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Chapter Ten – Friendly Fire
Strikhedonia (noun) The joy of being able to say "to hell with it!"
Before I finished the sentence, the first curse hissed past me.
Ducking instinctually, I flung myself out of the way, behind the couch, next to the still unconscious Dolores Umbridge. Landing hard I trained my wand at the door and sent a strong Stupefy. Observing my surrounds I saw that Ron had been hit by the curse that had missed me. He had a nasty burn on his shoulder. Peeking over the couch, I saw more people flock the room, clothed in dark robes and masks. Death Eaters. I flung hex after hex, even some curses that were borderline dark, always careful to not leave the secure cover the couch provided me with. The room was lit with the colours of our wand work and filled with aggressive shouting. It was madness and we were hopelessly outnumbered.
"Apparate away!" Harry yelled.
"Can't" Ron pressed. They had put up anti-apparition-wards.
Hearing a dump bump I saw that Hermione was on the ground, bound and gagged by ropes. Foolishly Ron turned towards her, opening his back up to the enemies. Leaping over to him, I bumped into is back and was able to shove him out of the way from another burning curse. Unfortunately I was not fast enough to bring my shield charm up in time, so the curse brushed against my neck, leaving it on fire with pain. Shielding each other, Harry joined us, and we grouped around Hermione, determined to protect her and fighting with all that we've got.
When Ron was hit with an Expelliarmus I knew that we had lost. Bound in ropes as well, the red-haired boy fell down next to Hermione. Only Harry and I were still standing. Battling fiercely, I turned and twisted, to dodge all kind of curses. Baring my teeth at them I was not quite ready to give up. I incapacitated another Death Eater, wrecking my brain to find a way out.
Without Ron, Harry and I weren't even offensively trying to attack the Death Eaters anymore. We were desperate in our defence, having no time to respond accordingly to the curses the men sent our way. Realizing that it was more about damage control and less about winning, I made a tough decision.
Ripping my necklace from my neck, I turned to Harry, ignoring the danger I put myself in with turning my back towards the enemy.
"Harry!"
When he glanced at me, I lost no time and threw my necklace in his direction. "Catch!"
Instinctively, with the reflexes of a Seeker, the caught the piece of jewellery. The moment it touched his skin I yelled. "Portus!"
Harry disappeared, to the same uninhibited meadow I had escaped weeks before, right from the stairs from Gringotts. It was too far away for him to just apparate back here. Hopefully he was apparating little by little back to the headquarters.
Turning on my heels, I cast a forceful slicing hex at the Death Eater nearest to me, now reckless to make as much damage as possible while I went down. Sensing a presence behind me, I twirled out of the way, while simultaneously casting a shield charm and sending a counterattack. My panic was skyrocketing. I was the only one standing. I was the only thing between Ron and Hermione and those Death Eaters. Getting Harry to safety had been my priority, as he was the key element to win this war. But it didn't mean that it had been an easy decision to save him, while I sacrificed the three of us. This couldn't end well. My throat was closing up. How could I get us out of this situation?
Catching a Reducto to my left side, I felt the bones in my arm break and my emotion got the best of me. Three things happened at once. My constantly tight hold of my magical core slipped and my aura flared, swirling around me, shimmering and instable. At the same time I responded with a dark and horrible curse, wanting the Death Eater to suffer. And just as I spoke the words, and sent the curse on its way, I felt the tip of a wand on my throat.
I froze and tore my gaze away from the Death Eater that was withering on the floor. That was my doing. I had thrown that curse, I made him suffer. I felt sick. Looking along the wand that was pointed at my throat, following the hand it was holding, to the arm and the person, my eyes clashed with dark ones, face hidden behind a mask.
Moving only my eyes I stayed perfectly still, checking the room. It was devastated. The walls had holes from curses that went astray. The sofa was torn and the ripped out padding was scorched. Books from the shelves littered the floor, shredded. Three Death Eaters lay on the floor, one of them still twitching under the influence of my curse, the other two unmoving. Ron and Hermione lay behind me, still bound, but fighting against the ropes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another wand trained on me, inches away from my temple. A presence behind me and a jab at my back told me that I had a third wand pointing directly at me. The rest of the Death Eaters held their wands more loosely, but ready to strike. I hadn't moved an inch, my arm outstretched, still training my wand at one of the wizards straight ahead of me, my aura flickering dangerously around me. I was panting, sweating from the fight.
The Death Eater in front of me waved his wand over his mask and it disappeared. Lucius Malfoy. I sneered and my aura swirled faster around me. That was dangerous. I was quite sure that I could knock out all the dark wizards in this room, if I just loosened the hold of my core enough. But I was doubting that I could direct that force. I could hurt Ron and Hermione.
"We were looking for you, Lady…?" Lucius started.
I quirked an eyebrow, still frozen in my position with my arm growing heavy, threatened by three wands. I wasn't going to tell him my family name and I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him to call me Riga. I stayed mute.
