The Resolution
by Blood Red Tulips
- Chapter One -
- Rowan Hanely -
"Move it! C'mon' now! Catch me!" My father yelled into the night.
I watched his dark wavy hair bounce with his movements. He was as quick and lithe as ever. His voice was spirited - excited even. I could see the bright sparks of light that emitted from his wand in my peripheral vision.
Spooky light pouring through the trees; leaves aglow with red…blue…
I ran with a purpose. Trees whipped by and their branches clawed my skin, easily – and soon my arms were stinging with what felt to be a thousand tiny paper cuts from all those needle sharp conifers, and reaching twig-like arms of the tree limbs. My feet were inconceivable blurs below me. My palm was becoming sweaty.
I rolled my eyes. No wonder…
It was gripping my brother's hand tightly. His hand was slick with perspiration.
I dragged him along. I could hear his whimpering. In my frustration, I stopped abruptly.
His soft pants stopped as he slammed into me. My wand – at the ready – nearly poking him in the face.
"Damn it Flynn! Keep up! Do you want your arse blasted off?"
He flinched at my words. His blue eyes – our family's trademark – were glistening with tears. His dark hair was matted with sweat and his lip was quivering slightly. His soft chubby cheeks were flushed. His fighting suit was torn.
Any other time I might have taken him into my arms and consoled him. Now? Now was not the time for that.
"Are you a Hanely or not?" I hissed.
He nodded fervently. His hand squeezed mine. "I am."
I allowed myself to give him a soft smile and cupped his cheek. "Of course you are," I murmured. He smiled back and winced when a cut on his cheek stretched with the smile.
I gently wiped the blood off his face with my sleeve. I turned – the thick braid of my hair whipping around with me – and gripped his sweaty hand even harder.
I could see my mother and Willow now. They, like us, were running through the thick brushy section of the forest. If they had caught up with us…it was bad. They turned every few feet to shoot curses into the brush behind them. The blur of light brown curls that was my sister ran towards us.
"Stupefy!" A jet of light flew from her wand into the trees. The dark figures in the distance were shown, flying through the trees with her direct hit in the curse's illuminating light.
One of them yelped.
Willow – her beautiful face riddled with deep gashes – grinned. "That'll teach the stupid git."
My mother, at her side rounded on her, her eyes dark with worry and anger. "Insult them once we've gotten the upper hand."
Willow rolled her eyes, prompting my mother to shake her head. Her light brown ponytail identical to that of my sister's danced with her vigorous movement.
"Mum!" Flynn called.
They stopped in front of us; twin looks of horror painting their faces. With an abrupt movement, my mum lurched forward then roughly pulled my brother and I behind an immense oak.
Willow covered for us. She watched the trees with her tiny nose scrunched in concentration and her brow furrowed with worry. Her suit was clinging to her tense body. My big sister – always a fighter at the ready.
Flynn was stuck to me like glue. His tiny body shoved against the tree and his arms encircling my waist tightly.
I turned to my mother and her blue eyes were more desperate than I had ever seen them. Her dirtied face pinched with worry. Stray curls forming a halo around her sweaty forehead.
"You were supposed to be out of here by now!" she whispered desperately.
A feeling of fear crept into me; it's icy hands taking hold of my wildly beating heart.
"I know, I know," I muttered, shaking, as I felt Flynn shudder with guilt against me. Poor bloke, he knew he slowed me down.
Willow moved suddenly and stared down a certain part of the trees with livid concentration. My mother glanced at her quickly before turning her solid gaze on to me.
"Mum…" I whispered hoarsely, "apparate with Flynn. I'll stay with Willow. You can come back if anything – "
"No!" she snarled.
I jumped and Flynn squeezed me harder.
"If I apparate it will give us away." Her voice had never been so tired. She pressed her forehead to mine and cupped Flynn's head gently with her free hand. I felt her feverish temperature and willed myself not to beg her to get us out. "Besides we – "
"Always stick together," I breathed.
She nodded, and a sad smile graced her features.
