~Astra~

While I was glad to see the way Wren came back to the present when James showed up, it also made me feel a little... alone, I guess. The Malfoys were all together again, and the Potters were slowly finding each other. I hadn't even seen a glimpse of my family. Had they even made it?

It wasn't even just that. There were so many things wrong right now, so many people hurt and dying and even though everything was supposed to be over, nothing felt like it was, and I had to hold all of this in because I couldn't just break down, not in front of all these people, not when I needed to be strong for my friends who were clearly struggling more than I was... but if Teddy, Victoire, or Aunt Andromeda showed up out of nowhere, everything would be better. I was safe, objectively, and I knew it, but I also knew that I would feel more safe with any of them there to comfort me.

"My gosh, Jamie, what happened?"

Wren was staring up at James' bruised and bloody face with poorly-concealed horror. I had to wince with her, despite the fact that I'd been there when he got several of those bruises. While it seemed someone had taken the time to fix his broken nose, his black eye was looking a lot worse than it had. His face was still covered in blood, which also seemed to be caked in his hair. Still, he frowned as if he didn't know what he was talking about. "What?"

"You look like you got beaten to a pulp," Nico deadpanned.

"Oh." James tried to wipe at his face with his sleeve, but it didn't do much except make him wince. "I'm really fine, okay? Looks worse than it is."

"It looked pretty bad when it was happening," I said skeptically.

He shot a frown at me. "I'm fine enough, Astra."

"What happened?"

As he met Wren's eyes again, James pursed his lips. "Just... fighting, you know."

"Did you get in a fist fight?" She took a step back, shaking her head. "How did that happen?"

He hesitated, and it occurred to me that he didn't want to tell her that he'd been fighting Caldwell. I suddenly wasn't so sure if he should, either. She'd had to face enough today without all the feelings that would likely draw up.

But Wren was glancing between us, suspicion on her face. "You're not telling me something."

"It's fine, Wren," I said quickly, shaking my head. "It's not a big deal."

She turned to James, a hard frown on her face. "What is it?"

"I'm all right. Isn't that what matters?"

Wren pursed her lips. "Are you not telling me because you don't want to talk about it, or because you think it'll upset me?"

"Does it matter?" I asked weakly.

"Yes."

"Bloody hell," Nico muttered, shaking his head. "You two treat her like she's going to break or something."

"No, I..." James closed his eyes. "I don't want you to be angry, Wren."

"Angry?"

He let out a deep sigh. "Magnus Caldwell is dead."

He left it at that at first, and after a moment of shock, Wren glanced at me uncertainly. "Why would I be mad about that?" she whispered.

"I killed him."

James opened his eyes just as Wren took a step back, seeming horrified once more. "Oh, James, no..."

"I don't think he meant to," I said quickly. "They were fighting, and James cast a spell that threw him to the ground, and—"

"No, I meant to." James reached out for Wren's hand, and she didn't pull away. Her face was definitely more concerned than angry, at least. Knowing her, knowing how much things like that weighed on her, I was sure she was scared he'd start to feel the same way about this. But he was smiling sadly at her. "He was trying to kill me, for one thing."

"You could've just knocked him out..."

"I would've done it anyway." He shook his head. "I don't regret it, Wren. I'd do it again. You don't need to worry about him ever again. Certainly don't worry about me, okay?"

She stared up at him for a few moments, searching his face, before nodding slightly. James smiled again, pulling her back into his arms.

I couldn't help smiling at them, but Nico shifted awkwardly, eyes on the ground. "Anyway..."

"Oh, right," James' eyes began to dart around the wounded behind us. "I don't suppose you've seen Ciara and Brigitte? We're trying to figure out how much evidence we've collected, but they know a lot more about the Hogwarts chapter than Eris and I."

"Ciara's just back there," I said, pointing to where the Malfoys were still gathered around her. "I'm not sure she's in a state to be moving around..."

"Ask her," Wren said, shaking her head. "I'm sure she hates just sitting there."

"Brigitte's fighting with one of the healers right now," Nico observed. "She doesn't want to stay put either, looks like."

"Bloody hell," James said quietly. "What happened to her?"

She had a large bandage wrapped around part of her head, and her clothes were still bloody and torn, but she was indeed fighting with the healer who was trying to keep her on her cot. "I don't know. Doesn't look good."

Just then, she spotted us. More aptly, she spotted James and Wren. Her eyes widened, and she started waving at them. "Hey! Come tell them I'm fine!"

James rolled his eyes. "She's mad, honestly."

I opened my mouth to reply, but just then I saw Poppy and Albus emerge from a stairwell, hand in hand. They paused for a moment, looking around, before. I saw Poppy pointing at us. My heart sunk just a little when they didn't move. "There's... there's Albus..."

"I think I'll go talk to Brigitte, then," James said, a little too loudly.

I turned to blink at him, but he was already turning to walk away. Wren grabbed his hand, her frown as confused as mine was. "James, didn't you hear her? It's Albus."

He chuckled uncomfortably. "Yeah... I'm sure we'll catch each other later. I've really got to get back to Eris..."

Wren glanced at me, seeming at a loss, but I nodded slowly. I'm sure he's way more angry with me than you, that's what he'd said. Of course he didn't feel ready to talk to Albus yet. That was okay. Today had already been so intense, and it sounded like James still had a lot to worry about. Albus, too. Maybe it was better if they both had time to settle.

