Chapter Four
In the end, the giant man was the one to carry Harry's body.
Lucius and his wife walked with her between them, as for the moment, Voldemort had forgotten her; they'd even released the ropes from her body so that she could walk on her own. Instead, ropes appeared to be wrapped around her wrists in front of her, and she remained gagged. Lucius had passed the wand to his wife, and Jasmine realised then that one of them had lost their wand.
Exiting the forest, they had to pass the wraith-like figures hovering near the upper branches of the trees. Jasmine trembled, chilled to the bone, she remained upright only because Lucius held her in a firm grip and seemingly dragged her along.
Was there any hope of them getting out of this alive? Were her parents strong enough to defeat this mad wizard?
"I have already killed Harry Potter, and now my faithful will have their pound of flesh for their fallen comrades."
The Malfoys had no choice but to back away and stand with the others. Voldemort had the Death Eaters make a semi-circle around her and behind him, and he turned to the castle. He hadn't forgotten her after all, and she watched, disgusted, as his snake slithered from wherever it had been in the forest, up his body and settle around his shoulders.
"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away..."
Jasmine drowned out the magnified voice of the wizard and searched the gathering crowd pouring from the castle for her parents. There they were, just behind a few teachers and students that consisted of the girl who'd been clinging to Uncle Hank, and the red-headed boy who'd been yelling for her in the dungeon.
Her parents moved to the front of the crowd and her mum spoke.
"Voldemort, you have upset the balance of this world by taking our daughter. This fight is not ours; give us our daughter and we will leave this place peacefully."
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
Logan's fingers curled into his palms. He didn't want to leave here peacefully, this group before them needed to be wiped out for taking their little girl.
His eyes fell on her slight form; she'd been forced to kneel, and her brown eyes gazed at him and her mother longingly. Even dirty, her hair matted and dull, his Jazzy was as beautiful as her mother.
To hell with peace... those wizards pointing their sticks at her were already dead.
"As I told Harry Potter before he died like a coward, it is because of his use of her as a decoy that this mutant has been my final step to immortality; with some help from your dearly departed Headmaster's brewing capabilities. Now, she will be the lesson in which I will teach you muggle freaks-of-nature the true meaning of power."
Did this red-eyed freak mean, what Logan thinks he means? These bastards experimented on his baby girl?
Logan's claws extended fully and he saw the wizard's near non-existent lips curl in revulsion.
"My wife was just tryin' to be diplomatic bub; you hurt my daughter, you don't get a free pass." Logan sniffed the air, his gaze passed over the body near Voldemort's feet and allowed his eyes to stray to his daughter, who immediately gave him the signal. With her hand tied at the wrist, her palms were clasped but it made it easier for her to do inconspicuously.
One index finger to her nose, both then pointed at her upper arms; two fingers held up to indicate an amount and a negative shake of her head.
"Let's experiment, shall we?" Voldemort sneered at him. "Let's see if it's possible for your spawn to heal from decapitation as well as she did with dismemberment."
Logan had no time to savour the relief that his daughter could heal from any injuries, but he revelled in his rage at all she'd suffered at the hands of these sick fucks.
"NOW!"
Before they could take aim at his daughter, Voldemort and his Death Eaters had no choice but to defend themselves when the mutants charged. The crowd of students and teachers followed after.
~~~(*)~~~(*)~~~
Jasmine found it fascinating that Voldemort was completely unaware that his spells were weak and getting weaker by the minute. She was sure that this was the result of Severus' potion.
Her gaze locked with those of her father and she wished Professor X would link with them, but for some reason, he wasn't helping or was unable to. Instead, she gave her dad as much information as she was able; the slight smirk on the faces of all three of the mutants at that moment should have triggered a warning in the evil wizard, but he was as oblivious as with the potion.
The memories that surfaced when he mentioned the dismemberment caused bile to rise, but Jasmine grit her teeth and forced the memories away; she had to remain focused.
"NOW!"
With the chaos that ensued, Jasmine unclasped her hands and the illusion of ropes fell away as Lucius had said it would.
"Kill them! Kill them all! Leave none alive!" She heard Voldemort's bellow of rage when he realised his moment of victory had been short-lived.
Still kneeling on the ground to keep as low as possible, Jasmine pulled the gag from her mouth and left it to hang loosely around her neck. Her mother landed next to her; a magickal sphere settled around them both.
"Jasmine, take this and head for those gates," Storm placed a dagger in her hand and pointed to large black gates, twisted and broken, in the distance, "hide somewhere in the village until this is over. Your father and I will find you."
Jasmine nodded as she gripped the handle of the knife; she longed to throw herself into her mother's arms, but she knew safety was the priority at the moment.
"The shield I've placed around you will only last about a minute." Storm rose into the air and out of the safety of the shield. "Get as far from the battle as possible. Go, Jasmine!"
