disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella.

Just a heads up for this chapter, there's a bit of a gap in between (you'll know where). It's at least a week or so gap. And this is a combination of two chapters, 'The Seven Potters' and 'Fallen Warrior,' hence 'The Seven Warriors.'

Also, on the whole One-Shot AU note, I'm going to do the one with Kassandra living, but not the genderbend one. Instead, I'm going to do one with Arabella dying instead of Sirius.

Anyways, hope you like this chapter!

The Seven Warriors

The sun was shining through the dark room as Arabella and Hermione lay on Arabella's bed, staring at the ceiling as they waited for Moody to come and pick them up. It's been a couple days since Hermione came to Grimmauld Place. The first night was tough for her and she's stayed in Arabella's bed since.

'You okay?' Arabella asked, turning her head to face Hermione's.

Hermione nodded. 'Yeah, I'm fine.'

Arabella kissed Hermione cheek. 'We'd better get ready then. Mad-Eye's gonna come and pick us up soon. '

Hermione left the room with one last smile before heading to hers.

Arabella took out her rucksack bag that Hermione performed the Undetectable Extension Charm on. The books on Horcruxes were in already in there, all that was left were her other things.

She put in necessary clothes: sweaters, jeans, sweatpants, shirts, boots, gloves, hats, scarves, Sirius's jacket, and the purple dress she was going to wear for Bill and Fleur's wedding. The kit Mad-Eye got her was in there as well, with his knife and the one Sirius got for her. She also packed all her defense books from over the years and the one Remus got her for Christmas. In the front pocket was the Marauder's Map.

Arabella knew Hermione was going to bring a potion-making kit and other books that were necessary. The only thing personal that Arabella was bringing was a picture of couple pictures of Kassandra, Sirius and Remus. The first one was from Kassandra and Sirius's wedding and the next one was of Kassandra and Remus, two of her as a baby with her parents, and then her and Remus a couple birthdays ago. The rest she was leaving in the chest box tightly sealed.

She looked around her room. It looked better than it did a couple days ago, but still a little messy. The posters in her wall were still intact, and her small stacks of CDs were in the corner with the small radio. Her Firebolt was in the corner beside them. On the top of the chest drawer was her grey owl, Shay, sleeping away after doing nothing since summer began.

Arabella grabbed her rucksack bag, Shay, and head downstairs towards the kitchen, where she found some newspapers on the table. She flickered through them quickly, throwing them immediately into the corner of the room, where most of the rubbish was.

She paused slightly on the headline: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE REMEMBERED by Elphias Doge but didn't want to read that again. It was a nicely written piece, but she didn't have time to read about Dumbledore's childhood again. Underneath that article was one named: DUMBLEDORE – THE TRUTH AT LAST?

Arabella ripped the article and threw it into the fire, huffing. Bloody Rita Skeeter stirring things up again. Arabella shook her head before grabbing some bread and jam, making it very quickly for her and Hermione.

There was a loud rapping noise on the door, signaling that Mad-Eye was here.

'Hermione, let's go,' shouted Arabella from the bottom of the stairs. 'Moody's here.'

They both exited the house to see Mad-Eye standing on the pavement, with his back to them as he looked at their surroundings.

Arabella and Hermione carefully took out their wands and pointed it at him.

'Where did you hit me?' Arabella asked.

'I didn't,' grunted Mad-Eye, slowly turning around to look at her. 'I cut your leg. Still got that cut?'

'Stopped hurting a while ago, but it's still there,' said Arabella, stowing her wand away. Hermione's eyes grew, but she didn't say anything. She'll probably question Arabella later.

'Ready? Hold on,' said Mad-Eye as Arabella and Hermione grabbed onto his arms.

With a small pop, they immediately Apparated to the outskirts of the Burrow. The three of them saw the door to the Burrow open with someone heading their way.

'Oh, it's so good to see you, dears!' said Mrs Weasley, pulling Hermione into a hug first and then Arabella. 'Come in, come in! Quickly, quickly!'

They walked quickly inside, checking their surroundings first before doing so.

Sitting in the living room was Mr Weasley, kindly smiling at Hermione and Arabella; Remus, giving Arabella a tight smile; Nymph with her hair in her favorite shade of bright pink; Bill, badly scared; Fleur, looking slender and beautiful; Kingsley, standing tall in the corner; and Mundungus, small, dirty and looking out of place.

Ron, tall and lanky; Ginny, a little shorter with her hair pulled back into a braid; Fred and George, grinning identically; they were all standing near the kitchen towards the living room.

'Hey –' Arabella began, smiling at Ron and the others, but Mad-Eye interrupted her.

