Falon let out a long breath, careful not to allow Stirling to hear it. She shrugged her good side. “We find our purpose in many different ways, I suppose.” She looked at the boy; not unkindly, but with an exhaustion and experience she hoped he’d never have to live through. “Sometimes those are the same things.”
Stirling frowned and shook his head. “I’m not sure I agree with you about that...but I’m not going to argue with you while you’re hurt.” He shrugged. “You’ll have to find me when you feel better and we can duke it out then.” He smiled at her although it’s warmth didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah?”
Alice looked up, surprised at the voice. For someone so on edge, it frustrated her for a moment she had not noticed somebody on the bridge with her. What if it had been a person sneaking in? Or somebody that was not supposed to be here? If things were changing, her mindset would have to do the same. Once recognizing that it was Stirling, Kingsley’s brother who clearly shared a name with him, she tensed a little less. “No, I’m not hurt, I’m okay, I’m fine. Considering my mum just kicked me out of the Hospital Wing, don’t think you would have much luck with it anyway.” Alice pointed out as she straightened out her legs and wrapped her coat tighter around herself, fully seated on the floor now. She didn’t do with reminding Stirling that her mother was the acting head Matron, but Alice would clarify if he looked confused. “Thanks though.” Did she look so much a mess that she needed to be taken there? It slightly bothered Alice then, thinking how she needed to get her act together.
“She kicked you out? Why?” Stirling cocked his head and came a little closer to Alice, noting her slightly relaxed body language. “I kinda figured they’d be taking all the help they could get the Great Hall is...full.” Stirling could only imagine what the Wing looked like. Maybe she’d been kicked out for reasons only a parent could understand. “I wouldn’t take it personally though. You do have to rest too.” He bit his lip. “I’m glad you’re okay...you gave me a real scare back there when you fell.”
“Quit talking to everyone else all the time, and just turn around.” Kingsley said walked in, ruffled with a few scratches as rewards for finally learning how to duel and fight back, “Bloody Hell.” he sighed while sitting. “You all right?”
“Kennilworthy!” Stirling was up and out of his chair despite the discomfort in his ankle and quite before he knew what he was doing, was hugging him. “Oh thank God you’re okay! I was scared! Have you seen the others? Please tell me you’ve seen the others!”
“Don’t be.” Falon replied, shaking her head. “I’d have been the same, if I didn’t get it.” At his offers, though, she couldn’t help a morbid chuckle. “That’s… not the pain I meant. Besides, as long as I keep hurting, I know I’m alive. I know I’m awake.” She didn’t tell him that the pain made her feel better about who she was; that it was a distraction from the gaping memory loss and emotional wreckage within her. “You good?”
He worried his lower lip between his teeth as he scrambled for something thoughtful and poignant to say. He was coming up blank. “Pardon me if this is rude but...but I don’t think that’s such a good thing. Pain...uhm, shouldn’t make you feel alive or awake.” He tangled his fingers together. “That should be family and happiness and stuff...” He trailed off, eyes locked on her shoulder. “You know?”
Falon’s head snapped at the boy’s stuttering voice, her head swimming with the movement. “No. I don’t even - I don’t drink.” She didn’t - not while she was at Hogwarts, at least. She understood the boy’s shock at her words, but even still found herself frustrated by his misunderstanding. “I’m just saying I feel like shit.” Her head tilted, her good shoulder lifting. “Then again, being drunk would at least make it hurt less.”
Abashed, Stirling shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sorry.” He lowered his eyes, sad to see her so hurt and so in pain. “Do you, uhm, want me to get you a nurse? Maybe they can get you some pain stuff? I mean, I don’t know what that is, but I’m sure they’ll have it...if you want because I won’t if you don’t...you know.”
Alice didn’t think it was possible, but she had been kicked out of the Hospital Wing for the first time at Hogwarts. Nobody was going to tell the Head Matron’s daughter to leave unless it was the woman herself. She had put up a fight, not wanting to leave her friends for a moment, but it was not a fight she was going to win with her mother. Angered, the Lioness stormed down the first floor corridor to the stone bridge where she could properly pace this time. Fishing into her pockets Alice drew out a cigarette, something that always happily accompanied her pacing. Grabbing for her lighter next she gave it a few flicks but the flame barely flickered. Again she tried and again, but the frustration overtook her as she chucked the beloved piece down the path, watching it bounce across the stone. Leaning against the bridge wall she slowly slipped down in, crumpling to the floor. “Fuck.”
