Oh, God, this chapter was so hard to write. I'm so sorry for the long wait. But on the plus side, this chapter is a bit longer than normal!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP.
Chapter 14
We were under attack.
I'm ashamed to say that I stood there in shock for far too long. My jaw hung slack as I vaguely acknowledged the screams and the multiple curses flying through the air. It didn't seem real. Hogsmeade had always been safe…
It took a stray curse whizzing past my head and slamming into the wall behind me to snap me out of my reverie. I shot a glance at the wall and saw chunks of broken brick dribbling out of a blackened hole. A few inches over… and I wouldn't have been standing there anymore.
That did it. All the sights and sounds came rushing to me in such clarity that, for a moment, my head spun. But it only lasted a second, and I steeled myself for the fight.
The thing was, I wasn't really that scared. I was a little, sure. But more than that, I was angry. Voldemort had infiltrated my safe haven. That son of a bitch had brought this war to my front door, and I was furious.
Wand gripped tightly in my fist, I jumped into the fray. Between each muttered hex I took note of some Hogwarts students darting around, either seeking shelter or firing curses back at the masked Death Eaters.
I ducked behind some crates as another stray curse flew past. I took the opportunity to catch my breath, but my heart dropped to my stomach when I realized I had just dropped into the hideout of two young Hogwarts girls. Third years, probably.
"What are you doing here?!" I hissed at them. They flinched, looking at me with tear-filled eyes. "You should be–"
There was a loud crash nearby. The two girls screamed, and I cringed. Think, Alyssa, think…
I peered around the crates, trying to judge how hard it would be to get across the street. There were Death Eaters everywhere, but every now and then there was a lapse in spells. It seemed as though we would be seen from every angle, given the amount of Death Eaters there were, but the vast majority of them were locked in a duel with either shop owners, residents, or particularly gutsy Hogwarts students. If we ran for it, we could get to Honeydukes, the Three Broomsticks, or the Hog's Head, whichever was closer. They all had cellars and would surely hide some students in them, right?
It was a huge risk, but we were sitting ducks out here.
Steeling myself, I whispered to the girls, "All right, I know you're scared, but you're going to have to trust me, okay? We're going to run, and I need you to do whatever I tell you, understand?"
They stared at me blankly, completely frozen in terror. I realized one of the girls looked slightly familiar. "You're in Gryffindor, right?" I asked. She nodded slowly. "What's your name?" I was annoyed that I couldn't remember.
"Maria," she whispered. I grabbed her shoulders and looked dead into her wide-open brown eyes. "It's time to show it. I need you to be brave right now." She set her jaw and nodded more firmly. She took her friend's hand, and I took hers. "On three. One… Two… Three!"
They were faster than I expected them to be, easily keeping pace with me as we bolted out from behind the crates and onto the sidewalk. I wasn't entirely sure where we were going, and didn't dare look around for fear of getting hit in my distraction. I ducked under a stray curse, and they followed my movements. An alley was coming up, and I quickly tried to remember where it came out. "Turn here!"
The other girl lost her footing in the turn, but I hauled her up and practically carried her for a few steps, never losing speed, Maria hot on my heels. We came out on a back road and halted for a moment while I looked around. Making up my mind, I gestured for them to follow as I took a sharp turn left.
I wasn't sure which one it was, but the back side of a pub was just ahead. I heaved the door open and we tumbled inside. Immediately I could tell that it was the Hog's Head, and an old man with frizzy gray hair grunted at us, "Back here with the rest of 'em. Hurry."
He turned back around in the direction he had just come from and took us down a set of stairs into a cellar that reeked of hard liquor. There, a prefect I recognized was taking head count.
What good is it? I wondered briefly. Everyone's scattered about, anyway.
"…And there's three more," he said, pointing to the huddle on the floor. "Take a seat, ladies."
"I'm not staying," I decided quickly.
The prefect sputtered and turned wide eyes on me. "What the hell are you talking about? Stay right here until everything is over!"
I glared at him. "I found those two in the thick of the battle, hiding behind some crates. They easily could have been hurt if they had stayed there. How is anyone to know how many others are out there as well? I'm not about to leave a bunch of kids out there!"