"That sounds important," I said, nodding again. "I'm sure Albus won't mind."

That seemed to only confuse Wren more, but James shot me a relieved smile. "I'll be back in a minute." With that, he was gone.

As soon as he left, Poppy and Albus started towards us. I don't Wren noticed that, being too busy watching James hurry away. She took a step closer to me, suddenly seeming a little shakier again. "What just happened?"

"It'll be fine, Wren. He does have a lot to do, I'm sure." I patted her shoulder, forcing a smile. "It's not like this is their only chance to reunite, you know."

Nico raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't comment. While Wren didn't seem at all convinced by what I said, she didn't press the matter. It didn't matter, anyway—within seconds, Poppy had thrown her arms around Wren and was coming at her with a barrage of questions about whether she was okay and what she'd been thinking.

Albus was standing off to the side, and when I glanced over at him, he was already watching me. I couldn't tell what he was thinking from his expression, but I took a deep breath anyway. "Hey, um... can we talk?"

He took a moment before he nodded. "I'd like that."

Poppy turned to smile at us both before grabbing Wren and Nico's arms to pull them away. "We'll be just over there, all right?" Before I could protest, they'd hurried off.

For a moment, there was silence. People were still moving around us. The sounds of talking and crying and groaning were still swirling by. But it was like we were suddenly in a bubble, with none of that making it through the surface. It was just me and Albus. And I had no idea what to say.

Albus was staring at a spot on the ground several meters away, now. I hugged myself, this unnatural discomfort seeming to choke down any words I had. We had been best friends, once. Now we couldn't even look each other in the eye? And it was all my fault...

"I'm sorry," I blurted out, watching him only until he looked up. My eyes drifted down to the ground. "It... It was really shitty of me to run off and leave you behind. I shouldn't have done that. I... I should have told you, talked to you about it. Asked you to come with me. I know that."

I took a shaky breath. My words were starting to tumble out, faster and faster, like a river whose current is speeding up. I just hoped I wasn't barreling toward a waterfall. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, and I know you'll probably never forgive me, and that's okay, because I treated you terribly, and I wasn't here for you and Colette and I should have been and maybe you wouldn't have been arrested if I hadn't left and I can't ever take that back. I'm sorry that they turned you into a werewolf, and I'm sorry that my family told me that before you could, and I'm sorry that I can't go back and change all these horrible things that have happened to you because of me. I feel so horrible, Al, really. I get it if you don't want to talk to me, and I'll leave you alone, but... I don't know. I just needed you to hear this first. To know I still care about you, and always will, and this is all breaking my heart, and—"

"Astra, stop." I slowly raised my eyes to find Albus frowning at me. What was he thinking? Was that anger on his face? Disgust? Or maybe just pain from all of this. Maybe I shouldn't have brought all those things up? Maybe I shouldn't have reminded him of it all? Damn it, I realized I'd really been hoping that he would forgive me just now, and maybe I couldn't handle it if he didn't, but I fully deserved it, and—

"I'm sorry, too."

I blinked at him, my thoughts wiped clean like a whiteboard. Sorry? "You... what do you have to be sorry for?"

"I wish I'd been able to talk to you," he said quietly. "When you were there... I was so overwhelmed, and angry, and it was like I was just watching things happen without any ability to do or say anything. But I wish I'd been able to, and I wish I would've asked for you to come back. I treated you horribly, and it wasn't even because I was angry at you. I know that must've hurt you a lot, and I'm sorry."

"I... oh..." I stared at him. What was I supposed to say to that? I'd kind of deserved the silent treatment, hadn't I?

Albus shifted uncomfortably, not meeting my eyes again. "I... I mean, I was really upset when you left, don't get me wrong. Colette and I both. We were... angry, and it hurt a lot. And... well, all this time I haven't been sure if I could actually forgive you for that."

I bit my lip. This was more like what I'd expected. "Albus, I—"

He held up his hand, eyes wide. "But that was stupid of me, okay? I get that now. And I'm sorry it took this whole battle to see that. I... I care too much about you to let that ruin our friendship. So... I'm sorry that I almost let it. Can... I mean, do you think... maybe we could just start over?"

"You mean that?" My voice came out as a whisper, though I hadn't meant it to.

The corner of his mouth turned up. "Of course." For a moment, he hesitated, but then he took a few steps forward and hugged me. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I've missed you so much. I love you, Al."

"I know." He pulled back to smile at me, but there were tears in his eyes. "I love you, too. And... and Colette would forgive you, too, you know. If she was here."

And just like that, the bubble burst. Suddenly I could hear all the wounded people around us, see them in pain, wonder how many of them were people I knew. My stomach twisted. "How was she doing? Nico told us they took her to St. Mungo's already..."

His smile faded. "I... I don't know. They said she was stable, but... I don't know."

I sighed, looking down. "Shit."

"The healers said they'd let me know as soon as they were letting visitors go," he said quietly. "We'll just wait together until then, go see her together."

Though he shot me a weak smile, I couldn't manage to reciprocate. Somehow, the heaviness had both lightened and grown at the same time. But at least I had Albus back.

~~~~

Question of the Day: What are some good questions of the day? I don't have many more chapters left, but I can't think of anything...

 Answer: Thanks for the ideas ;)

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 2262