Before the Boy Who Lived
A/N: Hey guys! I don't have much to say today, so I'll try not to bore you. Um, really the only thing that I want to put out there is that school starts for me in about two weeks (along with dance class, the play, volunteering, my job, student government, etc, etc.), so once that happens, I don't know how much I'll be able to update. I'll update as much as I can until then, though. Promise. With that said, read and review! Enjoy the update!
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my best friends, who have stuck by me no matter what.
Disclaimer: Yeah, I wish.
Chapter 30: God Help the Outcasts
"I don't know if you can hear me…
Or if you're even there
I don't know if you would listen
To a gypsy's prayer
Yes, I know I'm just an outcast
I shouldn't speak to you
Still, I see your face and wonder…
Were you once an outcast too?
God help the outcasts, hungry from birth
Show them the mercy they don't find on earth
God help my people; we look to you still
God help the outcasts…or nobody will."
(God Help the Outcasts, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame)
A few days before school started and after Remus had left town to join his fellow Marauders at James' house, Adara and I were sitting in my room, idly listening to the radio. As I sat on my bed putting the finishing touches on a rather complicated Potions essay that Professor Slughorn had set for us as summer homework, Adara sat on the carpet beside her trunk, rummaging around inside it for something.
We sat like that for some, the only sounds in my room being the scratching of my quill against the parchment and the assorted cruses Adara was muttering under her breath as she searched for something, to no avail. After a while, however, Adara's mutterings became much louder with her growing irritation at not being able to find whatever it was that she was looking for so desperately. Because of this, it seemed pointless to even attempt concentrating on Slughorn's essay at the moment. With a sigh, I looked up from my essay at my best friend.
"What are you looking for, anyway?" I called curiously, rolling up the parchment neatly and placing it on my bedside table.
"My wand!" came her muffled reply, for her head was buried in her trunk in search of the rogue wand, "I know I put it in here somewhere…"
Ah, the predicaments of the disorganized. However do they bear it?
Knowing that if I didn't want to get my head bitten off I should keep my mouth shut, I wisely did not comment aloud on Adara's organization skills. Or lack thereof.
I was humming quietly to the song on the radio and absently braiding my hair when Adara suddenly pulled her head out of her trunk in abrupt realization, not even noticing when she banged her forehead on the lid of the trunk, crying, "Merlin, I'm such a dork!"
"You said it, not me…"
She glared at me for half a second before elaborating, "I knew I forgot something! I was so mad at Mum that day when you picked me up that I didn't realize I had left my wand sitting on the table in the front room when we left!"
"Oh that was smart," I replied with a hint of sarcasm and a smirk.
Adara sighed and shot me a pointed look. "Rub it in, why don't you?" she sighed and added miserably, "…so what am I going to do?"
"Hmmm…" I murmured to myself, aping a finger against my chin as I thought. Dad was still out food shopping with Laney, and Petunia was at her friend's house. Or so she said. Because we all knew that she was really hiding out at her horrendous boyfriend Vernon's house. Oh…erm...Anyway. We had no one who could drive us into London so we could go to Diagon Alley and retrieve it. Unless…
"Come on!" I instructed suddenly, jumping up and slipping on a pair of sneakers. Adara looked totally bewildered as I grabbed her forearm and began dragging her down the stairs and out my front door behind me.
"What?" she yelped, "What are you doing? Lily, we're not walking to London!"
I grinned mysteriously. "We don't have to."
With that, I shot my right arm out over the street, wand in hand, and a very familiar huge purple bus came barreling down the street toward us. Adara gaped for a moment before recognition dawned on her face and she shook her head and saying, "You can't be serious! Your Dad told us we couldn't leave the house! You'll get in so much trouble."
I shrugged, pulling her on board and handing the conductor, a short, stern-looking woman, some money. As we took a seat and the bus took off at breakneck speed, I proposed, "It won't take long for us to get your wand. We'll pop in and out, take the Knight Bus home again and be back before Dad even knows we left."
