Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

25 June, 1995 - War (II)

"How."

The word came out like a breath or a prayer. Some last, fragile hope that it was false. That this was speculation not certainty. That it was wrong because... because it had to be wrong. It just had to be.

But Lavinia didn't even need to hear the words Sirius spoke to know that it was a fool's dream. The look he sent her said enough. It was soft and almost pitying and so... so painfully understanding. Like he knew that it wasn't just that she didn't want the Dark Lord to be back, it wasn't just that she didn't want another war, though both were obviously true. It was also the small, selfish realization that she wasn't ready. She wasn't prepared. She hadn't decided what her role was or where she was going to stand in this mess. She had thought - foolishly perhaps, but she had thought all the same - that she had more time.

But time was up.

"Something about a potion," Sirius was saying now, shaking his head slightly as though he was still in shock. She couldn't blame him. She suspected this would take a very long time to sink in for her as well. "Harry saw it," he explained. "Voldemort used his... blood."

Lavinia stilled, her eyes locking onto Sirius's face, every bone in her body tense. His blood. She wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but blood magic was plenty powerful and... and how much blood? Because to leave a sentence like that as it was with no explanation at all was frankly just an invitation for panic, something Lavinia could feel forming at the edges of her brain.

"And?" she pressed when Sirius didn't immediately elaborate.

"And he'll be fine," Sirius assured her, though there was a heaviness to the words that kept Lavinia's gaze on his face. "It was just a cut, but... He was with the other Hogwarts champion," he explained.

Something about the tone of the words made Lavinia's heart sink, her brain catching up to it a moment later as she leaned rather heavily on the back of the armchair. "He's dead isn't he?" she asked flatly. "The other student?"

Sirius nodded and sighed heavily, looking out the window for a moment as though he needed to compose himself. Lavinia couldn't blame him. She didn't know much about the other champion and, if she was honest, didn't even remember his name. But he was young. So young. And if Harry had been with him then he would have seen it and...

Remus swore quietly under his breath. "So it's actually started," he murmured, the words shocked and almost distant. "And a kid was the first casualty," he added, the words angry and tight, like he would rather like to scream at the world for such an injustice.

"Third," Lavinia corrected quietly, hardly aware of the word until it was out of her mouth.

"What?" asked Sirius as both his and Remus's eyes turned to her.

Lavinia blinked, realizing rather belatedly that an explanation was in order. Shaking her head slightly to clear it and focus herself back on the present, she continued, "If this is really happening, then Dumbledore was probably right about a lot of other things too. A muggle disappeared months ago. Plus Crouch. So the kid is the third," she finished, the words tasting vile coming out of her mouth because they sounded so... casual. So simple. Like they weren't talking about war. About death. About a child who had a family who were never going to see him again.

Lavinia forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat, pointedly turning her thoughts elsewhere as she did so. She didn't want to break down right now. Later maybe, but right now they needed to make plans. They needed to know what the hell happened next. And they needed information. Important information. And who had died first... well that wouldn't matter by the end. Not when the first would be just one of many.