20. The Guardian Bat and the Power of Dreams

His eyes and lips are sewn shut. The thought kept repeating itself in his mind. He knew from Stephen that in muggle medicine stitches were used to close wounds, to help the skin regenerate and heal itself. He'd never considered for a moment that stitching could be used to cause pain- to blind or silence someone. It was sickening.

Tears flooded his eyes, but even through the blur he could see those awful stitches. Where was his brother? All he could see before him was a human-sized Voodoo doll. Any moment the doll would tumble over and land in a heap at his feet. Where was his brother? Was he alive?

Alastor felt sick. He was in a dark place. There was no light and it felt cold. Yet, even without light, he could see in the darkness the doll at his feet. As he gazed at it, blood began to pour from those stitched eyes and mouth. It circled him, staining his shoes. There was just so much blood.

Everything inside him churned. The bile rose, filling his throat and mouth. He sicked himself and when there was nothing left inside him, the darkness closed in. The floor disappeared beneath his feet. He was falling…falling…falling.

Opening his eyes, Alastor found himself floating in cold black water in a deep cavern. Panic swept over him and he began to sink. How had he gotten there, he wondered as he worked hard to keep afloat. He couldn't swim and he was truly afraid. How was he going to get out? He was starting to sink again. Water flooded his mouth and nose. He couldn't keep his head above the water. Desperate now, he knew there was nothing to do but to cry for help.

"HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!"

His cry echoed loudly through the abyss. It was almost as if there were several Alastors screaming out. Then another sound filled the grotto. It was high-pitched- an animal sound. As it grew closer he could hear flapping sounds, and then he saw it: a bat. The bat fluttered down, bumping against the rock wall. He watched it flutter and bump against the wall a second time. In amazement, Alastor saw a rope hanging there where the bat kept hovering.

Splashing haphazardly, he grasped at the rock wall and reached up to grab the rope. His wet hand slid against the rope and he almost sank back into the water had it not been for his other hand clutching the rock. He tried to think. How was he going to climb up? The only thing he could think to do was to dry his hands, but how? There was no way he could clap or rub his hands dry without sinking. The only thing to do was to wait for them to dry naturally. He would have to be patient.

The cold was getting to him now that he was no longer moving. Keeping one hand on the rock, he waved the other hoping the pitiful breeze he created would dry his hand faster and did his best to keep his legs moving beneath the water. After what seemed like forever, he switched hands and forced himself to keep moving.

At length he was able to reach up for the rope. He began to pull himself up. When he'd pulled himself up enough to carefully stand upon the rock which jutted out, he wrapped the slack around his arm and attempted to continue to climb, but his wet shoes were far too slick against the wall. He'd have to do without the shoes. He slipped them off and heard them fall into the water with a loud splash.

It was hard, toiling work to keep climbing. The wall seemed to stretch up forever and the rocks cut into his feet, but he knew he had to keep going. There was nothing else he could do and no other way out. He was at least grateful for the bat's company as it kept flying around him. He even got used to the high-pitched noise it made.

He kept on climbing until his head knocked against something hard above him. It was rock, one large rock that seemed to me immovable. No, it couldn't be. This was the way out! Where else was there to go but up and out? It couldn't end like this! How bitterly unfair! The despair he felt was so acute he briefly pondered simply letting go, letting himself fall to his death.

No, there has to be a way out. I have to try! He used his free arm to push hardagainst it. It didn't move, but he kept pushing- kept trying. He couldn't give up so easily. He kept at it. After a long while, the rock budged a bit. Alastor cried tears of joy. He pushed, pushed, pushed, and pushed until the rock was over the edge enough to topple over. He screamed for the joy of it as he climbed out with what little energy he had left and toppled down onto the grass, gasping for breath, his chest heaving, tears coursing down his face.

Above him shone the moon, full and luminous, and the night sky was alight with stars. Out of the well flew the bat. It circled him, fluttered down close to him, and then flew away into the woods. In the distance a wolf howled—plaintive… poignant. The sound went straight through his heart. He howled back. Silence. Another howl was heard. The wolf had answered his call.

When Alastor opened his eyes he found that he was back in Rremly's room. Moonlight spilled in from the window, easing the darkness. He felt safe and warm, and with a glance around he realized that was partly due to the fact that he wasn't alone. Rremly's bed had apparently been enlarged to accommodate everyone. Rremly lay asleep on his left side, Stewart on his right, while Belladonna and Percy lay comfortably at the foot of the bed. It brought a little smile to his face.

A tap-tap-tap against the window drew his attention. Shifting, he craned his neck back to see an owl outside the window. As he stared at it he realized he was looking at Ludwig II, the Ural owl that belonged to Alfons and Maximilian. The bed shifted around him. Rremly and Belladonna were now awake and looking at the owl, too. They all eased out of bed, one at a time so as not to disturb Percy and Stewart. Rremly crept to the window and opened it quietly. Ludwig flew in, landing upon Alastor's arm and released the letter in its beak into his hand. Startled, he glanced down to see the name on the letter. Sure enough, there it was: Alastor Moody. Granted he had gotten letters from them, one every week, while he'd stayed with Percy's family- but how could they know he was staying with the Redgraves now?

"Thanks," whispered Alastor, giving Ludwig a gentle stroke.

