A/N: Here it is, chapter seventeen … hopes you like it!
DISCLAIMER: If I owned anything in this story, I wouldn't need to be looking for a job, would I?
Chapter 17: CopingDumbledore was sitting at his desk when Lena entered.
"Have a seat," he said, surveying her closely. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything.
"When did you receive the letter?" he asked. Lena thought, taken aback.
"About two," she answered, "though I'm not sure." His periwinkle blue eyes remained fixed on her. "Sir – what happened?" she blurted. "The letter – it didn't give many details."
"I'm afraid I can't be of any help in that area," he said. "I don't know much more about it than you do."
"You must have some idea why You-Know-Wh—"
"Voldemort, Lena," Dumbledore interjected. "It is only a name."
"Why did he want to kill them?" she asked again. Dumbledore now moved his eyes to his hands, and stared at them for what seemed like hours.
"I wish I knew," he replied eventually. "The only possible reason I can think of is that your father was a Muggle."
"What, is that the only reason?" Lena asked angrily. "So my dad – and my mum? Was it because she was married to a Muggle?" Dumbledore nodded. "So my dad wasn't fit to live because he wasn't a wizard, and mum died because Voldemort didn't approve of her choice of husband?" Lena ranted incredulously, to angry and indignant to care that she'd used his name. Another lengthy silence followed her outburst.
"It does make the mind boggle," he said softly. "How one person can hate so much."
"Why?" Lena asked again. It seemed to be the only word that she could think of. There were so many questions …
*****
"Mr. Potter, where is Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked in Transfiguration.
"Erm, I suppose he's outside Professor Dumbledore's office," James said.
"And Ms Rookwood, where is Ms Evans?" McGonagall continued.
"Outside Professor Dumbledore's office, aswell," Kim answered.
"Waiting for Ms White, I presume?" McGonagall asked.
"Yes," James and Kim answered together.
"Mr. Lupin, could you please go and ask them to return?" McGonagall asked.
"They won't come," James said with certainty. McGonagall fixed him with a stern look.
"Mr. Lupin, tell them they must return," she ordered. Remus shrugged at James, knowing how fruitless his expedition would be.
Sure enough, when he rounded the corner, Lily and Sirius looked up and declared in unison:
"We're not leaving."
"I knew you'd say that," Remus said. "But McGonagall made me come get you. I had a feeling I'd be returning alone. How is she?"
"How do you think?" Sirius asked.
"Not great," he replied. "I'd better get back to class."
*****
"Whatever happened to him to make him so – evil?" Lena asked angrily. "Did some Muggle-born bully him at school or has he just always hated them?"
"He did not have an easy life, but it is in no way an excuse for all he has done – and, I fear – will do," Dumbledore said calmly.
"Is Voldemort his real name?" she asked, still not realizing what she was saying.
"No," Dumbledore said, knowing that she needed to know all this to cope. "He was born Tom Marvolo Riddle, and changed it when he became immersed in the Dark Arts."
"Riddle?" Lena asked. Dumbledore nodded. "That's funny, I've never heard of any ancient pure-blooded wizarding family called Riddle," she went on bitterly.
"He is indeed half-Muggle," Dumbledore confirmed.
"Really? So he had a Muggle father, eh?" she said. "I used to have one, until Tom Riddle decided that he wasn't worthy to live." She couldn't remember ever feeling this angry before.
"Neither did his own father, or so he thought," Dumbledore told her. "His father deserted his mother before he was born, and she died during birth. Riddle was brought up in a Muggle orphanage, and upon finishing school, sought out his father and killed him. But, as I said, the fact that his father left does not justify his actions. There is also the fact that his bloodline – on his mother's side – held a deep enmity towards Muggle-borns."
"Have you met him?" Lena asked next.
"I taught him Transfiguration, many years ago," Dumbledore answered.
"He came to school here?" Dumbledore nodded.
"What house was he in?" she asked sarcastically. She knew he had to have been in Slytherin. "But it was the Death Eaters that killed them," she suddenly remembered. "Did they have orders from him or was it just spontaneous?"
"We don't know," Dumbledore answered truthfully, sighing.
