By: Airelle Vilka
Professor of Illusions
Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry
Summary:
Several years after graduation from Hogwarts, Airelle Vilka, now an Auror,
faces her worst nightmare… without recognizing it. (SEQUEL to "Till Death Do Us
Part." This is set some years later, right before Voldemort's attempted murder
of Harry Potter)
~*~
It was cold outside tonight.
Airelle Vilka pulled her black cloak
tighter about her and shivered. What
the heck was she doing here, standing behind a tree in an ancient forest of
Kent, wand in freezing hand? Well, the
Ministry of Magic could surely come up with some very eloquent answers to
that. Such as the fact that Airelle had
been working for the Ministry as an Auror, a fighter of Dark Magic, for a few
years now, and that she and her team were ambushing a group of Death Eaters who
was scheduled to meet here.
She leaned against the trunk of the
tree.
"Ms. Vilka?" The voice belonged to Omar Fauks, one of her
fellow Aurors and under her command for the night. She had been chosen to head the party, even if she was only in
her early twenties, and looked rather frail and thin to be the leader. Perhaps it had been to draw attention away
from her in a fight. Or perhaps it was
that she'd been fighting Voldemort's forces ever since her graduation from
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from which she had gone with honors
and a personal recommendation from Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
"Yes?" she murmured, hardly aware of
the presence of fifteen people around her, waiting for an order. Her order. She was not used to command. She'd always been independent. That had proven especially true years ago, on Graduation Night---
"It is nearly one in the
morning. The team's Location Spells are
not picking up any activity within miles, or even Apparation."
"Don't worry. Get the others ready. They'll be here," she said, looking out
towards the clearing on the borders of which they were going to hide in
strategic locations. Airelle felt
rather bad for not focusing on her work as always, but today she had not had
her usual three doses of Magic Caffeine (or Caffi) Drops. And when she did not, Airelle always wound
up thinking… remembering…
She shook her head, cursing herself
for not being able to forget. But how
could she, when at every mention of Hogwarts, she winced as a new wave of pain
pulled her under. Years ago, her best
friend, Severus Snape, had told her, on Graduation Night, that he had joined
the Death Eaters. He'd asked her to
come with him, and she had refused. Every day, she blamed herself for what had occurred. Worst of all, there was no one to confide
in. She had not told any living soul
about Snape's decision. It was stupid,
she knew, and selfish… but she could not bring herself to tell. Snape had let her live that day… perhaps she
was returning the favour. Or maybe,
just maybe, somewhere in a deep space in her heart that still remembered the
time they spent together in their little dungeon room, there lay a wild hope
that one day he'd come back.
Airelle shook her head. You are being as big of an idiot as Snape
was, she scolded herself for the thousandth time. Why could she just not accept that Snape had made his choice a
long time ago?
You're an adult now, her
logic told her. The child in you had
died the moment your best friend joined Voldemort. The moment you wished you did not let him go. And the moment you did.
It sounded good. So why couldn't she forget?
Airelle got so angry with herself
that she leaned her head back in frustration, forgetting there was a tree
there, and consequently yelping in pain as she hit it against the rough bark.
"Are you all right?" asked a small,
timid voice.
"Damn. Why couldn't these blasted trees be softer?" Airelle
groaned. She had found herself swearing
more often now than she'd used to. In
fact, she had never sworn until Graduation—
She almost whacked herself against
the tree on purpose for remembering THAT again. "Yes, yes… accursed Caffi Drops … yes, I am perfectly fine, Mr.
Kafkad."
Iuda Kafkad stared up (being that he
was about a foot shorter than Airelle's 5'7") at her through thin and worn
glasses. He was a Ministry informant, a
tiny man with a mousy moustache and squinting eyes, and it was he who'd found
out about the meeting of Death Eaters they were going to so rudely …interrupt.
"Oh… all right… just checking," he
squeaked, and hurried off to the rest of the squad. Airelle had four people within close range of her; the other
eleven were now hidden around the rest of the clearing; she also knew that at
least three of them had used broomsticks to fly up and hide high among the
treetops. For a second, Airelle wondered
why they'd brought the timorous Kafkad along anyway. But the Ministry had insisted, seeing that Kafkad knew the
terrain better than any of Airelle's companions. In any case, Airelle did not care, as long as he stayed out of
sight and did not accidentally get blasted by one of the spells that would
surely be flying back and forth any time now in the clearing. The Death Eaters would not hesitate to use
the nastiest curses in the book, and it would not be helpful to the Ministry's
image if one of their ablest (so termed, since his father, Kafkad, Sr., was a
generous monetary donor to the Ministry) people were sent home with rearranged
limbs.
