Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Half-Blood Blessing

Chapter Fifty-Three: Aurors on the Solstice

There were loud pops off to one side; the aurors had arrived at last.

Voldemort apparated with the white rabbit still in his hand. His followers, those not dead, disappeared with distinct pops.

I sank to my knees. He had Hermione. No… No, he had a white rabbit. I could feel in my mind the deceit he had tried, knew what it was this time, but I still did not see where she had gone.

New figures had appeared now, out of the mist of the early morning. It was still night, with true morning a good three hours off, but even so, it seemed lighter than it had been. The approaching wizards were in colored robes; red, the most numerous, were for Aurors, second was the grey-blue for law enforcement. They stepped forward with caution, wands raised.

I stood, absentmindedly drying my robes as they were now soaked from all the rolling around in the snow. I did a head count of my friends, Draco and Severus were missing, as was Hermione. The rest had formed a small outward facing circle. I could hear the low growls. I waved them down, knowing at least that the ministry, theoretically, would not try to injure us, and they couldn't if they did try. Sirius and Remus ignored me, keeping to their crouches and growls, I could hardly blame them.

A burst of light came from one of the figures and struck Remus squarely. I shifted to the young wizard's side, so close to him that he started and fell over. He lost his grip on the wand and I took it, tucking it into a pocket.

"You can have it back when you learn what threats need addressing and which do not."

The wizard gave me a stunned look. "But t t t…" he stammered, "we set up anti-apparation wards."

"That is well, I however didn't apparate." I raised my eyebrows at him and turned my back. Then the world went black.


Voldemort apparated out before the ministry wizards had a chance to raise wards against that mode of travel. Aurors flooded out of the darkness followed by law enforcement officers. They surrounded our small party easily wands pointed targeting one of us in an orderly fashion. I counted at least three wand tips aimed exclusively at my chest.

Harry stood; no marks obvious on him from the fight except the dismay in his eyes. He signaled us to stand down and we all did except Remus and Sirius. One of the younger recruits shot a spell at Remus whose shield caught it. Harry was standing next to the terrified young man in a flash. He exchanged words with him quietly, tersely and the Auror looked very close to fainting.

Then Harry turned around, clearly done with the auror, and collapsed into the snow.

I ran to him transitioning back to human even as I moved. It was a race to get to him first. Aurors had immediately moved to take him. I had the added advantage of a few strides as a bear and just managed to get there before them. I stood over his prone form, wand out, waving it like a madman in the direction of the aurors. They skidded to a halt in an arc before me wands out and aimed. I feared little from them, I knew the shields still worked; I could almost hear the magical whistle just outside of range.

"Don't," I shouted, my aim switched targets, threatening. There was a strangled noise from behind me, my twin's caw. The whistle increased and a flash of green got caught in the shield and whizzed half a circle around me before dying. Gasps rose, I suspected most of them had no idea, but the upper ranks… they would know, they would have to realize what it meant. I dared not look behind me to see who had thrown the spell, though I suspected George had already pinned the one responsible with his wand. "Back off," I said, I could hear the desperation in my voice and I wished it wasn't there. They took a few steps back. We remained in the stand-off for a long time. I could hear everyone breathing, my friends' ragged and heavy after the fight, they were almost silent, as if each was holding his breath. I saw the bustle in the distance behind the circle guarding us; it was officials sorting out the next step and with Harry out they had the advantage at the moment and they knew they had to move quickly. I think the only reason they had not moved already was the result of the first shot; how it had disappeared as if it had never been spoken.

There was a gasp from the figure at my feet.


My eyes opened reflexively. I was unsure what had happened, other than it had been instantaneously black. The few other times Voldemort had made me black out it had been from opening the link, this time was different and infinitely more dangerous if he knew what he had done. I scrambled to my feet, strength wavering. Fred was there, and I saw that he had offered a hand but I couldn't let the ministry see me take aid.

I raised my hands, not above my shoulders but enough to see I was unarmed, at least that I had no wand. That would be enough for some of them; I was pretty sure that they still believed I wielded one despite all evidence to the contrary. Wizards were inexcusably stubborn about their laws of magic when magic was proven time and again to be the exception to all rules. "Why don't we all lower our wands and we can discuss this." I said it softly and gently. "You saw us defend ourselves from Voldemort's followers. Some of you may have seen Him here as well. We have committed no crimes that you can prove."

My words had little effect. No one lowered his wand. We stared at each other for a few seconds until a man in a red wizard's robe pushed through, he had a mark of rank on his shoulder that named him head auror. "Your friends here are all illegal Animagi," he said gruffly, "we can arrest you on that charge alone."

"If you can prove that any one of the animals or even this young man are more than a figment of imagination than I will grant you the opportunity to arrest each and every one of us."


