Disclaimer-I don't own anything
EvanescoDarkness-I didn't even think of that! But I guess you could see it as such. And Forbidden Arts: Black Magic Potions will be a MAJOR plot bunny. Also, I'm glad you liked the Snape/Petunia. They're becoming one of my OTPs.
Grievances
"Well, it's time to go," Lucius suddenly said, standing up.
"Go?" Tonks blurted out, confused.
He sent her a funny look. "You two are strange today. We have a mission to storm Mungo's, remember?"
"Oh."
"We took some spell damage," Bennie interrupted as an explanation. "So we're a little disoriented. The brats know their stuff."
"You're slacking. You'd better shape up before the Dark Lord shapes you up."
"Don't tell me what to do, Lucius," Tonks said in a menacing tone that sent chills up Bennie's spine. "And I don't think you should be going, with that arm."
"Or lack thereof," Bennie added, the initial shock of Tonks's tone melting into inspiration.
He sent a withering glare at both of them. "My son will go in my place. He's a full Death Eater now."
"Aww, Daddy is so pwoud of his wittle boy," Tonks said. "Don't wowwy, we'll wook after him."
"Don't try my patience, Bellatrix."
"Respect your elders," Tonks shot back.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "I never knew you to be proud of your great age."
"Keep it up, and you won't live to be my "great age"."
"Okay, are we going or not?" Bennie interrupted.
Lucius stared at her, and then smirked. "Well, as Bellatrix so kindly offered, I charge you both with the welfare of my son. Make sure he wreaks some havoc, won't you?"
"Of course, Lucius," Bennie said, false sugar in her voice.
"Bellatrix, do try and kill the Longbottoms this time, won't you?"
"You didn't even try to kill them, you disloyal wretch, so don't give me any snarky remarks, or I'll blow off your other arm, and your head for good measure," Tonks shot back.
"Temper, temper, Bella'."
"Bellatrix, I think it's time for us to go," Bennie said pointedly.
"Fetch Draco, won't you?" Tonks answered.
"He's over there," Lucius said carelessly, flicking his wrist in the direction of Draco.
Bennie abandoned her post and went off to Draco, who was sitting on a boulder, his fist propping up his chin.
"You're quite the doting father, aren't you, Lucius?" Tonks asked airily.
"Yes, I am, Bella', dear. Who better to leave him with than my sister-in-law, even if she is…questionable."
'I'm a lot more questionable than you think,' Tonks thought ironically. "Thanks for your sentiment. Death Eaters, move your butts!" she called.
Silently, the Death Eaters rose from their positions. Draco met Bennie halfway and he walked with her, not saying a word but smirking lightly.
"You're coming with Belicia and me, nephew mine," Tonks said as he approached.
"Whatever."
"Make sure, son, that you use your condition to the maximum," Lucius said. "Don't let those poor patients at Mungo's suffer too long…or do, whichever strikes your fancy."
Draco gave his father what Tonks thought was a painful smile. "Of course, Father."
"Good boy."
The Death Eaters were Apparating from the clearing one at a time. Tonks grabbed Draco's arm and nodded to Bennie. They began to walk away from the clearing and into the forests around them.
"We're taking a Portkey, since you can't Apparate yet," Tonks said.
"Really? I thought we were taking a Portkey just for larks," he answered smartly.
"Don't push your luck with me, boy," Tonks said. She grabbed onto a boulder. Her voice changed drastically, back to her own, normal voice. "Are we still in sight of Lucius, Bennie?"
A look of surprise flashed across Draco's face. "Wha…?"
"Nope," Bennie said, looking back. The Death Eater guise was falling from her. Her face regained its shape and color, and the heavy black cloak regained the shape of her cottony robes.
"Good. We're going to my mum and dad's." Tonks's disguise was melting away, too.
"What's going on here!?" Draco yelled. He reached for his wand, distrust and anger written on his face.
"Bennie, stun him!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Before Draco could move to curse Bennie, he was frozen in place.
"Thanks, Bennie. Here, hold on to him. I'm going to turn this into a Portkey. Ouch!" She had run her hand against a thorn. She pressured the wound with two fingers, and then wiped the blood off on the rock. "Bennie, grab my hand."
Bennie took hold of Tonks's hand, grabbing Draco's frozen arm with the other.
"Portus," Tonks said, and the rock glowed with an eerie blue light. "All right, here we go."
She pressed her hand on the rock, and suddenly all three of them were jerked into the Portkey.
Andromeda gave a startled scream as three bodies, two females and one male, two conscious and one frozen, suddenly appeared in her kitchen. She dropped the knife she had been cutting vegetables with, which earned her several frightened squeals from the kitchen-elves as it ran point-end into the floor.
"Mum, it's just me!" Tonks yelped, also jumping to avoid the knife. "Me and Bennie, and we brought Draco with us!"
"Oh, thank God!" Andromeda flung her arm around her daughter and hugged her. "If it were anyone else…wait. You brought DRACO?!"
"Yeah, but he's frozen," Bennie interrupted.
Andromeda sighed. "We'll just have to put him somewhere…so, Nymphadora, what did you find out?"
"We have to go. Now. They're storming St. Mungo's!"
"What? Why would they possibly…oh my God, Frank and Alice. Dear God…All right, we have to round up everyone. Direct them into the den, okay?"