"Who's 'we'?" she wanted to know. "Do you have a group of people to fight Voldemort?" she asked quickly.
"You do not need to know about that," he said.
"Yes I do!" she said. "I want to join. I don't want them to do this to someone else." She shuddered, thinking of Death Eaters in her house … it made her sick …
*****
"Mr. Lupin, where are they?" McGonagall asked impatiently when Remus returned to the class.
"They wouldn't come, Professor," he said.
"You should have dragged them back, if necessary," the teacher said.
"I didn't want to risk it," Remus said. "They could get quite vicious." A small snigger went around the classroom.
"What?" Ally asked the room. "Lily can be very threatening if she wants to, right, Adele?" Adele nodded, Silencing Charm still in place.
"Nonsense," McGonagall said. "Practice Transfiguring your voles, please." She stalked out the door.
"Reckon they'll come for her?" Remus asked James, whose vole had long since been Transfigured into beautiful, ornate bookends.
"No," James snorted. "Not a hope."
*****
"He won't expel her, will he?" Lily wondered.
"He can't," Sirius replied, hoping it was true. "Not without expelling me, aswell."
"You know earlier, when you said that she did have a home?" Lily said. "What did you mean by that?" Sirius thought.
"That we'd be there for her," he said.
"'We,' or just you?" Lily asked.
"What sort of a question is that?" Sirius asked testily.
"I don't know … it's just that you've left home, haven't you?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?"
"Well … it's just that now she's not going to be living with her parents anymore …"
"We have more I common?" Sirius finished.
"Well … I just thought—" Lily started.
"That I'd be delighted to have things this way," he cut in. "Yes, I jumped for joy when she told me. Absolutely loved it. And having her in my bed last night, crying her eyes out and all. I'd actually hoped something like this would happen," he ranted sarcastically.
"I didn't mean—" Lily started.
"Look, I care about her, Lily, a lot," he interrupted again. "And I don't want to see her like this – it's killing me. Her entire world's just fallen apart and I want to be there for her, ok?"
"You love her," Lily said, her jaw dropping.
"Shhh!" he said.
"You do," she went on. "I can tell."
"Well, don't tell her, ok?" he ordered. "This is the last thing she needs."
"When did it happen?" Lily wanted to know.
"I don't know – it just happened," he said, blushing slightly. "It sneaks up on you, I suppose." Lily nodded, thinking of James' last letter. She hugged Sirius, taking him completely by surprise.
"What the—" he asked.
"Well, we're friends now," she said. "You're in love with my best friend."
"Thanks," he said.
"She loves you, too, you do know that, don't you?" Lily asked.
"She does?"
Lily nodded. "She just doesn't know it yet. It might take her a while, but she will figure it out." Sirius grinned.
They went back to waiting in silence. After a few minutes, footsteps could be heard drawing closer.
"Mr. Black, Ms Evans, please return to class," McGonagall ordered. They exchanged a glance.
"No, Professor," they said in unison. McGonagall's eyes widened.
"Excuse me, but I say that you must return," she said.
"We're waiting for Lena," Sirius said.
"Mr. Black, you have NEWTs this year, in case you have forgotten. And, I must say, Ms Evans, I'm surprised at you, for not taking them seriously," McGonagall said.
"Professor, NEWTs are the last thing on either of our minds right now," Lily said. "You do know what happened to Lena's parents, don't you?" she asked. McGonagall nodded. "Well, at this moment in time, Lena is my top priority. Ally and Kim are taking notes for me—"
"And James can show me how to do it," Sirius cut in.
"—so we're staying," Lily finished. McGonagall looked as if she were debating whether to give them a year's worth of detention or deduct 500 points from Gryffindor, but instead she turned around and waked back to class. Lena and Sirius gave a relieved sigh.
*****
"Did they leave the Dark Mark?" Lena asked.
Dumbledore nodded.
"What about the Muggles in Wainscotting?" she asked.
"A collective memory charm," Dumbledore said.
"How are they going to explain it?" she wondered.
"A burglary gone wrong."
"But won't the police want to do post mortems and stuff?" Lena asked.