I had no idea what Harry thought he was offering and I was tempted to take off then and there. Being an illegal Animagus was a severe offense in the eyes of the ministry with fines that would break most wizards' wealth, not the Potter's, the Malfoy's, or the Black's maybe. With Harry's offer the head auror motioned for the investigation to proceed and each of us was approached by three or four aurors. I watched the four heading towards me and again considered going to wing and leaving. As it was I stretched out my wings and flapped indignantly. But as they came closer and closer, came within the reach of my wingspan my feathers fell through them. I was mist. It startled them and as I looked around the others were having similar experiences. The aurors looked around at their officer who looked as dumbfounded as any of them.

"As you can see, they are all part of my imagination, perhaps you are too?" The inflection of his voice made the last a question to chill the blood. Terror passed through the ranks and as I watched, Sirius, George, Vox, Remus, then my own body, Neville, and lastly Fred all disappeared. I was still me; I could feel my wings move, my head turn but I could not see me. Harry raised his chin ever so slightly and his gaze flitted out across the aurors. Each one he focused on started to fade, to become less visible. Wands fell from hands, strangled screams left throats. I felt my heart race and I was not his enemy.

"Is it just me on this hill alone in the snow?"

"It's a trick," the head auror stammered.

"Of course it's a trick." Harry snapped, his expression flashing to irritation. All of us snapped back to visibility and solidity. "But the question is not whether it's a trick, it's can you prove it's a trick." Then his voice lowered to dangerously silken whisper, "would you like to try again, Master Auror."

"No," it was a whisper, "no, but Mr. Potter, I hope you understand that for the law to work no one can stand outside its reach."

"I understand, but for now, I must, we must," he looked sadly over his shoulder and then back at the man. "I'm the only one that can match him," and then he whispered something else.

The Auror nodded and motioned his men back. He looked shocked that he was doing so but he did not revoke the order. It took a few minutes for some of the more zealous to stand down but as we started to outnumber the few remaining they retreated into their ranks.

"Thank you," Harry bowed his head slightly.

A few more words were shared between the two but either their voices were pitched too low for any of us to hear or Harry was blocking all attempts at eavesdropping.

I drifted closer to where Neville still stood as his fox. He had several gashes but none were deep. I was sure that that was Harry's protection being extended to us; as long as he believed us alive we could suffer no mortal wound. That didn't stop us from injury, but through a little luck and magic it saved our skins. No doubt as soon as Harry looked in our direction there would be no mark on any of us.

The ministry ranks fell back joined by their commander and then they apparated as if there had not been any conflict here. There had been no Death Eater prisoners; Voldemort had become too careful about that. I liked to think that it was because we were slowly eroding his ranks but I knew that was not the case.


Once the aurors had all apparated and I saw the tiny figures still standing in the churned up snow, my heart unclenched. Draco was leaning heavily on me; blood loss made him nearly delirious and I did not have enough potion to correct that damage. I had healed the wounds on his leg and back but even now he stood tenderly on the one foot. Pain from that wound would be lasting unfortunately. I was not good enough to prevent scarring, not after he had run on it to save my life.

The tiny figures looked to be moving. I raised my arm and shot red sparks into the air directing them towards us. They started trudging this way, no doubt walking because Remus was still a wolf and apparation would not agree with him. It would take them some time to cross the distance to the trees so I helped Draco sit down with his back against a trunk and then lowered myself so that he leaned against my shoulder with one of my arms around him. I set a small warming charm but it was not its usual strength since I had cast it with the stolen wand; my own was laying in pieces somewhere near Remus' burning cottage. I mourned its loss, the dark stained oak had been a no-nonsense kind of stiff and the core made of hippocampus hair had smoothed my casting. There wouldn't be another like it, though perhaps, with luck, Ollivander would have another that would choose me.

Before the others had crossed even halfway, a white rabbit came bounding out of the shadowy morning. It transformed into Granger, who fell to her knees on Draco's other side. She reached out a hand and touched it to his forehead.

"I assure you, Miss Granger, what can be done has been. He needs rest now, not cold fingers giving him chills." I snapped. She snatched her hand back as though she had been bitten. She frowned but then rocked back on her heels and tried to make her coat cover more of her. It took her a moment but eventually she remembered herself and pulled out her wand, casting the charm for the bluebell flame. Warmth started radiating from the droplet of fire that danced in the snow just before her.

We waited for the others to join us. When Vox saw us he led the charge towards us, stumbling to a stop and then dropping to a crouch and pulling Draco out of my arms. Concern and fear creased his brow. One of his pale hands snaked into the breast of his coat and pulled out a small knife, I was surprised he pulled that one out when I knew there were three or four up each of his sleeves. He made a cut down one of his wrists and his blood oozed slowly out, he put his arm to Draco's mouth.

Granger blushed and stood up to greet the others. I did too, feeling the slight embarrassment of watching something sacred occurring between the two. I felt wary at seeing Remus, but Black, still a dog, seemed to be keeping the werewolf back from the others. They had all maintained humanity for the walk, so it seemed clear that there was no fear from him though it was probably Harry keeping Remus from being a danger as much as Black. Harry glided forward; he, too, was full of concern though it extended towards Granger and me as well as Draco.

