Chapter 9
Harry melted out of the shadows, appearing above the field hospital. Screams and wails assaulted his ears as he took stock of the chaos that the surviving members of the Order were in. He and Ginny quickly separated to start trying to treat both Order members and prisoners from the brothels, since there were too many for Madam Pomfrey and Andromeda to tend to.
He glanced around, looking for Jason and Alicia to be helping when he saw the pair, looking more defeated than Harry had ever seen before. Alicia was sobbing onto Jason's shoulder, and he was holding her, but wasn't providing the comfort that Harry normally would be seeing from his friend. He was just staring off into space.
While he was concerned for his friends, he also really needed them to snap out of it. They were both incredible healers and much more experienced at this than he was. He hurried over to them.
"Jace, Alicia," Harry said, putting a hand on Jason's shoulder, causing Jason to blink and jump, staring at Harry. Alicia's tearful eyes glanced at him. "We can't afford to have you guys out of it right now," Harry said softly. "I'm really sorry, but you need to pull it together . . . just for a little bit. Help us get everyone situated and treated before you take some time to yourselves."
Jason nodded slowly, and Harry watched his two friends' emotions start looking more controlled as they heavily pulled on their Occlumency shields to suppress their feelings temporarily. Jason and Alicia both separated and moved off to start treating others, and Harry sighed, not liking what he'd just done, but knowing it had needed to be done.
Thankfully as the confusion started to die down, more Order members started assisting with healing or at least bringing order to the hospital. It was still nearly an hour before things were as calm as Harry wanted them to be. The mission had started out so well, but with how it ended, he wasn't feeling so accomplished. He didn't know what Jason's team had gone through, but his team had managed to destroy the two reaction forces, suffering three casualties in the process. Alford Jones had been killed in the first raid, and Mary McDonald and Ted Tonks had both taken major injuries in the second raid and been sent back to the field hospital.
They'd taken another casualty at the first brothel, Wendy Bones. Harry wasn't sure if she survived her injuries or not. He'd thought things were going well until he'd apparated into the mess that was that last brothel. He hadn't had much time to take stock of everyone getting Jut, but he'd noticed Amos Diggory taking a killing curse from Bellatrix as everyone was leaving. He wasn't sure how many others were dead or injured, but it was no small number. Quite a few of the Order had been injured or killed trying to get their injured members off the battlefield after Harry blasted away the wards preventing escape.
As bad as things got, something really bad must have happened to shake Jason and Alicia like that, and Harry couldn't really think what it might be. They'd both survived two wars now, losing friends and comrades, so he didn't think that was what had shaken his friends, though he was sure it wasn't easy on them. What had broken two of his strongest friends?
Harry sighed as Ginny came up to him, looking tired and grim.
"Albus is calling a meeting," she said softly, and Harry nodded before they walked through the hospital to the back where a table had been set up.
Albus was at the head of the table, looking sad and tired. To his right was Mad-Eye, Barty Crouch, and Amelia Bones. To his left was James, Sirius, and Madam Pomfrey. There were four empty seats, likely for himself, Ginny, Jason, and Alicia, but he didn't see Jason or Alicia anywhere, and with his friend's mental state in question, he figured it would be better just to fill them in later.
"Tonight was mostly a success, though the costs were very high," Albus said.
"We knew the risks!" Barty said, an almost manic smile on his face. "We took some injuries and deaths, but we killed far more than we lost today."
"How many casualties?" Harry asked, almost fearing the answer.
"Six deaths and thirteen injuries," Poppy said quietly. "Amos and Aurora Diggory, Juliana Murphy, Alford Jones, Ted Tonks, and Aberforth Dumbledore."
Harry winced, glancing at Albus, knowing why the man looked so sad now. He himself would mourn the loss of Ted and Juliana. He was sure Dora and Andromeda were taking Ted's loss hard. He wasn't sure if there was anyone who would mourn Juliana greatly in this world, but Harry knew just how great she was, even if she wasn't the same Juliana from back home.
"How serious were the injuries?" Ginny asked quietly.
"Everyone should recover . . . to an extent," Poppy said. "None of them will be fit for combat for at least a couple weeks."
Harry and Ginny nodded thoughtfully. Harry really wished Jason and Alicia were around right now. He could really use their help.
"Our focus will be on healing up the injured and rehabilitating the victims from the brothels," Harry said.
"No, we need to push the attack," Crouch argued. "We need to show those Death Eaters that we mean business!"
"We can't with our forces so depleted," Amelia said tiredly. "We need to heal, recruit, and prepare. When we're back to full strength we can start attacking again."
"Where's the other two?" Crouch asked. "I want Witcher's opinion. He'd want us to keep attacking. That was the plan."
"He and Alicia are occupied right now," Harry said. "No, for now, the goal will be just to recover. That might change, but for now, that's it."
"Very well," Albus said quietly. "We'll meet up again in a couple days to reassess."
Harry and Ginny watched the Order members leave without a glance at the pair, too caught up in the losses from the night.
"We should go check on Jace and Alicia," Ginny said softly, and Harry nodded in agreement.
"Do you know what has affected them so badly?" Harry asked.
"No," Ginny said quietly. "I just saw Alicia looking broken, but I don't really know why."
"Alright, let's find out," Harry said quietly.
They started moving through the field hospital, looking at the dozen tents that now were full of injured Order members and victims from the brothels. They'd look into each tent as they passed, checking in on the people as they went. They made it about halfway down the row and entered the tent that they could sense Jason and Alicia in.
