For All The Things In Between
Part One
Teddy had barely reacted when the screams started. He had expected it.
Nova had immediately grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the shops, trying to get them somewhere safe, but running straight towards the least safe place there was. The Silver Masks knew that people were going to run to the shops, that there was where the screams had started. And so Teddy had stopped her, and told her to hide in a small ally instead.
âWe canât hide! We need to fight!â Nova had shouted and Teddy had simply shook his head. His expression still showed no sign of agitation, only calm, almost professional attentiveness. âGo to an ally and stand with your back to the wall.â Heâd seen her fight, they had been training together for three long months now, and he trusted her to survive, but he did not want her to throw herself into combat. No matter how powerful, she still had a learn, and those people attacking right now? They were adults and blood-thirsty. They werenât going to take a Stupify to make Nova feel proud. âDonât try to leave Hogsmeade, theyâre probably surveying the exits. Just be safe and donât forget to breathe.â
And then he had made his way through the town, fast, but never running. His eyes checked everything, those with masks and on those without. So many faces. Keeping himself to the walls of houses and hoping that the contrast of the bright sun and the shade would hide him, he fought with both hands, the one with and and the one without wand. He had worked on perfecting defense spells without a wand for five months now, and he wasnât scared, partly because he trusted himself, but also because he was too busy searching for people in need of defense to dwell on failing. He couldnât fail, he couldnât die, he had to protect those who needed to be protected.
Marion and Darius. Unmasked, their back to each other, fighting against a mutual enemy. Teddy would have paused to make sure that this was actually happening, that this was reality, but his instincts commanded him to act. Without another word, without a warning for the attackers, he interrupted the fight scene with a few, sharp spells.
âTeddy!â Marion exclaimed when one of the two Silver Masks was unconscious on the ground, the other one running away - probably to get more support. Darius was smiling. It was nothing like his beautiful, genuine, childish smile Teddy had witnessed so many times by now, but it was a smile. They were alive, fighting, together. âTake her, please. At this point I feel she is a curse.â Darius said as he trotted over to Teddy, followed by a vividly babbling Marion, and Teddy was about to reply when a bright curse shot out of nowhere and hit Marion between her shoulder blades.
It was the first time today that Teddyâs expression changed to utter horror. He reached out, his lips parted, but before he could even take the breath to speak, more curses were flung at them, and he stumbled backwards, attempted to dodge them, fell down to the ground. He tried to cast a shield between his friends and the Silver Mask, but they had come out of nowhere and Teddy was still incapable of seeing where the curses came from - the sun blinding him. The Silver Mask let out a yelp of pain which then stifled into dead silence. Teddy propped himself up on his elbows. Darius had gotten them.
Only that it was too late. âDariusâŚâ
Marionâs body was so small that it hardly covered Dariusâ, yet neither of them moved. The total lack of expression on their faces told the story of the few seconds Teddy had missed.
âDarius!â Teddy repeated but this time, his voice broke into a scream. âDarius, no, no, no.â He scrambled over to them, too frantic to walk properly now, too panicked to notice how his jeans ripped and his knees started to bleed as he stumbled and fell down next to them. âMarion, Marion, wake up, Marion? Darius, no, please, donât just-...â He rolled Marion off him, holding her head to look at her face, her wide open eyes, the smile of her last joke brutally frozen to her lips forever, and suddenly there were tears blurring his vision, flooding his eyes, falling down onto her pale cheeks. An endless chain of watery âNoâs.
There was nothing left of his calm composure from moments ago, pain and guilt had taken over. His forehead pressed against Dariusâ. âYou idiot! You fucking, fucking, idiot!â he cried out, hammering his open hand against Dariusâ chest again and again, unsure of whether he meant Darius or himself. âWhy didnât you wear your mask, why didnât you save yourself, why-, I told you not to fight, I told you to stay alive, I-...â
He had told them a lot, yes. Taught them, both of them. As different as they were, neither of them had been in the DA, neither of them had been wearing a mask. Both of them had been willing to let Teddy help them, to teach them how to defend themselves, to truly conjure magic from within them instead of incantations. Both of them would have deserved to come out of this as friends; Darius catching Marion as a sign that yes, even someone like Darius Nott could change, could take his mask off, could learn how to fight for a Muggleborn, if only given the chance. Yet both of them were now lying dead next to each other on the burning ground of a side alley in Hogsmeade.
âI told you I needed you.â
He wanted the pain turned into determination, cold and harsh, unforgiving, but he hardly managed to breathe, his lungs aching every time he exhaled, incapable of inhaling fresh air again, incapable of wanting to breathe when Marion and Darius couldnât. All because of him.
