Nothing good past Midnight

[Eden Fletcher]

There was something creepy about Hogwarts at Midnight. Eden missed the inane chatter of students, the comments of the portraits. The thunder of tiny little feet scampering down hallways. Besides nothing good happened during the night. Eden had sent an owl to the headmistress letting her know that she would be arriving shortly. Eden hated to wake the girls up in the middle of the night but it was important. They would want to know what happened. A part of Eden wanted to let them sleep, let them be innocent and free of worry for a little longer but they'd probably be pissed that she waited as long as she had. When Eden got the message that Max was hurt she'd rushed to the hospital. She had watched from the hallway as a team of healers worked their magic before someone noticed the curtain on the window overlooking the hallway was open and shut it. Eden had pestered the staff and the auror set on duty to get all the information she needed. She made sure he was going to make it, that the threat was contained and then she left to make sure the girls would be safe. They needed to know about Max from family not some headline in the morning paper.

Eden waited in the headmistress' office, meandering the circular tower. It looked different than it had when she'd been a student. When it had been Curse's office. She couldn't help but notice the differences. Eden stared at her reflection in the display cabinet which once held a collection of rare potions. Eden's hair was a mess. She'd been sleeping when she got the news. She hadn't bothered to brush her hair. She was barely wearing suitable clothes. Her shirt was an old tee shirt she slept in. Her jeans were splotched with paint and she was wearing ratty flats that had seen better days. She was a mess. Her eyes were shadowed and her skin pale. She looked like the waif she had been the last time she was in this office.

Eden turned when the door opened revealing Violet and Evie.

"Sorry to wake you up but somethings happened to Max," Eden said not beating around the bush. They probably already had come up with a hundred different scenarios as to why they were summoned to the headmaster's office in the middle of the night, none of them pleasant.

[Max Kameren]

No one would tell her what was happening. It was midnight, and her Head of House had woken her up and no one else, told her something was urgent and led her to the Headmistress’s office. They wouldn’t let her go inside until Evie made it up from the Ravenclaw dormitories, who had been woken in a similar fashion. Violet paced in front of the Headmistress’s office, her head in her hands. Whenever she asked her Head of House just frowned and shook her head; she seemed to not know herself, which was even more concerning.

It had to be Max. There had been so much activity around St. Mungo’s lately, she’d read it in the Prophet every time. Their father had tried to train his son to prepare for this kind of danger, but at times it made Violet wonder if it instead had the reverse affect; Max would look for trouble. Curse had been that way too. Violet had it a bit too, if she was honest with herself.

Their uncle was that way too. What if it was Alex? They were tracking down those criminals from Azkaban. Could the terrifying cannibal man described in the Prophet have gotten him? Violet bit her lip, ready to bite back tears at the thought. Why did this keep happening?

“Vi,” Evie sped up when she turned the corner and her sister came into view. By the time she was close enough to Violet she was practically running and the two wrapped each other in a comforting hug. “Did they tell you anything?” Evie mumbled into Violet’s ear as her older sister hunched to meet the eleven-year-old’s embrace.

Violet pulled back and shook her head, glancing momentarily between the two Heads of House before one of them opened the Headmistress’s office and let them in.

To their surprise the Headmistress wasn’t present; instead, their older sister Eden Fletcher stood in the center of the floor waiting for them. So it was Max. They were bringing them to the Headmistress’s office at midnight because something bad happened to Max.

"Sorry to wake you up but somethings happened to Max," Eden said not beating around the bush.

Tears immediately welled up in Violet’s eyes and poured over, but Evie just stared blankly. Their faces reflected their same reactions three years ago: Violet pure emotion, Evie ready for action. It was happening again. First their father, now their brother. It never stopped.

“Is he alive?” Evie asked quietly, causing a smuggled sob to erupt from her sister. “Can we see him?”

[Eden Fletcher]

Oh Merlin's rotting underpants. Eden was really bad at sharing bad news. As soon as the words escaped her mouth she knew she had screwed up. She didn't need to see Vi's tears to know that Eden had not used tact. She should have started off lightly. Or perhaps with that he was alive and not to worry? Because obviously they were. Evie had gone straight to the worst. Really, would it be Eden if he was dead? Wouldn't it be their mum telling them?

