Right. I have a cup of tea, and I have biscuits. Chapter, you're mine.
Harry went for Pettigrew, but he was soon lost beneath a sea of black robes that circled around to protect him. Obviously no one wanted to be responsible for the death of Voldemort's new right hand man. Instead he found himself surrounded by Death Eaters, totally unable to see Ron, Sirius, or any of his teachers.
~Harry! ~ said Ron's voice inside his head. ~Get OVER here! ~
Where are you?
~To your right! ~
Harry ducked three spells (which collided above his head with a noise that made the floor vibrate) and blasted a path to his right. Madam Hooch was down, as were two of the students Harry and Ron had released from the shield.
Ron himself was standing back to back with Fred and George, together making an unbreakable threesome as they moved towards Harry and Professor Dumbledore, who was standing quite still, not too far away. He was attacking no one – the spells repelled off him and shot their owners – usually in the face, sending them head over backside into the floor.
Everyone except Harry, Ron and (supposedly) Professor Dumbledore were making do with small hexes and curses that could be performed in a hurry without much effort. Stunners, Impediment hexes and fire charms laced the air with coloured beams of light. Harry used both hands to send Death Eaters flying towards the walls – or rather, the shield he and Ron had created, which burnt them so badly that they were not fit to rejoin the fight.
Fred and George closed up as Ron ran and ducked over to Harry. Back to back they moved deeper into the centre of the melee, half thinking, half yelling curses as they searched for Peter – and Sarah, whose black plaits had been lost to sight when Pettigrew dived for cover.
But someone else got there first.
"PETTIGREW!" came Sirius' voice from somewhere ahead. "GIVE – HER – BACK!"
Sarah screamed – she was awake. Suddenly forgetting all point of strategy, Harry blasted his way through the remained wall of Death Eaters to see…
Pettigrew was holding Sarah by both arms out in front of him, like a shield. Backed up against the door-side of Harry and Ron's shield were Sirius, Remus and Wendy. Sirius still had his hood up and Remus was holding him firmly by the arm and whispering fervently to him. The expression on Wendy's face was impossible to read from this distance, but Harry supposed that inside she was more confused than she had ever been in her entire life.
As soon as Harry and Ron were within metres of Pettigrew, all movement ceased. The Death Eaters stopped fighting, as though at some unspoken command.
"Get behind me, you imbeciles," Pettigrew hissed. They moved slowly but deliberately. Harry suppressed a shudder as the hem of a black cloak brushed his ankle, but he remembered what Wendy had taught him. He would not fight unless his opponent was fighting back.
Soon Pettigrew once again stood at the head of his mini-army, although various black-robed figures still lay stunned on the tiles of Great Hall. It was a stand off. The two sides stared at each other over the marble tiles.
"Give her back, Peter," said Remus calmly, still hanging on to Sirius with his free hand.
"I don't think so actually," said Peter, "You see, she's very, very important to my master and he really would rather she was by his side…"
"HARRY!" Sarah screamed. The sound cut through Harry like a knife, but Sarah could no longer scream – Pettigrew had a hand over her mouth.
"Sarah," Wendy called. "Listen to me. You have the power of the elves. You can do whatever you want to do, understand?"
Sarah struggled in Pettigrew's grasp, but he only laughed and held her tighter. Slowly he tucked on stand of hair behind her ear.
"You're sick!" Ron yelled, unable to stop himself. "You're just sick! Let her go – what is she to you?"
"Alula said it herself," said Peter. "She has the elven blood – and she's the very last one, you see? Her good-for-nothing mother's been killed…"
Suddenly Peter was thrown backwards by some invisible force, for the second time, into the ranks of his Death Eaters, who caught him. He hadn't managed to hold on to Sarah as much as last time and she stood perfectly still where she had been struggling before, a faint blue light glowing around her. Wendy held out her arms and she ran into them, sobbing.
"Peter!" Wendy screamed. "I can't believe this – you traitor!"
"Sticks and stones, Ali," said Peter, rising from the floor. His face was red with anger, but it did nothing to rival Wendy's face at those words.
