The Pen is Mighty

Chapter 3 - The First Story Never Told

    "Alicia, get your things and be ready to go in ten minutes!"

    "Dad? What are you doing home so early? I thought your retirement party was tonight."

    "It was, love, and I didn't go. We need to get out of here, and the sooner we do it, the better. Now, go get your things and get ready to go. Your mother and I are already ready."

    "What's going on?"

    "Never mind that. Just get ready to go. Well, don't just stand there! Go!" Dad paced nervously around the living room as I ran up the stairs to shrink some things into a suitcase. What was going on? First, he announces out of the blue that he wants to retire, then all of a sudden we're packing up and heading out. Why were we moving? And what about my sister? She was at Hogwarts; how was she going to react when she came back and she had no family there to great her? So many questions, no answers. Damn it, how much was I supposed to pack? What was I supposed to pack? Where were we going? I didn't want to leave. I had a great place to live and the world's most wonderful boyfriend. I didn't want to go!

    "Alicia, you've got ten seconds to get down here so that we can get a move on it!" Dad cried from downstairs. He was obviously in a major hurry. So as not to anger him, I grabbed whatever I could fit on my bed, shrunk it, and stuffed it in a duffel. I quickly yanked all of my coats and jackets off their hangers and put them on, one by one. Once I had added the fifteenth and final layer, I tugged my duffel up and ran downstairs.

    "All right, Dad. I'm all set."

    "Good. Now we can be on our way."

    "Just one question: what's going on? Where are we going?"

    "We're headed to the Johnson house."

    "Why? Angelina doesn't live there anymore. She's up in the Quidditch boarding house, remember?"

    "We're not going to see Angie, Alicia. We need to see Aaron, her father."

    "Aaron, why? Is he even in town?"

    I was begining to get a little scared. Aaron and my dad had been friends for ages, so of course my whole family knew that Aaron Johnson was a dimoplat in charge of American-United Kingdom relations. This meant he monitored every witch and wizard that apparated, flooed, or sought out hiding in the states. It also meant he had to be highly skilled in wizarding diplomacy, public relations, and, interestingly enough, proctective and stealth spells and charms.

    "He apparated in this morning from Chicago, upon my request. He'll be there. I can promise you that."

    "That still doesn't answer my question. What do we need him for?"

    "We need him to get us out of the country. We're doing Fidelius." Never in my life have words been so sobering. Fidelius? Why the hell did we need Fidelius? What sort of situation were we in? What had happened? Damn it, could just one of my questions be answered?

    "Why do we need Fidelius? Where are we going to hide, Dad?"

    "We need it because we've got Death Eaters on our tail, love. I've been discovered at work. By tomorrow morning, we'll be setting up shop off the American East Coast. If we stay here, we'll all be dead within a week."

    Dead. We were going to die. At the age of nineteen, I was going to die, along with my parents. I didn't want to die; not now. I could just imagine it: stuck in a cold, damp corner, shivering and wincing in pain as my mind was twisted and toyed with, having my deepest thoughts used against me, praying that someone would end my misery and Avara Kedavra me on the spot. My parents cold, limp bodies sprawled along the floor, pale and lifeless with bones broken in all the worst places, would serve as a reminder of what was awaiting me. No, it wouldn't happen like that. If the Death Eaters were truly as evil as I had heard, they'd kill me first and let my parents suffer the tortue of having to watch their firstborn die. Maybe it would fall somewhere in between; maybe I would die before them, but they would torture me first, to make an example and really play with my parents' minds. What would they do once we were all dead? Go after Erin? Go after Lee? Oh Merlin, LEE!

    "Dad! We have to stop by Lee's appartment! I have to talk to him before we go!"

    "Alicia, while we're sitting here doddling, Lucius Malfoy, Vinny Crabbe, or Voldemort himself could come waltzing in and blow us up, and all you can think of is that damn boyfriend of yours? We are going directly to the Johnson's! End of discussion!"

     No! We couldn't leave without me saying goodbye to Lee. Dad didn't realize what was really going on between us. He just figured it was a silly little fling, but it wasn't, I swear. I had recently come to the realization that I was in love with that man, and I couldn't bare leaving without seeing his face one last time. Still, I knew I couldn't go against my father's wishes. Normally, he was a very calm and quiet man; tonight, he sounded as if his life was crashing too quickly to clean up. I couldn't say anything. Oddly enough, I didn't have to, my mother did it for me.

    "Parker! The boy is practically family! Maybe you haven't noticed it, but our daughter happens to be crazy about this Lee Jordan!"

    "Keira, this is no time for that! We have to go!"

    "But your daughter-"

    "My daughter needs to hush up and get a move on! Now!"

    "She is in love!"

    "She doesn't have time for love! We're about to die!"

    "Fuck, Parker! Look, just because we have to go hiding now doesn't mean we forget about our future, and for Alicia, I'm positive that her future plans involve marrying that boy! Would you honestly let her risk dying without saying goodbye to the one she loves? Could you risk leaving me if you couldn't say goodbye?"

