Disclaimer: I am just a mere visitor in the sublime world constructed by the brilliant mind that is J.K Rowling. Anything that rings a bell is hers.

Chapter 16

Ky's POV

I just about made it to the third floor and it took my all not to wrench the door open and barge in, I stood in front of the wooden barrier for moments, taking deep calming breaths. My back ached like some ravenous monster needing to be tranquilized just to save it from the pain of its existence and I bit my lip.

"Ky!" Mi gasped out from her seat in the second row and I heard the distinctive chuckle of Ron.

The portly man raised his greying brows but instead of chiding, he chuckled instead, waving a hand dismissively at my rude remark as his tummy jiggled with the laughter, "It seems you do have the flair for first impressions, Miss Dumbledore. I mean, Miss Thornton, although Miss Dumbledore will definitely serve you better. I like that! I am Horace Slughorn, you can call me Uncle Horace outside of class, but alas now I must be called Professor." He giggled, his cheeks reddening, "What am I saying, you can call me Uncle Horace even in class!" He winked and somewhere I registered if it had been a different time, one where I was not irritatingly confused, I would have been more than a little shocked at the man.

"You may take a seat…" He turned to the class to allocate me a place but I disrupted his perusal.

"Where is Sev?" I bit out and Slughorn chuckled, what the fuck was so constantly hilarious!

"Sev? My, my it has been a while since I heard him referred to as such, his hexed people for less mind you but I guess you are Dumbledore's granddaughter, well technically I hear you're his great, great, great granddaughter but considering this IS THE Albus Dumbledore the level of descendant doesn't dilute the blood, no, no indeed." He smiled at me somewhat lasciviously, and I glared back at his babbling.

"Ahh…you inquired about Severus, need not worry that powerful little head of yours; he is still a Professor at Hogwarts. Merely he's enlightening our younger minds in a different field than Potions, he was always multi-talented that way, but I never thought him to take the position of Defence against the Dark Arts Master, that was always…" He glanced to the second row and I didn't have to look to know who it was, I kept his face in my periphery from the time I had walked in…I was pathetic, "…well… always another student's area of forte. Alas…" He ended with a huff, the memory of Harry's dead father clearly on his mind.

My mind clicked back into the present when I heard it…the bell…there were moments filled with shuffling and I tapped my feet in impatience as the sounds of scraping chairs and footsteps followed suit. The door finally opened and I didn't let the first years exit first, now barging in.

Two girls backed out of my way with such haste they tripped, but a boy caught one of them…the other did fall… the rest of her class snickered and I felt bad for a few seconds but then I realised I had done her a favour, that was character building stuff that was.

I was almost at the table where he sat, his chin length black hair obscuring his face as he frowned down at the parchment before him, he was twiddling his wand between his fingers, waiting for the next lot to come in, not bothered in the least bit by what made the eleven years guffaw so loudly on their way out.

I huffed and I must have walked in very stealthily because this seemed to be the only sound he processed, he didn't lift his head just yet, his deep onyx eyes flickering upwards instead and upon seeing my face his wand stopped tapping against the wood and he was on his feet.

"Bane!"

His eyes dilated with relief as it swept over my body, lingering on my feet, probably astounded by the fact that I was standing whilst his own feet strode from his seat, he halted at the corner of the desk, his hands held out in shock, he hovered as if unsure what to do next.

His black eyes glanced to the door and with a singular jerky movement of his wand, the door closed loudly on the exiting Puff boy's behind.

"I visited at breakfast, you were stil-"

"You're the Defence teacher!" I snapped out, my voice ringing with accusation.

His hands fell to his side and the relief left his eyes to be replaced by dark clouds of confusion, "Yes…I hardly think that is the most offensive of all the titles I hold. Bane, do you have-"

"Since when! When did you…" My heaving breathing seemed to stress my back and I staggered backwards, falling into a seat in the first row, he walked magnetically towards me as I did so, his face marred with concern.

"You should be in the Wing. I am…" He gulped down whatever word he was meant to say to describe his emotion at my recovery and his face turned stern, "You shouldn't be attending lessons. I will escort you-"

"No, you will not!" Fury blazed through me at his words and I banged my palms on the desk as I shot to my feet, I ignored the bolt of pain and for the first time this morning my mind was blank of the screams and flames. "I am sick and tired, sick and tired to death of being forced to obey all of your commands without a word of complaint!" I knew I was screaming at more than just him, that my mind wanted to shout out these very same words minutes ago, as I stared at those midnight blue eyes, but my heart quivered in cowardice and my tongue was petrified stone, but now it seemed to flow like liquid.

"Bane-"

"You told me to leave, to go into hiding, to be on the run, I did it! I didn't question your authority, I didn't utter a word, I packed my bags and left…everyone-" Emerald green flittered through my mind, "…everyone behind."