Adara smiled slightly. "Hey, Lily?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks…" she began gratefully, "I know how much you hate getting in trouble."
I winked and replied, "What's life without a little risk? Besides, it's your wand! I dunno how you could possibly leave home without it!"
She just grinned and gave me a hug.
Despite the fact that it usually took at least an hour to get to the Leaky Cauldron from my house, we were there in a matter of minutes. There's the Knight Bus for you; has no respect for speed limits. Smiling at the sour-faced conductor, Adara and I bounded off the bus and into the Leaky Cauldron. Throwing a quick wave at Tom as we pushed through the crowd, Adara and I made our way to the courtyard that would let us into Diagon Alley.
We rushed through to the crowded street as soon as there was an opening big enough for us to slip through, not even waiting for the archway to fully materialize before us. Knowing we didn't have the time to dawdle, Adara and I began scampering down the street toward the gypsy hideout. Maybe if we weren't in such a rush, we would have picked up on the one thing that everyone in the Alley seemed to be talking about.
As we rounded the corner Adara suddenly froze, her face draining of all color, and I crashed into her, not having enough time to stop myself. I began to peer around her shoulder, asking "Adara, what are you…"
My eyes widened in shock. Grim looking men in Ministry robes, who I gathered to be Aurors, were leading groups of ragged and torn gypsies away down a side street in shackles. Anticipating Adara's next move, I covered her mouth with my hand just in time to muffle her scream of protest and hauled her back around the corner with me.
"Lily, let me go! I have to stop them!" she cried as she fought against me, trying to break out of my firm grip, "I have to help them! I have to—"
"You have to what?" I hissed, pressing myself against the wall with her, hoping that the Auror who had just turned in our direction hadn't spotted us, "Do you want to get yourself caught? Would you like to be carted off with the rest of them?"
Her face grew stony. "Don't you dare talk about them that way."
"What way?" I cried desperately, "Adara, I'm as worried as you are! But what do you think it will accomplish if you get taken away with the rest of the gypsies? At least if you're safe, we can talk to Dumbledore, or the Ministry, or…I don't know! But we can do something about it! Don't ask me to watch my best friend get taken away in chains!"
Adara stopped struggling to get out of my grip and looked guiltily at the ground. Slowly, after assuring myself that she wouldn't immediately go off and do something stupid to get herself caught, I let her go. "Trust me," I added softly, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We'll get help. It'll be okay."
"Okay," she echoed, nodding her head, "okay."
Although I could convince Adara not to get caught by the Aurors, I could not convince her to leave without her wand. She was, after all, probably as stubborn as me. So being exceedingly careful and keeping an eye out for any Aurors still prowling around, we tool a series of back roads and hidden passages to end up in the crumbling courtyard that concealed the entrance to the gypsies' sanctuary.
Once again, Adara stopped dead in her tracks. Upon seeing what she was staring so intensely at, so did I.
The secret entrance was left open in the bottom of the fountain. A thin spiral of smoke was rising from inside it.
"Adara, wait!" I called as she threw herself down the secret passage way without a second thought, "It could be dangerous!"
I hurtled down the long stone stairway after her, not wanting her to be caught down there alone without a wand. I reached the well lit entrance chamber just in time to see Adara whip through the large doors into the underground city, and out of my sight. Steeling myself for what might be coming just beyond that door, I hurried inside after her.
"No!" I heard Adara shriek, agony laced within her voice as I stumbled through the doors behind her.
The entire city, which I had seen bustling with life only days earlier, had been ransacked. Totally destroyed. The brightly lit lanterns that danced merrily from the ceiling had been smashed, some homes had been burned to the ground, covered wagons and carts had been smashed and torn to shreds, and people's things, in various stages of destruction and disarray, littered the floor. The small spidery waterway provided an eerie soundtrack, echoing mournfully off the walls of the deserted place.
