Parts (60-62)

VII

Chapter 14

Precipice

Part 1: Breaking Point

"Are you sure I can't come?" Annie pleaded of him.

Pip Varanian tore his eyes of where the Death Eater was hugging Michael's siblings goodbye to look back to his future wife, everyone else was ready to go. Annie was looking a little peaky but was doing a lot better then she had been in her first trimester, she was almost into the third now and had a reasonable sized baby bump. Still, Hogan – and Annie herself – didn't think she'd be able to carry it to full turn so she just had to take things really easy to not exacerbate anything.

"I'm sure," Varanian told her, encircling his arms around her gently, "You need to take it easy and we need to focus on just saving as many people as possible."

"I guess," Annie grumbled, "Feeling a little stir crazy."

"What?" Varanian wondered in surprise, she wasn't one the Shadows knew about so was fine to come and go as she pleased. She just hadn't been well enough to or didn't feel like it most of the time, "You went out just yesterday and had to come back inside because you didn't like how the air smelled."

"It smelled like garbage!"

"It smelled like flowers!"

"Well they must've been garbage flowers," Annie insisted stubbornly, folding her arms.

"There's no such thing as…" Varanian started to say but thought better of it, there was no real point arguing with a pregnant woman. Plus they did need to get going, maybe she meant stir crazy specifically in regards to doing anything war related. Or a day just seemed like a long time, Annie wasn't keen on long periods of time of inactivity. He leaned in and kissed her instead, "I love you."

"I'll see you later," Annie sighed, hugging him tightly before they pulled apart and she kissed him, "Someday I'll not be totally useless again."

"We all have our times of being totally useless," Varanian admitted, thinking of when he was recovering from being burned alive again which made her smile slightly. He rubbed her stomach gently, feeling the baby kick which it did quite often. He was still filled with a strange mix of anxiety and excitement about finally getting to meet their baby – hopefully – girl which they still hadn't named yet. He'd probably feel better about it if they weren't still in the middle of a war but he was doing the best he could on that, "See you later, take of yourself."

"You take care of yourself, you're the one going into a warzone," Annie pointed out, taking a sip from her water bottle and glanced over to the Death Eater who was now saying goodbye to Crystal. Varanian didn't understand how they managed to be so close one second but so awkward next second, both acting like they wanted to say something but didn't so instead had a tedious drawn out goodbye, "John! Get a move on already."

"I'm ready," John announced quickly even though he'd been midsentence, looking a little embarrassed as he jumped away from Crystal.

"Be careful," Crystal pleaded with him worriedly.

"Alright let's go then," Varanian decided, giving Annie's hand one last squeeze before moving away and glancing at Dom and Aurelius, bouncing their baby on their knee who was giggling happily, "And stay awake you, remember you're our backup if we need."

"We got it, don't worry," Dom assured him with a serious nod while Aurelius guided their infant son's hand to wave at them.

"Say bye-bye, Cres," Aurelius told the baby enthusiastically, "Say bye-bye to the others."

"Bye," Cres called, trying to chew on his sleeve as he waved at them. Varanian idly wondered what his and Annie's baby would look like.

"Come on," Varanian said to the ones who were actually going on the mission.

He glanced briefly at them, the Death Eater who was still standing near Michael's family, Heather and Latimer talking amongst themselves and Prosper off in a corner by himself… Prosper wasn't popular. He jerked his head at them as he headed out, giving a last wave at his fiancée as they went out into the cool evening air. Varanian walked anxiously through the fields, he often found himself feeling uncomfortable leaving these days.

He felt guilty leaving Annie alone when she was this pregnant and this ill from it, as well as with the threat of the Shadows getting the information from Molly and Scorpius now aware. They just couldn't find the same sized property for everyone and while they'd obviously have to split up if attacked, there was no way he could have the same degree of protection on each of them so Molly giving up them remained a viable threat hence making sure there were always some active fighters – like Dom and Aurelius - at the base not just more passive members – like Austin or Roman - or those outright incapable – like Crystal or Cres – of defending themselves. He was fairly confident in his evacuation plan but that was assuming there were no complications, he couldn't plan for every circumstance and there was a bunch of ways the Shadows could choose to attack them. He did feel guilty for not finding Molly yet but the Shadows weren't stupid, they also had been admittedly focused on Canada which was where they were going now.

They reached the bounds of his wards and apparated to a different field, the meeting place where Hermione and Ron were waiting for them. Hal was also there along with a couple of Hermione's trusted co-workers, her Deputy Department Head Mrs Koray, a muggle Claudia Oak and… some people whose names he didn't remember. Canada was about to make its last stand, they were going to lose horribly so Varanian had arranged to try evacuate as many people as possible because while England wasn't safe – which he had made clear to them – it wasn't in as imminent a danger. Getting so many people into the country and managing them wasn't something Gray was equipped for. However, having a high ranking position and connections Hermione was equipped. She'd given a list of people she trusted and they'd gone through the list extensively to thoroughly vet them, any Shadows they'd simply crossed them off the list. He had been reluctant to trust her but Varanian had to admit, Hermione had proved to be as great a help as Ron had claimed she would be. Hermione was leaning against a fence with her arms crossed in front of a large tent, Ron was sitting on it beside her reading from-

"Hey, is my baby name book?" Varanian complained as he noticed Ron was thumbing through the battered paperback Ethel's parents had given him.

"Erm… yeah," Ron admitted sheepishly, "I borrowed it. Wanted to throw some name suggestions into the ring since you two are always going on about it."

"What names do you suggest?" Varanian queried and Ron looked taken aback.

"Yeah, Ron, what names do you suggest," Hermione prompted of her husband, Varanian felt like he was missing something.

"I err… like… Merlin," Ron said slowly.

"Pretentious," Varanian commented, "And what if it's a girl?"

"Merlin… a?" Ron guessed and Varanian just snatched it back to pocket it, "Well I tried."

"Everything in place?" Varanian said instead to Hermione while Ron started glaring at Prosper, considering his son had recently almost been blown up by the PAW in Hogwarts before they were taken down Ron was not in the happiest mood with the ex-PAW werewolf.

"Yes, I had to get everything set up early," Hermione nodded, looking a little pale herself actually, "The tent is ready to process survivors, we have food and water and some medical supplies to treat any injured along with some bedding of course. We'll take names and keep count, once we have as many as we can you take off and we're done we can take the Canadian leader to Alaric to work things out. We're just waiting on Jack/One, this is all for nothing if he doesn't show."

"He better," Varanian growled, he'd kept Wyatt in Hogwarts for this and told him he could kill any Shadows he saw. They probably could have found Molly otherwise, his animagus form just made him the best spy as he alone could follow Shadows by hiding amongst their clothes or things in his small form.

"Ask and ye shall receive!" One announced cheerfully, phasing into existence beside them, "Wanted to wait for you, I don't trust these others."

"Let's go then," Varanian decided, they were a little early but every second counted.

Oathan stood in the heart of chaos, his form shifting between his current child state and his adult self twenty years into the future like a glitch on a muggle electronic. Young and old his face was stoic, his hands moving slowly and methodically in opposing circular directions with blazing orange light sparking out as he clasped his hands together and the world exploded. She heard someone screaming and the world shuddered, it was too loud to hear anything as rocks and rubble tumbled down around him. Oathan split into his two selves, the adult standing firm and tall while the broken boy collapsed at his feet shaking as blood oozed out of his ears.

Molly jerked awake sleepily, finding she wasn't being tortured. That was unusual because this was her life now, she spent as much time as she could lost in the future and drifted in and out of that and the cruel reality she was in. She wasn't even sure what she was seeing anymore, visions? Dreams? Hallucinations? She didn't know anymore and in truth she didn't really care anymore either, she just wanted to escape the pain. Her whole life had become like a dream, bouncing in between the future and the painful present made it feel she was caught between half-remembered dreams and vivid nightmares. Both were surreal in their own way…

"I got you, Molly," Scorpius assured her, holding her close partially to comfort her and partially because she couldn't stand alone. Behind him she could see an army of Inferi storming Hogwarts, only she could hear the screams. Scorpius tried to help her walk, his face flickering between that and Calderon's but he didn't seem to notice, he also didn't seem to notice the gaping hole in his chest with blood pouring out of it, "You're going to be okay, Molly, you're going to be okay."