It was cool outside and compared to the near stifling heat of the Great Hall it was almost chilly. Stirling loved it. It brought goosebumps to his arms but it meant he was breathing. He knew he probably shouldn’t be up and walking but until he’d found all of his brothers and sisters he wasn’t going to sleep a wink. So when someone had come stomping down his bridge, interrupting his thoughts, he jumped. He jumped at everything now, even Frog who had taken to approaching him form the front instead of the back. Stirling planned to leave his new buddy alone, they probably had their own problems to sort out, but then they’d crumpled and he couldn’t turn a blind eye. Rushing over to them he put a hand on their shoulder. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Should I get a nurse? I mean...I don’t think they’ll be happy to come all the way out here but I’m pretty sure they will...or I can carry you? I mean...are you okay?”
Everything was black. Or maybe white. It didn’t matter: all that meant anything was that everything was gone. Last thing she remembered, she’d been staring out at a battle, wordlessly felling Death Eaters; now, this. The Great Hall, and a raging headache. Her throat felt dry, her eye stung, there was a faint hint of nausea to her stomach. Her breath smelt of vomit. She hadn’t really been expecting a response: all that was on her mind was ensuring her friends’ safety, but no one would let her move. “I am too sober to feel this hungover.” She was speaking to herself, really, wrapped in a blanket, one of the professors staring at her as though their life depended on it.
It was his second trip through the Great Hall that evening, looking for his family, when Stirling heard Falon talk. Most people ignored him, some just asked if he’d seen so and so, but his trips through the ghastly place were filled more with cries of pain and moans. So he had to stop and do a double take. “A-Are you saying you want to drink right now?” He moved to stand at the foot of her bed. “R-Really?” He sounded aghast but mostly he was just glad to hear the still lump talking. At least if she was drinking she was a live, right?”
“My mum is freaking out over a broken ankle that isn’t even broken any more.” Stirling rolled his eyes but sat heavily on the nearest chair he could find. “It’s taken all my will power to keep her from smothering me.” He swallowed, the attempt at humor half assed and weak.. “I wish I knew where the rest of my family was. You haven’t seen them have you?”
Stirling hadn’t wanted to come to Hogsmeade today. Every fiber of his being had been totally against the idea. So totally against the idea that going made him feel ill. But his friends had insisted and he was pretty sure Poppy was going and he hadn’t seen in her in ages. And here he was, staring but not really seeing, the wares the joke shop had to offer. And honestly, when compared to the likes of the joke shop in Diagon Alley, it was pretty pathetic. Stirling picked up a prank wand and spun it around. It flashed into a chicken and he laughed, just a little. The classics were classics for a reason. He contemplated buying it and pranking Kennilworthy but opted against it. He wasn’t about to start a prank war he had no chance of winning. Putting it back on the pile he watched it snap back into a wand and he walked off, missing the company of Frog at his side. He’d made her stay home today, locked her into his room more like. He’d never done that before but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.
Walking out into the arm sunshine of the afternoon Stirling smiled, bad feeling or no bad feeling it was a beautiful day to visit Hogsmeade. It was too bad, however, that Stirling had opted to spend most of it inside perusing stores and drinking butterbeer. He stretched his arms and spun in the middle of the street, trying to shake the bad feeling. Grabbing a random girl, he spun with her and smiled when she smiled. “Beautiful day, no?”
The girl only giggled. Probably a mix of honest to God happiness and the fact a Skeeter-Kingsley was taking notice of her. Stirling might be the…forgotten child, the kid that was a little more off the wall than people were used to, but his family’s reputation still followed him. He didn’t mind though, sometimes it gave him perks. Good perks. He released the girl and watched her walk off before moving down the street himself, trying and failing, to keep shaking the bad feeling rolling around in his gut.
And then it happened.
