Chapter 21: Malfoy Manor
Nobody argued as Sirius left the room with his brother. Gideon turned to Dumbledore and they began to draw up plans. There weren't as many as they would have liked but there simply wasn't time to alert the Aurors. Marlene suggested sending them a message anyways, a second wave of reinforcements could potentially turn the tide that would undoubtedly be against them. There was nodding around the room and Dumbledore sent a patronus message to the head of the DMLE and they began discussing how effective a full frontal assault would be.
"Not very." James frowned.
"We don't know how many death munchers he has in there with him. Lucius and Narcissa are pretty much guaranteed as it is their house, meaning Bellatrix will likely be there too." Remus pointed out.
"There are many wards around Malfoy Manor and it will take time to dismantle them." Dumbledore spoke up. "Even with all of us working together, we have no curse breakers amongst us." Hermione suddenly wished Bill Weasley were older.
"I studied a little about curse breaking but not enough for what I imagine will be around the Manor." Hermione admitted.
"That's a start." James tried to make her feel better.
"We don't have long before they notice Regulus is missing. We need to talk to him now and get information on numbers. I still think dismantling the wards is the best option in regards to an attack." Marlene interjected.
"Agreed." Gideon smiled but there was no warmth in the expression. "I recommend a small task force goes ahead to begin trying to pull down the wards and then…"
"What if we just had House Elves apparate us behind the ward lines?" Lily suggested.
"That is a good idea in principle but some of the wards will be tied to the very fabric of the house and so will still need to be pulled down." Moody spoke for the first time. "I would also imagine that as soon as any attempt were made to bring down the wards Malfoy would be notified."
"Well then we need some people inside the wards to create a distraction, some to bring down the wards and everyone else to be reinforcements for when the real battle starts." Elphias Doge summed up.
"Let us speak with Regulus." Dumbledore closed the matter and they all made their way to the hospital wing. As they arrived they saw Madam Pomfrey fussing over a slightly healthier looking Regulus and an almost frantic Sirius bouncing up and down unable to help. He looked up when the doors open and frowned, knowing what they were here for. Regulus had looked up as well and took his brothers hand in his own.
"You need information." He stated. Dumbledore nodded. "I don't know much. Four of them came to the house and said Voldemort needed to speak to me. I knew he had been suspecting me for a little while so this could not be good. I managed to hold them off long enough to get a message to Kreacher but they overpowered me and took me to Malfoy Manor cells. Bellatrix was waiting for me there and told me she knew I was a traitor, laying into me for disgracing the family name. Kinda like everyone in the family did to Sirius when he got put in Gryffindor."
"I knew we were related...deep down." Sirius tried for a joke but it fell slightly flat given the anger bleeding through his tone.
"Then she left telling me the Dark Lord would be down to speak with me soon. On average there are usually between six and ten people in the house unless there is a big meeting. Lucius and Narcissa are almost always home since Lucius' escape from the Ministry along with Rowle. Bellatrix, her husband and his brother have taken to living there as well now that the Dark Lord is using it as his base."
"Malfoy and Lestrange escaped?" Dumbledore frowned.
"Yeah, apparently they both got away with Rowle just before they came to bring me to the manor." Regulus sighed.
"Just brilliant." James snapped. "Because we needed life to get harder. Alright, Sirius, we have decided to have House Elves transport us beyond the wards of Malfoy Manor while a small task force brings down the wards. Everyone else will come in once the wards are destroyed as wonderful backup."
"Good plan. I'll go in the distraction team." Sirius offered straight away. James looked at him with an unreadable expression.
"Well you aren't going without me." James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.
"Or me." Remus grinned.
"I'll go too. I think between the four of us we can cause a little mayhem." Gideon offered with a slightly mischievous grin.
"Yes, you would know all about causing trouble." McGonagall tried for a snort of amusement but it didn't quite come out right in her worry for her favourite students.
"You're going nowhere without me James Potter." Lily spoke up.
"Lily…" James began.
"No. I can't be anywhere than by your side."
"What about Harry? He can't lose both his parents." James argued back. "We both know how that turns out." He added quietly so that only she could hear him. Lily recoiled at his words as if he had slapped her but looked at him defiantly.
"James. I don't want to leave Harry either, but I can't just sit at home and wait to hear whether you lived or died." She sobbed.
"I know love. But it's too high a risk. Our job is going to be risky enough causing a distraction. This isn't going to be easy and none of us can guarantee coming out of this alive and I can't leave Harry with no parents or godfather." Lily looked like she was about to argue some more until Alice Longbottom stepped forwards.
"I don't like this either Lily, but we can't leave our kids. You can come back to the manor with me and Neville while we wait." Lily's eyes flickered between Alice and her husband uncertainly.
