Gotta Collect 'Em All
AN: I blame Unpretentious for this chapter.
I ran blindly through the crowds. Reaching, fumbling, pushing, grasping clumsily at sheer bodices and smooth suits -
The room blurred, silk and marble and fire rearing up in a disorienting wave.
Rose was in danger. Rose was in danger because of me; I'd told her about the XXXX. I stifled a whimper, air rattling through my burning throat.
Two hands reached out, latching onto my upper arms. I shuddered, nearly twisting my ankle as I jerked away -
The arms pulled me closer, and I found myself staring into Scorpius's grey eyes. His eyes were wide, his lips moving as he tried to say something. A strand of white-blonde hair fell over his brow, and he was even paler than usual (a new shade of Zombie/Vampire Scorpius, a detached part of Numberita noted).
I could hear only the dull throbbing of my blood.
"-DELA!" he shouted. I blinked, struggling to control Numberita; a hundred thoughts were racing through my head, and I couldn't understand a single one of them.
Scorpius grabbed my wrist and pulled me, dragging me as he strode away from the panicked crowds. I stumbled after him, my mouth still frozen on the Rose's name.
We entered a darkened hallway, and he dropped my arm abruptly, swiveling on his shined shoe. He paced up and down, his hands shaking, before wheeling towards me and gathering my hands in his.
"Adela. Merlin, I have no idea what is going on, but I can't find Rose," he said hurriedly. His voice broke on her name, his eyes searching mine.
I couldn't say anything.
His eyes widened, and he slowly, slowly dropped my hands. He stepped back six centimeters.
"Adela, where's Rose?" he asked quietly. I shook my head, my throat tightening.
He stepped towards me again, his voice lowering. "I cannot lose her again. Where is she?"
"Hogwarts," I choked out. He blinked.
"Hogwarts?" he echoed.
I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yes. Ragnuk will target there next. We need to warn her," I said firmly.
His hands stilled, and, without a word, he began to spin on his heel.
I reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling at the expensive material of his dress robes.
He stared at me, silent fury and torment roiling in his pale eyes.
"Think. You can't Apparate all the way to Hogwarts; even if you could handle the distance, there are loads of anti-Apparition wards," I hissed.
He blinked, still looking as if all he wanted to do was run all the way to Hogwarts.
"So what do we do?" he demanded, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking around impatiently.
I bit my lip, Numberita working furiously to create a plan. After twenty-nine seconds, I nodded to myself, my mouth grim. Closing my eyes in concentration, I summoned my happiest memories (downing rashers of bacon with Seth, reading with Rose, pranking Scorpius, being with Al) and whispered, "Expecto patronum."
The silver wisps gathered at the end of my wand, slowing curling into a small, squat blob that eventually solidified into a short Eurasian scops owl. It fluffed its wings and fluttered around erratically. I sent it to find Al with a flick of my wand, willing it to let him know our destination.
I turned to Scorpius.
"Right, let's find some brooms." A Portkey would be better, but I had no idea where we could find one that hadn't expired; besides, Portkeys to Hogwarts were carefully guarded and extremely rare (for obvious reasons).
He nodded, his jaw set. "I know a back exit we can use to avoid the crowds," he said.
I glanced back at the chaos behind us before saying, "Lead the way."
He turned and began sprinting down the corridor. I took a few steps before almost falling, only catching myself on an expensive-looking painting ("Oi!" protested the portly knight painted elegantly in the corner).
I looked down at my impractical shoes before sighing. I was rubbish at Transfiguration; if Rose were here, she'd be able to change the heels to comfortable trainers, but she wasn't. Scorpius was already at the other end of the corridor. I groaned, leaning down to hastily remove the shoes. I tucked them underneath the painting, sternly instructing the knight to watch over them, and ran to catch up with Scorpius.
He was waiting at the end of the hallway, restlessly shifting his weight from side to side.
"Come on," he beckoned, leading me to a small doorway hidden under a large marble pillar.
I stepped through it carefully, wincing as my bare feet touched the rough cement outside. Scorpius glanced sharply at me, his gaze dropping to my feet.
"How'd you lose your shoes in the span of a hallway?" he asked incredulously. I scowled.
"I took them off; I didn't lose them," I answered hotly. Sir Grumps-a-Lot had them.
He sighed, swishing his wand at my dress. To my horror, a good quarter of a meter of delicate fabric tore from the hem, swirling lazily down to cover my feet. He spun his wand, his eyes narrowed, as the fabric hardened into lightweight trainers.
I stared at him, torn between killing him for ruining the dress and killing him for not telling me he could Transfigure clothing before I gave Sir Grumps-a-Lot my shoes.
"I picked up a few tricks from Rose," he explained, looking far too pleased with himself.
A muffled crash sounded from around the corner. Exchanging a grim look with Scorpius, I nodded towards the street. "Let's go."
