Riing-Di-Glo: Lily's comment was about her and James staying on guard in case any former supporters of Voldypoo try to get revenge on her or James. Enough are still at large to nessitate being alert, but hopefully in a few years things will be better. Maybe.

Arnie1701: Unfortuntely, Horcruxes are very much unknown to most of the wizarding world (since even the other Dark Wizards consider them going too far). So it will take the OOTP quite a while to figure out exactly what the diary is...

Guest: Thanks!

The Lestranged Couple

November 13th, 1981

Many people believe that an experienced wizard can 'feel' an anti-disapparition jinx being cast in their vicinity.

This is false. Most charms and jinxes of that nature are sneaky, subtle things – they would have no use as weapons of stealth otherwise. The followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had become well aware of this over the course of the war – making use of the spell to prevent the escape of civilians in incidents such as the Second Attack on Hogsmeade and the Massacre of Montrose, despite the best attempts of the Auror Corps. The trio approaching the Longbottom House were therefore confident in casting the jinx as well as several other nefarious spells, prior to making their presence known.

As such, the first thing the occupants of the house knew of their presence was the fireplace exploding.

At the time of the attack Alice and Remus had been downstairs sharing a pot of coffee. When the fireplace exploded, they were flung across the Longbottom's living room along with much of the furniture. Remus was unlucky enough to be thrown into a bookcase, which tottered on its legs before crashing forward – only a quick roll to the right prevented the unfortunate werewolf from being crushed. Lily had been upstairs at the time of the incident, checking on the sleeping Harry and Neville. The sound of the explosion awoke the two children, and the mother of the former swore upon realising her wand was downstairs.

Luckily, Alice – the only one of the three to have gone through Auror training – was paranoid enough to always keep her wand on her person. Ducking behind the overturned coffee table, she scanned the new opening into the living room for signs of their attackers, while silently summoning a cloud of fog to buy Remus time to get into cover. She spared a moment's glance to look for the radio that would allow her to summon backup, but it had apparently been buried under the remains of the fireplace.

Another explosion from the front of the house made her groan under her breath. Apparently, the Death Eaters – because who else could be attacking them? – were trying to flank them.

The only question was which Death Eaters? Greyback? The Lestranges? Another group the Ministry had missed?

Grateful for the solid wall behind her, she edged round to gain a better view of the entrances to the room – keeping low to avoid exposing herself. It was the way she was taught to manage a sudden ambush: identify the directions from which danger could arrive and get into a position where the enemy cannot see you. There were two…three entrances into the room now – the door to the hallway, a door to the kitchen and the gaping hole where the fireplace once stood. Alice considered rushing into the kitchen but chose not to risk the exposure. There was no way of knowing how many Death Eaters had chosen to attack them. She gestured at Remus to get himself into a better position and spared a thought for Lily – hopefully the attackers wouldn't realise she was alone with the children upstairs.

The sound of muffled footsteps alerted her to an attacker's imminent arrival. A hooded and masked shape peered from around the doorframe to the hall, scanning the room for signs of life. He banished the fog she had conjured with a muttered "Finite". Alice stayed quiet, waiting for an opportunity. More footsteps came from the hall, the Death Eater leaning back to speak to his allies.

"No sign of them in there" said the Death Eater, the depth of his voice revealing him to be a man; "Must have scampered off. Go check the kitchen."

Another man's voice responded, "Check the rubble. Maybe Bella was lucky with that blasting curse." He elbowed his way past the first man – Alice considered trying to get both of them with a single curse, but her angle was too far off to risk it.

"That wouldn't be lucky!" shouted a woman, apparently this 'Bella'; "How are we supposed to interrogate them if they're dead? I'll be upstairs, that's where the brats should be." There was the sound of something, probably the front door, being kicked away from the stairs.

So, it is the Lestranges. Not good. I wonder why the babies aren't crying – maybe Lily's silenced them?

