Of Pack & Pups

This was undoubtedly not one of her best ideas. There was probably a much better way to make sure that she was left alone, and… It wasn’t as if Oli and Anto wouldn’t be shuffling up next to her at some point. The cold weather: the flurries of snow, the Arctic wind coupled with the barrenness of the landscape due to it wouldn’t keep from Oli and Anto burying themselves into as many layers of cloth as possible to wrap around them and venturing to this lone spot on the Hogwarts Grounds.

It wasn’t too far that she would receive a long lecture from the Elders. The winter had come roaring in like a lion and the Elders had insisted that no one (especially in the case of any Young Ones of Hogwarts Resistances) wander far from the actual Hogwarts building. But hidden away enough that if anyone did leave the comfort of Hogwarts (as compared to the outside, the Hogwarts’ icy corridors were nothing more than a warm bath)…

She wouldn’t be found.

Not unless someone knew that she could be there.

And those only consisted of her own Kata, their Allies and of course, their Elders and Guardians. And since she had been keeping out of the Elders way, therefore giving no chance of Fate for words to be exchanged that might infuriate either side further…

Highly unlikely that the Elders would be seeking her out.

So, all she had to worry about were her Brothers. Penny and Cedric had already realised that what was brewing among Amy, Oli and Anto was not something they could play a part in. It was a Kata matter and therefore…

It made her slightly lonelier to not at least have Penny by her side sometimes. There were only two Females left of their age, and as both had very solitary Public Personas…

More time they could spend together.

Having Penny remain cordial but leave all matters of communications to slight nods and smiles, pulled Amy strongly into the category of being alone. And sometimes…

No words had really been exchanged between herself, Bill and Charlie. Once it had become clear exactly what the matter was that Bill and Charlie had resolved to not be spoken of until much later, the conversation had remained strained. There were only so many subjects that could be brought up that would –help- any of them be able to drift their thoughts from the running scenario of how much trouble Amy was going to be in, and that day…

It was hard for even those to be brought up successfully.

They just kept…

And now the weeks had passed. The Christmas Holidays were upon them and in a couple of days…

Oli and Anto were expected to be with their families during those two weeks where Hogwarts broke to celebrate the Season. Not spend it completely apart, of course, as at some point Oli would journey to The Burrow to be with the family that had practically adopted him.

Molly had never changed that part of her personality, even after all these years.

The hardships had only made her even more determined to adopt as many –lost- ones as she could, pulling them into her Family Circle and…

But Amy couldn’t expect the same kind of relief. She was to be left at Hogwarts with the few remaining Elders (and even they would be spending some days with other Members of the Resistances), until… school started again.

A hateful Christmas.

One that she used to be saved from when…

Well, she could hardly be angry towards Ryo. He had finally managed to travel into the United Kingdom without the New Idiot and his Lapdogs being able to do anything about it. How could she expect Ryo to remain in New York just so that during the holidays…?

She should be trying to spend as much time as possible with Oli and Anto. Relish in the few last days she had with them before they would be parted, but…

There was a wedge between them.

Amy’s own anger/annoyance/fear of what she would be facing with Bill and Charlie and Anto and Oli’s own…helplessness. Along with their own grumbles of being unable to stop Amy from confronting the New Idiot and his Lapdogs.

This was why she needed the freezing cold crashing through the Grounds of Hogwarts.

Time to contemplate.

Time for her to peruse her own stupidity of…

Undoubtedly another bad idea.  Allowing those thoughts of worry to run through her head only made her feel worse. Only made her even more scared of what was to come.

Bill and Charlie loved her.

They wouldn’t physically hurt her.

But that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t use their words and their Tone to make her feel as though she was only two inches tall. To make her hate herself for disappointing them.

She always hated it when she did.

And yet…

She kept doing it, didn’t she?

Fuck.

Letting her head dip, burying it into her scarf as best as she could with a hood lined with fake fur pulled over her face, Amy sniffed. Not because she had any cold (Hell, if she showed any sign of having the slightest of being worse for wear she’d have been thrown into the Hospital Wing and would never be allowed out again), but…

Hell, she was freezing and miserable, but…

Well, at least there was something else that being alone gave her.

