Summary: Azkabam escapees, politicians, dementors, divided loyalties, difficult questions and, soul mates? Things are getting complicated. Mentions of slash & 3soms. Violence and some language.
Misting Rain; No, Bellatrixs has lavender eyes remember?
Firehedgehog; Fun? Bleep no man, the writters block kicked my ass. Epicly.
lordamnesia; Cheers.
Sandy Anderson: Yes, crackbunnies. And why hid my women and children, they're the most dangerous people in the place!
anmiegirl1994: Cheers.
Athina Dark-Angel of Death: Cheers
The Battle, part 2
Ron always found it a bit disorientating when he met a girl who could match him in hand to hand combat. He wasn't sexist, or at least no one had ever said he was, and he knew that girls were just and strong and smart, and just a weak and stupid, as boys and Yuki Susan and Hermione were a pretty good match for Harry and Indigo in the scary stakes. There was just something about seeing a girl take a hit without flinching that sent off little 'does not compute' messages in his head.
Dag Svenson had a whip in one hand and his wand in the other and while Ron did his best to not get cut in half Millicent was laying an epic smack down and brushing off the few hits the huge blond did manage to land, mostly kicks, like they were nothing. It was kind of confusing.
Her style was also confusing. It was a weird blend of Neville's brute force, Hermione's weird but efficient spell combo's, Susan's doge and blast and Harrys 'I need you to suffer and killing you is not enough' all tied together with a brutal practicality that took normal conventions about scratching, biting and shots to the privets and kicked them out of a window and into a hole with spikes at the bottom.
It was very, very scary and kind of sexy in a way thirteen year olds should not be and altogether incredibly distracting, which was kind of unfortunate all things considered.
Millie smacked Svenson in the ear and ducked around a hex of some variety to hit him in the hip with a spell Ron was pretty sure he'd seen his mother use to mash potatoes but left the Norseman stumbling backwards with a pained expression.
Ron was also pretty sure that he had made an indecent noise at this point, but he was too busy trying to cut the rune whip in half to worry too much about that.
There was a small explosion as the magic collided.
"Ron." purred Millicent, eyes narrowed dangerously. "That is a rune whip. They are rare, and useful and I want one. If you break it I shall be most displeased."
"Reading you loud and clear ma'm."
"You know about rune whips." murmured Dag. "How?"
Millicent smiled a smile full of impending doom.
"Hagall at my right hand, Naudr at my left, Hel is our mistress and we do her bidding 'till the Dream take the worlds."
Svenson's eyes widened from a moment and he whispered a word that seemed to contain entirely too many constantans. It widened Millicent's smile.
"Grandmothers blood runs strong in me."
There was a moment of silence as Ron stewed in confusion and the two Dark siders eyeballed each other. Then Dag laughed delightedly.
"Ah marvellous! Wonderful! What better fight could I ask for?"
The rune whip snaked towards Millie's face, she cast a rune and Ron moved to deflect the weapon and the corridor flicked as though someone had absently minded switched the moon off for a moment.
There was a thing, Ron moved closer for a better look and found himself falling into the technicolor black, with Millicent's swearing following him all the way up.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Millicent Bulstrode, Slytherin, Hit Squad member and third generation servant of the Netherworlds dark queen rubbed her temples and swore to herself for a while.
Men and Gryffindors. Or rather male Gryffindors, from the looks of things. They created a portal to the Nether world and then moved towards it. How was it even possible to be that stupid and live? Male bloody Gryffindors. It was the combination, it had to be. Hermione would never approach a mysterious something, and even Neville was bright enough to step sharply backwards when faced with a light consuming orange hole in the world.
Male Gryffindors. Damn them.
She raised her head to find a thing with knives for fingers standing over her with a faintly bemused expression on its joints. A portal into Dream them, and Nightmares coming though. It was almost depressing how unsurprising that was. She swore at it a bit and ripped the portal shut as the Nightmares scooted away From her. The others could deal with them. This wasn't there place and at least a third of the school was more inclined to attack things that scared them than scream and panic, and even if they escaped unharmed there were the dementors to contend with.
A fight between a dementor and a Nightmare would be a thing to see, preferably from a distance, and a large distance at that.
