Poachers
Lysander grabbed Alice's wrist and pulled her behind him. He had his wand held forward and she could smell sweat dripping from his neck.
She gripped her wand and tried to think of any spell she could remember from class. Lysander slowly began moving her backwards towards a tree.
"At least we know where it is now and who exactly has it!" The other voice yelled back. "Shouldn't be too hard to get the one from that little girl after all."
"Yeah, but don't you know who that little girl is?" The voice hoarsely called, "Not to mention that little black one was Jones' old dragon. Better not to mess with that. You know how Jade is about that whole mess."
"Jade is more bark than bite my friend. She's losing her touch I think."
Lysander and Alice finally reached shelter behind the large tree. There was a continued moisture in the air.
"Where'd they get off to?" The voice said as the silhouettes of the two men came into view. Alice pulled her head back. She assumed if she could see them, they could see her.
"Probably flew off towards the castle, I told you to hold on tighter. The female would have fetched a fair price, but both! We would've been heroes. Imagine how much we could've gotten for Jones' dragon."
"Imagine how much we would've gotten for the kid then." The man cackled, "Jade probably would have paid big to anyone who had one of Fyre's brats."
Alice felt Lysander grip her tighter to him. His breathe remained steadier than her's.
The men were certainly closer, Alice could hear the snapping of twigs and footsteps grow continuously louder and louder.
"I told you, you shouldn't mess with that." The other man sounded closer now, "You should leave anything to do with Fyre alone. You heard what happened to that writer right?"
"But what if I told you, the kid was close by?"
"Alice." Lysander whispered now with his wand completely out. "Stay behind me."
"Stupefy!" Cried one of the men as he jumped into view, this one had dark eyes and skin.
"Protego." Lysander blocked the spell and moved her behind him away. Her back gripped the tree. She could feel sticks sharply pressing into her back. She wondered what could have afforded her such bad luck.
"I say back off Curtis." The other man wearing a dark bandanna said putting up his hands, "I told you don't mess with Fyre's kid."
Lights and colors emerged from Lysander's wand and the three began dueling. Alice wanted to help, but she wasn't much in the way of it.
"Stupefy!"
Alice barely heard the words when everything around her faded away. Instead her normal vision was replaced by the sounds of breath and visions of bony hands and fingers clawing towards her.
"Do you even know it's Fyre's kid?"
Alice awoke finding her back against the tree. Her vision was blurry as she tried to look around her. She had once experienced the vision of opening her eyes underwater in the pond by her gran's home, and she found this experience comparable.
The men were standing above them. Lysander was passed out beside her, his wand no longer in his hand.
Alice assumed because of his drunkenness he hadn't been much for dueling either. He'd never been the most exceptional when it came to those sorts of things. He'd remarked on several occasions he was barely fair when it came to things such as dueling.
"Even he looks familiar, don't you think?"
"I dunno, maybe we should just wait."
"I just can't put my finger on it." Curtis said bending down closer to Lysander.
"Don't you go running off." The bandanna man insisted pointing his wand at Alice's head. "Who are you?"
"I'm-my name?" Alice asked frightened as she realized she didn't have her wand. "My name's Taylor Swift."
"What's his name?"
"Drew." Alice lied scrambling her mind for the first boy name she could think of. "I'll kill you if you hurt him."
"I think you are lying." The bandanna man said squatting down to her.
"No, I'll really kill you." She said feeling a deepness in her throat.
"I meant your name missy." The man with the bandanna said reaching out a hand to touch her hair.
"No my name is Taylor and he's my boyfriend Drew." Alice lied loudly before smacking his hand away. "We were at the Gryffindor Quidditch after party and wanted to get away, alone."
He recoiled his hand from her slap, "Got quite a blow don't you little lady?"
"Well you scared her. They could just be a couple of kids from the castle looking for a quick place to snog. Come on, you remember those days don't ya?" Curtis asked before laughing.
"She needs to learn some manners." The bandanna man said before raising his hand.