They entered quietly, not wanting to startle their friends. Normally they wouldn't even think they could, since Jason and Alicia would Sense them coming, but with how distraught they had seemed, Harry wasn't positive they actually would Sense them coming.
The tent had four rooms that branched off from the main room. They moved to the left room and entered, seeing the backs of their friends, but once they saw who the patients in the room were, Ginny gasped.
Harry was starting to understand what had contributed to breaking Jason and Alicia as he stared at the rather broken forms of Alicia and Jamie Spinnet. The two girls looked terrible, and Harry felt rage, sorrow, and pity war within him, staring at two girls who were family to him. He knew he'd be haunted by what he'd seen while clearing the brothel he'd first attacked, and Harry could only imagine the state the two girls had been in when Jason and Alicia found them.
"Are you two okay?" Ginny asked softly.
"No," Jason said, his voice cracking. "My wife and sister in law's doppelgängers were raped, abused, and tortured as sisters to fill kinks for shitty, evil people, and my sister and my doppelgängers work for Tom Riddle and killed Juliana and gods knows how many other people."
Harry felt alarm rise up as he exchanged startled looks with Ginny. He'd never heard or seen Jason like this, but with everything he just revealed, he could now see why Jason seemed so defeated. The two Death Eaters he and Alicia had been struggling to fight must have been Isabelle and himself, which meant they worked for Voldemort, and they were also extremely skilled in this world. In order to defeat Voldemort, they would have to kill Jason and Isabelle . . . and there was a good chance that Jason and Alicia might be two of the only people capable of doing so. No wonder Jason and Alicia looked crushed.
Ginny walked up and sat down across from Jason and Alicia.
"It's going to be okay," she whispered.
"It's not," Alicia said with a whimper. "Isabelle . . . her eyes reminded me of Bellatrix's. There was a crazy, devoted look about them, and Jace's . . . there was no warmth. He's a sadistic murderer. She and Jace worship Riddle. How could he have done that to them? What kind of fucked up world is this that my sister was gang raped, and my husband and other sister have been converted into Riddle's loyal servants? Why the fuck are we here?"
"I don't know," Ginny said, "it's not fair and I wish with all my heart that we weren't here, that we weren't going through this. I wish we were all enjoying that camping trip we've been talking about, with the whole horcrux crew. As much as I wish we weren't here, we are. We are here, and we are the only ones that can end this war. Jace, Alicia, we need you both if we're going to get home and see our families. I want to see our Juliana with Jack and their kid on the way. I want to see our godchildren and my nieces and nephews and all my brother's and my incredible sisters. I want to go home, and I know you do too."
Harry moved around, and sat with his wife, and wrapped his arm around her. Jason and Alicia looked at them and sighed, their eyes closing for a moment before they reopened them, and Harry was happy to see some of the fight returning. They weren't at a hundred percent, but they were going to recover.
"It's time to start going for his horcruxes," Jason said after a moment. "We'll hit a couple horcruxes and then we'll try to start picking off his reinforcements before they can arrive, or divert them by hitting other places. It'll give the Order time to heal up while we travel."
Harry felt relief rise up as Jason talked about their next steps.
"We'll worry about that tomorrow," Ginny said firmly. "Tonight, we rest."
**HP**
Despite Jason's desire to go after the horcruxes, they did nothing of the sort over the next few days. No, they devoted themselves to trying to heal and rehabilitate the many victims that they'd pulled from the brothels. Many had been prisoners too long and had been addicted to drugs in order to force their subservience or make them eager for the abuse just because of the reward or relief afterwards. At least half were being bound to stop them from trying to hurt the healers or try to flee off into the wilderness in search of the Death Eaters. Of the remaining half, a quarter were suicidal and begging for death whenever anyone was around. The last quarter or so were the ones who seemed truly grateful that they had been rescued and were good patients, though even those had their struggles whether it be night terrors, violent rage, sorrow, suicidal thoughts, or despondency.
It didn't help matters that some of the more brainwashed patients acted good at first before looking for an opening. Dorcas had been stabbed twice in the stomach by a patient who had seemed grateful but had only been putting on an act. She survived, but it was close, especially since the patient had gotten her wand and almost got away before Ginny had managed to disarm and bind her. They were now being forced to use legilimency on everyone before they let them go to get an idea of whether the person intended them any harm, and none of them liked it. Their field hospital was working for now, and Jason certainly didn't regret saving those people, but the field hospital wasn't going to be enough to rehabilitate all the patients. They just didn't have the manpower or the time.
Unfortunately, Jason wasn't really sure what to do about it. The best option was to find a proper hospital with a proper staff to help them, but ones outside of Voldemort's control were few and far between. The only options were in countries free of Voldemort's control, and getting into those countries, seeking an audience with whoever was in charge, getting approval, and then transporting the patients there was no small feat. It just wasn't feasible at this time, especially since they'd have to restrain most of the patients to transport them anywhere, which meant they'd have to book private transportation that they could control, which would take even more time and manpower.
Where the patients were one problem, the Order was another. Most of the Order was content to rest and recuperate, but Crouch's faction in particular was pushing hard to continue the assaults on Death Eater positions, and Jason didn't really know how much longer Albus or Harry could hold them at bay. It didn't seem to matter to the group that there were no viable targets to strike at with their depleted forces. Until the Order was healed up, they couldn't strike at a place like Azkaban or even Hogsmeade. They just didn't have the strength with how much Voldemort had increased protection across the country.
Crouch's desire to do missions made Jason nervous to leave and continue with their plans. He didn't want to leave Britain and come back to find a quarter of the Order was decimated trying to attack Hogsmeade and another quarter decimated trying to save their comrades. It would make their mission that much harder.
