Oct 27, 1978: You've Gotten Into My Bloodstream - Alice

[Deleted]

Frank sighed for the nth time that day as he waited for his team to wrap up their patrol in Diagon Alley. Well, patrol as in ‘wandering around under glamour spells and trying to look as normal as possible while keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of Voldemort and his cronies while still looking like a shopping civilian’. Yeah, piece of cake right? It sounded easy enough, though it was quite a tedious task, seeing as they had to change outfits and glamours every few hours to avoid notice. No, it totally wouldn’t look weird if there were people window shopping the whole day, every day.

He could understand the necessity of patrols, having been one of the people who came up with the initial plans also, though it didn’t stop him from feeling the boredom start to seep in. As a newly appointed auror, he knew better than anyone that any situation could turn bad at the blink of an eye, which was why, despite the ungodly boredom, they still had patrols. They mostly rotated between populated places, having theorized and rationalized that Voldemort would have likely targeted largely populated places for maximum effect. They couldn’t cover every single square inch of England, but at least they could put eyes and ears out there in the important places, so should there really be an attack anywhere, the Order could quickly operate and send out agents to help.

The gentle lion likely would have felt better about the whole thing, if his better half wasn’t off on a mission with her own team. Being away from his love had always put him on edge, and it had only gotten worse since they’d officially tied the knot last month. Yes, Frank Longbottom, married Alice Logan. He was still processing that piece of information in his head still. He was truly, the luckiest and happiest man on the earth.

And with that cheerful thought, the agent apparated home for the evening, glad that he would be seeing his wife in but a few minutes. They had agreed long ago that they would at least spend every evening together whenever they could, and just cuddle up in bed before falling asleep. For the most part, they had managed to make it work, unless one of them had to go on mission, then the other would likely just toss and turn in bed all night without much sleep anyway.

But as time trickled away with his watch indicating the agreed upon time, a cold grip started in the pit of his stomach. Alice was never late without reason and had always remembered to send a patronus message no matter what. Something was wrong.

NO!

“Inveniet”

Concentrating on his matching promise ring, the former Gryffindor focused on the tracking charm on it before apparating to where she was, not wasting a moment as he disappeared with a swirl of dark blue.

The neighborhood and landscape was unfamiliar, and looked to be muggle, but that was all Frank noticed as he quickly found his young wife on the ground, covered in an alarming amount of blood and rapidly bleeding out all over the place. Merlin no.

“Seph! Stay with me! Come on, stay with me!” He tried not to panic as he rushed to her side, checking her wounds as he did his best to stop the one on her stomach from bleeding even further, pressing his hand down on it hard as he scooped her up in his arms. “Look at me!” making sure that she could at least hear and respond to him as he quickly did first aid on her with some basic field medic charms, as per their training in auror academy. But he knew that he needed to get her to Roderick’s because this was beyond even him, and he didn’t want to lose her, not when they’d finally made it this far.

He couldn’t lose her.

“Baby, just hold on…almost there.” apparating once again in a swirl of colors, leaving behind nothing but a pool of crimson.

[Alice Longbottom]

“Thought you were headed home Mrs. Longbottom.”

Looking up from her food, Alice grinned from her spot on the counter at her team captain. “I’ve got a few before Frank’s team is done, figured I’d eat at least one meal for today,” she said with a laugh, “You eaten Fabian? Here, have some.” Chances are he hadn’t had food in a while, seeing as he was practically living at the Order Headquarters these days. She’d already sent Hagrid along back to his place, the bloke deserved to take a break. But getting Fabian to leave was harder.

“Can’t, Figgs mentioned there’s a disturbance in West Bromich. Muggle shooting, but it’s worth checking out.”

Alice sighed, slipping down off the counter. It had already been a long day, and there was always reason to be suspicious when it involved a muggle. But a shooting? “I’ll go - don’t even give me that, you haven’t taken a day off in weeks and I’m the one doing two jobs. I’ll go check it out, send you a message once I see what’s happening. Sit and eat.” She didn’t wait for him to comply before she was heading to check in with Arabella for the information, apparating away to the site.

*~*~*~*

Frank will find you, don’t panic.

The air was cold, she had left her jacket when she had come to check out the incident. It had been over by the time she arrived, the police had been in a high speed chase of a muggle with a firearm. And yet when she’d turned the corner to start heading back there had been Death Eaters, just standing there. She didn’t know which one had done it, the pain so quick before they were gone. If this is just a muggle attacking muggles, why were they here.

