“I want my mummy!” the boy wailed, his cries echoing in the virtually deserted playground. The boy had light brown hair, the front of his shirt was drenched with his own tears and her had a look of sheer terror in his eyes. He pulled his feet into his body as much as he could,# as tried to move away from his attackers. But it was impossible. The Death Eaters just huddled round him in a sinister manner.
“Shut up, you filthy Muggle!” one of the hooded terrors snapped. The boy started to cry even louder. Holly looked absolutely livid, but there was something else in her eyes, something that Hermione was unable to make out.
“Let’s go,” Holly growled menacingly. Something inside or her had just snapped. The three of them stalked forward and shot spells at the unsuspecting Death Eaters, hitting them directly in the back. Holly also hit one of them with a particularly nasty looking spell, but she didn’t care what it was. While Hermione and Ron tackled the three now unconscious Death Eaters, Holly ran straight over to the little boy and untied him.
“Are you okay?” Holly asked softly, gently picking up the hysterical boy.
“Where’d those bad mans go?” the boy asked, looking at Holly with his large, watery brown eyes.
“It’s okay, you’re safe now, they’re gone,” Holly hushed, holding the distressed boy tightly. How dare they do that! How dare they kidnap a child just for their own amusement! Holly thought furiously. The scumbags. Holly had to suppress the angry growl from leaving her throat, and looked down at the distressed boy with watery eyes.
“I want my mummy!” the boy howled, clutching Holly’s arm as if his life depended on it. Holly held onto the boy tightly, trying to give him reassurance.
“It’s okay, what’s your name?” Holly asked with her softest tone of voice.
“Alex Taylor,” the boy sniffed. Holly held him tighter, trying to comfort him. It seemed to be working ” the boy wasn’t crying as severely as before.
“Okay Alex, and how old are you?” Holly asked as she carried him away out of the park. Staying in that place wouldn’t be good for his state of mind. Hermione and Ron watched Holly comfort him, and silently decided to let her handle it.
“I’m five,” Alex said, sounding quite proud of himself, in spite of the trauma he had just experienced. He looked at the Playground again and broke out into a fresh wave of sobs. Holly pulled him as close as she could and muttered comforting words into his ear. A minute or so later, the sobs calmed down enough for Holly to think he would be able to talk to her.
“Wow! Could you be brave and tell me why you were out here today Alex?” Holly asked gently. Alex’s lip trembled and he looked very upset. He didn’t look like he was going to speak, but then he did, his voice barely coming out as a whisper.
“Mummy was mad at me for not putting my toys away and I went outside to hide from her, then those nasty men taked me away!”
“It’s okay, those nasty men are being taken away now, they can’t hurt you,” Holly said. Alex was now clutching her round her neck, his tiny hands getting tangled up in her hair. His teeth began to chatter, so Holly conjured up a blanket to wrap around him. Alex’s eyes went as wide as plates.
“How do you do that?” Alex asked, looking amazed. Holly bit her lip. How was she supposed to explain this to him?
“It’s magic,” Holly said, opting for the honest answer.
“Oh wow, can I do it?” Alex said excitedly. Holly smiled; he was no longer crying anymore, in fact, he looked fascinated.
“No, sorry,” Holly said, letting out a short laugh. She was now sitting on a bench with Alex on her lap, not paying attention to anyone apart from the little boy in her arms.
“What’s your name?” Alex asked. His previously frightened face was now alight with interest.
“My name is Holly,” she replied.
“Like Christmas time!” Alex said, grinning and then taking in a shuddering breath.
“Yes, like Christmas time,” Holly said. It was amazing how quickly he was able to get distracted from what had happened ” the innocence in children was always surprising.
“Hey, you two seem to be getting on well. Do you know who he is?” Hermione asked, sliding onto the bench next to Holly. Alex was transfixed with Hermione’s bushy brown hair.
“Yes, his name is Alex,” Holly said, not taking her eyes off the boy.
“Where do you live, Alex?” Hermione asked softly, lifting her hand and tenderly patted the boy on the head. Alex pointed one small finger towards the street of houses.
“Shall I take him home?” Holly asked, still not letting go of Alex.
