The Devil in Me
When the Cowards Turn to Soldiers
The chapter title is from the song:
Belief by Ben Fankhauser.
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire
Harry had his arm around Daphne, a bonfire was burning, and he had a warm drink in his hand. All in all, he felt like things were going pretty damn well for him right now.
That was until his dark mark burned.
With a frown, Harry looked across the garden at Tom.
Call to arms.
From the Ministry, Tom thought back as he strolled towards the main group, "The Ministry is under attack."
They all looked up sharply, and Lucius stepped forward, "Shall we apparate there immediately, my lord?"
"No," Tom said with a shake of his head, "Yaxley has called us. Several Death Eaters will respond to the call, but…I feel uneasy about this."
"So do I," Harry said, his eyes on Tom's, "This is what we did on August Eve. We attacked the Ministry then while they were distracted, we hit their homes."
Tom nodded and glanced back at the house, "I shall go to the Ministry and assess the situation. Stay here and only come if I call you specifically," he looked at Harry and Harry knew that he meant if he was called via the mind link rather than via the dark mark.
"Tom," Lily said, stepping forward, "I should go with you."
"No, I need you to stay here," Tom said sharply, his eyes meeting hers.
Lily sighed but nodded, and without another word, Tom turned on his heel and shot into the sky in a plume of black smoke.
Harry turned around, ignoring Lily's scoff of disbelief and locking eyes with Lucius. They were both aware that something bigger was going on here.
A house-elf appeared with a crack, making everyone jump.
"Master Lucius. Mister Julian Crouch is here to see you, sir. He says it is urgent."
"He has connections with the light side," Harry said, reaching down to take Daphne's hand, "If he's here, it's because he knows something."
"He wouldn't help them attack us. He knows that I'm here," Daphne added.
Lucius gave the elf a nod, "See him through."
Harry dropped Daphne's hand and took a few steps closer to Lucius, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"So do I," Lucius said. His sharp eyes on the door into the grounds, which was only a few metres away.
At the same time, they reached for their wands, and Harry felt a presence behind him. He turned around and saw Lily and Draco, who also had their wands drawn. Hanging behind a little were Narcissa, Daphne and Sadie.
When Julian stepped into the garden with Lydia and Remus, everyone drew their wands.
"What are they doing here?" Lucius hissed at Julian.
"They come with a warning," Julian said, his wand focused on his fellow Death Eater.
"Then why do they draw their wands?" Lucius asked, nudging his head towards Lydia and Remus.
"Maybe because we're Death Eaters, so they assume that we will fire first and ask questions later?" Harry mused, his eyes meeting Remus's.
Remus held his gaze, "You are under attack."
Harry nodded at Lucius, and the blonde man lowered his wand.
Lydia and Julian lowered theirs too, leaving Harry and Remus with their wands at each other's throats.
"From who?"
"The Order and the Army of the Phoenix," Remus replied without breaking eye contact, "They have combined forces to attack pureblood homes. The attack on the Ministry is a decoy; they want to draw Death Eaters away from their homes, leaving their families vulnerable to attack."
Harry lowered his wand, "What are their targets?"
"Here, Avery Manor, Warrington Manor and Rookwood Hall."
"Fuck," Harry muttered, turning to look at Lily, "Rookwood Hall."
"Reyna," Lily said.
"Gus," Daphne added, her eyes on Harry's.
Harry sighed, "Quiet. I need to do something incredibly difficult that requires focus."
They all fell silent, and Harry closed his eyes – he pressed one finger against his mark and focused his mind, silencing all stray thoughts until it was clear.
The others watched in awe as the mark burned white. Harry took a slow, steady breath then spoke, "The Ministry attack is a decoy. The Order and the Army are attacking Avery Manor, Warrington Manor, Rookwood Hall and Malfoy Manor. Anyone who is not required at the Ministry, defend one of these locations."
With the message complete, Harry removed his finger and everyone in the vicinity's mark burned. When they touched it, the message burst into their heads.
"I thought only Tom knew how to do that," Lily said, looking at Harry in disbelief.
"He taught me," Harry said quickly. He turned back to their newcomers, "What else do you know, Remus?"
"There's a spy," Remus said.
"Don't tell me," Harry muttered sarcastically, "Snivellus?"
Remus nodded, and Lydia caught Daphne's eye over their shoulders.
"Why did you leave?"
Harry turned around, glancing between Daphne and Lydia.
