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Stolen Magic by coolh5000

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Chapter Notes: Thanks so much to Kara for betaing! Contrary to the chapter title this is not actually the end but the story is nearing completion now. After this chapter there will be one more and then an epilogue. I can't believe it's all almost over!
The next few minutes passed in a blur for Adrian, but it quickly became apparent that Hogwarts was indeed intending to fight. All around him people were starting to prepare and he wondered if they were going to be expected to do so too.

He was relieved when McGonagall announced that everyone under the age of seventeen would leave the castle. It wasn’t that he didn’t support the cause, but if the last few weeks had taught him anything, it was that he didn’t have the necessary ability to meet their standards of magic.

The sound of You-Know-Who’s voice was one of the most chilling things Adrian had ever heard and it was not a sound that would leave him for a long time. For the first time he wondered how he could ever have doubted the evil that had been happening in the school that year. This wasn’t the Ministry in control, this was a madman determined to build his idea of a perfect world and kill anyone who tried to stop him.

Adrian had seen Harry Potter before of course - he always seemed to be at the centre of something happening at Hogwarts - but tonight was the first time he understood the kind of power that he held. Fresh from hearing You-Know-Who’s threats, he was spotted in the crowd. He looked older than the last time Adrian remembered seeing him, and he had obviously been going through hard times himself. On the surface, he didn’t seem like a person who would be able to combat the evil they had encountered. But something about him seemed to radiate that he was that the person, and from the way everyone looked at him, to the way the rest of the students rose en masse to protect him from the Slytherins, it was clear that he was someone for whom people would die. He was someone worth protecting.

There was hardly time to consider this thought however, because Adrian found himself swept along with the other students through the corridors of Hogwarts, heading upwards to a corridor he had never visited before. And it was here that it became clear exactly what had happened to the students who had been disappearing rapidly since the Easter holidays. He had no idea how, but they had managed to form themselves a secret room at the heart of the castle where the Carrows couldn’t find them, and from that room, there was a passageway into Hogsmeade.

It was through this that they would leave Hogwarts that evening to be taken to safety. While the older students and the staff and others who had arrived to help stayed behind to fight, Adrian joined those forced to leave. He wished he could do more, but he knew this fight was going to be a tough one, and it was not one that a group of underage teenagers would be able to fight.

They were taken down the corridor in small groups and then Apparated to their homes by a Prefect. Adrian and Dorian were taken together to Dorian’s before the Prefect rushed back to Hogsmeade for the next ones. There was little time for the older student to explain why the Whitbreads had been woken in the middle of the night by their son and his friend arriving home.

The two boys did their best to explain what had happened at the school though there were many parts of it they didn’t understand. Upon hearing the news, Dorian’s father grabbed his cloak. –I should probably see if I’m needed at the Ministry,” he said, –This is going to cause trouble.”

Mrs Whitbread asked if Adrian wanted to stay, but instinctively he felt like this was the kind of night he needed to be with his family. –I think I’d better go to my mother,” he said. –I’m sorry, I know it’s late, but…”

He didn’t have to say anything else - Dorian’s mother immediately offered to Apparate him home. It took several tries knocking before his own mother came downstairs.

–Adrian?” she said, sounding confused as she opened to door to find her son standing there. –What on earth is going on?”

–You-Know-Who is attacking the school. They evacuated us all.” A look of horror crossed his mother’s face. She may not understand everything that went on in the world but even she hadn’t sunk to supporting You-Know-Who.

–He’s at Hogwarts?” she asked faintly, ushering him inside and closing the door firmly behind him.

A quick look around told Adrian that little had changed since he had last been there. The progress he had made in tidying during the holidays had quickly been undone and there were things everywhere.

–Have you heard from Dad?” he asked, nervously.

–Why would I? Your father has gone, Adrian. He’s not likely to come back and check I’m okay now.”

She needed to know the truth. With everything that was happening that night, Adrian couldn’t see how telling her the truth would put her in any more danger than she was already in. Earlier that evening he had made Dorian and Rosa promise to tell her what had really happened, but now he was going to do it himself.

–Dad didn’t leave you, Mum,” he said. –He found out the Ministry were planning to do something to Samuel because he wanted to leave the Institute and so he ran away with him. He’s keeping him safe and he couldn’t tell you because he wanted to you to be safe too.”

