A/N: Wanted to delve deeper in the Potterverse, so I brought out a fun nasty.

Chapter 12

Emily sighed.

Turning in the chair, she looked at the sleeping form of her husband. She had certainly wore him out. He'd be out for hours. It might be strange, and perhaps somewhat manipulative, but she knew that if she needed some time without his meddling, she could always shag him senseless. He slept like a log afterwards.

Things weren't working out. Not things with Harry, of course. Things were certainly working there, in all the right ways. But this hunt for her horcrux, it was dragging on. After losing the fight in the Forbidden Forest, Emily had no more avenues to search, no direction to turn. Slipping on some simple clothes, she left the house and apparated away.

She arrived at the ruins of a manor. The old home of her father. Some time in the past couple of years, it had caught fire and burned down. She honestly expected that her horcrux had done it. Twisting her wand gently in her hand, for the second time in her life, she whispered an incantation that was potentially lethal to her.

"Expecto Patronum."

The massive basilisk burst forth from her wand, before slithering away into the sky. Emily waited. Eventually, a crack signified the arrival of someone else.

"I'm surprised you came."

"I'm surprised you called."

Emily turned around to meet the ruby eyes of her other self. "I'm certain that you were much more surprised by the method in which I called you."

Voldemort shrugged. "It certainly was unexpected. Who'd have thought that something like love would make the impossible, possible? What did you wish to speak of? Have you finally seen reason?"

"Harry is here to stay, there is no changing this fact." Emily sighed deeply. She wondered if the bastardized soul that sustained her horcrux had turned it into a broken record.

"Then I don't see a need for me to remain here. I'll take my leave." Voldemort didn't even get a moment to turn around before Emily spoke again.

"I can't be without him, Emily. I won't be able to continue. And you need to be destroyed. An existence like yours is an abomination."

Voldemort scoffed at Emily's use of their birth name. The muggle name her muggle loving mother gave her. The name she shed when she realized her true place on this earth. The name her pathetic self picked back up when she lowered herself to see another being as her equal. "Don't speak that name to me. I am not her, and I am most certainly not you. I have risen above Emily Riddle. Once upon a time, so had you."

"Clearly. Then Voldemort works just as well. But with this sudden ego of yours, why would you wish to return to me?" Emily wondered if Voldemort even bothered to listen to anything she had said after that.

Voldemort gave pause. "You are not the woman you once were. We need to be ruthless, Emily. We need to be powerful and we must have control. You've given that boy your everything. You are powerless to him. You're vulnerable. Can't you see that you are weaker now than you have ever been in your entire life?"

Emily shrugged. "You wouldn't understand. This powerlessness you see, this vulnerability, its something precious. In finding someone I can be vulnerable with, I have truly found someone I can trust. Even if I spurn his trust at almost every turn."

With a scoff, Voldemort replied, "You're right, I wouldn't undertsand. I assume that's all?"

Emily smirked and shrugged almost non-chalantly. "Well, since you're here... incarcerous."

As Voldemort dodged the spell, Emily threw up the widest and shoddiest anti-apparition jinx that had ever been put up. It wouldn't last long, but hopefully she could take Voldemort out quickly enough. Voldemort certainly tried to apparate right after she regained her posture, but to no avail.

"Ugh, and in your message, you said that you just wanted to speak." Voldemort sighed theatrically.

"I lied. Its something I'm adept at."

"Yes, you certainly are. And how much does Harry appreciate that skill of yours?" Voldemort was quite certain that Emily had not told her husband of this impromptu meeting and she was alone.

"What do you think?" Emily kept her response short and focused on her spells.

The two exchanged hexes and curses for quite some time. But they were far too evenly matched. It was clear that Voldemort clearly had grasped the most power she could weild. She could still outlast her horcrux, but she was hoping the fight didn't turn into a battle of attrition. Emily held back nothing. Even when it meant taking a dark amputation curse to her thigh, she traded the blow to hit Voldemort with a blasting curse. Both had gotten a shield up, however, so Emily didn't lose the whole limb, and Voldemort avoided most of the blast.

"Harry's going to pissed when he finds that on me tonight."

