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xxv. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

THE DEATH EATERS STRIKE.
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  BRIAR FROZE IN HORROR. The screams were getting louder from beneath the bridge, and it wouldn't be long before a Death Eater looked up and saw them. The Slytherin in her acting on instinct, she grabbed Sirius's hand, she pulled him so that they were out of sight of the bridge.

"What are you doing?" Sirius demanded, wrenching his arm out of her grasp once Briar had yanked him into a deserted, narrow by-lane. "Those are Muggles dying out there! We have to go help!"

"Help?" Briar almost screeched. "How exactly do you intend to help, Black? Those are at least a dozen full grown men who are trained In the Dark Arts, and you want to fight them alone? I think you'd be doing a lot more damage than good!"

Sirius shook his head, pulling his wand out from his jeans pocket. Briar watched him in disbelief. Was he completely insane? "I don't care. I can't stand here while they torture and kill innocent people! You can join me if you want to, or you can run like a coward-"

"I'm not a coward! For Merlin's sake, would you stop and think? You can't go march in there like some bloody hero! They'd kill you before you could even lift your wand, do you not understand that? You can die for a hero with a cause if you want, but I'm sure as hell not letting you die for nothing!"

Sirius stared at her, his grey eyes torn. It was clear that he saw her point; they were two teenagers, only one of whom could use a wand. But there was some part of the Gryffindor in him that wouldn't let him run while people died nearby. Briar watched the battle raging in his eyes silently, while clutching his arm. "Sirius. Please."

Something in him cracked, and he turned around, noticing that some of the Death Eaters were starting to apparate to the top of the bridge. Two of the cloaked figures were clearly visible on the other side and Sirius tensed, grabbing Briar's hand. "You're right. We have to run. If I can't protect them, I'm going to at least protect you."

"Can you apparate?" Briar asked desperately. She knew how to, but it was risky. She wouldn't be seventeen for another month and with the Trace still on her, she didn't think it was an option. But if Sirius could do it...

"Yes, but not side-along!" Sirius replied quickly. "I can't take you with me unless you want to risk getting splinched."

"That's okay, just go-"

"No! There's no way I'm leaving you here when you can't even use a wand," Sirius replied firmly. "We just have to run and find somewhere to hide. Come on!"

Briar followed Sirius helplessly as he tugged her down the street. A thought struck her suddenly, and she froze in horror. She stopped running, and Sirius turned back to glare at her.

"What are you doing? Come on!" he yelled. Briar shook her head frantically.

"James and Lily!"

Sirius froze as well, as he realized what Briar was trying to say. James and Lily were out there somewhere, with no idea that Death Eaters were so close by. What could they do? He realized that he had to get a message to them somehow, telling them to run and hide. But how could he possibly...

"How do we tell them?" Briar demanded, yelling to be heard over all the commotion. "Bloody hell, Black, you must have some way of contacting each other in emergencies!"

Briar watched as it struck him. Sirius raised his wand quickly, and a silver Patronus shot out if it. It was in the shape of a dog, but Briar only saw it for a few seconds before it disappeared down the street. Sirius took her hand an pulled her with him. "James will get the message! Come on, we have to go now!"

The Death Eaters were getting closer; Briar risked a glance back and saw that they were halfway across the bridge, jets of light streaming everywhere. She picked up her pace as a red streak headed in their direction. A Death Eater had spotted them, and she saw him point at them.

"They saw us," Briar gasped, as she tried to keep pace with Sirius. She was nowhere near as fit as him, but he stopped running after a few moments, pulling her towards an empty abandoned store by the side of the street. It looked run-down and badly in need of repair, but Briar couldn't care less. If it was shelter, that was enough.

"Alohamora," Sirius breathed, stabbing his wand at the padlock. It snapped open and he ran into the dusty store, almost tripping over broken planks of wood that were lying on the floor. He swung the door shut again, relocked it with his wand, and started to run up the stairs.

The abandoned store was dusty, and Briar had to swat cobwebs out of her face as she followed Sirius up into the attic. They entered a small room with a narrow ceiling, and Sirius shut the door behind them and locked it. They were plunged into darkness.

"Do you think they followed us?" He whispered, doubtfully. Briar could no longer see him, but the comforting pressure of his hand in hers was still there. She took a deep breath, and almost sneezed because of the dust that entered her nose. She tried to keep it in, but it was difficult. "Muffliato," Sirius hissed, sensing that she was going to sneeze. "Lumos."

