Death and Consequences (Alastor, Natalie, etc.)

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley awoke the next morning, stiff and sore from a rough night of sleeping in a chair. Sometime during the night, he had checked to see that Natalie was sleeping, and had gotten up and sat in a chair instead. Now he looked over at his daughter. She looked so pale, so fragile. He ached for all that she was going through; for the visions that tormented her and the losses that seemed to be piling up around her. Almost against his will, he allowed his eyes to travel over to Sabrina's still, sheet-covered form, and immediately his eyes welled up. He had failed her. He had done everything wrong, and she had paid the price. If he could have switched places with her, he would have. She should have been the one to live. She was too young to die.

Wesley sighed to himself, and looked over at Alastor. He was also in a chair at Athena's bedside. He knew that Alastor had been close to Natalie and Sabrina during the past year, and that he had planned to adopt the girls. Losing Sabrina had to be almost as hard on him as it was on Wesley himself. And now to see Athena so injured... it was just an added blow.

Wesley knew in that moment what he had to do. He couldn't continue to run and hide away. He needed to stand up and fight. He needed to be able to protect himself, and his daughter, from harm. He resolved, right then and there, to learn to work on his fighting techniques. He wouldn't go looking for trouble, although he wanted more than anything to see Greta Weiss pay for what she had done to Sabrina, but he would learn to defend himself and to protect his family... no matter what it took.

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor heard a chair creak and woke up. The day before's events were stuck clearly in his mind. They kept playing over and over again while he had slept. He looked over and saw Wesley awake as well. "How are you doing?" He asked very quietly.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"About as well as can be expected, I suppose," Wesley said, sighing. "I didn't sleep well. I just kept repeating the scene in my head all night. How are you?"

[Alastor Domino]

"Not much different than you. I can't get the scene out of my head." Alastor told him. He got up a sat down in a chair near Wesley, so they could talk easier.

"What's going to happen now?" Alastor asked Wesley quietly, not meeting his eyes.

[Wesley St. Clare]

"Well, I'm through hiding," Wesley said. "I imagine Weiss will still be out to get me, and Natalie, for that matter. After what happened to Craven, whatever she thinks I know is nothing compared to what she lost because of us. And I don't think just killing.... Sabrina... will be enough for her. But I also know I really just made things worse by hiding." He sighed and leaned forward. "Do you mind if Natalie and I stay with you for a little while? Since I was declared legally dead, my house was sold. We've nowhere else to go."

[Alastor Domino]

"Of course, I don't mind." Alastor replied. There was a lot on his mind. He suddenly remembered what they had found in the box. "You know that box you told us about, well we found a letter in it." He took out the letter and handed it to Wesley.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley took the letter from Alastor and read it quickly. "Yes, this confirms what we suspected. Craven murdered his predecessor. We should probably hand this in to the Ministry, although there's not much they can do about it now that Craven is dead. But perhaps they can begin an investigation into what Weiss may have known about this. It seems likely that she at least knew about it, and probably helped, given their relationship. I wonder if she knew about this Lenore." Wesley folded the letter. "We found something, too." He reached in his pocket and pulled out the locket he and the others had found in the second cave. "There was a note to me from Olivia next to it, she said that she knew I could figure out its true power." He handed it to Alastor.

[Alastor Domino]

"True power?" Alastor asked looking at the locket. "Seems ordinary enough to me." He tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Worthless though, since it can't open."

[Wesley St. Clare]

"I know, I don't see anything extraordinary about it, except for the fact that it won't open," Wesley said. "I suppose I can take it to the lab and analyze it--perhaps it has some kind of sophisticated curse on it. Of course, since Olivia stole it and then died, and now Sabrina... died... while I had it... I wonder if I should just get rid of it. Perhaps I can discuss it with Dumbledore later. Hopefully, he'll have some ideas." He sighed and looked over at Sabrina. "I'm going to have to... make arrangements.... for her today, too."

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor listened to what Wesley was saying and started to form ideas in his mind. "Do you want me to help you with her?" Alastor asked him tearfully.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley wiped at his eyes. "Yes, you can help... I'm still legally dead, so my accounts are all in Natalie and Sabrina's names. Since you were their guardian, only you can withdraw money from it. I'm going to have to work on having myself declared alive again, but I'll leave that until after..." He sniffled. "Um... I think I'm going to have her... cremated. It seems Voldemort is using bodies to make Inferi.... and I won't have him using her... that way." The thought made him feel physically ill.

[Alastor Domino]

"I was hoping you'd decide that after I saw what Voldemort did." Alastor said quietly. He looked around the room, Natalie wasn't up, and neither was Athena. "When do you want me to go do that?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley sighed. "I guess as soon as possible, if that's all right. Meanwhile, I can stay here and write up a few things to get everything set up. Besides, I should be here for Natalie when she wakes up."

[Alastor Domino]

"I'll go right now then." Alastor said nodding. He looked back over at Natalie, then Athena. "Um, Wesley, can you make sure Athena's alright for me?"

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley nodded. "Of course," he replied. He looked over at her and saw that she was sleeping peacefully. "She's going to be all right. She's a strong woman."

[Alastor Domino]

"I know she will be, but I can't stop worrying after everything that's happened." Alastor said getting up out of the chair and walking towards the door. "I'll be back soon."

[Wesley St. Clare]

"I know what you mean," Wesley said grimly. "Thank you, Alastor. And good luck." He watched his brother in law leave, then looked back at Natalie. She seemed so fragile... he hoped she would be strong enough to deal with all that she had lost...

[Alastor Domino]

Alastor came back about thirty minutes later. He knocked lightly on the hospital wing door, not wanting to barge in.

[Wesley St. Clare]

Wesley stood up and opened the door for Alastor. "They're both still sleeping," he said in a low voice. "How did everything go?"

[Alastor Domino]

"Everything was fine." Alastor said walking in. "No one asked questions."