Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Recap: Severus talks Bellatrix down, Charlus and Dorea stay in the girls' dormitory, Sirius loses consciousness while doing the transfusion, Dorcas finally snaps, Charlus goes searching for Bellatrix, Kristina ups her game and Marlene feels the pressure to hold onto Sirius, Margaret tries to reason with Remus but he is determined to fight, Karen is in grave danger, Charlus goes into cardiac arrest (what? Wizards can have it too!), and Dorcas and Alice exchange some less than flattering opinions of each other.

In A Heartbeat

By LilyxJames4ever

Chapter 45 – Black and White Ball Part 9

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 2 AM – 3 hours earlier

CRASH!

Frank: Some things are too important to lie about.

"Shut your spiteful mouth," says Alice, losing it completely.

Dorcas laughs harshly. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"Dorcas," yells Frank. "You need to stop this."

"Don't you order me around," snaps Dorcas angrily. "But you know what? I will stop because Alice is never going to admit what she did anything wrong so forget I even said anything!"

"Now all of a sudden you're going to let it go?" Frank says baffled.

"Because there's no point! You won't see her for who she is!"

"What's going on here?" Michael asks Frank.

"I have hardly an idea," says Frank coolly.

Dorcas stares at Frank and the latter stares back at her and then looks at Alice wearily.

"And I don't think I want to know," finishes Frank.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I think you're still a little lightheaded from all the blood you lost," says Kristina, once she has recovered.

"Kristina, just go –" begins Sirius tiredly.

"Or maybe you're caught up in the romance of all the danger," she continues, looking at him. "But there is no way in hell that you're in love with Marlene McKinnon. You weren't in love when you said it a couple of months ago and you still aren't."

Sirius stares at her beyond irritated.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Bellatrix looks at Charlus, who is panting heavily and holding his chest, directly where his heart is.

"Do you see what you've gotten for saying I'm not threatening?" she asks. "Merlin works in mysterious ways!"

Charlus tries to scream out in pain but no sound can come out except his ragged breathing.

"So, should I finish the job up for him?" Bellatrix asks, "or should I let nature take its course?"

Charlus gasps and pants louder, his chest burning in pain.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Marlene sits down next to Sirius.

"It's true that I love you," says Sirius sincerely. He looks at Marlene. "You know that, right?"

"Oh Merlin, you're delusional," says Kristina.

"Don't fight me. You shouldn't even be here, let alone be putting input into our conversation. Frankly, how I feel about Marlene is none of your business. Besides, I'm being honest."

"Honest," scoffs Kristina. "I'll give you some honesty," she says to Marlene. "You might not know this but Sirius only cares about the woman who's in his bed at the present time. He said the same thing to me earlier this year, you just distracted him so he forgot where his priorities lie. This is just an act that you're –"

"Kristina," cuts off Sirius. "You're insulting Marlene and me. Not to mention you're embarrassing yourself." Kristina snorts.

"It's obvious that Kristina isn't going to back off of you Sirius and I think it's time you clear the air already so I'm just going to wait outside," says Marlene, starting to get up.

"Wait, you can't wait out –" begins Sirius.

"No, I'm going to give you some privacy Sirius so you can set Kristina straight. I'm going to be right outside the door." She pauses. "I trust you, Sirius."

He smiles weakly at her as she gets up and walks out. Kristina is speechless and points incredulously at where Marlene just stood.

"I know you've had a rough night and you feel like hell and Marlene's been a comfort to you –"

"You're wrong. Why can't you just leave -?"

"When we're finally alone?" smirks Kristina, her demeanor changing entirely.

"Don't go there, Kristina, don't –" begins Sirius but Kristina cuts him off.

She cups her hands on his cheeks and pulls him in for a passionate kiss, catching him off guard. The kiss becomes more heated and she forces her tongue into his mouth, raiding it and savouring the taste. To his immense shock, she slips her dress over her head and begins straddling him, cladding in only her bra and panties. She slips them off and forces two of his fingers into her opening, moaning with immense pleasure. It is then that he is finally able to pull back and stare at her in shock.

"What the hell?" he hisses.