    Wow, Mum sure hit the nail on the head. And she apparently was very serious about what she was saying, too. That had to be the first and last time I ever heard my mother say "fuck" in my life. I'm sure she still scrubs extra hard in the shower to clean the filth of her language from herself. That's just the way my mother is; swearing, even when angry, makes a person dirty. I wonder what she'd think of me if she could hear me when she's not around.

    But it seemed as though her words struck a nerve with Dad's head; all he said after that was "Fine, let's go", and headed out of the house.

~*~

    "He really let you go?" Angie questioned, breaking from her ferverous scribbling.

    "Surprisingly, yes he did. I'm kind of lucky, too. I think he'd be really mad at me for that if I hadn't ended up marrying the bloke," I replied.

    "And your mum actually said 'fuck'?" she asked in total disbelief.

    "I know! It was amazing! I thought she had been taken over by something!" I cried out. I sighed, remembering all the times my mother had caught me swearing and made me wash my mouth out with soap...without using magic. I rubbed my forehead as Angelina flexed her wrist back and forth, back and forth, just like flipping a knut around. She winced a bit whenever she brought her hand back; maybe this was a little too much for her. After all, she had only been flying around all day. Maybe her hands needed a break.

    "Angie, love, I do appreciate you helping me here, but your wrists..."

    "My wrists nothing! I had an accident at work. Nothing serious."

    "Ange, what happened this time?"

    "Princess Ding Dong decided today would be a great day to try her new blind-backwards passing maneuvers. She also decided today would NOT be a great day to tell me she would be trying her new blind-backwards passing maneuvers." Princess Ding Dong, for those who don't know, is our favorite nickname for a one Katie Bell.

    "So Katie messed you up. I think that's enough reason to..."

    "Enough reason to what? Quit now? Alicia, I said I was going to help you, now let me help you damn it!" Blimey, I forgot how stubborn Angie can get after a long day of practice. Probably makes it a good thing that Fred gets the girls for the first hour she's home. I stared at her a bit, trying to speak and not to speak at the same time. I didn't want to say anything to make her more upset, but at the same time I would have to speak in order to continue my story. What was a witch to do? The same thing I did in all other similar situations.

    "Ange, I'll be back," I said as a stood up to leave the room.

    "Alicia! Don't go! I'm sorry! Katie just made me mad today, that's all. Let's just finish your story."

    "In a minute."

"Just where exactly do you think you're going?"

    "The kitchen. I'm thirsty. I want a drink."

    "Alicia-"

    "Not that kind of drink!"

    Merlin, what was this? I get up for a pumpkin juice and suddenly I'm a raving alcoholic? This was the second time in an hour I had been accused of trying to get drunk! Honestly!

    After returning with my juice (which reminded me of soup for some odd reason), I sat back on the couch and received a disapproving look from Angelina. I moved to the left; her eyes followed. I moved to the right; same thing. I slowly leaned in close to her, almost touching her nose, and then dove down at full speed. She STILL followed. Damn, I forget how fast chaser reflexes are sometimes.

    No matter how fast I ducked and dodged, I would never be able to do it fast enough so that she wouldn't be able to keep up. I had to face facts: I was slower than Ange. That's what happens when you're away from the game, I suppose. After this charade, I finally gave Angelina what she wanted: my cup. She sniffed it a bit, as if trying to detect some sort of odorous poison, took a sip, paused to let it sink into her tastebuds , and handed it back, grateful that I had been honest enough to get juice. That really shouldn't have been necessary. People need to trust me more.

    "Told you it wasn't that kind of drink. Now, shall I continue?"

    She nodded and we got underway again.

~*~

And with that, we were off to Baraby Drive; the home of the Weasley twins and the love of my life. Dad insisted we go by foot; Mum couldn't exactly apparate, and flying would be a much too visible way of travel. Maybe it was just me, but that had to be the coldest night of my entire life. I had every jacket and overcoat I owned on at the time, and I was still shivering down the bone.

    Still, I couldn't really think about that; I was heading off to say goodbye to the man of my dreams. Why was I so worried? We would see each other again once everything was over. Wait, even if I did say goodbye, even if he knew the whole situation, there was still a chance we'd never see each other again. The Death Eaters, after not being able to find my family, could go after him. If they had any suspicion that he had some sort of relationship, they'd go after him, right? That's how Death Eaters worked, killing one person, finding their connections, then killing those people, too. I couldn't let that happen, but what could I do? Was there anything I could do to keep him from being linked to me? Only the thing I wanted to do the least... Once we arrived, Dad gave me five minutes to "do what I had to do and be done with it". He used those exact words.

    He was normally such a warm and understanding man. Oh well, no use worrying about that. I searched around the icy ground to find a something to throw at the window. Yes, it sounds odd, but it was the smartest idea at the time. I couldn't apparate in or knock on the front door-what if the Death Eaters had beat me there? Chances are they wouldn't be there, but at that moment, it felt like Death Eaters were everywhere. ]

    By the time I finally found a stone not frozen to the ground, my hands were blue as a bluebell flame, nearly frostbitten. The little feeling that remained I used to chuck it as hard as I could. Luckily, it nicked the pane of glass that was Fred and George's bedroom window. A light flickered on shortly after the stone hit the icy ground. As if summoned simultaneously, both twins appeared at the window, shirtless.

