The Doll

Melinda sat on the floor, her back to the wall, watching her little brother. Sirius, or Siri as his older sisters affectionately called him, sat on his little blanket. An amused smile tugged at Melinda's lips as she watched him play. It wasn't so much that he was playing as what he was playing with.

Joanna and Caroline, Melinda's little sisters, came over and sat with her. Joanna followed her gaze and smiled. "Playing with his little doll again, I see," she said.

"Joanna," said Melinda with a sigh, "have you seen him without it since Caroline made it for him?"

"True," admitted Joanna. She shook her head. "Although I bet I'm the only girl whose little brother has a pink blanket and plays with a doll. Besides you two, I mean," she added, seeing the look on Caroline's face.

"When you were little, you played with a blue rabbit," pointed out Melinda. "And you had a blue dress."

"The blue dress," pointed out little Caroline. "I had it, too, and now Siri's got it."

"Yeah, but you didn't play with a blue rabbit," said Melinda.

"Stop it, Lindy!" said Joanna.

The three watched as Sirius rubbed his little stomach with chubby hands. He stood up, laid the doll down on the blanket gently, and toddled off to the kitchen for food.

"He's a good kid," said Joanna softly. Joanna was five.

"He has to be," pointed out fifteen-year-old Melinda. "Mama won't let him cry. She wouldn't let any of us cry."

Caroline, who was barely three, looked up at her eldest sister. "Lindy, why won't Mama and Papa let anyone cry, or scream, or leave the house? And why do they leave at night sometimes and not tell us where they're going?"

Melinda shook her head. "I don't know, Caro. It's always been that way."

"Does it have anything to do with those evil people you keep telling us about? The Death Eaters?" asked Joanna.

"Could be," Melinda frowned. "Mom and Dad might just be scared of them, from what I've said."

But that didn't make sense, she realised. No one had been allowed to make noise for as long as even Melinda could remember, and Melinda had only started Hogwarts and learned about the Death Eaters four years ago.

The girls had been so intent on talking that none of them had noticed that a gust of wind had blown through a crack in the wall, sending the fragile yarn doll drifting away from the blanket.

Sirius returned, rubbing his eyes sleepily. His mother followed him. As he lay down on the blanket, she wrapped him up and sat with him in the rocker, humming softly.

Melinda had been so intent on watching her little brother that she hadn't noticed Caroline tugging on her sleeve.

"Lindy..."

"Huh? Oh, hey, Caro, what's up?"

Caroline pointed, and what Melinda saw made her heart stop.

There, inches from the spot where the three girls sat, lay the doll.

Melinda jumped up and rushed to the spot where the doll lay. She picked it up, hurried over to her little brother, and held it out to him, intending to put it in the blankets before he woke up.

She was too late. Sirius moved as if to squeeze a doll and grasped nothing. His dark brown eyes opened and saw no doll next to him. Before his older sister could squeeze the doll in with him, he cried. Just once. A single, lonely, desperate squawk. His sister hastily shoved the doll in his blanket, and he stopped immediately. It had only been one cry.

But it was enough to call up the family's doom.

Mother stuffed Sirius down her robes. Melinda remembered them going through a fire drill once when Joanna was young. Her mother had done the same thing to Joanna as she did now to Sirius. It had been an effective way to keep the baby hidden.

"Melinda!" Mother hissed. "Get your sisters, quick! We have to go!"

Melinda obediently ran over to where her sisters crouched, terrified. Taking one in each of her strong arms, she tried to calm them before she rose.

"Hurry!" hissed her mother. "We have to leave before--"

BANG!!!

Melinda whirled around, still clutching her sisters, and gasped. There, standing in the door, currently staring at her mother, was a tall man in black robes and a hood. He held a wand in his outstretched hand. Two other men (or maybe they were women) came in and went into the kitchen, where Melinda knew her father was. Clapping a hand over Caroline's mouth, she dragged her sisters to the space under the stairs, where they had hidden during their parents' fights in order to avoid being hurt. In this case, it was to avoid being killed by the Death Eaters, if that's what they were.