"Because I couldn't condone what they were doing anymore, Daphne," Lydia said, her eyes on her sister's, "I've been struggling ever since they took Astoria."
Harry sighed and stepped aside, "Go on," he said to Lydia.
Lydia wasted no time crossing the small space to wrap her younger sister in her arms, and Daphne hugged her back tightly.
"When is this happening?" Harry asked Remus, his wand still in his hand.
Remus looked around warily, "Now," he answered.
Before Harry or Lucius had a chance to start barking out orders, a loud bang made everyone in the garden draw their wands.
"Ward disruptor," Remus said, "Where are the wards at their weakest?"
"Behind the tree line," Lucius answered, his eyes scanning the garden as he drew his wand.
"Daphne, get out of here," Harry said, his eyes meeting hers.
"Harry-"
"You know the deal," Harry said, his gaze not wavering, "Get out of here."
Daphne glared at him but turned on her heel, apparating through the disrupted wards.
"She'll hate you for that," Lydia said, backing up a little to stand next to him.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather she was alive and hating me than dead," Harry said bluntly.
"Narcissa," Lucius said, without looking away from the treeline, "Get inside, protect Amalthea. Get her out, if you can."
"Lucius-"
Lucius's eyes flickered to hers for one brief second, "Narcissa, go."
With a nod, Narcissa turned towards the house and hurried inside.
"Sadie, you shouldn't stay to fight," Draco said quietly.
"You think I can't fight?" Sadie asked, standing next to Draco with her wand raised.
"You were home-schooled," Draco muttered.
"By my Lestrange mother, I can protect myself just fine," Sadie said, a fire burning in her eyes that Draco hadn't seen before.
With a nod, he looked away from her and focused on the tree line with the others. It was then that he saw it – the line of combatants, moving out of the trees with a strengthened group shield charm over them, it was a textbook Auror attack if ever Harry had seen one.
They started by throwing spells at each other en-masse, but it whittled down into one on one and two on two duels as it always did.
Harry and Lucius ended up duelling Maggie Shacklebolt and Matthias Jones together. Remus was duelling Andromeda, which caught Harry's attention, and Julian was fighting Ted.
Draco and Sadie were locked in back to back duels with Hestia Jones and Gareth Perks. And Lydia and Lily had teamed up to duel the Aurors Dawlish and Wolfe.
Numerically, they were evenly matched – but those on the 'light' side were older and more experienced duellists.
While they held off Maggie and Matthias, Lucius and Harry kept their eyes on the sky and the house – the last thing they wanted was for them to breach the house where Narcissa was sheltering with Amalthea.
At that point, an explosion rocked the grounds, and Harry saw Lucius freeze in terror. The drawing-room wall had been blasted from the inside, and Draco had been duelling Hestia in the vicinity.
They all ducked as debris flew out in all directions, a piece of it hitting Draco in the eye and forcing him to the ground, where he screamed in pain.
Harry sent a blasting curse at Maggie, then put up a strong shield charm, "I need to get to Draco!"
Lucius yelled, "Go!"
Harry darted across the grounds, grabbing Draco and pulling him to a slightly more sheltered part of the garden. Draco was crying out in pain, his hand over his eye as blood soaked through his fingers, staining the new robes he had worn for their celebration that night.
"Hey, it's okay, it's me. It's okay," Harry said, covering Draco with a shield charm as Hestia sent a cutting curse at them.
Harry sat Draco up against a statue then got to his feet, throwing, "Sectumsempra!" at Hestia with more force than was required.
Remus abandoned his duel with Andromeda to jog across the garden, "I'll heal him if you can cover us, Harry!" he called.
"I've got your backs," Harry yelled back, throwing another curse at Hestia and narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out her next move – she was an experienced fighter, having fought in and survived the first war.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Draco was asking Remus, his voice quiet.
"It's shrapnel damage; it looks bad because of all the blood," Remus was murmuring, "Try not to think about it too much while I numb it."
Having been freed up by Remus leaving to attend to Draco, Andromeda strode towards the gap that had been opened into the house.
Maggie and Matthias caught sight of her and made to follow, but Lucius held them off. It was impressive to watch, like watching a skilled dancer, a perfect mix of attack and defence, nothing missed its target, and no spell was wasted as he ducked and twisted to avoid unshieldable spells; he made it look like an art-form.
Eventually, Maggie and Matthias got the better of him with a whip charm that tripped him up. While he stumbled to his feet, they ran for the house, and Lucius followed them in a panic because the only thing that made him act rashly was his love for his wife.