Biting my lip worriedly, I turned to Adara who was shaking with sobs, looking around the place in disbelief as tears poured down her face. "Oh, Dar…" I whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace. It was then that she truly broke down, clinging to me for dear life as she cried violently.
After a moment she swiftly shook me off and darted down into the center of the decrepit city, "No! Adara, wait!" I called frantically after her.
When I finally caught up with her, I was horrified to see her kneeling in a pile of ashes, looking totally distraught. A long sturdy iron chain snaked through the ash, held together by a large padlock. My eyes widened as I realized what must have happened.
"This was the meeting house," Adara explained hollowly as she stared at the stone wall straight ahead, her hands playing with something in her lap that I couldn't quite see. I let out a small sigh of relief.
"Well, that's not so bad right?" I replied consolingly, kneeling next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders "Perhaps no one was inside when it—when it happened."
She slowly passed the thing in her hands to me, and I realized that it was a small teddy bear, charred almost past recognition. Mechanically, Adara pulled her eyes away from the wall and turned to face me, her eyes teeming with tears. "But they were in there…" she choked out before dropping her face into her hands.
I did not need to ask who she was talking about…her family. It couldn't be. It was too terrible even to imagine. Taken aback, I tried to reason, "Well, you don't know that! They're probably just fine; we only have to find them."
Adara shook her head persistently, crying out, "That was her bear! K-Kora's! I g-got it for her b-birthday and she's n-never gone anywhere without it s-since! And…and M-mum never lets any of them go anywhere without h-her! Oh, Lily!"
She threw her arms around my neck and bawled into my shoulder. Tears forming in my own eyes, I held her close. "Shhhh," I whispered, running my hand up and down her back in a calming way, "Shhhh…it'll be ok, Adara. I promise."
"How c-can you say that?" Adara whimpered, looking up at me with eyes that were still glassy with tears, "There's no way…no way they could have…"
I held her face in my hands and looked her straight in the eye. "Listen to me. They could have gotten out, okay? They could have gotten out." Even as I said the words they seemed empty. Despite my hope that someone, anyone had gotten out, from the evidence Adara had presented me with I knew the odds were slim to none.
For a moment, Adara looked away. Suddenly she screamed furiously into the dark emptiness around us. For herself, for her family. She looked up at me, utter guilt in those tearful amethyst eyes. "Lily…" she whispered almost so softly that I couldn't hear her, "The last thing I e-ever said to h-her was…'I hate you'…and now she's g-gone!"
"You don't know that!" I replied shrilly, getting hysterical myself no matter how hard I tried to stay calm as she collapsed against me, crying too hard to support herself, "Adara, you don't know that, and you can't talk like that until you do!"
"Why?" Adara whispered into my shoulder, "Why them?"
After a time, I managed to get Adara on her feet. She moved slowly, as if she was in a trance and picked up a small jar that lay peacefully only a few feet from where the remains of the burned meeting house stood. Carefully, she scooped some of the ashes into the jar and closed it tight, holding it tightly against her chest. Then she looked to me and explained in a voice shaking with sadness and anger, "The Aurors may have kept us from burying my Dad, but I will not let them keep me from burying the rest of my family."
Nodding slightly in understanding, I let her wrap an arm around me for support and slowly led her away from the scene. She set her face and stared resolutely ahead, not turning back once. I admired her for that—she would not let the person who had done this horrible thing to the gypsies win by giving in and breaking down.
We moved slowly through what was left of the city. I didn't want to rush Adara, lest it cause more tears. When we came upon her home, which had somehow survived the disaster that had befallen the rest of the city, Adara couldn't bring herself to go inside. Covering her mouth as if she'd be sick, she turned away, a tear slipping down her cheek.
I lay a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want me to get it for you?" I asked softly.
Squeezing her eyes shut against the onslaught of the coming tears, she quickly nodded her head. Taking a deep breath, I walked through the purple tapestry slung across the doorway and into Adara's home.