"Get out of your head," a voice broke him from his thoughts, and he grinned up at his wife, who came over and plopped down on the couch he had taken refuge on after the lesson with the girls.
"Easier said than done, love," Jason replied with a chuckle before he sighed. "Getting out of my head does sound nice after these last few days."
He and Alicia had both bounced between depressed and handling things over the last couple days. Really the thing keeping him going was just the knowledge that any sort of confrontation between himself and his sister from hell wasn't going to happen anytime soon. It wasn't the healthiest way to deal with the problem, but it was all he could really do at the moment. Beyond that, he and Alicia were studiously avoiding the Spinnet sisters, unsure how to help them, and unsure if they wanted to subject them to the knowledge of multiple universes, especially when it would only lead to them learning about a world where their family wasn't torn apart and is quite happy.
She leaned in and kissed him softly. "Does that help?" she asked softly.
"Hmm, I don't know. I think you have to do it again," Jason replied, putting on a confused face.
She grinned at him and leaned and kissed him properly before she pulled back and curled into his side.
"I know you worry about the Order, but we need to push on with our plans, regardless of what they do," Alicia said after a moment.
Jason sighed. "I know, but if the Order falls, our jobs get much, much harder and our chances of leaving this world will greatly decrease."
"True, but we'll still get home, one way or another," Alicia said simply.
Jason chuckled. "Where'd this new optimism come from?"
"Oh, Harry and Ginny's tough love speech straightened me out," Alicia said sagely.
"Well glad that worked for you because I felt really bad doing it," Harry's voice came as he walked into the ten, and Jason and Alicia glanced at him.
"He's got that look in his eye," Alicia muttered.
"Yeah, I suspect my plans of picking you up and taking you into the bedroom have just been cancelled," Jason said mournfully.
"Maybe if we don't acknowledge him, he'll go away and we can continue those plans," Alicia stage whispered.
Harry mock scowled at them.
"You two can have your fun tonight. Right now, we're going for the ring," Harry said, dropping the scowl.
Jason arched an eyebrow at Harry. "Is that so?"
"Yep," Ginny's voice answered as she walked in. "So, get your lazy arses up, grab your swords and let's get this done."
Alicia chuckled. "Lazy arses, huh?"
"Yep," Ginny said nodding.
Jason grinned. "Alright. Let's get this done, so then I can get back to Alicia's lazy arse."
Alicia, Harry, and Ginny laughed.
Alicia and Jason strapped on their swords and walked out of the tent where Harry and Ginny were already waiting for them. To their surprise, Rebecca was also there, looking nervous but eager.
"Field trip, huh?" Jason asked looking at Rebecca.
She nodded. "Harry said this would be a good learning opportunity to witness curse breaking. He said you two are some of the best in the field, and this site will have some really high level curses, traps, and wards."
"Well, they're correct, though the statement about some of the best in the field is arguable," Alicia said humbly. "None of us hold a candle to Jason's sister in this field, or Ginny's brother either."
"Really? Bill is that good of a curse breaker in your world?" Rebecca asked curiously.
"Oh yes, he's one of the best curse breakers to ever work in the field," Jason said, nodding. "Regardless, the four of us are well above scratch, and this should be educational. However, you must do exactly as we say, and be very careful, am I understood?"
Rebecca nodded seriously.
"Good," Jason said seriously. "None of us have ever thoroughly examined this site before, so we don't know what we'll be facing, so you will stay behind us at all times, and will not use any magic unless directed by one of us."
Rebecca nodded again.
Jason smiled before nodding at Ginny and Harry.
Ginny walked up and offered her arm to Rebecca who grabbed on eagerly. The five of them disapparated away, appearing outside Little Hangleton. They walked up the road until they reached the Gaunt Shack, careful not to get to close and trigger any of the traps or curses.
"Can you Sense the magic, Rebecca?" Harry asked quietly and Rebecca glanced at him, almost startled.
"Try to reach out," Ginny said encouragingly. "Think about everything we've explained to you about Sensing and try to feel the magic in the air."
Rebecca nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep, slow breath. While she was trying to feel the magic, Jason, Alicia, Harry, and Ginny were using their own Sensing skills to try and feel out the magic, and separate the many different spells in the air, looking for hidden ones that might escape their detection spells.
"I think I feel it," Rebecca said quietly after a moment. "A . . . a hum in the air. There's an almost noticeable chill to the feel of it, but not as if it comes from the weather."
"Very good," Alicia praised. "You're Sensing the magic, and you're Sensing the presence of dark magic or at least magic that was cast with ill intent."
"What's the difference?" Rebecca asked curiously. "What's the difference between dark magic and magic cast with ill intent?"
"Well, there is magic that is dark like the cruciatus curse which only causes pain or some of the sacrificial rituals that allow others to gain power at the cost of someone else's life. Those are dark because they are only for someone's gain at the cost of someone else. Even if you tried to justify using some of those spells for good or at least as needed like torturing someone for information, your rewards are at the cost of someone else," Harry explained. "Let me ask you something. Why is the 'avada kedavra' killing curse unforgivable?"
Rebecca frowned. "Because it kills everyone that is hit with it," she said hesitantly.
"Well, then what about extinguio?" Harry asked, and she frowned in confusion. "It's also a spell that kills all who are hit with it. Why is that not an unforgivable?"
"I-I don't know," she said thoughtfully.
