Damn it, Alice thought to herself, damn it, damn it, damn it! As ifshe was going to give up now. She glanced at the clock - it was half past two in the morning.
Everybody else from the Auror office had gone home. The two who usually stayed behind with her were Moody and Frank, but Moody had Order duty, and Frank was on leave for three days, having been hit in shoulder with Bellatrix Lestrange's cursed knife. He was supposed to be discharged tonight, and Alice wished he didn't have to spend the night alone - but this was her job, and tackling the Floor Network had become her personal mission.
Alice was in the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic, a row of fireplaces on either side of her. There was no one else in the ministry - the only things she could hear were the ticking of the clock behind her, and the steady thump of her heartbeat as she waited. It had been a week since the Aurors had noticed that the unauthorized uses of the Floor Network were actually Death Eaters, and this was why the disappearances and murders were becoming more and more frequent. The Department of Magical Transportation had promised a solution by the end of the week, but so far nothing had happened; and Alice, impatient, had taken matters into her own hands. She had set up what she hoped was a way of tracking unauthorized uses of the Floo Network and was waiting for a signal.
Both rows of fireplaces were lit up green, with powder automatically rising from a number of jars on the floor. The Atrium, which Alice had only ever seen full, looked unfamiliar when empty; the strange sight of Floo power repetitively rising only added to the uncanniness of the night. The flames continually gleamed green with each new whoosh of power, blissfully unaware of the night – and of these dark, hard times.
Alice fingered her tool belt that was strapped around her waist. There were small flasks of various potions - Veritaserum, a Strengthening Solution, and three others, as well as a pocket Foe-Glass, small knife, small-size telescope and dragon hide gloves. She was ready for anything. It was what Moody had taught her.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw one of the fires glow red. She spun around, but the momentary change had gone as quickly as it had arrived. She took deep breaths. Patience, she thought to herself; they would cross a few different fires until they reached their destination. She looked around slowly, eyeing the fireplaces -
And another fire flashed scarlet, for a fleeting moment, before turning green again.
She would go with the next one, Alice decided, and gripped her wand tightly, preparing herself.
And there it was - the fireplace to her left blazed from green to red, and Alice dived in, shouting a spell she hoped would work, and willing it to take her somewhere.
All of a sudden, she was in an unfamiliar house. Jumping out of the fireplace, she looked around; the room she had landed in was empty, but she could hear screams and shouts. Alice ran out of the room and towards where the noise was coming from.
It was a large house, and she found herself in a small hall. There were several open doors around her, and Alice spun around, trying to determine where the people were. More shouts and a loud bang came from a room in the far right, and Alice rushed in, shouting 'Protego!'
There were four masked figures with wands raised, their spells shooting in every direction; a woman was trying to defend herself in a corner, dodging the spells, whilst a wandless man tried to protect a girl as they attempted to escape from the room, ducking under tables and knocking over chairs.
'Stupefy!' shouted Alice, and one of them crumpled - there seemed to be a momentary confusion before the rest of the attackers spun around to look at her.
'Auror!' one of them yelled in a deep voice, and Alice moved back into the hall as they ran forward to attack her, attempting to lure them away from the family.
Two of the masked followed her. 'Get the family!' one shouted over his shoulder to the other in the room.
Alice weaved and ducked as the two threw curses at her. 'Impedimenta!' she shouted. 'Stupefy!'
An ornamental vase behind her shattered as she ducked a killing curse. 'Relashio!' she yelled, pointing towards the chandelier on the ceiling. As the two attackers dived sideways, Alice threw a Body-Bind Curse at one of them, and he fell forwards onto the shattered glass. 'Stupefy!' she cried again, but the other dodged and sent an umbrella stand hurtling towards her. 'Reducto!' Alice shouted, and the umbrella stand smashed into pieces before her eyes.
The family had come running into the doorway, pursued by one of the masked figures. It was the man who was fighting now; the woman and the girl ran past Alice, attempting to go upstairs, but the two attacking men raised their wands -
'Protego!' Alice cried, but she was a split-second too late; the woman screamed as a jet of green light hit the man squarely in the chest. Alice felt a horrible sinking sensation as the man fell. 'Stupefy!' Alice shouted again, but the man dodged and sent another killing curse towards her.
