A/n: This is a surprising long chapter. Hope you like it.
Chapter 8: So, This Is How It All Begins
The Night of Josh's Birthday Party
Draco was having a good time at Josh's birthday party, watching as others were laughing and dancing. He had some very enjoyable conversations with other students and even danced a little himself. He was great with how his was leading his life a lot these days. He had turned over a new leaf back in fourth year. He didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps or the Malfoy's footsteps. He wanted to take his own path, and be a decent wizard. Show others what it truly means to be great Slytherin, even if he made a few enemies in his house, though some still tolerated him and talk to him, especially some of the younger students. They had chosen to come to him for help when needed, and he was happy to help his younger classmates. Not just from Slytherin house, but from the other houses as well. Draco was a much more happier person than he was before. He had a few best friends and even had a crush a girl. Every time he saw her, he got nervous and stuttered a bit. He also felt butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, though he couldn't do anything right now as she was dating someone else.
Draco was brought out from staring at the girl he liked when the song changed to a louder and faster song. He felt nature calling and decided to head to the bathroom and do his business, leaving the party and straight to the bathroom down the corridor. A minute later, Draco exited the bathroom, slowly walking when he suddenly heard heated voices coming his way, that he hid into an alcove.
"This will work, trust me, Elphick!" Barty Filch hissed. Draco peeked out. He was carrying what looked like a blue gift box. "I made it and I did so carefully! It will go off when Black opens it, and poof! He's gone. One down." Draco furrowed his eyes towards the Ravenclaw and then noticed the other older student who was from his house, Inigo Elphick.
"I'm still not sure you did it right," Inigo replied. "I think you skipped a step at one point."
"Shut up, Elphick," Barty huffed, annoyed. "I was put in Ravenclaw for a reason. I'm very intelligent, alright! We're going to blend into this dumb party for Black and sneak it into his pile of gifts, and when he opens it, the explosion will go off! Black with be wiped out in an instant." Draco's eyes widened in horror. They were going to kill Josh. He had to do something before the went to the party, but what. Draco mentally slapped himself. Was he a wizard or not.
Inigo nodded. "Alright then, let's go do this thing."
Draco pulled out his wand and stepped out of the alcove, standing behind the two older wizards. He pointed his wand at them and shouted, "Stop right there!"
Inigo and Barty froze in their tracks, turning around to face Draco. They stared at him and then at one another. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Inigo asked.
"Shut up, Elphick," Draco growled, grasping his wand with both hands. "I heard what you two were saying, and I'm not going to let that happen!"
"M-"
"I said shut it!" Draco hissed, tightening his grip on his wand, feeling a little nervous. He didn't know why he was feeling this way. He was smart and good with a wand. This should be easy. Though the smug and confident looks Inigo and Barty were giving him, wasn't helping him calm down at all. "L-look, I'm going t-t-to lead you a p-professor - " Why was he stuttering. He cleared his throat, and repeated, "I'm going to take you to a professor and turn you in!" His voice more clearer and without stuttering.
Inigo and Barty laughed while glancing at one another. "What happened to you, Malfoy?" Inigo asked. "You were a truly fear Slytherin, but...but you went soft, mate." Draco glared at the older Slytherin. "You got made fool of yourself a couple years ago and instead of taking revenge, you decided to be a...nice person. Why? Why did you decide to follow, Black? He's nothing, mate. And he'll become nothing in just a few minutes. All you have to do is just walk away."
Inigo and Barty turned around but didn't move as a spell struck the ground by their feet. The two sighed and turned back to Draco who looked defiant. "Joshua Black is my friend and my family!" He said, in eyes on fire. "And I can't let you harm him, whether or not he is my friend. I am a good person. I want to be a good wizard. So I decided to choose my own path!"
"Look's like you chose the wrong path, mate," Inigo said as he smirked, looking behind Draco. Draco noticed his expression and his heart skipped a beat. It all happened so fast. He quickly spun around, but his wand was magicked out of his hand. The last thing Draco witnessed was orange light and then darkness.
Days Later
It was dark. He was tired and in so much pain. Pain everywhere. It was so much pain that maybe it would be better if they just ended it all. No. Not yet. He had to stay alive. He still had many things that he wanted and needed to do. He was going to suffer through this ordeal for as long as he could. He had to hang on as not only was he not going to be broken, but it was because that McGlaggen was a huge blabbermouth. Draco had information, information that would lead to some very nasty things in the near future.
It was night time at the moment, though it wasn't dark at all. Bright green light shined throughout the night sky. Sirius looked up at the large dark mark that lay in the sky, the snake moving through the mouth of the skull. He sighed heavily. Wherever there was a dark mark meant that they were deaths right underneath it. He looked down to the warehouse that he and a team of Aurors had arrived minutes earlier, investigating the area. It has begun. Lord Voldemort has begun all his slaughtering of muggles, witches, and wizards. This time, it happened to be a warehouse of a hiding family from the Death Eaters.
"Black!" Sirius turned and saw one of the Aurors walking up to him. "Cassius," Sirius greeted with a nod.
Auror Cassius pointed behind him. "We found the bodies," he told Sirius. "Three adults, one teenager, and two young children." Sirius sighed in sadness. He waved forward to indicate to Cassius to lead him inside. Cassius continued to speak. "But it looks as if they didn't go down without a fight. There are scorches and broken things everywhere, with some left over residual magic. But sorry to say, they lost their lives. There is an upside," he added as the two stopped at the door.
Sirius glared at the younger Auror. "What upside is there to this?" he said with slight anger in his voice. "A whole family has been wiped out by death eaters! What is good about that!?"
Cassius suddenly looked embarrassed as he opened the door for Sirius. "Sorry, sir," he apologized as he followed Sirius into the warehouse. "I meant to say that we have also found the body of a death eater."
