her every day. Their antics had been kicked up a notch with all of the students being stuck inside the castle due to the never ending snow. And Lily had become a bit more lenient on the rules after Aly had told her (and only her) about the Death Eater list from the train. So the two of them (Lily suddenly taking on a more carpe diem outlook on things) went the kitchens almost every night to get sweets and hot chocolate. Once, James commented on the excessive amount of cocoa Aly ingested to which she remarked with a shrug, "It's a Dumbledore thing."
No, it wasn't the people. It was the walls. They seemed to move in on her as the cold days drug on. And, Aly thought, they very well may have actually moved in to keep warm since the windows had been known to fly open and chimneys spilt in the summer.
Aly was huddled over her broom on the quidditch pitch the Wednesday before the Hogsmeade trip. She was mumbling obscenities at James, who had been made Captain over the summer and who had insisted that they prepare for their next match against Ravenclaw. She was having a hard time even holding her head up into the wind, let alone riding around full speed in it.
Sirius was floating around happily trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. His face was bright red, and Aly figured he was probably past the point of having feeling in it. The rest of the team looked more like Aly. Nobody was moving much, and all of them were hunched over their handles.
James yelled something from below. However, none of his teammates could hear him over the howl of the wind and the Whomping Willow. The two seemed to be engaged in a war to see who could be louder. James didn't take to being ignored too kindly and started whipping around them waving his arms in anger. Aly flew, as slowly as she could, towards Dorrigo Bruneteau, the other beater, and instructed him to hit her with a bludger so they could leave. She had to yell the direction a second time because of all the background noise. Again, his response was to shake his head and shrug. So Aly took matters into her own hands and whacked him with her club. He shrieked, not expecting it, and flew towards the ground. Aly followed him, smiling smugly behind the scarf she had wrapped around her face. The rest of the team followed suit.
James was the last to land. He started yelling at them for leaving, but no one listened. Aly wrapped Dorrigo's arm over her shoulders and helped him to the locker room. She sat him down, and after making a few apologies ("I swear I didn't even see you!") and making sure he was okay, Aly headed to the girl's side of the room to change.
She was sitting on a bench, wearing her heavy cloak, her scarf, ear muffs and a hat, and her gloves, when Sirius peaked around the lockers. "What are you doing?"
She turned to look at him. He was already changed, and the wrinkles that appeared on his forehead whenever he was confused or surprise were prominent. "Trying to warm up before we have to head back out into the cold," she told him. He came over and sat down in front of her, straddling the bench. He made a quick scan of the room.
"So, I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Speak," Aly said, not moving, enjoying the snugness of the clothes cocoon she created.
He ran his fingers threw his hair and said, "Hogsmeade is coming up."
"Yep," Aly said absentmindedly. She was humming in her head a song she had heard earlier that day. "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," she heard Sirius say.
"What? Why?" Aly asked, the tune quickly being overshadowed by his statement.
Sirius' ear turned bright red, and he looked at the floor bashfully.
"Why wouldn't I go with you? Do you really need to ask?" Aly pushed the scarf down from around her mouth and held it down with her chin. She pushed her sleeves up as he turned to look at her.
"We've never been a real date. I figured I'd ask, and make it official." He looked like he felt extremely stupid about his question. Aly, however, thought it was sweet, and felt her heart leap.
"Of course I'll go with you to Hogsmeade. I'd love to."
He turned excited eyes on her, "Really?"
"Cha!" Aly exclaimed and pounced on him and kissed him. His bark of a laugh filled the room and echoed.
XxXxX
Saturday morning rose in a burst of sunshine. However, it was still bitterly cold. Aly reluctantly covered up her carefully picked out outfit. Sirius was waiting for her in the Great Hall. They ate breakfast with the Marauders and Lily, but headed off before everyone else. As they walked down the lane towards the town, Sirius entwined his fingers in hers.
They spent the afternoon going in and out of shops. Aly truly felt like they were a real couple for the first time since they had gotten together as they walked around the small village. Eventually, they joined the others for a butterbeer at Three Broomsticks. They were all headed towards Honeydukes when a scream rang out. The hair on the back of Aly's neck stood on end. A total feeling of déjà vu took over Aly. Hooded figures appeared on the street sending students in every direction.
However, this time, they were spotted in different spots. There were also a lot more of them. They were sending spells every which way. This time, they were clearly there to attack. Aly started to reach for her wand, but Lily's voice rang out in panic, "Sirius, get her back to the castle."
Aly turned towards them. To her dismay, Lily elaborated as no one moved, "They're after her! They'll kill! You have to get her out of here."
Next thing she knew, Aly was being drug off. Sirius' hand was pinching her wrist as he grasped her tightly. Unfortunately, the plan was disrupted. Two of the Death Eaters sent a ring of fire across the gate entrance of the school.
"We've gotta go a different way!" James yelled.
The chaos around them was loud. His voice almost got lost in the crowd. Sirius nodded though, so she knew he had heard. However loud everything around them was, Aly still heard a high pitched laughter, and her blood ran cold.
