***Second chapter updated today. If you missed the first chapter, go back and read that first, or this will make no sense.***
Chapter Eleven:
March and April passed in an unease truce between the Fairy Tail mages and Dumbledore. According to Laxus and Mest, who had met with the headmaster briefly upon his return to the castle, the old man was not pleased at their meddling, but grudgingly allowed them to continue as they were.
Since that first night, none of the Fairy Tail members had returned to the dormitories except to gather their things. A makeshift camp had been set up in one of the side chambers that Slytherin had opened for Lucy and Cobra during their initial explorations. If anyone came into the chamber through the way Potter knew about, they would find it completely empty. However, it was Fairy Tail's safe haven.
They had managed to purloin enough cots and beds from the Room of Requirement, which had opened to allow them to pilfer from the repository of debris left behind from Hogwarts students. The elves had been coaxed into giving them old bedding that wouldn't make it onto beds otherwise, giving them a variety of covers. Considering that some of them (Natsu and Grey) couldn't keep their covers in place or on their bed at all, it looked a little bit like a circus, with all of the colors, styles, and states of tidiness. It had taken several trips, but each of them had a bed and nightstand, using their trunks as wardrobes and chests of drawers.
Slytherin had told them how to open up several other features of the Chamber, including a proper room for duelling practice, a potions' laboratory that was several centuries out of date, but usable, and a tiny kitchen that they stocked from the supplies the house elves gave them. In exchange, Natsu and Cana were banned from his study. Mostly because Natsu was chafing at the bit after so many months of self restraint, and Cana was drunk more often than not these days now that she wasn't pretending to be a student.
Potter and his friends had tried several times to give them the slip, using the invisibility cloak they had been warned about, but they couldn't hide the from the enhanced senses of the dragon slayers. Each shift guarding Potter had a dragon slayer, and after Natsu had crowed loudly about tracking Potter, the boy stopped trying to sneak off.
Malfoy was much less complacent, and routinely attempted to give them the slip. However, the polyjuice potion he was using had a distinctive scent, and the slayers simply tracked that.
None of the other staff had attempted to confront them, although Lucy knew that Snape was aware of the reason behind their abrupt change in behavior. They had attempted to pressure the headmaster into revealing his impending death to McGonagall, at the very least, but he refused. Lucy was working on some type of plan to protect Snape from the Order's wrath, but it wasn't going well.
"We'll have no chance," Levy said grouchily, wadding up a piece of parchment and throwing it across Slytherin's study. "We'd have to get McGonagall to the site as soon as we could, and all she'd see is Snape killing Dumbledore. There won't be time to explain, not without blowing Snape's cover."
"Remind me why we can't tell them right now and spare us all the trouble?" Lucy asked, faced tucked into the crook of her elbow as she struggled to come up with a workable idea. "Because that sounds like a really easy way to do this."
"Just because we're not magically bound to silence now doesn't mean Dumbledore won't do it if he thinks we're going to talk. And if we tell anyone, they're going to go to Dumbledore and he'll silence them." Freed's logic was impossible to deny.
"How about we kidnap Snape?" Lucy muttered. "Stun him and bring him back with us. I'm sure he'll find something to do in our world. And Voldemort won't be able to get to him there."
"With Dumbledore dead, the Ministry will probably fall not too long after," Levy said slowly. "Potter will have to disappear or be hauled before Voldemort. With control over the Ministry, Hogwarts will fall to him as well, making it no longer a safe haven. Snape's the only Death Eater with plausible ties to Hogwarts who isn't a current criminal. Unless there's a ton of witnesses to Dumbledore's death, it could easily be spun as an attempt to discredit him. Voldemort will likely send Snape back to Hogwarts to be his eyes and ears here."
"So, we can't take Snape with us because if we're right and his true loyalty is to Hogwarts and the light, we want him at Hogwarts, even if he's branded as a murderer and working for Voldemort?"
"Not unless you want one of the other Death Eaters to be in charge," Freed said grimly. "Lestrange or Malfoy would be other likely candidates, although Malfoy has fallen from grace since the affair a year ago."
"Bugger," Lucy muttered, using a word she had picked up from one of the students. "So what are we going to do?"
"Protect the students," Levy said wearily. "And do what we can for Snape. We can't turn our back on him."