"Sure."
"Bennie, you go with her. I'll take Draco to a room and secure him."
"Yes, ma'am," Bennie said.
"It's "Andromeda"," was the reply, but Tonks was already pulling Bennie away.
Andromeda looked at the frozen form of Draco, who had no likeness to her but, had he been female, was the duplication of his mother. She saw Narcissa's sharp, tiny face and facial features on her nephew, whom she had only known by name and never by face.
She gave an involuntary sigh, remembering that she had loved Narcissa openly in their youth, and secretly and painfully once Narcissa announced that she had sided with Voldemort to the family. How could she hate her baby sister?
"Mistress, is you okay?" Jiji squeaked.
"I'm fine, Jiji," Andromeda said. "Will you keep working on dinner for us?"
"Yes, Mistress."
She took hold of her nephew's arm. A fleeting image of the time she had dragged a 3-year-old Narcissa from a garter snake flashed through her mind. But that Narcissa belonged to another world. Resolutely, she clamped her lips together. She touched the table, created a Portkey, and teleported them both away from the kitchen.
"All right."
Tonks was looking into the faces of the DA members, barring Lynn, Hermione, Luna, and Amy, along with most of the Order, the exceptions being Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid. They had gone to collect Bellatrix and a few other Death Eaters who were stunned on the field, the dead body of Aaron, and Belicia if she had not broken out.
"Bennie and I discovered that the Death Eaters are going to attack St. Mungo's."
Neville suddenly gave a shudder, fear flashing across his face. Tony's hand reached out and gripped Neville's arm.
"I know that you have now seen a battle, and I have to warn you that our previous battle was no where near as bad as it could get. I also know that most of your parents do not want you to be here, even if they understand that it's dangerous to send you home now that You-Know-Who has you in his black book. So I'm not going to force you into this battle. If you can't handle it, speak now."
No one moved or spoke. Corrine was rolling her eyes.
"Good. Well, onto business. As always, DA or not, you are underage and therefore the very last line of defense. Even Mungo's patients must fight before you. So, no acting the hero, understood? You only attack if attacked, are we clear?"
There were several simultaneous nods. Tonks purposely ignored the look Harry was sending her. He HAD to be the hero. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He knew it, she knew it, he knew she knew it, and they both knew that it did no good to talk about it in front of people who were still close to being strangers.
"And I want to pair you off into groups. Stay exactly where I tell you to."
She moved into the mass, and after several minutes, had divided them into 7 groups of 5 people each.
"In St. Mungo's, if one of you fall, another comrade will take them back here. So bring an extra handful of Floo Powder with you. The people left behind will stick together, and latch onto another group if they find them. We're clear, yes?"
"Yes," was the chorus of assent.
"Good." Tonks turned to Hestia and Emmeline. "Will you two please inform Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid about where we're going?"
"Of course," Emmeline said. She took hold of Hestia's hand, and they Disapparated into thin air.
Tonks went to the fireplace and picked up a bowl of Floo Powder. She drew in a shuddery breath. Remus went forward and placed a hand on her back. With that one simple gesture color returned to her features and she smiled, albeit it was a rueful smile.
"This is it, people."
She shoved a handful of powder in her pocket, scooped up another, and threw it down, yelling out "St. Mungo's!" as she did, and was swept away by a green flame. Group by group, the DA and the Order followed her.
Dean stumbled from the fireplace and into a waiting room. They had wound up at different fires and he had found himself in an almost literal slaughterhouse. As he rolled out of the fireplace his face was first splattered with blood, and his ears assaulted with a piercing screech signifying the mortality of man.
He yanked out his wand, but as his opened his mouth to shout out a jinx he was suddenly knocked over with the force of a stocky body with much more power than his.
"Seamus, get off me!" he howled.
Seamus moved, not by his own volition but because Terry Boot had rammed into him. But it did its work, and Dean jumped up just before Anita appeared, followed by Gibson.
The exchange had not gone unnoticed by the Death Eater. He stared at them, amusement on his face behind his mask.
"So the great and noble Dumbledore sends wenches and brats to do his fighting for him," he mused softly.
"So the great and noble Voldemort sends morons to do his fighting for him," Gibson shot back, covering up a flinch as the name escaped his mouth.
The Death Eater started in anger, but drifted back into his relaxed stance. "You've got guts, I'll give you berks that," he said amusedly. "I wonder how very long you'd be able to withstand some curses from Voldemort's "moron"."
His eyes darted around at the five people arrayed in front of him, all in varying states of soot-covered, half-frightened and half-determined. His eyes rested on Dean, and they narrowed. There was something familiar about this boy. He was sure that he had seen his likeness before somewhere, at least several years ago.
"Allow this "moron" some fun in his idiocy. Stupefy!"
A red stream of light flew from his wand, aiming due Terry's head.
But Anita was quicker. She sprinted forward and grabbed Terry by the back, forcing him to bend, and the spell went right over his head. She pulled him away from the spot as the curse went through a wall and left a smoldering hole.
The Death Eater turned and glared at Anita, who had let go of Terry and stared at him. He raised his wand and made to utter a curse, but Anita was quicker. As the red light shot from his wand she jumped backwards, falling on her backside and skidding along the floor.
