Title: Light
Author: Amelia Bedelia
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Final Trick
AUTHORS NOTE: Second-to-last chapter… So nice to almost be finished, but yet so upsetting… I hope you guys like this chapter – I really want it to be one of my best!
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Final Trick
"Daddy?"
Voldemort let out a series of laughs. The Death Eaters followed suit.
Breanna stared at her father, begging for him to lie to her – anything but this.
And then a strange thing happened. His eyes locked with hers, creating a strong bond. Breanna immediately felt all noise around her disappear. It was an odd sensation; she felt as if she were floating on a cloud. She did not look away from her father's eyes, for fear of dropping into a bottomless pit.
With a strong tug, Breanna felt as if her mind had been pulled from her head. She had no feeling in her body any longer. Everything was numb.
Breanna heard her father's voice inside of her head.
Sirius, his voice seemed to whisper frantically. Look at Sirius.
Breanna frowned. Her father quickly looked away the moment Voldemort returned to his side.
What on earth was that? She tossed her hair over her shoulder, eying Sirius as he bent his head over his lap in concentration. Sirius?
Puzzled, Breanna stretched her neck further, attempting to attract Sirius' attention without speaking. Sirius looked up suddenly, staring into her eyes.
Breanna gasped.
------------Sirius------------
Keep talking, Mr. Roysen, Sirius urged. He glanced nervously over his shoulder at the surrounding Death Eaters. Just like I told you to…
Mr. Roysen blinked multiple times as he attempted to clear the tears from his eyes.
One distraction – that's all I need… Sirius took a deep breath and dropped his hand beside his pocket, hovering discreetly.
"Is she still a Legilimens?" Voldemort asked.
Mr. Roysen shook his head. "There are time constraints for the potion," he said.
The Dark Lord continued to watch him.
"I suppose you would like to know the constraints?"
Voldemort did not speak, merely staring at him instead. He chose to ignore Mr. Roysen's tone; he was the only person left that knew everything about the potion.
"One drop," Mr. Roysen sighed, "is equal to one hour and seventeen minutes."
Lord Voldemort grinned, bearing his yellow teeth. Slowly, he turned to Breanna.
"However," Mr. Roysen continued quickly, averting Voldemort's attention back to himself, "my wife and I gave Breanna a bit more than we probably should have."
Voldemort spun back, eyeing his prey with curiosity. "Explain."
Sirius looked over his shoulder again, waiting for the Death Eaters to look away. He scanned the circle for the tenth time, hoping to find something to use as a distraction, something that he might have missed. His eyes fell on Breanna. She was not sitting as she had before; she was shifting around into a kneeling position, as if she was preparing to run. Inhaling deeply, Breanna looked anxiously at Sirius and smiled at him, looking like she was about to hurl.
"At the time that we gave Breanna the potion," he explained slowly, "we were, unfortunately, not aware of those particular time constraints." He coughed, lowering his head. "We gave her an entire bottle."
Voldemort's eyes darted back to Breanna, scrutinizing the girl under his strong glare. "But she is not a Legilimens?"
Mr. Roysen shook his head. "The potion should have worn off exactly three months and nineteen days ago at approximately four twenty-two in the morning – give or take a few minutes." The weary man fell deeply into thought. "Due to possible miscalculations, there's a chance that we might have forgotten a leap year, which would cause Breanna to hold onto her Legilimens for a few more days, but it is highly unlikely."
Sirius felt the entire group raise an eyebrow together, astounded at his quick mathematics. But it was Voldemort who broke the silence.
"How can I trust you?" he hissed, holding his wand up to Mr. Roysen's throat, once again.
"Stop!" Breanna jumped awkwardly to her feet because her forearms were still bound together invisibly.
Sirius stared openly at her, but quickly stopped himself. This is it! he thought. This is the distraction I needed!
Throwing one last glance at the Death Eaters over his back, Sirius did what he had to do. Quick as a flash, Sirius plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out seven small, toy-like bombs.
Ah, Sirius felt himself smile. I've never been so happy in my life to see a Zonko's product…
"What is it, girl?" Voldemort spat, turning his wand on Breanna now.
Breanna froze, standing awkwardly beside Lily and Remus. She felt all eyes on her, including the entire circle of Death Eaters. Come on Sirius, she thought, attempting to wipe the fear from her face and replace it with anger. I didn't plan on saying anything else!
"Speak," Voldemort commanded, gripping his wand tighter. He pulled it away from her father and pointed it threateningly at Breanna.
Sirius held four of the small bombs in one hand and three in the other. Alright, Sirius concentrated, blocking out all sounds. You can do this…
He squeezed the small bombs in his hand. Light, damn you… Taking one more breath, Sirius focused on the small strings hanging out of the tops of each of the bombs. Incendio, he repeated inside of his head. Incendio, incendio, incendio.
A fire ignited in Sirius' heart, burning hot. It exploded within his chest, making him believe that his whole body was burning. His jaw locked into place; everything seemed to have locked up. But with a final blast of fire, Sirius felt a burst of magic shoot down both of his arms and emerge from his fingertips.
Sirius opened his eyes suddenly, finding he was staring into Lily's worried face. "Sirius?" she whispered.
All eyes were on Sirius.
He felt a severe pain in his hands. Sirius gasped sharply, looking down. He opened his hands and there were seven flames, scorching the inside of his hands. He felt himself smile weakly.
And then all went black.
Remus
He's gonna faint –
Remus quickly snatched the seven bombs from Sirius' hands as he fell backwards, landing softly on the grass.
Oh no…
Flames of red and orange were slowly burning down, seconds from disappearing. With a fast arm, Remus launched the bombs directly into the air. The entire group surrounding the Hogwarts students followed the bombs curiously, taking no action.