"I'll report you if you go back–"
I raised one eyebrow. "Watch me," I snarled. I saw his hand twitch toward his wand, but I already had mine raised. "Don't even dare," I warned, and stomped back up the stairs.
"None of the rest of you get any ideas!" I barely caught the prefect saying to a few protesting students.
I had barely made it five steps out the door before I ran into a fifth year boy I recognized from Hufflepuff. His lip was bleeding, and he was dragging his unconscious friend behind him (well, at least I hoped he was simply unconscious). I kicked the door back open behind me.
"In here," I hissed. He glanced up and started hurrying my way. I ran up beside him to shoulder some of the other boy's weight to get them both through the door. "Down the stairs," I ordered, shutting the door behind him and trusting he listened. Hearing a commotion around the corner, I darted off the other direction.
A Death Eater turned the corner, and I hexed him before he even saw me. He fell to the ground and I darted around him. I came across three other students running aimlessly and pointed them back to Hog's Head, clearing their way.
"Help me!" A small cry echoed down the empty side street. I took off toward it. I ended up back at the middle street, where most of the worst fighting was going on. There was a girl, a fourth year I guessed, trapped under some fallen beams of a building that had exploded. I cursed under my breath. This was going to be difficult.
I sprinted toward her, adrenaline giving me speed I had never had before. I slid to my knees beside her.
"Hey, I'm going to help you, okay?" I said quickly. A curse shot in front of our faces, and she screamed again. Heart hammering in my chest, I turned and saw a Death Eater preparing to fire at us again.
"Protego!" I screamed, forming a shield around us just as a bright red streak shot out of the Death Eater's wand. His spell rebounded, hitting him straight in the chest. I didn't take the time to see if he would get up, and instead shoved my shoulder against the beam, grunting in effort. Come on, Jones. You can do this. Move the damn thing! I planted my feet and pushed with everything I had. It shifted. Not much, but enough. The girl's leg was free, but badly injured. She wasn't getting anywhere fast. And I wasn't sure if I could carry her.
I looked around in a panic. I needed help. Where the hell was Adam?
"Jones!" David Harrison, a fifth year Slytherin boy was running toward me. "What are you–" He froze when he saw the girl. "Charlotte!" He stooped to pick her up. "I've got her. Get out of here." I blinked. He was the last person I had expected help from.
Focusing back on the matter at hand, I pointed. "Take her to the back entrance of Hog's Head." He nodded and took off. I jumped back to my feet and ran around the corner to get out of the open. I spotted another third year boy cowering behind some rubble. I grabbed him the collar.
"Come on!" I yelled. He followed willingly. I was taking him to Hog's Head when one sound stopped me cold. A scream.
Lily.
Merlin, I had forgotten she was here!
"Go! That way! Down to the left!" I shouted at the boy. I turned toward the scream before he had a chance to respond. I threw caution to the wind and ran, my heart thundering with terror. It seemed to say her name with every beat. Lily. Lily. Lily.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I instinctively threw myself flat on the ground. Green light shined above me, making me even more angry and terrified. There was only one curse that made that color green. And they were shooting it at children.
I gritted my teeth and clutched my wand even tighter as I struggled to stand again. I couldn't tell which Death Eater had shot the curse. Duels were ongoing all over the street. I frantically looked throughout the masses for Lily's red hair.
"Lily!" I shouted, knowing it was foolish. Then my eyes fell on a small group of younger students huddled together in an alley– Lily at the front, fighting off two Death Eaters. I saw her wand fly out of her hand.
"No!" I screamed. I was sprinting across the street, having made no conscious decision to move. Lily was backing away from the Death Eaters, covering the other students' bodies with her own. Run, you idiot! I wanted to scream, but I just kept running. I shot a hex toward them, but my aim was off. They didn't even look at me. They raised their wands to her, and I was still too far away to do anything.
Something hit my calf and I was down. I felt warm blood soaking through the thick material of my jeans– a cutting hex. I turned toward my attacker and struggled to my feet, flinging a cutting hex back to him. He wasn't expecting my fast reaction and fell backwards. Then something hit me from behind, and I was flying through the air. I heard something shatter. The edges of my vision grew cloudy, and my head throbbed in pain.