Faced with the prospect of one of You-Know-Who's nastiest Death Eaters – Alice had seen what Bellatrix Lestrange did to the daughters of poor Edgar – getting at her son, Alice prepared to move. If she edged around to a certain spot…she could just make out the stairs on the other side of the hall. One of the two male Lestranges – Rodolphus or Rabastan, presumably – was still blocking the way. He had turned around and started moving into the room, towards her hiding place, his wand out and movements cautious. In a moment he would be able to see her, and she couldn't hold her crouched position for much longer anyway…

There.

"BOMBARDA!" Alice yelled, leaping from her cover. The first Death Eater was caught by surprise, the spell taking him in the torso with enough force to slam him back through the doorframe into the hall. He collided with the opposite wall and did not stir, his wand rolling from his hand. Before the other Death Eaters could react, Alice followed up with a cry of "Confringo!" directed straight at the stunned Bellatrix.

But she was unlucky.

Bellatrix dived out of the way of the spell, the curse blasting apart the staircase where she had been standing a moment before with a flash of white light. The female Death Eater cast her own curse at Alice, forcing her to retreat behind cover as the male also came to his ally's assistance.

"Brother!" the second Death Eater yelled, "You'll pay ten times for that you bitch!" He peered around the door, and with a cry of "Avada Kedavra!" attempted to force Alice out of hiding. Alice had moved away from her original cover however, so the curse only blasted one of her mother's armchairs apart.

"NO!" Bellatrix cried, "We need them alive – non-lethals only!" Apparently retrieving herself from the ruins of the staircase, the woman peered around the doorway herself – retreating when Alice poked her head out from cover in an attempt to catch them both with a knockback jinx. Bella responded with a shout of "Confundo!" while her partner threw his own jinx at the table Alice lurked behind, covering it with a foul-smelling acid.

The two other exits from the room loomed invitingly. Either would provide better cover from the Death Eaters, though the kitchen carried the risk of getting flanked. If only she could see her radio…a thought struck her, just as the acid covered table began to dissolve. Make for the kitchen and lure the Death Eaters in between her and Remus – they didn't seem to know he was there, so the chances of them being caught by surprise were high. It wasn't as if she could stay where she was anyway – the smell was awful.

She peered across at Remus and mouthed a single word: Wait.

The Death Eaters were ready for her when she moved. Alice dodged one of their spells, but another struck her in the back as she made for the kitchen. Against her will, she suddenly found her tongue glued to the top of her mouth. Spluttering, she dived through the doorway and behind a kitchen counter, rummaging through her brain for the counter-curse.

The remaining Lestrange brother yelled in triumph, as the two Death Eaters made to follow her into the kitchen. From behind the counter Alice could see them marching towards her, stepping over rubble and bits of shattered furniture. She couldn't see Remus and hoped he'd be able to keep out of sight long enough to…

"Give it up, Longbottom!" the man shouted. The two Lestranges stood in the doorway, wands pointed at where Alice hid.

Where was Remus?

"If you give yourself up peacefully, we promise not to hurt you too much" Bellatrix crooned; "But if you keep fighting…well…"

Alice didn't reply. She couldn't even if she'd wanted to, since her tongue was still refusing to unglue itself.

Hurry up, werewolf!

"On three" Bellatrix said, glancing at her ally; "One. Two."

What was taking him so long?

"Thr-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted another voice.

Remus had finally decided to make his presence known. The male Death Eater took the curse straight in his back; his arms stuck themselves to his sides, his legs shot together, and he toppled backwards. Bellatrix let out a shriek of fury, jumping out of the way of Remus' second spell and casting her own in retaliation. A streak of blue light caught him in the arm causing a yelp of agony; blood starting to pour from the fresh wound. The woman prepared to finish him off, but Alice chose that moment to intervene; she leaped over the kitchen counter and threw a frying pan at the back of the Death Eater's head – the witch dodged with a growl but with the aid of the distraction Alice was able to close the distance and slam into her.

The two witches collapsed to the floor, kicking and punching at each other, wands forgotten on the floor. Alice's tongue was still stuck to the roof of her mouth, but she didn't need it for this. She tore the woman's mask off and struck her in the jaw, causing the other woman to yelp in pain.

With one hand pressed to the gushing wound on his arm, Remus cast a spell at the other Death Eater who was struggling free of the Full Body-Bind. With his mask also knocked clear in the struggle, Alice dimly recognised him as Rabastan, Bellatrix's brother-in-law. The werewolf made to shoot a spell at the woman she was still struggling with, but never got the chance.