“Is he alive?” Evie asked quietly, causing a smuggled sob to erupt from her sister. “Can we see him?”

"He's alive and stable. He was hurt badly in an attack at the hospital. He's still in treatment. We can't see him yet. I'm not going to lie to you. He was hurt badly. Mum's on her way there. She's not even allowed to see him yet. They have to make him pretty first." She said with a smirk. It was a lame joke but she wanted to reassure her sisters.

"Look, I know you want to see him but it's not safe. Whoever attacked him is out there. The best way to hurt Max is to go after us next. So we're not going to make it easy by going to the place where they expect us to go." Eden said point blank. She wasn't the type to beat around the bush. Her sisters were old enough for the truth. Evie probably would have figured it out anyways.

[Max Kameren]

“Is he alive?” Evie asked quietly, causing a smuggled sob to erupt from her sister. “Can we see him?”

"He's alive and stable. He was hurt badly in an attack at the hospital. He's still in treatment. We can't see him yet. I'm not going to lie to you. He was hurt badly. Mum's on her way there. She's not even allowed to see him yet. They have to make him pretty first." She said with a smirk. It was a lame joke but she wanted to reassure her sisters. 

“What does that mean?” Violet asked, her voice shaky as she wiped tears from her eyes. It was a futile task, as her tears continued to flow despite the persistence of her fingers. “What happened? Who attacked him?”

Evie waited out Violet’s barrage of confused questions before she repeated her initial one: “Can we see him?”

"Look, I know you want to see him but it's not safe. Whoever attacked him is out there. The best way to hurt Max is to go after us next. So we're not going to make it easy by going to the place where they expect us to go." Eden said point blank.

“We’re Hogwarts students.” Evie arched a brow at Eden, crossing her arms. “How is Hogwarts not where we’re expected to be?” The first-year scowled up at Eden, her green eyes piercing; Evie did not take no for an answer. If she needed to she would debate her way into her brother’s hospital room every step of the way. “Where is he, Mungo’s? Wherever he is Alex has it crawling with aurors. How is that unsafe for us too? We want to see him.”

Evie’s gaze was hard and her tone was harsh, but Violet nodded through her tears. They were the youngest members of the family, sure, but they weren’t the same children they’d been three years ago. They weren’t naive, they knew if Eden had been sent out to Hogwarts there was obvious danger, but they also knew with the Kamerens they tended to be safer all together.

If safety wasn’t the real reason why they were being separated, then what was happening? Was Max worse even than Eden told them he was? If so then they definitely needed to go, or they may not get a chance.

“What did they do to him?” Violet’s voice and breath evened as she tried to behave like her more level-headed younger sister. Now two pairs of sharp green eyes focussed in on Eden.

… Or was it three? A Headmaster’s portrait above their heads, if they were to glance, was noticeably empty: Headmaster Curse Kameren, 2027-2035. His frame - depicting his home office in Godric’s Hollow and painted by the artist currently standing below it - was empty of the strong but gaunt man who usually inhabited the space. Though wandering upwards he could be found in the 1700’s, whispering something urgent to Dilys Derwent. A brief argument ensued until she relented, stepping out of frame and into her other one at St. Mungo’s hospital. Curse’s portrait returned to his own frame, sitting anxiously at his desk.

[Cain the Scorched]

“What did they do to him?”

"Something very bad." The unusually solemn voice of their uncle Cain spoke from behind them, he finished coming through the wall and looked at Eden. "They're all set up outside." The aurors Alex had trusted, patrolling the grounds and halls. He turned to the younger girls, a smile on his face.

"Eden's right, they haveta make him pretty first, but given what they had to  start with," he wrinkled his face, pretending to scratch at a big bushy beard. Whisps of ectoplasm even curled off his face, helping with the illusion. He winked, seeing a smile coaxed forth at the memory of Max Kameren's ridiculous facial hair. He looked like a hobo.