    "Oy, what the bloody hell is going on?"

    "Fred! I need to talk to Lee!"

    "And who actually might you be?"

    "It's Alicia!"

    "Hmm, Alicia...nope, sorry. Don't know an Alicia. Try back later. Goodnight!"

    "Fred, this is serious! I need to see him immediately! I might not have the chance do to it again."

    "You mean your dad got caugh-"

    "Yes, now get him!"

    Fred didn't need any more instruction; he ran down the hall right after that. It didn't take him long to put two and two together; he knew my dad was in the Order, and he knew the risks of him spying. I prayed that he would send Lee outside and not to the window; we couldn't very well have the conversation I wanted to have at the window. What conversation did I want to have? I wanted to tell him I was going away. I wanted him to know that I loved him and that I didn't wat anything terrible to happen to him. I wanted to protect him in the only way I knew how. I wanted to end it all.

    Shivering and crying at the same time, I looked back up to see if Fred had been stupid enough to tell Lee to go to the window. He hadn't, but George was still standing there in all his glory, sadness in his eyes. His head was out the window, allowing the wind to tossle his hair every which way. His broad shoulders were slightly bent while his arms were wrapped around his bare chest in an attempt not to freeze. I had only seen him bare chested once before, back when we were in Hogwarts and I accidentally walked in on him in the shower. Back before he left and Lee and I took an interest in each other. Back when George and I were dating.

    "So you're really leaving us, Alicia?"

    "George, go inside and put something on before you fall out and freeze to death."

    "What happened, exactly?"

    "He got caught, that's what. The Death Eaters want him dead."

    "And that's all there is to it?"

    "Yep. That's all there is to it."

    "What can I do to help you?"

    "Nothing."

    "There has to be something, Al..."

    "There's nothing you can do, George."

    "Damn it, I refuse to let you go and do nothing about it!"

    "You don't have a choice! Unless you want to get yourself killed?"

    "I don't care about that; I care about you!"

    "Look, just let me go. Lee's going to have to do it, too. I'll be fine."

    "I refuse to remain idle when I have to watch danger come to the girl I-"

    He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence that night. Lee showed up at the front door, calling out to me. I knew what George was going to say, though. I'm glad he didn't finish, though. That was the last thing I needed to hear when I was about to break up with the man I had declared my love to. I walked over to the door, gazed into Lee's eyes; I just broke down on his shoulder. He looked at me, startled, but held me nevertheless. I refused to talk for a moment; this felt far too good to make it end. But, alas, I only had a limited amount of time. I pulled away abruptly, causing him to become alarmed.

    "Allie, what's the matter?"

    "We need to talk."

    "I assumed that when you showed up here. What's wrong?"

    "I have to go. I'm leaving tonight."

    "Tonight? Where are you going?"

    "I can't tell you that."

    "How long will you be gone?"

    "Can't tell you that, either."

    "What exactly can you tell me, Allie?"

    "All I can tell you is..."

    "Is what?"

    "I don't want to see you hurt. I love you too much to hurt you. I want to break up with you."

    "What?"

    "I want to break up."

    "You want to break up? You want to rip my heart in two, but you don't want to hurt me?"

    "Lee, it's not like that! People want my family dead-"

    "So? Let me help you! I'll protect you!"

    "Don't be ridiculous, Lee! You cannot protect me!"

    "Watch! I can beat off Death Eaters with my own two hands! Just give me the chance to prove my devotion!"

    "No, you can't, Lee! It has to be this way."

    "It doesn't have to be this way! We can stay together!"

    "If we stay together, they'll come after you. I don't want them coming after you!"

    "Let them come!"

    "Lee!"

    "Alicia!"

    Around that time, my dad started screaming for me to come along. I turned to hear his voice, then turned to look back at Lee. He had tears in his eyes. Blimey, I didn't want to leave him! I wanted to jump into his arms and say "To hell with Voldemort! Let the Death Eaters try to destroy my love!". I couldn't do that, though. I had to go.

    "Goodbye, Lee."

    "I refuse to say goodbye."

    "Goodbye, Lee."

    "I love you, Alicia."

     And with that, I walked away. I walked away from the man I loved the most in all the world to start a new life in Philadelphia. New people, new situations, but there was always the same risk of being caught, being killed. The fear never went away. The love never went away, either.

    Having finished that part of my story, I sighed and then turned to look at Angelina. It was then that I realized that we were both crying. I stared deep into Angie's eyes, but oddly enough, she wasn't staring back. Something was amiss.

    "Ange? Angie, love, are you all right?" I questioned. I was starting to get worried.

    "Ange, if you're not up to the rest of this, I can just..."

    "No, no. It's not that," she replied, unsteadily.

    "Then, what is it?"

    "Alicia, turn around."

     Nervous about what I would see, I slowly turned my head to find the source of Angelina's distraction. Immediately, I wished I had kept my head forward.

    "Good day, Angelina. May I have a moment with my wife?"

    Lee was back. Dear Merlin...