Harry saw this out of the corner of his eye and cursed inwardly. As good as Lucius was, he couldn't survive alone in there against Maggie, Matthias and Andromeda and the person who had blasted the wall from the inside – Harry was relatively sure that person was Snape. As someone who would know about Amalthea's existence, he was the person who worried Harry most.
"Shit!" Lily cursed on the other side of the garden when she saw the opposition going into the house.
"What?" Lydia asked as they held off the Aurors Dawlish and Wolfe together.
"They're going in the house," Lily said, spinning around Lydia to throw a cutting curse towards Dawlish, "Amalthea is in the house!"
"Who's Amalthea?" Lydia asked, throwing up a shield charm.
"My…" Lily floundered, "Step-daughter, Alarte Ascendare!"
"Step-daughter? You're in school!" Lydia asked, firing wand arrows at Wolfe.
"My boyfriend is a bit older than me," Lily said, "Baubillious!"
"And Thea is his baby," Lily continued, pushing Lydia aside and casting a shield bubble over them, "She's only a month old."
"Bugger," Lydia cursed, "I have a daughter, and I know what it's like to have her taken away from me. There's no way we can let them get to her."
Lily looked around as an idea formed in her head, "Can you do elemental magic?"
"Ventus!" Lydia cried, throwing her head back to glance at Lily, "I can do dark fire. You?"
"Black fire," Lily replied, grabbing Lydia's wrist and spinning them around, "As in the Black family fire, I'm a Black."
"You think we can combine them?" Lydia asked, grabbing Lily's left hand.
"If we're mad enough."
"Oh, I'm mad enough," Lydia said, her eyes flashing angrily.
"You and me both," Lily said, "Ready?"
Lydia nodded, "Ready," she said, ducking down.
Lily's hand burned against hers, and Lydia closed her eyes as the heat in her hand grew unbearable. Lydia conjured a ball of dark fire, which Lily heated. It created a seismic blast, throwing both of the Aurors that they were duelling back – Dawlish hit a tombstone, and his neck snapped with a sickening crack, and the other one was slammed into a tree.
"Avada Kedavra," Lily cried, for good measure.
She wiped ash from her forehead and looked at Lydia, "That was amazing."
Lydia let go of Lily's hand, "Yeah, it was. We going into the house to save this baby then?"
"I am," Lily said, her eyes on the battlefield up ahead, "You're going to help that girl there – she's called Sadie, and there's no way she's holding him off forever on her own."
"But-"
"Trust me, I'll be fine," Lily said hastily as she ran towards the house under a shield charm, firing curses as she did so.
Lydia watched her warily then heard a cry. She looked over and saw that Sadie had just taken a cutting curse to the arm, it was a graze and only to her left arm, not her wand hand, but all the same, it confirmed Lily's hunch. Without any further hesitation, she ran towards the duel to help the younger girl
Harry didn't even curse inwardly when he saw Lily dash into the house, "Fuck," he hissed as he tried to think of a quick way to get Hestia out of the picture. It was as this thought flashed through his head that he saw Julian going down behind Hestia.
He had been duelling Ted Tonks, who had just hit him with, "Everte Statum!"
"Fuck!" Harry exclaimed again.
As he had done in the Battle of Longbottom Grove, Harry thrust his wand towards Hestia and cast the strongest shield charm he could. At the same time, he threw his left hand out and sent a fiery cutting curse at Ted. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do it if it hadn't been for his and Daphne's bonding earlier.
The spell flew through the air and hit Ted in the neck, slicing through the muscle and sinew like a hot knife through butter and leaving him as the newest candidate for the headless hunt. Harry's spell cauterised the wound instantly and then caused Ted's body to go up in flames before it had even hit the ground. Julian was leaning against a wall, panting as he tried to catch his breath.
Harry turned to Hestia, only to see her retreating as she ran for the treeline. Being a man of honour, he didn't throw a curse at her back as she reached the area where the wards were disrupted and apparated away from the fight.
The last spell hadn't taken as much out of him as he expected, but he did have to pause to catch his breath. As he did so, a spell flew past him in the direction of Draco and Remus; it was a green light.
"Remus, down!"
Remus acted instinctively and dropped down, covering Draco's body with his own. As a result, the light flew over their heads, and Harry turned to the source – Gareth Perks.
"How dare you curse a man when he's down?" Sadie asked furiously, thrusting her wand out and crying, "Cor Subsisto!"
