A/N: Thanks, Lady Elysabyth, for taking the time to read and review, and also for sharing your burden. Sometimes just being able to say things out loud makes them easier to sort through and figure out. I hope that things will get better for you.
If you have read and haven't reviewed, I want to thank you as well. I hope that this provides at least some small means of escape from reality for the next few minutes.
Chapter 3: The Grand Attack
Maelynn had been writing furiously for three hours when she decided to give her tired hand a rest. She refused to read back over the parchment until she had satisfactorily written everything that needed to be said, and that included a closing. She had never been so hurt about anything in her life, and the only thing that she wanted now was closure. Hopefully pouring out her heart to the parchment would provide her with her wish.
Maelynn walked into the kitchen and peered out the window. The sun was setting and the sky was a beautiful array of oranges, reds, purples, and blues. She wished briefly that it wasn't so cold outside so that she could finish her thoughts out on the terrace. She poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at her kitchen table. A large glass ornament was in the center of the table hanging on a small golden stand. The ornament was enchanted to reflect the sky outside, and a small skating scene played out at the bottom. Maelynn stared at the ornament and sighed.
Flashback: One year ago
Maelynn was lying on her sofa with a cool washcloth on her forehead. She had been running a fever for days, and she wanted nothing more than to take some dreamless sleep potion and not wake up until this sickness left her.
The doorbell rang just as she was about to drift off, and she then heard a familiar wand tap before the door opened to reveal Tonks and Hermione. "Hey," they chorused and let themselves into the room. Hermione was carrying a container of soup and Tonks had a small white box.
"Hey," Maelynn said and started to raise up.
"No, no, no," Hermione tisked and placed her hand on Maelynn's shoulder to push her back down onto the sofa. "Doctor's orders. That was a really nasty bite that you got from that snake. It'll take a week to get over the symptoms, and if you're up and moving around then the medicine I gave you won't do any good. Just take it easy for three more days and you'll start feeling a lot better. I promise."
Maelynn groaned. "Three more days? If I was unconscious, that wouldn't be a problem. You know I can't stand to sit this still for anything. I'm going crazy in the house alone. I haven't even seen the sky in four days." Maelynn loved to be outside. She felt more at ease when she could get fresh air, and the scenery always uplifted her. Her flat had a beautiful view of the city.
Tonks smiled. "That is exactly what I thought you'd say. And that is why we brought you this." Tonks handed Maelynn the box. "Go ahead, open it."
Maelynn looked curiously at the box and pried open the lid. Inside was the most beautiful glass ornament she had ever seen. It was enchanted to show the sky outside. Small figures at the bottom were going about their 'daily lives.'
"Oh my word. It's beautiful! Thank you both so much…but you really shouldn't have"
"Nonsense," Hermione interrupted. "If you hadn't taken assignment for me that night so that I could get some rest, I would be the one lying in bed. I figure that I owe you."
"Besides," Tonks added, "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't drop in to check on you when you need us the most?"
End Flashback
"Yes, indeed," Maelynn said aloud. "What kind of friends would you be?" She stood and headed back into the study when an alarm caught her attention. The necklace that she was wearing was enchanted to make a beeping sound that only she could hear if another member of the Order was in distress and called out for her help. Each member of the Order of the Phoenix owned one. The necklace was not visible to anyone except the wearer. Every member had the capability to send messages to other members via the necklace. When Albus wished to call an emergency meeting, he simply spoke to the necklace and told it which members to send the message to. When this occurred, the necklace gave off a faint vibration and warmth. The message that she was receiving now was clearly one of distress.
Maelynn grabbed her heavy cloak and placed the stone of the necklace in the palm of her hand. When she looked into the stone, coordinates showed briefly in its depths. Her eyes grew wide. She ran into her bedroom and pocketed several potions and then apparated.
Albus looked across the Great Hall as the students ate and chatted excitedly about the Quidditch match that occurred earlier in the day. He had been too preoccupied to truly enjoy the game himself. Severus had left abruptly the day before during the meeting with Tonks and Hermione and he had not returned. Albus knew that Severus had just returned from a Death Eater meeting before he was summoned again, and it worried him that a second summons had occurred so quickly. On top of that, something was going on between Tonks, Hermione, Maelynn, and Severus, and he was afraid that it was going to negatively affect operations within the Order. He had worked too hard to create the cohesion that existed, and he wasn't going to allow petty bickering to tear it down now.
The doors of the Great Hall flew open and Harry ran between the tables up to the head table. All heads turned toward the living legend and many students began to whisper excitedly about "the Boy Who Lived." Albus was already on his feet.
"I had a vision. I saw Snape. He is hurt pretty badly, but I don't know where he's at."
"I'll send out Remus and"
"Wait," Harry interrupted, "There's more. The Death Eaters have nearly totaled the south end of Hogsmeade. The Aurors are there now, but there is still a lot of fighting." Harry paused and lowered his voice. "And there is a horde of Dementors heading straight for the school."