'Chit chat later, we have more important things to do,' snapped Mad-Eye as they all stared at him. 'Now, before I start, you must all realize what we're about to embark on. We had a plan to safely bring Potter here, but there's a slight change now.'

Arabella glanced at Mrs Weasley, who didn't seem too happy about this. Remus didn't look happy about this either. He and Arabella locked eyes for a moment before he nodded, as though coming to accept something.

Ron crossed his hands, preparing himself, while Hermione listened intently to Mad-Eye, hanging on to his every word.

'This plan is dangerous, unsafe, and risky,' Mad-Eye continued on. 'And if you can't stomach something like that, then leave the room.'

Mad-Eye was looking at Arabella, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. They didn't move an inch. They stared determinedly back at him, proving their loyalty towards him and the Order.

'Well, then,' said Mad-Eye with a smirk, 'let's get started…'

Arabella stood in the backyard of Mad-Eye's house, starting at the forest she went hunting it. Maybe if she turned into a coyote again, she could run away and be free. There would be nothing stopping her. She could live in the woods for the rest of her life. She could run free, bath in the streams and be secluded from everyone else.

But she can hear Mundungus shuffling behind her and Mad-Eye gathering the broomsticks.

This was a very foolish plan where a lot of things could go wrong, and since Mundungus suggested it, it was bound to go wrong.

There was a loud bang and she heard Mad-Eye curse loudly.

Arabella turned around and walked slowly towards his shed, where he was struggling to get the broomsticks from in between what looked like a boat and a broken down table.

'Need some help?' Arabella asked.

'Yeah, just get those out,' he grunted, pointing at the broomsticks. He stood aside and Arabella pushed the table away and slipped the broomsticks towards her and passed one to Mad-Eye.

'No, you take this,' said Mad-Eye. 'Give that one to me.'

He handed her back the broomstick and grabbed the other one, which confused her.

'That one used to belong to your grandmother,' he said. 'She was a Chaser on her Quidditch team. Abel didn't like magical things in the house, so she gave it to me to keep.'

'Hekabe was a Chaser?' asked Arabella, her eyebrows rose.

'Yeah, and a darn good one at that,' said Moody. 'Might as well have the one she used.'

Arabella looked down at the broomstick for a while before looking up at Moody again, who looked at his broomstick with no expression, though Arabella did get the hint that he might have been a little sad.

'Let me guess, that's Isaak's,' said Arabella, nodding at the broomstick he was holding.

'Nah, Isaak was horrible on a broom,' said Moody. 'This… this is someone else's.'

She got the hint that he didn't want to talk about it and dropped the subject.

They walked out of the shed and to the front of the house were Mundungus was waiting for them, though trembling a little. Arabella rolled her eyes while Mad-Eye looked as though he was trying to compose himself from hacking Mundugus's head off. He glanced briefly at Arabella, as though apologizing for Mundungus's presence. He then hoisted his bag on his shoulders and bit his tongue.

After Mad-Eye had performed the Disillisionment Charm on them, they mounted their brooms and headed off towards 4 Privet Drive.

Arabella landed beside Mad-Eye as the Dillusionment Charm wore off. Hagrid mounted off Sirius's bike while the others did the same from their brooms and, in two cases, thestrals.

Arabella zipped up her ratty old sweater and hugged herself against the cool summer breeze.

The door to the house wrenched open and everyone cried a greeting as Harry Potter stepped out of the house. Hermione was the first one to reach him, giving him a hug, while Ron clapped him on the back. Arabella shoved him off before hugging Harry as well, and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

'All righ', Harry? Ready fer the off?' said Hagrid.

'Definitely,' said Harry, beaming around at them all. 'But I wasn't expecting this many of you!'

'Change of plan,' growled Mad-Eye, whose magical eye was spinning rapidly around them. 'Let's get undercover before we talk you through it.'

Harry led them all back into the kitchen where, laughing and chattering, they settled on chairs or leaned against the wall. Arabella settled herself beside Ron, sitting on the kitchen countertop as she scanned the room, smiling at each of them, but not at Mundungus. She still wanted to strangle him.

'Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?' Harry called across the room as he stood beside Ron.

'He can get along without me for one might,' said Kingsley. 'You're more important.'

'Harry, guess what?' said Nymph, from on top of the washing machine as she wiggled her left hand at him.

'You got married?' Harry yelped, looking from her to Remus.

'I'm sorry you couldn't be there, Harry, it was very small and quiet.'

'That's brilliant, congrat –'

'All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later!' roared Mad-Eye and silence fell in the kitchen. He turned towards Harry and dropped his bag. 'As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which give us a big problem. He's made it an imprisonable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection, to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you getting out of here safely. Second problem: You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you.'