It looked exactly as I had remembered it from the last time I had been there, cluttered and crowded, and full of a life of its own. You could almost here the laughter of Adara's younger sisters echoing off the walls. Closing my eyes, I sighed, realizing what this meant for Adara. What would she do? Where would she live?
With the thought that Adara was waiting for me outside in the back of my mind, I realized that I had no time to stand there and think. Shaking my head in an attempt to clear it of the whirlwind of thought going through it at the moment, I began looking around for Adara's wand. Where had she said she left it?
Suddenly, a flurry of activity caught my eye. A sleeping owl had been startled in the corner of the room and was hooting and hopping around in a worried manner. There was a pouch tied to its leg, a slender wand and a crumpled letter peeking out from inside it.
"There, there," I cooed softly as I walked over to it, petting it slightly to calm it down further, "I won't hurt you."
It examined me closely with its round, stormy grey eyes as I calmly untied the pouch from its leg. Absently, I stroked its chocolate brown feathers again. Sensing my unsettlement, the owl hooted softly and nipped consolingly at my hand.
Smiling a bit, I stood to leave. The owl, however, didn't want to be left alone, for it flew to my shoulder and stayed there as I walked out to meet Adara, who was staring blankly at her hands. She looked up upon hearing the owl chatter excitedly.
"Oh, Cocoa!" Adara cried as the owl flew to her shoulder, "You're okay!"
I smiled slightly, happy that Adara had received at least some consolation from this visit. I handed her the pouch with her wand and the note and she sent me a grateful look. Then we moved together toward the way out, intent on leaving the scene of sadness that had unfolded behind us.
"What's that?" I pondered out loud as we neared the large doors at the front of the city. Nailed onto one of them was a battered piece of parchment that the pair of us must have been too shocked to notice when we first came in.
Adara narrowed her eyes in confusion and walked up to where the parchment was nailed to the door, reading aloud.
Let it hereby be known that the occupants of this city have been found to be traitors to the Ministry, and must thus be punished as such. We have been informed by an individual who wishes to remain anonymous that the gypsies of this "sanctuary" have been developing a plot to assassinate the Minister of Magic. All gypsies that reside here will be taken to Azkaban and serve up to a life sentence for treachery and conspiracy against the government.
Authorized by Captain A. R. Nichols, Head Auror
By the time Adara had finished, she was positively shaking with anger. "Assassinate the Minister!" Adara shrieked in outrage, "Who came up with this load of dung? We have been nothing but peaceful the entire time we've lived here!"
Shaking my head, I began consolingly, "I know, Adara—"
"No!" she exclaimed, "You don't know! We have done absolutely nothing wrong, and now this prick has locked up everyone, and killed…" she broke off with a sob and ran a hand over her face, continuing softly, "Lily, Nichols…he…he's killed my whole family. And I'm sorry I yelled, and I know you care, but…there's just no way you can fully understand how that feels."
"You're right," I admitted with a sigh, "I suppose I can't fully understand what that's like, but Adara…you've got to let me try. Let me help you."
She wiped a few stray tears from her face and nodded. Then together, we made our way out of what remained of the gypsies' home. Easily avoiding the few Aurors who had been positioned in the nearby area by taking the back roads, we made it safely back to the Leaky Cauldron.
We were just about to leave, thankfully unnoticed due to the large crowd huddling inside the pub, when Tom spotted us and called out. "You all right there, girls? The Aurors didn't spook you did they?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adara bite her lip to keep herself from crying. "We're just fine, Tom!" I called a bit distractedly, "My friend's feeling a bit under the weather, so I'm just going to see her home."
"Well be careful!" he advised, "The weather's turned awfully nasty."
He was right. It was absolutely pouring outside as we waited that split second for the Knight Bus to arrive. As we shivered on the ride home, I glanced with concern at Adara. She was staring out the window, oblivious to the world around her. I felt horrible. I was, after all, the one who had suggested we go to Diagon Alley in the first place. Surely she would have found out eventually, received a letter or something, but it would not have been half as horrible as seeing it first hand. Oh, I do hope that she'll be okay…
As the Knight Bus skidded to a stop in front of my house, my eyes widened considerably and I let out a little squeak of apprehension. Dad was sitting on the front step with his arms crossed over his chest, looking positively murderous. Why that's just lovely. One more problem I can add to my superfluous supply.
