Chapter 5 - Alastor Moody
Charlie fidgeted most of the day before they were set to meet the others. His tension put Lizzie on edge, bordering on high alert.
"Why can't you tell me the plan? My red flags are putting up red flags..." Lizzie asked, becoming exceedingly more apprehensive waiting for his calculated reply.
"He can find out through you, even the smallest details are dangerous. We're going to apparate and it'll be clear what to do from there," he explained nervously.
"What's wrong then? Surely, it's a safe travel... I mean..." she said reassuringly.
"Mad Eye is paranoid. Sort of sets my nerves on edge about it too," he admitted, tucking hair behind her ears for something to do with his hand.
He stared at her for a long moment, almost the entire side of her face fit in his hand, and he fondled the hair around her ear softly in a reassuring sort of way, his mouth turning up at the corners slowly until it finally resembled a weak smile.
"When are we leaving?" She asked. He shook his head dismissively and she groaned in frustration. Charlie hadn't told her he passed along some of her hair to Mundungus to give to Moody, because he knew she'd be furious at the thought of Hermione, Fleur, and Tonks showing up on the mountainside near Kingsley's home looking like her when she doesn't even look like herself. Just in case. Moody was certain death eaters and dementors were patrolling each of the remaining safe houses, but he felt it was too risky to inform them of the new ones he'd created until they'd grouped up first and could transport between them safely and undetected.
"It's alright. Just don't think too hard about it. We'll be sitting around a table with the others shortly. Mums cooking. Just..." he said as though assuring himself more than her. The way he referenced his mother, like she was Lizzie's mother too. She didn't know if this was because all the Weasley children had surrogate adopted her as far as they were concerned or if it was something more between her and him.
Charlie leaned in with his hand still on her face and kissed her softly at first, but then like a man. After a few long moments, she found herself with her back pressed against the wall, having knocked over the plastic bar stool on the backwards retreat. They barely broke for air and Lizzie reached forward to undo his jeans. He didn't stop her and almost too assertively pushed down on her waist band. He pulled her knees up around his hips and pinned her to the wall with his weight. Lizzie couldn't move, nor did she dream of wanting to. Adrenaline raced through her veins like fast-acting medicine.
"Are you ok?" He whispered through an exhale. She nodded fervently, swallowed her breaths, and watched a smirk break out at the corner of his mouth. "Well in that case," he said quietly in her ear and pushed his limits until she made an audible gasp. Lizzie froze and looked horrified, catching her breath in her throat. He shook his head and met her eyes with a frown. "I don't want you to be quiet, Lizzie," he said under his breath. She nodded but could only manage a heavy rhythm of breath through her nose.
"Put me down," she whispered into his hair as he breathed heavily into her neck several minutes later. He shook his head and kissed her, then carried and lowered her to the bed. She slumped back, arms sprawled in exhaustion and tried to roll over and curl up, but he rolled her back and they continued to snog passionately.
Lizzie laughed. "What?" He asked smirking. She laughed harder.
"This reunion with the others is going to be a walk of shame if I go looking like this," she said through a giggle.
"Well, I do thoroughly expect you to put your clothes back on," he said whilst kissing her neck, but it abruptly became ticklish, and she laughed a little harder.
"Aren't you tired?" She asked. He laughed and shook his head.
"You asking because I'm old?" He asked.
"Does it bother you you're taking advantage of a much younger witch who was brainwashed to fancy older men?" She asked facetiously, her smile the only thing telling of the sarcasm. Charlie smirked.
"Not even a little bit. What was Finnegan to you? An infant?" He retorted. Lizzie snorted.
"Oh, shut up," she snipped. He opened his mouth to say something, but she put her palm over it and looked up at him. His eyes were soft, and he smiled into her palm.
She scooted to get up, get dressed, and straighten her hair, but he pulled down on her hips. "Don't go, we're not leaving for an hour," he said. She raised her eyebrows and laughed at the admission while he muttered a profanity under his breath for the slip. Lizzie laughed and he put a hand across her mouth.
"That laugh is contagious," he said smiling and her eyes sparked. She kissed his palm and curled up to his body as he slumped down beside her.
"Last time for a while..." she said with a mock-sigh. His hand tightened around her ribs.
"I love you," he muttered into her ear. Lizzie's hand closed over the top of his. He felt her reply in the air. Like a legilimens, he could read the emotion and the longings, but not the thoughts. Magizoologists, including dragon tamers had this gift. Luna did, Hagrid did.