Theia stood staring blankly at him for a moment. –I don’t understand,” she said faintly. –How do you know all of this?”

–They took me to the Ministry and questioned me about Samuel. They’ve not been trying to help him at all - they wanted to keep him locked up in that Institute, hidden away so they wouldn’t have to admit that none of it makes any sense. Samuel never had his magic stolen - he just doesn’t have any and he never did.”

–Adrian, I don’t know what they’ve been trying to tell you at that school but it’s not true. Your brother is a wizard and his magic was stolen from him by Muggle filth.”

–Don’t call them that!” Adrian shouted and was shocked by his own tone. He had never spoken to his mother like that before. But the way she talked, it was too much, it was like listening to the Carrows all over again.

–You’re wrong, Mum. I know it’s hard to say but it’s true. They’ve been lying to us.”

–No,” she said firmly. –Adrian, they haven’t. You’ve had a long night, Adrian, though that’s no excuse for talking to me like this, so I’m going to ignore what you just said. You’re obviously tired.”

–I’m not tired!” This was actually true. Adrenalin was coursing through his veins and he knew it would be impossible to sleep now, even if he wanted to.

–Dad still loves you, he told me. He’s been trying to protect you. But you have to accept that Samuel is going to be a Muggle and go to Muggle school and live a Muggle life, or they’re never going to come back.”

–Stop it,” she said, raising her voice slightly. –Stop talking about things you will never understand. You were not there the day the Healer told us he would never use magic, the day we found out he could never be like us. You didn’t see the Muggles in the waiting room, so completely clueless, so surprised by everything around them. Their lives would have been no different if their child had been born one of them but instead they got what we should have had, what Samuel should have had.”

Adrian was shocked to see that she was crying. She sat in to the sofa and began to sob.

–Mum,” he whispered. –Mum, I’m sorry.” She didn’t hear him, or if she did, she didn’t reply.

At some point, she fell asleep on the sofa and eventually, Adrian did too, curled up in one of the armchairs, exhausted from everything that had happened over the past few hours. When he woke again, it was light outside and the sun was streaming in through the windows. He thought guiltily of what had been happening at Hogwarts and the fact that he had slept while people fought.

A glance at the clock told him it was a little after eight. His mother was still asleep, her eyes stained with tears. Suddenly the silence was startled by a knock at the door. Feeling nervous, he grabbed his wand and went to answer it.

He was relieved when he found Mrs Whitbread there.

–Adrian, is everything okay?” she asked when she saw him.

–Do you know what happened?” he asked, ignoring her question.

She took a breath. –You-Know-Who is dead,” she said at last, –and the Ministry has been overthrown. It would seem he has been behind a lot of the things that have been happening recently. Dorian’s father was only able to come home for a few minutes but he told us that there is a new Minister - an Auror who fought at Hogwarts last night. He has promised to change things.”

Adrian remembered hearing Mrs Whitbread speaking to his mum about Muggle-borns on the first of September that year and he wondered how she felt about this news. It was not the time to ask, however. He had something more important to talk about.

–My Dad,” he said, hesitantly. –He ran away with Samuel, because they were in trouble. How will he know that it’s okay to come back?”

–I’m afraid I don’t know, Adrian. It will take some time for things to go back to normal, I expect. You may be waiting a little bit longer for the news to reach him. I am sure it will though. You father is a clever man, he will find a way to get the information.”

Somehow, Adrian had never really thought about what would happen when it was all over. He wasn’t sure if he was really ever expecting it to be over. But now his father wasn’t exactly going to just stroll in through the door. It would take time, just like it would take time for his mother to forgive him for the things that had happened.

She hardly reacted when he told her the news. It was as if she had simply switched off to the world after her outburst the night before.

Please come home soon, Dad, Adrian thought desperately. I don’t think we can go much longer without you.

As predicted, however, it took a while. The next couple of weeks passed agonisingly slowly. Theia hardly moved from the living room and it was nearly impossible to get her to speak. Adrian got his news from Dorian, who wrote to him every day aboutwhat was happening, which he found out through his father. Apparently Hogwarts had been almost destroyed and large chunks of the castle were now reduced to rubble. At least fifty people had died, killed while defending the castle. In one of his letters, Dorian told him that Ralph Summerby, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain for their short season, had been among them. Adrian cried that day.

