Okay, okay, first thing first: I am so sorry that I literally disappeared for three months. The only explanation I can offer is what has happened chronologically to me in the past three months: First it was Hell Week, then Finals Week, then Christmas, then family things, then I moved to a different country, school started up, I had to adjust to a new time zone, school system, school year, and culture. The biggest thing in that list is obviously the moving bit. I have found some time here and there to write but it's been a rough go since I want to go out and explore London and there are also classes. So yeah, that's all I can offer in form of explanation.

I hope to update every week/two weeks. At least, that is my general goal. I lost a bit of momentum, I'll admit, but I went back and reread everything I had written during some of my mental breaks from school work and I found my motivation again.

I hope that you enjoy this long awaited addition to the ABAWS series. Please leave a review! I love to hear what you guys think!

The thing about Gryffindors is that they don't always think things out to their fullest extent. Sirius Orion Black and Benjamin William White were two perfect examples of that.

It seemed like the right thing to do. In retrospect, that was probably the first sign that things were going to go horribly, horribly wrong. But two hot-headed and reactionary boys together who were infuriated and full of righteous thoughts…it was bound to end horribly.

Ben didn't know that when they went back to the scene of the attack that they would actually find anything worthwhile. But then Sirius mentioned a spell that could trace back all the people who performed magic in a certain area. It wasn't a legitimate spell; it was something that his parents had taught him. Why neither of them had questioned it was something that Ben would regret the rest of his life. He had stood by as Sirius (who was still shaking with rage) and joined him in muttering, "ostendam conditor" and watched as a hazy mist flowed from the ends of their wands. Sirius's magic was appropriately black whereas Ben's was white. The two colors had mixed together and a gray haze soon morphed together to create figures.

The first one they were able to identify was Mary. She was lying on the ground. Certain areas of her body (mostly her torso and head) lit up with different colors, symbolizing the spells that had struck her. The hand that would have held her wand was blank. She never even had the chance to defend herself. Familiar faces and forms began to appear. Ursula's form appeared next to Ben. Her hand lit up like a Christmas tree with some colors that Ben didn't even know what spell they were associated with. Her body only had a few glowing marks.

Ben and Sirius had examined the other eight people that showed up. Moira was on the ground next to Ursula, the only thing was a knock out hex that hit her head. The other seven people were quite easy to recognize. They were mostly Slytherin but they were able to recognize at least two Ravenclaws. The one with the most damage was Mulciber. Ben almost, almost felt sorry for him when he recognized some of the spells that Ursula had cursed him with.

He was trying to figure out how many spells were cast by who and who was the recipient, Sirius lost concentration and all the figures disappeared into the ground. Ben spun around, "What the hell Sirius?" He demanded. "We didn't identify everyone yet!"

"Say the second half," Sirius ordered harshly. "I know who was here. Besides, as long as we don't think about the girls or Peter being here, they don't be affected."

Ben almost argued. Almost being the key word because his gaze happened to come across where Mary's body had been and all the rage that had initially sent him out here was out here was back at full force. Together, the two boys said, "vindicta iniuriam." The light of spells appeared still for a moment, suspended in the air before they flew off towards the castle.

There was no remorse in Ben's mind when he saw the spells reappear for just a moment before the moved so quickly that had he blinked, he would have missed them flying off towards the castle.

"It'll get to them, right?"

Sirius nodded and casually flipped his wand, "It's an old tracking spell. Finds the magical signatures of the witch or wizard and bam! the caster gets a little bit of their own medicine."

"Good."

All was not good by the time the two of them got back to the castle. There were distant shouts coming from the hallway that led to the Slytherin Common Room. Ben didn't think much of it until Dumbledore and his father hastily came into view. Dumbledore's eyes narrowed slightly and he quickly descended upon the Gryffindor duo before they had time to escape into their common room.

"I take it that you have something to do with the fact that that eight Slytherin students were all just cursed with dark magic?" The question may have been dark but it was asked as if he was inquiring about the color of the sky.

Sirius shrugged, "Depends on if their cursing matches up with what happened to Mary and Moira."

"It did," Ben's father said tersely.

Before Ben could silence his friend, Sirius all too happily informed two of the most powerful men alive that it was indeed their fault.