Tension between Potter and Malfoy came to a head in the middle of May. Lucy was on duty with Wendy, minding their makeshift infirmary that they had created in one of the spare rooms. It wasn't as useful as the Hogwarts infirmary, but thanks to some discreet inquiries with Snape, they had managed to smuggle enough ingredients out of the student store cupboard to make several batches of the more commonly used healing potions.
"Trouble," a voice shouted from the main part of the Chamber. "Wendy, we need you now!"
Lucy snatched up the satchel Wendy had prepared in case they had to go in a hurry and sprinted after the smaller girl. Sorano was outside, out of breath, robes spattered with stone dust and water.
"Bathroom, sixth floor," she gasped, pointing towards the passage that would take them there the fastest. "Potter and Malfoy got into it."
Wendy was already running, and Lucy was certain that she was using her magic to enhance her speed. By the time Lucy made it out of the passageway, she was bursting through the doors into the bathroom, barking questions.
"Some type of cutting curse," Gajeel was saying as Lucy entered the bathroom to find it half-destroyed. "He was about to crucio Potter and we wouldn't have been able to break them up in time."
"How long ago?" Wendy asked, hands already covered in blood as she pressed them to Malfoy's chest, her magic fighting against the horrific gashes that were spilling blood onto the floor.
"Minutes," Natsu replied from where he was sitting on Potter, who looked both horrified and mutinous. "Sorano took off running as soon as he was about to cast crucio. She figured we'd need you."
"Juvia tried to slow the bleeding," the water witch murmured from her position kneeling next to Malfoy. "To buy you time."
"Lucy, blood replenisher," the younger girl barked. "He's going to live, but we need to get these closed and some more blood in him."
"How much?" She was rummaging in the bag for the vial of blood replenisher when rapid steps in the hall burst into the bathroom.
Snape was there, looking livid. His face froze as he saw Malfoy on the sodden bathroom floor, blood blooming out around him like some macabre flower. "Marvell, let me help. Then one teaspoonful of blood replenisher to start."
Juvia shifted aside, allowing the dark professor to take her place at Malfoy's side. He drew his wand, waving it gently over the boy's chest, murmuring softly as he did so. Slowly, between the two brands of healing magic the gashes began to close and the blood stopped pouring out at such a horrific rate until it stopped completely. Mutely, Lucy handed Snape the vial of potion when he gestured for it. Uncorking it, he sniffed it carefully, nodded, and then poured a measure down Malfoy's throat.
"Redfox, Marvell, take Mr. Malfoy to Madam Pomfrey and explain what has happened and what treatment he has received. Ensure that he does not leave the infirmary until I have come for him."
Gajeel bent down to pull Malfoy upright, half-dragging him into a standing position with the blond's arm slung around his shoulder. Wendy propped him up on the other side with an arm around his waist, the two moving slowly out of the bathroom.
Turning on Potter, who was still being sat upon by Natsu, the professor looked livid. "Mr. Dragneel, go to Gryffindor Tower and bring me Mr. Potter's potions book."
Natsu left the bathroom at a brisk jog. It was silent for a long moment, the only sound being the soft spatter of water as it hit the stone floor.
"Mr. Potter," Snape hissed darkly at the boy slowly sitting up from where he had been lying while the attention was focused on Malfoy. "I do not wish to hear pitiful excuses. The spell you used on Mr. Malfoy is one I am familiar with, and I know for a fact that it cannot be found in any published compendium of spells. Mr. Dragneel's return will only confirm what I already know. You will have detention with me every night for the rest of the year."
Potter started saying something about quidditch, and Snape remained unmoving. But Lucy was more interested in talking to Juvia.
"What happened?" she whispered, her back to Potter and Snape.
"He found Malfoy on the map," the other woman replied. "Malfoy was upset when we arrived, but he threw the first curse. I don't think Potter knew what that curse did. When the blood started appearing, he looked terrified."
"Hopefully this will keep him out of trouble for the rest of the year," Lucy muttered, watching as Snape neatly confiscated the book Natsu had just returned with, tucking it into one of his robe pockets. "We could use an easy time of it."
May faded into June in a blur of exams and supervising Potter's detentions. Lucy worked with Virgo and Loke to get clothing from the Spirit World for each member of the group, in case they had to make an emergency escape from the castle. Potter was moderately subdued after the incident in the bathroom with Malfoy, but bounced back as he began seeing the Weasley girl. According to anyone who had to keep watch over him, the attempts at sneaking out got worse as they attempted to find someplace to snog in private.
