Ch. 15 Dragon Breath

You
When you're falling down
The world starts spinning out
You
When you're falling down
Now it's not all about
You
When you're falling down
You know I'll be around
When you're falling down, falling down

What's out of place when you look into the mirror?
The truth is blurry but the lies are getting clearer
Your eyes are fixed, your smile is so elastic
You gave me roses but they're all just made of plastic
~Falling Down by Selena Gomez and the Scene

Maggie jumped onto Thailus' back, both soaking wet, and I did the same with Emralda. Harry followed on Norberta and Jethro on Oscuro, and we all took off into the air with the few other dragons on our side.

I was still new to this whole idea of dragon riding while fighting, and it was nerve-wracking to say the least. Emralda understood my fears, though, and was very careful with her riding. Thailus and Oscuro were very clearly not taking the same care. I watched as the blue and black dragons twisted and turned in midair, both of comparable size, huge monsters zooming past and roaring. I swear I went deaf from the sounds.

I crouched low on Emralda's back and we flew quickly, following in Oscuro's slipstream. He was like a large bat, his skin a glistening black like that of obsidian rock. It shone in the sunlight of the sky above, glistening from both the nature of his scales and from the water still soaking his back.

I held my sword out in front of me, feeling my eyes narrow as I remembered that these people were the reason one of my best mates was dead. How dare they kill Seamus, with whom many had no quarrel, whom many of them didn't even know? Emralda dove forward and we dive bombed a group of Unionists who were on foot, her spraying a stream of fire every which way, roaring at the top of her lungs as she did so.

Another dragon came at us then. It was a small, teal creature, the same color as Maggie's eyes. When I looked at the dragon's eyes it made me pause for a second. I had to remind myself this animal was the enemy, and not connected to her. The creature dive bombed us in the next second but Emralda was read, grabbing a hold of the dragon's neck with her jaws and holding onto its head and the base of its neck with her claws, twisting the neck with a crack! And snapping it in two. The dragon didn't even have a chance to make a sound before it crashed below, the owner suddenly going limp atop it.

Emralda roared and turned sharply in midair, flying faster than we ever had before through the sky. The sun was setting in front of us, a brilliant orange and yellow blur. A similarly shaded dragon then appeared before us, slashing its large foreclaws across Emralda's face. Her blood splattered in midair, some even hitting my face and making me blink in surprise. Emralda roared in pain and fury and bit down, hard, on the orange dragon's maw. The dragon shook furiously to try and let go and I noticed it was without a rider. Was the rider dead, and the dragon only alive due to children? Or was the dragon conscripted to fight for the Unionists in exchange for its life?

Did it matter? The dragon was still trying to kill us.

Emralda, who had an amazingly tight grip on the dragon, finally released him as she threw her head back. The dragon spun out of control in midair and crashed into a building, knocking the entire thing down. I winced, worrying that there were muggles inside, before turning and speeding along towards the giant blue and black blurs I knew were my wife and my (if everything went well) future brother-in-law. I saw a brown-reddish blur come towards me and I hailed Harry from afar. Norberta raised her head to the sky and a giant plume of flames erupted there.

Thailus and Oscuro were in the middle of fighting a large, forest green dragon, a dragon almost the size of Thailus, and bigger than Emralda. The dragon was putting up a hell of a fight, scratching and biting and whipping its tail around violently. The dragon let out a roar as Thailus blew flames directly into its eyes, the heat searing from the flames noticeable from where I was. I looked for the owner atop it and saw a man, so not Elisha, with bright red hair and dark eyes. He looked furious as he fought, his wand slashing in midair in Maggie's direction.

Maggie cried out in pain and collapsed upon Thailus' back, and I could see blood soaking through her shirt. I screamed in fury, feeling her go unconscious through our link. Panic entered every corner of my being as Emralda dove forward, smashing into the dragon. I held on for dear life as the two creatures smashed into each other, Emralda clawing at the other dragon furiously and biting down on its wing, ripping it into shreds. The dragon's blood flew all over us and it screamed in unbearable agony. Unable to fly, it collapsed down to the ground far below, where it fell into the remainder of the Thames.

I looked around wildly and found Thailus still hovering in midair, blocked from attack by Norberta and Oscuro. Emralda flew me close to the blue dragon so I could safely clamber onto his back, still clumsy and scrambling to find my balance there. Maggie was groaning, the blood still covering her shirt. I mumbled the counter-curses for Sectumsempra under my breath, tears filling my eyes as I prayed that she would survive, that she would be OK, that we would make it through.

