Chapter 24. Home

The black clad figure approached gracefully, hands resting behind their back. Astrids breath was shaky as she confirmed in her head that it was in fact a trap, and the man before them was most definitely a death eater, or perhaps even Voldemort himself?

Something about the mans gate seemed familiar to her though, the way he swayed slightly as he walked, his confident strides. The familiar feeling of nausea bubbled in the pit of Astrids stomach, 'this is not the time to throw my guts up' she thought to herself determinedly and pushed the feeling down.

"Where's Sirius?!" Harry questioned, no, demanded.

"You know… you really should learn to tell the difference… between dreams…" The figure spoke as they removed their hands from behind them, revealing a snake headed cane. The walk, the voice, the cane, Astrid grew dizzy with realisation as the figure advanced closer. Pulling a wand from the cane the death eater whisked his mask away into smoke, revealing the stern face of Lucius Malfoy. "…and reality." Lucius finished as he narrowed his eyes on the group. Astrid shrunk back behind Hermione. Ron watched the professor at first with suspicion, but upon seeing the horror and hurt in her blue eyes, his narrowed gaze softened with concern as he looked between her and Malfoy.

"You saw only what the Dark Lord wanted you to see." Lucius tutted, his plan had worked, the potter boy had fallen for his trick. "Now, hand me the prophecy." Lucius demanded.

"Don't do it Harry!" Astrid cried out, she reached forward gripping the boy by his shoulder and pulled him back towards his friends.

Lucius' face was stunned for just a second as he laid eyes on his beloved, she was different, but the same. She glowed under the luminosity of the lit wands, her hair was shinier, thicker, her skin radiant, her body was the not the same as the last time he caressed her, touched her, it was curvier, round in all the right places.

"Astrid," Lucius breathed. "My love… come here," He held his hand out to the girl, but instead of running into his arms, she took a step back. It shot a sting of pain through his heart, seeing her brows furrow defiantly, her eyes glinting with fear. Hermione and Harry looked between the professor and Lucius Malfoy with open mouths, they noticed how everyone else didn't look so surprised.

"Professor… you and… Malfoy?" Hermione whispered disapprovingly. Astrid crossed her arms over her body, her eyes pleaded with the Granger girl to say nothing.

"If you do anything to us, anything to her, I'll break it," Harry said defiantly as he shielded Professor Moody with his arm, his wand outstretched towards the blonde man before him. Wicked laughter echoed through the aisles. The twisted smile and mad eyes of Bellatrix Lestrange peered out of the darkness and stalked to Lucius' side, causing him to freeze.

"He knows how to play," Bellatrix cackled, "Itty, bitty, baby, Potter."

"Bellatrix Lestrange?" Neville recognised the woman instantly, for she was the one who tortured his parents to the point of insanity.

"Neville Longbottom, is it? How's mum and dad?" The woman asked cruelly.

"Better now they're going to be avenged!" Neville exclaimed as he lunged forward with his wand aimed at the two death eaters.

"Neville no!" Astrid cried out, she grabbed Neville tightly by his upper arm, jerking him back and pushing him into Luna's hold. Bellatrix raised her wand threateningly at the young woman who put a stop to what could have been a fun little moment for her: killing Neville Longbottom.

"Now, let's everybody calm down," Lucius purred calmly, as he pushed Bella's wand down to her side, "Shall we?"

Bellatrix eyed Lucius suspiciously, her eyes flashing between him and the blonde beautiful woman opposite.

"That's her… isn't it, Luci?" Bella chuckled threateningly. "The one you left my dear sister for?" Lucius remained silent; his jaw tensed at Lestrange's words. "Oh yes… blonde, beautiful… every bit your type,"

Astrid inhaled deeply as she stood strong under Bellatrix' scrutinising gaze, the woman's words sliced at her, your type, it made Astrid's stomach flip violently as she thought about Lucius with other women, other women like her. The woman cackled again, when her eyes flashed over Astrid's figure.

"And just look at her… blooming with baby…" Bellatrix cackled, but her laughter suddenly stopped, her voice turning menacing. "How sickly sweet." She spat. Lucius's face twisted as he narrowed his eyes on his beloved, they darted across her form. Only when Astrid turned nervously to Harry did he see the curve of a bump, a lump grew in his throat. His grasp on his wand tightened as he thought of his friends betrayal, Snape knew about this, and chose not to tell him.

