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3 DAYS LATER... ANNABELLE LUPIN-BLACK
"Someone needs to stay with her." Harry said. "Draco is doing-" Blaise started. "Malfoy has been with her for the past 3 days." Ginny said. "Yeah well the last time we left her, she almost died. I don't think any of you have the right to give orders." Theo snapped. They obviously think I'm still asleep. They don't know that I can see and hear everything. Standing outside my open door without silencing the area isn't the best idea. I'm just glad Draco is finally asleep. "Theo, cool it." Pansy whispered. "No, maybe they're right. Shouldn't he take a break?" Blaise asked. "Whether he needs a break or not is irrelevant. I know Draco and he isn't going to leave her." Theo said. "We are her family, we are the ones who decide who takes care of her," Ginny said. Pansy scoffed. "Yeah, you guys did such a great job the first time." she said. "Pans, that wasn't their fault. We all should have known not to leave her alone." Blaise said. "Thank you." Ginny said. "For the record, we are just as much her family as any of you." Blaise added. Now Ron scoffed. "Yeah right, you are just a bunch of snakes. She never smoked or drank before you guys. You screwed her up even more." Ginny snapped. "Bullshit. We were there when she needed someone. She hated being around you all after Donovan because you treated her like she was fragile. You have no idea-" Pansy started. "No idea?! You have no idea! You are the ones that ruined Dumbledore's Army!" Ron yelled. "You really need to stop talking about things you don't know about." Pansy said. "We did what we had to do. Not all of us have the luxury of a perfect family." Blaise mumbled. "Oh we are so sorry. Is your huge vault at Gringotts and perfectly planned out life so hard?" Ron taunted. "You need to shut up." Pansy said. "I'm a pureblood too and we are just fine." Ginny said. "If you had any idea what happened behind closed doors, you would shut up now." Blaise said. "Why? Tell us what's so hard about your lives?" Ron asked. "None of your business." Pansy snapped. "That's enough." Theo said quietly. "Not all of us have Dumbledore's unlimited resources and protection!" Pansy exclaimed. "Because you don't need it. You are just a rich bitch and everyone knows it." Ron yelled. "Oh, you really think you know her life or mine?!" Blaise scoffed. "You need to back off-" Ron started. ""I'm starting to want you to make me." Blaise retorted, stepping forward. Pansy drew her wand and Blaise stepped forward towering over Ron. They were about 10 seconds away from fighting and no offense to Ron, but Blaise would kick his ass.
With or without magic.
"I said enough!" Theo yelled. They all looked at him and went silent. "Blaise, Pansy, back off. We are on their turf." he said. They nodded and stepped back. "It's clear that there's no way we will be able to pick one person to stay with her so why don't we all do it?" Harry said. "What?" Blaise said. "Well, nobody is willing to leave so we can all stay with her. That way there's a couple people with her. We can take breaks, get food, and sleep." Harry said. "Did you hear anything we just said?" Blaise asked. "She doesn't want to be treated like she is broken." Pansy said. "But she is!" Ginny yelled. "Gin, calm down." Hermione said. "No! She is broken. She tried to kill herself. How can you all act like she's fine?" she said. "She isn't broken." Theo said. "You don't know that." Ron said. "Yes. We do. And if you knew her like you all say you do, you'd know that too." Blaise added. "Anna isn't broken. She's human." Pansy said. "What does that even mean?" Ron asked. "It means, if you were in her position, if you lost everything like she did, you would feel the same. First, it was Edmund, then Donovan, then she found out about her parents, then Cedric, then Draco, then Edmund again, then Umbridge and now Sirius. If I was her, I don't know what I would do." Theo said. They all stared at Theo in shock. It was silent for a while before Harry spoke. "Let's just go inside," he said. They nodded and went inside. Theo and Harry stopped in the doorway and Harry looked at Theo. "What did you mean when you said Draco?" he asked. "What?" Theo said. "You said then Draco. What happened to Draco?" he asked. "We told you, our lives aren't what you think. A lot can happen behind closed doors." he said. Then he came inside. I sat up and Draco woke up when they walked in. "You're awake." Harry said. Hermione walked over to perform a diagnostic. "I'm fine, Mione." I said. "Like hell you are. Granger is going to do a diagnostic every hour until we know you're ok." Draco said. I didn't argue. I don't care. They all sat throughout the room and talked. Harry walked over and sat next to me. "So we all made a deal that-" he started. "The door was open, Harry. I heard everything." I said. "Oh." he said. "You don't need to be here. Any of you." I said. "We want to be here." Ginny said. I sighed. They don't get it. They obviously don't get it. I'm so tired of trying to get them to get it. Fuck this. Fuck them.
