Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fox, Lizard and Sparrow
Colm came back to Alsemore the next week. Fortunately, Andrea had an Animagus lesson when he was due to arrive, so Lottie got to avoid that obstacle for a moment. She waited like she always did, right outside of Maelioric’s office door. There was a crack, and the door opened.
Right when he saw her, Colm pulled Lottie into a tight hug. Without saying anything, he beckoned her to follow him, and led her to the same deserted classroom where they always went. “You look like you’ve had a hell of a month,” Colm said.
Lottie thought that was odd coming from him. Ever since becoming a werewolf, he had looked somewhat emaciated”now even more so. His dark eyes sunk into his skull and his sandy hair fell limply over his forehead. “That curse that Snape hit me with took a lot out of me,” she said.
Colm’s face darkened. Lottie couldn’t tell what he was thinking but was not about to use Legilimency to find out. “But”did you hear?” Lottie went on. “He got away.”
Colm looked at her strangely. Again, Lottie couldn’t quite place what was in his eyes. His lips curved into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed quizzically. “How?” he finally said. “The last time I was here, he was in chains”
“I know,” Lottie said. “And they were charmed to stop all of his magic. There’s no way he could have gotten out alone.”
“You mean they think someone helped him?”
“Yeah.” Lottie grimaced. “Maelioric reckons it’s a student, and we had to inspect the whole school. We did Legilimency on everyone, but nobody had any sort of memory even suggesting something like that.”
Colm rubbed his right thigh, the place where the werewolf had bitten him. “It must not have been a student, then.”
“I guess not.”
“I had heard rumors from the others,” Colm began, his eyes fixed thoughtfully on the ground. “They said they saw him”Snape, I mean. I didn’t believe them.”
“Well they were right.” Lottie crossed her arms. “Can we talk about something else? Thinking about Snape is just pissing me off.”
“Yeah.” Colm laughed. Lottie could see the relief sweeping through his eyes. “How is your Patronus work going?”
Lottie snorted. “You think I have time for that? Besides I can’t think of anything happy.”
Colm smiled”it was so subtle, but Lottie could see a quiet sense of laughter in his eyes. “Well I’m here now,” he said. “I’m sure between the two of us, we can think of something.”
Lottie rolled her eyes at him and pulled out her wand. “You want to see me try then? Expecto Patronum.” She waved her wand in lazy circles. “See? Nothing.”
“Oh come on.” Colm pulled out his own wand to demonstrate the grip. “Hold it like this”and try harder. Think of something happy.”
Lottie tried to think of Colm, of Andrea, having her boyfriend and her best friend and everything being okay. “Expecto Patronum.” But in the edges of her mind, Snape kept appearing. His sneer echoed in the background of even her most pleasant memories. “Expecto Patronum.”
“Here,” Colm said, pocketing his wand and crossing to her. “Hold it like this.”
He put his hand over hers and repositioned her grip so that she held her wand firmly. At his touch, she felt a jolt of happiness run through her. “Expecto Patronum,” she said. A faint silvery light started to emit from her wand.
“You’ve almost got it,” Colm said.
“Expecto Patronum.” The silver vapor was forming into an almost recognizable shape. She could see four legs, and a tail, but not much more.
Lottie imagined life after the war”life with Colm, with Andrea, and without the Dark Lord’s constantly looming presence. With another rush of happiness, Lottie yelled, “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” The silver mist took a distinct shape. Joy so strong that it was almost foreign flooded Lottie as she lowered her wand to watch the Patronus charge across the room.
The animal was medium sized and had a large, bushy tail. Its ears were pointed, but they weren’t a cat’s. Lottie watched it run across the room quizzically until it came to a halt to look at her.
A silver fox sat in the center of the classroom, its tail swishing as it blinked serenely at its surroundings. Colm muttered an incantation as well, and a silver lizard burst from his wand. It scuttled over to the fox and settled down next to it. Lottie laughed at the strange couple, nestled so comfortably together. Colm laughed as well and grasped her hand. They stood watching their Patronuses for a moment until a faint tapping on the window drew their attention.
“What is that?” Lottie asked.
“Who cares?” Colm was drawing closer to her, but Lottie frowned and moved toward the window.
The source of the noise turned out to be a bird, tapping its beak against the glass. Lottie leaned closer to look at it. It was a sparrow, commonly spotted in the cities and camps”but she had never seen one at Alsemore. “Let’s hex it,” Colm said, “to shut it up.”