The spell threw Gareth off and hit him square in the chest. His wand hand spasmed, and Lydia disarmed him, then he fell to the ground, clutching his arm as the spell induced a heart attack.
That marked the last of the combatants in the grounds falling, so Sadie made her way over to them. She dropped down next to Draco, "Is he okay?"
Remus nodded, "I've patched him up the best I can. His optic nerve isn't severed, so a proper Healer should be able to fix him up nicely."
Draco smiled weakly at Sadie, "Worst first date ever, right?"
"Got to be up there," Sadie agreed with a half-smile.
Harry wasn't paying them much attention. He was too worried about what was going on in the house, so he ran in, hoping to catch Lily.
Finding her wasn't difficult. He followed the sound of spells ricocheting and caught up with her on the grand staircase leading up to the first floor – it was lined with portraits of the Malfoy ancestors who were all ducking and cowering in their frames.
Lily was fighting Matthias and Maggie on her own, and while she was doing a great job, Harry could see the strain it was taking, so when he jumped in, she sighed gratefully.
"About time. Where the hell have you been?"
"Protecting Draco for the most part," Harry said, throwing a stunning charm ahead.
"Go figure," Lily responded, trying to maintain her composure even though she was a little breathless.
"Think you can conjure up some of the hot magic?" Harry asked.
Lily shook her head and cast a blasting curse ahead – it missed Maggie and instead blasted part of the wood railing into pieces, "I'm all out of juice. I used it up to help Lydia get those Aurors off our case."
"Sectumsempra!" Harry's curse caught Maggie in the side, and she drew back just enough for Lily to stun her, knocking her down the stairs in the process.
This left the two of them against Matthias, who Harry knew Cygnus wanted to die slowly and painfully because of what he had done to Lareina. To be honest, that fuelled Harry too because he had grown fond of his future mother-in-law.
"What about you?" Lily asked, in-between curses, "Did your fire curse use up all your elemental magic?"
Harry shot Lily a smirk, "Nah, don't even feel like it made a dent, to be honest."
"Holy shit," Lily muttered, "Mors Stimulus Tuus! Did you two do a bonding ritual?"
Harry twisted his hand and conjured a fireball. He grinned at Lily, "Maybe," he said, throwing it at Matthias.
Meanwhile…
Two floors up, the fighting was a distant whoosh of bangs and cries. Lucius knew that Severus was the spy, and he knew that he would be going after Amalthea. That naturally put Narcissa at risk because she had been the one watching her.
As such, he had made his way to the top of the house, and when he reached the top floor landing, he came face to face with Andromeda.
Neither of them being the trusting type, they both held their wands at each other's faces – blue eyes meeting brown – both as wary as each other.
"Ted's dead," Andromeda said quietly.
Lucius narrowed his eyes, "You saw him fall?"
Andromeda shook her head, "I felt it. He might not have been a pureblood, but I am. We were bonded. I knew the moment he fell, my magic knew."
Lucius's eyes flicked towards the door behind him.
"Who are you protecting?" Andromeda asked without lowering her wand.
"Narcissa."
This time it was Andromeda who faltered. Before another word could leave her mouth, the sharp sound of a baby crying filled the landing and Andromeda's eyes widened, "What is that?"
"That is your niece," Lucius answered honestly.
Andromeda's eyes met his, "I thought you and Narcissa couldn't…"
"She is not ours," Lucius said, knowing that nothing else had to be said.
"Oh, Merlin," Andromeda remarked, "She didn't?"
"She did," Lucius said, his eyes dark, "Narcissa removed the child with magic while Bellatrix was dying from a curse cast on her by her husband and his brother."
Andromeda swallowed, and the cry sounded again.
"What's her name?"
"Amalthea," Lucius replied.
"For the star," Andromeda said softly.
Lucius nodded. They both still had their wands on each other, but Andromeda's hand was shaking now.
"I…" Andromeda lowered her wand, "I can't fight anymore, Lucius. I've lost everything."
"How sentimental," A voice drawled behind them.
"I always knew you were a bastard Severus, but I never thought you would stoop this low. You do realise that being a child's godfather involves protecting them, not blinding them, don't you?" Lucius asked dangerously.
Andromeda had spun around, and she also had her wand trained on Snape – both she and Lucius were watching him warily.
"While I regret that Draco has been injured, the stupid boy should have gotten out of this while he had the chance," Snape said, his eyes narrowing, "I gave him every opportunity."
"Every opportunity to do what? Run crying to Dumbledore like you did?" Lucius hissed.
