Disclaimer. Not mine, only plot and Nina.Hope you enjoy ~.~
News came almost immediately, if the alarm was right and not a hoax, remained a midterm. This would be the third time they went all wands blazing for a muggle accident.
They wouldn't ignore it for the sake of comfort though. And thank Merlin they didn't.
The mark was bright green, floating in the night sky over muggle London. The sheer fucking mess that meant, was unbelievable. He was secretly happy he never made it to be an Auror, or in any way affiliated with the Ministry. Even if it was a struggle to his daily life, due to his condition, he was more than disappointed with the institution to hold any respect for it.
He had lost the possibility of a career and a stable life, perhaps a family, due to a condition he had no control over, a condition he was ostracized for. He had lost one of his best friends to injustice and incompetence, saw how the man he knew became a shadow.
The mark was unlike the ones he remembered in his day, or the one reported last year at the Quidditch World Cup. It's green was much too vibrant. They reached the place in a few seconds, it was only a few blocks away from Headquarters and they were waiting for Dumbledore to start the meeting. A message from his Phoenix Patronus came instead.
It was a Nightclub called The Hunter's den. It's eastern wall was completely gone, smoke and screams coming out from the inside. They could see some of the muggles run away from the other side.
They landed surrounding the place, Moody at the head, signaling orders as calm as a flower, he looked like he only reached this state in the throng of battle, not when he was sipping a cup of tea. They found one of them stunned, his body surrounded by thick metallic chains. His mask is very much a Death eater's.
They looked at each other. The heavy silence seemed to get heavier. There were wizards or witches inside. The Ministry could kiss it's Voldemort's not back propaganda shit goodbye.
Going in quietly, they surrounded the building. Four of them took the gaping destroyed wall and the other two the small back door. The stench of smoke and blood was hard on them all, but it was worse for someone with enhanced senses like him. He caught a familiar scent and froze at the implications, he signaled for Moody at his right to slow down.
Everyone knew what he was, what he could do and what he could become, and they were respectful to not bring it up. Times like these they simply understood, and he was grateful he didn't have to explain.
Going closer, and trying to avoid the bodies littering the ground. He saw a small figure, body dwarfed by a large leather jacket, making five tables float and sending them straight to the pair of death eaters, with intrinsic hand movements. The girl moved fast, a wand coming to her hand, she left them no time to get their bearings, in two seconds they were both down.
He heard a foreign grunt accompanied by a thud. He couldn't place the scent until the girl's long ponytail moved to a side and he could see the very familiar side of Nina Morgenstern's face.
His horror quadrupled when he saw her move away from the pillar's protection, sometimes he could really thank his werewolf. He disarmed her, gripped the girl and plucked her away from her spot and back to safety.
He could feel her freeze, heart beating against his arm, thrashing with all her might and utterly silent. He felt her magic as well as saw it, it lit up in runes along her forearms, until it reached her rolled up sleeve. He gripped the hand glowing menacingly at his face and swiftly placed her facing the pillar's wall, he didn't know how she managed it, being only 1.55 m, her elbow still managed to hit him square in the nose and break it. The pain blinded him for a second, but not enough to let her go. He applied some force, and tried getting her to listen to his voice.
She stopped and turned slowly, looking frantic and terrified, there were no tears on her face, but blood, sweat and rubble. When he saw some recognition there he told her who he was. Nina didn't answer, he moved her head gently to inspect her ears and saw the trail of blood. He spoke a bit louder and when she nodded he proceeded to ask the security questions to make sure it was her. She answered him correctly, still out of it, and asked what he was doing there. He wanted to laugh, he was the one supposed to ask that question.
He repeatedly informed her she was safe, until he felt her relax and grip his arm tightly. He didn't let go.
Moody and Kingsley came a few seconds after, regrouped the others and passed orders to leave immediately.
