ginny278 - Thanks, as always, for the review.
Alright guys, off hiatus and a little rusty I imagine, so here goes...
Chapter 7
"An attack! What?" yelled Chris after Ron as he chased him.
Ron looked back, still abnormally pale. "The Dark Mark! Over Percy's house - it's been reported over Percy's house!"
Percy had eventually reconciled with the Weasley's after a near-fatal incident in the Great Battle, and currently lived with Penelope Clearwater, with whom he was engaged.
Chris nearly stopped dead. Surely Percy hadn't been killed?
Becky tugged on his sleeve.
"Who's Percy?"
"One of Ron's older brothers," Chris muttered to her. "Here, stay back, Ron and I are going there, right?"
Ron nodded. Becky seemed to be speaking up, most likely going to protest that she wanted to go as well, but wisely silenced herself, thinking that Ron didn't need the extra pressure.
"Before you do so, Mr. Galen," McGonagall said in her typical implacable manner as she swept in, "do take some precautions. Remus, Tonks, would you accompany them?"
A typically haggard Remus Lupin shuffled out of the silent crowd.
"Yes, of course."
"If you would go -"
"I'm coming too!" screamed Ginny as she hurtled down the stairs.
"And we assume you know that we're coming too," said Bill Weasley, flanked by Charlie, Fred, and George.
McGonagall restrained herself from sighing, well aware that restraining an entire family of Weasleys to running to another family member's aid was a Herculean task.
"Very well, are there any other members of the Weasley family that would like to go along?"
"Er - we'll stay behind," said Mr. Weasley, who had become increasingly thin and grey, and who had his arms wrapped around a sobbing Mrs. Weasley.
"Alright. Ron, you're in charge. Haste is of the essence. Go," McGonagall said, looking weary and taking a mental head count. Fred looked as if he wanted to protest about Ron being the team leader, but was clouted on the head by Bill before he could.
Ron looked around, startled for a moment to realize that well over half the Order suddenly had all their eyes directed at him. He nodded for a moment, then ran out of the door and was quickly followed by the rest of the team.
"On three," Ron said. "One, two..."
Ron choked as he arrived at Percy's house. The air was smoky and thick, and parts of the house appeared to be on fire. Ron looked up and saw with the typical pulse of dread that there Ron conjured a mask and motioned for Bill and Remus to follow him.
"Split up and search for Percy and Penelope!" he yelled. "And put out the fire - regroup at the red sparks!"
Ron looked at the wooden door and broke it down with his shoulder as the team fanned out, aware that the doorknob would be too hot to the touch. The door splintered under his weight as he looked around frantically.
"Perce!" he yelled. "Penny! Anybody?"
For the first time, a thought struck him. Who notified the Order of the attack?
"Lupin," Ron said, turning around to him, "do you know how we were told about this?"
Lupin nodded. "Protection enchantments set off the alarm!" he yelled.
Ron nodded and turned around, still uneasy and wary of a trap. Still, it was obvious that Death Eaters had been here, and it was necessary that they investigate.
"Perce!" Bill yelled, stepping forward. "I'm going upstairs!" Bill notified Ron. Ron nodded and Bill walked up unsteadily, parts of the house collapsing as he went, putting out the fire with jets of water as he went.
"Aguamenti!" Ron yelled, preventing the fire from spreading and burning his feet as a jet of water shot out. He motioned to Remus to follow him again, and went forward into the living room. Empty. Ron wiped his eyes, which had started to tear from the smoke, and looked around. It looked as if one of them had been captured here - scorch marks, furniture knocked over, skid marks, and a door off it's hinges. Ron shot another jet of water at a picture of Penny and Percy at the Hogwarts lake and pocketed it, hoping desperately that it wouldn't have to accompany two gravestones.
"There's nothing up there, Ron," Bill said, reappearing. "Anything down here?"
Ron shook his head, feeling his eyes tear up again, though he wasn't sure if that was because of the smoke.
"We should go," Remus suggested. "This place is about to fall down."
This place.
Ron felt numb, but his war instincts guided him out. They can't be dead. He sent up red sparks from his wand, and in a moment, the rest of the team Apparated in.
