Everything happened so fast and yet so slow that Ginny wasn't sure if it was a real or a dream. Around her things were a blur, while her every movement was slow and sluggish. It was worse than her nightmares of the Chamber or when she was tied to that cruel altar, where she was helpless against anything that happened to her. Now she could move…she could fight against it. Yet her body moved as if it was five steps behind everything else. Fate was laughing at her. Bitch!
Ginny heard the killing curse being shouted. She looked up to see the green curse erupt out of the end of the Death Eaters wand. She could hear her heart beating in her chest as if it was thunder. She looked to her brothers to see Fred grab Hesta and roll on top of her in an attempt to protect the Warrior Goblin. George grabbed Ginny in a huge hug and spun her around so that he was between her and the curse.
"NOOOOO!" Ginny screamed at George, but it sounded oddly off and drawn out. She struggled to break free, but her brother was having none of that. He held her tight. The thought that the Basilisk skin of Harry's robe could stop the curse filled her head. It was a long shot…no, she knew it wouldn't work. She didn't care. It was better than watching her brother die. She was the one they were after.
"Gin-Gin" Was all George said and it stopped her cold. Her pet name left his lips so tranquilly that it didn't seem like George at all. She looked up into his eyes and saw a calm determined resolve. He looked at her with all the love a brother could give. He had no regrets; it showed all over his striking face. She wasn't sure if she could bear to see the life leave his eyes, but she had to show George all the love she had for him in her own eyes. It was all that they truly had left.
The light of the curse was getting brighter and brighter, as it came to claim George's life. Then Fate chose that second to prove she wasn't a heartless bitch after all. A huge unseen force hit them from the side with such power that they all slammed against the far wall.
The Death Eater swore as his dark curse just missed its prey, only to be followed by a scream of pure agony. Ginny wasn't sure what just happened, but she wasn't about to start being thorny about it. She didn't know what was making the Death Eater scream bloody murder, and quite frankly, she really didn't care. Git's got it coming.
The Death Eater's arms and legs slammed together as he started to rise off the floor. The sound of cracking bones intermixed with his screams. At first none of them saw the small figure that stood behind him. It was hidden in the shadows. As their savior stepped out into the light, Ginny let out a sigh of relief. Duncan gave her an affirming nod to which she mouthed thank you. He then turned his attention to the Death Eater. Duncan brought the hand of his outreached arm into a fist and every bone in the Death Eaters body exploded inward. The Death Eater's head dropped into his chest. Then there was only silence. With a flick of his wrist, Duncan sent the scum flying down the hall.
"Bloody Hell," Fred and George said simultaneously. Ginny and Hesta nodded their heads in agreement. After the shock of the moment wore off, George was assaulted by a myriad of hits by Ginny.
"You…stupid…overprotective…git…if…you…ever…do…that…again…I'll…I'll…" Each word came with a hit so her point would sink into his thick head. She didn't like that her voice was cracking with overwhelming emotion, but there was little she could do about it now. George was swiftly levitated off the floor and away from Ginny's assault by Duncan.
"Is this human distressing you Mistress Ginny?" It took a few seconds for Ginny to get her emotions under control. She still wanted to hit him a few more times. She chose instead to take a long breath and then answered Duncan.
"Every day of my life, but I love him anyway. Duncan…George, George…Duncan." George gave him a cheeky wave from above. This made everyone laugh, even Duncan.
"Wait a who, did you just call me Mistress?"
"Yes you heard me correctly Mistress Ginny. Master Harry sent me to protect you until he can arrive. He also gave me strict orders to follow your commands, so technically than makes you my Mistress until he says otherwise."
"Would this Harry be the one with the sexy arse that you mentioned earlier?"
"Shut it Fred! See this is the kind of shite I have to put up with," Ginny told Duncan.
"I see," He answered stiffly.
"Where's Harry?"
"At this moment he is on the steps of Gringotts fighting Orcs with his Aunt…Nympy."
"ORCS!" All of them yelled in unison. Ginny's legs gave in and she crumbled to the floor. All the worst scenarios came to mind. Bloody Orcs! Wait Orcs not Orc…as in plural!
"How many?" Ginny asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but needing to know none the less.