"Leave her alone, this… is about me," Harry voiced angrily, stepping forward.

"No… it's about that prophecy… that's all we want," Lucius spoked calmly to the boy, but his sight was firmly set on Astrid.

"Why did Voldemort need me to come and get this?" Harry asked, as he looked upon the foggy globe in his hand.

"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered. Her whisper turned to a bellowing shout, "You filthy half-blood!"

"It's all right," Lucius cooed, calming Bellatrix down, "He's just a curious lad, aren't you? Prophecies can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made," Lucius explained softly. Neville, Luna and Hermione gasped as they spotted more death eaters in black robes and silver masks emerge from the darkness, surrounding the group ominously, everyone looked around nervously, mentally counting how many assailants there was. In truth it was hard to tell in the darkness, there could be a handful, dozens, or even a hundred, Astrid and the others tightened their grip on their wands, ready to cast whatever spell they needed to fight off the impending attack. The intimidating figures advanced on the group as Lucius carried on his speech… "Which is lucky for you really, haven't you always wondered..."

Lucius and Bellatrix both began to step forward now, prowling slowly towards the group like lions stalking their prey. The group backed up into each other, finding comfort in their larger group they held out their wands in shaky hands.

"What was the reason for the connection between you and the Dark Lord? Why he was unable to kill you… when you were just an infant?" Lucius purred, trying to coerce the boy to hand over the prophecy without a fight. In truth he didn't want a fight, for fear of Astrid, and as a result their child, being hurt in the crossfire.

"Don't you want to know the secrets of your scar?" Lucius cooed, "All the answers are there, Potter, in your hand, all you have to do… is give it to me… then I can show you everything," Lucius' words were extremely persuading, his soft mannerisms and delicate tone of voice itched listeners to believe him. Harry hesitated a second, staring at the prophecy gripped between his fingers.

"Don't give it to him Harry," Astrid breathed, shaking her head. Lucius was so close now, she could practically smell the firewhiskey and cigar smoke, she longed to fall into his arms, but at the same time was repulsed by him to the point it made her feel a sickly lump at the back of her throat. Lucius gritted his teeth at Astrid's out-spoken-ness, she was making it harder and harder for him to protect her, Bellatrix was growing wearier of her by the second.

"I've waited fourteen years," Harry said hesitantly.

"I know," Lucius tutted.

"I guess I can wait a little longer! Now!" Harry commanded, and almost in unison the group flicked their wands, shouting:

"Stupefy!"

The death eaters however evaded their spells, deflecting them easily Lucius, Bellatrix and the masked figures disappeared into thick clouds of black smoke. Turning on their heels the group ran in the direction of the door. Stopped in their tracks by a smoky column landing in front of them, Lucius appeared, his hand outstretched. With gasps the group inadvertently panicked and split up, taking turns down different aisles to escape their attackers. Astrid ran as fast as she could, pushing through the pain of her heart beating rapidly against her chest. A smoky figure with a silver mask zoomed beside her, attempting to grab the girl. She flicked her wand at them.

"Stupefy!" She yelled, sending the death eater hurdling back into a shelf of prophecies, the cloudy globes falling to the floor with a crash, followed by the unconscious body of the death eater on top of them. Astrid carried on her sprint for the exit as she heard a commotion behind her, pain now irradiating from her side as well as her chest. She pushed onwards until she couldn't run anymore.

Coming to a stop she doubled over, one hand resting on her knee, the other clutching at her chest. Not fifteen-foot away Bellatrix Lestrange appeared from a cloud of black smoke, she cackled as she strolled towards the young professor.

"Stupefy!" Astrid panted, flicking her wand towards the crazy witch, but the woman deflected her spell easily, sending a shelf of prophecies crashing to the floor.

"Confringo!" Astrid shouted breathily, a stream of orange sparks shooting from her wand, Bellatrix deflected these too with a chuckle.

"Firey one, aren't you?" Bellatrix smirked, raising her wand. "I'm going to have fun with you… Expelliarmus!"

Bellatrix disarmed Astrids wand easily, sending it tumbling across the grated floor.

