The Eighth Year Universe
Love Wins
I Could Pull You From the Fire
The chapter title is from the song:
Somebody to Die For by Hurts.
Diagon Alley
12.05pm
It was like a warzone. Standing there, listening to the screaming, smelling the smoke, it was like being back in the war.
For one second, he was. Ron was standing on the grounds of Hogwarts, dead bodies all around him. He could hear his mother screaming his brother's name, and it was all rushing back, threatening to make him throw up.
Then he snapped himself out of it and looked at the Leaky Cauldron – the wreck that was left of it, anyway.
His feet began to carry him in that direction, then someone grabbed his arm.
"Ron, no."
"Ginny?"
He turned around and saw his sister. She looked fine, bar a cut or two on her face from flying debris. Behind her, Cole, her youngest child, Blaise's spitting image, was looking around with wide eyes.
"Ron, you can't go up there," Ginny said. She tightened her grip on his hand, "Other people are going to dig open the Leaky, but you can't. If Felicity didn't make it…you shouldn't be the one to see that, it was bad enough with Fred, but she's your wife. You shouldn't…."
Ginny met his eyes, and hers were full of tears, "You shouldn't be the one to see that," she said again.
Ron swallowed but nodded and pulled his little sister into a tight hug. She was right, but everything in him was screaming at him to run straight into the burning wreck.
Yet somehow, he knew. There had been this snap inside him, like a piece of elastic had just been cut and that empty, hollow, nauseating feeling….somehow, he just knew what it meant.
He pulled back from the hug and wiped his eyes. Ron blinked a few times, and the ringing in his ears gradually began to fade.
"Someone needs to take control," He found himself saying.
Ginny nodded and put an arm around Cole.
"George! We need to get people out of here!" Ron yelled as he ran back towards the shop.
"We can't!" George called, "The floo's down."
Ron cursed and looked around, "Where's Freddie?"
Before George could answer, Freddie climbed out of the trapdoor from the basement.
"Freddie," Ron breathed in relief, pulling his son in for a short hug.
"Dad!" Freddie returned breathily. He had a cut running down one side of his face, but he seemed otherwise unhurt, "One side of the basements caved in. There's nobody down there, but if there's another explosion, the whole building could go."
"Get everyone out into the alley - " George began to say.
"The alley isn't safe," Ron argued, "Every entrance into Muggle London has been breached. The further down we go, the less chance there will be of a secondary collapse causing a cave in. Evacuate everyone into the Weasel's Den until help arrives."
"How is it going to arrive if the floo is down?" George asked in an undertone.
"The Aurors will find a way," Ron assured his brother, "Freddie. Do you think you can lead the evacuation?"
Freddie nodded and started yelling, "Everyone out! Come on, it's not safe here!"
As all the customers followed Freddie, George followed his younger brother back out of the shop onto the alley.
"Ron!"
He looked over the street to see Daphne and Thea emerging from Madam Malkin's.
"Daphne! Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but something's seriously wrong with the wards here," Daphne said breathily, "Can you send a Patronus?"
Ron tried, but his Patronus hit an invisible barrier above the street then disappeared. He looked back down, his eyes meeting Daphne's.
"Nobody can apparate in or out," She said, "We're stuck here."
"And help isn't coming," Ron realised.
He took a step back and looked up and down the street, "Does anyone have any healing training? Anyone?!"
"Lilly does, but I don't know where she is," Daphne said, keeping her voice low to avoid panicking Thea.
"I'm a Healer," Ginny said from Ron's side.
"Rosie has healing experience!" Freddie yelled from the shop, "She's training to be a Healer and working in the parlour part-time."
Rosie snapped herself out of her horror upon seeing the alley and nodded, "Yes, I am."
"I'm a Healer," A voice from above said.
Ron looked up at the balcony where a woman was holding a newborn baby, "I'm on maternity leave."
"Thea, go on up there and get her baby to safety," Daphne said, giving her daughter a nudge.
Thea nodded and climbed up the fire escape to the balcony.
"We need all hands on deck," Daphne said to the woman on the balcony, who just nodded in agreement.
The street was strewn with debris, and hundreds of people were injured.
"Okay, Ginny, let's zone this!" Ron yelled as more and more people began to emerge from the surrounding buildings, "Anyone who can heal, step forward because no help is coming from outside on this one! This central area opposite Gringott's, it's triage now!"
A woman standing with a young girl of around 12 or 13 stepped forward, "I'm not a Healer, but I am a Doctor."
A man in chinos and a cardigan stepped forward, "I'm a nurse. I can help."