The crack of someone apparting nearby had her holding her breathe, but the familiar voice that followed... Frank! She felt herself smile as he was by her side, nodding the best she could as he spoke. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, moving her hands out of his way as he worked. She’d let her guard down, just for a moment. Hadn’t even gotten her wand out of her pocket. Not exactly a shining moment after the amount of time they had spent in training over the past year.

The muffled voices around here and the overwhelming feeling to be sick were a good indication that she wasn’t staying conscious, because they must of apparated somewhere. “Frank?”

[Deleted]

‘Are you ok Frank?’
‘How’s Alice?’
‘She’ll make it through mate.’
‘How did she get hurt? Why was no one with her?’
‘What the hell was she doing there alone? I taught her better than this!’
‘Frank dear, how are you holding up?’
……

Questions. Everyone had questions. None of which Frank could answer. From the moment he’d apparated straight onto Roderick’s doorstep for medical treatment, questions had been fired at him while the healer quickly rushed Alice into his make-shift operating room, leaving the lion alone to field the hoard of people and questions that were rapidly fired his way.

Just shut up. All of you.

The quiet young man felt caged and suffocated as everyone started to question and comfort him at the same time, further agitating and unnerving him with their close proximity. The lion knew that his friends and colleagues meant well, and really, he was much better with human interactions nowadays and had come a long way since his numb and shy days. But crowds still made him uncomfortable, especially now that Alice was absent from his side…He felt like running and screaming, wanting to just curl up by his mate’s side and know that she was going to be alright.

Please…if there was a God…Merlin…high power…anything…please just let her be alright.

While it was physically possible to live without his better half, Frank knew that life was hardly worth living without his own personal ray of sunshine in it to brighten up his day, as cheesy as it sounded even in the confines of his own mind. But it was the honest truth, and every second of not knowing what was going inside in that operating room was like knives driven into his sides, slowly carving the life out of him as he waited with baited breath for news of her condition.

“Leave me alone.”

Trying very hard not to explode and start yelling for the first time in his life, tossing out his quiet response as more and more people poured into the house, likely having heard the news now as it had no-doubt spread like wildfire amongst the Order members. Alice was well-loved by everyone after all.

Frank could understand that everyone was worried about her – and him – but all rational thought had left him the moment he had found her lying in a pool of her own blood, looking unbearably pale and vulnerable in his arms as she fought to stay awake. No, the was no room for anyone else in his heart right now, and he really didn’t give a damn to anything else besides her safety and health right now.

His hand clenched tightly, wanting to feel his promise ring and wedding band pressing into his hand, wanting to feel something other than the panic and dread that was slowly consuming him.

Please be ok.

Time seemed to trickle by at an unbelievably slow rate as he sat there on Roderick’s roof, having apparated out there after his quiet outburst earlier. He had no intention of talking in his current state, and no amount of comforting could even hope to console him right now. He needed to know that Alice was going to be alright.

And maybe there was something or someone out there that cared about Frank Longbottom, because Roderick’s patronus had flown through the dark like a beacon of hope in some cheesy muggle movie and told him to come back and that he could finally see his wife.

She looked so fragile and small, lying there under the white hospital sheets, and yet Frank could tell that his stubborn love was fighting with everything that she had to live, because that’s the person he’d fallen in love with before he had even known what that word even meant. “Don’t leave me alone, Seph.” Lying carefully beside her on his side, not wanting to accidentally shift the bed too much less he further aggravate her injuries. Roderick had done a marvelous job and managed to stabilize and patch her up, but Frank still wanted to be extra careful. “I’ll wait for you, always.” just like his namesake had waited for his queen to return to him after every summer.

“Just come back to me, ok?” feeling his eyesight start to blur as he carefully reached out to tuck a particularly stubborn lock of blonde hair behind her ear. And to think he’d thought his tears had run dry a long time ago.

