Disclaimer: I do not own the world or characters of the wonderful JK Rowling. She simply lets me borrow them for my own pleasures. The Hellsing family, Blodwen Evans and any other unrecognized characters are my own creations.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I had to pack up all my stuff and leave the university for the summer. Don't know how often I'll be updating from home, as I'm trying to find a job (Curse the US job market!) but I'll try to keep things at a steady pace. Be prepared for shorter chapters.
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The clock was chiming midnight when MaryAnn Potter finally found them.
"Sirius?"
He glanced up at her, bleary eyed. Ani, fitfully dozing, made a small noise and clenched her arm tighter around Sirius' middle. He shifted so that he sat up, but made no move to leave the bed as Mrs. Potter and two of the three other Marauders peaked in through the door.
When she saw the sleeping Ani, her face tear-streaked and her hands clutching at Sirius, Mrs. Potter fell silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice had lost the raggedness of exhaustion and had the tone familiar of all mothers—except for, of course, Sirius' own. "Darling, we need to get Remus and Peter back home," Mrs. Potter said softly, "and then we must decide whether or not you're going back to London."
Sirius looked down at the face that rested against his chest, smooth pale skin against dark fabric. "I don't want to disturb her," he said, and hazarded a look up at Remus. The werewolf had turned away, was standing unobtrusively off to the side, but Sirius knew he heard every word that was spoken. He then glanced over to James, who seemed weary and on edge. The day had taken its toll on everyone.
"Mobilicorpus," Mrs. Potter murmured, waving her wand gently. Ani slowly drifted up off of Sirius, and he carefully removed her fingers from their hold on him, lifting himself up off the bed where they'd eventually settled. As Mrs. Potter lowered Ani to the bed once again, Sirius carefully draped a folded quilt over her. He paused for a moment, brushing hair away from her eyes, when James' mother said—gentle but firm—"Sirius, we have to go now."
"Alright." He turned and left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. Mrs. Potter descended the stairs first, her son behind her and Remus and Sirius at the rear. As he walked down the wooden stairs, Sirius' mind was on fire.
He inhaled and the scent of lemons swarmed his senses. My shirt smells like Ani's hair, he thought, and for some reason the thought sent a wave of irritation—and something else—sweeping through him.
In his distraction, his foot missed a step and he nearly toppled down the stairs. Instead, he stumbled into Remus, who shot back a filthy look. Sirius repressed an urge to reach out and send his friend toppling down the stairs, but clenched his fits again, schooling his pique down. What is wrong with me? he asked himself incredulously. His temper, though easy to inflame, wasn't usually so volatile. James had the tendency to put his frustrations into action, Sirius was more accustomed to sneers and verbal flames. Growing up in my house, he thought, I couldn't exactly help it.
Cassie Hellsing, along with Peter, Lily, her parents, and James' father, stood in the kitchen, waiting for them as they descended. "Are you sure you won't stay the night?" Cassie Hellsing asked. Her grief of earlier had faded to a dull quiet and she seemed calm as she took Mrs. Potter by the hands. "It's so late for traveling, and you've all been so good to stay here with me. We've got more than enough room."
Mrs. Potter kissed Mrs. Hellsing on the cheek and Sirius thought that Cassie suddenly looked no older than her sleeping daughter. "We've been underfoot long enough," she said, patting the other woman's hand. "I must get these boys home. But Harold and I will check in with you every so often, to see if there's anything at all you need." She glanced over at Blodwen Evans. "Will you stay with her for us?"
"Of course." Lily's mother put a warm arm around her neighbor. "I'll take good care of her. Lily," she said to her daughter, "perhaps you ought to go up to bed with Ani. She'll want someone there when she wakes up."
"Alright, Mum," Lily said. She moved towards the stairs but then paused and did something that shocked Sirius. She reached out and hugged each of the Marauders in turn, first Peter, then Remus, then himself, and finally James. Exchanging dazed looks, they all hugged her back—what else could they do? She lingered the longest with James and they looked at one another for a long moment as Lily pulled back and murmured, "Goodnight." She rushed up the stairs and out of sight.
"We'll check in with you tomorrow," Mrs. Potter said as Cassie Hellsing offered out a cup of Floo powder. The Marauders each took a pinch. "Try to get some sleep. Harold will Apparate first and then you can take the Floo, Remus, darling."
"Thank you again," Mrs. Hellsing said to James' father and the occupants of the kitchen watched as the older man disappeared. She looked at the boys and offered a weak smile. "It was nice to meet you all. I'm always glad to know Ani's friends from school. Remus, your father is John Lupin, isn't he? Would you… tell him that Cephas says hello, won't you? They were friends in school, he'd want to say hi to him." Her smile wavered. "I'm sure they'll both be glad you and Ani are friends."
