Ch. 25
A/N: Sorry about the long wait guys! This chapter wasn't planned at all, but Jasper begged for me to tell his POV. Consider it a bonus chap! Unfortunately, writing the fight in Jasper's POV was really hard. It took me forever to really get it sounding good! I didn't have time to get it beta'd, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! I also want to give a huge thanks to Michelle Amethyst. She gave me the pep-talk of the century last night. It really helped me find the motivation to finish the chapter this morning!
As Always,
This story is mostly compatible with the Harry Potter series, except that the war was more intense. There were far more battles and things Hermione experienced upon entering the magical world. As you will find out in later chapters, her history isn't limited to the adventures written about in the books. It is slightly AU.
Disclaimer: I -unfortunately- am not the owner of the Harry Potter series or the Twilight saga, I'm just playing with the characters.
(JPOV- Picking up during the baseball game)
There it was again. That spike of lust as I took my batter's stance. Nothing felt better than knowing my angel found me just as attractive as I found her. I even detected a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth. I couldn't help the slow, arrogant smirk that tipped my lips as I caught Hermione's eye.
"Go on, Jazzikens, give your ass another lil' wiggle!" Emmett mocked.
I lifted an eyebrow at what I saw when I looked towards first base. There he stood- giving his ass a good shakin' while Rose fake swooned into Alice's arms. I shook my head in a mixture of bemusement and exasperation at their antics. My brother and sisters were one of a kind, lemme tell ya.
Alice finally got over her giggle fit and began preparing to pitch. Therefore I purposely kept my mind blank to avoid alerting her to any sort of decisions regarding which direction I planned on hitting the ball. Just as she released a perfect curve-ball I flooded the three of them with a heavy dose of lethargy. They swayed on their feet. A smug expression flitted across my face at the sight.
Technically it was cheating, but who the fuck cares? Payback for their incessant taunting during the game.
Ball met bat in a resounding crash. A good imitation of the thunder echoing throughout the forest due to the storm. I glimpsed my ball flying high into the sky just to the right of Emmett as I took off towards first base. I rounded second and shot past third. I was confident that I had slowed them down enough to score. That is, until I felt something smack my chest fifty feet from the home-plate. I immediately stopped. I glanced down to see five perfectly manicured blood-red nails wrapped around the ball. My golden eyes followed the pale hand up until they collided with a pair similar to my own.
"Out!" Esme cried from the sidelines.
I nodded, allowing that ruling to pass without argument. They did get me out fair and square. Even after I cheated. A few colorful expletives still fell from my lips as Carlisle, Edward, and I took up our positions in the field though. Mostly because Rosalie was sporting a shit eatin' grin as she took her batters stance. She looked like the cat who got the canary.
Ignoring her, I decided that I quite liked being by first base. I had an unhindered view of my angel as she laughed and conversed with both Blaise and Esme. It was quite funny to watch their expressions because while they watched the game, Blaise was sending animal shaped bubbles towards Hermione with a slight smirk on his face. It was obvious that he was trying to get a rise out of her. It eventually worked too. She would get annoyed when they hindered her view of the game. At which point she would scowl in his direction before waving her wand to pop aforementioned bubbles.
At that moment, any jealous or insecure feelings I still held regarding their relationship melted. The platonic, sibling like bond between them was more than obvious in the way they were intent on tormenting one another.
I turned my attention back to the game because Carlisle had begun winding up to pitch. Edward and I both tensed in preparation to take off into the forest after the ball. My phone vibrated causing the family to shoot me questioning looks. We were supposed to have our phones off during the game due to a cheating incident that occurred two years ago. However, I had ignored that rule since Hermione's safety was still being threatened. Carlisle's hand fell a few inches as he shot me a stern look over his shoulder.
I sheepishly straightened from the slight crouch I had fell into and pulled it from my pocket. "Remember- let her protect you." were the only words in the text.
