Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Read on, oh faithful ones...
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Chapter Thirty-Seven
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Thursday, 1 August
Selena growled softly, recognising the faint scent on the wind. She and the rest of the pack had been given some of Lettie's things, and while it had taken some time, they'd eventually found her scent and tracked her through the forest. The second campsite had been abandoned early and obviously set up in a rush as well, because Lettie's friends were able to walk into the area without a problem.
Now, Lettie's scent was on the wind once more, and it was growing stronger. They'd been tracking Lettie for almost two days straight and this was as strong as her scent had been in hours. Selena just hoped that they would find her this time, and the wards hadn't been erected again. Millicent, Theodore and their friends had more right to Voldemort and Virginia than she and her pack did, though it had been hard to admit that at forward, Selena let out a small growl to get the rest of the pack to follow, Matt flanking her immediately.
Millicent stayed to the back of the pack as her unranked status dictated, though she was sorely tempted to run ahead to find Lettie. She was so caught up in following Lettie's scent that she almost bypassed another familiar scent completely. The stench of rat was bad enough on its own, but mixed with the scent of a disgusting human being, it was almost unbearable, and Millicent's wolf mind hurried to dismiss it. Then the human part of Millicent's mind caught up and she stopped abruptly, whining as she focused on the scent once more. She'd smelled that scent in Hogwarts, even before her werewolf senses had taken over and helped her recognise what it was. The smell had been labelled in her mind as rat-man simply because she couldn't discern who or what it was to give them a name, and now that same label appeared in her mind as she caught the scent again.
Serena turned back when she realised that Millicent had stopped, and made a noise to her sister, Selena stopping and letting out a growl. Millicent took a minute to shift to her human form so she could relay what she'd scented. She wasn't part of the pack, and unlike the others, she wasn't able to use their mind speak to relate thoughts and scents yet. It was similar to the connection she had with her friends thanks to the Animadverto potion, but on a more basic and animalistic level with the wolves.
Mere seconds after Millicent had said that it was Pettigrew's scent, Serena moved forward to smell it herself, agreeing that the rat-man smell was present. He went in a different direction than Lettie's, but Millicent had no idea which scent was being used as a decoy. Pettigrew's scent wasn't as strong as Lettie's though, so she could assume easily enough. Serena split the pack so that Matt, Selena, and Jim were with Millicent, while Grant, Mark and Rob stayed with her on Lettie's scent. Millicent shifted back and Matt gave his consent to let her run ahead to follow the scent. Concentrating on the rat-man scent and nothing else, Millicent began to run.
... b ...
Ric blinked his way awake groggily, his head pounding and noise seemingly assaulting his ears. He vaguely remembered drinking himself blind, and took a moment to try to remember what had happened after that. Memories of Agnes, Ginevra, and that scary and pain-inducing Indian witch came into focus, and he shuddered. Oh yes, and he'd been knocked out cold by Ginevra's mate. That was pleasant, Ric thought to himself sarcastically, even though he knew he was lucky to still be alive.
Ric looked around the dark room, bare but for a thin mattress on the floor, and wondered where he'd been taken. Before he could even try to stand up, the room began to shift around him, and Ric let out a cry of surprise as a door appeared out of nowhere, and two bloody versions of that Indian witch entered the room.
"There're two of you?! Get the fuck away from me, you sadistic bitch!" he yelled, moving as far back from the two women as humanly possible.
"Huh, Fred was right. What on Earth did you do to him, Parv?" Padma asked curiously, looking at her twin in a new light.
Parvati just smiled slightly and shrugged. "I healed him, and then we talked."
Ric scoffed and muttered under his breath, but his gaze didn't leave either of the Patil twins, his hands trembling. "What the bloody hell do you want from me anyway?"
"Us? Oh, nothing. We're just here to make sure you're comfortable," Padma said sweetly.
Her smile was sadistic, and it matched the sharp metal spikes that started growing out of the walls at an alarming rate, all of them pointed directly at Ric. His eyes widened in fear and he stood perfectly still, not daring to move a damn muscle while those metal spikes were growing around him and towards him with alarming speed.
"Now, are you going to tell us where your mother's hiding or not?" Padma asked as the longest and sharpest spike stopped mere millimetres away from his eyeball.
If he could have nodded, Ric would have done so immediately. "I'll tell Ginevra."
Padma let out a growl of frustration, and one of the larger spikes was suddenly embedded in his shoulder, pain spreading through him immediately. Thankfully for Ric, the action actually moved him away from the spike that was close to his eye, so the pain wasn't as bad as it could have been. The spike pulled out of his shoulder abruptly, making him cry out in pain.
"You missed," he breathed heavily, blood oozing out of his shoulder. "You could've impaled my eye if you'd gone from the back, you know."
Padma didn't say anything, and simply looked over at her twin with a sadistic grin.
"We know that. We just wanted to make sure you'd understand that this is only the beginning. We have been given leave to get information from you in any way we see fit," Parvati said with a smile.
"You really shouldn't've hurt Ginevra the way you did, Ric. Draco's been aching for revenge ever since he heard your name, and he's not the only one," Padma added, her voice hard.
"I strongly suggest you tell us where your mother is, Ric," Parvati said, stepping forward to heal him in the most painful way possible.
Ric screamed but refused to talk.
... b ...
Lettie screamed but refused to talk.
