Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

1 August, 1997 - Over

Lavinia was dancing when the war ended. One of the many distant Weasley cousins was spinning her around the dance floor with perhaps excessive vigor and barely avoiding crushing her toes. The food had been good, the ceremony sweet and, in short, Lavinia was enjoying herself at a wedding she didn't think she had much business attending but whose invitation she had accepted anyway. It was, after all, a rare chance to see people in a setting that was light and easy and, at least for the first part of the night, unburdened by the war that seemed to have cast a shadow on just about everything else.

So Lavinia was laughing and dancing and as close to carefree as she had been in years. And she wasn't the only one. A few feet away from her, Tonks and Remus were dancing too, Remus wincing as his wife missed the occasional step and landed on his feet, but looking as content and as happy and as in love as she had seen him since his wedding day. Hermione was smiling and blushing in the arms of a tall and rather awkward looking boy and Molly and Arthur had cleared a few feet around them to dance in a less than dignified manner with grins on their faces that made them look young again.

The world was peaceful. Easy. Uncomplicated for the first time in a long, long while.

In fact, the whole thing was so relaxing that Lavinia barely even registered the bluish light falling from the sky until it splashed down on the dance floor, scattering those nearest it before its misty aura coalesced into the form of a Lynx that seemed to pull the gaze of the entire party. Once together, it didn't wait for the confused murmurs to settle or the music to properly stop. It waited for nothing at all before it opened its mouth and spoke in a familiar voice. And in that moment, the illusion shattered. The world stopped. And the war ended.

The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.

The words echoed through the now silent crowd of partygoers for just a moment. Just a heartbeat. And Lavinia could have sworn she felt it - saw it. The way it settled onto everyone's faces just as she was sure the realization was settling onto hers. The way, for just one hopeful, heartbreaking second, everyone thought that maybe, just maybe this wasn't real. Maybe this was a bad dream. And then reality set in and panic seized them and they started fleeing, running for the edges of the protective enchantments they all knew were around them, pushing past Lavinia who felt rooted to the spot, unwilling or unable to accept the things her head kept saying this meant. It didn't much matter that she hadn't started running, however, because less than a minute had passed before the sounds of apparition snapped through the panicked shuffle of the crowd, confirming that the protective enchantments were broken. And with that sound, any doubts vanished. People who had been running were now sprinting and those few hopeful fools were jumping up to flee.

The next thing Lavinia knew, she was being pushed this way and that, buffeted around as people ran in all directions, searching for loved ones, dodging spells from Ministry and Death Eater wands alike, trying desperately to get out. Anything to get out.

Lavinia couldn't blame them. Honestly, she would have joined them were it not for the fact that her feet didn't seem to want to move. Her body was in shock, her head still stuck on those words, on their impossibility. Because it couldn't be real. It simply couldn't be. The Death Eaters couldn't have gained that much ground without the Order noticing... right? But then, Dumbledore would have been the one who noticed. Dumbledore would have been the one to put together those handful of oddities no one else bothered to take much stock in. And without Dumbledore... well. She had known the moment he had died what would happen. She just hadn't thought it would come quite so soon.

But glancing around, there was no doubt that it was happening. And if this really was real... Lavinia's feet started moving, turning in the direction of the crowd, fear sparking through the shock until all she knew was that it wasn't safe here. And she and everyone else had to get the hell out.