"Anybody find them?" Ron asked hopelessly.
Ginny shook her head, looking desperate. "Did you?"
Ron choked. "No." There was a moment of silence. Everybody knew that they were either captured or dead. Too late. Too late, again.
"Count off," said Ron, looking down steadfastly at the ground, feeling a rage well up in his chest.
"Bill here."
"Lupin's here."
"Fred here."
"Charlie here."
"Chris here."
"Ginny here."
"Tonks here."
A silence. Ron knew there was something wrong with that count off. They all realized it at the same moment.
"Where's George?"
Becky wandered around the lonely mansion, aware of the deadened silence only broken by the wracked crying of Mrs. Weasley growing fainter as he guided her away. The Order slowly dissipated, most of them going back to finish lunch. Becky felt sick to her stomach, though. Just weeks ago, she had been a regular teenage witch, living happily in the city, and then he had come and torn her life apart, and was tearing other people's lives apart to. She found herself wandering aimlessly until she finally arrived at the makeshift Hospital Wing, seeing Madame Pomfrey bustling around the area. The first bed was the one that caught her eye. Although the woman in the bed wasn't beautiful, though she certainly wasn't ugly, the trait that caught her eye wasn't her looks, it was her expression of determination, and of power, far from the wrecks that this war had turned most people into. Becky looked at the woman for a moment, noting her abnormally bushy brown hair, her unsettling wandering eyes, her twitching hands, and her murmuring mouth. Her eyes wandered up to a paper that labeled the patient.
GRANGER, it spelled, in clear bold letters.
Suddenly, comprehension struck as she realized that this was not just any random patient, this was the remaining third of the trio, Hermione Granger, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Do you need something?" A kindly, but stern voice immediately attracted her attention. It was the nurse that Ginny had labeled Madame Pomfrey.
"Sorry," Becky apologized hastily. "I just - is she - what's wrong with her?"
Pomfrey sighed, and started fingering the spines of thick healing books on a wardrobe nearby.
"Couldn't tell you precisely. Read this," she said, thrusting a large encyclopedic book labeled Advanced Medical Theory, Part Seven, for the Aspiring Healer, to Becky, who took it, surprised at the weight. "Look up 'Tarpist's Theorem'," she added after a moment, seeing Becky's bewildered expression.
Becky laid the book down on the edge of Hermione Granger's bed and went to the index, then found it.
Tarpist's Theorem
Tarpist's Theorem, named after the wizard that formulated it, John L. Tarpist, was formulated in 1795 after he observed the rather odd effects of multiple spells which collide on a single target, namely a person or sentient creature, can have. These effects were variable and the causes only had one constant: one of the spells was perpetually a Stunning Spell. However, there are an infinite amount of combinations.
Tarpist proposed that the effects of multiple spells, when one of them was a Stunner, usually resulted in the target going into a catatonic state, often suffering through feverish and disturbing hallucinations, showing signs of life and occasionally even awareness, or sometimes simply lying as if dead. Tarpist's Sleep, as it is now referred to, can last for as long as a lifetime or as short as a mere few days. Once awoken, the victims will suffer from various side effects, which are unpredictable due to the different combinations of spells.
This is also the same reason that there is no one cure for Tarpist's Sleep, and although there have been a few isolated cases of somebody being awoken by a complex and newly derived potion (see Tarpist's Cures, page 897), the vast majority of victims to Tarpist's Sleep will either awake naturally or die during the course of it.
Becky raised her head and put the textbook down, gazing at the sleeping figure again.
"Tried every known cure before that has worked," Pomfrey explained, "but none worked."
"What was -?"
"The combination of spells? Can't know for sure. There was only person that saw it as it happened - poor Mr. Weasley, that is - and he couldn't be sure of the exact spells. Too much going on, you see. Nevertheless, she's lucky she's not dead, and she has Mr. Weasley to thank for that, again."
"Which one? Ron?"
Pomfrey nodded. Becky, though, was lost in thought, remembering countless news reports of the heroic trio before Voldemort took over that had appeared in various magazines such as Witch Weekly, that often spoke of romantic links between the two 'side-kicks' of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley.