The seven bombs were thrown several feet into the air. For a moment, they seemed to hover but then began to drop down steadily and fast. Lily and Mr. Roysen both ducked, covering their heads with their hands.
Alarmed, Remus realized that Breanna was still standing on her feet. Remus snatched Breanna's arm and pulled her down to the ground with alarming speed, covering her head protectively. She did not resist.
Six feet above the ground, the bombs exploded, releasing a thick, dark gas three feet in radius. It hovered in the air, clouding the Death Eaters' vision, but leaving the area beneath the dark cloud clear.
Remus raised his head, surveying the surroundings. Perfect, he thought, allowing a fleeting smile. A large cloud had tricked the Death Eaters into believing they could see nothing. Below the cloud, Mr. Roysen, Lily, Sirius, Breanna, and Remus were able to see everything clearly, including the puzzled movements of the Death Eaters' feet.
Remus looked around, hoping to find a particularly weak Death Eater. At once, a thin man appeared before Remus' line of vision. Acting upon impulse, he charged the confused Death Eater.
Remus ran full throttle, slamming his head into the Death Eater's stomach with a hollow thud. The man was knocked immediately to the ground, groaning.
The hood of the cloak fell back and Remus gasped.
"Rookwood?"
Rookwood snarled, attempting to stand up, but Remus quickly took care of that. Pulling his hand back, he punched him as hard as he could, knocking him out.
"Ouch…" Remus shook his hand limply as it began to sting. He had never punched anyone before, and he certainly did not look forward to doing so again.
His senses came back immediately, and Remus dug through Rookwood's pocket. Finally, he found what he was looking forward.
Snatching the wand, Remus ran in the opposite direction of the group of Death Eaters. He held the wand high in the air, speaking softly so that he did not attract any of the Death Eaters' attention. "Accio wands!"
After several seconds, nine wands whizzed through the darkness, all landing one by one at Remus' feet. Grinning, he picked all of them up, throwing Rookwood's wand over the stone wall surrounding the castle.
!Lily!
What on earth was that thing? Lily crawled past Breanna and her dad as they pushed their way out of the circle and past the remains of the bombs, spewed across the lawn. She made a mental note to ask Sirius about the bombs after he regained consciousness.
"Sirius," Lily whispered hurriedly, kneeling beside his motionless body. She fanned him, slapping his face a few times. "Wake up – we've got to go!"
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Sirius stared up at the fog, more confused than ever. "Where the hell am I?"
Lily grinned. "It looks to me like the underside of a dungbomb gone horribly wrong."
"Ah…" Sirius smirked. He pulled himself into a sitting position, cringing. He stretched out his arms and twisted his neck to the side. "I don't think I'll be doing any magic for quite some time now…"
Lily patted him on the back and motioned to a spot across the circle where there was an opening between two Death Eaters to crawl out. "Wandless magic," Lily said softly, amazed at Sirius' ability to get out of any mess they were in. "I can't believe you still had another trick up your sleeve."
"Remus said for me to use my strengths to help out," Sirius pointed out, crawling very slowly on all fours. He made a face as his burnt hands hit the ground, throbbing with pain. "It just took me awhile to figure out that pranks would be useful in this situation."
Lily laughed, following Sirius as he crawled away, but her laughter was quickly cut off.
She felt a hand swipe at her head. Lily spun around, looking for the source. Before she was able to see the owner of the hand, there was another swipe at her, but this time it found her hair. She felt a tug as the hand pulled at the roots of her long hair.
Lily attempted to scream and escape the grip, hoping that someone would notice she had not escaped. The grip grew firmer, pulling up. Lily fought with all the strength left inside of her to not rise into the smoke. But the more that she pulled away, the harder she was pulled back.
Continuing to struggle, Lily felt a second hand grip the cloth of her hood. It felt around, finding her shoulder, and then reaching its final destination: her throat.
She could not fight the Death Eater off any longer. Gasping for air, Lily was jerked reluctantly into the smoke.
Lily panicked. She could see nothing. Smoke blinded her vision. She brought her hands up to her throat, attempting to free herself from the grip.
For a fleeting moment, she had almost believed that she succeeded in freeing herself of the deadly grasp, but her relief had quickly disappeared as soon as a wand was jabbed against her throat, pushing deep into her pulse point and sure to leave a red mark for several hours.
Lily continued to struggle against the grip, slowly succumbing to the fact that she had a slim chance – if any – of making it out of Carisbrooke Castle alive. I don't think this was supposed to happen…
()()()()()() Breanna ()()()()()()
Breanna crawled to her dad's side as quickly as she could. "Dad, we've got to go!"
"Breanna!" Mr. Roysen hugged her, attempting not to sob into her shoulder. "Breanna, I'm so sorry. I had to tell him; it was our plan!"
"Its fine, Dad," Breanna whispered. "Everything can be solved at home. Right now, we need to leave," she hissed frantically, hoping none of the Death Eaters above her would hear her voice.
Her dad nodded, wiping the tears out of his eyes. She shoved one of the Death Eaters into another, creating an open space for them to exit.
The two escaped into the open, able to breathe freely. Breanna's dad smiled sadly, throwing himself at his daughter once more, unable to hide his tears. "We didn't mean to," he said, clutching her to him. "It was only supposed to last a few hours, Breanna, you've got to believe me!"
Breanna nodded, hoping to get her father to move away from their location and closer to the exit. "A few hours, a few years; all that matters is that I'm not on Voldemort's radar any longer, right?"
Her father did not speak.
"Dad?"
"Did you hear me earlier?" he asked, dragging her away from the mass of panicked Death Eaters.
"When?" she asked. "What part?"
"No," he quickly answered. "When you looked at me. Through direct eye contact," he said clearly. "What did you hear?"
Breanna swallowed, very confused. "You didn't say anything…"
"Exactly," he pointed out. "But what did you hear?"