"Would you care to share why this seemed like a great idea?" Dumbledore asked, his voice not as kind as it was earlier.

Sirius shrugged, "Since we're both pureblood, and considering my parents are cousins, I'm going to have to go with inbreeding."

"My office, if you don't mind, Mr. Black," Dumbledore ordered, not at all entertained by Sirius's sarcastic response.

Ben opened his mouth to try to defend himself but his father held up a hand, effectively silencing his child. Ben obediently followed his father into an empty classroom. Once a silencing charm was cast, the Minister for Magic broke his own silence and exploded, "What the hell were you thinking! Benjamin William, I don't know if you realize the hell you have just brought upon yourself. That little spell you did? That's been banned with punishment being time in Azkaban."

Ben's stomach dropped, "What? No, no, no, it's just a tracing spell. That's all. It finds spells used in an area, identifies the wizard, and then rebounds the spells back. The castor gets nothing more or less than what they did to another person. That's justice."

"Vigilante justice at best," his father scoffed. "That spell is about as reliable as your common sense right now! You trusted a boy who grew up around this type of Dark Magic and you never once questioned if the spell had any flaws?! Did I raise you to be that irresponsible? Because, for your information, that spell can be easily tampered with which is why it is illegal and discredited. The spell gets returned to the person you think performed the magic. You see the image of the person but let's just say that for a second you think of someone else, that person will have that happen to them! You might have done this to an innocent person."

"Did we?" Ben asked hollowly. His previous bravado was completely gone as he realized the truth of what had just happened.

Jay shook his head, "We don't know but let's just say that there are some high officials' sons in the hospital wing right now suffering from the effects of some unforgivable and it was my son and his friend who put them in the hospital wing. There'll be an investigation and if it shows that no one was falsely accused or harmed, you will be let off with detentions for the rest of the semester. If someone was innocent…"

"Then I'm expelled." Ben breathed.

"I think you should know that one of the people put into the hospital wing was Regulus Black. He's unconscious and they haven't been able to revive him. Minerva just left to get Ursula."

Ben groaned and half collapsed against a desk, "She's going to kill me."

Jay didn't even have an argument to that and allowed his son to wallow in self-pity before he said, "You know, I always knew that Annabelle was brash and didn't always think things through. I thought you were different."

That hurt more than knowing that Ursula was going to be furious at him. The blow struck him in the chest and deflated more (as if that was possible) before he looked up at his father, "I'm so sorry."

"I just ask that you start to use your brain. Ben, you're my only child…please don't make similar mistakes to what Anna did."

"I'm not Annabelle," Ben said with a hint of bitterness and a bit of sadness and whole lot of regret.

Jay nodded, "That may be true but one thing no White has ever been good at thinking things through all that well. Just be careful, my son."

"I'll try, Dad,"

With a nod, his father left to undoubtedly deal with Dumbledore and the families of the other students. With barely a moment of hesitation, Ben immediately set off towards the Hospital Wing. He knew that was where Ursula undoubtedly was. No matter how unhealthy her relationship with her youngest brother was, no matter how many times the actions of her estranged family destroyed her, Ben knew that she would drop everything in a heartbeat to be there for them. Ben hated it. Because when that happened, Ursula was hurt in ways that Ben (no matter how much he tried to keep them away from her) couldn't prevent.

Unsurprisingly, when he walked into the silent hospital wing, he saw the woman he loved hunched over in a chair next to Regulus's bed reading a book softly out loud. The boy wasn't moving but his chest was rising steadily so the brief worry of actually harming the boy lifted from Ben's mind.

Ursula looked up from her book and the change in her was instantaneous. Her back was rigid and if Ben was perfectly honest, if looks could kill he would have been a ghost at that point.

"Leave," that was all she said before going back to her book.

"Ursula, love, please listen. I need to know that you are okay," Ben implored her as he quickly made his way over. "I need to know that you—that we are going to be okay."

"You care more about our relationship than my brother's life?" She asked in disgust. Her lip curled upwards before she took a deep breath and in the calmest voice Ben had ever heard her use (which honestly terrified him more than anything else she could have done) she said, "Go. Away."

