CHAPTER 25

Gen screamed as a curse flew past her head hitting yet another Hogwarts student. She knew if she stopped she'd never find him - she'd never do what she needed to do so she pushed through and kept running, praying that the student was alright. The man casting them laughed cruelly, and she shuddered, pushing aside her memories of that haunting and familiar laugh. She was running and she hadn't stopped running till she saw her best friend, Adrian, fighting off Death Eaters in the courtyard. Death Eaters right and left were falling to the ground and so were students. She spotted her best friend in the center of it all as she continued to run towards him, disregarding any fear of getting hurt herself. The man began charging towards Adrian, knowing that he was a threat to the opposition.

"Adrian, look out!" Gen shouted, picking up her pace, her hair falling in her face. She pushed it away, realizing that she had grabbed the attention of both men.

"Well, well," the man said, sneering at her. Adrian took the opportunity to fire a spell at him, thrusting his body away from Gen and onto the ground. He only took a second before, from the ground, he grabbed his wand, throwing the curse right back at Adrian, sending him flying across the courtyard behind a pile of rubble.

"That was cute," he laughed, starting to rise to his feet. He zeroed his focus in on Gen, her wand pointed at him fiercely. "Such a waste of pure blood on that Pucey kid." He began to walk towards her slowly. The courtyard was beginning to empty out as the fight continued to move.

"And such a damn shame pure blood will have to be spilled tonight… You could've fought on our side, you know!" he called out to Adrian to no response. He turned his attention back to Gen. "It's a pleasure. We meet again, Genevieve Zhao."

Gen glared into the eyes of the man, trying her best to hold her ground. She was forcing herself to have the strength whether or not she had it. He was her torturer, her captor, the reason that the three years of her life had been living Hell.

"I can't say the same, Cepheus," she said.

"Cepheus?" he questioned, taunting her. "You go to America and lose all of your respect?"

Gen gripped her wand tightly, swallowing, "Not the case. I'd give it if I owed you any. If you were worthy of any."

He laughed, "You were always quite the spitfire. I see what my son saw in you." With that, Gen launched a curse at him. Cepheus moved out of the way, launching one back and causing Gen's wand to fly out of her hand. He continued to laugh. "Is that what you call an attempt? Where is all of that… raw power, my dear? If I recall correctly, you were intoxicated by it." He launched another curse at her but before it could hit her, she had apparated behind a pile of rubble, frozen and terrified in fear. She no wand and would be forced to use her powers if she wanted to get out of here alive.

His voice sent chills down her spine and his words were only a reminder of the dangerous power that she possessed. She had never feared her powers until The Mackenzies. She thought Perseus had loved her but he had only seduced her to use her as a weapon in this war for his family. Her eyes watered with tears and she violently wiped them away, knowing that she had to pick herself back up and fight.

"Hide and seek? Oh, you're going to make this so much fun," Cepheus called out to her. She closed her eyes, focusing on Adrian's energy. She needed to make sure he was okay. She followed the energy, allowing herself to disappear then materialize behind yet another pile of rubble, where he lay.

"Adrian. Ady…" she whispered, her voice and hands shaking.

"Gen," he mumbled, his body stirring as he woke.

"Adrian… we gotta… we gotta fight him. But I-, I don't know if I can. He's so powerful and I'm going to have to-, I…" she trembled as she grabbed onto her best friends hand. He blinked his eyes open slowly, unable to keep them open for too long. "Are you okay?"

He nodded slowly, "I'm okay." He stifled a cough, knowing he couldn't give up their location. "Yes, I'm going to be okay, I think. Gen, listen. You're going to have to use your powers."

"I know," she whispered. "But I'm afraid. He made me-, when I used them I-, I don't think I can take another life with my…. I don't-."

"Please," Adrian said. "Please… Gen you have to get us out of here. Please."

She nodded, holding onto his hand, "You promise me you'll be okay?"

Adrian nodded once more, "I can wiggle my toes and fingers, see? I'll be okay. Just give me a- a moment." Gen glanced to his leg that was bleeding and he blinked a few times. "Just a little bit of blood is all."

She smiled, taking a big breath, trying her best to summon all the strength and courage she had. Suddenly, she heard a pile of rubble being blasted apart.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Cepheus called out with a wicked tone in his voice.

This was it. This was what she had to do. She hadn't used her powers to hurt anyone or anything in a long time - not even to protect. She had only relied on using her wand as the war grew closer and closer but this… she knew what she had to do. She heard another explosion of rubble and knew that if she didn't come out that he'd hurt Adrian with another blast.

"I'm right here!" she said, surprising herself with the amount of courage that came through in her voice. She didn't feel that way inside.

"No wand?" he asked, taunting her again. She stood her ground choosing not to respond to him. "You won't use your powers, you silly little girl. I took that from you. Yet another damn waste. You and the Pucey boy should never have been in Slytherin. All of that power wasted on a silly, worthless, weak little girl."

Cepheus, Adrian, and Gen were all shocked by the explosion that ensued next. Adrian began to sit up behind the pile of rubble, looking towards the noise as a column holding up the castle began to crumble. Cepheus looked towards it then back to Gen, seeing her eyes focused and fixed on the architecture. The sound caused several Death Eaters to come running towards the scene.