She cracked open her stinging eyes at the gloom to see she was still a prisoner. Not because the room she was in, she'd come to realize her body was the prison. She didn't even feel like a person anymore, she was just a consciousness stuck a fleshy sack bones. A body wasn't a good thing, they were weak. They could be cut into, burned, beaten, broken, bruised, butchered ripped, raped, torn, shattered, scarred, scalded, whipped, frozen, flayed or just flat out have parts hacked away and after all of that – and maybe more she was forgetting – some healing spells fixed it up so it could start all over again. And again. And again. And again. If they weren't doing that, there was just pain because one word and everything hurt overwhelmingly. On top of that, hunger gnawed at the insides and tiredness stung at the eyes constantly, the smell was foul and she was so cold. She wasn't even being tortured in that moment but she still found herself whimpering in pain from the accumulation of raw wounds she had, she couldn't even breathe from her nose because Selwyn – fuck that guy – that smashed it in so badly.

The deformed Brutus Ashain leaned in and kissed the Shadow Master for the very last time.

No. It wasn't good to be in a body, it was just a prison of pain. She didn't want to be there, she didn't want to be trapped there. So she didn't, she spent as much time as possible as far as possible away from that broken shell. For Flan it had been his mind, for her it was the future. Her inner eye was the one part of her they couldn't touch, the one thing they couldn't take away from her, the one escape she had. She didn't even care what she saw anymore, she just wanted to be somewhere where it didn't hurt. She just wanted it to not hurt anymore. It was pathetic, she knew, but she'd lost all dignity a long time ago. She was naked and filthy, they didn't let her bathe or use the bathroom. She just had to hold it for as long as she could because they'd hose her down with scalding or freezing water which was the only time they did anything for the grime and blood staining her, she was disgusting. She knew that.

She saw a baby she didn't recognize, it was just a newborn and a small one at that. It was naked except for the diaper, which was made of cloth making it impossible to tell the gender. The baby was lying on the scorched ground, rubble and ash strewn around it with no one else in sight. Most notably though was the deep crimson pool it lay in, undoubtedly blood. She had no idea whether it was the baby's blood or not. It was crying at any rate, wailing uselessly in desperation for someone to come for it and flailing its little arms. No one came.

Molly felt the tears roll down her cheeks, making her eyes sting even more as she tried to move her arms into a position where the shackles weren't biting painfully into the ruins of her wrist. She failed. She didn't want to be here anymore, she just wanted it to stop. At this point even death was a reprieve, at least she'd be free of her prison. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out, refusal being instinct by now and spending as much time as possible out of it were the only reasons she thought she was really holding on. That and some instinct to not give in to Selwyn – because fuck that guy - it couldn't last forever though.

She saw her Uncle Bill, crying apologies as he held baby Cres' head under the thrashing current of the river as the child desperately struggled to save himself.

She tried to swallow tasting the dried blood in her mouth and continued to have her eyes swivel around, she really should be glad she wasn't being tortured right but instead a feeling of unease wriggled around in her empty stomach. They didn't usually leave her alone this long, what was up? Were they distracted by Scorpius trying to rescue her? He better not, she felt her heart race in terror at the thought. That would mean Hogwarts would fall and he would die… It could not be that, she supposed, they could just be planning something especially awful. She choked on a sob at the thought, she didn't want to be hurt anymore. She knew she was supposed to be strong and resist but dammit, she just wanted it all to stop. It was hard to care about anything else. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to leave…

She saw two eagles, one golden and one made up of the silver light of a Patronus. The eagles didn't seem to notice one was incorporeal and one was not, they flew together through the starry sky. The danced in their air, gliding around each other with the grace of ice skaters as if they'd choreographed the whole thing. It was so beautiful, Molly gazed at them in awe before together they shot straight up and out of sight. The ground erupted the second they did, there was a scream and a rotted hand reached on out of the earth.

Molly was brought back to reality again, this time by the presence of people, she jolted fearfully away from the man but he was focused on healing her. She started to feel afraid again, she was usually more hurt then this when they healed her. Why were they doing it now? They must really have something horrible planned for her. She resisted the urge to beg for mercy, she'd learned begging was pointless but still felt compelled to try it. It was seemingly human instinct to cry for help when you needed it and expect compassion from other humans, much like a baby. She instead quivered fearfully, flinching at any aggravated wounds and trying to avoid any touch. The man healed her up, much more thoroughly then she usually was and then actually put clothes on her. It was just underwear and a t-shirt but she'd take it, it was far better than nothing although she had no idea why. He left without saying a word beyond some muttered healing spells. The dread continued to creep around in her mind.

There was a violent flash and Scorpius was thrown back, his corpse hit the ground and his empty gray eyes gazed back at her lifelessly. She'd told him not to save her.

"Okay, bitch," a familiar voice said and Molly snapped awake instantly, seeing Selwyn looming over her with a smug smirk. As always when she saw him, she felt a flood of both rage and terror and an uncomfortable twist in her heart. She wanted to simultaneously curl into a ball and sob at what he'd done to her but she also wanted to viciously smash his fucking face in until there was nothing left for what he'd done to her, she couldn't do either though, "Now you're presentable, are you ready to meet your family?"

"What?" Molly wondered in confusion, what did he mean her family? Was he talking about James? Was her cousin going to torture her now?

"Bring her in," Selwyn called to the doorway and Molly blinked her still stinging eyes, had she misheard or had he said… her?

Molly heard a familiar cry of fear and a shiver shot down her spine like a bolt of lightning, she knew that voice. Her little sister, Lucy. A second later she was proved correct as a sobbing Lucy was shoved through the doorway, it felt like forever since she'd seen her expect visions when she found her dead or she was being swallowed by Shadows. Was this what those visions had been about? Lucy had been in danger this whole time just because of her?

"Don't hurt her!" Molly cried desperately as Lucy was dragged in, "She's just a kid! And a squib! She's not part of this, she's no part of anything! Leave her out of this! Just leave her alone."

"That's not how it works, bitch," Selwyn laughed and Molly couldn't help the way she recoiled as he took a step towards, shuddering involuntary, "An eye for an eye, give us the location or little Lucy here gets it."

Molly blinked back tears, this wasn't fair. The woman leading Lucy pushed her towards Selwyn, who immediately shoved her onto the ground in front of her. Lucy sat up shakily, her freckled face a mask of fear and Molly finally saw her sister in the first time in what felt like forever. Lucy was of age now, her seventeenth birthday had been a few months ago and she'd grown to be quite pretty, she was slender and had large muddy brown eyes – like their mother – hiding behind the sheet of straight crimson hair. Nothing like Molly's curls, Lucy had a clip or something keeping it in place in the back. She was still in her muggle school uniform, she hadn't been to Hogwarts due to being a squib. They didn't have a great relationship admittedly, Lucy was quite sore about the whole squib thing and to be fair Molly had had other priorities. Molly had hoped she'd grow out of her anger and they'd reconcile at some point. They were still sisters after all, she loved her. Since their parents had both been killed, Lucy was the only immediate family she had left. She had to protect her.

"Molly?" Lucy breathed in surprise, blinking through her tears as she seemingly struggled to recognize her and looked horrified, "What… What have they done to you?"

"Don't worry about me," Molly brushed it off, feeling a tear roll down her cheek and she reached – she could just about manage it - out to squeeze her little sister's hand to comfort her, trying to not imagine Lucy ending up like her, "You're going to be okay, Lucy, alright? I'm going to get you out of here, okay? It's going to be okay."

"I'm scared, Molly," Lucy whispered tearfully, "I'm so scared. Why is this happening?"

"Because Molly's a little bitch, ain't that right?" Selwyn sneered and grabbed Lucy, eliciting a cry fear from the teen as she was hauled to her feet. He held her to him roughly and jabbed his wand into her neck, Lucy started sobbing harder, "Tell me where Gray is or say goodbye."

"Don't hurt her!" Molly yelled desperately even though it hurt her throat, tears bubbling in her eyes.

"Then tell me!" Selwyn boomed, pressing the wand further to Lucy's throat making her whimper in pain. His eyes shifted sideways to the teen and he sniffed her hair, a salacious smile slid onto his face that made Molly feel sick inside, "Or maybe we'll have some fun first, she's much prettier then you and untouched."

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Molly shrieked furiously, trying to get up but she was still shackled to the wall stopping her from moving her forwards or even standing but struggled against it anyway, "DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE, YOU SON OF BITCH!"

"Do you kiss your father with that mouth?" Selwyn laughed, "Oh right, you can't because he's dead because I killed him."