My cold-dead heart stuttered in my chest. My eyes darted over to where Hermione was lying just in time to see her lithely spring up from her relaxed position. Blaise had mirrored her move instantly. Something only their kind could sense had obviously startled them. I could make out the hair on their arms standing on end with my enhanced vision. Their eyes were locked together- cerulean blue crashing against honey brown. Both of their faces were also portraying a myriad of emotions. Surprise, recognition, fear, worry, and determination being a few of them.
All attention shifted from me to them in an instant.
"Stop!" Hermione cried, panic and dread pouring from her.
Her emotions were near crippling. I attempted to send her some calm, but it didn't seem to have any effect on her current state. Blaise placed one of his large dark hands on her shoulder and squeezed. That seemed to calm her. It brought her out of the mini-internal freak out session she had obviously been having. Her shoulder's straightened as she became filled with an obscene amount of determination.
The confusion was pouring out of my family, but as for me? I knew what was going on. Peter's message was the clue in I needed to connect the dots. This was how it would go wrong. Not only would they be taken by surprise, but my family and I would be here as well. Rosalie dropped the bat while Carlisle let the ball slip from his fingers. I rushed to Hermione's side, needing to be close to her.
She ignored me. Instead, her and Blaise had their wands held out before them. Their fists were clenched so tightly around the wood that their knuckles were turning white. Their eyes were darting franticly around the clearing. They seemed to be searching for something or someone.
"Get over here. Now!" she demanded of the others, her back turned away from us.
I could feel how taken aback they were by her harsh demand so I hissed at them to listen to her. By the time they had all gathered in a loose circle behind us, she had finished scanning the edges of the forest. She turned to Blaise, not even sparing us a glance. Her eyes kept roaming to and fro about the clearing. His actions were nearly identical to her own. These two were seriously spooked by something. And if it was bad enough to warrant this reaction from my usually level headed mate, then I was fuckin' dreadin' seein' whatever it was.
"They're defenseless," she declared with a nod in our direction.
"They need to leave, Cara. They're a liability. We cannot fight and protect them at the same time," Blaise growled at her.
He was angry. And annoyed. Boy was he annoyed under all of that determination and anger. Most of my family couldn't decide whether they should be insulted by their words or not. Carlisle was extremely worried by their actions. Since he had some exposure to the magical world, he knew that this sort of reaction was not good. Emmett and Edward were both feeling a bit of cocky amusement at her declaration. The two of them have always suffered from over confidence. And they obviously didn't realize that they weren't as powerful as a witch or wizard.
"Jasper? Do you know what is going on?" Carlisle questioned lowly.
"I do not know anything concrete. However, I do know that they were planning some sort of mission with the Order. Peter called and asked me to tell Hermione that it wasn't going to go as planned. I'm guessing that's what this is," I drawled, not taking my focus off of my angel.
I felt a small burst of electrical power shoot out from Hermione and charge the air. It was consistent with those I've felt during her Apparation. But she didn't disappear. She was still standing at my side. Her emotions quickly took on a tone of dread as well as an overwhelming panic.
"Anti-Apparition wards have already gone up, Blaise. That's what we felt when the magic shifted. We can't get them out safely and I sure as hell am not sending them off on their own. We don't know how many of them there are. We cannot send them out into a forest that may be full of an enemy they know nothing about."
"Contain them like we did the Muggles in Budapest."
She looked at him and considered the idea. She nodded her acceptance of the hasty plan as she turned to finally face us. And this is the point where I decided it was time to attempt to get some answers.
"Hermione? What's going on? Is it what Peter was talking about? What fight could there be? What does he mean 'contain them'?" I spat out, afraid that if I didn't get my questions out quickly then I wouldn't get an answer.
Her determined façade broke. Her eyes softened as they roamed my face. "Some of my kind are here…they aren't the friendly sort. Please just…you have to let me protect you," she pleaded softly.
Even after everything Peter had told me. Even after he emphasized that I would die if I didn't stand down and let her protect me; I was still reluctant to do so. She's my mate. I'm meant to protect her.
On top of my own worries and emotional turmoil, I could feel how her words affected the others. Carlisle was extremely concerned, but resigned. He wasn't going to fight her decision. If she felt it was for the best, he would abide by it. The others well… it was difficult to pinpoint how they felt since their emotions were cycling rapidly.