"Fucking hell!" I yelled. They all stopped and looked at me. "Did it ever occur to you that I don't want you here? Did it ever occur to you that I don't want to be here?" I yelled. "Belle-" Theo started. "No! I'm so fucking sick of this. You act like it was an accident. It wasn't!" I yelled. "Anna, please-" Harry started. "It wasn't an accident. I didn't accidentally walk into the lake that night. I didn't accidentally swallow those potions. None of this was a fucking accident so why? Why do you keep stopping me?!" I yelled. "We aren't going to let you kill yourself. We need you." Harry said. "And I needed my dad. So I guess we don't always get what we want. Do we?" I asked. My friends just stared at me with sadness and pity on their faces. I hated it. I don't need their pity. I need it all to stop. "Harry, if you knew you were going to spend your whole life watching the people you love die, would you still want to survive that fucking green light?" I asked. He was silent as he stared. "We don't get to choose when the people we love most die. But I can choose to die whenever I want. So stop fucking taking that away from me. I don't want to do this anymore. So fuck all of you!" I yelled.
Draco stood up calmly and walked over. "We have a deal," he said quietly. "Fuck our deal. I'm done. This- this was never part of the deal, Draco." I said. "I'm sorry-" he started. "I'll tell you this, if I knew my life was going to be full of Edmunds and Donovans and Bellatrix's and Crouch's. If I knew I would lose my dad and Cedric, I would choose the green light." I said. "Anna, there's a lot that wasn't part of the plan. But I won't give up. I won't break our deal because there are people that I care about. There are people I care about more than myself. So if you aren't going to suck it up and deal for yourself. Do it for them." he said. I shook my head. "No, no, no. I can't. I want to but it hurts. Dad was my last straw. I'm sorry. I can't." I said. "Fuck that. Then make me your last straw. And if I die, make Pansy your last straw. If she dies, make Blaise your last straw. Keep going and going. I don't care who it is. Just do it for someone. Because Potter is right. We need you. I need you. Theo needs you. We all need you." he said. He was right. But all I could think of was that horrible pain I felt. That ache in my chest. I knew it was that hole in my heart where my dad should be. It overwhelmed me and leaned against the wall as sobs wracked my body. Before I could hit the ground, Draco caught me. Him and Theo just held me in their arms. I could hear anything over the sound of my sobs. Harry knelt in front of me and I looked at him. "How many more?" I asked. He looked at me with concern. "How many more people that we love are going to die before this ends?" I asked. "Annabelle, I don't know. I just-" he started. "Please tell me. I need to know. I need to know that if I soldier on, I'm going to end up with someone or something to go home to. I need to know we aren't going to fight this war and win only to find out we lost everything on the way. I want to know it will be worth it." I said. He shook his head. "I don't know," he said quietly. Ginny helped him up and they sat on the bed. Blaise and Pansy were sitting together and so was Ron and Hermione. A while later, the twins came in with dinner. Nobody really ate. I just sat there with Theo. I sat curled up in his arms while silent tears fell on my cheeks.
Dear Dad,
I love you. I love you and I know you loved me. I will do it. I will soldier on. For you. And most importantly, I will get revenge. She will die for what she did. To me, to Neville, to everyone. She will suffer and she will die a painful death. I will avenge you. I promise. Until we meet again.