"NO!" Bellatrix screeched, summoning a blast of magic that threw Alice and Remus back. The former fell back behind the counter, the latter tripped and fell backwards over an overturned armchair. Bellatrix grabbed her wand. "I will not be defeated! STUPEFY!" A fiery red light shot towards Remus – it caught him in the torso and left him sprawled unconscious on the carpet of rubble. Bellatrix turned back to Alice, crawling for her own wand where it lay. "And now…for…you. Crucio."

Alice screamed. A thousand knives dug into her skin, while an axe slowly forced it's way through her head. Spikes drove into her eyes, and the tips of her fingers bubbled and split. It was all she could do to avoid biting off her own tongue, which had chosen this moment to release itself.

And then the pain faded, for a moment.

"Where is the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix spat, "What have you done with him? What have the Potters done with him?!"

Alice gasped for breath, making the effort to look Bellatrix in the eyes despite the blurriness of her eyesight. "I…will not tell you…anything!"

Bellatrix snarled. "Yes. You will. Crucio!"

Again, Alice was writhing on the floor, the knives digging themselves in everywhere, under her fingernails, between her toes, into her neck and through her ribs…

And then the pain faded again, for another moment.

"Ready to talk?" Bellatrix sung.

Alice glared in defiance, despite the weakness that had come over her body.

"I'll take that as a no, shall I? CRUCIO! WHERE IS HE?!"

Alice screamed at the top of her lungs. The faces of those she knew began to swim in front of her befuddled eyes; Mum, Dad, Aunt Rowena, Aunt Regina, Old Cantankerus, Michael, Alastor, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Benjy, Dorcas, Frank, Neville, Neville…

"-!"

There was a dim cry from elsewhere. All Alice knew, was the knives had retreated for the moment.

"-EFY!"

"CRU-!"

"REDUC-"

"LOCUM- -IBBLY!"

More cries. Feeling some of her mind return to her, Alice stirred from where she lay.

"PROTEGO!"

"LAPICTI!"

Lily stood in the door to the living room, flaming red hair streaming behind her as she duelled Bellatrix with an expression of utmost fury. Jets of light streamed over the shoulders of the two witches, or were blocked, or were deflected back at their caster – neither of the two was skilled enough to overcome the other. Bellatrix's screeches and taunts filled the air, along with dust raised by the fury of their contest.

"FURNUNCULUS!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Bellatrix had apparently given up on capturing all of them. Lily dodged the last spell, scrambling over rubble to stand properly in the ruined living room. The floor itself started to crack and smoulder under the witches, even as the duel blasted further holes in the walls.

And then, through the corner of her fogged-over vision, Alice saw her wand.

The duel picked up pace. Both witches were determined to cast down the other, wearing identical scowls on their faces. They wreathed and dodged and cast, sparks of red and blue and green cascading throughout the room.

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Alice grabbed her wand.

"Incendio." she whispered the first spell that came to her mind, one of the first she had ever learned all the way back at Hogwarts.

And Bella failed to dodge. The force of Alice's spell was not enough to set her on fire, but the bottom of her robes caught alight. More importantly, she was distracted – but Lily wasn't.

"Sectumsempra" she hissed, swiping her wand with a sharp flick of her wrist.

Blood spurted from Bellatrix's neck and chest as though she had been slashed with an invisible sword. She staggered backward, tripping over to collapse onto the floor, her wand falling from her limp right hand. Her eyes writhed around, she shook as if cold, her white hands scrabbled at her blood-soaked chest…and she spoke one word.

"Snape."

And then her eyes closed, and she moved no more.

BELLATRIX AND RODOLPHUS LESTRANGE ANNOUNCED DEAD!

MINISTER BAGNOLD PROMISES A RETURN TO NOMALITY!

FENRIR GREYBACK STILL AT LARGE!

This will be followed in a few days by an epilogue for 1981, after which we'll be moving into 1982 - The Year of E.T the Extra-Terrestial, Q*Bert and nothing whatsoever in the South Atlantic.