"Oi, don't worry mate, she'll love whatever that happens to be." Bellamy Blake rolled his eyes at his best friend's semi-supportive words. The close-knit group of five boys were crossing through tall fields, soaking in what was left of their limited summer holiday. He didn't know what to expect but he imagined the whole term would be as bittersweet as this last summer had been. This was their last chance to be normal teenagers before the real world hit them and for the last few weeks, they'd been taking advantage of every moment. It'd been nothing but Quidditch, games, and adventures since they stepped off the Hogwarts Express. Plus, there was quite a bit of romance brewing in the air lately.
Miller was thinking of giving his long-term boyfriend, Bryan, a promise ring. Jasper was sending letters back and forth to a girl he'd met during the tournament last year. Bellamy and his girlfriend Clarke were genuinely enjoying each other's time. It was all very euphoric and put everyone in this grand mood.
"Even if it is bloody hideous?" Jasper Jordan snorted from beside him, eyes finding the white Persian cat. Every time Jasper looked at the poor beastie, it started flicking it's tail back and forth like a psychopath. "Why did you have to buy her a cat? You don't even like cats."
"I love cats." Bellamy smirked which caused their friend Wells to roll his eyes. Wells was always more reserved than the rest of the group, preferring to stay silent than contribute to the conversation. He was a great complementary person to the loud and sometimes obnoxious attitudes of the entire group, which had grown to be quite large over the six years that they've known each other.
"You love Clarke, that doesn't count as loving cats." Monty Greene, Jasper's best friend since birth, pointed out. Monty was another quiet friend but his adventurous and sometimes dangerous friendship with Jasper put him in an entirely different category. "Just because she tends to change into a fluffy little kitty every once in a while, does not make you a cat person."
Miller nodded along with every word Monty said, "Like always, an excellent point Monty." Even in the dark, Bellamy thought he saw Monty blush. Miller ought to know not to flirt with him like that but Bellamy figures Miller can't really control it, just like Bellamy couldn't control his feelings for Clarke when he dated Gina, a Hufflepuff seventh year.
"Regardless, Clarke loves cats. She's always wanted a cat, but her mother never let her have one. She's seventeen now and she's not planning to move back to the manor after we graduate this year—" Bellamy realized that it was the first time he was mentioning their plans for after Hogwarts. Everyone assumed that Bellamy and Clarke would eventually move in together, but it was never really confirmed until that moment. All his friends looked at him, all wearing variations of the same teasing expression.
"Ah, so you two are looking to move in together." Miller said in a drawn out voice, as if he were a reporter trying to lure a person into making a shocking confession for the Daily Prophet. "Did you think buying her a cat would force her to move out of the manor?"
If it weren't Miller asking the question, he probably would have lashed out. But, because it was Miller and he knew that Bellamy had strong fears about whether Clarke would leave him after she got a taste of the real world, he let it slide. As much as he tried to overlook Clarke's obvious privileges in life, he couldn't totally forget them. There was a good chance she would realize he wasn't worth anything and move onto another person as soon as the first set of bills came in. He knew that she wasn't like that, but people change, and Clarke's never been outside of the control of her mother before.
Bellamy sighed, "It's not that I'm trying to bribe her into making a decision. But, yeah, in a way I kind of think that this will give her some motivation to make the ultimate decision. I've tried to get her to look at little flatts here and there, but she hasn't shown much interest."
Wells, who was admittedly closer to Clarke than anyone, cleared his throat, "I don't think it's that she doesn't want to move in with you if that's what you're worried about. I just think she's having a lot harder of a time with the tournament than she's been letting on." Bellamy looked at him, wondering if he'd been blind to how Clarke's been dealing with it all. Maybe Wells saw a hint of jealousy in his eyes, so he continued to talk, "I think she just wants to spare everyone from the details of it all, you know?"
"I guess." Bellamy sighed again, "I'm not trying to rush things along I just don't want to get in the position where we graduate and we're working so much that we just fall apart."
Miller and Monty seemed to be having a private conversation with just looks and Bellamy tried to ignore it. Jasper spoke up, lightening the mood, "I just want to know why you didn't buy her that cute kitten. Clarke would have loved it. Women melt for little kittens."
"Clarke would have been upset if she found out that I left this little beastie behind for a kitten. Plus, the store owner said that this ol' boy has been in there for almost a year without any prospects." Bellamy seemed quite proud in his decision to get her an older cat.
Miller fake coughed, pointedly staring at the hissing cat. "Three guesses why."