Voldemort was frustrated that she was embarrassing him in front of Virginia, and was ready to cut her throat open for the slight. It was only Virginia's presence and desire to keep the woman alive that held him back. She would not be happy if he killed her, and Voldemort could not bear to disappoint the beautiful woman.
"My dear Lord Voldemort, may I borrow your wand?"
He stopped the Cruciatus Curse immediately, surprised at Virginia's request. She had often told him how much vampires hated magic, especially wands, and refused to touch the wand if it was anywhere near her. Still, Virginia had asked for his wand, and Voldemort was just a man. He presented the wand to her and waited to see what she would do with it.
"Amazing how a piece of wood can be such a fascinating conduit for magic," Virginia murmured, almost to herself. She carefully tested the strength of the wood, the wand bowing in the middle.
Voldemort's eyes widened a fraction, but he didn't dare try to take his wand back. Virginia had made it very clear that an attack against her would result in death (he'd lost his favourite Death Eater that way only days ago, though no one seemed to remember the man ever actually trying to attack Virginia). She seemed amused at his fear, and then held the wand properly, pointing it down at Lettie.
"Crucio!"
The spell flew out of the wand rapidly, Virginia watching coolly as Lettie writhed in pain and screamed her throat raw. Voldemort was pleased that her using his wand had pleased her, and barely resisted the urge to reach out to take his wand back.
"Lord Voldemort, would you be so kind as to leave us alone? I think I may be able to get dear little Lettie to talk," Virginia said, smiling at him sweetly.
Voldemort gave a nod and was standing outside of the tent in a matter of seconds. He blinked, realising that he still didn't have his wand. Voldemort felt confused for a few seconds, as if he wasn't quite sure why he was standing outside, and wandless at that. He then shook his head and headed to the planning tent, ignoring Pettigrew's questions, his hand aching for his wand to hex the little man.
Virginia smiled down at Lettie kindly, and pointed the wand at her. Lettie flinched back, but she didn't get hexed again. Instead, Virginia used a very gentle healing spell, removing the bruises, welts, cuts, and other injuries that Lettie had endured.
"Now, isn't that better?" Virginia asked, her voice as sweet as syrup.
Lettie didn't dare answer, far too wary and cautious to be grateful. Virginia conjured up a seat and sat before Lettie's bound form, and closed her eyes for a moment, her fingers tapping a rhythmic beat on her legs. It took Lettie a few seconds to realise that Virginia was actually tapping in time with her heartbeat. She shuddered at the thought, but then Virginia opened her eyes and smiled coolly, her gaze moving down to Lettie's stomach. The tapping changed, and Lettie shuddered as a chill settled over her.
"You're about three weeks pregnant as far as I can tell. I'll admit that it can be difficult to tell this early on, especially with vampire births being somewhat shorter than mortal ones, but I am very rarely wrong. Now, now, dearest Lettie, do not look so worried; you have nothing to fear. I will personally ensure that Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters leave you alone," Virginia said, leaning forward and stroking her hair.
"Why would you do that?" Lettie asked warily.
Virginia smiled cruelly, her hand gripping Lettie's face firmly, her nails pressing into her cheeks. "Because the blood of a newborn is a delicacy that I have been denied for far too long."
Lettie felt her stomach churning, too sickened to even feel angry yet, and Virginia laughed as she pulled away, continuing to tap out the sound of Lettie's wildly beating heart.
... b ...
Pansy felt the pull to the lake some time after dinner. She had ignored the call of it - the desire to slip under the water and swim for hours - for most of the day because there were more important things to do. Now that dinner and training were both finished, Pansy found that she couldn't deny it any longer. Gregory was beside her, staring out at the water as well.
"I think we're meant to go meet your Grandfather, Pans. Poseidon's been a pain in the arse about proper protocol and how it would be a slight against both of them if we didn't go. He is a royal," Gregory added with a slight shrug.
"I know he is; but it's just politics, surely it can wait?" Pansy muttered. "He wouldn't be that upset that we didn't visit right now, would he?"
The pull got stronger still, and she sighed heavily.
"All right, I get the hint. Come on, Gregory, before the giant squid pulls us in," she said under her breath.
Gregory chuckled and started to pull off his clothes, setting them aside with Pansy's before slipping into the water with her.
The giant squid watched them as they swam passed, tails strong and firm in the water. Despite her protests, Pansy felt much better once she was under the water, moving and circling about in a way that she could never quite perfect on land.
Wherever we choose to live, let's make sure we've got some form of a lake in it, all right? Pansy asked, grinning at Gregory briefly.
Of course, Gregory replied, taking her hand in his own.
He didn't tell Pansy that he'd asked Luna for the exact same thing earlier that morning. She had found Blaise, Neville, and Seamus a home, and he hoped she would be able to find something suitable for him and Pansy as well. Of course, he had been looking in the papers on his own merit, but the housing market was seemingly non-existent with the war looming, and there was nothing that fit what Gregory wanted anyway. Luna had promised to look for him, smiling as if she already had something in mind.
Gregory knew that he and Pansy were still taking it slow, and he didn't really expect her to move in with him straight away. For now, it would be a house for himself, and a home for both of them when Pansy decided to move in. Gregory refused to pressure Pansy or drive her away from him, especially not when he felt like he'd just got her back again.
... b ...
Ginevra woke up in the middle of the night, her head aching so bad it felt as though her blood was actually attempting to escape her skull. She groaned softly, keeping her eyes closed, and intent on keeping them that way until the pounding stopped.