"Charlie, promise you'll be ok," she whispered. "I can't bear that again." He didn't say anything but stroked her hair.
"Let's get dressed" he whispered. "Your company is like nothing on earth, but I am missing human interaction, aren't you?" He asked.
Lizzie smirked. He ran a shower, they dressed, then she sat awkwardly at the counter, rucksack on her shoulders, waiting. Charlie took it off her back and pulled it onto his. She stood up starting to get anxious.
"Be on alert, ok?" He warned. Lizzie frowned and he led her outside into the nearest alley, checked his watch, and they apparated with a loud crack.
The air was cold immediately. She looked around at complete darkness and felt a bitterly cold swoosh in front of her face. A silver Ridgeback soared in front of her and lit up the outline of several dementors. There was a scream in the distance. Red and green lights lit up as quick flashes, the only light telling of what was going on around them. Lizzie saw glimpses of her own face in the brief spells of light and frowned in utter confusion. Hands clasped tightly at her shoulders and Arthur came into view, his face lit up in the flashes of light, "Dad! Take her, run!" Charlie yelled.
There was a large crack behind her, but Arthur pulled on her arm and ran straight ahead. She saw others running the same direction and two people, from what she could tell probably Bill and Fleur, except the girl wasn't blonde. At least she didn't think she was, it was impossible to tell.
Arthur came to a halt at a body, a large body, and let out a yell of shock. Lizzie stopped and then felt herself blasted several yards backwards. She hit the ground hard and scrambled to get up, parlaying a few jets of light in her direction. She couldn't see anyone anymore but felt them scurrying around her frantically.
Feet charged up behind her, "someone needs to escort you in," Charlie panted and blasted something that moved.
"No lethal spells, we don't know who is a friendly it's too dark. Don't use your patronus. Don't change forms," he said near her head so only she would hear.
Someone ran ahead toward them, maybe two people, and Charlie lit his wand to see Fred just feet from him. "I can get her in, you go with George -" he said, but there was a loud cracking noise and George fell. Charlie let go of Lizzie's shoulders while Fred took her arm. She saw an outline of Charlie hoisting his brother over his arm and then fireman carrying him to safety. Two others ran through the barrier, marked by another quick flash.
Dementors soared in front of them and swarmed Lizzie. She took off in a run, briefly transforming to avoid a kiss and ran in an opposite direction. Back on two feet instead of four, she hid behind a tree in a cluster of trunks and peered out at the valley of flashing lights. She tried to catch eyes with someone familiar in the dark. Her eyes were swimming in fear and strain, this was a bloodbath. Flashes emerged from the barrier again, more entered.
A dark figure stopped ahead and looked her direction. Time seemed to slow to an impossible motion. Lizzie crouched tight behind the trunk and swallowed her breaths. When footsteps came near and stopped, she looked up at the outline of a figure and hoped it was someone she knew. They shone a wand light into her face. She had brown eyes, black hair, and a fairer complexion, but stared back at Dolohov. Lizzie crawled forward to run and was pulled down by the back waistline of her jeans. As she scurried forward, a jet of light blasted him off his feet and his body crunched in the foliage, but when Lizzie turned around, she didn't see anyone. She pivoted toward where she knew she should be running but stopped at a second black figure. This one ran straight for her, and she bolted backwards into a pivot and then charged desperately in the other direction. The chill from the dementors was freezing her lungs as she ran, like their hands had plunged deep into her throat and gripped her lungs and squeezed. She in turn gripped her wand tight and attempted a blast but missed. One to match flew her direction and she ducked in time to see it hit a tree she would have otherwise run straight into.
Lizzie was through the thicket of trees and felt the air change as it rose off the ocean. She saw water reflected in partial moonlight, a dock in the distance, the faint edge of a cliff ahead, but all went pitch black as dementors closed in. Lizzie's moment of contemplation was broken when the footsteps behind her neared. She turned to see a figure approach, almost cautiously, but her insides squirmed around something that woke up violently. He's coming, she thought, and ran for the cliffs edge. From what she could see there were no rocks below, so she dived and prayed on the fall she was right. It wasn't an outrageously long dive; they were not that high up.