But as she moved her wand to cast a spell on him, he made his own move. The others had let their guards down while watching her, and their wands were unprepared.
"Accio boy!" the Death Eater bellowed, and Dean was involuntarily wrenched forward. He yelped as the Death Eater's hand closed in around his throat and a long, black wand was shoved between his eyes. He was feeling himself slowly suffocate.
"Let him go!" Seamus screeched.
Behind the mask, the Death Eater grinned. He thought he recognized this boy from long ago, but from the source.
"You're Gary Thomas's brat, aren't you?"
Dean stopped struggling from shock. Not even his mother spoke often of his father, deceased before he ever knew that Dean had been conceived, and this Death Eater was talking about him like he and his father were old chums.
"Yes, he put up a good fight, too. But alas, like so many others, he fell to us. To my wand, to be exact. Well, this is ironic, isn't it? He took on several minutes of the Cruciatus Curse before I killed him. Sodding fool, he should've joined us."
"He wouldn't have joined you for all the money in Gringotts'!" Dean wheezed out, the lack of oxygen not preventing the look of complete loathing in his face.
"Pride in your family. My Master likes that."
"Corté!"
The Death Eater made a sharp sound as the skin on his wrist suddenly burst open in a vertical line, blood spurting from the wound. His hold loosened, air came rushing back to Dean, and he threw himself away. He landed on the floor on his back, scraping his head, gasping for breath.
Seamus ran to him, blocking his view of the Death Eater, his wand still brandished for the offense.
"Thanks, mate," he managed to wheeze.
"Hey, Parvati'd kill me if something happened to you," Seamus answered, like a true testosterone-filled guy.
"Silencio!"
Seamus's mouth opened, but only a rush of air came out. His eyes flew open as he tried to force words, only able to wheeze out short pants of breath.
"So now it's four against one," the Death Eater mused. "I might as well just kill the liability. Avada…"
"Stupefy!" Anita yelled.
His mouth slacked, and they could tell that his hidden eyes had dulled. He stumbled a little against the wall; his mind a clean slate.
But Terry, Anita, and Gibson didn't concentrate on that. Dean and Seamus had seized up. Their eyes were open but the pupils were in the back of their heads. Dean's supporting arm slipped and he crashed to the floor as Seamus crumpled as well.
Anita ran to them, followed by Gibson and then Terry. Gibson knelt down beside them as the others stood over.
"What's the matter with them?" Terry asked.
"The incantation wasn't done!" Anita added.
"It was half-finished and at point-blank range," Gibson said. "It must've had SOME affect on them. We should get them back to the Tonks'."
Terry knelt down and hoisted Seamus up, while Gibson lifted Dean from the floor. Gibson dug out some Floo Powder.
"We'll Floo back in a minute. Don't wander off," Gibson said. Anita nodded.
"Number 8, Freimon Avenue!" Terry shouted, as Gibson threw down the powder.
A few moments later they reappeared, wiping soot and dust off themselves.
"Are they okay?" Anita asked.
"Yeah, Andy was right there waiting for us," Gibson said. "She took them."
"Down to three," Terry said. "Let's try to find someone else's group."
"What about him?" Anita asked, gesturing to the Stunned Death Eater.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Gibson said, and the Death Eater froze up.
"We'll have to leave him here, " Terry said. "Let someone pick him up later. He's deadweight."
Taking one last look at their frozen enemy, they ran from the room.
Parvati jogged evenly down the hallway. She and Lavender headed their group, otherwise consisting of Padma, Anthony, and the fourth-year, Anais. No Death Eater had yet besieged them, but Parvati could see that they were waiting for it. Anthony's hand was firmly attached to Padma's. It made Parvati's stomach twist. She wished Dean had been sorted into her group, but they had been standing apart when Tonks had separated the DA.
Lavender grabbed her arm and smiled uncertainly. She and Seamus were also apart, and she just had a horrible feeling that something was wrong…
All five were jerked out of their thoughts by a scream, resounded by a baby's anguished cry. They veered off course, each trying to mentally prepare themselves, and burst in through a door.
A cowering woman knelt on the floor, screaming. A man, presumably her husband, was pressed against the wall, a wand at his throat. A small baby girl lay wailing in a plastic crib.
"Vuelas!" Anais cried, jutting her wand into the air. The Death Eater and the man both blew backwards and into the far wall. The husband cracked his head against the wall, fell and lay still, the back of his head bleeding. The woman screamed even louder, though it was uncertain whether it was because of her husband, or because the unharmed Death Eater had fallen from the wall and landed across her lap.
He rolled over and stood quickly, facing the five teenagers who stood to oppose him.
"Imperio!" he bellowed, pointing his wand at Padma.
For an instant, Padma felt a calm white light washing over her and clearing her mind, but in an instant it was gone. All of a sudden she felt how powerful she was. She was trained, she minded. She was prepared.
He couldn't hurt her with the Imperius Curse.
Anthony laughed as Padma shook her head and the dreamy emptiness of her eyes vanished. A soft but audible gasp came from the Death Eater, and suddenly Padma burst into giggles.
"Shut your face, you wench!" he snarled. He brandished his wand. Parvati moved to do the same. Her mouth opened, but before she could utter a curse…
"Engorgio Semper!"