"They have been given fake bodies, with gunshot wounds," Dumbledore told her. "The real bodies are in St Mungo's." Lena winced at the thought of her dad being shot. "It is not likely that they suffered any pain," he said. "Though Healers are carrying out their own tests."
"So – there'll be a memorial service or something?" she asked.
"If you want one," he said. A thought struck her.
"Will I have to organize it?" she asked, wondering what happened at a wizarding memorial service …
"Arthur Weasley, your mother's Head of Department, has offered to organize it, if you wish," Dumbledore said. Lena thought about it … she didn't know him, but her mum liked him … she nodded.
"Yeah, I wouldn't know what to do," she admitted.
"There is one last thing I must ask you to do," the Headmaster said. "It is an incredibly difficult thing to do, but you must identify the bodies. And this is worse, as you must do the same at the Muggle hospital." Lena swallowed the lump rising in her throat.
"Ok," she said shakily.
"There is a train leaving Hogsmeade station tonight at six. You're friends are all permitted to join you."
Lena nodded. "Thank you sir," she said, and stood up to leave. As she drew near the door, she turned around. "Professor, about this morning—" she started.
"It is quite alright, Ms White," he interrupted. "Friends are very important at a time like this." She nodded and left. Lily and Sirius jumped up as the gargoyle opened.
"What happened?" Sirius asked.
"I'm not expelled," she said. "He wanted to talk about what happened. I … I have to go and sort out some stuff tonight, though. The train leaves at six. Can you come?"
"Of course," Lily said.
"Can you ask the others?" Lena asked. "Ally, Kim, the other boys?" Sirius nodded.
"Do you want us to stay with you now?" he asked. Lena thought about it …
"I – I think …I need to think for a while," she said. He nodded, taking her hand.
"We'll come to see you at lunch," he vowed, kissing her forehead. Lily hugged her, and Lena managed a small smile before heading to the Tower.
*****
At lunch, the four boys and three girls brought a plate of sandwiches and several pitchers of pumpkin juice to the common room. Lena came down the stairs, puffy-eyed but unnoticed, and watched the scene in the room. The others were moving furniture, conjuring glasses and debating whether or not to get her.
"Go on, she has to eat," James was saying.
"Don't disturb her," Ally warned him.
"Someone should check how she is, though," Remus put in, levitating a chair over Peter's head.
"Watch it!" Peter exclaimed.
"Sorry, Wormtail."
"Well, what should we do?" Kim asked. Sirius looked over at the foot of the stairs.
"Pass me a sandwich," Lily asked, while Sirius crept over to Lena.
"Are you ok?" he whispered.
"Yes," she said. "Well, no …"
"I know," he said. "Can you handle the crowd?" she nodded. He took her hand and they headed over to the table.
"Lena!" Lily exclaimed.
"I didn't see you there," Ally said, Summoning a chair for her.
"Would you like a sandwich?" Remus offered.
"Thanks," she said, taking one. She bit into it, relieved that conversation hadn't stopped completely since she sat down.
"I'm going back to class after lunch," she announced.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked. Lena nodded.
"It's Potions, it should take my mind off things," she said. And so, as lunch drew to a close, Lena and Sirius headed to Potions while the others fixed up the common room and returned the dishes to the kitchen. Professor Cooke was already in the class when they arrived.
"Come in," he said upon seeing her. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I need to do something, or I'll go insane," she said. He smiled.
"It's basic Truth Serums, you'll be well able for them, if you're not up to class," Cooke said, but Lena insisted on staying. "Excuse me, for a minute, I have to go get some ingredients," Cooke said, disappearing into his private stores. Lena took out her cauldron. She heard someone entering, and Sirius standing up.
"Snivelly, I'm warning you," he said.
"Well, if it isn't the lovebirds all cozy together before class," Snape said, clearly loving it.
"Snape, I am not in the mood," Lena said. "So bugger off."
"Really?" Snape went on, smiling cruelly. "I heard you were always in the mood."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lena asked, looking at Sirius, who had his wand pointed at Snape.
"Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about," Snape went on, though his hand was gripping his own wand. "The whole school knows by now." Lena still looked perplexed. "About last night," Snape went on.