The werewolf nodded and took a pinch of the Floo powder. "I'll be sure do that, Mrs. Hellsing," he said. To the others, he said, "I'll see you at my house." He threw down the powder and stepped into the green flames, calling out, "Moonflower Cottage!" The flames whirled and engulfed him and soon he was gone.
Mrs. Potter instructed Peter into the fire and then turned and beckoned for Sirius. "Your turn, love, and then James."
He moved towards the fire, then hesitated. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "Go ahead, James."
Mrs. Hellsing gave him a curious look as Sirius crossed the kitchen. He spied a spare bit of parchment on the counter beneath a pile of cookbooks and gently unearthed it. Ignoring the curious looks of the others, he drew out his wand—Underage magic be damned, some inner voice whispered—and carefully emblazoned the parchment with his name and address and, as an afterthought, the Potters' address.
He gave it to Ani's mother. "Would you please give this to Ani?" he asked, stumbling and nervous, the words spilling forth unbidden. "And tell her to write to me and James at his house?"
"Of course, dear," Mrs. Hellsing said, and she carefully tucked the parchment into the pocket of one of her robes. "I'll see that she gets it."
Sirius nodded his thanks and, before he could rethink what he'd done or James could comment, he stepped into the fireplace. A moment later the green flames enveloped him.
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"Ani, love? Can I come in?"
"Of course, Mum," Ani replied. She carefully placed her quill back into the inkpot and pushed her letter to Sirius off to one side. "Where's Rion?" she asked automatically.
Cassie Hellsing gave her daughter an exhausted smile. "I just checked up on him," she said as she perched on the edge of Ani's unmade bed. "He's over at the Liondragon's Lair, taking care of things and arranging for Chaz to put in some extra hours."
Ani nodded and tilted back in her chair to eye her mother speculatively. She looked—no point in trying to deny it—terrible. The dark curls she shared with her daughter were matted down against her head and her eyes seemed darker than ever, ringed by bruise-like circles. Yet despite her initial hysterics, in the face of all the trauma, Cassie Hellsing had remained strong. Any doubt as to whether or not her mother was the strongest woman alive had instantly evaporated as Ani watched, somewhat helplessly, as her mother nursed her fallen child and mourned over her missing husband.
The Healer they'd called in had banished Ani from her brother's bedside, leaving her feeling like the house's sole resident as her mother refused to leave Lynx's side. She haunted the garden rather than stay inside, preferring the solitude and the scent of plants and sunlight to rattling around in the empty rooms. But one night, as the her mother was escorting the Healer, who needed new supplies, to the fireplace, Ani had managed to sneak past him and peered into Rion's bedroom where their eldest brother still lay.
The blood had been washed away, but the deep, angry red wand wounds stayed on his skin, a scalding reminder of the incident a week before. He fretted all the time in his sleep—Ani's nights were haunted by Lynx's screams, and she had steadily lost more and more sleep until their mother had put a Silencing charm on the room—and had yet to open his eyes. Seeing her brother, her active, lively, laughing brother lost somewhere between dreams and waking, was too much for Ani to handle. It had begun to haunt her sleep now, leaving her laying awake into the wee hours of the morning. She hadn't had a decent sleep since that night she'd fallen asleep with Sirius at her side. Her dreams were stirring, strange, dark, and Ani was loath to submit to them.
Needless to say, she hadn't been back to her brother's room. But her mother had never left and barely paused to eat or sleep, opting instead to stay at her son's side.
With a gentle tone that she didn't know she possessed in her voice, Ani moved to sit next to her mother on the bed and suggested, "Mum, why don't you go take a hot bath and try to kip a bit? You look exhausted. I'll go up and sit with Lynx." She paused, mulling over her words, then said suspiciously, "By the way, why aren't you with Lynx now? You haven't left him in almost six days."
"Healer Martenson is up there with him now," her mother responded, "and I don't need to kip, I'm fine." Liar, Ani thought. "Besides, I came down to talk to you for a reason."
Her mother's words instantly set Ani on edge. She tried for lightness, joking, "O.W.L. results can't be in yet, can they? Surely mine weren't that bad!"
The attempt was rewarded with a wry smile. "No, they're not in yet, but your marks have always been exceptional," Mrs. Hellsing replied. "Better than the boys' ever were. Your father and I have always been very proud of you."
"Thanks, but that's not why you came down, I know," Ani said. "So what is it?"
"I need you to pack a bag for yourself, we're going to London tomorrow."
They were silent for a moment. That's too easy, Ani worried. She hedged cautiously, "Okay… Why are we going to London?"