"You've been quite the thorn in my sister's side," Bellatrix said darkly as she stalked the girl, Astrid eyed her wand, wondering whether she could make a break for it. Bellatrix followed Astrids gaze and let out a low chuckle.

"Don't even think about it princess," She snarled, raising her wand, "Avada" Astrid closed her eyes as Bellatrix began to utter the killing curse, but opened them when a whooshing wind sent her blonde waves flying for a small moment. Lucius had appeared from a cloud of black smoke before her, putting himself between Astrid and the mad witch.

"Bella, no," Lucius said firmly, as if he was commanding a dog. Bellatrix ran her tongue over her teeth and snarled.

"The Dark Lord will kill her anyway Luci," Smirked, her voice almost a sing-song. "Wouldn't you prefer it to be quick and painless?"

"No," Lucius repeated, he was unyielding. Astrid thought for a second, one small second, that maybe he had chosen another path, changed sides, chosen her and their child over his Dark Lord. "Her death will come, but not until I have my child Bella, now go and located the Potter boy and the prophecy," Lucius said darkly. Bellatrix contemplated his words before disappearing into a black fog.

Lucius turned slowly to his lover; his gaze softened by her radiant beauty. Astrid stared up at him with large, shiny blue eyes. They were bursting with fear, tears formed at the corners, threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Astrid," Lucius breathed as he stepped towards her, sliding his wand back into his cane smoothly. Astrid stepped back, gulping, she looked to her wand. "Astrid, it's me,"

"No," the young woman shook her head, her words but a small croak in her throat. She grasped at her chest as she breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling dramatically as she tried to get her breath under control. "You're not the Lucius I know," She trembled. Lucius took another step towards her, and like clockwork she took a step back, but this time her she collided with a shelf of prophecies, trapping her. The blonde-haired man advanced on her slowly, until her small bump pressed against his intricately detailed leather garb.

"What I said… What I did back there… was necessary," He whispered as he raised a hand to her cheek, caressing away a tear that fell onto her flushed cheek.

"Don't touch me," She whispered, turning her head away from him. With his other hand he raised his cane to her face, the snake pressing against her cheek and turned her head back towards him so that her fearful eyes would meet his pleading ones. He retreated his cane away, not wanting to leave a mark on her precious face.

"I'm not going to hurt you, my love," he whispered against her forehead as he kissed the top of her head softly.

"I don't believe you," She sobbed, "You've already hurt me once before,"

Her words stung Lucius deep as his memory flashed back to that slap in his office, and the way she looked at him after. He shook his head as he ran his hand down her blonde waves, smoothing out her tousled hair, then his hand dropped to her stomach, where he pressed his hand against the bump and caressed it with his thumb.

"Is it mine?" He uttered as he looked down at her protruding stomach. Astrid took some insult from his question, who else's did he expect it to be? But she pushed her pride aside as simply nodded in response to his question.

"How far?" He whispered as he ran his hand over her rounded stomach.

"Six months," Astrid sniffled, avoiding his gaze. Lucius's calculations were quick, his mental arithmetic was rather good.

"The Yule Ball," He sighed, a small smile playing on his lips as he thought back to that night in the corridor. He placed another kiss upon her head before pulling away and holding the girl at arms-length.

"Astrid you must come with me," his words were a command, but his tone was pleading.

"No," Astrid shook her head. "I won't,"

"You must," He hissed now, his fingers digging deep into her soft skin. "You have no idea… the danger you are in, let me help you." Astrid shook her head again as she swallowed deeply.

"You are the danger around here," She retorted, raising her knee into his groin with force. Lucius released the girl with a yelp as he doubled over. As soon as she was free of his grasp Astrid ran for her wand, fetching it from the ground she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, eventually she barrelled into another person, which to her relief was Neville, he was joined by the others.

"Professor!" Hermione breathed, "We thought that… he had got you,"

"I'm okay… but we need to find a way out of here," Astrid breathed. Rons eyes grew wide as he spotted a large amount of black smoke descended from the ceiling down one of the aisles, advancing on them quickly. He raised a shaky hand, pointing at the oncoming force. Ginny raised her wand confidently.

"Reducto!" She shouted, a large blast of white light firing from her wand. Whilst it was true the death eaters that were heading for them had vanished, it seemed they had a new problem: the shelves of prophecies began to collapse. Bit by bit, the shelves collapsed, sending hundreds of glass orbs falling to the floor, glass shards flying everywhere.

