ultraviolence

❝ Sorry about the mess, but we always seem to bring this place to the ground.

[jspotterii-blog]

“Afraid not. Hogwarts is likely going to become a battleground, so we’ll need to stick around and do what we can here. It’d be easier, I think, if we just sent all the students home, but that’s not my call to make.” Making a dash for his room, James dug around in his robes until he found the one where he’d left the Map. He’d need to start keeping it on him at all times. While he didn’t have his wand, he’d long ago set up a different charm to access the Map’s information. Unfolding his makeshift his bandage, he let blood drip onto the parchment, watching as it disappeared into the paper and began to reveal its contents. His eyes were quick to begin searching for his sister’s name, finding it by their mother’s. The hospital wing. He rolled his bottom lip into his mouth and rolled up the Map. “She’s in the infirmary. Mum’s with her.” He tugged at his brother’s shoulder with his good hand. “Come on.”

[albusspxtter]

Albus watches James check out the Map and he’s awestuck by how clever his brother is. He never even thought to just check the Map for where their family is. When James tugs his shoulder, he turns and starts moving quickly. He walks head of James and holds all of the doors open for him on their way. “If we’re all sent home, all of the Death Eater students will be sent home too. I mean, that won’t stop whatever this is happening, but it’ll keep little kids away from it.” He knows James can’t do anything about this, but he tell him anyway.

[thexrosexweasley]

“Don’t worry about me. I’m long since all healed up.”

[albusspxtter]

“What happened to you? Did they lock you up somewhere too? Do you have your wand?”

[qveenavery-blog]

Giggles chimed out of her lips, even surprising Amma in their genuine tone. An image of little Albus irritating the heck out of his older brother was certainly a funny one. “Always been a bad boy then, Potter?” She asked, settling into a smile. “When I was little, I used to make my little brother and sister pretend I was a princess, and they were my loyal subjects.” Amma thought for a moment, shaking her head, “I suppose not much has changed with my siblings and I, either.” If he wasn’t going to close their distance, she may as well. The blonde shifted slightly to lean her head against him, continuing their conversation as if the gesture was nothing, “I bet you were a cute kid.”

[albusspxtter]

“I was a super cute kid,” he says with a laugh. “I bet you were cute too. A little blonde spitfire with big eyes. I would have been your loyal subject if you wanted to play princess with me.” He runs his hand over her hair. “Sometimes I wish I had more younger siblings. Lily’s really hard to boss around; I feel like I’m her younger brother sometimes. I wish I had someone that feared me, if that makes sense? Like, I want to feel like a leader to someone, but all I’ve got are First Year Slytherins who listen to me for a while until they learn from the older Slytherins that it’s not cool to associate with a Potter.” He smiles through all of his words.

[qveenavery-blog]

“The bruises hurt, but I’ll get Nadia to heal them later.” Amma nestled into her pillows, and tucked under her blankets. She noticed the boy’s hesitance, and looked down, “you can go, if you don’t want to stay with me, Al. I’ll understand. As much as I want you here.”

[albusspxtter]

“No, I’ll stay. I want to be here too.” He smooths out a bump in her blankets, still sitting, but he scoots closer to her.  He doesn’t know why he begins speaking, maybe to fill up time or calm his nerves or make Amma smile. “Once when I was younger, I got really sick and I asked my mum to make my brother read to me, so she did. I was just being a little shit really, like if I couldn’t have fun then James couldn’t either. So that just made James pissed because he couldn’t go out to play so he’d sit on my bed like this and he’d make up really terrible endings to the stories. And I was convinced they were real. And then when I’d tell other kids, they thought I was so stupid, but I thought they were the idiots because they didn’t know know how the stories really ended.”

[serpentinadia-blog]

Maybe it was because Albus was just so earnest in his condolences, or maybe it was because he had been in that room with her–she had cut him–but she felt the fight leave her as quickly as it had come. She’d been expecting a snide remark about Leo’s death or about her daring to return to school–she’d already gotten a few–but here he was, trying to be nice. She looked up at him, grimacing. “It’s fine, Potter. There’s–talking about it won’t change anything, so..” She trailed off, shrugging.

[albusspxtter]

He nods. “I know, but it helps sometimes.” His hands fall from the chair. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. I’ll let you get back to work.” He turns and begins walking away.

[qveenavery-blog]

It was so easy with the nice ones. Amma directed her hand to lightly link with Al’s, before she pushed open the dorm door and made her way to her bunk, next to Leo and Nadia’s, though they were, at present, empty. Shrugging off her sweater and shoes, the blonde climbed daintily into her bed and nodded her head to her side, “just for a bit, promise.”

[albusspxtter]

His heart races when she takes his hand and it slows as he observes the room, since he’d never been in it before. Once she’s in her bed, he sits on the edge and looks down at her. Maybe just sitting here would be enough, he hopes, and he makes no move to lay down. “Do you feel any better?”

[jspotterii-blog]

“Yeah.” James understood Albus’ concern. Their mother was a strong woman, not just as a witch but mentally. She was their rock, had always been the one that was the most stable. But even she in the midst of this had to be losing her cool if she hadn’t been able to locate Lily herself. “We’ll find Mum too.” Finally arriving at the dorms, he was quick to say the passcode and head into the Common Room to get into his own. “Things are going to be…complicated from now on. At Hogwarts. You know that too, don’t you?”

[albusspxtter]

Albus diligently follows his brother. “I know,” he says with a sigh. So much for having a normal Hogwarts experience. Or maybe this has become normal. He envies the people who manged to have a seven years of war-free Hogwarts between his parents’ time at at the school and now. “Any chance we could just hang out at home until this is all over?”