She gasped for air when the wound was fully healed, trying to sit up on her dragon's back. I held her down, looking down at her desperately.

"Conserve your strength love, please," I begged, "It won't do you any good now to get yourself hurt again."

"What happened?" Maggie whispered, "Why…"

"The other rider is dead, Emralda killed his dragon," I paused, "You were hit with Sectumsempra but you're going to be fine."

"The wound will open up again if you don't…" Maggie paused, very weak and unable to continue speaking.

"Here," I heard Harry call out. I looked up to see him flying over and handing me a bottle.

"From Hermione. She says it's for Sectumsempra," Harry explained, "From Madam Pomphrey."

"Thank you," I gasped, taking the lovely blue goop that I was familiar with. Maggie smiled weakly at me as I helped remove her bloody shirt. She blushed slightly but I smiled in amusement.

"One, Jethro's not around. Two, who the hell cares?" I laughed.

"Fine," Maggie moaned, "Just put the crap on me."

I spread the goop over her wound, gently massaging it in to the creases of the scar. It ran parallel to the synthetic scar she had received at our wedding, just a little bit higher so removing her bra didn't end up being necessary. I gently ran my fingers all the way down her torso before throwing the bottle back to Potter, who caught it with his usual Seeker aim. I gently helped Maggie sit up then, helping her back into her bloody shirt and kissing her on the forehead.

"Favor returned I reckon," I laughed.

"True," Maggie mumbled against my shoulder, "I love you."

"I love you too," I responded earnestly, "Now let's go kick some more arse."

Maggie giggled and kissed me very softly before I jumped back up on Emralda's back. She zoomed through the air, flying exceptionally fast towards another dragon, this one a deep shade of red. Emralda rushed headfirst into the dragon's side, knocking the wind out of it as the dragon smashed into another nearby building.

Really, the lack of concern we had for the muggles appalled me a little bit.

The two dragons fought violently in midair, twisting and turning around angrily. Emralda scratched at the dragon's back and the dragon's tail repeated bashed into her side. I held my sword out and looked at the other dragon's rider challengingly, glaring at him to try and attack me.

The other rider's eyes narrowed as well and he pulled out his wand. He was an exceptional fighter and I could immediately see why they hadn't let him through before. Every curse was difficult to deflect with my sword and I was forced to pull out my own wand and cast shield charm after shield charm in my own defense. I had no time at all to even pause and try and react to the situation as he kept cursing me with increasingly terrible spells. I had no time at all to interject my own spells. I just had to hope that I would be able to stop the onslaught before it actually hit me.

Emralda tore out a chunk of his dragon's side, the flesh and scales falling down to the ground below. The dragon roared and grew limp, blood pouring out as a small sectumsempra hit me and slashed me over the eye. I groaned, but the other Rider was collapsing with the dragon, falling down and into a crumpled heap on the ground. I was exhausted. That fight had taken a considerable amount out of me with not very much return.

We turned and faced a small wyvern, easily knocking the creature down. Emralda was getting tired too now, I could feel strongly through our link.

I heard a scream and I looked over to see Maggie paused in midair, her and Thailus watching something, apparently frozen. We flew over to see her watching with wide eyes as a bright orange dragon fell to the ground and the rider atop it with it- and I knew immediately it was Najhi and Richard.

Maggie looked white as a ghost and exceptionally shocked to boot, "Richard," she whispered softly.

"I'm sorry," I called out, "You can mourn him later."

"Alright," Maggie whispered, "Does Kylie know?"

"She does," I heard Ezra call out, "She's still fighting. She has Peggy to live for."

"Ok," Maggie mumbled before turning around and flying through midair. I turned around with Emralda, wondering how Maggie would deal with this latest amazing shock.

I held tightly to Emralda as another dragon came at us- a dragon a deep indigo, with teeth that gleamed brightly in the fading sunlight. Its rider was a girl, with wild black hair and angry eyes, her wand out and her teeth bared as her dragon had them.

I swung my sword at her as Emralda grabbed onto her dragon's wing and tried to tear it, but this pair was stronger. The wing smashed down and brought Emralda with it, crashing her into the other dragon's side and causing me to tear the dragon's wing with my sword. I gripped the handle tightly and tried to swing it in the direction of the other dragon but it turned around first, causing me to accidentally smash the hilt into the side of Emralda. She growled in annoyance and I apologized furiously through our minds.

