A/N: Harry isn't mine, nor is anything else JKR wrote. If they were mine, they wouldn't have been written by her.
Chapter 5: Family Ties
Alana regained consciousness with a great deal of pain. Her head was clouded as if she had gotten drunk the night before. Her arms felt like great blocks of cement and her eyes, although open, were sightless. She tried to speak to the nurse at her side, but her throat burned and her lips were cracked and bleeding so it proved impossible. Instead, she only moaned, hoping it was audible.
At first, Madame Pomphrey thought the noise she heard was from some sort of animal outside, but when she heard it again, it was louder, and came from her unconscious patient on the other side of the room.
"Are you awake?" she asked quietly as she moved next to the bed. "Where does it hurt?"
Alana didn't respond right away, but squeezed her eyes shut and moved her head to the side.
"Everywhere." she said softly, unable to raise her voice above a hoarse whisper. "My head, throat, arms, legs, chest, everywhere."
"If you drink this, it should get rid of the pain." the nurse held out a goblet of potion as red as blood. Alana laughed quietly when she held it out for her to take.
"I couldn't take that if I wanted to. My arms are heavy and I'm not at my best. I could drink it if you held the glass for me." Madame Pomphrey propped Alana's head against the headboard and tilted the cup to her mouth. Alana felt the effects of the potion immediately as it filled her mouth. It was cool and calmed her parched throat, only seconds later, she had no more pain, but was still exhausted.
"Thank You." she said, lifting herself into a sitting position with a look as if she had suddenly remembered something extremely important. "I was wondering, has Albus arrived here yet?"
"The headmaster? Yes, he arrived a few hours ago, you slept through the whole day." she was checking Alana for any signs of fever or stiffness. "Why do you want to speak to him?"
"He is a family friend." was Alana's response. "He should be able to send my aunt a message, tell her what happened. I'm sure she'll know by now but she'd probably want to hear I'm okay from someone she trusts."
Madame Pomphrey was about to ask how her aunt could already know of the previous night's events, but was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.
"Come in!" she shouted to the next room and the door opened and in stepped an older man, with a shinning silver beard and half moon spectacles.
"Professor! We were just talking about you." the nurse said, ceasing her inspection of Alana's well being. "Miss Lucas here says she had something to discuss with you."
"Thank you Poppy, could you excuse us for a moment?" he asked pointedly, adamant on not taking no for an answer.
"I must respectfully decline headmaster," she said unwillingly "She is not to get out of bed and certainly shouldn't have visitors. She may be healed but certainly needs rest. Being unconscious doesn't count."
"No worries ma'am." Alana said cheerfully "As soon as I'm done talking, I'll be straight to bed."
As Madame Pomfrey hesitantly left the room, Dumbledore took a seat in one of the overstuffed velvet chairs near Alana's bed. He didn't speak immediately, but instead clasped his hands together and gave her a piercing look, like he was looking into her soul.
"Don't start your mind games with me Uncle." Alana said, turning her head away to break their eye contact completely. "You know you can ask me anything and I'll answer you true." Dumbledore chuckled softly and relaxed in his chair.
"You know me all too well Alana." he said, scratching his beard. "And you know I'm not your uncle. So if you'll answer my questions true, would you mind telling me why you attempted to cast that spell? You should know it's beyond your abilities and not to mention you haven't done any magic for nearly seven months." his tone wasn't a happy one anymore. Even though she knew him as an extraordinarily kind man, she also knew he had a lot of concern for his close friends and family.
"Her name was Turner." was all Alana said and comprehension crossed Dumbledore's features.
"I see. A cousin. From Austria, yes?"
"Australia." She corrected, crossing her arms in front of her in an attempt to look angry at him. "Forgive my ignorance but I thought it would be nice for her to be send all the way to the end of Death, and completely unable to be brought back by some bloody necromancer."
"I understand, but you should have gotten a hold of someone from her family or -"
"She's a cousin and a close friend before that! I'm not going to stand by and let her be locked into an eternity of servitude! Especially not with all the stuff our kind knows! Can you imagine the terror? A dead creature with the powers to banish and bind the other dead to its will! The earth would never see such horrors again! I won't let that happen!" Alana was on her feet now, and her eyes, burning bright red, staring straight into his.
"Sit down Alana." Albus said, remaining calm. "I only have your best interests at heart. I'm very sure you aunt Ailbe would agree with me on this."
"Don't bring her into this. You know very well how much power I have and I went through this with barely any problems at all. I had never cast that spell before and only ever saw it once. Other mages would have been consumed by it and burned to death. I refuse to be treated like I have weak magic when I don't! I'm fine, not even tired anymore, and I have half mind to go home right now!"
"You will do no such thing." Albus said sternly "I will call on one of your aunts, and if you're lucky, it will be Roisin to answer, not Ailbe. Your family will be the ones to decide what happens from here but I am quite confident they will not allow you to come home, last I heard, Cliona was still worried about you. "
"Of course she's worried, she's young. She doesn't understand how her visions work. If you were six, would you?"
"No I wouldn't but that's not the point. Ailbe thinks you need to stay safe no matter what the costs. She's got it in her head that the prophecy of lights is about you and she-"
Alana growled in fury, and turned to leave the room but something held her back. "Uncle, let me go. I don't want to have to spell my way out of here." But the hold remain steady.