I didn't get the chance to voice an answer. She must have seen our indecision etched across our timeless faces because one second I had an unobstructed view of my mate and the next it was hindered by this…thing. My family and I were ensconced in a shimmering blue force-field of some sort.
I watched as she once again checked the perimeter of the clearing. I checked as well, hoping my eyes would see whatever she could sense out in the forest. I had no such luck. My attention turned back to her when she whipped around, an intense frenzied look overtaking her usually calm features.
"You are safe here, but if something happens, if Blaise and I die, it will disappear. If we fall, they will kill you. So you must run. You don't stop, you don't hide, you don't fight. You run as far away from Forks, Washington as you can as fast as you can."
Her words made a sharp pain shoot through my chest. She thought that death was a possibility. How could she speak of her death so easily? How could she expect me to run? I wouldn't. I… just couldn't. The rest of the family had been just as stricken by her words. I opened my mouth to plead with her. To beg her to let me out of this…this thing so that I could fight at her side. So that I could protect her. But another voice rang out instead.
"Well, well, well...nice to see you again... Granger."
It was cold.
It was calculated.
It was menacing.
It sent a shiver of pure terror down Hermione's spine.
As if that visual wasn't enough to betray her true emotions, I could also smell her fear as it intensified her heady scent. She quickly turned away from us, eyes searching for the owner of that voice. Her head stayed facing the right. My eyes followed her terrified stare. Standing just on this side of the clearing was a figure straight out of her journals.
"Who the fuck is that?" Emmett stage whispered, eyes glued to the man wearing a black cloak and silver skeletal mask.
"He's… he's a Death Eater," I stuttered.
I recognized him for what he was immediately. I had read about her first encounter with them in her fifth year. I knew they all sported black cloaks with magical silver masks.
"What's a Death Eater?"
I didn't answer at first. I was too busy attempting to knock this guy out before he could attack. However, the malice rolling off of him in waves didn't change no matter how much calm and lethargy I sent his way. I could sense that the emotions I sent didn't even make it past the shield around us. The fabricated emotions just disappeared the moment they touched the shimmering force field. Like it was meant to absorb anything wanting to physically pass through it as my emotions would have to do in order to change the emotional climate of my environment.
I stepped up and placed my hands upon it, hoping closer contact would help them pass through the barrier. It didn't.
I looked at Edward. For the first time in my life I was unable to mask my true emotions. I, Jasper Whitlock, God of War, was fucking terrified. My power had never been deactivated by anything before. Never. It made me feel vulnerable. It made me feel defenseless. I was scared. For my mate, for Blaise, and for us. I had read a few of her descriptions about the horrible things Death Eaters were capable of doing. I knew that they threw around the most dangerous sorts of magic carelessly.
"Death Eaters are soldiers of Lord Voldemort's Army. They're extremely dangerous, highly skilled, and usually slightly insane dark wizards," I explained to answer his earlier question.
Our attention was brought back to the scene unfolding in front of us before they could ask for a more in depth explanation. The Death Eater had removed his mask with a wave of the hand to reveal a slightly emaciated man. My eyes drifted over the rest of his body, assessing him. His shaggy, black hair was sprinkled with gray and his face was covered with a scraggly graying beard. The subtle grip he had on reality could be seen in his malicious pale green eyes.
Even without Hermione's reaction this man screamed danger. Hell, he even smelled of it. He had this raw, wild, powerful scent. The scent was incredibly unique. I had never smelled anything like it before in my existence. The scent managed to draw you to him and act like a warning beacon at the same time. It was truly indescribable.
I didn't like it. Not at all.
"Once I'm done with the Mudblood here, I'll teach you a lesson about betraying your master, Zabini."
Thin, cruel lips curled up to reveal broken and decaying teeth as he sneered this at Blaise. Alice, Rosalie, and Esme gave slight gags of disgust at the sight. I would have laughed if I wasn't so shocked by his reference to Blaise betraying his "master".
What did he mean? Was Blaise a Death Eater? Had he fought on the other side of the War? Could he truly be trusted? Would he betray my mate?
