Author's Note: We are coming close to the end of this story, only six chapters left. There will be a sequel, but I have an original novel which needs finishing and another FF story I'm in the thick of, and I find writing more than two things at once makes my mind a bit scattered. Thank you to everyone who is reading and those who take time to review. I am humbled. MNF
Chapter 59:
Impressions
Wednesday 16 November 1977
"Hey guys, since we don't have classes, I thought maybe we could nip into Hogsmeade this afternoon and get some pranking supplies and maybe a bottle of Firewhisky? We're all free, right? Poker?" Peter asked.
"I'm with my tutor all day, Pete," Remus said. Monty had hired Remus several tutors so that he could take his "A" levels at the end of the year. He planned to go to Muggle University to study history with the end goal of becoming a history tutor.
"We can't," James said. "We're at the Ministry today for DMLE classes in the morning, and then Auror Moody will take us out on patrol with him." Their innate skills at Defence, Charms, and Transfiguration had Sirius and James moved out of the regular pre-DMLE training, which was given to seventh years and those they expected to wash out quickly and were with the first year DMLE trainees. It meant more classes and time out in the field.
"Charlotte? Emme?" Peter asked, knowing Lily would be down in the Potions lab helping the first- and second-year students this afternoon, and Anwen and Eva were going to St. Mungos. It was all they ever talked about, at least to Peter's ears.
"I can't, Peter," Emme said. "I have a huge Divination project with which I'll be in the library most of the day. Maggie and I are working on it together."
"I'm tutoring a few third-year Gryffindor girls on Runes this afternoon, sorry," Charlotte said.
"We're sorry, Pete," Sirius said. "We all have tighter schedules than you this year. But, why don't we play some chess later, yeah?"
"Whatever," he mumbled. Peter slinked out of the Great Hall, not even finishing his breakfast. Sure, he was in the Potions class the second half of this morning, but that was his only Wednesday class. He hated that they all had things to do for their courses or careers. He wasn't even sure what he'd be doing after finishing Hogwarts in the spring.
"I'm not a slouch," Peter thought, "but they always count me out. Maybe I wanted to join the DMLE too, but no one asked me to apply. I could tutor younger students or help teach them, but again, no one asked me. I'm a Marauder too! Of course, I'm not sure Sirius trusts me anymore. Not after lying about him in May. If I'd admitted that I sent Severus down to the shack, not Sirius, James would have beaten me bloody and then insisted I leave their room. Not that it's like it used to be. Sirius is gone, married to that slag, Anwen, and James is never there because he's Head Boy. Even Remus leaves to meet his tutor back at the Potter's place. I just want what I had when we were younger. We only have a few months left before we aren't roommates anymore.
Peter wandered around the grounds, getting angrier as he went. "But it really was never the four of us; it was always five because of stupid Anwen. I get it, she's James's adopted sister, but did she need to be everywhere all the time? The more I think about it, the trio of James, Sirius, Anwen and then Remus and I were afterthoughts. Now they all have girlfriends, well, Sirius has a wife; stupid move on his part, since he could shag any girl at the school, why did he pick just one? I wish some of the birds looked at me like they looked at him. Anyway, they all have someone and spend time with those dumb girls. I wish Loretta was still here. Once I slipped her the love potion, she did whatever I asked. Severus was brilliant at brewing it. Genius he is. I wish I was like him, then I could be in those private lessons with Lily and not him. I could smell her; she always smelled like flowers. Maybe I could slip her a little love potion, make her forget James.
"Yeah, do that, and you won't have any friends." So Peter finally ended up in Hogsmeade, bought himself a bottle of Firewhisky and went to the Shrieking Shack to drink away his day.
"I'll show them that I'm still important," an inebriated Peter said aloud before he passed out, missing lunch. None of the others gave more than a passing notice of his not being among them or that he'd missed their Potions lesson.
A&S A&S A&S A&S A&S
Late that afternoon, Eva and Anwen found themselves in the A & E department at St Mungos. They had both been looking forward to it until they realized they would be in a supply closet, winding bandages by hand. They'd been there for three hours already. It would be dark by the time they returned to Hogwarts.