Parvati shrieked and dropped her wand. Her left hand was swelling like an amplified blister, turning a purple-red color. Had it been any other circumstance, it would've been hilarious, but now…
"Reducio!" Lavender yelled. A small stream of light emitted from her wand and struck Parvati's hand, but it merely bounced off and her hand continued in its quickening expansion. "Reducio! REDUCIO!!"
The Death Eater barked out a laugh; a loud, mocking belly laugh. Parvati dropped to her knees, holding her wrist, making small whimpering noises.
"Well, that was fun, but now I have some work to do. Cru…"
The woman shrieked again as suddenly her husband leapt on the Death Eater, pinning him to the ground. The man had his hands around the Death Eater's throat, trying to squeeze the breath from him.
He groaned loudly as a knee connected with his stomach and he was shoved away. The Death Eater rolled over and shot up into a sitting position.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The last scream, the most frightened and gut-wrenching of all, blasted from the woman's mouth as her husband suddenly slumped over, his eyes still wide-open.
Muttering swear words, the Death Eater leapt to his feet, facing the plastic crib where the baby lay wailing.
"I'm gonna shut this thing up once and for all! Av…"
"RELASHIO!"
The Death Eater roared as suddenly Anais's wand was thrust into his eye slits, setting off a dozen each of red and gold sparklers. He stumbled backwards, covering his masked face with his hands.
Suddenly, the woman jumped up from the floor, springing onto the blinded Death Eater. He howled as she knocked him to the floor, pinning him down with her hand on his throat. With a free hand she wrenched his wand from his hand. She turned over so she was lying on her back vertically down his chest, holding the wand above her, pointed down. Her voice was deadly calm.
"Avada Kedavra."
The pair of them were suddenly engulfed in bright green light. It flashed and faded, showing the two bodies exactly how they were. As the woman rolled off the Death Eater's chest and across the floor to her husband's body, the baby's wails seemed to be louder than they ever were.
Anais turned to the crib and reached in, gently pulling the baby in her pink blanket out. She settled her in her arms and ran back to the others. Lavender, Padma, and Anthony were surrounding the kneeling Parvati, who was now sobbing soundlessly.
"It…it won't stop swelling," Padma whispered, for once at a loss for words, staring at her sister's grotesque hand.
Anais deposited the baby into Lavender's arms and touched Parvati's arm with her wand. "Ferula."
All at once, clean white bandages wrapped around Parvati's hand. The swelling terminated, but her hand did not recede in size, or, as evident by her face, in pain.
"Lavender, why don't you take her back to the Tonks' house?" Anais suggested. "And the baby, too."
Lavender nodded, her face white as a sheet. She grabbed Parvati's unblemished arm and pulled her up, the baby held in the crook of her elbow. Parvati seemed ready to pass out from the pain, but she stood up, grimacing horribly. Lavender glanced back at all of them, and then ran out the door, bearing Parvati along with her. The baby's cries softened as the distance grew larger, and as Lavender threw down the Floo Powder and whisked the three of them away, they stopped completely.
Anthony stared at the three dead bodies in the room. With a steady wand but a shaking voice he said, "Mobiliarbus." The clean white sheets from the hospital bed floated towards the bodies of the husband and wife.
"Decido."
The sheets dropped onto the bodies, covering them neatly. His hand trembled violently, and he shoved his wand into his pocket. Padma gripped his hand.
Anais turned and quickly walked from the room, her face arrayed in such a way that indicated oncoming vomiting. Presently, Padma and Anthony walked out after her.
Neville panted as he raced up the stairs, trailed by Elizabeth, Mary, Joan, and Tony. A blinding urge coursed through him to get to the 4th Floor. His parents were up there, he knew, his parents who were unable to defend themselves, with people unable to defend them.
Tony watched Neville intently. Neville had captured his attention since 4th year, when Tony had seen him dancing with Ginny at the Yule Ball. Tony had first been attracted by his folksy, good-boy looks, and upon further observation, learned of his endearing kindness and open-heartedness.
But the Neville was different. This Neville gave off a radiating heat that spoke of a fierce warrior beneath Neville's clumsiness. This Neville, however, did not put Tony off; rather, it attracted him more.
"Watch out," Elizabeth muttered, and Tony just barely dodged an uneven step. Mary suppressed giggles. With the world falling about their ankles, it was a tonic to see such antics due to crushes.
Neville wasn't aware of Mary's giggle or Tony's admiration. He was only aware of his mental mantra. 'Get to Mum and Dad, get to Mum and Dad…'
He flung open a door to the 4th Floor and, without hesitating, ran for the permanent patients ward. Running like a wounded animal; he barely managed to stop himself at the ward door.
"Alohomora!" he shouted at the doorknob, and as the lock clicked open he ran in, not even waiting for the other four.
But he finally stopped at the sight before him.
Alice Longbottom was screaming incoherent gibberish in a horrible screeching voice. The dog-woman was barking like a rabid canine. Another woman with black hair and blue eyes—one they didn't recognize as Oleta Dumbledore—was crouching in a corner, whimpering. And sprawled on the ground, spread-eagled on his back, was Frank Longbottom.
Neville was barely aware of the moan-cry that escaped his lips, but Tony, Elizabeth, Joan, and Mary all yelped in surprise when Neville ran at the Death Eater standing over his father's body. All knowledge of magic left his mind; he knew only that he must avenge Frank, he must kill this Death Eater.
