Parallel Universes • s.black

XXXV

One of them said something about security messures before the fat lady painting closed us in and Remus let out a humourless bark of laughter.

"Security measures?" Remus spat out once we were alone, the rest of the Gryffindor House still at dinner, "Did they not see bodies? Do they think their immune? " he yelled.

"Moony." Peter mumbled, putting a hand on Remus' arm but he just shrugged Pete off.

"No one's immune!" He cried, anger and frustration coated his voice but the glisten of tears in his eyes gave away how truly devastated he was.

"It's not her." I said quietly, my voice shaking.

"She killed four people today. Four people!" He continued, not hearing me. Lily let out a sob and James' hands came up, like he wanted to reach out and take her into his arms, but then lowered them as if he remembered himself.

But I needed to be heard.

"It's not her! It's not Stella!" I roared, stopping Remus in his tracks. Everyone's eyes were on me, searching me, trying to take on my words, my outburst.

"No matter what happens," I began my eyes sweeping over all of their frightened ones, "No matter what she does, we have to remember that it's not her. It's him. Voldemort. He killed those people tonight. Not her." I spat the words out as if they tasted foul in my mouth. They did.

"He's controlling her. Using her. Defiling her in the worst way- her thoughts, her words, her actions, her body!" I choked up, my anger becoming that awful kind, that wet kind- where your voice shakes and your body trembles and your eyes burn with hot angry tears.

"So what do we do, Sirius?" Lily spoke up, her voice small and afraid. James really did reach out to her then and Lily accepted his touch, even leaned into him.

"We're gonna save her."

~~~

I had no idea how. None of us did but we knew we had to and we knew we'd do anything we could to do so. Lily couldn't go back to her room, I'm not sure if it was fear or just a comfort thing- maybe both- but she stayed in the spare bed in our room. The bed that Stella stayed in at the start of fifth year. What seems like a lifetime ago.

We stayed up late, no one talking but no one really able to sleep. And we kept the light on.

In the morning, at breakfast, I held my breath while entering the Great Hall my eyes immediately going to Stella's usual spot at the Slytherin table between Bellatrix and Narcissa. It was empty and I couldn't work out whether I was happy or sad about it.

Then the next 'hold my breath' moment happened halfway through a square of grain bread toast and some too sweet pumpkin juice.

As people started to slowly filter out of the Hall to their first class, McGonogal's hand came down on Lily's shoulder.

And so I held my breath.

Without realising, we had taken the long route to the Great Hall this morning passing by the main doors that were wide open to allow the morning Spring sun to shine through but we weren't looking at the sun, we were looking at the cobblestones.

And they were bare. No bodies. No blood. Nothing. They were bare and since then I had been wondering whether everything that had happened last night was going to be swept under the rug and we just weren't going to talk about. If McGonogal had now realised this was much bigger than us and was going to take matters into more proffessional hands.

So when she approached us I held my breath not knowing what to expect.

"What class do you have first?" She began, the question directed at all of us.