Curtis asked, "Remember if she's Fyre's kid, Freya will want her intact."
The bandanna man lowered his hand.
Lysander lifted his head, "Bloody Hell!"
The bandanna man instead grabbed her cheeks into one hand. She squealed slightly as he did. He held his wand to her temple. She dared not move. Her breathe began to heave.
"She's a pretty thing." The bandanna man laughed as she considered her options.
"Let her go!" Lysander said as he reached for a wand that wasn't beside him.
"Not smart to damage merchandise." Curtis reminded, "Besides I bet she's barely fourteen."
Alice said feeling rather gross, "Please let go of me."
"Tell me who you are kid!" The bandanna man now yelled making her ears sting.
"I told you who I am." Alice felt tears begin to pour from her eyes.
"You are a horrible liar." The bandanna man said releasing her face. "And if you aren't lying, there's no reason keeping you alive."
Lysander said, his voice sounded steadier, "Let us go!"
"Why should I?" Bandanna man bent his neck towards Lysander, "Convince me boy."
Lysander breathed out, "You are right she's a bad liar."
Alice's heart dropped, was Lysander selling them out?
"But Jade would just gut you like a fish and take the money for herself." Lysander gripped Alice's hand. "Not to mention she may take it personally."
"Why ?" Curtis asked grabbing Lysander by the collar.
"Because I'm a Scamander." Lysander laughed uncharacteristically. "You think she'd take kindly to anyone who hurt someone related to Kai Jones? That's a mess I'd keep my nose out of."
"I thought you looked familiar." Curtis looked him over before pushing him back and standing up.
"How about you leave them both alone won't you?" Came another voice from behind them. Alice recognized the brightly colored hair immediately.
"Jade!" The men both growled.
"Back off or I'll make you." Freya said stepping in front of them making her green cloak cover both Alice and Lysander.
It smelled of sulfur as the dragons blew fire. Alice wondered if that was what a dragon ranch would smell like. Her mother hated the smell of smoke, so Alice was rarely accustomed to it.
Both men didn't hesitate to run deep into the forest, but not before dropping Alice and Lysander's wands.
Both dragons flew to Freya's hands where they rested. Blowing fire was exhausting for their size.
"Dumbasses." Freya called after them. "I'll kill you both if I ever see you again!"
Lysander helped Alice to her feet.
"Are you two ok?" Freya asked turning to look at them.
"What are you doing here?" Alice asked breathlessly stepping out from behind Lysander.
"I just wanted to see you play is all." Freya now smiled with a beaming pride.
"You did?"
"Of course." Freya laughed, "You really are meant to be a Dragonologist little Fyre. The moves you do, it's exactly what you need to fly beside a horntail."
"Thanks." Alice said feeling blood rush to her cheeks. "I heard a few more wasted potential comments again, but I know you are right."
"Of course I'm right." Freya pinched Alice's cheek.
"Thank you Freya."
"Freya," Lysander whispered aggressively before dragging Alice behind him again, "As in Freya Jade?"
Alice swallowed as she stepped out from behind Lysander. "Didn't your mum tell you? She's who brought me Dusty."
"Merlin's beard Alice!" Lysander's voice didn't waver, even through his breathlessness. "She's-she's-"
"Just saved your lives." Freya said looking at the little dragons in her hands. Dusty flew off and onto Alice's shoulder. Freya reached down and handed them both their wands.
Duke seemed to give Freya a slight bare of his teeth before flying over to Lysander's shoulder.
"I suppose so." Lysander said, looking ready to bare his teeth.
"You must be one of the young Scamander boys?" Freya looked him over. "Rolf's son right?"
He nodded, "He warned me about you."
"I'm quite sure he did." Freya laughed, "You turned out very handsome Mr. Scamander. Considering your genetics it's not surprising."
Lysander's nostril flared slightly.
Freya laughed, "Out for an evening snog?"
Alice interrupted, "We weren't actually out here to-"
"You didn't tell me you were interested in a Scamander." Freya threw her head back. "I'd have suggested they are trouble."
