Metamorphose Chapter 51

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any profits from posting this fanfiction.

Summary: Non-Epilogue compliant. After the war groups of disgruntled Wizards and Witches terrorise England's magical nation, sending them to the brink of civil war and a war against the Creatures. Harry is in Gringotts when one terrorist faction attacks causing Harry and other survivors to go into hiding. There is an interested repercussion of the potion they use to hide themselves and now Harry finds himself stuck in a foreign country, with people he doesn't know and living in a style he has never even dreamed to imagine.

Warnings: Gender change. Fem!Harry…after a potions accident. Name changes for characters. Hurricane Sandy (use of artistic licence over the damage it wrought). Swearing.

Pairings: LM/HP. DM/AG. RW/HG.

Author's note: Bad language in this chapter – just to warn you.


(Chapter 51)

December 23rd.

Henri smiled as she finished wrapping the last of the presents for the orphans. It had only taken her two days but now she had finished wrapping every single one. Magic had played its part too and the house elves had been a brilliant help. But now all of them were wrapped in various wrapping paper, the empty rolls were littering one corner of the room and the presents were all piled high on the other side of the room, the pile extending right out to the middle of the room it was so huge. All the orphans had three new outfits each, a new coat each, two new toys each, a book each and some chocolate. Since there were one hundred and three orphans that was a lot of presents, a lot of paper, a lot of ribbons and a lot of labels.

Henri moved and grabbed the huge trunk with five different locks on it and an undetectable extension charm on each of the sections. She unlocked the first section and summoned the list of different orphans. She would put all the presents for the orphans living in the West Country in one section, the orphans living in London in another, the orphans who lived in Scotland in the third section and the Irish orphans on the forth. The fifth compartment was for the Weasley-Mercury orphans. Starting with the West Country orphans, for all the wizarding children who lived in the orphanage in Bristol who took orphans who had lived anywhere in the west side of England and from Wales, Henri summoned all the presents for each orphan by name and ticked off whether they had the correct number of presents and whether they had all been put in the trunk.

Three hours later Henri was finished. She summoned an elf to take the trunk to someplace safe. Just as the elf disappeared Henri sat down on a chair and put her wand onto the table beside her.

"At last, we thought that bloody elf would never leave!" A voice said and Henri sat upright straight away. She reached for her wand but her arm was grabbed and she was yanked from the chair by somebody invisible.

"AH! LET GO OF ME!" She yelled and oddly obligingly whoever it was did let go. Henri stumbled at the abrupt release and the shift in her centre of gravity from the pregnancy meant she fell to the floor only just catching herself on her hands and knees. She glared and looked around her trying to see any glimpse of who had just grabbed her. "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?"

"Now, now little lady, don't get your panties in a twist." The voice said. Then a cloak of invisibility was pulled away revealing Worsley with brown greasy hair, sallow skin and angry grey eyes. Beside him somebody else appeared from beneath a cloak. Then another few people from beneath invisibility spells until Henri found she was in a room full of people from Worsley's political party, all the people they had thrown out of office. And Smith was there. Zacharius Smith looking very worse for wear with more scars lining his face, a mad glint in his eyes and a sneer on his lips.

"Ah you still recognise me then do you bitch?" Smith sneered at her. When his lips moved you could see that one of his front teeth was missing and part of the gum had disappeared with it leaving a huge hole at the front of his mouth.

"Yeah, I still recognise you." She muttered.

"Those Veela sure did a number on me but it will be nothing compared to what I give them." Smith grinned, that gaping hole between his teeth even more pronounced and the scars on his face making that smile look peculiar. Henri pushed herself up to stand only to be shoved right back to the floor.

"Did I say you could get up?! Huh?! No, stay there!" Worsley yelled and cast a quick incarcerous spell at her. She glared at him as her hands were tied behind her back and her feet and calves were tied to the floor.

"What the hell do you want?" She demanded and the man sneered.

"I want what your husband and those Weasley scum took from me! I want the Wizarding world back!"

"You didn't have a Wizarding world, you had a broken world. Thanks to you the Wizarding world became nothing!" Worsley slapped her across the face and shoved his wand under her chin.

"But it was mine and so was everybody in it!" Worsley yelled.

"You can't own people!"

"Haha stupid bitch! Of course you can." Smith laughed, as did many of the men around him. Henri glowered at him.