And what else could they be? For the dialogue floating in through the small hole was enough to conclude that they were in serious trouble.

"Amy, run! They're here--oh, God, never mind."

"Marc!"

"Let's go, people. We all know what's going on here, so let's get a move-on."

Melinda held her sisters even tighter. Joanna, wide-eyed with fear, could only stare at the hole. Caroline was so terrified that she clung very tightly indeed to Melinda.

"No! No! Oh, please, God, no!"

"If you know any prayers, woman, which I seriously doubt, start uttering them. Move it!"

"Hey, Al! Wait! She's got somethin' under her robes!"

Caroline emitted a small squeak of terror, muffled by her sister's hand, which was still over her mouth.

"Ah, it probably isn't important."

"No, boss, he's right. And it's moving!"

"Oh, damn!"

Then came the sound of ripping cloth, their mother's terrified wail, and their father's voice saying, "Now, see here...!"

"You are a criminal. You have no rights. Move your blinking arse, or I'll have to move it for you!"

"Move it, then!"

Then came two words, the two words Melinda had nightmares about the day Professor Lucas mentioned them. The curse with no countercurse. The most unforgivable of the Unforgivable Curses: Avada Kedavra, the Killing Curse.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Two screams, a thud, and the sound of something being dragged out the door.

"Now move it, lady, or you'll be next."

They heard someone stumble outside, and then there was silence for a moment. Then they heard the gruff voice again.

"Search the house. I want all objects connected with this removed and burned. No sense in letting any Muggles know we've been here."

Melinda heard him coming, knew there was nothing she could do, but still she pressed herself and her sisters up against the back wall of the cupboard, trying to hide them in the darkness.

The hooded man shone his light in the hole, illuminating the three girls.

"What are you three doing in there?" he asked in surprise.

Caroline began to cry, not over her father--a very harsh man--but out of fear. Melinda smoothed her hair soothingly and looked fearfully at the hooded man.

"Hey, don't be scared. I'm the good guy," said the man comfortingly.

"Yeah, right," said Melinda, amazed at her courage. "You killed my father!"

The man's face suddenly hardened. "So, you three are Death Eaters, too?"

"What? No!" cried Melinda. "I thought you were Death Eaters!"

"Us?" thundered the man, obviously thunderstruck.

"Why else would you want to hurt us?" asked Melinda shakily.

The man squatted down to talk to them. "I'm an Auror. You know what those are, right?"

Melinda nodded. "We learned about them in school. But..."

"And your parents told you about Death Eaters, right?" interrupted the man.

"What? Of course not," said Melinda, bewildered. "My parents were Muggles."

The man threw back his head and laughed. "That's a good one," he chuckled. "I've never heard that one before."

He calmed down and said, "Your parents are Death Eaters, responsible for killing several people. They were doing a pretty good job of hiding it, too--hiding from you that they were Death Eaters, hiding from us where they were. I suppose they told you never to cry?"

Melinda nodded. "But what will happen to us now?"

"Actually, we have foster homes ready to take you," he beamed. "One family will take two of you, and the other two will go to separate homes."

Melinda realised what he was saying. The girls and Sirius were going to be split up. Melinda looked at Joanna, silently asking if it was okay. Joanna nodded, very slightly.

Melinda looked up. "I'll stay with Caroline," she said, indicating the girl at her hip. "I'm Melinda, by the way. This is Caroline, this is Joanna, and my baby brother is Sirius."

"I noticed," said the man.

"No, I mean his name is Sirius. S-I-R-I-U-S. It means Dog Star."

"Sorry," laughed the man. "I'm Moody. Alastor Moody."

The girls were taken out to a car. Melinda was handed Sirius one last time. She looked down at her baby brother and smiled. To all the children, she made a promise:

"When I turn eighteen, I'll come and adopt you three. Then we'll be together again. I promise."

Inside his blanket, Sirius stretched, rolled over, and squeezed his wispy blue doll to him tightly, an echo of his sister's words.

"I promise."