Chapter ten: The thorny way to hell
"Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?
I see the way you're
Acting like you're somebody else gets me frustrated
Life's like this, you
And you fall and you crawl
And you break and you take
What you get and you turn it into
Honesty Promise me I'm never gonna find you fake it" Complicated, Avril Lavigne.
She woke up with the first light of the morning invading her rooms.
Oh, shit, she was so depressed. Arien couldn't help it. There was hardly a year she wasn't down that day. It was her birthday - she was now twenty-nine years old, but people thought she was nineteen.
She had one of the highest marks Hogwarts had in the last century, below Hermione and Draco Malfoy, and above some other Ravenclaw she couldn't remember. Her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s had been damn close to perfect. She had been working as an Auror- alongside with Sirius, and previously in those few weeks with her almost-team - for sixth months. Her records were remarkable, specially for having such a high mark of captures in such little time. But apart from her natural talent for hunt; her success was due to her keener senses; longer time awake available and her little 'gift'. Only in this new and strange world she understood how useful it was, how dangerous when in the wrong hands.
But her success had a price. Goddamn awful headaches that lasted for miserable hours.
Arien found out that she was a fabulous failure in the private field. She had miscalculated stupidly with Sirius. She must have a soft spot to complicated, silent, stealthy, dark and supercilious men. And that was driving her crazy.
It was obvious that he was attracted- she didn't need to read him to know 'that'. And it was even more obvious that he wouldn't do a damn thing about it. She had been friendly, she had teased, had provoked jealousy, done basically everything in the book and yet he was standing. That was so damn frustrating!
She'd rather forget the man. Her life was complicated enough as it was.
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Barcelona, Spain, 1st December of 2003
They wouldn't have much of a time, Harry thought. His mind raced again through the clues and guidelines their secret source inside the Dark Army gave them. Whoever the mad guy was, he was doing a damn good job.
Today was one of those very rare days in which the whole Light Army was called to duty. Some wizards with a good comprehension of the muggle world were posing as them, spread around the Plaça de Sant Josep Oriol, while other wizards discreetly tried to avoid a greater number of real muggles. The Death eaters were supposed to appear anytime in the next ten minutes for another of their lightning meetings, probably planning another slain of muggles, muggle-borns and light wizards. Too bad for them- their lack of focus had been of great help to the Light side.
The trap had been artfully settled, and the prey would be there in no time. And yet all he could think about was Suzie hidden in the Fortress at Wales and the tinny baby she gave birth two weeks ago.
From the corner of his eyes he saw Draco drinking a coffee and Ginny talking nervously with Ron. Their lack of qualified people had finally forced the central command to give some Unspeakables to the field work. A group of top class Aurors - including himself- had already drawn a magical wall that would keep them from apparating once activated -what would happen as soon as they got inside.
And then a group of unsuspecting men apparated in the safe spots near the plaza and headed to the coffee that would lead to their meeting place.
One. Two. Three. Four. now.
Wards up.
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And so the nightmare went for excruciating half an hour. When they were certain they had no living opponent within the wards, it was bent down . Harry held his ribs- he had been hit by cruciatus, but Ron saved- again!- his life killing the wizard who did it. He was sick of the pain, somehow he got caught by it every now and then, like he was the damn hero of some silly story and the writer had a sadistic pleasure in making sure he got hurt- badly hurt- every now and then. He'd survive, of course; as heroes only die in the final battle, saving the world and having their sweethearts crying over them. Not a prospect he liked much. Actually, he didn't think he'd choose that ending, no matter what the writer had in mind."Thank you, dude." He said to Ron, who was looking very pissed off himself. "Saved my life."
Ron's lips twitched a little. "No big deal, pal. That's what we do all time, huh?" but there was something in his tone that didn't fit .
"Hermione?"
"She'll live. It's Ginny I'm worried with, she got pretty beat up."
"Oh, shit."