The cloaked figure appeared around the corner like something out of a muggle horror film and Stirling knew he’d made a good choice in locking Frog away. Stirling wasn’t the best student, he spent far more time hashing out his theories than doing his homework. And practice? Please. But seeing that figure work his way down the street spurred something in Stirling and without realizing he was doing he was grabbing for his wand and pushing people in the opposite direction. And Stirling wasn’t stupid, he was going with the flow of the crowd, until the flow stopped and Stirling ran into the back of someone.
That was when the screaming started.
Both sides. There were attackers on both sides. All around even. It was like they had come out of the woodwork. Stirling hadn’t seen so many people with wands pointed at him since his brief, and admittedly embarrassing, stint in Dueling club. The fear was pretty hard to ignore but despite it Stirling stood his ground, giving up on keeping the people behind him in order. Most of the had taken off the minute they saw more attackers. Stirling watched some of them fall. It was a scary sight, watching people fall and knowing some may never be getting up again. The fear washed over him again and for a brief moment he wondered what his last name might get from these people before the curse passed by his head. It was then he knew they didn’t even care. He bolted then, aiming for a dark alley and praying to God it wasn’t one of those ridiculous dead end alleys.
It was.
And he wasn’t alone.
Cowering in the corner was Tinsley. Maybe it had been fate or maybe it was just luck, but Stirling wasn’t going to ask questions. He grabbed her hand and tried to smile at her, although it felt a little more like a grimace.
“Tins? Tins, are you hurt?”
“D-Don’t you call me that. I hate when you c-call me that.”
“And that’s how I know my loving sister is still very much in one piece.” Stirling joked, hoping to crack a smile out of her and failing.
“Now isn’t the time for jokes, Stirling!” Tinsley chastised, swatting him. Stirling smiled and squeezed her hand.
“We can’t stay here, Tins. We have to leave.”
“No way. Not leaving. Nope. Nope. Nope. I’m safe…we’re safe. Here. No one will find us. It’s safe. Safe.” Clearly she was saying it to convince herself and not him but Stirling just shook his head.
“No. No hiding. We have to go. Mum and dad will kill me if I let us stay here. Besides, Frog is in the castle and we have to go get her. Let her know we’re okay.”
“F-Frog is a cat, Stirling!”
“So? Everyone has a reason to get off their ass. I’m just hoping you have enough of a heart to get off yours so we can go check on her.”
“Seriously?”
“Please?” It came out more pleading than Stirling would have liked but it didn’t matter, he could see him winning in her eyes. It was a strange time to argue but maybe, in the midst of all the chaos, normal was all that was keeping them both from losing. Tinsley stood and Stirling managed to smile at her. “On the count of three we’re going to run. Straight back to the castle and to Frog, you got it? I’ll be right behind you, okay?”
“Okay.” Her voice didn’t shake and Stirling managed to force himself to let go of her hand. “One. Two. Three.”
She took off like a bullet with Stirling close on her heels. The streets were in chaos but it was easy to avoid it if you kept on your toes. So easy that Stirling was getting confident in himself. And that confidence crumbled like the wall Stirling had been running by. A spell shattered the wall and one minute Stirling was behind Tinsley and the next he was trapped beneath heavy stones. And sure, he’d tasted fear since the masked figure appeared but this fear…this fear felt real.
Tinsley stopped and came back, tugging at his arms. It hurt and he cried out, begging her to stop. “I’m stuck. I’m stuck Tinsley!”
She didn’t drop her arms. “I-I can’t leave you!”
“You’re…You’re going to. I’m…” Stirling had to take a breath and took a few seconds more to gather what little was left of his courage. “I’m going to play dead until the Aurors get here. Okay? You have to go. Don’t look back, okay? Go…Go check on Frog for me would ya?”
“Stirling…”
“Damnit go!”
Tinsley waited a second longer before dropping his hands and leaving him. That was the scariest bit, watching her leave, but he didn’t want to doom her. The activity on the street had died down to almost nothing but Stirling made himself flop, closing his eyes. He knew dead people normally had eyes open but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t blink at the wrong time.
And so he waited.
And waited.
Even after the dark mark went up and the screaming stopped.