"Dead?" Sirius asked and once he entered the main area, it looks as if a tornado had run through the warehouse. Crates and other kinds of furniture were broken, with magical scorch marks all over the place. Two of the male adults were on either side of the warehouse. One of them was slit in have with his guts spilling out as the other was killed with the killing curse. The teenager was sitting against the wall with dry blood that was pouring out of his ears, nose, mouth, and eyes. And lastly, the female and the two children were huddled in the corner, laying on top of one another, looking soulless, no doubt killed with a killing curse. Sirius knelt down, looking glum as he closed the eyes of the dead children.
"Yes, sir," Cassius finally said.
Sirius stood back up. "Where is he at?" he asked.
"She's over here," Cassius answered, waving over to Sirius and then led him to where the dark robed death eater lay dead, on some rubble of a broken crate. They still had their mask on. Sirius knelt down and removed the mask and sighed heavily. "Do you know who it was, sir?"
Sirius nodded. "She was in my year in school," he remembered, looking slightly confused. "But she was in Hufflepuff house and worked at the Ministry. I saw here about a month ago, actually." Sirius stood back up to his feet. From what he remembered, this girl was quiet, kept to herself. She didn't seem dangerous at all. Though looks can be deceiving. "Anyone could be persuaded these days," he added. "Any witnesses?"
"Just the muggles who saw the flashing lights from their homes," Cassius answered.
Sirius nodded. "Have them obliviated if they haven't been already," he ordered. "And let's get these bodies out of here, clean up the place, and inform any other living relatives." Cassius nodded, writing this down in a little notepad. Sirius tossed the mask next to the death eater and was about to walk away when he noticed something poking out of the death eater's cloak. It looked like the corner of a piece of parchment. He knelt back down and reached for the corner of the parchment and pulled it out. It was folded a few times, and quickly unfolded it. It was a map of a small village with certain areas circled around it. It had a few random numbers on it. The numbers were 10311996. It looked like a random bunch of numbers. It was strange, but this still meant something so he had to quickly get this to Kingsley and Amelia as quick as possible.
Things have slightly gone better over the next few days of Hogwarts, at least for Josh as he was mostly left alone, especially from the Slytherins. They didn't blame him anymore. Pansy was right. They were angry that one of them was killed and since they didn't know who killed Draco, that they would put the blame on Josh. Nevertheless, Josh now had a little less to worry about. The next thing he did have to worry about was his first Quidditch match as a Chase, which was coming up pretty soon. It was to be the first match of the season, the day before Halloween, and Josh was a little anxious. And he was so anxious, that he woke up late for the day, rushing to get dressed and running down to the Great Hall.
Josh was on the fifth floor when he heard someone shout his name. "Josh!" Josh turned to see that it was Elladora who was walking up to him, looking slightly distressed. He also noticed a short and younger Gryffindor boy following a few feet behind her, his eyes glazed over, and looking head over heels in love. He remembered the younger boy from when he gave him that cupcake on his birthday.
"hey Josh," Elladora huffed out, glancing behind her. "How's it going? Ready for the big match?"
"Yeah, sure," Josh nonchalantly said, leaning to glance over at the younger boy. "I see you have a little follower there."
"Oh yeah," Elladora said, looking back at him. "He seems to have a very large crush on me, and will not leave me alone. Maybe you can help me get him to go away?"
Josh looked back over to the boy. "Hey, you alright there, mate?" he asked.
The boy nodded. "Yeah, I'm just in love," he answered. Josh raised an eyebrow. "I mean, isn't she just the best! I want to marry her so much!"
Josh looked amused. "It's just a crush, mate, it'll go away," he said, waving to the boy. "I have to go. I have a match today and I need to get some breakfast in."
"Wait, I just have a question to ask you," Elladora spoke up before Josh walked off. He looked at her questioningly. "Did you enjoy the cupcake I made you?"
"Oh right," Josh said, thinking back. "Actually, I didn't eat it. I gave it to him." He pointed at the younger boy who looked in love with Elladora.
She suddenly went wide-eyed, and everything made sense as her mouth lay agape. "But - "
"Sorry, gotta go," Josh continued and then left Elladora standing dumbfounded as he walked away. Minutes later, Josh entered the Great Hall. It was a buzz as everyone was excited for the first Quidditch match of the year; Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The rivalry was just as strong as ever with both houses taunting one another, though something was different with the Slytherin team as Josh glanced towards them when he entered the Great Hall. They were all sitting together, and their captain was giving them a speech, and it seemed to be some kind of uplifting speech as they were all intently paying attention. The Slytherin captain put his hand forward. His team put their hands on top of his hands.
"1, 2, 3!" The captain said, and they released their hands in the air and shouted in unison, "For Draco!" Hearing that, Josh felt his heart drop. He still couldn't help but feel guilty, and he did really miss Draco. He missed having their intelligent conversations of magical theory. He missed having him around with his calm yet serious demeanor. He was a changed wizards and it was a shame that he wasn't going to be able to show that to the rest of the Wizarding World.
Josh sat where his quidditch team was sitting. They all looked calm and ready with the exception of Ron who looked a little pale. He also noticed the Slytherins become one and it only made him more nervous and anxious. He wasn't even touching his breakfast. Ron's last few practices weren't his best. At the last one, he had accidentally punched Katie Bell in the nose. It also didn't help the night before when he, Josh, and Harry barged in on Ginny snogging Dean which led to the two siblings arguing and Ginny embarrassing Ron with the news that he had yet to snog anyone at all.
"I resign, that one bloke can have my spot," Ron said, finally looking up from his food and at Harry. "I can barely think straight mate. I'm pathetic."