The witch sent a curse at me and I blocked it, and soon the dragons simply served as platforms for our duel. Curses snapped back and forth with equal frequency this time, though mine were of the nature of Dumbledore's Army- stupefy, expelliarmus, rictusempra, levicorpus, and I even cast a patronus in a moment of desperation. Hers were clearly dark curses, and she never spoke aloud an incantation. I simply recognized the green of the killing curse, the flash of black of the cruciatus curse, her own stunners, the darker green of sectumsempra, and a brilliant purple that I remembered being the cause of severe internal damage in Hermione at the Department of Mysteries in the fifth year.

I grimaced as some of the curses hit me and she did much the same when I returned the favor. We had been dueling for nearly ten minutes now and my teeth were on edge with the effort, my entire body begging for a break. I knew Maggie, Jethro and Harry must have all been occupied with their own duels or else I would have been helped by now. I tried again and again to stun her or disarm her but was foiled by a shield charm every time, or a well-timed dodge out of the way. Similarly, I managed to avoid the curses she sent towards me.

"Give up, you ignoramus," she screamed after a long time of this, clearly equally worn out as me.

"Never, you oppressive bitch," I replied angrily.

I managed to hit her with a good stunner and she groaned in anger. Emralda dove, hoping for me to catch her with the sword, me gripping onto my dragon's neck tightly. I was still afraid of heights and was trying desperately to not look down. I couldn't help it. Some things just couldn't change that much.

But as I got close enough to finally run her through with my sword she recovered from the stunner. Triumph entered her eyes as she shot the purple curse at me, and I felt like the entirety of my insides had been crushed together at once. I groaned and fell unconscious onto Emralda's back just as I heard Maggie's scream from a ways off.

I was unconscious for a long while, I could tell by the mere virtue of my extreme grogginess when I finally did wake up. My unconsciousness was filled with terrible dreams, as though part of the curse was to also destroy my mind- I dreamed that Maggie had died, that my children had died, that everyone I loved and cared about was tortured before my eyes once again and killed. I knew I was screaming in my sleep as my inner fears concocted my worst nightmares in how I could witness these terrible events.

"Neville! Neville! It's alright! It's all going to be alright! Neville!" I could faintly hear Maggie's voice as I started to come to.

"Dad, please, please," I heard someone sob- Nate.

"Please, dad, please," Alice sobbed right along with him.

"Fix my grandson this instant," I could hear Gran demand, and I was amazed that she was there, in the battle. She was probably fighting, bless her.

I slowly came too, feeling light enter my eyes as I opened them and looked around me groggily. My family were directly above me, looking down at me in terror. I saw Madam Pomphrey behind them all, looking exhausted but pleased with my recovery.

"It's hell, isn't it?" I heard Hermione ask calmly from the other side, somewhere I couldn't see her, "Almost worse that the cruciatus curse."

I nodded weakly and wanted to sit up, but Maggie pushed me back down again. She had even more new scars, as did Alice and Nate.

"Just rest for a moment, the battle's still going on. We've brought you somewhere safe," Maggie whispered.

"How long have I been out?" I asked calmly.

"Almost twelve hours," Alice mumbled, "You've been screaming for a long time now."

"I'm sorry kids," I whispered, "You shouldn't have been ehre."

"It's OK," Nate stated calmly, "We needed to be here and make sure you were OK."

"And you'll be fine enough soon. We still need to defeat Elisha," Maggie sighed, "As much as I just want you to leave the fighting now."

"What color is Elisha's dragon?" I asked calmly.

"We don't actually know. Jethro does but I haven't thought to ask," Maggie paused, "She hasn't entered the fray yet."

"That bitch is insane. We have to get her," I snarled angrily, trying to sit up. Maggie gently pushed me back down against what I now realized was a bed.

"We can't yet. First off we have no idea where she is. Second off you're not ready to go back out there yet and I won't have you die, not yet. We have too much living to do," Maggie hissed, "Calm down."

I nodded and tried to relax, but I was itching to get up and help. I couldn't just sit by while my friends gave their lives for a cause that had nothing to do with them in the first place. In the end, we were fighting for Maggie. And because most people didn't even know her, they were fighting for me. And I couldn't just sit here.