"Alice, we need to get back to the castle." Lysander called.
"You are quite right, now off to the castle you two." Freya bobbed her head between them. "And try to find a better snogging location next time."
Alice began her walk back, Lysander followed but didn't take his eyes off of Freya until they were out of the woods. Duke seemed to be following suit, just staring back through the woods, his positioning like an attack.
"I'll alert the headmistress." Lysander said as they left the wood's edge.
"What are you going to say?" Alice asked, "Are you going to tell them about Freya?"
"Just that I was escorting your parents home, ran into you letting Dusty hunt, when someone attempted to steal Dusty and Duke." He said before rubbing his neck. "That it was two men, and at least one man's name was Curtis."
"What about Freya?"
"I'm going to say nothing about Freya."
"Truly?" Alice asked, feeling slightly off the hook.
"Just this time Alice." He said looking her over, "And only because she saved our lives."
"Thank you."
"But you should tell your parents." He insisted gruffly.
"They'd freak out." She said, she could feel her whole body shivering.
"Yes they will." He said shaking his head. "You have to say something."
"You aren't in charge of me Lysander." She practically yelled back.
"You should tell them Alice. She's dangerous, not to mention your parents won't be thrilled, because I will tell them if I ever see her again." He was practically stomping his feet across the cold and muddy ground. "And if they find out you kept it a secret they will tear the mickey out of you."
"I'll tell them." She said as she felt Dusty wrap herself around her wrists. "It's better they hear it from me I suppose."
"Alice." Lysander said with a slight shock in his tone.
"What?" Alice asked feeling annoyed by his insistence.
"You are shaking."
Alice looked down to her hands, they were in fact shaking, "I'm just cold."
His eyes remained on her hands.
"I am cold really." Alice said shoving her hands into her skirt pockets, "I know what you are worried about, but I don't have mum's condition, we get checked every few years."
He nodded before pulling off his cloak. He placed it on her shoulders.
"Thank you." She said pulling it closer around her. "Ridiculous, what she said, about us snogging, I just was trying to get the poachers to leave us be."
Lysander's shoulders went up towards his ears, giving Duke quite a scare.
"Yes, ridiculous." Lysander gruffly said, "I suppose."
"Oh quite, I mean we are friends aren't we?" Alice asked, "But I suppose I'm much too young and you'd probably be weird about my whole crush on Lorcan."
"Of course." He coughed. "Very weird."
"I honestly appreciate you as my friend Lysander. I trust you almost more than anyone else I know!" Alice qualified.
Once inside the castle, she handed his cloak back. Her shakes had ceased and it was warm within the castle's walls.
Lysander said with a nod towards the opposite end of the hallway, "Duke and I will go awaken the headmistress. Go try to sleep please."
"I'm so sorry about all of this Lysander." She said before jumping up to hug him. She pulled both of her arms around his neck and she held him so closely, she could feel the beat of his heart. That kind and trustworthy sound echoed through her whole body.
He didn't hug her back at first, which she found odd. He did eventually hold her in return. His hands held her back tightly, almost gripping her. She noticed Dusty didn't leave her wrist, even though Duke was close to her on Lysander's shoulder.
Leaving his arms felt like stepping inside on a windy day, where phantom breezes could still be felt against her body.
She climbed up to the dormitory feeling more exhausted than she had when she'd left the party earlier that night.
She had barely pulled her nightgown on and laid down into her bed, Dusty still wrapped around her wrist, when her eyes slammed shut.
"Lissy." The voice of her sister awakened her from her dreamless sleep. She felt her cool hand on her cheek, "I have to take you to Madame Pomfrey."
"Why?" Alice asked pulling her eyes open.
Minnie said pulling her bed spread off of her legs and lightly taking her out of bed, "Because Lysander told the Headmistress you were both attacked. She just wants to check you out, alright?"
Alice nodded and pulled her legs out of bed.
"Oh Liss that's disgusting." Minnie said with a calm voice.