He stood up, but Harry grabbed him and forced him to sit. "You're not resigning nor are you pathetic," Harry growled.
"He's right, mate," Josh agreed. "You're a decent Keeper, you've just got a mental problem."
Ron glared, "You calling me mental?" Josh glared back in annoyance. "After our loss today," he continued, "I'm taking myself out of the team. I don't care!"
Harry sighed heavily. "Alright mate," he said, "You haven't eaten though, how about some juice then, mate?" He handed a goblet of pumpkin juice and sat it in front of Ron as Daphne, Tracey, and Hermione walked up to them. "Go on, mate, drink up!" Ron took the goblet and lifted it up to his lips.
"Don't drink that, Ron!" Hermione spoke up. The three Gryffindors looked up at her in confusion.
"Why not?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at Harry as if she could not believe her eyes.
"Are you a part of this?" Daphne asked, pointing at Josh who was even more confused at what was going on.
"What?" he said looking clueless.
"Don't play with me, Joshua," Daphne said, as the three girls crossed their arms. "You probably put Harry up to this?" Josh stared at Daphne, glancing at Harry who wasn't looking at anyone though he noticed one of his hands were grasped.
"He put something into your drink, Ron," Tracey clarified.
"Excuse me?" Harry said, turning around, while trying to put his hand into his pocket. Josh noticed what it was and it suddenly all made sense.
"You heard her!" Hermione said, "We all saw you, Harry. You tipped something into Ron's drink. You've got that bottle back in your pocket! Don't think you can be so clever, Potter!"
"I've no idea what you're talking about, Granger," Harry replied with a slightly smug look on his face. Ron looked in between the two in confusion.
"I warn you, Ron, don't drink it!" Hermione forbade.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Stop bossing me around, Hermione," he replied. "I can do as I please."
"Please, Ron, don't drink it," Tracey pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Tracey, but I'm super thirsty," Ron responded and then down the goblet in one gulp, letting out a relieving sigh. He smiled widely as the girls looked scandalized. "Come on, Harry. Let's get to the pitch and get this over with!" Harry nodded and the two began leaving the Great Hall.
"I can't believe my eyes," Hermione commented, watching her two best friends. Daphne turned to slightly glare at her boyfriend. Josh shrugged and looked innocent.
"They could get expelled for that," Tracey said.
"Hark who's talking?" Josh commented on his own, taking a piece of bacon and eating. The three girls turned towards Josh.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daphne asked, looking offended.
Josh shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," he said, and then looked Tracey straight into her eyes. "Confound anyone lately?"
Tracey gasped. "T-that w-was different," she stuttered.
"Oh, sweetie, you didn't," Daphne said as she and Hermione looked stunned yet impressed at the news. They were sitting with her during the try-outs and had no idea she did that and it also explains why Ron's opponent was acting weird that day.
"That was during practice," Tracey clarified.
"Exactly," Hermione said with a nod. "This is different. It's an actual game. That's cheating he's doing."
Josh shrugged as he stood to his feet, a couple of pieces of bacon in his hand. "Well, no one has to know, right?" he said with a mischievous smile. The three girls huffed in offense as Josh walked away but not before kissing Daphne on the cheek. He tried to hold in his laughter as he left the Great Hall. Josh quickly went down to the Quidditch Pitch and into one of the changing rooms. Harry was alone at that moment as Josh walked over to him.
"You really didn't use that potion to help Ron out, did you?" He whispered to Harry.
"Shh!" Harry shushed, looking around for Ron. He shook his head. "Of course not," he whispered. "I need to make him think that I did. Maybe he'll play well. I'll tell him the truth after the match." Josh smirked at Harry, looking impressed. He patted his friend on the shoulder and went over to change into his Quidditch clothes as the match would be starting pretty soon.
Sirius was sitting at his desk, still staring at the map that he had found some nights ago. He had been staring at it for a while, trying to figure out what it was. He did know that this was some kind of planned attack, but he didn't know when it would be or what village it was going to be at. He couldn't figure it out and it was very irritating to him. The numbers didn't even seem to make sense. They looked random. He was ready to rip this map into shreds but he couldn't. A death eater attack was going to happen and he had to figure it out and stop it. He leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily, wiping his face with his hands. He suddenly began to hear chatter and raised voices.
"Ma'am, no! You can't!" Sirius heard, straightening up and strained his ears to listen.
"Don't tell me what to do," a feminine voice cried, sounding very familiar to Sirius. "Where is he? I have to tell him!"
"Lady, you can't be here! This is a private office!"
"I don't care!" she screamed out, which prompted Sirius to stand to his feet, super curious about who was yelling. He looked around and saw a few Aurors huddled around and trying to hold her back. "I can help!" She screamed. "Just let me talk to him!"
Sirius walked over to the small group, not being able to see who they were holding. "Let her go," Sirius ordered. The other Aurors looked back at Sirius, who was their superior and did as told. Sirius was stunned to see that it was his cousin Narcissa. She looked very disheveled and tired, as if she had went through hell. He couldn't blame her, her son was pronounced dead. Her eyes were red and baggy though they slightly lit up when she saw Sirius.
"Sirius," she whimpered, running over to him.
Sirius was taken aback when she used his first name. It had been so long since she had done so, since they were children. "What are you doing here, Mrs. Malfoy - "
"Don't," she pleaded with a shake of her head. "Don't call me that. When my son was murdered, I no longer go by that name," she continued angrily, fire in her eyes. "It was his fault that our son his dead. I blame him!"
"Lucius?" Sirius said, "But he's in Azkaban."
"It was his last idea that he proposed before being captured," Narcissa quickly replied, "And the Dark Lord went along with it!" Sirius nodded. "You asked what I'm doing here? I am here to avenge my son and give myself over to you!"