They had dealt with the other five death eater's quickly, but now it was time to high tail it. Moody informed them of Aurors apparating all around the premises and the only thing left was their almost unison crack of apparition.
They appareted in a safe, abandoned warehouse outside of town to go back to their respective alabi. Half of them were Aurors and they would be back at the scene doing groundwork almost immediately, but due to politics they had to make a silly detour.
A few cracks and "see you" later, only three of them remained. Moody, Remus and Nina.
They gave her a few seconds since she was doubled over attempting to throw up.
"Girl, we need to leave, you can do that in a safe place."
"Mmm... I'm fine I just have to go back to my friends, they'll be at the hotel.. If you can hit me with a scourgify I can take the knight bus"
"Nina, it's not safe. Professor Dumbledore would want to talk to you, and we can notify your mother, that your safe"
She went to protest again, and was rewarded with a pull to her arm. Moody had side apparated with her.
She barely landed upright, the heels of her boots not helping and vertigo hitting her ten times worse than the damn explosion. She was gripped by her arm and saved form hitting her face on the metallic gate in front of her.
This time she threw up.
"Fuck" She said groaning loudly.
Moody glared at her "You got a filthy mouth girl"
"Yeah it definitely needs toothpaste"
Remus held his smile and helped move her closer to the gate.
"Alright, girl we are at Headquarters, I will give you a little note to memorize, you don't read it aloud, you memorize it"
He pushed the little paper onto her hands and waited a few seconds. He took the paper back and hid it away turning her towards the very normal looking buildings, hands on her shoulders.
"Now think about what you memorized"
"A Fedilius charm" she whispered
"Girl, ... The note" Moody barked annoyed.
The buildings parted and Grimmauld Place came to the surface. She was led inside, and asked to be quiet with her steps.
The hallway was dark, dusty and narrow. It seemed like no one lived there for a couple of decades at least. She stayed silent and near the only person she Knew. A dark haired man approached them looking worried, he gave them a fast scanning look and silently ushered them into a large well lightened kitchen.
"Everyone got out okay?" Asked Sirius.
"Yes, someone had already taken the fight to them, only five left when we got there" he followed Moody's rapid gaze and saw the girl following Remus like a lost puppy.
He'd recognize her anywhere. Big doe brown eyes, long wavy hair, rather short in stature. She looked like hell.
His curiosity won and he went ahead hand ready for a shake.
"Name's Sirius Black, come in here and have a seat. Remus, can you get the essence of dittany?"
She responded in kind, looking confused, out of her depth, and probably out of energy to deal with them.
Moody seemed to be observing their interactions closely, he gave the younger man a look and he responded with a wave of his hand.
The girl sat there silently, head miles away. He cleaned and closed her wounds as efficiently as possible, looking at her more closely.
She looked older, the softness of youth still clinging to her features, but she wasn't the little thirteen years old he met. He realized by her attire, she must have been in the night club, when the Death eater attacked. A bitter smile pulled at his lips, the kid looked eighteen, he remembered all the times he had done the same.
"You're all set" he said gently
"Thank you, can I... I'd like to clean up, if you don't mind" she seems to collect herself enough to think on the basics.
He gave a wave to the others and saw her look at Remus struggling with words.
"I'll be here, having some tee, you can join us if you'd like"
She nodded, whispering a thanks absentmindedly and followed Sirius quietly to the upstairs rooms.
He showed her the bathroom and the only other empty clean room, and went back down stairs.
The dark haired man went down the stairs and into the kitchen. The other two men were sitting at the large table sharing a drink, faces looking grim and silent.
"What the fuck happened, out there? Arthur sent a message, the Ministry is going crazy, but no one is saying anything" he said as he joined them.
"It was a massacre... Bodies everywhere... cursed, hexed, killed, some of them I couldn't even tell they were human..." His friend looked defeated, even if none of the death eaters had escaped. Their victory tasted ashen and meaningless, the sheer amount of life's they had destroyed for no reason.
