Sugar & Spice

*Rosie’s Point Of View

Bars of moonlight slanted in through the tall narrow windows of the Hospital Wing, and unsurprisingly, I couldn’t sleep.

I glanced towards my comatose brother, noting the way his head lolled all the way over the back of his wooden chair, and sighed quietly to myself.

It was the second night since my brother and father had arrived here at Hogwarts, and I‘d only left their sides for small breaks at a time. In a way Tom was as much a prisoner in this room as Father; if a single Death Eater saw him here we would have a very big problem on our hands, and so he was on lockdown.

I hadn’t seen much of my friends in that time; as much as I wanted their company, as much as I felt a certain hollowness at their absence, this was something I wanted to do alone – it was a family thing and there was no need to drag anybody into my problems.

I bit my lip, stretching for the umpteenth time and suppressing a yawn as I glanced out the window at the full moon.

I had this horrible, niggling feeling, and I just couldn’t put it from my mind. My hunches and predictions almost always came true.

Unfortunately for me, it was exactly the kind of feeling one gets just before the shit hits the fan.

After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes I finally stood up, unable to take it anymore. Everything – the silence, the peace, my insomnia – was making me restless. What I needed was a good walk, to stretch my legs a little.

Trying to move as quietly as possible so as to not wake Tom, I crept towards the end of the hospital wing and placed my hand on the massive oak door.

Just as I was digging in my pocket for the key to unlock it, the door was blasted open, shattering into huge pieces from the force of it.

I was stunned into silence as splinters of wood sliced into my cheek and I was flung backwards on the hard stone floor.

My breath caught in my throat as a dozen or so hooded figures flooded into the hospital wing, destroying the dead silence that I’d so detested moments before.

Death Eaters, I realised with horror and fear. The sight of them all in the peaceful hospital wing was so surreal, so sudden and out of place... it was like an awful nightmare.

They swept right by me, seeming not even to notice my spread-eagled, battered form on the flagstones as they made a beeline for Tom and my father.

They advanced like wraiths, their feet hardly making any noise at all, but the sound of the blast had woken up Tom. He jerked upright, his hand automatically searching for his wand before he was looking around for the source, his eyes widening as he took in the sudden influx of darkly-cloaked figures, and darted upright, his chair falling with a crash behind him.

My heart in my mouth, I patted my pockets for my wand, hoping and praying I had it on me.

The figure at the front stopped right in front of Tom and extracted his wand smoothly, pointing it straight at the centre of his chest.

“Tamsworth,” The figure sneered with undisguised disgust and malevolence. I couldn’t place the voice, but it didn’t matter. I’d already found both my wand and feet.

Tom’s eyes caught the movement and his gaze flicked to me, pleading with his eyes for me to stay silent. No chance.

“OI! OVER HERE!” I bellowed as loud as I possibly could, creating the diversion Tom needed.

Every single one of them whirled around and I swore loudly, trying to dance out of the way of the violent beams of light they sent in my direction; I managed to overturn the nearest hospital bed and dive behind it as curses and spells continued to fly at me.

“Fuck!” I ducked my head out for a second and aimed at one of the figures, probably missing as I immediately pulled back behind my cover.

“POPPY! GET YOUR FAT ASS OUT HERE!” Tom roared, trying to shield himself and our father at the same time but his protective spell was already weakening under the onslaught of curses. I had to pinch myself to reassure my stunned mind that this was real.

“Help! Somebody HELP US!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, my voice cracking from the strain of such volume. I couldn’t help but wonder why nobody was coming to our aid.

As I was about to poke my head out to aim another curse three shadows loomed over me. I didn’t have enough time to defend myself.

Three blinding flashes of multi-coloured light hit me in the temple and unimaginable, unbearable pain blossomed there, rippling outwards through my whole body.

Then all the lights went out.

*Sirius’ Point of View

“When’s she going to wake up? Answer me, God damn it! What’s wrong with her?” I yelled towards the end. It was a feat in and of itself that I was able to talk at all around the painful lump in my throat.

I couldn’t understand what had happened; one moment we were out in the grounds in our animagus forms with Remus, and the next I was standing over Tammie’s limp body in the hospital wing as the sun up came over the horizon, bathing everything in strange blue light.