"FUCK YOU, SELWYN!" Molly cried and stopped her vain struggling, tears streaming from her eyes as she imagined her little sister going through what she had. She choked on a pathetic sob and squeezed her eyes shut as the memory of Selwyn being on her and in her, she shuddered fearfully as her insides shriveled up feeling sick. She couldn't let Lucy go through that, she couldn't. She tried to yell but words came out as a weak whimper, "Don't hurt my sister."

"Then don't let me, bitch," Selwyn growled and Molly looked tearfully back up to her torturer's face, Lucy was still in his clutches trembling in terror, "Tell me what I want to know and we'll let your sister go free, if not… your Seer power should tell you what's coming. And when I'm done with her and I squeeze the last drop of air from her stupid squib lungs, know that you could've stopped it, you could've saved her."

Molly averted her stinging eyes once more, feeling torn up inside. She didn't want to betray Gray but she had to protect her sister, she had to. Lucy was a squib, she was helpless. Varanian had to have something in place to protect them, he did… She knew something could go wrong but it could also go right whereas if she did nothing, she was going to lose Lucy, the last family she had. She had to.

"Okay," Molly agreed brokenly, hating herself with every fiber she had left of her being as the wave of guilt slammed into her. It was the lesser of two evils though, how could it not be? "I'll tell you. Just don't hurt her."

Part 2: Flight and Slice

"Varanian?" Scorpius questioned, putting his wand to the ring to try enlist his help.

Not now. Busy. If it's not an emergency, it can wait

"Well that answers that," Scorpius sighed and went to tell Martha.

He and Martha had come up with a plan of action when she agreed to help, his plan had involved Varanian helping Martha but if he wasn't available then it had to be Scorpius. Who else could he trust to help Martha save Molly? He thought of his friends briefly but quickly dismissed the idea, as if he could actually trust them to help assuming they'd even be willing. He couldn't even risk asking them because if they knew they'd do everything in their power to stop him, as evidenced by Maurice trying to jinx him. He knew they were still keeping an eye on him, Maurice had even asked him for the Marauder's Map once. There was Wyatt but he was bound to Michael so wasn't an option right now. No, if he wanted to save Molly he'd have to do it himself.

"But you're supposed to stay in Hogwarts," Martha pointed out after he'd told her, biting her lip anxiously, "How about we just wait until Gray isn't busy?"

"Molly could be dead by then!" Scorpius protested, "It has to me, it just… it just does, okay? I can feel it."

"But Hogwarts… my brother is here-"

"Look, I've left Hogwarts before since the US fell and I managed to get away with it," Scorpius insisted quite truthfully, giving Martha pause, "Hogwarts is only in trouble if they know that I'm gone, if we plan this carefully and move quickly then we can do it."

"Well how are we supposed to be quick?" Martha wondered, "Neither of us can apparate, that was something we definitely needed them for. Thestral is going to take too long."

"Okay…" Scorpius sighed, wracking his brain for a second before thinking of someone and snapping his fingers triumphantly, "Lamb!"

"Lamb?" Martha repeated, looking completely puzzled.

"He's this homeless werewolf I know, if I asked I'm sure he'd be willing to apparate us."

"Is he trustworthy?"

"I'd trust him."

"Then I guess we go with Lamb," Martha sighed heavily, still not looking convinced, "I could probably modify an Auror's memory to lie about the breach, it won't really matter when you get back in. The main issue is if they notice you're gone."

"That's why we're going when I'm expected to be in bed, we should be good until morning," Scorpius pointed out and Martha nodded, looking a little bit surer.

"Then I guess we're good to go."

And that was that, they pushed forwards with their plan. Scorpius did his best not to look as nervous as he felt at dinner with Kemen Arkaitz and other kids in his year he barely knew by sight let alone by now, maybe his friends had a point about how little attention he paid. He ate properly though, forcing the food down his throat because he knew he'd need his strength. He didn't bother with desert though, instead taking his leave to retreat back to his dormitory.

He closed the drapes around his bed as he usually did and just in case shoved some pillows under the blanket to look like himself, it was pretty lame but may fool a quick glance which hopefully they'd do since tomorrow was Saturday with NEWTs starting on Monday would be more focused on studying. He should be back by then, if all went well he would be anyway. He changed out of his uniform into plain clothes and tossed on his leather jacket – of course – before rooting around in Albus' trunk for his invisibility cloak, he did feel a bit worse for this but he did fully intend to give it back. Besides, Albus owed him and it was to save his own cousin. He tossed it over himself and mad sure he was satisfied he was prepared before heading out, going to the Room of Requirement to wait for Martha.

It was less suspicious if they left at different times and since he left earlier anyway, he was the first to go. He paced idly, trying to kill time and decided to practice his spellwork since he'd probably need to fight. The Room shifted to suit his needs summoning a kind of training dummy, he went through the spells he knew. While he performed them accurately, he still felt a little dissatisfied. Molly's life hung in the balance, he just felt like he needed… more somehow. This was serious. What other spells did he know though? Ashylos fluttered into mind, he'd known some cool spells. What was the incantation to the one Scorpius had liked again but Ashylos had thought him too young for at the time…

"Krataktin?" Scorpius half-guessed and half-recalled.

He jabbed his wand at the dummy as he spoke and a straight concentrated beam of light shot out, stabbing through the dummy like a spear to the heart but vanishing as suddenly as it appeared. It left behind a fist-sized hole going clean through the dummy… why could he do that but not apparate? He was distracted as the door opened, he spun but it was only Martha.

She'd also changed out of her uniform into plain clothes, a dress no less with a mismatching cloak both of which looked very worn out. He recalled the Shadows had her in foster care who provided her things and didn't seem to give much, she also had a small bag slung over her shoulder probably with her things. Unlike him, she wouldn't be able to return. Even though Varanian was busy, he had no doubt she'd be accepted into Gray by whoever was there because the base was never empty.

"Sorry," Martha apologized, "Got a little held up saying goodbye, Andreas is pretty upset."

"You told him?" Scorpius wondered in surprise and nervousness.

"No he's upset about something with a crush rejecting him, wanted to talk," Martha answered with a sad shrug, "I don't want to get him involved in this, if he'd even help. He's not a bad person it's just more complicated for him, he has his maternal family being threatened by Stephan to think about if he defects and he isn't very optimistic. He puts on a brave face but things to get to him easier. I didn't tell him, or Auriga, but I couldn't just leave without saying goodbye… even if they didn't know it was goodbye."

"I really do appreciate this, you know?" Scorpius offered, feeling slightly bad now but not enough to ask her not to. He made a mental note to try make it up to her later somehow.

"I know," Martha said sadly, "Let's just get this over with."

Scorpius retrieved the cloak and threw it over them, Martha blushed a little at being in such a small space with him but he ignored it as they headed out. He did feel bad for leaving knowing what could happen, he felt the weight of his anxiety resting on his heart like a heavyweight. He'd feel worse if he didn't go though, he did genuinely feel like something bad was going to happen to Molly if he waited. Besides, he was taking all the precautions he could to protect Hogwarts in his absence but he could do nothing for Molly without actually saving her. Maybe she'd be mad but he'd still rather she be alive to be mad. He did plan to go as fast as he could, with any luck even if they did notice his absence they wouldn't have had time to ready their attack. He could only hope so anyway.

They reached the grounds and his heart pounded faster as they crept along the grass, the cool night air making the cloak ripple a little around them. Guilt gnawed at his now full gut but he kept his resolve, the thought of his girlfriend dying in agony was enough to push him forwards, besides her capture but Gray at risk too which also had people he cared about. He had to save Molly, he just… he just had to. This was Molly. Martha withdrew her wand as they reached the path to Hogsmeade, crossing the bounds and waiting for an Auror to investigate.

"Legilimens!" Martha hissed, jabbing her wand through a gap she'd made to hit the woman as soon as she came into view. Martha looked incredibly focused for a moment, doing her thing. After what felt like an age but was more like a few minutes, Martha lowered her wand and the woman walked off muttering to herself about dumb kids, "Come on."

"What did you do?" Scorpius asked in a whisper as they headed along the path to Hogsmeade.

"Made her think it was a couple of kids trying to sneak into Hogsmeade for some booze who tripped the alarm," Martha explained, also in a whisper, "She let them go because she didn't want to leave her position, she checked magically and confirmed it wasn't you however. She looks forwards to kicking their asses when they get back though, she's kind of a bitch. She's also a Shadow so I guess it's not surprising."