"Alright then, you can. At least for a while. Then they escape and get out and when they come back at you they make you look like Smith over there."

"You BITCH!" Smith pointed his wand at her and, to Henri's horror, cast the cruciatus curse.

Pain exploded down her ever nerve, through every cell of her body and she screamed. Her limbs contorted to try to escape the pain but she was tied down into it and no matter what she did the pain continued until suddenly it stopped.

Panting and trying to recover quickly Henri looked around and pushed herself back upright. She looked at Smith who still had his wand pointed at her and a rather frustrated look on his face.

"Why isn't the blasted curse working?!" He shouted and Henri could have laughed as Bellatrix Lestrange's words came back to her. 'Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy? You need to mean them Potter! You need to really want to cause pain…to enjoy it…righteous anger won't hurt me for long.'

"Unforgivables huh?" Is what Henri decided to say instead of repeating that crazy woman's words.

"You deserve nothing less!" Smith growled and said the curse again. Once more pain exploded through her but it wasn't as much as last time, nor did it last as long. It had nothing on Voldemort and the Death Eater's curses.

"And what do you deserve?" Henri gritted out.

"To rule!" Smith answered.

"You are insane!"

"No, you will be insane by the time we are finished with you if your husband doesn't give us what we want." Smith countered and Henri frowned. What did they mean? Smith laughed. "Yeah, why do you think we are here with you and keeping you alive? It's not because of your pretty face! It's because we need leverage over your controlling husband! You…you are nothing more than a pretty bit for his arm but Lucas Mercury…ooh Lucas Mercury is the Minister's right hand and once he knows we have you he will come grovelling and giving us any information we want so we can rule again."

"Lucas would never…"

"Crucio!" The spell ripped through her like a thousand burning knives driving into her skin. She yelled as the pain tore through her nerves and clawed through her bones.

"Smith! Stop! If she goes insane before he gets here everything is ruined!"

The spell faded away and Henri choked as her breath caught in her throat. She pushed herself up onto her knees again and glared at everybody around the room. Worsley frowned at her but Smith got an almost delighted maniacal look on his face.

"You're a tough one aren't you?" He muttered and Henri glared at him.

"Not really, you're crap at spells." She offered and he lunged forwards in a rage. Worsley caught him and threw him back.

"Control yourself! You can torture her when Mercury gives us what we want!"

"Lucas won't give you anything."

"Oh he will." Worsley grinned. "He will or you die."

Henri didn't bother aggravating them anymore, instead she settled for glaring at them and all the while trying to summon her wand to her. She had never been good at wandless magic, not even as Harry. There had been that time in the alley with Dudley when he had been separated from his wand but had tried to cast 'lumos' and that had made his wand light up. But lumos was a spell they taught in the first year of Hogwarts and it had been so long ago that Henri had done that.

Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio.

Henri stayed concentrated, furiously picturing her wand flying towards her. She listened with half an ear as Worsley gave the instruction to send the note to Lucas. She listened when he reiterated instructions to the group. When Lucas arrives, check he's alone. Shut down the Floo's. Raise the anti-apperation wards.

Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio.

"Worsley sir! He's here!" A man said excitedly an indefinite amount of time later.

"Excellent, everything is going to plan. You see little woman? Your stupid husband came." Worsley said and Henri glowered at the man.

Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio. Accio! Accio! Accio!

Footsteps in the hallway and the door knob turned. The door opened and in stepped Lucas with an emotionless mask on. His blue eyes that Henri so loved were cold and flat now. He walked carefully into the room holding his head up high. Somebody from Worsley's gang shut the door behind him then gathered around behind him. Lucas's lips were pursed and he flicked his eyes carefully but slowly around the room like he was taking notice and dismissing everybody with that slow glance. The people around him bristled a little. Lucas gave a look to Worsley and sneered before looking at Henri.

"Hello my dear."

"Hello." She muttered.

"You don't look very comfortable." He said by way of making conversation. He kept his tone light which made Henri smile as everybody around them bristled more.

"I'm not. We should invest in softer carpets. I think I've told you that before." Henri tried to go for the same amount of lightness in her voice, like they were sitting down to dinner instead of being in the middle of a hostage situation.

"Indeed you have my dear, I apologise for the delay. I shall endeavour to rectify the situation."

"THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP TALKING TO HER!" Worsley screamed and yelled at Lucas, drawing his wand and disarming Lucas straight away which had the man thrown back into the end wall.