'Upstairs, now!' yelled Alice to the woman and girl, and shot more spells at the two who were chasing her. The woman, however, clung to her husband's body and did not move. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' repeated Alice, as she pulled the woman from the body, 'go upstairs with your daughter - quick!' She pushed the woman towards the stairs as more curses bounced off the banisters.
The woman, still sobbing, pulled her daughter behind her as she rushed up the staircase towards the landing - but the girl tripped and fell; Alice pulled her up and shielded her as the men attempted to follow them.
With a bang, Alice was blasted backwards into a wall - she hit her shoulder hard, and fell. One of the two shot another curse at her, but Alice rolled over, barely dodging it as it hit one of the flasks in her belt. She felt cold liquid on her leg.
Scrambling up again, Alice sent more spells towards the attackers; they dodged, and raised their wands again, this time aiming for the girl at the foot of the stairs. Alice tried to reach her – the girl was petrified with fear and unable to move.
'Avada Kedavra!' shouted the attacker, as Alice cried: 'Stupefy!' Yet again she had been a second too late; the woman screamed and ran down the stairs again as her daughter fell.
Alice seized the woman and forced her upwards. 'There's nothing you can do!' Alice cried over the woman's howls.
Alice felt sick and dizzy as the girl's body toppled down the stairs like a broken doll, but pushed on, and hurled another vase towards the pair - they ducked under the staircase, and Alice seized this chance to run upwards.
'My daughter!' cried the woman, and for a split-second Alice thought she meant the dead girl, until she saw a pair of eyes peeking out from a door, some way above her head.
'Stay in there!' shouted Alice, as she found herself dodging yet another jet of green light. The mother was running across the landing to where her other daughter was, but the attacker had caught up; Alice pulled her down to avoid curses, but instead the small girl rushed out of her hiding place towards her mother -
'No!' yelled Alice, and spun around; the mother was scrambling to her feet, the attackers only a few feet away from her - the girl was unprotected, defenceless -
And then the world crashed around them.
Alice was thrown backwards into the staircase as the house tore open with a mighty sound. A trail of light danced before her eyes as all went completely black; instinctively she fired a Cushioning Charm and cried 'Reducto!' repeatedly, pointing her wand into the darkness, shielding her head with her other arm as beams and pieces of roof rained down around her. Something hard hit her on her elbow, but thankfully the Cushioning Charm made sure that she landed softly, even if it was onto the wreckage of the house.
Quickly, she recovered from the fall, scrambled upright and sent her Patronus to the Order headquarters. She nearly lost her footing as she stumbled on what had been a table. The sudden silvery light of her Labrador dazzled her for a few seconds, and Alice blinked rapidly. She lit her wand, willing for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Alice tried to make out the whereabouts of the family, and the attackers. With a pang of horror, she realized that one of them had caused an explosion
The house had been almost completely demolished - two walls with shattered windows still stood, almost shakily, but that was all. The family had been buried under the rubble and nowhere to be seen, but Alice thought of the girl and mother who had been on the landing - they had been still alive; they had to be somewhere near…
Suddenly, a flash of green light shot past her, and Alice spun around. The moon had come out, and she could just about make out the outline of the largest attacker, the one who had killed the elder girl, shakily scrambling up on his feet.
'Stupefy!' she shouted, but the attacker ducked. Alice tried to climb nearer but her footing was shaky, and she fell through a board to find herself up to her thighs in a heap of bricks and wood. Her opponent took her brief moment of immobilization to climb over the wreckage and reach the pathway. She threw more spells at him but he was too far away - they all missed, and he ran into the darkness, not even attempting to find his three accomplices.
Alice heard a grunt, and looked wildly around her. She spotted the silhouette of two figures in the rubble, a short distance away; one seemed to have his legs trapped, and the other was pulling him free.
Alice shot a Body-Bind Curse at them, managing to hit the one standing up. The other attacker, now free, was on his knees, searching for a wand.
'Stupefy!' Alice cried, and the figure crumpled. She threw away the remains of a chair that blocked her path, and clambered over the wreckage to where the two assailants lay. Alice nearly lost her footing twice, but managed to reach them with relative speed. She conjured some ropes and bound them together tightly, spitting out some grit that had caught in her mouth whilst doing so.
