A/N: I refuse to write a disclaimer, because if you don't have the common sense to realize that the only thing I own is the freaking plot of this story and some characters, then you should be labeled a moron. But for those of you who do have the common sense to know that, read on
Be warned however, this chapter may disturb little kiddies or extremely squeamish people, but I hope it's toned down enough so that it won't make you upset...
Chapter 14: The Final Hurdle
"Oh... my... god..."
What Phoenix saw was the worst thing he would ever see in his life. It was like his worst nightmare come true or something.
Do you want to know what he saw?
Do you REALLY want to know what he saw?
You probably do...
What he saw was all of his friends chained up against the walls of this small, dark, stone room. What was worse, they all had what were obviously Death Eaters pacing in front of each one, and they were obviously their tormentors, for they had whips at their belts and he saw that his friends were bloodied, bruised, and cut.
Phoenix let out a cry of outrage and ran at the nearest Death Eater, cocking his arm. Once he was close enough, he unleashed the full force of his fist upon the horrible cretin... and blinked when it went right through the thing. He tried again... and again... and again... but the same thing happened.
"I'm... I'm helpless. I can't do anything."
He tried to run through the door, to get away, to hide from the horror of his friends getting tortured, but apparently the door was solid to him, for he couldn't get out. He tried the handle... his hand went right through it. He was trapped. Almost immediately after this realization, he heard a yelp of pain and whipped around to see Peck's Death Eater finish up a punch to his best friend's gut.
"NO! STOP! I COMMAND YOU TO!"
The man didn't even turn to look at him.
Phoenix's morale started to crumble like dust. He sank to his knees, put his hands over his ears, looked down at the floor... and started to cry.
Yes, Phoenix Blazen, co-leader of the now-called Los Salvadores, practically the most hyper and boisterous kid in school. The one who was half the mastermind behind most of "Team Matix's" pranks, AND the one who had survived those first two days of this Shadow Curse, was finally cracking... and crying.
"Dammit." He managed to croak out through his sobs. "Dammit!" This time a bit more forcefully.
"DAMMIT ALL! DAMN YOU, VOLDIE! DAMN YOU AND YOUR COWARD ARMY OF DEATH EATERS!"
He paused for a second and thought about what he said.
"Death Eaters, eh? Well, let's see how much death they can eat when they come face to face with me the next time I see them. THEY WON'T LAST FIVE MILLISECONDS!"
Just then a scream was emitted from one of the captives, and Phoenix looked up to find that it was Ginny this time.
"No..."
Another scream.
"No!"
A third scream, this one loudest of all.
"GOD NO! STOP IT! PLEASE! NOOOOOO-O-O-O-OOO-O!"
Towards the end of his final protest, his body started to rack with sobs again. The man continued whatever he was doing to Ginny, Phoenix couldn't bear to say what it was, even if it was only to himself. He turned to look at Hermione, she too was sobbing and begging for the Death Eater to stop. Her tormentor merely looked at her and laughed. He slowly walked up to the girl and started doing things that gave Phoenix the urge to retch.
It also made Ron start to go crazy. He began to pull on his chains rapidly and with all the force he could muster. A quick punch to the head from his Death Eater stopped that pretty darned quick.
Phoenix couldn't take it any more. He curled up into a little ball on the floor in the middle of the room, ears once again covered with his hands, and sobbed as hard as he could, the screams and yells of his friends echoing around him.
Ginny had once again noticed a change in Phoenix's posture. Like in his dream world, he was curled up and his ears were covered with his hands. She saw, much to her dismay, tears streaming out of his eyes like little rivers. She ran over to him and put her hand on his arm, but immediately withdrew it. He was practically on fire.
"POMFREY! I THINK HIS COMA HAS CHANGED AGAIN!"
As Madam Pomfrey ran over, she did pretty much the same thing that Ginny did at first, and she too recoiled in pain.
"Oh my... I'll see what I can do..."
Somehow, Ginny didn't think that Madam Pomfrey could do much, no matter how many potions she had.
Phoenix paused mid-sob. He could've sworn he felt something on his arm. But it left as quickly as it came.
'Was it Ginny? No... it can't be... she's right there in front of me. There's NO way Ginny just touched me. I can SEE her chained up to the wall and... and..." He couldn't bring himself to say that she was being beaten by the Death Eaters. Wait... there it was again... but again, it left as quickly as it came. Doubt entered his mind that this was reality, and that those touches WERE indeed someone... but he didn't feel any more after those two –were they really touches or his imagination?-, and the screams of his friends reminded him that this WAS reality. He must've died and for some reason, St. Peter decided that he had sinned or something and decided that this torture would be hell enough for him.
Phoenix looked up when he heard loose rattling and two screws clang to the floor. He saw Peck grinning, chains beside him and in his grip.
"GET HIM!"
The Death Eaters charged at him and he started to slowly but surely swing the chains around, his friends giving shouts of encouragement. He struck down the first Death Eater... and the second... but apparently he didn't see the third come up behind him. The chain-swinging stopped, making a final smack on a fourth Death Eater. The remaining conscious and un-bruised Death Eaters sort of dog-piled on Peck, who was now reverting to clawing and biting. Eventually, however, they managed to drag him over to the center, beat him up sufficiently, and kicked him aside. He curled up into a ball, much like the one Phoenix had been in. The Death Eaters looked at one another and started conversing.