"Well we very well appreciate it, but we have a spy - "
"Snape?" Narcissa scoffed. "He doesn't know as much as I do!"
Sirius heavily sighed and crossed his arms. "Alright, Narcissa," he said, "What do you know?"
"There is going to be an attack tomorrow!" Narcissa quickly revealed. "Sometime tomorrow night! At Edinburough Village! They're going to attack and take it over, something is near there that he wants! I'm telling you Sirius, there will be a take over tomorrow night! On Halloween!" Sirius looked shocked, but then something suddenly popped into his mind. It had been staring at him right in the face. He quickly turned around and ran back to his desk, picking up the map and reread those numbers: 10311996. He put slashes between 10 and 31, and between 31 and 1996. It was a random code of numbers. It was a date. Tomorrow's date.
Sirius jumped up and ran to the center of the room. "Everyone, listen up!" Sirius shouted. "Bones! Kingsley!" Many of the Aurors appeared including his superiors. He lifted the map in the air. "Those numbers weren't just random, they were a date!" He explained. "Tomorrow's date! Halloween! That's when the attack will be! And it will be in Edinburough village! Narcissa can confirm this!"
"What makes you think we can take her word for it!?" shouted a random Auror. "What makes you think that we can trust a Malfoy?!"
"Her son was murdered," Sirius replied, and looked at her. She looked at him, her eyes pleaded and nodded. "And she's my family. I trust family! And I believe it will happen. We need to be there for the attack and we have to stop it. For the people that live there! We can't have their homes be occupied by the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord. Do you want these witches and wizards to lose the only home they've ever known?!" All of the Aurors began looking at one another and murmuring amongst themselves. Sirius looked up at Kingsley and Amelia who were both smiling and looking proud. "I'm not going to let that happen, not if I have anything to do about it. We've had a similar war not even twenty years ago so we know how to fight off the Death Eaters. We can do this as long as we're together. We can win!"
"But what if we lose!?" someone shouted out.
"That'll be a risk we have to take," Sirius answered. "If we lose, we'll lose together, and we will get everyone out of there and into safety!" Everyone nodded, starting to feel a fire ignite inside themselves. "Who's with me?" Many of the Aurors shouted in agreement, willing to go to try and save the village from Death Eaters. "Alright, gather everything you need, we have to be there by tomorrow night. Read and practice up on your spells and curses. This is the first battle of this war and we need to show them that we're strong wizards and witches and that we will not go quietly into the night!" Some of the Aurors cheered, and Sirius never felt proud of himself, also knowing that his best friend would be proud of him as well. If only he was here to battle with him by his side, like the last war. He breathed as Aurors bustled around. Narcissa was taken by a couple Aurors to gather more information on the attack.
Sirius walked back over to the desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a special piece of parchment with the drawing of a red phoenix at the top of the parchment. This was how the Order communicated between one another that his wife had created. She got the idea from Josh's friends, Hermione and Daphne, and it was very easy to relay info to any of the Order Members. Sirius began to write onto the parchment. He informed all of the Order that there was to be an attack tomorrow night at Edinburough and that whoever can, should come and help. They could use as much as help as possible, if Sirius wanted to win his first battle. He hoped that he was going to save this village and its people. Maybe this win will show how the outcome of this war would be?
"Alright," Harry said, facing the rest of the Gryffindor team in front of the entrance to the field of the pitch. He looked at each of his teammates in turn. "Here we are. First match of the season." Shouts and cheers could be heard from outside. "Weather is looking good and We do have a slight advantage, according to Ginny - "
"Vaisey and Burns are out," Ginny informed.
"Wasn't Vaisey their best scorer?" Ron asked, scratching his head.
Ginny nodded, "Also, Harper is their seeker replacement and he's an enormous idiot..." It was silent for a few minutes as everyone knew that Draco was the Slytherin Seeker.
"Wow, what luck," Jimmy Peakes said. "I mean Harper being an idiot, not about why he has to be the replacement or whatever..." Ritchie nodded in agreement.
"Nice save," Katie said as Ron side-glanced towards Harry who was looking quite pensive at that moment.
"I'd say this game may be ours to win," Josh commented, heaving his broom over his shoulder, feeling a bit sad.
"Yeah, it's a bit lucky," Ron said when sudden realization donned upon his face. "Hey!" he shouted, making the beaters jump.
"What?" Harry asked with a curious brow.
"I...you..." Ron then dropped his voice, grabbing Harry my the shoulder and turning away from the others. "My drink...my pumpkin juice...you didn't?"
Harry continued to raise his eyebrow, but said nothing except, "We'll be starting in about five minutes, you'd better get ready."
The team began to walk out, but Ron stopped Josh by the exit. "Well, did he?" he asked Josh
Josh looked at him with a straight face but then shrugged. "I have no idea what's going on," he answered. Ron sighed in annoyance and then left leaving Josh to follow after him with a smirk.
The two teams entered the Quidditch pitch to the sounds of loud cheering and shouts of excitement, getting into their positions. Madam Hooch was already standing in the center of the field. She gave her usual warnings, gave the starting whistle, and the game was off. The Chasers flew around passing the quaffle, the Beaters beat the bludgers, and the Seekers sought after the snitch. Lee Jordan was commenting the game this year and everything was running pretty smoothly. Every shot that came Ron's way, was blocked by his own prowess. He looked heroic and would wave his fist in triumph. Every house, except for Slytherin would cheer him on as nearly every student would chant his name, Weasley.