She smirks, clearly flaunting her body for him. "You're just as good as I had remembered. Let's see if you feel the same inside of me…"

"Oh, bloody hell no!" he cries, throwing her off of him. She stumbles back. "Put your clothes on," he hisses. She does so, not wanting to argue with him.

Sirius groans and rubs his hand over his forehead. He cannot believe this is happening. He loves Marlene and he was just straddled by his naked ex-lover, the very thing Marlene feared. He had told her, even yelled at her, that she should trust him and when she finally does he goes and betrays it. He feels sick at the thought of what could have happened if she had walked back in.

"I love Marlene," he finally says to Kristina. "You can't go around forcing your body on me!"

"Oh, I didn't force you to do anything, Sirius. You could have pulled back immediately but you didn't because you liked it. Face it, you're sick of Marlene and you're already moving onto me again."

"You're delusional. I'd never cheat on Marlene with you, or for that matter anyone. So you can get the thought that I'm into you out of your head right now."

"You want me. You only said that you're in love with Marlene to make her feel –"

"Don't tell me how I should feel," says Sirius coldly. "I've moved far on from the days where we were together. Apparently you haven't."

"I tried."

"Well I suggest you try harder because I will never feel the same way I do towards Marlene to you. Not even close."

Kristina stares at him, masking the hurt she feels in her heart and praying that her eyes do not reveal anything.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Severus rushes Karen out of the common room and into an empty classroom.

"The only reason I agreed to come with you is because you said it would keep Jason safe," says Karen, turning around to watch him close the door. "Now tell me what's going on."

"Unfortunately you look like Andromeda Tonks," says Severus.

"How does that make me a danger to anyone else?"

"Bellatrix has been obsessed with trying to kill her sister for years. Once he sees you –" He falls silent.

"Bellatrix has tried to murder her sister?" she cries incredulously.

"Her mind snapped long ago. If she sees you it'll be a blood bath."

Karen looks away disturbed, then back at Severus again.

"So tell me," she says. "If you knew Bellatrix was dangerous then why the hell didn't you do something to stop her?"

Severus just shakes his head.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Charlus lies panting on the cold floor while Bellatrix stands above him smirking.

"You're not being fair," she complains. "You're cheating me out of the pleasure of killing you myself."

Charlus pants and tries to look up at her.

"You're not faking this are you?" she asks. She kicks him hard in the back and he grunts and holds his chest tighter in pain. "I guess not. You're going down for a dirt nap and I didn't have to lift a finger. I scared you to death!" she shrieks. She laughs hysterically. "That's a first."

She bends down next to him.

"I never had a heart attack before, it looks excruciating," she says, looking at him. "Are you choking on the pain?"

"They say you lose control of your bodily functions," she continues. "No dignity left." She leans closer and whispers into his ear, "How humiliating."

She picks up her wand that had fallen next to her when she was knocked back. She waves it around his head.

"What would you give to be put out of your misery?" she asks. "Give me an offer. You're going to die and there's got to be something in it for me. Anything?"

Charlus continues to breathe heavier and heavier, the pain intensifying to a near breaking point.

"Fine. Twitch away! But don't say I didn't ask." She stands up and walks away, leaving him on the cold floor.

Soon thereafter James comes to the scene and gasps when he sees his father on the floor.

"Dad!" he calls, running over. "Dad, what happened?"

Charlus lies panting on the floor, unable to speak to his own son.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I think I know," says Alice. Everyone turns to face her but she looks only at Dorcas. "You never forgave me, did you?" Dorcas is silent. She always did have some problem remaining with Alice after their fight though she used to be unsure what it is. It is only recently that she realized it is Frank. "You want Frank because it's something you can't have. You think it'll level the playing field somehow, like I did something to deserve this…well you're wrong. You've been acting strange ever since you got here, really for months, yelling at me for Merlin knows what. Well you know what, sorry you can't have him."

"You bitch," growls Dorcas, starting towards her but Michael holds her back.

Frank stares at Alice and she only shrugs in return. Frank turns to look at Dorcas.

"Perhaps you should go," he suggests. Dorcas glares at him.

