A/n: Hey Guys. Short Chapter. This is the emotional Stuff. I felt like I needed to get this out. I wanted to, too. Anyways, enjoy, and review. I am so sorry.
Chapter 26: Where There Is Life, There Is Always Death
"RUN!" Harry yelled, as the shelves swayed precariously and more glass spheres began to fall from above. Josh instantly grabbed Daphne's hand, annoyed that his stunner missed his intended target, and tugged her forward, holding one arm over his head as chunks of shelf and shards of glass thundered down upon them. A Death Eater lunged forwards through the cloud of dust and Josh punched him hard in the masked face; they were all yelling, there were cries of pain, and thunderous crashes as the shelves collapsed upon themselves, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers unleashed from their spheres -
Josh found the way ahead clear and saw some figures of his friends run past him, their arms over their heads; something suddenly heavy struck him on the side of the head, sightly cutting open his temple. He merely ducked his head and sprinted onwards; a hand caught him by the shoulder; he heard Daphne shout, "Stupefy!" The hand released him at once –
They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Josh turned right and began to sprint in earnest; he could hear footsteps right behind him and Daphne's voice urging Blaise on; straight ahead, to the door through which they had come was ajar. Josh had seen the glittering light of the bell jar, pelting through the doorway, Daphne in hand, and Blaise bringing up the rear. The trio stopped, and turned, waiting for the others to come through before slamming the door shut -
"Colloportus!" gasped Daphne and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise.
"Wait, what!" Josh gasped, breathing heavily. "Where are the others? They weren't behind us?" He had thought Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tracey were ahead of them, that they would be waiting in this room, but there was nobody there.
"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Daphne, terror in her face.
"Oi, shush!" Blaise hissed.
Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed; Josh put his ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar, "Leave Nott, leave him, I say — his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary - Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right -Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead - Macnair and Avery, through here - Rookwood, over there - Mulciber, come with me!"
"What do we do?" Daphne asked Josh, trembling from head to foot.
We should stay and once the door opens, we shall blast the death eaters to pieces! "No!" Josh growled, stunning Blaise and Daphne who glanced at one another. "We're not going to stand here and wait for the to find us. We have to get away, find the others, and get out of here."
Blaise and Daphne nodded in agreement. They ran as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Josh heard something large and heavy collide with the door Daphne had charmed shut.
"Stand aside!" said a rough voice. "Alahomora!"
As the door flew open, Josh, Daphne, and Blaise dived under desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.
"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.
"Check under the desks," said the other one.
Here we go.
Josh saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend. Get Ready. And use something lethal, take that Death Eater out of his misery! Josh tilted his head, shaking his head. He pointed his wand out from under the desk, shouted, "STUPEFY!"
A jet of red light hit the nearest Death Eater; he fell backwards into a grandfather clock and knocked it over; the second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Josh's spell and was pointing his own wand at Daphne, who was crawling out from under the desk to get a better aim.
Damn it, Josh thought, clenching his teeth, standing up and thrusting out his wand.
"Fulgur!" Josh shouted as blue lightning soared out of his wand and striking the Death Eater in the face, knocking him backwards and destroying his mask.
Josh ran over to Daphne, hoisting her up by her arm. "Ow! Josh," she gasped.
"You need to stay covered!" Josh hissed as Blaise knocked over a near them just in case, keeping an eye on the Death Eaters.
"I can take care of myself!" Daphne growled, pulling away from Josh who was annoyed.
"I don't know, can you!? Josh replied. "You were about to become dust if I hadn't saw him aim towards you."
"I would have handled him."
"Can we talk about this later!" Blaise said, moving over to the couple. "We have to get out of here!"
There was a shout from a room nearby, then a crash and a scream.
"Tracey?" Bliase yelled, turning quickly from the couple.
"Josh!" Daphne hissed. "I think that was Tracey. We have to find her!"
The trio began to leave. You have to finish them off! Josh suddenly stopped at the Death Eater he had shot lightning into the face, he looked down, but he couldn't see his face. Go on, finish him off. One less being we have to deal with.
Someone suddenly seized his arm. Josh looked up and saw Daphne looking worried. "Come on," she said, tugging on his arm.
"Come on!" he said, and leaving the Death Eater behind them as they took off for the door that stood open at the other end of the room, leading back into the black hallway.
They had run halfway towards it when Josh saw through the open door two more Death Eaters running across the black room towards them; veering left, he burst instead into a small, dark, cluttered office and slammed the door behind them.
