Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 87 - The Aftermath

Guys I'm so sorry I killed Sirius!! I won't be rewriting but omg it almost killed me!

 Al sat quietly reading her book while Madame Pomfrey finally revived Hermione in the bed next to her. The Weasel and Luna had been okay, and were now both talking with Ginny, who had been instructed to rest her ankle. Neville and Harry had both had their injuries seen to, and would no doubt be coming by to visit all of them.

 The Weasel, sat on Al's other side now turned to her. "I-er...Neville said it was you who got that brain off me?" Al didn't respond, scared of what emotions might come out if she opened her mouth. The Weasel continued, "I just wanted to say thanks," he said, "I wouldn't be here without you."

 Al mustered the smallest of smiles. "Well, I couldn't just let you die." Madame Pomfrey paused and Ginny and Luna stopped their conversation. It was the first time in the two days since arriving back at Hogwarts that Al had spoken to anyone, and she couldn't blame them for their surprise. She'd been even quieter than Umbridge, who was sat further along the wing.

 "Is there anything I can get you?" Ginny asked, hauling herself up and promptly sitting back down when Pomfrey glared at her.

 Al shook her head. "Thanks anyway." Her voice was nothing but a croak, probably sore from crying or misuse. No one had spoken to her about Sirius, although undoubtedly a conversation with Remus or Dumbledore would soon spring up. She was glad of it. She thought talking about it would probably make it much much worse. As if it was real.

 The doors burst open and Snape strode in, shortly followed by a terrified Daphne and Theo, who saw her and rushed over. "Oh Merlin, Al, you're alright!" Daphne cried, enveloping her into a painful hug and Al winced. Her injury hadn't fully healed yet.

 "You're not alright," Daphne suddenly said, looking over her for an injury. Out the corner of her eye, Al saw Snape leave.

 "I'll be fine," Al croaked with a grimace. Daphne stared at her, horrified, before slowly placing herself in the chair that Theo had pulled up for her.

 "What happened, Al?" Theo asked quietly, "The Ministry won't release a statement until Sunday and I had a really panicked letter from my Aunt this morning and Draco won't say a word to anyone."

 Al scoffed, as Ron returned to his conversation with Luna and Ginny. "I'm not surprised," she said, "He's a bloody coward."

 Daphne and Theo remained silent and concerned until Daphne spoke again. "What happened? Umbridge called you away and the next thing we knew is we were in Dumbledore's office the next morning and he said you were recovering from injuries in the hospital wing and now Draco won't talk to us."

 Al coughed a little to clear her throat. "Harry had this vision that You-Know-Who was going to try and kill Sirius and rushed off to the Ministry," Al began, "I flooed where Sirius was and saw that he was fine so Draco and I went after Harry to tell him it was fake but by the time we got there it was too late. The Death Eaters that were waiting for him had incapacitated Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Ron and Harry and Neville were struggling on their own.

 "I made this plan that Neville would distract the Death Eaters while Draco and me would sneak into the room that Harry was in with them and then attack. They had him surrounded so we used big spells. Fire, explosions. But Draco...he wouldn't do anything."

 "What?" Daphne and Theo asked together.

 "His Pa was there. He wouldn't attack any of them," Al explained.

 "I don't believe it," Theo whispered, "If my I'd been there I'd have liked to give my Father a good punch before they carted him off to Azkaban." Ron chuckled from behind them.

 "So he just didn't fight?" Daphne asked.

 "Nope," Al said, "He just stood there, and then when the Order arrived, he ran off."

 "Well," said Daphne stiffly, "I can see why he's ashamed to talk to anyone."

 "So what happened after that?" Theo asked, "Did you have to duel?"

 "Oh, yeah," Al said, having forgotten, "tried to attack Draco before the Order got there, and these white flames came from my wand."

 "What was the incantation?" Theo asked, curious.

 Al just shrugged. "Dunno. And I don't know where they came from. So the Order arrived and I was duelling Bellatrix-"

 "Lestrange?" Ron asked and Al saw that he and Ginny were now listening in. They hadn't heard about this part.

 "Yeah," Al said, "But she wasn't duelling to the death. Just incapacitation. And then this Auror, Tonks, jumped in and took over and I started on Avery, and the white fire thing started again, and it was like a whip, almost. And I nearly strangled him but Remus stopped me-"

 "You nearly killed someone?" Daphne interrupted.

 "Yeah, I was a bit angry at this point," Al admitted. "So Avery was down, and then I started on Lucius Malfoy, and we duelled for a bit and then Dumbledore arrived and rounded up everyone except Malfoy and Bellatrix, and we kept duelling. But then he disarmed me and starts dragging me away, to You-Know-Who, and-and...and..." Al trailed off, only just realising that they were actually going to let her go. If Sirius's death hadn't distracted Malfoy, she wouldn't even be here.

 "And what?" Theo asked softly.

 "And no one would help, because they thought Malfoy was going to kill me," Al continued, "And then Sirius was...was...killed by...Bellatrix," Al took a deep breath, "and I broke away and he hit me with a cutting charm, and then Harry went after Bellatrix...and it was over."

 There was silence, only broken by Ron's, "Bloody hell..."

 "Are...are you going to forgive Draco?" Daphne asked hesitantly.

 Al stayed quiet. In truth, she didn't know. She understood why he had frozen - he had been terrified. But to Al that meant he had chosen a side. And it wasn't hers. She didn't think she would. Not for a very long time.

 Maybe it was a projection of her mistakes onto him. If she'd just been the better duellist... If she hadn't been so selfish and just let Malfoy take her... Dumbledore's attention would have been on Bellatrix and Sirius. Maybe he could've saved him.