Why We Fight

Part 41:
Aftermath
(Saturday, December 3, 1977 - Continued...)

Once they were back at Hogwarts, the injured students ended up in the infirmary. Most of them were taken care of in minutes but the trauma of their first real fight against the Dark Arts was something that a couple of minutes and some healing spells and potions couldn't really fix. Sirius's wounds were the most severe, and so he had to stay overnight. Regulus, Remus, Hermione, and Draco sat on one bed flanking Sirius's; James, Lily, Marlene, and Peter sat on the bed on Sirius's other side.

Sirius was shirtless, his chest and upper left arm and shoulder were heavily bandaged, and he glared at his wound. The burns that they'd seen on him earlier had just been the pre-show. "I don't get why I have to stay here tonight," he groaned.

"You had third-degree burns," Hermione said. "That's why. It burned down to your bones." She looked up at him. "The fact that you survived at all is amazing." Sirius preened at her comment.

Regulus looked at his older brother. "He's a Black; we're made of strong stuff," he said of his older brother.

James and Draco exchanged a look. "Almost everyone in this room is a Black one way or another. My mum was a Black," James stated.

"Mine, too," Draco said.

"Well, you purebloods are all just a banjo or two away from Deliverance," Hermione quipped.

Remus and Peter winced at her comment. "That movie gave me nightmares," Peter said. "I've never been able to eat bacon since."

"It's getting late, and Mr. Black needs his rest," Madam Pomfrey said, making a shooing motion with her hands. She retreated back into a little room off the infirmary where she made her potions and poultices, leaving them time to say their goodnights.

James ruffled Sirius's hair. "Get better, mate," he said, and Lily gave Sirius a peck on the forehead.

"What about here?" he asked, gesturing to his lips. The redhead rolled her eyes and shook her head. James took her hand as they exited the infirmary.

"If you're not better by Monday, I'll take notes for you," Remus said.

"Will you do my homework for me?" Sirius asked, giving Remus puppy-dog eyes. Something at which, not surprisingly, he was really quite good.

"Sorry, mate, I don't do other people's homework," the sandy-haired teen said, and Sirius groaned as Remus left.

"I'll be by tomorrow, I'll bring Moony's turntable and that new album you got, the one about the bollocks," he whispered the last word, and a blush colored his round cheeks. The dark-haired boy grinned at Peter.

"I definitely feel the need for a little 'Anarchy in the UK,'" the black-haired teen replied.

Marlene smiled shyly at Sirius, giving him a little wave. She winced slightly at the motion and rubbed her arm. "It was, uh, nice to meet you," she said. The blonde headed toward the door and the short, mousy-haired boy followed quickly after. Peter cautiously took her hand in his, and gave the room a bright grin when she accepted his hand-holding. "I--I really enjoyed myself...although, I wish, you know, it hadn't, uh, gotten so violent. C--can we maybe have a redo?"

The chubby boy was stunned into silence before bobbing his head eagerly in the positive. The two disappeared from view, the faint strains of their conversation fading with their distance. Sirius just shook his head in stunned silence. "I can't believe he's got a girlfriend, and not me," he said.

Hermione smirked. "The moral of the story: don't be a pig," she told him, patting his head. "Get some rest, Sirius, and feel better in the morning."

"No kiss?" he asked with a pout.

"In your dreams," she replied, trying to hide a smile. Her smile was interrupted by a yawn that she barely smothered. "It's been a long day. I'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully, you'll be feeling better." She stretched and headed out of the infirmary.

"Tough luck, Padfoot," Draco said.

"So, how'd the date go?"

The pale boy groaned. "We were talking and getting along well, and then...well...the window exploded, and this happened." He gestured toward the thin, white line just under his left cheekbone. "When the Death Eaters did whatever they did, it cursed the glass. Who curses glass anyway?"

"You...were...attacked...by...glass..." Sirius managed before laughing. His laughter was short lived as it aggravated the burn wounds on his chest. He let out a painful hiss and clutched at the bandages wrapped around his torso. He smirked at Draco. "I think--I think it was Fiendfyre."

"Fiendfyre, really?" Draco asked, impressed. "I thought it was unstoppable. And, you know, will relieve any need for cremation."

"So did I. It just barely touched me for only a second or two. I really thought I was a goner there. My entire life passed before my eyes." He frowned at that. "I really, really need a life." He frowned, his brow wrinkling as he tried to remember. "I saw...I think I saw a Death Eater do a spell, and it went away, but then he was gone."