The Knight bus appeared out of nowhere, as usual, and the injured wizards were levitated to the beds. Harry still got a glimpse of Ginny- now a brunette- being led into the bus. When it was full, the driver put the automobile into an insane speed towards the nearest wizarding hospital - what was its name? He didn't remember.
Draco approached them with a piece of paper in his hands. " In the case you've been worrying yourselves to death." He handed it to them. "Can you take care of it, Potter? I'd rather be in Salinas."
Salinas. That's the name.
"Of course." He replied quickly. Ron went to pick Hermione who was resting in one of the chairs of the café. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay." They had a truce, but seven years of mutual hatred wouldn't vanish that quickly. So it was civility between the two of them- and that was it.
"Harry!" a familiar voice called him.
"Hey, Sirius!" he patted his godfather's shoulder. "Good to see you in one piece."
"Good to be in one piece, too. But I'm not important, how are you?" in all those years , Sirius hadn't change in that matter - I'm not important, how are 'you'?.
"I'll live. Nothing serious."
"Don't kid, me boy. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, just a little sore. Be new in the morning."
"Good. Look, I've got to go now. See you tomorrow?"
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Somehow the sly bastard- meaning Sirius- had got hold of the when and where of the D.E. meeting. This was an extraordinarily rare opportunity to take loads of them down at once. Not that there were much of them left - but still enough to give the Aurors a hard time.Arien had been helping on putting the wards up with some other wizards. Bill Weasley, Harry Potter, Jean-Pierre and Sirius, along with some others she didn't really know. The atmosphere was so thick the half-elf could hardly breathe, clutching her wand inside her pockets. They'd come anytime now. And then they were there. Some apparating, others by Portkey. A hundred or so dark wizards left the alley and went to the Bar they'd slip into for the meeting. The meeting they'd never have. Sirius gave them a signal and the wards were pulled up, closing all wizards in. It was a very dangerous position, for it could work against them as well.
As soon as they realised it was a trap, the D.E. drew their wands, all pretences forgotten. They fought like the cornered animals they were, casting unforgivables right and left. Not that the Aurors were any kinder. The very few muggles who escaped their scrutiny didn't last long.
"Stupefy!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Crucio!"
They fought hard. She'd give them that- but then again, they were defending their lives. A multitude of unforgivables were cast all over.
Arien felt her shields being mined away and then it began to undo her. She hadn't been hit -yet. But the pain of the cursed wizards around her, the primal fear, the raw pleasure of killing, broke her barriers and punched her. Concentrating got harder, her movements slowed down, pain filled her in. and then they hit her- really hit her.
If Arien thought experiencing other's pain was tough, it was far worse when it was her own.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed that someone got the wizard who cursed her and the pain lessened to a more bearable level. In those seconds, thought, the elf-maiden cursed her heightened sensibility. She was able to stand up still, and continued her task- frighteningly aware of her own mortality now. For even when she'd always known she could die, it had never been so close, so real. Now it was- and Arien was terrified. As scared as she'd been the day she crossed the Portal.
Apparently the lot of wizards there wasn't the most powerful one- one has to have some level of power to successfully cast the killing curse. They were rather casting crucio and hoping it would slow the Aurors so they could find a way out. But the Aurors had another plan.
She shut her mind again, forcefully, trying to block the uncalled for feelings and have something of a clear mind. Arien was furious with herself. But then, as she wasn't listening anymore, and spells were being thrown by any direction, she got hit again.
And the second hadn't been any kinder.
When she managed to stand up again, breathing like she'd run a bloody triathlon, it was all over. They were picking the injured, covering the dead, listing who was still well and who was not.
The elf leaned against the column of a store nearby and cast a glance around. Hermione was breathing laboriously, trying to regain some composure in a chair at the café on the other side of the street. Harry was still standing, and looked very bad as well. Ron had the look of one who saw the sinister. Sirius was crossing the square searching for known faces, those who were injured and those who were dead. A group of Unspeakables from Portugal were gathering the bodies of the Death eaters. Not a single one alive. Ginny was... Arien narrowed her eyes, noticing with a sense of wonder that she needed to in order to see better. Ginny was lying on the floor, her delicate figure embraced by her husband- who didn't look like he'd had the time of his life himself.