"This is exceptionally dull," Anwen said. "I should have stayed at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey lets me heal minor wounds or assess students for potions. Of course, she approves them, but I'm generally spot on. Then again, it's not hard to tell when someone needs a spot of Pepper-Up or a Calming Draught."
"Well, this is better than those who have ended up on bedpan duty. That's gross," Eva said.
"True," Anwen agreed. "Why they just aren't using Elimination Spells is beyond me. We use them at Hogwarts all the time." Eva made a funny, scrunched-up face to demonstrate her distaste for them. "You do them to your boyfriend the day after his furry escapades; I know you do."
"Well, that's for love. So here it's just –" Eva stopped speaking when the alarm went off through the public address system.
"All available personnel report to the A & E department immediately. Repeat all available personnel report to the A & E department immediately. Mass injury and casualty event."
"What the hell?" Eva said, dropping the bandage from her hands and opening the door. Aurors were popping into the main reception area quickly with the wounded. Anwen rushed out, going to a girl who looked to be about seven or eight. There were people everywhere, with orderlies conjuring gurneys and putting people into rooms, sometimes two to a space intended for just one. Healers, medi-witches, specialists were rushing in and out, and Eva caught sight of James, blood and soot on his face and clothes. Before she could speak, however, he was gone again, lost in a sea of those who needed help. Eva saw an Auror passing by and grabbed her by their red-robed arm.
"What happened?"
"Death Eaters attacked a high-rise," the Auror said. "They flew around it, blasting all the floors at once. We're doing what we can, but the damage and the fires set..." she sighed. "It will be a miracle if we can save more than fifty people. We think four hundred people were living there."
"Won't most of them be at work?" Eva asked, taking the woman's vitals the Auror had set down on the gurney.
"Maybe, but we were pulling women, children, and the elderly out. There are so many bodies." The woman turned and went to the Disapparation Point and left. Eva began her notation of the patient like Madame Pomfrey had taught her.
Across the room, Anwen was preparing to set the girl's arm. She'd taken the girl into the special paediatric room where the colours were bright and cheerful, and there was a dragon painted on the wall. It was less chaotic, which aided in calming the girl for the procedure.
The bone needed to be set before she could repair the damage to the skin where the bone had poked through and then put a stasis on the whole arm. She didn't think it would need surgery. She was thankful Madame Pomfrey let her set an arm in similar condition just this past week. It had been a Quidditch accident where two of the Slytherin Chasers had run into each other at full speed.
"Okay, Crystal, I'm going to fix your arm now. I want you to look away, and then we're going to sing a song together. Do you know Fly, fly, fly your broom?" Crystal nodded.
"I wish I had my dragon toy," she said softly.
"Let's see what I can do about that. What colour is your dragon?"
"Red with a black tummy," she said through her sniffles.
"Like a Chinese Fireball?" Anwen asked. Crystal nodded, and Anwen twisted her hands, and a dragon toy suddenly appeared.
"Wow! You're amazing!" Anwen nodded; if it got her through the mending of a compound fracture, then it was worth it. Anwen handed the girl the dragon and gently moved her head to turn it away from where Anwen would be working. They began the song, and Anwen lifted the towel off her arm. The fracture was ugly, and there were a few minor burns on the girl's hand.
With gentle twists of her hands, Anwen slid the bones back into place, and with her visualization skills, she could fit the fractured edges back together. She then conjured a thin thread of her magic and gently wound it around the break. The sealing of the wound and treating of the burns was over in minutes. She then put the stasis charm on. Anwen then triggered a light over the area so someone from transport would know she was ready to have her patient moved.
"There you go, Crystal; you can look now. I'm going to have someone move you up to our paediatric ward. We'll try to find your mum, too."
"Mummy and Daddy are both at work," she said quietly. "I was with Granny Mae, but I know she's dead. I saw her." Crystal began to cry again.