"The girl was there before us, probably saw the mark and went in. Brave, that one... Or utterly stupid, still deciding... downed three of them on her lonesome though"
"Yeah, she'd do that" muttered Sirius Black, the two men looked at him in silent question, waiting for him to explain further.
"She met my dog version, she is in Harry's class, a Hufflepuff. Used to bring me food and play with me, she is a good kid, just a bit quiet and lonely I think."
Sparks of green fire interrupted their conversation and turning they saw the fiery green face of Dumbledore serious and frowning.
"Alastor, Remus, Sirius... I hope everything went as smoothly as possible?"
Moody answered immediately. "No casualties on our part, but it was a massacre, Albus. It seems to me, Voldemort is far past caring for anonymity."
Remus nodded in agreement and continued. "We found someone there... Nina Morgenstern, a Hufflepuff in Harry's class"
The silence stretched
"Albus...?" Sirius brought him out of his thoughts.
"Is miss Morgenstern alright?"
"A few scraps, a bump in the head, probably a few nightmares, nothing major.. she's in the upstairs bedroom, looking tired enough to sleep for a week."
"Good, let her rest, I'll be there tomorrow night. Thank you, gentlemen."
The three men didn't say much after that. Each of them speculating on what now's.
The young brunette didn't take much in the shower. She cleaned as fast as she could, stood for some minutes to heat her muscles up and got out.
Her possessions were on her at all times, she simply took them off the necklace, unshrank them, took some pajamas and dropped dead to the world.
It wasn't until a few hours later that a soft knock was heard in the room and at the lack of response, the door opened to reveal Remus Lupin. Seeing her dead asleep, he closed the door again and left.
The next time he came, it was dinner time. The girl had slept for a whole day, he hoped she would have woken up and eaten something before Dumbledore came to speak to her. So he knocked on her door again.
This time a soft mumbling was heard from the other side, and smiling he opened the door. The girl was splayed on her belly buried and cocooned in pillows and blankets. The only thing Visible was a cheek and a twitching nose.
He held his amusement and tried speaking a bit louder this time.
"Nina, it's dinner time. I thought you could have something to eat"
Some mumbling was heard again, and just when he was going to repeat what he said.
"Professor Lupin?" She looked confused. Turning with difficulty under so much fabric and grumbling she sat and rubbed her eyes looking around.
"Oh... Hi, Professor Lupin" She seemed to remember how she got there.
"Hello to you too, not your professor anymore Nina you can call me Remus. Would you like some dinner?" At the mention of dinner her stomach growled something fierce.
"I believe that was a yes" he continued smiling.
She chuckled and informed him "I"ll get changed, Thanks, Remus". He turned to what her eyes had looked towards and saw a school trunk full of stuff. He turned to her "Come down stairs when you're ready"
When the door closed, Nina's small smile dropped, and rubbed her face in pure fucking frustration. She wasn't supposed to be caught, for fuck's sake. She was supposed to go back to her hunting, find a way to force her visions or find the next horrocrux looking in other places Voldemort frequented.
That was the fucking plan. Couldn't she just get a break for once and get everything going the way she expected it.
Fucking visions, lot of good they did, She scoffed at herself.
She wore her skinny jeans, a button down cardigan and her sneakers. She went down the stairs quietly, the place was gloomy and creepy. It definitely wasn't an inviting vibe, not even for those living inside. She couldn't think of someone who would've purposefully decorated it this way.
Knocking softly at the door frame of the kitchen entrance, she stared at the two adults talking amongst each other with ease.
"Ah ... There you are, slept well I hope" said Sirius jovially.
"Yeah... I think I confused the bed with a cloud at some point" She sat at the chair Lupin had pulled for her.
"Thanks, it looks delicious" she was served a plate of beef stew, homemade rustic bread and a tall glass of butter beer.
