A/N: I was killing my lungs this afternoon and trying to keep a headache at bay. Outsider on the Inside has been killing me. It has literally been forcing me to write it for almost a month straight now. Henria will not leave me be. She is in my dreams, I swear! :D So, break up the monotony, I came up with the idea to go into the battle of Lucius Malfoy and Aislinn Dumbledore. I am pretty proud of myself. And I kind of hate myself. You will find out why when you read it.
So, this is just a companion piece to go with Henria's story. It is not set at any particular time. So, don't get your hopes up about the end of Outsider on the Inside. *wink*
Happy reading!
Henny, that lucky Penny!
Victories Amongst Battles
Seven imposing figures were marching to a beat of their own drum down a deserted street. Their dragon hide boots were soft against the cobble stones. The swish of their dark robes sounded like a hurricane in the quiet. Other than their boots and robes, they made no sound. Their white masks were daunting and morbid. Masks in the shape of a skull most certainly did have a certain effect. A lone figure in the shadows watched, her body was tense at the sight of them. They were oblivious to her presence.
The small girl watched as six more dubious figures rounded a corner and caught sight of the dark robes. She saw them tense and pull out long wooden sticks. The woman heading the new comers looked relaxed and tense. It was a strange combination. Something she had never known the woman to possess. Her stance was welcoming but cautious. It was almost like she was pleading to the other occupants of the street.
"Look Malfoy, blood traitors. They've come to play." a nasty gravelly voice sneered. Their face coverings made it impossible to identify the persons. Except for the one with the long, white blonde hair.
"So it would seem, Dolohov." the one with the long blonde hair drawled from behind his obscurity. A few of the ones not covered in dark robes shifted uneasily. The woman with the long, auburn hair kept her features pleasant.
"How are you today, Lucius?" she asked politely. Snickers chorused from the darker beings. The girl in the shadows saw the men behind the woman tense. They didn't seem to enjoy her casual banter with the foreboding crowd.
"We aren't here to exchange pleasantries, Miss Dumbledore." the man known as Lucius Malfoy sneered at her. Miss Dumbledore's features portrayed nothing at the rude words.
"Fair enough. Then why are you here, if I may be so bold as to ask?" her soft voice drifted down the cobble stones like a gentle breeze. The men behind her grew restless.
"You know as well as I do that we are not allowed to divulge the particulars of our orders. The same rules apply to you as they do to us." he drawled back. The men behind him shifted to flank him. Three lined up on either side.
The lone figure in the shadows started to fidget with the hem of her sleeves. The tension was palpable even to her.
"The difference is that we go on missions. You are to listen to orders." the auburn haired woman picked an imaginary speck of lint from the sleeve of her blood red robes. She flicked it away from her fingers and brought her gaze back up to the man with the long, blonde hair, "Do you enjoy being a trained dog, Lucius?" her soft voice almost soothed over the jab. But the men in the stark black robes visibly bristled at her rhetorical question.
"Not all of us have the luxury of being a leader's personal lap bitch, Aislinn." his drawl became hard. Miss Dumbledore looked unconcerned in the change of tone.
"I don't know about you, but my uncle has never spoken to a lady that way because his pureblood parents taught him proper manners. It pains me to see the quality of people that are coming from the old families who seem to have pinned themselves with a blood thirsty maniac." the woman brazenly insulted the already tense man. She did so with an air of arrogance. She seemed nonplussed by their increasingly restless body language.
"Don't try to pretend to be something you are not, Miss Dumbledore! A lady knows her place and accepts her lot in life." he snapped back. The condescending digs were getting under his skin, "A proper pureblood lady knows when to keep her mouth shut and doesn't offend her husband by gallivanting in streets pretending to know how to fight. Now get the hell out of here and we will go about our...innocuous business with this filth." Aislinn clucked her tongue at his harsh language in disapproving. Finally a break in her demeanor showed a glimpse of rage. Her cheeks became stained with pink.