"Get back to the door!" Harry ordered as they turned and ran, Neville grabbing Luna's hand and pulling her along. The group ran at break neck speed, avoiding crashing shelves and shards of glass as they did so. Up ahead they spotted the door, and without even a second thought they all barged through it as glass rained down around them.

What they found on the other side however, was not the claustrophobic corridor that led to the lift. Instead, they all fell a dozen stories into a pit, landing just inches above the ground with a scream and a gasp. After levitating for a moment their bodies dropped onto the floor. Even though her weight was slight, the force of dropping onto her bump made Astrid release a yelp.

"Professor!" Ginny gasped, crawling over to the blonde. She and Hermione helped the professor into a sitting position, their eyes filled with deep concern. Astrid ran a hand over her stomach lightly before throwing up violently onto the dirt floor of the room they were in. Hermione held back the professor's hair as Ginny rubbed her back.

"We need to get out of here Harry," Ginny told the boy who lived. Harry looked at the sorry state of his professor and agreed whole heartedly. Once Astrid had no more to heave up, she wiped at her mouth with a groan.

"Can you stand?" Hermione asked, Astrid gave a weak nod, the Granger girl wrapped an arm around the professor's shoulder, Ginny did the same at the other side and they pulled the professor up onto unsteady feet.

"Department of mysteries, got that bit right, didn't they?" Ron breathed as he looked around the strange circular room. In the centre upon a large rock was a giant stone archway, a silvery wispy curtain almost swaying inside it. The group advanced on the archway with curiosity, looking up at its huge size and beautiful build.

"The voices, can you tell what they're saying?" Harry asked.

"There isn't any voices Harry, let's get out of here." Hermione stated.

"I hear them too." Luna announced.

"And me," Astrid chimed in as she looked up at the whispering archway.

"Harry, it's just an empty archway," Hermione said as she looked about the room worriedly. The whooshing sound of approaching death eaters made the hairs stand up on the back of Hermione's neck. "Please Harry!" Granger begged as her grip on the professor tightened. Harry looked up, also sensing the impending attack.

"Get behind me!" He called, the group did just that, they huddled behind the boy who lived, wands at the ready. Hermione and Ginny had released Astrid now, allowing her to stand firm on her own two feet, wand raised high ready to fight. Streams of smoke descended down into the circular pit, blasting through the group like tornado. Harry dropped to the ground instinctively as the smoke streams stole away everyone but him.

Harry looked up once the smoke had cleared, he clutched the prophecy close to his chest as he raised his head to locate his friends. Pulling himself to his feet he glanced around, his friends were in the clutches of the death eaters, each one held in a choke hold around the perimeter of the arch, a wand pressed at their throats threateningly. Hermione struggled against her captors hold, Neville closed his eyes fearfully, a tear slid from Ginny's eye, rolling down her cheek.

A dark chuckle caught Harry's attention, Lucius Malfoy approached now, his cane in his left hand, tapping against the rock as he walked. In his right he held Astrid tightly against him, his arm extended across her chest, gripping her left shoulder. She stepped forward reluctantly as he pushed against her, forcing her to move towards the boy.

"Did you actually believe… or were you truly naïve enough to think…that children stood a chance against us?" Lucius questioned as he moved himself and Astrid up the rock, passing Harry completely. He rounded the boy and stared down at him from his superior position. Releasing Astrid from her hold he quickly moved his hand from her shoulder to the back of her hair, where he took a fistful of her blonde locks and forced her down to the ground on her knees with a yelp and a sob. Tucking his cane into his robe he held out his hand demandingly.

"I'll make this simple for you, Potter," Lucius spoke fiercely, "Give me the prophecy now… or watch your friends die," Astrid whimpered beneath Lucius' hold, the way he knitted his fingers into her hair didn't hurt, but he had complete control of her, she could not pull away. Would he really kill all these children, the same age as his own son, and her as well? Astrid hoped not, and if you'd asked her before that day, it would have been a firm no, but she wasn't so sure anymore. Harry looked around at the worried faces of his friends, each one with a wand pressed into their throats, ready to be slain.