Flynn looked up at her as she pulled away from me. His tiny voice was almost imperceptible. "Then…where's…Dad?" he asked slowly.
She paled. "Y-you haven't seen him?" Her mouth was set in a straight line now, dirt-smeared cheeks looking more sunken than ever.
Willow stiffened several feet away, and her head turned unintentionally towards us. She didn't look our way though, her lively, wide eyes watched the forest restlessly.
I swallowed. "We haven't seen him since a while back."
My words hung stale in the air.
Mum smoothed Flynn's hair thoughtfully. His dark hair was shiny with the blood from her hand. She was looking through me. The soft light from the moon showing the stricken look on her face.
I heard a choked sound from Willow. "Awful quiet isn't it?" my sister croaked.
My mother nodded – the blank look still hadn't left her. "Too quiet," she whispered wearily.
Willow began to scan the dark forest once more. "Bloody hell, where are they?" she hissed.
My mother quit stroking Flynn's dampened hair and gently padded over to where my sister stood, leaving Flynn and I peeking around the great oak tree. Mum's wand was pointed at the trees, switching direction every so often.
I had a quick intake of breath as I saw how alike they were: fierce beauties, curly hair floating in the gentle wind, and tiny bodies tense and coiled for fighting.
"Get your wand out," I told Flynn.
He knew my tone meant business; he quickly let go of me, pulling out his wand from a small case attached to his belt. He was no longer quivering as he took a few gentle steps away from me and towards our family.
A Hanely indeed, I thought proudly.
I pulled my wand from its holder as well, relishing in the familiarity of its cool touch. I held it at the ready, the leaves and bracken crunching beneath my feet as I joined my siblings and mother.
My mother turned to me – a stern, brave look taking control of the once blank face.
Flynn nudged his way between us, his wand poking out from our array of limbs.
Willow shot him an encouraging nod. He grinned.
An impervious silence engulfed us. The sounds of our regular breathing assaults to the pregnant pause the auditory world had given us.
A tree creaked.
A branch snapped.
We all turned, in every which direction.
"Expelliarmus!" My sister called out.
A scream came from the darkness, followed by a gentle thud.
A group of hooded figures emerged from the forest around us. Flynn tensed and strayed closer to Mum and me.
"Gotcha now," one giggled.
My mother sneered. "Levicorpus!" The man was abruptly raised from the ground.
"Crucio!" another shouted, his deep voice ringing out.
My mother screamed, suddenly writhing in agony. The man she had cursed dropped to the ground. She fell to her knees. The whites of her eyes showing as they rolled in the back of her head. She bit her lip to keep from screaming and she bit it so hard blood had begun to trickle down her chin.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Flynn pleaded, almost dancing on his feet by our mother – lost as to what he should do.
Willow opened her mouth and leaned forward to curse the one who was torturing our mother. He turned to her – his wand never wavering from our mother.
"Send one spell my way and I'll increase this blood-traitor's pain ten-fold." He meant it too.
Willow shut her mouth and her expression became oppressed and hateful.
Moans escaped my mother. Flynn touched her writhing body, with his tentative, dirtied little fingers.
"Mum…?" he whimpered.
I hissed in frustration and they laughed. The lot of them laughed. I could feel myself shaking with the inability to do something.
"Please. Stop." I snarled.
The wizard turned to me, his long flowing black cloak moving with him. "Since you asked so nicely."
He pulled his wand away from my mother, disconnecting the curse he had set upon her. She collapsed to the ground and rested her shaking body against my little brother. Nail marks had been dug into her palms, to create shallow crescents. Her eyes raised up mine… anguish, pure anguish in their blue depths. My brother hugged her close, pressing our mother into him, as she had held him whenever he was hurt. She held him back weakly, almost as if she couldn't muster the strength to squeeze him back like she wanted to.
Willow gently pulled her to her feet, in some attempt to give back her dignity, allowing Flynn to grip my mother's waist with an unseen ferocity. She breathed in ragged breaths and slowly raised her want to point at her torturer, with a drooping hand.