"You're not exactly guilt-free in this either!" she snaps, jabbing him with a finger. "You liked Alice way before our relationship ended but you said nothing. Why the hell would you lead me on when you knew that you cared about someone else? Merlin, Frank, I thought you were better than that!" She then turns to Alice. "And you. You're nothing more than a bitch and a skank!"

"Hey, HEY!" yells Frank furiously. "You can insult me all you want, I don't give a damn, but you either leave now or shut your mouth because I'm not going to stand here and let you yell insults at Alice."

"Then perhaps you should kill me," says Dorcas simply. "Just get me out of the way right now so I can't say another word about your 'precious' Alice."

Frank glares at her and Alice sits down on Hagrid's bed wearily.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Dad? Dad! DAD, what happened?" cries James frantically.

Charlus lightly pounds his hand against his chest where his heart is.

"Heart, heart, heart attack," cries James. "Shit," he curses. His dad gives him a look. "Right, sorry. All right, I have to get you up and get you some help." He conjures a stretcher and slowly lifts Charlus onto it, grunting under the weight. Charlus, however, begins breathing heavier so James puts him back down.

"Okay, since I'm a Wizard how about I levitate you?" he says, more to himself but also to relax his dad. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Charlus begins floating up and James places him gently onto the stretcher.

"James what's going –" begins Jacob. He stops short. "What happened to dad?"

"I think he's having a heart attack," says James shortly to his brother.

"Dad, you don't look so good," says Jacob concerned.

Charlus manages to roll his eyes.

"We need to get him some help," says James hurriedly. Jacob nods and begins to levitate the stretcher down the corridor.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I might be happy for you if I didn't know how this was going to end."

"I have a connection with Marlene, she gets me. She carried my child for those few months before he or she died."

"That's ridiculous. You two are from two different worlds, Sirius!"

"Are you blind? Of course we're not! We're both Purebloods who come from families that might as well be dead for the notice we get from them!"

"Besides," continues Sirius. "Don't try and tell me you know Marlene the way I do."

"No, but I know you, Sirius."

"You do not."

"Yes I do! I know who you are and where you come from just as much as she does! More even! I'm telling you, Sirius, she will never understand you!"

"You're wrong."

"You are asking to get hurt!"

"What Marlene and I have is no better or worse than what you and I had. It's different. It's not about games, hooking up, and drama. We both know what we want."

"You think she's going to want you when you graduate from Hogwarts?" asks Kristina. "She's going to run into the arms of any guy so fast and leave you. You're going to lead completely different lives Sirius. You and I…we don't know what to do with our lives after school. We are guaranteed a future."

"You need to get over this fantasy that anything you say will change my mind," says Sirius, trying to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach at the prospect of not spending the rest of his life with Marlene. "We will never get back together."

Kristina stares at him, tears glistening her eyes but she quickly blinks them back. Sirius notices this but chooses not to say anything of it.

"I wish you happiness Sirius, honestly I do. I may not show it but I know it's what you deserve." Sirius nods numbly. "And if you find out that Marlene can't give you that…I promise I won't say I told you so." Sirius stares at her.

"Well you won't have to worry about keeping that promise."

Kristina says nothing and Marlene opens the door slowly and reenters the room.

"Sirius, you need to rehydrate and raise your blood sugar level," she instructs. "I got some water and a few apples."

"Thanks, I am a little lightheaded," he says, finding it difficult to look her in the eyes. He is afraid she might see the guilt he is feeling for snogging Kristina while she is naked. He has betrayed her and she can never know this. She just…cannot.

"I told you, you were a little lightheaded," says Kristina, before she can stop herself.

"Kristina, don't do this right now," warns Sirius. He has already had enough of her antics for a lifetime.

She stands up. "You're in good hands. I'm out of here."

"No, you're not. There's a killer on the loose and her companions are waiting to clean up the witnesses'."

"Sirius, I'm sure I can handle Bellatrix Lestrange," says Kristina. "Besides, you can't tell me what to do anymore." She gives him a pointed look and he returns an exasperated one.

"Could you possibly act like an adult for once?" Marlene asks her, stopping her at the door.