Albus threw his hands up and every exit in the Great Hall slammed shut. Several students screamed at the sudden burst of energy. "Teachers, gathered outside of the Great Hall," Albus voice boomed. "Prefects, keep all students inside the Great Hall. Under NO circumstances is anyone to leave. The Head Boy and Girl are in charge."
Once outside, Albus addressed the teachers. "We are about to come under attack. Harry has told me that part of Hogsmeade has been destroyed, and Dementors are on their way to overthrow the school. You all know what you are to do. To your stations!" The teachers all nodded and ran off in various directions. "Harry, contact the other members of the Order."
Harry nodded and ran out the door.
Maelynn hid behind a tree narrowly avoiding a curse that was intended to kill her. She was freezing, out of breath, and she still hadn't managed to find who she was looking for. She had lost track of how many Death Eaters she had spotted throwing hexes and attacking muggles. The town had no defense, and she had no help. She wanted to use the stone to call the other Order members, but she had no idea if it would blow Snape's cover, so she held off.
"I know you're back there. Come on out. It'll make it a lot easier on you." One of the Death Eaters was toying with her.
Maelynn took a deep breath. She was a Mediwitch. She helped those who were injured. She did not inflict injury. Another streak of light shot through the tree, sending her sprawling face first into the snow. A hand grabbed her by the hair of her head and flipped her over on her back. "Well, well, well. What have we here? You're a pretty one, aren't you?"
Maelynn shuttered and closed her eyes. Summoning all of the courage she had within her, she kicked the man square between the legs. Another hand accosted her as the first man growled out in pain. She felt his fist connect with her face. As much as it hurt, it afforded her the opportunity to brandish her wand. With one straight shot, she set his robes on fire and rolled to safety. As Maelynn scrambled away, another Death Eater joined them, shoving the flaming man into the snow to put out the flames. "That one's a witch. Be careful. Dumbledore must have sent his little followers out to find the traitor."
The second Death Eater laughed. "Good. Then let the games begin."
Maelynn ran as hard as she could towards the corner of the nearest building. She heard a woman scream nearby, and she held her wand more tightly. More Death Eaters were having their fun with a young woman while a small child looked on, terrified. 'So much for not inflicting pain,' she thought miserably. She shot several hexes at the men. Two were hit and fell to the ground. The third dropped the woman and ran towards Maelynn. "Run!" she screamed at the woman before she heeded her own advice.
After placing a sufficient amount of space between herself and the man chasing her, Maelynn crawled behind some bushes and camouflaged herself so that she could catch her breath. It was a difficult spell, and she knew she couldn't hold it long, so she used the time to look back at her stone. "Where are you?" she whispered. The stone gave her no reply.
"Hey," a trembling voice called across the clearing to her. "Lady, over here."
Maelynn realized that her charm had already worn off. A man was standing near the edge of the woods by a large tree. He was motioning for her to join him. She looked around and decided it was safe enough to make a run for it.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" The man questioned her once she was safely hidden among the trees.
"Not exactly. I'm one of the good guys."
"I figured…since you don't have one of the masks. Look, some of the people are hiding in the forest together. You shouldn't be out here by yourself. If they catch you…" he trailed off, not wanting to relive whatever horror he had seen.
"What's your name?" Maelynn asked.
"Jack."
"Jack, I'm looking for a friend of mine. He could be hurt. He was wearing one of those masks, but he's also on our side. He's a sort of spy."
"Yeah, I've seen him. He's the one hiding the others. He's bleeding pretty bad, but he wouldn't let anyone take a look at him."
Maelynn smiled. That was definitely Snape. "Good. Can you take me to him?"
They walked through the woods for several minutes when Jack stopped. "They were here," he stated a bit perplexed at the fact that everyone seemed to have vanished.
"Severus," she whispered. "It's Maelynn…Where are you?" She looked around the area and noticed the tiniest of ripples in the air. An illusion. She pulled Jack with her as she stepped through the area where she had seen the ripple. Sure enough, there was a large group gathered closely together inside. Severus was kneeling near a tree in deep concentration.
"Severus." She ran to him and knelt down beside him.
Severus kept his voice as unwavering as possible. He was in a great deal of pain, and he had lost a lot of blood, but if he let down the spell, the Death Eaters would immediately notice the surge of energy and come to find him and everyone he was trying so desperately to save. "I can't continue to hold the spell, and they are in danger if I don't. Get rid of the Death Eaters…do it quickly…and don't get caught."
Maelynn stood. "Boy, did you pick the wrong person to call for help. I stink at defense. You know that. Anyone would have been a better choice than me." Even as she said it, she was already walking back to do exactly as he ordered.
"I know," he said. "But 'Anyone' is not who I trust."
She frowned at her former Potions professor. She touched his hands and transferred a small amount of energy into his body to help sustain him, and she then ran back toward the town. She needed to treat him as soon as possible, and she knew it would do no good to stand and argue with him, so the sooner she accomplished her task, the sooner she could help him.
When she came to the clearing her heart started racing. 'What do I do?' she thought miserably. And then it hit her. She was awful at defense, but she happened to be very good at pranks. After all, she had learned from the best.