"Alyssa!" a familiar voice called out. Male. Adam? He said something else, but I couldn't fight anymore.
Then nothing.
o0o0o0o
Pain.
I was in a lot of pain. My head throbbed. Every inch of my body felt like it had been run over by the Knight Bus. Repeatedly. I forced myself to flex my toes and was greeted with that oh-so-wonderful feeling of pins and needles. The same went for my fingers, but I found that movement in my left hand was restricted by something.
I heard a voice, muffled and nearly unintelligible but I picked out what I supposed was my name. It was like trying to listen to someone speaking underwater, but even so, the noise warranted a sensation like a thousand knives driving into my skull. It nearly sent me back under, but I fought it, letting out a strained groan.
"…-ssa? Alyssa, love… -ake? Open… eyes…–an do it."
Open… my eyes?
My eyelids were heavy, like weights were holding them closed. I forced them open just a crack, my blurred vision filling with bright light. I blinked at the harsh contrast, and the motion became a little easier each time.
"Alyssa?" the voice whispered.
My head lolled to the side and came face-to-face with a worried pair of eyes, a furrowed brow, and a deep frown. They were familiar, so very familiar, but for the life of me I couldn't place the name or pinpoint how I knew them.
"Talk to me, darling." The mouth moved just a little faster than my mind could register the words, and I felt the pressure around my hand tighten. Were they connected? Who was–
It clicked. "Mum?" I rasped.
She breathed an enormous sigh, the tiniest of smiles pulling at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, thank Merlin. How are you feeling?"
I winced as I shifted uncomfortably. "Like death warmed over?" I laughed dryly, the action hurting my dry throat.
Mum's smile vanished, and I swore I saw tears spring to her eyes. "Don't joke about that, Alyssa." Her voice was firm, but I felt the tremble in her hand, still latched onto mine. She released it only for a moment, reaching to the bedside table and pouring a glass of water. She helped me sit up and I downed the glass as quickly as I could, soothing my aching throat.
Three glasses of water later, I sat back and looked around. The walls were bland and white, and glowing orbs surrounded the bed I was lying in. The sheets matched the walls, stiff and tucked tightly around my legs. Hospital?
"Mum?" I asked softly. "Where am I? What happened?"
I could feel her eyes boring holes into my head. "You're in St. Mungo's. There… There was an attack on Hogsmeade, dear. Don't you remember?"
Attack? On Hogsmeade? No, that wasn't possible. It was too close to the school, the safest place on earth. It just couldn't have been true.
I began to shake my head in response, but I stopped. Snippets of memory were coming to mind. Running in and out of buildings with students under my arms. Facing attacks head on, shouting spells at the figures with the masks. Fear coursing through my veins, followed by anger. Searing pain spreading over every inch of my body, a gentle voice speaking to me, then the blessed abyss that overtook my senses.
"Vaguely," I heard myself mutter. I unconsciously crossed my arms over my stomach and yelped at the resulting pain.
"Careful, careful!" Mum urged. I put my arms down by my sides, breathing heavily through the lingering pain. Mum clucked her tongue. "The Healers had to remove a lot of glass. They closed up the wounds, but said they would be tender for a while. Take it easy, darling."
I slumped back into the pillows. I'd been awake for less than fifteen minutes, and the strain of piecing everything together was already taking a toll on me.
"Mum," I muttered. "What exactly happened? I want to know everything."
She looked at me in concern, pursed her lips, and sighed. "I don't know all the details… All I know is what we've heard from Professor Dumbledore. Death Eaters arrived in Hogsmeade and began attacking anything and everything, no specific targets that we know of. A lot of the older students, like yourself, were doing their best to keep the younger ones safe. Apparently you got locked in a duel with a Death Eater, but once you finished with him, another was right behind you. He shot a stunner right at your back and sent you through a shop window." Mum's grip on my hand tightened and her voice cracked. "A few shards of glass were embedded in your stomach, and… and you weren't looking good, I'm told. Fortunately, a young man saw what happened and kept you safe until help could arrive."