"Collo—" began Daphne, but before she could complete the spell the door had burst open and the two Death Eaters had come hurtling inside.
With a cry of triumph, both yelled:
"IMPEDIMENTA!"
Josh, Daphne, and Blaise were all knocked backwards off their feet; Blaise was thrown over the desk and disappeared from view; Daphne smashed into a bookcase and was promptly
deluged in a cascade of heavy books; the back of Josh's head slammed into the stone wall behind him, tiny lights burst in front of his eyes and for a moment he was too dizzy and bewildered to react. You slipped up!
"WE'VE GOT BLACK!" yelled the Death Eater nearest Josh. "IN AN OFFICE OFF—"
"Silencio!" cried Daphne and the man's voice was extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out. Get him!
Josh snapped his want forward. "Stupefy," he said. The red jet of ight flew, striking the death eater in the chest, knocking him back, unconscious. Not the spell I would have used. Josh shook his head.
"Josh, watch out! Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Blaise, as the second Death Eater raised his wand, coming up from the desk. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forwards, face down on to the rug at Josh's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move.
"Thanks, Blaise," Josh said, turning to Blaise.
"Josh!" Daphne screeched. Josh and Blaise saw a flash of purple, and Josh was violently pushed into the ground, someone falling to a heap next to him. Josh's heart began to quicken. He sat up, shocked to see that Blaise began to duel the Death Eater that had shown up out of no where. Josh slowly looked down and his heart jumped in horror. There she was. She was unconscious and motionless.
Josh shakily reached out and touched her shoulder. "Daphne," he breathed out, shaking her, but she didn't wake. Was she? Josh put his hand on her chest. He could slightly feel a slow heart beat. He sighed in relief. Look at what he did. He hurt her, nearly killed her. You need to end that Death Eater!
Anger rose in Josh. He gripped his wand tightly and stood to his feet, turned to see Blaise dive behind a desk. Josh raised his wand. "Fulgur!" this time, red lightning shot out of his wand towards the Death Eater who dove out of the way. Get him! "Reducto!" The spell flew but it was knocked back by the Death Eater's shield. "Stupefy!" The red jet of light was deflected. Use something lethal! Break him apart for what he did!
"You can't beat me, Black!" the Death Eater growled. "I am more skilled than you!"
Break his bones! Josh thrust out his wand. "Fractus!" Josh shouted as the yellow curse soared from his wand, striking the Death Eater in the left arm, fracturing it. Yes! More! More. Josh glared hard at the Death Eater, he sent more bone breaking curses towards the Death Eater, who tried his best to deflect them away while nursing his arm.
Josh didn't let up, but then, he was suddenly knocked forward, feeling pain in his left shoulder blade. Josh growled, glancing behind him, seeing the death eater he had stunned, was back up and awake. You slipped up again! Stop using stunners and destroy these Death Eaters! Do it! For what they did!
Josh suddenly snapped around, whipping his wand forward. Blaise witnessed as Josh spoke words he never heard Josh say before. A sickly lime green spell soared out of Josh's wand, and flying towards the Death Eater who put up a shield. However, the curse broke the shield, striking the Death Eater in the chest. The Death Eater's eyes widened in horror as he began to shake and grab his chest. He growled in pain, falling to his knees, and then suddenly keeling over. Ah ha! That's more like it. Yes! More! More!
"Avada Kedavra!"
Josh snapped around, seeing the sickly green curse coming his way, but suddenly, he was stunned when someone jumped in front of him, knocking him out of the way. Josh fell to the ground, and once again, someone fell into a heap next to him. Josh stared upwards, his heart pacing fast, his eyes widened in horror. There was only one person who could have and would have knocked him aside. Josh sat up, saw the Death Eater grinning. Josh looked at his face. It was bleeding, as if it was struck by lightning. He had dark eyes, black hair, and a goatee. He laughed, and began to limp away, out of the room.
Josh slowly turned to his left, where the person lay, motionless. He turned the person over, wishing it wasn't who it was, but there he was. Josh's eyes brimmed with tears, his mouth agape, as he saw the soulless face of Blaise, staring into nothing. "B-Blaise," he breathed out, his heart dropping. Josh reached up and touched his shoulder as tears began to steam down his face, and he began to shake his head. He touched his face. It was so cold. "No…no, no, no…" he cried, burying his face into his hands. His best friend was dead and it was entirely his fault. Both of his friends, one dead, the other possibly dying, both his fault. All his fault.