"We'll look out for him Lily. James will come home." Sirius gave her a lopsided grin. With that she relented in poor grace and agreed to go with Alice. James heaved a huge sigh of relief and pulled her into a huge hug, whispering in her ear. Hermione moved over to Sirius, who hadn't left Regulus' side and hugged him.
"Ok, you four will be taken inside the wards and create a distraction. I will go and attempt to bring down the wards." Dumbledore tried to give the couple some privacy.
"I will go with you." Hermione offered. She wanted to be beside Sirius, to make sure he came out alive, but knew she was one of the few with any curse breaking experience and she needed to be with Dumbledore. Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but then realised he would prefer that to her insisting she came with him so he did nothing but kiss her forehead.
"I will come with you as well Professor." Marlene broke in. Dumbledore nodded.
"Three should be sufficient. Alastor, you will lead the reinforcements in once the wards are broken." Moody nodded silently. "We will send up red sparks once the wards are down."
"Why aren't we going to just be waiting with you and spot as soon as you finish?" Someone asked.
"Because a large number at the gates of Malfoy Manor will be noticed, even with a distraction. We need small numbers to remain unnoticed amongst the chaos I'm sure will ensue." He gave the troublemakers a wink. They all grinned wickedly. "Very well, good luck to everyone. You should leave now. We will give you a two minute head start and then begin bringing down the wards." The four boys nodded. James gave a final kiss to Lily then turned to Hermione who had just finished kissing Sirius. They hugged and exchanged words of warning. Hermione then hugged Remus and even Gideon wishing them all the best and to be careful. They then summoned Kreacher and were gone. Hermione turned to Lily who was crying.
"They'll be ok. If anyone can cause trouble and get away with it, it's those four." This made Lily give a choked laugh and they embraced. Lily then went to fetch Harry and Alice left with her after exchanging a goodbye with Frank and Hermione. Dumbledore stood by the hospital wing door looking grim. Hermione and Marlene were about to make their way over when McGonagall came over and brought Hermione into a hug and telling her to stay safe. Despite having not taught her yet, the elder women knew Hermione was one of her favourite students.
A few minutes later, Hermione, Dumbledore and Marlene called a second house elf who apparated them just outside of Malfoy Manor. Through the gates they could see flashes of light in the windows of the manor and hear lots of yelling. The trio quickly began casting diagnostic spells and started breaking down the wards as fast as they could. Between Hermione's knowledge, Dumbledore's sheer power and Marlene's ingenuity they took down all wards in less than fifteen minutes, meanwhile trying to ignore the screams coming from the manor. Once the wards were down Hermione sent up red sparks for reinforcements and the night air was broken by the cracks of apparition. Once everyone was there they set up anti transportation wards so the Death Eaters could not disapparate.
Dumbledore and Moody led the charge towards Malfoy Manor with Amelia Bones right behind. Hermione was shocked to see Regulus with the reinforcement group looking pale but determined. With no time to question him she made a mental note to keep an eye on him. They blew the front doors right off the hinges and made their way towards the source of the commotion. Hermione charged into the lead and blasted open the door to the drawing room. Inside James, Sirius and Gideon were backed into a corner ferociously duelling Bellatrix, Lucius, Rudolphus and Rabastan. Voldemort, Narcissa and Remus were nowhere to be seen. Instinctively firing spells at the Death Eaters, Hermione moved further into the room. She took out Rudolphus from behind with a severing charm to his neck before the other six realised people had arrived. The sight of reinforcements invigorated the three mischief makers and the duel reached new heights.
"Filthy mudblood." Bellatrix shrieked upon sight of Hermione. Her voice triggered Hermione's memories of the future to come flooding back. The scar on her arm began to burn as if being made a second time and her vision swam. In the second that her wand arm lowered she was hit by a red spell. Pain. Nothing but pain. She screamed. Screamed again. Her voice was growing hoarse when suddenly it stopped. Her vision returned and she stumbled to her feet, breathing heavily. Sirius was in front of her his face thunderous. Bellatrix lay on the floor unmoving but it was unclear whether she was dead or not. A jet of green light was flying towards the pair and Hermione knew she would never get a warning out on time. She closed her eyes waiting for impact before being bodily thrown sideways. There was a crash and a thump as Sirius landed on top of her as he was the one who had been pushed, knocking her over.
"Sirius! Sirius!" She screamed, completely unaware of what was happening in the battle raging around her. He didn't respond. Her vision narrowed to the man lying beside her as she continued crying out his name to no avail. It took her a few moments to register the blood trickling from a wound on his head where it had hit the table they had been thrown into. It was then that she realised he was breathing. He was only knocked out. Reaching for her wand she revived him.
"'Mione?" He croaked.
"I'm here. I'm here." She clutched him to her in relief. The couple helped each other to their feet and returned to the battle.