"Your grandfather did that for your safety." He knew full well who this conversation was directed at and I scoffed at his loyalty.

"It seems everyone has an opinion on my safety, but as always I am never consulted."

He huffed out a sigh, "I was not aware that changing my post needed your consultation, I am so sorry for slighting you so. How can I ever make it up to you?"

I glared at his sarcasm, but his eyes didn't hold the mettle it usually did, he sighed again. "I was going to tell you, at Bella Île, but then you looked so…it doesn't make a difference. I thought it easier to see for yourself. If you're worried about your potions lab, you needn't be, it's still yours. My office is still down in the dunge…Bane?"

He stepped forward and I quickly turned around as the tears sprung out…I gripped the back rest of the chair, trying to reign in the flow, hating myself for being so weak. So weak that I couldn't protect myself, that Linus and Len had to put themselves in danger to do so. So weak that I couldn't even abide by my own resolutions…I promised myself I would never command Vez, to force him against his will. I wheezed out my pain and I doubled over hugging my stomach…

I reached the car door and tried opening it but the button was down. I gestured profusely to the boy to open the button but he continued crying, his face made redder by the blood that dripped down his cheek from the wound on his head. I didn't look at the front seat, only knowing that there was not a sound coming from there and that could mean one thing only.

"Alohomora."

I tried the door again but it wasn't locked, but jammed. The boy continued crying, shit, I acted without thinking and did the first thing that came to mind and tossed off my jacket, wrapping it around my right fist and then banging onto the glass. The third time did the trick.

"Kid! Come!" I held my hand out for the boy and he reached for me but just before my fingers touched I felt the feel of hands around my waist. I saw the shock of blonde hair,

"NO!"

I banged my fists at my head as I processed his screams at the memory…Vez did save the little boy but that did nothing to silence his screams, for as I fought of the Palbei I can now add the sounds of the boys shouts for his mother and father in my memory…a mother and father who lay dead in the front seat of that car…an orphan…I created an orphan…

I felt long fingers enclose my wrists and forcefully ceased the pelts to my head, I couldn't stop the tears though. Seven. Seven people died because I was on that bridge. Seven futures stolen…seven people with families…who knows how many hearts broken at the death of the seven…

"Seven." I gasped out and I felt my head being pulled to a hard chest as my knees buckled but I never felt the stone floor beneath me, instead I felt warmth surround me as his long fingers stroked my hair, patted my back.

"Shhh…shhhh…shhhh." He muttered into my ears, the baritone calming me down slowly, I concentrated on the shiny black button that I could make out in front of me as he held me steadily against him. I could make out long wooden table legs in my periphery…it seems my torment had brought us to the floor.

"Shhhh…stop this crying at once. Shhh."

"It's all my fault." My voice choked on the moan, I buried my face deeper into his shirt, I tried to concentrate on the slow beating of his heart and not the memories that flittered through my mind but I was doing a poor job of it.

"None of this is your fault, especially the deaths of those people. If anyone is to blame it's…" He didn't continue his sentence, his voice was soft, so unlike its usual confident self, "It's Karetnikov's. She led the attack. You didn't kill those people."

"But I was the reason why she was there!" I sniffed out, pulling away from his chest and looking up at his large hooked nose hovering below his sad onyx eyes that gazed down at me.

"Bane, it is not your fault!"

I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly I had no energy to keep it aloft and sniveled into the collar of his black shirt, "It is…she wanted me…they were just innocent bystanders…if it were not for me, they would never have died like that."

Burned alive…crushed by concrete…drowned…how did they go…how…He didn't respond and my body shook with fresh cries, he pushed the hair out of my face, patting my back, well away from the injured part.

"People die." He muttered in my ear, "It's not your fault. Casualties..."

"Casualties!" I screamed, tossing my head off his shoulder, "Casualties! They were innocent! Innocent! Good people that were in the-"

He grabbed me roughly by the shoulders, shaking me slightly, his nostrils flared and his eyes glinted sternly, "The innocent fall just like the guilty, actually easier so! You think this seven have been the only innocent blood that has been shed! You think this would be the last!"

My lips trembled as I thought the statement that had been pounding in my head constantly, the background tempo to the tortured screams, "Everybody's going to die! I don't want Linus and Lenzo to fight the Palbei, they're too strong! I don't want you to be Defence-"

"But why Bane!"

"Because it's jinxed! Nobody lasts more than a year, I don't want you to die!" I cried out and he grabbed me, pulling me to his chest.

"I'm not going to die you foolish girl. And neither are Linus and Lenzo. They're strong, didn't you see them fight? And you may not have witnessed me in a duel but I assure you I am extremely capable."

I calmed down slightly by his words, wiping my tears in his shirt, "I want them to come home."