"Ursula—" he reached for her arm but she quickly darted up from her chair to avoid contact with him.

"I want you to get away from me," Ursula monotonously said. Her eyes were just as dead as her voice as she stared at him.

Ben shook his head and reached for her arm, "Muse, Love—"

"DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT!" She exploded. She staggered back and grasped at the chair behind her. Her previously emotionless eyes were now blazing with a fire that roared hotter than the fireplace in Gryffindor Tower. "If you actually cared for me even a fraction of what you claim, you wouldn't have done this." She gestured pointedly at the prone state of her brother resting fitfully on the hospital bed.

Ben shook his head and once again tried to reach for her, "That wasn't me. I swear to you, on my sister's grave, that if I had ever thought that this was even a miniscule possibility, I would have never done it."

"WELL YOU DID!" She shot back, "and now I want you to get the hell away from me before I do or say something I truly regret."

Ben scoffed, "Like you regret what you did to Mulciber?"

He hadn't even blinked when he was suddenly thrown painfully across the room. White hot pain flashed up his arm and he crumbled to the ground.

Ursula looked down at him with no remorse, "Like how I should regret that."

Ben looked down at his arm. It wasn't broken—thank Merlin—but there was going to be a nasty bruise on his upper arm for a couple weeks. He looked up at Ursula, the girl who was crumbling quicker than a deserted castle.

"He's my brother," her voice cracked pitifully. "I love him. I would do anything for him."

"I know you do. I know you would," Ben said gently, the silence of the Hospital Wing deafening compared to their previous shouting.

"He's not my brother anymore." The resigned way she said it felt like a physical blow to Ben. "He's not Reggie anymore." She admitted, more so to herself than to him.

Ben struggled to his feet as he answered, "Muse, I swear to you, I never saw him. Sirius saw someone and then immediately cast the spell. I didn't know your brother was there. You have to believe me. I swear on my sister's grave, I didn't know your brother was there otherwise I never would have gone along with it."

"Don't lie to me," harsh yet accepting, Ursula finally looked him in the eye, "You would do it again knowing what you know now."

Ben nodded solemnly, "You're right. I probably would. Because those people," he spat the word as if that was too kind a word to describe them, "hurt Mary, Moira, Peter, and most importantly, they hurt you. I was angry at you this morning for missing the night with Remus but then when I found out what happened...what you were forced to do to defend yourself, I was furious at them and myself. I love you—I would do anything for you. I would follow you to Hell if need be."

"That's the problem! Ben, you can't follow me to Hell! I did horrible things and I need someone to stop me sometimes! You're supposed to be that one!" she cried, her voice breaking. "I was terrified yesterday; I had honestly thought that they had killed Mary and Moira and I was alone. I needed you there, like you promised to be, and I was alone! And then Reg—" Her resolve shattered and tears started streaming down her face. She hiccupped and frantically wiped away the tears.

Immediately, Ben was in front of her with his arms wrapped securely around her frame. "I'm sorry, Love. I didn't…I never would have…"

"I know," she whispered into his shoulder as she gripped the front of his shirt tightly, as if it was the one thing tethering her down to reality.

The pair stood there, wrapped in the safety and security that the other offered for them. Ben didn't comment on the wet spot growing on his shoulder from the tears and snot nor did he mention the shaky and uneven breaths that Ursula couldn't control. Ursula, in turn, didn't try to struggle out of Ben's embrace even though his fingers were digging painfully into her sides as he held her as close as physically possible.

"I wish that this means it's all okay, that nothing broke," Ben said against Ursula's hair before kissing her temple as he pulled back to look at her face.

Her head shook minutely, "We're not broken. Just a little bent," she conceded. With that she pulled herself out of Ben's grasp. "We'll talk about it when I get back."

"Where are you going?"

Instantly, Ben's mind when into another panicked state. He didn't want to be away from her right now; he needed to know that she was okay, that she wasn't going to die. He had let her out of his reach too many times now when she had been hurt that he was petrified that something would happen to her. It wasn't that he didn't think she could take care of herself (the rapidly growing bruise on his arm was proof enough of that) but that he couldn't bear the thought of being away from her right now. He needed her.

