before we turn to stone;

happy 18th birthday nova ginevra longbottom !! ( august 2, 2007 )

“I was just asking if you were alright.”

“I’m fine, just mildly concussed, the rest was healed,” Nova replied, she could handle physical injuries, though her mind was reeling since the death eater attack. “Are you alright?”

“And that would be different than any other day….how?”

“Don’t make me hit you. Don’t make me who’s injured, hit you who’s injured.”

“You are concussed, love. Anything stupid you say, I’ll just write off as your brain being mildly damaged.” 

“I think I like the sound of mildly damaged better than concussed,” she replied. She focused more on her hands than on Teddy. “Do I, do I have to do this?” She hated this. All of this was bringing back memories of her kidnapping. She tried to change the subject. “I heard James was hurt, how is he, is he okay?”

“Sorry, uh, can you repeat that?” Nova said to Scorpius. “I wasn’t focused enough.”

“No, let me do it, I’m just a little concussed, it’s nothing,” Nova replied reaching at the thing the other just took from them.

“If you keep talking like that, I’m going to think you have something to hide.”

Nova rubbed at the bridge of her nose. “Teddy, come on, do you really think I have things to hide? I’m like an open book. I’m just trying to piece words together without sounding stupid.”

“I might be concussed, but I’m not stupid. And what you just said was stupid.”

“Look I’m concussed too you butt,” she replied. “Anything that comes from my mouth is probably going to sound stupid.

Dylan honestly wasn’t sure if he could apparate them or not, so when he was met with the blinding white lights of one of the waiting rooms, he let out a sigh of relief. He barely registered what Nova was saying, blood on his own hand, but he wasn’t sure if it was from her or him. “I think so…”

Except his head was hurting worse than it ever had before. He groaned and laid it back about the time healers came over, fussing over them. They were asking a dozen questions, but Dylan was barely comprehending anything that was going on. He just looked at Nova, trying to place why that Death Eater seemed to go for her specifically. As they started taking them to a room, Dylan motioned to Nova. “We need to get…” Dylan closed his eyes, losing his train of thought for a moment, “Orion. I tried to text him.”

He sighed and moved his arm around her. “You will be soon. With what you went through, no one should expect you to be now, Nov.” Dylan opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when he heard a noise coming from behind them. He instinctively moved his arm in front of Nova, pushing her behind him as he reached for his wand. Dylan had barely raised it when the light reflected off of the Death Eater’s mask, a curse falling from his lip. He grabbed Nova and for the second time, fell back as what sounded like various shelves and parts of the wall fell around them. “Nova,” Dylan winced when a pain coursed through him as he moved over to her. “Nova,” he said again, hearing footsteps near them. He cast a spell in the general direction. “I’m gonna try and apparate us, okay?”

It all happened so quick, the death eater, Dylan casting the curse, the shelves and the wall, then she was on the floor. She let out a slight groan in pain, rolling from her back to her side to face Dylan. She nodded slightly. When he apparated them to St. Mungo’s, the sheer feeling of apparating was too much. She ran to the nearest bin and emptied the contents of her stomach. She brought her hand up to the side of her head, feeling a slight touch of blood, now she understood, the pounding in her head. There was pain in her wrist from where she must have fell. She looked over to Dylan. “Are you alright?”

He breathed a sigh of relief when she grabbed his hand, having not seen where she’d fallen. Dylan was about to ask if she was okay, but another spell flying by them interupted him from doing so.  "I don’t know, but we need to.“ It was dark, but as Dylan’s eyes adjusted to it, he saw a nearby shop. He froze when he saw a group of Death Eaters nearing where they were as the panicked crowd ran past them. Still holding her hand, Dylan pushed past them and started across the street. Thankfully the door was unlocked. Once they were in, he illuminated his wand to look around and make sure it was vacant.  

"Lock the door,” Dylan said, once he was sure that it was. He looked around once more, before lowering his wand and looking back at her, knowing this was probably bringing everything that had happened up again. “Nov,” Dylan sighed and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “…are you okay?”

Dylan met her gaze and sighed, feeling about as nervous as he knew she felt too. “Okay,” he reached back with his hand, his wand secure in his left and gave it a few seconds before starting out of the alley. The panic of the crowd caused whatever was left of his nerves to be completely shot. Spells were flying past every which way, but thankfully they seemed to be out of the direct line of them and any duels. Until he heard footsteps behind them. He had about two seconds to react, before a spell shot past them causing him to fall, and presumably Nova, but he couldn’t see behind him. Instead he pulled out his wand, aiming at the masked figure, casting a stupefy before grabbing back for her hand again.

“Nova, come on,” he urged. “There’s more of them.”

“Well, babe. It’s not like we have a lot of options right now.” Dylan looked back at her and sighed, his expression softening. “Nov - we’ll be okay.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Just stay with me.”

Nova gave him a nervous nod, slightly biting her lip. “Okay,” she replied and followed him. When they got to the end of the alleyway. Nova began to shake more, scared to even step into the panicked crowd of duels and chaos. She gripped her free hand around her wand more tightly. She took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.”

Dylan rolled his bottom lip between his teeth when she answered him, glancing past Nova to look beyond the alley they were standing in. He could see people running, spells being cast left and right. His arm instinctively tightened around her and he nodded. “We need to get of here.”

He pulled his wand from his pocket, keeping it at his side as he led her the opposite way the Death Eaters had gone. Dylan stopped her when another group ran past, and pulled her back into the alley. “Shit.” He waited a second, before taking her hand and tugging it so she’d follow him. “If we can get to the Weasley’s shop…I just don’t want to go too far until…” Dylan trailed off before he finished, not wanting to worry Nova any more than she already was with the fact that he had no idea where her brother was. Dylan peeked around the corner when they were gone, weighing their options of staying or making a run for it to get closer to the Weasley’s. With Death Eaters on either side, he wasn’t sure which was the better option. “We need to go the other way.” He sighed and turned back to her. “if we go that way, they’ll see us.” Dylan took her hand again, “Just stay close to me, okay?”

As soon as Dylan heard the commotion, he had a good feeling he knew what was going on. Which is why he made his way towards the crowd running away, instead of following where they were going. He felt a small feeling of relief when he saw Nova making her way from the party, but it was instantly replaced with panic when he saw what she would meet if she turned the corner. Dylan quickly pushed his way through the crowd and ran up behind her. He grabbed her wrist with one hand and tugged her into the alley behind the shop, shushing her and nodding as a masked figure ran past. Once he knew for sure they were gone, he let out a breath, dropping his hand from her wrist but keeping his arm around her. Dylan moved a little so he could look at her. “Are you okay?

@novaxlongbottom

“Well, you aren’t going to know that unless you ask, are you?”

“But that’s so scary,” she replied, with a small pout. 

“Wow, your brother’s sentimental. Well, damn. Thanks, Nov. I had no idea my future husband was sentimental. Hadn’t worked that out for myself yet.”

Nova rolled her eyes. “Wow, then you should know what to get him. Wasn’t like I was giving you suggestions or anything.”