"Just calm down, dad," Alice begged.

"You'll have plenty of time to be the hero soon enough," Gran reassured.

"So you've come back?" I asked her softly. My gran looked rather embarrassed.

"I apologize for my behavior when Maggie came back, and I'm sorry for not being around enough for you two since. But you're right. I've come back and I'm here to help my family," Gran whispered.

"I forgive you, if you can do the same for me," I replied calmly. She nodded.

"Alright you all, it's time to go, except for Maggie. If he's going to be rested enough to go back out there, as insane as it is, he needs to be left alone," Madam Pomphrey snapped.

They all trickled out, kissing me on the forehead or hugging me in farewell, as I sighed and sat there calmly.

"Just rest," Maggie begged, "There will be plenty of time later."

"Alright," I agreed. She tended me calmly, giving me food and water and soothing me, as the next day passed. I couldn't sleep, not when I feared my dreams so much. However, I did finally manage to doze off after a time. Eventually Maggie stood up and handed me my robes. She looked as exhausted as I felt.

"I love you, and it's time to go," she explained calmly. I stood up and put on my robes, stretching out in amazement at the new feeling of being active.

"We can do this. I really believe it now, Mags," I whispered.

"I know," Maggie sighed. She looked dejected and I gently lifted up her chin so she was facing me.

"Don't despair yet. I'm still alive aren't I?" I smiled calmly.

"Yes, but you came very close to death. I've lost so many already I don't want you out there," she whispered, "But I know I can't stop you."

"No, you can't. Not when I've already lost so many and I don't want you out there either," I responded calmly, "I've almost lost you so many times before now and I don't think it's fair that you ask me to just sit idly by and ignore that I could lose you again."

"I know," Maggie mumbled, "I'm being very unfair and I'm sorry."

I sighed, "It's understandable. It's time to go, and we can do this. Together, like we always have. Like rebelling against the Carrows and fighting against Death Eaters and saving our kids. We work best when we're together and that's how we're going in."

"You're right," Maggie managed a weak smile, "I love you."

"I love you too," I responded, giving her a kiss, "Let's do this damn thing."

We both went outside to London, which was in turmoil. Dragons were everywhere and I could tell now that there were hundreds of wild dragons fighting, many of them for our side, seemingly for their freedom. I turned and found Emralda and leapt onto her back, glaring out at the world.

We fought for many more hours with very little surprising incident- we didn't even kill many people, just stunned them. Emralda and I were both still exhausted and needed to recover.

Jethro and Harry seemed to be still in their stride, fighting angrily against the Unionists that attacked them. Jethro seemed particularly vindictive.

Suddenly, I could see Jethro look over at me in amazement. Harry had just killed a Unionist by accident as the dragon crashed into the Thames.

"What is it Jethro?" I asked as Emralda flew calmly over to him.

"I… that… That was…" Jethro stammered. I looked and saw that his hand, which he had raised to his face, was glowing with a ball of magic.

"Magic," I gasped in amazement. Maggie flew over to us to find out what was going on.

"Jethro, you have… Did… Someone kill the man who took your magic?" Maggie gasped.

"Yes," Jethro whispered, "Harry killed the Unionist who took away my magic and now I have it back. I'm a wizard again."

Harry flew over to us with a grin, "Your welcome, Jethro. I didn't even plan that."

"I am so indebted to you," Jethro gasped, "I never thought that would happen."

"Let's keep fighting shall we?" Maggie whispered, "I really believe we can do this now."

The four of us split up and I turned to see a midair battle occurring. Kylie was there, on Amityh, fighting with a very large brown dragon. The two of them were fighting furiously, and I could tell Kylie was simply trying to hang onto life at this point, having lost her cousin and her husband.

I flew over to help, Emralda grabbing onto the brown dragon's tail and dragging backwards, trying to rip the dragon to pieces. Kylie and the witch atop the dragon continued to fight, however, as Emralda and the brown dragon began to tussle. Emralda bit down even harder on the tail and a stream of blood flowed from it.

"KYLIE!" I heard Maggie scream. I whipped out my wand and shot a curse at the witch attacking her just as she shot a green curse at Kylie. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as one of my wife's best friends was thrown backwards on her dragon, eyes wide. She crumpled to the back of the dragon as the golden creature began to zoom, spinning around and around, towards the ground. In that moment, however, her attacker also fell to the ground, both the dragon and rider struck dead. The two creatures collapsed at the same time, both dead, both with dead riders.