Malfoy made his way towards the tattered couch, dusting off the seat and sitting down in a pompous motion.
"We're not here to hurt you."
I snorted. I was still held at wandpoint and my body ached all over. The pulsing from my broken arm made my stomach turn.
As if to prove Lucius' words, the wand trained on my throat moved slightly, pointing at me neck. I felt a cooling sensation and realized that the Death Eater had healed the burn on my neck. Looking at him intensely he lowered his wand and took two steps back. I didn't feel any safer.
"If you would join me?" Malfoy asked formally, gesturing me to sit next to him.
He was acting like an aristocrat through and through. That was a game I could play as well. I relaxed my fighting stance, but kept my wand in my hand. Adapting a noble pureblood attitude, I walked towards him, sitting down on the sofa in a delicate manner. Struggling to breathe through the pain that radiated from my arm and the panic that threatened to suffocate me, I forced my face into a mask of arrogance. My aura was concealed once more.
"All that trouble just because you were looking for me?" I asked, ignoring the Death Eaters around me. "I feel honoured."
"As you should", the blond Death Eater replied regally.
"If I could be so bold to inquire why you were looking for me?" I asked stiffly.
"To make your acquaintance, of course!" he said with a small smile.
"In an environment like this?" I gestured around the destroyed room, trying to hold my injured side as still as possible. The pain made my brain go fuzzy. "I could think of better localities."
"You're right", he bowed his head at me gracefully. "But we've heard so much about you, never able to see for ourselves what a special young lady you are. We were eager to come to know you."
I forced a tight smile. 'Special young lady' my arse.
"Be that as it may, I feel like this place is suboptimal to serve the purpose to become acquainted with each other." This was ridiculous. What was he after?
"Ah, my dear girl, you are so right! That is why I wanted to invite you to a festivity I'd like to hold in honour of you."
"A festivity?" I said with an unmoving face.
"Yes, you could call it your debutante ball. To introduce you appropriately to our society."
"Why would I want to attend such an event?" Was he mad?
Flicking his wand towards Ron and Hermione, they groaned, as their ropes tightened. The message Malfoy wanted to send was clear: comply or your friend will get hurt.
"Because you have the right motivation, my dear girl", he smiled condescendingly at me. "After all, you wouldn't want to make a gaffe. Every girl that fancies herself important has her own ball."
"Of course, every girl that fancies herself", I repeated tersely, thinking about the situation.
I knew exactly what Malfoy was after. Instead of fighting me physically, throwing curses or trying to kidnap me, he changed the battleground to a political arena, where he could hurt me in another way, but just as effectively nonetheless. If I let Malfoy throw a ball for me, it would have dire political consequences. I would take a political standing closer to the Dark Lord and further away from the Light side. As I already was a public person, it would affect my reputation and the impression the public had of me. Maybe he even hoped to have me 'in the hands of the winner' if he could only play it publicly so. Glancing at Ron and Hermione I knew that I couldn't say no. Malfoy had me in the palm of his hands in his little charade. But I could make the best out of it. I just needed to take a different approach.
"How thoughtful of you", I said, giving him a brilliant smile. He was not the only one able to play this game. His eyes flashed with surprise.
"So you'll attend?" he asked carefully.
"Yes, under the condition that you'll let my friends leave unharmed tonight", I replied evenly, feeling a magical ripple around us. I made a deal with him and magic had recognized it. There was no getting out of it anymore. But I didn't want to get out of it, so I continued.
"Considering the importance of that event, I think it would be only right for me to be given a voice regarding the celebration of my person?" Without giving him time to answer I carried on. "I've already made some dear friends that just can't miss out such a festivity. That would be quite an embarrassing faux pas, wouldn't you agree?"
Malfoy nodded stiffly, feeling that I was trying to take control over the situation. Upping up my I'm-royal-game I continued.
"I assume you're familiar with Ms Rita Skeeter? She's a close friend of mine and I just can't have you host such an event without her, being the eyes for the public and the voice of the press. You agree with that?"
His faced darkened. Opening the ball to be public meant that neither the Dark Lord, nor some of his more famous Death Eaters were able to partake in this bloody farce.
"Surely -", he started, but I was not finished.
"Lovely! And I think roughly eighty seats more for the seating plan, additional to your guest list of course." Getting some of my allies and key figures from the Light side into the ball would even out the chances. It would tone done the political repercussion for me.
"Will the ball be at Malfoy Manor?" I asked without giving the blond Death Eater room to argue.
"Yes", he said with a strained voice.
"Delightful! You needn't worry about my guests, I will invite them myself. But I believe we should think about some precautions. After all there will be a lot of people with… let's say, different ambitions."
Standing up in a fluid motion, I ignored the Death Eaters around me that raised their wands again. Eyeing Malfoy as he stood up I gave him a radiant smile.
