All of her father's words about Death Eaters flew back to Erica in that one second of recognition and horror. They were here. They were going to hurt people, maybe even kill them. They might even take some of them. In her mind, she saw flashes of all the headlines from the summer. Her mother had commented on how war was well underway. Now they were here, she could see them moving alongside the compartments, concealed beneath their dark robes and masks. Monsters in masks.
Erica looked across at Sirius. He was leaning back in his seat, white and still staring out of the window.
James was the first to move. He reached up for his trunk and, for a moment, Erica wondered if he was about to flee to another compartment and ditch them. But instead of lifting the trunk down, he opened it and pulled out a cloak. It was thin and shimmering. James fastened the trunk and turned towards the two of them.
"Get on the floor. We'll hide under this," he said. "Glad I packed it last now."
Sirius looked up at him incredulously. "A cloak's not going to fool them." he scoffed.
James stuck his arm inside the cloak. "Will they though?" His arm completely disappeared and Erica stared at James in awe. He looked between them. "See?"
"Where'd you get an invisibility cloak from?" Sirius demanded.
He was instantly interrupted by crashing bangs throughout the train. The doors had been forced open and chaos erupted. Panic and whimpers emanated from the other compartments only to be quickly replaced by hexes being thrown. Shrieks cut through the air as the heavy footfall charged up and down the train.
The sounds were enough to jolt Erica out of her freeze. She slid to the floor. Sirius did the same, pushing Erica behind him while James dropped down and threw the cloak over them all. They huddled in together, half in each other's laps. Erica's back was against the wall beneath the window. She wrapped her arms around the two boys, holding them close to her. The cloak was like a veil, allowing them to see the shapes of what was going on but keeping them shielded.
Seconds later, two dark figures appeared outside the compartment. One of them yanked the door open and stepped inside.
Erica felt her insides freeze except for her heart which was hammering away so loudly that it muffled out the distant screams and cursing going on in the background. Cologne so strong it would have given Tyson's latest acquisition a run for its money wafted over and Erica covered her mouth to block the smell and hide her shaking breath.
In front of her, the boys were incredibly still, all eyes on the Death Eaters in front of them.
The advancing Death Eater took yet another step and Erica was immediately and painfully aware that if they stepped much closer, they'd hit the three invisible students. She tried not to think of what might happen then but her mind conjured up some unwilling images of them being dragged away and tortured, or even killed. She looked towards Sirius and wondered if he would have been left alone. The Blacks believed in the purist cause so surely the Death Eaters would leave one of them alone. But then she thought of the little she knew of Sirius so far. Staying silent while these people ransacked the train didn't seem like something he would do. He'd been so outspoken about his opinion on that "rubbish". So maybe he was better off here, unseen and heard.
"Empty really?" their companion Death Eater growled beneath his mask. "Yeah right. There wasn't room to swing a kneazle when I first took this trip."
"Probably hiding somewhere else. Little cowards." The nearest Death Eater took another step forward and Erica saw Sirius raise his wand slowly. She lowered her wand to his wrist and he turned his head to her. She shook her head slightly.
"Unless you want to search the luggage?" The Death Eater at the door laughed. It was an unpleasant, rankling sound. He strode off down the corridor.
Mercifully, his companion followed him after another look around the room. He slammed the compartment door so hard the glass shattered. The noise cut right through her and she muffled a squeak.
"Oh god," she muttered.
The noise from the rest of the train was louder than ever. The Death Eaters were either laughing or hexing or growling threats at the students. Now and again, she heard a smacking sound followed by a yelp of pain. Crying was coming from both directions and it was getting louder and higher. The horror was closing in all around and Erica felt horror creeping up her throat, stealing her breath as she took it.
"I'm gonna hex them," Sirius growled and went to move but James blocked him with his arm.
"Don't be an idiot. We'll just get killed, These are proper duellists."
"I know a good few hexes," Sirius growled at him.
Erica winced as a scream sounded from next door. "There's got to be something we can do."
James hesitated and said nothing for a long moment. "All right wands out," he declared, "but we stay under the cloak."
They got to their feet somewhat awkwardly after untangling themselves. Shuffling over to the, now empty, door frame, they peered out of it, under the hood.
