The Weeping Lake

Chudley moved swiftly over the rough terrain, his fifth gait coming quite handy over the rocky ground. While his galloping speed left something to be desired, Chudley's tölt on the other hand was nothing short of perfection, and once he got enough flat and straight ground, his flying pace was faster and smoother than any other horse. His hooves echoed upon the hardpacked snow as he devoured the miles between the village and the lake.

I had to slow Chudley down the closer we got as visibility diminished with each step; the further we traveled, the worse the storm became. I was loathed to do so, knowing that time was already against us, but breaking one of Chudley's legs on the uneven terrain was not going to get us there any faster either. I took one hand off the reins to flick the wand into my hand and cast a quick bubble head charm on the little horse. He was breathing so heavily, his sides heaving under my legs, and I knew that the cold air and heavy snow fall could not have made it any easier.

The snow stung my eyes and cheeks and I made a mental note to ask Severus later if there was a spell to shield my face…or make goggles, that would probably be easier. Despite the low visibility and the sudden paranoia that we might be going the wrong way – and the thought wouldn't leave me, we had been traveling for so long now and surely we should have been there already – I knew we were getting close when I heard the sound of screaming.

Chudley – a small and lazy horse to be sure but completely Gryffindor at heart – burst out of the trees and straight into the enemy. He plowed through two corpses before I was able to spell them away, charging a third head-on by the time Snape started to shout something I couldn't hear over the screaming and hollering from those around me.

The little horse stomped on the decaying body even as he whinnied in pain. He didn't stumble though, so I cast a basic healing spell on him and threw out a bombarda at a group of approaching dead. It gave me just enough breathing room to take in our surroundings.

We had exited the forest at the northern most point of the lake, and though I had never seen it before, I realized that this couldn't be mistaken as any other than the Weeping Lake. There were two waterfalls next to me, though the storm had caused it to completely freeze over, and the rock that the water was forced around did indeed look like a face. The two frozen waterfalls gave the image of tears streaming down the cheeks of a stone woman.

The blizzard that surrounded us made it difficult to see much further than perhaps a dozen or so paces away, but even though I couldn't see to the other side of the lake, I could still hear the battle that waged across the frozen water. Dead were pouring from the trees in droves and I pressed my heels into Chudley and turned him to the only group of living I could make out through the blinding wind and snow. He pulled up short of plowing down one of the fighters and I cast a large protego around us just as the dead reached them.

One of the women flinched back as the dead slammed into the magical shield that her vision couldn't perceive. She looked up at me with wide eyes, wild and frightened as the corpses clawed at the barrier. It was only when my eyes met hers did I realize that I knew her.

"Alfhild?" I shouted to be heard over the sound of the wind and shrieks of the dead, though she was so close I could have reached out and touched her. "Alfhild! Are you all right?"

Blood was leaking from a cut on her forehead and she held her right arm tucked into her side awkwardly. The blue and black shield she had been gifted as part of her graduation when she became a warrior was nowhere to be seen, her small axe held in her off hand, and she appeared to be almost feral as she looked at me as if she had no idea who I was. "Alfhild?" I tried again, leaning low over Chudley's back. "Are you okay?"

"Harielle?" She asked cautiously, lowering the axe she held aloft before sagging into Chudley's side with relief. "What are you doing here? You should be at the village, it isn't safe!"

I only shook my head in reply, patting Chudley's neck soothingly when he snorted in unease as the other warriors huddled closer and began to crowd into him. "I am here to help!" I shouted, pressing my legs into Chudley's side to turn him in a slow circle as I took in the dead. "Stay close!"

I brought my wand to bear in my off hand, the black one that used to be Severus', and wished I had my holly as well. Two wands would have been ideal for dual casting, even though I hadn't mastered it yet. Instead, I drew the sword at my hip, comforted by the warmth in the grip despite the cold around us. Not even an ice storm could chill the magical blade.

My wand started to twirl slowly in my grip even as Chudley continued his slow spin in place, the other warriors moving with him as they held their weapons at the ready, facing the dead that were starting to pile around my barrier. They were crushing each other, trying to claw through the shield and it was only a matter of moments before they had completely swarmed it.

"What are you thinking?" Severus asked lowly, his dry nose brushing the shell of my ear as he pressed close.

"I'm thinking fire," I replied, hushing Chudley as the sound of cracking caused everyone to press close. The shield wouldn't hold for much longer, and though the others couldn't see it they all gripped their weapons tighter as the spider webs of broken cracks started to splinter across the barrier like shards of glass.

"It will have to be quick, burn hot, and cover all of us," he replied as the fractures continued to creep and connect across the shield.

"Incendio is directional," I murmured in thought. "And the fire whip is only good for a few seconds, I can't hold it long enough to kill all of them."

"My fire?" Severus asked, his tail coming up to wrap tightly around my chest where it would be out of the way and not impede either of my arms.

I hummed softly in agreement before leaning forward to speak to Alfhild. "I need you all to stay close!" I shouted. "Closer! As close as you can get!"