Voldemort taunted her as dusted herself off. "You don't have to let him in between your legs every night, you know." And then, with a look of slight disgust. "Do you two ever go without?"

Emily laughed. "We're newlyweds... so no. What is that all over your chest?"

Voldemort looked down to see that her blouse had not survived the blasting curse, and her breasts were bared. As well as the horrific scars and open wounds that were present.

"You said it yourself, I'm an abomination. This body is rotting. Its not a good fit. I'm honestly surprised its lasted so long."

Emily lowered her wand, Voldemort did the same. "So you're not going to be a problem for much longer either way. Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Perhaps. Or maybe, I'm preparing a far better vessel. One that will have the required parts to host my unique soul."

Emily didn't have to think hard for this. "Bellatrix. You think the unicorn blood and heart will be able to stabilized your connection with the body. Is she aware of your plans?"

"She was the one who made them, moron. Should I fail to kill Potter and this body falters, then yes, she and I will become one."

"I'm sure that the very thought gets her off." Emily spat out with revulsion. In the past, Bellatrix's sexual obsession with her had merely been annoying, but tolerable. Since the betrayal, however, Emily's patience for the woman's lust was non-existant.

"Are you even one to judge anyone on morals or ethics? You were getting off to a fourteen year old, were you not? Without his consent."

Emily took the retort in stride. "I got consent eventually."

Voldemort laughed. "Oh yes, because that makes it all okay. Stockholm syndrome. If it ever wears off and he leaves you, all of your struggling against me will have been worthless."

"I am not having this argument with a fraction of myself. Its stupid." Emily fired off another hex at the battered body of Voldemort, but Voldemort flicked it away.

"I think its time I left. This fight's going nowhere."

Emily frowned. She was certain that if she kept her other self here, she'd emerge victorious. But Emily was perfectly aware that her escape skills were second to none. After all, her greatest fear was death, so always having the option to flee was her number one priority. She had placed the standard jinxes to keep her other self here, but short of incapacitating the woman, she had no way to physically stop her.

She needed backup. She'd apologize later for what she was about to do, but she shoved her way into her and Harry's connection and forced the image of the graveyard, herself and Voldemort into his head. He'd arrive shortly and she imagined he would not be happy.

Voldemort took this moment to lift up into the air and fly off. Emily groaned, but finished relaying her message before giving chase. It took three minutes for the help to arrive.

"Emily, what the bloody hell were you thinking?"

Emily was surprised she could hear her husband's voice at this speed, but she turned to see he was right next to her. The shock caused her to slow imperceptibly before she regained her composure. He was riding his firebolt and she was surprised the broom was keeping up, but with the way it was shaking in his grip, she knew the broomstick couldn't maintain its current velocity for long.

"Flank her. I'll fire spells to slow her down. The barrier I set up is only a couple kilometers out."

He nodded and then veered left. Emily did her part and began firing off various spells at the figure in front of them. Voldemort knew to dodge as well as she could, earlier in the chase she had been grazed by an orange jet that had caused that part of her body to calcify. Her eratic movements allowed Harry to get ahead of her quickly. The group of three were only a couple hundred meters before the edge of her spells that did not permit magical travel, so Emily remained on high alert for her horcrux to make her play.

"Bringing your lover here? At least you're trying to make it easier for me." With this, Voldemort barrelled toward Harry. Harry's wand whipped about furiously and several jets of light were streaming towards her. Emily herself panicked and raced to Harry when suddenly, Voldemort veered downward.

"Not today you bitch." Sending out a wave of Gubraithian fire, Emily hoped to catch even just a piece of her horcrux. Summoning a flame even hotter and more powerful than fiendfyre was taxing, but it proved effective as her other self stopped short, allowing Harry to once again position himself between her and freedom.

"Damn, you must be desperate. That kind of fire wouldn't even have left behind a corpse." Voldemort didn't seem as worried as Emily believed she should have been and this placed her further on edge. With a look of derision, Voldemort taunted her further. "I can feel your magic. I know I don't have much further to go. Why don't you make this easy on yourself by stopping your pursuit? No shame in admitting defeat."

Emily growled at her other self's sneer. "I think not. You're exactly where I want you."