"How DARE you call me that!" Wendy yelled. "And all this time I felt sorry for you!" Suddenly she appeared to realise something and her skin paled. "Sirius…"
Peter laughed again. "That's right," he sniggered in an ugly manner that seemed to give him the texture of slime. "You've hated the wrong man for fourteen years, Alula. Turn around and look into your brother's eyes."
Alula whipped around to come face to face with Remus and Sirius. Sirius did not look at her. Instead, he took one step forward and ripped off his cloak and hood. Various students who had not heard the exchange or did not understand it, screamed. Wendy looked as though she was about to faint.
"You…?"
"It's time for a reckoning," Sirius said. "Let go, Remus."
"No way," said Remus. Sirius turned to look at him, astounded. Remus smiled, and also took a step forward. "You're dead, Peter."
"You're insane!" Peter yelled. "I have an army!"
"You've got all that power," said Remus, quietly. "Surely you can take the two of us in a wizards duel? It's only fair."
A Death Eater whispered something in Pettigrew's ear but he waved him off. "I know what the master said," said Pettigrew. "I'm sure he won't mind if I indulge myself. Black's been a thorn in his side for a while now, anyway." He turned back to the two men. "Very well then," he said in a bored voice. "One against two. No one will interfere."
"What are they doing?" Ron hissed. "Aren't you going to stop them?"
"It is their right," said Harry, wishing he wasn't saying it. The two of them ought to be able to take him. I trust Sirius."
"What if they can't?"
"If they can't…" Harry fingered his wand in his pocket delicately. "Then someone is going to get their arse kicked."
- - -
The first shot came without a warning. Sirius ducked, the curse just managing to singe his hair. "You'll find I'm a lot better at duelling than you remember," said Peter with a demonic grin. Remus returned the shot, but a blue/silver shield instantly went up around the shorter man, repelling the curse so that Remus had to dive out of the way, giving Pettigrew an opening.
"Locomotor Mortis!"
Sirius slid forward on the floor to avoid the spell. "You're playing children's games, Peter!"
"Houndicastras!"
Three very large and obviously insane Labradors sprung from the end of Pettigrew's wand. Instantly Sirius transformed and stood in front of Remus. The dogs rushed him, but Padfoot was larger and threw them off, whereupon they all dissolved in midair.
Remus climbed back to his feet and the three of them circled each other carefully. Harry's nerves were stretched to breaking point, more than anything he desperately wanted someone to break the silence.
Suddenly Pettigrew took a step back – and yet… stayed where he was. Harry's mind could not make sense of it for a moment – how could there be two of them? But there were. Standing in front of Pettigrew was a silver replica of himself, looking both solid and insubstantial. The light caught its skin and clothing, blinding everyone who stood before it. Harry had just enough time to throw up a darkening shield to see Sirius shield his eyes as the real Pettigrew pointed his wand at Remus.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Wendy screamed – so did several other people – as Remus fell to the ground, wand under him.
"NO!" yelled Harry, running forward and slamming into something hard that he couldn't even see.
"Ah, ah, ah, Harry," Pettigrew taunted, backing off slowly with the silver replica still just in front of him. "No interference, please."
"REMUS!" Sirius yelled, half running, half tripping over to his friend. He sat there for a second. Harry watched him. Sirius looked up at him, and then – so that none of the Death Eaters could see - he winked.
He turned to Pettigrew. "You bastard!" he yelled, eyes bright and angry. "You've killed them all now, haven't you? James, Lily, and now Remus! Well, why don't you just finish the job?"
"Sirius!" Harry yelled, pounding his fists on the invisible wall that didn't burn his hands but was as hard as rock, "what are you DOING?"
"Kill me!" Sirius yelled at Peter. "Go on! Just kill me now, why don't you?"
Sirius spread his arms wide. Peter did nothing.
"What?" said Sirius. "Are you afraid?" Sirius stepped closer. "Well, you always were afraid, weren't you, Wormtail? You never really knew what bravery was, did you? The brave ones were always James, or me, or even Remus – and now look at us! Look – at what YOU'VE done to us!"
