Authors Note:
Hi all! I'm back again, fresh from procrastinating on studying!
The good news is, this chapter is up and ready for you all!
Bad news... Death Eaters are in Hogsmeade, and Bellatrix Lestrange is the ringleader. But the Marauders are there to meet her. What could possibly go wrong?
Anyway... Please enjoy.
A jet of purple light split the air, hissing as it passed. Glass shattered and rained down on them, Remus dragging Rose behind the building that was once a very nice bakery. It had been, of course, until the war started and the owner went into hiding; it was a pity, their cheesecake was second to none. She stumbled, pain lancing down her arm as Remus' werewolf strength compensated for her downward momentum. She hissed in pain, rubbing the spot gently; that was going to bruise. Remus fired a non-verbal intestinal-expelling curse (one of the more creative listed in the book James charmed out of the Restricted Section), and huffed out a laugh. "And to think, I used to like the colour purple."
"My eyes are violet" Rose reminded him, happy to keep up the banter - it was keeping them sane. Another curse rebounded above their heads, raining tiles upon them. Rose transfigured them into star-shaped glitter (she was the best in the year at Astronomy) and glanced across at Remus. He had a cut over his cheekbone that bled sluggishly, but his eyes were alive, and he looked confident in himself for the first time in years. "How many is that?"
"About six" Remus muttered, leaning back against the brick. "Nobody too difficult, just tricky to hit." He paled as another thought came to him. "Or, they're playing with us. Seeing our strengths, feeling us out."
"Least they could do is buy us a drink first" Rose smirked, hearing Sirius in the words. "We're not that easy."
"I should hope not" Remus agreed, Rose leaning over to send her own spell (incendio; she liked fire - it had personality, and reminded her of lazy winter nights with the Marauders by the fireplace at the castle or at the Manor) at the Death Eaters. Remus pursed his lips in disapproval, it made him look oddly like McGonagall. And that was just a scary thought all around.
"Fire? Really Rosie? We have to shop here, you know."
"And you don't think they're counting on our sentimentally for this village?" Rose demanded fiercely. "They can use whatever spells they like. We can't use dark magic, but we shouldn't be afraid to use any spell in our arsenal." Remus looked down guiltily.
"I know, but the Wolf doesn't like people destroying its territory." Rose squeezed his arm reassuringly, and saw a reflection of Hogwarts in a window.
"What the Salazar is keeping Peter?"
"We're the Marauders" Remus reminded her, firing three curses in quick succession. "Our credibility isn't exactly legendary. They might think it's all just a prank in rather poor taste."
"Wonderful" Rose snarked. "So they're up there, doubting our credibility, and we're stuck here in the worst Godric forsaken reenactment of the Gunfight at the OK Corral in wizarding history!" She groaned in frustration and fired hexes at the Death Eaters.
"Gunfight at the OK Corral?" Remus queried, twirling his wand in a complicated arrangement - glass shards transformed into daggers and flew at their enemy.
"Muggle Western event" Rose dismissed casually. "It's not important right now. I'll lend you a history book when we get back." She ran a hand through her messy red hair and sighed. "Always assuming that we actually do get back."
"Sirius would yell at you just for thinking that statement" Remus remarked, with just enough force behind his statement to make it sink in. "Positive thoughts. We're going to make it out of this."
"Of course we will" Rose agreed, the lie ashes in her mouth. Remus gave her a look but didn't press it, refocusing on the battle at hand.
The wall above them exploded, Rose working to keep a shield charm up (and direct the shrapnel fragments elsewhere) while Remus returned fire. Her efforts weren't entirely successful; a chunk of brick hit her shoulder blade (magical Merlin in Avalon did that hurt), and would likely affect her range of motion. But Remus wasn't hurt, so she counted it as a win. Remus glanced at her, a question in his darker than they appeared eyes. Rose shook her head, now wasn't the time for heroics. A raised eyebrow and pointed glance to the rubble around them, gave Remus' answer succinctly; they were running out of time and options. His plan was still idiotic though. Facing them head on, they'd never survive the assault. Then again, Rose glanced over towards the buildings the Death Eaters camped behind, there was something to be said for unpredictability, and Marauders were nothing if not unpredictable. "Do you honestly believe we can do this, Rem?"
"As James said; without the shadow of a doubt, Rosie."
"I'm tired of hiding, Remus" she told him casually.
"Me too, Astra" Remus agreed, dusting off his sky blue jumper. He looked almost resigned, much as he had during their day after Halloween strategy meeting. "I take it we're going with the best defence is a good offence approach?" His eyes twinkled with mirth.
"You know it's what the others are doing" Rose grinned, taking a deep breath before running out into the line of fire, Remus at her side just as it should be.