Josh clenched his hands into fist. He suddenly screamed out in agony as papers and desks instantly caught fire and glass breaking into thousands of pieces. Pain he had never felt in his life ever before; worse than having a broken bone, worse than having a finger cut off, worse than the Cruciatus curse. Magic soared all around the room. Things began to disintegrated and the wind around him was whipping so violently. The room was being destroyed by Josh's powerful wave of emotional magic.
Josh stood to his feet, emotion flowing through his entire body. He heard a door shut. He thrust his wand towards the door, releasing a white spell which soared, striking the door, exploding it to pieces. Josh turned, anger becoming his primary emotion as he began to sprint after the death eater that just took his best friend away.
He sprinted to the door and was back in the first room, seeing the same Death eater exiting the room and into another room. Josh followed after the death eater, leading him back into the room with the large veil in the center. Get him!
Josh thrust his wand forward, sending a tripping jinx, but the Death Eater was ready, as he turned and deflected the jinx, smirking at Josh as he stopped running. Josh held his wand up as he stepped closer. "You killed my best friend," Josh spoke, angry tears streaming down his face. "Who do you think you are!?"
"Antonin Dolohov!" the Death Eater answered proudly.
Josh's heart jumped.
You are going to live up to one of the greatest sorcerers of all, Lord Voldemort. You're going to finish his work, all thanks to that smart wizard by the name of Dolohov. He's the one who set you on my path, the right path. He basically killed everyone you loved, which gave more rage the Voldemort could ever imagine and making way stronger than that no nose loser.
As Josh was lost in his thoughts, Dolohov took his moment. "Ah!" he growled, thrusting his wand forward. "Crucio!" Watch it! Josh was shaken from his thoughts and jumped out of the way, sending a disarming spell towards Dolohov who deflected it. "So, this is the great Joshua Black I've heard about? Throwing first year shite? I know you know about dark magic about as much as me! Why don't you show me some!" he growled.
He is the one. And he wants you to use your knowledge on Dark Magic. Why don't we show him? "Alright, Dolohov," Josh said. "I'll show you what I know!" He then thrust out his arm. A dark blue spell shot out of Josh's wand, but Dolohov deflected, but the next orange spell appeared just as quick, striking his left leg. Dolohov growled as his pant leg and leg began to burn and sizzle, as if acid was thrown onto it. "Arg!"
Good Job!
Dolohov glared at Josh and then began to throw a barrel of curses and jinxes towards Josh who used his want to deflect most spells and dodging others he knew he wouldn't be able to deflect. He recognized most of Dolohov's dark spells, having read about them. Josh then began to send his own barrel of spells, some dark and lethal, other simple jinxes, but then they were all deflected by Dolohov, angering Josh even more.
Josh then decided to use his fire whip, snapping the whip and slashing Dolohov in his right shoulder, stunning Dolohov. He then used another simple Everte Statum, knocking Dolohov back, near the veil.
"Accio Wand!" Josh said, pulling Dolohov's wand away from him and catching it with his left hand, holding it tightly.
Dolohov, who was on his hands and knees, chuckled as Josh walked up to him. He looked up, pushing up straight, still on his knees. "Do it, Black," he said. Do it! "Finish me off!" Finish him off! He killed your best friend. Erase him from existence! You know he deserves it!
Josh clenched his teeth pointing Dolohov's own wand at Dolohov. "Not yet," he said. "Crucio!" Dolohov screamed in pain as the torture curse soared through his entire body. Yes! Yes! Yes!
Josh finally let up after two minutes, breathing heavily as Dolohov fell back to his hands and knees. He was breathing heavily and sporadically. With all his girth, Dolohov struggled to his feet, standing in front of the middle of the veil. He spread out his arms, smiling and laughing. "Is that all you got?" he said.
You know the curse, just use it! Josh craned his neck as Dolohov continued to laugh. What was the voice? He was finally noticing it. Do it! Take him out! You know the curse! It's just two words! He deserves it, remember? He killed your friends. Josh shook his head, dropping his wand. "No," he mumbed. "It wouldn't be right." Who cares?! Just do it! He's taken everything from you! Just finish him!
"Ah!" Dolohov screamed as he ran forward towards Josh, who was distracted but was shaken from his thoughts. He saw Dolohov running forward. Josh thrust out Dolohov's wand and said the first spell that came into his mind.
