Hello hello!
I am ahead a bit in my work today (or behind if we zoom out a little bit, but we won't) and so I am beginning with this new chapter. Have you realized that we are almost at 30 chapters already? And FF loves my documents again!
So, onwards! Chapter 29.
***
"Ron! Ron! Work with me, please, please!" Hermione begged as she moved her wand quickly trying to quench bleeding that seemed to be coming from everywhere. Ron's eyes were shut, just like Rasmus' had been only a few days ago in the courtyard, and still that monstrous wizard was there, fighting Harry- just Harry! Hermione knew that she had to go help the Boy Who Lived, but leaving Ron bleeding out meant that she was sealing his end. Hermione simply could not have that. Rasmus would help Harry, help would come- Harry was lucky, Ron was not, and Hermione knew her heart would break and soul would shatter if she lost him.
The wall got blasted, but Harry was still standing, shouting spells and hexes that were ludricrous, but he was still standing, and Hermione was still fighting the bleeding that just wouldn't stop.
"Please, Ron… please Ron… please…" she didn't even notice the tears as she used every single first aid and medicinal spell she could recall and remember. What was it that Snape had used against Harry's sectumsempra on Malfoy? Maybe that would work, Hermione had studied it, to be ready. What was it, what was it?
There was silence behind her now, but she didn't dare stop, she kept her back turned, decided to just let herself be killed along with Ron and Harry and everyone else if Osiris had won. But no curse came, and she continued quenching bleeding, reciting the words that Snape had used, enhancing them with everything else her fertile mind provided, and Ron gasped with a shudder, stirring a little.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you!" Hermione cried, gathering up the lax and blood-covered body of the one who had her heart.
"Her…mi…one," Ron whispered through lips that nearly didn't move. "pro…tect… yourself…"
It made Hermione just cry harder. Harry's hand on her shoulder, and his laboured, fearful voice just seemed to reach her ears suddenly.
"Hermione, is he dead? Hermione!"
"No, he… he's here," Hermione gasped, glancing upwards at Harry. Harry was hurt, too, barely standing, she could see it. But he was not paying attention to his drenched pant leg or any of the bruises, welts and scrapes he had acquired. He was gripping his wand tightly.
"Good. Help Rasmus inside. Osiris has gone somehow. I need to go down to Bai and the rest. Isis is supposed to be stronger than him."
And without waiting any further, he just ran off, favouring his injured leg and leaving one-sided bloody footprints… and Hermione was ashamed of her own self.
***
Professor Vector sank back onto her chair, the arithmancy complete. Her mind swam with the sheer force everything she did demanded when done on the basis of the Sigils the Auguror had taught her. They were like static sketches on paper that suddenly came to life by some other, new manipulation of them. Snape's portrait had not really needed to guide her in the arithmancy, just point out the steps she needed to take to slightly alter the potency of Nikos' force on the sleeping draught and spell he had been put under, so that the Greek could wake. All it had taken was the sigil to grant her access to that system of forces in the real dimension, and she had done it, making the theory on the paper real.
It frightened her.
She turned to the portrait, to ask Snape what now, but the potions master had left the witch's frame, and the original witch was shakily reclaiming her position in it. Professor Vector frowned to herself and picked up her wand. She could not fight like aurors and duelers, but she had to do more to help, until the new weapon she had acquired could be learned further- and for that to happen, whoever was attacking needed to leave Hogwarts failed.
Septima Vector ran out of her office, despite McGonagall's orders not to.
***
"Oh, my dear! Wake, my dear, wake, or more death than what I foresaw will happen!"
Frideswide groaned and coughed up blood. She peered through broken glasses into Trelawney's thick lenses, and gasped, glancing around.
"Sybil? Wha- where?"
"Here, help her, you can do it, can't you?" the seer urged and pulled, and as Erna was yanked forward, she felt the whole corridor swim and she hurled to the side. Am I bleeding internally? Merlin, I hope not. She wiped her mouth and looked at the Headmistress- and that glance was enough to put her own injuries to the back of her mind.
Clutching the wand, and with Sybil's help, she went over to where Minerva was sprawled like an odd rag doll. Blood was trickling down her nose, but other than that she looked immaculate. Frideswide frowned and swished the wand to diagnose her, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Crushed ribcage, punctured and collapsed lung, bruised liver- everything inside her looked as if an invisible hand had sought to yank the headmistress' innards out through her skin.
"What happened?" she muttered, loathe to ask Sybil for any sort of information and need to pick through proclamations and quasi-prophesies for information somewhat relevant. But the aloof-sounding woman surprised her by being remarkably concise present at adversity and urgency.
"My inner eye told me to come to your aid," she began while Frideswide worked, "and I saw the bird woman about to kill Minerva- I simply curse her away," she finished, causing Frideswide to pause in between spells and look at her myopically.
"You… simply cursed her away, Sybil?" she intoned. It was not like Trelawney not to brag.
The frizzy haired witch just looked back and nodded.
"Yes… she flew off," Trelawney gesticulated, making her many bracelets jingle.
"I will need help," Erna muttered, expertly giving McGonagall the first aid she needed, but feeling her own body threatening to give out- the chill that was overcoming her was indicating that indeed there was internal bleeding. She already felt the nausea again. "Sybil, get me Poppy- someone."
Sybil left without any other word. Erna continued working. She charmed the crucial ribs puncturing the lung to snap back into place- she had no luxury for subtleties, and fixed the lung. She coughed and wiped the bit of blood on her sleeve, continuing until she was certain that the headmistress would not die. She looked at her wand- no, not her wand. That staggeringly powerful witch broke it. This was-
Frideswide turned sharply, and nearly collapsed to the side herself.