His hand seized the Death Eater's throat as they fell to the ground. His other hand flung away his wand, formed into a rock-hard fist, and smashed into the Death Eater's face.
Mary squeaked as the mask shattered into pieces and flew across the room, bearing traces of blood, and Neville did not cease in his attack. She ran forward and scooped up Neville's wand.
"Tony!" she yelled.
Tony had been watching Neville's ruthless attack with a look of both shock and awe, but Mary's yell snapped him from his trance. His legs pumping, he unsheathed his wand and shouted, "Immobulous!"
But the Death Eater was one step ahead of them. The moment the words escaped Tony's lips he seized control of himself and managed to throw Neville into the air. Blue light washed over Neville and he was suspended in mid-air.
The Death Eater rolled out from underneath Neville and straightened up. He wiped the blood away with his fingers. Neville had gotten in some clean hits; the Death Eater's nose was off-angle and his eye was already turning a purplish-black. He stared at the blood on his hands, and then slowly licked it away.
A shiver passed over the group. It was one thing to hear about drinking blood and another to see it, especially when the Death Eater so callously grinned at them.
"Thank you, boy, for so kindly stopping my offender in his tracks. Think I'll just kill him off now…"
"Petrificus Totalus!!" Tony screamed. But another voice matched his.
Glancing wildly around, the five DA members saw who had attacked the Death Eater.
"Professors!" Mary exclaimed.
"You were all shouting so loud; I imagine our Apparation was unheard," Dumbledore remarked. His gaze wondered over to the corner, where Oleta was still crouched, whimpering like a wounded dog. A cloud passed over his face. If anyone had told him that the woman who had been in labor for 10 hours and was able to eat two hearty meals directly afterwards would be reduced to a frightened, insane old woman in a hospital corner, he would have chuckled softly at the incredulity of it.
Nothing was incredulous. That was his mantra. It was something the first war had taught him.
Minerva visibly winced at the sight of her mother. This was Mummy. All of a sudden she was 5 years old again and had passed across a Muggle street, just narrowly missing being hit by a car. The same look of terror had been across Oleta's face then. The end of innocence starts with realizing that your parents aren't immovable barriers against everything.
"Decido," she muttered, and Neville landed with a plop on the ground. Tony ran to help him up.
Dumbledore went for Oleta. She stared at him blankly as he stood over her and offered his hand. She looked at his hand for several seconds, before finally taking it and allowing him to help her up. She pulled her hand from his as soon as she was steady and looked away, staring at the wall.
He felt a horrible jerking in his chest that suddenly made breathing very hard to accomplish. He turned away.
"Neville, your dad…" Joan started.
All eyes turned to Neville, who suddenly seemed to lose control of his muscles. He grabbed Tony's arm in an effort to support himself, all blood draining from his face. He couldn't bear to look at his father or at his mother, who had been reduced to a sobbing mess.
Minerva went forward, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Oleta and knelt by Frank's limp body.
"Reperire vita," she whispered. White sparks crackled from her wand tip, before turning black. Minerva shook her head and sheathed her wand again. She looked up at the white-faced Neville, resign written all over her face.
"I'm sorry."
A huge sob suddenly broke free from Neville's throat. Tears started violently as Alice began moaning heartbreakingly. Tony felt a jerk behind his eyes, almost as if he was going to start crying, too. He wrapped his arms around Neville's neck and pulled him into his shoulder.
Dumbledore moved swiftly, guiding the dog-woman and Alice to their feet to join Oleta.
"We must move quickly," he murmured. "Before any more people have to die…"
'A group full of Hufflepuffs,' Emmanuela minded. 'A group full of attached Hufflepuffs.'
Indeed, they were all attached by the hands in a single-file line. "Safety in numbers" was a Hufflepuff motto. Ernie ostensibly led the group, though it was Hannah, white-faced as she may be, who was steadily pulling them along and pushing Ernie ahead. Susan had a hold of Hannah's other hand, and she was holding on to Justin. Emmanuela was final in line; she had a death grip on Justin's hand. Much tighter than it needed to be, she knew, but whenever she tried to loosen her hold she found it impossible. Furthermore impossible was resisting this rising feeling of bile in her throat at seeing Susan also clinging to Justin.
She forced her mind from it. There were more important things to do now.
"Ernie, do you think…do you think we'll see anyone here? Do you think the Death Eaters have moved on?" Hannah whispered in a small, frightened voice.
"W-well, maybe that's right, Hannah," Ernie said, attempting an unconcerned, confident voice, but unconsciously holding Hannah's hand tighter.
"My Aunt Amelia says to never be surprised by the Death Eaters," Susan spoke up. "She's says that that's how my Uncle Edgar and Aunt Pamela and my cousins Lewis and Philip were killed…they thought they were safe…" she trailed off.
"Well, that won't happen here," Justin said, attempting the brave smile that Emmanuela loved. "Just keep your eyes peeled."
"Is that a Muggle saying?" Ernie asked.
"Yeah, my mum says it all the time," Justin said.
"It sounds strange."
"Yeah, I know."