A bright burst of light shredded an entire line of Dementors. Satisfied with the results, Harry ran to the front line and repeated his Patronus several more times, giving the professors a window to shoot out their center. Within a few more minutes, other members of the Order arrived and took out the sides. The remaining Dementors dispersed.
A few cheers went up followed by the sound of Aurors apperating at the gates. "Good job, everyone," Albus declared. "Professors, we still have a great deal to do."
Ron ran up to where Harry and Albus were standing. His face was a bit flushed. "Harry, you have to come see this. We had reports of a muggle town that was hit at the same time as Hogsmeade and the school. That's why we didn't show up as quickly as we should have."
"They're trying to split our forces. They're spreading us thin so that they can pick us off one by one," Harry stated.
"Fortunately for us, we had planned for just such an event," Albus said.
"Not as effectively as we could have, though. If he had hit even one more town, there would have been no stopping him."
Ron noticed several of the Aurors disapperating and he got a bit anxious. "The muggle town that was hit had several casualties. Things could have been a lot worse though. Harry, if we don't go now, you won't get to see them."
"See who?"
Ron grinned. "The net full of Death Eaters that we're taking in."
Maelynn had sent out a distress signal to the Aurors at least five minutes ago. Ten Hufflepuff-colored, stunned, bound Death Eaters were hanging in a net in the middle of the town from a rather large light post. Maelynn had simply set the trap and lured them in. Now it was up to the ministry to handle them. She put an extra binding charm on the net and jumped down off of her perch just as eight Aurors popped into view. She saw Ron Weasley among them and was satisfied that she could safely go back to the Professor.
Just as she made it to the edge of the forest, Jack and a few other men were walking into view. She quickened her pace. "Jack, is everything okay?"
"That cover…thing…that he was using fell, and so did he. He's out cold."
"Thanks for coming to get me. I'll take care of him. It's safe for everyone to come out now. Our ministry officials are here. They'll take care of everything. Just don't be afraid of them. Thank you for your help."
"No," Jack said. "Thank you. We wouldn't have lived…Tell your friend that we appreciate everything he did. He took two of them out for hurting one of the kids, and he made sure that we all were protected. You two are pretty amazing."
Maelynn smiled and ran back through the woods. When she reached Snape, she noticed several people attempting to make him comfortable. "Thank you all for your help," she said while kneeling to check his pulse. "I know a lot of this doesn't make sense, and it may never. I'm going to take him to get help. You're all safe now." She took her cloak off and placed it around Snape. He was freezing, and she was afraid that he was going into shock. She placed her hands on his chest and transferred as much energy as she dared into his body. Leaving her hands on his chest, she concentrated hard and disapperated with him.
They landed with a loud thump back in Maelynn's flat. She let out a shaky breath. They were in the living room. She had been attempting to make it into the bedroom. "Close enough," she said aloud. She used her wand to float the professor through the room and into the bedroom. She put him gently down on the bed and started to work on his wounds.
Several hours later, Maelynn was exhausted. She had stitched every wound and set every broken bone, but she was no doctor, and there was still so much more that needed to be done. He needed to be given blood, and he needed to be checked for internal bleeding. She stood up and sighed. "Alright, you said you trusted me, and I'm not going to let you down…Which means that I need help."
Severus moaned. He hurt from head to toe, but he didn't feel as cold as he had before. His eye lids were too heavy to open, so he concentrated on breathing. It was becoming more and more difficult.
Maelynn rechecked his pulse. It was now racing. She started to panic. "Severus, help me out here. I have to get help. I can't handle this alone."
"No," he breathed.
"Not an option," she retorted.
He attempted to argue with her but breathing was taking precedence. Everything slipped away seconds later.
Maelynn's heart skipped a beat. Severus' body went completely limp and his breathing went from racing to shallow. "No!" She couldn't go get help. If she left him he could die. She held up her hand and a book flew to her from the shelf. "Okay, calm down, I can do this on my own. I don't have a choice." She looked at the diagrams in the book and committed everything to memory. She pulled open Snape's shirt and began to concentrate on correcting the internal damage. She took calm, soothing breaths and worked from organ to organ, correcting the damage as she went. Her wand made small intricate patterns above Snape's body as she visualized the organs.
Several more hours later, Maelynn fell to her knees on the floor. She had finished. She stood and used a shaky hand to pull a blood restorative from her pockets. Snape was still unconscious, so she couldn't force him to drink it. He could choke on it. 'At least there is something that I can do the old fashioned muggle way,' she thought. She summoned a syringe out of a small medical kit that she kept on her dresser. She drew up the restorative and injected it into the professor. "One of these every hour for the next four hours," she read aloud. "Monitor every fifteen minutes for the first hour for adverse side effects if injecting. Thirty minute checks the second hour, and hourly thereafter." Maelynn could have cried out of frustration, fatigue, and anxiousness. "No rest for the weary." She looked up at the clock and then checked his pulse, temperature, respirations, and looked over the dressings she had put over his wounds. She jotted down some notes to have something to compare over the next few hours. She then rummaged through some other potions and found and energy restorative. "This will have to do," she murmured and turned the bottle up.