Henri nearly yelled for him then changed her mind. She closed her mouth and gritted her teeth. She concentrated again. Lucas had no wand. She had no wand. They couldn't win this if they didn't have wands!

Accio! Accio! Accio! ACCIO! ACCIO! ACCIO!

"Now Mercury, you are going to listen very carefully else little wifey here gets a nasty surprise." Wrosely spat and two men yanked Lucas to his feet and dragged him to the centre of the room. Worsley pointed his wand at Lucas' neck and leaned in very close. Lucas cast his gaze over Worsley's shoulder to see Henri.

Those eyes showed the man's fear, the man's anger and the man's helplessness. 'No', she willed him to say. Don't tell them anything! Do not help them. Resist them. She could withstand whatever it was if he could. Don't help them. Say 'no'.

"We want to know…"

Henri tuned the man out, focussing on summoning her wand still and keeping her eyes firmly locked on Lucas'. Somebody shouted, Lucas' lips moved and Henri heard him say 'no'. A spell was yelled and Henri felt pain tear through her again. Hot knives dragging over her skin, searing into her and stabbing her.

"TELL US! Or Smith will curse her again." The words came when the pain stopped. Henri panted harshly and searched frantically around for Lucas' eyes. He had a pained and worried look in his eyes now. Henri shook her head, hoping to convey that he shouldn't tell them anything. He shouldn't help them. Don't say it! Don't give in! Be strong! Don't give up. Lucas opened his mouth still staring at her. Then he steeled himself up and shook his head telling them 'no'.

The pain came again. Ripping and tearing! It bit and tore. It crushed and snapped. It stretched and pulled. It stabbed and wrenched.

Then it was gone.

Henri whined a little and swallowed a few times trying to sooth the pain in her throat from where she had undoubtedly been screaming. Her legs were in agony where they were tied to the floor and she had obviously been struggling against the binds as she was tortured.

"TELL US!"

Again Henri met Lucas' eyes. She shook her head, shaking faster when she saw how helpless and scared he was. He hid it well Henri would grant him that but as he said no again and they cast the spell on her once more Henri's mind was transported back to a time when he was Lucius and Lucius had that helpless, fearful and trapped look in his face as he did at that moment.

The pain cleared again and Henri scrabbled upright again so she could meet Lucas' eyes once more. He looked…he looked wretched. Tears were streaming from his eyes and pain was now etched over his face. Pain for her. He was hurting for her. He wasn't going to stay strong through this. He was going to give up, as he had given up before to save his family. But this was bigger than them…Merlin forgive her it was a situation bigger than their family and their children and who knew what the bloody torture curse was doing to her babies but it didn't mean she was going to give in and let those despicable beings hurt other people.

"Don't tell them Lucas! Don't give in! Don't you dare!"

"Shut up you bitch!" A hand slammed into the side of her face and she fell to the ground again landing awkwardly on her bump. Pain rippled across her belly even as pain blossomed through her face. She rolled over as best she could with her bindings to relieve the pain and pressure on her belly. She felt dazed from the blow but she knew the moment they released the bindings on her legs and arms.

A hand grabbed her hair and dragged her to her feet. She stumbled up, crying out as pain spasmed across her belly again. She was dragged across the room and over to Lucas. She reached up and grabbed the hand fisted in her hair trying to pull it down and relieve the pressure, the action instinctual and necessary but not helpful. She was steered right over to stand before Lucas.

"Let's try this a different way, since you are so much of a pussy that you take your orders from your wife." Smith said. From over her shoulder came an arm with a hand clasping a wand. It pointed right into Lucas' face. Lucas went cross eyed a little staring at the wand point then his eyes flicked up to whoever was holding her up, Smith judging from the voice. "You tell your husband to tell us what we want to know or we will cast the curse on him."

Lucas' eyes went wide and terrified all in a second then the mask was back on and he looked like a man sentenced to death. Henri felt tears well up in her eyes, tears that weren't from the physical pain she had just gone through but pain of the emotional kind.

"I'm sorry Lucas, don't tell them." Henri said and Lucas shut his eyes obviously trying to hide from the terror of what came next.

"So be it. Worsley help me! Crucio!" Smith cast and the moment Lucas let out a tremendous bellowing yell of agony Henri's body burst into action.

