20 - Blood On My Name
February 16th, 2033
7:53 PM.

Ottery St. Catchpole was quiet this time of night, the residents of small village homes tucked away from the cold of the night. The village itself probably held no more than a couple hundred people, but the message of the seven Hellhounds that appeared that night was clear - there would be consequences.

Street lamps cast shadows on the Hounds and their masks. Their breath from the cold night air coming out of their muzzles, making them seem more monstrous than normal. Three bear-sized black wolves padded up next to the Hounds, their eyes glowed red, and a black fog rose in tendrils from their fur. One stepped up next to Albus, his gloved hand scratched behind the beast's ears.

They were met with seven members of the Order, plus four more aurors, which meant that James had gotten the message to their father. Albus could make out at least his father, brother, at least one of his uncles, and a few other members in the dim light.

"Shit, they've got Grims," he heard Harry say.

The Hounds were waiting on his orders. They were growing restless and uneasy.

"Burn them," he ordered.

The street lit up with spells, and two of the Grims jumped for two of the aurors, immediately going for their throats. Their screams turning to gargles as blood began to flow from their necks and onto the cobblestone streets.

The Order members were trying to push the fight to the outskirts of town, away from the muggles and the center of town, and it was working. The wheat field was at the Hounds' backs, leaving the Order to disapparate, only to apparate behind them, however the Order were backed up against buildings. Both were in bad spots.

Albus took out an Order member, blasting him back and into a wall and leaving him in a heap. One of the grims lunged at Harry, and he sent a stunner at it, knocking it out of the way. Al came up behind the hound, and shoved his father up against the wall, his wand pressed to his throat. They struggled against each other for a moment, more for show than anything else.

"She has Lily," he muttered, shoving Harry up against the brick again, knocking the wind out of him. He coughed, unable to really process what Al was saying.

"Wait, what? She has… We gotta…"

"I've got it under control," Al snapped, pushing him against the brick one more time. "Now punch me and make it look good."

Harry hesitated a split second, before cocking back his fist, sucker punching him. He could feel the mask cutting his cheek and forehead, he dropped Harry and backed away. Blood began to drip down his face and into his neck. Harry disapparated and re-apparated a few feet away, throwing a spell at one of Al's men, helping James out of a rough situation.

Al bent over, wiping blood from his eyes and looked up, seeing a Grim grab ahold of Ron's arm. He pointed his wand at it, shouting the first spell that came to mind, red light shot from the tip, hitting the grim in the back. Ron looked up, holding his arm, to see who had saved him. Albus gave a slight nod, moving to dodge a spell that shot past him, looking for his friends. Scorpius was occupied with one of his cousins, though he couldn't tell which, and Rhys was behind him, occupied with his Uncle George.

He pointed his wand to an Auror, who had cornered Scorpius with his cousin.

"Avada Kedavra!" He yelled, and the spell hit the Auror in his back.

"You really are gone," he heard his brother's voice, standing behind him. Al turned around, wand hanging loosely in his fingertips at his side.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Al called back, and James threw a spell at him, which he blocked with ease.

Albus walked forward, and James threw another spell at him, which he blocked. "I suppose I have the moral obligation to stick by my family," James snapped.

"I am not in the mood to fuck with you right now," Albus hissed.

"Take off that mask, stop hiding."

Albus hesitated, before reaching up and pulled off the wolf mask, revealing a face soaked with blood and a fire in his eyes. "I'll destroy you, James," he warned.

James put his wand into his pocket, and held out his arms. "Come fight me, then."

Albus put his own wand in the holster on his thigh, and charged James. They collided, and Albus got the first hit in, though James met him with an uppercut to his jaw. Albus backed away, spitting blood and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"That all you got, motherfucker?" Albus asked, holding up his fists and using a 'come at me' motion. James knew this was a bad idea, Al was in better shape than he was, but his adrenaline was on high.

"You shouldn't talk about Mum like that," James snapped, running and grabbing Al around the waist and shoving him up against a wall. Al punched his side to get him to let go. Finally, he clasped his hands together slamming them down on his brother's back and his hands fell away with a grunt, allowing Al to get an opening. He punched him hard, and James returned the punch. Al could feel his own nose breaking. James had ahold of Al's armor, trying to pull him closer, his foot connecting with the back of Al's leg. Al's elbow connected with James' head and he backed off.