With a shuddering breath and a mental shrug Arien forced her barriers to open again- just to feel the pain once more. No, Ginny was still alive. Pretty beaten up, but still alive.
At that moment a Knightbus appeared and the unharmed warriors took the injured in. The bus was going to take them to the hospital, she recalled numbly. A young wizard approached her and tried to ask if she was all right, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. Arien had a feeling she should, that it was a language she knew and spoke several times, but she just couldn't figure the meaning of the words right now. The world was spinning and the light was hurting her eyes. Every scream, every whisper hurt her ears.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand you."
And then she fell into unconsciousness.
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Arien didn't know for how long she'd been there- wherever 'there' was. but she did know the room was too full of light. Everything was so sickeningly white and clear her aching head screamed in protest. Dark. She needed it dark. And silent. And deserted, if she could get it. The least stimuli her exhausted mind got, the better.
"How do you feel?" said a worried voice somewhere near her feet. Arien winced involuntarily. Good Lord, couldn't they leave her alone? She just wanted nice and quiet. Not a million galleons. Not the power to enslave the world. Not the most absurdly handsome man to be her Sex toy. Just nice and quiet.
"Like I've been run down by a couple of curses." She answered, her voice throaty and weird. Self-pity invaded the elf- oh bugger, she'd been 'hit'. And not only hit but HIT. If the wizard were a real class A Death Eater, she'd be dead. What kind of Auror was she to be so stupidly hit when she got a little distracted by her barriers?
"Doctors said you'd be good as new in a couple of hours." Sirius informed. Yes, it was him. But even through the contentment his presence ensured, there was something at the back of her mind, pressing, pressing. Something dreadfully important.
"Ginny?"
"She'll stay a bit longer. But she's recovering very well."
"How long have I been here?" Arien couldn't remember ever passing out in her life. But she did. She fainted. She was hit and she fainted. She'd never face herself in the mirror again.
"A couple of hours. Rest now, you'll be all right in the morning."
"Can I go rest in my quarters?"
"No. No wizard with a bit of sense defies a mediwizard when they are nursing a patient." He chuckled, and she groaned. All right, then she was stuck in that hell of light for a couple more of hours.
"But could you turn the lights out?"
"Yes, I could. Not afraid of the dark?" he teased.
"No. It's easier to hide in the dark" she muttered before slipping back to sleep. He stood there a couple of minutes before leaving. When he got to the door, however, her voice stopped him.
"I failed you. I'm so sorry."
"No, you didn't. now go back to sleep."
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That had been so awfully close. Sirius couldn't believe it. Perhaps their time together lead him to develop a somewhat - an utterly- childish belief that she was untouchable. That some God in heaven looked after her 24/7 and nothing bad would ever happen.
But it did.
When he got hold of the list he almost lost it. Almost. There were a good forty wizards at Salinas Hospital for Magical Maladies, other two dozen had been taken care for light injuries and the after-effects of cruciatus, twenty had been killed, and he had a pile of one hundred and four dark wizards to bury. He couldn't have the luxury of a nervous breakdown.
Thank goodness Harry was unharmed, though.
But she was not. She was lying in that hospital bed as if a tank had run over her. Ginny hadn't recovered consciousness yet. And Muller hadn't resisted and died not an hour ago.
'I failed you. I'm so sorry'.
What did she think she was, god's gift to mankind? Wonderwoman? Did she had to behave like a damn sappy novel heroin? Geez, this is real world. In the real world people may get hit. Okay, so her little slip could've cost her life. Yuck. So we see what happened, we fix it, and we move on. No dwelling in guilt or anything. He had learnt that lesson long ago - guilt doesn't change anything, it only eats you inside.