Willing herself steady, Alice thought quickly: there had been four masked men - she had caught two, and the large one had got away, but there was the one that she had stunned… perhaps he was under the rubble...even if he was lucky, he was still injured, she thought...and then there was the family. The father and the elder girl had fallen as the killing curses hit them, but the mother had been alive when house had blown apart - Alice grimaced at the sight of the destroyed house; if the mother was under there, it would take a long time to get her out. And then, of course, there was the girl - the little girl who had come out onto the landing, whom Alice had shouted at to stay hidden. She had a better chance, Alice thought - she would be somewhere near the surface, and perhaps she, too, had been in the range of Alice's cushioning charm; Alice desperately hoped so.
She cast her lit wand over the wreckage. The sight of the demolished house was a desolate one; moonlight shimmered through the window-frames and cast light on the mass of bricks, plaster and wood. The wind was harsh, and Alice noticed that the ends of her cloak had been torn as they flapped behind her.
The woman and the girl, she thought to herself, and stared at the ruins; she didn't know where to start. She levitated a few of the larger pieces - wooden beams, doors - out into the garden, but that still left layers of rubble underneath. Alice conjured a shovel, and moved across to what she thought was the remains of the banister - if this is where the stairs were, then the mother and daughter shouldn't have landed far.
'Hello?' she called as she dug, 'can anybody hear me?' But there was no answer, and Alice continued to shovel through the rubble with no sense of direction. She occasionally called out, but to no avail. Sometimes the shovel would get caught, and it would take a few moments for Alice to wrench it free; more than once, the force sent glass flying her way, and she would have to take time to heal the wound.
A while later, Alice dug the spade into a particularly large mound of rubble again, but stopped - something felt different. The sound of wreckage shifting was quieter, softer, as if it weren't wreckage at all. She crouched down to the mound and carefully lifted the topmost layer of rubble off the heap.
There, lit eerily in the moonlight, was a slender female arm poking out, stretched upwards into the darkness.
Alice swore and hastily reached for the wrist. If the woman hadn't answered Alice's calls when she had been so close, the chances were -
She felt for a pulse. Nothing.
'Damn it,' she said out loud, 'damn it!' Her voiced bounced off the two remaining walls, and then was swallowed up by the night. Alice ran a hand through her hair, and her pulse raced as she thought of the girl still somewhere under the rubble - she had to find her. She had to.
***
Sybill dreams. There are nights when she dreams in colour (flowers and constellations weaving around before her eyes, round and round until there's a lily in Canis Major, and the stars of Draco fit inside the petals of a narcissus); other times she sees shades of black and white. She dreams of rats and dogs and the colour grey - the colour of faith and betrayal and insanity and losing everything; the colour of ashen disappointment and the other side of the moon.
Sometimes she wakes in a daze and hurriedly jots down what she's seen, turns on the lights and consults her books - even though she knows them back-to-front. What is it? What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me? she asks herself, and desperately tries to find patterns and meanings amongst the blurry haze.
Other times she will turns in her bed, and simply forgets.
Minerva doesn't dream. Dreams are things she cannot control, and Minerva tells herself that when she sleeps, she sees nothing. She doesn't know that there are slivers of nightmares hidden away in the corners of her mind, in the little nooks and crannies of her thoughts as she turns in her bed. If only Minerva would look, she would see faces there: her brother falling at the hands of Grindelwald's army, and then his face suddenly morphing into James Potter, into Sirius Black, and into dozens of others she knows are too young, far too young...
When she wakes, she can cover the dark corners of her mind and leave them with the night. When she wakes, she can hope.
***
Alice continued to clear the wreckage for only a little longer, when a tremendous vrrroom filled her ears. Her Patronus was bounding up towards the house, and behind it she could see the outline of two people flying in the air - one on a broomstick, the other on a large flying motorbike. Alice breathed in relief.
'Longbottom?' shouted the one on the motorbike as he climbed down.
'Black!' Alice called out. 'Over here!'
'Alice, what in the name of Merlin's happened?' asked Black, shocked. His face was illuminated pale by the moonlight.
'Whose house is this?' said the other person behind Black, and Alice recognised Emmeline Vance's distinct tones.