I looked up in panic at Maggie, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Harry flew over, looking horror struck.

"They landed on Cho Chang, I saw her below," Harry whispered. Great. Three people and two dragons had just died all at once.

Maggie was sobbing but she flew towards me.

"It's not your fault, Neville, you were trying to help," she sobbed.

"It'll be OK, we're going to avenge her. And Cho. I promise," I whispered. She nodded and we both flew off together, Harry following us.

Suddenly, the giant black form of Oscuro flew out in front of us. Jethro atop him looked angry and determined.

"It's time. I saw her. Elisha. Elisha and her dragon," Jethro whispered.

"What's her dragon look like?" I hissed. Maggie nodded fervently next to me.

"She's huge, the size of Thailus, and blood red," Jethro whispered, "Her name is Falheesi. Let's go."

We all took off together, flying in a pack through the air. I could see Alice, Teddy, Nate and Victoire all atop Alice's dragon, all fighting a pack of Unionists so brilliantly I knew the Unionists didn't stand a bleeding chance. We continued on through the throws of fighters, trying to get to Elisha as quickly as we could.

And there she was. A giant red dragon with a wild looking woman riding atop.

"Honey, I'm home," Jethro greeted in a sing song voice that made me and Maggie laugh rather hysterically.

"Oh look, it's you. The prodigal son returns to kill his father," her voice was nothing like I expected- it was deep and southern and practically sultry.

"Except this time the father's the bad guy," Jethro scowled.

"That's subjective," Elisha laughed.

"Since it's four against one, I think it's a pretty objective opinion actually," Harry snapped.

"You must be the famous Harry Potter, slayer of evil wizards and stronghold of extreme self-righteousness," Elisha cackled.

"Well I think I have some right to it," Harry replied angrily.

"And you must be Maggie and Neville, the tragic love story, the heartwarming tale of true destiny that makes me want to throw up," Elisha finished, "Come to kill me for splitting you two up, are you?"

"That's not worth killing someone," Maggie hissed, "All the lives you've ruined and all the death you've caused. That's why we're doing this."

"Seems rather silly," Elisha smiled, "I haven't killed you or your family yet, have I?"

"You have, actually," Maggie snapped.

"Ah well, must have slipped my mind. Everyone is so unimportant to me," Elisha simpered.

"Enough of this," Jethro roared, and Oscuro dove for the dragon.

Suddenly, everything was tooth and claw and tail and fire. I could barely keep up with it as Emralda began tearing at the red dragon and curses began filling the air. I felt everything within me ache with the remnants of the purple curse and I tried to concentrate on bringing down the woman fighting us, finding it hard to concentrate on much else but the pain.

The fighting had stopped below and I think Elisha knew we were going to defeat her. I think she had known all along and that's why she had waited this long. Our side had suffered many fewer casualties, though each was heartbreaking, and the few Unionists left had surrendered.

Her dragon received wound after wound after wound as all four of us turned to attack her, refusing to let up as she fought back fairly equally, keeping up with our onslaught of curses. But she knew it was the end. We all knew it was the end.

Quite a few things happened in unison then. I saw as Maggie sent a stunner straight into Elisha's heart that sent her over the edge of her dragon, down to the ground below where she landed on the London street with a mighty crash, blood splattering over everything. At the same moment, Oscuro twisted her dragon's neck, breaking it with a deafening crack. At the same time, Norberta, below the dragon, managed to claw out from her soft underbelly her insides, allowing them to spill out to the ground below. And during all this I had managed to lean over, upside down on Emralda's back and terrified for my life, and run Elisha through with my sword before she hit the ground.

As dragon and rider finally hit the ground and went still, I looked over at Maggie in shock and amazement. Everything was still. She was bleeding profusely from a wound in her side but managed to smile weakly before collapsing with shock.

AN: Elisha's end I always saw as a pathetic affair. She sends everyone out to fight for her because she knows how easily she can be defeated, and the moment she is it isn't so much a giant furious battle between wizards of equal ability, but the last gasp of a dying pathetic breed. As such, I enjoyed writing her end. Sorry for all the deaths, but this is a war.

Please review, though I know I shouldn't expect many due to the frequency of updates today.