Draco's face was still for a long moment. "Don't do that again," he said. He elaborated, "Don't almost get killed again. You're one of the few people I can truly consider my friend. The world would be a lot worse without you."

There was a long moment of silence before Sirius cracked a smile. "Is this the part where we awkwardly hug and smack each other's backs?"

The blonde shook his head. "Merlin, no," he said, grinning back. "But I will accept a handshake. It's more...manly." Sirius chuckled, and the two shook hands. "Take care, Padfoot." Draco exited, leaving Sirius alone with his brother.

Regulus stared at his brother for the longest time, his hand sliding through his hair nervously. "Look, I know we've never really been close."

"You were always the golden boy," Sirius said with a shrug. "Until you became a Gryffindor. I have to thank you, by the way. The whole Gryffindor thing causing Mum to hide in her room really made my life." He smiled at the memory.

Regulus sat on the edge of Sirius's bed. "There's something I need to tell you."

The older boy frowned, his jaw clenching. "You're the Death Eater I saw."

The younger boy shook his head vehemently in the negative. "I was going to will be one," he said. "But I'm not." His brother gave him a blank look. "We've never really been that close, you and I. You spent most of your time dedicated to the sheer idea of pissing off Mum and Dad and then with James and the rest of your friends. And I, well, I've spent most of my time with Kreacher. I just want you to know, that you're still my brother, and I care about you."

"I never did understand why you would hang out with that disgusting house-elf."

"He only hated you because, before you were born, Mum treated him like her child. He told me." Sirius stared at his brother with disbelief. "In case you haven't noticed, Mum isn't all right upstairs." Their mother had been fairly old when she'd had them so it didn't surprise him that she would have dressed Kreacher up and pretended he was a child. It explained a lot of Kreacher's dislike for him, like the leaving dead rodents in his bed. "He's not so bad. You'd be crazy, too, if you were stuck with Mum all those years."

"Well, she was the main reason I moved out," Sirius replied. He couldn't believe he was about to say the next thing. "You could always, maybe, move in with James, his family, and me."

"It wouldn't be right to leave Kreacher there," Regulus said. "Besides, Mum and Dad adore me." He shrugged.

Madam Pomfrey re-entered the room and shot the younger Black a disapproving look. "Sirius needs his rest, Regulus," she stated.

"Yes, ma'am," the boy said. He looked at his older brother and gave him a smile. "It was nice talking to you."

Sirius smiled back. "It was surprisingly nice talking to you, too, little brother," he replied. Regulus threw his arms around his older brother, and Sirius let out a sharp cry of pain. Quickly, the younger boy pulled back, frowning at the pain etched across his brother's face. The usually-tan boy was as white as the sheets beneath him and sucked in deep breaths for a long moment. "It's okay."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow if--if that's okay," Regulus started.

"It's okay," Sirius replied. The brothers grinned, and Regulus exited the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey closing the door securely in his exit. For a moment or two, the younger Black could make out the sounds of the nurse worrying over his brother and chiding him for having visitors so late in his condition.

The teenager walked down the hall and ducked into an empty classroom. He fished under his shirt to retrieve the medallion he'd tucked beneath it. His fingers swept over the intricate design on its front and the ages poured over him. When the transformation was complete, Madigan Flaherty stood in Regulus Black's place.

A single teardrop rolled from a hard, blue eye that softened as it passed. The tear rolled over the wrinkles and folds and bags trailing a course through ages he hadn't lived yet before dripping off his chin and landing on the neck of his robe.

Slowly, he lifted the medallion to eye level, revealing a tiny hourglass with golden sand slowly shifting from one end to the other. The bottom half of the hourglass was slightly fuller than the top. No matter how many times he tried to shift the sands back, they simply wouldn't budge.

There wasn't much time left.

Despite leaving the infirmary at different times, the group of Marauders and their girlfriends ended up meeting again on their way to their rooms. Even though it was fairly late, there were still a lot of people walking around, most of whom seemed shell-shocked and wandered like zombies.

To James and Peter's surprise, their prefect friend hadn't given a single person out past curfew so much as a warning. Usually, every single person that Remus would see out after hours would get a stern talking-to and a detention with Filch. In the entire world, there were only three people who could ever make Remus break the rules, and they were all Marauders. James had always believed that Remus viewed following the rules as a way to undermine the chaos of his lycanthropy.

