Ch. 26 - The Other Wolf
"My friends, welcome," Voldemort hissed, addressing the Order members on their knees. Even from the adjacent corridor, Emmeline could hear Peter whimpering. "There's no need for tears, for this is a joyous occasion," he continued. "This day, my cause gains eight new followers."
Emmeline thought she was going to be sick, and tiptoed around the corner to conceal her panicked breathing. She cursed herself for not taking on Snape and the other four death eaters when she had the chance. Now she was the only one armed up against a room full of death eaters, and Volde-bloody-mort himself. She was going to die, and her sacrifice wouldn't even save her friends.
She calmed herself enough to recount what Alastor had said earlier: "If any of you see something, send a patronus to me." The trouble was, her partner with the ability to produce the patronus was in the other room without his wand. There was no way for her to call for backup.
...She had to do it.
She had to conjure a patronus herself.
"You can't," her mind reminded her as she raised her wand with a trembling hand, gripping the handle so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Alastor was right; the panic was making her forget every happy memory she'd ever had. She took in a few deep breaths and closed her eyes.
"Expecto Patronum."
Nothing.
"You dare defy me?" she heard Voldemort jeer. She had to do it, and she had to do it now.
She closed her eyes again. Details. Alastor said details...
She imagined herself back in Flourish and Blotts. The feeling of the books' textured spines under her fingers. The dust hanging in the air. The smell of old paper. "I thought I might find you up here."
And Remus.
His goofy smile.
The mess he made of his hair.
The way he perpetually smelled like tea leaves.
She could feel the texture of his bed sheets.
Bed sheets…
All of the sudden her mind drifted elsewhere, as it had every time she'd tried to perform the spell.
Blood on the bed sheets.
Twinges in her belly.
Choking on tears.
"Damn it, no…" She hadn't told anyone that every single time she attempted the patronus, her mind wandered back to that day. Why couldn't she get her memories to cooperate? She began to panic again. She was running out of time. Her friends…
Friends.
Another deep breath.
Marlene.
Lily.
James.
Sirius.
Peter.
And Remus...
The beads of sweat on his forehead.
His slight fever.
The raised tissue of his scars.
"You're not replaceable, Emmeline Vance. Not to me."
"...Expecto Patronum."
Emmeline felt a surge in her palm and opened her eyes. From the tip of her wand, a brilliant, silver light burst forth and began to take shape. It glowed so bright that she was afraid the death eaters in the other room might spot it. Her jaw dropped when the light materialized into a splendid she-wolf.
There was no time to marvel at her own creation. "Find Remus," she whispered, focusing hard on his image. As the wolf dashed away, Emmeline prayed that after five lessons of observing others and never practicing for herself, this would work.
…
"We should go back down to Alastor. There's nobody up here."
"I think we should check for hidden rooms or something."
"Pad, there are no trap doors or secret rooms. They might not even be here anymore."
Suddenly, a silvery wolf leapt into their view, startling them to the point of hurling spells. The light from their wands merely passed through the mist of the patronus.
Remus puzzled at the wolf, wondering if he'd gone mad. Had his patronus somehow become independent of his conjuring it? But this wolf had a slightly smaller frame and a different pattern in its fur...
Sirius squinted at the wolf. "...Who's patronus is-"
"Emmeline!" Remus exclaimed as he came to the realization.
As if it had heard him, the wolf bounded back down the hallway towards the staircase with Remus running to catch up with it. "Hurry!" he called back to Sirius.
Thankfully, Marlene and Alastor passed the stairs just in time to catch Remus and Sirius chasing after the white wolf.
"Is that your corporeal, Lupin?" Alastor asked, hobbling behind them in the pursuit.
He smiled with pride. "No, it's Emmeline's!"
…
"And what about you, Peter Pettigrew?" Emmeline heard Voldemort question him. His cool tone lingered on the P's in Peter's name in a way that made the hairs on the back of her own neck stand up. "What say you?"
"...I-...I-..."
"Peter, look at me! Resist him!" Emmeline knew that was James.
"Quiet!" scolded one of the death eaters. She heard a smack then a grunt, and suspected that someone had hit him.
"Well, Peter?"
"C'mon, c'mon," Emmeline whispered impatiently, praying that her friends would arrive. If they didn't show up soon, her plan B was to run in when Voldemort's back was turned and hit him with a killing curse, knowing full well that she would be dead less than a second later.