"Should we kill him?"
"NO!"
Phoenix ran in front of his friend and held out his hands in a protective manner, shielding the boy from the Death Eaters.
"Yeah, I think we should."
"Please! No!"
"Together?"
"How else?"
"No..."
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green bolt sped towards the boy, passed through Phoenix (who didn't feel a thing), and hit Peck, who grew limp.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU KILLED PECK! YOU DIRTY... YOU JERKS! I CAN' BELIEVE YOU KILLED PECK!"
"Should we kill the rest?"
"Yeah... and let's do it slowly... like give them an hour before each killing so they can count down how much time they have left of life..."
"No... god no..."
"Who's next?"
"How 'bout the famous Harry Potter?"
"Shouldn't Master kill him?"
"True... alright...
Ronald Weasley?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Alright... The Weasel it is then... in thirty minutes."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
That wasn't only Phoenix who yelled out the No... it was practically all the captives in the room. The Death Eaters were snickering at the reaction.
"Look at them scream... like cows in a slaughter house right when they finally realize their demise..."
And so the thirty minutes came and went. Having four of the men holding down the boy, a fifth unchained him, allowing the first four to carry him over to the center, each taking a limb. He was then beaten up so he would be helpless and unable to resist. The Death Eaters stepped back, raised their wands as one again, and killed Ron.
This time, Ginny and Hermione were the loudest out of any of them. And of course, this brought the Death Eaters' attention to them.
"Say... I had almost forgotten about the girls... how old are they? Fifteen and sixteen about? Old enough... I have a plan guys..."
Phoenix overheard the plan and this time really did retch when he heard it, watching his lunch (speaking of that, when was the last time he DID have a meal?) spew all over the floor.
Ron had been dragged over and tossed on top of Peck, apparently the base of a pile that was going to end up with all eight of his friends in it.
It appeared as if the Death Eaters were having trouble debating which girl should be... well... hurt and killed first. They finally ended up choosing Hermione first, and saving Ginny for later. However, they DID wait for thirty minutes, and in those thirty Hermione had fear, fear, and nothing but fear in her eyes. And when minute thirty-one rolled around, the Death Eaters gleefully unchained the girl and carried her over to the center of the room.
Phoenix turned his eyes at this point, curled into a ball once more, and intently blocked out as much of the screaming as he could with his hands planted firmly over his ears. However, not all the sound could be blocked out, so he still heard screaming, and he also heards cries of protest from his friends, demanding that the Death Eaters stop their evil deed.
Eventually, they did and finished off Hermione with the killing curse. Phoenix tried to throw up again, but found he had nothing to throw up.
"Don't you wish this could all go away?"
Phoenix whipped around to see Voldemort standing behind him, arms crossed and a grin on his face, which was probably rare, no doubt.
"Yes! This is hell! It's WORSE than hell! Stop it! Please!"
"Oh, but I can't stop it... after all, how can you stop reality? But I can make it all go away for YOU."
Phoenix paused and
looked at him curiously.
"How?"
"Well, I could kill you, and that would make it all go away..."
"But... I don't want to die..."
"Would you rather face the torture of your friends, and then more people, for the rest of your life? Or would you rather die?"
"I s'pose you have a point... but still..."
"Still what? What is so good about staying alive and having to witness THIS?"
He indicated Hermione being dragged over and tossed on top of Peck and Ron.
"Because..."
"Because what? There's no-"
"BECAUSE MAYBE I'LL FIND A WAY OUT!"
Voldemort laughed.
"Find a way out? FIND A WAY OUT? You've got to be kidding me..."
At that moment, Phoenix realized that even if he couldn't attack the Death Eaters, he sure as heck could attack Voldemort. And so he ran over to the cackling madman, a furious gleam in his eye, and did what he liked to call a "Drive-By Punch", turning around in case Voldemort counterattacked. He didn't, however, probably because he was recovering from the blow.
"That was low..."
Phoenix laughed.
"Oh? Like you're one to talk about low? You are, like, the KING of low, the ultimate monster of lowness, the lowest of the low... even lower than that."
Voldemort glared at him.
"Very well... no release from this hell for you... I hope you die from your suffering."
And with that, he vanished.
Some more yelling was heard. Phoenix's first thought was 'It hasn't been 30 minutes!'
... But then he realized that the Death Eaters wanted to torture their captives in between killings.
"Oh god... the worst is about to get even more worse..."
Ginny was looking at Phoenix fearfully. In addition to remaining curled up and hands firmly planted over his ears, the comatose boy was shaking severely, sweating horribly, and the tears were coming out like waterfalls now. And yet, she couldn't do anything: his skin still felt like it was on fire. However, she thought up a plan in the past hour. When Hagrid came in to check on Phoenix (the boy had taken an extreme liking to the half giant, even more so than Harry), she asked him if she could borrow a pair of dragonhide gloves. Of course, how could Hagrid say no to such a simple request? And now, she donned the gloves and tested Phoenix's skin. She watched in horror as a hole burned clear through the dragonhide glove and immediately withdrew her hand when she started to get a burning sensation. She grew even more horrified when she saw that several layers of her skin had been burned off after just half a second's exposure to the heat.