"Look how that went for you," Andromeda agreed.
"I see that all it takes is the cry of a child to change your opinion, Andromeda," Snape said nastily.
"No, Severus. It takes the realisation that I have lost more family to the light side than I have the dark," Andromeda said coolly, "And all I have left is my sister. You knew us when we were young, and you know that I will do whatever it takes to protect her."
"Then you will die doing so," Snape sneered, thrusting his wand forward and silently casting "Sectumsempra" at them.
Lucius was faster than Andromeda. He grabbed her and pulled her against the wall so that the spell flew past her head. Then Andromeda retaliated by throwing a blasting charm at Snape.
"Go and make sure that Narcissa is safe," Andromeda called to Lucius.
Lucius took heed and stumbled through the doorway into the upper corridor where the door to the nursery was, clutching his neck where, unbeknownst to Andromeda, Snape's dark cutting curse had caught him.
A fast-paced duel ensued between Snape and Andromeda as the battle downstairs raged on. It was relentless, dark curses, cutting curses, torture spells, the killing curse. Neither of them were pulling any punches.
"Why do you want to get past me so badly, Severus?" Andromeda asked, spinning out of the way of a curse and throwing a dark hex at him.
"Because that niece of yours isn't a harmless baby," Snape hissed, "She is the daughter of the Dark Lord and your deranged sister. She was conceived under the influence of a love potion, and she will turn out to be as dangerous as the Dark Lord, or worse."
"She is an innocent child!" Andromeda spat, "We don't punish children for their parent's sins!"
"Then perhaps we should start," Snape said, throwing an unshieldable blasting curse at her.
Andromeda tried to shield it to dent the blow, but there was no way to avoid it hitting her in the narrow space. The curse threw her back into the wall with a sickening crack. She slid down the wall onto the floor, knocked unconscious. Then Snape left her there for dead.
He pushed open the door into the upper corridor and paused when he saw Lucius slumped against the nursery door, which was enveloped in soft, white light.
Lucius was pale, his breathing erratic, and as Snape approached him, he saw the deep wound in his neck.
"Blood wards?" Snape quipped, raising an eyebrow, "My Lucius, how heroic of you, I would never have thought you had it in you," he drawled.
Lucius laughed weakly as he struggled to keep his eyes open, "Not just any blood wards, Severus. You see, when you nicked me with that Sectumsempra, I knew I was going to die because I don't know the counter curse. I couldn't fight my way out with Narcissa, so I did the only thing that I could. I made my death worth something."
Snape's eyes narrowed.
Lucius chuckled again, "I'm sacrificing myself for her, Severus. I'm sacrificing my life to save Narcissa's because I love her. You're aware of blood wards imbued with sacrificial love, aren't you?"
Severus's eyes darkened.
"Aware of how difficult they are to break through when created with pure love?" Lucius gasped, "Because despite all my many flaws, I truly love my wife with all my heart, and I will die to protect her without question, Severus. Would you have been able to do the same for Lily Evans? I doubt it."
Snape raised his wand, his eyes full of fury, but then a disarming charm was thrown at him from behind, and he spun around, changing tack as he defended against the charm.
"Potter!" He hissed.
"I knew you were a spy," Harry spat, throwing a curse at Snape, which Lily strengthened enough to cut through his shield charm, but it still didn't do enough damage to hurt him.
"And I should have known that you would be a weak-willed coward," Snape hissed in return.
"I am not weak-willed; I'm a survivor," Harry said, throwing a fireball at Snape.
It was unshieldable, forcing him to duck to avoid it, and it temporarily obscured his vision. When he popped back up, he and Harry both had spells on their lips.
"Sectumsempra!"
"Stupefy!"
Both curses hit their intended targets – Snape fell to the ground with a loud thump, and Lily cried out in pain, falling to her knees with a choked sound.
"Lily!" Harry panicked, dropping to her side and pulling at her dress to assess how bad the damage was – Snape had left her with one long, deep scar from just below her collar bone down her sternum to the top of her stomach.
"Fuck," Harry muttered as he ran his wand over the wounds, murmuring the counter charm as he did so. The wounds gradually began to stop bleeding and seal over, but it took so long, and Harry needed to get to Lucius. His heart was pounding as he tried to get Lily to a state where she would live.
Once the wounds were sealed, primitively at best, Harry got up and jogged over to Lucius, who was barely awake, "Lucius!"
He opened his eyes and managed a small smile, "Did you get him?"
Harry threw a cautionary, "Incarcerous!" at Snape, then nodded, "Yeah, I got him."