"Excuse me?" she says, smirking. "Look at the pot calling the kettle black."

Marlene ignores her and crosses his arms.

"You are so busy trying to get Sirius' attention that you're willing to risk your life in order to see if he'll get up off the chair and chase after you."

"Sirius can't chase me. He's too weak from trying to impress you."

"Kristina. If you go out there in the dark, firing random curses and charging around somebody's going to wind up dead."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Jason's up there fighting to keep one of your friend's victim's alive," says Karen.

"He's going to become a Healer, that's his job."

"If Jason dies I'm holding you responsible. You let Bellatrix run free."

"You're right, I should have killed her in her sleep," he says sarcastically.

"I'm talking about getting her help. Proper treatment. There has to be another way out of this insanity besides more murder."

"The woman is well past your kind of help," sneers Severus. "This is a bad idea, I'm taking you back to the others. Safety in numbers."

"I'm going back to Jason," she says.

"Your call," Severus calls after her. She turns around. "But if the others end up getting hurt or dying because of it, that's on you."

Karen looks terrified at him and does not move.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Margaret walks down the corridor and looks to the left where the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room is to see James and Jacob levitating Charlus down the corridor. She, herself, had been separated from Remus in the dark and she looks at them startled, almost forgetting that there are other people in the castle.

"He's having a heart attack," explains Jacob.

Margaret rushes to open the portrait hole for them and helps them get the stretcher up the girls' dormitory steps. Everyone stares at his or her retreating figures in confusion but say nothing, the Healers-In-Training monitoring Marc.

"How long has he been like this?" she asks them.

"Err – I found him maybe ten minutes ago," says James as they try to squeeze the stretcher through the door to Lily's old dormitory.

"Okay, place him right there," instructs Margaret, indicating next to Dorea.

"What happened?" asks Dorea worriedly.

"He's having a heart attack," explains Margaret.

Dorea's mouth falls into an 'O' shape and she tries to sit up to see him better.

"You need to summon a Potion from the hospital wing, now," says Margaret to James.

Jacob and Jack help Dorea sit up so she can see her husband.

"Charlus, are you all right?" she asks him. He does not respond. "Margaret, please, do something."

"I know, I'm going to try and stabilize him until we can get him to St. Mungos," says Margaret distractedly.

"We need to get a carriage," Dorea says, looking at Jacob.

"It'll never make it in this weather, mum."

"Well we have got to do something!" she cries.

"I know."

Suddenly, something comes whizzing into the dormitory and James catches it in his hand.

"Here you go," he says, handing Margaret a bottle of some potion.

"Can you talk to me?" whispers Dorea.

"Love…Dorea…" he says, his breathing ragged.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Potter, you just had a heart attack, okay? You lie still, don't talk."

"Okay right, don't talk," corrects Dorea. "I'm sorry I made you talk. Don't talk because if you make me a widow I'll never forgive you."

Charlus stares at her, unable to speak for the life of him.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"I can't leave you alone," says Severus, walking down the corridor with Karen.

"What are you planning to do, kill your friend?" she asks incredulously.

"Karen!" cries Jason. He runs down the stairs and she runs away from Severus and into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Jessica comes down after Jason and stands behind him.

"How's Marc?" Karen asks.

"He's fine," Jason replies. "Aaron's keeping an eye on him. I'm sorry, I should have never let you go with him."

"I think Karen knew what she was doing," interrupts Jessica. "I'm glad you're okay," she adds.

"You need to get you back to the Gryffindor common room," instructs Severus. He turns to Jason. "Make sure Karen's there and keep her out of sight." He walks off down the corridor.

They all look after him.

"I don't trust him anymore than I do his master," says Jason. Jessica turned to face him and raises an eyebrow.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"This. Isn't. Happening," mutters Charlus.

"I hate to be harsh with you here, Mr. Potter but someone who clearly has been abusing his body his whole life, can't be surprised when his body hits back."

"She's right, you know," says Dorea, adjusting herself. "Some people treat their bodies like a temple. You, quite often, treat yours like the town dump."

"Heh, I'm glad you're having fun," he says dryly.

