The Hardest Thing

Alison woke slowly, not sure where she was or why there was a great weight on her feet. She opened one eye cautiously, and looked down to see a large pumpkin-colored cat with enormous green eyes staring at her. Ignoring the malevolence in the cat's gaze, Alison looked around her, and memory came flooding back. Sirius, the train ride, the day spent talking with him and Lupin. There was a soft knock on the door, and Sirius peeked around as it opened. The cat streaked off down the hall.

"Good morning," he said, his voice husky from lack of sleep. "Moony and I thought you were going to sleep all day." There was a look in his eyes that Alison wasn't quite comfortable with, though she was getting used to it, having seen it several times the day before. It wasn't lust or desire as much as curiosity, and for some reason that bothered her more than open attraction would have. She sat up.

"Well, I was up half the night," she said, resisting the urge to hide from him. She forced herself to get out of bed, smoothing both hands over her hair self-consciously, and took the cup of tea he held out, not meeting his eyes. "So," Alison said, trying her best to sound bright and cheery, "what entertainment do you have planned for today? Another unexpected visitor? Fleeing for our lives yet again?"

Sirius laughed. "I'm glad you can be so casual about it," he said, admiration in his eyes and his voice. "The last woman I kidnapped wasn't nearly so nonchalant."

"Oh, so this is a regular activity for you? Can't you get a date with your good looks and charm alone?" Alison felt her cheeks growing warm even as she said it-now he'd know she thought he was good looking. Luckily for her, Sirius just smirked.

"But what would be the fun in that? James always said-" He stopped, his eyes clouding over. Alison, who had been wondering all the day before what it was about this James that made Sirius and Remus so sad, decided now was not the time to pressure him, and changed the subject.

“Is there somewhere I can wash up?” she asked, wondering whether a wizard would have a shower, or if they just did some sort of spell.

“The bathroom is just down the hall-first door on the left,” Sirius said. “Lunch is ready, whenever you are.” He left, and Alison sat down on the edge of the bed to finish her tea. This was just too crazy. Yesterday her life had been normal, and now here she was, in the company of wizards, with magic wands, and owls to carry messages, and magic tea kettles that could boil water whenever you wanted.

Alison spent the rest of that day reading a book Lupin loaned her called “Magic for Muggles: A Guide for the Uninformed”. The author had obviously never spoken to any “muggles”, and the book was written in a style suited to a seven-or-eight-year-old, but, as Lupin said, it gave a lot more of the basics than Sirius had told her yesterday. Her head was spinning when she went to bed, still trying to take it all in, and wondering if she’d have to spend the rest of her life in Lupin’s house, unable to leave for fear of a Death Eater seeing her face.

In the middle of the night, Alison jerked awake, startled out of sleep by a noise at her window. She sat up, then froze when a shadowy figure appeared outside. A dim light illuminated the hooded, masked face, and whispering voices floated in through the window she’d opened slightly to get some air.

“Is it him?”

“No, it’s her.”

“Good, we’ll use her to get to him. He wouldn’t have brought her if she didn’t mean something to him.”

Alison slipped slowly out of bed and crept for the door, hoping that whoever it was couldn’t see well in the dark. A muffled exclamation came from behind her, and someone whispered, “stupefy!” A jolt of something hit her, and Alison tumbled to the floor, motionless. It was odd-she could hear, see, smell, think-but her body was completely paralyzed. Out of her range of vision, she could hear three people come in the window, and then she was picked up and put on the bed.

“Get them, Wormtail.” The voice was hoarse and deep, definitely male, and the speaker smelled faintly of expensive cologne. The figure he spoke to, also hooded and masked, was short, round, and very twitchy, and spoke with a wheezy, squeaky little voice.

“Are you sure it should be me, Lucius? I told you what happened last time they saw me.”

“We’ve already discussed this, Wormtail. You are the one the Dark Lord asked to do this task. Nott and I are only here to oversee the operation.”

With much muttering and wringing of his hands, Wormtail left the room. Alison struggled to think of a way of escape, but nothing came to mind-fear paralyzed her as effectively as the spell.

“So, this is the woman worthy of the great Sirius Black.” The man called Lucius came toward her. “Not my type, but I can see how some would find her...attractive.” He laughed. “Remind you of anyone, Nott?”

Nott walked to the bed and stood over her. “Ah, yes...the little wench Black was in love with his sixth year...remember how she screamed when we tortured her? Pity the Dark Lord had to break her mind to get her to talk...she would have been great fun.”

“That’s always been your problem, hasn’t it, Nott? Can’t keep your mind on the goal. The girl was never intended for your...fun. The Dark Lord only needed her because she knew where Black was most likely to be lurking when he escaped. This one, however...the Dark Lord never said we couldn’t have a bit of fun when the plan had been carried out.”

Alison couldn’t move or speak, but inside her head she was screaming. Nott reached out and ran a gloved hand down her torso, lingering on her breasts. “Very nice, indeed,” he murmured, squeezing lightly. Alison wanted to claw at him, but the spell had her completely bound. Nott bent down. “I’ll reverse the hex before we play,” he whispered in her ear. “I wouldn’t want you to be unable to enjoy the experience.”

She closed her eyes. There couldn’t possibly be a way out of this-Wormtail would have restrained Sirius and Lupin somehow, and even if they’d wanted to they couldn’t help her. Even as she thought it, Wormtail returned.

“They’re gone!” He squeaked, trembling visibly. “There’s no one here!”