She pressed her thumbs to her lips, let herself go still and sketched a forgotten rune onto the air.
"Two of the mortal realm have passed into the Uncertain World. I petition that they be returned.
There was silence, and then the corridor darkened and there was a brush of death chilled hands across her shoulders as one of Deaths servants came to answer.
"We shall see, bright daughter."
Milliecent breathed again as the presence departed, sank to the floor and bit down upon her own knuckle until life hot blood hit her tongue. The vaskrkry, the dark cousins of the valkyrie, the ones that a dozen cultures had called Death, Hel's servants, her grandmothers people. Her people. She had called them and they, for the sake of her grandmother's blood, had answered.
The stillness of them settled to easily in her veins, she had almost forgotten. The life-heat-movement of the Hit Squad had made it too easy to push it back and forget it was there.
She spat her own blood on the floor, bit again and let the iron warmth of mortal drive back the cold.
Xxxxxxxxx
Carrow, whose given name eluded him right now if he had ever known it at all, was a reasonably good fighter in terms of straight magic but his reaction speed left much to be desired and altogether Indigo was rather unimpressed. The fight would be more interesting if the aurors, who were even more unimpressive than Carrow, would butt out and let him play but since his wand was off somewhere he probably shouldn't grumble too much about the help.
What he would grumble about was the auror, who could not aim worth shirt, hitting him with an expelliarmus and walking off with his bloody wand, to Harry. Since no-one stupid enough to mistake a adult prison escapee for a thirteen year old boy could possibly go through a mêlée without getting at least a bit broken Harry probably find his wand, and inflict some sort of vengeance on the muppet who'd hexed him while he was dodging.
Mind you, he should have been holding onto it better and the pike wasn't bad as a substitute weapon, though he was missing his gun.
Spells channelled though a gun? Something to consider, they needed proper weapons anyway.
Carrow tossed a stunner at him. Indigo flipped to dodge that and a stay cutting curse, landed in a couch, knocked the man off his feet with the pike and twirled it to bring the bronze capped butt down on his stomach. It made the man wheeze in a satisfying sort of way.
Guns were still better, but he had dropped some chocolate frogs so, hey, score.
The aurors were backing away from something, which was an irritating sort of thing for the supposed defenders of the wizzarding world to do. They were supposed to protect for someone's sake.
The chocolate frog made a bid for escape, and then quivered until he bit it's head off. It was a very twisted mind that had decided to animate candy. The pike was heavy, but the sugar helped.
Indigo eyed the things that were drifting onto the battlefield and thoughtfully sucked the frogs guts out as he tried to think around the drum beat in Neville's head.
They obviously weren't human, as was made obvious but half of them being completely the wrong shape. Magical constructs had no form of consciousness and who had the time to make golems now? And way in those shapes? There was no emotion, but he could feel a form of alien intelligence and a honeycomb tang of minds connected and oddly structured. Minds within minds? Mind Beside minds? The imprints of minds on an entirely different consciousness? The felt like razors in candyfloss and they carried notes of rest and memory, of Ron and Millie.
Huh. Interesting. How the hell had this happened?
"Nightmares." The things stopped advancing to stare at him, and the aurors stopped panicking to listen. "Constructs of sleeping minds, given a stable-ish form in a dream realm. Given that Svenson ran off that way their probably from the River Dream that the old Norse sages found, I suspect there was an accident with that whip of his and these got though." And what had gone though the other way? Ron was unlikely to react calmly when faced with a gang of Nightmares and Millie was hardly the most comforting person in the world, but there was no panicking redhead to be seen. "This should be interesting. Which one of you dipshits has my wand?"
A twist of guilt from the moron, stilled when they took a spell between the shoulder blades and replaced by bright red pain flowers. Susan was infuriating a Rockwood, the spell had missed her.
A little situational awareness, anyone?
Shackelbolts decision to return his wand was nice. Carrows decision that killing the Nightmares took priority over killing the aurors was better, Death Eaters were useful people to have on your side, even if they were over estimated, even if he wasn't the one Indio wanted.
"Magic work on these things?"
Stupid question.
"No Carrow, I want my wand back so I can cuddle it." Carrow glowed half amused irritation. "Go and fetch my aunt."