The match was practically a shut out. The Gryffindors won the game in about thirty-five minutes, with Harry catching the snitch under Harper's nose. Josh himself was able to finally show off his Chaser skills, collecting about sixty points for himself. Everyone crowded onto the field around Harry as he glided down onto the field as the whole team was met with loud cheers and chants. Ron and Harry were lifted into the air, both laughing in excitement. Josh was greeted with hugs from friends, and then was tackled to the ground by his girlfriend who gave him a wonderful kiss and a right hug. As Harry was let down, He hugged Hermione very tightly but then let go quickly, and Hermione was suddenly pushed by the side by Cho who hugged him next, not letting go. Ron was also met with a hug by Tracey, seeing a glaring Lavender behind them. Tracey stuck out her tongue towards her and hugged Ron tightly, congratulating him.
"Party at the Tower!" Seamus shouted as loudly as he could, but then Hermione whispered into his ear. "Oh...er...Party at the Room of Requirement!" he corrected himself. Hermione had told him that maybe others from the other Houses would want to join which is why he should change the location.
The three Golden boys were the last in the changing room when Hermione entered, as since it was the Gryffindor changing room, Tracey and Daphne had to wait outside. "I can't believe you, Harry!" Hermione said, walking over to the trio of boys who were putting on their shoes. "You shouldn't have done it! You heard Slughorn. It's illegal."
"What did I do?" Harry replied, sitting up to look at Hermione. Josh and Ron finished tying their shoes to also look up.
"What are you going to do, turn us in?" Ron demanded. Josh stood up and was going to leave but was stopped by Hermione.
"You put him up to this, didn't you," Hermione accused, her hand on his chest, pushing him back. Josh held back his smile.
"Hermione, what are you talking about? What are both of you talking about?" Harry asked, standing up and grinning.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Potter!" Hermione said in a shrilly tone. "You spike Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast, with Felix Felicis!"
"No, I didn't," Harry simply replied, looking straight into her eyes. He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out the small bottle that held the liquid luck. It was still full of its potion. Hermione's and Ron's jaw dropped.
Josh smirked, patting Hermione on the shoulder. "I'll leave you to it, then," he said to Harry and then left the changing rooms.
Many minutes later, everyone who wanted to party, left up to the seventh floor. It was lucky that the room was free as people were able to get inside the Room of Requirement. The party was in full swing with some music, good music, and fun games. Everyone was having a great time, laughing with their friends or talking about the quidditch match and just trying to be distracted from all the bad stuff like what was going on outside of Hogwarts or the certain things that happened earlier this school year.
At the moment, Harry was being dragged around by Cho and chatting with her friends. He kept looking over to Hermione for help and she did try but was only interrupted by Cho. She was then dragged into an intelligent conversation was a couple of Ravenclaws when she heard what they were talking about. Ron was remain to be seen and Josh was sitting in a group talking with Ginny, Michael Corner, and Ernie Mcmillan. They were talking about qudditch, strategies, and cool moves. Josh was listening to Ernie and Michael argue about who was a better pro-Quidditch team when Daphne appeared out from the crowd and decided to sit in Josh's lap.
He groaned when he landed in her lap, but smiled nevertheless. "Lo there," Josh greeted.
"Hi!" Daphne smiled and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.
"Where's Tracey?" Josh curiously asked.
"Well, she made a decision today," Daphne started, playing with Josh's hair while Ginny glance over to the couple and rolled her eyes in amusement. "And she wanted to spruce herself up. Look all pretty for a certain red-haired boy."
Josh nodded. "I see." He looked over at the entrance and his eyes widened. Tracey had just entered the party, looking beautiful as ever. "Sweet merlin," he whispered. "She's gorgeous."
Daphne looked over to to where her boyfriend was looking and saw her best friends. Her eyes widened in surprise and couldn't agree more with Josh. "I never knew she was this beautiful." Soon more and more eyes were on Tracey as she made her way over to Daphne and Josh. Her hair was beautifully braided as she wore cute make-up. She still wore her Slytherin t-shirt and jeans, but that in no way took away from how beautiful she looked. She blushed as she stood in front of her friends. Daphne stood up looking proud. "Wow," she said. "I mean, I had no idea you could do this. You look amazing, Trace."
"You look awesome, Davis!" Ginny said as Micheal and Ernie looked over, their jaws dropping. Tracey smiled shyly. "This guy you're trying to swoon won't know what hit him."
Josh stood up a little too quickly, knocking his knee against the table causing Ginny to giggle. "Yes, you do," he agreed. "Can I get you a butterbeer or something?" Daphne elbowed him in the gut. Josh let out a muffled oomph, thought kept his smile. "I mean...er...nothing."
"I'll get it!" Micheal jumped up.
"No, I will!" Ernie jumped in.
Tracey giggled. "Yes, Josh, a butterbeer will be fine." Josh nodded and left to go get a drink while Hermione walked up to her friends.
"Wow, Tracey, don't you look stunning," Hermione said, hugging her friend.
"Thank you, Hermione," Tracey thanked. "I thought I'd get a certain someone's attention and you know, to just finally go for it."
"Well, I think you got more than just his attention," Hermione replied, "And I'm sure he's going to like it."
Tracey nodded and smiled, deciding it was now or never. She turned around and was met with Josh who grabbed her by the shoulders. "Tracey! Hey! It's been a long time," Josh exclaimed frantically.
Tracey laughed. "It's been like two seconds, Josh."
"Yes, right," Josh said, "Well, you know what! It's kind of stuffy in here. Why don't we go get some fresh air or something."
"Josh, I'm okay," Tracey replied, trying to shrug off Josh. "I just want to go see someone. What is up with you?"
"Me?! Oh, nothing!" Josh replied with a nervous smile. "I just thought that we could go do something else? Anything else?"
"Josh! Leave her be," Daphne told him. "Let her do her thing. She has a boy to snog."
Hermione giggled walking over to help Tracey when it got her eye. Her eyes widened and turned to face Tracey. "Actually, he's right!" she said, changing her tune. "Let's get some air, and let's also go a different way!"