"Funny. I could have said the same thing." At this all three of them moved at this same time. Emily shot off her go to killing curse. Voldemort pulled an ornate black dagger and leapt back into the air, flying over the green jet of light. Harry began to fly towards Voldemort and before she got more than ten feet in the air, he nailed her with a bludgeoning charm that sent her rocketing towards the ground. He packed as much force into the spell as possible, and had her body impacted the earth, he was certain she'd be flattened into a smear.

But the sickening sound he had braced himself to hear never came. A foot from the ground a black light enveloped Voldemort's body. The black light solidified into sphere, and Emily yelled to Harry, "Get back, Harry! Whatever's in there is dangerous!"

The black dagger was a rudimentary magical tool, similar to a portkey. It was incredibly potent dark magic, but instead of sending the user somewhere, it brought something to the user. Emily had no idea what her other self had brought to them, but it would be incredibly lethal, whatever it was. Suddenly, the sphere exploded.

"AAAARGH!" With a wretched scream of pain, Emily and Harry watched as Voldemort exploded from the sphere, propelling herself past the boundary where she immediately turned and disapparated. But the most horrifying part of her departure was the fact that her body had been missing an arm and a leg.

'What kind of monstrous creature did she bring here that could do that?' Emily immediately grew fearful as she flew up and grabbed Harry by the back of his robes and made a break for the boundary. They were not fast enough.

Something thick, like a troll arm, slammed into her back. Had she not known better, she'd have assumed Harry had fired off another bludgeoning charm, but hit her by mistake. Spiralling out of control, she felt an arm wrap itself around her middle, and knowing she had no time, used every bit of magic she could muster without her wand to banish Harry away from her to safety.

Emily hit the ground painfully and felt a vice latch itself onto her shoulder. Thankfully her body was unique and could withstand great force, but even so, she felt her bone snap and blood ooze from her broken flesh. Using the hand of her other arm, she swung a fist out and felt it land on something hard and hairy. The thing that had bitten her squealed and was thrown off of her.

Emily rose to her feet as fast as she could. Her first thought was to look for Harry, and it took an immeasurable amount of self control to refrain from doing that. She could feel that he was fine. She had much more pressing matters. Using her ears to guide her, she laid her eyes on the beast that her other self had brought out.

Her body froze. The creature was preposterous to look at. Covered in red fur, it looked like a cross between a star fish, and a gorilla. It had five lmbs that converged into a face that was predominantly taken over by a mouth. "That crazy bitch summoned a quintaped? How did she even manage to attach the magic to one in the first place?"

Quintapeds were horrifying creatures. Legend says that their race once used to be a large magical family but were cursed into this form by a rival family. Which they then slaughtered... and devoured. Quintapeds only ate flesh, and they strongly preferred the flesh of humans. One had never been killed or even captured. They aged incredibly slowly and their physical power was unmatched. The only fortunate part of their existence was that they were all confined to a tiny island and couldn't swim. They resisted magic to an insane degree and Emily doubted that even a killing curse would be effective.

Things were looking bad. Had there been any nearby muggles, Emily would have offered them up as a meal to get herself and Harry out of there, but Voldemort had lead them to the deserted countryside. She could probably outrun the monster, but allowing to go about like this was tantamount to breaking the statute of secrecy. It would have to be dealt with by her and Harry.

"Harry!" Emily called out to Harry as the creature shook off the blow she had given it. As the creatured eyed her warily, she explained her plan to Harry. "Dig a deep pit Harry. Using blasting curses, bring down lightning, I don't care, but make as big a hole that you can and fill it with water."

"Got it."

"And for Merlin's sake, stay in the fucking air while you do it."

She didn't hear a reply, which was just as good, because the beast used three of its powerful limbs to lunge at here at a great speed.

'How is it so fast?' Emily got off a single spell before she had to dive to the side. The enraged monster had closed the gap in a moment. As she had expected, the magic glanced off of its hide. 'Conjuring will have to do.'

Immediately she conjured her favorite purple chains to shackle the quintaped, but it shattered them faster than she could bring them out. She then conjured up several venomous snakes, but she knew they were little more than base distractions. Sure enough the beast causually jumped over them as it continued to bore down on her.

