Chapter Nine:
Waltz in the Woods
Disclaimer Law of Equilibrium: JK Rowling equals Owns Harry Potter; I( do not) equal JK Rowling, therefore I( do not)Own Harry Potter
It's simple math…
"Well it's a good thing that this isn't awkward, because that would really suck…" James said dryly.
Harry and Ron gave a nervous laugh as they once again failed to make conversation with their future offspring. They had all gathered in the living room after Molly and Arthur had gone to sleep, hoping to get a jump start on getting to know their kids but the last few words they had uttered had consisted of "So," "Yeah," "Uh-huh," and "Do you have some more butterbeer?"
"Sorry, it's just…" Harry tried to find the words to say.
"What d'you say to your future children?" Lily supplied helpfully.
"Yeah…"
"Well…what d'you want to know."
"I don't know!" Ron said, throwing his arms up in dismay. "Anything! Anything at all!"
"Your daughter likes to make out with Scorpius Malfoy…" Albus mentioned to Ron
Harry proceeded to choke on his butterbeer as Ron and Rose went bright red at the same time.
Rose aimed a swift kick at Albus from her position across from him on the sofa. "How many people are you going to tell?!" Rose cried shrilly
"Oh yeah, laugh it up!" Ron said indignantly as Harry clutched his sides with laughter. "You're daughter isn't dating the son of our sworn enemy."
Everyone chuckled, feeling the tension breaking and grateful that the awkward silences were coming to an end. "So…" Harry said. "What now?"
"Let's get out of this place!" James said, getting up and stretching. "We can continue this pleasant little chat outside!"
"It's nine o'clock at night!" Ron said, checking his watch.
"What's the matter; Past your bedtime?" Hugo asked smugly, getting up to follow his cousin.
"Hey I didn't raise you to talk to me like that!" Ron said, getting up to go after them. "Did I?" he asked Rose.
"For all you know, you did." Rose said cheekily before leading Harry and Ron into the kitchen where Hermione and Ginny were embracing each other.
"What's going on here?" Ron asked as they jumped back as the little group of future and present Potters emerged from the living room.
"Oh…nothing!" Ginny said faintly. "So where are you off to?"
"Going to take a walk in the woods." James said, grabbing his coat. "Get some fresh air."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hermione asked, worriedly. "Haven't you been reading the news?"
Ron gave her a deadpan look and Hermione, with a roll of her eyes, produced a copy of the Daily Prophet which sported the headline:
Mass Azkaban Breakout!
Dementors gone! Death Eaters on the Run
Hermione cleared her throat and began to read out loud.
"Te public is warned to be on the lookout for a number of confirmed Death Eaters who have escaped the island fortress of Azkaban and are now at large in Britain. "All have proven themselves dangerous," says Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt "But a few have truly gone mad within the confines of Azkaban and are considered to be the Dark Lord's most powerful henchmen." (A list of the fugitives can be found on page 8)
Hermione skipped to the aforementioned page and read the names of the escaped prisoners.
"The Lestranges, Antonion Dolohov, Alecto and Amycus Carrow along with at least a dozen others are considered to be some of the staunchest supporters of You-Know-Who so any encounter should be reported immediately to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (should they survive)
Hermione folded the paper with a satisfied, flick. "There you have it!"
"Have what?" Hugo asked
"An ironclad reason to stay inside!" Hermione exclaimed, as though it should have been perfectly obvious.
"Hermione, you're the brainy one here." Harry said. "Can you calculate the odds of us running into Voldemort's best lieutenants in this neck of the woods?"
"I dunno; what are the odds of bumping into You-Know-Who four years in a row?" Ginny asked, arms folded.
"Look," James said, coming to his father's rescue. "We're only going to go out for a short bit. What's the worst that can happen?"
"I hate it when he says that…" Albus mumbled mournfully. "Last time he said that we ended up here…"
"Shut up!" James barked at his younger brother before turning back to face the girls. "Alright then. If it's so dangerous out there, then give us our wands back!"
"Oh no!" Hermione said standing up straight. "I don't think so!"
"Then come with us." Lily piped up.
"What?"
"Yeah. Take our wands with us so that way, if we need them, we can have them handy." Hugo explained
"Why do I feel like this is some kind of trap?" Ginny asked, chocolate eyes narrowing in sync with James'.
"Please," Albus said rolling his eyes. "Not this nonsense again. If we wanted to kill you then we would have done it a long time ago."
"I dunno…"
"Okay…" James said, adopting a dramatic voice. "Then we'll just wander off into the cold, hard world without even a little stick to protect us from the hundreds of things that would strike down a defenseless…"
"Alright!" Hermione said, surrendering. "Let me get my coat."
"Wait for me!" Ginny said, following Hermione to the front closet.
Half an hour later, having been delayed by the Lupins on the back porch, everyone was crunching happily through the clear winter landscape, illuminated by the pale moon. They were deep in the woods now and the light from the Burrow was dimming fast.
"So you're a Seeker?" Harry asked James who was playing with his Snitch.
"Yep, second youngest in a century thanks to you." James said, releasing the tiny golden ball before catching it again very quickly.
"Professor Longbottom?" Ron asked incredulously
"Yeah. Herbology." Rose nodded. "Thought that would have been obvious…"
Snap.
Four wands were drawn as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny quickly looked around.
"What was that?" Ginny said, looking around for the source of the noise.
"Dunno." Hermione said, fishing the bundle of wands out from her cloak and tossing them to James.
Silence. They all stayed crouched in a circle, ready for whatever might come their way.
After almost three minutes, Ron Relaxed. "It was probably just a fox or something, Hermione. There's no need to get…"
"Stupify!"