The group of boys were about a mile away from Jasper's house, having been dropped off about thirty minutes ago by the Knight Bus on the edge of the Jordan property. Jasper's parents lived away from civilization because of their son's condition. Bellamy, who had grown up in the poorer parts of London, actually preferred the countryside. There was plenty of room to run and ride brooms and avoid the muggle eye.
"Eh, what is that?" Jasper pointed in the direction whitish blue figment flying their way. The second Jasper brought everyone's attention to it, Bellamy knew it was someone's Patronus in corporeal form. He also knew that something must be terribly wrong. His heart started beating irregularly, adrenaline pulsing through his system. He just knew something wasn't right.
"Isn't that Raven's Patronus?" Wells asked, the same worry in his voice. Raven's Patronus was a raven. They'd seen it a couple times in class the year before so it made sense that Wells would recognize it.
The raven fluttered in front of them, opening it's mouth. Raven's voice was distressed, her words coming out in tearful pants. It was alarming because they'd never heard Raven cry. "Hurry back, something's wrong with Clarke!" Bellamy's blood ran ice cold and he quickly shoved the box in Monty's hands and took off running at full speed towards the house. He could hear Miller running behind him until they were side by side.
He paused at the door, for only a second. It was fears doing.
"Raven?" He yelled, eyes roaming around the living area of the house. "Octavia?" He called for his little sister, the worry seeping into every word. He was pretty sure he was shaking, his gut telling him that things were bad. Very bad.
He started down the hallway when he ran straight into Raven. Her eyes were bloodshot red and she let out a small scream when she collided with Bellamy. "I-I didn't expect you to get here so fast."
"Where's Clarke?" He said, avoiding Raven's awkward small talk. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"
Raven looked down at her feet before she responded, and Bellamy found himself becoming increasingly impatient with the girl who was usually so confident. "Octavia and I were just looking over what homework we had to do before the start of term when we heard someone apparate into the yard and we thought it might have been one of you, but then we heard this god-awful scream. We found Clarke collapsed in the front yard and at first we thought she splinched herself but there was no damage. We carried her inside and we were about to call her mother when Yani showed up and said that Clarke was in danger and her mother was in on it." Raven hardly breathed the entire time she spoke, "Octavia sent her Patronus to someone to get help. Someone who knows about healing. Clarke hasn't woken up yet, Bellamy and her pulse is really weak."
There was a moment that he couldn't remember if he was dreaming or not. Raven's words seemed to be as muffled as they would be if she were standing on the other side of a tunnel as a train rode through. He found that he didn't know how to react: should he be angry? Should he be sobbing right now? Should he be tracking down whoever caused this? He didn't know what to do. All he could feel was the moment.
The air conditioning blasting through the house, the smell of the cleaning solution Jasper's mom made them promise to use when tidying up the house. He could focus on the little details around him. The moving pictures on the wall, the long hallway of doors that led to different rooms and storage areas throughout the house. It was like he was third-party observer rather than a person who just found out the person he loved his seriously injured.
Raven watched him, concern etched across her already broken face. When she started to move towards the back of the house, he followed but did not know if it was a conscious thought to do so or if he was purely running off of instinct at that point. He left Miller in the living room although he was wholly unaware of doing it. Raven waited for him to reach the last door on the right, and she even let him walk in first.
As soon as he saw her, he felt the urge to cry.
Even in the state she was in, Clarke was absolutely stunning. She was wearing a formal dress he'd never seen before, and a necklace that didn't look anything like what she would wear. Her skin was unnaturally pale and if he couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest, he would have thought she was dead.
The notion that she looked near death caused him to swallow hard and take an apprehensive step forward. He wanted to know if her skin felt as cold as it appeared. Bellamy was stopped in his tracks when his sister walked out of the conjoined bathroom with a wet wash rag and a bowl of water.
He imagined Octavia didn't want to feel useless although Clarke's condition was probably just as much a mystery to her as it was to him. If he knew the details, he could probably understand. He could probably help. In the back of his mind, he remembered that Raven said they had called for help.
Help is coming, he thought to himself but it did not ease up the war inside of him.
In the distance, he could hear the door of the house slamming against the wall as the rest of the boys arrived. He could their questions, all variations of "what's wrong with Clarke?" He listened to Miller explain, and then he listened to Miller tell them to stay in the living area. He was grateful for it.
Bellamy was always considered the unofficial leader of the group and he would hate for them to see him so frozen. He was truly at a loss and he knew that whatever expression was on his face, it was a lie. Inside, he was breaking apart. His mind was a cluster of different scenarios and questions. The one thing he knew was that the longer they waited, the worse she was getting. Her breathing was getting slower and he knew the whole room was aware of it.