[Roderick Bones]

It wasn’t unusual for people to show up at his place, having long ago agreed to be a healer for the Order at his flat. It had meant getting a bigger place, a second bedroom needed for when someone was a bit more than just banged up. But Roderick couldn’t remember the last time the knocks on the door had been that frantic, or the last time he’d seen someone losing that much blood. At least not outside of the hospital, and even then it was a rare occurrence. He’d known one day someone would be really hurt, and dreaded that it could be one of his brothers. But Frank and Alice Longbottom? They’re just kids…

Roderick was quickly ushering them in the house, wand flicking to get supplies moving as Frank set Alice down. He could heal the wounds quickly - he needed to if he didn’t want her to bleed out. His patronus was soon gone to fetch Edgar and the Prewetts, the senior Order members the only people he could think to call. “What happened?” he asked, hands desperately applying pressure to the deep cuts in the young woman’s skin. Frank wasn’t answering - and as loud crack echoed through the house he looked up to Fabian entering the room, the older man’s face paling as he looked at Alice. Roderick frowned, giving a nod to the frozen in place Frank before Fabian was pulling the man out of the room, leaving Roderick to work.

He could hear his flat getting busier, and he didn’t miss the outburst that had to be Frank. I’m doing what I can, I promise. The door opened soon after, Fabian returning with the medical supplies Roderick had asked some of the Order members to get for him. “This is my damn fault, I let her go alone to investigate a shooting…” Roderick ignored the words, wiping his hands off as he gave a long sigh.

“She wasn’t shot, this was magic. I couldn’t tell you what spell, it’s not one I’ve seen before,” he stated, digging around in the vials for the potions he needed. “How’s Frank holding up?”

“He’s up on the roof. Want me to get him?”

Roderick shook his head, wand once again in hand as he cleaned his work area. “Get everyone out of my place, I’ll send him a message when I’m done here. And make sure someone tells the rest of her family she’s here.” Fabian was giving him a nod, leaving him alone once more. It was only once the sounds of voices outside the door faded that he gently woke Alice up, the young woman confused as she swallowed the potions handed to her with mumbled words before she drifted off.

It was best to make sure the room didn’t look like a bloodbath, clean sheets and towels fetched before he sent a patronus off to the roof to get Frank. “Just call me if you need anything. She’s stable and she’ll….she’ll make it.”

[Alice Longbottom]

Alice wasn’t sure why she was in so much pain, but the man hovering above her was familiar and helping her sit up, a variety of potions handed to her. One to help the pain, one for the blood loss…she wasn’t able to keep track and found herself falling asleep soon after, memories of eight figures haunting her dreams as she slept. Their faces were dark, but she felt like she needed to reach out and see who they were. She didn’t know why it mattered, why should she care who these figures were? There were more important things to remember, more important things to do.

Don’t leave me alone Seph.

Why would she ever leave Frank alone? They were married, and it was so wonderful being married. She hadn’t really thought anything would be different since they had been together since the summer before their final year of school, but just being called Mrs. Longbottom was enough to make her giddy. I’ll wait for you, always. Of course he would, that was how things worked. She wasn’t going anywhere, that was for sure. Not anytime soon.

Just come back to me, ok?

A hand was brushing hair from her face, and she mumbled to herself as she forced her eyes open. The bright room was dimmer than it had been, and Frank was there now. “I’m right here,” she managed out, thoughts of the evening slowly returning.Death Eaters. Attacked. Bleeding. She’d been to this place before, but she couldn’t figure out where they were. Not St. Mungos, never for an Order mission. “I’m sorry I made you worry.”

[Mary Macdonald]

It's Alice.

The small pair of words should be too simple to cause distress. There are far worse pairings, to be sure, but for Mary Macdonald to get pulled from sleep with a late night owl containing those words and little else…nothing could be worse.

It's Alice.

The young woman had apparated to the closest point, to her knowledge, near the address Remus gave, having only taken time to throw on a large sweater over light pajamas and slip into sneakers before fleeing from home. She'd gone to bed early in preparation for the Hogwarts trip tomorrow, and still didn't feel fully awake. Disoriented upon arrival, she checked Remus' brief note again, sweeping still-shower-wet hair out of her eyes as she tried to place herself.

It's Alice.

Veins buzzed with an adrenaline her body and mind couldn't reconcile as Mary breathed through the oncoming panic. Alice was hurt, and badly. There was no doubt about it. And Mary needed to find her. Roderick was a fully fledged Healer now, and it was so late, and Remus couldn't give details…and Mary assumed that the Order didn't send messages to family for scrapes and bruises. If they did, any safe house would be overtaken faster than Mungo's Reception on Halloween night. Knowing better but acting regardless, Mary cared not for discretion and lit her wand to better see the markers. Before too long of following her feet and the thin wavering wandlight, she'd found the proper door. A furious bout of knocking later and the door opened to reveal a boyfriend she wished she'd found on better circumstances.