Meanwhile James had watched his brother in all but blood take down Bellatrix in a fit of rage before charging to Hermione's side. His attention was soon claimed back by Lucius Malfoy as the reinforcements were busy holding up other Death Eaters who had turned up. Voldemort still had yet to make an appearance in the room. The duel was fierce and evenly matched. They ducked and weaved through the battle throwing taunts back and forth. Eventually James' attention faltered when he heard Hermione scream Sirius' name in panic. He turned his head only to be brought back as Gideon yanked him out of the way of the killing curse. Cursing himself, he redoubled his efforts and caught Lucius with a stunning spell to the chest.
"Well, well." An ice cold voice rang out behind him. James whirled around and Voldemort was standing in the doorway, wand in one hand, Remus floating in front of him not moving. "I've been expecting you to come and rescue your friend." He said in a disappointed voice.
"So sorry not to live up to you expectations." James spat. He knew he could not afford to lose concentration here. Gideon stood beside him as the rest of the battle was turning in their favour. Sheer numbers were winning out thanks to the Aurors Amelia Bones had called in on such short notice.
"Move and the werewolf dies." Voldemort said spotting James' hand twitching. "Although, such scum should die anyway." He released the spell holding Remus up and he dropped to the floor like a puppet who had had his strings cut. With a strangled cry, James and Gideon leapt forward in unison, casting every spell they could think of. Voldemort countered the both easily. James felt rather than saw someone appear on his other side and Hermione's voice joined the other two in casting spells as three were now duelling the dark lord. Still he held his own, flicking his wand almost lazily as he forced them to back up towards the middle of the room. The three of them began to move faster, trying not to slip on the blood that stained the floor. A jet of red light and Gideon was down, screaming on the floor. Voldemort could only hold the curse for seconds as he was forced to defend himself but it was enough to put the fighters down to two.
Hermione and James fought their hardest but Voldemort had been able to stand against three, against two the battle turned in his favour and they were forced to defend more often than attack. By a stroke of luck James caught his wand arm with another cutting curse but couldn't cause enough damage to force him to drop his wand. Gideon was back on his feet looking exhausted but threw himself back into the battle, only to be hit from behind by a dying Lucius who had recovered from being stunned but been hit by something else. Gideon was down again but this time lay unmoving. Sirius quickly came in to take his place having been caught up fighting the remaining LeStrange brother. James stood with Hermione and Sirius on either side trying to ignore the fatigue that was setting in as spells flew from all four wands. He silently cast Levicorpus and caught the Dark Lord by surprise as he defended against Hermione. In the seconds it took for Voldemort to right himself James thought of his wife and son. Visions of an eleven year old Harry walking onto the Kings Cross station platform by himself filled his mind.
"Avada Kedavra." He yelled. Green light blasted from his wand and struck Voldemort straight in the chest. There was a single second where time froze. An expression of confusion and terror filled his snake like face and then he fell. There was a loud thump that filled the now silent room as the body of Lord Voldemort hit the floor and lay still. Another second of silence and then cries of joy mingled with screams of sorrow as every single person in the room registered that he was dead. For good. Arms were around him. Hermione, Sirius and then McGonagall and Marlene. None of this mattered quite yet to James. He wriggled free and dived towards the still unmoving body of Remus Lupin.
"Remus! Wake up. We did it. It's over!" James shook his friend's shoulders. Nothing happened. Sirius fell to his knees by James' side and together they tried to revive their friend. After a few moments his eyelids flickered. Eyes open he seemed not to know where he was and then suddenly he screamed. Frantically James looked him over and finally spotted the burns on his friends chest.
"We need help. He's been burned with silver." Sirius cried. Marlene came running forwards.
"We need to get him to St Mungo's." She said quickly. Calling out a name, a house elf appeared and then disapparated with Remus and Marlene immediately after.
"I'm going with them." James announced.
"You can't. We are needed here to help the other injured. Remus is in good hands." Hermione told him. "I've already sent a patronus message to Lily and Alice."
"Thank you." Sirius muttered and then stood, helping James to his feet. Everyone was no longer in celebratory mood. The Aurors were collecting the remaining alive Death Eaters to be taken back to the Ministry and the Order were helping the wounded. The trio made their way through the bodies and over to Gideon. He had yet to wake up but the healer tending to him assured them he would live. It was then Sirius spotted his brother. Regulus was lying on the floor, face down where Hermione had been when Bellatrix hit her with the Cruciatus curse. She realised it had been him who pushed her and Sirius out of the way. Neither James or Hermione needed to hear Sirius' scream of pain and rage to realise that Regulus Black was dead. He died saving his brothers life.
"You stupid idiot. You were too sick. You shouldn't have even been here." Sirius sobbed, cradling the body to his chest. "I just got you back." Hermione sat beside him and they cried together for a very long time.