Fire blazed from Tomes and Scrolls (Remus' second favourite Hogsmeade shop, his third favourite shop ever), Rose grinning as the werewolf swore, growled and ran after the dickhead responsible. Sadly, it was only after he was out of sight that she realised that she was all alone now, and that she really should've followed him. Icy fingers at the back of her neck prickled along her skin, Full Moon senses working overtime. It was the creeping dread of unfriendly eyes; she was being watched. Using quick, sweeping glances and peripherals, Rose cataloged the street. She remembered James displaying the technique in quidditch training, gleeful that his auror uncle had shown him something that was multipurpose; useful for quidditch, pranking, and duelling. A surge of anger crawled through her bloodstream; she didn't like feeling unsafe in Hogsmeade, the Marauders had been coming since their second year, and had never felt like they didn't belong. Her wand was a comfortable weight in her hand, nearly as long as Sirius' cedar and aspen wand, and made of Rowan and unicorn tail hair (an irony in and of itself). A jet of red light whizzed past her head, forcing her to take a step back and raise a sloppy shield. One more hit and it crumbled, a loud almost gleeful cackling filling the air. The sound was just deranged enough to send shivers down her spine - in the bad way. Rose took another, automatic step back (the cackling was freaking her out), and wished for the first time that she hadn't left her cloak back in the nearest alley. Cold wind danced along her face, sending shivers though her body, and her red-and-black plaid shirt and jeans just weren't cutting it. "I'll take the mudblood" a gleeful female voice called out. "You find the blood traitors. I won't be long." The owner of the voice stepped out onto the street, and Rose felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. Her opponent was a stunning black haired woman with heavy-lidded dark blue eyes as cold as ice, black makeup, and black robes that were clearly custom made. She had the hereditary, effortless good-looks that Rose knew all too well. Besides,they had met in Diagonal Alley that summer.
"Aren't you a little too old for school, Bellatrix?" Rose smirked, keeping a shield up just in case. Bellatrix Black Lestrange was, according to Sirius, insane and devoted to Voldemort; with her record, Rose didn't stand a chance against her. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try. She was a Marauder, and they went out fighting - she wasn't going to make it easy on Bellatrix.
"You have me at a disadvantage" Bellatrix pouted, as if they were merely having a discussion in the street. "You know who I am, but I do not know you."
"It's only fair that you know who you're going to be beaten by" Rose conceded, infusing her words with every ounce of confidence she had left. "You are Bellatrix Lestrange, deranged cousin of Sirius Black. I, am Rose Evans, Marauder and muggle born." Rose subtly readjusted her grip on her wand. "Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, shall we get straight into the unpleasantries?"
"Ah!" Bellatrix clapped in a horrific imitation of delight. "The little mudblood wants to play! Pity my blood traitor of a cousin never told you I play to win."
"The war is already won, by us" Rose smirked, idly wondering when Bellatrix was going to tire of their game. "No matter how long you fight, nor how many battles you win; we're going to win in the end, because we have men like Dumbledore, and James Potter, and Sirius Black. Dumbledore may seem like a senile old fool, but he knows one thing for sure; love will always win over hatred. You and your psychopathic arsehole of a cult leader, all you spread is hatred - but, as a great band once said, all you need is love." Rose aimed a quick immobilisation spell at Bellatrix, and ducked away from the retaliatory curse, quickly getting into the rush of a life and death battle. Her eyes flickered briefly up to the looming spectre of Hogwarts Castle. "Hurry up, Peter."
Bellatrix Black had a reputation at Hogwarts and beyond for incredible beauty and incredible cruelty. Clearly somewhere along the line, her skill at duelling was left out. Rose wished that Sirius had given them some sort of warning about it, but maybe he had and Rose had just blocked it out; she never seemed to want to think about what that deranged family had put Sirius through. Heat burned through the crisp Autumn air in Hogsmeade, a red trail burnt into the side of Schrivenschafts. Rose winced apologetically; Lily loved that shop. "Destroying public property really isn't the best way to restore order to the wizarding world, Bellatrix" Rose called, crouching behind a low wall. It wasn't the best place to hide, but she needed the breather. Another bolt of shocking yellow was her only reply. "The art of conversation really is lost on these people" Rose muttered, winking at a cat perched nearby. She was losing it, talking to a cat - Sirius would never stand the betrayal. With a wry shake of her head, and an absent wish for her friends to be all right, Rose rolled to her feet (flamboyant touches were in her purview as a Marauder) and sent a barrage of curses at Bellatrix that finally made the witch stumble.
"The little mudblood finally wants to play" Bellatrix cooed, the sound at odds with the spark of insanity in her eyes. Rose rolled her eyes, getting how annoying the chatter was (when the Marauders weren't doing it). She shot a silencing charm at the Death Eater, grinning when it hit.