"That's okay," Ginny said with an encouraging smile. "The answer is more complex than you think. Avada kedavra was made unforgivable because of two reasons. One is that it is magically unblockable. Obviously, you can avoid it by conjuring items to intercept the spell or summoning something into your path, but not many are quick enough nor strong enough to conjure or summon something into the path to stop that curse. The other reason is the intent. Avada kedevra requires murderous intent to be cast. It requires dark feelings, feelings of hate, and a desire to kill. There are no good intentions while using that spell, even if you ended up doing something good with the spell like killing a Death Eater. It will always split your soul."
"So, extinguio isn't unforgivable because it can be blocked magically and it doesn't split the soul?" Rebecca clarified.
"It could split the soul," Jason clarified. "Murder does that, no matter what spell you use. If I used wingardium leviosa to levitate you forty feet in the air and drop you to your death, it would still split my soul. Extinguio can be cast without murderous intent. You can cast it in defense or with good intentions, like easing someone's passing even if the end state is still death for the person hit with the spell. Splitting your soul is not a good thing, but as long as you don't kill without reason and without feeling, your soul can be mend."
"I understand," Rebecca said, her face clearing of confusion.
"That last example led to the second part of your question about ill intent," Harry continued. "Nearly any spell can be used for dark purposes, but the reverse is also true. There are a lot of spells that many would consider dark that can be used for good reasons. If I conjure a lion to eat you, I'm using a conjuration spell for dark purposes, but it is not dark magic."
"That makes sense," Rebecca said energetically, obviously happy she understood.
"Now, dark magic and magic with ill intent both have different feels to them, as you've Sensed. It can be hard to Sense magic with ill intent when dark magic is present, since the dark magic will drown out the feel of the other magic, but it is obviously still possible," Jason continued the explanation.
"Now, I want you to watch Jason and Alicia used their diagnostic spells to reveal traps and curses," Harry instructed softly as he and Rebecca both looked at Jason and Alicia eyeing the Shack with interest.
Harry and Ginny explained the different spells that Alicia and Jason were using to Rebecca as they watched the two Witchers expose the different wards, traps, and curses, and then they explained how to remove them as Jason and Alicia did so. It took nearly forty-five minutes of work before Jason and Alicia decreed the area clear.
They removed a nasty fear ward designed to make people more and more afraid as they approached, causing them to want to leave the area. If they made it past that, there was a fleshrending curse, a bloodboiling curse, an illusion that would trap those who fell into it until they died, two curses that would stop the victim's heart, and several traps designed to break arms and legs before dragging the victim into the dirt where they would suffocate after being buried alive.
Once they made it past that, they found a great many snakes that had been lured in with an attraction ward. They were extremely hostile since another ward had been emplaced to make them volatile and even Harry's Parseltongue couldn't calm the snakes after the ward had been disabled, so they quickly banished the creatures before they reached the door to the Shack, which was Parseltongue locked. Harry quickly opened the door before they cautiously entered the Shack.
From there, it was fairly straightforward. There were a couple more curses, a couple muggle style traps even before the ring was revealed to be in underneath the floorboards, which were cursed to kill whomever manually or magically removed them if you didn't properly shield yourself.
As soon as the ring appeared, they all, except Rebecca, felt a desire to put the ring on, though none had any problems fighting the enchantment, since none of them had any desire to talk to the dead and thus weren't as susceptible like Albus had been in their own world.
When it was all said and done, they conjured a fake ring, replaced it in the traps, and reset all the traps, curses, and wards, and reconjured the snakes before they moved back out to the road.
"So, was this educational?" Alicia asked Rebecca.
"Yes," Rebecca nodded eagerly. "It was great watching you all work and seeing how your process. I learned a lot today!"
"Good," Harry grinned. "Now, let's get you home."
Twenty minutes later, the four dimension hoppers were gathered in the Witcher's tent, in front of all the information that Severus had given them.
"So, do we cleanse the ring, or do we go get the locket right now?" Harry asked.
Alicia and Jason frowned at him.
"What's gotten into you today?" Jason asked. "You made us get the ring and now you want to immediately go for the locket?"
Harry shrugged. "We have Severus working on the diadem and when ready he can take care of Nagini as well, so I'd like to get the other horcruxes done before we leave the country and strike at Tom's forces abroad. I-I just want to try and get closer to the end goal of killing Tom. We've shown the Order how to fight the Death Eaters after we kill the bastard, and while we certainly need his forces whittled down a bit, I don't want the four of us spending the next couple years roaming this world killing hundreds of Death Eaters. I want to kill Tom and then leave the rest of it to the people of this world."
"I guess that's fair," Alicia said with a sigh.
"Severus is certainly capable of killing Nagini, but I want to do it," Jason said roughly. "After we kill her, I plan to get into the Chamber and kill his other pet. That'll cause him some pain."
Harry and Ginny shot Jason concerned looks, but he ignored them as Alicia curled back into him.
"Going for the locket would be nice," Jason said with a sigh, "but it's protections worry me a bit."
"You mean the potion?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm ready to drink it yet," Jason admitted.
"You're not drinking it at all!" Alicia said sternly, pulling away from Jason and glaring at him. "No way in hell are you drinking it! Isabelle was a mess from you drinking it the first time, and I will not go through that, not to mention had weak you were while recovering."
Jason was looking wearily at Alicia, looking ready for an argument.
"I agree, neither of you are drinking it," Harry said. "After the raids on the brothels, I don't think either of you should drink it. I'll be drinking it, and Gin's been working on a potion to help negate the aftereffects."
Ginny glared at Harry, and he grinned sheepishly.
"She's not happy, but having tended to you, she's got the most experience with the potion, and we all know she's the best at potions, so I think her remedy will do the trick," Harry said solemnly.
"I don't like it," Jason said grimly. "I know what that potion is like, and I would not wish you to go through that."