"Sirius," she whispered, wondering if he had lost his mind. Her throat began to constrict; the first sign of tears. "I – I thought you told me to look at Sirius."
Her father nodded, frowning. "And so you looked at him. What did you hear, Breanna?"
Breanna began to cry silently. She hiccupped. "I heard him say that he needed a distraction."
Mr. Roysen shook his head sadly. "As I thought…"
"Daddy," Breanna squeaked, trying to wipe the tears from her face. With her hands still bound together, it was very challenging. "What's happening?" she asked. "What happened to me?"
"You still have it," he whispered rapidly, "but he doesn't know."
"I still have what?" Breanna asked in a low tone as her father was.
"Legilimancy."
Breanna did not speak. "You told me I didn't have it anymore!" she nearly shrieked.
"That's what is supposed to happen," her father explained, pulling her further and further away from the dark cloud still hovering over the many Death Eaters. "But the fear that your mother and I had," he continued, "was that you would have trained yourself to use Legilimancy without ever realizing it. After so many years of having the ability to perform Legilimancy, you would be able to continue without the help of the potion."
"No," Breanna interjected stubbornly. Her eyes widened. "Earlier," she explained, "I could hear you. I've never had that – that sort of feeling before…"
Her father nodded. "That's because you have the full power of Legilimancy. There's no potion restricting your abilities any longer."
"But I've been without a potion for several months!"
"No," he explained calmly. "That's what I told Voldemort. You've been without a potion for no less than an hour."
Breanna felt herself let out several sobs. She pulled her two arms that were still glued together close to her face, covering her eyes.
"The effects are simple," he continued, hugging his daughter close to him. He felt his heart fall to pieces as he told the truth he had been hiding from her for years. "With a potion, you were able to receive suspicions or feelings. Without the potion, you are able to enter a person's mind to know exactly what he or she is thinking. But only with direct eye contact."
That's how I knew, she found herself reasoning as she wiped away her tears. That's how I figured out Remus was a werewolf. That's how I knew that the Princess was lying. Breanna shook her head in defeat, unable to take everything in at once.
"Mr. Roysen! Breanna – what happened?"
"Remus," Mr. Roysen said softly, relieved to see another face.
"What happened to her?" Remus asked, frowning at the tears pouring out of Breanna's eyes. He held up his wand and whispered, "Finite." Relieved, Breanna felt her arms separate from each other.
"We'll explain later," Mr. Roysen said quickly. "As for now, we need to get out. And our diversion doesn't look like it will be able to hold up for much longer." A few Death Eaters had figured out to merely walk out of the large, black cloud or to drop onto their hands and knees. It wouldn't be long before they were all able to realize what happened and where the others had disappeared to.
"The cloud disappears within a few minutes," Remus said, handing Mr. Roysen and Breanna their wands.
"Then we've got to go now." Mr. Roysen put on a determined face. "Nearly an eighth of the Death Eaters belong to Hogwarts."
Remus nodded, only slightly amazed by the numbers. "What does that mean?" he asked.
"There is no quicker way to travel from Hogwarts to a location many miles away other than by a portkey," he explained. Breanna was well finished with her crying and had crossed her arms, glaring in the direction of the Death Eaters. She listened in on the plan, eager to duel. "Every night, the Death Eaters from Hogwarts return at midnight, unless they are delayed."
"We have less than fifteen minutes," Remus whispered frantically, looking quickly at his watch. He raised his wand steadily into the air, saying loudly, "Accio portkeys!"
A Death Eater that was currently crawling out from underneath the large, black cloud had heard Remus. He immediately pulled his head up, squinting to find the source of the noise.
Mr. Roysen was quick with his wand, even after several months of being held captive. He waved his wand quickly over his head and shot a stunning spell at the Death Eater. The cloaked man dropped to the ground.
"Where are they?" Remus muttered, wondering if he had not done the correct motions for summoning the portkeys.
"They must be locked up," Breanna said logically. "We have to find them…"
"The gatehouse," Mr. Roysen supplied. "They all enter through the gatehouse – they have to have left their portkeys there after they enter, right?"
Remus nodded and set off, running to the gatehouse. "Logical," he muttered, astounded at Mr. Roysen's knowledge of the building.
Breanna and her father traveled close on Remus' tail, dodging spells from Death Eaters that were finding their way out of the black fog.
But soon, multiple Death Eaters had surrounded them on all sides. Breanna could tell they were fighting a losing battle and it was time for a drastic change.
Alright, Breanna narrowed her eyes defiantly, raising her wand high above her head. It's time to try this Legilimancy…
------------Sirius------------
Damn…
Sirius stood up as soon as he had cleared the black cloud. He ran to the nearest torch on the wall and held his hands into the pool of light that it was giving off, cringing at the sight.
His two hands were red and throbbing painfully. The fire from the seven bombs that Sirius had clenched tightly in his hands earlier had burnt his palms and they were beginning to blister.
That'll leave a nasty scar…
A blue spell whizzed past Sirius' ear. Frightened, he looked over his shoulder toward the black cloud and found to his dismay that many Death Eaters had escaped. None of them looked happy, either.
Several Death Eaters charged Sirius with their wands raised high above their heads. They did not look happy.
Sirius felt his muscles seize up. He had no idea what to do! He had no wand to shoot any spells back. With the condition of his hands, Sirius probably wouldn't even be able to hold the wand. And even if Sirius had a wand and if his fingers weren't blistered to the core, he wouldn't be able to use it anyway because he had used wandless magic; everyone knew that after using wandless magic so far along in your magical training, you aren't able to do any magic for days on end. So Sirius did the only thing he could do in his situation.
Run.
()()()()()() Breanna ()()()()()()
It's not hard, Breanna rationed. You've been doing this for years without realizing it…
Breanna recalled her father's words as the Death Eaters surrounded them. Direct eye contact, he had said to her.