She had never seen him, but she knew, with hesitation, that Lord Voldemort had just apparated onto the crowded street. His face looked oddly snake like. His eyes looked permanently blood shot. He stood with a sort of arrogance that told Aly he feared no man, and, from what she heard, she guessed he probably didn't.
He seemed to revel in the pandemonium his followers had created. He scanned the scene with a sickening smile on his strange face. His eyes found their target and cut straight threw the crowd to Aly.
He walked, almost floated, through the running students. He stopped about 30 feet away from her. Aly had locked eyes with him as he had started to move and still held it now. With a mere lift of his hand, the masked Death Eaters halted their actions. They moved to form a semicircle around Voldemort facing Aly and the other 5 who were still standing protectively close to her. Sirius tried to move in front of her, but Aly wouldn't allow it. She knew Voldemort would merely kill him to get to her.
Aly stepped out in front of the group. Peter made strange whimper. The street went silent.
"Ah, Miss Dumbledore, I presume," Voldemort stated politely. He looked genuinely happy to meet her.
"Lord Voldemort," Aly stated in response.
"Ah, most people have learned not to use my name," he said, looking slightly impressed.
"Perhaps you prefer Tom?" Aly suggested nonchalantly.
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept the menacing smile on his face. "You are your father's daughter," he stated as he walked casually around the wall of Death Eaters.
"Hardly," Aly said irritatedly. She had to admit, she understood why people feared him as she stood there. He held the occupants on the street at the tip of his fingers. No one dared move.
Where his eyebrows would have been rose on the snakelike face. "So, we're more alike than I would have guessed. Both top of our year. Both a teacher favorite. Both have disappointing fathers." He sneered.
Aly felt herself start to shake slightly as she asked, "So, I hear you want to kill me?" She felt the tension immediately. Sirius moved closer to her. The Death Eaters shared looks. Voldemort frowned.
"'Want' is not the right word, Alyson," he said running his long fingers over his wand. "I want to kill very few people. I have to kill those who get in the way."
"Who am I keeping you from?" Aly asked, sweat breaking out all over her body. His wand could easily be turned on her.
"You would merely be an accessory death," he told her lightly.
Aly felt her heart sink slightly as he pointed the wand at her. "NOW!" someone screamed from behind her. Spells shot every which direction. Aly hit the ground as Sirius pushed her down. There was screaming again and running. She felt Sirius pull her up. The fire blocking there entrance into the school disappeared before their eyes. A voice cut threw the crowd, loud and boisterous, "Tom!"
A wild cry came out of Voldemort as Dumbledore ascended down towards him. McGonagall and Flitwick followed closely.
"Back to the castle," McGonagall ordered breathlessly. Sirius didn't need telling twice. Aly, however, refused to go inside. After Sirius had drug her to the castle, she stood on the front steps and waited for the others who had been separated from them. Remus and Peter were the first two to find them. Remus had a gash on his arm. Peter was unharmed but was shaking uncontrollably. Not more than five minutes later (it felt an eternity to Aly), James and Lily found their way to them. Lily's hair tie had fallen out, and her hair was flying every which way except for where it was matted to her forehead on the blood from a cut. James' shirt was torn and his chest was bleeding. It didn't seem to be life threatening though.
They all stood and watched as red and purple, and even green, spells flew around the village. Finally, Flitwick made his way up the walk way. "Inside," he directed. "It's all taken care of now. Inside." He shooed them with his tiny hands.
Aly followed the others, but not before sending a glance over her shoulder at the small town, smoking from the damage invoked upon it.
XxXxX
The next day saw many angry parents arriving at the school. All the students had been called to the Great Hall, and the parents flocked in, rushing to their respective child. The Potters arrived, and Mrs. Potter pulled James and Sirius into a vice grip hug.
"Thank goodness my parents are muggles, and only know what I tell them," Lily mumbled at Aly as they watched Dumbledore make his way up to the front of the hall to address the crowd. The talking died down immediately.
"Good afternoon," he started, looking weary, "I'm glad to see all of you here. Your concern for your children's well being is reassuring, especially as we enter these dark times." He scanned the room. "As you are all well aware, there was an incident in Hogsmeade yesterday afternoon. I hope to elaborate on the many misconceptions and rumors being spread about the situation. Lord Voldemort and his followers, known as Death Eaters, entered the small wizard town and proceeded to attack any pedestrian on the main street. Fortunately, no student was hurt badly. Their target was safely removed from scene before any harm could be done. After a short but portentous conversation with Voldemort, the village of Hogsmeade and this castle shall remain safe and Death Eater free. Believe me, I will see to it." With this, he nodded once and strode the length of the hall and out the doors.
Many parents took this speech to be enough, and began to say their goodbyes. Others were not as convinced.
Dumbledore stood near the grand staircase, and Aly proceeded to walk up to him.
"Great speech, dad," she commented taking her spot on his side and smiling congenially at those who passed past. She had learned to do this from a young age at the Ministry. "Way to show old Voldy your pimp hand." This comment was more of an inside joke she had with Sirius, but he sent her a sideways glance full of unspoken laughter. He didn't get a chance to comment or question it as a very haughty looking woman swooped down upon them.
"Dumbledore," she huffed. Aly examined the woman and thought there was something familiar about the brown eyes staring at her father.