"Make sure he gets a painful death," Lucius murmured.
"I will," Harry said, "You'll kill him yourself once you're better."
Lucius gave the tiniest shake of his head, "I won't get better, Harry."
He moved his hand from his neck, and Harry saw how deep the wound was, how much blood Lucius was losing.
Harry took Lucius's weight off the door, effectively holding him in his arms.
"I know the counter curse," Harry said, placing his hand over the gushing wound in Lucius' neck, "I can save you."
"It's too late," Lucius said quietly, "I've lost too much blood."
Harry swallowed back the tears that threatened to spill as footsteps sounded on the stairs.
He knew somehow, before they even reached the corridor, that those footsteps belonged to Draco and Sadie.
"Dad," the voice was choked as Draco fell to his knees by Harry's side.
Lucius managed to give them both a weak smile. He reached out a blood-stained hand which Draco took without question, "Look after each other," he said, his voice getting quieter.
"We will," Harry promised.
"And Draco," Lucius said, his voice barely a whisper as his eyes drifted shut.
"Yes?" Draco asked tearfully.
"I'm so proud of you and…tell your mother…" Lucius's voice trailed off, but he found the strength to get those last words out, "I love her, I've always loved her."
Draco and Harry's tears both fell freely as Lucius's body went limp, his hand falling from Draco's.
"NO!" Draco cried, his head falling onto his father's chest, "No," he sobbed, his voice choked.
Harry sighed and got to his feet, turning to Sadie with a look of pure defeat in his eyes. She walked past him, her hand brushing against his in a gesture of support, but ultimately, she was concerned for Draco.
Harry leant against the wall, catching his breath and looking over at Lily – her chest was moving up and down slowly, so she was alive, thank Merlin.
Is Lilith hurt?
Harry took a breath as Tom's voice invaded his head. Even if Tom had been trying to communicate with him in the chaos, Harry doubted that he would have heard him.
Snape's a spy; he hit her with Sectumsempra. I've done the best I can, but she will need a proper Healer.
His eyes went to the nursery door; the white glow around it had begun to fade when Lucius had died. With a sigh, Harry yanked it open, just as a thought from Tom registered in his head, I am on my way back. All those who attacked the Ministry are dead.
Inside the room, Narcissa was on her knees, tears streaming down her face. Harry walked in. He was in a daze, zoning out Amalthea's cries for attention from her crib.
"You heard?" Harry asked weakly, dropping onto his knees in front of the woman he had come to love like a mother.
"I felt it," Narcissa choked, her usual grace gone as the tears rolled down her cheeks, "I felt like I was ripped in half like my heart was ripped from my chest."
Harry swallowed and pulled her into his arms. He knew what she meant – they were bonded, magically, physically, spiritually, in every way. The moment Lucius died, his magic faded with him and depending on how strong the bond was, the other person could feel that physical loss.
As Narcissa sobbed in Harry's arms, he held her with hands that were stained with Lucius's blood.
Tom was going to kill Snape for hurting Lily, and Harry had banished Matthias Jones to the dungeons so he could deliver the brutal death that Cygnus had asked for. But they had lost so much at the manor alone – he couldn't bear to think of what had happened at Rookwood Hall.
"Harry."
Harry looked up at the doorway where Lydia stood nervously, like she felt out of place, "The baby, she's terrified. Can I…?"
Harry just nodded.
Lydia picked Amalthea up and held her close to her chest. She rocked her slowly and began to sing softly under her breath – a haunting wizarding version of a lullaby that resonated amongst everyone in the room.
"Rock-a-bye, baby – in the elder treetop."
Sadie whispered to Draco, "We need to move his body to the family crypt."
Draco reached up and grabbed her hand, but he wasn't capable of words yet.
"When the wind blows, the cradle will rock."
"He needs to be moved to the family crypt, Narcissa," Harry murmured against the older woman.
Narcissa sobbed painfully, and Harry shut his eyes tightly, wishing there was something he could do to ease her pain.
"When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall."
Narcissa got to her feet with Harry's help, and Sadie pried Draco away from his father's body.
"And down will come baby, cradle and all."
They levitated Lucius's body together, but only Harry and Sadie were able to keep their wand hands steady.
"From the manor rooftops, down to the sea, no one is as dear as she is to me."
Harry placed his free hand on Narcissa's wrist to help steady her hand.
"Magic fills these little fingers, her eyes so wide and bright," Lydia sang.