Ginny nodded, "It doesn't matter if you're magical or Muggle. If you have any medical knowledge, please come forward and help set up triage."
Several people rushed forward into the newly appointed triage area, and Sorenson stepped out of CPS. He looked around the alley as two young female Aurors followed him out of the building.
"Ron! You incident commanding this?"
Ron nodded, and Sorenson didn't argue. Despite being a Senior Auror to a man who owned a joke shop.
"Where do you want us?" Sorenson asked
"Whose field trained?" Ron asked.
"All of us," Sorenson replied, "Karina and Callie are pretty damn good though."
With a nod, Ron said, "This area is triage; help set it up. Sorenson, head on up to the Leaky. It got hit worse than anywhere else, and it's where the biggest breach into the Muggle world is."
Sorenson nodded, and Ron added, "And Sorenson, my wife, Felicity, she's the landlady there."
He knew the significance of that comment, so Sorenson nodded again, "I'll do what I can," he promised, heading on up to the Leaky at a jog.
"Ron!" George called, "What are you going to do?"
Ron looked back, "Seal up those gaps into Muggle London."
"Not on your own, you're not," George returned, "I'm not losing another brother. We've lost two already."
Bill ran out from the intersection between Diagon and Knockturn Alley with Fleur on his heels.
"Ron, George, thank Merlin, you're alright."
"You okay, Bill?"
Bill nodded, "Yeah, where's Charlie?"
"Charlie's here?" Ron asked sharply.
"Yeah, last I saw him, he was in the apothecary with Will, but that was an hour ago, so he probably won't be there anymore," Bill said, glancing up and down the alley.
"What apothecary?" Ron and George asked in unison.
Bill looked towards the west side of the alley and paled, "Slug and Jigger's," he said, pointing to the apothecary next to Ollivander's, which was currently aflame.
Ron cursed, "We need to seal the entrances into Muggle London. I'll take the one down here, George get the one in Knockturn - "
"I'll get the one by the apothecary, then we look for Charlie," Bill cut in.
Ron nodded, and the three brothers separated to seal up the gaps into Muggle London and avoid any further damage or, worse yet, the exposure of their kind to the Muggles.
Daphne had healing experience, but she also needed to find Lilly because she could command triage like a pro, but she didn't know where she was. Susan hadn't been in Malkin's when Daphne and Thea finished, which meant she had been somewhere in the alley when the explosions hit.
Daphne ran down the alley and got as far as P&W when her mother came out of the building, "What happened?"
"We've been attacked," Daphne replied, "Mum, do anything you can to help, please."
Lareina nodded, looking around at the scene in horror. And Daphne continued upwards towards the last place she knew Lilly had been, the cauldron shop directly next to the Leaky.
It had gone up in flames, and a bunch of bystanders who had been shopping in the alley were trying to put them out. But they were more focused on the fires raging through the Leaky and the apothecary on the other side.
"Water won't cut it for the apothecary!" Daphne yelled, "The secondary explosions are from flammable things inside!"
"Use foam!" Sorenson yelled. He was trying to clear a pathway into the collapsed Leaky Cauldron.
Daphne waited for the flames to rise above the cauldron shop, then she yelled, "Glacius!"
A secondary spell was then cast from behind her, blasting the ice into snow that began to fall over the alley.
Daphne spun around, "Susan!" she said, relief flooding her when she saw that Susan was alive, but with a pretty nasty burn to the arm.
"Where are the kids?"
"Freddie took them down into the Weasel's Den," Susan replied.
"Are they okay?" Daphne asked frantically.
Susan nodded, "They're fine. We were on the alley outside Eeylops when it hit. I got a shield charm up, but it caught me a little."
She motioned at her left arm, and Daphne nodded.
"Where's Lilly?" Susan asked.
"I don't know," Daphne answered, a hint of desperation slipping into her voice.
"Someone's coming out!"
Daphne and Susan turned their attention to one of the blasted windows of Potage's Cauldron Shop. They saw a small figure climb out.
"Laurel," Daphne breathed, rushing forward to pull her into a hug.
"Mum's hurt," Laurel coughed.
Susan drew Laurel over to her and looked at Daphne, "You're going in, aren't you?"
"Of course I'm going in. It's Lilly," Daphne replied.
Susan nodded, "Just be careful. There could be a secondary collapse at any minute!"
Daphne heard her, but she still climbed in through the window.
"Lilly!"
"I'm fine," Lilly said from somewhere on the charcoal covered floor, "I just can't quite get out without help."
Daphne cleared the smoke a little and saw her sitting against the back wall with a cauldron on her foot.