"Who?"
Mum's eyes visibly brightened. "Well, believe it or not," she chuckled, "it was someone I never thought I'd need to thank. That Sirius Black boy you're always complaining about? He saved your life. He used some healing spells that he knew to repair the damage, just enough to keep you alive until it was all over."
Sirius Black? The same Sirius Black who detested my existence and made sure that I was aware of it, who had tormented me nearly every day for five years, and was a generally loathsome person who didn't care for anyone but himself? That Sirius Black?
Mum's laugh brought me back to the present. "The very same. You shouldn't be so hard on him, you know." I must have voiced my thoughts aloud.
The door opened then, and my dad walked in. He stopped short when he saw that I was awake, and his shoulders slumped in relief. "Alyssa."
I smiled. "Hi, Dad."
He offered a smile in return, but it looked strained. He cleared his throat and said, "There's something we need to talk about, dear."
"Fredrick!" Mum hissed. "Not right now!"
"It will only be worse if we wait to tell her, Isabel," Dad countered in a tense voice.
"Tell me what?" I cut in.
Mum and Dad locked eyes for a moment before Mum kissed the top of my head and left the room. Dad sat in the vacated chair and sighed deeply.
"Alyssa, there's really no easy to say this," he started.
My heart began to beat faster and I balled my hands up on top of the sheets. Oh, no. Something else had happened during the attack. Someone had gotten hurt… or someone had died.
What if it was one of my roommates? Adam? A professor?
Merlin, what if it was Lily?
I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she had died and we hadn't resolved our stupid fight… Wait… Lily…
Dad folded his hands together and looked away from me. My knuckles were turning white, shaking with tension.
"Where's Lily?" I asked, suddenly remembering my last sight of her. "Dad, where's Lily? Is Lily okay? Is she-" I felt tears forming in my eyes and hysteria bubbling in my chest.
"Honey," Dad grabbed my hand. "She's fine. She's fine, I promise." I breathed deeply, trying to bring myself under control again. I didn't understand how she could be okay, but I didn't think Dad would lie.
"Then what is it?" I asked.
"Alyssa, we're taking you out of school. I'm sorry, but you can't return to Hogwarts."
I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Of all the things I expected, it wasn't that. For a brief moment I was relieved that no one was hurt– or worse– but that relief was quickly squashed by the horror that followed.
"I… W-What?" I stammered breathlessly.
Dad finally looked up and I saw the regret mixed in with firm resolve on his face. "You would be much safer at home, with me and your mother, where we can protect you. Hogwarts obviously wasn't safe enough. It's time to take you home."
Tears were already pouring down my face. "You can't do this!" I cried.
He clenched his jaw. "I've already spoken with Professor Dumbledore. We will be in contact with your teachers to continue your schooling from home."
"No!" I shook my head furiously. "I want to stay at Hogwarts! It's the safest place in the world–"
"Alyssa, you almost died while at school, and you want to tell me that you're safe there?" Dad's voice steadily rose in volume, overpowering my own.
I couldn't resist rolling my eyes and adding sarcastically, "Yeah, because removing me from the one place in the world where I can learn to defend myself and pulling me back into our 'safeguard' of a home is the best possible course of action for my safety." I dropped the tone but raised my voice. "Andrew and Riley are in more danger daily than I'm ever in at school. And I'm going to fight in this war one day, Dad; you can't protect me forever. I'm staying at Hogwarts and I'm going to learn to fight against the very people you would have me hide from!"
Dad stood up quickly, his chair falling backwards and crashing to the floor. "Enough!" he nearly shouted. I jumped, my throat closing up and cutting off anything else I might have tried to say. "That is enough, Alyssa. No more arguing, my decision is final. You will be coming home. You can have until the end of the week to say goodbye to your friends, but after that, you will be at home for as long as I see fit."
Tears came again, this time fuelled by anger. I screamed through gritted teeth, and as he turned to leave, I threw one last jab at him. "Merlin, you can be such an arse sometimes, and I hate you for it!"
Dad froze with his hand on the door handle, back turned to me. He didn't say anything for a moment, and I considered taking it back but this time I wanted him to hurt like he was hurting me.
