Nightbirds

And when the wind draws strong Across the cypress tress

The Nightbirds cease their songs

So gathers memories.

-Loreena McKennitt, "Courtyard Lullaby"

Tinuvial's story- 18 years ago

It was strange.  Tinuvial felt surprisingly calm as she told Dumbledore and Arabella Figg what happened all those years ago that has haunted her ever since, that has made her flinch inwardly from any man's touch.  Although, perhaps 'calm' was not the right word.  More than anything, she felt empty.

Dumbledore looked at her carefully.  "Are you alright to continue?" he asked quietly.  She hesitated.  The worst of what happened was still untold.  She made eye contact with Snape and held it for several seconds.  Something about his flat gaze strengthened her resolve and she nodded reluctantly.

"As promised," she continued, looking down at her hands, "Sirius told Tobias what had happened…"

Only once in her lifetime had Tinuvial seen Tobias so full of rage and that had been earlier this year, when they received news that Voldemort had killed their parents.  His face had gone deathly pale and his eyes had turned from their usual deep blue to a flinty gray.


"Malfoy is dead," he whispered deliberately to Sirius, who looked frighteningly similar to Tobias.  James and Remus were outraged as well when they heard about Malfoy's attack on Tinuvial.  The girl herself felt strangely empty sitting beside Remus on the couch in the warmly lit Gryffindor common room.  Wearily, she noted that her brother's hands were shaking.

"Tobias, please," she said jadedly, "just leave it.  I wasn't hurt.  I'd rather just forget about it all."  She had said this over and over for the last hour, but in vain.  Tobias did not seem to see that the sooner she put Malfoy's violation out of her mind, the better off she would be.  She put her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, as if blocking out her vision would help.  Remus rubbed her back comfortingly.


Tobias was shaking his head.  "Something needs to be done, Tinuvial.  It's enough that we all agreed to not tell anyone else."

James grunted.  "Not that it would do any good," he said bitterly.  "Malfoy's family has so many connections, we would just be slitting Dumbledore's throat."

"But what if you get expelled?" she asked challengingly.  "Is Malfoy worth it?"

Tobias looked at her strangely.  "You are."  Tinuvial sighed in defeat.  "He's a bloody fool for having even looked at you and you can count on him being dead one, now."

And she could not change his mind.  Despite all her pleading and cajoling, Tobias stubbornly left Gryffindor tower in pursuit of Malfoy.  Sirius followed, leaving Remus, James, and Tinuvial behind.  James sighed and paced the room irritably, looking very put off by something.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.


James frowned.  "I can't help but feel that something's wrong with all of this."

Remus frowned as well.  "Something is wrong with all of this.   Malfoy tried to rape Tinuvial."  She flinched visibly at the word and Remus put his arm around her comfortingly.

James shook his head.  "No, that's not what I mean.  What would Malfoy just out of nowhere attack Tinuvial when he knows that her brother wouldn't just let it go?  And another thing, Malfoy has hardly said two words to you since you've come here, has he, Tinuvial?"

She nodded.  "We've never spoken directly."

"And you've been here for two and half years," Remus added thoughtfully.  Then he shrugged.  "Perhaps she just caught his attention at the wrong moment, I don't know.  Whatever the reason, Tobias is right.  We can't let this pass."

Tinuvial groaned.  "Oh, Remus, not you, too.  I thought you were the least violent of the group."

He smiled.  "Only at certain times of the month, love." 


It seemed that Tobias and Sirius were gone for hours.  James continued to pace the room with a thoughtful expression on his face, his brow furrowed.  Tinuvial suddenly felt as though weights were dragging down her eyelids.  She laid down, her head on Remus's leg, and fell asleep with him stroking her hair comfortingly. 


It was nearly an hour later when Tobias and Sirius returned.  "Wizard's duel," Tobias said shortly.  "Tomorrow night on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.  James, will you be my second?" 

Tinuvial had woken up when her brother entered and sat up in surprise.  "A wizard's duel?" she exclaimed.  "Tobias, are you mad?"

James didn't look too happy about it either, but agreed to back Tobias.  Her brother then turned to Sirius and Remus.  "And, you two, keep her here during all of this."

"No," she said firmly.  "This is ridiculous, you can't go into a wizard's duel with Malfoy.  Everyone says that he knows all about the Dark Arts."

Tobias rolled his eyes.  "No, that's what he says and I don't believe a word of it.  Malfoy talks big, but cannot act on his own feet.  I've known him for seven years, believe me, I know."

Tinuvial was quite close to tears.  "Please, Tobias, don't do this.  It's not worth it," she begged, fearful already of what was going to happen.

Her brother shook his head stonily, his face pale and determined.  "Do you think Mum and Dad would have let this go?" he asked her harshly.  "Do you?"