She looked up at me, her brown hair coming loose from the braids and framing her pale scarred face. She looked scared but determined. One of her hands reached out to grab the nearest warrior, a man who would have towered over me were I not mounted and started to speak hurriedly to him. Chudley whinnied loudly, throwing his head back and snorting as the people around us pressed so close that he could no longer move without stepping on them.

"Ready?" I asked Severus, raising my wand, and preparing myself to catch his flame once more. In response, he climbed to perch fully on my shoulder, his tail flicking to curl around my neck as he left the safety of my hood.

Shrieking defiantly, Severus rose up onto his back legs, waving his small wings to keep his balance, before a flame burst from his open maw. It burned so hot that the others flinched away from the heat and I fought not to let my attention waiver as I set about capturing the flame. I just had to hope that the warriors had stayed close, because in a moment, the shield was going to fail, and I had to get a ring of fire between us and the dead before that happened. I really didn't want to accidentally kill one of the people I had come here to save.

Sweat was pouring from my brow as I finally seized control of the blooming purple flame, coaxing it with gentle magics to stay its destructive nature long enough for me to place it where it needed to be. It fought me, at first…like it was something living. But eventually it surrendered and the curling purple flames – licked blue and white at the ends – allowed me to push and pull it into the shape I needed.

A ring of fire formed around us, whipping and whirling larger and larger until I could finally release it to burn as it needed too, the only direction I left it with was to burn outwards. The shield broke just as the fire was placed and the flames devoured everything in its path. It burned so brightly that I had to cover my eyes or risk being blinded. The next moment I had to drop my hands to gather the reins as I was in danger of being thrown.

Chudley reared in fright and I had to use more than just my strength to keep the horse from bolting right into the flames. My magic was able to soothe him long enough for the fire to burn low and once he was calmer I took in our surroundings. Thankfully, the fire hadn't killed or even hurt the warriors that were surrounding us…but they were also now looking at me like I was something to be either in awe of or feared.

Perhaps a little of both.

Severus' fire had burned so hot it charred the icy ground and ate anything in its path for over twenty meters out. We stood in the eye of it, a small patch of white surrounded by blackened bones. Despite the howling wind and the distant sounds of battle, it was quiet in our little field of dead. The sound was only broken by Severus' heavy breathing, hot little puffs of air curling around my ear and jaw.

Alfhild was looking up at me, her blue eyes wide and surrounded by white, lips parted and breaths coming short and sharp. She looked at me like the others were, less like I was someone she knew and more as if I was something.

"Hari," Severus whispered softly, nudging my cold cheek with his warm nose. "Hari, we need to find the whelps."

Alfhild was still staring up at me, her and the others shifting slowly away while still staying within the still white patch of snow. My heart constricted tightly, as if someone had reached into my chest and wrapped their fist around it. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at me like she was looking at me right at this moment. The last time…it must have been with the Dursley's…however long ago that was.

The passage of time scared me, especially since I didn't know how much time had indeed passed since that day of the first task. But the longer I spent away from the Dursley's was also nothing short of a minor blessing.

"Hari," Severus insisted, and I forced myself to look away from Alfhild and her terrified gaze. "The dragons, we need to leave."

Sword in one hand, wand and reins in the other, I dug my knees in and urged Chudley away from the group that I had just saved…the people that were now looking at me like I was something of a monster. We only got a few paces away before I pulled Chudley to a stop and turned back. I knew that I had scared them, that magic scared them…but still I hesitated, unwilling to leave them alone and undefended.

"Alfhild," I called, twisting in my saddle to face her fully. "Come with me, the others may need help," I wasn't begging, but the tone in my voice was remarkably close to it. She looked hesitant, glancing back between the group she was with. She was the youngest there, and yet, the others were looking at her as if the next choice lied solely with her. As if she was now somehow their leader, their commander.

I could tell the sudden authority she found herself wielding left her off kilter and more than a little panicked. The others in her group were looking to her, suddenly willing to follow her lead wherever that would lead them. If she decided to stay, so would the others…and I knew that if that happened, they would more than likely join the army of the dead.

I couldn't take that risk.

Severus' voice was insistent in my ear, my name a tiny hissing sound set on repeat as he urged me to hurry. He wanted me to choose, to leave the muggles to their fate and save the dragons that we have hatched and raised together. I knew he was right…the dragons needed us, but I couldn't just leave them. I didn't want to choose, and the only way to save them both was to take the decision away completely.

I shrugged my shoulder to silence him and turned my full attention back to the girl only a few years older than I. "Alfhild!" I called again, pressing my knee into Chudley's side to turn him back to the group. Her pale blue eyes gazed up into mine, shrouded with fear and uncertainty. "Keep close but stay behind me," I ordered, trying to do my best to impersonate McGonagall's stern tone with Snape's firm glare – the one that brooked no argument and demanded absolute obedience.