Even the other students still out seemed startled by Remus's lack of issuing detentions. Eventually, they came near the entrance to Hufflepuff House. Marlene smiled brightly at Peter. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said shyly before giving him a sound smack on the lips. Every inch of the chubby boy's exposed skin turned bright red, and he grinned moronically as she disappeared into the door by the kitchen.

"She kissed me," he said dumbly. James clapped him on the back.

"She did."

"You think she likes me?" the short boy asked.

"I think she does," Remus said with a slight smile. "Come on, lover boy, we'd better get to Gryffindor; it's getting late." The sandy-haired boy led the chubby boy toward Gryffindor tower, leaving the three Gryffindors and the Slytherin to head toward the Head Tower.

Hermione and Lily headed toward the Head Girls' Room, while the boys went to the room across the common room. She slumped against the intricately-carved poster of her bed winding her arms around her chest defensively. She looked at Hermione with a hollow look. "I'm going to, um, spend the night with James." Before Hermione could respond, she continued, "Nothing at all is going to happen. I--I just really need to be held tonight."

"I'm so sorry, Lily." Cautiously, Hermione wrapped her arms around the redhead, and Lily's arms moved to slowly hug the dark-haired girl back. In seconds, Lily was shaking, loud, choking sobs pouring from her.

"They were going to kill me," she finally managed, her tear-streaked face buried against Hermione's shoulder. Her voice was muffled by the fabric, but the younger girl could still make out what she was saying. "If James hadn't...or if he'd just been seconds late. I--if that monster hadn't decided to grandstand...I'd be gone." The brunette rubbed Lily's back soothingly. "I--I knew what was going to happen. I knew that h--he wanted me dead. I--I never felt so much anger before. It literally hurt. He looked at me l--like I was a roach to be squashed. I've never been so scared in my life."

She sobbed into Hermione's shoulder for several minutes more before pulling away and dabbing at her tear-stained face. "I saw him kill Delia right in front of me. She was one of the first witches I'd ever met, a Muggle-born like me, and she knew what it was like to be so lost in a strange, new world. She was working at Gladrags in Diagon Alley, saving up to buy her very own store. She wasn't that much older than me, and when I went in to order my Halloween costume, she told me about her engagement. Th--they were going to get married in the spring in Montmartre, where she grew up. Caradoc and Delia met when he was part of an exchange program with Beauxbatons. The strange, handsome Welshman, she called him. She was so excited."

The former-Gryffindor stared at the girl as she tried to collect herself. Lily had stopped crying, but she was still shaking with emotion. "I knew her. Staring death in the face like that...it--it really puts things in perspective, you know. I realized that I'm in love with James, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I don't want to die anytime soon. I want to grow up and have lots of little kids that look just like James, but, hopefully, I've been a good enough person that they won't end up acting like him."

The brunette had no words, but Lily's stabbed her like a knife. There would never been lots of little kids, only one son. A son who would be less than two years old when his parents would die. "Thanks for listening to me vent," Lily finally murmured, giving a wobbly smile to the other girl. Hermione's smile in return was weak and shaky. "I really needed it."

With a few more breaths, the redhead collected herself and exited the Head Girls' room and crossed the common room to enter the Head Boys' room. A few moments later, Draco exited carrying a blanket and pillow. Hermione peered out of the Head Girls' room and frowned when she saw Draco placing the blanket and pillow on one of the sofas.

"You can sleep in here tonight," Hermione said softly. The blonde jumped at the softly-spoken sentence and looked up at her.

She moved out of the doorway, allowing him entrance. Shyly, he entered the room, and Hermione closed the door behind him. "Um, you can either sleep in Lily's bed or, uh, in mine. Just sleep."

The blonde nodded and slipped between the silver-and-green sheets, Hermione joining him. It took some wiggling and squirming for them to both find a comfortable position, but they ended up with Hermione's arm over his side, her head pillowed on one arm, his free arm resting on her waist. Their eyes met, and they gave each other shy smiles. The smile faded but the glance lingered.

Hermione's heart pounded, her hand sliding up from his side to caress the new, barely-noticeable scar on his cheek. Lips met in a soft, tender kiss. After the kiss, the two smiled at each other, his hand caressing her dark curls. Their eyes closed, and they relaxed and snuggled into each other's arms, his cheek resting on her hair; the soft, vanilla-like scent of amber filled his nostrils.

"Hermione Granger, I think I love you," he murmured, his eyes opening to look at her. The girl was fast asleep, snoring ever-so-softly.