"There were thirty at first, but now only nineteen remain…no, make that eighteen. Nicely played Master Harry." Duncan said with admiration at the end. Through the link he had with his Master, he was able to keep tabs on him mentally. He informed Harry that he had found Ginny and that she was for the moment safe.
"Master Harry suggests that I take you to the Potter Vault. It is heavily protected and the perfect place to wait until Gringotts comes off lockdown."
"I'm not letting him face Orcs alone!" Ginny jumped to her feet. Her blazing determination was practically radiating off of her.
"One, he is most certainly not alone. His aunt is a very accomplished Auror. Two, his fellow Marauders are on their way, and three, until the Orcs' threat has been neutralized the Director of Gringotts will not let anyone in or out."
She was terrified for Harry. She wished she would have given him back his robe, at least then he would have had its protection. She knew the smart thing would be to go to the vault, but she just couldn't just sit on her arse and do nothing. She just wasn't built that way, plus she would end up pulling her hair out worrying about him.
"Wait did you just say Potter…as in Lord Harry Potter?" George asked. He quickly reached into his robes and pulled out his copy of the Daily Prophet, and shoved it out so Ginny could see the front page. She saw the picture of Harry and Professor Black fighting back to back against Bellatrix Lestrange and some Death Eaters.
"This bloke?" George asked. Ginny snatched the paper out of his hands and started to read the article with a vengeance. While she was doing that, Hesta stood up and looked hard at Fred. It made him feel a little uncomfortable to say the least.
"Fred is it?" He nodded at her and she smiled. "Twice now you have put your life in danger to save mine."
"No prob-"Fred was cut off as she grabbed his head in her hands, pulled him to her, and kissed him passionately. At first his eyes widened to the point that they looked as if they would pop out at any second. Then they rolled to the back of his head before he closed them. Hesta pulled back and brought one hand down to his crotch and gave him a little squeeze.
"Adequate," She said with a devilish grin in response to his size. "If you survive this day I will bed you." Hesta then walked off leaving a dazed and confused Fred Weasley.
"So mate…how was it?" George asked, barely holding down his laughter.
"She…she has a very long tongue," Was all Fred said, but it was enough to send George into a laughing fit. "It's not funny. I think she was serious."
"You know what they say. Once you go green you never go back," George laughed out more than said. That earned him a hit in the back of the head from Ginny. Git
Hesta was standing over the last remaining Death Eater. She kneeled down and whispered something at him. Whatever it was made him tremble in fear. She looked over at Fred and winked before she snapped the Death Eaters neck. The sound made everyone that was watching jump a little.
"Fred old boy…your new girlfriend is scary." Once again Ginny smacked him in the back of his head.
"Will you bloody stop hitting me!" Ginny rolled her eyes at him then she turned to Duncan. She looked down at the paper and then back to Duncan with an intense look in her eyes. Everything clicked into place in her mind. She cursed herself for not figuring it out sooner. She should have known the first time she looked into his eyes. I'm such a bloody idiot.
Ginny was about to ask a question when she saw something long and silvery coming at them from across the floor. She leapt to her feet and aimed her wand at it. Her brother's wands, Hesta's sword and Duncan's outreached hand followed quickly
A ten-foot patronus in the form of a King Cobra slithered up to them. It stopped just short of them and reared its head. When it opened its mouth, Ginny noticed something dangling from one of its fangs.
"I must say that you are proving to be quite a little nuisance Miss Weasley. I look forward to cursing some proper manners into you. Now I hate to repeat myself, but you will come along like a good little girl and take you long overdue medicine. If you refuse to obey my orders…well, Greyback is just itching to have a go at your brother's pretty little face. You have twenty minutes to get yourself to the main lobby, not one second more." The voice of Lucius Malfoy erupted from it mouth. It dropped what was in its mouth at Ginny's feet and disappeared into nothing.
Ginny bent down and picked it up. She had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep from screaming out. In her hand was one of the earrings that she had made for her brother Bill. The end of it had blood on it, most likely from being ripped out of his ear.
"Ginny don't you…"
"Think about it…"
"Bill would rather die…"
"Then have them…"
"Hurt you again."
Ginny just kept looking at Bill's earring. At first, the twins thought that maybe she hadn't heard them. Then she stepped forward a few feet and looked back at them.
