Author's Note:

Sorry I realize this chapter is a good bit shorter than most of mine, but I liked the ending spot, so I decided to cut it short. Review please, you have no idea how much it motivates. Hope you like the action.

Peace.

~ThaniMag

Chapter 9: Rasputin Overcome

Albus looked down at the whirling figures of Rasputin and Blaise Zabini. People surged past him on all sides. All was chaos. Tables splintered and flew left and right. Small bits of plaster were being blasted off the walls and whipping around the room, threatening serious injury.

Albus' mind was working wildly, trying to decide what to do. He wasn't going to run like everyone else. He had come to America for some excitement, and here he was in the middle of it. He had no clue what was going on, or who Rasputin and the men fighting him were (since he was too far away to recognize Blaise), but he wasn't about to back down now.

There was something about Rasputin that drew Albus to him, and on top of that, he was grossly outnumbered by the other men. Albus made his decision and, wand in hand, leapt from tier to tier, heading towards the fighting figures of Rasputin and Blaise.

As he reached the bottom of the room, he froze in shock. He recognized Blaise. He stumbled back in confusion, unsure of what to do now. Why were people from the ministry all the way in America, looking for this man Rasputin?

Before Albus could gather his wits about him again, he was hit in the side by a jinx that knocked him flying off his feet and onto a table. The breath was knocked out of him on impact. He had managed to catch sight of his attacker as he flew off his feet; it was one of the cloaked men who were on Blaise's side.

As he landed flat on his back on the table, Albus' mind was already racing. After all, he was in Ravenclaw for a reason. If Blaise's men were attacking random bystanders who hadn't done anything, then they weren't from the ministry. It was against International Wizarding law to attack anybody while you were in another country. That probably meant that Blaise had his own motives and hopes for what he was doing, and Rasputin was most likely an innocent victim.

Albus pushed himself off of the table and to the side, just in time to dodge a spell that hit the spot where he had been a moment before, sending the table up in flames.

He aimed his wand at his attacker and, choosing a spell his father had taught him which he knew wasn't harmful, yelled, "Levicorpus!" The man was hoisted into the air by his ankle, his wand getting jerked out of his hand and falling to the floor.

Albus dove to the side as two more men appeared and fired hexes at him. He rolled and hid behind an overturned table. Raising his wand hand, he attempted to fire a spell over the top of the table, while staying protected. His wand hand was hit by a disarming spell, sending his wand spinning up a few tiers. He swore colorfully, and pulled his hand below the cover of the table.

The next instant the table was blasted to splinters, and he threw his arms up to protect his face. Unable to protect himself, he was hit by a spell, which threw him backwards. He slammed into the corner of the higher tier, making him gasp in pain and fall to his knees.

He stared in horror as his two attackers approached; he was unable to do anything. They raised their wand arms and sent jets of lights soaring through the air at him. He threw his arms out, as if they could protect him from the incoming spells.

Suddenly a streak of color crossed his vision, and a figure stood in front of him, protecting him from the spells. He recognized his sister Lily, her red hair whipping back and forth as she vigorously deflected a slew of incoming spells.

Lily was a talented witch, but she was only fourteen, and didn't stand a chance against these two full-grown men. One of the spells managed to slip past her defenses, hitting her in the shoulder. She let out a scream of pain and staggered to the side.

One of the men's hoods had fallen back in the fight, and his face split with triumph as he raised his wand, his mouth forming the words of the killing curse.

"NO!" yelled Albus, fear freezing him to his spot as he realized that his sister was going to die.

Scorpius came flying out of nowhere, crashing into the man who was about to kill Lily. The killing curse flew wide as Scorpius and the man crashed to the ground. Scorpius fought admirably, but the man was a lot stronger than him and pinned him to the floor. Scorpius struggled to get out from beneath him, but his efforts were fruitless. The man slammed his fist into Scorpius midsection again and again. Scorpius yelled in pain.

Gathering his strength, Scorpius managed to head butt the man, who reeled in surprise. "Albus, stop sitting there, do something!" yelled Scorpius as he threw himself back onto the man.

This brought Albus out of his stupor, and he rose to his feet. The second man was trying to find a way to help his friend without injuring him. He ran around the rolling figures of Scorpius and his robed companion, his wand pointed at them, but didn't do anything.

Albus rushed to the fallen form of his sister. Her face was pale with pain. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

"I'll be okay, help Scorpius." She managed to gasp out. It was the first time Albus had heard her call Scorpius by his first name; he was surprised.

Grabbing his sister's wand, Albus rose to his feet. With one spell he sent the second man into a full body lock up. He turned his wand on the first man, who had once again succeeded in pinning Scorpius to the floor.

Before he had a chance to do anything, a third man from behind Albus, sent him screaming to the floor under the Cruciatus curse. Albus' body was racked with more pain than he had ever felt before in his life. He screamed and screamed; just wishing it would be over. He wished he could die; he hated his life anyway. He internally cursed the day he was born as he felt the pain sucking his life away from him.

