"I can't believe how rubbish our year's been." Vilandra complained as she watched Rhett and Talak play chess. It had been close to a week since they'd been brought to Grimmauld place, and every day, someone different complained about their horrible year. Today, it was Vilandra's turn. "I mean, all the attacks—all the deaths." She lowered her voice, her heart wrenching in her chest as she thought about everyone who'd lost someone dear to them—and Professor McGonnagall.
She still couldn't believe McGonnagall was gone. Vilandra had always been certain that the old woman who was their head of house would die long after Vilandra had. The woman seemed almost as immortal as Dumbledore himself, and yet—she had died.
"I can't believe McGonnagall's gone." Salai said quietly, as if reading Vilandra's mind. "She was an old bat, but she taught her course well. The only reason I ever passed Transfiguration was because of how good she was."
"I hear Lupin's going to be head of Gryffindor when school starts again." Rhett told them. "I heard Snape and Hagrid talking about it."
"I still can't believe she's gone." Sharka whispered. "I can't believe anyone would ever kill her."
"Our world is full of evil, Sharka." Leroux insisted. "I'm surprised any of us made it this far."
They continued to sit in silence, Vilandra still sitting on the bed, Sterling asleep in her lap. Rhett and Talak were lying on their stomachs on the floor, the chess board in between them. Sharka was sitting on Rhett's lower back, running her hands up and down Rhett's spine occasionally so that he shook to control his laughter—he was incredibly ticklish. Leroux was sitting by the window while Salai watched the game from another one of the beds, not wanting to bother Vilandra and her brother since Sterling already seemed to dislike him.
Sterling hated that Vilandra spent almost as much time with Salai and she did with him. He felt he should've been the only one to have Vilandra's complete attention.
Tyr and Alca were off downstairs with the adults. Alca was trying to convince Snape, Lupin and Hagrid to continue teaching her, and Tyr just wanted to stay around and watch what he would eventually be learning.
"I hate him." Everyone turned to Vilandra stunned. The hatred in her voice, and the suddenness of her statement, had thrown everyone completely off-guard. "I hate him so much. I hate that he attacked while we're still Fifth years. If I'd graduated, I'd have become an Auror. Seeing the stress the King of Darkness always put on my mother, I would've become an Auror to help her. If I was Kei's age, I would've done exactly what she's done. Train to be an Auror, join the Order—"
"I still can't believe Dumbledore said no." Talak grumbled, interrupting Vilandra. "As if we didn't have the best reason to want to join the Order."
"He doesn't want any of you to get hurt." Sharka insisted. "You're too young to lose your lives."
"So were those two First year Ravenclaws." Salai spat bitterly. Vilandra cringed at the hatred in his voice—almost as if it had been aimed at her. It hadn't been, of course, but it didn't stop her from feeling uncomfortable. She knew how Salai felt.
They'd found out the death toll at Hogwarts had reached about 23, not including McGonnagall and the Aurors. That meant 23 innocent students had lost their lives. Most of them were Sixth and Seventh years, but there were a few First and Second years, and that always made people angry. They were young, they didn't know anything about their abilities, yet they had been killed. Not because they were a threat, not because they were the children of people who could cause problems, but merely because they had been in the way.
An angry silence filled the air as the Gryffindors and two Slytherins sat in the room, angry about what the King of Darkness had put them through.
"If he's not defeated, but is slowed down, I'm going back to school and I'll become an Auror, and I'll help mum bring him down."
"And what about Sterling?" Leroux questioned Vilandra. "No one will be there for him if you're an Auror." Vilandra looked down at her brother's sleeping form. His freckled cheeks and red hair reminded her so much of the man she had seen in the black cloak, and she understood completely why Hermione had so much trouble looking at him.
"Chaim will learn to stop being a sod." Vilandra ran her hand through her brother's red hair and he shifted in his sleep, but did not wake.
"You could never kill your own father." Salai said in a small voice. Everyone looked at Vilandra for her reaction. She kept her eyes on Sterling for a long while, continuing to run her hand through his hair.
"He was never really my father." She finally replied. "I don't know him enough to care about him. All he's ever given me is pain and having to look after my brothers because my mother can't even look at one of them. I could kill him."
"You're lying through your teeth, Lonnie." Leroux insisted with a sigh. "If everything you said was true, you wouldn't have been so upset when you found out he was—" He looked at Sterling's sleeping form, but didn't want to risk him being awake. "Evil." He finally said, deciding not to say 'King of Darkness'.
"If you found out your father was evil, Leroux, I think you'd be pretty upset, too." Vilandra replied bitterly. Leroux shook his head.
"Not if I didn't care about him, I wouldn't." Leroux argued.