Where was the girl? She couldn't have landed far from this spot. Alice stood up to answer. 'I don't know,' she said to Emmeline, 'but there was an attack - four people - they used the Floo network. One buried under the rubble, one got away, two are over there -' she pointed her wand to the two still figures at the side '- and there's a little girl who was still alive, she should be here somewhere...' Her voice trailed off, and she coughed as dust and grit caught in her lungs.
'Holy Helga,' exclaimed Emmeline; she was looking down at the dead woman.
'The rest of the family - dead,' Alice coughed again.
'Poor sods,' remarked Black grimly. 'We'll have to get the bodies out, then. Lucky the house's in the middle of nowhere - do you think any Muggles heard? The main road's a few hundred yards out.' He peered into the distance, but shook his head. 'Probably all right - I can't see anything.'
'I don't even know where I am.' Alice leaned on her shovel for a moment's rest. 'I followed them via the Floo Network,' she explained.
'We're on the edge of Wiltshire. I think. We followed your Patronus.'
'There aren't many wizarding families in this area; I don't recognise this woman, though.' Emmeline said as she eyed the two attackers, who were lying still under Alice's ropes. 'I suppose these two won't be going anywhere,' she added, and, conjuring a shovel of her own, began clearing the rest of the wreckage off the dead woman's body.
'Look for the girl,' said Alice to Black, as he reached her, 'they didn't get the girl, but she fell into the explosion - I don't know if my Cushioning Charm helped.'
'The explosion?' Black stared at her, and then down at the rubble. 'Is that what this was, then?' He flew pieces of wooden beams into the garden, where they hit the others with a crash, causing a storm of dust to fly up in the air.
'Black, be careful!' Emmeline called out. 'I've found another body - I think it's a girl,' she added.
Black raised his eyebrows, but Alice shook her head. 'There were two girls.'
They continued to move the wreckage. Black moved in front of Alice, and looked into a gap where the parts of wall and staircase had made a sort of cave. 'She might be stuck here,' he said, and made to move the debris, but Alice quickly grabbed his arm to stop him.
'Hang on, if you move one, the other pieces might fall on her,' she explained at his quizzical look, and went down on her knees, wincing slightly as bricks and glass poked into her shin. Alice gently let her head inside the gap, but her arm wouldn't fit. 'Can you give me light?' she asked, and Black poked his lit wand through beside her head.
There, curled up, was the little girl. Alice motioned for Black to move the light in further, and sighed with relief as she saw that the girl was stirring, albeit faintly.
'She's here!' she said, turning her head to face Black, and then looking back at the little girl. Alice didn't know if she could hear her, but spoke anyway. 'It's all right, it's going to be all right,' she murmured gently, 'we'll get you out of here.' Alice smiled at the girl, and moved back out of the gap, standing up again. The girl's legs and arms hadn't been trapped under the wreckage - that was a start.
'Oi, Emmeline!' Alice heard Black yelling. 'There's a survivor!'
Emmeline immediately made her way towards them. 'Be careful, there's a loose board,' Alice called, and helped Emmeline steady herself as she reached them.
'Right,' said Alice, looking back at the wreckage and thinking quickly, 'Black, on the count of three, move that one on the top. Emmeline, move the staircase. I'll pull the girl out.'
Black and Emmeline nodded, and Alice counted slowly. 'One - two - three!'
The pieces moved and the way to the girl was clear; Alice reached in and lifted her up, gently pulling her away as the other pieces fell into the rubble. Black walked before Alice, checking the footing and showing her where to walk. They reached the front garden and Alice put the girl down gently onto the grass, kneeling beside her. The girl was conscious, but visibly weak; Alice swore under her breath as she thought of her now-shattered flasks, hanging uselessly on her belt.
'Have you got any potions?' she asked, feeling the girl's body for injuries.
Sirius shook his head, but Emmeline reached inside her cloak. 'Strengthening Solution,' she said, taking out a flask.
The girl gave a soft cry as Alice squeezed her right arm, and Emmeline too lit her wand, to let Alice see properly. The jumper the girl had wearing had been torn on one side, and Alice felt something warm and slippery as she moved her hand further down.