"You're wrong," she said, gaining more confidence with every word. "I'm not weak." With a wave of her hand she sent a pile of rubble flying towards Cepheus, knocking him off of his feet. "And you may be able to scare me…" Another wave of her hand and she had sent the Death Eaters flying back to where they came from and Cepheus began to scoot away from her. "And you might be able to-, to break me once…" Another wave of her hand she sent him flying back as she charged towards the man that had stolen her innocence and made her kill for his own gain.

"But YOU. You will never take my power. YOU COULD NEVER!" Gen screamed at him, approaching him quicker and quicker. "YOUR SON IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU. THE BOY THAT I LOVED IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU. YOU KILLED HIM. YOU CHANGED HIM. HE COULD'VE BEEN BETTER THAN WHO YOU MADE HIM INTO!"

The man who once controlled her, who had made her feel so small was now cowering in front of her.

"Get up!" she yelled. She lifted her hand and had pulled him to his feet with her powers. She inhaled, feeling how intoxicating her power felt. It felt so good to be reunited with this part of her. She dug deep down inside, listening closely for the sound of his beating her. Gen extended her arm in front of her, reaching for the spot in his chest that his heart beat was coming from and then she focused. She focused on pulling it out of his chest.

Cepheus grabbed for his chest, falling to his knees and gasping for air. He screamed out at the feeling of his chest about to burst open, the muscle about to explode out.

"Gen stop it!" Gen heard a voice yell. "Stop it! He's not worth it!" The voice got closer and closer as she watched the man struggle on his knees, keeled over in pain. It was like her powers and her anger were taking over her. This man had abused her, had caused so much pain, and now, he was the one in pain. She could barely hear the voice calling out to her as someone wrapped their arms around her, grabbing her, sweeping her off her feet and falling to the ground with her.

"GENEVIEVE, HE'S NOT WORTH ANOTHER LIFE ON YOUR HANDS!" Adrian yelled, bringing her to the courtyard ground, breathless from the adrenaline.

"Ady, let me go!" she yelled, struggling to get back to Cepheus. He was toppled over, gasping for breath as the pain had stopped. She struggled to get back to her feet as Adrian followed her. Gen reached out once again and Adrian pulled her pack, overpowering her with his strength.

"I won't let you!" Adrian shouted, grabbing her once again, holding her to him as she struggled.

"ADRIAN, STOP IT!" She fought against him but it was too late. Cepheus had disappeared into thin air, apparating.

"I won't let you," Adrian repeated, his voice broken.

Gen struggled against him as he held her as tightly to his body as he could. After a few moments, she stopped struggling, letting out a blood curdling scream into his chest as she began to sob. She fell to her knees, Adrian following her once more to the ground as he held her, promising himself and her that he'd never let her go.

"I can't-, I can't breathe," she sobbed.

He let her scream. And Cry. And sob. She had been to hell and the man she had almost killed was the reason. But he couldn't let her kill him. He knew she'd never forgive herself for taking another life.

"Gen, we should really find your Dad," Adrian said.

"I want-, I want-, I-," she continued to sob, surprising Adrian. It was like she was a little girl again so he let her cry it out. He knew that this was a huge deal for her and that it was probably killing her inside to have to keep it together. He held her to his chest and when she started to calm down, he let her come to a conclusion on her own terms. "I ehm, yes, let's go find my dad."

Gen awoke, breathing heavy, from the nightmare. Only it wasn't a nightmare. It was a memory of her last encounter with Cepheus Mackenzie during the Battle of Hogwarts and it was something she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life. Without Adrian's intervention, she would've killed that man. She was glad she hadn't but part of her would always wonder what if? Would she regret it? Would it have been liberating? Would it have brought her peace? Would it have killed her inside? She pressed her palms to her face inhaling, then exhaling, trying to bring her nervous system down from the horrible memory.

She looked to the boy in bed beside her, wondering what it would've been like to know him back then? Would he have thought she was a monster? Would he have been afraid of her? If they hadn't been on opposite teams, would they have fallen in love sooner or did they meet at exactly the right time? He was fast asleep, so she climbed out of bed as quietly as possible, heading to the kitchen to brew another batch of nightmare tonic.

She began to brew the tonic over the stove top while also making up a pot of boiling water for coffee. It always helped calm her down - to work with her hands - and to create a ritual of grounding herself after a nightmare. The ritual of creating the tonic and making coffee was exactly what she needed to do. As she progressively brewed the tonic and coffee, the kitchen filled with the smell of both - a warm vanilla smell of the tonic and the full, rich, and robust smell of coffee. She poured one mug for herself, adding the tonic for her morning coffee, leaving out a second mug for Oliver. She stood at the counter sipping her mug while flipping through a new cookbook she had left on the island counter.

"Morning, love," she heard a voice say, causing her to look up from her cookbook.

She smiled as soon as she saw Oliver and his messy bedhead, "Morning, darling. There's coffee if you want it."