Raven was the first to snap, "Who did you summon, Octavia? Professor Nyko?" The brunette had taken to tapping her foot impatiently. Bellamy knew Raven well enough to know that she was only a few seconds away from nervous pacing.
Octavia released a shaky breath and shook her head. "No, I don't know where Nyko is during the holidays. I called someone else, someone that's working as a Healer at St. Mungo's." Raven gave Octavia a look but Octavia was way ahead of Raven's concerns. "I trust this person. They won't tell Mrs. Griffin, Clarke will be safe."
If Raven had something else to say, she let it go.
After another minute, there was some loud banging from the front of the house and a few curses. He could hear the boys yelling.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" (Miller)
"What the fuck?" (Jasper)
"I ought to hex you right now." (Miller, again.)
Octavia bolted from her position by Clarke and ran to the front of the house. He could hear her yelling, "Let him in, let him in! He's here to help Clarke!" Despite her yells, he thought he heard Miller growling. Whoever their guest was, Bellamy could hear his sister filling them in on the situation. He was shocked when Octavia walked in with no other than Lincoln Woods, a champion that participated in the Triwizard Tournament the year prior. After the second trial, Bellamy heard rumors that Lincoln was going to be a healer. He just never figured that he would be the first call his sister made in an emergency.
He stored that bit of information away for later, his main focus being on Clarke. Raven on the other hand gaped at Octavia, "This is who you called?"
"Raven, he knows what he's doing."
"He's a novice!" Raven yelled, "We need someone experienced."
"Well, given the conditions this was our only safe bet." Octavia glared at her, "And you know that he's good with spells and healing."
Raven let it go.
Lincoln walked over to Clarke, alarm in his eyes. Apparently Octavia hadn't told him just how bad things actually were. "What happened?" He asked in his thick Hungarian accent. When he raised a hand so he could feel Clarke's forehead, Bellamy let out a small growl. "I'm just here to help, let me help."
"Um, well, all we know is she apparated here like I said in the hallway." Octavia was shifting her weight uncomfortably. "We don't know much more."
Lincoln pulled out his wand although Bellamy knew that there wasn't any point if he didn't know what the problem was, yet. "Apparition can be tricky. Do you know if she did it more than once?" He said in a voice that reminded him of Professor Nyko's when Bellamy fell off his broom during third year.
Raven stepped forward, sensing that Octavia was about to start crying. Bellamy knew it was probably out of frustration, than out of pure sadness. Octavia wanted to help because she loved Clarke, saw her as an older sister. "Her house elf, Yani, said she was running-that she was being chased. I'm willing to bet that she didn't just pop up here without making sure it would be safe first."
It was pure guesswork, of course. Raven didn't have a clue what happened but she did know Clarke fairly well. They all knew Clarke. They all knew that she was smart, and brave, and she would risk herself in order to keep them safe even if she was the one that was on the run. Bellamy was willing to bet that Clarke had reached her limits with apparition and this was the result.
Lincoln seemed to believe the same thing. Bellamy recognized that Lincoln probably had a healthy insight to Clarke, too. They'd competed over the course of ten months and he knows that Clarke did extensive research into Lincoln during the tournament before the first task. Bellamy watched as Lincoln nodded, trying to solve the problem in his head. "It's not going to be an easy fix under these circumstances. It's going to be painful for her. But, if everything goes smoothly, she should be completely healed within a day." He paused, "If this takes a turn for the worse, I'll have no choice than to bring her into St. Mungo's, you understand?"
He was looking at Octavia, who nodded slowly. Bellamy could see the disapproval in Raven's eyes and wondered if his reflected the same. There was no way that they could take her to St. Mungo's.
Lincoln raised his wand but seemed to think better of something and turned to them again, "I need everyone to leave the room. This will be hard enough as it is."
Bellamy wanted to fight. He really did. But, he couldn't so he found himself walking out the room with Octavia and Raven, terrified that it would be the last time he ever saw Clarke alive. He could hear Lincoln casting spells by the time he sat in the living room with the others. Everyone was pale face and tense.
"She's going to be okay." Octavia tried to say but it fell flat.
An extremely loud pop made everyone jump. At first, he thought Lincoln had left but then he noticed Clarke's house elf. Yani was older, but not so old that she could barely move. Under normal circumstances, she was generally quite friendly but she looked absolutely fearful at the moment.
"Yani did as Mistress Clarke told her to do." Yani announced to the room, holding a small gold key in her hand. "Is Mistress awake?"