"Listen, you just had a heart attack, alright?" says Margaret. "If you try to move you may have another one."

Charlus looks at her warily.

"I'm not going to let that happen so you just lie still or I'm going to have to tie you down." Margaret turns to Dorea. "Here, put a little bit of this potion under his tongue."

Dorea pours a little onto a spoon and pours it under his tongue.

"I'll be damned if I allow you to make me a widow," she says warningly.

Charlus tries to speak but only breathes heavily instead.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"You know, you are obviously a strong, capable woman," says Marlene. "Deep…very deep down you may even have a good heart but you never cease to amaze me how you act without any regard for anyone else's well being besides your own."

"You don't get to talk down to me, you self-righteous shrew."

"Oh, wow! You have a problem with me? I don't care! But don't you dare risk your life to try and get a rise out of Sirius. You know, you have someone who really seems to like you and you would actually work nicely together. What are your priorities?"

Sirius looks at them and says, "Marlene's right Kristina."

"Of course she is, you're sleeping with her." Marlene looks at her in disbelief. "But you know what? I can take care of myself and Marlene is more than capable of taking care of you. Excuse me," she says, walking past her.

"Kristina," begins Sirius, starting to get up but Marlene runs over to him.

"No, Sirius, no," she says, pushing him back down.

She sits down next to him and looks at him curiously, wondering why he is not looking her in the eye.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Jason walks over to Karen.

"We were worried about you being alone with Snape," he says.

"Thank you," she says. "Severus, however, seems genuinely concerned about my safety. Although, he is very bothered by how much I resemble Andromeda Tonks. It's creepy."

"I don't want to think about what Bellatrix would do if she thinks you are the sister she is continuously planning to murder," says Jason.

Karen smiles and Jason strokes her arm, trying to reassure her. Meanwhile, Jessica stands out of place in the background and looks up the staircase impatiently.

"Perhaps we should go check on Marc," she suggests.

They look at her, as if surprised to find her still there with them.

"I'm going with you," insists Karen.

"No, no, no. I'm going to take you somewhere safer."

"Jason, I really think I can be more useful with Marc."

"Well, let's go. We're wasting time," implores Jessica. Jason looks at her and then at Karen.

"Okay, let's go," he acquiesces.

They begin walking up the staircase but after a few steps, Jason stops short. Bellatrix comes running down the steps with a grin on her face. She points her wand at Jason, motioning him to move aside.

"More Gryffindors, I see," she says, noticing Jessica.

Jessica stands up to block Karen, who is crouched behind her.

"The castle is overrun with them, it's no wonder it's so dangerous in here," she says, facing Jason.

"It doesn't help with people waving wands," says Jason, his hands in the air for the time being.

"Oh, you don't understand, I'm the keeper of the peace." She looks over to Jessica. "What's your name?" she asks, feigning friendliness and confusion.

Jessica pauses. "Cinderella," she replies, remembering her favourite Muggle fairy tale from when she was young.

Bellatrix points her wand at her. "Wrong. I know your name, we met in the Malfoy Manor."

Jessica has an intake of breath and Jason looks at her baffled. Clearly he is wondering what she was doing in the Malfoy Manor of all places.

"Jessica," says Jason quickly. "It's Jessica Potter."

"You see how easy that was?" Bellatrix cackles. "Now Cinderella, tell me, have you ever lied to this man or cheated on him? Or made him feel like a fool?"

Jessica gapes at her, then says, "No – I – I would never betray Jason and I would never lie to him." Jason smiles slightly.

Bellatrix makes a buzzing sound. "Ding, ding, ding!" she cackles. "That's a lie." She then notices Karen.

"Erm – hello there, sleeping beauty," smirks Bellatrix, remembering the Muggle story her sister once told her about. "Have you ever lied to the prince?"

"No," says Karen shortly.

"That's not very convincing, you want to step out -?"

"Leave her alone," says Jason.

"Are you telling me what to do?" asks Bellatrix, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Step out here or I'll kill Cinderella." Karen does not move.

"ONE…TWO –" begins Bellatrix loudly. Jessica closes her eyes but Karen immediately jumps up.

