All in the Family

Chapter 112: Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four

Frank's suspicion sadly came true, as Alice hadn't even stopped rolling before vomit finally spasmed up her throat.

Lily was cross-eyed and swaying drunkenly as she determinedly went to her and rolled her onto her side, but she was already coming out of it by then, and by the time Frank stumbled over she was sitting up and trying not to laugh at the chalk dust he was covered in. Her body tried dry heaving instead, and that miserable experience left her slumping into Frank's arms in exhaustion as she finally got a look around.

They were in the History of Magic classroom. It must have been Frank who had erased whatever topic was on the board, there was a window opened in the back to a bright sunny day letting in a nice cool breeze, but most students didn't bother taking books out in this class, so at least the desks had been clear of debris for the others landing.

Alice's eyes were sagging closed and none of them would have been surprised if she fell asleep like that. Lily still hoped to get one more chapter in and pray they got dumped in someplace with beds, and began looking around herself. The book was next to Hermione's notes on giant wars, Lily would have guessed they were hers even before she saw the girl's small, smashed-up handwriting near the open window and her name scrawled across the top, but it was only half complete, the ink pot hadn't even been turned over from where James Potter had nearly landed. She snatched the book away and sat down in the seat, pretending it was the only thing that had drawn her over here. "Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four," she said loudly, pretending she also wasn't fighting off the impulse to say thanks to Potter.

It still baffled her mind, he'd helped her stop a fight?! Granted, he was still shooting dirty looks at Frank, but staying slumped on the floor under the desk beneath her rather than pacing along the back wall like his best friend, whom he'd stopped. She'd seen it all and could barely wrap her head around it.

"Alice," Frank whispered quietly in her ear. Her eyes were still closed, but Lily was already reading about Harry's very happy feelings for creating his group, and then the damper of whatever this stupid new Decree was, so clearly she hadn't fallen asleep yet. "Would you like me to tell Lily to stop? You can go to sleep," he brushed his hand carefully through her hair, it still came away sticky with blood and alcohol.

"No," her voice slurred despite herself, and the fact that it was a lie. When was the last time she'd slept? Back in the Hufflepuff common room, her mind finally groggily replied, though the answer had taken so long to swim up the boys' outrage at Quidditch being disbanded barely registered, and Ron and Harry tried and failed to tell Hermione about the banning of said groups and clubs.

Before You-Know-Who had come back, before this future now felt like their present, and somehow it was even worse in Harry's time hearing of the tyrannical Umbridge. She didn't really think Harry was going to find a way to defeat her, but she also didn't want to be the reason they stopped when she was still so worried about them getting caught, even more so now as no traitor of the group was immediately sussed out during breakfast in the Great Hall.

Frank didn't argue the point, but he also was not nearly as invested as he usually would have been when Hedwig apparently showed up in this class, injured?

Lily startled terribly when Potter launched to his feet so fast he cracked his head on the desk and barely stopped until he was at the window, and then leaning out dangerously far to check below. He came back in rubbing his head, but she wondered if a Bludger hurt worse, or it was his thick skull that had him brushing it off and saying, "she's not there, keep going Evans, I hope she's alright." He hadn't even gotten to his feet at his favorite sport's insurrection, though his shouts had echoed loudly beneath her.

She flushed, actually feeling bad for her snide thought, and refused to acknowledge him eyeing her even as she found her tongue answering by once again looking critically at Hermione's half-done notes. "I'm sure she's fine, the three probably abandon class to take care of her."

"Ah," he nodded as if that made perfect sense, but still bounced on his heels and watched the book imploringly. It took her a few moments to realize that's what he was looking at, and she had to kick herself for being an idiot. Clearly she'd hit her head one too many times through this trauma.

Her guess turned out to be wrong as Harry left alone with his bird, but she eyed the incomplete work again and still didn't think her idea that this had distracted even Hermione invalid. She glanced up and saw Potter nodding and eyeing the chair Ron would presumably be in like he was thinking the same thing, the two imagining a whispered exchange, and she snapped her eyes back to the text in frustration at herself. It was just because he was standing so close she'd seen him first, and surely everyone had been thinking something similar, not just the two of them.

She found herself on the edge of her seat without any reasonable explanation to herself, holding the next page painfully already as Harry chose the staff room for help, and a quick exchange between McGonagall and Grubbly-Plank had Hedwig off for treatment, but Harry with a note from his godfather and more questions than ever.

Harry's mail was now being watched? Who, or what had attacked Hedwig? It couldn't have been Umbridge, but she was the only suspect. What was going to happen to Sirius?

It was all so daunting, Potter didn't even interrupt her in outrage at the Slytherin Quidditch team being allowed back in the same day it was disbanded.

What did get everyone's attention, was Malfoy's horrible comment about St. Mungo's dragging Harry off for brain damage.

The rest of them gasped, Lily sucked in air through her teeth she'd said such a thing, Alice even snapped out of Frank's lap, all steady once more as she put her hand on her wand, but told Lily with a straight face, "Neville. Tell me he wasn't there."

Lily wished she could, but that didn't change what happened next, as the next instant Neville Longbottom charged at Malfoy, but was forcibly stopped by Harry and Ron until Snape arrived and broke it all up.

They were all still shifting for that distressing moment, each wishing they could do something, say anything to make that even remotely better, but words weren't enough. Frank finally placed his hands back on Alice's shoulders, both were shaking, but he eased her back against his chest. She went willingly, but her eyes stayed open as Lily forced out the rest.

Thankfully Snape's attention was diverted by Umbridge in that class, and Neville wasn't brought up again. Lily's insides burned through the whole encounter, rather ashamed to admit her wavering thoughts about every single thing now.

She wanted to go back to Frank and Alice's side and promise that would never happen to them, but the words would just feel empty.

She wanted to turn to Potter and give him free range to do to Lucius what they couldn't to Draco for those vile words, but she'd try to find some way to do it first at this rate.

She read painfully about Sev's future, and her heart crumbled as she had no idea what she was going to be like when she got back to her best friend. Would she even be the same person anymore? She didn't want to stop being friends with Alice and Frank, but they hadn't made it a secret they no more liked him than the Marauders, would they still talk to her when she went back to talking to him? What was she even going to say to him about all of this? Betray the Marauders' secrets? Demand of him too many years early why he was acting this way? He'd think her nuts.

She'd been asking herself all of this for so long now, and she still had no good answers. The vile way he continued to treat Harry in there wasn't leading towards a good one.

In Harry's next class, Trelawney was on probation, and Lily read through it like it was Binns's reading.

The twins had perfected a new item for their Skiving Snackboxes, and even the Marauders couldn't bolster up the energy to cheer about it.

It wasn't until Sirius popped back up in the story, and the fireplace, that any of them felt themselves drawn back in, but found themselves ripped out just as fast as Sirius almost was.