"Yes...it tastes delicious too" she chuckled nervously. They smiled and ate in silence. Sirius had a hard time not staring, he had heard from Lupin about the girl's runes and now he couldn't help it, alas the girl's cardigan hid her arms to below the wrist.
Lupin broke silence at last when he stepped on his friend's foot for a second time to mind his staring in hopes of some distraction.
"Professor Dumbledore will be coming to visit tonight, he was really concerned, he thought to arrange a message for your mother"
The girl's throat seemed to stop working abruptly, and refused to swallow any more of the butterbeer she was drinking. She turned red in the face trying really hard not to cough her lungs out in front of the two men.
But ended up coughing louder.
The two adults looked like they were silently freaking out at the possible death by butterbeer of a freaking massacre survivor and minor. The girl held her breath and drank a bit more, which made her spectators sweat even more.
"Merlin..." She chuckled, still red like a tomato. She was answered by obvious relief.
"So ...mmm.. do you know what he told her, or if he sent her an owl, or ...you know spoke to her directly or .." she definitely looked freaked out.
The two men realised there was a bit more to the story. Sirius answered this time. "We didn't have much news since yesterday, but you can ask him everything you want."
She nodded absentmindedly, and ate in silence. He smiled softly, remembering Harry and his friends. You'd think she would ask a million questions a minute and battle to the death for the answers. It really baffled him how different she acted.
Here she was in a strangers house, a known murder no less, in a very creepy house, after surviving a massacre, probably still traumatised. No reaction, just eating in silence, cracking a few nervous jokes
Lupin was glaring at him at this point, he was fidgeting, he couldn't take it.
"So, no questions?"
"I'm sorry?" She turned to him confused, Lupin groaned aloud.
"Let her eat in peace, for merlin's sake"
"Oh come on, I told her I was Sirius Black and she shook my hand. Shit, I'm currently enemy number one"
"Sirius, language" Lupin glared. If her heart hadn't dropped, she would have laughed at their old married couple dinámica.
Instead her doe eyes grew bigger and she went red in the face. She attempted forming a few words to no avail.
She wanted to hit her head on the table and curse, curse a lot, maybe break something too.
"I... This is awkward..." She cleared her throat and drank a bit more and thought really fucking hard. "I may or may not have researched your case and... ummm suspected you most probably were condemned wrongly, ... But I mean in theory, of course... Yeah, so I basically assumed I must have been right because professor Lupin is right here, and very chill and all"
"So was I right?" She pulled the most innocent curious face her brown eyes could muster, as the excuse she pulled from her ass was heard and processed.
Sirius, just barked in laughter.
Nina just sweat through her cardigan, the stew, the butter beer and the stupid conversation were gonna give her a damn fever. Lupin chuckled more in control.
"Okay, I give... Why is that so funny?"
"It's funny ...it took you, only a research to question my sentence" he was laughing, but it didn't evoke any laughter from her.
"The Ministry of Magic is messed up"
She whispered with a serious tone that made her sound older to the two adults. They nodded and went back to their food.
It wasn't much later when the door was heard opening and closing quietly. Several steps coming towards the kitchen accompanied by whispers.
The three of them looked at each other in question for a few seconds until Sirius got up swiftly and opened the door to the kitchen.
"Ah Albus, I thought you'd be coming alone. Hello poppy how are you doing?"
The chat went along, meanwhile she was thoroughly cleaning her hands at the sink. Trying really hard to not freak out, or commit any stupid mistakes, this wasn't easy going Sirius and Lupin. This was freaking Merlin incarnate for all she cared.
She turned to them and greeted them.
Madame Pomfrey took it as her cue and came closer to get her in a tight hug. Bless the woman, but she would've preferred the hug without the scrutiny of everyone else.
"You poor dear, you must be traumatised, such an ordeal. No child should witness something like that, no child." The poor woman looked about to cry.
She really didn't know what to answer to that, she hugged the woman in earnest trying to convey with her arms what her voice couldn't.