"I appreciate that," Harry said with a humorless chuckle, "but it's the right call."
Jason sighed, looking at Alicia who nodded wearily.
"Let's go get it now," Alicia said, turning to the two Potters. "Even with Gin's potential remedy to the Drink of Despair, you're going to be out for a bit. We'll want to give you as much recover time as possible before we head abroad. Plus, while Jace and I can perform the ritual to cleanse one horcrux after we've retrieved it, and then we'll rest tonight and cleanse the other one tomorrow while you're still recovering."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Yes, we need to get off our lazy arses, remember?" Jason said with a smirk.
Harry and Ginny grinned, but Jason could tell they were still watching him and Alicia cautiously, concerned about their state of mind. He didn't blame them, and he appreciated the concern, but he and Alicia would be fine. The four of them got up and walked back out of the tent before looking at one another and sighing. Jason could tell none of them really wanted to do this right now, but it did make sense to get it over with so they could start the recovery time needed after retrieving it.
They all apparated away, appearing upon a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming, and churning below them. Jason smelled the salt, and felt a light, chilly breeze ruffling his hair. A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless.
"Gods I hate this place," Jason muttered.
"Let's get in and out quickly then," Alicia said determinedly.
The four of them transfigured their robes into bathing suits and then used a series of niches on the edge of the rock to start climbing down, finally making it to a couple half-submerged boulders. From there, they jumped into the sea, and began swimming towards a black slit in the rocks that was the entrance to the cave.
The water was icy, and for a moment, Jason was thrown back to when he'd done this with his sister what seemed so long ago. They swam through the fissure, which opened up into a dark tunnel. The walls were as slimy and narrow as Jason remembered. They continued to swim until they finally reached steps that led into the large cave.
They hit themselves with drying and warming charms before untransfiguring their clothes. Harry was already on top of finding the entrance, moving slowly, quietly muttering phrases and incantations.
"It doesn't seem like anything's changed," Harry muttered. "The door's right here, and it definitely still takes a blood sacrifice."
"I've got it," Jason said, not bothering to wait for a reply, pulling out one of the knives he kept on himself before he cut shallowly onto his hand and rubbed the blood on the door which caused the outline of the door to blaze silver, and then the rock vanished, leaving an opening into total darkness. Jason then quickly healed himself, cleaned his blade and stashed it back in his robes.
"I'm not really surprised that the protections haven't changed on this one," Ginny admitted. "This one is very well protected, and very hard to find. Without Dumbledore's knowledge and memories of Tom Riddle, I'm not sure how anyone would find this place. I wonder if he updated the protections on the Gaunt Shack? None of us had ever been there before, so we wouldn't even know if he did or not."
"I bet he did," Jason said thoughtfully. "It's certainly the least protected, simply based on it's the easiest to stumble upon, and you could discover Tom's roots with the Gaunt family if you looked hard enough into the Slytherin line. It's also the first place that Albus went looking in our world."
"Well, no way to know," Alicia said with a shrug.
They lit their wands and entered into the chamber. They found themselves at the edge of a great black lake, vast enough that the distant banks could not be seen, and the ceiling was so high that it was out of sight. From the middle of the lake, a misty greenish light shone.
They group moved slowly through the dark along the edge of the water, as Ginny led the way, casting diagnostic and revealing spells as she went. They walked for quite a while before they finally came to a stop as Ginny reached out above the water until her hand closed in midair upon an invisible line. Clenching her hand, Ginny tapped her fist with the point causing a thick coppery green chain to appear, extending from the depths of the water.
Ginny tapped the chain and pulled out the tiny boat that made nary a ripple in the water.
"We'll go across in the boat," Harry said, and he carefully climbed into the boat, Ginny right behind him, both taking care not to touch the water. Once seated, the boat moved away. They watched Harry's and Ginny's wandlight travel through the darkness before finally reaching the lone island. Jason conjured a light that he stuck against the cavern wall, so they could see the shoreline they started on. They then Shadow traveled to the small island. They weren't sure they needed to even use the boat, but they didn't want not using the boat to possibly trigger the inferi to attack them ahead of time. They really didn't want to fight off inferi while one of them was drinking the potion. It was just better to be safe rather than sorry.
Ginny was already examining the potion.
"It's the same as in our world," she said. "Definitely the Drink of Despair."
Harry sighed and walked over before conjuring a goblet to drink out of.
"Are you sure about this?" Jason asked
"I'm sure," Harry said firmly and dipped the goblet into the potion. He lifted it to his mouth and drank. Jason watched Harry drain the goblet four times, his breathing growing heavier after each drink. His eyes were closed, his face looked pained. Ginny put her arm on Harry in a comforting manner, and Harry put the goblet back into the bowl and drew out his fifth drink. Then his sixth followed quickly. He went to dip the goblet in for a seventh time when he paused and his grip on the goblet slackened. Jason grabbed it as it fell, and Ginny supported Harry.
"No more," Harry said hoarsely, terror in his tone. "Please, I'm tired of this."
"I-it's okay, love," Ginny said brokenly. "Only a bit more and it will all be over. Then you can rest."
Jason slammed his emotions behind Occlumency shields, not wanting to face them at this time. He went to go refill the goblet, but Ginny grabbed it from him and dipped it into the potion before feeding it to Harry. He started whimpering immediately.
"P-please, no more," Harry begged to someone unseen. "They don't deserve this. No more. Not because of me."
Ginny was full blown sobbing as she refilled the goblet and forced another goblet full down his throat. Alicia had tears in her eyes as she looked at Ginny and Harry. Jason was clenching his wand and he turned away, looking at the black lake.