However, I realized that Adara's problems were of a much higher priority than mine at the moment, so shaking my head a bit; I tapped her on the shoulder and murmured, "Adara? We're here, Dar…time to get off."
Adara nodded vaguely and got to her feet, following me to the front of the bus. It seemed the conductor was rather glad to be rid of us, for as we stumbled off the bus, I saw her send a scathing glare in our direction. Apparently someone didn't have her coffee this morning…
With a whooshing sound, the Knight Bus disappeared almost instantly and I was left standing on the pavement in the early evening light with a very dejected looking Adara and my exceedingly furious father stomping across the lawn toward us. Oh joy.
"Care to explain yourself, Lily?" Dad exploded as he got closer, throwing his hands into the air, "I asked you to do one thing, just one—"
"But—"
"Don't interrupt! Lily, the only thing I asked you to do was not leave the house," Dad continued a bit more quietly, trying to gain control of his frustration, "Do you know how worried I was when I came home and you weren't here? When there was no note? What on earth could have possessed you to go somewhere without even leaving a note to tell me about it?"
Looking up at Dad with guilty eyes, I answered, "Look Dad, I'm sorry, but can't we do this later?"
"Young lady, you are not going to get out of this that easily! I'll have you know—"
"Dad," I cut in softly, nodding my head slightly in toward Adara, whom he had yet to notice, "Please? You can yell at me all you want…just…not right now."
Dad's expression morphed into one of concern and curiosity as he looked over Adara. "Adara, love, are you all right?"
A whimper reluctantly escaped Adara's lips as she pleaded with herself not to cry. "Excuse me," she whispered before dashing into the house and presumably up to my room, where she could grieve on her own, in peace.
With a sigh, Dad turned back to me and proposed, "So would you care to explain that?"
Later that night, I sat awake by my window, staring out toward the lake which was glistening beautifully in the silvery moonlight. Dad had been horrified when I had explained to him what had happened. Even Laney was completely outraged at the level of injustice the gypsies had been shown.
Adara had, as I suspected, run straight to my room upon our return from Diagon Alley. Sensing that she needed some time to be alone, to think and to mourn, I stayed out of my room until dinner, when I brought her a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a glass of ginger ale, which she had accepted with a grateful smile.
She had been sleeping ever since, curled up in the protection of my fluffy blue comforter and clutching what was left of Kora's charred teddy bear to her chest. I glanced over my shoulder at her with a concerned sigh. I simply didn't know what to do.
This was precisely why I was still awake so late that night. I may not have known what to do, but I knew somebody who would. By the light of the moon, I began penning a letter to Dumbledore, the only person I thought would be able to help.
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I'm terribly sorry to be bothering you during the summer. In fact, I'm not entirely sure where to send this letter, but I do hope that it reaches you. As you know, I'm sure, the Head Auror at the Ministry of Magic, Captain Nichols, has decided it would be appropriate to arrest the gypsies of Diagon Alley under the false charges of treason. Thankfully, Adara was not in the area when it happened.
And you see that's what I'm writing about. Adara was—is—staying at my house, and had realized this morning that she had left her wand at home. So we went to Diagon Alley to retrieve it only to find out first hand about the terrible news. Worse still, we have found evidence that most or all of Adara's family could have been killed in the crossfire.
Obviously, Adara is very distressed about this matter. Sir, I don't know what to do. You're the only person I can think of who might be able to help her. Please sir, I'm worried about Adara. She's my best friend, and she needs your help. I thought perhaps…you could somehow find out what happened to her family or…maybe find a way to set the gypsies free.
I know for a fact that the gypsies have done nothing wrong here. Please sir, they should not have to suffer, and neither should Adara. Please help us.