It was carnage in the corridors. Many Death Eaters were battling the older students, some of whom were backing the younger students into the nearest compartments. Flashes of coloured lights flew everywhere. There were thumps, slaps, crashes and smashes everywhere at once with Death Eater voices full of mingled laughter and aggression. Every so often an ear-stinging scream would sound in the distance. Huddled with her new friends and surrounded by so much chaos, Erica realised just how unprepared they were. These people had chosen to attack them for what purpose. School children weren't a threat so it was spite, pure and simple. Spite and malice. Each scream in the air cut through Erica like a knife, marking one less obstacle before the monsters came back towards the three of them.
In front of them, a Death Eater was dragging a golden haired, dainty-looking girl by her ponytail. She was grabbing at anything that might slow their progress. Her captor turned and kicked the girl hard in the ankle in response. Erica heard a snack and almost threw up.
Sirius, however, lifted the cloak just enough to give his wand a clear shot and flicked his wand at the Death Eater. "Flipendo!" He said fiercely.
The Death Eater was hit in the chest. The force knocked him back, particularly hard, into the carriage wall. His grip on the girl slackened and she limped away hastily as her captor fell to his knees, disorientated. Erica saw him looking towards the direction the girl was running in and she closed her fingers into a fist. She lifted the cloak and swung back her hand before delivering a punch that would have made her brothers proud. The Death Eater toppled back into the wall again and this time slumped to the floor unconscious. James dropped the cloak back over Erica again.
"Nice one," he said.
A flash of light swept down the corridor and they all jumped back to get away from it.
James drew out his own wand and pointed it outside the cloak towards the back of a Death Eater who was being driven back by a particularly talented older student. "Relashio!" he called out and sparks flew out of his wand and onto the Death Eater's robes which immediately caught fire. "Oh boy." James commented regretfully, as he watched the flames begin to spread over the robes.
"James!" Erica hissed. "What if that spreads?"
James began to say something but the student fighting the Death Eater had noticed the fire at the same time as the Death Eater. The masked figure stopped and turned his wand on the flames. A thick and fast jet stream of water blasted at the flames, quickly subduing them. This gaze the student the opportunity to fire a stunning spell at the figure who immediately crumpled near his fallen comrade.
"There," James said as if he had planned that all along. "That worked out."
The three of them backed further into the compartment as more spells came flying down the corridor. Unluckily one of them hit the stunned Death Eater who immediately rose to his feet and flicked his wand at his former opponent who had run up and raised his wand to help him. "Avada Kedavra!" he snarled. There was a blast of green light and the boy fell back with a thud.
Erica screamed and clasped her hands to her mouth as Sirius and James both cried out in horror. They both huddled even closer around her, holding the clock tightly..
The Death Eater's mask turned in the direction of Erica's scream.
He looked into the compartment.
Erica's heart was thrashing against her ribcage. Her whole body trembled, muscles tightening preparing to run. Tears were streaming down her face as she thought of that poor dead boy in the corridor. Here one second and gone the next. The green light floated in front of her own vision.
The Death Eater began to stalk away to the right. Each footstep he made released a bit of tension in her chest and she let out quiet sob.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered.
Sirius' free arm wrapped around her shoulder and pressed her against him a little more. She felt James' hand patting her back. "We're okay. He's gone." Sirius said.
"That boy…" she whimpered.
"He was a prefect," James recalled, his own voice shaken. "I remember seeing him when I moved compartments. He's a hero."
"He's dead."
"Yeah," Sirius murmured. "And we need to stay quiet."
"Or we'll go the same way." James said what they were all thinking but his voice still sounded wobbly and higher pitched than before. "We gotta stay in here. It's too dangerous outside. We've just got to wait."
"Wait for what?" Sirius questioned. "They've caught us on the road. Who's gonna know we're in trouble?"
Erica's heart plummeted towards her stomach. She suppressed a shudder as the tears continued to flood her cheeks. Sirius was right. They were on their own. There weren't that many adults on the train and they might not all be alive now. The Death Eaters had come loads in number. She wished she was back home with her parents when Hogwarts was just a near distance dream. She wished she was still wrapped in her mother's arms and that she was only encountering Death Eaters in the news. But all of that was gone now and she felt the loss of it as much as she felt the absence of the dead prefect outside the compartment. She turned away from the body and looked out of the window instead.
James' face scrunched up in angry concentration. Tears pricked at his eyes but he didn't let them fall. "Maybe the older students will beat them?"