"Is he -?" Becky started to ask, but feeling slightly ashamed, as if she was prying. "Is he in love with her?" she finished more quietly.
Pomfrey glanced up, and paused for a moment, then appropriated a stern face.
"It's not mine or your place to know," she said sharply.
"Sorry," Becky said, thinking that this probably meant 'yes'.
Pomfrey sighed. "Yes, I'm sure. Now, you shouldn't be hanging around here anyway - Miss -?"
"Cays. Rebecca Cays."
Pomfrey nodded. "I'm sure you can find something to do."
Becky nodded, although she strongly doubted that she could, as Ginny, Chris, and Ron were all out and she didn't know anybody else in the Order. Nevertheless, she walked slowly over to the lunch room, and sat down, feeling very lonely as she saw the chattering other members of the Order.
"Mind if I join you?" a distinctly Irish voice said. Becky looked up. There was a fairly attractive man hovering over her, with sandy hair and an Irish accent.
"Sure," she said, gesturing to the seat next to her.
"Seamus Finnigan," Seamus said, offering a hand in greeting.
"Rebecca Cays."
"So, you're new here, right?" Seamus inquired as he ate some treacle tart.
"Yes. I just got here - early today, in fact."
"That's what I thought. You're the girl Ron and Chris found, right?"
Rebecca burned to think of the image this phrase presented - she hated to think she was rescued - but knew it was true anyway.
"Uh...yes."
"Dangerous situation, you were in, Rebecca," Seamus added. "Survived more than I ever could have at your age."
"At my age?" Rebecca asked. "You're not all that much older than me, I think."
Seamus shook his head. "No, but I've learned a lot since then. I reckon you've got less to learn than I did, is all I mean."
"Well, perhaps."
"So, who do you know around here, then?"
"Well, I've met Ron, Ginny, and Chris."
Seamus stared for a moment. "You mean, you haven't been introduced to anybody?"
"Well, not anybody else, no. Oh, and Madam Pomfrey."
Seamus laughed. "Well, she's not the best company for someone like you, is she?"
"I guess not."
"Time to introduce you - are you done there?" Becky nodded and had barely finished before Seamus grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her up, startling her. Seamus brought her to two young men who looked to be about his age.
"These fine men are Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, making up two of the integral parts of the Gryffindor Crew. Miss Rebecca Cays, gentlemen," Seamus said.
"The Gryffindor Crew?" Rebecca asked.
"Pleased to meet you," the two men chorused as they shook her hand.
"The Gryffindor Crew," Seamus confirmed. "Composed of myself, Ron, Dean, Neville - and er, Harry, before he - you know -"
There was an awkward silence.
"Any girls in the Gryffindor Crew?" Rebecca asked, painfully aware of the silence. Everybody visibly loosened at the prompting.
"Why of course, no crew's any good with lovely ladies. We have Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Ginny Weasley, even though she's in the year below, and - uh, Hermione Granger, before she -"
There was another awkward silence.
Neville looked at the time and yelped.
"Bloody hell, I'm late! McGonagall's going to skin me!" Neville leaped off, leaving Rebecca with her eyebrows raised, and looked back to see an unsurprised Dean and Seamus.
"He's usually late," Seamus illuminated. "For as long as I can remember. Either he's late or something lost." Dean chortled, then began to get up.
"I better get going, then, as well."
"Alright, see you, Dean," Seamus said, then sat down.
"Er..." Rebecca stammered as she sat down next to him, looking around at the other members that seemed to be drifting around the building. "Is that the Order, then?"
Seamus started. "Well, that's a good portion of the people worth meeting. But introductions to the entire Order would take quite a while. It's not that it's particularly large, but simply that everybody's always doing something, so it's bloody hard to get any time to talk to them. In any case, there's no one here more interesting to talk to than me, I assure you."
Rebecca giggled. "Really?"
"Absolutely. Some Exploding Snap, then? It's awfully dull around here if you're not on some life-endangering mission, but I try to liven things up occasionally, though that's tough without Fred and George around."
"Alright, then," said Becky, who was beginning to like Seamus quite a lot.