Ignoring the uneasy butterflies filling her stomach, Breanna quickly uttered a spell she had heard earlier.
"Flabrorum!"
A large gust of wind emitted from the end of Breanna's wand. The group of Death Eaters in front of them were shocked as their hoods were swept off, revealing their faces.
"Oy!" Breanna shouted at the people, redirecting their stares to her face. She looked into each and every pair of eyes. She felt the familiar sensation returning back to her; her mind was floating from body to body.
She felt a jolt as her mind returned to her own body with the possession of everyone's thoughts.
Breanna grinned.
Several spells were sent her way but she dropped to the ground, kneeling in the dirt. She held her wand into the air and hit three specific Death Eaters with a stunning spell, knocking them flat onto the ground.
Without blinking, Breanna rose quickly to her feet and ran to her right, pushing Remus hard into the ground. A green ball of light flew over his body and hit the tree behind them, causing the tree to lose its leaves and shrivel.
Remus lifted his head, spitting out the dirt that had caught unexpectedly between his teeth. He watched in amazement as Breanna ducked and shot spells at over ten skilled Death Eaters with exact precision in her movements.
Rolling onto his side, Remus looked at the tree that had taken a spell for him. Avada Kedavra, he gasped in awe. Breanna knew it was coming and pushed me out of the way – she saved my life
The last of the Death Eaters had been knocked to the ground, unconscious.
"Now that," Mr. Roysen muttered awestruck at his daughter's newly found ability, "is the reason we wanted a Legilimancy potion for the aurors."
Breanna smirked. She surveyed the damage that she had caused toward the Death Eaters, and then looked over in the direction where Remus was lying on the ground. "Are you alright?" she asked sensitively. "I hope I didn't push you too hard…"
Remus merely shook his head, blinking several times. He wondered if his jaw was still hanging open.
"What was that?" Remus asked sounding very surprised, to say the least.
"Legilimancy," Breanna smiled, helping Remus to his feet. "It's a long story…"
"Whatever the hell that was," Remus muttered, gripping Breanna's hand within his own, "it was amazing. I have never seen anyone that prepared for a fight in my life."
"It helps to know what your opponent is planning," Breanna cutely smirked. She leaned in to kiss Remus, but was quickly stopped.
"None of that, here," Mr. Roysen butted in awkwardly, suddenly very protective of his little girl. "In case you have forgotten, our lives are all still at stake…"
Remus nodded, taking several steps away from his girlfriend and her father. "Of course," he said quietly.
Breanna led the group with a brisk walk and a red face. "Over there," she said, pointing to a spot several yards away. Two Death Eaters leaned casually against the wall. Behind them, a large trunk was shoved into a corner.
Mr. Roysen stunned both of the Death Eaters easily. They keeled over in the dirt and dropped onto their face, unmoving.
"Quick," Remus said, "before anyone notices."
Mr. Roysen and Breanna stood with their wands raised in front of them as Remus picked at the lock on the trunk. With a weak, "Alohomora," the lock fell off.
Remus pushed the trunk up with a great deal of muscle. After a lot of grunting and a loud squeak, the trunk lid was open. Remus fished around inside, pulling out multiple items and shoving them into his pocket.
"I've got them," Remus said to Breanna. "It's time to find the others."
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
James sighed. The two Death Eaters guarding the door had not taken their eyes off of him for any reason at all. They did not even shift from side to side every now and then.
He knew they were the strongest men out of the entire group. The certainly looked like they were the strongest. There was a good chance that these two, burly men were not the brightest of the bunch, but if they were given a simple order – don't let James Potter out of your sight – they would most certainly obey that command.
A soft scratching noise bounced off of the walls.
Not another rat… James had seen his fair share of rats scuttle suspiciously across the floor, directly between his legs. He did not need another one.
The scratching grew louder, followed by a soft thud.
James looked up at the two Death Eaters. The sound was definitely coming from behind the door, and both were finally beginning to fidget.
With a sudden thud, the door swung open, revealing a small girl, peering suspiciously into the room.
Her jaw dropped.
Bella!
The two Death Eaters turned around, staring accusingly at the girl. "Who are you?" one of the men hissed.
James stood quickly from his seat, using the distraction as an advantage. He dropped to the ground, ignoring the possibility of bugs, rodents, and old spider webs littering the floor. Without making a noise, James crawled to the corner of the wall and then tiptoed forward until he was directly behind one of the two men.
"Sorry," he heard Bella stammer. "Wrong room…"
"I don't think so, missy…" One of the men began to step outside of the room, advancing toward Bella. James stomped his foot loudly.
His diversion worked. The two men turned back to look inside of the room. "Oy," one said nervously, staring at the bench. "Where did he go?"
James tapped the large man's shoulder. The man spun just as James had pulled his arm back, balling it into a fist.
With a wild swing, James managed to hit his target in the jaw. The man stumbled backwards, not expecting a blow to his face. He fell to the floor.
"What the – Potter!" The second man, still standing, began to charge James.
What do I do? James panicked. He cringed, anticipating the impact.
It turned out that James did not need to do anything at all. The moment the man had begun to run for James, Bella had jumped on the Death Eater's back, holding her cloak as a blindfold in front of his eyes so that he could not see where he was going.
"Stay away from James," Bella shrieked, amazed at her own bravery.
The man shook his head repeatedly, hoping for the cloak to somehow remove itself. He began to spin in circles and running into the walls. But as hard as he might have thrown Bella against the wall, she did not let go.
The man stumbled over his friend, landing sprawled on the floor. His head hit the stone with a loud crack, instantly knocking him out.
Bella rolled off the man's back, groaning in pain. "Shit," she hissed, cradling her arm. Bella looked up at James, shaking her head. "That's the very last time I save you, got it?"
James ran to Bella's side. "Are you alright?"