'Blood,' she said, to no one in particular, and gratefully took Emmeline's flask, putting to the girl's mouth. The girl coughed and spluttered, at first, but then slowly drank the potion.
Alice ripped the girl's clothes to get a better look at the wound. It was a huge gash on her forearm, and scarlet blood gleamed in their wandlight as it spilled. It was not only blood; what looked like a mixture of several different potions - cleaning potions, or perhaps beauty ones - was dripping down the arm, into the wound.
Gently, Alice traced the wound with her wand, muttering an incantation under her breath. The wound seemed to close, at first, but then burst open again. The girl cried out loud and Alice ran a hand through her hair. She looked up at Black and Emmeline, whose worried faces were pale in the moonlight. 'It won't heal - she needs a Healer,' Alice told them, 'and I can't risk Apparition, she'll lose too much blood.' Her hands were wet with blood, and she felt anxiety starting to take over.
Emmeline spoke first. 'St. Mungo's?'
'Too far away to go on broomstick,' said Black, and thought for a few seconds. 'We could go back to headquarters, get Benjy to come -' he furrowed his brow, 'or one of the Order safe-houses...hang on, Andromeda!'
'Andromeda Tonks - of course,' said Alice, remembering the grey eyes that were so like Black's own.
'You've been there before?'
'Once,' Alice replied, and bit her lip. 'I don't know how to get there.'
'Leave that to me - or the motorbike.' Black flashed a quick grin and rushed off to his motorbike, drawing his wand.
Emmeline had conjured some bandages. 'Here, get these around her wound,'
'Thanks,' said Alice gratefully. She bound them as tightly as possible, trying to stem the flow of the blood.
Black called them towards his bike, and Alice gently lifted the girl into her arms again. The moon was starting to disappear behind thick clouds again. Black's Patronus into shimmered at it disappared into the distance.
'Now,' Black started, 'I've charmed her to take you straight to Andromeda's. I've sent a message, so she'll send some sparks up. Land in the garden - not in the pond.'
Alice nodded as she handed the girl to Emmeline for a moment, so she could climb onto the motorbike.
'It's windy tonight so it'll be hard to avoid clouds,' Black continued, 'but have my goggles' - he handed them to her - 'these will help.'
Alice, put them on, and loosened the buckle of her belt to its maximum. 'Emmeline, do you think she'll fit in here?'
Emmeline frowned before tapping her wand on the belt and saying, 'Engorgio!' She looked satisfied as Alice's belt became thicker and larger, and slowly lowered the girl into the gap.
Alice wiped her bloodied hands on her cloak before buckling the belt and strapping the girl to her. Black had conjured a cloak, and he wrapped it around the girl like a blanket, tucking the ends in under her feet. 'There,' he said, 'ready to go?'
'Yes,' replied Alice, 'Emmeline, Black - Sirius, thank you.' She gave them a smile as she adjusted her goggles, and made sure the girl was secure.
'We'll take care of this, don't worry,' replied Black, gesturing to the house, and beside him Emmeline nodded.
Alice smiled at them one more time, before kicking the motorbike into life with all the force she could muster.
She rose through the air fast, and looked down - she could just about make out the outline of Sirius and Emmeline. Before she could do anything, however, the motorbike lurched forward and started to speed through the night sky.
If she were completely honest, Alice usually found Black's enhanced Muggle gadgets smug, and annoying, but tonight she was glad of it. It was cold, but the seat was comfortable, and the goggles protected her eyes from the chilly wind. She swerved, occasionally, to avoid clouds, and chanced some quick looks down to the girl strapped to her; Alice hoped the motorbike's smooth demeanour wouldn't quicken the flowing of her blood. She thought of the girl's family, all lying dead and cold under the rubble, and leaned forwards, wanting the motorbike to go faster.
A short while later the motorbike began to slow down. Was this the place? Alice looked down below as the motorbike slowed even more. She worried that she would land in the wrong garden, and began fervently to look for a pond.
Suddenly a shot of green sparks flew upwards in the sky, a little distance from her, and Alice quickly flew to the spot. She spotted the Tonks's garden, and hurtled downwards; the speed was greater than she expected, and Alice put an arm around the girl, other hand clutching the motorbike for dear life. Dirt flew around her as the bike skidded to a halt on the grass. Quickly unbuckling the belt and carrying the girl in her arms, Alice ran to the back door, pushing the goggles up to her forehead.