We didn't speak but I could tell that we were all taking stock of both our own injuries and those of our companions. There were clearly defined couples as everyone brushed off dried blood and magically wrung the wet out of their cloaks. Black, licking what could only be a cut on his leg, and Remus were sitting a little way off waiting for the moon to set; it would soon, already its lower edge was hidden in the trees on the far horizon. Neville and Tesla finished looking after each other and after a cursory look around at everyone else they sat down next to Granger's bluebell flame. George was looking after his twin, and while Fred made sure that George was not dying, his focus was on Harry. 'Interesting,' I thought and then I noticed that Tesla, Neville, and Granger were also inspecting his stance. So, too, did I, but Harry only looked at me and then sat down in the snow to wait, looking over his shoulder so he could see the moon and the two canines resting outside the circle.


I clung to Vox's shirt as he helped me lean back against the trunk where I had been sitting. I felt infinitely better, though the exhaustion still tried to pull me towards sleep. I wiped blood off my chin. Vox sat down next to me so that we were shoulder to shoulder. He was pressing his handkerchief to his wrist, red staining it. I reached over and held it for him. Then I looked out across our group; everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen. No one spoke or even breathed more than they could help it. Sirius and Remus were sitting off in the distance, gazes on the moon. It was creeping downward, half shrouded in trees. Severus was standing a few feet away, his marked arm cradled in the other. I wondered how much pain he was in. He had been under crucio tonight and that could do him no good, perhaps it had even magnified the poison. I had come no closer to neutralizing it completely but the antidote with Harry's blood in it was stronger than the one Snape had designed. Snape had even started taking it while I continued searching. I wondered if he would give in and take transfusions of Harry's blood, I knew that would be far more effective against the poison but he would not. I shifted my leg, it was stiff and sore. Snape must have done what he could for it but that would still leave scars. I didn't remember galloping so far away just that I ran until I collapsed under his weight and that we had both toppled into the snow.

We all watched the moon sink lower and lower in the sky. Eventually, it fell below the horizon and Remus transformed. I knew there was agony in that still; even with the potion bones morphing into new shapes was unpleasant and the full moon's pull was not gentle. Sirius was there and human in time to support Remus. They both limped over to the bluebell flame that Hermione must have conjured.

Once they had seated themselves, Severus turned away from looking at the horizon and spoke. "I'm sorry, but the cottage wards fell and the house was in flames when I was dragged out. It's all ashes now even if the fire died when we apparated to where you were." His voice was quiet and unexpectedly sad. He had not been in the small cottage more than thrice before today, and still did not consider Remus or Sirius friends even if I did.

I shivered and Vox's arm squeezed on my shoulders. I still held his wrist in my hands, staunching the blood. It was probably clotted now but I didn't let go.

"Where do we go from here?" I didn't know who said it but it seemed like anyone of us could have; we were all thinking it.

Harry inhaled deeply and sighed. "We go home. Damage can be undone." Something was weighing heavy on him but I did not think it was the destruction of Remus' cottage. No, he was thinking about something else entirely or maybe not. Perhaps he was struggling to put Remus' cottage back together.

I rose unsteadily, "I see no point in remaining out here in the snow, let's leave this place." It struck me then why everyone was morose; Voldemort had attacked our safe haven; the cottage had been our refuge, the place we could retreat to without giving ground. He had ruined the night that was supposed to be full of joy and wonder. Harry was the only one that was constantly aware of how close we really were to danger at any given moment. I felt blindsided by tonight's events. The others rose, Hermione's spell went out and with nods to each other we turned over our shoulders and apparated to Remus' garden. The house stood much as it had when we left but now it felt like magic, made of magic.

I knew muggleborns were always confused as to why all wizards, even the poorest, didn't have mansions but this feeling was why. Magic was extraordinarily unstable as a building material. It could make straw as hard as rock certainly, often was used for that purpose, those spells did wear off eventually but building purely with magic was impossible. It was like building a sandcastle amongst the waves, impossible because the water kept shifting and you never had enough hands to make the sand stay where you wanted it. Wizards couldn't build with magic; they had to start with wood and brick the same as muggles. That didn't mean they couldn't do far better with those materials though.

Sirius was the first to step boldly into the magical structure followed closely by Remus. Both cringed like the whole thing was going to collapse to dust around their ears. Harry walked inside next and the rest of us followed. To the touch everything felt solid but there was still an overbearing sense of magic, almost a tinny smell, in much the same way blood tasted coppery. Then it disappeared, as if just because Harry had been able to hold the structure long enough magic decided that the wood and brick was real and not part of his imagination. Collectively everyone released the breaths they had been holding.

Harry sat down in one of the chairs and stared up at the ceiling. Fire burst into life on the hearth and the room was instantly warm.