'I don't –'

'The Trace, the Trace!' said Mad-Eye impatiently. 'The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesse is going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper.'

'So what are we going to do?'

'We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and the motorbike. Now, you're mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or' – Mad-Eye gestured about the kitchen –'you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?'

Harry nodded.

'So this time, when you leave, there'll be no going back, and the charm will break the moment you get outside its range. We're choosing to break it early, because the alternative is waiting for You-Know-Who to come and seize you the moment you turn seventeen. The one thing we've got on our side is that You-Know-Who doesn't know we're moving you tonight. We've leaked a fake trail to the Ministry: They think you're not leaving until the thirtieth. However, this is You-Know-Who we're dealing with, so we can't just rely on him getting the date wrong. He's bound to have a couple of Death Eaters patrolling the skies in the general are, just in case. So, we've given a dozen different houses every protection we can throw at them. They all look like they could be the place we're going to hide you, they've all got some connection with the Order: my house, Kingsley's place, Molly's Auntie Muriel's – you get the idea.'

'Yeah,' said Harry, though not overall very convincing.

'You'll be going to Tonks's parents. Once you're within the boundaries of the protective enchantments we've put on their house, you'll be able to use a Portkey to the Burrow. Any questions?'

'Er – yes,' said Harry. 'Maybe they won't know which of the twelve secure houses I'm heading for at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once fifteen of us fly off toward Tonks's parents'?'

'Ah,' said Mad-Eye, 'I forgot to mention the key point. Fourteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents'. There will be seven Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house.'

From inside his cloak, Mad-Eye withdrew a flask of a muddy substance known as Polyjuice Potion.

'No!' said Harry loudly. 'No way!'

'I told them you'd take it like this,' said Hermione with a hint of complacency.

'If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives –!'

' –because it's the first time for all of us,' said Ron.

'This is different, pretending to be me –'

'Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry,' said Fred earnestly. 'Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever.'

Arabella laughed and Harry didn't smile.

'You can't do it if I don't cooperate; you need me to give you some hair,' said Harry.

'Well, that's that plan scuppered,' said George. 'Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate.'

'Yeah, fourteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic, we've got no chance,' said Fed.

'Funny,' said Harry, 'really amusing.'

'If it has to come to force, then it will,' growled Mad-Eye, his magical eye now turning to glare at Harry. 'Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk.'

Mundungus shrugged and grimaced. Mad-Eye's magical eye swerved sideways to glare at him.

'Well, nobody asked you to be here, Mundungus,' snapped Arabella.

'Be nice,' Remus told her, as though she was a child.

'No more arguments,' said Mad-Eye irritably. 'Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now.'

'But this is mad, there's no need –'

'No need!' snarled Mad-Eye. 'With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and he'll be planning to ambush you on the thirtieth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get at you or this house while your mother's charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into seven.'

Arabella and Ron quickly glanced at each other before turning back to Mad-Eye.

'So, Potter – some of your hair, if you please.'

Harry glanced at Ron, who just shrugged at him, as though tell him to just do it.

'Now!' barked Mad-Eye.

With all of their eyes upon him, Harry reached up to the top of his head, grabbed a bundle of hair, and pulled.

'Good,' said Mad-Eye, limping forward as he pulled the stopper out of the flask of potion. Straight in here, if you please.'

Harry dropped the hair into the liquid. The moment it made contact with its surface, the potion began to bubble and smoke, then, all at once, it turned a clear, bright gold.

'Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson, Harry,' said Hermione, before catching sight of Ron's raised eyebrows, blushing slightly, and saying, 'Oh, you know what I mean – Goyle's potion looked like bogies.'

'Right then, fake Potter line up over there, please,' said Mad-Eye.

Arabella, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Fleur lined up in front of the sink.

'Er – let go of me, wouldja?' said Mundungus, trashing at Hagrid, who held him in a tight grip by the scruff of the neck. It seemed as though he was trying to escape.

'You're not even going to change into Harry,' said Arabella, rolling her eyes at his theatrics.

'I've toldjer, I'd sooner protector,' said Mundungus.

'Oh, shut up, you pathetic little cockroach,' snarled Arabella. 'You're supposed to be protecting me.'

'And as I've already told you,' growled Mad-Eye, 'any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. You're got nothing to worry about. Nobody cares what happens to you.'

Mundungus did not look reassured, but Arabella did not care one bit. Mad-Eye pulled out half a dozen eggcup-sized glasses from inside his cloak, which he handed out, before pouring a little Polyjuice Potion into each one.

'Altogether, then…'

Arabella, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Fleur drank.