Sadie placed her spare hand on top of Draco's wand hand, steadying it and calming his erratic breathing. He managed a small nod of thanks in her direction.
"Now her eyes are shut tight, sound asleep, until the morning light."
Amalthea had fallen silent. The song had lulled her back into a peaceful sleep in Lydia's warm embrace.
Harry gave Lydia a slight nod, and, along with the others, they levitated Lucius's body through the manor into the grounds, which was strewn with bodies.
Narcissa unlocked the family crypt, and they lay Lucius on the ceremonial altar where his body would be prepared for the funeral.
With a soft whoosh, wards automatically surrounded Lucius's body, and Narcissa choked out another sob. This time, Draco moved to comfort her, and Harry left the crypt, his eyes scanning the grounds for any sign of Tom.
He saw him up ahead, striding across the grounds with purpose, so he ran to meet him.
"Tom-"
"Where is she?" Tom asked urgently.
"Upstairs," Harry said, practically jogging to keep up with Tom's pace, "I need to move her to the makeshift hospital wing, but then I also need a Healer to look at her, and Narcissa isn't in a state to help, and I don't even know if Reyna survived the attack on Rookwood Hall-"
Tom's gaze didn't shift, "Narcissa is hurt?"
"No, Lucius is…dead," Harry stumbled over the word, "He got hit by Sectumsempra, by Snape. He was dying, so he used blood magic to ward the nursery. He stopped Snape getting in."
"Amalthea?"
"Fine, a bit shook up, but Lydia has it under control."
"Who is Lydia?" Tom asked irritably.
"Uh, Lydia Greengrass. She warned us of the attack and told us Snape was a spy," Harry answered, "Her and Remus Lupin."
"The werewolf?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah."
Tom frowned but said nothing as they reached the upper corridor where Lily still lay unconscious.
Tom knelt and murmured a basic healing charm, then touched Lily's forehead and spoke a more complex incantation. She opened her eyes and sat up with a pained gasp.
His eyes met hers, "Are you okay?"
Lily got up and winced, "I'm a little sore and light-headed, but yeah, I'm fine."
"You lost a lot of blood," Tom said. The concern was clear to hear in his voice, "Go to the hospital wing and get a blood restoring potion."
Lily nodded, "Are you coming with me?"
"I can't," Tom said, his eyes darkening as he looked to Harry, "I don't think this is over yet."
Harry frowned, "What?"
"Walk with me," Tom ordered, "Lilith – hospital wing, now."
Lily went willingly, without rolling her eyes or making a sarcastic comment as usual.
Harry fell into step with Tom, "What do you mean; you don't think it's over?"
They walked towards the nursery, and Tom replied, "I tortured a man named David Hopkins. He was one of those who led the attack on the Ministry, and under duress, I managed to get inside his head. He was trying very hard to conceal his thoughts, but I believe there is going to be a second wave."
"Of what?" Harry asked in disbelief, "There are hardly any of them left."
Tom gave Harry a dark look, "The words 'Irish reinforcements' popped into his head."
"Fuck," Harry muttered.
"Precisely," Tom remarked, "Which is why I have sent a clear message calling everyone who is alive and in a state to fight to Malfoy Manor urgently."
Harry nodded, and they stepped into the nursery where Lydia was sitting by Amalthea's bed, "You need to get back to your child, don't you?"
Lydia nodded, "Yes, but I wanted to make sure that this one was safe first."
"She is," Harry promised. He gently levitated Amalthea into a travel basket, then put a permanent levitation charm on it, "I'm her godfather, and this is her father. We'll keep her safe."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lydia asked, looking between them.
"Are you a Healer?" Harry joked, "Because we could use one of them."
"Sort of," Lydia replied, "I wanted to go into Auror Training before I fell pregnant with my daughter. I took a summer course."
"Right now, that'll do," Harry said, "Makeshift hospital wing is in the long gallery on the second floor."
Lydia nodded and left in a hurry, leaving Harry and Tom alone in the nursery.
Tom sighed and looked down into Amalthea's basket, "We need to get her out of here and to safety as soon as possible."
Harry opened his mouth to agree, but before he could, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Harry had his wand in his hand, and Tom drew his, just in case.
However, when the person rounded the corner, Harry was angry, but not because they were a bad guy.
"I told you to get out of here!"
Daphne glared at him, "And I did, but now I'm back."
"Well, I meant go away and don't come back!" Harry exclaimed, "I just saw Lucius die for Narcissa. Do you think I want to have to make that sacrifice for you? Because I don't, Daphne!"