Alice hadn't realize how much mud had been caked on her legs until the night before when she looked down to see the hem of her skirt was completely ruined and her trainers were now just mud. She tried to clean herself off but found every movement exhausting. Looking down to her legs now she realized she hadn't done a very good job. Her light purple nightgown was even stained along the hem from all the mud.
"I'm sorry." Alice said but took her sister's hand and stood up. "I'm just tired Minnie."
"That's ok Lissy." Minnie kissed her cheek, "Oh if only I'd gone with you last night, none of this would have happened. Lysander no dueler but I can't believe he orally changed their minds. Brilliant man I suppose."
Minnie escorted Alice down to the Hospital wing where she was looked over. Madame Pomfrey insisted she was just fine, just in need of a little more rest. She was going to brew her a sleeping draft then send her back to her dormitory.
Her mother entered the room as Madam Pomfrey retreated to brew the draft.
It seemed Duke had returned to his usual position atop her mother's shoulder. Her mother looked worse for wear, which was expected considering Alice assumed she was tying one over.
"Hey baby girl." Her mother greeted her by embracing her into a deep hug. "You feeling ok?"
"I'm fine mum." Alice said back but kissed her mum's cheek.
"Of course you are." Her mum ran her hand over her daughter's hair. "Of course you are."
"It was really scary mum!" Alice said as her mother let go a bit.
"I know it was." Her mum touched her face.
"They threatened to hurt me momma, or try an get a ransom off of both me and Dusty!" Alice cried now, feeling tears leave her eyes.
"Oh baby girl. We may have to restrict those late night hunts for Duke and Dusty. I never imagined you'd be attacked here of all places." Her mother reached into her pocket before dabbing her daughter's eyes clean.
"Safest place in the world my as-"
"Alice." Her mother scolded.
"Still mummy, I don't feel very safe." Alice griped leaning her forehead upon her mother's shoulder.
"You are safe now my baby." Her mum rubbed down her back. "I promise baby girl."
"Where's dad?"
"He's speaking to the Auror's with Lysander." Her mother revealed, "He will be along."
"Lysander is still here?" Alice asked lifting her head from her mother's shoulder, "I'd have thought he'd gone home and got himself some rest."
"He's never left the castle." Her mother said with a small twinkle in her eye, "He's turned out to be a very good man."
"He is. I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there."
"He's very much like his mother." Her mother touched her hand to her slightly exposed neck. "His mother saved my life once. She doesn't talk freely about it, but I'm grateful to her. "
Alice nodded, remembering she'd promised Lysander she'd tell her mother about Freya. Considering he'd stayed and insured she'd be left alone, she supposed she owed him to keep her promise.
"Mum, I have to tell you something."
"What is it baby?"
"Freya was here." Alice whispered, "She saved Lysander and I."
Her mother's hand began shaking but she pushed it down. "She did?"
Alice nodded back, "Yes, she said she snuck onto the grounds to watch the game. She then saw the poachers try to take Dusty and Duke. She stopped them from hurting Lysander and I, they were going to kill us mum!"
"Have you seen her before now?" Her mother asked frantically pulling at her robes.
"Yes, she was in Hogsmead." Alice breathed out.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Her mother asked.
"I didn't want to upset your condition." Alice honestly said.
Her mother just nodded, "You should be able to talk to me baby. I'm sorry about that, even then, you should have gone to your father or another adult. Freya isn't someone you can trust."
"She saved-"
"She always has a motive." Her mother cut her off swiftly like a dagger, "She does. I don't know what it is, but Freya is strategic. Even if it's just to see a return in her investment on Dusty, she's got a motive."
"Alright mum." Alice said with a nod. "I don't understand though."
"You will someday." Her mother took her hand, "Promise to tell me next time?"
Alice nodded. "I promise mum."
"Good." Her mum kissed her hand. "Oh my baby girl. The Auror's are discussing more heightened security, so possibly that will end this whole Freya nonsense."
"Maybe." Alice said wanting to know when Madame Pomfrey would return with the sleeping draft.