Hermione screamed as the stunning spell shot from the darkness and hit Ron in the back. All around them cloaked figures Apparated, forming a tight circle, wands drawn.
"Drop your weapons!" one of the voices commanded in a slightly high pitched maniacal voice. "Drop your weapons or we'll drain the lot of you!" Nine wands dropped to the snow in surrender.
"My God, Bella!" one of the other figures muttered. "It's Harry Bloody Potter!"
The first figure advanced on Albus and drew her mask off in a cloud of dark smoke, revealing a slightly deranged looking woman with dark black hair and heavily hooded eyes.
"You're…you're Bellatrix Lestrange." Albus breathed in horror
Bellatrix giggled like satanic schoolgirl. "Been doing your homework, eh Potty?" a copy of the Prophet appeared from nowhere as Bellatrix contemplated her photograph. "I really think they should have caught me on a better day." She pouted, referring to the tiny picture of herself who was tugging at her chains, spitting and snarling at the camera. "Didn't quite catch me on my best day…" the circle of Death Eaters chuckled. "Well I must say today's going much better! Here I am, waltzing through the woods with a few of my chums and here I find Harry…" she lifted Albus' bangs, confused by the lack of lightning scar.
In a fit of fury, Bellatrix seized Albus by the front of his robes. "He's not Potter, you idiot!" she spat at the other Death Eater who had spoken. "My GOD, I would have never married you if I had known you would be such an idiot!" With that, she struck Albus in the face sending him sprawling face first into the snow, glasses skewed.
"Leave him alone you ugly bitch!" James, cried from where Alecto had his arms pinned.
Bellatrix spun around to face the eldest Potter. "Let him go, Alecto." She said icily.
"But…but Bellatrix…"
Bellatrix slashed her wand and Alecto Carrow fell to the ground, clutching her face.
"DON'T QUESTION ME YOU LUMPY FOOL!" Bellatrix pointed her wand at a bewildered James. "You, boy. Pick up your wand. Don't just stand there with dumb look on your face, pick it up!"
Without taking his eyes off of Bellatrix, James edged forward to retrieve his fallen wand. As soon as his fingers closed around the hawthorn hilt, Bellatrix cried out. "Crucio!"
James dropped his wand and fell to the snow, screaming in agony. Harry saw Albus try to crawl forward to help his brother but one of the older Death Eaters, Dolohov, placed a foot firmly on his back. The other Death Eaters laughed at the cruel scene as Harry and Ron struggled to break out of the Lestrange brothers' hold. Ginny and Hermione were doing the same and Rose and Hugo were calling for their cousin. Then all of a sudden a tiny voice cut through the chaos.
"Ventus Maximus!"
Bellatrix stumbled, spell broken, as a powerful gust of wind knocked her off balance. Dumbfounded, everyone looked around to see Lily holding a wand aimed at Bellatrix, Death Eater captor stunned at her feet and a look on her face like she knew she had done something she shouldn't have.
"You little bitch…" Bellatrix growled. Throwing James aside, she rounded on his little sister, hellfire raging in her cold black pupils. Lily dropped her wand in panic, backing away from Bellatrix but too slowly.
Bellatrix seized her by the hair. "Thought that was funny, did you?" she hissed into her ear. Roughly throwing her to the snow beside a barely stirring James, she drew her wand.
"Such a good little sister." Bellatrix crooned in a falsely sweet voice. "Wants to take the place of her big brother, does she?" More mirthless laughter from the Death Eater peanut gallery.
"N-n-n-" Poor lily couldn't even find the will to say no.
"Well if the filthy little blood traitor insists…" Bellatrix flourished her wand. Lily closed her eyes, fear clutching her chest. How could this have happened? Here she was, going to be tortured and killed by Bellatrix Lestrange all over a stupid shield!
"Then I'm only too happy to comply!" Bellatrix raised her wand, curse starting to build into a small blue ball at the tip.
Lily said the only thing she could think of; the childish plea rose to her lips so fast she didn't have time to stop herself.
"Mum…Dad…Teddy…anyone…" she whispered in a soft plea as Bellatrix moved in.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed.
And Lily waited. Waited for the thousands of white hot knives to sear her skin and make her wail in agony. But to her surprise, the pain didn't come. She cracked her eyes to see a thin blue barrier holding the curse a few inches from her nose. Bellatrix looked speechless and Harry simply looked at his friends to see who cast it. But they were all unarmed.
"Who…?" Bellatrix started to ask but suddenly a strong, warm voice called from the darkness of the forest,
"Reflega!"
Bellatrix screamed in pain as the curse was turned against her with equal malice. As the pain dissipated, she looked around wildly for the caster, then suddenly a team of figures appeared at the edge of the forest.
Harry stared in shock as Teddy Lupin Apparated between trees, accompanied by Remus, Tonks and a very pretty blonde haired girl. To his left came, of all people, Severus Snape, Sirius Black Kingsley Shacklebolt. To his right, Ron Weasley emerged followed by none other than…
"Hermione?" Ron mouthed in disbelief. Hermione looked speechless but the biggest shock came from the one who cast the curse. Harry saw himself emerge behind a witch with her wand aimed at Bellatrix.
"That's…that's…" Ron gasped.
Throwing her long red hair out of the way, Ginny Potter fixed Bellatrix with a furious gaze that matched her own and uttered five words that seemed to burn the very air around them. .
"Not…my…daughter…you….BITCH!"
AN: FIGHTIN TIME! Also if I fudged the details about the prisoners GET OVER IT!!! (JK) I apologize.