"It's definitely broken," Lilly said. She was grimacing, "I told Laurie not to move it. If it's cut through an artery, there's going to be a lot of blood."
"Why didn't you let her help you?"
"Because this place is about to go," Lilly said, her eyes flicking upwards, "I just wanted her to get out."
Daphne sighed and glanced upwards at the unstable roof, "We're both getting out, okay?"
Lilly gritted her teeth but nodded. Then Daphne moved the heavy-bottomed cauldron. Lilly let out a sharp cry of pain, and Daphne numbed the wound, then ripped a piece of her cardigan off and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding.
"Don't set it," Lilly gasped, "It's probably broken in more than one place. I can fix it myself but - "
"Not in here," Daphne agreed.
"Exactly," Lilly said. She coughed and wrapped her arms around Daphne, who pulled her up. They hobbled towards the broken window on her one good foot because the door was inaccessible.
Daphne helped Lilly through, and Susan grabbed her. Then an almighty rumble sounded above them.
"Aunt Daphne!" Laurel yelled, reaching out and pulling her through the window seconds before the building caved in.
Daphne let out a breath and hugged Laurel again, "Good timing, sweetheart."
Laurel just nodded; she had tear tracks down her cheeks. Merlin knew that this would traumatise the poor girl.
Daphne held onto Laurel for a moment longer than she needed to, and as she did so, she took a breath to steady herself.
By the time she felt okay again, Lilly was arguing with Susan.
"I need to help people, just set me down and let me heal this myself!"
"Follow your own damn rule first then," Daphne said, shoving an oxygen pack at her, "Take a deep breath and get on with it."
Lilly took a deep breath of the oxygen and then asked, "Where did you find this?"
"I raided the stash in P and W," Daphne replied offhandedly, "Keep going. You were in there a while."
Lilly glared at Daphne but took another breath of oxygen. Then she said, "Give it to Laurel. I'm fine."
Daphne gave her a sceptical look but handed it to Laurel, who was still coughing.
Then Lilly pulled the makeshift bandage off and cleaned out the wound on her foot. She made it look easy – but Daphne knew that setting bone was hard at the best of times, not least when they were your own. All the same, Lilly set both the broken bones in her foot, then she murmured a healing charm to close the wound.
Gritting her teeth, Lilly dulled the effect of Daphne's numbing charm so she could put some weight on her foot. When she did so, she hissed in pain before steadying herself.
"Lilly - "
"I'm fine," Lilly said curtly, "And I'm going to help out at triage. Where are the boys?"
"Safe. Freddie is getting everyone into the Weasel's Den," Susan replied.
"Good idea, going down," Lilly mused.
Susan nodded her agreement, "It's the most structurally secure place in the alley, and we can't leave, so it's going to have to do."
Lilly took a breath as another wave of pain shot through her body, "I couldn't send a Patronus. Are there wards on the alley?"
Daphne nodded, her eyes darker than usual.
"Anti apparition and disapparition wards, with something tied into them to stop any communication coming in or out. The floo is down too."
"Of course it is," Lilly muttered dryly, "I need to get to triage and Laurel, you're joining the other kids in the Weasel's Den."
Laurel nodded and grabbed her mum, helping her hobble off towards triage.
"We need to get into the Leaky and seal the gap to Muggle London," Daphne said, raising her voice a little.
"We're trying!" Sorenson yelled.
"We'll help," Susan said. She stepped forward to help Sorenson levitate the debris, and Daphne corralled everyone nearby into helping too.
They managed to make a hole, and when they did, a whole host of people crawled out, covered in soot and coughing.
"Ron's wife, Felicity, she's still in there somewhere," Sorenson said.
Daphne nodded and swallowed, "Sorenson, two floors have caved in on top of the pub…."
"I know," Sorenson said firmly, "But I said I'd do what I could, so I'll do that. I'm not failing another Weasley like I did Percy."
Susan placed a hand on his arm, "You didn't fail Percy. But we will do everything we can to get everyone out of there. Okay?"
Sorenson pulled away a final boulder of debris with a nod, allowing them enough space to clamber through under shield charms. The explosion seemed to have gone off near the fireplace, which was why so much structural damage had been caused. Two floors of boarding rooms had caved down into the pub. When they looked up, they could see the grey sky of London above them.
Daphne looked back down, her eyes falling on the gap in front of them in horror. It was huge, and there were already some Muggles beginning to gather. Knowing that it would cause some people to need obliviating, Daphne concluded that there was only one conclusion.
"I'm going to ward the gap."