"Dude! He's looking at us with this demented look. Why is he looking at us like that?"
Emmett's panicked questions brought me back to the current situation. I glanced up to see that he wasn't exaggerating. This Death Eater was sporting an unsettling smirk as his eyes darted between Hermione, Blaise, and my family.
"I see you're still an arrogant asshole, Antonin. Do you still fight like a cowardly bitch as well?"
My angel had noticed to. She practically spat those words at him to get his attention away from us and back on her. I'm pretty sure I heard Rosalie mutter, "ouch! Burn!" to Emmett, but I couldn't even crack a smile at her words.
Hermione's attempt to distract him worked. His eyes snapped back to her and a sneer of disdain replaced his smirk as he looked down upon her.
"Don't pretend you aren't scared to see me again... Poppet."
As soon as he purred out "Poppet" it was like she lost whatever control she had been exhibiting over her emotions. A floodgate opened. I could feel her anger. I could feel her fear. I could feel her intense loathing for the man in front of her. I could feel how that one word made her feel incredibly vulnerable.
Seeing that he got a reaction out of her, probably due to the expression on her face, he cocked his head to the side with a triumphant twist of his lips.
"Tell me, Zabini, are the rumors true? Does the Mudblood still wake up screaming from the memories of the way I tortured that filthy little body of hers in the dungeons?"
I saw red.
Torture.
He tortured my mate.
A loud, ferocious growl rang throughout the clearing. I lunged at that fucking barrier. I wanted through. I wanted to rip the bastard into tiny, unrecognizable pieces.
Through the haze I heard him taunt "making you scream….making you beg for death."
Those words fueled my rage. They unleashed the demon I had kept locked away for the past fifty years. My demon and I would make him pay in the most painful way possible. We would torture this sick fucker for days for daring to lay a hand on our mate. He would beg us to end his pathetic life. And we wouldn't. We'd only torture him longer for daring to ask for such a mercy.
Hands clawed at the barrier preventing me from getting to my mate. A shoulder rammed into it repeatedly, certain it would break if enough force was behind them. Hands landed on either shoulder, stopping another attempt to jump out of this thing.
They radiated a calm I was definitely not feeling. However, it helped me gain back a bit of my sanity.
"Son, I know you're upset by that disturbing revelation. We all are. But we're trapped in here. We need to remain calm so that we can help your mate when the time is right." Carlisle intoned in a soothing voice.
His words spoke straight to my demon. They calmed him. They spoke to his strategic side. Yes, we would remain calm and in control of ourselves. We would wait until the perfect opportunity to strike. We would watch our mate fight them and catalogue their every weakness.
My jumbled, slightly third person thoughts slowly returned to normal. It helped when Esme bravely came and bestowed me with a motherly embrace. Alice and Roslie joined her. Their love, sympathy, and compassion was what I needed to push the anger down enough to refocus on what was going on in the clearing. I vowed then and there that I would do my best to pay attention to the fight no matter what happened. There would be time to loose my temper and go God of War on these Death Eater assholes later.
"Mmm…I can already see that you're going to let that famous little temper of yours out to play this time. I do love it when you fight back, Poppet. It makes our little game so much more satisfying."
His lust and desire spiked with that sentence as he gave her body a slow, thorough once-over. I wanted to rip his lecherous eyes out of his head. I didn't like those emotions being directed towards my mate. Not at all. I let out a low, feral growl. I knew I wasn't the only one who caught his subtle innuendo when it was echoed by the rest of my family-Rose being the loudest.
I couldn't see Hermione's expression, but I'm sure it mirrored the intense disgust she was feeling. She didn't comment back this time. Instead, her shoulders straightened. Confidence and determination poured from her body. I could smell the adrenaline rushing through her veins. It was preparing her for what was to come.
The Death Eater in front of her, Antonin, appraised her with his cruel eyes. His every move screamed that he couldn't wait for the chance to inflict pain on her. I could smell the darkness within him intensifying.
It made my entire family instinctually take three steps back.
Antonin carefully moved into the clearing. He took two cautions steps forward and to the right. Hermione countered them with two back and to the left. The pattern repeated several times. He was analyzing her movements. He was looking for a sign that she had let her guard down.
