Chapter 16

It was a somber time at Hogwarts. Everyone had either lost someone in the fight or knew someone who did. James was pissed, and upped the army he was building, more days and harder spells. If they attacked Hogwarts they'd be ready. They wouldn't have a lot of deaths because they'd be ready. He wasn't sure if he fully believed that. If his father almost died and his Uncle Ron, had died. How would his army supposed to take on people who could do that? His father as probably right. They would work on getting people to safety. If they could do that then he was okay with his army. They'd be able to defend themselves on the run and that was what mattered.

"James," Chloe said, sitting next to him. She wrapped her arms around him."I'm so sorry your Dad got hurt."

"There's nothing to do about it. He'll be fine," James said.

"You have to let yourself be upset," Chloe said. She pulled James up with her and took them to a mostly unused part of the library. "Okay. You can cry now. No one will see you do it here."

James was soon crying as Chloe held him. "It's okay. Cry as much as you want. No one is going to see you."

It took a while, but James was soon feeling better. "See? A good cry makes you feel better," Chloe said. "Everything is going to be fine. You're working hard with the army. I'm sure you'll be able to keep Hogwarts safe."

"What if I can't? What if all I do is lead them to their deaths?" James asked. "No matter how much we train, we're still just kids."

"You're dad was just a kid when he won against Voldimort," Chloe pointed out. "I'm sure you'll be able to fight against them and win."

"I hope so. I don't want to put people into situations that they'll die," James said.

"Have some faith. No matter what happens, they'll be able to fight better than they would if they hadn't worked with you. You don't even know if Hogwarts will be attacked or not," Chloe said.

"I hope they don't attack. What if they attack next year? I won't here to lead the army into battle."

"You'll have to find someone to take over," Chloe said simply. "I could do it."

"You? You don't know a lot about-"

"I know a lot. I think I can lead them in your place," Chloe said. "You can count on me."

"Alright. I believe you," James said with a small smile. "I'll be counting on you."

Chloe hugged James. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I should probably help Lily or Rose deal with this. Rose and Hugo are a wreck. I understand, they've lost their father," James said.

"Didn't you hear? Their mom is coming to the school to help Rose and Hugo deal with the loss of their father," Chloe said.

"That's good. I'm sure my aunt will help them feel better," James said.

"A lot of families are doing that right now," Chloe said. "Your mom might be here too, but she might also be with your dad."

"I'm betting she's with my dad,"James said. "Since we saw her in the hospital and are able to go back instead of going to Hogsmeid every other week."

"That's nice of them," Chloe said. "I think you're the only one who they let do that."

Jame wiped his eyes. "Let's go back to the Great Hall. I'm sure they'll be happy that I'm there."

"Yeah I'm sure your siblings will be happy to see you," Chloe said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albus was with Alek. "It's not fair. My Uncle Ron is dead. My dad is injured. I knew a lot of the Aurors. We weren't really fiends or anything, but they're all dead now."

Alek held onto Albus as he cried. "Why would someone attack the Ministry? Do you think there's actually a knew dark wizard around? That's what people are saying. I'm scared."

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you," Alek said calmly. "Everything will be okay. I know things are hard right now, but everything will be okay."

"How can it be okay?" Albus asked, buried his head into Alek's chest and just cried.

"They won the battle at the Ministry. That's something to be happy about," Alek asked.

"I guess, but so many people died. They won't be able to handle it if they attack again," Albus said.

"They must have taken heavy losses too. I doubt they'll be able to lunch another attack right a way," Alek said. He kept Albus close to himself. "Your dad is going to be okay. Your family will get through this. I know it's hard, but these things take time."

"I can't imagine a world without my Uncle Ron," Albus cried.

"You still have your whole family. You still have me. Things will get better," Alek told him.

"I know, but it's hard right now," Albus said. He looked around the great hall. There were a lot of families around the Hall. "So many people lost loved ones."

the

"Yeah. I'm glad they're letting the families come here to see their children,"Alek said.

"Alek!" Victor said, coming over to them. "How are you doing Albus?"

"Not good," Albus said, not moving from his position in Alek's arms.

"I'm here for you if you need anything," Victor said. "I know it's hard. I lost my parents at a young age. My family is just David and his brothers. I don't know exactly how you're feeling, but I know what it's like to lose family."

"How do you go on after something like this?" Albus asked.

"It takes time, but things get better. Life is never the same, but things get livable. It's good you have Alek. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have David," Victor explained. "And you have such a big family. You have so much comfort from them."

"Oh. I'm sure Rose and Hugo are taking this worse than I am," Albus said.

"Their mom's here. I would leave them alone for right now," Alek said.

"Albus!" Molly cried, running over to them. "I'm so sorry."