The tip of Sirius's wand lit up, allowing Briar to see his face and the room. She shivered slightly, and glanced around. It was a dusty little attic, and a small scratching noise coming from the corner told her that there were rats. Boxes were piled up on one wall, but the rest of the room was empty.

"I hear them," Sirius muttered quietly, instantly putting out the light. Briar held her breath as she realized that he was right. There were footsteps and soft voices downstairs. The Death Eaters had found them. Her entire frame froze in fear for a few seconds, as she tried to think.

"You need to apparate out of here," she told Sirius, firmly. "They've found us, and there's nothing we can do. The least you can do is save yourself."

It was too dark to see Sirius's expression, but his tone told her that if he could, he would be glaring at her. "Do you really think I would do that?"

Briar didn't respond, simply strained her ears to listen to the people downstairs. There were two distinct voices, and she could only just hear them very faintly. She put her ear to the door, ignoring the cobwebs that got caught in her hair.

"... I saw them, I did. A boy and a girl, the boy was carrying a wand. I swear they ran in somewhere around here."

"Well, they're not here now, are they?" The voice was so familiar, it made Briar's heart clench. Uncle Abraxas. "You said the boy had a wand, he must have disapparated with her. You are wasting my time; no wonder the Dark Lord is sick of you."

"But I saw them, they were here... what if they went upstairs?"

"Go look, then. I'll wait here."

Briar heard footsteps on the stairs, and whirled around to face Sirius. Or at least, she thought she was facing Sirius. The only reason she knew he was still there was because he was still clutching her hand. "Black, go. You have to disapparate now, he's coming up!"

"I told you before, I'm not going to-"

"Yes, you are! That's Uncle Abraxas, if he realizes who you are, it'll be both of our heads on the line! If you go I can still make up some story, he wouldn't hurt me without-"

"Shut up!" Sirius hissed, lighting up his wand for a moment. Briar wanted to scream at him for being so stupid, but he used his wand to capture the rat that was sitting in the corner of the attic. Briar flinched away as it landed beside their feet, Sirius grinned and cast a spell on it to make it abnormally large. Her eyes widened in disgust, but Sirius quietly opened the door and let the rat out of the room and down the stairs.

"Are you insane?" Briar hissed, but before she could finish, a yell of surprise was heard on the stairs. The other Death Eater sprinted back down, panting slightly.

"There are giant rats up there, I'm not going to go look!" he wheezed, as he reached the ground floor. "You're right, there's no way they're up there. Must have Disapparated. Come on, Abraxas, let's go. We're missing all the fun outside."

Briar held her breath as the two Death Eaters left the store, and she sank against the wall in relief. Sirius relighted his wand, and sat down on the floor quietly after clearing away the majority of the cobwebs. Briar sat beside him, her hands trembling from the shock.

"That was close, wasn't it?" Sirius asked, grinning at her.

Briar couldn't help but return his grin and laugh. "That was a stupid move. You had no idea it would work!"

Sirius scoffed. "Well, it was certainly better than your plan! What would you have done once I disapparated, eh? What story could you possibly conjure up that would explain to your dear Uncle why you were hiding in an attic in a Muggle town?"

Briar sighed. "I don't know. I just thought that them finding me here alone was better than finding me here with you."

Sirius gave her a dark look. "I see. That way, at least they wouldn't know that you were with a blood traitor. Your precious blood status would be safe. I'm sorry, I should have realized the danger I was putting you in."

Briar glared back at him. "Would you stop judging me so hastily? That's not what I meant at all! Uncle Abraxas isn't one to listen to other people before he jumps to conclusions. If he thought that you'd kidnapped me or brought me here by force, then the first thing he would do is kill you, no questions asked. Explanations would come later. If it was just me, he would at least wait to hear me out."

Sirius paused for a moment. "Your family is so pleasant. I had no idea Malfoy's Dad was a Death Eater. I mean, I always thought he was evil, but..." He glanced at her. "Sorry, I know he's family and all, but-"

Briar tilted her head back, resting it against the wall behind her. She bit her lip. "Don't apologize. You were the first person to suggest that my entire family were Death Eaters, and I almost hexed you for it. If I'd known then that you were right all along..." she shuddered slightly, feeling her voice deepen. "I-I can't help but wonder if things would have been different if my father had told me when I was younger. Would I be one of them? Would they have forced me to join them like they did Lucius?"

Sirius stared straight at her. The light from his wand was dim, but his eyes seemed to have a light of their own. Briar shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "What if they do? If they told you that you had to join one day, what would you do?"