"And I want Longbottom to quit Defence…we all cannot get what we want." He pulled me away from his chest, his onyx eyes sympathetic despite the jest. He wiped at my cheeks with his thumbs. "Bane…this is war. Innocent die, it does not do well to dwell on those deaths that we have no control of. Neither does it do well to dwell on the deaths that have not happened yet nor do we have the surety that they ever will. Living life with this fear that death lurks around every corner…that is not the life that I want for you. I thought you were braver than the Dark Lord."

I scoffed, "I don't fear death."

His face became stern, "I am aware of that. Its peculiar how Sabre, who has consistently protected you from every danger for the past two months, placing your life above his own on many occasions, suddenly decides that the lives of faceless muggles are of greater importance."

I looked down, knowing what he was getting at.

"I am to say this but once, so heed every word. Never do that again. I do not care if a hundred muggles die, I do not care if a thousand wizards die…never place those lives above your own. You are to live. Death may claim this world, but you are to live."

His last four words shook with emotion and I looked up, completely shocked at his fierce eyes, I didn't have a retort…I didn't have a response be it unintelligible sound or defining word. His eyes glowed at me, obsidian depths drowning with emotion and my tongue was petrified once more.

His lips trembled, the corners pricking up slightly and he reached forward, pushing the hair behind my ears and cupping my cheeks, boring into my eyes, "I am…so…happy, that you are…" He sighed, ducking his head down, suddenly he was on his feet, larger than life in front of me, beyond the literal meaning, he held out his hand and I looked at it.

The long fingers, the pale palm with so few lines traversing the skin…it was unnatural. I slowly placed my hands in his, and with strength I never knew he possessed, with a small tug, Sev pulled me to my feet.

The room echoed with the next sound, the grumble as he cleared his throat and let go of my hand, his back was to me, clad black as he walked to his desk and he turned, leaning against the dark wooden piece of furniture, his hands on the desk with his fingers clasping the edge on either side of his waist…I never saw him so unguarded before…his hands were far away from the pocket where he kept his wand.

"You should be in the Wing. What did Mrs Towers say about your back? I can see that her therapy has been working but surely you shouldn't be walking around this quickly. If your grandfather finds out that you have left the wing, he won't be pleased."

I knew what this was, a change of subject, he already displayed more emotion now than he has in the two years that I knew him, at least whilst he was sober. "He knows I left…he…he doesn't care."

He looked at me with complacent eyes, "And I suppose I am to convince you that he does?"

I shook my head slowly, "He didn't even write me this whole Summer." I muttered meekly, it was stupid but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Do you suppose he had much time to write letters, Bane?"

"He had enough time to write Harry a letter."

Sev's eyes glinted as I said Harry's name and his jaw tightened, "Potter's letter wasn't a personal one, it was business, he had to deliver him to headquarters. Well he didn't have to, but Dumbledore finds it necessary that the boy enjoy his holidays with friends, even though it's more sensible for him to just remain with Petunia Evan's."

"Dursley." I muttered.

He shrugged, "Whatever the woman is called. Potter should remain with her."

I didn't like where this topic was going, I didn't want to think of him now. I shrugged, "He won't even say what happened to his hand."

"And I suppose that means that he doesn't care for you. He doesn't care for anybody then, because nobody knows what happened to his hand."

"I'm his granddaughter."

He pushed off his table, "Yes. Yes you are. You're his granddaughter. His blood. His family. Who do you think he is doing this all for? Who? Yes, he is a noble man that wants this for the betterment of wizardkind but if you died, would that decimate wizard civilization? No. Yet he took time away, from the many and extremely important tasks he had this Summer to go and set up those safe houses for you. You never thought how they were just setup and ready to inhabit did you? You never thought of the time it took to choose the location? You never thought that he chose to expend his already limited time doing those things instead of penning you a later?"

I lowered my eyes…embarrassed. "Bane…your grandfather does not need you to doubt him right now. I understand, this was a very emotional time for you, and I know that having to witness all those deaths must have been horrific, I know it is hard to be away from your brothers and harder still to not know what is going on in their lives and I know you miss your grandfather…but this is war. War is not for the weak, it is not for the narrow minded who cannot see the bigger picture, it is not for the moaners and naggers…for those who wallow in the pits of their problem not searching for the light of solution. I thought you a warrior, was I wrong?"

I shook my head, feeling an odd peace come over me as Sev spoke.

He smirked, "That was a trick question. I'm never wrong. Now come, off to the Hospital Wing. I want to have a front row seat when Pomfrey screams your ears deaf."

A/N: So I decided to celebrate my first anniversary as a writer on this site, with an update! So reviews would make a great anniversary present : )

Thanks to all of those that stuck with this story

Kalina