Shackelbolt stiffened, buzzing his suspicion, but returned his wand anyway. Was that trust? Gosh.
"Yes, my lord, will there be anything else?"
Point one for Death Eaters, they had the capacity for sarcasm under stress.
"Depends Carrow, do you have any unanimated candy?"
He gave some posturing grumbling, but handed over a few bars of Honeydukes finest before going to do his bidding. The man worried him, there was something coiled under the surface, something leashed but strong and blazing to break loose and laugh until his throat bled. And Carrow, for some unfathomable reason, liked him.
Indigo wasn't sure what that said about him as a person, but it probably wasn't a good thing.
The Nightmares edged forwards a little, that alien intelligence assessing him. Neville raged from somewhere behind him and the vibrant song madness of Bellatrix began dancing towards them. The other Lestrange and Neville would follow her in time.
Nightmares, somewhere between ten and twenty of them as close as he could guess, vs two or three Death Eaters, five aurors, him and his furious once was brother. There would be fighting within the group but that was still a pretty good force.
The drum beat of Nevilles rage echoed in his head, the Nightmares moved closer again and a clown pranced forwards, all manic smile and twitchy hands.
Indigo disliked clowns. You could look straight at them and still not know what their faces looked like. Indigo was still holding a pike and the war drums called for blood and death and these things were on his turf now and they'd play by is rules and by his rules they would die.
A pike was more or less the same shaped as a glaive wasn't it?
"I am the clown with the tear away face…" How did the song go again?
A step, a swing to open the chest, another to cut the throat and dream things shouldn't leave corpses behind now should they? The blood, arterial spray was a bitch, struck across his face and remained.
Scarlet on white. Someone had a taste for slasher films.
"Ooh! Nightmares! And it's not even my birthday!"
Bellatrix Lestrange, and Carrow lurking behind her. Bright edged dark dancing song mad Bellatrix. It was almost a shame that Neville was going to kill her, but that was what torturers got for being torturers.
"Don't say I never gave you anything nice auntie."
She laughed with a free, wild joy that reminded him of Neville.
"You are scaring the monsters." said Shakelbolt mildly.
They were scaring him, but Auror Shakelbolt was stronger that the other aurors. He did not run from anything.
"It's what we do babes." Bellatrix laughed again. "I bagsie the scissors!"
The figure made of blades looked as worried as a figure made of blades could. The alien intelligence was intelligent after all, it knew danger when it came laughing.
"How lovely." A walking scarecrow flinched. "Hey flammable."
This probably shouldn't be as fun as it was.
Xxxxxxxxx
The young Miss Bones was proving to be an able opponent. Given time she might become the equal of her lady aunt, for she had already moved passed the flaws that ha lead to her parents deaths.
Luke felt vaguely proud of the girl as she danced back to let an auror pummel his shields, carefully defending the older woman from the spells that escaped Trelor's trio of attackers as she did so. It was so good to see someone who understood the value of teamwork.
He stepped back, touched Josephine's wrist and blasted one of her attackers back towards the clear space where Potter saw to the wounded while she strengthened the shield and cut the legs from under one of Trelors attackers.
If the man survived he would need prosthetics, unless Potter could re-attach limbs…
It was not enough to save the younger man, he crumpled after taking a stunner in the chest but he had always been the weakest of them, and he had done well to last this far.
Trelor down and Svenson gone goodness knew where, but the Lestranges' were still going strong and Carrow fought at Bellatrix's side. Of the original fourteen aurors nine, at the very most, could still fight with the rest dead on unconscious. Of the eight surprisingly dangerous children two had gone after Dag, three were seeing to the wounded and of the three still fighting Longbottom was damaging the aurors as much as he damaged Rodolfus and Malfoy seemed to have found more entertaining quarry to occupy his attention.
Nightmares had been mentioned. A statement of questionable accuracy, but who could say what might be cat against them. Dumbledore may not have come in person, but he had many unusual resources to throw at them.
Josephine sent the Bones girl flying with a hex she so nearly blocked, and they dealt with the last of the aurors while her friends saw to her health.