Arabella grimaced and gagged at the taste. At once, her height increased, though not by a lot. Her hair darkened, again, not by a lot, and her hair shot back towards her skull.

Mad-Eye was now loosening the ties of the large bag he had brought with him. When he straightened up again, there were six Harry Potter gasping and panting in front of him.

Fred and George turned to each other and said together, 'Wow – we're identical!'

'I dunno, thought, I think I'm still better-looking,' said Fred, examining his reflection in the kettle.

'Bah,' said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, 'Bill, don't look at me – I'm 'ideous.'

'Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here, and vice versa' said Mad-Eye. 'Don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack.'

Arabella ruffled through the pile of clothes and quickly put them on, turning away from the group for her own privacy. She then put on the glasses and stuffed her clothes away before and took a rucksack and a cage containing a stuffed snowy owl with the other fake Potters.

'Good,' said Mad-Eye, as the last fake Potter faced him. 'The pairs, or in some cases, groups will be as follow: Black, you're with me and Mundungus, travelling by broom –'

'Why'm I with you?' grunted Mundungus, near the back door.

'Because you need watching,' growled Mad-Eye, his magical eye did not move from Mundungus as he continued, 'Arthur and Fred –'

'I'm George,' said the twin at whom Mad-Eye was pointing. 'Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?'

'Sorry, George –'

'I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really –'

'Enough messing around!' snarled Mad-Eye. 'The other one – George or Fred or whoever you are – you're with Remus. Miss Delacour –'

'I'm taking Fleur on a thestral,' said Bill. 'She's not that fond of brooms.'

Fleur walked over to stand beside him, giving him a soppy, slavish look that Arabella wanted to laugh at. She bit the insides of her cheek, trying to compose herself.

'Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral –'

Hermione looked reassured as she answered Kingsley's smile.

'Which leaves you and me, Ron!' said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved at him.

Ron did not as pleased as Hermione.

'An' you're with me, Harry. That all righ'?' said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. 'We'll be on the bike, brooms an' thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a lot o' room on the seat with me on it, thought, so you'll be in the sidecar.'

'That's great,' said Harry, though did not look truthful.

'We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on a broom,' said Mad-Eye. 'Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a broomstick. All right then,' he went on, tying up the bag with the fake Potter's clothes in it and leading the way back to the door, 'I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point locking the back door, it won't keep the Death Eaters out when they come looking… Come on…'

Arabella walked into the dark back garden with the others. She strapped the trunk and cage to her broom.

'All right then,' said Mad-Eye. 'Everyone ready, please. I want us to all leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost.'

Everyone mounted their brooms.

'Good luck, everyone,' shouted Moody. 'See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One… two… THREE.'

Arabella, Mad-Eye and Mundungus kicked off from the ground and soared upwards. Higher and higher they climbed into the sky, taking in the chilly summer air and flying over the tiny houses with windowed lights. In the distance she could see a faint glimpse of Bill and Fleur, but they were flying faster than the three of them –

And then, out of nowhere, they were surrounded. At least thirty hooded figure appeared out of thin air, suspended in midair and formed a circle heading towards them –

There were screaming and a hot blaze of green light that just missed Arabella.

Eight Death Eaters flew past them and towards Bill and Fleur while the others stayed and took on Mad-Eye, Arabella and Mundungus.

Curses began to shot out of wands. Arabella didn't even know who she was fighting until the mask flew off. There was more passion now when she saw Rabastan Lestrange's face.

She sent Stunning Spell after Stunning Spell at him and whoever she could. It seemed as though some of them headed towards Bill and Fleur's direction.

'Impedimenta!' Arabella yelled towards them before doing the same to Rabastan.

The spell hit him in the middle of his chest. For a moment, he was still as though some invisible barrier hit him and one of the other Death Eaters collided with him. They both fell off their broomsticks with another Death Eater racing towards the ground to rescue them.

It seemed as though more Death Eaters emerged out of nowhere, drawing closer and closer towards them –

'Diffindo!' the closest Death Eater yelled, pointing his wand at her.

Arabella screamed as the slashing of the spell cut against her hips. She held her hands against the cut, already feeling the wetness of blood being drawn. She turned towards the follower to see that it was Yaxley. She recognized him from the posters.

'Oh, no you don't –!' roared Mad-Eye, aiming his wand at Yaxley, but there was no point. Not anymore.

Arabella already saw him. Voldemort was flying like smoke, without a broomstick or thestral to hold him, his red eyes and snake like face gleaming out of the blackness with his white fingers raising his wand –

Mundungus let out a scream and with a pop, Disapparated immediately.