Jasmine watched as her mother flew straight for the creepy looking wraiths before she heeded her mother's warning and ran; dodging fallen bodies and duelling wizards as streaks of lights bounced off the sphere.
She was near the edge of the battling wizards when some of the spells sparked brightly off the shield, and Jasmine had to cover her eyes, only to stumble over one of the fallen bodies. The barrage of spells continued to blast against the shield, weakening it, and she took a moment to glance at where it was coming from.
Dungeon Creep stood a few feet away, throwing spell after spell against the shield. She hadn't even noticed him while they'd been in the forest, and Jasmine automatically flinched away from his desperate attempts to get at her; bile rose to her throat at his blank yet demented features. Scrambling to her feet, she thought to run for the safety of the gate but knew he would only follow her, and so she did the opposite.
Jasmine ran back toward the castle and the battle, she circled the leg of a fallen giant she hadn't noticed in her previous dash for safety; searching desperately for her father before the shield -
A spell sped passed her, inches away from her body and Jasmine dove behind the enormous leg.
"Come here."
It was unfortunate that he'd been right behind her.
Cruel fingers tightened in her messy curls, and her chest ached as Jasmine felt the racing of her heart. Dungeon Creep pulled her into the nearby trees, breathing harshly as he limped from a wound on his leg. Her terror spiked; he'd chased her on a wounded leg... was he really going to risk death - by her dad - to have his way with her? A memory, so short and fragmented, flashed briefly in her mind. She didn't remember that ever happening, but somehow she knew it did.
"NO!" She fought his grip on her.
Dungeon Creep threw her to the ground impatiently and hit her with a spell that silenced her scream. His black beetle-like eyes gleamed as he stared at her silently; his heavy breathing the only sound he made. A memory flashed again and her eyes widened.
He crouched next to her and she backpedalled against the base of a tree; something pressed into the palm of her hand and she remembered the knife her mother had given her. She raised it to shoulder level, the blade glinting dangerously, yet Dungeon Creep ignored it, never taking his eyes from her. He'd followed her as she backed against the tree and now he reached for her.
Jasmine shook her head, her hand holding the knife trembled as his hand came closer, however, she could do nothing but gasp soundlessly as his fist tightened into her hair again.
She'd trained with her father and brother for years! Why couldn't she kill him?
"Please." Under the silencing spell, she knew he couldn't hear her, but his eyes darted to her lips.
Another fragmented memory, this one a few seconds longer.
I was tied to the huge bed, helpless against the ravaging of his lips and tongue. I wrapped my legs around him. He buried himself to the hilt, his neck straining as he threw his head back, my name on his lips as he erupted along with my own orgasm.
Firm lips fastened against hers, pulling her from the memory. A fear Jasmine never thought she'd experience at her age overtook her and she began to struggle, pushing at his shoulder; the blade in her hand forgotten. He leaned away and whispered something that sounded like 'so long' but her heart was hammering, her body shaking, and she began to feel lightheaded.
His lips found hers again; the new growth of his beard bruising and painful against her soft untouched skin.
It couldn't have been real... Dungeon Creep had never taken her from the cell as he'd often threatened... unless he'd used magick... of course, he'd use magick... she would never have willingly had sex with him... never!
He leaned away, seemingly fighting for control, and Jasmine hugged her arms to herself, a useless shield. Greed, hate, disgust, longing and lust warred in his eyes, and all she wanted to do was run and hide.
"Safe now," he stroked her bruised lips, "safe now."
He glanced away for a moment as though listening for something, but immediately turned back and he caught her neck in a tight grip, the knife fell from her hand.
"Safe from him now," he whispered harshly, "you're safe... from me."
Wide-eyed and frightened, Jasmine could only claw at the hand around her throat. Screaming was a waste of breath and she'd stupidly dropped the knife; she'd had multiple opportunities to kill him and hadn't taken any of them. Now, she was going to die.
A familiar roar preceded Dungeon Creep being pulled away by a muscled arm around his throat.
Time slowed... her eyes remained looked with Dungeon Creep as her dad, the Wolverine dragged him away. His lips moved as he spoke but Jasmine couldn't hear his words. Her fingers clawed into the dirt at her knees where she remained kneeling; the urge to scream for him... for his life puzzled her.
Three long, sharp blades appeared through his chest and Jasmine felt her own body jerk in response. Dungeon Creep's body dropped to his knees as the blade was retracted, and their eyes remained locked. His lips moved one last time and he was dead before the rest of his body hit the ground.
Time sped up again, and Jasmine found herself in her father's arms sobbing uncontrollably.
In her mind the silent words, 'forgive me' and 'I love you' flashed in her mind; she pulled at her hair and shook her head, willing the words to go away. Her dad gripped her tighter and still, Jasmine didn't feel safe.
Neither of them noticed a black mist sink from the body and into the ground.