The headmaster opened his mouth to respond, but she continued before he could. "An attack on children and all you have to say is 'I will see to it.' I'll have you know, that it is with good reason that I intend to look into sending my child to Durmstrang. If it isn't bad enough to have...muggleborns admitted," she had hesitated on the use of "mudblood," Aly was sure, "Now, they're going to go and get innocent pure bloods killed for no good reason. My son will be protected, Dumbledore…"
"Sons," Dumbledore corrected.
The woman looked flabbergasted. "Excuse me?"
"You said 'son.' I do believe you meant to say 'sons' seeing that you have two boys in attendance here," he replied causally.
She turned bright red and seemed to struggle with finding something else to say. Aly stared at her, trying to place the eyes. She reached over and scratched an itch she had on her right shoulder, and a gasp exuded from the woman. Aly was as taken aback as her father who had twitched slightly.
It became instantly clear to Aly why she recognized the woman as her husband came up next to her. He jingled slightly from what Aly assumed was gold in his pockets. However, his facial features are what captured her attention. The nose, the mouth, the wrinkle lines on the forehead, even the lock of loose hair lying on his forehead, they all belonged to Sirius.
"Orion, good to see you," Dumbledore said without any of his usual warmth.
"Albus," he replied with a curt nod. He held none of Sirius' charm and lacked the laugh lines that Sirius had already accumulated on his face.
"Walburga was telling me that you two were considering sending Sirius and Regulus to Durmstrang," Dumbledore stated. "Due to the lack of screening done on admitted students here at Hogwarts."
Mr. Black seemed to take great offense to this statement, but Aly was more worried about the glare Mrs. Black was sending at her as she studied her face with great scrutiny.
"We will do what is best for--" Mr. Black had started, but Mrs. Black had cut him off, "Who is this, Dumbledore?"
Both men and Aly were taken back by this question. Aly didn't like the way she had asked the question.
"This is my daughter, Alyson," Dumbledore said oddly, his body language changing. It was clear that he suddenly realized that these people were in cahoots with Death Eaters. He moved ever so slightly in front of her protectively.
"Alberto's granddaughter?" she asked breathlessly.
"Yes," Dumbledore replied curtly.
Her eyes swam with greed. She turned to Mr. Black. "You see that," she said as if trying to have a private conversation with him that everyone else could hear. "A Gershom wearing the Black family crest. Think of the power. The money! Oh, the blood!"
Aly sent her dad a worried glance. He returned it, confusion mixed in.
"Als," she heard a voice call her. James, Remus, and Lily were headed up the staircase, back to the Gryffindor common room. She looked to see Sirius suddenly stop in his path. She saw surprise change to horror to anger to fury in a matter of seconds. He rushed past his parents, grabbed her by the arm, muttered, "Come on," and pulled her upstairs. She sent a backwards glance at those below as they made their way. Mrs. Black was calculating. Mr. Black looked suddenly detached. Regulus, who had appeared behind his father, glared. Dumbledore looked grateful that Aly had been rescued from the situation.
Sirius had no words as he marched her back to the common room. They had passed the other three who were walking more leisurely. They had questioned them, but Sirius kept moving. Once inside the common room, he released her and began pacing.
Aly stood, rubbing her hand that tingled from the blood being cut off by Sirius' grasp. As the others entered the room, Sirius found his tongue. "I can't believe they're here. Ugh. Talking to you like they have any right...well, they don't. Vile, evil, apathetic…" he muttered angrily. Suddenly he turned on her and demanded, "What did they say to you?"
She felt thrown off by his sudden attention to her, but stuttered, "Nah-nothing really."
"I need to know exactly what they said to you." He had taken her by the upper arms and looked almost in pain.
"Well," Aly thought over the conversation. "They never said anything to me. They said something about my grandfather, power, money, and something about blood."
He stared at her for a few seconds and, after releasing her, returned to pacing.
"What's going on?" Lily asked.
"Parents," Aly stated as she turned to see the three of them watching her. She turned her attention to Sirius. "Why does it even matter what they had to say? They're about to leave, and you won't have to see them again."
He turned sharp eyes on her, "It matters. They have connections, Aly. They know all the wrong people. After what happened yesterday, I'm not about to let my connection to you be the reason something happens." He dropped his gaze to floor as he moved.
James and Remus took seats around their table, and Lily came over to Aly. "Is he going to be okay?" she whispered.
Aly shrugged.
"I'm going to library if you need me for anything."
"Library?" Aly muttered with a laugh in her voice.
Lily blushed profusely, but nearly growled, "Yes," as she stormed up the stairs to get her books. Aly chuckled to herself at her friend's benefit. Ever since Aly had found out that Lily had been spending time with Snape on the sly, for so many years, once the wound had healed enough, she always made a point when Lily went off on her own to make some sort of comment about it. Lily had eventually blown up about it, and Aly had commented, "If you have boyfriend, I'll never know cause you so good at keeping secrets!" Lily had fumed over it for days, but had come around eventually and had learned to try to ignore Aly.
"Sirius," Aly said turning back to him, all humor gone from her voice, "No one is going to get inside this castle. My dad made Voldemort his ho. His pimp hand is strong. I'd like to see you find a stronger one."