She was doing the same.
Slowly, her emotions disappeared. I could feel nothing from her. It was like she had completely shut them down so that they wouldn't rule her decisions and cause her to act in a rash manner.
"Why aren't you helping her?" Edward questioned Blaise.
The Italian turned to us with an unreadable expression.
"It isn't my fight. It's hers," he replied simply.
A plethora of green sparks shot into the air and stopped one of us from asking him what he meant, claiming it was her fight. All of us looked to the side. Antonin had a smug expression. Hermione's was blank, but I got twin bursts of realization and annoyance from her emotions before she once again shut them down.
I turned to ask Blaise what the sparks meant. My question died on my lips. Three clouds of black smoke, all around fifteen feet off the ground, were hurtling from the forest behind him.
"Look out!" Was the only warning I was able choke out before two of them rammed into him.
I quickly backed up to the far edge of the shield so that I could watch everything unfold at the same time. I stared in awe as they picked him up mid-flight. The moment his feet left the ground, he became surrounded by some insubstantial black smoke of his own. The three of them tumbled through the sky, struggling to gain the upper hand.
Hermione apparently wasn't going to approach the fight in the same manner as Blaise. Not surprising since she hates to fly. I watched as she bent her knees, squared her shoulders, and braced herself for impact. The smoke rammed into her. It lifted her without slowing down. She was dangling at least seven feet off of the ground, her body limp. It was like she knew it would be useless to struggle.
The smoke slammed her into a tree just to the left of our shield with an audible thud. The sound of her head connecting with the bark was accompanied by the distinct popping sound dislocated joints make. I felt her pain before she quickly squashed it.
The flashing of lights in my peripheral vision- accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a tree falling- caused my eyes to wander to the sky. Blaise's battle was intensifying. A tree had nearly clipped the person flying in the middle as it fell. I couldn't believe that the three people inside the clouds of smoke were hurtling twenty feet in the air at unimaginable speeds and still capable of shooting what I'm fairly certain are spells at one another.
The tangy smell of blood was already permeating the air due to their fight. Yet, for once, none of our blood-lust surfaced at the scent. It was as if the need to be coherent due to the battle surrounding us superseded our hunger. Thank God for small miracles. Seven blood thirsty vampires wouldn't make this situation better at all.
"This is absolutely insane," Alice muttered, eyes riveted on the fight before us.
I muttered my agreement with the others.
Our eyes shifted as a maniacal chuckle left the smoke figure pinning Hermione to the tree. We watched as it slowly dissipated to reveal a man with tangled auburn hair. His right hand was wrapped around her throat and his left digging a wand into her temple.
I immediately stopped growling at the figure when he began speaking.
"For such an inferior being, you were a pain in the ass to track, Granger…"
His sneered words didn't seem to affect her. I knew she recognized him. The slight tensing of her muscles was a dead give-a-way. But she didn't let it show. Instead, she kept her face schooled into a slightly bored expression.
"Funny, I wasn't even trying to hide. You must be a shitty tracker. I've actually been waiting on you for awhile. I was beginning to think you forgot about that little promise you made me during the Final Battle, Rodolphus," she replied, baiting him.
Apparently she already had some sort of plan.
It worked. He took the bait. I could feel his anger rise. He let go of her throat and pressed his body flush against hers in order to keep her pinned against the tree. He used his free hand to yank her head back by the hair.
"Oh, I could never forget about you, Mudblood. After all, we do have a bit of a score to settle, don't we? So what do you say I let Antonin and the others teach the blood traitor and your little friends over there a lesson for consorting with filth before you and I get started?"
His words were practically growled out. I could feel his thirst for vengeance. It made me question what sort of score they had to settle. I couldn't help but wonder what she had done to piss this Death Eater off so thoroughly.
"Over my dead body!" She snarled, eyes darting over to where we had been contained.