Arabella kept sending Stunning Spells around her while clutching on to her hips as it burned. She saw Mad-Eye battling on Death Eaters, though many kept disappearing.

Barely able to hold on to her broom, Arabella heard Voldemort scream, 'Avada –'

'No!'

And with a push, Mad-Eye launched himself in front of Arabella as the green light hit him full in the face. He fell off his broom, disappearing slowly into the darkness as it engulfed him.

'NO!' screamed Arabella, trying to reach out and grab Mad-Eye's hand, but there was no point.

Her features began to change and there was another pop as Voldemort vanished. To where, Arabella did not know. Some Death Eaters were still pursuing her, but as they drew closer, they couldn't reach her.

But Arabella didn't care about that.

She sped her broom to where Mad-Eye fell, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. When she landed on the ground, she used the broomstick to support her weight, but collapsed on the ground all the same. She was just in the protective boundary of Mad-Eye's house and a few feet away from her she could see his body. The body was just outside the barrier with the left hand inside the barrier. She could still bring it in.

From above she could see Death Eaters on their broomsticks in the sky. One by one, they were disappearing away.

Arabella slowly crawled towards the dead body, using whatever strength she could muster to drag herself closer to the body.

She laid her hand slowly on Moody's arm, clutching it and dragging the body closer towards her and away from the boundary. She let out a small cry before a full on wail at the dead body.

Moody's eyes – normal and magical – were both staring that the sky, while his usual hard face looked peaceful. He looked as younger than he really was. He looked content.

Arabella quietly sobbed on his chest, letting out shaking breaths and scream of anguish. Alastor Moody was gone from this world trying to protect her. This was the second time he's saved her life. He couldn't be dead. He was the one who's supposed to survive them all and probably lose another eye along the way. He couldn't be dead…

'Moody, wake up,' said Arabella, through the tears and the lump in her throat. 'Wake up… please… wake up… Moody… please…'

But nothing happened. Arabella let out another scream before pulling her hair and hitting her head.

'I'm sorry…' she whispered towards him. 'I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…'

Arabella gave his cheek a sloppy kiss before trying to push herself up with the broomstick, but she just stumbled towards the ground again. Kicking the broom away, Arabella crawled towards Moody's front porch to where the Portkey was. She alternated putting her hands on her hips to stop the blood flow before she clearly saw the old ratty show, the Portkey.

Arabella took out her wand, pointed at it shakily, and said, 'Ac… Accio Port… Portkey.'

The shoe glowed bright blue just as it flew towards Arabella and she managed to get her hands on it.

With a jerk behind her navel, Arabella was pulled forward, spinning uncontrollably with her fingers glued to the Portkey as she hurtled away from Moody's dead body. Seconds later, she was slammed hard onto the ground and fell onto the side with the cut Yaxley created.

Arabella let out a small scream at the impact of the pain. There were moving footsteps coming towards her and a small scream of horror. She looked up to see Remus pointing his wand at her while trying to hold Harry back.

'Ara – Arabella Kass – Kassandra B – Black,' she shuddered, shivering and feeling her toes turn cold. She tried to pull herself up on her bloody hands, but fell to the ground once again. 'You're goddaughter, and you' – she slowly turned towards Tonks, who looked terrible with bloodshot red eyes –'took me horseback riding couple – couple years ago. The horse fell on me and broke my leg. We – We told everyone that it had weak legs, but you scared – scared it when you were trying to scare me.' Arabella shivered. 'Cold. Moony, I'm cold.'

Remus and Harry immediately dropped to the feet beside her, about to help her up, but Mrs Weasley said, 'Stop!'

They all turned to look at her.

'Move,' she shoved Remus and Harry out of the way and crouched beside Arabella, examining the cut and taking out her wand.

'How – how does it look?' Arabella asked her. 'The cut – how does it look?'

Mrs Weasley glanced nervously at her, biting her lips.

'Tell me the truth,' Arabella whispered.

Mrs Weasley just said, 'I'm going to stand you up now and I want you to keep pressure on it, okay?'

Arabella nodded. With one great pull, Mrs Weasley guided her into the Burrow and into the kitchen. She laid her on the table before walking to the sideboard and talking about a bottle of firewhisky and a glass.

'Do you want to see how it looks?' Mrs Weasley asked her.

Arabella gave a shaky nod.

Mrs Weasley disappeared from the kitchen, though reluctantly, and everyone else filed in. Remus, Harry and Nymph immediately sat in front of her with Ron and Ginny standing behind their chairs. Hagrid sat down on the floor in the corner where he took the most space and was dabbing his eyes with a tablecloth-sized handkerchief. Mr Weasley, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur gathered in front of her, each and every single one of them looking worried.