"Ten points to me" Rose muttered, ducking back from the furious barrage Bellatrix shot back at her. Modestly, Rose was a fairly good duellist, and her quidditch reflexes were hammered into her by James Potter himself, so she was able to hold her own, albeit temporarily.
Step, spell, duck, parry, shield, curse, repeat. Over and over again, Rose was slowly forced backwards, towards the small square in the middle of the village. She muttered a curse of the swear word variety as she poorly deflected an explosion curse into the window of the post office. Owl shrieks split the air, Rose paying the price for her distraction. She went flying arse over teakettle (as James once memorably said) and hit the cobblestones hard. She blinked spots from her vision, her back screaming in protest as she struggled back to her feet. Every muscle burned - she really had to get James to organise more training sessions, and not take Sirius' side in telling him to go do things anatomically impossible with himself. "Ow" she said wholeheartedly, eyes peeled for Bellatrix.
"Just lie back and stop fighting" Bellatrix advised . "I don't play with my food for that long. Ask my cousin."
"What's for dinner?" Rose quipped, forcing nonchalance into her posture. "I don't know about you, but I could go for some chicken, maybe a little shepherds pie. Ooh, French fries, do you have any of those?"
"The mudblood sounds like my cousin-"
"You flatter me" Rose smirked, every inch a Marauder. There was danger in Bellatrix's eyes, and Rose could see her patience running out. Rose made a twirling motion with her wand, a wall of air knocking Bellatrix straight into the wall of the Three Broomsticks. Rose sent a silent apology to Rosmerta, throat dry as she swallowed down a bolt of dread. Sirius had told her once not to piss off Bellatrix; he said it was the last thing anybody ever did. And, judging by the fire in her eyes , Rose has just pissed off Sirius' insane cousin. Bellatrix's custom black robes were torn and singed (Rose did feel momentarily absurdly pleased about that), hatred poured off her in waves. Dust drifted around her like an aura, giving her an ethereal quality. Rose drew a deep breath in through her nose, calming and giving herself one last moment of peace. Their wands raised and they cast as one. "Protego!" It was ineffective, but it was the only spell she could use. Unfortunately , there was no shield that could stop Bellatrix's curse.
"Crucio!"
Double Transfiguration with McGonagall was usually the one class you could always count on the Marauders (all five of them) attending. The theories on why this happened ranged from fear of McGonagall's Thin Lips of Doom, to hero worship, to not wanting to disappoint the one teacher in school who actually favoured and turned a blind eye to the Marauders. At first, Lily wasn't that worried about her sister and her friends (immature and rule-breaking though they were) missing class. She knew what today was, and there were some days that the Marauders just never bothered turning up to class. Lily did not approve, not one bit. Her younger twin had always been a bit unruly and mischievous, but the Marauders had exacerbated that trait until her sister was nearly unrecognisable. The sad thing was that they made Rose happy; happy in a way Lily and her compulsive rule-keeping and studiousness never had. From the first moment Tuney had called them freaks, Rose had been different - she had taken that difference and embraced it, embraced it right into the arms of James 'Egotistical Toerag' Potter and Sirius 'Rules are made to be broken' Black. Poor Remus and Peter just got caught up in their madness. Lily scoffed aloud, nearly snapping her quill, and splattering Marlene with drops of emerald ink from her hurried notes on their upcoming Arithmancy essay. There were only two things that Lily would or could ever think well of the Marauders about; standing by Remus even though they knew of his lycanthropy, and the way they loved her sister like family - she even had one of those stupid Marauder nicknames. McGonagall entered the classroom, lips thinning at the obvious cluster of unoccupied desks near Frank and Benjy. The Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress sighed, glanced worriedly at the door and began to lecture.
One gruelling hour into learning the basics of human to animal transfiguration, Lily felt a rock drop into her stomach. It was a feeling she knew all too well whenever her sister was getting into danger with the Marauders. She pushed away the dread of what Potter and Black had gotten Rose into now, and refocused on the lesson. The weight increased and increased until it felt like an anvil in her stomach, and she felt a burning in the back of her throat. Her hand rose into the air of its own accord, the classroom door slamming open with a reverberating bang. A leather jacketed, torn jeaned Peter Pettigrew tumbled in, leaves caught in his hair, and bruises forming on his cheek bone. Lily was on her feet, watching as Peter doubled over, held up a hand and gasped for breath. "I- message" he panted, looking seconds from passing out. "James Potter. Hogsmeade. Death Eaters. Marauders holding them off. Need help. Sent me. Help." Lily processed the words and heard nothing but the blood rushing in her ears; Death Eaters in Hogsmeade.