"Everte Statum!" he shouted, striking Dolohov in the chest, throwing him backward. Dolohov screamed as he flew back and thrown into the veil. Josh watched in shock as Dolohov flew into the veil, disappearing and not coming out from the other side. And then, it suddenly began to registed in Josh's mind. He just killed Dolohov, but not just Dolohov, but that other death eater, who he had made their heart explode. Josh fell to his knees and looked at Dolohov's wand. "What have I done?" he said to himself. He grasped the wand and threw is as hard as he could into the veil. It too disappeared.
He sat there, frozen at his actions. It happened. He finally crossed the line between life and death. He sat there. He didn't know for how long. He didn't move. He didn't want to. A little part of him felt like he should just walk into the veil himself.
"Well, what do we have here?" said a voice.
"It's one of the runts!" said another voice.
"It's wittle baby Black," said a third familiar voice. She's here. Get up! Grab your wand! We have work to do!
Josh shook his head. "No," he said.
"What was that?" Bellatrix said as she and a couple of Death Eaters walked over to Josh, slowly surrounding him. You idiot! Get your wand! You have to get them before they get you!
"He's talking to himself," One of the Death Eaters said. "He's gone around the bend!" he laughed.
"What shall we do with him?" Bellatrix asked her fellow death eaters. Josh didn't move. He felt so horrible, that he would deserve what they would do to him.
"Let's kill him!"
"No, not yet," Bellatrix said, raising her wand towards Josh, "Let's have a little fun first! Crucio!"
Josh let out a scream as he felt the pain of the curse soar throughout his body, but didn't last long as one of the death eaters was suddenly blasted back. The curse was released and Josh heard a heavenly voice.
"Get away from my son!"
His mother. She was here. Bellatrix and the remaining Death Eater turned around to see the one and only Sandra Emrys running to save her son, looking murderous. She whipped her wand forward, throwing three different spells in an instant. Bellatrix was able to block one aimed for her, but the other two struck the other death eater, knocking him out.
"You!" Bellatrix hissed. And then, the duel was on. Sandra versus Bellatrix. Both women trading spells and curses. Both evenly matched. Josh glanced to his right, looking at his wand. His fingers twitched. He knew he should help his mom. He had to or she might end up like Daphne or...Blaise. He heard a yelp. He snapped around. It sounded like his mother. Bellatrix had got the best of her, and got a cutting curse across Sandra's right cheek. More anger rose of out of Josh. Get up! Take your wand! Finish it!
Josh shook his head, yet grabbed his wand. Where was this voice coming from? Josh stood to his legs that suddenly felt like jello. He turned just in time to see Bellatrix raised her wand over his mother. "Expelliarmus!" Josh shouted, shooting the disarming spell, yet Bellatrix was quick and deflected the spell. She sneered at Josh, pointing her wand up into the sky. There was a bright flash of light, blinding both Josh and Sandra, and when they could see again, Bellatrix was gone.
Josh heard movement, turned around to see one remaining Death Eater running through the room. He pointed his wand, sending a trip jinx, and then strapping ropes all around him. Something was off about this Death Eater that was trying to escape. Josh walked over to the Death Eater and ripped off his mask, revealing the terrified face of one Peter Pettigrew. "Hmm, you'll come in handy," he murmured.
"Josh?"
Josh turned to see his mother was back on her feet, walking over to him. Josh's eyes once again brimmed with tears. "Mum," he muttered and then ran over to his mother and hugged her as tight as he could. He didn't want to let go. She hugged him back, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Josh spoke, closing his eyes.
"It's okay, my son," Sandra cried. "It's okay!"
Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light, and there was a gasp coming from his mother. Josh suddenly felt wetness all over his body. He pulled out from his mother, who was in shock, horrified as he saw the blood was pouring from her chest. "Mum!" he shouted in horror. "Mum, no!"
He turned around to see that Peter still had his wand out of the rope and had hit his mother with something. "No!" he cried out in anger, whipping his wand forwards, sending a spell towards Peter slicing his hand off. Peter screamed out in pain. Josh turned and fell to the ground with his mother, not able to hold her up anymore. She was losing so much blood as he cradled her, placing his hand over the wound. Her eyes fell closed, and her breathing began to slow.
"No," he cried, tears falling from his face. "Mum, no. You're okay. You're gonna be okay. Please. Don't go. I'm sorry, mum. I'm so sorry." He hugged her. "Please stay with me, mum."
"I love you."