“Yeah, that would be great,” Hermione said, smiling.
“Do you want to walk?” Holly asked. Alex nodded and slipped off her lap and shrugged the blanket off. Holly stood up and he took her hand. “Can you show me the way to your house?”
“Okay,” Alex said, pulling Holly by the arm towards the street of houses.
“That’s a big boy,” Holly said, smiling down at Alex.
It wasn’t long before Alex stopped in front of a small, pretty looking house, which had lots of flowers in the window box and what looked like a child’s drawing in the window. “Is this where you live?” Holly asked.
“Yes. Mummy is going to be so upset with me for running out of the house!” Alex said, sounding worried and holding onto Holly’s hand as tightly as he could.
“No she won’t, she’ll just be happy that you’re home. I bet that she’s in the house waiting for you right now. She won’t be mad at you,” Holly assured, taking a step forward and knocking on the door. There was a flurry of noise and a dishevelled woman with very long blonde hair answered the door.
“Oh Alex, I was so worried!” the woman cried, sweeping Alex into her arms and kissing him on the top of his head, her own hair swinging over him like a soft curtain.
“Mummy!” Alex said, hugging his mother.
“Oh thank you for bringing my son back!” the woman said gratefully.
“It’s okay,” Holly said, putting her hands in her pockets and balancing on the balls of her feet.
“Please come in, I want to thank you properly,” the woman said, ushering her in. Holly slowly entered the house and followed the woman into the living room, which had wallpaper of pale blue and lots of children’s drawings stuck on the wall. Toys were scattered across the floor, with some more spilling out of a large toy box. A lump grew in her throat as she saw a small pile of toy cars lain out on a makeshift road.
“My name is Claire, by the way,” the woman said kindly, still holding her son securely in her arms.
“I’m Holly,” the young witch replied.
“Like Christmas!” Alex squealed, burying his head into his mother. Claire and Holly laughed softly.
“Alex, would you please go to your room for a while, while I talk to Holly?” Claire said, kissing her son on the head again affectionately.
“Okay, mum,” Alex said, squeezing his mothers hand tightly and then climbing off Claire’s lap.
“Say thank you to Holly,” Claire said, looking lovingly at her son.
“Thank you!” Alex said, hugging Holly before leaving the room, picking up a toy car on the way out. Holly had a tear in her eye as he left the room. After a moment, Holly came back to herself and looked at Claire.
“Thank you for bringing my son back,” Claire said again.
“No problem,” Holly replied, nervously looking around the room at all of the toys and the drawings.
“Where was he?” Claire asked, looking concerned.
“He was at the park,” Holy said, deliberating whether to tell her that her son had been kidnapped. “He was kidnapped.”
All of the colour drained out of Claire’s face. “He was…what! Why?” she asked, sounding terrified and clutching the arm of the chair in fear.
“I think the men were not specifically targeting Alex, but he was there. My friends and I have got them now and they are on their way to prison,” Holly said.
“Oh thank you so much for saving him!” Claire said, walking up to Holly and hugging her.
“No way was I going to let the scumbags get your little boy,” Holly said. Tears seeped out of her eyes as old memories rushed back, bad memories. She closed her eyes for a minute and willed herself not to cry again. She had to be strong. She couldn’t let it get to her, not again. But being with that little boy brought it all back…
“Look, I’d better get going, my friends will be wondering where I’ve got to,” Holly said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
“Okay, but thank you. If you are ever in town, be free to come and visit,” Claire said gratefully. Holly leaned against the front door after she left, trying to compose herself a bit. She could hear Alex talking to his mother and could just make out the word ‘magic’. That made her chuckle. Claire was probably just thinking that her son had a very good imagination. I will miss that boy, Holly thought to herself. He definitely reminded her a lot of…
“Holly, there you are!”
Holly snapped out of her thoughts and saw Hermione and Ron standing not far from her.
“Is Alex home safe?” Hermione asked. Holly nodded, taking on last look at the house.
“That’s good. Now let’s get back to that park,” Hermione said looking at the door for a second, then in front of them.
“So where did you learn all of those cool moves?” Ron asked as they walked briskly back to the park.