Tension was building in Malfoy and Snape as the end of the school year drew closer. Lucy and the others hadn't figured out what Malfoy's eventual aim was, but they knew that it could only end in Dumbledore's death. It had been a long, difficult discussion, but they were committed to protecting the students no matter what happened, and protecting Snape when possible.
Cana was doing tarot readings each morning, trying to get an idea for when the hammer would fall. Towards the end of the month of June, she cursed under her breath.
Lucy was sitting nearby, lacing up her boots as she prepared to head to the Great Hall for breakfast. "What's up?" she asked, looking at the card mage with concern.
"Lightning struck tower," Cana said, waving the card at the blonde. "It's bad news."
"Looks like we had best be prepared then," Lucy murmured, looking around at the room they had all made their home. "I'll pass the word to the others."
Going about the day as if nothing was wrong was a specialized form of torture. After Defense that morning, Lucy hung back, lost in the crowd of students as she waited for a moment to speak with the professor alone.
"Miss Heartfilia?" he asked, looking up from his desk to glance at her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I don't know how much faith you put in divination," Lucy began slowly, hating what she was about to tell him, "but I've learned that Cana's predictions are fairly accurate."
"And what does Miss Alberona predict for us?"
"Crisis. Whatever this year has been building to, it will happen tonight."
Snape paused for a long moment. "I appreciate your insight," he murmured after a long moment, standing and moving to look out the window.
"Professor?"
He half turned towards her.
"We've figured out a way to return home, independent of the Headmaster." When he looked blankly at her, Lucy continued. "We couldn't figure out a way to help you, to keep them from turning their backs on you after...but if you wanted, you could come with us. Nobody would be able to find you there. You could do whatever you wanted."
For the first time that year, Lucy saw the most collected professor in the castle look startled beyond belief. "Miss Heartfilia…"
"We figure you probably won't take it, because there's probably a bunch of things that you can do, even without the Order's help. But we wanted you to know that we would have brought you with us, if you had wanted."
Rummaging in her pocket, she pulled out the dark scarf that Virgo had given her the night before. "Here. If you ever need help from Fairy Tail, just say my name while wearing that scarf. One of my friends, one you've never seen before, will come to you. They'll help you, or get you to a safe place where they can contact me. And they can carry messages."
Leaving it on his desk, she left the room, hurrying to catch up with the others on their way to Runes.
That night, they watched from the upper windows as Dumbledore and Harry left the castle for Hogsmeade.
Members of the Order were in the castle as added protection. Lucy recognized Tonks and Lupin, and was introduced to Bill Weasley.
"These are the kids Ron and Harry talked about over the holidays?" Will asked, looking at the assembled mages. "They don't look anything like students."
"We aren't," Laxus said coolly. "We're adults, all of us. We only pretended to be students, so as not to draw too much attention. Treat us like any other member of your Order, but know that we're here to protect the students." They had abandoned their student robes and took up their usual garments, their guild marks clearly emblazoned on their backs.
"Fine," Bill said, looking wary. "We had best get moving."
They dispersed after that, each taking a section of the castle to patrol.
Lucy was down by the Entrance Hall when the fight broke out.
Cobra was their first indicator that something was wrong. He froze in place before pivoting towards the stairs. "They're here. Move. Seventh floor, heading towards the Astronomy Tower."
Midnight and Freed raced for the stairs, but Cobra paused for a moment, crouching in front of Lucy. "Get on."
"What?"
"Do you want to be a part of the fucking fight?" he snapped, reaching behind himself and tugging on her leg. "You'll slow us down if you run, and by the time you get up there, you won't have anything left."
Seeing his logic, Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her legs around his waist. "You focus on getting us there," she ordered as he started up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "I'll keep us in one piece."
They reached the large foyer before the steps to the Astronomy Tower and found that everyone had reached the party before them.
Unfortunately that also meant students.
"How the fuck did they get here?" Lucy shouted over the noise as she took in the sight of Longbottom and the two youngest Weasleys duelling amidst the chaos. "And why haven't they gone away?"
"Can't spare a man to make them," Grey called, dodging what looked like a crucio.