Peter's eyes were flickering between Sirius and Wendy, who still held Sarah in her arms. They both looked terrified. "Give me the girl!" he snarled.
"You loved her!" Sirius suddenly yelled. "You loved her, you bastard! Julianne Pordell! I remember you pining over her in fifth year – you wrote her love letters! And you let her die without even turning a hair, didn't you? Just like Lily and James! And WHAT – HAVE – YOU – GOT – OUT – OF – IT?"
"Give – me – the – girl!" Peter repeated!
"She could have been your daughter!" Sirius yelled. "If you'd have been thinner, taller maybe. Less rat-like," he sneered. "That little girl could have been yours! And you're just going to hand her over? You've robbed her of a decent childhood! Just like Harry!" he pointed at the two boys behind the wall – Ron was now staring openly at the scene while trying to hold Harry back. "You know – just because your childhood was a piece of crap doesn't mean everyone else's has to be!"
Peter turned, slowly, to look Sirius in the eye.
"Did you see those pictures of Harry, Peter?" Sirius yelled. "Remind you of anything, did they? Oh yes, I remember. And don't think plenty of other people here don't remember! Your father was a pureblood wizard who robbed you of everything James had, right? Of everything HARRY AND SARAH COULD HAVE HAD!!!! I saw the scars, I saw the bruises!"
Sirius was walking closer with every sentence; he and Peter were only a few metres apart now. "WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR, PETER?" Sirius continued. "ARE YOU HOPING THAT VOLDEMORT WILL GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED? You told me what you wanted, remember? That day in the hospital wing?" Sirius imitated a high squeaky voice. "Oh, Sirius, James! I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I didn't want you to think I was useless! All I really want is a family who loves me!" His voice lowered to a growl, Sirius took the final step. "So? Did you get it?"
Peter raised his silver hand. "Avada Kedavra! "
"NO!" screamed Harry, bursting through the invisible wall and throwing out a hand, which emitted a silver ray of light that connected with Pettigrew's in midair. The heat and power was intensifying, Harry thought his brain was about to expode… but he was winning, Pettigrew was weakening….
"Ah… Mr. Potter…" Oh God, not now!
~Harry? Who is it? ~
It's him…
Voldemort was helping Peter – somehow, Pettigrew was fighting back. One of the Death Eaters had its hand on Pettigrew's shoulder, and when Harry looked closely, behind the hood were shining a pair of glowing red eyes…
"Harry, STOP!" yelled Wendy, throwing Sarah into McGonagall's hands and trying to reach Harry through the horde of Death Eaters that were suddenly surrounding the battle. "It's HIM!"
"I KNOW who it is!" Harry yelled out. The pain was intensifying; it was spreading from his scar to his neck, to his torso and still moving. Oh God, this is it, he thought grimly. This – is – it.
~Not if I can help it. ~ came a voice. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder – but it wasn't a hand, it was a wing…
Aureus…The golden eagle swooped down to perch on Harry's opposite arm. Ron – wait –!
The scars met.
---
The beam of magic rippled and shivered before turning white – Harry felt its very substance become… not something to fear, not something to fight – it was part of him. Dropping his hand to his side he let the light envelop him. Suddenly he became aware of the presence of not just one bird, but four – Fawkes was at his rear while Hedwig and Mouxaile were flanking him. Before him, shrieking defiance at both Pettigrew and Voldemort, was Ron – Aureus Plumeus. Sliding down from around his wrist and neck, Sleeve and Zedik moved to face the Death Eaters, hissing defiance.
The Death Eaters turned to find that in the entrance to Great Hall were a thousand more snakes, all hissing and baring their fangs menacingly.
"Now who's got an army?" Harry found himself yelling, before he himself lifted off the floor and –
In his place was a black phoenix.
--
I was going to make this chapter a lot bigger, but I thought that this would be a really great place to leave it (-: My talent for excessive cliffie-leaving grows! Seriously though, there was going to be more but I'm suffering from a whole lot of writer's block at the moment and I thought it would be more humane to give you a chapter now, however small it may be.
Is Remus really dead? Not telling!
Don't forget to review!
~*Laterose*~