“What, kickboxing? I’ve been learning it for years,” Holly said, stopping at the gates of the park. She wasn’t really listening to the conversation, all of her attention was concentrated on the vile Death Eaters and on Alex.
“They’re amazing!” Hermione said, looking at Holly with admiration.
“Thanks,” Holly said, now drawing some of her attention back to Hermione and Ron. Then with an afterthought, she added, “But you do know how to fight without a wand, don’t you?”
“No, only if kicking men in their, er, special area counts,” Hermione said, turning slightly pink, the corners of her mouth twitching. Ron froze for a second, then looked slightly sick when he realised what his girlfriend was talking about.
“You’re not being serious, are you? You don’t know kickboxing or karate or anything like that?” Holly asked, sounding slightly alarmed. Hermione and Ron shook their heads.
“Oh Merlin, I’ll have to teach you then. It really does come in handy,” Holly said, remembering all of the times that her moves had got her out some tricky spots.
“That would be wonderful!” Hermione said appreciatively.
“What’s going on here ” hey!” Harry stopped in mid-sentence to duck the foot that was flying towards him.
“Oh I’m so sorry, you startled me!” Holly stuttered, blushing slightly, putting both feet firmly on the ground again.
“No harm done,” Harry said, chuckling and standing up straight again. Holly blushed even more.
“What are you doing here anyway? I thought you’d still be out with Remus,” Ron asked.
“I heard that you went out to find some Death Eaters and thought I’d help you out, but clearly you have everything under control,” Harry said, jerking a thumb towards the Order members who were now taking the Death Eaters away. Holly glared at them intensely and looked murderous.
“Are you gonna teach Harry and Ginny as well?” Ron asked, remembering Holly’s promise.
“Yes, if you want me to,” Holly said, shrugging.
“Teach us what?” Harry asked, looking confused.
“Kickboxing,” Holly explained, the blush in her cheeks had subsided.
“You know kickboxing?” Harry asked, sounding surprised and amazed at the same time.
“Yep, I’ve been learning it for as long as I can remember,” Holly said, smiling.
“You’ll teach us? Wow, thanks!” Harry said, grinning. Holly laughed.
“Seeing as I’m not needed right now, I think I’ll talk to Remus for a while longer and I’ll meet you back at my house in an hour or so,” Harry said after a moment. The three of them nodded. Harry flashed them a grin before dashing off. Hermione looked from the back of Harry, to Ron, with an amused look on her face.
“What’s so funny?” Holly asked, now looking at Hermione inquiringly.
“Oh it’s nothing, I was just thinking how much the two of you have grown… I still remember when Harry was a small boy that got lost when he used Floo powder for the first time with his broken glasses, and Ron was just a boy with dirt on his nose,” Hermione said, smiling.
“Yeah, and you were that little girl who loved to boss us around so much,” Ron said. Then after a pause, he added, “Not much has changed then.”
Hermione slapped him on the arm playfully. “I’m not that bad!” she complained.
“No, you’re not, at least now you’d rather break a few rules then just sit back and watch ” most of the time,” Ron teased.
“Well, rules are there to be followed. I don’t see the point in breaking them for no good reason,” Hermione objected.
“Rules are meant to be broken,” Holly said seriously. Ron nodded in agreement.
“That’s not true! Why would they be there if not to be followed?” Hermione argued.
“Because the people who created them were insane and wanted to control everything,” Ginny said suddenly.
“Hey, Ginny, where did you come from?” Ron asked, jumping slightly.
“It’s magic,” Ginny said, smirking.
“If you’re looking for Harry, he already left,” Hermione said as she saw the red-haired girl glance around. Ginny raised an eyebrow at her friend.
“What is it with you lately, all you seem to do is assume that I’m thinking about Harry!” Ginny said, sounding irritated.
“We just want you to be happy”” Ron started, jumping as Ginny half yelled at him.
“Then just leave me alone!” she snapped, glaring daggers at her brother and Hermione. The two backed off and remained silent, really not wanting to get Ginny any more pissed off than she already was.
“On the topic of Harry, he just left to catch up with Remus a bit more and said he would meet us at his house in an hour or so,” Holly said, seemingly unaffected by the argument.