"Fair enough."

They continued on into Hogsmeade, the cobbled streets virtually empty now compared to the bustle of the school trips there. He felt a renewed guilty pang thinking of Leebin and his family being here, Olivia and Vern's love child was too. It would be fine, it had been before. He just needed to be fast. He kept his eyes peeled for Lamb, scouring the streets for the homeless werewolf. He would still be here, wouldn't he? Scorpius swallowed nervously, starting to fear he'd been mistaken. Just after thinking that though, he spotted the scarred man sitting in an alleyway, sucking on a bottle of Firewhiskey. He threw off the cloak – he needed to be seen to speak to him of course - feeling a wave of disappointment.

"Ephraim!" Scorpius called out remembering the first name he'd given, making Lamb jump as he approached, "What are you doing? What happened to staying sober for your daughter?"

"I- I did!" Lamb protested defensively with a slight slur to his words, blinking back tears all of a sudden, "I was good, I was really so good. I stayed stone as the cold sober like her grandparents wanted, I even used the money I got to buy her a present-" Lamb hastily held up a stuffed unicorn that was half buried in his robes now as if to prove it "-since is for her birthday and all. But when I- when I get there, d'ya know what they said?"

"What did they say?"

"They said that it don't matter, that they- they never thought I'd actually do it that's only reason why they said it," Lamb admitted miserably, tears leaking from his eyes, "They wouldn't let me see her, said that- that if I really love her then I should stay away and never come back. They said that she's better off without me since I- I'm a werewolf and- and attacked when I was turned, nothing makes- makes it okay and she's better off without me. The best I can do for her is die, they said, that way they can- they can tell her the monster that killed her mother is dead. That's the only thing I can do to make her happy, that's what they said. W- Wouldn't even give her the toy."

"Well screw those guys! They sound like terrible people," Scorpius insisted, annoyed at what sounded like more prejudiced assholes, "She's your daughter and it's not your fault what you did when you turned."

"That's what Still Human said and what I said but they- they didn't believe it… I guess I- I can't blame them, I'm not even sure I believe it. I- I still get nightmares all of the nights, I didn't- I didn't want to be a werewolf or kill my wife."

"I bet you didn't but drinking isn't going to solve anything," Scorpius sighed as Lamb wiped at his eyes, he liked Lamb – really – but he didn't have time for this right now, "Look, I really need your help right now."

"Want me to- Want me to point out the bad people again?" Lamb wondered before giving a bitter laugh, "Did you hear that about PAW falling? Just my luck that they- that they go and die when I want to fall."

"It's nothing about that, I need you to apparate me," Scorpius told him seriously, crouching to be at his level and Lamb blinked a few times, "My girlfriend's been taken by some bad people and I need to save her, I need to go right now but the problem is I can't apparate."

"I- I erm… I don't know if I can- can if I am the one that you want to need help with," Lamb babbled nervously, "I- I'm not good at doing things."

"You can apparate can't you?"

"Well yeah but I'm kinda pretty drunk right now."

"You can still apparate though?"

"Y- Yeah but I- I'm not the most reliable, isn't there someone- someone else that you can do?"

"There's no one else," Scorpius pleaded desperately and Lamb looked a little guilty as he caught his eye, "Please Ephraim, my girlfriend's going to die if I don't this and she's in pain right now this very second. I love her… do you miss your wife?"

"Y- Yeah," Lamb admitted, nodding tearfully, "I miss her- I miss her every day. Eileen is was her name what it is was has been. She- She was the best, she was smart and- and pretty and the kindest- the kindest that- that you'd now. She was always good to me, she was shy but- but when you- when you got to know her she was is the best that the kindest… I'd give anything for her to still be alive. It hurts that- that she's gone. It always hurts."

"If you don't help me, that's how bad I'm going to feel when my girlfriend dies," Scorpius told him quietly and Lamb looked saddened, "Please help me, she doesn't deserve this."

"What's her name?"

"Molly," Lamb repeated to himself, his head bobbing as it did before he glanced back to him, "Ok- Okay I'll help you."

"Thank you," Scorpius said gratefully with a hefty sigh of relief.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Martha wondered of him as he stood back up, she'd also came over and had the cloak over one arm, "He's drunk and it could be dangerous."

"We'll put the cloak on him and have him wait outside, he'll be fine," Scorpius brushed it off as Lamb got to his feet slightly unsteadily, Scorpius was somewhere between pleased and proud that Lamb left the alcohol behind. He kept a hold of the unicorn though.

"Did- Did you say dangerous?" Lamb asked, his eyes suddenly looking interested as his wrist started to make that random repeating spasming movement again, "Because I- I don't mind the dangerous. If I- I want to die, I don't have- have nothing anything of left. If I can't see my daughter, mayb- maybe I can see my wife and make my daughter happy that I- that I'm the dead. Can you give this unicorn to her if I die or to someone else who'd like it? The store doesn't like to take the returns and offering it to random kids might- maybe be taken the wrong way."

"You… We'll talk when you're sober," Scorpius decided, increasingly concerned for Lamb's mentality and wasn't sure how much was even just the alcohol talking because he was a little incoherent. Long as he could apparate, Scorpius was still happy with him though, "So where do we need to go, Martha?"

August Longbottom sat at the Ravenclaw table at dinner, shoveling in forkfuls he wasn't tasting into his mouth as his eyes swiveled between three different textbooks he had propped up to try cram in as much study for his OWLs as possible. It was Friday after all, they started on Monday. Monday! It was close and he had so many subjects to study for failing and he had prefect rounds to do, it made him very nervous. He was terrified of failing, he needed to do well because he had a lot to live up to. His father had helped defeat Voldemort, his mother had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, his eldest sister had won the freaking Triwizard Tournament, his older brother had died a hero and his older sister was more involved in Gray trying to end the war. He couldn't do any of that so grades were the best he had.

He finished his food along with the rest of the school except a few early finishers and they filed out, he put his books back in his room before heading out to gather for his prefect rounds. It was a shame Lily wasn't a prefect, any excuse to spent time with her was welcome. Although knowing Lily, she probably wouldn't have liked being a prefect anyway. At least Hugo was a prefect, he also cared about his studies and was probably August's closest friend. August was worried about him, he'd been very withdrawn lately with the recent attacks against him. And even though Hugo swore otherwise, he was sure his roommates were giving him a hard time again, no one had that many accidents and coincidentally only after having been around them.

So the prefects gathered, ready to be given their nightly routes by Maurice – the Head Boy - and pairings because he switched them up sometimes to promote inter-house unity or foster good relations between years. That was what he said anyway, August suspected it had started to work around the full moon making the werewolf members useless and to make sure the werewolves weren't alone when they were in danger but he had probably had come to see good reason for it seeing as he still did it. Considering Maurice had a twin and friends in other houses and had moved up a grade, August could logically see it being something that could interest the deaf boy.

"Hey August," the busy red-haired Hugo greeted him, the freckled boy was looking rather pale and tired. He'd been staying up late to study, he wanted to make his mother proud.

"Hey," August offered to his taller friend readily as Abby, Michael and Maurice arrived, both looking very severe, why was everyone taller than August? "What's up? How's revision going?"

"Pretty badly," Hugo admitted with a sigh, "I was wondering if I could borrow your Transfiguration notes? I still haven't caught up on everything I missed while in the Hospital Wing, glancing through the textbook today I can see gaps in my knowledge."

"No problem, I was going to bring them to our study session tomorrow in the Library anyway because I want to revise Transfiguration as well. So if you can just wait until then we can work which ones you need?"

"Sounds good."

"Hugo, August," Abby called and gestured for them to come on, he and Hugo exchanged a look before following into the empty room which Maurice was enchanting against eavesdroppers and Michael kept looking out of the window. Maybe August should've been a bit more worried by the severe expressions.

"What's going on?" Hugo asked worriedly when Maurice was done and put a hand to his translator necklace.

"Scorpius left," Maurice answered bitterly and August felt his face drain of color much the way Hugo's did, he felt his heart starting to pound, "I used the spell to check he's in Hogwarts at dinner but by the time I got back to the dorm, he was gone which Michael and Albus confirmed. Empty bed."

"Bloody hell."

"So the attack is coming?" August pressed anxiously and the Seventh Years exchanged looks, his sister sighed.

