Chapter 5
AN1: Hope you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think.
After the tree burst into flames things for Mie gets from bad to worse as there were so many fires during the battle, and so the light, the heat, the smells of the fire enveloping the tree causes her to her mind to be thrown back into the heat of battle.
"Annemie," A voice says, cutting through her memories, but sounding like it is so far away that she can't focus on it.
Feeling incredible concerned Albus, who was alerted by Fawkes, takes notice of the situation. He sees the tree on fire, he sees Mie franticly searching around, pointing her wand clearly about to curse something, he hears that she is unable to breathe, and he realises that she is clearly not dressed for snow. Knowing that he has to act quickly but in a very controlled way Albus first puts out the fire as he knows that will keep anyone else from being woken up.
"Annemie, can you hear me?" Albus asks, taking a step closer to Mie, but not doing more than that as he doesn't want to risk scaring her more, or cause her to accidently curse something if she feels like she needs to protect herself.
For a second Albus doesn't think Mie has heard him, but then he notices her look around at him, clearly searching for who said her name, and looking like she is prepared to attack whatever she needs to defend herself, and so Albus decides to try more.
"Annemie, I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe," Albus tells her, in a gentle voice, knowing that he cannot approach her because she is so out of it that if he tries, she will likely attack him and she'll feel guilty about that, so if he can he wants to protect that. "There's no battle going on, you're safe, Annemie, you're safe," Albus repeats, trying to get Mie to focus on him. "Listen to me my voice, I'm here, you're safe, Annemie, I promise you're safe, there's no battle," Albus tells Mie.
"Dad?" Mie asks, as her realty comes back to her, and as it does Mie collapses onto her knees, onto the cloak, dropping her wand into the snow as she does.
From Mie's actions Albus, who is amazed by what Mie has called him, realises that Mie has come back to reality and so he hurries over to her, and knees down next to her.
"It's okay, Annemie, it's okay," Albus says, putting his arms around her, and wrapping the cloak he grabbed around her in an attempt to warm her up.
"No, it's not, I'm not okay," Mie admits, tears coming to her eyes. "I'm not okay, Dad," Mie admits, as she turns into Albus's chest, as he pulls her in closer, wrapping the cloak around her tighter to make sure she doesn't get too cold.
"I know, and that's okay," Albus tells his daughter. "I will help you, you're not alone," Albus says, kissing the top of her head. "I promise you, Annemie, you don't have to find your way through this alone," Albus says as Mie starts to cry into his chest, and as she cries it is clear that Mie is struggling to breath even more.
"Can't…. can't breathe," Mie admits, gasping, looking at Albus with a look of fear on her face, struggling with every syllable.
"Annemie, look at me," Albus says, moving so that Mie can look directly at him rather than being against his chest. "Listen to my voice," Albus says, getting an idea. "Hogwarts, a History, in 990 AD the four greatest magical minds of the ages, came together to…" Albus starts to quote, and slowly Mie starts to quote along with him, struggling in the beginning.
Over the next few minutes Mie and Albus quote Hogwarts a History together, both knowing the book so well that they are able to do that without a problem, and with every word they quote Mie calms down a little, she can breathe a little easier, until finally she is breathing normally once more.
"Thank you," Mie tells Albus once she has successfully calmed down.
"Annemie, you don't have to thank me, you deserve help, you deserve to feel safe, and loved, and I want to help you believe that," Albus tells Mie and she once again hugs Albus once more. "Are you ready to head back upstairs?" Albus asks, not wanting to rush her but he knows that the longer they spend on the ground the higher the risk is that they will be scene.
"Yeah, I think I am, Dad," Mie says, not moving away from Albus's chest so that she doesn't see the look on his face as she is worried that he won't be okay with her calling him Dad so soon.
"Okay, I believe this belongs to you," Albus says, handing Mie her wand, which she takes, and as she does Mie realises something she is curious about.
"How'd you find me?" Mie asks curious, looking up at Albus's face, as Albus takes off his cloak completely and wrap it around Mie as she needs it more than him.
"Fawkes," Albus answers. "He woke me, brought me to you, as he knew you needed your father," Albus tells Mie. "Annemie, a phoenix will appear to anyone of the Dumbledore family in dire need," Albus tells her, and Mie realises something.
"Fawkes came to me on the Astronomy tower," Mie remembers, remembering how she felt when the others were reading about what happened to her at Malfoy Manor, and what she was feeling when Fawkes came to her.
"I believe he already knew what we hadn't admitted," Albus explains, and Mie nods, feeling amazed. "Are you ready?" Albus asks and Mie nods so they both stand up, Albus picking up the invisibility cloak as they do, and they both head back towards the castle.
A few minutes after they left the grounds Mie and Albus, having not used the invisibility cloak as the castle was so quiet and Albus didn't want to make Mie feel claustrophobic, the two of them walk back into the Room of requirements.
"Would you like some tea?" Albus asks.
"No," Mie says, shaking her head. "You can go back to bed, I'll be okay," Mie tells Albus, giving him back his cloak.
