Survive

He'd felt all day as if he was being followed. There could be only one reason for that – he was being followed. And by clever buggers, furthermore, whose mission was clearly to observe him, not attack. He had tried to draw them out, once or twice, seemingly leaving his unprotected side towards them. Either they had seen him through, which he doubted, or they wanted something else from him than his life. Well, he was fine with that. Sooner or later, he would catch and expose them.

There were at least six of them. Possibly more, because he never caught sight of over two at one time. They had paired up, and were keeping a close eye on him. Why? What for? Who were they? Death Eaters? Minions of some other dark wizard? That was for the Auror Department to figure out, after he'd caught them. Two of them were crouching behind the dustbins now. It was time to finish this. He was already late for his tea with Dumbledore.

The blast of his spell rang in their ears, the dust of it in their eyes. They couldn't see him, but they knew he was there, and they knew he would see them before they saw him. It was time to abort the mission. A crack to his left told one of the spies that his companion had already left. There was no time to lose – he raised his wand, and was hit in the chest with a force that lifted him off his feet and then slammed him back against the ground. He failed to suppress his yelp of pain, instinctively groping around for his wand. A cold fear took grip of his body and mind. This was it. This was the end. He rather felt than saw the older man squat beside him, and yank off his mask. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself for what was to come, a fate that seemed far worse than death.

o.o.o

Alastor Moody looked up darkly when Dumbledore entered the room, a serious expression on his face.

"Well?" he demanded.

"They all take responsibility for it. They say they all agreed to it, but can't remember whose idea it had been."

"Those honourable fools," Moody grumbled. "They leave me no choice but to expel the whole class."

Dumbledore didn't reply, but sat down and took a sip of his tea.

"I know you want me to keep them," Moody said, taking a gulp of his beverage, which was rather more whiskey than tea. "But they have to be punished. What would you do if your students decided to dress up as dark wizards and spy on you for the fun of it?"

Dumbledore opened his mouth, but his friend was not finished yet.

"... and then excuse themselves by saying they only wished to amuse me on my birthday by this little game! Game! I could have killed them! They're the future Aurors. There are hundreds of dark wizards out there, real ones, all bent on killing those kids. And they think it's fun to dress up and play a trick on their old teacher?

"I've taught them spells, and curses, and hexes. I've taught them how to fight and how to protect themselves. How to survive! Constant vigilance! But they've learned nothing. Nothing! They'll die the moment they step out of the Auror training and into the real world."

The Auror sighed, and continued in a lower voice, "Maybe I've grown too old. Maybe it's time I retired."

"That's nonsense, Alastor. You're only fifty. I've more than twice your age, and I have no plans of retiring any time soon. Yes, they made a mistake. Yes, you should punish them. But to expel them – isn't that a little too harsh?"

"If I continue their training, I'm only going to get them killed."

"No, my young friend. They are going to get themselves killed. Unless you teach them how to survive. You have done a great job so far, at least with the battle skills. You told me yourself that they were clever, that it took you an effort to catch them."

"So they've learned how to fight. That doesn't keep them alive."

"They have not completed their training yet. And today, they have learned another lesson."

"I could have killed him, Albus," Moody said, "I didn't know."

o.o.o

The Great Hall was decorated as if for a party. There were candles hovering in the air with a ribbon tied round them, there were flowers and ornaments on the tables, which were laden with the best and prettiest dishes the elves could cook. There was a birthday cake on one of the tables, and an area had been cleared off for mingling and dancing. A soft music played on the background, and a group of young witches and wizard sat huddled together in a corner, looking like this was the end of the world. For them, it kind of was.

"Professor Dumbledore said he would do what he could," one of them spoke. "I don't think we will be... you know."

"Expelled with shame from the Auror training?" a witch replied. "Oh, I think we will. And we do deserve it."

"How's Matt doing?"

"He'll be fine. They'll keep him for the night, just in case, but they expect a full recovery."

"He was lucky," someone said. "We all were."

"We made a mistake," another replied and they all fell silent, recalling what their teacher had told them so many times – you make a mistake, and you're dead. For the first time, they were starting to see the horrible truth of it.

"Matt could have died. We could have all died."

"Hey, let's dance!" a wizard cried.

"How can you even think of such a thing at such a time?" his companions hissed.

"Because tonight, I am alive," the young man replied, and lead a witch onto the floor. The others stood by and watched. Somehow they already knew that years later they would remember this evening, and this scene, and by then, some would no longer be with them.

Tonight, they were alive. Tomorrow... they'd learn to survive.

AN:

Challenge from silverlovedragoness: A fabulous 50th birthday celebration including an event program ending with a dance.