Chapter 12: The Fight Between Life and Death
"Life is a battle between love and hate; love is a battle between life and death, sweet kisses and bitter tears." – Anonymous
In front of our three heroes, the cloud of dark cloth seemed unmoving, but one farther in front than the others threw back her hood. It was Bellatrix. They stopped, staring at her.
"Help! Oh, help me," she cried in a mocking voice. "You fell for it, Potter, Whitman. And now you and your boyfriend will pay."
Another hooded figure stepped out from the crowd. He threw back his hood. "Draco, run now, and never tell a soul of what you have seen. The Dark Lord has use for you." The man with the pale face and paler blond hair looked at his son.
The boy stared at his father with steely green eyes, eyes that showed disgust and loyalty to someone else. "Never. Never will I join you, and never will your 'Dark Lord' rise to power." He looked at Mara. "And never will I let any of you harm her."
"And I won't allow it, either," Harry stepped forward with Draco. They stood in front of Mara.
"I do not need protection." Mara's dark blue eyes grew almost black with fury. "I need help from my friends and strength from their love. And, Death Eaters, it's funny. From what I've seen, Voldemort is a coward, lazy, or stupid. Where is he now, while you fight? Why send hordes of you just for two teenagers, not yet fully trained? And how, I ask you, how does he intend to reign over all magic kind, when he must surely know there will always be at least one who has the power, the heart, and the strength, to rise up against him?" She looked Lucius straight in the eye. "Do you honestly expect him to reward you greatly? Please. From what I've heard, while he's been hiding out all these years, you were hiding yourself, with your Dark objects, hiding them from the Ministry, partly because you paid them off all the time. All the while earning the hatred of your only son." She turned to Bellatrix. "And you… sure, we fell for your trick. Because, unlike any of you, we have hearts, hearts that are willing to go all out for helping a friend. Oh, and the boyfriend crack? Just wanted to ask you one thing. Are you related to Pansy? Because your attempts at hurting me emotionally are so similar in their immaturity."
And for a second, just one moment, a little look of hurt was inflected in the two Death Eaters' eyes that Mara had singled out. Lucius glanced nervously between Mara and Draco. Bellatrix glared at her.
Then Mara and her friends lunged forward and starting casting as many spells possible that would at least paralyze the massive group. Nothing would work, or at least, it didn't for long.
Suddenly, Mara remembered something strange about her tutor back in America. He had been kind, but had seemed to be training her for this type of thing, now that she thought of it. Another thing that occurred to her was his absence during what would have been her third year at Hogwarts. Another detail sprang to life. He had never ventured out of his room at night, and never taught her during the full moon.
Most of that was unimportant right now. Almost all of it, in fact—except for the training bit. He had been training her. He had known this would happen, perhaps because Dumbledore had guessed.
She yelled out one of the spells he had taught her. "Mara," he had said, "there may come a time when you must fight a mass of enemies—alone or nearly so. Use this spell if this ever happens."
"Maera tana!" A blast of white light covered the field. It blinded them all. The next part of it petrified them. The final effect was that it banished them from the place, without Apparation.
Mara had always loved that the first part of the spell sounded like her name. Most of the reason she loved that was because her name was said differently. (Mare-a, not Maura) Then she realized that the spell had been made for her, to protect her… and possibly the world. Or at least Hogwarts.
It seemed too incredible to be true. It seemed too easy. She knew they'd come back for her again. Maybe not for a while, but eventually. And maybe next time, they'd be stronger. Maybe next time… they'd bring Voldemort.
"Er," was all that Harry could muster.
"What just happened?" Draco asked, bewildered.
"It was a spell that my tutor taught me. It transports a massive group after blinding and petrifying them. I think it was created for me to use."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Harry was still staring at the empty field. "God. And they told me I was supposed to be powerful."
She laughed. "You are. I'm just a faster learner. Now, can we please go back? I think Dumbledore ought to know. And… I've got a question for him."