The water was freezing, and she scraped rocks on the floor almost immediately. There was a light from above she thought might be a patronus and swam as far under as she could get while she could see. It went dark again, someone jumped in after her. Large hands closed around her ribcage. As she turned to face the captor, she hit her face hard on a jagged rock, and felt herself slip out of consciousness.
The air only slightly woke her up when they broke the surface, she coughed and felt warmth pool on her forehead and down her eye. The grip on her waist was uncompromising and she didn't have the consciousness to struggle in it. They carried her to a dark corner of the tree cluster. Once on her back, she felt hands on her body, not in an assault but rather a rapid examination. Her arms, her wrist, her face, then her blouse was unbuttoned hastily from her ribs to the hem. Hands pressed down on her shoulders before a quick slap jolted her ever so slightly more awake, but she didn't dare move. Fingers were now on her neck checking for a pulse. They ran the length of the burn on her arm slowly, over her forehead carefully, as though she were covered in a secret brail message.
More footsteps approached and the figure stood back. A bright green light hit the ground next to her before the air went pitch black again. "Who is that?" A man asked with a rasp in his voice.
"Was...Not her, but dead," another man said.
"Thorfin saw her pass through the barrier. So did Shunpike. I think it's lost, we should call it," the first man said. Lizzie dared not move or breathe.
"Fine," the second said. That voice was something familiar just more cracked with a deliberate mask on its tone. There was a crack, then another, then silence. The air warmed with the retreat of the dementors. The moon reflected again on the water. Lizzie heard only the waves before slipping away unconscious.
She opened her eyes in an unfamiliar room at daybreak. Her head was bandaged. Molly was leaning over and tending to it. Through the gap in Molly's arm outstretched over her line of sight, Lizzie saw Charlie tending to what looked like Fred or George in her bleary vision.
"Oh thank goodness," Molly gasped when she saw Lizzie blink her eyes into focus. Charlie abandoned his brother momentarily to crouch down and meet her gaze.
"She's not kissed," he said reassuringly with a decisive stare. She absently pushed her lips out to change that but he didn't catch the gesture, or maybe he did judging my the way he discretely rubbed her cheek bone.
"What happened?" She asked with a very broken voice.
"We were betrayed," Remus said, sitting at the end of the bed and squeezing her leg. Her legs were bandaged in places too.
"What was supposed to -" she started to say.
"We're at Kingsley's until you and George are stable. The Weasleys took a portkey here because they were already able to connect to it. The rest of us weren't, so they left the barrier with the intention of escorting each of us in. Hermione, Tonks, Fleur and Mundungus were all supposed to look like you, Polyjuice, aside from Tonks who doesn't need it. But Mundungus never showed. We weren't expecting that many dementors or death eaters and couldn't disapparate as soon as we entered. Just had to run. When we congregated... you were missing. George was injured. Moody, as Arthur saw, was...dead... He apparated first, I think they were ready for him. Must have taken the curse six times over..." Remus explained sadly.
"He's - what?" Lizzie croaked in disbelief. The grim and somber expressions around the room were enough to confirm.
"Fred said you took off during a dementor swarm," Charlie added after a long spell of silence.
Lizzie nodded. "I couldn't use the patronus. Would give me away. I figured it was too dark to really see the doe, better bet. Is everyone else alright?" She asked looking around feverishly. She looked over at George, he was on his side and missing his ear. She looked up at bruised and battered faces. Ron's arm was in a sling, Hermione had a burn on her neck.
"How did you end up by the water? We looked for more than an hour for you," Ron asked.
"It was dark, someone followed me. Dementors... I didn't stay in a Doe form for long just to avoid a kiss and hide in the trees. I sensed him coming, I felt the..." Her hand moved to her abdomen, but it didn't move. "So I jumped from the cliffside and hoped for the best, but the death eater following jumped in after me and pulled me to the surface. I hit my head on something. He either pretended to kill me or was too stupid to realize his curse missed. I heard someone say they saw me pass through the barrier. Then they left," she explained through searing pain in her head.
Molly rushed in with something for Lizzie to drink and mothered her for several minutes. Lizzie couldn't get her mind off of Moody.
"Did you... get his body?" She croaked, looking at Bill and Remus. They shook their heads.
"They took it. I'm sure. It was nowhere to be found," Bill said regretfully.
"The decoys worked, they wouldn't have called off anything if they hadn't thought they saw you run through the barrier. I tried to time it right so they would think it was over," Arthur said. "When I lost you, I intersected with Hermione, who looked like you...I figured it was the only way to try to end the assault and then we could regroup in the aftermath," he continued.