All those sessions at the gym training her muscles for power and speed. All that time practising duels and fencing and fighting. They all leapt to the forefront as her eyes tore from looking at her husband to the wand that was right there in front of her for the taking.

Clasping her hands together she threw her arms back, bending her elbow and ramming it with all her strength into Smith's gut. He yelped, arm dropping down and the spell failing with it. His other hand yanked more harshly on her hair but Henri quickly moved her arm and, ignoring the pain it caused her, spun around. She punched, kicked and lashed out. Grabbing Smith's arm, yanking it down painfully on her knee. There was a slight snap and Smith screamed. The wand fell from his grasp and so did her hair.

Henri ducked, just as spells came flying towards her. She picked up the discarded wand and took aim quickly.

All that time figuring out the wand lore from the war came back to her and the first spell she uttered, after stunning Smith, was a summoning spell. Her wand sailed through the air and she snatched it up. Immediately in the rhythm and adrenaline of a fight Henri cast and cast and cast against her enemies. Three men went down then a spell hit her. Gasping and clutching at her shoulder in pain Henri transferred her wand to her other hand and fired off a few more spells. Shield spells, offensive curses, spells that effected the room. She took down more of her enemies and back away giving herself room to see the rest of them.

She didn't know when it had happened but somehow Worsley ended up on the floor in a body bind. But Lucas was on the floor too with blood pooling beneath him.

Henri screamed and fired off more and more curses. More men went down, either getting stunned or falling prey to one of her nastier hexes which gave them injuries. Weak pitiful men weren't made to fight when a mere cutting hex narrowly missed them only giving them the slightest wound to their legs or sides and it sent them to the ground in too much pain to concentrate enough. Henri cursed them all and stunned them or tied them up or knocked them out forcefully. All her practise duels with Ron, all those practise fights with Lucas…all of it helped her. She threw her mind into the battle, into her fight. She ignored the excessive pain that kept sweeping through her. She blocked out and pushed away the dizziness and nausea that gripped her. She just fought and fought and fought.

Three men left.

Two men left.

One man left…no he was down too!

No men left!

Henri spun around trying to see anybody still standing. Nobody was. She breathed out a huge sigh of relief.

Pain shot across her stomach and she yelled, nearly falling to the ground.

What the hell?!

She frantically looked around again but nobody was standing, nobody was pointing a wand at her. Nothing.

And the pain went.

She breathed a few times. Catching her breath and trying to centre herself. Calm down from the adrenaline rush.

Then her eyes caught sight of Lucas again, sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. She raced forwards and fell to her knees, skidding on the carpeted floor.

"Lucas! Lucas!" She called and shook him. As his body rocked slightly ripples went through the pool of blood. She put her hand to her mouth, feeling the nausea clog up in her throat.

Oh god…oh god…

Her hand had his blood on it too now. She grabbed his shoulder and heaved him over onto his back.

"He's going to die you know. And it's all your fault you stupid bitch! If you'd made him tell us what we wanted to know he would have lived!" Worsley sneered heartlessly from the floor next to Lucas. His body bind stopped his body from moving but it didn't stop his lips.

"Your kind never let people live." Henri sneered at him disgustedly. He glared back at her.

"My kind? What do you mean 'my kind'! Just because I'm muggleborn you prejudice piece of shit!"

"Not muggleborn!" Henri argued and glared at him with as much hate as she could muster. "Evil! You are evil. Monsterous! You are the kind of person I hoped would be in Azkaban along with the rest of the Death Eaters!"

"I'm not a Death Eater! I'm fighting for the Greater Good! The good of all Wizards and witches! I'm fighting for Harry Potter!"

"Fuck you! Henri Black never wanted this! God! You idiot! Henri fought to stop people from getting hurt, not hurt them in the process!"

"Henri Black? What the hell?! I'm talking about Harry Potter! Maybe that cruciatus curse really did mess with your brain."

Henri startled for a moment then she rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. Impatiently she cast a few more healing spells hoping to fix the huge deep wound to Lucas' forehead. She could still see his bone even through the streaming blood.

"No…no it's the spell damn it! I can't say that name any more. I-AH!" Henri shut her eyes and cried out as pain rippled and clenched through her stomach. It was excruciating!

It shot through her, burning and aching and gripping and tearing. Her entire stomach went hard and tight. It felt like her insides were trying to crush her and made her explode all at once. Henri couldn't escape it, not at all. It was a pain inside of her.