As the days passed, the letters became less about the damage and more about what was being done to rebuild. Teams of people were working day in and day out at Hogwarts, trying to return it to its former glory, however impossible that seemed. Hundreds of people who had been wrongly imprisoned were released from Azkaban and those who had gone on the run slowly began to return to their families. There was no news of Gemma however, and still no sign of Adrian’s father.

It was two weeks to the day after the battle, when he heard the knock at the door. He had been in his room, trying to distract himself by reading, but in reality going crazy from being cooped up inside the house. He raced to the door, hoping beyond anything that he would see his father standing there, and not some Ministry official, come to deliver them bad news.

It was neither of those people waiting for him at the door however, and for a minute he almost didn’t recognise the person standing before him. Her hair had been hacked off and she was painfully thin. There were bruises on her face and she stood slightly unevenly as if trying not to put too much weight on her left leg. Her clothes were clean however, and she was smiling weakly. Wherever Gemma had been, she was now free.

Without stopping to think, Adrian immediately threw his arms around her neck, almost knocking her backwards.

He hugged her for a moment and then stood back, feeling suddenly embarrassed. It was then that he noticed Dorian and Rosa were there too.

–You’re back,” was all he could say.

–Is there somewhere we could sit?” Dorian asked. Adrian glanced warily in to the house behind him.

–Maybe the garden,” he suggested, not sure how his mother would react to the unexpected visitors.

He led them round the side of the house and they sat cross-legged on the grass. It was a warm day and the sun bounced off their faces, lighting them up and casting less of a shadow on Gemma’s injury.

–When did you get home?” Adrian asked.

–A few days ago. I was too ill to leave the house at first - they wanted me to stay in St. Mungo’s but there was a shortage of beds so they told me I had to rest at home. As soon as I was allowed to leave I made Dad contact Dorian and Rosa and they said we should come and see you too.”

It was then that Adrian realised that in spite of everything that had happened with the other two, as far as he knew, Gemma still hated him.

–Don’t worry, Adrian,” she said, obviously seeing the expression on his face. –They told me a lot of stuff about what happened. I had a lot of time to think while I was locked up. I’m not sure I can dwell on the past anymore.”

–What happened?” asked Adrian, –Though you don’t have to talk about if you don’t want,” he added quickly, catching the warning look shot at him by Rosa.

–No it’s fine. I think it would help to talk about it.

"You know I was part of Dumbledore’s Army, don’t you? We used to help free people who had been put in detention or chained up in the dungeons along with other things. The older students were wiser than me - they knew there was a line you shouldn’t really cross. I never really got that -I was just determined to cause as much trouble as possible, and it really cost me.

–My dad did a lot to speak out against the Ministry over the last few months and I suppose between me and him they started to get a bit fed up with the Millar family. It would have been a lot more difficult to arrest a fully grown adult so of course they picked the easy option and went for the teenage daughter instead.

–I was taken to Azkaban. I can’t talk about it in there, not yet. But I feel lucky to be alive now. There were days when I thought I would die. Or worse.”

Adrian didn’t ask what or worse meant, but he shivered slightly at her words.

–I really am sorry, Gemma,” he said. –I know it doesn’t exactly make up for it, but I wish it hadn’t happened like it did.”

She shrugged. –I learnt there are more important things to be worried about. We were both following our hearts, Adrian. What more is there to say?”

Adrian didn’t reply. He was amazed how easily she was able to forgive him. How could she not hate him after everything she had been through, after all the times he had just stood back and watched, or raged against the way Dumbledore’s Army stood up against the Carrows?

–Have you heard from Mark?” Rosa asked, finally voicing the question that had been lingering on all their minds.

Gemma’s face darkened slightly. –Not yet, but there’s been a lot to sort out. He wasn’t one of the people arrested which means he probably went abroad, and it’s taking time for them to get everyone home.”

–My father is abroad somewhere,” Adrian said. –They were starting to threaten Samuel. Mum’s not taking it well,” he added, nodding his head towards the house, where the curtains in the living room were still tightly drawn. –I’m not sure she’s going to forgive him, even if he does come back.”