"Freed!" Laxus shouted. "Jutsu Shiki! Get us a safe zone so we can get Mest up here!"
The rune mage nodded, face set. Dodging something Lucy couldn't place, he looked at them. "I need you to watch my back. Once the runes are up, I can't move."
"For as long as you need," Lucy promised, stepping in front of him as he placed himself in a corner. As good as her aim was, the Death Eaters were unpredictable, and more often than not she missed. Cobra was snarling on her left as he alternated between spitting out curses and cursing the situation.
Bill Weasley fell under a man who was aptly described as a beast. Ginny Weasley screamed and lunged for him, but Angel caught her around the waist and hauled her back, out of the way of a curse that could have done some serious damage.
"Get Mest up here," Freed barked from behind her. "The safe zone is ready. Start getting the injured and the students inside it."
"Laxus! Patronus please!" she screamed, deflecting a rebounded hex from Freed.
His silvery falcon shot out of his wand, hurtling away from the battle and Lucy could only hope that Mest got there in time. They outnumbered the Death Eaters, could probably make their odds better by breaking out their own magic, but in an enclosed space, with students nearby...it was too risky.
Otherwise they would just let Cobra poison them all.
A blast of ice knocked the Death Eater off Bill, but he just scurried up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower with several others, the last one casting some sort of barrier to prevent them from following. Lupin tried, but bounced off it, nearly getting hit with something purple and nasty.
"Get those kids out of here," Laxus bellowed, spells darting towards Death Eaters in between each word. "And start evacuating our injured."
Snape appeared then, his robes billowing around him. Plunging through the fray, he reached the blocked entrance to the Astronomy Tower and passed through the barrier.
There goes the bravest man I know, Lucy thought as she watched him go to what was only going to bring him pain and suffering.
If her spells started getting a bit more vicious, she wasn't going to be too bothered.
"Natsu, take Happy and get up to that tower," Erza shouted, one of her spells blasting a window to pieces. "We need to find out what's going on up there."
Mest appeared behind Lucy, the faint displacement of air the only sign of his presence.
"Where do you need me?" he asked as Lucy deflected another curse.
"Bill Weasley's down," Cobra growled. "Get him out of here and then come back for the kids."
"You can't send us away," Ron yelled as he shot a curse towards one of the Death Eaters. "We have as much right to be here as you."
"Don't argue brat," Lucy hissed, ducking to let a spell shatter harmlessly on the wall behind her head. "This is way out of your league."
"Why do you get to stay?" Ginny demanded as Angel tried to drag her towards the safe zone Freed was holding. "What makes you special?"
"That," Midnight said flatly as he reflected a barrage of spells. He was pointing at Juvia who narrowly dodged a killing curse by liquefying where it would have hit and opening a hole in her body. "Could you have done that?"
A Death Eater fell, and Ginny's face got even more stubborn. "This is our fight!"
"Just shut up and do what we say," Meredy shouted as she and McGonagall pushed back a Death Eater.
Longbottom fell, and only Erza's quick reactions kept him from getting hit by a second curse. "This isn't a game anymore. We can't be focused on protecting you."
Death Eaters came rushing down from the Tower, Snape and Malfoy in the lead, the professor with his hand clamped firmly on Malfoy's shoulder. As he passed the area Lucy was defending, he met her eyes.
It was done.
Swallowing down her anger that he had been made to kill the headmaster after all, Lucy lost her patience with the girl. "Just do as we say, or we'll make you!"
"I'd like to see you-" Ginny began, but Cobra made a gesture to Angel and the former Celestial Mage stunned Ginny and began towing her towards the safe zone. Juvia had recovered Neville and was working on getting him to the safe zone when Potter burst out of the stairwell, ignoring everyone's calls for him.
Mest appeared to take Ginny as Natsu and Happy reentered the castle, looking shaken.
"The headmaster," Natsu began, but Cobra cut across him.
"Save it for later," he shouted, managing to stun one of the Death Eaters who hadn't followed Snape and Malfoy. "We have bigger fish to fry."
"Erza! Take your four and fall back to protect Freed! Cobra, take Lucy and Midnight and go after Potter!" Laxus discreetly electrocuted the most troublesome Death Eater, freeing up Lupin and Tonks to focus on one of the others. "Mest, get Weasley and Longbottom out of here and then come back for the last Weasley."