Jason looks uneasily at Bellatrix and she smirks.

"Don't be shy, show me your face."

Karen slowly raises her head, terrified of what will happen when Bellatrix sees who she thinks she is.

Bellatrix freezes.

"Andromeda," she speaks with no emotion in her voice. Karen looks like she is ready to cry now as she looks up at Bellatrix. Bellatrix stands stock-still. "It's you," she sneers.

Jessica stands stiffly next to Karen, wondering if she should reach for her wand or wait. She looks over at Jason and notices that he seems to be thinking along the same lines.

Karen remains standing, terrified, waiting to be killed.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"When are you going to shock him?" asks James.

"Not any time soon, his heart appears to be back to normal rhythm," replies Margaret, observing him. "But if he has another heart attack I'll have no choice but to provide a shock through my wand."

"Yes, but he's not going to have another heart attack," says Dorea sternly.

"Sorry about this," mumbles Charlus, his voice scratchy.

"Sweetheart, just hang on until we can get you some help," implores Dorea.

"Listen Mrs. Potter, just keep him calm, alright? Don't let him put any more strain on his heart."

Dorea looks at her. "Why? Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I have to go check on something," she says, getting up.

"What's more important than a man's life?"

"I'll be right back," said Margaret, ignoring the question.

She walks out of the room, not seeing Dorea's surprised face. She has to find Remus and make sure he is alright and has not run into Bellatrix again.

"You think dad'll be okay?" asks James worriedly, stepping outside of the dormitory also, with his two older brothers.

Jacob nods. "He's survived far worse than this. I'm just concerned because he's obviously not as young as he used to be."

James nods also. "Do you think we should go back in there?"

Jack shakes his head. "Mum probably wants to spend some time alone with him. We should probably head back to the common room. Merlin knows those Slytherins are probably trashing it by now."

James grins and walks downstairs with his older brothers.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Kristina walks out of the big oak doors and pauses, hearing a disturbance behind the bushes. She quickly gets behind a pillar, fearing it is some more Death Eaters.

It turns out to be Jacob's brother John.

He staggers out of the bushes in pain and leans against one of the pillars.

"John, what happened? Where's Jacob?" she asks, walking over to him, forgetting her previous anger with him.

"The carriage," he murmurs. She notices blood smeared on the side of his head.

"You guys had to turn back? Is Jacob outside the gates with Miranda?"

"N-No, we made it nearly around the lake and we sent a Patronus to the Head healer Augusta Longbottom. Some healers picked up Miranda and brought her to St. Mungos but then Jacob insisted on coming back to find you."

"That's great! Let's go, I want to get the hell out of here," says Kristina, slightly unnerved but relieved.

"No," says John faintly. "The carriage…the wind began picking up and began knocking it around."

"But you made it."

"N –"

"And Jacob made it," says Kristina with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"No. I lost him Kristina. The carriage got knocked over as we were passing the Black lake and fell into it. It started to fill with water and he never came up. I don't know how he could have survived this."

Kristina stares at him, her eyes shining.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sirius continues to drink the water that Marlene refilled for him.

"There's no way that you're going to go running through this castle," says Marlene, rubbing his hand. "Your blood pressure is still too low and you could pass out or have a stroke…"

"When'd you become a healer?" Sirius jokes.

Marlene sighs exasperatedly and looks at him.

"It's common sense Sirius." Sirius lets loose a bark of laughter.

"What?" he says.

"What? You know me, I'm practical."

"Why are you overreacting?"

Marlene is about to reply but finds she does not know how to respond.

"I – Y-You can barely walk!" she cries indignantly.

"Well…"

"There's no way that I'm going to let you chase after Kristina when there's a mad, crazed, killer out there who has made you one of her mortal enemies. Come to think of it, I wouldn't want you chasing after her in the best of conditions."

"Still…better me than Kristina."

"Kristina is not helpless," says Marlene patiently. "She has a strong sense of self preservation or her other enemies would have destroyed her by now. She would just love it if you went chasing after her, don't give her the satisfaction."

"Kristina and I dated, albeit briefly. She thinks because she came before you that she'll always come first."

