We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 59 - Hope Lost

~Wren~

When I came to, everything was still. I could vaguely hear muffled sounds of battle, yelling and explosions?

I was on a couch, in one of the sitting rooms upstairs. Everything was so deathly still that I thought I was alone for a moment, but then I saw my uncle, standing across the room, his back to me as he contemplated the fire in front of him. I tensely glanced around, sitting up as slowly and quietly as I could. Astra and Albus were nowhere to be seen.

My heart was starting to thump a little too quickly. Oh no. No, no, no. This couldn't be happening. I'd been caught here with Astra and Albus in the middle of a DA raid? What story could satisfy all the questions Stillens would surely have about that?

"You have many things to explain," came Stillens' voice, causing me to freeze. I held my breath without meaning to as he slowly turned around. "I suggest you start now, before I get any angrier."

As much as I wanted to look away, I forced myself to maintain eye contact. I pushed everything down, away, buried under the curtain of occlumency. The adrenaline that was still pumping through me managed to channel itself into that, and I held onto the emotionlessness like a lifeline.

"Well," I started, trying to stall for time without sounding like I was stalling for time. "Astra Lestrange and Albus Potter thought they could rescue all the children they'd been researching."

Stillens didn't respond at all. That wasn't very reassuring, but was pretty normal, honestly.

"They found out where the manor is from some record in the library, I think. I guess the address was linked to Grandmother's name." He was still frowning at me, unreadable as always, and I tried to ignore my heart racing, tried to keep from fidgeting, tried to focus on only the words I was saying.

"They insisted I come with them," I continued. "I think they thought I could help them get around once they got here? I tried everything I could think of to get them not to come, but..." I shrugged. "You know how Lestrange is. Albus Potter is just the same. They were relentless and threatened to knock me out and lock me in a closet if I didn't come with them, because they were worried I might try to tell Mr. Potter and stop them, so finally had to give in."

Okay, the fact that he still hadn't responded in any way, no flicker in his expression at all, that was starting to unnerve me even more. I expected him to at least comment on whether that had been a good way to handle this situation or not. It seemed like a bad one to me, and I'd been expecting him to berate me for it. The fact that he hadn't yet... I couldn't think about what that might mean.

"And?" was all he said, when I'd paused too long.

"Sorry," I said, my voice more of a squeak than I'd meant it to be. "I... Well, once we were on the way here, I realized what a great opportunity this would be to capture Lestrange. I was planning to purposely direct us to somewhere where we'd be bound to be caught, but Albus Potter found the children first. The only people who happened to be around were Magnus Caldwell and Zaria Hempsey, and they wouldn't listen to me. Then the DA showed up..." I shook my head, as if that hadn't been what I'd been praying for the entire time we'd been here. "I suppose someone noticed we weren't there, and Mr. Potter figured out where we'd gone. He tried to make us leave, but luckily the way we'd come in was already cut off. We got trapped." I managed a smile, as if that was a wonderful thing.

Stillens did not smile back, not that I'd expected him too. He didn't react at all. He just stared intensely at me. As the seconds stretched on, an eternal, uncomfortable moment, my smile dropped. It was all I could do to keep my face blank, to keep my thoughts buried, to keep everything down. Occlumency had never felt this hard, like I had a million things to tie down, and only thread to tie it with.