"What do you think?" Bella held up her right arm and pointed to a misshapen bone. "I think that last run in with the wall broke my arm."
James gripped Bella's left arm and pulled her to her feet just as the first Death Eater began to stir, massaging his jaw. They walked quickly out of the door, locking it before they had departed entirely.
"How did you know where to find me?" James asked, allowing Bella to lean on him. Her arm had weakened her overall tolerance for pain.
"Luck," Bella muttered, frowning at her wrist.
James hid his smile, instead focusing on her arm. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked. "Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix it when we get back, I'm sure. But everything else is good, right? You didn't bump your head back there, did you?"
Bella shook her head, biting her lip. At first, she had not cared about her arm, but the pain was growing more and more as the seconds passed. She held back her tears.
James opened the main door leading outside and helped Bella out with a hand on her back. They stood inside of a small alcove just outside of the door.
Bella allowed a squeal to emit from her throat. "Oh my – what happened?"
James peeked out and felt his eyes bulge out of their sockets. The grounds were not as he had remembered them. Lights from wands now flooded the dirt paths and spells shot back and forth. James ducked low just as a spell whizzed over him.
"You should probably hide or stay out of the way until things calm down," James said to Bella quietly. "They're bound to notice we got out soon enough, and, personally, you don't look like you're in much of a condition to fight anymore."
Bella put on a stubborn face. "I can fight if I wanted to," she protested, trying to block out the throbbing pain in her arm. "I just have a small disadvantage," she muttered.
"James!"
The two teenagers looked toward the right to find Remus sprinting into the small alcove with them. He spoke quickly and quietly, ducking from the continuous spells as Breanna and Mr. Roysen ran past, blocking spells from Death Eaters.
"These are portkeys," he explained, holding out a pink teacup and a brand new quill in each of his hands. "They leave at midnight, so we don't have long."
James nodded.
"Breanna and her dad are keeping the Death Eaters back for now," Remus said. "But I have no idea where Lily and Sirius went off to."
Just as the words came out of Remus' mouth, a large, black dog ran past.
"I think I have a good idea where Sirius might be…" Bella muttered. She snatched the quill from Remus' hand and said, "I'll find Sirius and meet you back at Hogwarts."
Remus stopped her and held up a wand in front of her face.
"I might as well," she said, pocketing two wands that belonged to her and Sirius. "I can't use magic with my arm, but we'll see what Sirius can do."
Without any hesitation, Bella jumped into the war zone to find Sirius, dodging any spells that flew at her.
"This is mine, then?" James asked, pointing to the teacup.
Remus nodded and handed it over. "Breanna, Mr. Roysen, and I have our own portkey to take us back." He gave James his wand and Lily's wand. "Try to find Lily."
James took his wand and pocketed Lily's wand along with the pink teacup. Swallowing the large lump in his throat, he heaved out a long sigh and raised his wand into the air. The familiar, determined face that Remus always seemed to see during the midst of a prank fell over James' face now but for an entirely different reason.
"I won't leave without her."
------------Sirius------------
Sirius stumbled wearily over his large paws through the castle grounds. During a brief moment after Sirius had thought he lost the pack of Death Eaters chasing after him, he had transformed into a large dog. As soon as his burnt hands hit the ground, he immediately regretted it, but the Death Eaters had quickly found this stray dog, leaving it very hard for Sirius to change back without raising any suspicion.
Dodging from shadow to shadow, Sirius' heart pounded rapidly inside of his ribcage, about to burst. His adrenaline had long since run out, leaving him breathless. Piece by piece, Sirius felt his body slowly fall apart.
Sirius was unable to run any further. He hardly felt his body lock up and his mind shut down, collapsing at the base of a tree. Breathing heavily, he lost his focus to maintain his Animagus form, and changed back into his own body.
"Sirius!"
Sirius did not move. He could recognize the voice as soon as it had reached his ears.
"Bella," he wheezed, opening one eye. A blurry image came into view.
"We need to move," she pleaded with him desperately. "We can't stay here, Sirius."
Sirius imagined in his mind that he was nodding, but knew that in reality, he was not.
Bella pulled Sirius into a sitting position. "Sirius – are you with me?"
"Bella," he repeated, not listening to her previous question. Sirius opened both of his eyes. "What are we doing?"
"Stand up," Bella commanded urgently. She helped pull Sirius to his feet, cringing as she could have sworn she heard the same bone in her arm crack just a bit further than before.
Still breathing heavily, Sirius swayed slightly on his feet and threw an arm around Bella's shoulder. "Thank you," he rasped.
Bella did not answer. She grunted quietly under the weight of his body, but did not stop her quick and purposeful movements. They had to find a location nearby and out of harm's way, and Bella's only option within the vicinity was behind several bushes near the stone wall.
"Right here," Bella whispered after they had reached their new hiding spot behind three large shrubs.
Sirius dropped to the ground, relieved. He rested against the wall. Sirius regained the use of his body and spoke. "Where did you come from?"
"I saw you running," Bella explained, sitting quickly down beside him, hiding from view.
"Ah – right," Sirius muttered, frowning down at his mutilated hands. "I – I think I need a Healer."
"Sirius, listen to me," Bella stated clearly, worried that Sirius was wavering on the edge of consciousness. He had been running continuously at top speed for at least twenty minutes, not to mention he had also been drained of nearly a full week's worth of magic. His hands – or paws – had also been through a great deal of damage; after running on the blisters, she saw that many areas of Sirius' hands had opened, leaving the raw skin exposed. At the sound of the loud growl in Sirius' stomach, she realized that he had also been running on no food. "This is important for you to pay attention to."
Sirius nodded.
"This is a portkey," Bella said, holding up the quill from inside of her pocket. "No matter what happens, you and I have to hold onto this – it's our only ticket out of here, got it?"
With a heavy sigh, Sirius' eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped into Bella's lap.