They were so close now. A few months more and it'd be over. So close ...
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Salinas Hospital for Magical Maladies, Spain; 8th of December of 2003.
White. everything was white.
She was laying in a -sort of- bed, in a very stoic room. Her body ached lightly, like she'd been recovering from some kind of accident.
There was a man beside her, sitting in the only available chair. Raven hair and grey eyes - and something inside her stirred. It was, it was good to have him there, reassuring in an odd sort of way.
But what was his name?
What was her name?
She couldn't remember.
He stretched and looked straight at her eyes, with such an unmasked expression of utter love and relief she felt warmed. It was a very good thing, because panic was already claiming her.
"Good morning, Ginny. I'm glad you're back."
Ginny. Her name was Ginny. She didn't feel like Ginny, though. It was odd, but Ginny ... Ginny did not have enough syllables. But why did it feel so familiar?
"Where am I?"
"In the hospital, hon. Doctors say you'll be able to get leave in a few day's time."
So many questions. Where the hospital is? What is my name? Are you my brother? Do I have a family? - it felt important to know, somehow, she craved for one. It felt as if she did have one and she needed it badly. But was it her wild emotions playing a trick on her?
"Who am I?" she asked, unable to hold the question any longer. She heard his sharp intake of breath, and recalled oddly that he only run his hands over his hair when he was nervous.
But his hair wasn't dark. He was blonde. Why was his hair not blonde?
"You are Ginny. Virginia Elizabeth Malfoy, my wife, an Unspeakable for the Global Government of Magic. Your brothers are worried sick about you, and they'll be here before noon. I'll have to speak with the doctors about this. I ... " he seemed at a loss, and she recalled that she had seen him like that before ... it was almost there, just waiting to emerge, it was ...
"Gin, dear, are you all right?" he asked quietly.
"Gin, dear, are you all right?"
"All right? ALL RIGHT? I'M NO BLOODY RIGHT! I'M FURIOUS!" I'M---"
"Maybe I should strengthen the silencing spells before we move on? He asked sheepishly. She positively fumed. And nodded.
"Now, you may speak. But I'd appreciate if you didn't scream. My ears hurt."
"If you go on with this stupid idea of yours it'll not only be you ears hurting."
"I know." He said quietly.
"Why?" she asked even quieter, which startled him somehow.
"Like I said, Ginny, I'll have to pick a side. I'm not a Gryffindor, courage is not my best trait, and I most definitely would like to be chased by ONLY ONE side of the war, if possible."
It had been in Hogwarts. Her sixth year, his seventh.
"I'm not, but I'll be. I just have to sort some things out."
Awkwardly he reached for a button near her bed, calling the doctors. After hours of examination they said it had probably been the shock - neurotransmitters, or something like it. Memory would probably come back in its own pace, there were nothing they could do about it, blah, blah, blah. Rest, vitamins, being surrounded by familiar faces was all she needed, natural stimuli would do the rest.
Virginia. Yes, that was her name. That had syllables enough.
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Arizona, April of 2004.
"We still have some time left. Want to go see the city?" Sirius asked coolly. They had a couple of hours still, and Arien always loved to see places. A natural adventurous explorer. Wasn't she a Gryffindor? No, a Ravenclaw.
"No thanks. I've got to let something left for the eagles." She replied in a very good mood. She had been suspiciously light and happy since New year, and that somehow unsettled him. He'd missed something, but what?
"The eagles?"
"My Ravenclaw Classmates. We are called the eagles."
"And?"
"We promised we would get hold of this huge reward from the ministry for all our bravery in the war, buy a nice racing broom and a tent, and just see the world. I'm leaving some places to explore with them." She finished with a grin.
Suited them. Planning. The whole adventure thing, however , was quite odd - but then again, those were strange days. He couldn't really claim that gryffindors were the only ones to have fun, could he?
She tucked her hair behind her ear, the place was just so hot, and his blood froze for a moment.
Because her right hand had a band golden ring.