star shopping ✰ d.m.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

After escaping the Death Room, Tonks had brought Arabella and Ginny straight back to Hogwarts and to the hospital wing where their minor injuries were treated and where they would stay overnight. Tonks stayed long enough to make sure they were all right before leaving them. Shortly afterward, Ron, Hermione, and Neville arrived with Kingsley and Olivia, Evelyn, and Luna with Olivia and Evelyn's great-aunt Elizabeth.

Faustus didn't get there until a half-hour after everyone else. He looked significantly much worse off than the rest of them and did not say a word when they asked him what had happened, but instead settled himself in a bed and allowed Madam Pomfrey to mend him. David, who had brought him back, motioned them all to gather around him as she did so.

"Grandpa, what-?" Evelyn spoke, looking from Faustus to David with concern.

"In a minute, Evie," David said. He looked at them all, his expression serious. "Now, before I tell you anything, you are not to badger Faustus or Harry - when he gets here - with questions about what has transpired tonight, got it?"

"So Harry's all right?" Ron asked hopefully. None of them had seen him since they had left the Department of Mysteries.

David seemed to consider his answer. "He will be, yes."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked. David's answer had only increased their anxiety if anything.

"Physically, yes, he is all right. But, emotionally... he's going to need time, and so will Faustus, your mum," he looked to Olivia when he said this, "and likely Remus will as well."

"My mum? Why my mum? Grandpa, what's happened?" Olivia asked. For the first time since everything started, she seemed genuinely scared.

David let out a heavy sigh. "Not long after you had all left... Sirius was murdered by a Death Eater. Harry, Faustus, your mum," again, he looked to Olivia, "and Remus Lupin were all witnesses to it."

There were gasps throughout the group.

"You're joking," Ron said.

"I'm afraid I'm not," David told him.

Deeply saddened, Arabella leaned her head onto Ron's shoulder as tears began to fall. Not only was she sad that Sirius, a man she had truly liked, had lost his life, but she was sad for the four that had seen it all happen as well. Sirius had been Harry's godfather and Faustus's uncle; he had also been close friends with Lupin since the both of them were in Hogwarts, and he and Catrina had been in some kind of romantic relationship.

"Wait," Neville spoke, "I'm sorry if this seems disrespectful or anything, I don't mean it to be, but... well, I know he was Faustus's uncle and all, but what was he to Harry?"

"He was his godfather, Neville," Ginny told him. She had tears running down her cheeks as well and quickly wiped them away.

"Oh... damn."

"Erm... do we still have to take exams?" Ron asked. Arabella momentarily lifted her head from his shoulder to glare at him. "I just mean, they're only a few days away..."

"I will speak with Professor Dumbledore-" David began.

"Professor Dumbledore? He's back?" Evelyn asked.

"Not officially as of right now, but I think it's safe to say he will be any moment now. Anyway, as I was saying, I will speak with him about letting most of you off of exams because of tonight's events if you feel you cannot take them, and I'm sure he will agree to it. But for those of you in your fifth or seventh years - that is to say, if you are scheduled to take your O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s over this next week - I'm afraid that, unless you want to repeat your current year, you will have to take your exams, as you will not get another opportunity to do so afterwards."

There were quiet groans from some and a nervous gulp from Hermione - Arabella knew she was now afraid she was losing precious time she could be using to study.

"What about Umbridge?" Evelyn asked.

"What about her?" Arabella retorted in a bitter voice.

"My question exactly," David said.

"Well," Hermione began, looking uneasy, "Harry and I sort of led her into the Forbidden Forest where she was sort of attacked and carried off by angry centaurs."

David looked momentarily stunned. "I see."

"Oh, no, are we in trouble? We only did it because-"

David almost looked like he were going to laugh as he held a hand up to stop Hermione from speaking further. "No, you are not in trouble, nor is it any of my business why you did what you did. I will inform Dumbledore of what you have just told me and I will let him handle it; since I am not a staff member at this school, nor am I an employee in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, what happened to Dolores Umbridge in the Forest at the hands of the centaurs is none of my concern."

Arabella allowed a small smile to appear on her face for a second; David's indifference to the fate of Umbridge earned him even more respect from her.

"What about the Death Eaters?" Neville asked. "Some of them were the ones that escaped from Azkaban back in January..."

"I am aware," David said. "We were able to capture some of them, Lucius Malfoy included," Arabella could have sworn he had looked at her for a moment when he said that, "but, I'm afraid, most of them got away."

Suddenly reminded of what Dean had explained to her a few months prior about why Draco would not want his father imprisoned in Azkaban, Arabella's heart sank.

[word count: 976]
[written: 8/26/20]
[published: 8/27/20]
arabella: lucius malfoy is a terrible person, he should be in azkaban!
arabella when lucius malfoy is actually in azkaban: is sad