Airelle sighed and mentally ran over
the list of Protection Spells she had put on her entire squad. Young as she was, Airelle, due to often
being in the midst of dangerous and frequently foolish situations, knew what
sorts of hexes Dark Wizards would usually use in battle. That knowledge was priceless when it came to
being an Auror. Knowledge she had
gained by risking her life countless times.
And what was the point? There always seemed to be more Death Eaters
and not enough Aurors. But maybe that
was only because the former looked scarier and thus it seemed like there was a greater
number of them. Airelle knew, in her
heart, that no matter what occurred, she'd never give up. That was her incentive, to stop it. She'd take on a thousand of Lord Voldemort's
followers, if it meant that a single person was not going to lose everything
good in the world by becoming one of them… like… like…
Airelle growled, scaring one of her
team members in the process, and kicked her mind for bringing up Snape
again. She was going to need a greater
dose of Caffi Drops when she got home…
"MS. VILKA!" hissed Omar Fauks from her
right, startling her so much she nearly dropped her wand. "WE'RE GETTING COMPANY!"
Whatever had been in Airelle's head
at the time receded, and pure adrenaline took over. There only remained room for one instinct: Fight.
"Where? How many?"
"Elsa just picked up Apparation
trails a mile from here. Looks like
about seven of them. They're about to
Apparate again in the clearing, as proceeded."
"Seven," Airelle repeated, as Omar
sent warning signals to the rest of the team. "We should handle them. But
watch yourselves. Did you all check
your wands one last time?"
"Five minutes ago."
"Excellent. Be careful. And attack as soon as you believe they are Death Eaters." The tell-tale black hoods would be easy to
recognize on any Death Eater in the company of others. They were cowards, afraid to show their face
even to their own, for fear of being captured or betrayed. "Kafkad, stay down."
No reply. Airelle ignored it. "All
right, people. They should be getting
here…right … about… now."
And sure enough, there was a giant
puff of maroon smoke in the middle of the clearing the team surrounded. Airelle licked her dry lips, and held her
wand in attack position.
"Steady…" she whispered to Omar, who
was right next to her, and held his breath.
And then, the cloud evaporated and
left… nothing.
Airelle stared out into the
clearing. Dead silence. Did the Death Eaters have problems with the
spell? Highly unlikely. Then what---
"Airelle!" Elsa Gibbon's terrified
voice shouted, abandoning all reserve. Her wand was shooting bright crimson sparks. "Around us--- I'm picking up----"
And as if on cue, a jet of orange
light blasted through the trees behind them, hitting Elsa's figure squarely in
the chest and sending her down to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Elsa!" shrieked another member of
the team not far away, but Omar, with lightning speed, pushed him to the ground
just as he was about to get up. A
moment later, a bolt of green light singed the tree where his head would have
been had he risen.
Airelle's eyes widened. She pointed her wand at Elsa, who had
obviously been hit with a Needle Curse. Team first.
"Defacio!" she bellowed, and a
white, healing light erupted from her wand and encircled Elsa. It was a Wiping Out Spell that undid the damage
done by the Death Eater.
A second had passed, and then
several voices shouted "Avada Kedavra!" Suddenly, there were streams of bright green light – carriers of the
Killing Curse – shooting out of the trees and hitting everything in their path.
Airelle yelled, "Duck!" It took her only a second to realize that
the rest of her team on the other side of the clearing was being attacked in a
similar way. If they retreated into the
clearing, they'd be sitting ducks. It
had been a trap. But who---
And then, it hit her.
"KAFKAD!!! YOU BASTARD!!!" she shrieked, rising and trying to make out the
small figure of the informant traitor. And sure enough, a tall figure draped in a dark cloak stepped from the
shadows --- and behind it crouched the unmistakable form of Iuda Kafkad.
"Come here and face me, coward!"
Airelle yelled, shooting a blast of red light – a Knock-Out Curse – at the two
shadowy forms. With lightning, inhuman
speed, the tall one moved aside, and the jet of light went right into Kafkad. He uttered a piercing scream and fell.
Airelle gaped at the tall figure,
forgetting all about Kafkad. She stared
at it from the shadows that hid her face halfway, unmoving, until it raised its
wand. She ducked and the curse shot
past her. Crouching behind a tree,
Airelle began to think fast. If they
stayed here, it was doom for her and her team. Perhaps they should retreat by Apparation? But no. She could not
leave her fallen team members behind. Not when they could still be revived. Retreat into the clearing? What
was she going to do?
That question was solved for her
when one of her team came flying into the middle of the clearing on his
broomstick. Perhaps they could generate
a shield strong enough to hold them off---
"Retreat into clearing!" Airelle
yelled over shouts of hexes and curses, and ran over to the man with the
broomstick. The rest of the team,
including Elsa, who was still suffering, staggered over to the middle.
