Author's note: I don't own anything Harry Potter related. It all belongs to JK Rowling.
Pronouns will follow character usage.
When she finally opened her eyes after stepping through the Veil, Isolt was expecting white walls and a supernaturally clean version of King's Cross. It was what happened last time she died. She was not expecting to walk back into the room she just was in. Further, someone seemed crumpled at her feet. 'Have I been found out? What's going on?'
The sounds of spells being cast and an oh-so-familiar shrill scream woke Isolt from her stupor. The sounds were coming from behind, so Isolt, moving on pure instinct alone, quickly turned and flicked her wand, conjuring a sheet of stone six feet tall between her and the location the voices had come from.
She took a look at her surroundings and saw a group of students just a few feet away. One of them, with short brown hair was beginning to stand up from his position on the ground. It seems he'd fallen behind. Glancing down, she saw the person who was unconscious at her feet, and she froze.
It was her godfather. Her very dead godfather. But here he was, alive. Unconscious, yes, but definitely alive.
Isolt looked back at the students and gave them a proper look-over: two red-heads with Gryffindor robes; a short brown-haired boy with Gryffindor robes; a blonde girl with Ravenclaw robes; a bushy-haired girl with Gryffindor robes; a girl with black hair in Slytherin robes; and finally, a boy in Gryffindor robes with scruffy black hair and emerald green eyes to match her own.
She let out a long sigh, before muttering to herself, "Oh fuck me. Can't even kill myself properly". 'Fucking Veil must have sent me back in time.'
"All right kids, questions later. Longbottom, rejoin the others. Padfoot and I will take care of this." Isolt was slightly surprised by her authoritative tone of voice, but her combat instincts kicked in.
'Step one, Renervate Sirius, get him back in the fight. Step two, kick some ass'
Pointing her holly wand at Sirius, she muttered Renervate and watched as he seemed to spring back to life.
"Hello Sirius, no time to talk. Can you still fight?" she looked down at the wizard, who seemed a bit shaken up, but otherwise alright. He looked up at her, eyes wide, and rather mutely nodded his head. She watched him take a look at the students, noting that they were all alright, and she saw the resolve in his eyes strengthen.
Isolt checked the peripherals, and saw that some Death Eaters had circled around the wall she conjured. Firing off a quick spell chain with her holly wand, which included several bone-breaker curses, a blood boiling curse, a Stupefy or two, and for good measure, an Expelliarmus. Isolt had spent a long time working on this spell chain, and was able to cast it non-verbally by the time she killed Voldemort. It was created to take the intended target out of the fight, one way or the other.
Isolt switched targets as soon as she confirmed that her spells hit. One Death Eater had been hit with bone-breaker curses to his arms and legs, another had been hit with a blood boiling curse and was screaming in agony. The third however, managed to block her spells by conjuring some marble, but the quick conjuration shattered under the force of Isolt's spells, sending chunks of marble back at the Death Eater, who took a chunk of marble straight to the forehead, knocking them unconscious.
Then Isolt heard the one voice that sent her blood boiling, as if she was hit by her own blood boiling curse. The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Oh, what's this? Seems someone new has decided to come play. And you seem to be quite good at playing. Now it's my turn to have some fun". Isolt could practically hear the smirk in Bellatrix's voice. She didn't have much time to respond, as a massive explosion rocked the stone wall she had conjured moments earlier.
On reflex, Isolt fired off another somewhat lethal spell chain in the direction of the voice of her cousin, before turning to Sirius, who had stood with his damned mouth wide open, staring at her.
In front of him was a witch, about five feet and eight inches tall, with red hair, in a braid down to her shoulder blades, with emerald green eyes. She was wearing a familiar looking cloak, too. "Is that you –". Before he could finish his sentence, Isolt cut him off.
"Sirius, dammit, get your head in the fight. Stop staring, we'll talk later."
Shaking his head and determined to get answers from this witch, Sirius got about covering the witch in front of him as defensively as he could. He conjured stone walls and in between the witch firing her own spells, Sirius would add in his own.
"We need to get the children out of here!" he yelled at the witch, who grunted in response. Jerking his head in the direction the group of students was making its way over to, he added "The exit is just over there! If we can get through that door, it'll be easier to escape!"