"The thing is…they won't kill him. He'll be Greyback's new chew toy, and take it from someone whose has seen how cruel those monsters can be…there are somethings that are worse than death. I'm sorry, but I just can't live with that."
"That's not the only problem," Duncan informed them.
"Oh, you mean it gets worse?" Fred asked sarcastically.
"The only one that can reopen Gringotts is Director Ragnok. He was taken prisoner by the Death Eaters. Thankfully he is in disguise and they, as of the moment, don't know which one he is. I was intending to attempt a rescue after I had secured Mistress Ginny in the Potter vault."
"Well…now you have backup." Ginny said with the most wicked of grins.
"Shadow, it's time to use that Dark Mark to our advantage!" Tonks yelled as she sidestepped an axe and countered with a lateral slash that severed a major artery of the Orc she was fighting.
"Keep them off of me for a sec will ya!" Harry fired back as he snapped the neck of the Orc he was fighting. He knew that the rest of the Marauders were on their way by now. Thanks to all the excellent Intel on the Death Eaters by Narcissa. He knew that the Dark Mark that hovered in the blackened sky above served as a back door to come and go even if anti-apparation and portkey charms were casted, you just needed to know where to aim. Harry drew in his magic as Tonks cast a spell that created a wall of stone around them. It wouldn't hold the Orcs off for long, but it would buy them the time they needed.
"Damn these wankers are persistent," Tonks said as she bent over to catch her breath. Harry shot his hand up at the Dark Mark and cast a charm of his mum's design with his own little twist to it. The charm was turquoise in color as it bulleted at its target.
"Yo-ho-ho" Harry started, to which Tonks finished with, "And a bottle of rum."
The charm hit the Dark Mark and the sky immediately brightened up. This seemed to catch the attention all the dark creatures that were fighting. It was a good thing too, because the Orcs had just broken through Tonks' wall. A jagged chunk of the wall the size of a fist almost hit Harry in the head, if it wasn't for Tonks' quick reflexes. Harry took it from her and threw it back at one of the Orcs with enough force to split his thick head.
"Thanks Darlin'."
"Anytime luv." Tonks answered with a smack to Harry's bum.
"Tease."
"You know it," She added with a wink.
What happened next would make Calvin Meeks a very rich man, for he was the one who actually got a picture of it. In the sky above, two white clouds formed a shape of a sword and launched at the skull in the sky. Both pierced the Dark Mark at the same time. The snake that was coming out its mouth collapsed and hung from the open mouth of the skull. The crisscross pattern of the swords in the skull, left what would forever be known from that day forward in the Wizarding World as the Marauder's Mark.
Then all over Diagon Alley, cloaked figures appeared. All of them had crimson robes and masks with the face of an animal. The first to appear in the streets was a wolf and dog. They were followed by a lioness, owl, hawk, and lastly a bear. The owl landed on a rooftop and immediately started to give the others Intel from the muggle headsets they all had.
"Alright people, we have Trolls from Fortescue's to Ollivander's. Gargoyles all over the place and Orcs are on the steps of Gringotts. They are all very resistant to magic. If you're going to use magic, make it nasty. Trolls regenerate fast, but are weak against and are fearful of fire."
"Where is my son Talon?"
"Where do you think Pride? Don't worry, Trickster's got his back, and it seems that she has perfected her hybrid form…cute tail."
"I swear those two just feed off each other."
"I see a huge hole in the street down Knockturn Alley. Those bloody Trolls are dragging children down into it!" Narcissa knew from some of the stories that Lucius would tell her that the children that were Pureblood would be returned to their parents in exchange for gold or favors. The half-bloods would be used as slaves or experimented on. The muggle-borns? They were used as training dummies or worse. She never had the heart to tell her best friend any of that, but she had the feeling Lily already knew, which was confirmed by Lily's reaction.
"NOT ON MY BLOODY WATCH!" Lily screamed out. She wasn't sure if it was her surrendering to her Animagus's true nature, or the mother in her that had overridden her moral sensibilities. All Lily knew was that she transformed into a Lioness and pounced on the nearest Troll. She bit down on its neck and ripped out most of the beast's throat, thus breaking what she swore to herself she would never do. Her soul be damned or not, they would not have the children.
"Padfoot, I don't know what to do about the Gargoyles? Will a binding spell work on their wings?"
