I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Extended Family
Chapter 10 – Echoes of Pain
This takes place immediately after Katie's scream after the duel
Dedicated to: enrapturedreader
Hermione and Alicia looked up at the same time. They had eaten dinner early, having not joined the others when they went to play Blitz Quidditch. They were sitting in the tower doing homework together when Katie's scream pierced glass and stone, shaking them to their cores.
"Katie!" Alicia shouted.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted.
They looked at each other and leapt up, running straight to the window. Their eyes scanned the darkening grounds, squinting against the setting sunlight. Hermione pointed, "There!" She saw what she thought was them, two tiny figures huddled on the ground. She gasped as she looked at the destroyed greenhouse. She saw a third person lying there. She began to breathe heavily, registering what Katie said.
"Let's go," Alicia said, sounding like Hermione felt. She pushed her way through the crowd of students who had followed them to the window. Her grip on Hermione's arm was painful but welcome, it kept Hermione grounded.
They ran out the portrait door and pounded down the staircase, almost falling several times in their haste. Some students wandered aimlessly, staring at them as they ran past. Alicia tripped on the final few steps but Hermione braced herself on the banister, keeping the other girl upright. With a nod of thanks, Alicia continued to run and the pair skidded to a halt in the grand foyer.
Hestia Jones had the doors closed behind her with Sprout beside her. "Hold up," Jones said, holding her hand out. "No one's leaving the castle."
"Get out of the way," Alicia said angrily. "Our friends are out there."
Jones raised an eyebrow. "Not happening kid. Active investigation going on. No one save the professors or authorities are entering or leaving."
"Katie and Harry are our friends," Hermione pleaded. "We have to go and help!"
Jones looked a little sympathetic. "I get it, I do, but there's nothing you can do. Aurors and the Director of the DMLE plus the Matron and others are out there now. You have nothing to add."
"We're about to go on lockdown," Sprout said kindly. "Everyone is about to be taken back to their dorms. Please Miss Spinnet and Miss Granger, go back to the tower."
"Bugger that!" Alicia spat, shocking Sprout and making Jones snort. "They need us and we're going out there, now."
"I'm an Auror and not above arresting you for trying to interfere," Jones said stiffly. "My patience only goes so far."
"Let's all just calm down here," Sprout said.
Hermione grabbed Alicia's arms as the other girl glared pure bloody murder at the Auror. "Please," Hermione begged. "They're our best friends and the scream really scared us. We have to see them."
Jones' eye twitched. "I'm not saying I don't understand," she said softly, "but I got my orders. Your friends are being helped by the best that's available. That's all I can offer you."
"Hey, what's going on?" Angelina came over, walking out of the great hall and seeing them in the foyer. "Alicia? Hermione?" She looked askance at the Auror and Sprout.
"Did you hear it?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling.
"Hear what?" Angelina was growing worried. "Dinner was mad in there, so many people and you know how loud it gets. What's going on?"
"Katie screamed, magically. Said she and Harry are hurt." Alicia glared at Sprout and Jones. "And they won't let us out."
"What?! We have to help them!" Angelina began to push her way forward.
"Seriously, back off," Jones said severely. "No one is leaving."
"Enough!" Sprout shouted and everyone looked at her. No one had ever heard the pleasant woman shout before and it was unnerving. "Miss Spinnet, I am going to ignore your behavior for now. Return to your tower. I will be sending everyone to their common rooms and dormitories now. Miss Granger, Miss Johnson, if you please."
"We better go," Hermione said reluctantly, tugging on the older girls' arms.
Alicia hissed and turned before losing her balance, crumpling to the floor. Angelina managed to catch her before she hit the stones. "She sounds so scared," Alicia wept. "Oh Merlin, what happened?! They need us!"
Angelina, shocked into tears herself, pulled Alicia close and half carried her away with Hermione joining her to support her. They trudged up the stairs with Sprout directing students to their respective common rooms.
"It'll be okay," Angelina said. "It's Harry and Katie. They can handle it. Right?"
-0-
"Stand down Miss Delacour!" Madame Maxime said as severely as she could. Fleur was not the only Veela student the Headmistress of Beauxbatons ever taught and knew, so she was aware of how Veela could be. However, it had been years since she saw Fleur in such an agitated state. Truth be told, the last few years had worried Maxime somewhat, seeing how cold and reserved Fleur was save with her family and Aimee and Colette.
Fleur was standing in front of the large woman. Her hair was on end and her skin was undulating. Her eyes were shifting in shape and color and her aura pulsed, filling the entryway into the carriage with her magic. It drove the other students away and even Colette and Aimee were having difficulty resisting the pure strength of it. "They need help!" Fleur said, her words raw. "You heard them!"