"You know I always want it," he smirked, eliciting a laugh from her, knowing it had double meaning. He walked next to her, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "You sleep alright?"

"Ehm, why?" Gen asked, caught off guard. She hoped that she hadn't disrupted his sleep.

"You just seemed a little restless last night… tossing and turning," Oliver answered innocently.

"Oh," Gen said. "I ehm, well, it's nothing to be concerned about but… I sorta had a bit of a nightmare last night."

"Why didn't you wake me?!" Oliver exclaimed, concerned. He had moved from sleepy and just gotten out of bed to a concerned and protective boyfriend in under two seconds.

"No, no it wasn't like that… like the last one," Gen said, hoping to quell his anxiety. "But I love you for being so concerned." She chuckled a little, looking up at her boyfriend. "Sit down."

Oliver, hand wrapped around the mug, moved to the otherside of the island, "Uh oh."

"No, it's not like that." she sighed, feeling him brace himself for what she was about to say. "I think it was just… you know… with Adrian coming to stay with us I was thinking about him a bit yesterday and I think it brought up some memories. You know. Of the war."

"How do you mean?" Oliver asked his brows knitted together. He knew that she had PTSD from the war. They all did, but he knew that she had suffered so much trauma from it that he wanted to understand what memory she was talking about. He wanted to understand her better.

"Adrian's always been my best friend and ehm, I think I told you… that he and Dad had to work together to get me out of the Mackenzies. Without all that we'd still be best friends but he's been through a lot with me, you know? He ehm," Gen began to explain. Her voice got really quiet and these next words fell out of her mouth. "I'm afraid to tell you."

"You can tell me anything," Oliver reassured her.

She was silent for a moment, afraid that she'd lose him if he knew what she had done but she knew she couldn't hide it from him forever. She took a drink from her mug.

"When I was with Perseus… and the Mackenzies were controlling me… I had to… under the confundus charm, I killed for them," she admitted, taking her time getting the words out. It felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Oliver had assumed that that was the case but hearing it out loud was different.

"I figured," he said. "But it wasn't you… not really… not in your right mind."

"I know," she nodded. "That's why I'm always so hesitant to use my powers. For a long time I wouldn't use them at all. I was too afraid to. He… Cepheus took that from me. For a while. So… at the Battle of Hogwarts I ehm, well I finally used them again. And I almost killed him."

"Woah," Oliver sounded.

"Yeah," Gen sounded back. "Adrian stopped me. From killing him. We've been through a lot together. I think it just brought all that back up, yknow. Preparing for him to visit…."

Oliver took the time to take in what she just told him as the two sat in an uncomfortable silence.

"I'm glad you told me," he finally said.

"Are you really?" Gen asked back, hesitantly.

Oliver sighed out, "We would've had to talk about it eventually. Besides… I figured… that some of the things you told me had happened. Maybe it's better now that I know. Better than my imagination."

Gen nodded slowly, "Okay."

"Come here," Oliver encouraged.

Gen sat her coffee mug down on the counter before walking around it to her boyfriend.

"I love you."

"How?" Gen asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Because I do. Because the war changed you. It changed me. It changed all of us. I don't know… how to really do this. You know. None of us do… how we pick up after what happened. But we do. We just… keep going," Oliver answered. Gen chewed on her lip, feeling guilty about what she had just told him.

"I love you too," she finally said, looking him in the eyes. In response, Oliver pulled here in for a hug, holding her tightly. They stood there, holding each other for what felt like forever, until Oliver broke the silence with laughter. "What?"

Gen pulled away, shooting a strange look towards him.

"It's just… funny, really," Oliver said, his laugh continuing to build.

"Oliver Wood, what I just told you is not funny!" she protested. But his laugh was contagious and she began to laugh with him. He let his arms fall to around her waist, wrapping his hand around it and keeping her close to where he sat.

"It's just, you tell me all of this and all I can think about how jealous of Pucey I am," Oliver said.

"What?!" Gen exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, m'love, but I've got to say it. You've got so many handsome blokes in your life that are friends and, well, ehm, it kinda makes it hard sometimes, you know," Oliver revealed.

"Seriously?!"

"Aye, I-, I don't know," Oliver replied. "You got so many handsome blokes wantin' to be your friend or, eh, are already your close friends. Makes it hard for a guy to, y'know, compete."

"Well, no one said it was a competition," Gen pointed out.

"Everything's a competition, my dear," Oliver chuckled.

"Of course it is! For you," Gen laughed. "But you wouldn't be the man that I love without that." They both laughed, leaning in for a kiss, then pulling away and pressing their foreheads against each other.

"I'm glad you have such a great friend in Pucey. I'm… maybe we wouldn't have gotten to fall in love with each other… if he hadn't stopped you. Maybe we wouldn't be here. Or we never would've found each other, y'know? I am a little jealous that he's gotten to be there for you… more than me, I guess… but I mean it, really," Oliver said.

Gen nodded, "He is. He'll always be special to me - one of my dearest friends. But it's never been like that. Never will be."

"Alright, well, if you say so. I trust you," Oliver said.

"I'm glad we found each other, Ollie," Gen said back.

"Me too."