"Not for very long, fear not cousin. I called in a favor. Trust me; they will never know what hit them," Sirius said as he reached into his robes and pulled out a Claymore Broadsword with the Black Family Crest on it. Orion Black had replaced the hilt of his Family Sword with one carved oddly enough out of a Black Dragon fang. The benefits of having a sword with a hilt made out of a magical creature is that the wielder could focus magic through it. Sirius let his magic flow into the sword and then with just a thought the blade was engulfed in a blue flame.
Sirius looked over at Remus and saw that he had the sword that he had commissioned the Dwarves to make him. They were the best at weapon crafting after all. Its blade had a green flame radiating from it. The childhood friends gave each other affirming nods and then attacked the nearest Troll.
"Dobby!"
"Yes Mistress?" Dobby knew better that call her by her name when they were in battle.
"The battle line has been drawn at Madam Malkin's. From there to the Leaky Cauldron is a safe zone. Evacuate any children or wounded to there. Do not engage the enemy."
"Yes Mistress!" Dobby popped away and did as Narcissa told him. She couldn't believe that the people were fighting back. Elemental Patronus's had driven back the trolls quite effectively.
Lily leapt onto the back of another Troll that had a child and bit into the back of its neck. With a head jerk the foul creature's neck snapped like a twig. She launched herself off it before it hit the ground and onto another Troll. Before she could maul the beast, she was grabbed by the tail and was thrown against a building wall. She crumbled to the street and reverted back to her human form. She tried to push away the dizziness and get to her feet. She felt two ribs crack as she was kicked to the other side of the street by one of the Trolls. If it wasn't for the pain she was sure she would have passed out. She looked up to see the Troll marching towards her.
A large snow owl swooped down and started pecking and clawing at the beast's eyes with her beak and talons. Narcissa was desperate to buy her best friend the time she needed to get out of there. Lily's vision was too blurry to even see straight. She heard more than saw an owl slam against the wall she was using for support to stand. Narcissa too reverted back to her original state.
"I'm sorry…I wasn't fast enough." Talon whispered to Pride, as she crawled to her. Lily dropped to the ground next to her friend. The Troll was advancing on them with a look of butchery in its cold black eyes.
A roar rang out that was so loud that the windows of a nearby store rattled. The Troll turned to see where it came from and was hit with a flying Orc axe that was buried to the hilt in its chest. The creature itself was thrown ten feet down the street from the force of the hit.
"Damn! He was fighting two Orcs when he threw that," Narcissa said, shaking her head in disbelief.
"That's my boy," Lily said with pride as she reached into her robe and pulled out a healing potion. She chugged it, then helped Talon to her feet. "Now you get your bum back on that roof."
"And you better start fighting with your head," Narcissa scolded her as she put the tip of her wand to Lily's broken ribs. She winced for a second and then the pain was gone. Narcissa apparated away.
"Yes mum," Lily answered as she pulled her custom-made staff. She let her magic flow into it and the ends burst into flames. She jumped down the hole that the Trolls were using to escape. She was getting those children back no matter what the cost.
"I'm telling you that after what Bellatrix did to her, the girl would be daft to surrender herself to us," Greyback told Lucius as he sniffed the alluring French girl. Bill Weasley was struggling against the magical ropes that held him in place.
"What did that bitch do to my sister?" Bill yelled and got kicked in the gut by Lucius for his trouble.
"You should be more concerned with what Fenrir here is going to do to that lovely little French whore, than what Bella did to that annoying little twit you call a sister," Malfoy sneered at the oldest Weasley. He then addressed his fellow Death Eater. "To answer your question, yes she will come. These blood traitors think differently than us. It must be a Gryffindor thing."
Ginny entered the lobby and saw that all the hostages were clumped together. They had the Goblins mixed in with the patrons of Gringotts. Seven to eight Death Eaters had them surrounded. Bill was on his knees in front of the werewolf. Thankfully, it was daytime so he wasn't in his cursed form, but she saw that his hands more resembled claws than anything human. They were already covered in blood. It was quite repulsive. As if he could read her mind, Greyback sucked on one of his fingers and smiled at her. Ginny pushed down the urge to vomit.
It looked as if he had started early on Bill. One of his eyes was swollen shut and his nose looked to be broken. Even with the beating he had taken, her oldest brother still managed to give her a smile. She swallowed hard when she saw his one good eye pleading with her to run away.