"Ginevra?"
Her expression softened on recognising Draco's voice, and she opened her eyes a sliver to see him properly. He looked crumpled and worried; Ginevra was almost positive that he hadn't had those lines on his face the last time they'd met.
"How long was I out?" she asked with a sigh, ignoring the pounding in her head as she opened her eyes fully.
"About five days. Had me worried there," Draco replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead and squeezing her hand.
"Sorry for worrying you," Ginevra murmured, turning her face up to kiss him. "What's happened while I've been asleep?"
Draco frowned slightly, confused at her question.
"The last time I was unconscious, the world almost ended and people died because of me. The time before that, Lettie and Padma became best friends for whatever reason. Weird things happen while I'm unconscious for any period of time. I'm actually getting a bit sick of this. Next time, you can be the one to be knocked out, okay?"
"It's sad that I actually understand your reasoning on that, isn't it?" Draco asked with a sigh, shaking his head.
"Not at all. Now, what's happened?" Ginevra asked, pulling him down to sit on the hospital bed next to her, leaning her head on his shoulder.
Draco sighed softly, putting an arm around her shoulders, waiting until she'd moved in closer before talking. "We almost found Lettie. You went unconscious because of your bond with her and Miles. Miles is still unconscious, actually," he added, nodding across the room to where the vampire was still sleeping and healing. "He was closer to where Lettie was being held, and the runes that surrounded the clearing made his mind splinter. It's lucky he's not dead, honestly."
"Will he be all right?" she asked worriedly.
Lettie would be distraught if he never woke up again.
"Theodore and Madam Pomfrey both seem to think so. It's just going to take time. The way the others talk about it, they think we'll find Lettie before he wakes up," Draco murmured.
"It would be nicer than the alternative," Ginevra replied softly, knowing how she would hate waking up in Miles' position only to find Draco still missing.
He nodded in response, and pressed a kiss to her temple. "When you've been given the all clear, we'll both keep looking for her. We're not going to stop until Lettie's found, I promise."
Ginevra just nodded, curling up against him and holding him tight. She just hoped that they would find Lettie alive and in one piece.
She let out a small noise of pain as her aching head reminded her forcefully that she needed more rest, and Ginevra let Draco know that she needed more sleep before closing her eyes and drifting off once more. Draco, who hadn't slept much since Ginevra had been brought back, moved slightly so they were both lying down properly and let himself sleep as well. When they woke up, they'd start searching again, he told himself tiredly, darkness enveloping his mind.
... b ...
Blaise kept Neville and Seamus' hands in his own as they walked through the forest. Niryal was flying ahead of them, the shadows seeming to swallow her between the trees until it became too difficult to see her for long periods of time. She flew through the portal that led to their home, waiting impatiently on the other side as Blaise, Seamus and Neville made their way through, their exhaustion clear in every step.
It probably hadn't been a wise idea to spend the last three straight days fighting with the trolls and werewolves. Especially the trolls, Blaise thought to himself, his shoulder bruised and aching fiercely. It was a persistent reminder that not only did trolls enjoy fighting, but they had entire tournaments specifically designed to fight each other until either someone died or was knocked unconscious. Either way, Blaise had barely scraped through the fighting sessions, but he now understood why Gregory had named Herlorr as his second-in-command. The smaller troll was vicious and smart on top of being bloodthirsty.
"Niryal? What are those?" Neville asked, frowning as he saw five tiny shadows flitting around Niryal's suspended form.
She gave a grin that was closer to a smug smirk and the five shadows flew into her cupped hands. "Guys, meet Disorder, Havoc, Mischief, Mayhem, and Turmoil."
"Your shadow fairies," Neville said, remembering the conversation vaguely.
They all moved closer to Niryal in order to see the small fairies properly. Now that they weren't moving around so much, Neville could see that they were actually brightly coloured rather than black like Niryal. Purple, red, green, blue, and pink fairies were sitting on her palms calmly (although looking a little sour about being paraded around).
"Which one's which, then?" Seamus asked, peering at the fairies curiously.
The red one gave a small growl and started yelling abuse at Seamus. Well, Neville assumed it was abuse since the language wasn't one that he knew, and the fairy looked pissed off for whatever reason.
"Havoc, calm the fuck down. And don't freaking call Seamus that; it's a bloody compliment to someone like him," Niryal snickered.
"I think I'm offended?" Seamus murmured to Blaise, frowning.
"Obviously, the red one's Havoc. Disorder's purple, Mischief's green, Mayhem's blue, and Turmoil's pink," Niryal said proudly. "These freaking guys have been with me forever, and they're the reason why my cursing's not as bad as it could be. They tried to shield me from those fucking Jarveys while I was sleeping."
Her swearing's not as bad as it could be? Blaise asked, trying not to let his amusement show on his face.
"Uh, okay then. Why are you showing them to us now then?" Neville asked.
"Because you guys are useless and need as much fucking help as you can get," Niryal said with a snort of amusement. "C'mon, you beautiful bastards. Go find Lettie."
All five fairies flew off her palms (Havoc kicked Seamus in the head on his way into the air) and then disappeared back through the portal. Blaise resisted the temptation to snatch the red fairy out of the air and squeeze.
"They'll find Lettie sooner than any of your lot bloody will, I can fucking promise you that. Even with those piss-poor excuses for wards," she added with a sneer.
"Why didn't you help us before now?" Neville asked, too exhausted to muster up the proper anger he should be feeling.