Lottie glared at him and turned back to the bird. There was something strangely familiar about it. Like most sparrows, it was a light cream color, with various shades of brown feathers running overtop. Speckles made an unusual pattern around its eyes, and spread down the rest of its feathers. But they were a distinctive sort of brown and were almost the color of… “Hang on,” Lottie murmured.
She unlatched the window and pushed it open. The bird fluttered inside and began zooming around the room, making laps over their heads. “It’s out of its mind,” Colm said as he drew his wand. “Let’s just kill it.”
“No”look.” Lottie put her hand in front of Colm to stop him from trying to hit the sparrow. The bird was doing something very odd. It had perched on top of a desk and cocked its head as it looked at them. Lottie inched closer, and the bird made no sort of instinctive motion to get away.
Then something began to happen. The sparrow’s face began to morph weirdly; the beak pulled back, and the markings around the eyes began to protrude. It was growing too. As it got larger and larger, the feathers began to recede and turned into skin. Colm was frowning, his mouth sagging with confusion, but Lottie began to smile as it dawned on her what was going on.
The bird was gone, but now Andrea sat on the desk, her head cocked to the side comically. “I can’t believe it!” Lottie shouted, rushing over to Andrea and embracing her in a hug. “You did it? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I only just figured it out,” Andrea spoke in a gush of words. Her face was flushed with pride.
“A sparrow, though? That’s so cool!”
“Yeah, it’s going to be really useful. I can be pretty much invisible in any city.” Andrea stopped speaking and glanced up at Colm, her eyes narrowing. “In any case,” she added slowly, “it’s really supposed to be a secret. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anybody.”
“Of course not,” Lottie said.
Colm did not respond right away. Lottie turned to him. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously and he drummed his fingers against the top of his right leg. “Colm?” Lottie asked.
“What?” He seemed to snap out of it. His eyes widened back to normal and his normal smile spread across his lips. “Sorry”of course not”of course not.”
With the summer winding down, the students were permitted to return back to the camps to visit their families. The older students were allowed to go alone, since herds of seventeen-year-olds drew more attention than children, and they were able to Apparate. Lottie felt strange being dressed in the ripped and ragged Muggle clothes. The camp seemed so far away now; it was like a completely different life.
She waited in Palmyitor’s office, toying with the fringed hem of her sleeve. She checked and rechecked the position of her wand, hidden in her inside pocket. If anything happened, she wanted to be able to make a quick getaway.
It seemed much riskier this time”there had been so many Death Eaters at the Hog’s Head that it was reasonably possible that one of them would recognize her. Just in case, Lottie had smudged an excessive amount of dirt across her face.
At Palmyitor’s go ahead, she shut her eyes, turned on the spot and Disapparated. When she appeared in the camp, the usual sounds of children yelling, Death Eaters shouting and people crying met her ears. It seemed so strange that life was continuing like this, when she had been separated from it for so long.
Lottie glanced quickly over her shoulder and took the familiar route back to her parents’ flat. She tried not to look at her surroundings, not to see the death around her. She couldn’t help them now”all she could do was focus on what was ahead of her.
Lottie was easily able to avoid Death Eaters on the way. She kept to herself and didn’t make a scene; they just walked right by her. Her heart was pounding in her throat as she crossed the final road and pushed open the door to the apartment building.
As she walked down the narrow corridor, she noticed more noise than just her own footsteps. Lottie strained her ears and concentrated on locating the sound. It was coming from her parents’ flat. It definitely sounded like more than two people, though. Lottie crept closer to the door. Yes, it was multiple people”maybe four or five”having a conversation. Lottie glanced around. Her parents did not usually invite people over.
She reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. The voices inside silenced the second she made a noise. Lottie took a step back. Her parents also did not usually lock the door. Cautiously, she raised her fist to the thin door and knocked.
“Erm”hello?” It was her father’s voice. “Who’s here?”
“It’s”it’s me,” Lottie said.
“Lottie?” came her mother’s voice. The door opened just wide enough for Lottie to slip inside. Once she was in the flat, her father locked and bolted it again.
Lottie, though, was not looking at the door. She looked at the three strangers who occupied the living room. They didn’t look like anybody her parents would be friendly with. One of the men was easily twice the size of her father. “Mum,” Lottie began slowly, “what is this?”
Posy Rowe smiled, but no sense of warmth reached her eyes. She glanced at Nathaniel and at the three, brutish looking men before turning to Lottie in an apologetic way. Lottie understood exactly what they were doing”knew why the men were here and why everybody spoke in hushed voices.
“You can’t do this,” Lottie said, shaking her head. “You can’t”it’s suicide.”
