Catch a Falling Star

I took the cigarette that was being passed around and took a slow drag, carefully filling my lungs. I passed it on and, after a few seconds, released the smoke to the air. It had been three months since I had been back to Hogwarts. I hoped that they had all forgotten about me, because I was trying to forget all of them – especially a certain blonde.

“Britt,” The shaggy brown haired boy yawned from across the circle.

“Mmm.”

“What made you come back?”

It was the question that I really hadn’t wanted to answer. The one that I knew was on their minds, but praying it was never spoken.

“The Hunters attacked me. I already told you.”

“Yeah, but they haven’t been back.”
I glared at the light green eyes of Jeremy, which were staring at me. “What are you trying to say?”

“We have been on guard for three months, and not one sign of them. Joshua has been dead for over a year now and they had no idea what to do once he was gone. We have been able to rebuild the town and the Orphanage and not once have they come back. Why are you really here, to re-live your glory days?”

I jumped to my feet and would’ve had my hands around his throat if Michael, my good friend, hadn’t have grabbed my arm. “I was attacked, why won’t you believe me?”

“Britt – none of us saw it. It’s hard to believe that after the year of peace we have had that Hunters would return. Maybe we should go see –“

“No – “ I hissed, yanking my arm away and staring down at him. “I won’t go back to talk to him. I’m not crazy!”

Michael gave me a sympathetic look and scratched the mark on his left arm. “He would be able to find a job for you –“

“No! I’m not crazy! I’m not trying to re-live my glory days! I’m not going to go back to killing for him either!” My own marked burned slightly, making me hiss, as did the other six boys around me. “We agreed that we were in this together.”

“There has been no siting of the Hunters in over a year! You killed Joshua and we killed off most of the rest. He has other Death Eaters to do his bidding, so we became the just-in-case group. Until you came back, we were fine and happy – not a damn care in the world!”

Jeremy and I were face to face at this point. Words were stuck in my throat. My clan, my troop, and my brothers – all were against me.

“Is that how you all feel?”

There was silence. I looked at Michael, hoping that he would say something. But his lips stayed sealed.

“Fine.” I said, grabbing my bag off the ground. “If you were better off without me, then I won’t be back.”

“Britt-“

“You made your choice,” was the last thing I said, taking off toward the tall, brick building. A white sign hung on the iron gate in front, explaining the history of the Orphanage. I slipped through a couple of the busted bars and ran to the building. It didn’t take long to grab my small tote of things and disappear back to the place I had been trying to forget.

It was snowing when I found myself in Hogsmeade, which I was not ready for coming from Texas. I shivered violently from the cold and ran toward the gate. Dumbledore may have been strong enough to create the shield, but all I needed was a hole for about two seconds. There was no way that I would be strong enough to make one or delete the whole thing. After a few minutes of thinking and trying different combinations, I was able to weaken a small hole for me to crawl through to get to the other side.

I sat, exhausted, from the amount of power that small area drained from me. Afraid of falling asleep and not waking up, however, I stood and pushed myself forward. By the time I made it inside, I was soaked to the bone and shivering violently. I collapsed, welcoming the heat from inside the building. I was way too weak to do anything after just trying to sneak under the spells, and that strength wasn’t coming back fast.

There was footsteps coming at a quick pace to my left – they probably heard the door slam. For a moment they stopped, and I heard two more sets join the original.

“Brittana, I should’ve known,” said the tall, skinny greasy black haired man who was standing between two boys. One was a red-head and the other had jet black hair. You had to be kidding me.

“’Ello, Uncle. Awful weather out there, ain’t it?”