Up at the top of the room, Zoë stood, wand in hand, unsure of what to do.

When Hermione had run into the Fight Club after Lily, Zoë had followed her, and watched as first Albus, then Lily and Scorpius, had leapt into the fray.

Draco, Bill, and Hermione had all rushed toward the fight, but been intercepted by several of the cloaked wizards and engaged in battles of their own.

Zoë stood frozen, terrified at the prospect of actually fighting. It was bad enough going to a wizarding school, but she had never intended to use what she learned for violence. The very thought made her tremble.

Finally, she leapt into action, unable to just sit there and watch the pain that was being inflicted on Albus, or watch Scorpius being pounded into the ground.

Zoë leapt from tier to tier as she hurried as fast as she could toward them. As she neared the struggling figures, she raised her wand and yelled "Expelliarmus!" The man who was torturing Albus had his wand ripped out of his hand. He turned in surprise towards Zoë.

Albus lay gasping and shuddering on the ground. Pulling himself to his feet, Albus staggered across the tiers to where his wand had flown. Throwing himself toward it, he twisted around and stunned the man who'd been torturing him before he a chance to reach Zoë.

"Petrificus Totalus!" screamed Albus, his wand trained on the man who was still beating Scorpius into the floor. The man's body went as stiff as a board, and Scorpius pushed him to the side and struggled into a kneeling position.

Scorpius was looking rather the worse for wear. His nose was pouring blood and the area around his right eye was red and puffy. His eye was starting to swell shut, and he was moving stiffly, as if his body had taken quite a beating—which it had.

Zoë rushed over to him and put one of his arms around her shoulders, helping him to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Well, I've been better." He groaned a little in pain. "But I'll be okay."

Albus had already pulled Lily to her feet. She seemed to have recovered for the most part, but she was still a little pale.

"What do we do now?" Zoë asked Albus anxiously.

The room seemed to be mostly empty. Rasputin was still fighting Blaise Zabini just twenty feet or so from them. Draco, Hermione and Bill were fiercely dueling seven robed men who had managed to work them back into a wall.

A few other robed men were spread throughout the room, fighting small skirmishes against the few people who had stayed behind Instead of fleeing.

"I'm going to help Rasputin," Albus answered after observing the room.

Lily gasped, "But Albus, Aunt 'Mione and Uncle Bill—"

"Can take care of themselves, they fought in the war against Voldemort. You don't think they can handle these few goons?" said Albus, interrupting her.

Just then, Blaise got around Rasputin's defenses. Blaise grinned in triumph as he swung his wand down in a slashing movement. Blood burst from Rasputin's chest, coming from a gash identical to the one Blaise had made in the air with his wand. With another quick flick of his wand, Blaise sent Rasputin's wand spinning out of his hand and away, leaving him completely defenseless.

Not pain, not fear, not even anger was written on Rasputin's face. Utter surprise was the only emotion visible. He staggered back into the wall behind him, and slowly slid to the floor, watching as the blood continued to pour from the wound in his chest, sliding across his body and onto the floor.

"Give me the weapon Rasputin," Blaise commanded him.

"I'll see you in Hades before I hand it over to the likes of you." Rasputin choked and then spit a mouthful of blood to the side. He turned back and gave Blaise a grin, showing teeth covered in blood.

"I never thought I'd be killed by someone like you. I have no clue how you managed to garner such power under your command, but giving you that weapon would practically be making you immortal," Rasputin growled out.

"Why don't you use it to escape right now?"

Rasputin laughed, and then choked and spluttered on blood. Once he had regained control of himself he turned back to Blaise. "I don't have it with me; it's safe, where you will never be able to find it."

Blaise's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Tell me where it is Rasputin, or I will make you die a lot slower, and a lot more painfully."

Rasputin's eyebrows furrowed. "I can take anything you can throw at me."

"You fool; you'll see how much power I truly have." Blaise raised his wand and pointed it at Rasputin's blood covered chest, his lips started to move, forming words.

Suddenly, as if he had if he had somehow been summoned there by Blaise's last words, Albus appeared crouched on the floor right in front of Blaise.

Showing amazing flexibility, Albus pushed himself off the floor with all his might, bringing his foot up and catching the wizard right on the underside of his jaw.

Blaise's neck snapped backwards as he shot into the air. Albus leapt up again and brought his foot around in a sweeping roundhouse kick that hit Blaise in the side, right beneath his ribcage.

Blaise's body shot to the side and crashed onto a table.

Scorpius, who was moving as fast as his latest beating would allow him, shuffled over and knelt by Rasputin.

"I'm no healer, but I'll do whatever I can to help." Scorpius told Rasputin anxiously.

"I— need my wand." Rasped Rasputin, gesturing towards where his wand had landed.

"Zoë could you—?"

"Of course." Replied Zoë hastily as she turned and rushed to find the wand.

"Is there really any hope for him?" whispered Lily worriedly in Scorpius' ear.

"I don't know" was Scorpius' firm answer.