Willow pointed it to them too and I raised mine quickly as well, my fingers almost cramping because of how hard I held it.
My mother's pale lips attempted to mouth words. The wizards laughed again, their wands shaking with their chuckles.
My eyes darted to those pacing around us. I turned with them, following their movements. My breath caught as I saw that they were all around us. Not just on one side, but on all. There was nowhere to run. Dozens of them encircled us all around the oak tree. It was like some sick game of Ring Around the Rosie.
"We're sure to all fall down," I whispered. Some of the cloaked wizards cocked their heads quizzically at me, too ignorant, too ingrained in wizarding culture to possibly know what I meant. My sister even turned quickly with a confused expression on her face. It quickly changed to horror as she saw what I had suddenly discovered. A gasp came from her lips.
Her lip quivered as she looked into my eyes. She looked as though she were about to cry. I hadn't seen my sister cry since I had told her I hated her in a moment of childish spite years ago. I had never hated her, not really. She was my best friend in all honesty, despite her being my older sister. My mind raced, yet it was all so sluggish, because my body was shaking, and my wand was becoming slick in the hand that was already coated with sweat from tugging on Flynn's little hand - I wanted to cry out for her, for Flynn too. I wanted to cry with her - because when she cried, I cried. When we cried, Flynn cried. I felt everything she did, because we were only a year apart, but more close than I could possibly explain to anyone. And Flynn? He was the little boy we both shared the same adoration and affection for. He followed us like a puppy, but we couldn't care less.
Now, she turned away brusquely, pointing her wand back at the leader. I followed suit – turning back slowly. Facing our enemy, if only a fraction of them all, once more.
He regarded us with a superior grin.
"Where," I heard my mother rasp out, "is my husband?"
The man laughed. I moved forward with the sudden anger that pushed through every fibre of my being. Several unidentified wands came up to point at me. I stayed where I was, several steps in front of my family and glanced back rapidly when I heard Flynn whimper my name.
The leader stopped laughing. "You want to know where Daddy is, hmm?" He turned to a man that stood to his right. "Bring them Daddy. Show them what a great wizard Daddy is."
The man smiled graciously at his leader then stepped into the darkness of the trees, his cloak flying out behind him.
I tensed in fear.
A moan of pain came from the depths of the elders, the firs, the birch and the oaks all around us. I turned to Willow and rushed to her as I saw her pained face. Dozens of wands followed me. My mother began to shake violently and Flynn only held on to her harder yet his shocked eyes were focused on the forest before us – where the ghastly cries of pain were coming from.
Willow stared at my face – each of us sporting a baffled expression of fear and horror.
I took her hand into mine, squeezing as our fingers intertwined. We turned to stare at the gap in the circle of Dark Wizards where one of them was slowly walking towards us. His wand that poked out of the great black sleeve of his cloak was pointed upwards, levitating what I presumed to be my father.
Even presumptions couldn't prepare me for the sight of the shivering body of my father. His face was caked with blood from the jagged cuts profusely bleeding. An impossible amount of crimson pouring fourth. His limbs at awkward angles. The pure ivory of bone sticking out grotesquely from his skin.
A wounded sounding whimper escaped me, before I clamped my hand over my mouth... as if it could prevent me from being sick, or screaming.
His body shuddered and his mouth opened – teeth missing, lips torn and swollen. My mother cried out in anguish. She cried out with more anguish now than before when she had been under the Cruciatus curse.
"Richard!" His name echoed in my mind
My father's bleary blue eyes opened. He tried to smile, for my mother, for his beautiful wife. "Alexis."
Willow began to cry quietly, and I felt her tremors in the hand I held. I gently rubbed her scraped knuckles with my thumb.
Flynn stared blankly, as if the sight of it had been too much for his wide, naïve eyes… As if he wished to see no more. I willed myself not to scream. Not to break down. My father moved steadily towards us, held aloft in the air by magic itself, for we knew he was too beaten to carry himself on his own.
His spine cracked.