There were spells that would force the children to explain the method by which the dementors had been driven back. One of Potters healer helpers had the sharp eyes of Edmund Davis and the mahogany hair of his lady wife, and had the newspaper not mentioned that a Tracy Davis was involved? The children were just children, no matter their unexpected skills and their allies were moving steadily away as they drove the new threat back.
"Enivate." murmured Luke, locking eyes with the guard girl with the frizzy hair as he dragged Trelor back to the waking world. "We wish to know how the dementors where driven out. Give us the information we desire and we shall withdraw and you will not be harmed."
The guard girl tilted her head slightly, her honey coloured eyes showing a disquieting amount of calm.
"You are underestimating us. That is extremely unwise." She smiled slightly. "Surrender or withdraw now, and you will not be harmed."
A big shadowy thing broke form the larger fight and charged towards them.
"Don't tread on my patients!"
It disintegrated under the orb of slightly greenish light Potter hurled at it. The boy had not used a wand, and Josephine whispered a curse.
The guard girl's smile widened slightly as Potter fumed behind her and Bones cast a spell that Luke recognised as an auror call for back up. She looked down right malicious now.
"Pardon me, I must correct myself. You will not be harmed much."
Xxxxxxxxxx
The vaskrky had, for the most part, very little interest in the living. Sometimes a breather might do something entertaining, and sometimes there were dalliances but such connections were rarely meaningful and the effects mortals had on their own realm was really none of their business, and when the living got stuck in the Riven Dream it was really their own fault.
But al child of their blood, one of the rare offspring of one of their own and a mortal man, had requested that these two odd breathers that had stranded themselves in Dream be returned, and one of them had already proven himself to be, interesting. Anyone who could tear themselves from a nightmare's grasp and create a point of stability in the Dream was a person to be observed carefully, and the youths chosen kin...
The smoke song girl and her metal and paper beloved. The boy who burned though a Nightmare with a gleam of his own soul. The boy with the world's heart beat in his head and his brother dancing on the edge of a dark blade. The girl, the strange unnatural breather girl who had seen though the veil at the world's edge and saw them.
They were the vaskrky and were, for the most part, not interested in the living. They dealt with those trapped between the planes and brought them to their Lady's arms, they maintained order in the realm of the dead and they rarely took any interest in the realm of the living.
But these breathers had potential, these were interesting and two fools lost in the Dream were not too high a price to pay for such entertainment as these would provide.
Xxxxxxxxx
Kingsley Shakelbolt was not flighty, he was not given to panic or fits of temper, he was not unbalanced in mind or heart and he was not religious. He was a sensible, practical man with a firm grounding in reality and a long held belief that any super powers that may or may not talk to dead people were absolutely not his problem.
Then Longbottom hurled Lestrange down a three story drop by shifting the stone floor and Bellatrix spread wings made of blackened light to save him and Malfoy danced barefoot on railings with a Nightmares blood shinning ruby bright on his pale skin.
Kingsley Shakelbolt was a sensible and practical man with a firm grounding in reality that was informing him, in no uncertain terms, that the super powers did not hang out with dead people. They walked in human form and reshaped building with a gesture and sang along to the music in their heads and high jacked harpies so they wouldn't have to take the stairs and hunted down Lestranges for reasons that probably made sense to them.
The Nightmares that hadn't chased the scary people to the ground floor were dead, he had three aurors that were still in any shape to fight and Carrow was leaning against a wall with a dislocated shoulder and a odd, dreamy expression on his face. Kingsley would like the world to stare making sense again, please.
"You," he hesitated for a moment, still pointing at Carrow as he dredged up the words. "are under arrest."
The man stared blankly at him for a moment and then started laughing.
A few minutes ago this man had blocked a Nightmare who was trying to take Kingsleys head off. Moments after that Kingsley had prevented Carrow being gutted by a stay spell from the completely out of control Lestrange-Longbottom fight. And now he was arresting him.
He was a second away from hysterics when Dag Svenson and Ronald Weasley dropped out of thin air. Svenson was hugging a jar full of eyeballs and Weasley was brandishing what was either a really unfortunately shaped oversized lollipop or a three foot long dildo on a stick.
"Are you secure enough in your masculinity to take a bite out of this?"
Svenson shrieked, dropped his jar of eyeballs and scrambled away from the phallus that had been brandished at him by the rather wild looking Weasley. He wiggled into an alcove and curled up in a ball whimpering to himself.