If. It was a big word and one Adrian had been thinking a lot recently. In the days immediately following the evacuation of Hogwarts, he had been expecting his father to walk in at any moment, thinking it would only be a matter of time before he returned to them. The more time that went on, however, the more he began to wonder if there was a chance his father wouldn’t come home. What if something had gone wrong when they made their escape? What if he waited and waited but they just never came home?

The others had moved on and were talking about Hogwarts again. There was some doubt as to whether the school would reopen again in September given its current state.

–Even if we could go back, I’m not even sure what year we would be in,” Dorian said. –It’s not like we had a full year of proper lessons.”

–I’m not sure I want to repeat fourth-year though,” Adrian replied. –I suppose they’ll have to figure something out. Most of the subjects were okay. It was just the Carrows who were incapable of teaching.”

–And some of us weren’t actually allowed to go to all our lessons,” Gemma added dryly. She laughed at the look on Adrian’s face. –Stop feeling so guilty,” she said. –You couldn’t have done anything to stop it. I may look a mess now but it will get better.”

They sat on the grass for a while talking about not very much in particular. Dorian invited Adrian to go and stay at his for a while but he felt too worried about leaving his mother alone.

–Maybe when Dad’s back,” he said, though he knew that when his father and Samuel eventually returned, he wouldn’t want to let them out of his sight again.

It was early evening when Gemma’s dad arrived to collect her. By then, she was looking tired, the strain of just having spent a few hours outside clearly showing on her face. She was obviously weaker than she had let on and though she understandably didn’t want to talk about it, Azkaban had been tough on her.

Another couple of days passed before Adrian received another visitor. Except this time, it wasn’t really a visitor. The knock on the door came late in the afternoon, when he and his mother were spending some rare time together in the living room. Adrian was immediately on his feet, desperate to see someone else. He opened the front door and gave a yelp of joy.

–Sammy!” He ran at his brother, pulling him in to a huge hug before turning to his father and hugging him too. –You came back!”

–Of course we came back, Adrian,” his dad replied. –Did you ever think we wouldn’t?”

–It’s been a long time,” Adrian said, slightly reproachful.

–I know, I’m sorry. It took a couple of days for the news to reach us and then there were things I had to take care of. How is your mother?”

–She’s not good,” Adrian replied lowering his voice. –I’m not sure she’ll be that happy to see you.”

–Well I suppose I have a lot to explain to her. Does she know?”

–I tried to explain it to her, once everything was over, but it didn’t go well.”

Suddenly there was a shriek behind him. Theia, drawn by the sound of the voices in the doorway had come in to the hall and had spotted them. Immediately, she ran towards Samuel.

–My baby,” she cried, hugging him closely. After a few moments she pulled away, smiling the first smile Adrian had seen on her face in weeks.

It quickly faded however and she turned angrily to Edward. –How dare you!” she half-screamed. –How dare you leave without a word, kidnap my son, fill Adrian’s head with all sorts of nonsense and abandon us? And don’t try and tell me it was all for the best. You had no right to take him from me, no right at all.”

–Theia, please, you don’t understand.”

–Don’t tell me what I don’t understand.”

Adrian looked at Samuel. –Why don’t you come upstairs,” he whispered. –I think they need to talk.”

–I’m not sure there’s going to be any talking,” Samuel replied, looking worried.

–Maybe it will do them good to shout for a bit. It’s more than Mum’s been doing for the last few weeks. Come on, I want to hear all about wherever you’ve been.”

–We’ve seen all over Europe,” Samuel replied, as they made their way upstairs. –Dad said he may as well use it as an opportunity to see the sights. He spent a lot of time contacting other wizards as well though. I don’t really know what’s been going on, but Dad’s definitely been up to something. I just wish we hadn’t had to leave Mum behind.”

–I think Dad did what he thought was for the best,” Adrian said carefully, –Though it’s been hard for Mum.”

–They’ll work things out, won’t they?” Samuel asked.

–Yeah, of course they will,” Adrian replied, too happy at finally seeing his brother again to want to spoil the moment. In truth though, he had no idea whether their parents would be able to work out their differences. So much had changed for them as well as everyone else. Could they really just go back to the way things were?