"Alright, go with the kids and help them get to the door. I'll distract these assholes to cover you all." Isolt responded, and noticing that Sirius was about to question her plan, she added, "I'll be fine, they can't hurt me, and I'll be right behind you. Now go!" and she shoved him towards the students before turning around and firing some nasty purple-colored spells back at Bellatrix, who just cackled with glee as if Christmas had come early.
Admonished, Sirius gathered the kids, who all seemed incredibly exhausted at this point, and told them to run for the door, that the mystery witch will protect them, and he'll take the rear and make sure they won't have to worry about any errant spells.
Determined, the group of fifteen-year-olds sprinted for the door, not even noticing as Sirius and the mystery witch blocked spell after spell sent their way. It took several seconds, but the group hurried through the door, leaving the witch by herself against several Death Eaters.
Back in the room, Isolt was dueling against two Death Eaters and Bellatrix Lestrange. 'Fuck, today is just NOT my day. Time for some improvisation.' Hurling a spell chain at the two Death Eaters, who didn't expect the first spell to be a time delayed Lumos that blinded him, both quickly dropped, missing both of their wand-arms.
"It looks like someone can fight! I haven't had this much fun in ages!" Bellatrix called out, with a look on her face that Isolt could really only call predatory.
"Well, dear cousin, it seems I must take my leave! Tell Tom I said hello, would you?" she called back, casting another spell chain of time delayed Lumos spells and quickly draping the cloak over herself and making her way to the door Sirius had pointed out earlier.
Closing the door behind her and taking off the cloak, she could hear Bellatrix scream in rage. 'Good, fucking serves her right after all the pain she caused me. Speaking of…'
Turning to the group, she saw, for the first time, just how exhausted they were. "Sirius, might we use Grimmauld Place?" Looking at the wizard, who seemed to be huffing and puffing his lungs out, Sirius looked at her rather quizzically.
In between breaths, Sirius managed to get out, "Yes, but two things. One, how do you know of that place? Two, how do you propose we get there?"
"Well, I can't quite tell you the first one. Not until I'm sure we're not being watched. But as for the second…" Conjuring a meter-long piece of rope, she pointed the elder wand at it and muttered Portus. The rope gave off a light blue glow for a moment before fading, indicating that the rope was now a portkey.
Sirius, astonished, looked at her, then at the rope, grinned and looked at the teenagers. "Alright kids, grab hold, we're getting outta here."
As soon as they had all grabbed the rope, the pull of the portkey whisked them away, straight through the wards of the Ministry, and straight into the sitting room of Grimmauld Place.
Isolt, never one much for magical travel, stumbled as soon as her feet hit the floor of the sitting room, and was only saved from falling on her ass as a chair seemed to be right there, causing her to sit down rather abruptly.
"Well then, everyone, welcome to Grimmauld Place!" stretching her arms out, gesturing to the rest of the building. "Sirius, I know you have questions, but first, the kids and you could use a look-over. Would you mind calling Madam Pomfrey?"
"Alright fine, but we are having words, Ms….?"
"Peverell. My name is Isolt Peverell."
Sirius blanched. The Peverell family had not been heard from in decades, if not centuries. Why was one here now, and how did she know about Grimmauld Place?
Madam Pomfrey, rather annoyed at being called so late, walked through the Floo, and was surprised to see several current students of Hogwarts in various states of injury.
Immediately, Pomfrey set about casting diagnostic spells, applying salves as needed, healing charms when those wouldn't work, and potions when the charms wouldn't suffice either. It took nearly an hour, but the entire group of students, plus Sirius Black and a witch that Pomfrey could swear was dead, had been tended to, and given instructions for further care.
"Mr. Black, while my healer oath prevents me from mentioning this to anyone, I would appreciate an explanation sometime soon." She looked at him, and nodded her head at the witch with fiery red hair and emerald green eyes, who seemed to be distracting the kids with wandlessly-conjured balloon animals, changing them to whatever animal the kids called out.
Sighing, and with a hint of emotion in his voice, "As would I, Poppy. Trust me, when I have answers, I'll let you know." With that, Madam Pomfrey went back through the Floo, seemingly satisfied that she'd have answers as soon as he did.
This night was already long, and it looked like it was going to get even longer. Sighing, Sirius poured himself another glass of firewhiskey. Hesitating for a moment, he poured out another one, for the witch, handing it to her, as she accepted it gratefully and downed it all in one go.
Staring off in the distance, Isolt, throat a little burnt after downing an entire glass of firewhiskey, muttered to Sirius, "Alright, I guess it's time for questions."