"Never thought it'd take you this fucking long to find her; didn't want to damage your fragile fucking egos by offering before you were truly damn desperate," Niryal said, shrugging. "It's only the fact that you didn't make me use them that they're coming out this damn soon. My last bloody Master didn't even know they fucking existed. They're shy little bastards."
"Yeah, I believe tha'," Seamus muttered, rubbing the small bump on his head.
"Havoc'll warm up to you. Probably," Niryal said with a cackle, flying off without waiting for them.
"Well, I just hope she's right about the shadow fairies finding Lettie. At this point, I'll take whatever help we can get," Neville muttered with a sigh.
Blaise and Seamus both nodded in agreement. Blaise took their hands once more as they continued through the forest in the forgotten world to their home.
... b ...
Millicent ran through the forest, her snout twitching at the scent she was following. She hoped that her instinct was right, and this really was the way to Lettie; she didn't want to let her friend down again. Then, she let her human worries and fears slip away, the wolf taking over, and she ran faster with Matt, Selena, and Jim flanking her easily.
They continued along a path that no human would ever be able to step upon, rabbits and deer making a natural path among the trees. The only way the rat-man would have been able to navigate through the trees like this was if he was a rat, and it made Millicent feel hopeful that she really was going the right way.
The scent became fresh, far more recent, and Millicent barely held back a howl as she surged forward with the other three running just as fast. There was a sound of squeaking up ahead, the rat-man was closer than she'd anticipated, and a flurry of magic as he turned from a rat into a man, trying to run through the tightly spaced trees with little success. The man scrambled up one of the trees, panting heavily and beady eyes looking down at them warily.
"Go on, shoo! Go away, you mutts! Eat something your own size!" he called out, trying to hex them. "Why's everything trying to kill me tonight?" he whined, thrusting his wand down to throw out another hex or two.
His wand was bent at the tip, snagged on one of the tree branches when he climbed without care, and the spells all missed them easily. It didn't mean that they were going to stay at the bottom of the tree, snarling and clawing at the thick trunk, and Millicent shook herself slightly before she began to shift back. Her wand, which had been tied to her carefully before she shifted, was in her hand in a second. Millicent had no concerns about casting an Unforgivable, especially not on a man like Pettigrew, and she hit him with the Imperius Curse before he could change back to a rat. She made him climb down the tree with wooden-like limbs, and he fell the last metre to the ground, gasping for breath as he was winded with the fall. The other three wolves gathered around him, snarling and biting at him, and Pettigrew tried to whimper without success.
"Take us to Lettie. Uh-uh, in your rat form," Millicent added when Pettigrew went to stand up.
Shifting from human to animal is painful enough, but to do it under an Imperius Curse made it feel a hundred times worse, bones shifting and skin changing at someone else's direction. Millicent didn't give Pettigrew time to recover, and made him walk through the trees to wherever they had Lettie. Millicent changed back to her wolf, following the rat-man with Selena, Jim, and Matt behind her, all three growling menacingly whenever Pettigrew tried to escape her spell.
The trek was slower than she would have liked, the rat-man fighting her spell the entire way, squeaking loudly at times, and stopping to pant at others. Millicent snapped her jaws at him to hurry him each time, and he squeaked in fear as she came closer with her sharp teeth each time. If he didn't lead them to Lettie in the next five minutes, Millicent was going to eat the rat-man herself.
The scene they arrived to was similar to the last campsite they'd seen, but this time there were actual people inside of the clearing. The rat-man continued into the campsite, and as soon as Millicent stepped out of the tree line, he started squeaking loudly to draw someone's attention. Growling, Millicent pounced and snatched him up in her jaws, the rat going limp immediately. She went still, crouching down to make herself as small as possible, but it seemed that the Death Eaters were preoccupied with something and didn't seem to realise that their was a pack of wolves at their back.
Before Millicent could try to sniff out Lettie or slink around the crowd that had gathered, she saw small flashes of colour flitting around the heads of the Death Eaters. If wolves could frown, Millicent certainly would have managed it, but instead, she dropped the rat-man and padded over to the nearest flash of blue colour, trying to concentrate and see what it actually was. Her head tilted to the side, and she shook her head, because surely that couldn't really be a fairy carrying someone's eye?
... b ...
Lettie had barely fallen asleep after finishing her meagre meal of bread crusts and a single goblet of water when she heard something flitting above her head. She frowned and opened her eyes to look up at the source of noise, hoping it wasn't another bird that got caught in the tent; Voldemort had killed the last bird that had made its way into the tent, and while Lettie had belt sad at the loss of life, she'd been thankful that it wasn't her own.
What she was looking at now though, was definitely not a bird. There were several things above her, and they all seemed to be different colours. The small purple one stopped right in front of her face, and Lettie's eyes widened when she saw that it was a fairy. She wanted to rub her eyes to be certain that she wasn't dreaming, but they were bound behind her, and she could barely pinch herself as an alternative.
"You're really here?" Lettie asked quietly, her voice still rough from her earlier torture; the single goblet of water did little to soothe her throat after everything she'd been through so far.
The blue one stopped beside the purple, made a noise that was a fraction too fast for her to understand, then they both moved forward and pulled on her ear. The pain wasn't enough to make her cry out, not after everything else, but it provided an ache that proved she was still awake.
"Here!" they said, grinning.