"Oh, shit."
With much difficulty, Bella used her only good arm to stuff the quill into Sirius' limp hand. She clenched his hand closed around it, and then held her own hand to the feathered tip.
Restlessly, Bella counted the seconds. Just a little bit longer, she sighed. We'll all make it back to Hogwarts safe and sound – we just have to wait it out.
Bella hated the extra time given for her to dwell on topics she did not wish to think about. She began to worry about things she would never have thought that she would need to. What would the staff at Hogwarts say when the entire sixth year of Gryffindor showed up, bruised, bloodied, and beat up? Would they all earn a string of detentions, or an award? Would they all even make it back alive?
Ridding herself of these horrid thoughts, Bella focused on the task at hand, once again. Why the hell isn't this thing working? For a brief moment, she began to panic – was this actually a portkey or a fake? Was it faulty?
Sudden voices in the area made Bella jump with alarm. Not now! Bella pleaded. We're so close – just give us one more minute!
The two wands lying in her pocket were useless, given the condition that both she and Sirius were in. Even if Sirius had not been currently lying on her pocket, Bella would not be able to use any sort of defense against Death Eaters. The only thing she could hope for was them to pass by.
"Watch yourself," a boisterous voice shouted, shattering the silence. "They could be anywhere."
"Sure, they can…" another voice said.
"Look," the louder voice yelled and the footsteps stopped. "I don't need any of your lip tonight, Brokey."
Bella held her breath, pressing her back against the stone wall. A large, hairy spider slowly crept up her arm.
Don't move, she told herself firmly, attempting to forget about the spider crawling towards her face. Ever since Bella could remember, she had been diagnosed with a terrible case of arachnophobia, unable to even look at a spider without paling. She clenched her eyes shut, keeping her breaths calm. No matter what happens, you can't move…
"They probably left already."
"They did not leave!" The loud man took in a deep breath, clearly irritated by the fact that several Hogwarts students had outsmarted a large group of Death Eaters. "There are seven of them – do you think they would simply be able to walk out of here?"
Bella bit deep into her lip, turning her head away as the spider reached her shoulder. I can't handle this, she shuddered, feeling tears spring into her eyes. I have to move –
"Did you hear that?"
Bella raised an eyebrow, confused. She had not moved. In fact, the spider was still sitting casually on top of her shoulder, unable to recognize the gravity of the situation.
"Yeah, it was some sort of – grunt…"
Grunt? Bella strained her ears, hoping to hear what noise they had heard. And then she heard it again. It was Sirius.
He was snoring.
Oh, no, Bella swallowed, feeling her heart skip several beats. You have got to be kidding me…
The footsteps started up again, growing closer. With a swift motion, Bella flicked the spider off of her shoulder and grasped the quill in panic as tightly as she could. She double checked Sirius' grip as well.
Without any warning, Bella watched in horror as the bushes in front of her split apart with two men, staring down at her like she was their dinner.
The burly man began to laugh loudly. "Look at this, Brokey – they aren't even trying to run."
The thin man named Brokey joined in, grinning evilly. "Rather pathetic, isn't it? They've just given up, simple as that." He sighed dramatically and raised his wands. "It's a shame that you have to die after all that you've been through."
Bella blocked out the speech and closed her eyes. They're right, she realized. I'm going to die. After everything we went through – I'll be dead within seconds.
The man raised his wand into the air and opened his mouth, preparing to send a curse toward her direction, but he stopped suddenly. It was possible that a fly had lodged itself in his throat and was blocking his air passage. Maybe in a moment of kindness, Brokey had a sudden change of heart and stopped himself from uttering the killing curse.
Or it could have been the fact that while the two men had been speaking, Bella and Sirius had simply vanished before their eyes.
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
Find Lily, James repeated over and over in his head. Find Lily and get out.
James jumped into the chaos, firing spell after spell at any Death Eater he met. He refused to back down.
Remus followed closely behind James, his wand held defensively in the air. He quickly moved in Breanna's direction, standing beside her as they dueled the group of cloaked men.
"Well?" Breanna gasped out, taking several deep breaths as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She dodged two spells by dropping to the ground.
"James has the portkey," he said under his breath, helping Breanna to her feet. "Your dad has ours, right?"
Breanna nodded, narrowing her eyes determinedly in the direction of the remaining Death Eaters. She smirked as she read their thoughts satisfyingly.
"Keep it up," Mr. Roysen grinned, watching his daughter out of the corner of his eyes. "Split up," he said underneath his breath, nodding toward James. "Distract them from James."
Remus nodded obediently. Taking several steps back, he held two fingers to his lips and whistled as loud as he could. "Hey!" he called, in case no one had heard. "I'm right here – come and get me!"
James looked back, grateful for the diversion. He smiled briefly and turned back to the remaining Death Eater standing in his path.
"Furnunculus!" James shouted. He swore as the spell missed.
"Stupefy!" the lone Death Eater retaliated bravely, standing his ground.
James was too quick for him. With a nicely placed, "Protego," the spell bounced off of James and hit the Death Eater square in the chest, knocking him flat on his back, unconscious.
A slow smile of triumph settled upon his face.
"Flagrate!"
James took a sharp intake of air, cringing. He slapped a hand to his arm, surprised at the pain. James stared open-mouthed at the burn line just skimming the top of his skin. Amazed by the sudden change of events, James sought out the owner of the wand.
"Over here, Potter," a voice hissed.
James spun on his heels, glaring at the large man in front of him.
"Come on," the large man said, stepping into a dueling stance. "A fight to the death," he said slowly, grinning.
"To the death?" James repeated automatically. He knew that all of his fights with Death Eaters would not stop unless they killed him, but actually hearing the words out loud sent a shiver down his spine.
Swallowing, James took several steps backwards, inches from tripping over the Death Eater that he had stunned earlier.