We ran down the steps, holding our wands tightly by our sides.
The noises grew louder, dull thumps interspersed with sharp cracks. I slowed down as we approached the main street, my eyes squinting through the billowing smoke that coated everything with an acrid, vague fog.
A trio of wizards rushed past me, nearly knocking me over, as they yelled incoherently. I swallowed, my hands sweating profusely, as I watched the stream of wizards head towards the grimly austere Gringotts at the end of the road. Bright flashes of light seared through the yellow-tinged smoke, occasionally accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. If there were any MLE officers or Aurors in the swarm of people, I couldn't see any.
"Nothing motivates violence like money," I heard Scorpius murmur. I glanced at him, and he looked at me flatly. "Father will be pleased," he added with a wry twist of his mouth.
He nudged me. "Come on," he said. I nodded, pulling my gaze from a group of witches ransacking a sweets shop, and followed him as he ran down a side street that was relatively undisturbed. I recognized the route as one we'd traveled countless times before as school children.
We sprinted past the bookstore that I'd spent the majority of my third year summer in before reaching the Quality Quidditch Supplies.
Fortunately, the looters hadn't reached this end of Diagon Alley yet. The store was dark, the door tightly shut, and a sign reading "CLOSED" was displayed in the window. Scorpius stared at it for a moment, contemplating, before slashing his wand at the display. I let out a muffled yell of protest, clamping my hand over my mouth before the sound could draw the attention of any nearby mobbers.
The glass fell silently to the ground (he must have cast a silencing charm), leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the large, wall-length window.
"Scorpius!" I hissed, glaring at the blonde. He looked at me, a cold expression in his grey eyes.
"They have Rose. We can't waste a single moment; besides, do you really think this store won't be completely ransacked by the end of the night?" he said.
I scowled. "You could have just done an unlocking spell!" I whispered.
He flinched. "Oh."
I pushed him roughly aside, examining the damage. The glass had completely shattered, leaving little hope of fixing it with a simple spell. I sent a silent apology to the shop owners (I'd purchased my very first broom here; the store held sentimental value! Note to self: kick Scorpius's arse).
I turned to face him, noting with satisfaction the sheepish look on his face. "Yeah, oh," I said. Then I sighed; he was anxious about Rose. Who could blame him for being a bit reckless?
I stepped carefully through the broken window, making sure not to touch the jagged edges (glass and I did not have a good relationship; there was a - lengthy - period during which I couldn't touch a glass without dropping it).
The inside of the store was dark. The objects that were so inviting in the day were now shrouded in eerie shadows. I suppressed a shiver, keeping my wand held high, as I made my way carefully towards the brooms. I had a few galleons in my bag, but I had nowhere near enough to cover a broom. As lawless as this night was, I didn't feel comfortable stealing from the people who had nurtured my love for Beater bats.
Scorpius walked to the display of brooms on the wall and lifted one, weighing it in his hand. He made a noise of satisfaction. "A Nimbus 2006. This'll do," he said. He tossed it to me, and I caught it automatically, my fingers curling over the smooth handle.
"Scorpius! It's 800 galleons!"
He gave me a disbelieving look. "Adela. Gringotts is gone; the whole Wizarding currency is doomed. Even if we do survive the night, the economy won't. You saw the looters; do you-" he broke off mid-sentence, seeing my glare, and sighed.
"Fine. I'll leave a note saying to draw it out of the Malfoy coffers. Not that they matter anymore," he muttered the last part, which I pretended not to hear.
"Some of us don't have 800 galleons sitting around to waste on a second broomst-"
"It's your birthday present. Happy? Now let's leave; we need to get there before those bloody bastards do," he said impatiently.
I hesitated. Although my conscience was still nagging at me, he had a point; the longer the waited, the more danger Rose was in.
He grabbed a second broom for himself and scribbled the note under my stern eye. I tucked all of the coins I had underneath the paper; it wasn't enough to cover a broomstick, but maybe it could make up for the destroyed window. As we made our way back to the front of the store (and banged our way through many hard objects - I was sure to be covered in bruises tomorrow), I heard the foreboding crash of a blasting spell.
"Nice one!" I heard a woman slur.
I exchanged a panicked look with Scorpius; from the sound of it, the group was heading straight towards the Quidditch shop.
He cursed, glancing around the dark store. "The back exit!" he said.
I crouched, running as fast as I could on bent knees.
The door was six meters away and half-hidden by the various racks of Quaffles protruding into the aisle. The voices were growing louder and louder, yet I dared not stand and sprint.
"Let's grab some Firebolts before the Aurors ruin all the fun," a slightly-inebriated sounding voice shouted.
"Do you think it's true? Is all our money really gone?" asked the woman.