"Roderick, I - " Throat constricting, she held the note out for him with a trembling hand, trying to see inside around his frame. On the doorstep, she vacillated - she needed to go in, she needed to see Alice, she needed to know why she was summoned…the worst can't have happened. Not Alice. Please, not Alice. The thought of finding out she'd lost her sister was overwhelming, paralyzing as an immobilizing charm. Beyond her wonderfulness and Mary's want of her to have a nice long life to spread said wonderfulness, the other girl had forever been one of her steadiest anchors. Life without Alice was simply unimaginable. She'd tried to picture it, hating herself, to mentally prepare for a summons such as this. But what was life without her? While her aunt and uncle were dear to her as well, Alice...was her truest family. And so, feeling utterly unworthy of her House, Mary cautiously, quietly, asked, "What am I walking into?" She grounded herself as she met eyes she knew so well, knowing that even with that dear heart of his, Roderick wouldn't shy away from the truth.

[Deleted]

How long has this war been going on? Frank couldn’t say. Voldemort wasn’t the first evil wizard and, despite the fact that the thought alone left a bad aftertaste in his mouth, he certainly won’t be the last. It was a never-ending war they were fighting really, an eternal struggle between darkness and light, or so that was what his father had told him when he was old enough to understand their family’s legacy. But it didn’t matter now did it? Whether Frank was facing one dark lord or his gang of bullies? Because, at the end of the day, they were just that, terrorists/bullies, and people that felt entitled and addicted to the way they feel, every second of every day. There had been people like this in the past, and there will continue to be people like this in the future. All Frank, or anyone really, could do was to try and do what was right and learn how to live, despite all the roadblocks along the way.

He had learned…

He’d learned to cope with loss, he’d learned to live once again, he’d learned to love… And yes, as hard as it was to comprehend even now, Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom were in love, and married, and…that both strengthens and terrifies him at the same time. And while the dangers and threats of war had always been something they’d talked about, having seen first-hand today, just how close he’d coming to losing the one person that mattered the most to him…Frank wasn’t so sure that he was brave enough to keep on like this. Could he really let either of them risk their lives on a daily basis? Always in fear of it being the last time they’d ever see each other again and never truly being at ease while the other was on a mission…?

She’d think he was being silly again…

“Don’t…” his voice cracking on a choked sob as he felt his vision blurring even further, though whether it was sadness or relief, Frank really couldn’t tell anymore. “…it’s ok.” his voice hoarse and shaky as he squeezed out those two little words, knowing that he could never really be angry with his love, despite the panic and fear and anger he’d went through today in those agonizingly long hours of waiting by himself. “Just…try not to do it again…ok?” Because I need you and I don’t know what I’d do without you… The former Gryffindor added quietly in his mind as he slowly reached out to pull her into his arms while being careful not to aggravate her wounds any further.

[Roderick Bones]

It had been a long night, although it seemed like long nights were happening more frequently. He wasn’t a fighter, he never had been - but he had to wonder if there were enough people fighting this war. Being a healer for Order members had been a natural choice, considering his brother was one of the first to sign up when the offer had been given to him. But every time someone younger than him showed up on his doorstep needing help, it was a harsh reminder of their world. Kids fresh out of school shouldn’t be signing up for wars, showing up at his house bloodied and bruised. They would laugh it off, and go right back out the door for more. One day, and unfortunately one day probably soon, there was going to be someone he couldn’t save.

Roderick wasn’t sure he could handle that.

Death was an inevitable part of life, but it shouldn’t be happening to seventeen-year-olds. It shouldn’t even be something a seventeen-year-old was worried about, but they did. Roderick would never try and talk any of them out of it, it was clear that people were needed if this war was to end in a way that kept everyone he loved safe. But he had to wonder if it should be him out there, fighting in their place. He and Danny had never wanted to be a part of it, choosing different career paths that kept them out of the sights of Death Eaters. It would be untrue to say that Edgar’s choice to become an Auror hadn’t influenced Roderick’s choice to become a healer, as it was certainly a big factor.

