The Ice Queen [s.b.]

Aftershocks of Murder - 57

TW: Emotional abuse, intense grief, injuries, major character death.

Review:

Anna and Ginger reappear in the middle of the common room with a whoosh! Seconds later, another girl appears in the middle of the room, the charm bracelet in hand.

"She's gone," Emma chokes out, almost collapsing to the floor had it not been for James rushing to her aid. "He's killed her. He killed Dorothy."

June 20th.

What happened next was a variety of rather heartbreaking emotions.

Regulus lets out a scream.

Anna and Ginger clutch each other tightly, swaying back and forth.

Lily and Marlene gasp.

Sirius rushes to his brother.

"But... we thought you... we thought you were dead?" Ginger croaks, she and Anna walking forward to Emma as though competing in a three-legged race.

Emma nods, "At the last second, she gave me the charm back. He saw. We wouldn't have had time. If I'd tried to give it back, we both would've been killed."

"You should've tried!" Regulus roars, lunging forward. Sirius holds him back.

"I know, Reg," Sirius murmurs. "But it's not her fault."

"It is. She can't be dead," Regulus sobs, tugging weakly. "I hate you! Just give her back. I can't, Sirius, I can't. I just can't. Please, give her back."

That's when Anna falls to the ground. She knows she hit her head earlier and she faintly feels a bit of blood pooling, but it's all faint. It's all numb.

The others rush over to her, but Sirius can't rip himself from his brother. Not when his brother has no one else. The entire pureblood world - all of his friends - would say she deserved it. And if Reg didn't want to be killed, he would, too.

"She- she was my first friend here," Anna mumbles, pulling on her hair. "Dory's not gone. Not my Dory. She's a good person, Emma. Why couldn't you have let her live?"

"It's not Emma's fault," Marlene reasons softly. "I don't know what happened there-"

"-You're right," Anna interrupts, now chewing on her hair. "You don't."

"Anna," Ginger hisses. "It is not Emma's fault. She tried to sacrifice herself, something neither of us were prepared to do."

"You're right," Anna says finally. "It's my fault. Had I just died months ago, none of this would've happened."

"No," Lily disagrees. "Never say that. The only person's fault this is would be Riddle's. We can't blame ourselves."

"And you did try, Annie," Ginger points out. "You were the first to volunteer."

"But I didn't persist."

"You tried to."

"But I didn't."

Ginger sighs.

Regulus starts sobbing across the room into Sirius's shoulder.

Ginger looks Anna square in the eye, "You did what you could. Dorothy made her choice. And she died with it. She died a good person."

"Someone needs to go tell Dumbledore," Anna avoids. "James and Marlene, you go. Wes and Lily, get Emma to the Hospital Wing. She needs immediate medical attention."

The people in question nod and head off.

Ginger hugs Anna tightly, giving her the space to feel.