It ebbed away and Henri sobbed with gratefulness as it left. She looked around again desperate to see who was casting this pain curse. There was nobody in a position to do it. There were people awake but they were bound. Nobody had their wands, there was a nice collection of them in the far corner where Henri had thrown them.

"Haha! Somebody got a good pain curse in didn't they?! Looks like you've gone into labour. Haha! I wonder who did it. I bet it was Smith! Smith was the best one at crucio. That's why we chose him."

"Shut up!" Henri shouted at Worsley. "Smith's cruciatus was crap! Absolutely shit compared to Bellatrix and Voldemort's. His spells and his fighting was all crap! How else would I have beaten all of you! You have a crap team full of crap fighters and a crap memorandum! And you, Worsley, are the one filled with the most crap so shut the hell up!"

Henri yelled at him and cast a few more healing spells on Lucas. Finally the wound on Lucas' forehead began to close up, then it sealed and Henri breathed a sigh of relief. There was too much blood though, way too much blood. She needed to get help. She stumbled up to her feet but then that pain came back again and sent her crashing to her knees once more.

She gritted her teeth as it rocketed through the nerves in her belly and sent her mind spiralling into an abyss of pain and agony and absolutely nothing else. She breathed because that was all she could do, hoping the pain would go away. Hoping it would go as it had before.

It seemed to take ages…it seemed to go on far longer than Smith's cruciatus curse. On and on it went. Henri could feel tears streaming down her face. The nausea broke free and she vomited over the floor. Miserably she used her wand to cast a cleaning spell at it as the painful spasms slowly disappeared.

They faded and faded until they were gone and Henri hid her eyes with her hand as she sobbed her relief for a moment.

Okay…okay breath. Breathe and get to the fireplace. Get to the fireplace and call for help.

She crawled forwards but as soon as she moved one leg there was a gush of warm liquid pore down her legs.

"Ah! Oh god no…" Henri leaned her head down to the carpet in absolute humiliation as she wet herself. She tried to clench and hold it in but the liquid kept coming and coming, spreading down her clothes and onto the floor. It smelt bad and it soaked her clothes and she was so horribly embarrassed.

With a moan she forced herself on towards the fireplace. She cast a spell into the grate and hoisted herself up using the mantel to grab the floo powder. Throwing it into the fire she shoved her head in calling out for the Ministry's fireplace. Nothing happened. She pulled her head back and tried again. Again nothing, the only thing she could see was the wall of the fireplace.

"We blocked off all the floos. And we put up anti apparition wards." Worsley said helpfully with a cackle of glee.

Pain rocketed through Henri again and sent her right back to the floor yelling out with pain.

When it left she pushed herself up to her feet. Worsley was laughing madly as if the situation was incredibly funny. Henri stormed right up to him, all her hormones and pain taking control of her. She marched straight up to him and kicked him hard in the side.

"Shut the hell up! This is all your fault! You caused this! All this pain, this suffering and all these problems! They are your fault! You are a good for nothing arsehole!"

"I am fighting in Harry Potter's mighty name! I fight for the greater good!"

"No. Dumbledore fought for the greater good. Snape fought for the greater good! Hermione and Ron fight for the greater good. I fight for the greater good. You…you fight for nothing." She spat down at him.

"I fight in Harry Potter's name…" Worsley began with that crazed, self-righteous look in his eyes.

"And I don't condone any of your actions. You have no right to fight in my name when everything you stand for goes against my values!" Henri shouted.

Worsley blinked up at her in astonishment. Then he frowned at her.

"Harry Potter's dead you moron! And what the hell are you even saying, you're a girl! Harry Potter was…"

"Oh shut the hell up. You have absolutely no idea what the hell you are talking about! I-AHHH!" Henri shouted and bent over clutching at her stomach again. The pain seemed more intense now and radiated not only through her stomach but down too…down to her…

Henri breathed and sobbed and breathed and sobbed…she was in labour. Worsley was right, this was labour. If the pain was coming from her belly and going down then it was her babies trying to get out. But she wasn't ready…she wasn't ready.