"Oh, you dear girl," Anwen said softly, pulling a stool. "I bet that was hard for you to see. I will make sure I can come up and talk with you later, okay. For right now, though, this nice lady will move you upstairs."
"Thank you, Anwen."
"You're welcome, Crystal." Anwen watched the gurney leave, and as she was about to turn and clean the room, the healer in charge of the training program came in.
"Healer Crane, hello. I was about to clean up so I could treat another patient," Anwen said. The chief training healer had to have been close to ninety, had hair which was an odd shade of silvery-blue and wore a monocle. She'd instantly disliked Anwen since she didn't use a wand. She also was quite upset at what the student was already allowed to do in her training program at Hogwarts. She didn't believe in students being allowed as much leeway as Madame Pomfrey often gave her apprentices. She was also biased against Eva because of her mother's heritage. Anwen braced herself for whatever the Healer would say next.
"You might be allowed to treat patients independently while at Hogwarts, but you are to only work while supervised in this setting," the woman said.
"I'm sorry," Anwen replied, not feeling repentant. "That said, in the situation, we're in, I thought it made sense to work with a patient I knew I was capable of healing."
"How do you know you set that bone properly?" The chief healer looked at the girl, trying to make her stand down. Anwen had grown up with three boys; she didn't wilt so quickly.
"I've healed more than twenty broken bones," Anwen stated firmly. "I dealt with a compound fracture earlier this week, which was also in an arm. I checked the blood flow, the nerves, and as far as I could determine, she's going to heal just fine."
"I know she will," Healer Crane said with annoyance. "I watched you, and while I don't like renegade healers, you handled the situation well. Your idea of having her sing while you did the spellwork was ingenious. I've never seen a child be healed so quickly and without histrionics involved. Anwen, you'll be a talented healer one day, but you're not there yet. Make sure you are supervised in the future."
"Yes, Healer Crane."
"Good, we have another child who has burns on his hands and feet; please go, and treat them. I'll be in the room with you, but I want to assess your abilities."
A&S A&S A&S A&S A&S
Back at the fire sight, James and Sirius were doing what they could to help. The Death Eaters engaged as soon as the Aurors arrived, which was not quick enough to save most people living in the high-rise. Sirius saw his cousin, Bellatrix, and immediately sent a Severing Hex at her, but she dodged it. James engaged as well, so the fight became two against one.
"Why are you doing this?" Sirius asked Bella. "This is a building full of magical people."
"Most of them are Muggleborn or married to Muggleborns. They can't find anywhere else to let. Those we don't kill will disappear with nowhere to live," she yelled back before sending a Bludgeoning Hex at him. James had a Shield Charm up, which blocked the hex from doing any more than knocking Sirius onto his bum. "My Lord will forgive you for your actions here today. Join the rest of our family, Sirius."
"I think I'll stay right where I am, thanks." He sent another curse at her, but it went wide. James attempted to disarm her, but Bella just batted the spell away. She then sent an Incarcerous at James, quickly tying him to a nearby light post. His wand fell to the ground. Bella then trained her wand at her cousin.
"Last chance, Sirius," Bella taunted with a cackle. "I'll spare Potter, but you come to join us. We will even let you keep your wife since she's such a prize for the Dark Lord."
"Never, Bella. Expelliarmus," he roared, but her wand didn't budge. On the verge of hexing him, Sirius put a shield up and hoped it was enough. Instead, he was shocked when Bellatrix Lestrange fell to the ground, her body wrapped in what looked like tree roots.
"Get away from my sons!" Euphemia Potter screamed. Sirius looked, shocked to see his parents standing close; Monty engaged with someone who bore a strong resemblance to Lucius Malfoy, even with his mask on.
"Mum? Dad?" James muttered.
"Bellatrix could move her fingers enough to touch the small pendant on her neck. Instantly she was gone, as were most of the other Death Eaters.
"Damn it!" Fee yelled while she freed James. The boys looked at her, confused. "Your dad and I have some things we need to tell you."