Yours sincerely,
Lily Evans
Nodding to myself, I called for my owl, Artemis. She flew over from her cage and landed on my shoulder, hopping around and staring out the window impatiently, eager to go hunting. "Easy," I murmured, laughing slightly at her edginess, "D'you suppose you could deliver this letter for me while you're out?"
She hooted sharply and I grinned, tying the letter around her leg. "I'll take that as a yes then. Hurry, okay, girl? It's important."
With another hoot that seemed to say in an irritated manner 'All right, I get it, now let me leave', Adara flew off into the night. Shaking my head a bit at my owl, I crawled into bed beside Adara. She whimpered in her sleep and began tossing and turning, as if she was trapped in a horrible dream.
Quietly, I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back and whispering, "Shhhh…shhhh, Adara, it's okay."
Within moments, both of us had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
Adara's POV
I woke up in the middle of the night with a yell, sitting bolt upright as cold sweat dripped down the back of my neck. It had been the most terrible dream! That bastard Nichols, the Auror who had killed my father the very night my family arrived in Diagon Alley, had arrested all the gypsies! On charges of treason, no less! How ridiculous!
However, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room around me, I realized that I was not in my room at home. I was in my best friend Lily Evans' room, in a small town at least an hour's drive from London, Diagon Alley, and my home. Lily was lying on her bed with her arm wrapped protectively around me, a worried look on her face even as she slept.
No, I protested weakly to myself. It couldn't be. My people could not be in Azkaban. My mother and my sisters couldn't be—I couldn't even bring myself to think the word. But no matter how much I tried to fight it, realization swept over me like a wave, pulling me down into crushing darkness.
"No…" I whispered again, feeling the tears coming back of their own accord. I dropped my face into my hands and simply sat there for a moment in disbelief. How could this be happening to me?
After a moment, I wiped away a few teas and carefully extracted myself from Lily's caring embrace. She frowned in her sleep and I smiled at her protectiveness, placing a pillow in her arms so that she did not notice my absence. Wrapping my arms around myself in a hug, I quietly padded out of Lily's room and into the hallway.
I had never been able to lie in bed if I woke up during the middle of the night, which, due to my status as half-vampire, occurred rather often. Especially when I was worried or upset. As I strolled along, I somehow found myself standing in Lily's lovely living room.
Mum had always wanted a home like this one…I blinked furiously, trying to fight back any tears that wished to make an appearance. I was so sick of crying. I was not supposed to cry. I couldn't let myself.
Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to a painting hanging on the sunshine yellow wall. It was particularly beautiful, a sweet young woman holding a baby in her arms, the pair looking out from their frame with loving gazes. Lily had told me a few days ago that it was a portrait of someone called Mary and her son, who were highly regarded by certain Muggles for some reason or another that at the moment, I couldn't for the life of me remember.
I could, however, remember that she was very important to the Muggles that believed in her, and she was thought to listen to you, and better yet, understand you, when no one else could. With a gloomy sigh, I looked shyly up into her pale blue eyes.
"Well, this is a bit mental," I muttered more to myself than to this Mary person at the beginning, "seeing as I'm not even sure that you're there or that you would listen to someone like me if you were, but I thought…maybe you could help me understand something. Why has this happened to me; to my people? What have we done that was so terrible?"
I bit my lip, again feeling a rush of emotions so strong that my legs buckled slightly beneath me and I couldn't help but let a small whimper escape my lips. "It's just…" I started again, "I love them. Please, if you can hear me…let them be all right. Let everything be okay. I don't think I could bear it if—"
Once more my voice seemed to disappear. Slowly, I sat down on Lily's couch and looked up into the compassionate gazes of Mary and her son. "Please…just let everything be all right."
A/N: It was a little short for me, I know, but hey, it's an update. And yes, we're back to the sadness. Hope it's not getting too repetitive or anything... Anyway, it's getting rather late, so I'm going to just upload this and go to sleep. I'll try and update again soon. Remember, a review is only a click away! Wink.
Shannon