“Okay, well if I’m not needed here, I think I’ll go. See you later,” Ginny said shortly, storming off.
“Your sister scares me sometimes,” Hermione said as she watched the hot-headed Weasley stalk away.
“She scares you? Think about me! I had to grow up with her!” Ron said, shuddering. Holly laughed. “What’s so funny? You haven’t been on the receiving end of one of Ginny’s curses yet, have you!?”
“I should hope not!” Holly scoffed.
“She did overreact a bit, didn’t she?” Hermione asked, as if trying to reassure herself.
“Yeah, completely,” Ron said, nodding fiercely.
“She does strike me as a girl who is likely to lose his temper easily though,” Holly pointed out.
“Well, she has definitely inherited that from my mother,” Ron said, grinning and remembering vividly the many times his mothers anger had been directed at him, or one of his siblings, mostly the twins.
“Shall we go back to Harry’s?” Holly inquired. In truth, she didn’t want to stay any longer. It kept bringing back the same old memories she would rather leave behind.
“Good idea. I’ll need to leave soon though ” school is tomorrow. I’ll Floo from Harry’s,” Hermione said.
Looking around one last time, Holly stopped a tear from leaving her eye. She wasn’t going to cry, not again. Then they Disapparated from the scene.
____________________________________________
Now that they were back at the house and all the action was over, Holly suddenly felt totally exhausted. She hadn’t realised how much the mission and seeing that little boy, Alex, had taken out of her. Plus, last night’s sleep had been quite restless.
“I’m going to have a nap,” Holly announced to the other two.
“Okay,” Hermione said, snuggling up closer to Ron. Then she trudged up the stairs to the room she was currently staying in and lay down, pulling the sheet up to her chin. But sleep wouldn’t come easily. She was just tossing and turning, for what felt like hours, the image of Alex’s pure terror echoing in her mind. It brought it all back, something she thought she had overcome years ago. Finally, she felt herself drifting off…
“Holly, help me!” a terrified little boy screamed.
“I’m coming Jake!” Holly called out, desperately looking around. Then she saw movement and sprinted towards it, as fast as her legs would carry her. The wind sliced through her cheeks, the blood she thought was running down her face was actually tears…everywhere started to go blurry. As if in slow motion, she tripped, and fell hard on the floor. She tried to scramble to her feet, however, her limbs felt heavy, but she felt light-headed at the same time. The small stones cut into her fingers, making them bleed, but she didn’t take any notice. Everywhere was spinning, but she had to get to her feet, she had to save him…she had to save him…save him…
“Help me!” a faint voice cried, much more desperate and frantic than before.
“I’m coming!” she cried, stumbling forward. The cries were suddenly stifled, accompanied by a flash of light. A snide voice whispered in her ear ‘You’re too late…’
“No! I’m…I’m almost there!” she shouted, choking back sobs. Then she saw him. She fell forward, clutching the small boy, who was strewn on the floor. She tried to feel for a pulse, but couldn’t. He was starting to feel cold. Fear exploded from her stomach.
“No…no…please!” Holly wept, shaking severely, her breathing becoming ragged. She held the limp body tight, willing, wishing that he would come back. Closing her eyes and rocking Jake back and forth, an image came to her mind. It was Jake, giggling and laughing on her lap, his tiny hands clasping her thumb…Then she was in the street again, crying and hugging the lifeless body to herself.
“No please don’t leave me, come back!” she wailed loudly, still rocking him and crying into his hair…
“Holly?!”
Everything rippled, and when everything became clear again, she was no longer in the street ” but in her bed. Four people were crowded round her; all the colour had left their faces. As she raised a trembling hand to wipe the sweat from her brow, she realised, with a jolt, exactly what they were staring at.
“Oh no,” she whispered, staring wide-eyed at the four, very shocked onlookers, and cursed under her breath. The previously warm sweat that was scattered across her skin ” turned icy. She had a lot of explaining to do.
A/N: Sorry for yet another cliffhanger! I don’t know when I will be able to update, although reviews might encourage me to update...Please let me know what you think, reviews mean the world to me!