"Elsa!" Airelle yelled, crouching as
yet another blast of light shot at her. "Apparate and get help!"
"But…………but……." Both she and Airelle knew Elsa might not be
strong enough for an Apparation at the moment. But there was no choice. The
rest of her team needed to stay and fight.
"NOW!!!!"
Elsa yelled out the spell and
disappeared. As soon as she'd done it,
Airelle pointed her wand up and screamed, "Dearma!" Omar and the others joined in, and a bright yellow shield began to
circle them, moving from the ground up and looking like a miniature sun. It would probably not hold back the Avada
Kedavras, but maybe a group of powerful Aurors together could hold back one or
two of them. Everything depended on
Elsa now. Airelle wanted to tell other
members of her team to Apparate as well, but a look from Omar stopped her. They were going to finish this together.
More curses shot at them, bouncing
off the shield. Airelle flinched, wand
still up, waiting for the first Avada Kedavra to hit.
And then… there was silence.
"What the heck?" whispered Omar,
while the rest of the team stared wildly around the clearing. The smoke from the curses was still twisting
up from where the lights hit. It was
deathly quiet.
"The calm before the storm," Airelle
replied, looking about. There were
eight people with her in the shield; that meant there were six of her fellow
Aurors out there, fallen victim to a curse. She just prayed they would not groan and let the Death Eaters know of
their presence. Perhaps the bushes and
the darkness would hide them long enough for help to arrive---
"So… this is the infamous Auror
squad, eh?" came a voice out of the trees. "Or, rather, what's left of it."
On instinct, the rest of Airelle's
team surrounded her in a circle. She
wanted to yell at them for risking their necks like that for her, but it was
standard battle procedure. Protect the
leader.
Airelle winced. Some leader she was.
"Come out here, and we'll see
what'll be left of YOU," she growled to the shadows, even though she, being
shorter than most of her 6-foot team members, could not see what was going on.
The figure, the same tall one
Airelle had seen earlier, stepped out, directly in front of them. "Ah, but remember, your shield works both
ways. And you'd never use the Killing
Curse on a fellow wizard, would you? We
have to do it first in open battle, hmm?"
The Death Eater was right. According to Ministry rules, it was illegal
for an Auror without a special license to use any of the three Unforgivable
Curses unless it was attempted to be done to him or her first. And since the fight in the trees had not
been an open battle in which one could see one's enemy, it did not count. It was probably the most stupid rule on the
books (you could not retaliate if the first curse actually managed to hit you)
and Airelle made a mental note that, were she ever to get out of this
predicament alive, she'd fight to sack the rule permanently.
By now, she could hear more
footsteps, perhaps ten pairs or so. Bad
fortune – they were outnumbered. The
other Death Eaters were slowly emerging from the dark, positioning themselves
around the clearing. Blast it, where
was Elsa?
"I think we can flout Ministry rules
just specially for you," Airelle spat in answer to the question that seemed to
have been asked such a long time ago.
The Death Eater laughed, a soft and
rolling sound that reminded her of something come from a past long gone. "Do you really think that you shall triumph
over us?" he (for it was a he, judging my the intonation) asked, stepping
forward in a glide. "You, the best of the
Ministry, half broken, seriously believe you'll win against the followers of
Lord Voldemort?"
"We'll sure as hell try," answered
Airelle from behind her shield of bodies that she both appreciated and
resented.
Another laugh. "Very well, then. Boys, bring down this pathetic shield of theirs, but leave their…
leader… to me."
The Death Eaters nodded in unison,
and raised their wands.
Airelle whispered to the people
around her, "Once they speak, crouch and retaliate with stuns… but kill if
necessary." She knew full well the
extent of what would happen if any one of her team members actually used an
Avada Kedavra first. None of them, not
even Airelle, had a license to kill Death Eaters on sight. Airelle put that in the back of her
mind. She would answer to the Ministry
for her team's actions, and take whatever punishment was necessary. Surely, it would not be worse than a Killing
Curse from the Death Eaters.
"Avada Kedavra!" the Death Eaters
yelled simultaneously, all except their leader, who stood back. Airelle and her team dropped as the green
lights cut through the shield from all sides and exploded in a giant shower of
sparks when they crashed right above Airelle's head in the middle of the
circle.
"Stupefy!" Airelle shrieked, and one
of the Death Eaters froze and fell, stiff as a board. The other members of her team followed suit, and soon, blinding
shafts of light were exploding in the chaos all over the clearing as the Death
Eaters fell out of position. Airelle
emerged from her protective circle, despite Omar's attempts to stop her, with a
murderous look upon her face. There was
only one thing she needed to do: get their leader.