"We'll pick you up on Saturday," he said tersely, and the door clicked shut behind him.
o0o0o0o
I went back to Hogwarts alone. I didn't know where Dad was, but Mum was on duty and took a short break to come walk me to the Floo in some supervisor's office. She kissed my cheek and waved to me as I stepped into the green flames.
I stumbled out into Professor McGonagall's office. She welcomed me back and waved me on to the Great Hall, but I wasn't really hungry. So instead, I turned towards Gryffindor Tower.
The time it took to get there was a good opportunity to think. Had Dad even been listening to me when I said that Hogwarts was the safest place right now? It wasn't like I was in Hogwarts during the attack… Okay, it was in the village right next to it, but Hogsmeade didn't have nearly the same amount of protections as the school did, so it was totally different. I would be in more danger at home than at school, for Merlin's sake!
Somewhere along the fifth floor, a voice stopped me. "Hey, Alyssa."
I looked up, and there stood Sirius Black. For a second I thought about telling him to bugger off, but then my mother's words came back to me. 'That Sirius Black boy you're always complaining about? He saved your life.'
He saved me. Bloody Sirius Black was the only reason I wasn't six feet under at that very moment.
"You all right?" he asked. I must have taken a bit too long to respond, because his brow drew together in genuine concern.
I pulled myself out of my trance and shrugged. "A little sore, but nothing unbearable." I caught a glimpse of white bandages peeking out from under the cuff of his shirt. "What about you?"
"Hmm?" He followed my line of sight. "Oh, that. It's nothing, really. Madam Pomfrey fixed it up in no time."
I wasn't really sure what to say after that. Civil conversation with Black was something totally foreign to me. But I didn't have to say anything, as it turned out. He got a wicked grin on his face, which struck fear into my heart.
"I'm waiting," he said loftily.
"Waiting… for what?"
"What were your exact words?" he mused, then in a silly, high-pitched imitation of my voice: "'Sirius Black, unless one day you pull my unconscious body from a burning building, I will not be saying thank you!'"
"I sound nothing like that!"
"Yeah, that's what you think, Jones."
"Piss off." But in spite of myself, I laughed. Then I looked him in the eye, and there was not an ounce of regret or animosity in me when I said, "Thank you."
Black's smile softened. "Anytime, Jones."
"Why?" I asked suddenly. I had to know.
"Why what?"
"Why'd you do it?" I rubbed my arms, chills crawling up my skin.
"Guess hell wasn't ready for us," he joked, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
"No, really." I took a deep breath. "You could have just left me there, but you didn't. Why?"
Black furrowed his brow. "Well, I wasn't just going to let you die, was I?"
I could only stare at him. Here was Sirius Black, who for the past six years had used the power of his words to break me down and strip me of every ounce of self-worth I had, sneered at the sight of me, and insulted me every chance he got. And now he was telling me that he would rather me live than die?
"Sorry, what was that?" I asked stupidly.
He looked at me in disbelief. "Contrary to what you may believe, Jones, I don't hate you. And I would never wish you dead. Ever."
Silence fell between us. I could hear the wind rustling the trees outside, and a distant laugh somewhere in a corridor, but neither of us had anything to say to the other.
In less than twenty-four hours, I had come to realize two things. Two things I had never thought possible. One: Sirius Black really and truly saved my life. Two: There was some part of him, however small, that was good.
But then, I thought, maybe I had been wrong about him the entire time.
This conversation had been a whirlwind of joking and sobriety, goofing off and getting unexpected answers. After the events of the last couple says, and the fight with my dad the other night, I just wanted to lie down and sort out my thoughts.
I swallowed thickly. "Thanks."
There was another short pause. "Hey." I looked up again, and Black continued. "I'm going down to dinner. Care to join?"
I almost said no, I wasn't hungry. But if this was going to be my last week at Hogwarts, I wanted even the normal things like eating in the Great Hall to count, even if it was in the company of Sirius Black.
So I nodded. And as I walked with Sirius I found that I didn't mind his company as much as I thought I did.
That was quite possibly the day I first became friends with someone I once called my enemy.
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