She turned in the doorway with a wiry smile, "I'm going to go to Dumbledore and you father so they can go through my memories so you and Sirius don't get expelled."

"You don't remember….How?" Ben questioned though the answer was screaming in his mind but he refused to listen to it.

"Dumbledore is one of the best Legilimens in the world. I'm sure he'll be able to find it."

Without giving him a chance to protest her going through that, she disappeared out the doorway. Numbly, not knowing what else to do, Ben made his way back to the Tower. The second he stepped through the door, however, he was broken out of his zombie like state when Peter roughly grabbed him by the arm and violently yanked him up to their room. Shocked at how Peter, Peter! of all people was manhandling him in such a way that any objection or retaliation that Ben might have had was silenced.

Once in the room, Peter practically threw him into Sirius's bed, where the said owner was sitting. Peter moved to stand next to James, who was standing with his arm crossed. While Peter could be classified as "angry with a hint of slight homicidal potential" James had reached the point of "angry with a certain chance of hellfire being rained upon you if you breathe in a way that displeases me and you'll wish that you were instead dealing with Lord Voldemort."

Needless to say, Ben was wisely silent.

"I want to know," James said through clenched teeth, his jaw working in such a way that Sirius and Ben both looked down at their feet hoping that that would somehow diffuse the anger in their friend, "what the actual bloody hell was going through your fucking heads this morning."

"We thought—" Sirius began to say when…

"NO! I'll tell you what you were thinking! You weren't thinking!"

"Everything was already balls up and you went and made it worse," Peter seethed.

"Elyse got called in for questioning to see if she saw anything that could exonerate you two," James added. "I ran into Ursula on my way here and she told me she's going to let Dumbledore search through her fucking mind and make her relive last night! There's a reason her mind blocked it out and because of you two bastards she has to go remember it all!"

It wasn't a knife shoved into Ben's stomach. It was a machete and James had just twisted it in a full circle.

"James, Peter," Ben tried to apologize, "I didn't—"

"Whatever you are about to say is utter bullshit. There is no way you didn't know," Peter accused.

"He didn't," Sirius defended his friend. "It's a spell my parents taught me. Ben had never heard of it before."

"And no red flags were raised?" Peter challenged. "Neither of you thought of what would happened because right now, Ursula is probably reliving it!"

Sirius threw his arms up in exasperation, "Okay, we get it! We need to apologize to her and find some way to make it better. No need to lecture us."

"No need? No bloody need?" Peter was nearly hysterical. "Sirius, this is the second time that you've done something stupid and illegal that has almost gotten Ursula killed or in great distress."

Immediately on the defensive, Sirius leapt to his feet, "Don't you dare! When—"

Before Sirius could even finish, Peter said, "Last year. The "incident" that no one likes to talk about. The one where told Snape about Moony so James and Ursula nearly died? But of course, that might not have had such dire consequences if Ben hadn't abandoned us when his sister died for an entire year. And thinking back, wasn't it Sirius who thought about going into Slughorn's personal closet in second year? Didn't Ursula lose her eyesight and still has damage from that? And didn't Elyse lose her ability to speak? Bad things seem to happen when you two do things but it never happens to you. It's always to someone else."

"Damn Wormy." Even James was taken aback by Peter's rant and blatant calling out of their friends.

"We mucked up," Ben defended weakly. His eyes were pained as he steadily met Peter's cold, unforgiving ones. "We didn't know this would happen. All we saw was our housemates, our friends, hurt. Mary, Moira, Ursula, you; we were angry. But no matter if we acted out of friendship, we were irrational. I am sorry, Peter. We simply weren't thinking."

Peter huffed but seemed placated for the time being. He grabbed his wand off his side table before storming out of the room. The door slammed behind him, shaking the room and causing some books to fall off Remus's bed.

"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked, realizing that Remus was oddly missing when he was usually back by this point after the full moon.

"With not as many of us with him last night, he got a little more banged up. He's probably still in this hospital wing or possibly still in the Shack." James offered as an explaination.

Ben nodded, accepting that as a reasonable answer. "Poor Remus."

Sirius snorted, "Yeah, poor Remus."

And with that, they sat in silence each lost in their own thoughts of guilt, anger, and worry.