"You will stay here and get your rest while I talk to your aunts." Alana found herself obeying the command although she had no wish to do as she was told.
"I thought you hated using Free Magic in your world?" she sneered at Dumbledore.
"You're actions leave me no choice."
"You do know that I can walk away from this at any time I want don't you?"
"Yes, but I assume you will use your best judgment and stay. I'm sure your Aunts-"
"Would be displeased if I disobeyed a direct command of Shengale because much respect is due to the ancients."
Albus smiled as she slid back into the bed and rose from his chair and left the room. He immediately went to the washroom and filled a large, stone basin with water.
"Through the waters of death I send summons to The House of Lamont." he whispered as he sprinkled a fine, blue powder into the water. Blurry images formed on its surface, but one figure was clear, a woman's face, surrounded by thick, dark curls and eyes as yellow as a hawk's. On her head she wore a circlet of gold inlaid with a single circular piece of amber, the sign of a healer.
"Hello Aislinn." Albus said to the figure in the water
"Uncle?" said the woman, frowning at him. She knew better than to immediately trust a figure in the pond, "Why are you calling? Not that it's not good to hear from you..."
"I wanted to talk to one of your aunts, we had a little incident out here that they should know about."
"Wonderful...." Aislinn said, rolling her eyes. "Hang on, I'll see who's in the kitchen." She disappeared from Dumbledore line of sight. A moment later, another woman, this time with shorter, brown tresses, electric blue eyes and a complexion of a Mediterranean sun-worshiper appeared in front of him. She was wiping her hands on a black tea towel.
"Hello Albus dear."she said cheerfully. "What can I help you with? Aislinn says there's been some sort of accident."
"An attack, Ciara." Dumbledore responded. "By Deatheaters, in Rome."
"Rome! Isn't that where Alana is?"
"That's why I've called actually. She's her with me now, but she had a bit of trouble with a spell she cast. A funeral pyre for a distant cousin who was killed."
"She's never done that before. I don't think she's even learned it yet. Why did she do something like that? And how is she even alive?" The woman asked her questions remarkably fast and all in one breath.
"I'm not sure exactly but I told her I had to talk to you or one of your sisters before she could leave here."
"Let me guess, she wanted out as soon as she was able to stand."
"Pretty much so. But I thought it best to let you and your family to decide what will happen to her now."
Ciara sighed and rested her hands in her apron pocket. "Well, if it were my decision alone, I would keep her away from here. Cliona's vision wasn't very clear on times. No one knows when or if that'll be or what to do when it happens."
"What do you plan on doing with her while you wait for the vision to pass?"
"We really don't know Albus. We just can't figure out any place that she could be safe and not risk deteriorating her magic. If we send her to a cousin's house, she's still in danger. If we send her to a mortal boarding school, she can't practice sword fighting or cast spells, be they magic or defensive. The only place I can think of sending her is to the Olympus or maybe Valhalla, but I'm sure Odin would be pleased to see her but he prefers to keep the place for those that actually belong there."
"I can help you find someplace. I'm sure it won't take long."
"Oh, no, we couldn't accept that. It would take to much of your time. You have so much to do and not much longer to do it in."
"Please, Ciara, let me do this for your family. Think of it as a way of paying back your hospitalities from over the years."
"You know we don't take anything in return. If we thought of it like that, it would go against the-"
"It would go against the ways of the ancients. 'Give and do not expect returns.' But do you think I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't do something in return?"
Ciara sighed and rubbed a hand against her forehead.
"You're not going to let us turn you down are you?"
"Of course not. What sort of friend would I be if I didn't help when it was needed?"
"Fine. If you find someplace, please, please contact us before you put her there. We trust you but we need to make sure that the place is completely safe and has no direct access from the river to Alana. She can't be allowed to actually go into the interregnum now, it's too dangerous."
"I promise Ciara. Though I must ask permission to take her back to my headquarters. I can't remain at this Whitehall place any longer, there is a chance that the Deatheaters will return and I don't want anyone here for that. Least of all Alana."
"Please do take her, the faster she leaves the better. The next attack might not leave her so well. It was sheer luck she wasn't killed this time. Though I must figure out which family the cousin was from. No doubt they will want to know of their child's passing."
"Thank you Ciara, and I promise to be in touch as often as possible."
"Good-bye Albus."
Ciara waved her hand over the looking glass, wiping away the image of her wizard friend. She sighed once again and removed the black dishcloth from her apron. Her niece's situation was turning out to be more trouble than any of them ever imagined. Everyone was out of ideas and poor little Cliona was nearly hysterical with fear for her sister-cousin.
"I pray to Samona this all works out. And to Casero for Alana's safety." She drew out the symbols for the two ancients in the air and whispered a little incantation to invoke the gods.
"Don't worry Aunt." said Aislinn, wrapping an arm around Ciara's shoulders. "She'll be fine. I'm sure Albus will be more than successful in finding the right place for her. Take a breath and let me finish your chores, alright?"
Ciara nodded, handed over the tea towel and apron, and hurried off to another part of the house.
"The elders are always worrying. No wonder they go grey so fast."