"He's got a point, Lonnie." Rhett agreed. "If dad had disappeared when we were two or three, we would probably hate him and not care if he had gone evil or not. But you already knew who he was when he left you, and it hurt you. And then, you found out about his more recent endeavours and you still cared about him, so it hurt you to know what he'd become." Vilandra sighed.
"You're right." She finally said. "I couldn't kill him. Not unless he hurt Chaim, mum or Sterling." She kept her eyes on her little brother, running her hand through his hair. "Not unless he hurt anyone I care about. Then, I would be able to kill him." She looked up at her cousins. "He's taken too much from me, and he's continuing to take. Soon, I'll have nothing left to give him, and he won't like me very much when it gets to that point." Rhett cringed slightly and looked at Talak. Talak, in turn, was looking at him. Neither liked the dead look behind Vilandra's eyes. Her soul seemed almost—dark.
-----
Nymphadora Tonks and Fred Weasley sat outside Preston Hughton's house, watching the perimeter intently. Hughton was a famous Charm wizard. He was probably one of the best in the subject ever to have lived. He'd written numerous books on the subject, and was famous throughout the entire world—Wizarding and Muggle alike.
In the Muggle world, he was a famous writer of children's stories involving children with unique abilities. Fred read one of them once. It reminded him of their lives as witches and wizards, and he was fairly sure that was why the books had sold so well. Muggles liked anything about extraordinary powers, or battles between good and evil.
He was a good man, very friendly, and incredibly old. But regardless of whether or not he would be dying within the next few years, or even the next few hours, they had to watch and protect him. He didn't deserve to leave before his time—especially since he was one of the wizards who helped fund the Order of the Phoenix.
He and Dumbledore were old friends, and even though Hughton didn't go out in the field to help physically, he did his share for the Order in ways of information and money, and Dumbledore appreciated that.
"Do you think the King of Darkness would bother with Hughton?" Tonks inquired, turning to look at Fred. "I mean, the bloke's pretty old. He can't be much of a threat."
"Dumbledore's pretty old." Fred said, a hint of a smile on his shadowed face. "And he's the biggest threat of them all." He turned to Tonks, the little light the moon gave off reflecting off of Fred's face. Tonks nodded.
"Point taken. I suppose it would make sense that the older you are, the more of a threat you are. I mean, you're wiser, more powerful, more intelligent—"
"And much older." Fred grinned, turning to Tonks again. She smiled, shaking her head.
"There's that, too." She agreed. They both turned their attention back to the house and Tonks sighed. "I really don't think he'll bother with Hughton. Your brother—"
"Don't call him that!" Fred hissed angrily, turning to Tonks. "That monster is not my brother." Tonks pressed her lips together and looked back at the house. She always forgot how sensitive Fred and George got when the topic went to their brother. Of course, everyone was sensitive, but she found the two most sensitive ones were Fred and George. They partly blamed themselves for the way he'd turned out. Why? No one knew, exactly. They always said something about setting a better example, and maybe he wouldn't have turned out the way he did. People didn't believe that. What happened to Ronald Weasley happened because his mind had gotten twisted. Power? Corruption? Who knew. It didn't matter, really, how it had happened, only that it did.
Tonks frowned as she saw shadows materialize out of thin air and glide silently towards the house. She turned to Fred who was also glancing at her. Time to act. Tonks stood up on the roof the two had been lying on, whipping out her wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Tonks hollered, aiming her wand at one of the eight Death Eaters. His wand flew from his hand and he turned to glare at the roof, the other seven turning as well.
"So much for subtlety." Fred muttered as he stood up, also pulling out his wand. The battle was over before it even began. The Death Eaters were too fast, throwing the Unforgivable Curses at lightning speed. A green blast hit Tonks in the chest and she gasped before she tumbled off the roof.
"Tonks!" Fred hollered, sliding down the side and landing painfully on his back. He rolled over and crawled hurriedly to Tonks, rolling her onto her back. "Tonks!" Her eyes were wide open and her mouth was distorted, as if she were about to scream when the blast hit her. "No!" Fred exclaimed horrified. Tonks was dead. He heard rustling nearby and spun around hurriedly. His breath caught in his throat as he came face to face with a wand. He was dead, and he knew it. Closing his eyes tightly, Fred thought of Alicia, Leroux and Tyr before he lost consciousness. The Death Eater before him turned to the others.
"You take care of Hughton. I'll bring Weasley back to headquarters." The others nodded as they turned and headed for the old man's house. The Death Eater bent down beside Fred and grimaced. "Sorry, Fred." Draco Malfoy whispered as he placed his hand on Fred's arm. "At least you're still alive." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice as his eyes found Tonks. He disapparated from the area as he heard the battle begin within the house.
-----
Everyone sat around the table, eating dinner in semi-silence. There wasn't really much to talk about these days except the King of Darkness, and since the Order members didn't want the children to know about him, they usually had very little to talk about at dinner.