She knocked three times, and the door opened. The familiar face of Andromeda Tonks stood before her, pointing her wand at Alice.
'What is -'
'Drooble's Best Blowing Gum,' Alice responded instantly.
Andromeda nodded, but did not lower her wand. 'And the child?' she asked sharply.
'Needs your help. Now,' said Alice urgently, willing with her eyes to let them in.
Andromeda hesitated for a moment, but then ushered them in, leading them into the living room. 'Sirius sent a message,' she said, hurrying into the kitchen, 'the child's wounded?' Alice could see that she had already set up number of potions and a number of herbs and pastes on the dining table.
Alice nodded and lowered the girl into the sofa, unwrapping the cloak around the girl as she spoke. 'I thought it was just a flesh wound, but the healing charm didn't work - she was near the bathroom, I think a few potions might have gone off in the explosion and infected it. She's lost a lot of blood.'
'An explosion?' Andromeda raised her eyebrows. She looked down to the girl. 'Hold out her arm,' she told Alice.
Alice gently removed the makeshift bandages from the girl's arm. The blood hadn't stopped, and the cut had acquired a nasty green tinge. The girl, paler than ever, winced, and Alice caressed her forehead, pulling back strands of hair that hid her eyes. 'I gave her a Strengthening Solution,' she said to Andromeda, who nodded.
Andromeda reached for a potion, and emptied it into a small cup. 'Blood-replenishing potion,' she said, and held it up to the girl's mouth. 'Open up.'
The girl blinked hazily, but didn't drink.
'Here,' said Alice. 'Let me.' She took the cup from Andromeda, and talked softly to the little girl, peering into her eyes as she did so. 'This is going to make you better,' she told her, 'really, it is. Now, can you drink it for me?'
The girl obliged, and drank the potion down in one gulp.
'We're lucky it tastes sweet,' Alice remarked to Andromeda, who had begun to examine the wound. 'How is it?' she asked worriedly.
Alice watched as Andromeda poked and prodded at the cut for a few minutes, muttering the odd spell here and there. 'Will she be all right?' Alice asked again.
Andromeda smiled at her. 'It'll be fine.' She went to the dining table and started to mix a paste, murmuring spells with quiet concentration.
Smiling with relief, Alice looked into the girl's eyes. 'Did you hear that? You're going to be all right.' The girl blinked, and Alice suddenly realized that she was covered in dust and grit. 'Tergeo,' Alice said, and watched as some of the dust came off. 'Tergeo,' she said once again, and felt satisfied as the girl looked much cleaner. 'Look up,' added Alice, as she inspected the girl's eyelashes for specks of glass, 'and down...there we are.'
Andromeda came back with the paste, and gently applied it to the wound. It let out a hiss, but apparently it did not hurt; the girl stayed still, gazing at her cut with interest.
'Wotcher,' said a gruff voice behind them, and Alice looked up to see the tall figure of Ted Tonks, Andromeda's husband, in the doorway. 'Is that the poor girl, then?' He yawned, and rubbed his eyes.
'Do you mind staying with her for a bit?' said Andromeda, 'I've got to see to Alice.'
'Me?' said Alice, confused, as Ted sat down beside the girl.
'It may have escaped your notice, but you've acquired a number of cuts yourself,' Andromeda replied, and beckoned for Alice to join her in the kitchen.
Alice did so and wondered where her wounds were; she was numb, and cold, and her body ached all over. As she sat down in a chair at Andromeda's gesture, she suddenly felt very tired, and rubbed her eyes.
'Hands,' said Andromeda, and Alice put them out. She had forgotten that they were caked with the girl's blood - it had dried, and cracks had begun to form. There was an amount of grit beneath her fingernails, too.
Alice watched as Andromeda cast a Scouring Charm; all the dirt and blood had disappeared, and both sides of her hands returned to their normal colour. Even her fingernails were clean. 'I only ever manage to get about half of it off,' Alice said in awe, 'and I have to do my fingernails individually!'
'Being neat and tidy is a Healer's occupation,' Andromeda replied, smiling a little. 'Palms?'