Sirius turned curious eyes on her. He studied her for a moment then smiled. He came over and wrapped his arms around her. "Your right. Nothing is going to hurt you while we're here. Except maybe some Slytherins but I can take them." He kissed her temple, and a joking "Eww" came from the table with his best friends at it.
"Shut up!" Sirius yelled as Aly wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight.
XxXxX
Aly was walking around the castle like usual. She had decided to give Sirius and the rest of the Marauders some "alone" time. She felt lonely as she leaned against a cold wall. Lily was determined, after getting two E's on her O.W.L.s, to get all top marks on her N.E.W.T.s and had decided now was the time to start studying.
Aly heard a loud noise and started towards it.
"Hey!" she exclaimed as she stumbled upon the scene. Dark hoods turned towards her. She didn't fear these hoods though. They were all still pretty short, few of them were actually taller than her. They also lacked the normal death eaters masks. They were all clearly still students.
Aly spotted a small Hufflepuff quivering against a tapestry.
"Leave him alone."
"Oh shut up, Dumbledore." Aly recognized that voice, and she rolled her eyes. As she did, she felt a wave of heat and was taken under the blanket of black. She saw a fuzzy white figure before her. He was bleeding. There was a shadow kneeling over him. There was a string of silver floating between the two of the figures. As the image became more clear, Aly realized who it was laying on the ground, dying. She gasped at this revelation and was pulled awake instantly. She sat up straight. Her head pounded.
All the hoods had vanished. She must've scared them off when she fell. Only one hood remained. He had pulled his hood back to further examine her. His greasy hair still framed his face, but this Snape lacked the wrinkles Aly had seen on the one in her vision. He looked scared.
Aly moved up and past him. Snape followed her though. "Where are you going?" he demanded.
She continued on without a comment. She reached the front hall, and, to her dismay, the Marauders were headed to dinner. Snape came up behind her, hood mysteriously gone. All four of the boys stopped at the sight of them. Aly realized what she must look like: pale, sweaty, wide eyed and scared. Snape reached out towards her, but Aly pulled away. "I'm ok, really. No worries," she muttered to him.
Sirius made a move towards her as she passed. "Really, I'm fine," Aly told him and continued up the stairs. Sirius followed her, attempting to stop her.
"Aly! Come'on, stop! Please!" He was finally close enough to grab her, but she threw her arms up.
"Just leave me alone for a bit, okay?" she asked and took off in a run before he could respond. She flopped down on her bed a few moments later. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She was haunted by the image she had seen. Not because Snape was dying. No, that was not what bothered her. It had been the shadow of the person looking over his dying body that had haunted her. That person had murdered Snape, she was sure of it. And what she couldn't get out of her mind was the unmistakeable spiky hair standing every which direction on the shadow cast over him.
XxXxX
Aly paced around the dormitory. Her feet creaked on the old floor. She had her arms crossed behind her back, and her head was down. Lily came bounding into the room, worry already on her face. "What's going on?" Lily asked. "Sirius said that Snape…"
Aly grabbed Lily by the arms, "Did he do anything?"
"Who?
"Sirius?"
"No," Lily told her. "He just wanted me to check on you. He's worried about you. What happened?"
Aly breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't acted rashly like she has feared.
"So," Lily ventured when Aly didn't speak, "What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Lily repeated skeptically.
"Well, nothing involving Snape anyway." Aly sank down on her bed and toyed a snag string on the comforter.
"Aly--"
"I passed out," Aly interrupted her, not wanting to hear the lecture that was sure to come.
"Oh," Lily stated remembering Aly's previous pass outs. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Aly said with a shrug.
"Well," Lily said, still looking weary, "I'm going to go tell Sirius what happened before any of them do anything stupid."
"Thanks," Aly said weakly.
Aly planned to staying up in her room the rest on the night, the scene replaying over and over again in her mind, but Sirius had other plans. First, he started with yells and pleas for her to come downstairs. Eventually, she heard his incantations of charms and spells in an attempt to trick the stairs to let him up them. She heard him explain at one point, "Dumbledore did it. There's got to be a way!" As the evening went on, his spells became more and more dispersed. Aly assumed he was consulting books for help. Finally, her quit completely.
She finally decided to go downstairs when her stomach grumbled so loud she worried it would wake the other girls who were already asleep. To her surprise, the Marauders were all still awake and huddled over books. Aly held up her wand to make herself invisible, but James caught sight of her before she could.
"Hey," he said genially.
Sirius leapt up. "Are you ok?"
Aly shrugged slightly.
"What did he do to you?" he asked briskly.
"Nothing!" Aly said with more gusto than necessary.
"Come'on," James almost whined. "Tell us so we can go punish him!"
Aly's head snapped towards him. "You leave him alone!" she shouted. And with that she stormed from the room.
"Als," she heard Sirius call behind her. She stopped for him. "What's up?"
She took a deep breath. "I saw something." Sirius's interest perked.
"What'd you see?" he whispered as if he was afraid someone was going to hear.
Aly bit her lip and then said, "Uh, I just saw Snape...he saved me from…" she hesitated and Sirius supplied, "Death eaters?"