Dumbledore was absent again, as he so often was. Nobody was surprised, he had many things to do. Leroux kept insisting he was going abroad to recruit more Order members to help them defeat all the Death Eaters in the other countries. The twins always insisted Leroux was off his rocker. Vilandra never really said much on the topic. She preferred to spend her time teaching Alca about First year while Sterling sat in her lap. She only had one person left to protect now, and she was going to make sure nothing happened to him. She cared about him way too much.
As she thought of this, she unconsciously tightened her hold on the six-year-old sitting in her lap. He'd refused to sit in his own chair, and even though Vilandra found it hard to eat, she was glad to have her brother so close to her.
Just as they started getting onto the conversation of when the school would be opening again, the kitchen door burst open. The adults were out of their chairs in seconds, their wands raised, but they relaxed and lowered them as Lupin stumbled into the room, clearly out of breath.
"Tonks." He gasped out. "Fred."
"Fred?" Alicia asked urgently, coming around the table to stand beside Lupin. "What about Fred?"
"Where is he?" George added, also standing beside Lupin. "What happened?"
"Here, Remus." Ginny pushed a chair in his direction and he sat down gratefully, gulping in lungfuls of air to regain his breath.
"Tonks is dead." The room went eerily silent, and blood drained from practically everyone's faces. Sterling didn't quite understand, and Vilandra welcomed his confusion, covering his ears with her hands. He didn't object, knowing she was doing it for his own good. "Tonks is dead," Lupin repeated. "And Fred is gone." Alicia fainted and would've hit the floor had Snape not leapt out of his seat to catch her. All of the colour drained from George's face as he fell back into a nearby chair, his eyes glazed over. Ginny buried her face in her hands and ran from the room. Vilandra turned to look at Leroux and he looked in between wanting to cry and hurling everything in sight. She severely hoped he would do the former. She could deal with crying. Hurling things and anger—not so much.
Leroux stood up from the table, knocking over his chair angrily and stormed from the room. Vilandra looked at the twins and stood up, turning Sterling around so she could carry him more easily. The twins followed her lead, wiping their mouths as they also stood up. Salai and Sharka shared a look and Salai started to stand when Sharka pulled him back down.
"This is a family thing." She whispered. "It should be dealt with by family." And Sharka was right, because the only people Leroux wanted to see were Vilandra, Rhett and Talak. He knew Sterling would be there, too, but he didn't mind him so much. But he definitely needed his three best friends.
Vilandra opened the door to his room, Sterling supported by her right hip. She walked cautiously into the room as the twins followed, Rhett closing the door behind them. Leroux was sitting on his bed, his elbows on his knees and his hands buried in his hair. Vilandra sat down beside him, Sterling in her lap.
"Leroux?" She asked him, cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I guess I've joined the group." He whispered, still not looking up. The three cousins shared a look.
"What?" Rhett asked, moving closer now that he was sure Leroux wasn't going to get violent.
"The missing parents group?" Leroux finally looked up. "I've now joined it." Talak cringed at the bitterness in his voice.
"We should be thankful our parents are still alive." Vilandra whispered. "Tonks and McGonnagall weren't so lucky." Leroux nodded.
"I know." He whispered.
"Where did uncle Fred go?" Sterling asked, looking at Vilandra questioningly. She cringed as Leroux balled up his fists.
"He went away, sweetie. Why don't you go see Salai?" She put him on the floor and he turned to her.
"But I want to stay with you." She sighed and bent down closer to him.
"You know when Chaim is mean to you, and I take care of you?" He nodded. "Well, someone was mean to Leroux. And I need to take care of him, just like I take care of you."
"Oh." Sterling nodded. He turned and went to the door. Rhett opened it for him and he disappeared through the door, Rhett closing it behind him.
"How do we even know he's still alive?" Leroux whispered. "How do I know he's not dead somewhere, his bones being ingested by dragons, or something?" Vilandra cringed at the image.
"I'm sure he's fine, Leroux." She insisted sympathetically. "I'm sure uncle Fred is fine." There came a knock at the door and they all looked at it. Talak opened it and Sharka walked cautiously into the room.
"My dad just contacted Dumbledore." She informed. "He just told the Order that your dad was brought there safely. He saw to it." Leroux said nothing, but Sharka wasn't ready to leave. She walked into the room, standing beside Rhett, who wrapped his arm around her. Salai was standing just outside the door, Sterling nowhere to be seen. Vilandra gave him a questioning look, and he mouthed Hagrid. She understood, and turned her attention back to Leroux. He still said nothing. After a few painful minutes of silence, Salai entered the room and closed the door, everyone waiting for someone else to speak first.
"Why do you think they're still alive?" Leroux finally whispered.
"I guess that's one thing even Dark Lords want." Rhett replied before Vilandra could.
"What's that?" Leroux spat bitterly.
