21. Painful Obedience

After a delicious breakfast—which he only half enjoyed—Alastor excused himself and went up to see Aurelius. He made his way up fairly quickly, coming to stand in front of Holden's bedroom door. He knocked and after hearing no response, he eased the door open and stepped inside. As Rremly had said, Aurelius was still sleeping. Quietly closing the door behind him, Alastor went to take the seat beside the bed. He stared at Aurelius quite intently, wishing he would wake up.

"I really need to talk to you," Alastor murmured quietly, more to himself. "Wake up, Aurelius."

Aurelius's eyes snapped open. It happened so quickly it gave Alastor a start, drawing a gasp out of him. The surprise eased a moment later. He was just glad to see Aurelius awake.

"Morning," said Alastor, managing something of a smile for him.

"Morning," came the quietly hoarse response.

"Are you all right?"

There was a long pause before Aurelius answered him. "Don't know."

Though Aurelius's expression seemed calm, Alastor knew better than to press for more. He knew how it felt not to be sure if you were all right or not. He was feeling it now. Alastor let his hand rest over Aurelius's hand, his eyes a bit moist.

"Thank you," he managed to voice. He struggled to find other words, other ways to express how thankful and how much it meant to him that Aurelius would go to such lengths to protect him, but nothing came to him. There were no other words that could illustrate the depth of what he was feeling.

Aurelius turned his hand over, giving Alastor's hand a little squeeze. "The older brother has to protect the younger brother," his voice was getting to be less hoarse now. "That's how it should have been all along. I'm sorry it wasn't."

Wiping away the single tear that escaped, Alastor shook his head, "Better late than never," managing another smile. "None of that matters now."

A ghost of a smile softened Aurelius's lips, "Fresh start, then?"

"Fresh start," Alastor nodded, wiping at his moist eyes. When he was a bit more composed, he quietly asked what he'd wanted to ask from the start. "What happened?"

Aurelius looked at him for a few moments. There was something in his eyes. It was something Alastor had never seen before and therefore could hardly define.

At length, Aurelius opened his mouth to speak. "He knew at once something was off. When he saw you were gone, he dragged me down there—"

Suddenly an anguished scream filled the room. Aurelius was screaming in agony. It was so sudden and so loud that Alastor jumped. He was tossed backward as he accidentally knocked his seat back. Forgetting about the chair, Alastor leapt to his feet. Aurelius was contorted in pain and was still screaming.

"Stop," Alastor gasped out, panicking, hardly knowing what to do. "Please, don't—"

The words died on his lips as Aurelius instantly ceased to scream and writhe in pain. He was gasping for breath and shaking, tears were streaming down his face just as the door was thrown open as Stephen and Mrs. Redgrave dashed into the room, both of whom were clearly worried.

"What just happened?" Stephen quietly demanded as he came closer, looking between Aurelius and Alastor.

"I don't know," Alastor admitted shakily, glancing down at his brother who had yet to move or speak. "I… we were talking…"

"What about?"

"Well… I asked him if he was all right. He apologized for not protecting me before. Then… I had to know what happened. I asked him. He started to tell me and then he started screaming and he looked like he was in a great deal of pain. Then he just stopped."

Mrs. Redgrave came to him, wrapping an arm around him. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Her gesture gave more comfort than any words could.

Musing over this, Stephen came to the bedside and righted the seat Alastor had knocked over. He sat down and appeared to say something meant only for Aurelius who responded with the slightest of nods. Aurelius carefully straightened and eased onto his back at which point Stephen rose and held his hands just over Aurelius's chest. Slowly he moved those hands up and down Aurelius's recumbent form, and while he did, the tension eased in Aurelius's face. His expression softened and he appeared to be calm.

Once he'd resumed his seat, Stephan asked of Aurelius, "What Alastor wanted to know, it's something that you can't or won't speak about?"

"Can't."

"Why is that?"

"Even if I wanted to speak of it, I just can't," he sighed, his vivid green eyes sad.

"Do you want to speak of it?"

"Yes."

For several long moments Stephen simply sat scrutinizing Aurelius. Eventually he turned and looked long at Alastor.

"What happened to end the pain?" Stephen inquired, turning his gaze back to Aurelius.

Aurelius glanced at Alastor, meeting his eyes. "He said 'stop'."

Stephen frowned, "That's all it took?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It was a command," Aurelius sighed ruefully, turning his gaze away to look at the ceiling. "I must obey any command." His normally exquisite face—with its fine pointed nose and softly sculpted jaw and cheekbones—looked wan and his long normally lustrous red hair lay limp and lackluster against the pillow. There was defeat in his light green eyes.

"In essence, you can't speak about what was done to you—"

"Or mother," Aurelius added.

"And you have to obey every command directed to you?"

"Correct."

"Thank you." Thoughtful, Stephen rose and caught Mrs. Redgrave's eye. "Can you send for the professors and Madam Arden?"

"Yes, of course," she nodded. She spared Aurelius a sympathetic glance and kissed the top of Alastor's head before she left the room.

Resting a hand upon Alastor's shoulder, Stephen said to Alastor, "Let's step outside for a moment. I'm certain your brother would like to dress and prepare himself for receiving visitors."

He spared a nod and turned his glance toward his brother, "I'm so sorry—"

"It's all right," Aurelius reassured him. "You couldn't have known."

