Shit. Both of them were looking at her for answers. Acacia apparently had no inclination to tell him, which meant it fell on her.

She didn't think it'd be fair if they didn't tell him; he had the right to know that the three of them remembered him dying. That Acacia and Crystal had watched him die in front of them three years ago.

"I -" she swallowed. "What do you remember about the World Fair a few years back?" Crystal didn't know if that was the right question to start off with, but she wanted to avoid telling him for as long as possible.

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MJ made the pretties

Wait, they were telling him here?! Right now? Here? Acacia had to refrain herself from giving a little squeak. This seemed to get her out of her daze and grabbed both Dunstan and Chrysanta by the wrists. "Let's take this conversation to somewhere more private." She mumbled as she dragged them out of the room, leaving the all too inattentive Orinda behind.

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Magic by Elaine!

"I —" Dunstan began, quietly bewildered but also fine with answering this unexpected question. But then Acacia grabbed his wrist abruptly, and Dun found himself being led from the Great Hall. He looked at Acacia the whole time — slightly down at her in fact, for he was taller than his sisters these days — relieved that she was feeling better, but slightly concerned by this behaviour.

"Erm", he hesitated as they walked through the more private Entrance Hall, realising he'd left Crystal's question hanging. "Well", he tore his gaze from Acacia to look at the Slytherin. "I remember you all took me there partly to cheer me up when I wasn't allowed to enroll at Hogwarts. I remember talking to friends there, seeing a wizard selling flying carpets, trying a strange sweet pumpkin snack — but most of all I remember the tigers. The flying tigers, attacking everyone. I wanted to stay behind and help, but you each grabbed my hands and you — all of you —" meaning all three of his sisters, "dragged me away."

They hadn't talked about this for a while, and there was that old hint of regret in his tone. He still sometimes wondered what would've happened if he'd stayed behind to help — perhaps he could've saved a life.

  

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Crystal had actually forgotten that there were other people around. That they'd been in the Great Hall, eating breakfast, when they'd seen Dunstan sitting there as if nothing had happened to cause his death.

She allowed Acacia to unceremoniously drag her out into the hall just outside.

She listened to Dunstan answer her question and took another deep breath. Just one little thing had changed. They'd been with Dunstan when the tigers had gotten out. Instead of him being in front of them, they'd been beside him and able to move before he was mauled.

"That isn't how we... remember the World Market ending, Dun." she said his nickname as if she couldn't believe he was still there, that despite having talked to him in the past five minutes, she still couldn't believe that her brother was alive.

That they didn't remember him not dying. What kind of twisted game was being played here? She was slightly relieved, however, that he didn't appear to remember dying.

"We... Dunstan, we remember you dying." those words sounded strangled coming from her.

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How was this possible. And so far away from the time-turner incident? For that surely was what caused all of this to happen. What would they do about it? What could they do about it? Telling anyone might have them sent to an asylum! No, telling someone might mean the Ministry choosing to 'fix' it.

There was no time to question any of this. Acacia realized what she had to do, and she hated having to do it. Grabbing Dunstan's arms - gently but firmly - she looked him in the eye. "Dunstan, you have to listen to me, and listen closely. This is very important." She took a deep breath, looked back at Chrysanta for a moment, than back at Dunstan. "You can't mention this to anyone. If the Ministry found out, they could... well, they might decide to reverse it."

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Magic by Elaine!

Dunstan was beginning to realise why Acacia had brought them somewhere more private. The situation had already been serious, given the fright on his sisters' faces when they'd seen him at breakfast, but he was beginning to realise just how far this went. Even if he didn't understand it yet.

They... they remembered him dying?

But he hadn't died. He was standing right here. He remembered the feel of their hands as they'd pulled him away from the scene, he remembered staring back over his shoulder at the chaos, he remembered their father hugging them close as they were confirmed safe and alive.

The boy couldn't bring himself to respond to Crystal's words. He simply gazed at her, lips slightly parted. Then he looked at Acacia as she took his arms and spoke to him with hushed urgency. His mind had become so deeply foggy that he couldn't yet comprehend what she might mean by "reverse it".

"Wh-what of Orinda? And father?" he voiced with a rare stammer, his voice sounding distant and strained in his own head. "Do they... does everyone remember... that...?"

Surely not. He'd woken up this morning in the Second Year boys' dormitory, all of them behaving as normal. Downstairs to the Ravenclaw common room, where a few late breakfast-goers had again behaved as normal, some of them shooting him a vague hello. He'd passed a professor on the way down to the Great Hall, who'd stopped to praise him on a recent piece of homework. Even his owl had delivered his morning post without any undue alarm. But his sisters... the way they looked at him now... that was nothing like normal.

  

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Crystal wished she'd figured out a nicer way of telling him. Wished she hadn't been the one to tell him. But there hadn't been a choice, Acacia hadn't wanted to, despite being the oldest. Hadn't wanted to, or couldn't because she'd fainted and her mind was still groggy from that.

By the time Acacia had been aware enough to drag them out, Crystal had already started to tell him. Had already asked the question they needed to know.

Her sister's words, her suggestion that the Ministry would try to find a way to reverse the magic that had caused this phenomenon to happen made her bristle. That they'd take Dunstan away from them, to see if any of the magic lingered in him.