"I'm fine madam Pomfrey, really. Professor Lupin got me out of there, ...even though I broke his nose, I am really really sorry about that, ... I just remembered, sorry" she finished in a whisper looking directly at Remus.
He smiled "it was a good elbow, didn't even see it coming".
"It's good to see you're good and healthy miss Morgenstern, I know it is too soon, but I would like you to tell me what happened exactly. There are too many unanswered questions and I must ask to be patient and strong for a bit longer."
She thought for a bit, fidgeted with her sleeve without realizing it and turned to him.
"May I ask a question first?" She said nervously. There really was no other choice but to answer, although compartalazing would be her saving grace today, she hoped.
"You may" he allowed
"Have you spoken to my mother yet?"
"Your mother has been sent a letter by owl, informed that you had been at the location of an attack, saved and very much good health"
"A letter?... Not a howler right?" She allowed herself to be as nervous as she liked on this. Her mother would get a heart attack and an existential crisis, if she was sent a howler telling her, her daughter was under attack, and she couldn't contact her in any other way but using M word related stuff"
"A letter, should it have been a howler miss Morgenstern"
"No no no no, letters are acceptable. Letters are good, thank you professor."
They looked like they wanted an explanation on the matter. Professor Dumbledore though, moved along to what he came for. He motioned her to the table and sat directly in front of her. The others left the room quietly, only Remus remained.
"Is it okay if I stay" Remus asked
The young girl visibly relaxed as she answered with a sincere "yes of course"
He sat by Dumbledore's side.
"Can you tell us what happened that night Nina, as many details as you remember, please"
She nodded. She'd start at the club.
"I was at the club having fun with some spanish friends I met that night, we laughed, talked, danced..."
She visibly swallowed, Alejandro's dead face came back to her. She steeled herself and powered on as mechanically as possible.
"There was an explosion at the Eastern wall. We were far away, it brought us down but we were conscious. Chaos started a few seconds after, when they started killing and hexing people. There was a lot of smoke, only those closest could see they're masks or what they were doing. Most of them just stampeded to the door, some of them didn't make it, there were too many people. I think I was the only one who recognized what the jets of light met"
She took a breath to think what else she could tell him without losing her shit.
"I didn't..." She sighed "I saw Alejandro get hit on the shoulder by a killing curse, and hid behind the bar." She looked down at the table unable to deal with any judgment she'd undoubtedly read. "I saw Lourdes, Paula and two other boys and a girl hide as well."
She breathed heavily "the screams continued, some of them were destroying the place, others went looking to finish off the injured. One of them came too close to us. I hit him with a decorative statue over the head and stole his wand. I... I realized there should be a back door for employees. The thing was a bit difficult to spot in the mess. I slept out, and found the back door was ajar...one of them was out there, he's back was to me so... I hit him with a stunner and an incarcerous. I ... Well ... I... I wasn't exactly thinking of the best plan. It was ... Just a plan. And frankly at that moment it seemed better than doing nothing." Lupin looked confused at her nervous rant. Professor Dumbledore seemed to know exactly what was coming, he smiled in understanding and nodded for her to continue.
"I used the death eater's wand to cast the dark mark on the sky. I knew there was no way the Ministry would ignore that, and that meant they'd come sooner" she stopped for a second looking at Lupin's reaction, he was the only one looking actually surprised.
Dumbledore motioned her to continue.
"The wand was broken, so I went to the other Death eater and took his. I went back in for the others and when they left, I went to the east wall, there was still smoke, I think something was burning inside. There were screams too. I hid behind a pillar, sent them five tables as a distraction and stunned two of them. I was going further in when Professor Lupin,...sorry, Remus stopped me. I kind of tried to attack him, and broke his nose...sorry"
"It's okay, Nina"
"Did you use your wand at any moment?" He asked
"No, sir."
"May I ask why that is?" Silence took hold for a second of two.