"You have a disgusting mouth, Mister Malfoy. No doubt you learned from your father. He was never a gentleman either. Piss poor examples of wizards also. Tell me, did he ever get over the disappointment that was your N.E.W.T.s? My father was almost giddy with the Howler that he received about letting me run around, gathering information and having a head on my own two damn shoulders. He let it be known that I would make a terrible pureblood wife and good luck with marrying me off." Lucius stiffened at her smug words, "Oh, I assume that you are reminded almost daily that you were out marked by a mere girl. I suppose I was a bit of a swot in school. I grew tired of the perception that I was to be married off to one of you foul wizards and resign myself to producing an heir and boring tea parties. You lot were never smart when it came to free thinking."
"Aislinn, stop talking." a whisper came from one of the men behind her. She tilted her head to the side, making a show of pretending to hear him better, "We need to deal with them now."
"Of course, Benjy. I apologize. My temper got a hold of my thoughts." she bowed her head respectfully and turned her attention back to the Death Eaters, "Now, you either leave, or you either die. Because we are not letting you run around terrorizing Muggles for your own entertainment and the entertainment of your precious leader." her voice became hard and serious. She seemed to be done playing around.
The girl in the shadows looked on as the two different groups unconsciously squared off. All participants gripped their wands tighter and their shoulders visibly tensed.
"As you wish, Miss Dumbledore." Lucius bowed before a stream of red light flew out of his wand, heading straight at Aislinn.
"Protego Maxima!" she shouted in response and the beam of light bounced off her charmed barrier, "I won't hold this for long! Are you gentlemen ready?" there was a wicked glint in her eye. She smirked coldly at the thought of a fight. The girl in the background recognized the blood thirsty look. She sometimes got the same look at the prospect of a good fight.
The magical barrier dropped and shouting and flashes of colored light came from both sides. Soon, the groups had dispersed and the figures were hidden behind crates and poles and carts. Curses and hexes flew about, bouncing off of shield charms and blowing up wooden items. The street was no longer quiet. But it didn't seem like anyone was paying any heed. The girl in the shadows had crossed through the fray without being scathed. She positioned herself by the woman with the long auburn hair.
"Fabian! Your left!" Benjy cried out as a green beam of light screamed towards him. In a streak of flaming red hair and maroon Auror robes, Fabian fell down to the cobble stones, his eyes looking up to the sky unseeing.
A moan of anguish and fury cut through the chaos and an identical copy of the recently fallen man stood up and fired stunners and disarming spells as fast as he could say them. One Death Eater fell over, stunned and another was quickly dispensed in the same manner. The gravelly voiced man, Dolohov, sprung out in a flurry of black robes and with a shot of green light, Gideon fell to an Avada Kedvra to walk with his brother in the afterlife.
The girl in the shadows was crying. Her arms were shaking with sobs. She couldn't stand to see such great people begin to fall at the hands of vile men. She stood helpless and alone as she watched the scene play out, crying for the lost souls.
"Arthur! Get down!" Aislinn yelled to a man with orange red hair. His face was twisted into agony as he watched his brother-in-laws fall. A stunner hit his chest and he landed on the stones with a sickening crack. Aislinn visibly flinched and rolled out from her cover.
A tall, dark skinned man became exposed as his cover was blown into splinters. A beam of red light hit his chest at almost the same time. He fell limply to the ground. Kingsley lay motionless. Aislinn looked to Benjy and saw him fall, stunned and unconscious.
Rage darkened the twinkling blue eyes to a midnight blue. A scream tore from her throat as she transitioned from shielding charms to stunners. Her wand was only a blur in the air. Two men in black robes fell over unconscious. It was only when she grew too tired to hold a shield properly, that she fell over.
The area grew quiet.
The only sound was panting from all participants. Aislinn was slowly bringing her body into a crouching position. Her wand held to the side, tense and ready at a moment's notice. The three Death Eaters that were left blocked the street so she couldn't escape. A tense couple of minutes passed as Aislinn watched the three scumbags standing studying her. Her body was tired and it had already started to hurt. She could see the other three were not fairing off any better.