'How – how bad is it?' she asked them as she curled into a ball, feeling cold.

'It's - It's bad,' said Nymph as she glanced at Arabella's hips with a new set of fresh tears appeared on her face.

Harry immediately held onto her hand, though it was bloody. He squeezed it tightly as Mrs Weasley entered the room again, carrying a mirror big enough for her to see it. She aimed it carefully and Arabella turned her head slightly.

It wasn't just a simple cut. It looked as though her skin had been split open. The edges of her skin were flipped upwards and she could see her flesh. The cut ran from the base of her breasts to the edge of her hipbones and was covering half her hips widthwise.

Arabella turned away, unable to look at it anymore. How many scars has she gained over the years? How many more will she have to endure? Her body was a map filled with cuts, scars, and bruises. Time does not heal wounds. That has never been the case, not matter what anyone has told Arabella. Wounds remain. Scars remain. She remembers abuse the abuse in her life rather than the love in her life. All this does is remind her that her past is real and who she is.

She gripped Harry's hand tightly as Hermione entered the kitchen, carrying a vessel with her and some bandages. Mrs Weasley set the mirror down and began to work on the cut silently.

'What happened?' Bill asked her, ignoring Mrs Weasley's disapproving stare as she applied the medicine on her hip.

'Death Eaters,' grunted Arabella, feeling some sort of relief come from her hips. 'At least thirty of them surrounding us before eight went for you and Fleur. Fought off Rabastan Lestrange, did some damage to him, but more Death Eaters appeared out of nowhere. Yaxley did this. Diffindo.'

'But Diffindo can't cause that much damage,' said Ginny.

'That's his speciality,' mumbled Nymph, watching Mrs Weasley. 'Yaxley is known for it.'

'What happened after that?' Bill asked.

'Mad-Eye tried to finish him off, but I didn't watch happened. Voldemort – he can fly – appeared beside us. Mundungus screamed and Disapparated. We tried to fight the others off, we did. Voldemort aimed the Killing Curse at me thinking that I was Harry.'

Arabella took a deep breath before turning her head towards Mrs Weasley. 'How is it?'

Mrs Weasley looked a little hopeless. 'I can't get it to stitch back together. The medicine only seems to provide some relief, but the skin – it's not –'

'Hermione,' said Arabella, turning to her, who had tears in her eyes, 'can you go to my bag? There's a brown leather kit in there, can you get it for me?'

Hermione nodded and left at once, returning back a minute later. Arabella held it for a minute in her hand, trying her best not to cry that this was Mad-Eye's kit.

'Who wants to stitch me up?' she held it up.

It looked as though none of them wanted to. They all looked at each other in confusing and alarming at Arabella. Mrs Weasley didn't look as though she wanted to do it either.

'I'll do it,' said Remus, taking the kit and standing where Mrs Weasley stood. He took the sewing needle, disinfectant liquid, cloth, lighter, probes and cleaning tools, and bandage out carefully before beginning.

'You know what to do?' Arabella asked him.

'Yes, just finish the story,' Remus said shortly.

'Mad-Eye pushed me away and threw himself in front of me. The curse hit him full in the face and he fell off his broom. Couple Death Eaters tried to chase after me, but I was already within the barrier. Voldemort disappeared after that, I don't know where –'

'Probably to follow me and Kingsley,' Hermione said quietly.

'Probably,' whispered Arabella. 'His body is just inside the protective barrier of his house.'

Arabella let out a hiss just as the burning hot needle pierced through her skin. She gripped Harry's hand even tightly and he did the same to her. She tried to curl herself into a ball, but Nymph held her legs where they were. She let out a small sob as Remus continued, though she didn't know if it was from the pain of the needle or that Mad-Eye was dead.

'What happened to the rest of you lot?' Arabella said through a clenched jaw.

'Couple of Death Eaters tried to finish each us off,' said Nymph. 'Ron stunned one of the Death Eaters straight in the head. Bellatrix tried very hard to kill me –'

'Did you finish her?' Arabella asked.

'No, thought I'd leave her for you,' said Nymph, truthfully. There was a tension in the air as Arabella nodded. 'But we definitely injured Rodolphus before we go to Muriel's.'

'Me and Kingsley were attacked by five Death Eaters before Voldemort came,' said Hermione softly just as Arabella let out another hiss. 'Injured two, might have killed one.'

'Well, I lost an ear –' began George.

'What?!' shouted Arabella, trying to sit up, but that was a bad idea. Harry, Remus and Nymph held her down until Remus was finished and her head began to spin. 'What happened? You lost an –?'