Frantic knocking was enough to pull him from his thoughts, and he gathered his wand as he made his way toward the door. Pulling it open, Roderick was momentarily surprised to see his girlfriend on his doorstep, shoving a note his way. He should have been the one to owl her, and he felt guilty for putting that on Fabian and his team instead of handling it himself. He recognized the panic in the girl’s voice as she spoke, and he quietly handed back the note from one Remus Lupin as he moved out of the doorway to let her inside. Swallowing the lump in his own throat at seeing her like this, so distressed, before he spoke, "She's alive, take a couple of deep breathes, alright?" Wand tucked away safely, he waited for the redhead to do as he’d asked before he gently took her elbow, leading her to the door.

“I can’t tell you how she got hurt - and I mean that literally. I don’t know what they did to her, but she lost a lot of blood,” he spoke softly as he stopped outside the door, “Frank is with her now. He was the one who brought her to me, I’m not sure if he knows anymore about what happened.” After a series of light knocks on the door, he twisted the handle and opened it slowly before adding. “Stay as long as you like, let me know if any of you need anything.”

[Alice Longbottom]

She felt fuzzy, but she was aware enough that she could hear the break in her husband's voice. Each second was a little more clear, and she got her bearings. Frank was lying with her, and she couldn’t help but feel a familiar burning in the corner of her eyes as he pulled her close. Her memories were too fuzzy for her to know what exactly had happened, but it was clearly bad enough. It was bad enough that she was somewhere she didn’t recognize, which was very different than the last thing she could recall. Which was being at the office with Fabian and Hagrid, and she knew that at least her captain had to be pissed with himself for this. She had said she’d go alone, that had been her mistake. Not his. “Does Fabian know?” she mumbled, hand reaching to find Frank’s and give it a squeeze, “Not his fault.”

Alice wanted to sleep, she was tired, but the sound of a knock on the door she turned her head, Roderick’s face finally putting the pieces together she had been missing. Frank must have brought her here, he must have found her. She would have to answer questions, eventually, about what had happened. But right now wasn’t the time, not as the ache started to really hit her. It was only then that she realized why Rodercick had opened the door, when she focused her attention to the person he was with. “Mary,” she said, tears burning in her eyes again, because this was something she’d never wanted her sister to have to be involved in. “Mary, I’m okay.”

[Mary Macdonald]

While she'd been pulled from bed by Remus's urgent owl, and knew she really was on Roderick's doorstep, Mary felt like she was asleep, the familiar panic of her nightmares stinging her skin. She'd imagined a night like this, they invaded her sleep, anxieties about her loved ones going up against dark forces and being bested. But to actually be here, not knowing what state her sweet pea was in, not knowing if she was going to make it, was an otherworldly feeling she couldn't have anticipated. Roderick's honest assurance that she was alive was something, at least, but alive encompassed both critically injured and healthy, so what was she supposed to do with that? But Mary did her best to listen and follow his instructions, knowing that showing her panic to Alice - whatever state she was in - would hardly be helpful. So she forced a few slow breaths and let him lead her inside, nodding mutely at the information given. She lost blood. A lot of it. Frank's here. He could know what happened...

The walk through the flat she loved to the makeshift surgery was altogether too short. But she forced herself to step through the door, muttering a quiet thank you to Roderick and a short squeeze to his hand, her eyes glued to the bed. It was sterile, too sterile, the whole room, and again she felt as though she were stepping into a dream, or a memory. Back in third year a rogue Fire Crab escaped its holdings and set the Bowtruckle enclosure ablaze, and in returning to class after the fact - while the scorched earth was already replaced with grass, the screams of the tiny helpless creatures no more - there was a sense of wrong that she couldn't shake. A cover-up had happened here, too - the sheets were crisp, an unnaturally un-lived-in smell to the place, and in the middle of it all lay a pallid Alice and Frank Longbottom. Alice stirred at the intrusion, and Mary felt the tears in her sister's voice spring forth the ones she'd been trying to hold back.

"I - I got an owl, it said to come," she choked out, unsticking her feet and stumbling towards them in a rush. Her body was filled with tremors she couldn't control as she found a little free space on the bed to sit, eyes frantically roving over her sister and brother-in-law. Frank looked half-dead himself, wrought through with worry, and she tried to swallow back her unhelpful emotions. She wanted to scream, to demand that they leave the Order, that they get themselves as far out of harm's reach as they could. I can't lose you. If you won't keep yourself safe for your sake, can you do it for mine? But Mary bit that back, a tearful and fumbling "Are you sure you're okay? Please, Alice, promise me." tumbling out instead.