"But there's loads of them," Erica witnessed. "And what if they've killed the driver? Someone stopped the train." She felt sick again and she took a breath to hold back the nausea. "How can-" she broke off.
Outside the window, she saw figures appearing out of thin air,. Figures that were rapidly approaching the train. More yelling ensued, more hexing. But these were adult voices, adult hexes being thrown and teal uniforms now boarding the train.
Sirius followed her gaze. "Aurors!" he whispered.
For the first time since the train had been boarded, Erica felt a flutter of hope in her chest. Aurors. People trained to fight Dark Wizards. Here was the help they needed.
She just wished they could have helped the prefect,
Auror voices shouted for every student to get in the nearest compartments. The air was full of the sounds of smashing glass, grunts and groans as hexes and punches were thrown. Student cries and wails were replaced by adults roaring curses at each other. More smashing. More thudding. More shouts of unforgiveable curses. Erica felt her legs buckle when she heard a Death Eater screaming the Cruciatus Curse at someone followed by the agonized scream of a student. She dropped to a crouch, covering her ears with her hands as tremors took over her body again.
Sirius crouched down with her. She looked into his eyes. Eyes that were just as fearful and uncertain as hers. Eyes that were just as unprepared. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders again. "We stay together," he whispered.
"Together," James agreed as he knelt beside them. "We're safe for now."
"ERICA!" Grayson's voice rocketed over the train and Erica lowered her hands in horror.
"Grayson!" she murmured. Horror took the wheel once again.
"ERICA!" Her brother called, closer this time.
Erica's trembling worsened. "I need to find him. He's gonna walk into a Death Eater," she whispered.
The door to their compartment opened. A figure appeared in their doorway. Erica lifted her gaze, face full of terror until she saw her brother's worried face scouring the compartment for her. His hair was bedraggled and blood was trickling from his head. One of his hands was bloody and the other was clutching his wand.
"ERICA!" Grayson called to the corridor.
"Kid, get back in with your friends!" An Auror shouted at him.
"My sister's out here. She's missing!" Grayson yelled back furiously. "I'm not going anywhere until I find her-"
"CRUCIO!" A spell knocked into Grayson, sending him crashing to the floor, inches from where the invisible trio crouched. His body began to spasm, his mouth reluctantly parted in agony. The cries that burst from his throat were raw and terrible, cutting through Erica as if she was made of butter.
James covered Erica's mouth quickly while Sirius secured her with both arms. She began to thrash in protest.
"No-" Sirius said as he struggled with her, "if you make a sound, you'll be found. You'll be in danger. He'd want you safe."
But I want him safe too! Erica thought as she continued to struggle against Sirius. She couldn't stand to watch this and yet she couldn't take her eyes away from her brother's tormented, shaking body. Her eardrums felt like they were being ripped apart by his screams. "Grayson," she sobbed quietly against James' hand.
A Death Eater stepped into the doorway, wand trained on her brother and suddenly Erica found herself consumed by a raw, terrible anger. She longed to leap on that Death Eater - just as she used to when playing with her brothers - and punch them until their neck broke, until their hold on her big brother came to an end. She wanted to hurt them. She wanted them to die, horribly and painfully, not like the prefect's death. She wanted them to hurt.
Still struggling against Sirius and James, Erica didn't pay attention to the fact that their shoes were knocking against the base of the seat. But the Death Eater did. Turning their wand towards the corner, they began to advance. Meanwhile Grayson began to catch his breath.
"Hiding are we?" a male voice sneered from under the hood, his wand reaching further out, now only inches away from the cloak.
Closer and closer it came, closing in till it was milimetres away.
"STUPEFY!" A girl's voice shouted and the Death Eater was blasted to the side, falling half on top of Grayson, half on the seats.
Erica's insides turned to liquid, relief flowing through her veins. Yet another lucky turn for them all. She went still in her new friends' arms as she stared at Grayson. He was safe for now. He was here and he was safe. The sensation of relief did not linger long as another unpleasant realization hit her. Where was Tyson? Was he safe? Would he have followed instructions or would he have tried to fight? Erica had a horrible sensation in her stomach now. She could visualize her brother easily, fighting these people. Now she didn't know if her other brother was all right. This was unbearable. She reached up to hold the sides of her head. This was all too much. All of this. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bear this. She hated being this scared, this helpless.