"So...Lucius," she started, panting out the words, "how are we going to play this? Are you going to try to kill me or take me prisoner? Or are you going to leave this village alone and gather your wounded?" she licked her dry lips. Aislinn barely had any spit to wet them properly.
"Well, Aislinn, I can't just leave here without as much as a token of our victory. It is three against one, Miss Dumbledore. The smart thing would be to hand over your wand and come with us quietly. Of course, I can't promise what will happen to you once we leave here, but you can take comfort in that you left this fight alive and in mostly one piece. I mean, we must reap from our victory, right gentlemen?" Lucius drawled. The two men on either side grunted their agreement. Aislinn crinkled her nose in disgust.
"I don't remember you being a numbers man, Lucius. And you think that I can't handle three under trained wizards by my damn self?" she exclaimed incredulously, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"You are just as crazy as your crackpot uncle." Lucius snapped, "Just hand over your wand and let's get out of here. I'll even let you Patronus call your precious order to collect your dead."
"I have three stunned and two dead." she corrected him.
"Actually, Miss Dumbledore, as soon as we have you restrained, we will be killing the other three. Can't leave survivors, you understand." he sneered at her. A dark look flitted across her features. Her midnight blue eyes shined with rage.
"You are vile. But I have a proposition for you. I take you three on and if I win, well, I will let you apparate away with your stunned. If you win, well, there will be no one to stop you from killing my three survivors, now will there?" her voice was calm and collected. Her face was still contorted into rage.
"Fine! Crabbe! Goyle! We finish her quickly. Don't hold back and don-"
Aislinn shot forward like a cannon. Her wand was tucked in her holster on her thigh under her robes. Her first target was the stocky man to the left of Lucius. Her right hook came from out of nowhere. A grunt of surprise followed the crack of flesh on flesh. A dull thud was music to her ears as his still form hit the cobble stones.
Shock wore off to realization. The two men started to fire off stunners and body binding jinxes, much like in the beginning of the battle. Aislinn ducked and weaved and rolled her way to the other side of the street. She slid to the cover of a stack of pallets. Her feet began to scramble as she regained her footing. Knowing full well that they expected her to come out of the opposite side she had entered the cover; she did a front roll from behind the pallets and smoothly transitioned to her feet. Aislinn let her right hand go sailing and heard a satisfying crunch of Goyle's jaw. He fell boneless to the ground as a smirk played across her lips.
Lucius and Aislinn stood facing each other. Her tiny body was shaking with exhaustion. Lucius looked at her with wide eyes. His aristocratic mask temporarily forgotten as he stared at the small woman. He had never seen anything like that before. Her speed and agility was astounding. Not only was her wand work done with a quickness, she moved her body like it was a last ditch effort.
"Who do you think will end up being knocked out first?" Aislinn's voice quivered. Her body was barely able to keep its self up. It physically pained her to keep standing. But her stubborn nature kept her from falling over.
Lucius schooled his features with difficulty.
"How fast can you throw a pu-"
Aislinn was rearing her left arm back to deliver said strike. Lucius didn't take the opportunity to measure if her left hand was just as powerful as her right.
The vision shifted to the Malfoy Manor.
Henria felt the cool sensation of leaving a pensieve. She took a deep breathe to center herself. Her cheeks were still wet with tears. Stains ran down her cheeks from ones that had dried. She turned to the elder man in the corner. His half-moon spectacles glinted in the fading light. That was a really long memory.
"I don't know why you complain about me. I'm not half as bad as her!" she exclaimed at her grandfather. A small smirk could be seen through his grey beard.
"Well, I'm just too damn old to be dealing with free thinkin' women!" he growled at her. A small smile played across her lips in response.
"Oh Granddaddy! You are most certainly not too old! Now what else do you have about my mother?" her eyes were eager for anymore memories about her mother when she was younger. If they were just as exciting as this one, she would watch them for hours or days.
Aberforth just shook his head in amusement at his granddaughter's thirst for knowledge about her mother. He really did miss his daughter, but having Henria around was almost the same as seeing her grow up again. And he knew he needed it.