"But you won't sleep," Albus says, knowing that.
"I can't," Mie admits.
"What if you had a dreamless sleep potion?" Albus asks, and Mie is surprised by that.
"Isn't it too soon for me to use it again?" Mie says.
"If you used it again you wouldn't be able to use it for at least a few days," Albus admits. "The choice is yours," Albus tells Mie.
"I… I don't know," Mie admits. "I'm so tired," Mie admits, and the exhaustion is perfectly clear on her face.
"Annemie, use the potion tonight," Albus tells her. "Tomorrow, once you're well rested, we'll work on ways to help with your nightmares and flashbacks," Albus tells Mie.
"I don't know if there is a way to help," Mie admits.
"If there is, I'll help you find it," Albus promises and Mie nods.
"I'll take the potion," Mie responds.
"I'll give it to you once you're lying down so I can help you drink all of it," Albus explains, as he knows as does Mie, that a person is as exhausted as Mie they may not get through the entire potion before falling asleep.
"Okay," Mie responds and they both head to Mie's bedroom.
Once in the bedroom Mie lays down on the bed and Albus conjures one of the dreamless sleep potion from the school supply.
"I know you crave peace, and this potion will help, but it's not a permanent solution," Albus reminds Mie.
"I know," Mie says and once she does Albus hands over the potion and Mie quickly starts to drink it. As Mie drinks the potion she clearly starts to drift off, and so Albus helps her until she has drunk the entire potion and Mie is asleep.
Once Mie is asleep Albus wishes a chair and sits down next to her bed where he spends a little while watching his daughter sleep. As he is watching her sleep Albus is making sure of two things, the first is that Mie isn't being affected by being out in the cold, and the second is making sure she is peacefully sleeping, as he knows that with trauma as deep and expansive as Mie's then sometimes the potion is unable to completely help.
The next morning all the teenagers, with the exception of Mie, all get up at what has become their usual time while being in the room of requirements. As the breakfast has arrived everyone starts to eat, but as they eat, they all realise something that surprises them.
"Anyone seen Mie this morning?" Frank asks curious as she is usually the first one awake, normally because she hasn't slept.
"I just checked, she was still asleep," Regulus reveals, the surprise he feels about that being clear in his voice.
"Mie? She never sleeps this late," Amelia says surprised.
"She doesn't sleep period," Remus says concerned.
"Maybe she took a dreamless sleep potion?" Severus suggests as he knows it would make sense.
"Hasn't she taken too many of them?" Lily asks concerned about Mie as she knows Mie has been taking a lot of them, but before anyone can answer the door opens and Albus walks in.
"Albus, a bit early for you isn't it?" Sirius asks concerned, hoping that nothing horrible has happened.
"I will return in an hour for the rest of the day, but I just wanted to tell you all not to wake Annemie," Albus reveals, looking between the students.
"Is she okay?" Regulus asks concerned.
"Annemie had flashbacks last night, worse than almost all of the ones we've seen," Albus reveals, and everyone looks incredible concerned about that as the ones they have seen have been really bad. "I helped ground her, and we came back here," Albus says, not wanting to go into more detail than that, but feeling that it will help the others to understand. "I gave her the dreamless sleep potion," Albus explains. "Annemie needs all the sleep she can get, so It would be best if no one woke her," Albus explains.
"We won't," Alice promises, and the others nod in agreement.
"I will return after breakfast," Albus says before leaving, once he is sure that the others will not wake Mie up.
"Anyone else get the feeling that things for Mie was a lot worse than Albus was revealing?" Amelia asks, looking between the others.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Regulus admits, remembering when he and Albus found Mie on the Astronomy tower after they read the Malfoy Manor chapter. "Not only did we just finish reading about the horrific battle she was in, but she now knows she is never going to see the people she considers family again," Regulus points out. "Mie cares about all of us, and we've become close, but that doesn't change the fact that she's left the world she's known for the past eighteen years," Regulus admits. "That's a lot of stress to add to the stress she is already under," Regulus says, being pretty sure that Mie feels like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.
"Reg's right, she's Mie so she's not going to admit if she's struggling, but there is no way she's not," Sirius admits. "I know we've got a future to change, and Mie will want to focus on that, but I don't know about you guys, but I also want to make sure she has some of the fun she has been deprived off while fighting a war," Sirius suggests.
"Same," James says, and as a look passes between the it is clear that an understanding is passing between them.
"It's not just fun," Lily says, and everyone looks at her. "There is so many normal Hogwarts experiences she has never had because there's been so many other things going on," Lily says. "We've got a few more months, let help her have them," Lily says, and others around the room nod in agreement, and it is being clear that they are coming to an understanding.
A few hours alter the teenagers have been joined buy Albus, Minerva and Moody while Mie continues to sleep. As Mie continues to sleep the teenagers work on Occlumency and even get some duelling practice in with Moody.
Finally, just before lunch the door to the other room opens and Mie, now dressed and looking a lot between than she did the last time Albus saw her, walks into the main room.
"Hey," Mie greats. "Is it still morning?" Mie asks, as she looks around, trying to figure out how long she has been sleeping.