Rremly smiled and gave Ludwig a treat, "Eingeben Fonzie und Max unserer Liebe. Fliege sicher."1

Ludwig hooted twice and took flight straight out into the moonlit night. Rremly closed the window and turned back to them.

"What?"

"Since when can you speak German?" Alastor and Belladonna whispered in unison, surprising themselves and Rremly who smiled at them.

"Since always," he explained with a patient smile. "Oma, my mother's mother, is German. She left Heidelberg, came to London, and married into the Redgrave family."

Alastor and Belladonna exchanged glances. "You never said anything," said Alastor.

"You never asked." Rremly smiled again, giving a little shrug.

In that moment, Alastor was strongly reminded of when he and Percy had come across Milo in his father's bookstore in Neptune's Alley.

"Fancy seeing you here," Percy smiled cheerfully. "You didn't tell me about this other branch or about your summer home."

Milo blushed faintly, adjusting his glasses, "You didn't ask."

He couldn't help it. He smiled a little. It was pleasantly amusing that Rremly and Milo should have that in common. Shaking his head to himself, he decided to ask more about that later. Right now there was a letter in his hand that he had to read. Unfolding the letter he found Alfons' impeccably fine writing.

Al,

Max and I had the most horrible dream about you and your brother four nights ago. It was awful, and believe me, we've had some terrible dreams before, but this… it felt so real- too real. Usually, when we get dreams like that, they do turn out to be real—things that happened, are happening, or haven't happened yet. Please, don't think we're mental, we do enough of that ourselves. It's just, well, you almost died in a very dark place- a dungeon we suppose. Then you were gone, but your brother was there… and his eyes and mouth were stitched up. Your mother was there, too. She was on the ground. Her eyes were just staring upward… she was dead.

We wanted to write you straightaway but we had to wait for Ludwig to get back from hunting. We know this letter might be late in getting to you, but please write back and let us know you're all right! Send it to Snowdrop Cottage in Sweden. Remember, write back straightaway. If we don't hear from you in, let's say four days, we'll cancel our trip and come back to merry olde England and find out what's been going on.

Your friends,

Fonzie and Max

p.s. If you're wondering how we knew to send it to Cider Cottage, well, that was the last part of the dream. We saw the house and Rremly's bedroom window. We figured that must be where you are now.

Alastor stared at the letter in shock. He didn't notice that he'd slumped to his knees on the floor. Nor did he notice that Rremly and Belladonna had joined him on the floor, their arms around him. All he could think about was what the twins had seen- how they could have seen it. Were they Seers? No, they couldn't be. They mentioned they sometimes dream of things that have already happened. Seers see the future, not the past.

Don't they?

An image of his mother came to mind and he remembered that they'd seen her in the dream.

She's dead. She's dead. My mother's dead.

The thought kept repeating itself. He didn't know quite what to feel. He'd never hated her, nor had he ever wished her dead. All he'd ever wanted was for her to love to him, to look at him as she looked at Aurelius, or better yet, he wished for the same looks Mrs. Pomfrey, Mrs. Redgrave, Mrs. Lockley, Mrs. Wilkes, and Mrs. Hooch gave their children. Oh, he'd known she never would, but at least there had been that impossible hope that someday it might be different. Now that she was dead, there would never be a chance, no matter how slight.

The letter slipped from his hand. He really couldn't be bothered to pick it up. Belladonna plucked it up, said something he couldn't hear. He heard Rremly answer back, but he had no idea what had been said even though both of them were beside him. Alastor got to his feet and left the room, shutting the door behind him. He had to see Aurelius.

Images of the Voodoo doll crept back into his mind as he wiped away the tears that were spilling down his cheeks. He went across to Holden's bedroom door, cautiously easing it open. His guess had been right. Aurelius lay quietly sleeping on Holden's bed while Holden and Stephen slept on what seemed to be a comfortable cushion on the floor. There was still some space that enabled him to creep silently over to the bed.

Aurelius looked much better now. There was not a single stitch in sight. He noticed there was a seat beside the bed and sat upon it, letting his hand rest atop Aurelius's hand. As he stared at his brother, it was suddenly as if everything he'd felt just now had sucked the energy out of him. He was starting to feel tired. His eyelids were growing heavy. Leaning forward, he let his head rest upon the bed. A moment later he was fast asleep.

Alastor woke to find himself, once again, in Rremly's bed. Golden sunlight was filtering in through the curtains. This time he was the only one in bed. After a few minutes he got himself out of bed and looked about for his trunk. When he found it he pulled out some parchment, a quill, and his inkwell. He'd just about sat down at Rremly's desk and was about to write to Alfons and Maximilian when there was a knock at the door followed by Rremly peeking in.

"If you're writing to the twins, you don't have to," he came inside and closed the door behind him. "I sent a reply last evening."

"Thanks," said Alastor, greatly relieved. It's not that he didn't want to write and ease their worry. It's just that he had nothing to say except 'I'm alive.' "Is Aurelius awake?"

"No, he's still asleep."

"Where are the others?"

"Just finishing breakfast. There's still plenty. You should have some."

"I'm not hungry, but I suppose I really should eat," sighed Alastor.

Rremly took his hand, "Yes, you should, even if it's the smallest bit."

"You're always looking out for me."

Rremly smiled. It was a smile Alastor recognized easily. It was the smile that was completely sincere and thoroughly comforting.

"Always."

Notes:

1. Give our love to Fonzie and Max. Fly safely.