"Oh god…oh god…oh god…" She muttered, panicked. She didn't have anything ready! She didn't have the nursery done up! She didn't have many clothes bought for the babies. She didn't have any names for the babies. She thought they had time! She thought she'd get Christmas out of the way then concentrate on the babies. They weren't supposed to come yet! At the scan they'd had in New York only a few weeks ago they were given January the 10th as an amended early birth date, the nine month mark being approximated to the 3rd of February but because they were twins they would be born early. Nobody knew when she conceived…she didn't know when she conceived so everyone had guessed from the baby's sizes…even though they were small.

They couldn't be born now! Not with all Worsley's men around…not with Lucas out cold and Henri's only company the insane Worsley.

The pain slowly disappeared and Henri tried to get a hold of herself. She needed help. But the floo was down and apparition was out. She didn't have a portkey anywhere to hand and if the anti-apparition wards were up then probably house elves couldn't reach her…maybe they could…

"HOPPY!"

"Is Hoppy your elf? Too bad, she won't hear you." Worsley sneered.

"What have you done to her?!"

"We put up anti-house elf wards the second your other house elf left earlier."

"Ooooh you bastard!" Henri screeched and gave him an angry kick for good measure.

Worsley yelled out in pain just as Henri did the same; pain ricocheting through her stomach again. She clutched at her belly and fell to her knees.

It was agonising waiting it out. It hurt so much and there was no escape and Henri was so scared and so tired and so…alone. She needed help. But how could she get help? She couldn't talk to anyone. She couldn't get to anyone. She could try and get to the orphanage…or the museum but the manor was huge and with the pain she wasn't sure she would make it without succumbing and then where would she be? And she couldn't leave Lucas, not with all those arseholes in the room.

The pain faded and Henri looked around the room. Worsley's men were still out cold but there was no knowing how long that would last. She needed help. Fast.

"Aww…poor little woman! Poor little insane woman. When I get loose I'm going to hand you over to the dementers and let them do with you as they will after…"

Worsley kept talking but his stupid, arrogant words had given Henri the idea to counter all of his arrangements. Dementers.

Dementers meant Patronus Charms.

Patronus Charms meand Prongs.

And Prongs meant…

"Expecto Patronus!" Henri yelled, pointing and aiming her spell and summoning the memory of her wedding day, the happiest day she could remember.

Prongs sprung into the room, antlers lowered and ready to charge. He charged around the room then stamped on Worsley. His ghostly image doing nothing to harm the man but the terrified look on Worsley's face was more than enough…that and the wetness that suddenly appeared on the front of his trousers.

"Prongs!" Henri greeted with relief and happiness at seeing the shape she always affiliated with her father. Prongs bowed to her and she sobbed with relief. "Get…get help Prongs. Get Ron! Get Dante! Get help. Please Prongs."

The beautiful white stag reared up on its hind legs then lurched forwards into a gallop. He disappeared through the wall at the far end of the room and the light vanished with him. Henri sobbed with relief and looked around the room trying to find something to help. She went carefully to the door of the room and yanked it open. She sent a blast of magical sound down the hallway before her hoping it would draw attention, not knowing how long she had before help arrived.

"That was…that was Harry Potter's Patronus!" Worsley stated with awe and fear in his voice.

"Yeah? So? What of it?"

"But Harry Potter's dead! How can you have his patronus? Were you in love with him?"

"No." Henri scoffed. "I love Lucas."

"Then how do you have Harry Potter's Patronus?!"

A moan from inside the room stopped Henri from answering. She turned around and looked at the fallen bodies. There, at the far end was somebody moving like they were waking up. Henri clenched her fist around her wand, pointed and aimed. Ropes sprang up and tied the victim down. Henri quickly summoned more to hold the others down so even if they woke up they wouldn't be able to move.

Job done just in time. More pain it her and she slid to the floor. It gripped and tightened. Henri moaned and sobbed with the pain. It was like experiencing crucio only in her stomach…and feeling it repeatedly…over and over and over and over…

It ebbed finally and Henri pitifully crawled across the room to Lucas' still fallen body. He was pale, very pale to touch and cold. She cast warming charms on his clothes trying to warm him up. She cast 'enervate' after 'enervate' at him but the most she got was a slight stirring and then he was back to being out cold. Henri tried summoning a blood replenishing potion but whatever wards they had put up stopped the spell.

All Henri could do was wait.

She waited and waited and waited. She cast a silencing spell on Worsley when he got incredibly annoying and then she was alone hearing only her pain and her breathing.