Just then, the sound of a shouted curse reached them. Ernie yanked Hannah to the ground, starting a domino effect. Hannah collapsed onto him, Susan on to her, Justin on to her, and Emmanuela onto him. She just had to grin. She'd been in love with Justin for a year and this was just too funny.
"Are you all okay?" Ernie asked.
"Yeah," was the unanimous assent. They slowly got to their feet, their hands unlinking. Emmanuela hung on for a moment longer, but eventually dropped Justin's hand and brought out her wand.
"Well…let's go," Ernie said, nearly inaudible, and the five rushed into the 1st-floor lobby.
They weren't doing too badly, if you asked Olivia. She, Marcie, Thomas, Margaret, and Bennie had been battling in the 1st-floor lobby for several minutes, at least 15, and had thus far gotten off with only Thomas's green eye, due to a badly-aimed Furnunculus Curse.
Olivia pointed her wand and opened her mouth, but just as her vocal chords moved to shout the jinx, someone else yelled, "Tarentellegra!"
The Death Eater's legs began to scramble haphazardly, and Marcie couldn't help thinking of that Muggle play, 42nd Street. She snorted a laugh halfway through her nose and her throat.
"Thanks, Marcie," Olivia said.
"No problem. Stupefy!"
Thomas, through his one good eye, and Margaret were battling in a corner with two other Death Eaters.
"Obliviate!" Thomas hollered, a white light emitting from his wand.
"Protego!" the Death Eater, a female this time, called back. "Crucio!"
Margaret and Marcie both shrieked as Thomas suddenly collapsed onto the floor, groaning in excruciating pain.
"Serpensortia!" the other Death Eater, a man, called, and this time Olivia squeaked as a snake suddenly shot from the Death Eater's wand. But this was no snake like Draco had produced four years ago.
This was a rattlesnake, but the most unusual rattlesnake they had ever seen. Its skin was bright yellow in color, shining brightly as it sneaked forward. Its tomato-red eyes glowed maliciously as the female Death Eater laughed, aiming due Thomas, still writhing on the floor in horrible agony.
The snake reared back. Margaret and Olivia raised their wands and made to curse…
"Corté cabeza!"
The laughter instantly stopped as the snake's head, mouth hanging open, flew across the room, and Thomas yelped at it struck him across the face, the fang creating a bloody gash across his cheek. In that moment the Death Eater's concentration was broken and he was free of the curse.
Justin had broken into the room ahead of Ernie, Hannah, Susan, and Emmanuela, his wand held before him and an intense glare for his countenance. Emmanuela ran up beside him and took his arm.
"Thomas, are you okay?" Ernie asked from behind Justin.
"I guess so," Thomas said, pressing his fingers to the straight line across his face, trying to stem the bleeding.
A loud, belting laugh from the Death Eaters distracted everyone's attention.
"Even that little nick is going to cost you," the male Death Eater said. "That thing's venom is enough to kill six men. Except it will take you a while. First it will slowly poison your blood stream until it completely mucks it all up and it can't flow anymore. Once your veins dam up your brain will start screaming for oxygen and you'll go insane until you finally kick it. Less painful than the Cruciatus Curse but infinitely more entertaining to watch. I'll give you…
"The next 80 years to live," a quiet voice said. "Inconsciente!"
He suddenly seized up and a glazed look came into his eyes. The woman Death Eater jumped away as he fell to the floor, revealing Amy Lloyd standing behind him, her arm set in a sling, and the open side door behind her.
"I asked Andy where you guys were and snuck out," Amy explained.
"Hey, Amy," Thomas muttered, sinking to his knees. His flesh seemed to be turning to ice before their eyes.
"Thomas!" Amy called frantically, running towards him.
"Incendio Semper!"
All of them shrieked and jumped back a ring of red-hot fire suddenly shot from the woman's wand, entrapping the woman and Thomas behind a ring of flames.
"Agua!" Amy yelled, backed up by Marcie.
"Don't bother," the woman called back gleefully as the water from their wands turned into steam. "These flames will last for as long as I want them to. Try and get through them and you will burn your flesh off your bones. Oh, but I do pity you. Time's ticking away to save this little blood traitor's life, and you can't do anything about it…"
Thomas's green eye was now matching the color of his skin. "Amy…"
Amy's entire frame blanched as the flames leapt higher and the woman's insane laughter reached new heights of Soprano.
Almost unconsciously, Margaret, Marcie, Olivia, and Emmanuela had surrounded Amy, the others hanging back.
"Plan all you want to!" the woman called. "It won't help!"
"I'm getting through those flames," Amy said, with a quiet conviction so known to her.
"You can't get through my spell!"
"If we can spray you down with water…" Olivia started.
"…While you're going through the flames, you won't get quite as badly burned," Olivia and Marcie finished in unison.
"I'll help you with that," Marcie offered.
"Yeah, me too," Margaret offered.
"The rest of us will distract her," Olivia said. "I'll fill in the others as you're going through the flames."
"And then you take Thomas back to the Tonks'," Emmanuela finished.
"Got it," Amy said, nodding.
The girls broke away and moved into positions, almost as if their strategy was more than just a throwing-together of ideas in 10 seconds.
"Brainstorming over, girls?" the woman asked. "I suppose Fire equals Bad is too much for you to comprehend."