After a few moments, Ginny said softly. "I've got it, I've got the locket," and Jason looked as she tossed it to Alicia before she pulled a vial of potion out of her robes.
"Is it the real one?" Jason asked Alicia, and she looked at it before she nodded, and Jason took a look at the vile object that had caused so much trouble during the first part of their journey after the ministry had fallen and they'd been forced out of Grimmauld Place.
"Alright, get ready," Ginny called, her calmness sounding forced, and Jason glanced over as she hurried over to the black lake.
She dumped the goblet into the lake and pulled out a full goblet and rushed back towards Harry, and Jason watched as the lake started churning, the dead rising out of it.
'Anulus ignis maxima!' Jason thought and flames sprang from his wand and formed a ring around the island burning the dead already there and forcing the others back into the water.
"Muro parte ignis," Alicia called out and a section of his ring parted and then became two walls of fire that spread from the island to the distant shore, creating a path for the boat to use. Ginny helped Harry into the boat and the two of them took off towards the distant shore. Jason and Alicia Shadow Traveled back to where Jason's light was still shining on the wall and waited for the boat to arrive with Ginny and Harry.
When they arrived back at shore, Jason and Alicia pulled the fire to line their path back to the entrance, giving them protection. Jason took a look at Harry and saw he did seem quite a bit more responsive compared to how Jason had been after he drank the potion, so whatever Ginny had cooked up must have been at least somewhat effective.
They moved quickly back to the antechamber, Jason cutting himself with his knife again to open the doorway before he and Alicia cut the fire and resealed the doorway after they were all back into the antechamber. From there they Shadow Traveled back to the outcrop of rocks, happy to find that they were able to do so. They hadn't tried to Shadow Travel to the antechamber, worried about what wards might have done to them if Voldemort had placed one to counter Shadow Travel, not to mention the risks of Shadow Traveling to a place that they couldn't see and didn't really know well.
Once they made it to the outcrop, Jason took a better look at Harry, seeing him looking like someone recovering from a great illness, but not someone on his deathbed like Jason had been like. Ginny's potion must have really worked.
"Let's get out of here," Harry said weakly, and then he nearly collapsed if Ginny hadn't jumped in and supported him, so maybe Jason was thinking too much of Harry's condition.
"Ginny, take him straight to bed. Jace and I will deal with the ring tonight and the locket tomorrow," Alicia said, and Ginny nodded, giving a strained smile to Alicia before a soft pop signaled their departure.
Jason and Alicia disapparated away themselves, appearing outside of their bunker. They could see Ginny guiding Harry into the Potter cottage. Jason and Alicia ducked into the bunker before taking the locket into their office where Jason opened up the pocket dimension that they used to hide things. They stored the locked in the pocket and pulled out the ring.
Putting their Occlumency shields to the max, they started creating a ritual circle, Alicia writing the runes into a stone slab while Jason cast the necessary charms to link everything together. When they were done, they placed the ring in the center of the circle and started the long, complicated ritual to cleanse the horcrux.
It took nearly ten minutes, but finally gold and white strands of light left Jason's and Alicia's wands and engulfed the horcrux. It screamed before black dust came out and was quickly eradicated by their magic, leaving the ring whole and cleansed.
Jason and Alicia both staggered over to a comfy reading chair in their office and plopped down on it, absolutely exhausted.
"Well, at least that's done," Jason mumbled, his eyes half closed.
"I liked our original plans better," Alicia muttered, and Jason chuckled weakly.
"I'd offer to try and get back on track, but I'm much too tired," Jason admitted.
"Dear, I'm not sure I even have the energy to drag myself to bed," Alicia said tiredly.
Jason took a deep breath before he staggered to his feet. He then leaned over and picked up Alicia bridle style before he started walking out of the office and towards the bedroom.
"Best husband ever," Alicia whispered, and Jason chuckled softly as he entered their bedroom and quickly set her down on her side of the bed.
He muttered a couple spells with his wand, transfiguring Alicia's clothes into something more comfortable for her. He then tucked her in nicely, before clumsily walking to his side of the bed, stripping off his clothes, and getting into bed, and curling up with her, and fading off to sleep.
**HP**
Harry woke slowly, his head pounding. He realized that Ginny wasn't in bed with him, which was a bit of a surprise. He opened his eyes and sat up slowly, feeling weak, like how he did after having been badly ill. He looked around, and saw it was clearly late morning for the sun was shining through the window brightly.
He got out of bed slowly, still feeling weak despite the potions Ginny had given him to counter the effects of the Drink of Despair. It really was a nasty potion, and he couldn't imagine dealing with the full effects until the potion completely cleared his system like Jason had done.
He threw on some robes and then exited the room, heading towards the sound of voices. He entered the dining area to find his wife sitting with James and Lily, and James and Lily were laughing at whatever story she had told them.
Ginny glanced back at him as he entered, and his eyes met her searching ones. She was obviously looking for some sign of how he was doing, so he gave her a warm smile, trying to hide his discomfort, but she must have seen through it because she shook her head in exasperation and turned back to James and Lily.
"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, looking concerned, which told Harry that they had been told about retrieving the horcrux. As she asked, she waved her wand and a plate full of breakfast floated over to him.
"I'm a bit sore, but on the mend," Harry answered, his voice hoarser than he thought it would be, nodding thanks at her, as he settled down in front of the plate at the table. "Certainly better than Jace was when he did it, thanks to Gin," he said, giving an appreciative smile to his wife, and her lips twitched towards a smile. She always was a sucker for flattery.