Pain came and went, came and went, came and went. The periods in between becoming shorter and shorter as the pain became more and more intense. Henri was so tired. She couldn't even stand up, the pain drained all her energy from her and the shakes that were left over from the cruciatus curse became more and more pronounced the longer she went without the antidote.

She didn't know if it was minutes or hours that went by.

Then suddenly there were shouts. Shouts and calls and names…her name. Lucas' name.

"HENRI! HENRI! HENRI! HENRI!"

"HELP!" She screamed. "HELP!" The pain came again and made her voice even louder. She screamed as it took control of every thought in her mind.

"HENRI! HENRI!"

"HELP!" She yelled again in answer.

"HEN…HENRI! Oh Merlin Henri!" That voice was quieter now but no less desperate. There was the sound of feet on floors…Henri could hear it over the roar of her heartbeat. Then there was a flash of red hair, some bright blue eyes and some freckles. "Henri!"

"Ron!" Henri called and winced as another pain, sharper this time lanced through her body.

"Oh Merlin…are you in labour?!"

"Yes! Yes I'm…ah oh god…oh god…" Henri squeezed her eyes shut and breathed, trying hard to breathe through the pain. It ebbed a little and Henri opened her eyes looking up at Ron. "Worsley attached us. Smith cast cruciatus on me lots of time…he cast it on Lucas too but only once…or maybe twice I don't remember. It just hurt. I got free and hurt Smith, stole his wand. I got mind and I…I duelled with the rest of Worsley's men. Somebody hurt Lucas. He had a huge cut on his head. I think I healed it but he won't wake up. And AH! It HURTS Ron…it HURTS!" The pain came again.

"Okay. Alright. We'll get you to St Mungo's. We've got a portkey outside but we've got to get you there. Can you walk?" Ron asked, sliding an arm under hers and trying to help her up to her feet. She managed to stand but the pain became worse and she stumbled into Ron. "Okay, no walking. I'm going to spell you. Just hold on Henri, everything will be fine."

The next few minutes were a complete blur to Henri. There was pain, there was colours, there was people, there was sky, there was pain, there was a rush of colours and air…then there was whiteness and people in lime green…there was shouting and calling and Dante…and her friends and people shouting at her…Dante crying and arguing with someone…Dante screaming at someone…Dante weeping as he signed a piece of paper…Dante staring at her with terrified desperate eyes.

There was pain again. More pain and a pulling sensation. Then there was a weird sensation followed by another lot of pulling and mixing and stirring and another weird sensation. Something dark red and bloody was placed squirming on her chest. Then another thing and Henri felt completely strange. Her head was swimming but she looked down at the two beings there. They squirmed and cried. They cried. Tiny mouths open, a gum and tongue filled cavern coming clear and sound coming from it.

Something touched her. Big hands. Big hands touched her. Her top was moved…her bra was moved. She felt like she should be angry but she felt so strange. The squirming things were repositioned and Henri felt like someone was placing hot circles all over her chest in different places. Then the hot circles landed on specific areas and there was suction and pain and…and Henri gasped as recognition flooded through her.

Her babies. Her babies. Her babies. Her little tiny babies…they were born. They were feeding from her. They were perfect.

Henri blinked…she looked at her babies…she blinked…there were two…she blinked…she had two…she blinked…she…couldn't open her eyes.


People were singing…happy songs…loving songs…people were singing…wishing songs…songs about bells…songs about toads…

People were crying…a person was crying…


"Move out of the way you silly girl!"

"No! Not Harry!"


"I'm so sorry my love."


"Harry, you wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk."


"I love you so much. Please my love…please…"


"Professor, where are we exactly?"


"Don't give up! Not after all of this."


"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry. Please come back to us, I need to tell you how sorry I am."


"Does it hurt? Dying?"

"Quicker than falling asleep."


"Do not pity the dead Harry. Pity the living. And most of all, pity those who live without love."


"You have been so brave sweetheart."

"Why are all of you here?"

"We never left."


"HENRI! PLEASE!"


"I have to go back haven't I?"

"Well that's up to you."

"I have a choice?"

"Oh yes. We're in King's Cross you say? I think if you so desired you'd be able to board a train."

"And where would it take me?"

"On."


"Now, if you two don't mind I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us all killed - or worse, expelled!"

"She needs to sort out her priorities."


"Henri please."


"You'll stay with me till the end?"


"HENRI!"