Alice turned her hands over. Now that the blood had gone, she noticed that they were raw and chapped, with little cuts all over. Andromeda healed them in a trice, and also healed Alice's bruised shoulder, cut elbow, and shins that had been pierced with glass when Alice had knelt down. When Andromeda looked up to tell her that her legs were mended, Alice noticed for the first time how worn out she looked; there were shadows under her eyes, and she looked older than her twenty-five years. Alice wondered when the Tonks family would have to go into hiding; she had to admit that she thought of Bellatrix Lestrange every time she met Andromeda. Surely Bellatrix would not go for her sister's? But then again, Alice could not shake off the terrible feeling that Ted and Nymphadora would be targets of arguably the maddest Lestrange.
'Here,' said Andromeda, and Alice snapped back into reality as she took a mug of hot chocolate. 'What happened to the girl's family?' Andromeda asked her.
They -' started Alice, and felt her chest tighten. 'They were killed.'
Andromeda looked stricken, and at once Alice wished she hadn't told her the truth.
'The poor girl,' whispered Andromeda. Alice darted her eyes around the kitchen, for something else to focus on – but it was the family photograph on the wall that kept drawing her attention. She looked down at her mug instead.
The two women sat in silence. Alice drank her hot chocolate down in one; the warm sensation was pleasing, and she immediately felt drowsy. Her head was spinning with the thoughts of the girl, and her dead family – Alice was certain that Andromeda, too, was contemplating their fate.
'I better get going,' Alice said, after a while, and Andromeda nodded. They looked at the clock: it was already past four.
As they quietly made their way into the living room, Alice heard Ted talking to the girl. That's your pulse,' he was saying to her, 'and there -' He took one of her hands and gently pushed it against her chest. 'Is your heart. It's like clockwork, that thing - it keeps beating on and on. As long as you can feel that, you're fine.' Ted smiled at the girl, and then looked up at the two women, a slightly embarrassed grin on his face.
'She's got to stay with me,' said Alice, 'I need to take her with me into the Ministry tomorrow - papers, family, that sort of thing.'
Andromeda raised her eyebrows. 'No, we'll take her for the night. You've done enough tonight – besides, I want to check on her in the morning.'
'But - ' Alice attempted to argue, but was cut off.
'We've got a spare bed, so she can sleep there. I was going to give her a sleeping draught anyway,' - she gestured to a flask she held - 'so she'll be fast asleep for several hours. You can come and pick her up in the morning. And I'll send the motorbike back to Sirius, so you can Apparate home.'
Alice felt too tired to argue now. 'Thank you,' she said, 'thank you...' her voice trailed off into a yawn again. The little girl's eyes were already closed. Alice touched her lightly on the head, marvelling at the warm softness of her hair, before turning to the Tonkses and bidding them goodnight.
'See you tomorrow, then,' said Ted, and opened the door to let Alice out.
She smiled, nodded, and with a small pop, made her way home.
The apartment, which was usually cold, felt warm tonight, although Alice still shivered as she undressed. Her boots had squashed her toes and they felt raw and stiff; it felt good to move them again. She quickly washed her face with cold water, not bothering to wait for the water to heat up, and randomly reached for a T-shirt that was draped on a radiator. Not bothering to put on anything else, Alice sunk into the bed. It was warm with Frank's heat - he was sleeping soundly - and Alice snuggled closer to him. She noticed that the gash on his shoulder was beginning to heal; the skin had just started to scar. Alice gently kissed a spot just above the wound.
As she closed her eyes, she saw the image of the elder girl's lifeless body falling down the staircase. She bolted upright, and shook her head as she tried to clear her head of this picture. Alice could still feel her own heartbeat rushing; the night's excitement still lingered in her. Cuddling up to Frank again, she took his wrist and felt for his pulse; it was slow and even, and seemed to slow Alice's own heart rate down. She felt calmer, and closed her eyes – she was ready to sleep.
'Mm.…Alice?' murmured Frank, in a blurred sort of way.
'Just checking,' whispered Alice, and slipped further into the blankets, still holding Frank's wrist. She was glad that the girl was alive, glad that amid all this chaos she could still feel Frank's pulse, and listen to the steady sound of his breathing; the tick-tick-ticking of his heart.