Hope In Hiding (Book 2 of the Lost Potter Series)

Stalemate

(Side note from the author: Guys, if I ask a question, I kind of want answers to it, believe it or not. Like I love the comments from the last part but c'mon, I need a little more feedback than "Please update". Anyway, read on!)

The next morning, Olivia was woken up by another nightmare striking at about 3am. Hoping the other girls didn't hear the usual cries and screams, she carefully crept out of bed and went the main living area to calm down.

As she crept down the stairs, she noticed the odd silence throughout the house. With all these people, she expected much more than the odd creak, snore, and turning of covers. Of course it was much more silent with just the three of them, but somehow she expected more to be happening.

She had just about made it down the stairs when a sudden movement scuttled across the bottom stair, scaring her out of her wits. Her instincts immediately kicked in, with her unconscious magic springing forth and stopping the assailant where it stood and hovering it three feet in the air so Olivia could see what it was.

"Oh, Kreacher!" Olivia snapped, "Stop scaring me or I swear one of these days you'll end up through the ceiling!" She whisper-yelled at him, keeping him suspended.

"Sorry mistress!" Kreacher spoke back, his eyes darting about. This was far from the first time he'd provoked Olivia's temper, and with Sirius claiming her as his goddaughter ("She's the closest thing to a kid I'll have, so just suck it up!" was both sweet and weird), he had no choice but to take her orders.

Olivia, who had grown up with house elves around but never quite cared for them (mostly due to the fact that Mr. Malfoy has instructed their house elves to not consider Olivia a master), just sighed and put him down, willing him to go anywhere but where she was.

"Liv? Is that you?" Sirius's voice called out from the living room, which held its door slightly ajar.

Olivia entered her original target quietly, "Its just me. Sorry for the noise, Kreacher scared me again,"

Sirius peered up at her from his place sitting on the sofa, "How injured is he now?"

Liv huffed and sat next to him, "I didn't hurt him, and I didn't mean to before either, he just-"

"I know, he doesn't pay any attention and you can't control it. You've said it a million times, Liv."

Sighing again and leaning back, "I feel so horrible whenever I hurt anyone with it. Harry, Draco, Dumbledore, Kreacher... doesn't matter if they deserve it or not."

Sirius slung an arm around her, "Was that tonight's nightmare?"

Olivia shook her head, "I had a bit of a fight with Ginny before we went to bed and I had another 'all my friends secretly hate me' dream. Wasn't that bad until Harry came in with the dementors."

Sirius nodded empathetically, "Mine was dementors from when we were almost caught at Hogwarts. What was the fight about?"

Olivia struggled slightly to keep up with the topic change, "Draco. He's a total git to everyone at Hogwarts apparently but I still stick up for him. It's all Mr. Malfoy's fault anyway!"

"Well if anyone's a total git, I'm placing my bets on Lucius," Sirius joked, "Now was this fight something that'll be forgiven in the morning or am I going to have to have Remus ask Hermione to mediate?"

Olivia smiled slightly at the chain of command, "We'll probably apologise fairly soon about it, but thanks for the offer."