"That's what we wanted to warn you about," Abby admitted, "It hasn't started yet, we're not sure if the Shadows have noticed yet or if they even will."

"That's why we're letting the Gray kids know to be able to keep a look out," Maurice explained seriously, "Cassia's manning the birds, and non-prefects are staying awake on standby and using a spell every fifteen minutes that'll detect Scorpius' presence. Us prefects needs to keep more of an eye out for signs of activity outside then in although any students out have detained in a room immediately, for all we know they could be the spy going to warn the Shadows. Keep an eye on the other prefects acting suspicious too, could also be one of them."

"Martha Seneca is also missing," Michael added, finally stepping away from the window, "She could've taken him somewhere maybe or considering her crush, more likely she's helping him rescue Molly. If they see him there they're going to know he's out, spy or not. He also stole Albus' Invisibility Cloak."

"Should we try warn the teachers?" August wondered.

"No, Weedy Larry didn't take Elina's warning before seriously.

"Besides, if they do anything it might tip the Shadows off if they haven't realized so don't tell them unless you see the attack is starting because obviously they should know," Maurice told them, "Which reminds me, no telling Andreas anything. We don't know where the boy's loyalties lie so let's not risk it. Are we clear on everything?"

"Yes, sir," Hugo and August said in unison, exchanging another anxious look as Maurice nodded content.

They rejoined the other oblivious prefects and Maurice announced the routes and changes, it was pretty standard although August did notice he split Abby and Michael off with others which was probably to allow all of Gray to cover more ground. And so August set off with Mathilda Emmett, the plump - and even she was taller than him - female Ravenclaw prefect of his year. He had nothing against her, they weren't friends either but they had a civil relationship and he thought she was alright. She seemed more focused on quizzing herself – she did offer August to join in but he declined – on things for OWLs which was fair enough, he might've joined her if his eyes weren't glued to any window they passed looking for signs of an invading army.

Mathilda ultimately decided she'd done enough for the night and would rather study, August let her go seeing no reason why he shouldn't and making sure she was going in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower but it was pretty normal behavior from her. He continued on alone, he wasn't seeing anything though. Not until he caught sight of a familiar flash of blond when he reached the Grand Staircase, for one hopeful second he thought it was Scorpius returning but it wasn't. I t was Lysander. Well he supposed it could be Lorcan, they were identical twins but he saw Gryffindor colors and Lorcan was a Slytherin so it was more likely to be Lysander. This also seemed more like something Lysander would do, August felt the suspicious feelings returning.

August headed downstairs as fast as he could, taking two steps at a time and practically running while Mathilda was probably moseying calmly back to Ravenclaw Tower still quizzing herself. In honesty, August would rather be doing that but if he wanted to find out what Lysander was doing he didn't have time to ask someone else to look into it. He was out of breath by the time he reached the bottom, stumbling over the last few steps but he managed to get to the bottom before Lysander made it to the front door. August felt a sliver of fear crawling up his spine, should he really be doing this? Maybe he should get Maurice? It was just Lysander even if he was bad, he wasn't a threat and August was probably wrong anyway. Plus Lily would want him to be brave, she liked bravery. What would she say if she found out he'd been scared to confront Lysander when he'd been leaving to smell the flowers? It was bizarre but then so was Lysander.

"Lys!" August called and the boy paused, turning back around curiously like he'd been completely lost in thought.

"Oh, hi August," Lysander greeted him cheerfully and it was definitely Lysander, his voice was high and sing-songy while Lorcan's was gruffer and deeper. They may be identical but not in voice, plus he'd answered to his name and lacked Lorcan's bags beneath his eyes from his chronic sort of severe insomnia. Lysander was sounding awfully cheerful considering as a Gray kid and Gryffindor he no doubt had been informed of the attack even before August, "What's happening?"

"Where are you going?" August questioned, sounding a little more demanding then he meant to and Lysander cocked his head to one side, gazing at him like he was a strange curiosity as he took a step away from the door.

"Is it a crime to leave?"

"It's against curfew plus… well you know why," August told him, not wanting to say it aloud just in case any shadows listening.

"Yes, yes about dear Scorpius," Lysander nodded, "Isn't that all the more reason to go out and smell the flowers while we have this chance? The hydrangeas are in bloom right now."

"No, someone could warn the Shadows. No one is to go outside," August said, surprised at how firm his voice sounded. He expected Lysander to move but the boy merely giggled.

"I know they could, Auggie boy, that's why I want to go outside," Lysander offered, beaming at him innocently despite the words making August's heart beat faster.

"Please tell me you want to make sure you stop them."

"Quite the opposite actually, I am a Soul Eater," Lysander admitted and his smile only widened, seemingly oblivious to the horror that sprang onto August's face. He sighed, "You have no idea how good it feels to get to say that for once, I spend so much time pretending to be against them when really I love them so much. I don't see why they ask me to lie but I am loyal."

"Wha- Why?" August spluttered out at a loss, despite suspecting it he found himself shocked at the revelation, "After everything they did to you and Lorcan…"

"What they did to me was make me see the glorious light they emit in the world," Lysander told him, his face lighting up with absolute awe, "I only regret they feared my instability so put me back in the dark for a little more but I'm okay now, I see now. And as for Lorcan, he is being selfish. He should relish the fact his suffering served our master, he hasn't seen the light yet."

"There is no light, they're Shadows!" August protested gaping at the boy, he knew Lysander was crazy but he hadn't thought he was… this. His face was practically glowing, he continued beaming at him too still not seeming to notice August's discomfort.

"Ah but you can't have light without shadow, can you? You're smart, Auggie, you should know that. The greater the light the greater the shadow, the bad is merely a consequence of so much good."

"They brainwashed you, Lys, you have to see that."

"Don't be silly, my fairy guardians wouldn't let me get brainwashed. You on the other hand, their power is always weaker with non-believers," Lysander explained quite calmly, looking suddenly thoughtful, "Did you ever consider maybe you are the ones brainwashed against how beautiful the light of the Shadows is?"

"Of course I didn't, you're- you're insane!" August spluttered out again, Lysander merely observed him calmly, "You have to see that, none of what you said made any sense. They're just manipulating you."

"Oh August, I've told you before nargles like to hang out in books so burying your nose in so many of them is by no means healthy. I would love to try and help you with that nargle infestation you have I have a message to deliver."

"No!" August cried, remembering what was at stake and drawing his wand as Lysander turned to leave, the boy glanced back at him, "I won't let you, Lys, if you want to betray us then you'll have to get through me! Flipendo!"

"Ow!" Lysander moaned as he was thrown back first against the door, he slumped to the ground and looked upset as his eyes filled with tears, "Why are you being so mean to me? We're supposed to be friends."

"Because you need help," August offered sadly but hopefully they could help him, feeling more confident in himself now. He knew Lysander was weak but he still didn't think he was that weak, would Lily be impressed? He hoped Lily would be impressed, "Toss me your wand."

Lysander threw his wand to him, sniffing unhappily. It clattered to the ground in front of August, Lysander couldn't even manage to throw it the full few feet. August picked it up and approached Lysander, ready to take him to Maurice now. He knew where he'd be, Maurice had given him the route and he didn't think Lysander would give him any trouble. Lysander was sitting against the door pitifully, his arms around himself as he eyed him with a look of hurt.

"Come on then," August urged, offering his free hand to help Lysander up.

Lysander took his hand and with startling agility got to his feet, sliding in behind August and producing a knife faster than August could register it. He cried out as Lysander started moving the blade to his neck, abandoning the wands to try grab Lysander's arm to stop the knife. He failed but Lysander didn't stab him, he pressed the blade against August's throat so close he could feel the chill of the steel on his skin. August resisted the urge to choke on a sob, feeling terror flood every fiber of his being. He was too afraid to even tremble lest the blade accidentally slit his throat.

"I like knives," Lysander whispered dangerously into his ear while August blinked back terrified tears feeling nothing but cold inside, he didn't want to die, "Did you know that? I prefer them to wands, ever since I butchered that little bitch who was trying to kill us. That was fun, I enjoyed watching the smooth river of red spill onto her soft white flesh. It was so pretty. I liked hearing her scream too, she has quite a musical voice that is rather pleasant on the ears. She's not a shrill screamer."

"Please," August pleaded barely audibly and resisted the urge to quiver as just the one world caused a minor nick, he felt a drop of his blood roll down his neck.