'Snape's work,' said Remus quietly. 'He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a speciality of Snape's. I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but –'

He broke off immediately as Arabella turned her head slightly to face George's. There was a clean, gaping hole where George's ear had been.

'Still the handsome one of the two, I'd say,' said Arabella, trying to smile at him, but groaned at the burning needle.

Once he was done, Remus led her on to the chair beside Harry and Bill poured her a glass of firewhisky before doing the same to everyone else.

'Mad-Eye,' Bill said softly.

'Mad-Eye,' they all said, and drank.

'Mad-Eye,' echoed Hagrid, a little late, with a hiccup.

The firewhisky shot through Arabella's throat, burning the back of it and numbing the pain slightly. She drained the glass in one.

'So Mundungus disappeared?' said Remus, who drained his at once as well.

The atmosphere changed at once. Everyone looked tensed, watching Remus, both wanting to go on and slightly afraid of what they might hear.

'I know what you're thinking,' said Bill, 'and I wondered that too, on the way back here, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we appeared, and in case you're forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery. Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, and You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic.'

'You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to,' sniffed Tonks. 'Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus fled, he switched to Kingsley…'

'Yes, and zat eez all very good,' snapped Fleur, 'but still eet does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet? Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. It is ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan.'

She glared around at them all, tear tracks etched on her face, silently daring any of them to contradict her. Nobody did. The only sound to break the silence was that of Hagrid hiccupping from behind his handkerchief.

'No,' said Harry loudly and they all turned to look at him, surprised. 'I mean… if somebody made a mistake,' Harry went on, 'and let something slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not their fault. We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort.'

More silence followed his words.

'Well said,' Arabella said quietly, holding her glass out for Bill to pour some more firewhisky.

'Yeah, 'ear, 'ear,' said George, with a half glance at Fred, the corner of whose mouth twitched.

Remus was wearing an odd expression as he looked at Harry. It was close to pitying.

'You think I'm a fool?' demanded Harry.

'No, I think you're like James,' said Remus, 'who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends.' He set down his glass upon the table and addressed Bill, 'There's work to do. I can ask Kingsley whether –'

'No,' said Bill at once, 'I'll do it, I'll come.'

'Where are you going?' said Nymph and Fleur together.

'Mad-Eye's body,' said Remus. 'We need to recover it. Just inside the protective barrier of his house, right?' he asked Arabella.

'Yeah,' she said, trying to stand up. 'I'm coming.'

'No,' said Remus, gently pushing her back into the chair. 'You did all you could, and you were brilliant. Let us take it from here.'

Remus and Bill said goodbye and left.

'I've got to go too,' said Harry.

Eleven pairs of startled eyes looked at him.

'Don't be silly, Harry,' said Mrs Weasley. 'What are you talking about?'

'I can't stay here,' he said, rubbing his forehead. 'You're all in danger while I'm here. I don't want –'

'But don't be so silly!' said Mrs Weasley. 'The whole point of tonight was to get you here safely, and thank goodness it worked. And Fleur's agreed to get married here rather than in France, we've arranged everything so that we can all stay together and look after you –'

'If Voldemort finds out I'm here –'

'But why should he?' asked Mrs Weasley.

'There are a dozen places you might be now, Harry,' said Mr Weasley. 'He's got no way of knowing which safe house you're in.'

'It's not me I'm worried for!' said Harry.

'We know what,' said Mr Weasley quietly, 'but it would make our efforts tonight seem rather pointless if you left.'

'Yer not goin' anywhere,' growled Hagrid. 'Blimey, Harry, after all we wen' through ter get you here?'

'Yeah, what about my bleeding ear?' said George. 'Or Arabella's hip?'

'I know that –'

'Mad-Eye wouldn't want –'

'I KNOW!' Harry bellowed.

There was a long and awkward silence in which Arabella poured herself another glass of firewhisky, ignoring the fact that her glass was covered with her blood.

'Where's Hedwig, Harry?' Mrs Weasley said coaxingly. 'We can put her up with Pigwidgeon and Shay, and give her something to eat.'

He avoided answering by drinking the last of his firewhisky.

'Wait till it gets out yeh did it again, Harry,' said Hagrid. 'Escaped him, fought him off when he was right on top of yeh!'

'It wasn't me,' said Harry flatly. 'It was my wand. My wand acted of its own accord.'

After a few moments, Hermione said gently, 'But that's impossible, Harry. You mean that you did magic without meaning to. You reacted instinctively.'

'No,' said Harry. 'The bike was falling, I couldn't have told you where Voldemort was, but my wand spun in my hand and found him and shot a spell at him, and it wasn't even a spell I recognized. I've never made gold flames appear before.'