The jar rolled to a stop at Kingsleys feet, and one of the eyeballs winked at him. The way Weasley was giggling was still creepier though.
"Shakelbolt. Miss Bones is calling for back up."
Right, yes. Still a few Death Munchers in the castle who weren't going laughing like loonys or fighting terrifying children or having panic attacks. Had to be dealt with.
"Okay you, secure them. You, see to the wounded. You," Weasley went cross eyed for a moment before managing to focus. "stop laughing like that, it's creepy."
"Why, why whywhwhy, am I holding a giant chocolate dildo?"
Kingsley hesitated for a moment and decided there and then to dodge the issue.
"Because you haven't put it down yet. You, with me."
Kingsley headed towards the other, hopefully more normal, fight, privately swearing to never, ever set foot in Hogwarts again.
"Uh, sir? What about the Lestranges and the children?"
He eyeballed Auror Bent to the best of his ability.
"Did you see those four fight?"
"Uh, yes sir."
"Do you think you can keep up with them?"
"Uh, no sir."
"Then why are you asking me such stupid questions Auror Bent?"
"I think I'm in shock sir. Sorry sir."
Carrow and Weasleys laughter followed them away.
Xxxxxx
Once upon a time there was a little girl who grew up strong and wild and lost a fight that mattered.
Once upon a time there was a young woman who knew what shape the world should be and set out to make it so.
Once upon a time there was a woman who save the world differently from others and knew who she was and what she did and then carried on anyway.
Once upon a time there was a sister who woke screaming from a nightmare and she had never forgiven that which had frightened her sibling so because they were her kin and her kitties and the only one who was allowed to send them into screaming panic was her. It was nice to take vengeance at last, they had touched something that was hers and they really had to suffer for it.
Bellatrix cut a demonic bear thing in half, twirled to avoid an earth spike, ducked under a stray spell and danced. Her nephew was dancing as well, stomping out some wild, restless beat on the dry grass as he wove fire around a lizard person thing. A good child, defiantly of her blood.
No Nightmares left now. A pity, they were fun to kill.
The ground rippled under her feet and she bounced away, tossing hexes over her shoulder towards Longbottom. Wild eyed and gold dusted and moving to the battles beat. Ah, a sweet boy a lovely boy, he should have been of her blood as well.
Cissas son moved to fight Rodolfus, drawing him away in a twist of spell fire and flame while baby Longbottom tore after her. All anger and brute force and earth. All that strength, all that beautiful rage and used with so little direction.
"Focus Babyboo, a hammer is only any good if you hit someone with it."
Babyboo paused for a moment and then fought smart.
All that power and all that rage and Alice's steel plated stare. Her feet caught on the earth as though sunk into stone and raging eyes fixed upon her, the only gold in a silvered world.
Bellatrix raised her stolen wand and was not particularly surprised when a pebble hurled itself though the air to knock it from her hand as the earth crawled up her form.
Did he mean to crush her to death? Messy. She approved.
He raised a hand, then crumpled as ruby light hit him between the shoulder blades and the world lit up as Cissa's son hurt her brother in law. Rodolfus was twitching wildly as the lighting coursed from her nephew's fingertips.
It was actually rather pretty and Bellatrix took a moment to admire it before casting a stunner to get the boys attention.
Wide eyed and pale, he had ridden another's fury this far and it's loss left him tense and trembling. Her nephew. Her own image in a warped mirror.
Bellatrix smiled at him and pointed her now reclaimed wand at Longbottoms prone form.
"I could kill him, nephew mine, what will you give me not to?"
A croaked smile and a curt gesture towards her slightly smoking companion.
"I offer one Death Eater, lightly charred but probably still functional."
"Then we have an accord."
Xxxxxxxxx
The world was dark and full of bleh. Neville moaned and tried to sink into the ground.
"Open your bloody eyes monkey!"
Indigo was leaving over him, a gleam of concern inspired pissed off-ness in his eyes.
"Wazzit?"
"How many figures am I holding up?"
"Muh, four?"
Indigo swore softly and started tracing runes into the air.
"Try to stay awake, your wand is in your pocket."
"Wha' 'bout tha' 'Stanges?"