Next to her Sirius had stiffened. "Is that…?"
Grayson grunted under the weight of the unconscious Death Eater. He didn't have to endure it for long as a girl marched into the compartment, grabbed the Death Eater and threw him bodily out of the room. Black hair swung about her as she moved. She spun back round and knelt next to Grayson.
"Hey," she said, looking over him. "You'll be okay," she said. "I'll help you find your sister. Just wait until it's safe. I'm sure she found somewhere safe to hide."
It was at this point that Erica realised that a lot of the cries and screams had died down now. There were still sounds of battle: cursing, blasts and racing footsteps. She could still hear some crying coming from the other compartments but it sounded like the battle was between the Aurors and Death Eaters as of now.
"I need to- to go now," Grayson murmured.
"You need to get your strength back first," the girl told him. Erica looked into her face fully for the first time. She had a kind of serene beauty that looked somewhat familiar and yet Erica was sure that she hadn't met her before.. Her raven hair bleached the colour out of her narrow face. Dark eyes looked over Grayson and then swept back up to his face. "What's your name?" she asked quietly.
"Grayson Snowdrop. My sister is Erica Snowdrop. My brother Tyson is still out there too."
"Tyson? Tyson's fine," the girl assured him. He was sitting next door to ours. I heard someone addressing him."
Erica's eyes watered and she shut her eyes at once. Tyson was safe;. Grayson was safe. They were all still here.
"You're Andromeda Black, aren't you?" Grayson asked. Erica shot a look at Sirius who was staring at the girl. "I met your cousin today," Grayson continued.
It was Andromeda's turn to look concerned. Her dark eyes shone with panic. "Do you remember where you saw him?"
"He was in here with my sister."
Andromeda swallowed. "Then they probably went to the same hiding place," she said. She rose up and offered Grayson a hand, helping him up. "Let's go and find them." She suddenly gasped and Erica's eyes opened again. "Wait, look!" Andromeda cried out, pointing towards the corridor window. "They're leaving."
As she and Grayson stepped out of the way and into the corridor, Erica could see through one of the windows. Numerous darkly clad figures outside the train were disappearing into the air. More and more cracks sounded from within the train itself. Aurors began calling out to each other, calling for the train to be checked. They hurried footsteps rumbled through the train like an engine. Andromeda and Grayson stepped to one side as uniformed figures hurried by them.
A quiet began to settle gradually over the train.
Andromeda touched Grayson's arm. "Come on, let's go and find them," she said.
Erica felt frozen in place. Her brother was so close and yet she couldn't will herself to move. She didn't want to admit that she'd been hiding here in relative safety compared to what he had gone through. It didn't matter that she didn't have the experience or knowledge of defensive spells to contribute much in this battle. She couldn't forget the sight of Grayson writhing in pain.
Once the pair had set off down the corridor, James pulled the cloak off them and rose to his feet. He seemed to move in slow motion as he unlatched his trunk and slipped the invisibility cloak inside it. After that, he flopped down in his seat, eyes fixed on the floor in front of him, where Grayson had been lying.
Sirius pulled Erica up with him as he rose. "I'm going to find Andy," he murmured before squeezing past Erica.
"Don't-" James began and broke off. Sirius hovered at the door frame. "Don't say anything about the cloak," he pleaded, hazel eyes glistening a little.
Erica nodded. She wasn't in a rush to tell anyone she'd been hiding under a cloak for the whole thing either.
Sirius also gave a small nod. "Yeah, okay. Our secret," he mumbled before heading off down the corridor.
James looked up at Erica. "You going to check on your brothers?" he asked. His gaze moved over the compartment and towards the window. Erica wondered what was going through his mind, if he was worried about the Death Eaters coming back or if something else was draining the colour from his cheeks.
Erica nodded once more but she felt a strange reluctance to leave James on his own. "I'll be back though," she promised him. "And James?" she added. When the messy-haired boy turned back to her, she offered him a smile. "Thanks for saving us."
He seemed to brighten and his lips curved into an easier smile. "It was the Gryffindor thing to do," he joked.
Erica let out a small huff of laughter before she stepped out into the corridor and set off after Sirius. She found him being hugged fiercely by Andromeda in the next carriage. Behind them, Grayson was standing with Tyson in anxious discussion.. Tyson was the first to spot her.