[Deleted]

Frank didn’t know what to think when his pale and fragile love looked at him with those soulful brown eyes, still worrying over others when she was the one who’d been hurt and so close to leaving him tonight. Do you really think I give a damn as to what Fabian thinks right now? For the first time in his life, the former Gryffindor felt completely irrational and pissed for no reason, no reason at all except for the fact that she should be focusing on herself for once and taking care of herself. Didn’t she know how much she meant to him? Meant to all of them? How could she be so selfish?

But Frank knew that it was only the anger and adrenaline talking, as he could do nothing but love her and protect her with all he had. He knew he couldn’t persuade her to leave the battlefield, because that was who he fell in love with, and he would never ask her to change, even if it killed him to see her get hurt. “You know he’ll still blame himself anyway.” Too much guilt to go around and too many of them had survivors guilt and a bloody hero-complex to sleep well at night anymore. Alice was the only thing keeping the nightmares at bay these days.

Though before he could say anything else, the doors opened again with Roderick showing a distressed and frantic Mary in. News traveled fast in the Order and it didn’t surprise Frank to see that Alice’s sister was notified immediately when news of her attack had spread like wildfire this evening. He was immensely relieved on top of Alice’s confirmed eventual recovery that he didn’t need to be the bearer of bad news to her little sister. That would have been too much to bear.

Deciding to just give Mary her Alice time, the lion simply reached out to squeeze her hand, letting her know that everything would be ok before pulling his arm back to wrap around his wife, holding her protectively, silently as he comforted and convinced himself that Alice was still here, alive and in his arms and they would be ok. This was but a ditch in the road and they’d pass this just like they’d managed to pass all other obstacles in their way.

[Alice Longbottom]

Frank was right, Fabian was going to blame himself for this. But it wasn’t his fault, that much she knew. There had been no way to know what she was walking into, and she had been the one to decide to go by herself. It was careless of her to not take backup, to not be fully prepared for an encounter. She was an Auror - she knew better. She should have asked someone to come with, should have had her wand ready when she landed in the muggle town. But there would be time for her to think on this later, the knock at the door drawing her out of her thoughts. Seeing Mary standing there, looking so distraught was hard for Alice. She didn’t want to hurt the people she loved, but tonight she’d managed to hurt two of the people she loved the most.

Pull it together, she thought, blinking through the tears as Alice looked at her sister. If she got too upset, there was a chance that Roderick would make them both leave. And right now, she needed the two people in this room more than anything. She needed them both to know she was okay, that she would survive this. Alice doubted that Roderick would have let them into the room all alone if the situation was grim. And while her body ached, the sensation was dulling as the time ticked by and the potions she’d been given took effect. “I’m glad they owled you, but I’m sorry about the circumstances,” she said softly as Mary came to sit on the bed with them, reaching out for her sister’s hand. Her heart ached at Mary’s next words, hating herself for causing both Mary and Frank pain. “I promise I’m alright.”

That was a promise she could at least make. Roderick was one of the best healers they had, she was in good hands. How long she would have to stay here would be something they could debate later. She couldn’t miss too much work, and she’d have to come up with some excuse as to why she was gone, or why she was injured to tell her partner. All things she could worry about when she wasn’t freshly attempting to recover. “It’s getting worse out there, isn’t it? Sometimes it feels like we aren’t going to win,” she said quietly to Mary and Frank, a sigh escaping her after. Was this a war they could win? Or were they fighting a losing battle? Alice wasn’t sure anymore, but she couldn’t stop fighting.

[Mary Macdonald]

Good Merlin, Mary - get it together. You’re not the one who’s been hurt. Calm down.

But the girl couldn't talk herself out of her body's reaction to the terror, and she gripped onto both offered hands for dear life. She didn't like to cry in front of people - who did? But she'd hardly ever had such a fright. Sure, there were times in Yorkshire that she and Alice kept inside in the wakes of unsolved attacks on women and girls; she'd witnessed a rampage on Hogsmeade village in her first months of working, positively terrified for her life as the Death Eaters burned down the door of the teashop as she hid within. She'd been at Lily and James's wedding, not so useless in the fight as she'd been in her fourth year, but frightened all the same. She'd heard bits and pieces of what her friends and family faced in this war. She knew what it was to live with this fear. She knew the risks that they all took in daring to try and live when it would be safer to stay shut away indoors until it was all over.