"I'll see if I can catch up with them, if not the dementors can handle it." A ward snapped into place, warming the ground beneath Neville's cheek. "Scream if one of our side come along, you're hidden so you'll have to catch their attention."
"'kay."
Indigo gave him a last glance and bolted. Neville just lay there and tried to convince the moon to stop wiggling.
Xxxxxxxx
It was a terrible thing to find that the forces of darkness could not face down four children and a pair of aurors. They had been doing so well earlier, but now something seemed to have tossed them completely off balance. It was, disappointing.
Harry blocked a hex of some variety and returned fire with a curse of his own which Lord Rockwood just scrambled to avoid, proving both his reaction speed and his rather inept fighting style once separated from his wife.
Lady Rockwood was fighting two aurors and Susan, and while she was giving ground it was in the composed manner of one who has decided to make a strategic withdrawal rather than the frantic fumbling of her husband as he pulled away from the threat to his continued existence. This was made all the more impressive by the fact that she was retreating backwards down a staircase while casting at three sources of attacks and avoiding the vanishing steps.
Harry would have liked to fight her instead, but that would have left Lord Rockwood with no opponent, and Hermione and Tracy were entirely too occupied with Mr Trelor to take over.
Hermione's response to the man's attack on Tracy could easily be considered excessive. To quote Ron, they should really just kiss already. Perhaps they would bond over combat?
Trelor howled as Hermione, expressed her displeasure, and the Rockwoods finally broke and ran.
Harry paused for a moment to check everyone for imageries and was distracted by the serene manner in which Professor Shakelbolt went to Mr Trelor's rescue. His calm was most admirable.
"I believe it may be best to follow them, if only to ensure that they do not remain within the castle."
"Sir." snapped Susan, nodding briskly. "Professor, see to Trelor, you, sit down, you're spent. Hermione," she hesitated, considering the bookworms death grip on her wand worriedly. "do you need a calming draft?"
"No thank you."
"Then we had best get on." Harry stretched out his senses, reaching for the Death Eaters chi, trying to filter out the distracting buzz of Hogwarts. "I suspect that they will head out into the grounds. We should hurry."
Xxxxxxxxx
The sky was on fire when they reached the grounds.
Harry swore very softly and Tracy tried to remember the last time she had heard him do so. It must have been some time ago, if such an event had ever occurred.
"Hey!"
"Neville has survived then." murmured Susan, her smile belaying her curt tone as she peeled off to find her house mate. "Take care."
"You too." said Hermione, eyeing the fire grimly.
The flames burned a blue so deep it was almost black, and there was a steaming frost where the fire cut off abruptly, fast vanishing as the dementors burned away.
She looked at Harry. His eyes reflected the not quite light of the flames and his face was disquietingly blank.
This vast fire was of Indigo's power, and Indigo would be at the heart of this tightly leashed circle of flame that he had created, but being the source of the fire did not mean that it would not hurt him, and Harry realised that.
The precise nature of Harry and Indigo's connection was not something that Tracy had ever considered too carefully. They were close friends, tied together by a depth of understanding and unspoken trust. She had no idea if they were, as Hannah suspected and Ron often joked, in love but there could be no doubt that the two boys would bleed for each other if it was needed.
She reached out and took Hermione's hand.
"Tracy, I must ask you to deal with any dementors that have survived."
Harry closed his eyes, raised his hands to the dementor induced clouds and breathed deeply, and what looked like half the lake crashed onto the flames.
Indigo bent under the weight of the water, a shade behind the flames, and crumpled bonelessly to the drenched, scorched earth as the fire died.
The few dememtors that were still functional swooped towards them, and it was left to Hermione to catch their green eyed lieutenant as he fell.
Xxxxxxxx
Albus Dumbledore was swearing when the door of his office finally, finally unsealed so that he could leave.
The Death Eaters had come as predicted and the damn castle had destroyed his chances of uding that attack when it locked him, and everyone one else pox it, in their damn rooms.
Merlin damn the thing!
No. Calm, he must be calm. He could salvage this situation. He could make this work to his advantage. He could.
Dumbledore took a deep breath, and went to find out how big a mess had been made of his school.
Multiple brands of unpleasantness