It was only when he heard the voices of whom he could only assume were aurors before he started yelling. In a matter of moments, the rubble was moved and Stirling was propped up on a tall man’s shoulder. “I-I have to get back to school, mister. My sister…she’s…my family.” There weren’t any words left for Stirling, usually quite the talker. He’d seen so much today. He just wanted his family. Some auror who Stirling thought was named Tom picked him up and before he quite knew what was happening he was whisked off to the castle and placed on a bed without so much as a good bye. In seconds one of the many nurses bustled by and before he quite knew what was even wrong he was fixed. “Have you seen my family?”
“You’re Stirling Skeeter-Kingsley, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Your sister Tinsley is outside, raising a racket because we won’t let her in.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Can she come in now? Or…can I go see her? Because I really, really need to see her.”
“You’re all good now, just make sure to stay off that ankle for a little while, got to have those bones get back to full function.” She smiled again and waved him down the hall. Stirling started walking, limping a little, until he couldn’t take it anymore and ran. Straight into Tinsley and a very disgruntled Frog. And then he hugged her, tightly, Frog mashed between them.
Stirling had always fantasized about what he’d do in an emergency, sometimes he was the white knight and other times he was the martyr. But in all honesty, he’d never been faced with one in real life. He hadn’t been at that ball, his mother and father had other plans. In fact, he’d been pretty sheltered from the wars and stories of war. So when he saw the mad scramble in town he felt real fear. You couldn’t be shielded from war for forever. It was only when he saw the masked figure turn the corner and onto his street that Stirling finally found it in him to move and move quickly. Grabbing the nearest person by the elbow he all but dragged them down a side street. “We’ve got to get out of here. Now. Fastest way back to the castle? Do you know? Please tell me you at least know how to cast Stupefy.”
“You offered. That sounds like a gift to me,” Arabella replied brightly, shrugging once, “Yes, you’re right. You can be both.”
“All right. You’ve worn me down. You may consider the following drink as a gift. No payment needed.” He smiled at her. “Good. I was worried for a moment I could only be one and that, my dear, is the most impossible choice I’ll ever have to face.”
Falon’s head tilted, and she nodded a little. “No, you can’t.” She frowned, unable to fault the boy’s logic, and unable to help a small flicker of illogical hope. If the castle could heal… Perhaps she couldn’t, but others certainly could. “The world needs balance, huh?” Her eyebrows raised. “Sadness? Whatever do you mean?”
“The world is all about balance if you look at it.” Stirling said with a shrug. “Mum calls that fung...something or other...or something like that. We’ve got furniture in strange places.” He laughed and nudged her with a shoulder. “I’d be more prone to believing you if you smiled a little more.”
“I don’t wear the red and gold for no reason,” she remarked with a smirk. “C’mon, try it. It’s really not that bad.”
“Okay. Allow me to rephrase. You might be brave but there’s probably a little bit of stupid mixed in there.” He grinned. “I’ve always been a believer that a lot of this Gryffindor courage we all hear about arose from lucky guesses.” Stirling laughed. “Are you positive I won’t keel over?”
“Well, your logic doesn’t add up. If you’re buying it for me as a gift, then I don’t have to give you anything,” Arabella pointed out, before a tickled smile curved at the corner of her lips, “I can’t tell if you’re being charming or if that’s genuinely your opinion.”
“And when did I say it was going to be a gift?” Stirling asked, cocking his head and racking his brain for a reference to that. “You’re putting words in my mouth!” He laughed. “How about both? I can be both right?”
“With everyone out here, it’s hollow.” Falon mentioned, before looking down at her feet. “Built on salt. It’s been broken into before, so many times. How can we have faith in it?” She blinked, running her hand through her hair and wishing she could see it as the boy did. “Maybe you’re right. I’m being defeatist.”
“Broken into, yeah, but still standing. I mean, you can hardly tell a war was fought there.” He smiled a little. “I like to consider myself an optimist but I think it’s healthy to hear the other side’s point of view. And so long as we admit who we are...” He shrugged. “Such a sad mood for a fun day, no?”
“Who says I’m going to give you anything for it?” Arabella replied, raising her eyebrows almost challengingly, “Although I will thank you for the compliment.”
“Common sense of course.” Stirling joked, waving over the nearest waiter. “It’s hardly a compliment if I think it’s the truth, eh?”