“What else can we do, Lottie?” Nathaniel growled. This argument was Lottie’s brutality pitted against her father’s, but Lottie, who had inherited Nathaniel’s anger, was also able to stand her own in this argument.
“You have to stop,” Lottie said, turning her attention away from the strangers and her mother”turning every ounce of focus she had on her father.
“I can’t just sit here and let these people be killed.” Nathaniel drew himself up to full height and stared down at his daughter. “Only a coward would lie and let this happen.”
“You’re not being a coward”you’re being smart.” Lottie pulled herself up to full height also. “We’re taking care of it, Dad.” She jabbed her thumb at her chest. “You don’t have to kill yourself to prove a point.”
“If you’re dealing with it, then you’re not doing it quickly enough.”
Lottie took a step back. Her jaw lagged open at her father’s burst of aggression. He didn’t understand”he would never understand. They couldn’t just ambush the Dark Lord in his bed and free the Muggles”it was not as easy as that.
“Nathaniel.” Posy’s voice was hushed.
“What?” Nathaniel glowered at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Lottie. “I’m sorry, but your kind isn’t doing enough. People are dying every single day”and what is your kind doing? Learning magic tricks? We need to stop this.”
“You don’t understand.” For one wild moment, Lottie almost draw her wand. The momentary impulse to hex her father into oblivion passed, and she took a breath before continuing. “They could kill you in a second. One swish of a wand”and you’re dead. There’s no use locking the door either”they can unlock that without a second thought. Eleven-year-olds can do that. There’s no point in dying to prove yourself.”
“Then what should I do, Lottie?” Nathaniel shouted, his dark eyes growing darker. “Sit and let your kind take care of everything?”
“Yes””
“Let people die while your people figure it out?”
“Yes.” Lottie spun around and marched toward the door. “You’re just going to get yourself killed doing this. You’re not going to make any difference.” Without another word, Lottie wrenched open the door and slammed it behind her. She stomped through the corridor.
There was an odd sense of finality in that argument. Lottie knew that nothing she could say would dissuade her father. He was going to stage his rebellion no matter what, and he would probably die because of it.
Lottie was reminded of her grandfather, dropped dead on their doorstep because of involvement in a coup. She thought of Andrea’s father”killed also in an attempted revolt. What purpose did it serve? The Death Eaters still killed, and nothing changed.
Lottie crept through the filthy streets to find a safe spot to Apparate back to Alsemore. She appeared in the Great Hall between meals. It was empty, and everything was still. She rushed off to find Colm. She was still dressed in Muggle rags, but she didn’t care. Colm only had another day back and she had to confide in somebody.
She ran into him while she climbed up the staircase to the Maelioric common room. “What’s up?” he asked, noting the distraught look in her eyes. Lottie just shook her head and led Colm to an empty classroom.
Once he had shut the door, Colm turned to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Lottie, what’s wrong?”
“It’s my parents,” Lottie said. “They”they”” She hesitated. Telling anybody about her parents’ planned revolt seemed like a stupid idea. It only increased their chances of getting caught”but who would Colm tell? “They want to start a revolt in the camps.”
Colm didn’t say anything. His brow furrowed slightly as he thought. Lottie wondered what he could be thinking.
“But it’s stupid,” she said to break the silence. “It’s suicide. They don’t understand that wizards can kill in a second.”
“Did you try to talk them out of it?”
“Yes.” Lottie sat on a desk and rested her cheek on her fist. “They wouldn’t listen. They said it was better than doing nothing at all, but that’s just stupid.” She picked up her head to glance at Colm for reassurance. Instead of smiling, though, he just furrowed his brow further.
“I really don’t know what to say.” He sat down on the desk next to hers. “If they won’t be convinced out of it, I guess there’s nothing we can do.”
Although she didn’t quite find this answer satisfactory, Lottie didn’t say anything. She stared at a spot on the floor. There really was nothing she could do for it. If her father wouldn’t back down, what could she say? But how could she just sit and let her parents get killed?
The door creaked open. Lottie looked up. Andrea stood in the doorway with a wry smile on her face. “I thought I’d see you here,” she said.
Perhaps she could sense Lottie’s misery in her eyes or maybe it was just a coincidence, but Andrea’s smile appropriately melted away. “Palmyitor wants to see you,” she finally said. “She’s in her office. It sounds serious.”
Halfway to Infinity by Eponine
Chapter Notes: Thank you, coolh5000, for being an awesome beta! This chapter is dedicated to Marianne Curley because I loved her books when I was growing up.