Lizzie stared at Hermione, her face burned and disheveled.
"What happened?" Lizzie asked.
"I don't really know, they closed in when they caught sight of me as you. I broke away after God knows what was fired, and ran straight into Arthur," she explained. Lizzie looked at Ron.
"Don't worry, Lizzie, we'll be fine," Ron said.
"Biggest problem is that our network is lost, Moody secret kept all the houses except for this one and the Burrow. I'm going with Kingsley to set up one at Aunt Muriel's and figure out steps for others from there. In the meantime, we'll go back to the Burrow. It has ministry protection like this one, at least while Scrimgeour is in charge, and I fear time is closing in on that," Arthur said.
"We'll have the wedding at the Burrow in the meantime, then figure out how to disperse from there," Bill added.
Lizzie stared down at the hand resting on her ankle and saw a silver band on Remus's finger. Her mouth fell slightly, and she shot a wide-eyed look at Tonks. Remus smiled weakly and Tonks beamed, nodding fervently to answer the unvocalized question. Her eyes were swollen from the news of Mad Eye but they sparkled at her husband.
"I wish I was there," Lizzie said quietly.
"Me too," Remus mouthed. His expression looked somber, and he averted his eyes so she could not read him.
"Are you hungry?" Molly asked, rubbing her cheek.
"I'll get her something, mum. Tend to George," Charlie said, rubbing his mother's shoulder. She shot him a strange look. Lizzie wasn't sure who knew they'd been in hiding together. He seemed to tread carefully around the curious expressions, so Lizzie decided to as well.
It wasn't until they returned to the Burrow that they sat around the table together, but it wasn't the same. The loss of an essential order member loomed. George cracked jokes about the injury, but it was met by pained ears.
"Lizzie, honey, your birthday! What do you want to do for your birthday?" Molly asked to lighten the air.
"I don't think anyone has any business celebrating my birth at this point," Lizzie grumbled looking directly down at her plate and stabbing several green beans she had a surge of irrational anger toward. Charlie kicked her hard under the table and Remus glared a little.
"We don't have to do anything. Way too much hassle with the wedding. Please don't make a fuss over it," Lizzie said a little more politely with a smile.
"Nonsense! Of course we want to do something, whoever heard of not celebrating -" but she broke off and swallowed her sentence.
"Really, Molly, not at all unheard of. My last birthday celebration was here before all this started and that was the first in recollection," she said a little bitterly.
"Eighteen...I've heard enough, we'll handle and just surprise you," Molly said both sharply and sweetly but breathed a little unevenly.
"What do you need help with for the wedding?" Lizzie asked to change the subject. Ron and the twins groaned reproachfully for bringing it up and Lizzie smirked.
"I have your dress!" Fleur said suddenly and stood abruptly to go fetch it. Ginny widened her eyes and shook her head subtly at Lizzie in general disapproval over the color choice.
"Goodie..." Lizzie mumbled, massacring more greenbeans. Charlie chuckled but swallowed a laugh when his mother shot him a reproving glare. Lizzie smirked.
They held a small vigil for Alastor and marked a stone in place of a grave. "He deserves a burial," Lizzie whispered to Remus. He nodded sadly in response. She walked forward and conjured a series of candles at the base of the memorial. The flames erupted into fireflies in a rather beautiful display.
She stood with her back turned to the gathering behind her. In a voice loud enough to hear but not even slightly amplified, she recited "We have no tangible piece to lay to rest, just the pieces left in our memories. Please deliver him from evil and bid him eternal rest. The old order has passed away, welcome him into paradise. Amen." Lizzie made a cross on her chest and closed her eyes. She didn't like to pray; it only came in desperate waves. When she looked back at the others all wands were raised in vigil. There were no more words. Lizzie walked alone to the edges of the barrier and looked out on a seemingly peaceful stretch of country. Footsteps approached from behind her.
"They're just on the outside... waiting," she said ominously. Ron clasped her shoulder and squeezed.
"Try not to think about it..." he said.
"That easy?" She asked with raised eyebrows up at him. He snorted.
"Well, if it takes your mind of it, we still need to tell mum you're going on a secret mission and that I'm going with you," he said with an exaggerated exhale. Lizzie laughed.
"We're doomed," she said with a guilty smirk.