"Two more horcruxes destroyed is great progress," James said excitedly.
"Technically only one of those two has been destroyed," Ginny said, craning her neck to look out the window towards where the Witcher tent was underground.
"Oh, yeah, the locket will get destroyed today, correct?" James asked curiously.
"It should," Harry said, nodding. "It will depend on Licia and Jace, though. If they aren't quite up for it, then we might wait. This one's going to take a lot out of them, so they really need to be at their best before even trying."
"Why will this one take a lot out of them?" Lily asked, looking confused.
"Using the ritual to cleanse a horcrux takes a lot of energy to begin with," Ginny explained. "Jace and Alicia are the only ones who've done it so far, and they've always looked exhausted afterwards. This one's going to be harder though because the ritual won't work on it while the locket remains closed."
"The problem is," Harry continued, "that opening the locket opens up everyone to an attack by the locket. It will fight back, and having fought this one personally, I can say it is quite nasty."
"Our friend, Hermione, created a spell to shield oneself from the effects of a horcrux," Ginny took back up the explanation. "After my brother's bad reaction to the locket during our travels., she decided she wanted to find a way to shield people from their effects, should someone ever find themselves in similar shoes. Granted, it's highly unlikely anyone ever will, and her spell will frankly become more and more obscure as time goes on to where even Defense Masters or Senior Aurors might not know it, but she still felt like it was something that needed to be created. It's never been tested, but she's one of the smartest people I know, so I have faith that it works."
"So in order to cleanse the locket, they'll have to open the locket, shield themselves from the effects of the horcrux, and then perform the ritual?" Lily clarified.
"Correct," Harry said, "and Hermione's shield is also very draining. Combining the two would frankly be beyond a great many witches and wizards. Jace and Alicia are up to it, but I wouldn't expect to see either of them for the rest of the day afterwards. If they're still feeling drained from yesterday, they might not want to risk something going wrong trying to cleanse the locket today."
"That makes sense," James said, nodding in understanding. "Is there any way to help them?"
"Well, if I hadn't just drunk the potion, Ginny and I could probably offer to do it in their stead," Harry admitted. "I'm stronger than Jace, magically, and Ginny's stronger than Alicia, so we'd probably be a better pair, magically, to do it, but while I understand the ritual, and could probably do it, I never have."
"I feel the same way," Ginny admitted. "It's very, very complicated, and those two invented it, plus they've used it a couple times now. I trust their experience more than my understanding."
"I guess that makes sense," Lily said, but James was frowning thoughtfully.
"You're both stronger than Jason and Alicia are?" he asked after a moment.
"Technically, yes," Harry admitted with a shrug. "I'm quite a bit magically stronger than Jace, but the power difference is offset by other factors," Harry explained, thinking of the Elder Wand. "Jason's about as strong as Dumbledore. In fact, I'd say they're almost equal. Gin's about the same as both of them."
Lily and James looked at Ginny in surprised and she shrugged indifferently.
"I really don't stand a chance of winning a duel against Jason, no matter if we have the same power levels," Ginny said honestly. "Alicia's magically weaker than me, but I really don't know if I could beat her either. I keep up with dueling fairly well and love learning new magic, but her and Jason's lifestyle has put them in duels or skirmishes up to full battles fairly regularly, and I can't keep up with how regularly they find or learn new magic, not to mention how often they adjust their dueling styles."
"I guess that makes sense," James said slowly.
Harry and Ginny chuckled.
"Ever since I've known Jace, he's been pushing to learn new magic and become the greatest duelist that's ever existed," Harry said with a shake of his head. "At twelve years old, he was dueling multiple practice dummies at a NEWT level, and by thirteen he was using mastery level defensive spells. I felt like I was catching up to him in abilities in the later years while we were at Hogwarts, and while we were on the run, but ever since the war ended, I've just watched him pull away again, and Alicia's actually been successful in keeping up with him."
"They're an incredible pair, though I could say the same about you two," Lily said admiringly.
Harry and Ginny both blushed a bit, drawing out grins from Lily and James.
"Looks like they've woken," Harry said, breaking the silence, looking out the window to see Jason and Alicia exiting their bunker.
They watched the pair walk across the yard before they finally entered the cottage.
"Good morning," Jason greeted, a relaxed smile on his face.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Lily asked, already waving her wand for two more plates of breakfast to come flying over to the table.
"Good," Jason and Alicia both responded, already starting to dig into the breakfast, nodding their thanks.
"So, what's on the docket for today?" James asked, looking at the group as a whole, and Harry wanted to snort at his way of finding out if the horcrux was being destroyed today without looking overeager about the one thing he wanted to know about.
"Probably destroy the locket today," Alicia said simply. "That's going to put us out for the rest of the day probably."
"So, you feel up to it?" Ginny asked, giving them a concerned look.
"Yes, we'll be fine," Jason said, with a warm smile at her. "We'll knock it out, and then we have a valid excuse to go laze about in our bed for the rest of the day."
Ginny rolled her eyes at him.
"If I knew you were going to hold it against me, I would've called you something much worse than a lazy arse,"Ginny retorted, and Jason laughed.
"You have called me much worse," Jason pointed out.
"Please, we've all called you much worse," Alicia said with a chuckle, and Jason grinned at her.
"Especially during those first two years as aurors," Harry said in fond remembrance.
"I only did two years as an auror!" Jason exclaimed.
"Yeah, that was two years too long for me," Harry said dryly, and Jason gave him a mock hurt look.
"You're making it sound like I'm as bad as Sirius!" Jason groaned dramatically.