But it'd never been Alice.

The woman she knew and loved promised that she was all right, and Mary fixed her with as steely an eye as she could manage. There was no lie in the other's eye. Alice believed she would recover from this night, so she had to hold that as the truth. But as Alice continued, Mary shifted her worried eyes to Frank, not wanting to misstep here. The pair had dedicated their lives to this fight, and even with her sister's doubts, Mary knew she would return to the whole of it as soon as she was deemed fit for service. That drive to protect and serve was in her blood, as impossible to separate from her as her good heart. If I thought there was a way to convince you out of this life, I would. But what she could give, with any luck, was hope, as much as it killed her to do it.

"You will win this," Mary whispered, bending to kiss the back of the chilled hand she held. "You're going to look back on all of this one day, and know you helped bring the worst to an end. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't without setbacks, and sometimes it felt like all was lost - " Her throat constricted in a fresh wave of emotion, and she struggled through it, for Alice. "But the good - the good won out, in the end."

[Deleted]

“It’s getting worse out there, isn’t it? Sometimes it feels like we aren’t going to win,”

The worried man had no words to comfort his wife, not wanting to give her false hope and foolish optimism in light of recent events. Things were getting worse with each passing second, and they were truly outnumbered in this war against evil and darkness. But despite all odds, they were still standing strong and still fighting for a world they believed in, even if they had to fight till the last man standing. And as brave as Godric Gryffindor might have wished his disciples to be, the gentle lion could only hold onto his wife as the fear of losing her weighed heavily on his heart. He couldn’t lose her. Ever.

And then there was Mary, Alice’s beloved sister and someone Frank had come to see as family also. He didn’t want to lose either of them to this war. But despite not having the will or skills to actually fight on the front lines, Mary Macdonald was the strongest and bravest person of them all, offering words of comfort and encouragement in the face of despair. A small smile curled at his lips as he nodded in agreement before scooting to the edge of the bed so Mary could have room to squeeze into Alice’s other side. He wasn’t the only one that needed Alice, and he couldn’t be selfish about sharing her with her sister. He leaned down to press a soft kiss against her temple and place a comforting hand on his sister-in-law’s shoulder, before pulling back and walking out the room to find something to drink or eat for his wife. Hopefully Roderick could tell him more about her condition and what he could do to help excelerate her recovery.

[Alice Longbottom]

There would be a report to be filed, and she was sure a quiz on what she could remember. Right now, the only thing she could remember were shadows, a familiar laugh, sudden pain. She didn’t know when her memories would come back to her, but she knew whatever had happened out there tonight, no matter what it was reported as, was definitely the work of someone with magic. There would be a time and a place to ask questions about what had happened, she’d read the Prophet and the muggle news tomorrow. Fabian would apologize to her endlessly, the captain always taking any injury in the field as a personal flaw in his abilities to protect them. None of them could have known this was going to happen, muggles acted in violence against each other all the time. And guns? It was hardly a common weapon choice for someone with magic to use. But it meant it was a situation that needed further investigation, which she was sure the Order was doing right now. Her job was to heal, and make sure both Frank and Mary knew that she wasn’t leaving them anytime soon.

But here in this room, in the quiet with two people she cared so much for, it was hard not to voice the internal struggle she sometimes fought with. How could they win this, when it seemed like evil was around every corner? When those who were fighting for the cause couldn’t walk into St. Mungo’s for an emergency if they were injured in the field, not without questions. They were lucky they had Healers working with them, like Roderick and Andromeda. If she’d been injured in her job as an Auror, Mediwizard’s would have been called. Even though they were fighting the same fight, it was so messed up that the Order operated in secret. But Mary, sweet Mary, she always knew what to say. Alice knew that her sister wished Alice had chosen a different path than this fight, but she also knew that this fight was something Alice couldn’t walk away from. Even if right now that was what she wanted to do.

She smiled to her husband, watching him leave the room. She scooted carefully over to make room for Mary to lay down with her, patting the spot beside her. “My sweet Mary Mac, you’re the best sister I could have asked for, you know. I’m sorry to have scared you.”