Cobra looked towards Lucy, and she nodded at the invitation he was offering as he shifted so that his back was to her. Jumping up, she locked her legs around his waist, and then he was running, Midnight keeping pace with them as they sped through several secret passages on their way to intercept Potter.
"We're going to grab him and fall back," Cobra growled to both of them. "No more, no less. Snape doesn't need us fucking around with this any more than we already are."
"Agreed," Lucy replied as Midnight grunted.
They burst out into the Entrance Hall, now decorated with glittering rubies from the broken Gryffindor hourglass. Other students were starting to venture out, likely drawn by the noise of the battle above them, but a snapped order from Cobra had them skittering out of the way.
Lucy slithered off his back as they reached the darkened lawns, now lit by what seemed like Hagrid's hut on fire, falling into step with Cobra as they rushed towards the two figures duelling on the lawn.
Potter had evidently pissed off Snape, from the spells and the attitude of the former professor, but Lucy couldn't blame the man. It had been a trying night, and it was only going to get worse from here on out.
"Get Potter," Cobra called as they spread out to flank Potter. "We need to fall back."
The order distracted Potter momentarily, enough for Snape to disappear into the night. Potter rounded on them angrily, but Lucy dropped him with a body bind. "Stay put for once in your life," she said coolly, stepping over him to help Midnight and Cobra put out the burning hut. They knew what waited for them back at the castle, and Lucy couldn't help but want to delay their return.
Anger warred with grief in the Infirmary, the news of the headmaster's death having spread to those assembled. The other staff members were running interference on the rest of the students, leaving McGonagall free to interrogate Fairy Tail.
"You were supposed to protect the school," the witch spat at them. "And how did you manage to miss this?"
"We told the headmaster that Malfoy was up to trouble," Laxus replied just as coolly. "He chose not to take action, and forbid us from taking action ourselves. If you are looking to blame someone for his death, blame him."
"He couldn't have foreseen Snape turning traitor," Lupin said bitterly. "He trusted him, and therefore so did I."
"How do you know this wasn't another one of his schemes?" Lucy challenged hotly. "He was ever so good at playing chess with human players. The headmaster was dying anyway; perhaps Snape saved him an excruciating death."
"Impossible," Potter snapped, fully mobile again and perched on the edge of Ginny's hospital bed. "You weren't there. Snape killed Dumbledore in cold blood."
"You know nothing," Lucy began, but Laxus silenced her with a wave of his hand.
"We're leaving now," he said firmly. "The headmaster never meant to send us home, so I think that justifies our early departure. Thank you for the time we've spent here."
Ignoring the outcry that arose, Lucy reached into her pocket and unclipped Loke's key from her ring. Passing it to Sorano, she waited for the other woman to summon the lion spirit.
"Professor Snape is a good man," she said firmly as Loke reached for her hand to pull her into the Spirit World. "Unfortunately, he is very good at pretending to be evil incarnate."
A year later, Loke brought her a letter. Written on parchment in a familiar handwriting, it simply read.
It is over. Everything has come to fruition, Potter will defeat the Dark Lord tonight.
It is a far, far better rest that I go to…
Lucy cried, the scarf that the parchment was wrapped in clenched in her hands.
***Well, that's a wrap. I know I didn't go into a lot of things, like what the gang did when they got home, or who (if anyone) Lucy would end up with, but I felt as if this was the place to stop it.
If you have specific questions, feel free to PM. I might have answers, but the two questions mentioned above definitely don't. There will be NO sequel though, unfortunately.
Forgot to mention in the last chapter, but I quoted directly from Deathly Hallows during the scene with Snape, so I obviously don't own it. And the last quote is from Dickens. Also not my own work. (And yes, Snape is a Half Blood. I'm fairly certain that he at least came across a reference to it. And I just like it.)
Now, I've mentioned being interested in trying to do a fic in a month again during January. Would people rather I put up tentative summaries for a few ideas I have and put a poll on my profile page? Or should I just pick an idea and surprise everyone in January? Right now, the plot bunnies closest to being fic-ready are a Naruto fic, a Naruto/Harry Potter crossover, and a Harry Potter fic.
Anyway, thanks for hanging around during this wild and crazy ride. It's been fun, and a reasonable diversion from the WIPs that I'm bogged down in. You all are the best.***