"I did but your help is not what they need," Maxime argued back. "The British Authorities are here and we are all on lockdown for everyone's safety."
"Madame, please," Aimee pleaded. "Let us go and see if we can help them. Or just let one of us go and see what's going on."
"We need to know," Colette begged.
Maxime was floored. She knew the trio were a little isolated at school. Fleur was Veela and her personality made it difficult for many to get close to her. Colette was acerbic to many others, partly for her loyalty to Fleur and partly it being her own nature. Aimee was the most sociable but even she usually stuck close to her two closest friends. To see them like this was a welcome surprise, made all the more for them wanting to see British people, something they complained about before coming to Hogwarts.
"No one is to leave," she said firmly. "It is not safe."
"Who cares," a cold voice said from down one of the halls. "It has nothing to do with us. They're just English."
Fleur shrieked with outrage and she leapt towards the hall. Colette and Aimee tackled her together, holding her arms down and dragging her to the ground. Startled cries and screams filled the carriage. Maxime gaped at the sight.
"I'll kill you!" Fleur screamed. "I will kill you!"
"Fleur! Not worth it!" Colette said, struggling against her.
"Fleur calm down!" Aimee winced as Fleur whipped her head around, hitting Aimee full in the face.
Maxime glared down the hall and every student scrambled back to their dorms. She knelt down and pressed a hand into Fleur's shoulder, ignoring the intense heat radiating off the girl. "Fleur, please. Calm down. I will find out what I can later but you must calm down before you hurt yourself or your friends."
"But they are my friends too." Fleur wept; her anger doused by her grief. Her friends let her go, feeling the fight leave her and they too cried.
Maxime swept her upin her arms, carrying the sobbing girl easily. She carried her to her room, putting her down on the bed gently and looked at Aimee and Colette who followed. "Watch her carefully," she murmured to them.
The girls nodded and laid down beside their friend and they cried together.
-0-
"If I find any Slytherin students save for the prefects out of the common room while the lockdown is active, I will be severely displeased," Snape said softly. He did not need to raise his voice. Everyone could see how serious he was. Most of the time, Snape hovered from carefully calculated indifference to mild annoyance. When he was irritated, people were punished. None wanted to contemplate what would happen if he was severely displeased. "Any questions?"
There were none. The Slytherins broke into small groups, drifting into different parts of the common room or going to their personal rooms. He watched them for a moment before speaking softly again, "Miss Greengrass, Miss Davis, a word."
Daphne and Tracy looked at each other and they followed Snape to the entryway into the common room, a small alcove that offered some privacy. The Privacy Charm Snape cast ensured it. He looked down at them and the girls stiffened, seeing how uncomfortable he looked.
"You are…acquaintances of Mister Potter, is that correct?" he asked finally.
"We are…friends," Daphne said. "Yes, we are friends," she said firmly with Tracy nodding. Daphne's cool demeanor cracked. "Did…did something happen? Is that what the scream was about?"
"Did you hear it?" Snape asked almost kindly.
"We heard it but not what the words were," Tracy said. "It sounded scary."
Snape sighed. "The intruder attacked Mister Potter and Miss Bell," he said quietly and he did not enjoy the looks of horror on the girls' faces. "He has been dealt with and is in custody."
"What about Harry and Katie?" Daphne asked hurriedly, not hiding her worry.
"Miss Bell is unharmed save for some self-inflicted spell damage. She will recover."
"And Harry?" Tracy asked in a very small voice.
"He is…he was hurt more during the incident. He is under observation. I tell you this with permission from his Guardian so you would know the truth of it, and you can ignore the rumors." He looked pained.
"Will he recover?" Daphne asked, tears trickling down her face. Tracy hugged her but her eyes were not dry either.
"We hope so," Snape said. "If I can, I will tell you more when I know myself. I would ask you to not share anything I told you."
"We won't," Tracy said.
Snape dispelled the charm. With an awkward look and nod, he left the common room.
Tracy led Daphne back to their shared dorm room, ignoring the questioning looks from others. She set her down on her bed and closed the door behind them, locking it. Daphne sat and looked into space, tears continuing to carve their way down her cheeks.
"I…why am I taking this so hard?" Daphne asked in a very small voice.
"I think it's because we care more about Harry than we thought," Tracy said in the same voice.
Daphne nodded jerkily. "I think you are right."
They sat in shared silence.
"Tracy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
"Me too."
Daphne buried her face into Tracy's chest and began to sob.
-0-
Luna huddled in a corner on her bed. She had heard the terrible scream and had rushed out of Ravenclaw tower. However, she did not even make it to the foyer before she had to go back, herded by the prefects and Flitwick. Much later, after Flitwick returned to the tower and told them what happened, Luna had begged and pleaded to be allowed to go see him.