The purple one flew out of the tent almost immediately. Lettie didn't question its departure, the blue and green fairies darting over her shoulder. She felt tugging at the rope around her raw wrists, and almost sighed in relief that they were here to help her. The red and pink fairies followed, and there was more tugging and what sounded like cursing. Lettie had no idea who had sent them or how they'd found her, but as long as she could get out of this hell alive and with her baby still safe inside of her, she didn't care.
There was a sound outside of her tent, a second of warning, and then Pettigrew walked in. He was grimacing, and when Lettie saw his expression, she immediately knew that he'd come to torture her. He hated torturing her after she'd eaten since she was more likely to throw it up on him, and always walked in the tent looking like he'd swallowed a lemon. It didn't stop him from hurting her though - his life was more valuable to Pettigrew than hers. She was a mere second from begging for her baby's life and risking Voldemort knowing about her baby, when the red fairy flew over her shoulder and charged at Pettigrew. It was almost too fast for Lettie to keep up with, and she strained to see the red fairy as it kicked Pettigrew in the eyeball, bit him on the neck, tore a fingernail off the hand brandishing his wand. The other three fairies finished getting the ropes off Lettie's wrists, then went to join the red one, maiming and hurting Pettigrew without hesitation.
"Leave me alone!" Pettigrew yelled, shrinking down to a rat a second later, scampering out of the tent and straight into the trees.
The red fairy went to follow him, but the green, blue, and pink ones held him back, and they flitted back to Lettie, tugging on the little left of her clothing to help her stand up. She wavered on her bound feet, clinging to the pole in the middle of the tent as they worked at freeing her legs too. It was a heady sort of relief to feel her ankles, even as raw and bruised as they were, to be able to step forward without being restricted by a length of rope. While Lettie wanted to escape as soon as possible, she couldn't bring herself to walk very far without being in pain, let alone run. She'd be seen as soon as she stepped out of the tent, and Lettie had no desire to be thrown back in here with a hex to boot.
Slowly, Lettie forced herself to walk around the tent carefully, trying not to make any noise and alert anyone outside that she was free. She kept an eye on the fairies as they looked out of the tent, waiting for the coast to be clear as soon as she could run. At least, it sounded like that's what they'd agreed to do. The green and pink ones seemed to be arguing, swear words and threats littering their tiny voiced words, and as she recognised the curses they were uttering, Lettie was surprised that she hadn't realised who they belonged to sooner.
"You belong to Niryal, don't you?" Lettie asked softly.
The blue one nodded emphatically, his entire body moving with the motion. Lettie felt relief wash over her, hope filling her in a way that it hadn't in some time. Her friends were still searching for her. They hadn't given up on her, and they were safe.
The green one made a small noise of indignation and whacked the blue one on the head. They started fighting, and rather than try to stop them, the red and pink fairies simply joined in the fray. Lettie winced and hobbled on aching legs to where they were fighting, intending to stop them or at least get them away from the tent's opening. By the time she made it the few metres to the fairies, the blue one managed to throw the red one right out of the tent flap.
"Get him back in here," Lettie hissed softly.
She wanted to escape as soon as possible, but these tiny fairies weren't going to be much of a match against Death Eaters, and she didn't want her saviours to be discovered and killed. Lettie doubted that Niryal would ever forgive her if her fairies were killed. Assuming she survived their rescuing, of course.
The pink one flew down low to the open flap, peeking out to where the red one was lying on the ground. Dashing out of the tent, the pink one grabbed the red and pulled him inside quickly. Lettie held her breath, hoping that they hadn't been seen. The green fairy muttered at the blue and red, arms waving in exasperation and annoyance, and the red let out a growl before launching himself at the green. The blue still seemed to be annoyed from their previous argument, and joined in a second later. The pink let out a battle-cry and flew at the three fighting fairies, knocking all of them out of the tent.
Lettie cursed under her breath when she heard a Death Eater shout at the sight of the fairies. She carefully peeked out of the tent, and was relieved to see that the Death Eaters hadn't seemed to realise that the fairies had come from her tent. The fairies fought for a second more, until one of the Death Eaters attempted to hex one of the fairies. They all stopped fighting each other abruptly and launched themselves at the Death Eater that had tried to hex them, and like the red one had done with Pettigrew, the Death Eater was attacked in every place the fairies could cause the most damage. The Death Eaters around them laughed, thinking it was all a great joke, but their laughter died down when their fellow Death Eater went down with a final gurgling scream and covered in blood. Lettie was surprised to see that he was dead, but more for the amount of carnage the tiny fairies had managed to achieve in such a short amount of time, and she felt no remorse or pity for the dead man that was lying before her tent.
By the time the gathered Death Eaters got over their initial shock, another two Death Eaters joined their comrade on the forest floor. The red one flew high above the Death Eaters' heads, diving down to pull out one's eye, cackling wildly before throwing it another Death Eater, and descending back down to do the same to another.
Behind the group of Death Eaters that circled her tent, Lettie heard several low growls. It took the screaming Death Eaters a minute to realise that there was another threat, and in that time, four wolves attacked. Lettie saw that one was Millicent and almost collapsed in pure relief. Then she saw that the shouting had brought Voldemort and Virginia out of their tents, and she tried to call out to her friends in warning. Lettie barely managed a low sound that was dull even to her own ears. She was struck with fear at the sight of them, filled with revulsion, yet unable to move or call out.