"Yes, death eater. He saved me from death eaters," she told him. "So, you all should be nice to him. And leave him alone."
Sirius studied her and finally said, "Okay, fine."
"You have to tell the others. Especially James."
"Fine, fine. James too." Sirius promised. "But why are you hiding out?"
Aly thought quick on her feet again. "I'm just upset about the prospect of having death eaters attack me."
He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "Nothings ever for sure. Things can change."
"Hopefully," Aly mumbled into his chest.
XxXxX
They were all in the common room when James got the news. A strangled noise was emitted from James's throat causing all of them to turn and see that all of the color had left his face.
"Dude, what---" Sirius asked.
"She's dead. My mom's dead," James whispered. The same noise came from Sirius's throat as the color left his face too. James stood and rushed from the room. Sirius looked after him.
"What's going on?" Aly asked from the couch.
"Mrs. Potter," Remus struggled to answer, "She, she died."
"What?" Aly stood.
"No!" Lily's hands went around her mouth.
Aly's eyes immediately went to Sirius. She knew his heart was probably just as broken as James's was. She moved over towards him. As she reached for him, he jumped out of his chair and back away from her outstretched hand.
"I should go talk to him," Sirius said running his hands through his hair.
"No," Lily said quietly and stood. "Let me. I-I-I should be the one." Sirius considered this and then nodded. With that, Lily left the room.
Aly turned to back to Sirius. She reached out to him, but, again, he moved away from her.
"Who knows where he went. We should go help Lily look for him. Just in case she can't find him." With that, he strode from the common room as well.
Aly looked to Remus for some explanation. "He's right," Remus said adding a shrug. "We should go help. James could be anywhere."
They all separated outside the common room. Aly wasn't really interested in finding James. If he wanted to be found, he would be. Plus, if she was in his shoes, she'd want to be left alone.
She had told Remus she would check the dungeons, but she headed to Hagrid's instead. She found Hagrid in his garden. "Aly!" he greeted her happily. When he saw her face, his tone changed, "What's wrong?"
"James's mom died."
Hagrid seemed to shrink. "How's 'e taken it?"
Aly shrugged.
"How are you?" he asked sending her a sideways glance.
Aly merely shrugged again. She sunk down onto an oversize gourd. Fang came over and placed his head on her knee. She absentmindedly petted his head as Hagrid went back to raking and watering his garden.
"Hagrid!" A familiar voice pulled Aly out of her own head. "You seen James?" Sirius appeared at the fence. "Hey," he said awkwardly when he saw Aly. He looked at Fang with concern. "How'd you depress the dog?"
"Fang's fine," Hagrid told him with a wave of his hand. "E's just lovin' on Als."
Sirius sent Aly a look, and Aly knew that Fang must actually be depressed. Hagrid just wouldn't understand. Not without some complicated explanations, anyway.
Remus appeared next to Sirius. "He's not by the lake."
"Hey," Remus said tersely. Aly was startled by his off-ness.
"Not by the greenhouses," Peter announced as he arrived. He didn't even bother to greet Aly. He just glared at her.
Aly stood and made her way over to the fence. Lily came jogging over to them. She was gasping for air as she said, "He's in the astronomy tower."
The boys started to take off, but Aly grabbed Sirius by the elbow. He shrugged her off. Tears stung Aly's eye, and she felt all the air leave her lungs. "Lily," she turned towards her friend. Lily just shook her head and followed after the boys. Aly's mouth fell open.
Hagrid, sensing that this wasn't normal, put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off and climbed over the fence. She took off towards the castle, taking the longer route so she could avoid those who clearly wanted nothing to do with her.
XxXxX
"Sirius!" She found him later that evening. He kept walking along the corridors as if he hadn't heard her. "Sirius Orion Black, I know you can hear me!" she snapped.
He stopped but didn't turn to face her.
"What's wrong?" Aly asked, the amended, "Besides the obvious. Why aren't you talking to me?" She moved around him to see his face, and his eyes lowered. "Or looking at me?"
He replied with nothing.
"What did I do? Why are you ignoring me?"
He made no movement.
Aly shook slightly, voice thick with tears, as she said, "Fine. Be an ass." She turned to leave, but his hand caught her arm.
"I never understood," he told her, "What you had meant, before, about how the Death Eaters and Voldemort will do anything to get to you. That they'll take out anyone to get to you. I just never thought they'd ever actually kill anyone to get to you. And now, Mrs. Potter is dead."
All the air left her body. She felt numb. They all thought she was the reason that Mrs. Potter was dead. Sirius left her standing there, mind racing. Was he, were they all, right?
XxXxX
Aly, anger and fear swelling in her chest, stormed through the door. Her father jumped in surprise as she caused his office door to hit the wall with a bang.
"Alyson…"
"She's dead," Aly cut off. "She's dead."
"Ah," Dumbledore's face hardened, and he lowered his quill. "I see James got the news."
Aly stared at her father for a few moments. "Was it because of me?"
He looked thrown off by this accusation. "Because of you?"
"I'm with Sirius who's best friend is James who's mother is dead. Am I reason she's dead?"