Briar stared at Sirius. The thought hadn't occurred to her. She'd never thought her father was capable of doing something like that; but then again, recent events had proven that she didn't know him as well as she thought. What would she do if he dragged her in front of the Dark Lord one day and told her it was time to get her own Mark?

"Would you run?" he pressed, trying to get her to look in her eyes. It was clear what answer he was hoping for. "If he told you to torture a Muggle or something like that, would you defy them and run away?"

Briar took a deep breath. "I'd want to, but I don't know if I could. I'm a Slytherin, we're known for many things not exactly for our bravery. Where would I go? What would I do? I don't know if I could survive out there, it's stupid but I can't do anything for myself, I've never been taught too, I think I'd be too scared. I've never been on my own, and I know I sound like such a coward, but-"

"You wouldn't be on your own."

Briar stared at him. "What do you mean?"

Sirius took a deep breath. He turned her head to face his, looking her straight in the eyes. "You'd have Lily. I know she cares about you a lot, she thinks of you as her best friend And you'd have me. Briar, I can't force you to do anything. But if you do make the right choice, I'll protect you. I'd never let them lay a finger on you or even think about hurting you."

              Briar's head spun. She couldn't believe he was saying this to her. Her father thought that he was protecting her from Sirius Black, and now Sirius Black was offering to protect her from her father. The situation was so ironic that Briar almost wanted to laugh.

         But the question remained. Who did she need protecting from?

         "I can't ask you to do that," she said softly. "I can't be a burden on anyone. I feel horrible enough staying at Lily's place now, when my conscience knows that I lied, because I couldn't even tell her..."

          "Tell her what?" Sirius pressed.

         "What do you think?" Briar scoffed, the desperation rising in her voice. "How would Lily react if she knew that my father was probably the one that killed those Muggles in her town? What will she think when I tell her that the people she so feared would hurt her parents are my family? Do you think she'll ever speak to me again? The sight of me would disgust her, and I wouldn't blame her for it."

           The platinum blonde turned away from the boy beside her, blinking several times to get rid of her tears that were threatening to leak. Sirius just stared at the girl, unsure what to do. He scooted closer slowly, and wrapped his arms around her. Her body was shuddering, and he tightened his grip. "You shouldn't feel guilty for their actions. There was nothing you could do. Lily would understand that."

          "Would she? Would anyone? Maybe I couldn't stop them, but I've been with them all these years. How would me running away now change anything? It wouldn't save any lives, it wouldn't stop them from killing all those people..."

        Sirius shook his head, removing one of his arms from around her, and putting it on her cheek. He pulled her face closer to his. "It's like what you told me earlier. I couldn't save those Muggles, so there was no point in me suffering for them. I had to save myself. And so do you. Maybe you can't stop your family, maybe their beliefs are too firmly rooted to change them now. But you can save yourself. Do it. Don't suffer for nothing. You have us. Me, Lily, James, we're all here for you."

         Her eyes widened at the reality of his words struck. She nodded wordlessly, as Sirius pulled her even closer. One of his arms was wrapped around her back, the other hand cupped her cheek and held her in place as he moved in closer. His breath ghosted across her face when he stopped, inches away.

         "This feels right to me," he muttered. "But if you still think it's wrong, tell me and I'll stop."

        "Don't you dare," she mumbled. He pulled away a few inches, in surprise, and then smiled and tilted his head forward to meet her lips with his. She responded eagerly, reaching out to feel his hair between her fingers. His warm lips pressed against hers, his fingers stroking her cheeks softly.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there, but in that moment they weren't two people burdened by the pressure of upholding a family name, as they sat there they were simply two teenagers who found comfort and a home in eachother.

And when Briar pulled away slowly, and stared into those beautiful grey eyes, her parents were the last thing on her mind. Sirius kept his forehead pressed against hers, as a cocky grin began to spread across his face. Briar only looked at him, confused.

"What?" she asked.

" You liar."

Briar pulled her head away from his, slowly. She wasn't sure what he was trying to say. "Excuse me?"

"You would never have shagged Evan Rosier," he muttered, before kissing her again. Briar smiled, and raised an eyebrow.

"Ugh, your ego is too big for your own good."

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by a silvery light filling the room. Briar jumped in shock, but Sirius put his hand on her to calm her down. He recognized the shape that the silvery light began to form, and the huge stag in front of them spoke with James Potter's voice.

"We're safe. Meet us back where we left the broomsticks as soon as you can."

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hey hey hey,, how are y'all doing? it's official spooky season! anyways y'all have been so nice with your comments and i wanna say thank you soo much ilysm.
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