"On your knees human," It wasn't until Ginny obeyed the order that Lucius saw the Goblin Warrior standing behind her. One of the Death Eaters threw a curse at her, to which she leapt behind Ginny and put her dagger to the youngest Weasley's throat.
"Free my people and I will let you have your toy human, refuse and your Master losses his prize."
"Leave her alone you bitch!" Bill yelled at the Goblin.
"Shut up!" Greyback yelled as he kicked Bill in the back of the head. His face smashed hard on the cold floor. A puddle of blood instantly formed around his head. Fleur broke free of the group of hostages and threw her body over Bill in a vain attempt to protect him.
"Zou are a vile zick excuse of a man!" She spat at Greyback. The man himself seemed to find it very funny.
"Now let's not do anything rash Goblin. I'm not an unreasonable man. I'm sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement," Lucius said as he poured on all his pureblood charm. Hesta was less than impressed.
"There is no negotiation here. There is do or do not. Choose now!"
"How can we know this isn't some trick? She had two of her brothers with her. Where are they?"
"They were trying to hide her in a vault. They died well…for humans."
When the Ministry arrived, they astonished by what they saw. Citizens were fighting the Trolls. Many of the foul beasts lay dead in the street. Elemental Patronus's were bringing them down. It wasn't a very common spell; in fact very few of the more senior Aurors knew it. That was something that Madam Bones planed on remedying as soon as possible.
As they made their way up the street, house elves were popping in with wounded or children. Apparently others followed Narcissa's example and use their servants as well. Several witches had made an area for the wounded and were treating them best as they could.
"We need Healers here now!" Madam Bones ordered.
In one of the stores, children were being herded. Outside the doorway, a fiery Grim stood sentinel, just daring anyone to come close. The battle line was well past Gringotts by now and was slowly inching it's way to Ollivander's. On the steps of Gringotts two humanoid Beasts were fighting the Orcs. One resembled a panther and the other a fox. Gargoyles were swooping down to aid the Orcs.
One Auror made to hex the creatures, but was stopped by the Minister himself.
"Use your head man! They are fighting the Orcs! That makes them allies. Get to the rooftops and deal with those Gargoyles!" He ordered.
No sooner did he say that then several winged beasts pounced down on the two freedom fighters on Gringotts steps. Harry and Tonks were overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. Soon they were forced down and had their arms and legs pinned down. The three remaining Orcs advanced on them with their axes held high. The Minister and Amelia lead a failed charge to aid them. They too were attacked by an unnaturally large number of Gargoyles.
Harry looked up to see an Orc standing over him. Past the beast's shoulder, in the sky above, more winged creatures descended from the sky. The Orc aimed his axe Harry's head. Before he could meet his target the steps of Gringotts were showered with glowing arrows. Harry and Tonks were buried alive under the dead Orcs and Gargoyles. Oddly, the two were not touched by the arrows. When Harry once again was able to see sky, it was accompanied by the gorgeous face of Sasha Desory. The sultry Succubus helped Harry to his feet, as another helped Tonks to hers. Sasha spreaded her wings and with a few flaps had floated off the ground enough so she was eye level with Harry. She blew him a kiss and a wink before she ascended into the sky. Her tail tweaked his ear as she left.
"Oh she is never going to let me live that down," Harry said with a grin.
"Fine! Release the Goblins, " Lucius ordered as he dragged Ginny away from Hesta. He pushed her to Greyback. The werewolf wrapped an arm around her and gave her a good sniff.
"You reek of him my pretty."
"She reeks of what?" Lucius asked.
"The Shadow Fiend," Greyback spoke of the beast he faced at Lestrange Manor. Since that fateful night it had been responsible for the deaths of many of the Dark Lord's servants.
"I thought he was linked to Bella's niece? Well, now isn't this interesting. We reached for a Knut and got a Galleon. I will once again stand proudly in the Inner Circle."
"Just don't forget who helped you get there Malfoy," Greyback growled. Ginny was fighting the urge to panic. Don't think about it…don't think about it…I bloody said don't think about it! You can deal with that later. Just wait for your moment, then strike.
"DUNCAN NOW!" Ginny screamed as the hostages were released from the binding hex.