Tinuvial fled the room, frustrated and with tears streaming down her face.

***

That night was endless.  Tinuvial slept for perhaps twenty minutes towards dawn until finally just getting up.  The girl's dorm was empty for the holidays. She sighed, wishing that Lily were here instead of with her family. She dressed quickly and left the tower, deciding to go to the library.

She passed the hall where the Slytherin house was connected.  She hesitated as she heard footsteps.  For a moment, she considered running until she saw that the person leaving the house was none other than her Slytherin knight in shining armor from yesterday.

"Severus," she called quietly, trying to grab his attention.  He looked up at her in mild surprise and walked over.


"How are you today?" he asked.

She swallowed and bit her lip.  "Alright," she lied.  One look at her and Snape knew that she was lying.  He raised a cynical eyebrow at her.  She let out a shaky breath and it burst out of her.  "Oh, God, Severus, they're going to duel tonight," she moaned.

"Who?"

"Malfoy and my brother," she muttered, rubbing her temples.  "I can't talk Tobias out of it." 

"I shouldn't doubt it," he answered.  "I know your brother."  He glanced behind his shoulder.  "Where are you going?"

She shrugged wearily.  "I was going to the library, but…" she sighed, trailing off her words.

"I'll walk with you," he volunteered, leading her away from the entrance to the Slytherin house.

They walked in silence together.  "Is it true that Malfoy knows more about Dark Arts than any other student here?" she asked finally.

"No," he said rather sharply, surprising her.  "Malfoy knows some, but no more than most of them."  Tinuvial could not help but note that he did not include himself in the majority.

"What do you think my brother's chances are?" she asked in a rather small voice, her eyes worried.


Snape hesitated.  "Truthfully, I don't believe Malfoy stands a chance.  Who is your brother's second?"

"James Potter."

Something strange flashed in his eyes.  "Yes," he murmured.  "Yes, I see."  To her, he added," I wouldn't worry, myself.  Your brother is more than enough for Lucius Malfoy."

"You seem so sure of it," she said softly.  "Why can't I be so certain?"  He didn't have an answer for that.  They walked in silence until they ended up in the Great Hall, where they parted ways without a word.

***

All too soon, it was evening.  Tinuvial sat silently in the Gryffindor common room with James, Tobias, Sirius, and Remus all around her.  All of the boys were giving Tobias different bits of advice on what to use and how to block different curses, all of which he knew already, but their nervous chatter kept him focused on his task.

At last, he stood up with a sigh and James followed suit.  They walked silently to the exit until Tobias reached Tinuvial.  "Well?" he asked finally.

"Well what?" she muttered.  "Would it do any good if I told you once more that I think you are completely mad to do this?  That what happened is not worth you risking your neck like this?" 

Tobias shook his head, a shadow of his half-smile on his face.  "No," he said softly.  "But say it anyway."

She took in a shuddering breath, trying not to cry.  "I wish you weren't doing this," she whispered hoarsely.  "Something is going to happen, I can feel it."  Tobias said nothing, but hugged his little sister fiercely.

"Hey," he said softly.  "I'll be alright.  Really."  He looked into her teary eyes and rubbed her hair affectionately.  She let out a shuddery, bitter laugh.  "Just stay here, okay?"  She didn't nod.  "I mean it," he added, straightening up. 


As he turned to leave, something inside Tinuvial screamed at her to not let him go.  She very nearly called him back, but he was already out of the portrait hole and James closed the door behind them.  The resounding thud sounded eerily final to her.


"This is a big mistake," she whispered to no one in particular.  Sirius and Remus watched her closely.  She stood there for a few moment, just staring at the door.  Then, suddenly, without a word, without even thinking, she flung open the door and ran after them.  Sirius and Remus both shouted at her to stop, but she refused to listen.


To her surprise, the first person she ran into outside of Gryffindor tower was Severus Snape, who looked as though he'd been running.  "We've got to go after them," he said tensely, pulling her along after them.

"What's wrong?" she called to him, trying to keep up with his longer strides.  He didn't answer, but there was a look of pure alarm on his face.

It seemed she and Snape ran forever.  Dimly, she heard Remus and Sirius running after them.  They reached the entrance to the mansion and flung the doors open, not even stopping to close them.

"There!" he exclaimed, pointing towards the forest.  This time, it was Snape who had a hard time keeping up.  "Tinuvial, wait!" he yelled, trying to pull her back.

But she reached the edge of the forest before Snape did.  James was lying unconscious on the ground.  She saw Tobias standing there, his wand out and his face frightened.  But it wasn't Malfoy he was facing.

Standing perhaps ten meters from Tobias was a tall, unearthly pale man with a snake-like face and strange red eyes.  He was smiling coldly at Tobias and his smile dripped with venom, sending chills down Tinuvial's spine.   She realized numbly that she was looking at the man who murdered her parents.