"No," I whispered. I could feel my sister tensing as well. He was changing… He was about to reveal our secret, the reason why we managed to hide for so long… In his pain, he probably believed that not being human would let him cope more, a higher pain threshold for a hardier creature…
He was changing form and as the Dark Wizard laid him down in front of us, a mangled wolf lay in front of my family.
A theatrical sigh came from the leader. I stared at him, bereft of words.
"You know," he drawled, "when we went to search for the lot of you…We were looking for a family of wizards. We were looking for a group of Dark Wizard Hunters." He stopped, visibly trying to control his anger. "NOT," he bellowed, "A PACK OF BLOODY WOLVES."
Willow froze, with the magnitude of our secret being out in the open. Me? I lifted my chin, hoping no tears would betray themselves and wishing him away more and more with each and every second.
He licked his lips. "But once we figured it out, all we had to do was trap you like the filthy Animagi you are -"
"Good job, you want a prize?" I heard myself say in a soft, hateful tone.
My mother who had kneeled down with Flynn to caress my father's head had looked up at me, a small smile on her face.
Willow snickered approvingly from beside me.
The leader sneered, gesturing his wand in my direction. "You see. This is going to be my prize you cheeky little bitch. Watching you all die. Watching the family who has killed and imprisoned so many of us, die. Watching you die, as a family. That is a very rewarding prize." He said through his teeth.
I heard a gurgling laugh from beneath me. I glanced down to see my father's human form, and not his wolf Animagus, but he was broken as he pressed his palms to the ground, and raised himself to stare at the man with one good eye. "Poor taste in prizes for a pureblood. Don't you have a lot of gold?" Blood spurted from his mouth with each word.
Flynn squirmed, pressing into my mother, and looking at my father, with a distinct frown of confusion and horror. Why is there so much blood?... his eyes seemed to say.
My mother smiled proudly. She tore the cloth piece of her suit, the one that hugged her sleeves, and wiped his mouth. It was saturated within moments.
The leader leaned forward. "Funny, Hanely. Even on your deathbed you and your daughter are making jokes at your killer's expense."
My father opened his mouth to retort but began to cough more blood. I winced at the sound.
The leader snorted. "See? Humour can only get you so far. Now, let's get on with it shall we?"
A whoop of joy ripped around the circle of Dark Wizards. They screamed our names. They pointed their wands. They let out the worst string of profanity.
They wanted our blood – as if enough of it wasn't pouring from my father's faltering body. As if enough wasn't seeping from my family's jagged cuts. I could feel its slipperiness from my wounds. They wanted more of it. They wanted our godforsaken robes to be soaked in it. But this is the life we lived. My family and I.
I closed my eyes.
When you decide to fight, a feeling of peace comes over you. It's almost like death, the way it gently takes over your senses. I did not feel the constant burning pain of my wounds. I did not smell the blood or the trees all around me. I did not hear the angry shouting of these people out to kill my family. I did not even see them closing in.
Maybe this resolution feels like death because I am so close to it…
I opened my eyes, catching my sister doing the same.
She squeezed my hand firmly. I felt as though I would hold her hand again soon enough. Her glorious blue eyes blazing with cold hatred for those around us.
She nodded.
With a roar I separated from her, curses flying from my wand… and they fell…
But most of them rose again, sending their own curses my way… almost as crazed as me, in their fighting.
The forest was no longer dark, but alive with the light of the battle. The faces of my enemies glowing in the eerie magical light, and I tried to commit each and every one to memory, so I could remember them, and remember to finish them too.
I felt my legs being sliced to shreds. I laughed at the pain. Twirling around throwing out spells, curses, jinxes, hexes and anything I could push out of me.
I heard a yelp as my father suddenly went still. A fiery wave of hatred nestled in my rapidly beating heart.
"Killing a man when he can't fight?" my sister screeched from somewhere to my left, a shot of green light flashed into an oncoming group of cloaked men. "Fight me you bloody cowards!"
I felt a blow hit me. My lungs being winded as I flew through the air. I snarled in pain as my body skidded across the roots of the great oak. I didn't dare let go of my wand. My lip ripped.