His words and her actions made my family and I realize that the man, Antonin, had slowly been approaching our shield from behind. To remove it without notice. What a fucking coward. I ended up having to momentarily block her emotions to keep from being affected by the intense rage and panic that overcame her as well as the nasty little mixture her captor was feeling
"Oh, don't worry. Your dead body is definitely included in our plans. Have any last words for them, you filthy little Mudblood?"
With every word he spoke, he had drug his wand down her face and over her jaw in a painstakingly slow manner. At his last three words he jabbed it into the hidden jagged scar that ran from her ear to her shoulder. It was obviously a silent taunt. It made me wonder if he was the one responsible for the marring of her beautiful neck.
However, his words had the opposite effect. Instead of frightening her, they strengthened her confidence. Her eyes had this calculating gleam to them, as if this was part of some elaborate scheme to escape.
"Fuck you!" She screamed as the man in front of her, Rodolphus, went flying into Antonin. She never even laid a hand on the bastard. It was the most awesome thing I had ever seen in my life. Hermione had immediately fallen to the ground in a feline like manner.
We watched as the two Death Eaters crashed to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs. Hermione took advantage of their disorientation. She stood from her crouch and advanced on them quickly. Four jets of light flew from her wand without a word passing her lips. Two headed for Rodolphus. Two headed for Antonin.
None of them hit. Two of them were sent veering off into the forest with a flick of the wrist. The other two were deflected and absorbed by our shield.
The three of them began circling each other. For every step they took offensively, Hermione reacted defensively. It was easy to see that she was trying to keep them in her sight. She knew that if one of them flanked her, she was as good as dead.
As they started their magical assault, Blaise and his two attackers landed fifteen feet away in a flurry of lights. He was in the same boat as Hermione, but it didn't seem to bother him. It was as if he was used to the odds being stacked against him. Either that, or he was confident that his magical skill far outweighed that of his opponents. It didn't matter though because he was faring quite well. His only visible injuries were a couple of small, bleeding cuts on his side and arm accompanied by a second degree burn on his thigh.
I observed the two men he was fighting. They were total opposites of each other. One was actually healthy looking. He was stocky and well kept with dirty blonde hair that was offset by his tanned skin. Overall he was rather ordinary. Nothing spectacular about him to scream that he willingly served a madman.
The other was just as raggedy looking as the two Hermione was dueling. He had a wild heir about him. To be more specific, it was a wild scent. It sort of resembled how Bill smelt. His black hair had a grey stripe running right down the middle. Like a skunk. It was thick and matted with dirt and leaves. His nose was constantly flaring during the fight, as if he was scenting the air. On top of that, his eyes were glittering with undisguised hunger.
I was quite certain that this man was out for flesh.
"Was she a good fuck Zabini? Was she worth betraying your master for?" Blondie huffed between curses in an Australian accent.
Blaise ignored him. Instead, he intensified his concentration on the battle. He dodged, rolled, and jumped over jets of light in a fluid, graceful manner. In between all of that he still managed to send his own assault back.
"I sure hope sinking your cock in the Mudbloods' dirty little pussy worth dying for!"
"Fuck off Fenton!"
Blaise punctuated those words with a jet of purple light. Blondie, also known as Fenton, was unable to dodge it quick enough. It collided with his arm just below the shoulder. I watched, eyes widening in pure shock, as Fenton's arm fell from his body in a gush of blood.
"Your little friends aren't here to back you up this time, Mudblood. Are you scared?"
My eyes whipped back over to assess the duel happening with Hermione at Rodolphus' gleeful cackling. I watched as she managed to gracefully twist her body to dodge the canary yellow jet of light he sent at her. Unfortunately, she turned right into the purple jet of light shot at her by Antonin.
A small, barely audible whimper of pain passed her lips as it grazed her back. Blood immediately began staining her shirt over her dislocated shoulder. Carlisle's concern for her spiked at the sight. This purple severing spell obviously didn't harm her as bad as it did Fenton, but it still got her good.
My fury rose at seeing her hurt like this. The other things were minor, non life threatening. But a cut like that? She could bleed out. And I would be stuck in this fucking bubble, unable to help her.