He squeezed past the hugging Blacks and sprinted over to Erica. She was swept up in his arms and pressed against him tightly. "Oh thank god," he murmured as Grayson reached them and pulled them both into his arms. "We shouldn't have left you, Eri. I'm so sorry. We should have stayed together. You could have been killed. Grayson nearly was. I'm so sorry. We're supposed to look after you."
Erica snuggled into them both and suddenly her cheeks were wet again."It's okay. It's okay," she whispered against Tyson's shoulder.
"No it's not. We should never have left you," Grayson said as he kissed her head and stroked her hair. "It's our job to keep you safe." Once Tyson had lowered their sister to the ground, he pulled her more fully into his chest, keeping one arm around Tyson too. "I should have kept you both safe. That's my job."
Around them, people were chattering again though it was intermingled with crying and reassuring tones. The Aurors moved around them, checking the train. Repairing charms began to undo the damages sustained in the battle. Aurors also began calling by compartments asking about injuries. For a few minutes the Snowdrop siblings stood there, closed off to what was going on around them, hugging and apologizing and letting the anxiety and relief ride out in equal measure. Reassuring themselves that they were all still here, that they were alive and together.
"I stayed hidden," Erica assured her brothers as she eventually stepped back from the hug. "I was safe and hidden. Nothing happened to me, and I wasn't alone."
Tyson eyed her, his expression shifting into suspicion. "What did Black do?" he asked, looking towards Sirius who was being escorted back down the corridor by his cousin.
Erica frowned at him. Seriously, now? "Sirius had my back," she informed him. "He was protecting me." She slumped against the carriage wall. "He even threw a hex."
It was Grayson's turn to look suspicious. "I thought you said you stayed hidden." His voice was calm but low. He'd always been better than Tyson at keeping his temper but nevertheless it was still there, lurking, waiting to be provoked.
Erica cursed her clumsy tongue but knew she'd have to come up with something quick. Tyson's shoulders were already squaring up and she just wasn't up for a big argument about it. "He got the hex in from our hiding place," she explained. It was technically true. "No one found us." Well that one was more of a lie.
A couple of Aurors approached. "Get back to your compartments, please." A tall, dark haired woman addressed them. Tyson looked as if he was going to argue but she fixed him with a firm look and one raised eyebrow. "Don't be difficult. Come on."
"Let's get Erica back to her friends," Grayson murmured, pushing his brother and sister forward.
When they got there, Andromeda was still hovering by. As Erica took her seat ,Grayson sat next to her with Tyson on the other side. James had now occupied the window seat and so Sirius had settled next to him. Andromeda stepped inside the compartment, shut the door and sat on her cousin's other side. The compartment felt so full now, Erica thought, but after what had happened, she was glad for it.
"What happens now?" Erica asked as she looked out of the window. Aurors were striding up and down along the outskirts of the train.
"I expect we'll carry on our journey soon," the older student mused. "The Aurors are just checking the casualties right now. For now, we just sit tight."
It was about an hour later when the Aurors started making the rounds. The woman who had escorted them earlier, Thalia Dreamshade, delivered the updates to the group herself. The train would be continuing its journey momentarily. The Aurors would remain with the students until they were safe in Hogwarts. As for the casualties and fatalities, they were being taken to St Mungos by the Ministry cars that had just arrived.
"They're disembarking now," Thalia advised Andromeda and Grayson. "The younger ones should look away. They don't need to see this."
"She's right," Andromeda said. "Just look at the floor."
But none of the first years did. Erica leaned towards the window. James' eyes were fixed on it too. Sirius stared gloomily as the first of the stretchers passed the window, a blanket covering the body. Erica's breathing halted in her throat when a tiny arm tumbled out from under the blanket. Another stretcher with a blanket followed along, as well as three more. Five dead, Erica thought, wondering which one was the prefect who had gone beyond his duty.
Two more stretchers were brought out but the students on these were very much alive and in a bad way. One of them was heavily bandaged and had colourful markings all over their unbandaged skin. Another one seemed to be heavily dazed and kept thrashing now and then.
James took his glasses off and wiped them on his robes. He reached up to rub the back of his hand across his eyes. "This bloody war," he muttered.
Erica stared at the grey Ministry vehicles as they began to set off. "I really hope we can win it…" she whispered.