"Pomfrey! I need medical assistance!"
The Head Nurse walked out and looked to see what was the matter. Ginny told her what had happened and then showed the nurse her severely burned finger. Pomfrey's eyes bulged beyond what Ginny thought possible.
"Oh dear, (A/N: She seems to say that a lot, doesn't she?) that looks pretty bad. I'll see what I can do."
Meanwhile, Phoenix still had to suffer the fate that had been set before him. Neville was next in line for execution. The boy was unchained, beaten, and dragged over to the center. Now, the Neville that lay in the center of the room wasn't the Neville that was around a year ago. The Neville of the Past would've just lay there, curled up in a ball, quivering, whimpering, and waiting for his impending doom. Not this Neville. Phoenix's pride swelled slightly as the boy (whom he considered to be a sort of apprentice) started to slowly stand up and face the Death Eaters armed with wands. He glared at them and spoke in a deathly low tone.
"Do your worst, you jackasses."
And so they did... they killed him.
He was flung back from the force of all three curses sent simultaneously at him, skidded across the floor, and bumped up against the pile of his dead friends.
"Well, that makes our job a lot easier... we don't have to drag him halfway across the room."
After him was Seamus... then Dean... Phoenix turned his head when both were beaten and killed, but he still couldn't block out the yells of pain.
And then... it was Ginny's turn.
"No..."
Clink. One side of her chains had been unhooked.
"Please..."
Clink. The other side.
"God no..."
Whomp. That was Ginney falling to the floor and her head making contact with the stone.
"NO!"
Then was the steady noise of the girl being dragged to the center of the room... she wasn't even putting up a fight.
"STOP IT! STOP! NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!"
Next was something Phoenix didn't care to remember, but Ginny's screams burned it into his memory forever.
"STOP! STO-O-O-OP! PLEASE! JUST GET IT OVER WITH! NO! NOOO-OOOO-OO!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
A tear escaped Phoenix's closed eyes as the green curse raced towards the battered girl. A single tear. But in that tear was all the love for the girl he held. All the sorrow he had that she was going to die. All the anger and hatred for the Death Eaters for killing her. And all-
His eyes snapped open when he didn't hear a scream. He saw white... but he also saw red.
The red hair of one Ginny Weasley that is. And this said Ginny Weasley was leaning over him, a concerned look on her face. However, inside she was giggling, wondering what he would say or do first.
"What's the group's new name?"
Okay... so maybe he wasn't the most romantic guy in the world at the moment...
"Huh? Oh. Los Salvadores."
"The Saviors... I like it..."
The boy broke out into a grin and he lunged up and held out his arms, hoping to catch the girl. However, he immediately fell back, cringing in pain.
"Ow... Okay... Not a good idea... My body is probably super stiff from... whatever happened." Try as he might, he just couldn't seem to remember anything of his trials at the moment.
"-and from being curled into a tight ball for an entire day... staying like that for so long probably isn't the best thing for your back, Mister Blazen."
"Oh? And who are you, Miss Weasley, to tell me what is good and what is bad for my back?"
"Hmm... well, I s'pose the facts that a) you've been in this said tight ball for a day, and b) you just experienced what was undoubtedly severe pain when you stretched your body and rapidly shifted positions from this tight ball... well, let's just say that the conclusion is pretty obvious."
"Okay, okay. My ego is already in shambles... you have no idea what I just went through (he was beginning to remember, and the last event was coming into his mind first, much to his dismay), so please just let me keep what's left of my ego, please?"
She laughed.
"Alright... if you want me to. But quite frankly, it's fun giving your ego a good whap."
"Fun for you... painful for me."
That day, at dinner, the tables were dead quiet, as usual. However, many an eyebrow shot up when Dumbledore stood before them at his seat at the head table.
"Students! I have been told by Madam Pomfrey..."
There was still the dead silence in the crowd, but this silence wasn't the melancholy-dead. It was more of a hold-your-breath-dead silence.
"... That Phoenix has come out of his coma, and that he is on the road to recovery."
An almighty cheer rose from the tables... except from the Slytherins, who seemed bummed that Phoenix had made it.
"In fact." He waited for the cheer to die down. "In fact, He's expected to arrive for dinner in..." he looked at his watch. "Five... four... three... two... one..."
Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink. A clinking was heard at steady intervals. Pretty much every kid had thought, even if it was for just a moment, 'Phoenix has turned into Mad-Eye Moody?' But then they saw him walk in, followed by Ginny, on crutches.
Everyone watched him tentatively. What would he say? Would he say something profound? Would he forgive them? Would he yell at them? Their questions were quickly answered when he stopped walking forward on his crutches and grinned at them all.
"I've got pro skills with these crutches!"
A/N: puts up hands defensively Now, before you shred me about how inappropriate and graphic this chapter was, it was supposed to portray Phoenix's WORST nightmare, alright? Get it? Got it? Good.