Chest heaving – I jumped up. Pointing my wand at the culprits. I couldn't pull in proper breaths. I heard the clumsy, wet attempts at breathing more than I felt them.
The men came towards me. I pulled up my chin in defiance. Bastards.
They charged, before being blindsided by a vicious curse. They flew, screaming into the trees. I whirled around wildly to see who had come to my rescue. Only to see my mother gripping Flynn's unmoving body several feet away, angry tears and blood marring her blinding beauty.
"Kill my son, why don't you?" she hissed in agony.
I felt a spasm of disbelief. My brother...
"Flynn?" I called. My mother ignored me, cooing softly to my brother. She seemed oblivious to the fact that his body was oddly still. She rocked him gently in her arms, her shirt slowly becoming tainted with his blood. I had never seen him that still. Not since he was just a newborn. He was grossly immobile.
I began to run towards them, a lump of grief and terror forming in my throat. I felt a shot of pain take control of me as someone gripped my braid, yanking me back to where I once stood, and my feet scrabbled against the forest floor. I whipped around wildly, letting my small fist shoot into the recesses of his hood to come into contact with his face. I felt a satisfying crunch.
I smiled, even as he picked me up by the throat. I dangled in front of him.
I could see blood pouring profusely from his bulbous nose.
His twisted mouth began to move, and I caught sight of his rotting, broken teeth, and the waft of decay came from his lips. "So you want to fight with your fists, eh cutie? My kind of girl you are."
I struggled, desperately trying to breathe. I wriggled, gathering my strength, to spit directly into his disgusting face.
He roared, throwing me on the ground. I smirked with triumph as he wiped his face with his tattered sleeve. I tried in vain to crawl away.
"Oh no you don't you Hanely bitch!" He yelled.
A swift kick came to meet the tender underside of my stomach.
I retched.
He kicked again. I screamed, and a spatter of blood came from my mouth as the sound filled the air. I had heard several soft crunches, when his foot had met my ribs.
I tried to suck in a frantic breath. I felt him pick me up by my hair again. The pulling pain of the roots of my hair was nothing now. He threw me. I only noticed when the ground came up to greet me with a thump- a painful thump.
My body was twitching. I could barely move, and I hissed as I turned over, gripping my aching side with unsteady hands, only to be met with great blue eyes, so alike my own. My sister staring back at me. She was hiccupping. Short, quivering breaths. Her full lips wet with blood. It looked like the shade of lipstick she wanted to buy, and she had needled my mother for many a time. Her beautiful face was sliced to bits. Tears were slowly trickling down her face, making trails through the mask of blood.
Her light hair was almost as dark as mine, being soaked with blood and mud. Bright green leaves were caught in her feisty curls.
"Rowan…"she breathed.
I touched her face. We were almost twins; she was only a year older than me.
"Willow," I whispered, "I'm going to send my Patronus to the Ministry. It will save us. I'll tell them where we are. They'll apparate here, okay? We're going to be alright… I'll take care of you."
She nodded, her vacant eyes still locked on mine. I reached over to grip her hand. I noticed some of her nails had been ripped off as she squeezed my fingers.
I shuddered, causing a wave of pain to course through me. I gently raised my wand to the sky.
The stars are beautiful tonight, I thought.
An animalistic screech filled the air. I recognized it as my mother's.
I closed my eyes, thinking of our family home. Of Flynn. Of Dad. Of Mum and Willow. Their smiles. Us Hanely's, together.
"Expecto Patronum!," I whispered fiercely, ignoring the sudden gooey, coppery taste of blood in my mouth that seemed to accompany my words.
A silvery timber wolf ran quickly and swiftly from my wand into the night sky.
A\N: Hereby my disclaimer for all contents within this story, here on and out. I do not seek profit by using J.K Rowling's characters, or her universe - just a bit of fun. I own nothing, except the original character(s) present within the story.
Oh, and of course, please feel free to leave any comments, questions, or thoughts in the form of a review or a private message!