"You said some unkind things to me, things friends aren't supposed to say to one another and even nastier things about the beauty and glory of the Soul Eaters," Lysander told him, sounding dreamy again and moved the knife a fraction further from his neck, "Do you take it back? Do you wish to join us?"

"Of course not," August breathed, his heart beating furiously in his chest drowning it out to his own ears. He was so scared, would Lysander really be willing to kill him? They'd known each other since infancy, he had to try appeal to what shreds of decency and sanity were left in the blended mess they'd made of Lysander's unfortunately fragile mind, "It's wrong, Lys, you know this. Deep down you know this, your parents raised you better than this. They're good people, you are good people even if you're a little messed up right now. You just have to try, you just have to put down the knife."

"Hmm… I don't think so."

I the next instant the knife ripped through August's neck, he'd have screamed if it was possible in pain and terror as a tide of crimson flooded from his throat. He felt like he was choking, he couldn't breathe, of course he couldn't as it was all severed. He was dying. Lysander kept holding him to him in their standing position and started stroking his hair, it was if he was trying to be soothing. Tears spilled shamelessly from August's eyes, he didn't want to die. He was only fifteen.

"I'm sorry you're not ready to accept the light of the Shadows. But its okay, I know you mean well despite the conditioning forced cruelly upon you by Gray. You'll be reborn though, don't worry. In your next life the war will be over, we'll have won and you can enjoy an age of peace and happiness," Lysander offered gently into his ear as everything started to go dark, he felt his strength fading and his life. The blood gushed from his neck and the tears from his eyes, he felt nothing but despair as darkness descended. In his last seconds of life he heard his killer giggle, "You know, your blood looks just like punch. Isn't that…"

Part 3: Traitors

Celestine Rooke was in a delightful mood, he had not one but two great things to report to his master. It really was if everything was lining up to give Sal a pleasant birthday surprise, if moving quickly wasn't a factor he might even have waited those few hours just to give her the news on her birthday but alas. Still, it felt like fate that Molly would reveal Gray's location and Scorpius would leave Hogwarts around the same time, on top of that Canada was on the brink of falling today. Everything was looking up, they just had to not screw it up. He was on his way to pass the information along, first however he had to get rid of the pesky little creature he'd named Vale which was why he found himself standing outside of Grimmauld Place knocking. Vale stood stoically beside him, staring at the floor.

"Cel? Hi," Ginny greeted him in surprise before giving a gentle smile to Vale, "And hi, Vale! How are you, sweetheart?"

"Fine," Vale muttered with a shrug not looking up, she looked slightly concerned by this and Celestine shifted his expression to pretend to share in her worry.

"Well what can I do for you, Cel?"

"I… urm…" Celestine stammered out nervously, fidgeting and miming looking a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry it's such short notice but I was wondering if you'd be able to babysit Vale tonight."

"Does Harry want you to work?" Ginny asked, her expression souring a little, he saw more of her husband then she did these days.

"Actually I kind of… kind of have a erm… date."

"A date?" Ginny repeated, blinking in surprise and Celestine gave her a sheepish smile as he nodded.

"It was rather unexpected, I haven't tried dating anyone since…" Celestine lied and trailed off, pretending to look a little upset at his wife's death, he sighed, "It won't be happening if I can't find someone to watch Vale though."

"I'd be happy to watch Vale," Ginny offered, a kind smile creeping onto her face and she picked up Vale, "You want to hang out with your Auntie Ginny, Vale?"

"Are you sure it's no trouble?" Celestine inquired politely, biting his lip as if anxious to not impose on her.

"Of course, Vale is no trouble and I just finished the article I was working on anyway," Ginny assured him, shifting her position to better hold the demonic monster that looked like a toddler, "So what's her name?"

"Sally," Celestine invented, smiling sheepishly once more, "We work together a bit, I'll tell you about it later but I really need to get ready and tell her I can make it. And thanks for doing this, Ginny, I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, have fun."

"Bye Vale," Celestine offered with a wave at the thing he's sired, acting like he cared but pretending to look concerned when Vale gave him a pathetic excuse for a wave which Ginny looked sympathetic too. Everyone was sympathetic to the widower with poor withdrawn toddler, "Thanks again, Ginny, I'll pick him up as soon as I'm done."

Celestine left the Potters and returned home to keep up appearances, only then did he have a Specter transport him to Athens where his angel resided. Stephan was the one crushing Canada, unless he had screwed up since yesterday Sal should be there. His master had the penthouse of the tallest building in the city, which was where she 'lived' technically with her children… and him. Brutus bloody Ashain. He bet Brutus didn't have good news to give her, what did she see in him again? His eyes skimmed the large spacious living room, there were some comfortable looking couches and double doors opened onto a balcony-

"Can I help you?" an elderly woman asked and Celestine glanced at her as she entered the room from one of the doors, expecting a slave but she was unmarked by the muggle sign but she was still collecting up toys that no doubt belonged to Sal's young children.

"Cel Rooke, I have news to report to the Shadow Master if she's here," Celestine told her, trying to figure out why there was seemingly an old witch doing servant work.

"She is, she's playing with the children. I'll let her know you're here," the woman told him and left, leaving Celestine confused for a moment before it clicked. Wasn't Brutus' muggleborn mother who'd abandoned him – smartest decision the woman had ever made – helping with the kids or something? She returned now empty handed "She said she'll be in in just a minute."

"Okay," Celestine nodded, trying to see the resemblance but then it was impossible to tell considered Brutus' deformed face. He felt a stab of anger though, he'd killed his own parents to prove his loyalty. What had Brutus done? He put his pathetic family over his angel, he didn't even appreciate what he had, "You're Brutus' mother, aren't you?"

"Yes," the woman confirmed and a cruel idea slipped in Celestine's mind, hadn't Brutus initially wanted her dead? Why didn't he do his fellow Lieutenant a favor and oblige that desire?

"Avada Kedavra," Celestine cast.

He whipped out his wand out and sending the curse at her, all in one fluid movement. She didn't have time to react, her eyes barely had time to widen in surprise as the light hit her and she toppled over lifelessly. This also revealed the fact Brutus was walking into the room from behind her, his jaw dropped and Celestine smirked to himself. He had timed that perfectly.

"There, I killed her just like you wanted," Celestine told him smugly.

"NO!" Brutus screamed as he stumbled forward, staring in horror at his mother's corpse before shifting to him, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! I CHANGED MY MIND! I TOLD YOU! I FUCKING TOLD YOU! YOU KNEW! YOU FUCKING KNEW YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"Oh yeah, now you mention it I do vaguely remember you saying something to that effect," Celestine said in mock thoughtfulness, scratching at his chin and delighting in the result of his actions while Brutus' fists clenched and his expression clouded over with rage, "My bad…"

"YOU BLOODY LIAR! YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE! YOU MURDERED HER, YOU MURDERED MY MOTHER! I'LL KILL YOU!"

With faster reflexes then Celestine had thought him capable of – then even Celestine himself was capable of - the brute withdrew his wand, sending a jet of green spiraling towards Celestine. Celestine barely managed to throw himself out of the way in time, the smile wiped from his face. He had expected Brutus might flip, he hadn't thought he'd actually try to kill him. And with a non-verbal Killing Curse no less! Even Celestine hadn't gone that far, Brutus had no self-control.

Celestine rolled and got back to his feet with practiced ease, only to find Brutus throwing a Blasting Curse at him. If he wanted a duel so be it! It was self-defense on his part now. He slammed up a Shield Charm to protect him from the blast, Celestine was unscathed but he was pushed back from the force of it. Brutus went to launch another spell but Celestine lashed back, sending a fiery spell whirling back towards him. Brutus slashed his wand and fire dispersed into nothings, giving Celestine the idea to lash out with an Acuta empowered by his hatred for Brutus.

Brutus swung his wand back, countering it with an Acuta of his own that sent sparks flying as it did and followed it quickly with another that forced Celestine to abandon his next spell to slash his own wand across it opposite to protect himself. He threw out another Acuta and followed with another immediately after at his legs to try cripple him, Brutus sliced the air to block the first and jumped to avoid the second. He had surprising agility considering Brutus was muscular and bulky which Celestine would've thought would make him slower, plus Brutus was old.