"You heard me, James," the large Death Eater spat.
Without a chance to talk him out of the fight, the large man had begun firing a round of spells off, one right after the other. "Crucio!" he shouted.
James easily avoided the spell. After several more spells, he was relieved to find that the man had a horrible aim.
"Aguamenti!" James shouted back, shooting a spurt of water into the man's face, blinding him momentarily.
The man howled in pain, covering his face protectively.
"Expelliarmus!"
The final spell hit the slow Death Eater square in the chest, sending him into the air and dropping with a soft thud back on the ground.
"James!" a voice shrieked, terrified.
Surprised by the sudden noise, James searched for the voice, ignoring the groaning man lying on his back. Standing in a large, open area was Lord Voldemort, grinning maliciously from ear to ear. He was staring directly at James.
And in his arms, with a wand pressed hard against her throat, was Lily.
.-..-..-..-..-..-. Peter .-..-..-..-..-..-.
Peter was fuming. Spitting out the dirt in his mouth, he glared up at his former friend and roommate.
You'll pay, he resolved, finding his wand several feet in front of him. It may not be now, but your time will come, Potter.
Crawling on his knees, Peter froze.
The teacup.
He immediately recognized the pink teacup lying in the grass as the one he had used to arrive at this very castle several hours earlier.
He must have dropped it. Peter cringed as he imagined his roommates returning to Hogwarts by portkey to find Peter nowhere in sight.
Peter looked up, watching James. His eyes were fixed in the opposite direction, focusing on the Dark Lord.
Grinning, Peter snatched the pink teacup right out from under James' nose and bolted.
()()()()()() Breanna ()()()()()()
"Stupefy!"
Breanna froze after she bellowed her final spell. She heard the thud as the final Death Eater fell to the ground.
"Are there more?" Remus' voice whispered behind her.
"I think they're gone…" Breanna relaxed her dueling stance, breathing much easier than she had within the past hour. "Wow."
"I'll say," Mr. Roysen beamed, walking to his daughter's side and wrapping her up in a large bear hug. He took a step back and smiled down at Remus. "You didn't do too badly yourself," he complimented, sticking his hand out.
Remus stared at Mr. Roysen's hand, rather astonished. "Thank you, sir," he grinned.
Breanna smirked as well.
"So," Remus said in the awkward silence that ensued, "how about that portkey?"
"Ah, yes." Mr. Roysen pulled out the third and final portkey – a dirty sock – and held it out toward the other two. "Are you both ready to go back?"
Taking a deep breath, Breanna clasped her hand onto one end of the sock beside Remus. "I think," she muttered in response to her father's question. With a hint of a smile on her face, she looked in Remus' direction. "Imagine what Dumbledore will do to us."
Remus was not listening.
Breanna frowned. "Remus?" she asked. "What are you looking at?" She twisted her neck and looked over her shoulder.
"Look," Remus whispered with horror filled eyes. "Breanna – we can't go yet!"
"Oh no," Breanna swallowed. Tears clouded her vision of James standing alone without a portkey in his hands. She gasped as she found Lily off to the right, strangled in the Dark Lord's grip. "We can't leave them alone," she said hurriedly, her hand loosening on the sock. "We've got to - "
But her words were cut off at the sudden tug on her arm.
The group of three disappeared.
!Lily!
"James!"
Lily watched in horror as James found her. He lost all color that had been in his face.
Slowly, James took a single step forward, approaching the two.
"That's it, Potter," Voldemort hissed. Lily began gagging as the wand pushed harder against her throat.
James picked up the pace as soon as he heard the choking noises. "Lily!" he gasped between breaths.
Immediately, the Dark Lord pulled away and held his wand in a straight, steady line. James stared at the wand without swaying, almost daring Voldemort to hit him with a spell.
"Crucio!" the Dark Lord hissed venomously, watching in pleasure as James Potter fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
Although no sound came out, Lily screamed for James, tears filling her eyes. James had dropped to his knees as soon as the spell hit him. He gritted his teeth, and dug his nails into the muddy grass, but he did not scream. He did not show any sign of giving in. He did not give Voldemort the pleasure of seeing him suffer.
Lily began to struggle in Voldemort's grip. She kicked at his legs and bit his arm, but he did not budge. In a final attempt to stop the Dark Lord, she brought her arm up as high as she could in his grasp and, with a forceful swing at his wand arm, she managed to break the solid, thin line that connected James to Voldemort's wand.
The spell was lifted off of him. James remained on the ground for several moments, bent over his knees and holding his stomach. He looked up just in time to watch as Voldemort threw Lily roughly to the ground. James did not have a chance to approach her, for the second she was thrown, she was quickly picked up by several other Death Eaters standing by.
"Stand up, Potter," the Dark Lord said, breathing heavier than normal. "Face me like a man."
"Don't do it, James," Lily whispered, fear in her eyes. I never should have called to him; I should have let him go without me, Lily scolded herself. "Don't do it."
Muscles aching, bruises covering his body, and clothes drenched in a mix of blood and sweat, James rose to his feet.
-----------------------------------James-----------------------------------
James slowly slipped his hand inside of his pocket. He felt a slight sense of security as the magic encased in his wand warmed at the feel of his touch, heating his numb fingers. Carefully, James held the wand steadily in front of him, pointing it at the Dark Lord.
Swallowing any nerves and fears that he had left, James took the plunge. There was no going back.
"What did you say to me?" James shouted across the lawn. He was surprised to hear his voice echo so loudly. He had not imagined that it could be so loud in his current state, but James did not show his surprise.
"You heard me loud and clear, Potter," Voldemort drawled. He raised his upper lip involuntarily, baring his teeth at the boy. "Face me like a man."
"I would say the same to you," James stated loud and clear, returning the deadly look, "but in your case, it's damn near impossible to be a man when you're already part beast."