"Daph, the magical power - " Susan called from where she was helping Sorenson look for Felicity.
"I can do it," Daphne said firmly, "Just look for survivors. The explosion and the fire have damaged this place pretty badly. There are going to be casualties."
"Daphne, please," Susan said anxiously, "Don't burn yourself out to save everyone else."
"I won't," Daphne promised, "I'm not Harry. I know my limits."
Before Susan could object any further, Daphne aimed her wand at the gap and cast an anti-Muggle ward against it. Like a shield, the ward spread out to cover the entire opening, and the strain it was putting on Daphne was clear to see from the look of discomfort on her face.
Still, it was working. With a whoosh, the ward covered the gap.
A pulse of magic blasted out in each direction, hitting the Muggles, who began to look around and frown at each other like they were confused.
The ward was stopping them from seeing the gap and obliviating them at the same time. Daphne knew it was complex magic, and she couldn't hold it forever.
As she began to feel the strain on her magic, she doubted that her words to Susan had been entirely truthful.
Maybe she didn't know her limits, after all.
When Lilly reached triage, she was amazed. She had been ready to open her mouth and start yelling orders, but then she saw that someone had already zoned the central square opposite Gringotts. There was an area where people were covered by black sheets and another area where people had a shining green light on their chest.
She looked around and saw an amber area and a red area where people who clearly weren't Healers were doing the best they could to manage the situation.
"We're losing her!"
Lilly jumped into action and pushed Karina out of the way. The patient was a young woman with severe burns. She was struggling to breathe, so Lilly intubated her through the chest and shook her head, "This won't hold long. She needs a hospital."
"Are you a Healer?" Karina asked, looking at Lilly in astonishment.
"I'm a Trauma Healer," Lilly replied, "Did you do this? Set up this triage?"
"Not really," Karina replied, "We're Aurors, so we have basic medical training. It was the handsome redheaded guy who set this up after he sealed the breaches into Muggle London."
Lilly frowned and looked around. She was expecting to see Bill.
But no, across the alley, there he was.
"Smoke inhalation, go to the green zone!" Ron yelled, "You might feel fine now, but you still need oxygen."
"Ron?" Lilly said in disbelief.
He looked up, and his eyes flooded with relief, "Lilly! Thank Merlin, a properly qualified Healer," he said, jogging across the alley to speak to her.
Lilly nodded and lowered her voice, "Ron, this is amazing. You have no idea how many lives you've saved by setting this up."
Ron smiled weakly, "Just doing what I can."
Lilly reached out and placed her hand against a deep wound on his arm, "Thank you," she said, murmuring a cleaning charm then sealing it up for him.
Ron nodded, "I've got people searching the flats above and sending the injured down to you. But I've got to go. We haven't seen Charlie since the explosions hit."
Lilly nodded too, then she pushed through the pain in her foot and did what she could for the survivors.
When Ron reached Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, things looked bad. The fire had spread to the flats above, and people were hanging out of the windows shouting for help.
Ron cast a cushioning charm on the ground and told them to jump. Most people did, and then a young woman appeared at the window with a baby in her arms.
"Help, please!"
Ron wanted to help Bill and George fight the flames to get in and search for Charlie. But he couldn't take his eyes off this poor young mother. She looked like she was still a teenager herself, and she was obviously terrified.
Those who could get themselves out already had. The people who were left were the vulnerable who either couldn't do magic anymore or had never been able to in the first place.
"Just take her, please!" The woman yelled, "I don't matter. I'm just a squib. Please, take her!"
Ron took a shaky breath and pointed his wand at the infant, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The spell levitated the infant, and Ron used it to gently guide her down to him, avoiding the flames as he did so. When the baby reached him, he took her in his arms.
Then he motioned to the cushioning charm and called to the woman above, "Now it's your turn, come on, jump!"
She barely had time to start climbing onto the windowsill when a secondary explosion in the apothecary ripped through the building. The young woman screamed as the floor caved in, and she disappeared from view.
Ron felt sick, but just like back in the final battle, he pushed it down and told himself he would deal with it later. He swallowed hard and passed the baby off to a bystander, "Take her to triage, she can't be more than six months old, and she'll have suffered from smoke inhalation."
The bystander nodded and left. A few metres to the left of Ron, Bill cursed loudly.
"This isn't working!" he yelled, running forward towards the fiery building and throwing up a shield charm around himself.
"Bill, no!" George cried.
Ron snapped and cried out in rage and frustration when he saw Bill disappear into the fire.
But there was nothing more they could do.
The fire just kept raging, tearing through the old, wooden structure.
- TBC -