James came at him again, and Al blocked the flurry of punches with his forearms, getting another one in. James took a moment, and then punched Al in the solar plexus. Al coughed, the wind knocked out of him. The brothers looked at each other, and Al ran, grabbing him around the middle. He pushed him forward, picking him up and the two slammed into a car windshield, making the alarm go off. Al let go on impact, rolling off and hit the pavement. His brother doing the same. James groaned, holding his side. Al groaned as well, rolling over to his hands and knees.

Al picked himself up, grabbing his mask, and spit blood again. He stepped over to James, glaring down at him, "Don't pick a fucking fist fight with me, bitch," he snapped, and situated his mask on his face.

James groaned again.

Albus stood straight, one of the Hounds - Goyle - was standing a few feet in front of him. Goyle raised his wand, pointing it just over Al's shoulder. He couldn't hear what spell he said, but the arm movement… green exploded from the tip of his wand, but it didn't hit Albus. Al followed the spell as it hit Rhys in the back and his best friend fell to his knees, his mouth open and head leaned back, like he had been stabbed in the back with a sword. He fell forward and hit the ground, eyes open and lifeless.

Albus turned his attention back towards Goyle, rage filling every crevice in his body. He reached down, grabbing the knife from his boot, and charged Goyle. Al hit him like a ton of bricks, the knife finding it's way to his throat. Blood squirted out, splashing Al's mask. He knew it was a message from her - he better keep himself in check, or more would die.

He pulled his knife from the man's throat, wiped it on his shirt, and shoved it back into his boot. The grims were dead, and so were most of the Hounds, the Order wasn't faring much better.

He limped over to Rhys' body and went to grab him, but he was met by Scorpius holding him back. "No, Al, come on."

Al tried to fight him, but he had no energy left. He knew Scorpius was right, he couldn't do anything for him. He looked up at his father, and their eyes met. Harry nodded, understanding exactly what Albus was asking.

"Retreat!" Al yelled, "Retreat!"

What was left of the hounds disapparated, leaving the Order to pick up the mess.

Al and Scorpius met back at the Manor, going inside, where Draco met with the two of them in the foyer.

Albus ripped off his mask, throwing it on a table. Scorpius sat down in a chair, pulling off his own mask and putting his head in his hands.

Draco stared at the two boys, Al was considerably more bloody than his son, which wasn't a surprise. But, there was something wrong with them - and they were missing a person.

"Where's Rhys?" He asked, cautiously.

Scorpius looked up at Draco and shook his head - Albus stalked past him and headed upstairs to clean up and get changed. Draco winced with the sound of the door slamming.

Draco's frown deepened and he sat down next to Scorpius and put a hand on his back. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I know what it feels like, losing a friend to the war. But, I don't know what it's like to fight in a war that I hand in starting. I know you three started this thing to protect the ones you love, knowing you may not make it out alive. You have to remember that Rhys knew that when he signed up. Y'know, while trying to protect the ones you love, you forgot to look out for each other. Don't make the same mistake with Albus. You two need to stick together now, more than ever. Mourn Rhys. Cry for him. Fight for him. Finish this for him. "

Scorpius nodded, taking in his father's words as Albus came down the stairs. His face was washed, though it was still badly bruised and cut. He was in regular muggle clothing.

"I gotta go tell Nora," he sighed, pushing his hands into his pockets. "Scorp, you know the Notts… You should probably tell them."

Scorpius nodded. "Yeah, you're right," standing up and heading upstairs to change and wash his own face.

Draco sighed. "Come here, Al. Let me fix your face," he stood and took his wand from his pocket and got to work.

21 - Set the World on Fire
February 17th, 2033
Midnight

"That's good," Nora said with a smile, taking the empty potion cup from the six year old, who still looked feverish. The boy laid back in bed, and she pulled the covers up. "You'll feel better soon," she promised, cupping his hand in his cheek. The boy nodded, and hugged his stuffed phoenix. His parents were nearby, looking tired and worried. Nora had done everything she could to make the boy at the very least comfortable, while they waited to transfer him to a muggle hospital - they were better equipped for leukemia.

The boy's face lit up instantly, looking out the window behind her shoulder. "You know Albus Potter?" he asked, his voice full of hope he would get to meet his hero.