Everyone shook their heads but Bellamy was leaning forward, looking at Yani. "What happened at Chase Manor, Yani? Why was Clarke running?"
"Did they find out she was an Animagus?" Jasper asked and Bellamy knew that he was probably worried that Clarke was injured because she wanted to help him.
Yani shook her head, "No, no Mistress's secret is safe. It is much worse, much worse. Yani listened to Mistress Clarke's guests. Mistress Clarke's guests were not nice. Mistress left dinner and summoned Yani, told Yani to get Yani's belongings and Mistress's belongings and meet her at Jasper Jordan's home. Mistress was scared." The House Elf started crying, "Yani heard Yani's old Mistress talking with Mistress Clarke's guest. Old Mistress was angry. Guests called Mistress Clarke a-" Yani paused, and whispered the word. "Blood-traitor."
"A blood-traitor?" Octavia questioned, looking around the room at all the grim faces.
Wells was the one that answered her. "There are some families...families like mine and Clarke's that once believed that blood purity is the only option. When someone sides with muggle-borns, or muggles, or has a relationship with them, they're labeled a blood-traitor." But then he spoke quickly, "Yani, you must have misheard though because Mrs. Griffin is not prejudice like that. I mean she's always had a bit of a stigma problem...but never so blatant. And my father was there tonight. He's the Minister of Magic for crying out loud."
"Yes, Yani saw the Minister of Magic. He was most angry."
"What?" Wells asked, his voice significantly quieter than before. "My father called Clarke a blood-traitor?"
"Minster sent people after Mistress Clarke. Minister said bring her back alive." Yani was still crying, "Mistress is not safe!"
Just then, a blood curdling scream broke through the house. Everyone looked towards the back of the house in horror. Octavia gasped and put a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from breaking out in a sob.
It was the worst sound that Bellamy had ever heard.
Until she screamed again, louder this time. "What the fuck is he doing to her?" Miller asked, standing up quickly. Monty put his hand around Miller's wrist, shaking his head. Miller looked down at Monty, clearly confused.
Clarke screamed again, this time forming words. "Please stop, please stop, STOP!"
This time, Bellamy jerked up with a growl. Raven and Octavia grabbed his arms and shoved him back down in the chair he was sitting in. Octavia was breathed heavily, "There's nothing he can do for her when it comes to pain. If she's lucky, she'll just pass out again!" It sounded harsh but Bellamy knew she was right. "At least she's awake. It means it's working."
Her words weren't much comfort as they listened to Clarke sob in ways that Bellamy had never heard her before. He didn't realize it at first until he let out a shaky breath, but he was crying. The tears were streaming down his face.
The unnamed Persian cat was making odd sounds that Bellamy had never heard a cat make before every time Clarke screamed. The cat just reminded him that this wasn't how tonight was supposed to go.
For the next twenty minutes, they listened to her scream and cry as Lincoln started saying his spells louder. Miller had taken to pacing around the kitchen and biting his nails, a habit Bellamy vaguely remembered him breaking during third year. After the first five minutes of Clarke screaming, Bellamy focused on something else:
Anger.
There were still a lot of pieces to fill in about what happened at Chase Manor but from what he could understand, the Minister was a bigot and Clarke's mother was the reason why Clarke was suffering in the back of the house. He vowed that they weren't going to get away with what they forced Clarke to do to herself.
It was well into the night by the time Lincoln emerged from the back room. Even though his face was composed, Bellamy saw the shaking of his hands. "I, uh, I'll be contacting Nyko and letting him know the situation so Clarke can get the potions she needs to continue healing. There was extensive organ damage. If she'd apparated one more time, she would have died instantly. She got lucky tonight."
"Lucky?" Miller stopped pacing, "You call this lucky?"
"Well, considering the alternative, yes, I do." Lincoln said, "If it's okay with everyone, I would like to stay for the night. I'm exhausted and in case something happens with Clarke, it would be wise for me to be here."
Everyone turned to Jasper, who seemed extremely intimidated by Lincoln. "Uh, yeah, sure. Find an empty room. There are plenty of them." Jasper turned to the sobbing House Elf, "And, Yani, you can find a room as well."
Raven made an odd noise, "I think we all need to get some rest. We have two days left until the start of term now and we can't do anything for her tonight."
Bellamy nodded and stood up as if he were going to go to his room but instead his feet guided him to the back of the house. Clarke still looked pale but her breathing was already stronger. He sat in the chair that Octavia had been sitting in earlier and brushed the hair away from her face. His friends must have been giving him privacy, because he could hear the doors shutting down the hall as people went to bed.
He put his head just below her chest, listening to her breathe until he dozed off.