Duncan popped beside the group of captives. He grabbed the nearest one. Since they were all connected he was able transport the entire group the Potter vault, but it came with a price. Duncan collapsed immediately. The feat took practically all of his magic. Seeing him fall, Griphook ran to Duncan and checked the condition of the house elf. He was still conscious, but barely.
"Orcs…neutralized." Duncan wheezed out before the blackness took him.
High up in the lobby several things happened at once. Darkness surrounded the Death Eaters courtesy of Fred and George. They had slowly been circling them with Darkness Powder under the Chameleon charm. Fleur pulled out her hidden wand and healed Bill. Once she freed him of the bindings he attacked Malfoy with his bare fists. Lucius was caught off guard by the assault, as Bill broke his nose with the first punch. He followed through with an upper cut to the abdomen. All of the air in Malfoy's lungs was forced out of his body. As he buckled over Bill brought his knee to Lucius's already broken nose. The Death Eater landed on the flat of his back. Bill was on top of him in the twinkling of an eye.
"You…will…never…hurt…my…family…again," Bill yelled with every punch to his face.
Hesta rolled between two Death Eaters. She jumped up on one's knee with her right foot. Then she leapt to the hip of the other Death Eater with her left foot. She finished the attack by jumping up and twisting her body with her sword whistling through the air. She landed a second before their heads' did.
Fred and George were taking full advantage of the Chameleon charm to curse the remaining Death Eaters, until only the werewolf remained. Greyback tightened his grip around Ginny as she struggled to break free. He put his claws to her jugular.
"STOP OR I'LL RIP OUT HER THROAT!"
They all stopped at once. Lucius managed to crawl out from under Bill. Fenrir was impressed that he was still awake after the beating Weasley gave him. True to form, once Malfoy had his wand back in his hand, he used the blasting curse on Bill. He flew into the darkness around them. Fleur went to go after him, but Lucius pulled her back by her hair.
"Not so fast bitch. I'm going to put you to good use." He looked around the room to see if he could see the twins. The only one he could see was the Goblin. She still had her sword in her hand.
"Drop it and back away." He ordered. Hesta dropped her sword to her feet and backed away with her hands up.
"Bombarda!" Chunks of Hesta's armor scattered across the floor as he too went flying into the darkness.
"Alright boys come out and surrender, or watch your brother's whore squeal lick a stuck pig."
"Do you really think…" Lucius pointed his wand to his left.
We'll let you go…" Then he pointed it to his right.
With our sister?" The darkness answered. The sound of the battle outside suddenly echoed through the lobby.
"Time to go Malfoy. Fear not my pet. You will not go to Bella just yet. I will use you to capture that damn panther first."
"Why wait?" Came a question in a language that only Greyback could answer. From the darkness emerged the seven-foot Shadow Fiend covered in Orc blood.
"Do nothing Fred and George! He's friendly. Ginny yelled. Greyback tightened his grip around her throat. Harry roared at him, and smelled the werewolve's fear.
"You've gotten bigger boy."
"You haven't."
"You have me at a disadvantage."
"Well boo-freakady-hoo, sucks to be you."
"I know when to cut my losses kid, but rest assured the next full moon we will finish this."
Greyback and Malfoy threw Ginny and Fleur at Harry and ran for the exit. Once outside the Death Eaters saw the battle was lost. In the sky above Gargoyles were fleeing from Succubus's. Parents were helping their children out of the hole the Trolls came from. Aurors and unknown wizards in crimson robes were circling around them. They quickly activated their portkeys and flashed away.
Inside Ginny was remembering how much she liked the feel of Shadow's fur. Harry had yet to let go of her and she nuzzled in tighter. All other thoughts and worries seemed to fade away.
"You really know how to keep a girl waiting Potter," Ginny teased him as she ran her fingers through his fur. Harry was running his hand through her hair as he reverted back to human.
"I like this color so much better than white," He kidded back, but still refused to let her go. Before she could one up him, Harry brought his mouth down on hers. Ginny easily melted into the kiss, forgetting what she was about to say.
A/N: Well there you go. It's a little late I know, but I wanted to finish the battle. No cliffies. The next chapter will deal with the aftermath of the battle. I know one long day and it isn't even lunch yet. Let me know what you think, and thank you for all the reviews.