"I have the trace... And Frankly, sir I don't trust the Ministry's Judicial system as of late, specially when it comes to anything death eater's related."
Professor Dumbledore, smiled genuinely, pleased at the honest answer. "Fair enough"
"Have any death eater's seen you, Miss Morgenstern?"
Now she was worried "No, sir. I was always hidden."
"I see you came back to England with your school trunk ready, were you perhaps visiting your friends"
Truth and lies, lies and truth that's it, just lie and tell the truth.
"No sir, I ... My mother and I had an arrangement, she would let me travel through Europe when I was older on my own, if I worked and made enough money for it."
"But she doesn't know you were on your own?" She swallowed
"No sir, she doesn't know.
"Why is that?"
"She doesn't... She doesn't like talking about anything related to magic, I didn't think she'd sit through an explanation about Voldemort coming back or Death eater fugitives, or the possibility of things going ten times worse by next year."
"And you believed it was better to travel while there are indeed Death eater fugitives loose, that was very irresponsible of you Nina. I'd expect this from anyone else, you could have died, or taken prisoner, and no one would even know."
Lupin's lecture was something she never would have expected. So her going red in the face in embarrassment for something she hadn't done was really ridiculous. She whispered her apologies, not wanting to meet his eyes.
Professor Dumbledore on the other hand looked happy enough, so he interrupted in kind. Let's not get worry carry us too far Remus, my boy, Miss Morgenstern is quite alright, I dare say she had been exceptional at the hand in fate she was delivered, even managed to save some poor souls."
"Sir I honestly think most of it were internalised freak outs, meltdowns and lot of luck"
Lupin laughed remembering someone else, blaming lady luck for their survival. Albus Dumbledore smiled fondly at Nina who looked weirded out.
"Now now miss Morgenstern, let's give credit where it's due. I don't believe luck was the one who created specialized runes."
Well, double shit. She expected this, it still felt like a slap in the face.
Silence ruled over.
"I'm ..." She cleared her throat at the hope of sounding stronger.
"I'm not comfortable talking about it, sir"
Their smiles were long gone. They were reading her now, and she felt scrutinized. She didn't like it.
"I understand it is something of a personal matter, but it is also a health matter, Miss Morgenstern. I'm sure, as a lover of the art, you understand the severity of accidental rune work. It could not only be fatal for you but also to others around you. And as of privacy I can assure you, Poppy will be the one doing the check up and we will only be called on when you see fit"
She thought hard at the possibility of having her rune work overseen by an expert and didn't know if getting nervous or bolt away screaming was the correct reaction.
"I've had them for a year now, sir. I have a stabilizer and two directionists. I practiced for months and never activated them in public until I knew my limits. There have been no accidents." She said in frustration, eyes dangerously teary.
"And I command you for it, my dear girl. I don't wish for you to understand this as a punishment of any sort. You have done great, as a witch as well as a student. But I'm an old man and I won't be able to sleep with clear conscience when there is a possibility that one of my students is at risk."
She looked at him fidgeting and thinking a mile a minute. They gave her time to consider.
"I have conditions," she said with strength this time.
Dumbledore smiled "I'd settle for no less"
"My mother can't know, even if there are any problems with my rune work. The other professors can't know...My condition won't be discussed outside of Hogwarts infirmary, which means no one at San Mungo's will know. If there is any reason to do so and I'm unable to decide, I appoint two people to decide for me... I mean if they agree that is... because I haven't asked... One of them probably won't like it one bit"
The girls condition list seemed to give her the shot of confidence she needed, it seemed like after each condition, another popped in her head.
"And your two appointed?" Asked Lupin interested.
"Professor Snape and Professor Lupin... I mean Remus, sorry... If you want of course, it's absolutely okay if you say no"
Remus gaped and Professor Dumbledor's smile grew exponentially. She really didn't get the man, but then he was a genius, of course she wouldn't.