'Often,' said Mrs Weasley, 'when you're in a pressured situation you can produce magic you never dreamed of. Small children often find, before they're trained –'

'It wasn't like that,' said Harry through gritted teeth.

No one said anything. He muttered something about fresh again, set down his glass and left the room.

'Ron, help me up,' said Arabella. He went to her good side and put his arm around her waist while hers went around his shoulder. They slowly walked out of the house with Hermione beside them and found Harry clutching the gate into the garden.

'Harry?' Hermione said cautiously.

'Harry, come back in the house,' said Arabella as she let go of Ron and leaned against the garden gate. 'You can't leave.'

'Yeah, you've got to stay, mate,' said Ron, thumping Harry on the back.

'Are you all right?' Hermione asked, taking a closer look into Harry's face. 'You look awful!'

'Well,' said Harry shakily, 'I probably look better than Ollivander…'

And he told them about how Ollivander was being tortured by Voldemort because he said that by using another wand, the problem would be solved. When he finished telling them what he had seen, Arabella turned white, Ron looked appalled, and Hermione downright terrified.

'But it was supposed to have stopped! Your scar – it wasn't supposed to do this anymore! You mustn't let the connection open up again – Dumbledore wanted you to close your mind!'

When he didn't reply, she gripped his arm.

'Harry, he's taking over the Ministry and the newspapers and half the Wizarding world! Don't let him inside your head too!'

Ron helped Arabella back into the house and she dropped down on the couch, rubbing her forehead and taking in deep breaths. Mrs Weasley was already hurrying down the stairs with a pillow, some sheets, and Arabella's rucksack bag.

'I don't think you would want to make your way up the stairs just yet,' said Mrs Weasley, covering the sofa with a bed sheet and fluffing the pillow. 'Now, if you need anything, dear, call us. Scream, shout, do whatever you want, but call us. Got it?' she pointed her finger at her threateningly.

Arabella gave her a feeble smile before nodding slowly. Mrs Weasley's face turned to one of pity when she noticed that Arabella's hands were covered in dried blood. She reached to take out her wand, but Arabella stopped her.

'It's okay,' said Arabella. 'I got this.'

Mrs Weasley looked at her for a moment, before quietly nodding. She kissed Arabella's cheek before heading upstairs.

Ron was still standing where he was, watching her with his arms crossed.

'Ron, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me,' Arabella said quietly. 'I'm still alive.'

Ron rubbed his eyes with his left hand, sighing, before nodding at her and leaving the room with another glance back at her, and he turned off the last light.

The house was quiet and empty. Everybody had gone to bed or back home, in Nymph's case. The only source of light was the twinkling stars outside.

Arabella lifted her hands towards the window behind her. Her whole hand was covered in dried blood, even under her nails had her blood on them. She clenched her hands before bringing them to her hair, gripping it tightly with her eyes closed.

Slowly and carefully as to not disturb her new scar, Arabella took out her wand and pointed it at the kitchen.

'Accio Firewhisky,' she said softly.

With as small scrapping noise from the table, the firewhisky bottle flew into her hand with ease. There was still more than half left. Arabella set it beside her and each for her bag, hissing when her bent, feeling as though some stitches broke. She opened the bag and pointed her wand inside.

'Accio Book.'

The one she wanted, the one Remus got her for Christmas, jumped up and into Arabella's hand. She muttered the spell again and a pencil landed beside her leg.

Arabella muttered, 'Lumos,' before opening the firewhisky bottle and taking a big gulp. She laid her wand beside her before she opened the book to the second page. On the left side, she began to write names in order.

Arabella Torell

Isaak Anastas

Hekabe Christos

James Potter

Lily Potter

Kassandra Anastas

Frank Longbottom

Alice Longbottom

Cedric Diggory

Sirius Black

Albus Dumbledore

Alastor Moody

On the right side, she wrote, in order again:

Antonin Dolohov

Fenrir Greyback

Augustus Rookwood

Voldemort

Peter Pettigrew

Bellatrix Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Rabastan Lestrange

Barty Crouch Jr.

Severus Snape

Draco Malfoy

Yaxley

Arabella crossed out Crouch's name, signaling that he had already been dealt with. She then circled and put a star next to Bellatrix's name. Nymph was right. Bellatrix Lestrange was hers.

She then took the firewhisky bottle, raised it towards the window, to the sky, before swallowing another mouthful.

'Good night and joy be with you all,' she whispered, swallowing some more firewhisky.

Arabella then picked up her pencil and wrote down four words she learned today across the two pages in capital letters, as a reminder:

ANYBODY CAN BE KILLED

Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think! The first set of names go in order from who was killed first and the second set goes in order of who killed that person from the first list.