"Does she?" whispers Marlene, voicing her insecurities.

"Of course not!" cries Sirius, his voice cracking slightly out of surprise. "How could you think that?"

"I don't know…you seem to be more interested in her as the days go on. She…seems to be getting to you easier."

Will she able to see in my eyes that we shared a kiss? Sirius thinks anxiously.

"Sirius?" says Marlene worriedly. Sirius looks at her. "Are you okay?"

"I thought you trusted me," he says harshly, surprising Marlene and him. He wonders where he gets off saying such a thing when he did indeed do what she has been afraid of for months now.

"I do," she says earnestly, and his stomach churns. "I've been learning to trust you more and more as the days go on, Sirius. I know now that you would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship." When he does not respond she asks, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he replies absentmindedly. "You have to believe that you'll always come first when it comes to who I care about, Marlene. It's just that Kristina and for that matter, anyone else, believes that it is impossible for me to actually love someone and to be in love with them."

Marlene stares at him, not knowing what to say.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

John grabs his arm and moans in pain.

"The carriage went under with Jacob still in it."

"Jacob is okay," says Kristina, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Jacob was always a strong swimmer, ever since we were little and he didn't come back," pants John, doubling over in pain.

"If that is so then that's why we've got to get to the lake so we can help when he gets back. Let's go," orders Kristina.

"No, he's my brother, I searched for him everywhere and did everything, believe me. I would have traded places. He's gone Kristina, Jacob is gone."

"You shut up!" shrieks Kristina, swinging back and slapping John. He staggers back and pants, his face feeling as if it is on fire. "Jacob is alive and he is coming back to me!" she shouts.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"Despite the nasty allegations she made, I feel terrible for yelling at Dorcas," says Alice. Dorcas had left soon after the end of their argument, not wanting to stay another minute. "I honestly thought we had put all of our past issues behind us, she never gave any indication of feeling hurt that your relationship ended."

"If she really hurt, she should have told me years ago," Frank says bluntly. "It's not your fault that she began tearing into you. What were you going to do? Stand here and take it?"

"She's right. I caused all this and I was completely wrong."

"This isn't your fault Alice –" begins Frank.

"This night is a wreck! Everything about it is wrong! I just can't believe all this is happening," cries Alice, sitting down on Hagrid's bed. She puts her face in her hands and begins to cry softly.

Frank sits down next to her and wraps her arm around her comfortingly, trying to convey through this simple act that he is right there with her. While it provides temporary protection, she cannot help but feel vulnerable and for the first time in her life, wishes that she had never been born into the Wizarding world. Then she remembers something. If she were not born into this world, she would have never met Frank.

Frank. The epitome of braveness and courage and essentially, Gryffindor. Without Frank, she would not be who she is today. Without Frank, she would not be Alice.

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Bellatrix stares at whom she thinks is her sister and grabs Karen's arm roughly and pulls her over next to her.

"You shouldn't be here Andromeda," she sneers.

"My name is Karen," she says softly.

Bellatrix stares at her, her beady eyes full of malice and inside her head spins nefarious plots of how to kill Karen in the most painful way.

"Mrs. Lestrange," says Jessica, moving forward slightly. "Why don't we just go someplace where we can all talk?"

"You and the prince here want to keep me away from Andromeda," says Bellatrix coldly.

"That's not what I meant." Jason grabs her arm slightly and pulls her back, surprising her and sending chills down her spine.

"We do need to go somewhere and talk before I deal with you," says Bellatrix, smirking at Karen. "But first," she turns around and looks at Jessica and Jason, "these two have to pay for keeping you from me."

"I don't want anything to happen to them," implores Karen.

"Why not? They're characters out of a fairytale. They're not real."

"Let them live and I'll do whatever you want, even if it means letting you kill me."

"Alright. One lives, one doesn't and you get to choose since I'm feeling generous tonight."

Karen quickly changes from pale to a shade of green.

"Who dies?" asks Bellatrix. "Cinderella or the prince?"

Both of them look at her and she tries to take a steadying breath but only begins to cry harder.

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A/N: Please review!