"A family." Vilandra replied, half-smiling at Leroux.
"It makes sense, I guess." They turned to Talak as he thought about this. "Back at the school, the Death Eater threw a killing curse at Kei, but it turned into a stunning spell in mid-air just as it was about to hit her. Seems like the Dark Lord wants to make sure his family is safe when the war starts."
"That's ridiculous. How can you be evil if you won't kill anyone?" Leroux demanded.
"Leroux, he's killing everyone. You should consider yourself lucky to be part of the group he won't be killing." Vilandra insisted.
"Not all of us are that lucky." Vilandra turned to the timid voice and saw Sharka hugging herself. Rhett wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead.
"It's okay." He whispered to her, hugging her tightly. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"We're sorry about your dad." Salai whispered to Leroux, shoving his hands in his pockets. Leroux nodded.
"Thanks." The fact that the two weren't fighting during this hard time meant a lot to Vilandra and she smiled gratefully at Salai. "So, what do we do now?" She turned back to Leroux as he whispered this.
"I'm leaning towards praying." Talak admitted. Nobody said anything after this.
-----
Harry cowered in his own corner, not sure what to expect. He'd been separated from Hermione for—how long had it been? Hours? Days? He missed her so much. Her voice was so calming—and he hated not being able to protect her. Of course, he hadn't been doing a good job before, but to know he would be there if she needed him had brought comfort to his heart. And now—he didn't know what was happening to her. He didn't know why they'd been separated. He didn't know anything, and this angered him. He hated not knowing what was happening.
He wanted Hermione back. He wanted to be able to talk to her. She'd been the only thing keeping him sane the last few weeks, and now, she was gone. God, had Ron hurt her? Was she dead? Too many questions buzzed within Harry's skull, each worse than the last. If anything had happened to her, Harry didn't care if he died trying, he would get his revenge. He'd lost too much in his life, and he was not about to add his second best friend to his list.
Just then, his head snapped up as his door opened and someone was thrown viciously into the room. The person cried out as their head hit the hard stone wall. The flaming red hair was the first thing Harry saw, but he couldn't tell which twin it was. He scrambled to his feet and ran across the room to the crouched figure rubbing his head.
"Sodding hell!" The figure hollered angrily as Harry crouched beside him.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked urgently. The blue eyes locked into his and a grin broke out across the twin's face.
"Harry! You're all right!" Now, Harry could tell which one it was. It had taken him a long time, but he'd managed to find a way to differentiate the two. Fred said his name differently than most people, so this was Fred.
"I'm fine, Fred. Are you all right?" Fred waved his hand airily, rubbing the back of his head with the other.
"I'm fine. Happens all the time." He teased. Harry couldn't help but smile. Even in this type of situation, Fred was joking. It was reassuring, really. Harry was glad he'd gotten one of the twins.
"You hit pretty hard." Harry insisted. Fred nodded.
"Yeah, well, at least I didn't die. Heck, if Malfoy hadn't been the one to knock me out, I'm sure I would've gotten a few Crucios before I was knocked out." Harry's eyes widened and he slammed his hand on Fred's mouth, looking towards the door. There didn't seem to be anyone there. He turned back to Fred.
"Whatever you do, don't think about Malfoy. As much as you can, forget about him altogether." Harry said urgently. Fred nodded as Harry removed his hand.
"Right, he can read minds. Don't worry, I wasn't thinking about Malfoy earlier." Harry let out a relieved sigh. Their source was still safe—for now.
"So, what happened?" Harry asked as he and Fred settled themselves more comfortably on the floor. The bed Hermione had always been on had been removed once she left. Obviously Ron cared more about her comfort than anyone else's. Or possibly also his parents, Harry didn't know.
"Well, Tonks—" His voice cut off and Fred stared into space for a few seconds. Horror filled Harry's face as he realized why Fred had gone quiet.
"They killed Tonks, didn't they?" He asked, hoping to God he was wrong. Fred nodded, assuring Harry of his suspicions, and Harry felt sick to his stomach.
"McGonnagall is dead, too." Harry's eyes widened.
"Are you serious?" Fred nodded sadly.
"At the school, right before it closed."
"Hang on, it closed?" Harry asked worriedly. "Where are the students?"
"Chaim was captured." Harry grimaced at this news. "We suspect he's with Hermione right now." Harry nodded, fairly sure of this assumption, as well. "Everyone else in our family escaped. Dumbledore sent them all to Grimmauld place." Movement flickered in the corner of Harry's eye and his head snapped towards the door. He stared horrified as Ron's grinning face backed away from the window. He had heard every word. Harry turned back to Fred as he continued speaking.
"Fred! Stop thinking about your children! Don't think about Grimmauld place!" Harry exclaimed urgently. Fred's eyes widened, realizing what had just happened—and what he had just done.
"Oh, God, Harry! It's too late!"