Amy squinted against the bright flames, and then suddenly began running straight at them, the insults falling on deaf ears.
"What are you doing?" Panic was beginning to sneak into her voice. "What are you doing, stupid girl!?"
"Agua!" Margaret and Marcie yelled almost unanimously.
Amy was suddenly drenched in the water, and the force of the river emitting from Margaret and Marcie's wands was shoving her through the flames. She felt a mind-numbing heat as she passed through the fire, so hot it was cold, and she shivered violently as she vaulted through the flames.
She landed on her injured arm with a sickening crunch, and her mind suddenly froze. She could hear were Emmanuela's and Olivia's shrieks of "Vuelas!" and "Furnunculus!" and the woman's screams of "Protego" and various curses, but her mind did not register.
"Amy!"
And her mind was brought back; moaning softly she reached her good arm for Thomas's and pulled herself to him. Her fingers hooked around his arm like fishing hooks.
"Okay, Thomas…we're getting out of here."
She suddenly vaulted to her feet, dragging him with her, and before anyone else could move or speak they were launching through the flames, heedless of their skin peeling, not even aware of landing face first on the ground. They were unconscious before they landed. Darkness consumed them just as Olivia yelled, "Stupefy" and the woman, caught unawares, stumbled backwards into the wall, cracking her head, and slumped to the ground.
Voldemort glanced casually about the room. This was the hospital that he had been born in, the hospital his mother had died in, the hospital that had fostered him out after running some simple blood tests on his paternity.
'What a waste of a carbon-based life-form,' Voldemort thought idly, with just a trace of anger, thinking about the man that he laughingly called "Father", the man whom he had cursedly been named after.
'Thank God that Alex was not named after our dear old dad,' he thought.
Alex. He hadn't thought of him in so long. He felt something upon that realization. Was it guilt that his memories of his brother had long since been pushed aside? Was it that sentiment his Death Eaters so looked down on; the bonds of family through connections other than marriage and pure bloodlines?
'Ah, well, it makes no matter,' Voldemort thought, brushing the thought aside. But the feeling persisted, an incessant nag on his brain. It had started earlier today, upon encountering the Sunset girl, his own great-niece, and had remained with him for the few hours that had passed.
'Enough,' he mentally ordered himself.
He glanced up as he heard a door being wrenched open and banging against the outside wall. Standing before him, panting and red-faced underneath a mess of black hair, was Harry Potter, his foil.
"Hello, Harry," he said quietly. "Been having a pleasant time with my Death Eaters?"
"You go to Hell," Harry hissed venomously, putting Voldemort in the mind of Nagini in a bad mood.
Voldemort laughed, chilling the blood of Ron, Ginny, Colin, and Dennis who appeared behind Harry, looking even more out of breath. "I've been to Hell, and Satan's a fairly dull fellow."
"Shut up! Inutil!"
Voldemort carelessly swiped his right hand in the air, taking on the brunt of the purple hex. The hand fell limp at his side, but he paid it no attention.
"You certainly have improved since our last battle," he commented. "My hand will be useless for no less than a day. But I only need one hand to kill you. Avada Kedavra!"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!!" Harry shrieked, thrusting his wand into the air as hard as he could. Scintillating green light ejected from both wands' tips; they clashed in the middle, creating one thin, intimidating green line.
Harry heard Ginny gasp loudly as Priori Incantatem began to take its affect. From either side of Voldemort's wand, tangible matter began to peal out. Harry squinted against the light and saw the silver hand Voldemort had rewarded Wormtail with fall to the ground.
Ron audibly yelped as Cedric Diggory clattered to the floor and then stood upright, quickly followed by the elderly Frank and then Bertha Jorkins.
What Harry was steeling himself for finally appeared, and he heard all four of his fellow members scream as a redheaded woman with almond-shaped green eyes painstakingly stood from the floor, and the mirror image of Harry followed.
"Harry," Lily whispered. "Harry, we'll distract him while you get away—"
"No," Harry said in a flat hiss.
"What?" the ghost James questioned.
"I'm doing what you did, Dad," Harry said through gritted teeth. "Standing and fighting."
"Harry…!" Ron yelped.
"I'M NOT LETTING HIM OFF THIS TIME!!"
With a renewed burst of adrenaline, Harry leaped forward. Voldemort gave a startled yell as the green line began to slowly snake its way down towards him. Sweat began to pour down Harry's forehead and into his eyes, mixing in his hair and sliding down his face. His vision were beginning to cloud even behind his glasses. He could barely hear his friends shouting or the shadows of Voldemort's victims trying to persuade him to run. All he knew was that Voldemort was in his grasp to kill, and he had to take this chance.
Harry was suddenly thrown backwards and onto the floor, the green light dissipated into thin air, and Voldemort was shoved back against the far wall. The shadows began to shrink back, receding in color and clarity.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Harry screamed lividly, his face turning into an unnatural glare at Ron. Ron had body-checked him and forced him down to the ground.
"What do you mean, "What am I doing"?!" Ron shouted back. "You were having a seizure! If you'd gone on for much longer, that connection would've broken, and you'd be dead!"
Harry quickly stood, followed by Ron.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Ron forced Harry down again at such speed that they skidded along the white-washed floors with a horrible, deafening squeak. Ginny and Colin were screaming like an injured Banshee, screaming and sobbing at the same time.