Something small ran over her feet into the tent, and surprised out of her shock, she turned to see Pettigrew's rat form scampering towards the back of her tent and trying to escape. Lettie wasn't as fast as Pettigrew, but the tent had been enforced so that she couldn't escape through the back like he was trying, and she managed to make it over to where the rat was whimpering and whining, struggling and not able to escape. Lettie grabbed him around the neck, squeezing tightly as she lifted the rat off the ground. Pettigrew gave another whimper, but Lettie didn't care, and she squeezed her fingers a little tighter. Pettigrew let out a squeak, then his beady eyes shone brightly, and he changed back to his human form while her hand was still wrapped around his neck.
"P-p-please, let me go. I can get you out too!" Pettigrew added, eyes wide.
Lettie didn't doubt that he could; Pettigrew had a way of escaping, even when he was right in front of people. This man had helped torture her, and when he hadn't, he'd stood by when she was being tortured, and she didn't trust him to keep her safe, even if they did manage to escape. With a move she still remembered from her training with her Lady, with her friends, Lettie had Pettigrew's wand in her hand in a moment. It was bent at the top, but that didn't matter because she dug it into his stomach firmly. Lettie ignored the whimper he let out, the gulp of fear he made under the press of her hand, and looking him in the eyes, she said the Killing Curse clearly. The wand lit up in a flare of green, and the light left Pettigrew's beady eyes as she dropped him to the ground. With that done, she turned back to the tent opening and walked over carefully, her ankles aching at the strenuous activity they'd already undergone in the last hour.
Voldemort and Virginia had seemingly decided that the wolves weren't worth their time, because they were nowhere to be seen, and the Death Eaters that remained were literally being torn apart. Two of the wolves howled loudly now, hopefully signalling the rest of the pack, and Lettie saw Millicent as she leapt and practically barrelled her way through three Death Eaters to get to her tent. She leaped through the opening, landing in a heap and panting heavily. Millicent turned with a snarl, ready to fight anyone that had followed her through, but they were alone. Lettie's ankles finally gave up on her, and she crumbled down to the ground, still clutching Pettigrew's wand.
Millicent turned back in a second, body aching from transforming so many times, but she ignored it and hurried over to Lettie.
"We're here, Lettie. We'll get you out of here. Do you think you can hold onto my back when I shift back? I can carry you out of here, but you've got to hang on tight," she said, using her wand to do a few basic healing spells on Lettie's hands, wrists, and ankles.
Theo would have to determine the extent of the damage done to Lettie and heal her properly, but for now, this would be enough to get them out of here.
Lettie just nodded, standing with Millicent's help, and as soon as Millicent was a wolf again, she climbed onto her back and clung on as tight as she could. Her knuckles were white, her hands ached despite the healing spell, but she refused to let go, no matter what.
Millicent let out a howl, and there was an answering one barely a second later, then she ran through the tent's opening. Lettie was barely aware of the werewolves guarding the tent as they ran out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest.
... b ...
Friday, 2 August
Ginevra and Draco were woken by Blaise, Neville, and Seamus banging on their door loudly. The three wizards barely waited for them to call out before they hurried inside, Niryal squeezing into the room above them, a small purple fairy resting on her shoulder.
"Niryal found Lettie; Millicent has her," Neville breathed out, eyes wide as he struggled to catch his breath from running for the past ten minutes.
"Where?" Ginevra said, getting out of bed in a second and Draco not far behind her.
"Some damn forest in Russia. It doesn't fucking matter, does it? So long as you can get there in fucking time to save her, she could be in Timbuktu for all that it matters," Niryal muttered overhead.
"You're right. How long will it take for us to get there? Can we Apparate?" Draco asked, pulling on a pair of trousers as Ginevra put her boots on.
Padma and Parvati stopped at the door with Fred and George, obviously having heard the news from Blaise, Seamus and Neville while Ginevra and Draco were asleep.
"We're all Apparating to a rendezvous point to meet with Millicent and the werewolves; Theo's already waiting with enough medicine to knock out a herd of trolls, or so he says," Parvati said, Fred nodding a little sceptically beside her.
"Hurry up!" Padma called over her shoulder, armed with a wand at her side and sword on her other hip; George still fitting his own sword sheath as he followed her with his twin and Parvati.
"Where's Greg and Pansy?" Draco asked, grabbing his own wand and daggers from their resting place beside the bed.
Neville went quiet for a moment, calling out for Greg and Pansy and telling them the good news. They all headed after the twins, who were waiting outside impatiently.
We're with Grand Royal Hyler; we're leaving now, Greg replied.
Let us know the rendezvous point, we'll Apparate and meet you there, Pansy added.
Colin and I will be over the Great Lake in about ten minutes, it will be easier if we take you; you're both too tired to Apparate properly right now, Luna added, her tone not leaving room for argument.
Thank you, Luna, Greg said, sounding weary.
With that sorted, Draco and Ginevra held their hands out, the others all taking some sort of hold of them. Their bodies began to glow red, and they concentrated on the place Theo was waiting for them. If Lettie, Millicent, and the werewolves were being followed, then they would fight to save their friend, no matter the cost.
... b ...
Theodore was waiting with Agnes, Xavier, Julianne, and Garion, as well as their vampires and Veelas. The atmosphere was tense, every single person and being listening out for the werewolves or anything that could reveal Lettie's presence. Even Garion and Xavier had stopped glaring at each other long enough to listen to the forest around them.