"No," he stated, still sounding surprised. He stood and walked around to the front of his desk, which he leaned back on, and examined her.
"This isn't because Voldemort wants to get to me?"
"Aly," his eyes were crinkled with sadness, "This has nothing to do with you."
"But someone close to me is dead," she explained. "It only seems logical."
"No, Alyson, don't put the heavy burden of a death on yourself."
"But…"
"Aly, Mrs. Potter died of pneumonia."
Aly's mind stopped dead. "Pneumonia?"
"Yes," he stood up, "A common muggle disease."
"Wizards don't die of pneumonia!" Aly exclaimed. "Muggles don't even die from it!"
"Why are you so upset about this?" he asked placing his hands on her shoulders. "I know you liked Mrs. Potter, but there is no need to get so worked up."
"People are dying everyday. I just never thought that it would be this close to home again." Aly said dropping her head.
"There will likely be more before this is all over," he told her sadly.
Aly sighed heavily. She was afraid of that.
"Alyson, we must be strong. Things will happen, people will die. I am doing everything in my power to keep that number as low as possible."
Aly nodded, tears welling, still thinking about Mrs. Potter.
"Oh, no tears."
"I just really liked Mrs. Potter," she told him wiping away the tears with the back of her hand.
He looked at her and sounded even more sad as he said, "Me too, Aly. Me too."
XxXxX
When she reached Gryffindor tower, she found James sitting alone.
"Hey," she said taking Sirius's usual seat.
James looked up. His eyes were weary and red.
"Lily find you?" Aly asked, pushing her hair behind her ear.
James nodded.
"I'm so so sorry, James," Aly said simply.
He swallowed hard. "Thank you, Aly."
Aly was vaguely surprised by his civility. "If there's anything I can do, let me know." She gently touched his hand.
He nodded and looked at her, tears brimming in his eyes and asked, "Sit with me?"
Aly blinked quickly, but recovered quick enough to say, "Ok."
After a long while, James sniffled and told her, "Lily says we're lucky." Aly met his eyes. "That you've never known a mother's love. You've never had what we had and we should be so grateful to have had the time we had with our moms because you never got any with yours."
Aly felt her chest tighten. "She's right. You got 16 years with your mom. Those are years you should cherish." She squeezed his hand.
"Pneumonia!" he stuttered angrily. "Who dies of the freakin' flu?!"
"My mother died from childbirth. How many women really die from that?" Aly mumbled.
"She's dead. She's dead. I just can't believe it…" he started to sob.
Before Aly knew what was happening, he was on the floor, crying onto her knees.
Aly, who was taken aback, awkwardly stroked his head.
"James?" Remus' voice came from behind.
"Hey guys," James said quickly, wiping away his tears and jumping up.
"Why were you…" Sirius asked motioning to Aly.
"It was nothing, man," James told him. "I swear."
"No, I just meant," Sirius bobbed his head, "About your mom and her."
Aly's heart missed a beat. He wouldn't even say her name.
"What are they talking about?" James asked Aly.
"They think I'm the reason your mom died," Aly told him wearily.
"What?" James nose crinkled. "Why?"
"They think death eaters killed her," Aly continued.
"That's absurd," James stated and turned to them. "My mom died of pneumonia. She was sick."
All four of their faces changed into regret. "What?" Sirius sounded strangled.
Aly closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She stood as James repeated himself.
"Aly," she heard Sirius say, but she ignored him and made her way out of the portrait hole. She knew they were right to question the connection. She knew that more likely than not she was going to be the cause of death to those close to her. She knew that she couldn't really be mad at them. She just needed a moment away from . . . from reality.
XxXxX
Aly had returned to the common room later that night, and Sirius apologized over and over again for blaming her. She merely forgave him over and over again. She knew, based on what he knew about the situation, that Sirius wasn't wrong in assuming what he did. He had apparently shared his theory with the other 3 who believed him. Remus and Lily both apologized as well. Peter merely mumbled something incoherent.
They all went to the funeral three days later. Aly wore the huge black diamond Sirius gave her pinned to her turtleneck. He broke the first smile she had seen on his face since news of Mrs. Potter's death had reached them. However, he was still on edge all morning and barked at just about everybody. James was silent. At the cemetery, Mr. Potter looked frail and pale.
"He doesn't look well," Aly whispered to Sirius.
"His wife just died," Sirius snapped. "How should he look?" Aly held her comments to herself after that, but kept an eye on Mr. Potter none-the-less.
Lily clung close to Aly most of the day. She was clearly shaken up, memories of her own mom's passing causing her to cry more than she normally would have.
After the service, they made their way back to Potter Manor. Many people arrived at the house, mostly Ministry people. James stood almost stone-like beside his father at the foot of the staircase in the front hall. Aly was sure there were few other staircases that were as old or as beautiful as the Manor's except maybe Hogwarts. Lily kept a very close eye on James.
A large woman was bawling all over the two Potter's telling them how they had such a great wife and mother when Lily made her move. She slid up next to James and took his hand. He turned weary eyes on her. "Come'on." She led him up the stairs motioning the others to follow her.