Daphne and Tracey were both looking at the two Gryffindors strangely. "You two are acting a bit weird," Tracey said and then tried to push in between the two. "Let my by!" She hissed. Josh and Hermione tried to hold her back, though Tracey was too strong, and with the help with Daphne, pulled the duo apart.
"Tracey wait - "
But it was too late. Tracey only took a few steps and stopped in her tracks, now look crestfallen. Daphne let out a small gasp as Josh and Hermione turned around. There was Ron, sitting in a chair as Lavender sat on his lap, the both of them were snogging...quite heavily. Tracey moved her mouth up and down, no words coming out of her mouth as she tried blinking away tears, but she couldn't help it. She placed a hand over her mouth and then quickly ran out of the room. Daphne and Hermione sighed and shared a sad glance, both of them chasing after her and calling her name.
Ernie and Michael appeared next to Josh. "Well, I'd say it's his loss," Michael spoke with his arms crossed.
"I couldn't agree more," Ernie agreed with a nod.
Josh rolled his eyes. "You guys are idiots." He stood there not knowing what to do, but he couldn't help but think about Blaise whenever Tracey was sad. What did he do in these situations for her? He was staring ahead when someone entered the room. Josh focused his eyes and saw that it was Cormac who looked confused, annoyed, and angry at the party that was going on. Josh curiously watched him as he clenched his fists and then left the room. Josh decided to follow after him.
Daphne and Hermione ran out of the Room of Requirement and saw Tracey bolting down the hall. The two continued to chase after her as quickly as they could. They could not find her at first until they hear screams and grunts coming from an empty classroom, along with the sounds of furniture exploding and splintering. Daphne and Hermione cautiously entered the room. Tracey was inside, waving her wand and angrily destroying desks and chairs. Her hair disheveled as angry tears flowed down her face.
"Tracey?" Daphne called out as she and Hermione shared a worried glance. "Sweetie, are you okay?"
"I am so stupid," Tracey cried, jabbing her wand at a chair which imploded into splinters. "Why would I think he would notice someone like me!?" She said angrily. She jabbed her wand at another chair which also imploded.
"It's not you, Trace," Hermione said, "Take it from me. Ron is really thick. He's not that bright when it comes to reading people."
"Plus we all know Lavender is just a snob girl looking for attention from the most popular," Daphne lamely explained, glancing at Hermione with a shrug.
Tracey then shattered the front desk and some of the stone floor, plopping down to the cold floor, crying. "It's because I'm in Slytherin, isn't it," she cried, wiping her eyes. Hermione and Daphne quickly made their way over to Tracey, sitting next to her. "It's because I'm not good enough for him - "
"That's bullocks!" Daphne cursed. "You are plenty good. He just doesn't see it. You are a great girl, Tracey. You're strong and smart, very clever and ambitious. Whoever doesn't see that is an idiot."
"How do you feel about it, Hermione?" Tracey asked, looking up at Hermione who glanced at her quizzically. "I see the way you look at him; Harry." Hermione looked at Daphne who slightly nodded. "How does it feel when you see Harry with Cho?"
Hermione gently grabbed onto Tracey's hand. "It feels a lot like this," She answered. "A lot like this." Tracey continued to cry as Hermione pulled her into a tight hug.
Josh had followed Cormac all the way down to the ground floor, but he lost him at some point and didn't see him anywhere. He walked into the Entrance hall, noticing the oak doors were open. Deciding to get some fresh air, Josh walked out of the castle, through the courtyard, and onto the grounds, towards the lake. He sighed as he looked out into the night sky. This was teenage life in school. Loads of homework and exams. Heartbreak and Teenage drama. All of this in the middle of the beginning of a war. It seemed normal here in the castle, but on the outside; things were different. Death Eaters were attack and the Aurors were defending. He hoped his father...
His stomach flopped and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something suddenly felt off. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that it wasn't a good feeling. Something bad was happening at this very moment. Josh looked ahead, not noticing that a pair of eyes watching him from afar.
It was All Hollow's Eve as Sirius strode down the village street, with his hood up. It was already nighttime. The village was quite a buzz. Adults were out and about, trick or treating with their children. Sirius's heart sank with each step he took. They could have evacuated the whole village and saved every single one of these people but the Minister decided against it. The Minister figured that it would surprise the Death Eaters and that it would be unbeknownst to them that there would be some kind of retaliation to this attack. It was ludicrous to even do so and keep the people here. He stopped to lean against the pole, looking around. He could see all the Aurors trying to look inconspicuous among the others. They weren't doing that good of a job as one of the Aurors kept looking up with his wand at the ready. He then looked over to the pub across the street where an upstairs apartment was. He looked into the darkened window to see a face appear. It was Moody who was keeping an eye out from above. Some of the other Order members were there as well.
A random child dressed as a fairy ran into Sirius's leg, falling to the ground with a small oomph from the child. "Oh my, Mary!" The mother of the child briskly walked up to Sirius and her child. She looked up at Sirius. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Sirius smiled and nodded as the mother grabbed her child by the hand and walked away. Sirius's heart dropped as he watched them leave and hoped that they would be able to make it out safe.
There was a good thing about this attack. Every Auror and Order member were holding portkeys which the could give to the villagers which would take them to a safe place. A refugee village or safe haven. Sirius walked into an alley, kicking a trash can in frustration. "What did that trash can ever do to you?" Sirius turned as Remus appeared out of the Shadows. Sirius glared at his best friend, turning to look into the streets. "Sirius, what's wrong?" Remus asked.
"This is wrong, Remus," He answered. "Why are we doing it like this?" Sirius turned to Remus. "It's all wrong. We need to get these people out of here right now, at this moment. Though I feel so helpless in waiting!"