They both raised their wands but to Celestine's surprise, a blue glow engulfed them and their wands flew from their hands. He followed their path and saw his angel had joined them, she was summoning the wands clearly having decided break up the duel. She was looking beautiful as ever, dark waves of hair hanging down over her shoulders and-

Celestine was taken off guard as something with the force of a bowling ball smashed into his face, he was knocked clean off his feet while his ears rang. His head slammed painfully into an end table, making him bounce off it and hit the ground. He spat the blood out of his mouth, his head suddenly throbbing and stars danced in front of his eyes.

Before he could recover it hit him again and he was knocked onto his back, realizing it was Brutus hitting him as he'd seemingly decided if he couldn't use his wand he'd use his fist, he was barbaric. Celestine almost had that thought violently knocked from his head as Brutus punched him again, forcefully enough to bounce his head off the ground. Blood drooled out of his mouth and Celestine lamely tried to hit his clearly stronger foe, everything was spinning.

"I said enough!" Sal's voice snapped and Brutus was pulled off him in a haze of azure light, Celestine smiled to himself dreamily. His angel had saved him.

"HE KILLED MY MOTHER!" Brutus raged childishly stuck standing away from him seemingly bound by Sal's light, honestly Vale was more mature and he wasn't even a human person.

"I noticed," Sal stated dryly as Celestine sat up unsteadily, the world heaving at the movement and he had to spit out more blood. She didn't look pleased with him, for the first time making him feel a pang of regret at displeasing her, "Why did you do that, Cel? Now my children don't have a grandmother."

"I thought Brutus wanted her to die, I was just being a good ally," Celestine lied, sounding innocent which made Brutus looked as if he was about to start frothing from the mouth.

"LIAR!" Brutus screamed, trying to move but the magical light didn't let him. Sal didn't look like she believed him either, he wanted to impress her. Good thing he had good news. Why was he wasting his time on this again?

"It's irrelevant," Celestine announced, getting to his feet while Brutus glared with bared teeth like an animal. What did she see in him?! She deserved better than a beast, she was so perfect and he was so not. Despite that never-ending frustration, he put on a smile that probably looked gross with the blood he could still taste between his teeth, "I come bearing great news."

"That you're terminally ill?"

"What is it?" Sal growled disapprovingly, not looking like she actually expected it to be good.

"Scorpius has left Hogwarts," Celestine announced, Brutus looked like he'd been slapped in the face in surprise. His angel took it more dignity obviously, she opened her mouth to speak but he continued quickly because he wasn't done yet, "Of course that's not all, Molly Weasley also broke and gave us the location of the Gray base. That's two birds we can kill, we have more than enough stones."

"Yes," Sal agreed, her expression serious as she waved her hand and the throbbing in his head and face stopped, Brutus looked anxious, "We have a lot to do and we need to move fast, Brutus, are you calm now? We'll deal with this later, for now though we head to England and to Hogwarts. Stephan's crushing and Cel, your job is to crush Gray."

"How you doing, Luce?" Molly croaked weakly of her sister, the words like splinters in her raw throat.

She asked both out of concern and wanting to distract herself from the guilt. And the pain but she kind of felt like she deserved to suffer right now, she could only hope the others had made it okay. Selwyn had just left them down there after she'd given him the location because he wanted to verify she wasn't lying before he let her go, Lucy was just curled up in a ball. Lucy raised her head slowly, looking miserable but she'd stopped crying.

"I don't know," Lucy admitted quietly.

"You're going to be okay," Molly offered reassuringly, wanting to keep her sister's spirits up, "They're going to let you go, you'll be alright now."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about yourself?" Lucy wondered, "You're not looking so hot."

"Tell me about it," Molly muttered, trying to laugh bitterly while Lucy continued to stare at her, "What?"

"I've been so mean to you, Molly, so why… why did you tell them what they wanted just to save me?"

"Because you're still my sister, I love you," Molly told her seriously, surprised by the question and Lucy still looked confused by the answer, "Did you-"

"Well, we're in lucky!" Selwyn's voice boomed and Molly flinched as the door was thrown open, Selwyn marching in with a smug smile on his face making the guilt writhe in her gut uncomfortably like it was full of maggots, "It checks out, we're free to crush Gray."

"Then let Lucy go, that was part of the deal."

"Of course," Selwyn agreed with a suspicious amount of willingness she hadn't expected of him as he went over to Lucy, what was he planning? He was still smiling as he waved his wand and the shackles binding Lucy fell away, he then offered her his hand and she took it to get to her feet, "Lucy, you're free to go."

"Why thank you, Maverick," Lucy offered, a smile slipping onto her face and her whole expression changing from fear to satisfaction, "Didn't I tell you it would work?"

"I'm sorry I doubted your acting skills."

"Even I didn't think it would work that fast."

"What- What are you talking about? What's going on?" Molly wondered fearfully, a feeling of dread itching at her insides at the change in tone. What had she done?

"You're a fool, dear sister, that is what's going on," Lucy told her, turning to her with a smirk, "I'm a Soul Eater."

"I- I don't understand," Molly stammered out in shock, feeling like she was in a nightmare again, "Are you not really Lucy? Why would you join them? They killed our parents."

"Why do you think?" Lucy scoffed and held out her hand, a wand materialized in a blur of shadowy darkness like Jack/One could do. No, Molly's mind shook its head as her, no, this can't be happening, "They offered me the one thing I wanted more than anything, to be what I should have been born to be. Magical."

"You merged your soul with a Specter," Molly realized hopelessly, tears stinging at her eyes. This was what her vision had meant of finding Lucy dead, she wasn't really dead but Molly had still lost her. She felt as if her heart was crumbling up inside and dying, they didn't even know if it was possible to save Jack from this let alone Lucy.

"Yes. It's a price I was willing to pay and now I'm better, I'm better than I was ever before."

"Except you're not."

"Says the coward who betrayed her cause to save a Soul Eater from a nonexistent threat, you're a broken wretch and I'm a powerful witch," Lucy pointed out coldly and rolled down Molly's cheeks, she'd lost her sister and betrayed her friends her nothing, "From where I'm standing, it's pretty obvious who made the best choice."

"Why don't you think about that while we slaughter all your friends, bitch?" Selwyn commented, crouching by her and grabbing her face to force her to look at his smug smirk, "When we get back I'm going to fuck you one last time while I tell you how horribly we butchered the buddies you betrayed and then Lucy's going to tear you soul to shreds like she's been begging to do for months."

Selwyn shoved her face away violently and the pair walked away, leaving her alone and closing the door behind her to leave her in darkness. Molly cried, feeling the maggots in her gut squirming out and making her feel sick, she was sick with herself. She felt completely broken, both physically and mentally she just was shattered. This was the end. There was no light, there was no hope. They'd lost- she'd lost, she'd lost everything. Molly just cried.

Michael walked anxiously through the grim halls of Hogwarts, it all seemed very cold and dark with the ominous threat of attack hanging over them. It didn't help the female Slytherin prefect he'd been paired off with had headed to bed by now, not wanting to stay long as she wanted an early night to study as much over the weekend as possible. He wished that was his biggest concern right now, just a few hours ago it had been. He felt like he had noose around his neck, he was just waiting to see if the ground got kicked out from under him. For once he was actually glad Wyatt was with him, if the Shadows attacked they'd need all the fight they had. They were being cautious but he still was feeling pretty pessimistic, his heart was like a knot of anxiety.

He got Scorpius would want to save Molly but damn, there were hundreds of innocent kids here and that wasn't even counting Hogsmeade. If Hogwarts was attacked, Hogsmeade would no doubt be as well and there were a bunch of innocent people there too. This included Leebin and his poor little kids, as well as Olivia and baby Lydia. Scorpius had put their dead friend's only infant child at risk, Michael was very much regretting not helping her join Gray and very much hoping the Leebins were at the Gray base right now. He'd never forgive himself if Lydia died because of that… he did very genuinely care much more about Vern's child then his unborn fetus.

"NO!" he heard Abby's voice scream in anguish, slicing through the silent night.

He rushed off towards it, heart pounding nightmarishly fast as he ran out onto the Grand Staircase. He was on a low enough down to make out what was wrong, there were three figures on the ground floor. Abby herself of course, Maximus Nott – who Maurice had paired off with her to patrol– and August… August wasn't moving. He was lying on the ground with his eyes closed in a pool of blood, his throat had been slit. It was strange though, someone had written 'RIP' above his head in his own blood and the body looked as if it had been laid out carefully. Michael tried to conjure a Patronus to pass the information onto Maurice but he couldn't muster the happiness.