They found their way up to the ornate room that Lily and Aly had occupied the night before. Aly had requested from her father to be allowed to leave the school for the evening. He had been hesitant, due to Sirius' staying there Aly was sure, but had agreed. Aly knew that of everyone James would need Lily the most, and Aly also knew Lily would never go alone. As they entered the room, Lily sat James on one of the beds. Sirius handed her a drink to give to him. They all entered a charged silence. As James sipped his butterbeer his color began to return.
Aly turned to Sirius, "He hasn't eaten at all today. You should go get him some food."
Sirius nodded and left the room. James' eyes followed him and stared at the door after he had left. Finally, in a dead voice, he spoke for the first time that day, "He loves you." All eyes turned on him. "He needs you."
After a moment of quiet, Aly said slowly, "I know."
James' head snapped around and his eyes were narrowed. "But if you get him killed, I'll, I'll…" he struggled to find the right words for what he would do. Aly's blood ran cold. It was scary to hear one of her biggest fears spoken aloud, used as a threat against her. She worried about Sirius's involvement in the situation all the time, but she did her best not to speak of it aloud.
"What am I supposed to do?" Aly asked in a small voice.
He seemed to weigh this then sighed. "I dunno."
"Well, he needs you too," Aly said, then added harshly, "So don't go doing anything stupid that you can't take back." Her mind flashed back to the image of James's shadow over a dying Snape. Her features was hard as he opened his mouth, curiosity written all over his face, but he was stopped as Sirius entered the room with the plate of food.
"I hate people," he grumbled as he handed the plate to Lily who took it and began to try to persuade James to eat. The conversation that had been going on before Sirius returned was over, but the static emotions hung high in the air. Sirius slumped down into a chair next to Aly.
"What happened?" she asked, gently rubbing his knee to try to soothe him.
"I just hate people," he mumbled again. Aly let this be. They all went back to being quiet until the silence was broken by a small squeaky voice, "Miss Dumbledore," they all turned to look at a small house elf. "Your father has arrived, and Master Potter has requested you." The elf bowed, and disappeared.
Aly huffed as she stood and started from the room. She felt a hand grasp hers. She turned to see Sirius looking sad. "Let it go for today."
Aly wanted to tell him that she had no intention of fighting with her father, that she was glad he had managed to find the time to come to pay his respects since he had had a Wizengots case that morning that he couldn't get out of, but he stopped her by kissing her on the tip of the nose. He turned and went back to the room.
Aly descended the stairs scanning the crowd for her dad. She found Mr. Potter first. He looked even more sad than he had earlier as he coughed into his handkerchief.
"Mr. Potter," she came up to him.
"Hello,..." he stumbled with her name. He reached into his robe and pulled out his glasses. "Oh, Alyson, it's you. Good to see you." As he said this, some of his usual warmth returned.
"You haven't been wearing your glasses," Aly accused teasingly.
"Ah, well, Mrs. Potter usually reminds me to wear them," he said sadly then leaned in and added in a whisper, "Plus, its easier to not know who you're talking to if you don't actually know who you're talking to." There was a shadow of a sparkle in his eyes. Aly smiled at him. He returned it weakly and coughed again.
"Maybe you should sit down. I'll get you some tea…" Aly started.
"No, no, dear. I'm quite fine." He turned towards a silver haired woman in deep red robes, "Ah, Henrietta, thank you for coming."
Aly moved away and to her surprise found Narcissa Black before her.
"Hi," she said automatically out of surprise.
"Hi?" she returned looking at Aly odd.
"What are you doing here?" Aly blurted.
Narcissa pulled herself up and stated snobbishly, "The Potter's are one of the oldest families of purebloods, and we must stick together." With that, she walked away.
Aly blinked twice and noticed that there were indeed many pureblood purists in the room. That explained Sirius' agitation. Aly turned and headed towards the other end of the house. Her father, luckily, found her.
"Alyson," he said brightly.
"Hi, dad."
"How's James holding up?" he asked looking down at her from his half moon spectacles. She could tell he was trying to gage how she was feeling.
"Ok, I guess." She tried to meet his eyes and tell him without saying it aloud that she was okay. However, his eyes were looking over her head, the corners of his mouth turned down, and scanning the room. "Alyson, go back upstairs," he instructed slowly.
She looked over her shoulder and saw a boy she only knew as Malfoy, standing with two people who had to be his parents, talking to Mr. Potter. Aly looked back at her father, and he suddenly looked so much older to her.
"Ok, dad, but I thought you wanted to see me."
"Oh," he smiled oddly at her, "Yes, well, it can wait."
Aly glanced around again, "Sure?"
He studied her and moved her over to a corner. "I know it's not the best time, but your grandfather's house was decided earlier today."
She blinked at him.
"It's been in the law system for a while," he explained. "Your distant cousins have been arguing that they should have it."
"Okay," Aly replied, not sure what this had to do with her.
"It's yours now," he stated like it should've been obvious.
Aly's eyebrows rose. "But he already left me a house."
"He left you the family compound," Dumbledore corrected. "This is the actual manor."
"I have his house?"
"Yes," he said as he held out a key.
Aly looked at it oddly. "Why does a magic manor need a key?"