"Oh, dear God," Ron whispered, his face blanching even more with each word as he stared at them. Dennis Creevy's small body had collapsed onto the floor, his eyes shut as though he had blinked just as his life force was taken from him in the time span of a breath.
Ron swore. "Inconsciente!"
Voldemort flicked it aside deftly with his wand. "The titchy brat," he muttered, letting his wand dangle carelessly. "Better off dead…wouldn't have lasted two minutes when the Darkness takes over…"
"SHUT UP!!" Colin screeched, so loudly his throat ached, his head feeling as though a hammer was slamming it as hard as it possibly could. "C-Cruc—!"
"NO!!" Ginny grabbed Colin around the neck and dragged him back, closing off his throat just before he could finish the curse.
"Ginny!" Colin gasped, trying to pry her arms from around his neck.
"Don't give him a reason to kill you, too!" Ginny whispered fiercely, her eyes squinted shut against the death she had just seen. "Don't let him kill you like…like my brothers were killed…"
A loud thud filled the air as the door was wrenched open again and banged on the wall. Dumbledore, Oleta, McGonagall, Alice, the dog-woman, Neville, Tony, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joan rushed into the room.
"Professors!" Ginny howled loudly. "He killed Dennis! He killed Dennis!"
Dumbledore's eyes flickered over to the dead boy and McGonagall softly gasped, her hands flying to her face. Dumbledore shut his eyes, then faced Voldemort.
"Someone else, then, Tom?"
"But of course, Dumbledore. My only regret is not hitting the others at the same time. Little wastes of flesh and dirty blood."
Dumbledore stood silently for a moment, and then his eyes slowly hardened, becoming a glacial, frightening ice-blue.
"All of you stand back," he muttered with a rock-hard voice, stepping forward, his wand pointed at an angle. ""Dirty blood", eh? Last time I checked, your blood was not so pure as it could be."
"A fling doesn't render a person "dirty" or "pure", Dumbledore," Tom said, with a patient air of one explaining long division to a 4th-grader. "The exploitation of magic among people who don't understand it, could never understand it fully…that's what renders a person "dirty"."
"You don't care, do you, Tom? You'd kill a Pureblood just as soon as the next Muggle-born. Anything to satisfy your blood lust."
"Well, I prefer to kill Mudbloods, but…I have no qualms about killing any Purebloods who stand in my way." Voldemort stopped swinging his wand like a pendulum and aimed it at Dumbledore, radiating cold, calculating, icy energy.
"Someto!" Dumbledore suddenly shouted, making the others jump as he stabbed the air with his wand a blue streak of light flew from the tip.
"Protego!" Voldemort shouted, and the spell reflected and disintegrated.
As Dumbledore released another spell, with Voldemort sending one back, Harry managed ot turn away from the sobbing Ginny and Colin, who each had hold of Dennis, and Ron and McGonagall, who were kneeling beside them, comforting them as best they could, and his eyes landed on Oleta.
The black-haired woman was watching the battle with a strange look in her eyes; the look of reaching comprehension but not quite there yet. Something about this battle was jogging her memory of her life before St. Mungo's. Harry reached forward and touched her arm. She turned and looked at him, her brilliant blue eyes filling with tears of frustration.
"You're…you're Oleta Dumbledore," Harry said quietly, so know one else could hear. "You have a husband named Albus and a daughter named Minerva. You taught my parents Defense Against Dark Arts at Hogwarts. You were a member of the Order of the Phoenix. You were incapacitated mentally by Voldemort and have lived in St. Mungo's for the past 17 years."
"I'm Oleta Dumbledore," she suddenly said, making Harry's insides jump. "I'm Oleta Dumbledore."
Voldemort viciously wiped a trickle of purple blood from his cheek and thrust his wand out at a straight angle.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Time seemed to slow down…All they could see was the green light passing through the air like an arrow, headed straight for Dumbledore.
"I'M OLETA DUMBLEDORE!!"
Time suddenly split into slow and fast motion, McGonagall was screaming, a crack filled the air as Voldemort apparated away, laughing triumphantly, and a blinding green glow seemed to be filling the room.
It took its time going away, Harry coughed into his hand it cleared. He wiped his suddenly foggy glasses and squinted at the scene before him.
Oleta was limp just like Dennis was; she had fallen backwards into Dumbledore's arms and he had sunk to the floor, supporting her under her arms with his hands.
Harry felt himself brushed aside as McGonagall sped past him and clattered to the floor, dropping her wand.
"Dad, dad, she isn't…she can't be!" McGonagall whispered tortuously, incredulously. "Please, Dad, please tell me she…please, Dad!"
Harry's shock at McGonagall addressing Dumbledore as her father soon gave way as Dumbledore slowly raised his head. His blue eyes, much like Oleta's, seemed to be stuck in limbo, not quite living and not quite dead. McGonagall stared into his face until he could bare it no longer; he dropped his head and buried his face in Oleta's thick, black hair.
"Oh, DAD!" She grabbed onto Dumbledore and buried her face into his shoulder. "Mom…oh, God, Mommy…"
Harry stumbled backwards and felt the strength in his knees leave him. He sunk unconsciously to the ground, unable to blink, as he watched McGonagall keening over her lost mother.