"I know Sirius," Remus said calmly. "But we have to do it this way, even if its wrong. This would be a chance to catch or get rid of some of the Death Eaters and maybe push back some of this resistance. It'll be a little unorthodox but easier to surprise them with the counter attack."
Sirius shook his head. "I can't believe out of all people, you approve of this!"
"I don't approve of this, Sirius!" Remus heatedly whispered. "Sirius, you have to see for what this really is.."
Suddenly, large explosion rang out in the distance. Loud piercing creams were let out as a multitude of flashing lights lit up the sky. Remus and Sirius looked at one another thinking to each other that the Death Eaters were here and the battle has begun. The two men ran out of the alley where many of the villagers were running around in panic. Remus ran down the street as Sirius saw the mother and her child from earlier running his way. He ran up to them and reached into his pocket, stopping them. "Here!" He said, handing them a portkey that was an old watch. "Its a portkey. It will take you to safety!" The mother looked at it reluctantly until Sirius pulled out his badge. "It's okay, I'm an Auror." The mother nodded and held her daughter in her arms and took the portkey, which then activated and the duo was whisked away in a flash of light.
Many people were running away from the flash of lights as Aurors and Order members were running towards the trouble. Some of the Aurors were handing out portkeys to those who would accept them, though there were some who didn't want them and would rather find false safety in their homes. Sirius helped any of those who wanted the help as he would rather save the people first, but that was interrupted by Death eaters appearing in the area he was in and began murdering people in an instant. Some of the villagers tried to fight back, but they were not skilled enough for them.
A couple of Death eaters tower over a grandmother and her two children who were terrified and screaming in terror. Sirius growled and quickly ran to them. "Get away from them!" He shouted, gaining the death eaters' attention. Sirius waved and pointed his wand, sending out lethal spells and jinxes towards them who deflected them with ease. It was a surprise to Sirius as half of death eaters were idiotic and incompetent. He guessed these two knew what to do. Sirius dueled the two at once, trading curses with one another. He created a strong shield and tossed a portkey to the grandmother. "Take this and grab others! It's a portkey to safety!" Sirius said through his teeth. He turned his attention towards the death eaters who began using stronger curses which broke Sirius's shield and the power threw him back into a glass shopping viewing window. Glass was shattered every where and most of the merchandise broke on impact. Pain soared through Sirius's back, feeling slight warm liquid on his back, having a feeling that some of the glass stabbed and cut his back. Sirius sat up to see that the two death eaters had disappeared as more explosions rang out around him.
Sirius crawled out of the shop with a groan, looking around. There were shouts of spells and curses, screams of terror from the villagers. Dead bodies laid around the street that Sirius was limping through. This all happened so fast and people were dropping left and right. Lights of spells and curses lit up the streets. The Death eaters were barely dropping. It was as if they were on top of their game, and that they were properly motivated from something, but what. Sirius gripped his wand tightly. They weren't supposed to lose this, they were supposed to win. He stood up straight and then whipped his wand. An orange curse flew out and struck a death eater unknowingly, deeply slashing his back and falling to the ground. Sirius sent a white bone-crushing curse toward another death eater, crushing his ribs and sternum. Sirius then embedded another two death eaters with a range of many magical arrows. And then he finally decapitated another with another slashing hex. The Aurors who were fight those death eaters, joined behind Sirius to give him cover.
That's is when the death eaters noticed someone was taking them out, and began to start targeting Sirius. The began aiming their killing curses towards his way, though he had been ducking out of the way. Sirius's adrenaline had skyrocketed and the pain from earlier was gone for now. Sirius built up as much magic as he could, gripping his wand with both hands and sent out his most powerful bombing curse he could muster up. He sent to a group of death eaters that took cover in a small building. The explosion was loud and huge, causing the building to collapse and killing the death eaters. Since Sirius had been taking out the death eaters, it gave others hope and the Aurors and Order began fighting back in fierce attacks, no longer using stunners or disarming charms, but using lethal spells, hexes, and curses.
The last explosion took a lot out of Sirius as he took cover behind a fallen building. Moody, Remus, Emmeline Vance, Bill Weasley, and Shacklebolt came up to Sirius. "How are you holding up there, mate," Remus said as he checked over his best friend.
Sirius waved him off. "I'm alright," he replied. "Are you lot alright?" he asked, looking at the others who nodded. They looked alright, though looking dirty and disheveled, nonetheless unharmed so far.
"It looks like you turned the tide with your little heroic bout you just did," Moody growled, looking over a broken wall towards the still battling Aurors and Death Eaters.
"They sure didn't come to play tonight did they," Sirius stated, breathing heavily.
"No they didn't," Bill agreed. "Were they just as brutal in the first war."
"They were but it seems most of them are just killing right on the spot," Shacklebolt answered, looking at the battle. "This does seem like they were very motivated for this battle. But why. What was so special for the attack to be here?" No one had the answer to this one.
"Well, we're pushing them back," Moody said in his gruff voice. "Let's keep pushing them back and keep them from taking the village." The others nodded and some of them ran out except Sirius who was held back by Kinsley. Sirius looked at him questioningly.
"I haven't seen Amelia," He told Sirius, looking a bit worried. "Have you seen her at all?" Sirius shook his head. Kingsley sighed, "Keep an eye out, will you?"
"Sure," Sirius said as the two then ran out to rejoin the battle.
The battle's tide was turned as the Death Eaters were being pushed back, back out of the village. Sirius took out a couple of Death Eaters when he was suddenly knocked back off of his feet, into some bushes. "Look what we have here!" he heard a silky feminine voice. Sirius struggled to his feet, see a few figures walk his way. One of them removed their hood to reveal a handsome woman with a silky smile. Sirius shook his head as he couldn't believe it. "Hello Sirius," Xerina spoke.