"I'd bet they do," she said. "I'll bet you Slytherins knew it was going to happen, I'll bet you know the people that did it, aswell."
"What are you talking about?" Snape asked. "I mean you and him—" he jerked his thumb at Sirius, "—last night. I do hope you used the appropriate charms. The last thing we want is miniature versions of you two running around. Funny, I thought you would've been expelled by now." Lena looked at Sirius.
"Siri, what's he going on about?" she asked.
"Your roommates overheard us this morning, and they must've gotten the wrong end of the stick, because they—" he started, but was interrupted by a particularly loud swear from Lena.
"Told everyone that we slept together," she said, guessing.
"It's not surprising," Snape said gleefully. "I heard that neither of you are that fussy, Black'd shag anything with a pulse, and Lena is happy as long as he's a popular Quidditch player—" he was saying, but was unable to finish as Sirius had started to hex him. Lena beat him to it, however, and punched him in the nose. Snape stared at her, awestruck.
"You little—"
"Do you want me to hit you again?" she asked. "I won't hold back this time."
"You held back before?" Sirius asked, gazing at the blood pouring from Snape's nose.
"You'll definitely be exbelled now," Snape said. Sirius smiled.
"Yeah, go on," he said. "Run along to all the other Slytherins and tell them that you got beat up by a Gryffindor girl. I'm sure they won't tease you; they'll understand completely …"Snape blushed. Cooke re-entered, and his jaw dropped.
"Snape!" he exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Stupid git fell over his schoolbag," Sirius said, shooting Snape a warning look.
"Is that true?" Cooke asked. Snape threw Sirius a look of pure hatred before nodding and setting off to the hospital wing. He was barely gone before Remus, James and Peter rushed into the class, grinning.
"What happened to Snivellus?" James asked excitedly.
"Lena broke his nose," Sirius told them, though it sounded as if he was having trouble believing it himself. They all looked at Lena, who had turned back to her cauldron and didn't seem to notice that they were giving her looks of great admiration.
*****
Arthur Weasley collapsed into his armchair after dinner. He had finished work earlier than usual, having been given time off after his assistant's death. His wife handed him a cup of tea, and he smiled gratefully at him.
"How are you feeling, dear?" Molly asked him, picking up baby Percy and wiping his face, which was covered in his dinner.
"Shocked, I suppose," he said. "And I feel so sorry for their daughter." Molly looked at her youngest son, and imagined him being alone.
"What age is she?" Molly asked.
"She was seventeen at the beginning of the month," Arthur replied. Molly peered around the door to where her other sons sat having a fight with their chess pieces.
"Does she have to go to St Mungo's?" Molly wondered, as Charlie knocked a very angry-looking pawn under the table.
"Yes," Arthur said. "I offered to do it, but it must be a family member." Bill used his knight to crush Charlie's king.
"When is she arriving in London?" Molly wondered. Charlie's pawns attacked Bill's knight from behind.
"Tomorrow morning," he said. "I was thinking of going to meet her," he went on. Molly nodded. Bill kicked Charlie's queen across the floor.
"Bring her back here for breakfast, won't you?" Molly said. "I can't bear the thought of her wandering around Diagon Alley." The chess pieces had apparently gone on strike, and were being chased around the kitchen by their owners. A large crash was heard coming from the kitchen, followed by a very guilty-sounding silence.
"Bill, Charlie, I hope you haven't broken anything," Molly called.
"We haven't, mum," two voices rang innocently form the room. "It's just chipped …" Molly rolled her eyes, and, handing Percy to her husband, went to asses the extent of the damage.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Sorry this took a while, but it was tough to write… Hopefully, the next chapter shouldn't be too long.
If you'd like me to email you when I update, leave your email address in the lovely long review you're about to type … Hint, hint!!
Thanks to all the reviewers!
Roswellobsessed: Thank you! I'm glad you like Lena, Kim et al. I had to get Lily and James together, and I was starting to write again after six months nonstop studying. I couldn't figure out how to do t, but then I had the idea to use the Fab Four. Glad you liked it.
Smudged: They're not major changes. I hardly had to change Sirius' mum at all. Lovely woman. *makes a face*