I began pacing back and forth in front of the shield in annoyance. I wanted to be out there with her. I wanted to be hurting these fuckers for hurting her. My demon didn't like being caged. Not at all. It could understand observing the battle and looking for weakness. It could understand giving my mate the chance to defend herself. But it didn't understand letting her put her life at risk.
My hand would occasionally run through my curls at frustrating thoughts like those.
"I killed your pitiful brother and your psychotic whore of a wife without them by my side. I think I can handle you." She retorted after turning around and shooting a few spells of her own.
Well, that answered my earlier question of what she had done to make him want vengeance so bad. She had killed his wife and brother in the war. And that didn't make him very happy at all. His jaw clenched, the muscle in his cheek twitching rapidly. His eyes took on a hard glint.
I felt Hermione's recognition and triumph as she continued blocking and sending her own attacks at him. For some reason she liked his reaction. I sensed that she was about to exploit whatever weakness he had unknowingly shown her.
Antonin on the other hand, wasn't too happy about this hate filled conversation developing between the other two at all. His eyes darted between them. I could feel his irritation. He looked like a petulant child as he kept attempting to regain her attention in the fight. He kept attacking faster and faster, much to Hermione's annoyance.
"Are you ashamed that your bat shit crazy wife was bested by a Mudblood?" She taunted Rodolphus breathlessly as she ducked a few of Antonin's spells. "I must admit…Chopping her head off in the middle of the Great Hall was the most satisfying experience of my life."
Her words sent a wave of shock throughout my entire family. "She…she chopped off someone's head?" Esme whispered, heart-broken.
"It was a War. She did what was necessary to survive," I replied, my tone of voice daring them to judge my mate even though I had not spared them a glance.
I watched Rodolphus' expression darken at her words. She had really, really hit a sore spot with him. His spells came faster. In his haste to get them out, they were flying further and further away from their intended target.
"Which bothers you more? Your wife being killed by me or knowing your wife was fucking your master? You couldn't please her with that tiny thing you call a dick so she sought release from a mere half-blood?" She taunted mercilessly, without caring about the profane words falling from her lips.
Both of the Death Eaters paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. She took her opportunity to deliver the final blow.
"I bet it just pisses you off to know that while you were bowing before him, being tortured and punished, she was letting him fuck her brains out."
Their concentration visibly broke at those words. Their wand arms fell slightly in surprise. She advanced in what I could identify as an offensive manner. Jets of light rapidly flew from the tip of her wand and soared towards her to opponents. They ducked, dodged, rolled, shielded, and deflected. Unfortunately for them, her attack was quick and intense. They fought back, but had definitely ended up taking a few hits.
I felt a burst of triumph as Rodolphus dropped his wand and fell to his knee's, his skin undergoing some sort of transformation. The intense pain I sensed hitting the emotional blocks I had set up against the others had me purring in satisfaction. He deserved to feel that after everything he had said and done to my mate.
Antonin, on the other hand, was injured but still able to fight. The large cut she had landed across his stomach seemed painful, but didn't take him out of commission. He advanced on Hermione once more. They circled one another with loathing clear in their expressions.
I furrowed my brow in confusion when I heard the sound of a bone being broken. They hadn't even started sending spells yet. How could something be broken? Edward, probably having read my mind, tapped my shoulder and nodded in the opposite direction. I followed his gaze to see Blaise and the feral looking man engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Their wands lay forgotten in a pool of blood next to the life-less body of Fenton fifteen feet away as they faced off physically.
Blaise was already sporting what seemed to be a series of vicious looking claw marks across the chest, but he wasn't letting the injuries slow him down any. He executed a perfect Roundhouse kick. Wild man dodged it and in return managed to land a well aimed left hook on the Italian's jaw. It knocked his head to the side and bloodied his lip. He dodged the next blow and managed to land a kidney shot on the Death Eater.
He jumped over the leg that was attempting to swipe his feet out from under him. Mid-jump, Blaise reached for something at his thigh. He pulled a glinting silver dagger out of what seemed to be thin air, though I imagine it was merely concealed by something invisible. He threw it and it flew with startling accuracy straight into the heart of the Death Eater before him.