The male spat. "Wouldn't surprise me; always said those goblins were a suspicious lo - oi! Someone's already been here; look at the glass!"
I froze, crouched uncomfortably behind a small display of Keeper gloves. Scorpius knelt beside me, his eyes narrowed dangerously at the vague, backlit forms of the looters. He slowly, carefully, raised his wands, his lips forming the first syllable of a curse -
I clamped my hand over his mouth, shooting him a pointed look. We couldn't afford the delay of a duel. Besides, in their inebriated states they might cast a Fiendfyre or something equally deadly by mistake.
He glared at me with such unbridled anger that I was taken aback. Merlin, Scorpius could be scary. Still, I didn't budge; I glared back at him with what I hoped was equal fervor. After a tense thirteen seconds he relented, motioning for me to let go.
I did so carefully, eying him warily, before transferring my attention back to the looters. There were three of them - a woman and two men. They had their wands drawn in wavering positions, stumbling over the fallen boxes and cursing loudly.
"Oi! Libby! Come o'er here and get that snitch!" the first man ordered. To my horror, a small, gaunt form emerged from behind the second man and scampered over, snapping her bony, long fingers at the high ledge.
A House-elf. Numberita automatically thought of Daisy, and my heart sank; she was still in the inn on one of Diagon Alley's main streets. She could hold her own against one, maybe two, wizards, but against a whole horde of them?
We needed to leave the shop. I assessed my surroundings again, Numberita working furiously. There was a stack of Broom Repair Kits stacked precariously high - 1.8 meters tall - directly to the woman's left. She was bending over to collect some fallen limited edition Quidditch pins ("Gotta Collect 'Em All!"). Narrowing my eyes, I carefully flicked my wand in her direction. The stack trembled for two long seconds before falling with a shudder, heavy wooden boxes falling to the ground like overripe peaches from a tree.
The trio turned to stare at the fallen stack, the silence overwhelmingly heavy.
"You fool! Do you want to bring the others here?" the man hissed, advancing towards the woman. The woman scowled.
"I didn't do it!" she protested as the third man looked on with mild curiousity.
I didn't stay to hear the rest of the argument; motioning for Scorpius to follow, I half-ran, half-stumbled the remaining four meters to the exit. Once we'd reached the metal door, I reached up quickly and, opening the door hurriedly, slipped through. Scorpius shut it firmly behind us, enchanting a wooden chair discarded nearby to prop underneath the doorknob.
We ran out of the dark back alley, not stopping until we were twenty meters away from the shop. We ducked behind a bookstore to collect ourselves.
"Nice," Scorpius said between laboured breaths. I shrugged, bracing my hands against my knees as I struggled to catch my breath.
"Scorp - we need to stop by the Leaky Cauldron," I finally managed.
"Th-the Leaky Cauldron?" he repeated incredulously. He leaned forward, his mouth thinning. "What about Rose? You know, your best friend?"
That was it. I whipped out my wand, jabbing it in the soft skin of his neck. I grabbed the soft fabric of his dress shirt with my left hand, twisting it as I pulled him down to my height (why were all my friends so tall? I ought to make friends with some second years; at least they were shorter. Of course, then I'd probably get odd looks and/or official cease and desist notices).
"Enough with the snide remarks, Malfoy. Being spiteful won't get you to Rose. So stop being a prat and work with me," I hissed.
He stared at me for nineteen seconds before groaning, his shoulders slumping.
"Okay," he said wearily. I searched his face for signs of deceit (Scorpius was a notoriously good liar; in first year he convinced me that the salad was really bacon enchanted to look like healthy food. I didn't speak to him for a week after that) before relenting, releasing him slowly from my grasp.
"Good. Now, we need to pick up a House-elf," I said, swinging my leg over the broomstick.
Merlin, it felt good to be on a broomstick again; I hadn't tried flying since the one Quidditch game-turned-target-practice (what? I was mad at Seth; he'd stolen my quill and sat on it!) six weeks and two days ago.
I kicked up into the air, hovering a half meter above Scorpius's disbelieving face.
"A House-elf?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Just get on the bloody broomstick," I ordered.
He groaned but complied, soaring into the air.
"Remind me never to go another rescue mission with you," he muttered.
"Sorry, Scorp. This bitterweed stops for no one. B-" I began.
He muttered something (probably something rude), but his protests were lost in the wind as we soared above the chaos below.
"BATTLECRY!" I bellowed, forcing a confident smile on my face.
First stop: Daisy.
Second stop: Rose.
Third stop: the rest of the Wizarding World.
Author Note: Thanks so much for reading/reviewing/etc! I am continually astonished at the number of people taking the time to read this. You are all amazing!
Guest Review Replies
adela3 - aw, thank you so much! :)
toolazytosignin - ha, once again, I totally relate to your penname ;P I'm glad you liked it; thanks for reviewing! :D