"Guiren! Guiren!"
How could she have forgotten about him? It was his wand- he hadn't moved. She tried to get up to go to him- he was on the other side- but without Trelawney's help, she found her legs refused to support her. She crawled on all fours to him- when had the distance become so big?
She finally reached him, just as Harry's voice echoed through water. Suddenly, everything seemed to be through water to Frideswide- her hearing, her sight- she blinked away tears. Harry was talking to her, but she couldn't hear him through all the water in her ears, and she had to do something for the man. Even though she knew it was in vain even as she touched him.
"I'm sorry, Guiren," she cried, or thought she cried. She couldn't quite see any longer, and felt criminal that she hadn't thought to use the ex-auror's wand on him to save his life when she still could? Why hadn't she cast a bigger shield?
"Professor, it's okay," Harry was saying, gritting his own teeth and holding it together for later, for when he would unleash it on those who deserved it. "It's ok."
Frideswide didn't seem to realize that Harry was holding her upwards, and she looked to be rapidly deteriorating herself, coughing up blood and crying, as she was trying in vain to cast something on Guiren Bai's already chilling body.
"It's okay, professor," he repeated, at a loss as to how to help her, until Hermione came with Flitwick, Vector and Sprout, and it was time to just sit on the floor, head in hands, and wonder just how they were going to go against dark ones like that.
***
Nikos fixed Rasmus' fracture at his hip with one of his most powerful spells, and put a painkilling charm on the wrist so that he would be able to pay special attention to it later. Rasmus breathed with more ease immediately, but his godfather cut him off when he tried to thank him. Nikos looked racing for his breath, still- not a good sign.
"Be a lad, Roc, and get me something to set me straight," Nikos said, pulling himself up to a propped position carefully, feeling his heart going a mile a minute. Rasmus nodded numbly and got up slowly to go towards Poppy's shelves- where Poppy was still lying. His eyes met with Harry Potter's, who was standing at the infirmary's door, favouring his bad leg.
"Alright there?" Potter asked, and it seemed ridiculous among the debris, the collapsed bodies, the broken windows, the destroyed beds and nearly demolished wall. Rasmus wanted to smile, but could not find it in him. He simply nodded.
"Yeah. Go," he said, his feet making crunching sounds and tinkering clinks as he carefully made his way to the shelves.
And Harry went.
Rasmus picked up the strengthening potion he knew his godfather needed, and eyed the blood replenisher two bottles to the left. He sighed and picked that as well, and uncorked it to drink it.
Nikos watched in approval as Rasmus tended the other potion to him.
"Pomfrey?" he asked, waiting for the strengthening to kick in.
"Dead, I think," Rasmus said.
"How are you?" Nikos frowned, appraising him with the Healer's eyes. "Did he complete the leeching curse?"
"No," Rasmus muttered. "No, I- I didn't let it drain me."
Nikos nodded, and breathed in, rubbing at his chest. He offered Rasmus' wand to him in silence. Rasmus took it silently, not daring look Nikos in the eyes.
"I take it that everyone knows now that Isis and Osiris are back," Nikos sighed, groaning as he picked himself up. "Accio wand." Nikos' wand jumped through the debris and into the Healer's hand.
"Yes," Rasmus swallowed, fixing the beds and the destruction around them for his godfather to be able to work. "It's a miracle they didn't kill us out right."
"But he got enough of your blood- life blood," Nikos said. "What I fought to take from him- no, succeeded in taking."
Rasmus winced to himself at the stern tone his godfather suddenly took- because unlike his father, Nikos took that tone only when he was right.
"Godfather, I-"
"We'll discuss it when we've tidied up- Isis won't be back now, she will need to hunt elsewhere for Osiris' sustenance." Nikos did not look at him as he walked past Rasmus and towards where Ron was lying. Rasmus bit the inside of his cheek and continued fixing the infirmary with his wand while Nikos smiled encouragingly at Hermione and assured her of Ron's safety before she ran off, following Harry's steps.
Rasmus felt burdened with blame and responsibility as he spelled Madame Pomfrey's body upon a bed, and then watched as Nikos brought Ron in and set on working on him. If he had followed his father's urging to hide, would this have been better? Was he responsible for everyone who had died?
I only wanted to take godfather to hiding with me. How did I mess up so much?
***
And that's that! I hope you don't hate me too much- Ron and McGonagall are, eh, more or less intact… hm. And we do have body count but just to be fair, one of canon cast and one of OC cast. What do you think?
Tomorrow we see what happened to Isis and Osiris, and talks that are important for how this story will progress.
Duj: it does, doesn't it? I'm happy, that's what I wanted it to seem.
RebeccaRoy: fully gone? Well, they're gone from the premises right now. They can't be fully gone that easily. (remember that I said if taking this route, the story would be LONG? Well… it's their fault. Heh heh!)
Mandya1313: thanks!
Angeleye68: Yeah, that was a little funny wasn't it? And I hope you like this chapter, too! We have only gotten a taste yet.
Zoe Bright: Frideswide loves muggle trinkets, and hence the gun! Golden caps on the fingers which the mummies tended to wear, struck me as a good means to focus magic power instead of a wand. And here, Ron and Minerva are in the clear- for now. ;)
Sindie: Well, let's call it a tie, so far as I think near the entire teaching staff will need to take a break. Heh!