Lord Voldemort.

Tobias raised his wand, fury racing through his eyes and all reason gone.  "Tobias, NO!" she screamed, trying to run to her brother as Snape held her back. 


But it was too late.


Casually, almost lazily, Voldemort blocked Tobias's stunning curse, sending it bouncing back towards him.  Tobias dove out of the way in surprise.

Voldemort's smile grew ever so slightly as he raised his wand.  "Avada Kedavra," he whispered.


Snape pulled Tinuvial down to the ground and covered her body with his own as an unholy flash of silver light blinded them.  When it was gone, Tobias was lying motionless on the ground.

 "No," Tinuvial whispered in disbelief.  "Oh, God, please no!"  Before Snape could stop her, she had crawled frantically over to Tobias.  She cradled his body in her small arms.  "Tobias, wake up," she begged. "Please wake up."  But even as she uttered these futile words, the whole reality set in.  Tobias was dead.

A feeling of unbearable loss wrenched at her heart painfully and she began to sob, hiding her face in Tobias's chest as she had so often in those dark days when their parents had been murdered.  Only now, there were no strong arms to hold her and comfort her.  There was no one to reassure her that it was all right, Tinuvial, your older brother will take care of you.  Tobias was gone forever.  Snape had come up behind her at some point and was holding her awkwardly, as though he had never held someone before. 


It had only taken a second and her world was shattered irreparably.  There was only her and Tobias sitting together on the cold earth.  She did not notice Snape with his arm around he.  Nor did she see Voldemort approach her.


"Poor child," he said insincerely, making a mockery of her grief.  "Poor, lonely, little Fairy girl."  He grabbed her chin gently and pulled it up so that she was looking at him.  His evil red eyes burned into her anguished blue ones.  "There's something different about you," he hissed finally.  "You have something that neither your parents or this fool here had."  She yanked her chin away and shut her eyes tightly, praying that she would wake up to find that all of this had been a nightmare.

He then shifted his gaze to Snape, who tightened his grip on Tinuvial protectively.  Voldemort smiled once more.  "You, too," he said softly.  "You have a strange sort of power in you, too."

She had no idea what happened next or what was said after she closed her eyes until Voldemort laughed chillingly.  "I will be seeing you again," he promised Tinuvial.  And he seemed to disappear. 

"Tinuvial."  It was Remus, and his face was shining with tears, his eyes grief-stricken.  He had appeared at some point from behind.  "I saw," he mumbled numbly.  "I saw everything.  Sirius and I, we ran after you, but Malfoy stopped us right outside the doors.  We knew something was wrong then.  Sirius fought with him and I came down here after…" his words rambled together in nonsense in her mind. Snape stepped away from the grieving friends, his face emotionless, but his eyes had a strangely thoughtful glint in them. 

But Tinuvial did not see it.

***

The rest of the day passed in a blur.  It seems Sirius had Petrified Malfoy and ran to find Dumbledore.  Tinuvial barely remembered what happened next.  She seemed to vaguely recall Professor McGonagell sobbing as she hugged the girl, it seems to comfort herself more than Tinuvial.  Sirius was apoplectic with rage and it took a sleeping draught to keep him from attacking someone, anyone, with his bare hands.   Remus sat beside James's (who was still unconscious) bed in the hospital wing, his face stony.  Tinuvial was numb with grief.

Against her will, she took a draught to induce sleep.  Tobias's death was replayed over and over as she slept.  When she awoke, her first thought was to go find Tobias and tell him about her dream.  But then she remembered that it hadn't been a dream. 

And the grief threatened to overwhelm her once more.

***

"We realized later that Malfoy had been working for Voldemort even then," she said to Dumbledore.  "It was all a mad, insane set-up so Voldemort could finish of the rest of our family.  But he didn't kill me, because he thought that…"

"…that she would turn and work for
him," Snape said quietly, surprising them all, as he had been silent all through the telling. 

Arabella Figg sat numbly in her seat, her tea untouched now.   Dumbledore looked at them all gravely.  "And you believe that Malfoy would try to set her up again?" he asked quietly to Snape, who didn't answer.  His silence was answer enough.   Dumbledore sighed heavily.


"A dark story, my child," he said gently to Tinuvial.  "I always felt that you were hiding something rather large from me."  He smiled rather sadly.  "I'm sorry to have made you live through that again."  She shook her head wearily.

"Do not worry yourself," she said, trying to keep her tone light, but failing.  She stood up and left the room silently.  Everyone else watched her leave, seeing her in a new light. Snape followed suit and left the room as well.

"There is more strength than even I could have imagined behind that child," Dumbledore said softly to Arabella Figg, who nodded in agreement.  "It gives me hope to see that.  Perhaps we actually do have a better chance against this evil now."