She looked up, seeing Albus in the window, his hands in his pockets. He had two large cuts on his cheek and forehead, his cheeks were black and blue, and there was a large yellow and black bruise on his jaw. He was trying to be stoic, but his eyes had given it away - something was wrong. She furrowed her brow, standing up from the edge of the bed. "I'll be back to check later, okay? I'll even see if he'll come and say hi, maybe tomorrow?" She grinned at them and headed towards the door.

"Al, what's up?" She asked, trying to hide her own worry - and hurt. Al had left her the morning after she had patched him up without a word - well, that wasn't entirely true, he left a note. She supposed he knew what he was doing, distancing himself. She had a Caleb, after all, though that relationship wasn't going well - she had been distant since that night. Albus was dangerous, he wasn't a good person.

"Rhys is…" He swallowed, trying to decide how to best go about this. "Rhys is gone."

The words seemed far away when he spoke them, and it took a few moments for the weight of his words to finally sink in. She backed up against the wall, scooting down to sit against it, her hand went to her mouth. She could feel her tears, wet and hot running down her face and into her robes. Albus kneeled in front of her, and she collapsed into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, strong and comforting. His hand went to the back of her head. "I'm so sorry, Nora," he whispered, his own voice wavering.

She felt like they sat there for ages before he pulled her up, her tears had stained through his shirt. He had his arm around her shoulder, leading her somewhere. Nora's thoughts went briefly to her parents, how she should be with them, but all she wanted right now was to be with Al. Somehow, she knew he needed her too.

They got outside of the hospital, and he kept a strong arm around her and they apparated to outside of his apartment. He unlocked the door and lead her inside and sat her down on the couch, and disappeared into the bedroom. He came back out, handing her a change of clothes, his own shirt changed. "I'm going to start some tea," he announced, but she ignored him.

Nora went into the bathroom and closed the door. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her makeup was smeared, mascara was running down her face in black streaks. She turned on the water, splashing it on her face, and put a hand on her forehead. Tears had formed again, and she splashed more water on her face. She grabbed the hand towel, letting a sob out into it.

She slowly changed from her robes and into the oversized t-shirt and sweats he had given her. Nora took a few deep breaths, wiping her face again, and went back to the living room.

Albus met her with a cup of tea and the two of them sat down on the couch. She let out another sob, and he wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes. She listened to his heartbeat, and timed her breathing with the rise and fall of his chest.

"We should get you to your parents," he said, his voice echoing in his chest.

"No, I want to be with you."

She closed her eyes again, tears slipping out. She tried to time her breathing with his again. Eventually, Nora fell asleep.

She unlocked the door to her parents' manor the next morning, and headed inside. Al followed behind her, a duffle bag in his hand - he dropped it by the door. Nora knew she would be staying with her parents for at least a few days, while funeral arrangements were made, so they had stopped by her house to grab a few things.

"Oh, thank Merlin." Caleb had rounded the corner, hurrying and wrapping his arms around her. Theo and Pansy had followed along behind him. She stood there, not hugging back. Caleb let her go, and Albus took her hand.

"Hey, I'm gonna go," he whispered, squeezing it. "Give you all some time," he nodded to the Notts and dropped her hand, the other one going to the door knob.

Nora shook her head. "No," she protested, catching his hand again. He had been there with her the entire night. She had woken up in his bed while he slept on the couch. Rhys was his best friend. He had every right to be there.

Caleb huffed, getting impatient. "Come on, let him leave Nora."

Rhys had never liked Caleb, and had told her so on several occasions. She never listened, but she saw what he saw now. A man who was pretending to grieve while sucking up to her parents. Rhys always knew best, always had her best interests at heart. She knew he wouldn't tell her to not marry someone if he didn't mean it. She was going to go with his advice.

Nora looked down, taking off her engagement ring and handing it to Caleb. "No, you leave," she told him.

Caleb went to protest, opening his mouth, and then closing it once Albus stepped up behind her, arms crossed and glaring. Their hands slipped together. He turned around, looking towards Theo and Pansy to say she was being unreasonable. Theo had stepped up too, hands on his hips, and the threat of two very powerful wizards was too much. He left the house.

Nora let go of Al's hand and wrapped her arms around her father's neck, burying her head in his chest. Pansy wrapped her arms around the two of them and they cried.