Though he still felt horrible about having caused him that pain, Alastor managed a slight nod and a ghost of a smile for him as Stephen led him outside into the hall.

Several minutes later Professors Dumbledore, Ellerhone, Morrigan, and Madam Arden arrived. They all greeted him with kind warmth before proceeding into the bedroom followed by Stephen. Naturally Alastor followed after them, determined to be near his brother. He closed the door quietly behind him and stood apart from everyone, not wishing to be in the way.

Aurelius looked a bit better—amusing even—wearing borrowed clothes from Holden. He was wearing brown corduroy trousers that were done up with square patches one would ordinarily see on a quilt and a matching brown waistcoat—which had a black and yellow embroidered badger where the lapel should have been—over a simple white shirt. His hair was tied back at his neck in its usual silver ribbon. He really didn't look half bad like that.

While Alastor had been musing over the borrowed clothes, Professor Dumbledore had conjured seats for everyone- even Alastor who he glanced at, sparing a calm smile. When he shook his head, choosing to remain standing where he was, Dumbledore gave a slight nod and vanished the seat. He wasn't the only one who chose to remain standing for the moment. Professor Ellerhone stepped forward toward Aurelius, sparing him a reassuring glance.

She was dressed, as always, in dark colours even though it was summer. She was swathed in a light-wearing free flowing two layered medieval gown made of black and deep forest green silk. The bottom layer was black and the over-dress was green with elegantly understated silver flourishes embroidered on it. As usual she wore her obsidian bat pendant around her neck and kept her long hair free and loose.

"I'm sorry, but we do have to do a test," she said, and she truly was apologetic. There was no wicked smile or dancing eyes in sight.

Aurelius nodded, steeling himself for what was to come. "I would have been surprised if you didn't."

Ellerhone smiled approvingly. "Ready?"

"Yes."

"Point west."

Without missing a single beat, Aurelius's hand flew up, his finger pointing westward. It greatly surprised Alastor. He hadn't needed to think about it or use a compass. His arm had simply known. With a look at Madam Arden and the professors, he could see they were keeping their expressions clear and neutral.

"Close your eyes."

They snapped shut.

"Turn around three times."

He turned three times.

"Turn around five times counter-clockwise."

He turned five times counter-clockwise.

"Point to Alastor."

His arm shot up again and pointed back diagonally to where Alastor stood, drawing a gasp from the younger boy. Aurelius never looked so much like a puppet in all his life.

"Face me and open your eyes."

Aurelius pivoted to face Ellerhone, eyes snapping open the next second. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, Aurelius. Unfortunately there is one another test, and I apologize for this once again."

"It's all right, Professor," he assured her.

"Now, I'll give you a command and I would like for you to resist obeying it," said Ellerhone, resting her hand briefly upon his shoulder. "Understood?"

"Yes, Professor."

She gave his shoulder a squeeze and removed her hand. "Point to the door."

Aurelius swiftly grabbed at his arm as it nearly shot up, and the moment he tried to pull it back down he cried out and slumped to the floor, his body stretching and contorting at odd angles. It tore at Alastor's heart to see it.

"Stop."

All at once Aurelius went slack upon the floor breathing hard, pale, eyes watering. Professor Ellerhone dropped down beside him in a single fluid motion. In the next second Stephen was there beside her. He passed his hands along Aurelius's shoulders and arms, easing his shaking and helping him to breathe easier.

"Feeling a little better now?" Ellerhone asked, gazing at Aurelius with great concern.

Aurelius nodded slightly, his complexion gaining back some of its colour.

"There's just one final thing," she said softly, giving his arm a light stroke. "I'm going to ask you some questions. I want you to blink once for 'yes' and twice for 'no'. Can you do that for me?"

He nodded once again, giving nothing away in his expression.

"Do you know what happened to your mother?"

One blink.

"Was it intentional?"

Two blinks were followed by a scream as Aurelius's body jerked viciously.

"Stop."

Aurelius lay slack again.

"An accident, then," Ellerhone murmured. She nodded to Stephen and they both helped Aurelius to stand. She then glanced back toward Professor Morrigan, "Asta, can you take Alastor down to stay with his friends and inform Mr. and Mrs. Redgrave about the situation?"

Morrigan rose with easy elegance, sparing her a nod as he moved to the door and opened it, waiting for Alastor to proceed ahead. Alastor really didn't want to leave, but he knew this was most certainly not the time to argue. He sighed silently as he left the room.

They have to find a way to break that curse. They just have to. I mean, if someone told him to jump off the Astronomy tower, he'd have to do it! The person wouldn't realize what they'd done until it was too late. He'll be in danger every moment of every day… which is justwhat Father wanted.

His father was still out there. He was free when he ought to be in Azkaban having his soul removed by the dementors.

It isn't fair. It isn't right!

Alastor never felt such a desire to hunt someone down in all his years. He wanted to be the one to find him, to escort him to Azkaban himself. There had to be a way he could accomplish this.

I know. I could be an Auror. Stewart's dad is an Auror! I can ask him all about it. Brilliant! I can't imagine he'll be found anytime soon. Maybe by the time I'm through with training I'll be able to find him. Who better to find him than me?

Having an idea—a goal—was doing wonders. Alastor didn't feel so lost anymore.