"For another ten minutes," Frank answers, checking his watch.
"What have I missed?" Mie asks curious.
"Occlumency and duelling," Amelia answers.
"So, a lot," Mie answers.
"It's been a morning of lessons, I feel like we're being graded on both our Occlumency and duelling skills," James comments, only half joking.
"You are," Moody answers, speaking for himself.
"Well, I guess I better get graded," Mie comments, looking at Moody, it being clear that she doesn't want to talk about why she slept so long.
"Of course," Moody responds, and he and Mie move to a little more opened area of the room, both realising that all eyes are on them. "Are you ready?" Moody asks as he and Mie face each other.
"A real opponent never asks if you're ready," Mie responds as she quickly pulls her wand and fires a curse at Moody, one he blocked because he was expecting it, and the real duel begins.
Over the next half an hour everyone practices both Occlumency and duelling until pausing for lunch. As they pause for lunch Albus walks over to Mie.
"How did you sleep?" Albus asks in a quiet voice.
"Well, I don't remember anything after drinking the potions, so I'm going to say okay," Mie admits.
"I'm glad," Albus admits as he was worried about the spell not being enough.
"Me too," Mie admits.
"If you're up for it I thought we could go to Eccleshall this afternoon," Albus tells Mie as he knows it is better if they go soon.
"Sure, that'd be good," Mie admits, as she knows that if she is going to pretend to have been raised in a place, she has to at least see it.
"We'll leave after lunch," Albus says, Mie nods, and they join the others for an enjoyable lunch.
After lunch, with Mie once again under the cloak, she and Albus have left Hogwarts and apparated to the outskirts of Eccleshall, in a place Albus has always apparated to in the past so he knows that they won't be seen.
"You can remove the cloak," Albus says, and Mie does so, putting the cloak back in her bag, as she and Albus begin to walk.
"Were the Death Eaters targeting Franklin and Anne?" Mie asks curious as she knows that will dictate how they handle things.
"From what I've been able to discover, I believe they attended the village attending to kill muggles, but then they saw Franklin," Albus explains, knowing that that may work in their favour.
"That sounds exactly like something they would do," Mie admits. "I was thinking we could say that I was in the village, maybe at the library, that's why I wasn't there when the Death Eaters attacked," Mie suggests as she has been thinking about what would make sense.
"That sounds like a good plan," Albus says approvingly. "How about we walk around the village before going to the house," Albus suggests.
"Sounds good, but how are we going to explain no one in the village knowing me if someone looks into it?" Mie asks.
"The spells the ministry used after the attack," Albus suggests. "We will leave hints to make it believable, but that will be the best cover," Albus explains as that way they won't have to make significant changes.
"Smart," Mie says approvingly.
"The funeral is on the twenty first," Albus tells Mie. "It is your decision about whether you want to attend," Albus reveals, as he will be, but the choices is Mie's.
"I'll go," Mie says, not only because she knows it is the best way to help her cover, but because she wants to support Albus. "I want to," Mie reveals and Albus nods. "Dad, I know you might be thinking differently after last night, but I can do this. I can fight Voldemort," Mie says, not wanting Albus to think less of her after what he saw.
"I don't doubt that Annemie," Albus admits. "I know you will complete what we have planned without hesitation, but I am concerned about you," Albus explains to Mie as they walk. "What can I do to help?" Albus asks.
"Honestly, I don't know," Mie admits. "I'm trying to be okay, but I don't know how to be," Mie admits as she avoids looking at Albus.
"You don't have to be anything you're not," Albus tells Mie as he stops walking and as he does Mie stops avoiding him and looks at him. "Annemie when I say I want to help you I mean I want to help you live with what's happened to you. You don't have to be anything you're not, and it's okay if you still struggle," Albus tells Mie. "What I want is to help you to heal, no matter how long that takes, no matter what healing looks like to you," Albus explains to Mie, who wants to explain what that means to her and realises that there is only one way to do that.
"I broke my arm the year before I started Hogwarts," Mie reveals. "Without magic it meant I spent my summer in a cast," Mie explains. "Of course, for me that meant a pretty different summer than what I was expecting, but my parents didn't let that change a single thing, they did exactly what they always wanted to do over summer, and I spent most the time alone, in pain," Mie admits, trying not to display that effect on her. "So, I'm not exactly used to people helping me to heal, I'm trying to do everything alone," Mie reveals.
"You never have to again," Albus tells Mie, who can't help but remember when Remus told her something similar. "You may be able to do everything alone, I know that, but you don't have to, I'm here for you," Albus tells Mie as he is determined to make sure he doesn't let Mie down.
"I know that logically, it may just take me a little longer to actually believe it," Mie admits.
"Well, I guess I'll have to work hard to make it clear," Albus responds and he and Mie exchange amused looks.
After exchanging looks Mie and Albus spend the rest of the afternoon in Eccleshell, exploring the place where Mie now has to pretend, she grew up while also changing Franklin and Anne's house to make it fit their stories if Voldemort and his Death Eaters investigate.