You would intervene, wouldn't you?

Thaor looked at Jack and laughed. So just live long enough to help you out. That seems fair. Thaor said, rolling his eyes. Luna Lovegood is not crazy, she is an amazing Magizoologist. I daresay she'd give me a run for my money. You don't need me Jack. No one does. Thaor said.

It's what she said next that caught him offguard. Guidance. He himself had asked for guidance his seventh year, he was laughed at. Which is probably what lead to everything up to this point in his life. He began thinking, and could see several similiarities between himself and Jack. His life was hell, he wouldn't wish it upon anyone. Jack, I will help you. In return, you keep this between us. My seventh year, I asked for guidance, I was denied. That most likely set the tone for the rest of my life. And I refuse to allow that to happen to you. Thaor said, taking a step away from the edge. As he moved his right foot, it hit his left, sending him backwards.

His eyes opened wide, he knew what was going to happen and it seemed as if it were in slow motion. He hit the ground, and fell out of the hole he blew in the wall. He started doing flips through the air, his wand was in his hand, but he was frozen in shock.

It appeared, this was the end.

At first, Jack felt a sinking feeling as she heard Thaor begin to speak, feeling like her words had done nothing to help. She had known Luna was not crazy, but she was weird enough for it to be a believable lie and she had hoped Thaor would have gotten the picture that she needed his help and his help alone. Her heart pounded and she swallowed.

And then.. he agreed. She listened to him and nodded, smiling gratefully. Now her task was to ensure this did not happen again. But suddenly, he was falling backwards. She gasped and rushed forward, gripping the wall with one hand and pointing her wand down at Thaor. Her mind always worked best in a crisis. "Arresto Momentum! Wingardium Leviosa! Locomoter Thaor!" She was just hoping one of those spells hit him.

Thaor was hit by the first spell, which slowed him down, but not enough. By the time the second spell reached where he was, he was no longer there. Same with the third. He continued to spiral towards the ground.

He finally got his bearings as much as he could, his mind was racing with ideas, none of which he thought would work. His mind jumped to the battle that happened just days ago. Thats it. The Battle. he thought to himself. The wards had been damaged, and not yet repaired, he could apparate.

Thaor was about 20 feet from the ground, bombarda maxima he sent nonverbally to the ground, creating a very loud crashing noise, and a crater in the earth. The then transfigured a rock into an exact replica of his body, except, not living of course, then dissapparated, appearing seconds later in Elldir's wands. There was no way anyone could tell what he had done. It would appear to everyone he hit the ground, and was no longer alive.

Jack's heart was pounding madly, and she watched in transfixed horror as Thaor tumbled to the ground. For a moment, she thought she had done it, she had saved him. Then there was a huge explosion and she saw Thaor's form twist oddly and disappear. There was a cloud of smoke and rubble and when it cleared, she saw him on the ground.

The color drained from her face. She pointed her wand out the window, towards the Quidditch pitch. "Accio broom." She waited a moment in silence- terrible, horrible silence. Finally, one of the school's ragged brooms appeared. She did not waste anytime mounting it or kicking off into the air. Jack was on a broom, where she was at home.

She immediately through all her weight forward and sped straight down for the ground, the air stinging her face and throwing her hair back. Towards the ground she leveled out, barely pulling out of the dive in time to jump off. She strode over to Thaor and grabbed his wrist, checking for a pulse. She got none.

"Shit," she muttered. She pointed her wand up in the air and shot red sparks, once, twice, and a third time to add urgency. She gnawed on her lip. Something wasn't right.. but who could argue with the facts. She had failed. Thaor was dead.

She suddenly remembered the words of someone, someone who had said anytime she needed help he would be there. She conjured a patronus, a great hulking wolfhound. "Michael. Thaor is dead. We're at Hogwarts- bottom of Astronomy tower. I need your help." And she sent him off to find Michael Tremaine.

Michael was standing by Robert when the patronus arrived. The two men looked at each other, dumbstruck, blindsided. It made them pause. Robert gathered himself first. "Go," he told Michael. "Go! Find out what the hell happened! And then make sure you get his body back to St. Mungos, straight to me. Understand?"

