Written for the Married Couples Challenge (JamesIsolt), Ultimate Patronus Quest (fox: Write about rescuing someone from a fire), and the TV Show Episode Monthly Competition (month 1, prompt 14: Write about someone overcoming their fear)
When she smells the smoke, she is no longer a grown woman. She is a little girl again, surrounded by overwhelming heat, choking smoke, and crackling flames. Her heart pounds painfully in her chest, tears stinging her eyes. Every instinct in her body screams at her to run, but the terror is too strong.
"It's Father," Chadwick cries, rushing toward her suddenly, his mouth covered. Webster is on his heels, crying. "I don't know what happened! He was tending to the fireplace, and- and-"
Webster sniffles, nodding. "He's still in there!" he wails.
Isolt swallows dryly and hugs her boys quickly. "Run, my loves. Don't worry. I'll be out there soon," she assures them, but the tremor in her voice betrays her doubt. "Go. Now!"
The boys hesitate but nod, rushing quickly away to safety. Isolt takes a deep breath. Panic numbs every nerve in her body, and she has to force her legs to carry her closer. The roar of the fire grows louder with each step.
"James!" she calls, her heart stopping at the sight of the orange and yellow glow of their parlor, mixed in with black and grey smoke. She can't see her husband through this, and she feels her eyes threaten to spill their tears. "James!"
Silence, and then violent coughing. Isolt breaths a sigh of relief. "Isolt!" he cries, and his voice sounds raw. "The roof collapsed. I'm pinned!"
Her wand trembles in her hands. There is a spell that could part the flames, but her panic is too great. Her throat closes, and no words escape her lips.
"Isolt!"
If she doesn't act, he's going to perish in the flames, just as her parents had. He's going to die, and it will be all her fault for being such a coward.
"Stop that," she whispers, shaking her wand, trying desperately to remember the words.
Nothing comes, and she realizes that she has no choice. She's wasted too many valuable moments already trying to summon the magic she needs.
Isolt watches the flames dance their violent dance, and she shivers in spite of the heat. Now or never.
With a cry, she rushes forward. The fire laps at her body, and she can feel the blisters rising, but she doesn't turn back. James is there. James needs her.
"I've got you, darling," she says ripping her skirt and wrapping the fabric around her hands before working to remove the debris that traps him. "I've got you. Everything will be okay."
James laughs. "Most people only joke when they say they'll walk through fire for the one they love," he wheezes.
Isolt almost smiles. The heat is almost too much, but she endures it because she must. Once he is freed, she pulls him to his feet and guides him along.
"Isn't there- Isn't there a spell for this?" he asks, coughing.
"I've forgotten it," she admits sheepishly.
"Aguamenti!"
At first, Isolt is confused. Then she hears the spell repeated by a second voice she recognizes as Webster's.
"Little more flick," Chadwick instructs.
"Aguamenti!" Webster cries, and water extinguishes a path for Isolt to walk safely through.
"I told you boys to wait outside!"
"The fire wasn't dying. We had to do something," Chadwick says stubbornly. "This is our home!"
Isolt feels her heart ache. If only she had known magic when her aunt had destroyed the original Ilvermony. Perhaps she could have saved as her sons are trying so hard to save this one now.
"Webster, take your father. Chadwick and I will finish here. Ready all the burn potions you can find. Tend to him."
Her youngest boy nods and takes James by the hand.
Isolt turns to the flames. She's been so scared of them since her youth. Her nightmares have always been her wicked aunt and those terrible flames. But there is no time for fear now.
She draws her wand, standing at Chadwick's side. "Aguamenti!"
…
"How bad is the damage?" James asks as she joins him in the infirmary.
"We're all in one piece," she reports. "The parlor will need to be completely redone. It looks awful."
"And you? God, Isolt, I didn't even think about your fear," he says, gripping her hand and pulling her close. "I was so consumed by my own survival, I never stopped to consider the terror you must have felt."
Isolt presses her lips into a thin, hard line. She nods. "It was like waking up in a nightmare," she admits. "I have expected that wicked woman to be hiding in the flames, ready to snatch me up again."
James kisses her lips. "She's never going to harm you again," he whispers.
Isolt smiles. It's always amazed her how he can promise her such a thing with such certainty. "For once, she was not my greatest fear," she tells him. "All I could think of was saving you. It didn't matter if I was harmed, if I lost my home. I only knew that my world would crumble if you were no longer in my life."
James pulls her closer, wrapping his arms around her. "My beautiful heroine," he whispers. "My brave wife."