With a drained sigh, Mrs. Hellsing reached out and smoothed her daughter's hair. When her mother spoke, her voice was calm but flat, as though feeling had been replaced with resignation. A distinct feeling of trepidation filled Ani's heart. "Healer Martenson doesn't think Lynx is getting any better," she began slowly. "He thinks we need to consider having him lodged in Ward 49 at St. Mungo's Hospital in London… maybe permanently."
"Mum!" Ani cried out, leaping up. "They put Professor Rignora's son into Ward 49 after a memory charm he tried to use for his N.E.W.T.s backfired! People don't leave Ward 49. You can't tell me you're considering it? Lynx is going to be fine, it's only been a few days!"
"Honey, please, come on, sit down." Her mother reached out and took her wild-eyed daughter's hand, easing her down. Ani gulped for air and fought for her composure, feeling as though she'd swallowed a block of ice. "Either way, Lynx needs more than just one Healer for medical attention. He's not well, poppet, and I can't take care of him properly here."
Ani tried to speak, but her mother held up a hand and pushed on. "At this point, we're just going to see what some other Healers have to say," Mrs. Hellsing said, her voice firm but gentle. "Rion is going to stay with Chaz in his flat so he can tend to the restaurant, but I just don't feel comfortable leaving you. Normally you could stay with Lily, but not this time, okay? I just don't think it's safe, and everyone else agrees."
Her ears perked up, but outwardly all she did was nod. Though the Ministry agents had cleared out after the first few days, Ani was unable to shake the feeling that they were constantly under surveillance. It did little to assuage her suspicions when she was walking through the garden one day and saw a gaggle of garden gnomes fleeing and shaking their fists at what seemed to be a perfectly ordinary tea-rose bush. She came out later that evening to find that the bush—which she had thought seemed out of place—had shifted exactly one foot to the left. That had put her on edge, but a gentle probing with her wand had produced no result.
Odd indeed.
Thinking of this incident, Ani said to her mother, "Mum, what's going on? It's been a week, and I'm still in the dark. Can you tell me anything? Do we know any more about what happened to Dad, or who did this to Lynx? And does anyone know where Blythe is? When are they going to tell us something?"
Mrs. Hellsing sighed again, and Ani discovered how very tired she was of hearing the sound. "I don't know anymore than you do, my love," she said, tucking one leg up to her chest like a young girl. "As for Daddy, well… your father is a very influential man, Ani. Very influential and very opinionated, and a lot of people don't like that."
"Is this about the Pureblood Sanctity Act?"
"Yes," Mrs. Hellsing said slowly, "we think it might be. Daddy thinks it's an ignorant, dangerous act and he feels that the time to take action against it is now. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees. What all have you heard about that, Ani?"
"Not very much," she admitted. "I heard you and Daddy talking about it the day after I got home from school. Otherwise I just know that most of the kids my age think it's stupid."
"Even Sirius?"
Ani looked quickly at her mother, whose blue eyes were just a bit too innocent. "Come to think of it, I haven't really discussed it much with Sirius," she said reproachfully. "Why do you ask?"
Her mother caught her tone and chided, "Don't get sharp, young lady. You're not stupid, Ani, and neither am I, and both of us know what kind of a family Sirius is from. I'm not saying he's not a nice boy, mind you… I was just wondering if you'd heard him say anything about the Act, that's all."
"We don't talk about it," Ani said stiffly. "It's not an important topic of conversation."
Seemingly satisfied, Mrs. Hellsing pushed up off the bed. "We'll leave early tomorrow morning," she said, signaling the end of the conversation. "I'll wake you when it's time to go. Please have your bag packed by then." She kissed Ani's hair and squeezed her shoulder. "Goodnight, darling, pleasant dreams."
Ani watched as her mother moved slowly from the room and went back down the hall to Lynx. A feeling of loss that she'd never known before welled up within her. Visions crowded into Ani's skull of Lynx's slack face, pale against white sheets, alone in a stark room, his moaning the only echo through the silence. The vision shifted to one of her mother, her face aged beyond her time, haggard and gaunt with tears glistening in a slow, unstoppable stream.
Her fists clenched without her realizing it and the corners of her eyes began to burn uncontrollably. She would not let that happen.
Resolved, she moved back to her desk and promptly balled up her parchment, pulling loose a fresh sheet. A few moments later, having written so rapidly that the parchment was splattered with ink, she chirruped deep in her throat, calling Ghost to perch on her shoulder as she bound her notes around his foot. "Don't dawdle," she told the bird firmly. "We're on a mission."
Ghost nibbled her ear in the affirmative and instantly swooped off Ani's shoulder into the still night. Edgy and with sleep hours away, Ani lay on her bed and stared unblinkingly at the ceiling. The time to take action was indeed now.