Remus had just crawled back into the Shrieking Shack after a particularly bad full moon when we’d heard distant shouting and then suddenly several black shadows were pelting across the grounds towards the gates, moving so fast that they swayed in and out of our sights.

None of us could make any sense of it, so we’d nervously waited for Remus to come back out of the passage. All of us had helped him up to the hospital wing, as we had done every month for over a year, anticipating nothing more than a potion for his aching muscles and a soft bed.

What we found was chaos.

It looked like some fiery hurricane had passed through the infirmary. The singed curtains hanging around the beds fluttered pitifully in the wind that whistled in through the shattered windows, and massive, still-smoking holes pitted the stone walls at random intervals.

Everywhere we looked there were overturned and mangled hospital beds. As I took a numb, horrified step forwards I saw splatters of scarlet liquid on the walls and floor, seeping through slivers of stained pink glass. Blood.

I’d found Tammie in a dead faint near the door - and I swear to any and all Gods there may be, I thought my heart stopped when I couldn’t find a pulse, couldn’t find any indication that she was even alive.

Remus kept his head – he located Pompfrey, finding her knocked unconscious in her room and revived her so that she could tend to Tammie. I nearly died with relief when she managed to find Tammie’s heartbeat.

And now I was shouting.

I’d barely even registered it when Tom and another much older, intimidating man had come to stand beside me, looking every bit as anxious as I was.

“Potter, please go fetch Dumbledore. You know where his office is – the password is ‘humbug’.” She told James, ignoring me completely; I marvelled at how she could be so calm. I certainly wasn’t.

James nodded, whey-faced, and sprinted from the room.

“Poppy, answer the question. What’s happening to her? Why isn’t she waking up?” Tom growled lowly, his fists curling in the bed sheets as he leaned over his sister. I vaguely wondered how they’d come to be on first-name terms, and then shook my head, chastising myself for such random, irrelevant thoughts in light of everything.

“Shut up! Everybody just shut up!” She shouted, finally losing her calm, and swatting him away from her. She took a deep breath. “She’s going to be fine, I just don’t have the training for this – I don’t know what caused it. Dumbledore will be here soon – he’ll know what to do.”

I nodded; this was enough. She was going to be okay.

I sat down with shaky legs in one of the little chairs next to her bed and dropped my head into my hands, breathing deeply. I had so many questions, but I settled on the most obvious one.

“What happened?” I asked Tom quietly. He collapsed in the chair next to mine, staring as Pompfrey checked Tammie out for flesh wounds.

“Death Eaters. I don’t know who ratted us out but they just came in here....they tried to kill us all.” He sounded physically ill, and I leaned away, thinking he might actually be sick. I needn’t have worried; he managed to get it together after a few moments. “We never should’ve come here. Now Rosie...” He turned to fix me with a deadpan, emotionless expression. My blood froze. “She can’t stay here, Black. When we leave, she’ll be leaving with us.”

“Y-you what?”

“Hogwarts is no longer safe for her,” The man standing next to Tammie’s bed finally spoke. I couldn’t see his face, but he looked quite tall and his presence just oozed authority. This wasn’t a man one could argue with. “She never should’ve come, and now she’s in danger. As soon as she’s awake we’re leaving, boy...and she’ll be coming with us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Rosie’s Point of View

My eyes flashed open as consciousness suddenly flooded my body. The second I awoke a horrible, nauseating ache pulsed through my body, but I ignored it and sat up. I swung my legs down over the edge of the bed, but I was immediately pushed back gently onto the pillows by an unyielding hand on my shoulder.

“Whoa there. Take it slow – you gave us quite a scare for a while,” Tom spoke from my side as my eyes watered from the sunlight filtering in through the window. I finally focused on him, noting the dark circles under his brown eyes and the sadness in his expression. I decided to ignore the latter for now.

“Where are they? The Death Eaters?” I blurted, the whole scene coming back to me in a dizzying rush. I almost couldn’t believe it had even happened – it had all taken place in under a minute.

“They’re gone – Dad woke up, and then they fled.” He replied tiredly, sinking back down into his chair as he realised I wasn’t going to try to escape. I looked around as my eyes widened at the news that our father was finally awake. “He’s not here. He’s talking to Dumbledore.” Tom answered my unasked question.