There was a howl that seemed to echo off the trees around them, and Theo had no idea where the wolf was coming from, nor if they had Death Eaters following them or not. He waited with bated breath, and as he did, Theo saw that the air around them was shifting to red. There was a loud bang, louder than any explosion a wand could possibly create, and he had his wand trained on the unknown threat before the red haze had even faded. Relaxing slightly when he saw that it was his friends, Theo sheathed his wand and headed over to them.
"You couldn't tell me you were coming in like that? You scared the hell out of me," Theo muttered.
"Only way we could Apparate everyone out of Hogwarts at the same time," Ginevra replied, looking a little unsteady on her feet.
"But at what price? You don't look so good, Ginevra," Theo muttered. "How long has it been since you've slept?"
"A few minutes, actually. Neville, Blaise, and Seamus woke us with the news," Ginevra said with a nod to them.
"Uh huh, and how long did you sleep for?" Theo asked, wand in hand as he checked her over.
He glanced over to Draco, who honestly didn't look much better than Ginevra, and Theo promised himself that he'd check him next. He could hear loud explosions coming from the forest, his mind searching out for Millicent to make sure she was all right. She was too animalistic to answer, but she was still there, still alive, so he retreated and continued to look over Ginevra.
"I don't know how long I slept. We don't have time for this, Theo. Millicent's coming with Lettie any minute now, and I'll be fine. Leave your strength for them," Ginevra said.
"As soon as I've seen to Lettie, you two are next," Theo warned, reluctantly stepping back.
There was another howl, this one closer, and Theo recognised it as Millicent. He had no idea how he knew, just that he did, and he took a step towards the trees just as Millicent burst through, Lettie clinging on to her back weakly. Seven wolves leapt into the clearing behind Millicent, turning and growling immediately. A few small flashes of colour were flitting above their heads, the fairies letting out cries of relief and flying into Niryal's hair as soon as they realised she was with her Master and his friends. Niryal hushed them, letting them back inside to heal and regroup before she turned to the trees and waited to fight.
Theodore could see the blood the werewolves were covered in, but his first priority was Lettie, and he hurried over to Millicent and Lettie just as Death Eaters made their way between the trees. He vaguely noticed that they were covered in bits of bark, leaves, and twigs; the explosions were probably a result of the Death Eaters making their own path in the forest rather than trying to follow the werewolves through their own trail. Millicent was shaking slightly, her legs trembling, and as he approached, she let out a small snarl. She was full of adrenaline from the flight and now needed to fight.
"Lettie? Lettie, can you hear me?" Theodore asked softly; he needed to get her off Millicent's back before she gave in to her adrenaline and joined in the fray behind them.
Lettie blinked at him and nodded slowly.
"That's a good start, Lettie. Can you let go of Millicent now? I'll help you stand up," Theodore added, moving closer.
Swallowing, Lettie nodded again and her fingers unfurled in Millicent's fur. She let Theodore help her stand with a spell, though he noted how she flinched when he produced his wand, and he hurried to put her on the stretcher he had waiting. The others were all fighting the Death Eaters that had followed Millicent and the pack of werewolves, but the fight was fairly one-sided in his friends favour considering they had the vampires and Veelas with them. The Veelas could have fought dirty, making everyone in the vicinity love them and stop fighting, but it seemed they needed to cause and misery as much as the others did, and there were flashes of daggers and swords and maces in the early morning light. The vampires were hungry, draining whichever Death Eater they caught, some even holding another by the throat as their next victim.
With the fight already underway and little he could add to it, Theodore Side-Apparated Lettie away from it all. When they arrived in the hospital in Antarctica, the ice-white walls surrounding them, Lettie looked at the room in surprise, then to Theodore enquiringly.
"I can't Apparate to Hogwarts without using a lot of magic, and I'd prefer to keep that to heal you first. The others will meet us here," Theodore promised.
Lettie nodded, then looked down at her lap for a moment, as if trying to decide something. She seemed to make a decision because Lettie looked up at him a few seconds later, and when she licked her lips nervously, Theodore could see she now had a silver-tipped tongue.
"I think I'm pregnant with Miles' child," Lettie said, her voice hoarse.
Theodore looked down to her stomach, eyes widening slightly, and he nodded firmly. "Lie down. I'm going to give you a potion to knock you out so I can heal everything they've done to you. It won't have any negative consequences on the baby," he added, guiding a goblet to her lips and watching carefully as she drank every last drop. "Would you like me to double-check, make sure you're right about being pregnant? If you are, can I let the others know?"
Lettie nodded again, looking a little woozy as the potion began to take hold. "Would have told them all myself if I could hear any of you," she murmured, words thick and slurred.
As Theo helped her lie down on the bed, she grabbed his wrist firmly, eyes wide in a panic.
"Where is Miles? I didn't see him there with my Lady and Lord."
Theodore waited until she was lying down before he answered. "He almost found you a week ago. It was probably one of the earlier campsites you were held in, it was definitely the most protected with wards and runes all around it. They were designed to... hurt anyone that knew you who would come looking. Miles was hurt, but he's getting better. He just needed to sleep and let his mind recover. Now, let's see about getting you healthy for when he wakes up, okay?"
Lettie looked worried, but the potion had too much of a hold over her to let her stay awake and worry for long, so she nodded, her eyes closing. Theodore waited until she was unconscious before he began to cut off her clothing to see the full extent of the damage done to her. Lettie was bruised heavily in multiple places, he recognised signs of both the Cruciatus and Imperius Curses, and a few bones looked like they'd been broken and reset wrong. He would have to break them again just to reset them, and it was something Theodore really wasn't looking forward to. Overall, it was amazing that Lettie had even managed to stand on her own.
