Crookshanks | 𝘚𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

Chapter 177

The moment the silver cat vanished from sight, Jenna and Sirius drew out their wands. Those who were sitting jumped to their feet, and the guests who were dancing had stopped along with the music, which had gone silent long ago.

     Many people were only just realizing that something strange had happened; heads were still turning toward where the silver cat had been just a moment ago.

     Silence spread outward in cold ripples from the place where the Patronus had landed. That was when Jenna heard somebody screamed, and a panic fell upon the crowd.

     Guests were sprinting in all directions. Many were Disapparating. The protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken.

      Jenna and Sirius threw one last glance each other wordlessly before they pushed their way across the dance floor. They then saw cloaked and masked figures appearing in the crowd as everyone screamed.

Across the room Jenna saw Remus and Tonks, their wands raised, and heard both of them shout, "Protego!"

     A cry was echoed on all sides. Sirius gushed forward to fight a Death Eater, but Jenna's eyes searched the panicked crowd for Harry, her heart pounding in her chest as she was buffeted by terrified guests.

     "Ron! Ron!" Jenna turned around at the familiar voice, seeing Hermione calling after Ron, half sobbing. She had seized Harry's hand in hers, and the moment she caught a hold of Ron, the three of them Disapparated away.

     Jenna felt relieved that at least they were now safe for the time being, wherever they had gone off to, because she knew the Death Eaters were here for Harry. But as soon as it had come, the sense of relief left her when a streak of light whizzed over their heads.

      Looking around, she saw that it was Mad-Eye who had Apparated and joined the battle, casting a protective charm over the remaining guests in order to give them enough time to get away.

     Jenna saw a Death Eater aiming his wand at where Ginny was fighting with her back to him, and so Jenna raised her wand at him, yelling, "STUPEFY!"

     The Death Eater was thrown away in a jerk of a light, but Jenna had to duck her head down when a curse flew to her direction. She managed to dodge it, but she had no time to waste. She sprang forward to fight off another Death Eater as chaos reigned the marquee.

***

When the Death Eaters searched the whole place but couldn't find Harry anywhere, they Disapparated, being outnumbered by the members of the Order who had remained, along with the other Weasley children.

Moody had taken a curse to the face, causing his magical eye to fall out, though they couldn't find it anywhere. He left the marquee afterward along with Kinglsey, Tonks, and Remus to see what was going on at the Ministry.

Lexi was injured the most among them, bleeding through her dress as she was passed out. Fred had taken her inside the Burrow, laying her down on a bed in his old bedroom, where they had all gathered, an eerie silence between them.

Molly, who was the best at healing charms, was sitting at the edge of the bed, tending to Lexi's wounds. Sirius looked horrified to see Lexi in such state. But worse than him was Fred. Jenna had never seen him look so pale and scared as he kept his eyes on the girl he loved.

"I-I think she'll be all right now," said Molly after she got to her feet, suppressing a sob as she glanced down at Lexi's unconscious body.

     "I theenk 'er dress is too dirty. It might cause infection," said Fleur, pointing at Lexi's blood-stained dress. "I'll go get something for 'er." And with that, she was gone.

     Another long silence fell through the room as Fred sat beside Lexi on the edge of the bed, pulling a strand of her hair away from her face.

     "The Minister dead... You-Know-Who at large... they'll take over the Ministry in no time," said Arthur, shaking his head at the horrifying thought. "We're done for."

     "Not yet," said Sirius firmly. "We're not done fighting. We're not done yet."

     "Sirius, look at what happened!" said Arthur, taking everyone by surprise at his stern tone. "They'll have one of their own to become the new Minister, and after that, they'll come for us one by one. With them taking over the Ministry, our faces will be the ones on the Wanted posters, hanging on the wall. They'll make us out to be the traitors. We're not safe anymore, no matter where we are or what we do. And neither will be our families. Tonight was just a start."

     Sirius opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped when Fluer came back into the bedroom, carrying a silver sleeping robe. "I theenk zis will do," she said, handing the robe to Molly.

     "Yes, yes. Thank you, dear," Molly told Fleur shakily, before turning to face the others. "Why don't you all go downstairs while I change Lexi's clothes. I — I think there's something to drink in the kitchen."

     Without another word, Jenna and Sirius followed the rest of the Weasleys out of the bedroom and walked downstairs in silence, still not over the shock of what had happened.

     "Where did Harry and Ron and Hermione go?" Sirius asked quietly as they all gathered in the living room, though no one was in the mood to get anything to drink.

     "No one knows," Ginny whispered from where she sat in the corner. "They wouldn't tell anyone."

     "They've been planning on leaving for some while now," said George. "Fred and I helped transfigure the ghoul in the attic to look more like a human with the Spattergroit disease, so it could replace Ron, in case the Death Eaters came to ask why he wasn't at Hogwarts."

"But they wouldn't tell us where they were going or what they were planning on doing, no matter how much we insisted," Arthur, running a hand over his forehead. "They just said they were doing as Dumbledore had told them."

     Jenna scoffed at those words and shook her head in frustration, leaning back on the armchair as she crossed her arms, though she said nothing.

     "Well, can't we just ask Lexi how they're doing? What harm's that gonna do?" Bill asked, looking from one face to another hopefully for somebody to back him up on this.

     "She can't. It might change the outcome for the worse. She's only allowed to stop deaths that aren't sacrifices. That's it," Fred spoke for the first time in an hour, don't he didn't look any better. "And leave her out of it, will you? She's stressed out and anxious enough as it is without all the additional pressure on her."

     Nobody said anything to him, understanding how it must've been like to feel scared for the life of someone you loved so much. It was natural to act angry and to feel frustrated at everything.

Although all that Jenna could think about was Harry and his friends, somewhere out there in the world, trying to bring the war to an end somehow. And yet all she could do was hope that they were safe, no matter where they were at that moment.