She hit a Death Eater from the left
with a very un-appropriate but useful Tickling Charm, pushing her way through
like a juggernaut, with lights of all colors and from all wands streaking
around her. The other Death Eaters were
all apparently too involved in their own scenes of mayhem, or actually
following their leader's instructions to 'leave' her to him.
She raised her wand before the Death
Eater even came into her view, and fired a Stunning Curse. But as soon as she had said the words, the
Death Eater cried, "Expelliarmus!"
The spell hit Airelle so hard she was
blasted backwards into the ground and slid a good deal, momentarily deafened by
the bang and blinded by the impact. By
the time the white lights had cleared out of her vision, she realized that,
miraculously, her wand was still in her hand, and that the tall Death Eater was
right above her. She froze, speechless
and motionless. Far away, she heard a
yell of "Airelle!" unmistakably belonging to Omar. The Death Eater, not turning his head, pointed his wand in Omar's
direction and muttered, "Stupefy."
Omar's voice was silenced. And the yells and shouts around her did not
matter to Airelle anymore. It was just
she… and the tall, thin figure above her, wand pointed right at her.
She opened her mouth, but no words
came out. She was frozen, literally frozen
with shock. All the counter-curses
she'd ever known seemed to have vanished from her head.
They stared at each other for the
first time, out in the open and up close. Airelle's view was only that of a dark hood, faceless, nameless.
So this is how it ends? she
thought. Killed by an unknown enemy?
She could not bring her eyes away
from him. Not his wand. Him. Surely, he wouldn't be so cruel as to never reveal his face to the person
he was about to kill? Surely?
The Death Eater just kept looking at
her. Her with her headband she'd worn
since her school days across her forehead, her white hair washed in dirt and
messy from the fight, her with her disheveled black robes, pale face, and black
eyes frozen like crystals in terror.
What is he waiting for?
Airelle thought. Perhaps a plea for
mercy? Like hell I'll give it to
him…
The Death Eater just kept looking
at her, as if he could look right through her into the ground. And he stared. And stared.
And then… he lowered his wand.
Airelle's eyes widened to the point
of resembling large coins. But she did
not have time to think about the figure's intentions. Because just then, her senses came back to her, and her cold
fingers gripped and tightened around the wand she'd been holding all along. Without thinking, Airelle Vilka shouted the
first words that came into her head.
Thankfully, they proved to be those
of a Repellent Charm and the Death Eater flew backwards much like Airelle had,
black cloak trailing behind him. He sat
up, hood still on, as Airelle jumped to her feet.
And it was then she realized that
she was hearing loud puffs of people Apparating, and more shouting. Help from the Ministry had arrived; she
heard Elsa's voice, among others familiar to her. The Death Eaters were retreating, Disapparating and disappearing
into the woods.
Airelle turned her attention back to
the Death Eater in front of her. He was
already on his feet. And then, he
vanished into a Disorientation Cloud. Airelle coughed, but made no attempt to stop him.
Most of the Death Eaters were gone
by now; the ones remaining were being bound by Chain Spells by the Aurors. Omar, who had apparently been revived from
the stupefying spell, ran over to her and placed a heavy hand on her
shoulder. "Ms. Vilka, are you all
right?"
"How is the rest of the team?" she
asked, unmoving from her place and still staring at the spot where the Death
Eater had stood moments ago.
"Badly hurt, but all alive, thank
heavens," was the response. At that,
Airelle sighed and let her legs give out from under her and dropped on her
knees, shaking.
"The Ministry is going to have a
field day with our friend Kafkad," Omar was saying when Airelle fell. "Geez--- are you all right?"
Airelle managed to shake her head in
a 'no' gesture.
"Shh, you'll be fine now. You were bloody fantastic against those
bastards," said Omar, lifting Airelle easily up in hands that were twice the
size of hers. He paused. "But… I know you'll mind me asking, but I
cannot help it… what the heck happened back there?"
"I wish I knew," Airelle croaked ---
before duly and deservingly fainting.
~*~
One month
later…
A black cloak cascaded down and
swept the damp, moonlit ground. The
tall, thin Death Eater pulled his hood closer to his face and sighed. It was over.
"I understand you have something you
wish to tell me?" asked the white-bearded elder, flanked by two Auror guards
(wands ready), in front of him.
"Yes," said the Death Eater,
lowering his hood. "I want to help
you. The fight between myself and…" He
trailed off. "Well, let's just say I
woke up and realized that it was the last straw for me."
Albus Dumbledore smiled at the tall,
thin, black-robed man in front of him.
"Welcome back, Severus Snape."
FINIS