[qveenavery-blog]

“I… same,” Amma nodded, walking with Al. “Cassia means everything to me. It means a lot that you helped.” They veered out of the common room and up to Amma’s door, where she paused, turning to blink up at him. “Did you… if you wanted to, you could come in,” she started, rubbing her arm. “I’m so tired, but I don’t feel like being alone after everything. Maybe you could… lay down with me for a bit?”

[albusspxtter]

Albus knows he needs to be with his family, but he rationalizes with himself. What kind of person would he be if he just left Amma after she told him she didn’t want to be alone? So, he nods. “Okay. Just for a bit.” A blush creeps onto his cheeks, but he reminds himself this is platonic.

[serpentinadia-blog]

Nadia closed the book in front of her, the resounding thud earning a glare from Madame Pince and a few other of the library’s occupants. She reached across the table she’d laid claim to, looking over the list of assignments she had missed. Feeling a presence near her, she sighed, “These seats are taken.” She said dully, not bothering to look up, “Yes, all of them.” The stares were bad enough, but there were very few people Nadia was actually in the mood to speak with right now.

[serpentinadia-blog]

[albusspxtter]

Albus stays anyway but his stance his very cautious. “Nadia, I just wanted to say that I’m so sorry.” He grips the top of the back of the chair next to her. “I know how hard this is. If you ever want someone to listen, I’m here for you.” He feels genuine empathy for her.

[qveenavery-blog]

Amma did not take Albus’ hand, but the way she let her skin brush against his whilst they walked, she may as well have. When they’d crossed the castle and slipped into the dungeons, and finally into the Slytherin Common Room, the blonde wasn’t surprised to find Cassia gossiping amongst the other girls in her year, safe and unharmed. “There she is,” Amma breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded in her sister’s direction. She turned toward Al and offered a small, half hearted smile, blinking tiredly. “Thanks, Al. Do you think you could do me one more favour and walk me to my dorm? I think I,” she rubbed her head a little weakly, “I… need to lay down for a little.”

[albusspxtter]

Albus lets out a breath when they find Cassia. He’d feel completely awful if something happened to the girl. The last thing he’d ever want for Amma is to know how it feels to lose and immediate family member. He nods at her request. “Of course.” And he begins walking toward her dorm with a hand on her lower back to keep her steady. “I’m so glad your sister is okay,” he tells her.

[thexrosexweasley]

“A cut. A wound. A gash. A laceration.” Yes, she was being dramatic. She still wasn’t okay with her baby (cough cough, same age) cousin having a cut on his face. She’d been trying hard enough to keep up with Hugo that when she tapped her thumb against the cut, she was able to cast episkey without pulling her wand out or saying anything. Of course, that still left her leagues behind where she wanted to be. “All better.” 

[albusspxtter]

The cut feels healed, but he touches his cheek, just to feel the smooth skin. “Thank you.” He rubs some of the dried blood off his chin and then decides he’d worry about cleaning his face up later. “How are you? Are you okay? Did they hurt you much?”

[qveenavery-blog]

“It’s not. It’s not okay,” Amma sighed, though her concentration was shifted when Albus brought up her sister. Cassia could more than handle herself, but she still did genuinely feel the need to check on her. “We should. Thank you for this, really. The Slytherin common room seems like a good bet,” the blonde nodded her head in it’s direction, and begun walking, allowing her shoulder to brush into Al’s as she did so.

[albusspxtter]

He nods. “Okay, let’s go.” For a moment, he considers taking her hand, but he knows she doesn’t like him and, although it could be taken as a comforting, friendly gesture, he doesn’t think she’ll take that way. So he simply walks close to her.

[thexrosexweasley]

“Stop, stop- look, here…”

[albusspxtter]

“It’s just a cut, Rose. I’m okay.”

[qveenavery-blog]

“Oh, Al.” Amma moved away from the topic of her and Lily, her eyebrows then furrowing at the mention of Albus’ father. She shoved the memory of Lily’s cries after she gave the girl a cut to match the man’s to the back of her mind. “I wish I could help,” she said in a soft tone, “I wish I could make you feel better.”

[albusspxtter]

He smooths his hand over her hair. “It’s okay. You don’t have to help me. Just you being okay makes me feel okay.” He wets his lips and watches someone pass by them. “Should we go look for your sister?”

[jspotterii-blog]

“I know. I do too.” He had been worthless in the battle and had to leave everything up to the Order. And while he was of the belief that this shouldn’t be the war of the students, he didn’t like being powerless, either. James started walking again in larger strides, more determined to get to the dorms. “Have you run into any of the rest of the family? Mum perhaps?” 

[albusspxtter]

Al shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. I think I saw Rose but too much was going on for me to talk to her. I bet Mum is looking all over for us.” Albus is so worried for their mother. She must be terrified for her children. She’d already lost her husband, and Albus is afraid she’d break if she lost one of her children too. He needed to stay alive, not for himself, but for his mother. 

[pocketsfullofsins-blog]

❝If you insist.❞ 

[qveenavery-blog]

“I’m so sorry. For your family, for what I said, for everything, I didn’t think. I’m so sorry,” she gushed, weaving a more weighted tone into voice. Amma’s eyes fluttered to a gentle close, nodding once. “Right. You’re right. You’re not… you’re not angry with me anymore?” She asked, opening her eyes again to blink at him behind watery eyes. “I mean, you have every reason to be.”

[albusspxtter]

“It’s okay. I don’t think Lily will ever forgive you, and I don’t blame her, but I believe you’re sorry.” He shakes his head and moves his hand from her face to hold her hand. “No, I’m not angry with you. I have other things to be angry about.” He sighs. “My dad is dead and I still can’t believe this is all happening.”