"Don't give it to him, Harry!" Neville called out bravely. Bellatrix Lestrange hushed him with a hiss, pressing her wand harder into his skin. The last thing Harry wanted to do was hand over the prophecy into the hands of Lucius Malfoy, but looking around at his friends' terrified faces, it was the only thing he could do. Hesitantly Harry pressed the glass orb into Lucius' palm, who sighed with victory in return.

A flash of white light behind Lucius' back made Harry take a step back, he furrowed his brows as he tried to look over Lucius' shoulder at the source. Lucius, curious to see what Potter was looking at behind him, released his hold of Astrid and turned around, to come face to face with Sirius Black.

"That's no way to treat a lady," Sirius declared, whilst raising his fist and punching Lucius square in the face, sending the blonde death eater flying onto his back, the prophecy flying from his grip and smashing on the ground.

Harry ran towards Sirius, jumping over the sprawled-out Lucius Malfoy. Sirius reached for Astrids hand, pulling the young woman up from the floor, he then pushed her into Harry to take cover by the arch. Harry wrapped his arms around the woman as they both ducked for cover, their eyes being blinded by flashes of bright white light as more order members arrived to the fight. Suddenly all hell had broken loose, with death eaters and order members flying about the room, spells being slung around and teenagers dashing for their lives.

"Now, listen to me," Sirius commanded as he crouched down to Astrid and Harry, "I want you to take the others and get out of here,"

"What? No, I'm staying with you!" Harry exclaimed to his god-father, not wanting to leave him in the middle of a fight.

"You've done beautifully," Sirius smiled at Harry, and then to Astrid as he patted his god-son on the back. "Now let me take it from here,"

"Astrid!" The familiar voice of her father barked from somewhere in the room.

"Father!" Astrid cried, standing to look for him amongst the fight, death eaters sent curses her way, which she deflected or dodged whilst searching for old Alastor Moody. Harry, Sirius' words, joined the fight, helping his god-father fend off approaching death eaters. Chaos ensued, spells and curses ricocheted off the ground, walls and archway, with flashes of colour exploding everywhere. Bellatrix Lestrange held nothing back, spurts of green firing from her wand in all directions. Harry disarmed a death eater that Astrid recognised to be Antonin Dolohov.

"Nice one James!" Sirius cried out with a proud smile.

With a poof of smoke Bellatrix Lestrange popped up on a nearby chunk of rock, and aimed her wand at her cousin.

"Avada-Kedavra!" She yelled, the flash of green hit Sirius in the ribs. Astrid had never seen the killing curse in action until that day when she watched the light leave Sirius' eyes as he fell back into the archway, his body and soul whisked away by the silver curtain.

"No!" Astrid screamed, dropping to her knees and covering her mouth in shock, tears instantly burst from her eyes. Harry was in a state of shock, unable to move he just stared at the spot where Sirius was stood just moments earlier. Lupin tried to take hold of the boy, gripping him around his chest and attempting to drag him from the fight, but Harry fought back, distraught with the loss of his only family member he cried out heartbreakingly. Upon spotting Bellatrix across the room, Harry pushed Remus off him and took off in a chase.

Astrid spotted her father across the battlefield, fending death eaters off with his staff expertly, pushing herself to her feet she made a break for her father, as she swiped at the tears in her eyes.

"Astrid! Here!" Alastor called out, reaching for her hand as she neared.

"Father!" Astrid sobbed as she reached out for him. He almost had her in his fingertips as she sprinted towards him, when out of nowhere she was pulled away by black smoke, and just like that, she too was gone without a trace.

When the black smoke that enveloped her cleared, she was on her hands and knees, soggy dewy grass beneath her. She sobbed wildly as she pressed her forehead into the ground and cradled her bump with one hand.

"Shh, my love," A soft voice whispered near her ear. She felt large hands wrap around her, caressing her shoulder and bump lovingly. She looked up briefly through tear blurred eyes to see she was in a grand garden, surrounded by fountains, hedges, white roses, and eerie stone statues. Up the grand stone staircase ahead of her lay a large even grander house. Astrid shook her head no as her forehead collapsed against the soft grass once more. She sobbed, moving her hand from her stomach to her chest, she clutched at her heart as it felt like it was ripping her chest apart.

"Shh, you're home… we're home,"

Let me know what you think, this where we start to deviate from the story arc a little bit, I hope you're still enjoying this ride with me! Thanks for reading.