“How long have I been out?” I asked, dreading the answer. He shrugged.

“A few hours. It’s about four now.” I frowned at him, the way he was slumped in his chair and the way he kept staring at his hands. Suspicion flickered.

“Tom, what’s wrong? What aren’t you telling me?” He sighed deeply and finally looked me in the eye.

“We’re leaving soon.” I nodded; I had expected this. But he shook his head.

“No, all of us – you’re coming too Rose. It’s not safe anymore.” I stared at him, panic flooding my body.

Immediately I already knew this was a fight I wouldn’t win. I could see it in his posture. Though he looked unhappy about it, I knew he’s drag me kicking and screaming from the castle if he had to, and Father...well, nobody could argue with him.

I bolted out of the bed and danced out of the reach of his outstretched hands; just because I knew I couldn’t win, it didn’t mean I would come without some kind of fight.

“Get away! I want to talk to Dumbledore, not you. I’m not leaving – get off, I said!” I snapped as I darted away from him, not caring that all I wore was a shapeless purple hospital gown as I sprinted down the empty hospital wing into the corridor. I didn’t slow down - even as I registered the fact that I heard no following footsteps behind me – until I reached the two ugly gargoyles standing guard.

Frustrated that I didn’t know the password, I kicked the nearest one, and cradled my toe, hissing obscenities as my bare foot connected with the stone.

“Tut tut. Real diva this one, isn’t she?”

“Didn’t anybody ever tell you that you catch more bees with honey than with sh -”

“Shut up!” I howled, not caring that I was quickly approaching the point of throwing a full-blown temper tantrum.

I didn’t have another second in which to pace and curse to myself as I shivered in the cool air; the door to Dumbledore’s office grated open and he stood framed in the doorway.

Relieved, I rushed forward.

“Miss Tamsworth,” He smiled benignly down at me; he didn’t look surprised to see me.

A dark shape moved into the light and I stared at my father.

I’d been waiting so long to see him, and now I couldn’t even stand to look at him. He was pulling me away from my home, and all I had to go off that he even cared for me at all was a stupid, sodding letter.

“Rosaline -” I cut him off, something I never would’ve dared do if the Headmaster hadn’t been standing right there.

“Don’t speak to me. I just want to talk to Professor Dumbledore. And I’m not going,” I added without conviction. I wasn’t stupid.

After that little episode last night I realised exactly how dangerous it was for me here – with my Gryffindor status and both my father and brother on Voldemort’s personal To-Kill List, I knew I couldn’t stay here, no matter how much I protested.

My father’s face darkened as he moved out into the corridor and stood next to me.

“Make it fast Rosaline. We’re leaving within the hour.” I ignored him. Dumbledore waved me into his office, looking frighteningly weary and drawn, and I quickly followed him up the staircase into his office and took a seat.

“Isn’t there some way I can stay?” I begged desperately, not bothering to soften my plea with pleasantries. “Isn’t there something I can do?”

“Miss Tamsworth, I’m not sure that you see the seriousness of the situation. I simply cannot have students being targeted and attacked in my school – not when your father is so capable of protecting you in a home environment. The incident during the Christmas holidays was unfortunate, but you were still safe, and it happened outside of Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort has many eyes and ears here, much as the Prime Minister wishes to disagree...there is simply no way to keep you from harm while you are here, and I am positive that some of his more loyal followers are still residing at Hogwarts. They will not stop until they have taken whatever it is they want from your family. I’m sorry Miss Tamsworth.”

I was silent for a long time, just processing his words. I wished I couldn’t see the sense in them. Finally I spoke,

“Where will I go?” Dumbledore seemed to grow more energised at the prospect of being able to give me real answers.

“Your father has informed me that he will be taking another residence in London. We are going to cast some very advanced defensive measures – the Fidelius Charm, among others – and there you will be safe. I also have a proposition for you, one which your father has no objection to, but...I must ask you first, of course.”

“Yes?” I tried to be polite – I really did - but inside my head was such a flurry of emotions, each one worse than the next that I could hardly think properly. He smiled gently.

“If you are willing, I would like to enlist your services in an organisation I have formed. It is called the Order of the Phoenix.”