Voldemort did not answer with a retort. Instead he retaliated by waving his wand quickly above his head and shooting a spell directly at James.
It hit James in the chest, knocking him off of his feet and sending him backwards several yards. He landed flat on his back and skidded for several feet after reaching the ground. James felt a hiccup in his body as the wind was knocked out of him, but he ignored the pain and stood, gasping for breath.
"Expelliarmus!" James shouted ferociously, sending a strong spell in Voldemort's direction. In a moment of hope, James had almost thought his spell had hit his opponent, but the Dark Lord reflected the spell at the last minute, sending it off in the opposite direction.
They began to move in a circle like two hawks, eyeing their prey. James ignored the unpleasant feeling as the Death Eaters closed the circle around them, watching in excitement. As James passed Lily, he did not look at her. He knew that the moment he let his guard down, all would be lost.
Voldemort fired a long string of spells in James' direction, but James was able to deflect them all. He sent another disarming spell back at the Dark Lord.
Voldemort laughed cruelly. "Is that all that Dumbledore can teach you?" he teased, easily dodging the spell. "You didn't come into this actually thinking you could get away with clean spells, did you?"
James raised an eyebrow at the word clean spells. He took advantage of hitting Voldemort during his speech, and sent multiple stunning spells at him. Again, the Dark Lord was able to dodge the spells much too easily.
"Try an Unforgivable Curse," Voldemort whispered to the boy under his breath. "I challenge you to use a curse that good ol' Dumbledore wouldn't approve of," Voldemort spat. He slowed his constant pacing and stared directly into James' eyes. His lips barely moved as he uttered the last words into the stillness.
"I won't move."
James felt himself being ripped in two. You can do this! he told himself. Just say the words and he's gone forever. James knew he didn't have the training nor the experience, but he had strong enough emotions to cast the Unforgivable Curses on the pitiful excuse for a man standing directly in from of him.
James stopped directly across from Voldemort and several yards in front of Lily.
"You can't do it, can you, Potter?" Voldemort taunted with a hint of a smile on his face. "You don't have it in you, do you?"
James did not answer the question. In fact, he almost looked as if he had not heard the question. He was still lost in thought from Voldemort's previous, tempting offer. But something else seemed to be attracting her eye to him.
She stared in awe at the person standing before her. Lily eyed the tall, muscular figure, wondering what had happened to the boy she once knew. His hair no longer jetted out defiantly at odd angles; it was finally beginning to look natural. His chin stuck out bravely instead of protruding upward like an obnoxious child wanting their way. He stood with his back straight, his shoulders back, and his wand steady before him without the slightest bit of hesitation. The child that Lily Evans once knew was gone.
In his place stood a fully grown man.
James balanced himself evenly on his two feet. With a deep breath, he broke the silence.
"I refuse to stoop to your level."
The Dark Lord looked as if he had seen this response coming. His face did not change. His smile did not fade. His body did not sway. With a grim sigh, he finally answered.
"Well, Potter," he said. "So be it."
Without a warning, Voldemort waved his wand and sent the same spell that he had earlier at James, knocking him off of his feet. Instead of landing flat on his back this time, James slammed into the person behind him: Lily.
"Stand aside!" Voldemort hollered at his fellow Death Eaters surrounding the pair. Without having to be told twice, the burly men holding Lily had quickly moved away, leaving the two students lying on the ground in pain.
Lily did not pay attention to the threat of the Death Eaters surrounding them. She took James' hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Are you alright?" she asked him promptly in a whisper, referring to the several cuts and dry blood covering his clothes.
"I – I'm fine," he whispered under his breath, avoiding eye contact. James managed to pull himself into a sitting position very close to Lily. She sensed that after everything they had been through on this night, James was finally afraid. They swallowed as the hem of a very long robe came into view near their feet.
"You may try to succeed in everything that you do," Voldemort recited slowly, "but sooner or later, Potter, you will fail. And you will fail miserably."
The Death Eaters around them laughed under their breath, imagining the two students' horrible fate.
"I'm terribly sorry it had to end this way," Voldemort said with a slight hint of dismay. "I really could have used some good Death Eaters like you two on my side."
Lily felt James' grip on her hand tighten out of frustration. With a strong but steady voice, James answered, "We would rather burn in hell than join you."
The wind stopped blowing, eager to listen in on their conversation. "Your wish is my command," the Dark Lord said with a crooked grin. He raised his wand and it glinted under the light of the torch hanging above them.
Lily closed her eyes and gripped James' hand.
Lord Voldemort opened his mouth, uttering the worst of the three Unforgivable Curses.
"Avada Kedavra!"
REVIEW SECTION:
Princess52577: Hope I wrote fast enough:D Thanks for the review!
Silver Gaze: Thanks for reviewing! And I hope this chapter kind-of clears up your previous questions! Thanks!
Chrissy8887779999: Hey, thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing!
LexyGirl0: Thank you, and thanks for the review!
Lilmissmolly: I'm glad you finished the story and I hope you enjoyed your camp! Thanks for reviewing!
wudnulike2know: I'm glad you were so absorbed in the story! Thank you for reviewing!
Laura: And sorry about the cliffhangers… grins evilly Thanks for reviewing!
HarryluvsMoaningMyrtle: You had some good guesses for the chapter:D Thank you for the review!
i am harry's bitch: Interesting name… haha! And thanks for the compliment/reviewing!
Next Chapter: Basically, a sort of epilogue straightening things out, even though it's not really an epilogue… :D The last chapter. That's all I need to say.
Well, guys… it's almost finished! But don't worry about no new stories ever appearing – currently, one long story is in the making along with a co-written story. Also, two one-shots are ready to be posted soon, and I'm sure I'll get some other stories churning after awhile… :D
You all are truly amazing! Thanks, every one of you!
Yours truly,
Amelia Bedelia