His hand wiped over his face as he sat up, eventually, slowly, without any energy or will to his motions. They would have deserved more. They deserved a proper funeral, they deserved that people knew how they had died, how they had survived, changed, grown. How they had been children, needing nothing but a hand to reach out to them, to guide them. Children. Teddy wiped his eyes once more. It was of no use. They would have deserved so much more. By the time he finally stood, a thousand of flowers had bloomed around their two bodies, called by Teddyâs accidental magic, growing until their bodies were covered, safe by charms incomprehensible to those who have never truly loved before.
The last time he had seen people die before his eyes, anger had stirred in him, stuck to him like disgusting illness for weeks, and he had wanted to burn each of those Silver Masks alive. But one of those Silver Masks had been Darius. He had saved Teddyâs life, and taught him to never give up hope, not even on your enemies. Teddy had failed to save Dariusâ life today, though. He had prepared for five whole months to defend himself without a wand, and all that to fail defend the one person who had saved him when he had faced death without a wand the first time. He felt weak. His steps werenât fast and precise anymore, but stumbled and confused. He barely made the effort to raise his wand. Everything around him seemed dead.
Marion had been a Muggleborn, the only witch of her family, so there was no one of her family here. Good. Fred? He knew how to take care of himself. Frank and Daniel, too. Who was important to Darius? Charlus. Teddy had seen Charlus earlier on, not along with his sister, which either meant they had gotten in danger to find each other, or saved themselves together. He needed to find them. They were so young. Children, just like Darius and Marion. Even with a year of training in the DA, how were they supposed to take all this death around them? Who else of the younger ones had come to Hogsmeade today? Loraly was a sixth year and Teddy had seen her fighting, there was no doubt that she was able to fight, for herself and Scorpius, hopefully. Who else. So many names started to shoot through his mind, names and how likely it was that they were safe by now. Emily? Likely. Kingsley? Unlikely. Stirling? Unlikely. Violet? Unlikely. Anna? Unlikely. Hugo? Likely. Falon? Unlikely. Rox? Unlikely. It was a horrible guessing game to play, especially as the âunlikelyâ side of the list kept growing.
Tears were about to rise back, when a voice called him.
âWhat are you doing, Teddy?â It was a shouted whisper but Teddy recognised the voice anyway.
âHarrison.â He turned, eyes wide, almost hopeful, almost grateful. How had he forgotten about Harrison? He ran over to him, met half-way. âHarrison, fuck, youâre-....â His arms slung tightly around him.
âShh, not so loud.â Harrison warned him in his whisper tone. He dragged Teddy behind the corner of a little hut but it was the fact that he did not let go of him which had Teddy feel safer than he had felt in weeks. Months. âTheyâre still here. Weâre trying to find them, then surprise them. Maybe we get them before they leave their Dark Mark.â
Teddy frowned. âWe? What-, Who? What are you talking about?â He only realised now that Harrison did not look frightened. At least not compared to New Yearâs. There was wariness in his eyes, of course, his breath was short and his pupils dilated, but none of the panic Teddy had seen so often was in them right now. He even held himself differently, appearing confident, changed ... brave.
Teddyâs own eyes widened but before he could let go and step back, Harrison understood and held onto him. âW-we watched the smurfs together at my place, itâs okay, itâs-, itâs me.â
It was. It was Harrison. Not someone taking up his form, not someone holding him captured by an Imperius. Just Harrison, wearing the courage which had always resided within him. Harrison, the fifth year, who was actually a sixth year, who had not yet turned seventeen. A child, in some way, not less than Darius, not more than Marion, and still he stood here and started telling Teddy about what had happened on this side of Hogsmeade so far, telling him about who âwhatâ and âweâ were, and looked so strong. Shaky. Nervous. Exhausted. But strong nevertheless. He explained that when the attack had started, he had seen himself faced with two possibilities; To hide and live, or to fight and save. âAnd I chose the latter. I-,â
Teddyâs kiss interrupted him.
The feeling of wanting to cry had been less strong than the feeling of wanting to thank him. For this. For reminding Teddy that there was hope, that there was something to believe in, that no one should ever give up, that everyone had the chance to be a âlikelyâ. And he thanked him with letting his wordless lips speak of all the facets of love which still existed on this earth and within him. Thank him for being here, alive.
âI always knew you would choose the latter one day.â he said as he pulled back again, second later, keeping his hands on Harrisonâs jaw and neck and inhaling the last breaths of warmth before he stepped back. âLetâs go, then. Letâs find whoeverâs left.â
Anger, much like fear and hopelessness, was no way to win a war. You had to fight, yes, but you had to know what you fought for. Whether you were like Darius, who had learned to question himself, to fight against himself, against his values, all for his brother, or whether you were like Harrison, who had learned to trust himself, to never give up on life, and to realise that a broken soul was still a soul, it did not matter. It was still something to believe in, something giving you hope. What mattered was that at the end of the day, you could hold someoneâs hand while marching into the unknown, and know that even if there is fear and anger everywhere around you, you are filled with love.