The wild, unkempt man fell to his knees. He was gasping and pulling at the dagger imbedded in his chest to the hilt.
"There's a special place in Hell for Pedophiliac Werewolves such as yourself, Greyback," Blaise sneered, looking down on him without any sympathy for his plight. "I hope you enjoy it."
He moved away to retrieve all of the fallen wands without a backwards glance. I watched him wipe the bloodied wands on his pants as he watched Hermione's fight. My attention shifted back to her as well. She was in the midst of dodging a barrage of curses from Antonin and sending her own back. As they continued to duel, I could sense his anger rising at his inability to beat her.
She seemed to sense the same thing because a smug smirk flitted across her face. From that moment on, her eyes were assessing his every move. She was expecting something from him. She had already anticipated some action he was going to eventually take. Her muscles tensed. Her eyes had narrowed towards his left hand.
I narrowed mine as well, looking for whatever she was. After several minutes, it twitched. That must have been what she was searching for because she immediately dropped to the ground and rolled away. A jet of bright green light crashed through where she had previously been standing…. A jet of light that looked suspiciously like the Killing Curse she had described in her journals.
A steady stream of snarls ripped out of my throat. I resumed my pacing at the edge of the shield. I was ready to be out of this cage. I was ready to kill that asshole for daring to try and kill my mate.
From her position on the ground, just out of Antonin's direct line of sight, she sent a jet of purple light at him with a sharp slashing motion. It hit his neck, completely slicing through it in the same manner as it had Fenton's arm.
I watched, purring in satisfaction once again as his head fell from his body. Justice. I might not have delivered it personally, but it was served all the same.
My angel stood and spit on his lifeless body, disgust twisting her features. She turned to face us. I could feel her pain as she avoided jarring the left side of her body. She swayed on her feet, likely feeling light-headed from the amount blood she had lost in the past thirty minutes. I was worried about her. She had been bleeding for a good while now. The majority of her shirt, as well as the top of her jeans, were soaked in her own blood. She had really been bleeding for too long. I was just thankful the curse had avoided any major arteries. If it had hit one, she would have died within minutes.
Now that she was steady on her feet, she was looking at us. But her eyes were slightly unfocused. I could still tell that she was assessing our reaction to what we had just witnessed though.
I admit, I was a little in awe and fuckin' terrified of her. She had just killed a man without having to touch him. Took his head right off without lifting a damn finger. I now understood what Peter meant when he claimed that she had more power in her pinky than I did in my entire body.
I can't deny that I was angry and scared for her to be fighting without me at her side. But I also have to confess that it was also one of the sexiest things I have ever seen in my life. I was right all those weeks ago when I tried to imagine her proficiency in battle. My mate was truly a fuckin' goddess. A Goddess of War.
She looked a bit scared as our eyes locked. I knew the majority of it was her fear of my reaction to her fighting. She was scared I would hate her or be disgusted with what I witnessed. But I could also tell that some of her fear was because of my appearance. I still looked positively feral. I had given in to my baser instincts, my demon, while she fought. There wasn't anything to be done for that. I probably wouldn't be able to reign that in until she was safely in my arms where I could sooth her worries.
She made up her mind about approaching us. She took a step forward.
A shout of "Crucio" echoed around the clearing.
A jet of crimson light hit her in the back and she crumpled onto the ground with a scream.
I fell to my knee's, a whimper tearing itself from my throat as I was engulfed in the same white-hot pain as my mate. There was no way for me to ignore it. The amount of pure agony I was experiencing second hand was simply unimaginable. I felt like I was experiencing my transformation all over again. How is it possible for a human to cause such pain?
I had to check on Hermione. If this is what I was feeling, I could only imagine how much worse it was for her.
I slowly pried my eyes open. I managed to distinguish her body levitating a few inches into the air despite my blurred vision. It was being wracked with harsh spasms. There was a piercing scream constantly falling from her open mouth. My eyes closed again. My agony increased with each passing second, just like hers.
Thirty seconds later, it got so intense that I was unable to handle it anymore. I lost control of my gift and sent my family to their knees as well.
Once again, Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/alerted this fic. so far. Your reviews inspire me to write!