Witch Hunt (Re-written)

Chapter 13, As Prepared As Can Be

       Usually, you wake up cold and exhausted, but this time, you were quite warm and felt better than you had in days.
A soft sleepy chuckle came from beside your ear as you stretched.
"I understand why your animagus form is a cat now. You're basically a human cat."
You moved to give him a light smack, doubting it would hurt much being you were still half asleep, but they got caught on his hand. His fingers were entwined with yours as you slept on his arm.
"That didn't work out the way you wanted, did it?" He teased, squeezing your hand.
"Why are you being so mean to me this early?"
He chuckled as you yawned into your free hand. "This is hardly early when you usually wake up at seven."
"Why? What time is it?"
"Roughly eight. You slept all night without a nightmare." He smirked when you looked back at him.
"How would you know? You were snoring before I even fell asleep."
"I'm a light sleeper. Always have been." He let go of your hand and gently tugged you to sit up. "Time to get our last day out of the way before we go toe to toe with the Minister."
"Let's hope we've done enough. Throwing a bunch of teenagers and teachers at him is dangerous enough, but, what if this only ends up getting us killed?"
"It's not," he said resting his chin down on your shoulder. "That's why it's crucial for Spavin to take the bait. Though, I will say, I'm not happy about that bait being you."
You smiled, resting your head against his. "I bet you're glad not to be the center of everything now, huh?"
"No, because if I was, I'd be in danger, not you."
You shoved into him, getting his eyes to open and look at you. "Like I want you in any more danger than you've already been in."
He huffed but didn't reply until he climbed up to his feet. "Well, there's nothing I can do about it, for now, so we best get as much knowledge as we can before we're too deep in it."
You climbed out of the bed to begin the day.

After a good night's rest and a decent meal, you were able to resist the curse a bit easier than before.
The smiles on everyone's face as you joined them early, was well worth it.
Even the rest of the teachers looked relieved. You were just grateful your magic wouldn't be used against them.
Sharp and Richard moved to speak with Felix quietly as you focused on maximizing your spells.
It wasn't until lunchtime that things became interesting.
"What's going on?" You asked, leading the rest of the group into the room, where the teachers were talking over each other.
"It seems we're in an even bigger rush to take care of Spavin," Felix answered and turned the newspaper towards you.
It showed a photo of you with a large reward for my safe return.
"Okay?"
"Minister Spavin is trying anything to get a hold of you, even claiming you're his secret child that he had hidden out of political fire or backlash," Richard admitted, glaring at the paper. "As he was a Gryffindor and involved with your mom at the time, you could be-"
"She's not," Felix hissed, crumpling the paper and throwing it aside.
"With all due respect Felix, you don't rightly know for certain, do you?"
"In any event, Sirona has already noted a larger amount of customers frequenting her pub and asking questions about you," Professor Weasley replied, giving the two still in a quieter argument a reproachful look.
"Fantastic," you replied, leaning against the wall. "Is there something that can prove who's kid I am?"
"No, at most we know you're a pureblood, but we can't directly trace your heritage. Your family provides that," she answered.
You huffed in irritation as you ran your hand through your hair. "Great, so he's practically claiming ownership of me and I have no way to fight it."
Sebastian moved close, getting a smirk from Poppy and Natty, not that he noticed.
"What do you think we've been doing here?" Sharp asked, his eyes moving from face to face. "We're getting you ready to face this monster if it comes to that. As far as the information we've been receiving, it's not a distant worry anymore. Your ancient magic is going to make you a target for people like Spavin unless you prove you're not going to be controlled."
Defiance was something you knew well and if not, you were sure Sebastian's would rub off eventually.
"Besides, he's just given us a way to lure him," professor Onai said, accio-ing the newspaper back onto the table and straightening it out.
"I mean, I was the bait before. Might as well be grateful he's getting desperate."
You were just worried how much and how would it manifest itself.
"Desperate enough to make a mistake?" Garlick added, her eyes landing on you. "I think we should charm a few more bags to hold enough plants and potions."
"I'll help with that," Ronen said following her to your work stations.
"With him getting this many people involved, we may have to rethink our original plan and try to lure him directly into Hogwarts," Weasley admitted, her eyes staring at the paper. "I doubt we'll be able to even get to the Ministry now."
The teachers moved to the work stations as Sebastian incendio-ed the paper and swept the ashes off the table.
"Is this what you went through in your fifth year?" Anne asked as the group moved to sit at the table.
"Pretty much, but it went by so quickly in the end that most of it didn't catch up until months afterward. Most of it I heard from other students, but eventually it started getting embellished."
"Aunt Matilda knows what she's doing. She wouldn't act without thinking of all the possible angles."
You gave him a smile. "The only problem is people's reactions don't usually line up with what you can always imagine."
"That's why she has Sharp and Felix, they're finely tuned to the lengths that dark wizards would go," Poppy added cheerily. "Besides, we beat the poachers. You and Natty single handedly took on Harlow and won, all the while helping Gareth with his brews, Sebastian hunt for a cure for Anne and helping Fig. You can take on one Minister."
"It almost sounds easy when you put it like that," you teased, though you were still unsure.
You hadn't seen the Minister fight before and assuming he'd fight like Rookwood or Harlow seemed disastrous.
"I don't know, sometimes it feels like things would have been easier if I never had seen ancient magic," you whispered, mostly to yourself. "I keep putting people in danger and who knows who'll end up like Fig."
"Fig's death isn't your fault," Natty reminded quickly.
You gave a nod as you stood. "I'm going to go try to study a bit more."
No one argued, but you could tell they were worried. Still, you needed time to think things over.

It was barely five minutes, before you heard the door to your dormitory open and Sebastian's usual confidence.
"Checking up on me already?"
You tried hard to hide the shakiness of your tone.
He moved up behind the chair and rested against it.
"Can you blame me?" He asked as he trailed his finger along your cheek to wipe up a rogue tear. "What are you thinking about?"
"What am I not thinking about?"
He gave a thoughtful hum as he moved to slide into the seat with you, making you laugh at how terribly you both fit, despite his effort. Not that it was a problem for long when it expanded a little.
"I have to admit, I really like this room," he teased as he settled into the spot. "Are you taking the world's problems out on yourself again?"
"No, I'm just," you took a breath, readying yourself, "I'm scared that I'll end up getting someone killed again."
"You know you didn't get Fig killed, I hope." His arms wrapped around you when you didn't reply.
"What about after this fight?" You looked at him, seeing an array of emotions dance over his features as yours began to overflow. "Am I going to lose everyone just because I can see magic others can't?"
Not knowing how to reply, he pulled you into a strong hug, resting his head against yours.
"I don't want to keep losing people I care about."
"You won't, all of us have learned two years worth of magic in the course of a month," he replied, cupping your face as his thumbs wiped under your eyes. "I now have a deeper understanding of what you went through as a new fifth year. It sucks."
You couldn't help but laugh as you rested your hands on his wrists, eyes closing to try focusing on this moment.
"We know how to wandless cast now too. So, we're not defenseless. I dare him to come after us now. We can take him easily."
When you opened your eyes, his were shining with determination and a silent promise.
"I hope you're right."
He gave a nod before pulling you against him, not letting you see his own worry creep onto his face.
You both knew that you could win against him alone and with a fair fight, but he had a small army of aurors and dark wizards, and he wasn't the type to play fair.
Neither of you voiced this worry, allowing yourself to believe you had convinced the other.