Badger in the House

Chapter 2: in which a problem becomes apparent

Bryana woke when she tumbled to the floor as the train screeched to a halt. She groaned, imagining the bruise already developing on her hip.

"What's going on? Are we there yet?" she asked the boys. They shrugged.

"You haven't been asleep that long," Lee puzzled. Fred nodded and helped her up from the ground.

"We can't be there yet. Are you alright? That was quite the dramatic awakening," Fred told her. She grinned, quirked an eyebrow, puckered her lips, and struck a dramatic pose.

"Only the best for the Drama Princess," she quipped, tilting her head back to look down her nose at the boys.

"That would work better if you were at least the same height as us," George informed her. She thought for a moment and nodded.

"Probably. Now what's wrong with the-," Her sentence morphed into a shriek as the lights went out. She was not alone in her startled state, she could hear her shock echo in neighboring compartments.

The rain clouds outside made it too dark to see without the light on, so they stumbled around for a few moments, trying to find their wands.

Lee found his first and cast a lumos charm, lighting up the compartment again. Bryana quickly found her wand and cast her own lumos charm, moving towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" George asked. Bryana grinned worriedly back at him.

"I've got to go check on Harry, Hermione, and Ron," she informed him matter-of-factly. She turned back to the door and opened it.

"Well, at least wait for one of us to come with you," Fred insisted. Bryana gave him an unimpressed look.

"Mate, I'm not a baby. Just cause I carry Pooh Bear around doesn't mean I need help tying my shoes. I can do this by myself. If you want to help though, go find Percy. He probably knows what's up," Bryana didn't wait for an answer, but walked out the door. She knew that the twins would stay in the compartment now. They and Percy were not on the best terms. She started peeking into compartments, checking to see if everyone was okay.

She soon reached the compartment occupied by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, only to find it already lit by the wand of a stranger. He looked tired, but alert, like he had seen too much in his life. He warned everyone to stay where they were before walking towards the door.

"Who on Earth?" Bryana asked, pointing directly at the man. But she never got to finish her sentence as a dark paralyzing dread crept up her spine and into her mind.
Suddenly, she was six years old again, begging her mother not to leave. She had her Pooh Bear gripped in one chubby hand, the other was stretched out to her mother.

"Mama! Please! Don't leave me lone! Mama! No!" her wails echoed down the empty street, defying the muffling noise of rain falling in torrents. Her mother, dressed in a violent red raincoat, ignored her shrill cries, walking until she was just a dot on the horizon before slipping onto a different street.

An hour later, the door of an orphanage opened, and the Matron stepped out, only to find her way blocked by the small body of a girl, curled into a fetal position around a stuffed bear.

Then the memory faded into darkness, and Bryana crumpled at the feet of the stranger.

"Miss? Miss, wake up," a voice penetrated into the blackness that was Bryana's consciousness. She groaned slightly, trying to remember what happened. As it came back to her in a rush, her eyes snapped open and adrenaline shot into her veins. She jerked her body into an upright position, Harry's name on her lips. Because she knew that if whatever had made her, for absolutely no reason, remember the worst day of her life and pass out, Harry would be affected too.