"I'm so happy we had this conversation. If that is all, I'll be on my way?"
Striding confidently to Ron and Hermione I pointed my wand up towards the ceiling and blasting the bloody anti-apparition-wards to kingdom come. Every step send waves of pain from my arm, but I ignored it dutifully. Grabbing Ron and Hermione tightly, I didn't bother to unbind them. I wanted to leave as fast as possible, before this could go from bad to worse.
"I'll await you owl" I yelled over my shoulder, as I disapparated.
12th Grimmauld Place, London, a few hours later
"What were you bloody thinking?!" Alastor yelled at me, his face coloured in an angry red.
"That I was making the best out of a desperate situation!" I screamed right back, not in the slightest intimidated by the imposing ex-Auror.
"A situation you found yourself in, because you haven't learned to use your brain yet!"
Due to the fact that the reason of our little mission had to stay secret - after everything even still from me - Alastor and the rest of The Order thought it had been my brilliant idea to leave the headquarters in the night, to 'gather some intelligence' as I had made the flimsy excuse. And while they were at it, they also blamed me for the fact, that we'd been somehow discovered. I had absolutely no clue how that had happened. Maybe there'd been a patrol near Umbridge's house or something else that alarmed the Death Eaters, because I was sure as hell that I hadn't tripped any wards.
Ending the conversation with Malfoy, I had apparated us out of Umbridge's house, landing in a deserted side alley, somewhere in Muggle London. After I unbound Ron and Hermione, she put my arm in a cast and healed our minor injuries. We then continued our way to the headquarters. Potter had indeed apparated back to Grimmauld Place, funny enough with the locket still clutched in his hands. At least our mission was not for naught. He had informed everyone that we were in danger, but was not ready to share what we'd been doing. Given the fact that nobody wanted him to leave, there was already a huge fight going on, when we made it through the door. It only took seconds before Al and I were facing off in a screaming match.
"How could you be so stupid to accept the bloody invitation from Malfoy? How do you find yourself in impossible situations like these?!" he hollered at me.
Throwing my arms in the air, I ignored the piercing pain that shot from my left arm through my whole body.
"It's not like I go looking for them!" I screamed just as loudly, voice cracking.
"But you're not careful either! Do you have no respect for Sara's sacrifice?! She left everything behind, just for you! And that's how you're thanking her?!"
I felt the air rush out of my lungs. Of course, he was right. Sara had sacrificed everything for me. She had left her job, her friends, her whole life behind, just so I wouldn't get in the crossfire of a war. Was I dishonouring her memory with my behaviour? I knew I had been reckless lately, but I'd felt it necessary.
I felt my eyes watering and my throat closing up. The well-known feeling of helplessness and disorientation bubbled up in my chest. The last few weeks had been so tiring. I had lost my aunt and my confidant, was hunted down by Death Eaters and seemingly nonstop bruised and battered. I was barely of age and all alone in this world. An emotional breakdown was long overdue.
Turning on my heels, I made it towards the stairs. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to snuggle up in my bed and hide under my blanket. Hot tears started to fall silently. Fleeing to my room, I made it inside, only to see Harry sitting on my bed.
"How could you do that?!" he asked aggressively.
"What?" My voice was hoarse from the screaming before and the lump in my throat.
"How could you sent me away and put Ron and Hermione in even more danger?!"
I gaped. Was he bloody serious?
"I?" I seethed, my cheeks still wet. "How could I put them in danger?! May I remind you that it was your bloody idea to ambush that freaking woman?! Planning and acting within less than a day? You're just as responsible as I am, if not more so!"
"You could've saved them as well!"
The had officially reached my daily bullshit-limit. I was so done with their holier than thou attitude. I wouldn't let them blame me anymore today. Yes, I may have not reacted the best way, but it sure as hell was not only my fault. We'd been in that situation together.
"Listen here, Harry Potter, and listen closely", I snarled. "All of us are to be blamed for how the situation had unfolded. But don't you dare tell me that my decision to save you was wrong! You are the bloody key to stop this war! Not Ron, not Hermione, not me, it's you! Don't you get it?! This war won't stop without you! We all went into that situation with open eyes, we all knew that it could go wrong. When it went awry I did the only thing that I could think of. So stop playing the saint and start accepting your role in this war! Bitter truth is: you are more important than others, because that bloody nightmare of a Dark Lord won't be stopped without you!"
Screaming the last words, I was sobbing now. All I wanted to do was to fall in my bed, close my eyes and forget about everything. But that wasn't going to happen here. Casting one last look towards the shocked but still angry boy, I made my way towards the door. I would not stay here any minute longer. I made my way past Ron and Hermione, who've likely heard every word. Walking down the stairs I saw Alastor standing in the hallway. Without slowing down or looking at him I uttered just a word, my throat painfully raw.
"Don't."