"Oh gods, don't get me started on Sirius," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Sometimes I wonder which one of us is the godfather and which is the godson."
"Well, technically you are a godfather, and I would think that Sirius did have a godfather at some point" Ginny supplied helpfully, and Harry scowled at her as Alicia and Jason laughed, and Lily and James looked at the 'kids' in amusement.
"Always helpful, aren't you, love?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.
"Always," Ginny said with a grin, giving a firm nod.
"As fun as this, I think it's time for Licia and I to destroy that stupid locket," Jason said with a sigh. "We'll try to find the energy to show up at dinner."
The four Potter's nodded at the two Witcher's as they both got up, cleaned their dishes, and walked back out towards their bunker.
The rest of the day passed by easily enough. Harry was mostly forced to rest by Lily, James, and Ginny, but he was allowed to help Ginny with teaching their three students for the day, since Alicia and Jason weren't in any condition to help, though Lily and James both sat in, and listened to their lessons to the three girls. As the day started coming to a close, Harry was beginning to feel much better, happily thinking that his recovery would be even shorter than he thought it would be. Ginny disappeared for a couple hours to check on the hospital on all the patients, but she returned letting everyone know that everything was fine.
Jason and Alicia came in for dinner, both still looking spent, but they confirmed that the locket had been cleansed, even bringing it with them for Ginny and Harry to study, since none of them had seen the locket whole and undamaged in their world. The locket, interestingly enough, when opened, housed a small pocket dimension that things could be stored in. Since the locket required Parseltongue to open, pretty much everything was protected in the locket, and it was as indestructible without the horcrux as it had been with it, so it was quite the handy portable safe.
The evening was growing late as the four Potters and two Witcher's enjoyed a nice evening out in the yard, just enjoying the quiet, but it wasn't to last.
Arthur's weasel patronus came sailing into the yard. "Death Eaters attacking the Bones's home! They're trapped. We need help!"
Despite their tiredness, Jason and Alicia sprang up, their wands at the ready as they summoned Shadow Robes from their bunker. Harry and Ginny quickly summoned Shadow Robes of their own from their room in the Potter Cottage while James and Lily secured the residence and set intruder and warning alarms.
When they felt they were ready, James grabbed onto Harry and Ginny, while Lily grabbed onto Jason and Alicia and the six of them disapparated away.
They appeared on the outskirts of the property, but what they saw worried Harry. Death Eaters were there in large numbers, and what remained of the Order was desperately trying to safeguard the Bones residence, while some tried to blast their way into the home which had a powerful sealing charm placed on it.
"Ginny, break the sealing charm!" Harry ordered as Jason, Alicia, Lily, and James rushed into the fight.
Ginny ran off towards the Bone home to assist breaking the charm while Harry engaged several Death Eaters that had pinned down Remus and Dora. Harry blasted one Death Eater with a concussion hex, and then hit another with a piercing curse to the throat, creating an opening for Remus and Dora to start firing back, putting the remaining three Death Eaters on the defensive as another one fell to Remus and Dora's blasting curses.
Harry looked over to see Jason and Alicia fighting as a pair, slashing through a pair of Death Eaters with ease, but even from where he was, he could see the fatigue in their entire bearing, and he could Sense their weakening power. They wouldn't last much longer. The ritual had taken too much out of them.
His worry for his friends grew when he heard Bellatrix Lestrange's manic screech and saw her and Rodolphus start making their way towards them. He was about to run off to help when he heard the high cold laugh that still haunted his nightmares. Harry turned to see Bill and Fleur blasted away from where they had been trying to contain the Dark Lord.
Knowing he had to move quick if he wanted to prevent their deaths, he Shadow Traveled in front of them, conjuring a wall to take Voldemort's killing curse intended for Bill. He transfigured the wall into a pack of wolves which ran at Voldemort, but the Dark Lord viciously struck them down with cutting curses, his red eyes glaring at Harry. He must have held a grudge from when Harry interfered in his duel with Dumbledore.
Voldemort launched a killing curse at Harry, and he spun out of the way, not bothering to counter, but instead turning Bill and Fleur's shirts into portkey's and sending them away from the battlefield. Voldemort snarled, launching a string of dark curses at Harry, that he shielded himself from, retaliating with a lightning bolt, a heart explosion curse, and a blast of wind.
They continued to trade back spells. Harry stayed mostly on the defensive, knowing he couldn't' kill Voldemort, and staying defensive allowed him to divert most of Voldemort's clever or subtle attacks back at the man, rather than force Harry to use the strength to create some of his own. As the duel raged on, Voldemort's cleverer attacks lessenend and soon he was just launching deadly, destructive, and powerful curses at Harry, obviously hoping Harry's shield would falter or he'd misstep badly.
Unfortunately for Voldemort, Harry was stronger than the man, and his shield was more than up to the task of protecting him from all but the avada kedavra, and as Voldemort continued to fail to kill his opponent, he grew angrier and angrier, his aim getting worse over time, and his judgement worsening. Harry finally saw his own opening, and snap-apparated closer to Voldemort and released a blast of magic that blasted Voldemort off his feet and launching the monster back onto his back, where Harry promptly hit him with a stunner, figuring it would only enrage him more when he woke up.
Harry glanced around the battlefield, seeing that the Order was starting to flee, the sealing charm on the Bones home having been lifted. His heart crept into his throat though when he looked over to see Alicia on the ground, Jason in front of her on a knee, his wand arm shaky facing the two Lestranges, curses already leaving their wands.
AN: I'm desperately trying not to go longer than two weeks without a post, but I haven't had as much time to write as I would have liked. Just managed to get this done before I have a week in the field. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think.