The Courtyard (Chase)

Chase felt himself get knocked back off his feet as something hit him painfully in the chest. He flew backwards off his feet and he landed brutally, his head striking the concrete with a vicious thud. He brought his hands up to the spot he had hit, writhing frantically in pain. A bright white flash of light, the taste of metal in his mouth and a high pitched ringing flooded his senses, rendering him oblivious to the chaos around him. Slowly he came back around, the back of his head throbbing painfully, his eyesight blurry and his ears still ringing. Dust covered his face from the shattered concrete that lay around him, impeding his vision even more as he groped around, looking for his wand. As he clawed through the lumps of jagged concrete and stone that lay around him, a sense of panic began to set in as he struggled to find it. 'Come on' he willed himself as he groped around uselessly. "CONFRINGO" he heard a spell come at him and ducked. It bounced off the wall inches from him and ping ponged around the courtyard, breaking glass and smashing concrete.

Suddenly he felt a hand on the back of his robes "you don't want to be there, boy" he heard a voice say as he was dragged backwards along the floor. He saw the spot where he fell disappear as he was dragged behind a large chunk of shattered marble pillar. "MY WAND" he roared, but felt something being thrust into his hand. He felt a familiar warmth coarse through his arm as he revolved the object in his hands. "My wand" he said again, but with warmth and happiness in his voice. He felt himself relax slightly, and then he felt his vision returning, his headache subsiding and the ringing reduced to a dull buzzing, like the feeling of having his wand back had magically made his pain subside slightly.

The realisation of where he was, and why he was there dawned on him, hitting almost as hard as his head struck the concrete mere seconds ago. He was ready to fight again. He took a deep breath, ready to stand up and battle. "COME ON!" he heard and spun to see a middle aged bespectacled man beckoning towards him. He shook his head clear and ran over to where the man stood and Chase recognised him at once. Everyone in the wizarding world knew who this was, even these days. "Mr Pot-" he began but Harry cut across him "we can talk when we're away from here" he barked and then silently shot a curse over Chase's shoulder. Chase looked around and saw a hooded figure fly backwards across the courtyard, hitting the far wall. "Who are they?" Chase asked, but Harry shook his head "not now!" he said more forcefully "we need to get him out of here".

Chase popped his head above cover and looked around, they were being overwhelmed. Out of the eight-strong detail that was assigned to this job, only four were left standing. Two were being shielded and protected by others, one was nowhere to be seen and the other lay in the middle of the courtyard, motionless. They were surrounded and had no way of escape, he fired a stunning spell and hit a hooded figure. "We need that portkey!" Chase said panicked. Harry shook his head "it's compromised; we need to disapparate" Harry said loudly over the sounds of spells being cast, stone crumbling, and glass shattering. Chase nodded and Harry grabbed his arm "both of us. Wait for my signal and then stand up, stun anyone you can see as quickly as you can, on the count of five, grab hold of me and think about the backup rendezvous, okay? We've got have to leave the others here but they'll leave as soon as they see us disapparate" Chase felt dreadful about leaving the others but nodded, gripping his wand tightly.

He took a deep breath and as Harry shouted "NOW!" he shot up and looked around and began firing spells. He counted in his head back from five, jets of light flying from his wand, hitting different targets, sending them flying or falling to the ground. He saw a bolt of green light fly past his shoulder, barely missing him and felt a wave of anger and roared "SECTUMSEMPRA!". Suddenly he felt Harry grab hold of his robes and felt as if he was being pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull then suddenly it was over.

He landed painfully to the ground, the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He looked around and saw they were on the side of a mountain, although he didn't recognise the place. There was snow on the ground and they were on a mountainside. The wind whistled around his, cold as ice. He pulled his hood up to escape the blistering squall. They were high up, this he knew. This wasn't where they were supposed to be. Chase looked around confused. He got unsteadily to his feet and looked over at Harry who was standing with his wand aimed at him. Chase threw his hands into the air "what?" he demanded. Harry narrowed his eyes and then said "what was that back there?" Chase felt so confused. What was he talking about? Before Chase could ask, Harry shouted "don't play dumb with me Chase! You used a slashing curse!". Chase felt confused, angry. He had forgotten his moment of anger completely, he had no recollection of it.

Chase felt his stomach tighten like a knot and he shook his head. "n-n-no I didn't" he said but felt his chest burning and yelled in pain. He dropped to his knees facing Harry and ripped open his robes. He writhed in pain for a few seconds, all his senses dulled by the agony. As he regained his senses, he heard Harry say "Merlin's…", his voice trembling. "Chase stay still" he said and then explained "you've been hit by the Lycacomia Curse". Chase felt a stab of fear more powerful than anything he had ever experienced. He was quite for a few seconds, looking up at Harry, whose face reflected the fear he felt. "It's impossible" Chase said, ignoring the burning sensation in his chest. "I'm sorry Chase, but I've seen this before. Not often, but I have. I'm so sorry kid". Chase couldn't believe it. He wouldn't.

Still on his knees in the deep snow, he struck the floor around him with his balled fists, snow and ice spraying in all directions. Chase screamed out. Part fear, part pain, and part sadness. His screams echoed agonisingly throughout the canyon. He only stopped when his voice was too horse to make any more sound. For a long while, the only sound was the harsh whistle of the wind. He felt himself beginning to cry as hot tears streamed down his near frozen face. Soon he was sobbing uncontrollably. Harry sat down on the floor next to him but didn't say anything, Chase knew he lost for words, but it didn't bother him. Right now he wanted silence.

Chase cried for a while, thinking about everything he had learned about werewolves in school, how they were shunned by the magic community, how painful it was. He would lose everything he had worked so hard to achieve. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement would make Harry fire him and he would be unlikely to get a job anywhere else. "Chase I need to check on the package, are you going to be okay?" Harry asked softly, placing a hand on Chase's shoulder. Chase nodded and Harry waited for a second before patting him lightly on the shoulder and heading off.

Harry leaving was the jolt he needed. Right now he needed to prove himself. Harry was head of the Department. If he could convince Harry he would still make a great Auror, Chase was sure he would be allowed to stay. Or so he told himself. Chase wasn't sure what they were transferring, there had been a series of attacks on transports lately and the Ministry had introduced what they determined to be special measures, although he wasn't sure what these were. He needed to find out. Needed to make himself invaluable. He stood up off the ground and called "Mr Potter". Harry turned and looked "we need to get moving, they're expecting us". Harry looked at him, his expression quite unreadable and then asked "are you sure?" Chase nodded. Silently the walked over and put their hands on each other's shoulders. With the familiar sickening feeling of being forced through a tight whole, they disapperated.