Despite her increased strength, Emily had no intention of grappling with the quintaped. For one, its five limbs could all function as arms to rip her apart. And secondly, it still vastly outstripped her physical power. Still, she could easily take advantage of its weaknesses. However, to do that, she'd had to lure it to the everlasting fire she had previously conjured.

Emily took to the air, but stayed low enough that the qunitaped wouldn't suddenly decide that Harry was a more interesting target. Considering how fast it could move, Emily wouldn't be surpised if it could make a fifty or even sixty foot jump. So she stay just off the ground and sped towards the white flames. Unfortunately, the quintaped seemed to retain a sense of danger as it slowed significantly as they neared the fire.

The fire's heat, Emily knew, would take ages to kill the beast. But it would eventually succeed. The only problem was that everlasting fire did not spread. The flames, though incredibly hot, did not alight on other surfaces. So the fire was only stage one of her plan. She wanted the beast in pain. Horrible, blistering pain. Only then did she feel confident to lead it to Harry's makeshift pond. Qunitapeds avoided water notoriously. It was their one true fear. Though it was wary of the fire, it would be willing to make the risk to get another bite of her flesh.

"Come on you disgusting creature. Lets see which of us will come out of this on top." Emily taunted the beast, and her words caused it to roar as it charged her. She didn't know if it comprehended her speech, or if it was simply her voice that provoked it.

Bracing herself for the pain, Emily lunged backwards into the fire. She felt her body immediately begin to blister as the searing flames licked her body. A normal human body would have alighted from the heat, but Emily and the quintaped had bodies heavily altered by dark magic. The quintaped followed her, and she was happy to hear its pained screech as it felt the heat.

Qunitapeds had the highest danger rating from the ministry available. The creature was on par with others, such as Nundus, Lethifolds, and Dragons. Its lethality was not to be questioned. Emily crouched quickly and launched herself out of the fire. Her exposure lasted only a brief couple of seconds, but Emily's clothes had already burned away and her skin below was already a dark red. She was worried that the unclothed parts of her body, her head and hair for example, might have even faired worse.

She rocketed up to eighty meters in the air, feeling confident that the beast couldn't make it to her. She took the moment to look at Harry's progress. The image that she saw completely floored her. Harry had already made a massive crater in the earth and it was already half full of water. Certainly deep enough that she could drown this damned monster. However, her shock was cut short as a smouldering lump shot out of the fire below her at an alarming speed. Clearly her estimation of its power when it first moved to her had been short. It held back, or perhaps the imminent threat of the fire allowed it to unleash more power. She reacted as fast as she could, strafing to her left as soon as she noticed the threat, but the quintaped was far faster. Just as the body passed her in the air, a clubbed foot wrapped around her leg. She found her body jerking upwards with the beast's momentum and lost control of her flight.

The beast knew the threat was real this time and within a second, all five of its legs wrapped her body up tightly as the reached the apex of their flight. Emily struggled vainly but couldn't free herself, and the quintaped had no intention of giving her an opprotunity. Using its powerful jaws and razor sharp teeth, the monster latched it mouth over her skull and clamped down with all its might. Emily screamed out in pain as she felt the teeth penetrate into her skull. The pressure around her cranium was intense and Emily knew that she had to free herself now or she'd perish.

Emily separated her mental state from the pain as she began manipulating the magic in her body towards her head. This would be the most intense magic she had ever attempted without a wand. Human transfiguration was already difficult with a wand. It was even more dangerous when performed on oneself. All of a sudden, the magic rushed through her body and into whatever hair she had left on her head, transfiguring the strands into sharp blades. The quintaped, whose insides were not as powerful as its skin, was perforated at once. Death was instantaneous and it fell away from her, lifelessly to the ground.

Emily felt her body also began to fall to the earth but she lack the strength to do anything about it. Just as she began picking up significant amount of speed she felt Harry arms wrap around her body. Immediately, she felt him recoil in pain as part of him came in contact with her hair. But her sharp strands did not slow his arms as they secured her onto his broom, despite the scent of blood that enveloped her nose. She knew he had to have been cut badly, but she was barely conscious and couldn't do anything for him. As she slowly faded into black nothingness, she just barely heard his whispers.

"Rest. We're fine. I can take it from here."