"You're dead," Sirius whispered, and then louder. "You're supposed to be dead!"
"I almost died," Xerina replied with a hand on her chin. "Thanks to that brother of yours." Sirius furrowed his brows. His brother? He heard someone had killed or almost killed her, but his brother? What did that mean?
"What does that mean?" Sirius coughed, blood starting to pour from his mouth. He was really in bad shape.
Xerina smiled. "You don't know," she commented. "How sad." Sirius raised his wand, but it was suddenly yanked from his grip, falling to his hands in knees in horror. Xerina glided over to Sirius, gripping his hair and growled in pain as his head was pulled back. "You know, your son, very strong he is." She tapped the tip of her wand on his neck. "He happened to kill my husband."
"He deserved it," Sirius said through his teeth, but then groaned as Xerina's wand dug into his neck, which began to bleed.
"That doesn't make me very happy, Sirius," Xerina spoke, "Maybe I should take her husband away, to even the score, don't you think?" Suddenly, a flash of white shot up and blasted back Xerina. Emmeline, Remus, and Moody appeared and began to duel the death eaters around Sirius. Emmeline ran up to Sirius, picking him up by the arm.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Sirius smiled weakly. "I am now."
There was a loud scream of anger as Xerina appeared and began tossing killing curses towards Sirius and Emmeline. Sirius acted quickly and tackled them both to the ground, next to his wand. The killing curses flew straight over their heads. Emmeline jumped to her feet and continued to duel Xerina. It all happened so fast. Sirius reached for his wand and right when he was standing to his feet, a flash of green lit up the entire street and a body fell on top of him, follow by some familiar cackling. Sirius sat up and look towards Xerina who wasn't alone anymore. Another familiar face was standing next to her with the most devilish smile.
"Hello cousin!" Bellatrix laughed. "Sorry about your little friend." Sirius looked down in horror to see the soulless blank face of Emmeline. She now lie dead in his arms. His heart dropped in horror. "It seems you and your little group with Aurors seem to be getting the upper hand on us, so we decided to stop by." Sirius looked back at her questioningly. We? What did she mean by that?
Sirius's question was answered when one of the Auror's shouted, "The Dark Lord is here!" Sirius whipped around to see a large dark cloud moving around in the sky where in then landed in the area that Sirius and most of the Aurors and Order were. The smoke was sucked into the body of the Dark Lord himself, looking around menacingly. The dueling stopped in an instant as Aurors looked on in horror and the Death Eaters stepped back, laughing to themselves. Why was the Dark Lord here himself? Was there something special about this place?
"You've all done very well," Voldemort spoke to the Aurors. "A little too well it seems. It seems you've had proper motivation. So have we, but I won't bore you with the details." The Dark Lord pulled out his wand and waved it around. The Death Eaters quickly knelt to the ground as a wave of magical energy blasted outward and knocking down every defending Auror or member of the Order to the ground. Suddenly, a witch with dark auburn hair ran out of a building, brandishing her wand and sent a few spells towards the Dark Lord's way. The Dark Lord deflected the spells with ease. Sirius knew there was no match for him, but something else was happening. Kingsley and another Auror quickly ran out to help Ameila duel with Voldemort. Voldeomort just laughed as he dueled the three.
Sirius turned and saw that no one was leaving. "What are you waiting for!?" He shouted at the other Aurors and Order members. "This is our chance to get out of here! Grab some villagers and activate the rest of the portkeys!" The other Aurors began looking around at one another and then quickly began running around to grab some villagers and portkey out of there. The Death Eaters noticed and began to quickly duel the Aurors. The Death Eaters only used the killing curse for this last of this battle. One by one, Aurors began falling. Sirius gave them cover by using what strength he had to knock out the Voldemort's followers. Remus and Moody were by his side, helping him defend while the others got out.
Sirius knocked back a death eater when a curse struck his hand, slicing the top of his wand hand, causing him to drop his wand. That curse was followed by a cackle. Sirius growled in pain, turning towards his cousin and sister in law. "Please do say hello to my husband, will you," Xerina said, raising her wand. "Avada - "
"Fulgur!" A mighty white strike of lightning shot out and struck the ground in front of Xerina and Bellatrix throwing them back into a window of a building, both letting out angry screams. Sirius turned to see a wizard emerge from the shadows. It was Victor Greengrass, looking defiant and slightly disheveled.
"Victor!" Sirius said in relief. Victor quickly ran over to Sirius and helped him to his feet.
"Come on, Sirius. He's here and this battle is now lost," Victor said to Sirius, putting an arm around Sirius.
"We were so close," Sirius replied, though he still didn't understand why this place was the location of the first attack. Sirius turned to look back just in time to see Kingsley to be knocked down. Voldemort whipped his wand a few times, killing an Auror and cover Amelia in ropes.
"Amelia!" Kingsley shouted, jumping back up, until a whip was wrapped around his neck.
Voldemort grinned evilly. "Take away their strongest fighters and they lose hope!" The dark lord stated and pulled the whip back. Sirius's eyes widened in horror as Kingsley was decapitated by Lord Voldemort himself. Amelia screamed in agony as she was levitated by a death eater and whisked away.
"No!" Sirius yelled out as Victor activated his portkey. The last thing Sirius had seen was the of Voldemort laughing maniacally.
AN: I'm not good with Girls and stuff or like describing them. Though i'm trying. Don't be too harsh on me. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm doing a new take on this war thing. I want to show War and how bad it can and will be. Things will only get more worse from here on out. More battles. More character dying, Aurors or known characters as well as Students. Things will be different, though some similar things. We will see as the story goes along. I hope I can make this a couple of epic war stories.