Acacia was right, if anyone found out... they'd be sure to try and find a way to fix their timeline. They'd just gotten him back; she'd be dammed if they took him away from them. Even if, they had apparently never lost him to begin with.

She shook her head at his question. "I don't know about Father, if he remembers or not, but from Orinda's reaction, I would bet that she remembers." she was avoiding the word 'dying' while she spoke. "As for everyone else... I don't think so. Someone would have said something before us, if that were the case."

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Was there even a nice way to tell someone that they had previously been dead in another timeline? One that apparently Acacia, Chrysanta, and Orinda had been apart of while everyone else seemed to have not. And what of father? Were they to come home to giving him a heart attack? Or was he completely unaware? Grandfather? He hadn't seemed concerned at seeing Dunstan from the staff table, unless he hadn't even noticed.

Why hadn't she mentioned it herself? Well, perhaps since she was in shock. Goodness sakes, did she really have to do everything herself? Acacia had no reason to mention anything yet, but goodness sakes, if Chrysanta actually had the nerve to complain about having to tell Dunstan, Acacia would not-so-politely tell her to grow up. Of course, Acacia was the oldest and that brought certain responsibilities, but Chrysanta was old enough to maturely figure out a way to explain a situation. Sometimes Acacia was simply tired of having to act like the mother of their house.

"I will send a letter to father. Whether the rest of the family knows or not, we'll deal with that however it plays out. But we are not to mention it unless absolutely necessary, understood?" She looked between the two of them. Dunstan may be in shock, but she was more concerned that Chrysanta would mess up and blurt it out if she got too angry or something. Or telling that friend of hers.

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Magic by Elaine!

Dunstan's mind was in the sort of turmoil that presented itself in the form of haze and blankness. He understood what his sisters were saying in a literal sense — they remembered he'd died, he had in fact survived, and any magical explanation for this could put him in very real danger — but of course he didn't comprehend it. And it was so much to take in that for all his smarts and sharpness, he simply couldn't untangle it. Not yet. The haze remained, heavy and protective.

But seeing the fear and desperation in his sisters, Dun of course wanted to reassure them, so, on auto-pilot, he said: "Yes. I promise." Besides, he couldn't even say it to himself yet, let alone anyone else.

  

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Crystal watched Dunstan, wishing she could read what he was thinking, like she could usually have a vague idea of what Acacia was thinking from her expressions, the way she spoke, or moved her body — she couldn't do that with Dunstan. Not anymore, not since there'd apparently been three years where he'd grown and matured.

Not that she was paying enough attention to Acacia to realize what she was thinking at the moment. If she was, she'd be mildly annoyed that Acacia thought that she would be the one who would end up telling someone. Not that Acacia was wrong, things tended to slip out when she was angry.

She knew this wasn't easy on any of them. They'd all woke this morning with a vague sense of normalcy, only to have their world shaken by something that they hadn't thought possible. Dunstan had woken to think nothing was out of the ordinary, that he'd never died.

Crystal had never wished more for her to have been sorted in Ravenclaw. Maybe she would have noticed, then, that there was another second year in her house and that second year was the brother who'd died.

Of course, that was assuming that she was also to be late to breakfast. Which she probably would have been, if her dormmates weren't so damn noisy in the morning.

The Slytherin softly sighed. This was to much for them to properly handle. Between them, especially. Dunstan looked — and sounded — like he wasn't processing this well. Which, really, she should expected. Who would react well to being told that their siblings remembered them dying, that they'd already grieved you death?

She moved to hug her brother, pausing for a slight second as if she were hesitant to touch him in fear that he'd vanish on her — not that he would, Acacia had already gripped his arm and he hadn't disappeared on them. she wrapped her arms around him, belatedly realising that he was some inches taller than she.

"I'm sorry, Dun." whether she was talking about now, telling him what they remembered, or for letting him die before, was unclear.

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MJ made the pretties

With all of that said and done, Acacia was back to not being truly able to handle this situation. But she had to handle it. The responsibility was always on her shoulders and that was unlikely to change. It was the burden of being the oldest.

Of course she wanted to join in on the hug, but there was other business to attend to. "I have to talk to Orinda before she says or does something stupid." She muttered before heading back into the Great Hall, just wishing that she didn't have to be the one to take care of everything.

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Magic by Elaine!

Dunstan was beginning to feel as if he really had died... which he hadn't, he had to remind himself firmly. He'd gone pale, even for a part-vampire, his hazy mind finally beginning to process the situation, iota by cautious iota.

When Crystal pulled him into a hug, it took him a moment to register it — but then he raised his arms and hugged her back, deriving warmth and familiarity. They were living, they were both living, and they would work through this.

When they parted, Dun looked automatically to Acacia, but she was already heading back into the Great Hall in a businesslike manner. He concern was logical, and he nodded dumbly.

"Don't worry about me", he returned his attention to Crystal. "I'll be fine. Just... I hope you will be too. All of you. She's strong, our sister — she has to be." But Acacia's reaction upon seeing him for the first time had been understandably horrified. "But this is going to be hard for us to figure out." He didn't even know where to begin.

With why or with how? He was concerned they wouldn't find an answer to either.

  

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