Daphne sighed, "Look, I went to Rookwood Hall-"
"I told you to leave because of the danger, so you went somewhere just as dangerous?" Harry asked in disbelief, "I am going to kill you."
Daphne gave him a pointed look, "No, you aren't. I ran up here to tell you that Gus and Reyna are okay. They got the message, and they are here to fight. Naomi ran away to a safe house, and Johanna is dead."
"Shit," Harry muttered, shaking his head, "Who killed her?"
"Delia Davies, and she got away," Daphne said, her eyes flashing angrily.
Harry sighed and nodded, "Okay, thank you for telling me, but you need to go now, and you need to stay gone this time."
"And you will take Amalthea with you," Tom said.
Harry looked over at his master, immediately sensing his thinking, "Yes," he agreed with a nod, "Take her to Peverell Court and protect her and the house at all costs. Do you understand?"
Daphne lifted Amalthea from the basket and nodded, "Yes, but how will I get in?"
"There are intent wards on the house," Tom replied, "They will recognise Amalthea and judge your intentions towards her. If the wards deem them pure, they will allow you both through."
"If I see you again before I want to, you'll see me a lot angrier than you want to," Harry warned her, his eyes on hers, "I can't lose someone else that I love tonight, Daphne."
Daphne stepped forward and kissed him lightly, "I understand," she promised.
Without another word, she turned and left. Harry blew out a breath of relief and led the way out of the nursery.
Tom followed and asked, "Should I have sent Lilith to Peverell Court?"
"You could have asked her to go or ordered her to," Harry agreed, "But either way, it would have been pointless. The only reason Daphne is going is because I fooled her into thinking that her father wrote it into our marriage contract that I couldn't lead her into danger."
Tom smiled slightly, "Perhaps I have been a good influence on you, after all, Harry."
Harry chuckled at that.
"However, you were saying about Lilith?"
"Yeah," Harry mused, "She wouldn't have gone, whatever you said. You're here, and she would never leave you in danger."
Tom sighed, "And that is precisely my worry."
"With any luck, Lydia will knock her out with a potion, and she'll sleep through the action," Harry said.
However, from the look in Tom's eyes, Harry knew he found that as unlikely as Harry himself did.
They stepped into the hallway where Snape's body lay, and Tom looked at him disdainfully, "Should I kill him where he lies or punish him?"
"Punish him," Harry said, glaring down at the greasy-haired bastard, "He deserves hell then a traitors death, and I think Draco might want to kill him."
"Hm," Tom mused. With a flick of his wrist, he banished the former Headmaster into the dungeons.
Together they stepped onto the landing where they saw Andromeda's body. Tom raised his wand to kill her, but Harry raised a hand, "She turned."
Tom scoffed, "Too late."
"No, she protected Amalthea," Harry said, "She would have given her life for her; she almost did, in fact."
Tom's eyes softened very slightly, and he cast a diagnostic charm over Andromeda.
"Is she going to survive?" Harry asked.
Tom frowned, "Yes. However, she has broken her spine. There is no telling how deep the damage may go."
Harry nodded, knowing where that was going, "Can you move her to the hospital wing then consider what to do with her when she wakes up?"
"If she wakes up," Tom corrected.
But, all the same, he transfigured a board and levitated Andromeda onto it. With a flick of his wrist, he had sent her to the hospital wing.
"So," Harry said, "What now?"
"We fortify the manor and strengthen our defences," Tom said, his eyes flashing scarlet for a second.
"If the second wave is the Irish reinforcements, that means Matthias Jones has called on his Irish cousin – the Undersecretary to the Irish Minister for Magic."
"Shit," Harry said.
"Indeed," Tom drawled, "However, we have the advantage of time and knowledge on our side. There is a gap between the first and second wave in most battles. It is usually between one and three hours long. This is to give us time to gather our dead, tend to our injured and in the case of a surprise second wave like this one, relax our defences."
Harry nodded, "So we use it to our advantage. Listen, Tom, I defeated Matthias Jones in battle earlier and instead of killing him, I banished him to the dungeon. I promised my future father-in-law that I would give him a painful death, but if you need to press him for information, he's there."
Tom's eyes flashed dangerously, "I will extract whatever information I can from him. In the meantime, check the hospital wing and assess the damage. I need to know how heavy our losses were across the various locations that were attacked tonight."
With a final nod, Harry and the Dark Lord parted ways.
* ~ TBC ~ *