"Calm down, Pettigrew" McGonagall instructed calmly, voice easily cutting through the babbling in the classroom. "What do you mean Death Eaters in Hogsmeade? How do you know?"
"The prank isn't funny" Lily snapped, thanking Merlin for the Professor's clear thinking. Peter, timid Peter, glared at her.
"It's not a prank, Evans" he snapped. "And, Professor, the how isn't important right now. What is, is that my friends need backup now, and we're wasting time." Lily felt pain shoot through her body, and knew instinctively that Peter wasn't lying for once. Her sister was in trouble.
"Where was she?" Lily's tone left no doubt as to who she was meaning. Peter looked at her curiously, but didn't mention it.
"Outside Honeydukes. Prongs, er, James and Sirius and Remus were with her."
"Right." Lily nodded, grabbed Peter's arm and marched him straight out of the classroom, ignoring McGonagall's shouts for them to come back.
Peter led the way through a corridor Lily didn't even know about (and promptly forgot existed) and they were suddenly blinking in the sunlight. Lily had never been much for exploring Hogsmeade, instead spending her time in Tomes and Scrolls, Schrienschafts, or the Broomsticks, but she vaguely recognised the forest up by the Shrieking Shack. "Where to now?" Peter looked at her and pointed, the village was clearly under attack. Smoke rose in plumes from what looked like Tomes and Scrolls, owls flew about like headless chickens, and Lily swore that she could see jets of light coming from near Madame Puddifoots teashop. Whoever was fighting was more than holding their own. Peter seemed to have a mental map of the village, leading them safely down into the midst of the fighting. She could've sworn she saw Remus dance by, wand moving fiercely in a duel with two masked wizards in black. Peter put a finger to his lips, seeing something that Lily had missed; Remus was being herded to the village square. Lily would bet galleons that the others were as well. But why? It didn't make any sense. Lily turned to the quietest Marauder, fire burning in her emerald eyes. "Can you take me to the village square - without anyone seeing?"
"I'm a Marauder" Peter replied, looking like himself for the first time. "It's what we do. Follow me." Peter gave her a boost up onto a roof (because apparently Death Eaters didn't look up high), heaving himself up as well. They crouched there for a moment, spying Black (who looked like he'd gone ten rounds with Cassius Clay and then got beat up by a biker gang) limping forward while looking into a mirror (didn't he have better things to do than check his appearance?). All was still for a microsecond, the tiniest sliver of time, even Hogsmeade held its breath, and then the worst sound Lily had ever heard split the air. A scream of unendurable agony, ripped from deep within, and it didn't stop. Lily glanced at Peter, hoping that she was imagining things, but his blue eyes were fixed on Black - and Black terrified her. Even from a distance, Lily could see his grey eyes harden with anger and fear, he looked like a man seconds away from killing - he knew what was going on. Another scream echoed around the village, worse than the first, and Black took off, sprinting as if he hadn't just been barely standing seconds earlier. James tore past too, his eyes wild and moving with a frenzy that spoke of fear. Peter had his hands over his ears, tears in his eyes, and was muttering incoherently. Lily didn't wait for him to tell her what was going on; for the first time since the word 'freak', she listened to her instincts, and ran after Black and Potter - towards that horrible sound.
There was one second of blissful, wonderful shock. A sweet nothingness. Then there was nothing but pain. Unendurable, unimaginable pain. Never ending, never stopping. Millions of knives, needles, red hot pokers and ice cold spikes driving into every cell of her body, every organ, every follicle, every bit. Her throat tore with the screams driven from her lungs as if by the very hounds of hell, blood beaded at the corners of her lips, and tears burned wet trails down dirty cheeks, but she felt none of it; nothing but the ceaseless pain. If it dulled, it only returned stronger than ever before, drawing louder screams and more agony. Her sanity was like an elastic band stretching further with every second that passed. Sooner or later, it was going to snap, and fly off in a direction she could never follow. She was Rose Evans, a Marauder and a bloody unicorn animagus for Merlin's sake, that had to count for something. Her mind reached out for the good memories, for the Marauders, but there was still nothing but the pain. It felt like her insides were simultaneously melting, freezing and boiling in acid. And it hurt, Godric did it hurt; she just wanted it to stop. Fresher, sharper pain hit, accompanied by Bellatrix's sneering voice. Her blood rushed and pounded in her ears, but the torment stopped. A distant yell hurt her already abused ears, pain still throbbing through her. She forced her eyes open, seeing three furious blurs, and a red blur further behind. She wanted to speak, to see if her eyes were telling her the truth, but she saw a flash of purple cloth, the word Dumbledore sprang to mind, there was a wave of heat. Her vision tunnelled, noise howled in her ears, and then... Nothing.
Thanks for reading!