"Completely," Michael said. He left on the run and went to the Astronomy tower. He found Jack there with Thaor. He went over and looked for vital signs. He didn't find a damned thing. "How dare you, you ass!" his own grief at the loss of his friend threatened to break through, and he found himself kicking at the side of Thaor's hip, rather irreverently, with the toe of his boot. "What the hell am I going to tell everyone who loves you, you git?" He was sorely tempted to punch the stone wall of the tower but resisted it. Instead, he took a breath to repress his emotions.

"Sorry, Jack. He was my friend," he said quietly. "What happened?"

Jack felt a flood of relief at Michael's approach. Someone else was here to help shoulder this terrible burden- she did not think this was something she could handle alone. She watched him, taking a step back and watching carefully. Michael seemed really upset and she wanted to say something to help, but she also knew nothing she said would help.

He asked her what happened and she froze. Michael was his friend, and it was not like Thaor could get mad now.. But Jack kept her promises. And yet, how easily this could all go south, how easily she could be blamed. But a promise was a promise. She did not want to lie to Michael, but she could not break her one promise she had made Thaor.

"I was flying around, ground level, just saying my good bye to Hogwarts. I saw something up there and I stopped and called up there. There was an explosion from up there and I backed up. Then I saw someone falling. I tried to stop it- I used Arresto Momentum, Wingardium Leviosa, and Locomoter but there was an explosion down here that barely missed me and when everything cleared, it was Thaor." Jack had lied in worse situations, with worse statements, and had been convincing. She didn't want to, but she knew she had to. Thaor had said no one could know. Even if that possibly meant damning herself.

MIchael sighed. He took a moment to think. "Alright. There's nothing more we can do here. I'll take care of it. And of him. Best you clear out of here and not be seen here." He wasn't sure why he was telling her that. It wasn't like everything around them wasn't already chaotic. But he did have a desire to protect Jack. And he didn't want anyone asking questions. Robert would be asking enough as it was. "As far as I'm concerned, Thaor is a battle casualty. Unfortunately, it happens. If there's no more reason for you to be here, you'd better finish saying those goodbyes and get yourself safe. Jack--where will you go?" He wasn't trying to pry, but he knew she would be vulnerable to Dark Arts followers without the help of someone else to ally with her. It wasn't as if the fact that she was the leader of Potters Army was any sort of huge secret now. He was not about to leave her without help.

Jack nodded, feeling incredibly thankful for Michael. He always seemed to come in and clean up all the messes that Jack did not have the ability too. She knew he must have been grieving and anguished if he and Thaor were friends, and yet he wanted to handle everything and he knew she was going to be in hot water. He was still trying to watch out for her.

He asked where she would go and she looked up at him. "I have friends I can stay with." And for once, it was true. She could easily apparate to Chase's apartment, or to Satan's if worse came to worse. But she wanted to find Ariel first. She needed him right now and he would not let her get hurt. "I'll be safe. If those turn out to be dead ends, I'll find you. You're.. You have enough on your plate." She nodded at him, telling him this was her way of helping him, removing herself from his list of worries.

"You know where my place is. Don't be afraid to come if you need to," he told her. "In the meantime, I'll straighten things out with Robert about this. Don't worry about this another moment. You need to worry far more about the fact that some of the Death Eaters will believe you may have had something to do with the death of their leader. Don't take any chances." He flicked his wand at Thaor's body and levitated it. "I'll take him out of here. Go. Go now. My removing Thaor will gain enough attention that you, most likely, will not be noticed leaving. Thaor can still be of service to us by being a distraction now for you. He would have preferred it that way. Go and be safe, my dear." He kissed her forehead softly.

She listened carefully to Michael, trying to force thoughts out of her head, thoughts and visions- of Thaor finally agreeing to step away and tripping. Falling, seemingly spinning and disappearing from the air as an explosion of mysterious causes appeared beneath him. Perhaps if she had just forced him from the window magically, then he wouldn't have died, but she hadn't.. And it was her fault.

She forced this from her head and listened to Michael, realizing he was right. The Ministry was not going to be the only one that thought her presence was suspicious. She was now wanted by the Death Eaters. She need Ari, someone who could protect her and would not ask too many questions. She nodded, closing her eyes as he kissed her forehead. She nodded. "Thank you, Michael. And.. I'm sorry." She grabbed the broom and sped off into the night.