She could feel sorry for herself. And no one called her out on it, or tried to make her feel better. She was just left alone and-

‘So decided to make another stand?’ murmured in the voice of the unmistaken Tone of William Weasley from across the space of the Pillar Stands.

Amy didn’t raise her head. She gave no outward response, other than slightly cocking her head.

Bill could take that movement for what he thought it was worth.

‘Just had to be in arctic conditions first,’ added on Charlie from the same area of the Pillar Stands.

Amy’s nose twitched.

Jokes.

And what made it even worse was that Amy wasn’t sure –why- her two Brothers had travelled all the way to Hogwarts.

They could have done it simply to finally give her the bollocking the two of them believed she deserved.

Or-

‘Charlie,’ said Bill, ‘this is not what you would term arctic conditions. You live in bloody Romania for Merlin’s sake because of the stupid dragons. Cold like this barely needs two jumpers and a jacket for you.’

A large laugh from Charlie.

A shiver ran through Amy’s body.

Merlin.

She missed little things like this. The small bits of Bill and Charlie’s behaviour that at one time, used to surround her. To completely encompass her and leave her with the feeling of…

Kata.

Pack.

All destroyed after returning from Back Then and…

‘it’s not myself who was complaining about the weather upon meeting up at the Apparition Point,’ said Charlie.

‘That hut gave no protection against the wind,’ muttered Bill.

Their voices were slightly closer now. Only a few steps but…

Was it possible that they were trying to use charm as an offensive before they started yelling at her? Get really close, within touching distance so that one of them could wrap their arms around her, pull her into their embrace, and then…unleash their anger?

‘As you told me,’ said Charlie.

‘As I keep reminding you,’ said Bill. ‘Until we do something about that blasted hut, we might as well just use the clearing nearby.’

‘You mean the one that has all the cows in it?’ said Charlie.

Bill snorted.

‘They’ll leave you alone,’ said Bill.

‘I’m not afraid of cows,’ said Charlie.

‘Then there is no reason that we shouldn’t use the field,’ said Bill.

‘Other than the fact that we try to not Apparate out in the open?’ said Charlie.

‘There’s no one nearby,’ said Bill. ‘As long as we don’t do it when the farmer moves them, during the morning or evening, no one is going to know.’

‘We use that hut just in case,’ said Charlie. ‘So that we can see what’s going on around us before we walk out.’

‘Perfectly capable of being invisible,’ said Bill.

‘You want to go to all that trouble to just Apparate in to that Point?’ said Charlie.

‘We go to plenty of trouble just to get into the United Kingdom,’ said Bill. ‘What’s one more?’

‘One more thing that is possible for us to screw up?’ said Charlie.

Amy’s lips twitched.

Too many balls up in the air, and it was inevitable that something would go wrong. There had been proof of that in even the most simplest of things. Adding too many bits to a prank, make it too complicated, and it was more likely that either it wouldn’t work, or if it did…the result would not be what any of the Kata wanted in the first place.

Or, at least, what Bill, Brian, Josh and Oli wanted.

That was the usual cause.

They were the ones usually guilty of making everything too difficult in the hope that this would result in more spectacular bangs.

Very rarely worked.

Amy hmphed.

Highly impossible to get any of the Males to realise it though.

‘Fact still stands,’ said Bill. ‘The hut is useless unless we do something about it being able to withstand the weather conditions of this wonderful isle.’

‘It’s served us long enough,’ said Charlie.

‘Doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be made better,’ said Bill. ‘Finally.’

That last word was barely anything more than a mutter, but…

Charlie had undoubtedly heard it.

‘There are quite a few things we could change,’ said Charlie, ‘but at this moment, we’re only concerned with one.’

Amy’s body stiffened, or at least, as much as she could considering that her body had seized up in what little warmth it could generate in the amount of clothes she was wearing against the cold weather around her.

So, here it was.

Here were their angry words and her…being unable to defend herself. Well, not exactly completely as there was a good reason for why she had done what she had done. The Member of the Marauders had to be protected, no matter what the cost and Amy…had done what she could.

The fact that her Brothers disagreed with this (along with the Elders but the opinion of her Kata Members mattered more to her) was…

‘Yes,’ said Bill softly. ‘Yes. Take care of a young Female who needs cheering up.’