Dumbledore smiled at her, knowing she was right. "It doesn't. It's merely a symbolic thing. It passes the sole possession onto you because it carries an owner charm." He dropped it into her hand and it glowed for a moment. "Now, it's yours."
Aly looked at the key and finally asked, "Why was this so urgent?"
Dumbledore looked over her head again, a grim expression coming across his face, and stated, "Because the public knows."
She turned around and realized that he meant that all the purebloods in the room knew about this.
"So, please stay upstairs," he asked her in what almost sounded like a plea.
She nodded and headed back towards the stairs. She found herself caught in a throng of people in middle of the front hall. She heard a low gasp and looked around to see where the noise came from. Her eyes meet the slightly bulging ones that belonged to Mrs. Black. Her brown eyes, so like Sirius', narrowed as they rested on Aly's neck.
"Where…" was all she could get out. Her eyes rose to meet Aly's again, and Aly held the stare as her hand found the large diamond on her neck.
"You're very pretty," Mrs. Black finally said when she spoke. Aly was taken aback by this. "And good family on your mother's side." Mrs. Black moved forward quickly. Before Aly could react, she felt a prick on her index finger as Mrs. Black grabbed her wrist. Blood trickled out of the small hole, and Mrs. Black caught it on the tip of her wand. She muttered something and a stream of light shot up. Names floated up and out of the wand.
Aly stood dumbstruck. Mrs. Black looked up in awe, her face glowing greedily.
"What the hell?!"
Aly turned and saw Sirius behind her.
"Sirius, give me your finger," Mrs. Black directed still looking up at the names projecting off her wand. Sirius looked surprised to be spoken to. She didn't wait for him to volunteer his hand, and grabbed him and pricked him as well.
"Aww," he tried to pull away, but she caught his blood on the tip of the wand before he could. Another beam shoot up next to Aly's. The two streams merged into one giant one.
"Oh. My. Goodness. Oh my, oh my." She turned ravenous eyes on them.
"She did this to you too?" Sirius asked Aly, holding up his finger. Aly nodded. His face darkened.
"What is that?"
"Dark magic," Sirius said without moving his lips. He grabbed Aly by the wrist and pulled her away from his mother. As they ascended the stairs, Aly saw many amazed eyes on them, heard the word "perfect" mumbled, and saw Mrs. Black beaming. She caught a glimpse of her father who was frowning deeply.
"Sirius," Aly asked him as they reached the solitude of the hallway, "What was that? What happened?"
He kept walking, anger vibrating off of his body. He entered the room where the others still were with a bang. They all jumped, and they all laid their eyes on the now angrily pacing Sirius. They turned to Aly as she followed Sirius into the room.
"Aly!" Lily jumped up and ran over to her. "You're bleeding." Aly's prick had bleed down her finger making it look like more than it was.
"I guess it's a good thing you went to find her," James told Sirius. "What happened?"
Sirius huffed at him, and held up his own bloody finger.
"Oh," Remus and James breathed.
"What?" Peter squeaked.
"She didn't!" Remus gasped.
"Bitch," James said darkly.
"What is going on?" Lily asked wrapping Aly's finger in a tissue.
"She bled you," James stated and then realized his audience. "Sorry, I forget you two aren't from pureblood families?"
Sirius made another noise, this time it was more of a disagreement.
"Well, she wasn't raised in the pureblood community," James said realizing that Sirius was commenting on the fact that Aly was, indeed, a pureblood.
Sirius made a face at him that was hard for Aly to read. James seemed to understand it though. He looked back with both eyebrows up.
"James," Aly interrupted their exchange, "Please explain."
He looked at Sirius for an okay, and, when Sirius nodded, he told them, "Most pureblood families try to keep their families as pure as possible. So, they use a practice, usually on babies, to see if a match is pure enough. It's known as 'bleeding.' It's dark magic."
"So," Aly asked, "Sirius' mom was seeing how 'pure' I was?" She looked at the boy's faces and asked, when nobody answered, "Why, exactly, is that a bad thing?"
Another angry noise came from Sirius.
"Ok," Aly snapped at him, "I'm going to need more than grunts from you."
Sirius finally stopped his pacing. He looked at her with a brazen look on his face and told her, "She wanted to see how pure our children would be. And you turned out to be just as 'pure' as I am. We'll have the most pure of purebloods. And now," he sighed heavily, "She's going to be all over us to reproduce. As if its any of her business!"
"So, you're mad I'm a pureblood?"
He let out a harsh laugh. "No, I'm mad that the maternal half of my genetics stabbed you, bled you, and displayed to all of those other purebloods fanatics."
"So?" Aly quipped.
Sirius went back to pacing. They all watched him go back and forth across the old burgundy carpet. The same house elf that came to retrieve Aly earlier returned. "Master James, your father requests you." James nodded and started out the room. Lily was close behind.
"Ok," Aly said once they had left. "Can we just forget this ever happened? Or at least, put it on the back burner for now."
Sirius seemed to struggle with this.
"James you needs you right now more than you need to freak out," Aly pointed out.
"You're right," Sirius said, stopping.
As he left the room, Aly exchanged a glance with Remus. They both seemed to know that this was bound to be something that led to nothing good.