"Leave it!" Maximus hissed at her as Michael headed down the steps, his heart sinking lower with each one. Poor August. Maximus, he realized, was trying to stop Abby running to the body, "They have a better chance of finding the killer if you don't disturb the evidence!"

"He's not evidence, he's my brother!" Abby shrieked, breaking past his arms to reach August. She knelt down by him and picked up his body, cradling him in her arms as she sobbed miserably. Maximus sighed sadly as Michael reached them, up close only confirming August was very definitely dead, "He's my baby brother. Michael, you can heal! Heal him, heal him please."

"There's nothing I can do," Michael breathed solemnly and Abby gave a wail of anguish, holding August closer and sobbing harder. He turned instead to Maximus, "Can you go find Maurice please, tell him what happened."

"So do the teachers," Maximus pointed out.

"Start with Maurice, he needs to know," Michael insisted in a tone of utmost seriousness that seemed to convince Maximus, he gave a grim shrug and headed off.

Michael watched him know, glancing sadly back to the Longbottom siblings. Tears pricked his eyes as he thought of Flynn, his own dead younger brother. It was hard enough hearing he'd died – and because of Michael's own selfishness no less – but he couldn't imagine how much more horrible it must be to find his poor little bloody body, he still remembered witnessing his great-grandmother's murder and that had been bad enough.

He wiped his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to put the images out of his head. As horrible as it was, they had more important things to worry about after all. August hadn't died of natural causes, he'd been murdered. Considering they were on high alert for attack from the Shadows they were at war with, it was pretty likely he'd been killed by the Shadow spy. The fact August was so close to the entrance made this even more likely, he'd probably stumbled across the spy sneaking out to tell them about Scorpius and died for it. He'd likely been killed with a knife too, the same weapon the spy had used to torture Martha before.

"Abby…" Michael prompted, crouching by her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he tried to decide how he should deal with this. She glanced at him, her face a blotchy crying mess, "I'm sorry, he-"

"Whoa, what happened?" a young voice wondered and Michael spun, seeing Andreas approaching wide-eyed in shock.

"Her brother was murdered," Michael growled darkly, jumping up and drawing his wand, "Did you do it?! I don't care you're a kid, I'm not in the mood for you Shadow scum!"

"No! Of course not!" Andreas protested, looking genuinely horrified, "I would never."

"Then what are doing here, Andreas?! It's the middle of the night."

"I was just looking for Maurice then I heard sounds so went towards it," Andreas told him which Michael supposed was plausible, after all it was exactly how Michael had ended up there. Andreas swallowed, looking very nervous and Michael realized his eyes were red as if he'd been crying, "I just wanted to warn you guys."

"Warn us about what?" Michael asked, having a feeling he already knew the answer.

"That I got word from the Soul Eaters, Scorpius is out of Hogwarts and we're preparing. The attack is imminent... you guys should flee while you can."

"Are we there yet?" Scorpius asked tiredly and worriedly of Lamb who'd been apparating them all over the country seemingly, taking a tedious break to get his bearings before setting off again. It was starting to make him feel a little queasy.

"Near- Nearly," Lamb hiccupped, "It's not my fault the- the location is really far away, I can't just go straight there. It's too far and I'm drunk and I'm side-apparating two peop- people, don't want us to get splinched."

Scorpius sighed and Lamb took their hands again, apparating them once more. Then again. And again. Scorpius was starting to regret having dinner, he was used to being apparated but so much in a row was unpleasant. He also felt like it was taking too long, they needed to be fast still because he had to get back before something happened. Then again, because he was anxious about it maybe it just felt like it was taking much longer than it actually was.

"Ok- Okay, here we are," Lamb announced and Scorpius blinked, looking around in the gloom seeing only fields stretching out and a few scattered trees.

"I don't see anything," Scorpius pointed out in confusion.

"You won't, its magically hidden. I've been shown and told where it is to know where to go, I showed Ephraim with Legilimency so he'd know where to go so he can see him too. I can show you, just don't resist," Martha explained, she and Lamb were clearly looking at a space in front of them. She withdrew her wand and aimed it at Scorpius, "Legilimens."

Scorpius resisted his instinct to use Occlumency as he felt his mind penetrated, he didn't see any of his memories anyway. Instead he was shown the same area they were in, except for a small house nestled in between some of the trees. She left his mind and he found he was now capable of seeing the house the other two were already looking at. They were far enough away they likely wouldn't be spotted from the house as well as out of bounds of any anti-apparation spells likely on the place, there was one light in the window and smoke quietly puffing out of the chimney.

"So- So now what?" Lamb wondered nervously, clasping his twitching wrist with the other one.

"We go in and you wait here until we get back," Scorpius told him, they had already planned this, "Keep a lookout and if you see anyone besides us then apparate to safety."

"Ok- Okay, I- I got it."

"Cloak," Martha said, holding the Invisibility Cloak out to Scorpius.

Scorpius took the cloak and threw it over himself, feeling a bit bad they weren't leaving it with the unarmed Lamb but he was perfectly capable of apparating to safety. Lamb looked shocked by this but they ignored it as the started to approach the house. Scorpius would rather have left the cloak with him but Martha had concerns if the Shadows noticed him approaching they'd pass it along he was out of Hogwarts before they could get in, Martha hadn't wanted him to come at all but Scorpius had feared for her if something went wrong and she was alone in there. As a compromise, he was to come cloaked so he was there if she needed back up but also invisible so would go unnoticed. They reached the door which strangely had no handle and had a strange hole in place of it, Martha pushed her wand into it and the door popped open. She went inside the narrow hallway, taking her time to close the door to make sure he had plenty of time to follow her in.

"What're you doing here?" a voice grunted as a burly bearded man entered the corridor from a room off to the side, he folded his arms, "You're in a bloody school, how'd you fuck that up?"

"It's a long story," Martha shrugged, approaching the man which Scorpius did also.

"Well you can tell me 'bout it over drinks," the man decided, leading them into a barren kitchen, "It'll kill the time, bored outta my mind right now. Honestly, this is the shittiest gig. Stuck 'lone in a house with nowt to do and no one t'talk to, I'd rather be torturing that Weasley girl."

"You would?" Martha wondered calmly while Scorpius felt his body tense, anger started to pump through his veins. The man nodded obliviously, getting some glasses from the cabinets.

"Yeah, I mean I'm no sadist or nothing but least I'm doing something, y'know? And 'specially today," the man explained just making Scorpius' rage build more, setting the glasses on the table and taking a bottle of Firewhisky, "You're old enough to drink, right?"

"I'm thirteen," Martha pointed out and the man nodded before pouring it into the two glasses anyway.

"You're old enough, kid."

"So why'd you rather be torturing her especially today?"

"Huh? Oh, just 'cause they're trying sommat," the man answered dismissively as he sat down, taking his glass and pushing hers over to her, "Trying t'trick her into giving up the location 'cause she's been holding out on us, its pissing Selwyn off plus we ain't sure how long she'll last."

"Right," Martha nodded, taking her glass while she withdrew her wand subtly.

"So, what's your deal? Why'd you end up having t'go out of school?"

"Because… Legilimens."

Martha jabbed his wand at the Shadow, he was too relaxed and too slow to do anything other than look surprised. Scorpius waiting, trying very hard to patient as the pair sat still engaged in a silent battle of the minds. He stared unblinkingly at the man, the bastard who had so casually admitted to torturing Molly. He wasn't a sadist though, it was just less boring to be doing something. As if that made it even slightly better. He kept thinking of Molly suffering, except now her torturer had a face.

He waited, too lost in thought of Molly's pain and fantasies of murdering that man to notice how much time had passed. Finally they came out of, the man slumping weakly and clutching at his head. Martha was breathing a little heavily but was clearly better off than Molly's torturer.

"I got it," Martha informed him quietly and raised her wand again before he could stop her, flicking it at the man, "Avada Kedavra."

"No!" Scorpius complained as the jet of green light shot towards the man, his eyes widened briefly in terror before his body slumped over the table lifelessly, "What did you do that for?!"

"To make sure he doesn't tell anyone," Martha answered, her neutral expression and tone reminding him eerily of Maurice, "Besides, did you really want him to live?"

"No, I just wanted to kill him myself!"

"All the more reason to kill him first," Martha shrugged as she stood, taking the glass of Fire whiskey left for her and downing it in one shot. She shuddered as she put the stuff down, flicking out her tongue as if trying to get the taste off, "Let's go."