"You lost your uncles too," Albus said. "how are you dealing with it?"

"Horrible. I was close with them and now Uncle Ron is dead and Uncle Harry is in St. Mungos. It's scary. But I'm here for you, no matter what happens or happened," Molly said.

"Thanks," Albus said. "I know you care."

"Honestly, I've just been having lots of sex to my mind off of what happened. Micheal can hardly keep up, but it's the only thing that makes me able to forget about what's going on."

"You shouldn't use sex as a coping device," Alek said.

"I know, but," Molly looked down. "I don't like hearing about everyone who died. It's too much for me to handle,"Molly said. "I'll coup better once I've calmed down more. It's horrible. I miss Uncle Ron and am worried about Uncle Harry, but we can't change things. As much as we want to Uncle Ron to be alive and Uncle Harry wasn't injured, there's nothing we can do to fix it."

"I know, but it still hurts,"Albus said.

"I'd be worried if you weren't," Molly said. "The only person who doesn't seem is Fred. He said he knew of the attack before it happened. I asked if he told anyone, and he said he told them, but they didn't believe him."

"That's not good," Albus said. "If they had listened to Fred more people might have lived." He shook his head. "Why wouldn't they listen to them?"

"Because they thought I was probably a prank," Alek said. "Speaking of knowing things, how is Hyo holding up?"

"He's s till having dreams of a war, but those are more than just the darkness like it has been. He's seeing a war happening. He just seems chaos. He can't tell more than chaos," Victor said.

"So the darkness was the attack but there's still a war coming?" Alek asked in Russian.

"Yeah. I don't know if I'll be there when it happens. I graduate and am going to be an Auror. I'll probably be in the thick of it. David's becoming a medic, so he'll probably see some of what's going down too. Hyo's never been wrong, but I really hope he is this time," Victor spoke back in Russian. "You're worried about worrying Albus right?"

"He doesn't need to know a war is coming. It'll just scare him more than he already is."

"Makes sense."

Alek switched back to English. "Do you want to rest? It's been a long day, a stressful day-"

"Albus!" James called, going over to his brother. "How are you holding up?"

"He's not doing well," Alek cut in.

"I wasn't talking to you," James said harshly.

"I'm okay. Well, not really okay, but- I want to go see Dad again. He's not going to die too is he?"Albus asked.

"Dad's not going to die. I promise. No one else is going to die. Everyone is safe right now. We'll see dad against this weekend. Everything is going to be okay," James said. "Lily isn't taking it well. She had a fit and couldn't be calmed down. They used a spell to hep her sleep. Rose is a wreck, I just talked with her." James sighed. "Everyone is doing poorly."

"Just keep telling yourself it will be a little better every day. It won't get much better, but just a little bit better," Molly said. "It's the only reason I'm doing okay-"

"Having sex until your body gives up doesn't mean you're doing okay," Alek said.

"Shut up! I-it makes me feel good, even if it's only for a few moments," Molly said.

"That's not healthy," James told his cousin.

"I know, but I don't know what to do," Molly said.

"Try to cut back on the sex. It might be better for you," James said.

"Okay. I'll try," Molly said. "But it's hard, but I'll try."

"Albus, are you going to be okay with Alek? I'm here for you too, but I'm making the rounds to talk to all of our cousins."

"I'll be okay with Alek," Albus said.

"Alright. I'm going to Dominique and Roxanne," James said, leaving.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's so hard to believe. Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry were either badly hurt or dead. I never thought something like this could happen," Luis said, sitting next to Ciel. "Why did they have to die?"

"People die in wars-"

"Is this a war?" Luis asked.

"I would assume this is an act of war. We just don't know against who yet," Ciel said simply.

"That means more people will die," Luis said.

"Yes it does more people will die," Ciel said.

"Isn't there anything we ca do about it?" Luis asked.

"I doubt it. Those in charge will probably already working on getting ready for the war," Ciel said.

"I don't want a war," Luis said.

"No one wants a war," Ceil said. "Well, they might want a war."

"Why would someone want a war?"

"Because they want to take over the Ministry. They want to take over the whole of England's self. Thy want to be in control of everything. I can bet that they'll of after Russia and France, and soon the whole world."

"But that won't happen right?" Luis asked, more panicked.

"Right. That would never happen. It's just what they want." Ceil paused. "There's plenty of people strong enough to stop them." He didn't want to worry Luis. It was just the facts of things. "Everything will be okay. No one is going to take over England. Everything will be fine." He repeated to try and calm Luis down

"Okay. It's just scary to think about," Luis said. "I don't want anyone else I know to die. I mean, you're right. In a war people die, but maybe it won't be a war? Maybe they'll back off now that they lost their first battle?"

"That would be nice. Let's hope that is the case." Ciel said.