She saw a light farther down the corridor as the wolf returned with Remus, Sirius, Marlene, and Alastor. Having done its duty, her patronus evaporated. Thank God - it had worked.
"Em-"
She cut Sirius off by throwing her index finger up to her lips.
"What was that?" someone asked from the other room. Everybody in the exterior corridor froze.
"...Avery, go keep watch," Voldemort ordered.
They heard footsteps as one of the death eaters approached, and Alastor motioned for them all to get behind him. When Avery the older came within reach, Alastor pointed his wand and cast a silencing charm, immediately followed by a disarming charm from Remus.
Avery turned to see them and began to yell, but no sound came out. Marlene swiftly petrified the death eater as Sirius and Remus came around behind him to lower him noiselessly to the floor. Clutched in his grip was a rolled up leather pouch containing the wands of the captives.
"They have everyone, including James and Lily," Emmeline informed them as she dislodged the pouch from Avery's fingers. "He's here too."
"How many death eaters?" asked Alastor.
"Twenty, at least."
As furtively as he could, Alastor crept into a position that gave him a sightline into the room.
"Severus tells me that you would make a fine edition, Lily," they heard Voldemort say. "If you prove him right, I may even be able look past your tainted blood."
"Lily...please…" Snape beseeched her.
Alastor turned back to the group. "On my signal," he mouthed.
"I will give you all one final chance. You will join me, or you will die."
"Fumos," muttered Alastor.
There was confusion within the chamber as a cloud of thick gray smoke bombarded the room. Some hooded figures dropped their torches and drew their wands, but at first there was only shouting - none of the death eaters cast any spells for fear of who they may hit. Voldemort took the liberty of casting killing curses towards the ground where his captives had been, and Bellatrix joined in with him, cackling.
"STOP! STOP!" Severus clamored, reaching his arms through the smoke in search of Lily.
All at once, spells began flying from the inside of the circle out towards the death eaters. The Dark Lord blindly whipped his head around as he heard grunts and shouts around him. When the smoke began to dissipate, it became clear that the hostages had been reunited with their wands. They were fighting back, and they had help. Voldemort could see that two thirds of his death eaters were now stupefied, petrified, or otherwise detained. He raised his wand in fury to settle the score, but froze when he saw Albus Dumbledore apparate into the room and lock eyes with him.
Voldemort's lips twitched. He had lost this battle.
He swiftly disapparated. Those death eaters not already on the floor followed his lead. Snape was the last to disembark, staring longingly at Lily before disapparating.
Coming down off of his adrenaline, Remus spun around to ascertain the status of everyone else's wellbeing. Emmeline was right behind him, looking disturbed by her first face-to-face encounter with Voldemort, but otherwise unharmed. Remus strode to her, took her face in his hands, and kissed her forehead thankfully. "Are you alright?"
"I think so, you?"
"I'm fine. You were brilliant, Emmeline. Absolutely brilliant."
"God, I thought I was going to vomit. I still might."
Turning back around, Remus saw Marlene help Sirius up off the floor. To their left, James and Lily shared a tight, grateful embrace. The Longbottoms appeared to be okay, the Prewetts were dusting themselves off, and Edgar was checking on Peter, who was snivelling in the corner of the chamber.
"Alastor," Marlene said worriedly, pointing him out to the others.
He was clutching the left side of his face as blood dribbled from underneath his hand. "I'm alright, I'm not dead yet."
Albus approached him, gently removed his hand from his face, and stared into his wound. "This needs attention, Alastor."
"Let me check on things upstairs first."
"Gideon, would you kindly escort Alastor to St. Mungos?"
Gideon nodded and approached Moody to take his arm. Alastor groaned a bit in opposition, but ultimately listened to Dumbledore. "I expect to see you back in lessons tomorrow, Vance," he said before they disapparated. Emmeline smiled half-heartedly.
Albus surveyed the death eaters on the floor. Some of their masks had fallen off, revealing the faces of people far too young to be fighting a war. They looked like students, and he recognized a number of them from Hogwarts past and present. He wagered the rest were from Koldovstoretz."I will alert Bartemius to come and collect those who have been left behind," he said, peering into the petrified face of a young boy. "As for the rest of you, you should return to the world above. Nothing good can come of this darkness."