Flitwick had refused. He was not unsympathetic. He had been incandescent with rage when he learned of the trouble Luna had endured last year and the whole House had suffered his wrath. Ever since then he had tried to pay the girl extra attention. He wanted to let her go, knowing how attached Luna was to Harry. Yet he could not and he had promised to tell her everything he learned as soon as he did.
Luna sat in the corner on her bed, her back pressed against the wall. She had all the notes she and Harry wrote to one another beside her, her art kit beside that. The jersey he had gifted her was folded and in her arms, her face buried into it.
For the first time in a very long time, Luna felt truly alone. For the first time in a long time, she cried.
"Please," she begged anyone that would listen. "Don't take him away from me."
-0-
McGonagall sighed deeply as she looked into the Gryffindor common room. They sat and stood and waited, looking at her expectantly. When her eyes drifted over a particular group of students, she felt her heart ache, seeing the fear in their eyes, the anger in some of them.
"There was an intruder," she said. "He managed to steal a ward pass and got onto the grounds. He…" her voice hitched, "he attacked Mister Potter and Miss Bell."
People exclaimed and murmured. A moan of horror left the corner. Lyla squeaked, eyes filling with tears and clutched Angelina who held her close. Hermione offered a hand to a very upset Mirabelle though she too was beyond upset. The Weasleys all looked the same, going pale and gulping. Alicia tore a sheet of parchment into smaller and smaller bits, growling.
"Miss Bell will be fine and will return soon," McGonagall continued.
"What about Harry?" Angelina asked, dreading the answer.
"He is under observation." Her voice hitched again. "He will be kept in the Infirmary until he wakes on his own and his condition will be reassessed." Her eyes glinted but her voice hardened. "There will be no one out of the tower while lockdown is active. I will personally remove the student that flouts that. Also, if anyone harasses Miss Bell tonight or any night, if she does not approach you nor are you an actual acquaintance of her, my punishment will be severe and swift. Do I make myself clear?"
Everyone nodded quietly, gulping loudly.
"Good. Miss Lyla," McGonagall called, "come with me please. Your sister and your parents will be arriving shortly."
Lyla scrubbed her eyes and walked over to McGonagall, following her out of the common room. After they left, the students started to chatter, filling the air with what they thought happened.
"At least he's under observation," Ron said softly after the group sat in silence for a while. "She'd tell us if…well…"
"Do we know anything else?" Ginny asked, voice stuffy.
Hermione shook her head. "We heard and saw their forms way below but we couldn't get out."
"I'm going to find out who that Auror is and I'm going to make her pay." Alicia continued to tear the strips of parchment into tinier pieces. "Get in my way? Damn you and all."
Eventually Katie did return. Angelina and Alicia held her while she sobbed. She told them little, aside that she was okay, physically, and that they were waiting for Harry to wake on his own. Beyond that, she did not tell them anything. They did not ask for more, simply being there for her while she cried. Angelina carried her to her bed later and Lyla stayed with her.
The twins, Angelina, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione sat together in miserable silence in the common room.
"I feel pretty useless," Ron said finally. "Like, I feel like I should be doing something. Anything. But…really can't."
George and Fred put an arm around his shoulders. "Same here," they said in unison.
"There really isn't anything to do," Angelina said. "We can hope and pray, and that's about it."
They all nodded slowly, not necessarily in agreement, but it was doing something and all pretending to be okay together made them feel a little less alone.
A little less afraid.
But not by much.
-0-0-0-
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Hey, don't blame me. Blame everyone else. The vast majority of requests I got are all painful. Like, people want me to write traumatic things. I have no idea why. I fully expected sillier things or even smut but dang, y'all are gluttons for punishment. So yeah, today is no exception either. I may have to do a Percy chapter, that would be nice. I finished the first Angelina chapter today and I do plan on doing a Harmony later. A Daphne AND a Tracy? Not sure how to make that work but the challenge appeals and it would be funny. I'll add it to the list.
FanfictionFanGirl59 - Thank you so much, so dedicated. It humbles me. Also, I finished Mathilda and it hits hard so hope you enjoy when it arrives.
Urgwaew - I latched onto the idea of falling sand pretty early on and thought it was a nice way to have a running theme throughout the chapter. It made sense to me, focusing on something that miniscule but your mind just obsesses over it and I think it worked well with the themes overall. Yeah, I had to do the list of grievances because the chapter was feeling too bleak otherwise and the Alicia one made me laugh the most. Glad you liked your chapter. Hope you're doing well.
alix33 - Surprise Samantha rudeness.
1529 - Ah the perils of self-edits. Thank you for catching it.
LifeIsAGreatAdventure - Thank you. That was partially the goal for this fic, to let some of the unsung characters sing. I actually finished the first chapter for Angelina today so when it comes, I hope it satisfies.