Theodore was hesitant to perform a pregnancy check, not sure that the baby could have survived this if there was internal damage as well. He closed his eyes as he did the charm, only opening his eyes when he knew the charm was complete. Above Lettie's stomach a pale green light was glowing. She was definitely pregnant. Theodore hurried to check the baby's vitals, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was alive and healthy. With that resolved, he started to heal the bruises littering Lettie's body, lifting and turning her over carefully with a flick and swish of his wand before continuing.
There was a knock at the door that startled Theo, his concentration so fully on his patient that he hadn't even heard anyone else Apparate. He straightened up, his back cracking with the motion, and looked over to the frosted door, clearing a section with a wave of his wand to see Millicent waiting outside with Ginevra and Draco behind her. He covered Lettie's bare body with a sheet and opened the door for them, nodding them over.
"She's all right?" Ginevra asked immediately, even though she had a few welts and bruises herself.
"Lettie will be all right. I've almost finished healing the external damage. She'll have to regrow three bones, but I'm hoping another goblet will have her sleeping through it; I'd rather not have her in any more pain than she's been in already," Theo muttered.
"What did they do to her?" Draco asked.
There was something cold in his voice that made Theo wonder just how much of the blood on his friend was actually Draco's, and if he'd made the Death Eaters truly pay for what they'd helped do to Lettie.
"They used the Cruciatus Curse mostly, the Imperius Curse a few times, she has several broken bones, and she's bruised extensively. Lettie wasn't raped, but she's pregnant with Miles' child, and as far as I can tell, it's healthy and still alive," he added firmly.
Ginevra's eyes widened at the news. "You're serious?"
Theodore nodded firmly, tempted to roll his eyes because why on earth would he joke about something like that?. Still, he knew her response was more due to the surprise of the news rather than Ginevra questioning his abilities.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Draco asked, looking to Lettie.
"You can both take a bed each for yourselves. You've run yourselves ragged and to be frank, you both look like shit. You need to rest almost as much as Lettie does. No arguing," Theo added firmly, pointing to the beds.
"Got any burn salve, Theo?" Fred quipped, poking his head into the room.
"In the cabinet, third shelf on the right-hand ... what the hell happened to you?" Theo asked, doing a double-take when he saw that Fred was singed almost from head to toe.
He was fairly sure that his hair was still on fire, if the smoke was any indication.
"That was my fault!" Colin called, sounding sheepish and remorseful. "One of the Death Eaters hexed me, and I saw everyone as a threat. I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about, Colin. We've done worse with our products at the shop," George replied, heading past Fred - looking equally as singed and sooty as his twin - to get to the medicine cabinet.
"You two take a bed each as well," Theodore muttered, waving to the beds beside Draco and Ginevra.
"Uh, we'll just wait with them," Parvati said, slipping past in a blur of blackened smoke.
She and Padma didn't look as bad as Fred and George, and Theo wouldn't be surprised to find out that the two Weasley twins had shielded their girlfriends from the worst of Colin's dragon burns. He sighed and continued to work on Lettie, vaguely aware of the rest of his friends trudging and trooping into the room, more beds appearing for each of them. Blaise and Neville carried Seamus in, his eyebrows gone and his foot at an awkward angle. Greg and Pansy helped each other limp in, welts from hexes littering their bodies.
"Selena and the others went back to Hogwarts. They're all fine," Millicent added, healing a hex mark off her arm.
"The vampires went with Agnes and Xavier, and the Veelas did the same with Julianne and Garion; they didn't want to overwhelm you," Luna said. "But they promised to visit Lettie as soon as she was able to - or wanted to - receive visitors," she added.
"Once she's healed it will be up to her. Mill, Colin, start cleaning all of the blood, soot and whatever else off everyone so I can heal their wounds," Theodore said over his shoulder, seeing that Millicent and Colin weren't as bad as everyone else.
Millicent nodded, immediately cleaning robes and limbs. Colin nodded determinedly, moving a bit stiffly as he moved between the beds. Another hour passed before Theodore was satisfied that he'd healed Lettie to the point where she only needed rest, food, and water to recover. He turned to the others to help them, seeing that they were as clean as possible without showering and thanked Millicent and Colin before he started to heal them. Millicent and Colin helped, offering potion-filled goblets at Theo's command, and they made sure that everyone drank them all. Theodore knew that it was going to be a long night, but for now, they were all alive, and that was more than he could ever hope for.
When Theo had finally finished healing the last welt and bruise, Millicent took his wand from him. Colin had already fallen asleep almost an hour ago with Luna beside him, but she'd stayed up to make sure Theo wouldn't overwork himself. He was exhausted, and his magic was depleted, but a solid ten hour sleep would fix that, Millicent was certain of it. She led Theo over to a bed and made him lie down. She settled down next to him, humming softly under her breath and stroking his hair gently, easing him into an exhausted slumber.
They would all probably start training again tomorrow, probably organise something specific to Colin resisting compulsion hexes, but for now, they would all take the time to rest and recover. It was just as important as the fight ahead, and Millicent would make sure that they all took as much care of themselves as they could, even with the war looming ahead.
...
End of the thirty-seventh chapter.
Thanks for reading; I hope you liked it!