I'm not certain I succeeded fully, but I must have done a good enough job at imitation because in the next moment, Alfhild's face became tight, her jaw clenched and her chin high as determination stole over her features. I spun Chudley back around to face the frozen lake and waited only a heartbeat before I pushed him forward. I couldn't look behind me, didn't dare too really. If they weren't following me, there was nothing at this point that could force them too, and if they were…looking would only show them how scared and out of my depth I truly was, and they might choose to stop following me.

"Are they following?" I whispered in English to Severus instead, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

He snorted loudly in my ear and I could feel him shifting to look behind us, his thumb claws twisting into my braids to keep his balance and still be discrete. "Yes," he admitted with a put-upon sigh, as if them choosing to follow us into battle was just another bad decision made by one of his students. "This is a terrible plan."

"Severus," I huffed his name in exasperation. "You should know by now that I never really have a plan."

We continued slowly through the blizzard, Alfhild and the other warriors pressing in close to Chudley despite their unease with my magic. Severus' head swiveled to-and-fro as he used his superior hearing to pinpoint the direction we needed to be heading. Everything in me was pushing to just gallop as quickly as possible, to get to the whelps now, but my time here in this strange world had taught me better…Severus had taught me better. We would be no good to the dragons if we were lost, or worse dead.

"Now if you two don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed – or worse, expelled!"

Hermione's voice rang loudly through my head and my lips pulled into a grimace. My emotions didn't know whether to twist my face into a smile at the memory or frown by the gaping hole her absence had left. I missed the way she would say my name, as if one would use it in a curse, interchangeable with Merlin or God or whatever deity one would swear too when frustrated.

Chudley's hooves pressed through the snow, creating trenches that the others followed in order to preserve their energy. The distant echoes of battle sounded like it was coming from every direction, but Severus assured me that this was the direction we needed to be heading in. The crunching of snow was replaced suddenly by a loud hollowed clopping sound as the ground changed to ice.

We had reached the lake.

Chudley didn't even hesitate as he made his way out onto the ice and I stroked his neck in gratitude as his sure footing didn't let him slip. "Harielle!" Alfhild called out to me and I turned in my saddle to look at her. She and the rest of the group were standing at the edge of the lake, only perhaps a dozen paces away, but already I could barely make out their forms. I turned Chudley back, even as my heart pounded in my chest with every second we wasted. The dragons didn't have time for any of these delays.

"What is it?" I asked once I was close enough to make out their faces.

"The ice," her voice wavered somewhere between speaking loudly and shouting to be heard over the wind. "It can't be thick enough; the lake wasn't frozen yesterday!"

"We will not fall through," I shouted back, bringing my wand to bear, and casting a discreet strengthening charm to the ice below us. Though I was frustrated at the delay, I was silently grateful for Alfhild's concern. The thickness of the ice hadn't even crossed my mind.

"But the ice! How can you know?"

I ticked my eyebrow up in the way that I had learned from Snape's potions class, the one that said, 'you dare question me you foolish child?' and spun Chudley back around. "I know because I have ensured it," I called back to the group, trying to sound certain and commanding despite the unease that was twisting my stomach. "Now, stay close!"

"We need to move quicker," Severus hissed, and I silently agreed. We were taking far too long.

"Can you hear the dragons?" I asked quietly even as I dug my heels in and urged Chudley into a quick trot. Behind me, I could barely make out the sounds of the warriors breaking into a jog to keep up.

"No," he confessed softly. "But the sound of battle is getting stronger."

Grimacing, I pulled the loose serpent hide neck up over my frozen lips and gripped my wand tighter. Every few dozen paces, I recast the strengthening charm on the ice and sent a silent prayer to Merlin or Magic or Minerva – the goddess of wisdom and Hermione's preferred divine being in times of trouble…and exams – or any deity that would listen to let us get there in time.

I coaxed Chudley faster and ignored the cursing behind me as Alfhild and the others had to start running in order to not be left behind. I could just make out the other side of the lake when someone screamed from the back of the group. Pulling Chudley to a stop and trying to turn at the same time on ice was not advisable and I started cursing as he slid, snorting and throwing his head as he tried to keep his balance as he spun on the ice.

One of the Thenns, a man I didn't know, was shouting as a dead wolf tore into him. The others were stabbing at the decomposed creature, but the beast didn't seem to notice as it dug its teeth into the man's soft belly. Standing in the saddle, I cast a quick blasting hex at the dead canine before trying to help Chudley regain his balance.

His sides were heaving by the time he got his feet steady beneath him, and not a second too soon as within moments the wolf was back on its feet and charging over the ice. "Bombarda maxima!" the spell blasted the beast into tiny pieces, and it didn't get up again.

"Birger!" Alfhild cried, kneeling next to the dying man. She gripped his bloodied hand between hers, her axe forgotten on the ground next to her. "Birger, hold on. Harielle! Harielle, please!" But it was too late. Even as I urged Chudley back to them, I could see the man known as Birger take his last gasping breath before going still. "Harielle, quickly! Please!"

"Move out of the way," I told her, bringing the black wand up. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes but didn't move.

"You can heal him," she insisted, still holding his pale hand. "You have to heal him, please!"

"Alfhild, move out of the way." When she refused to move, I nodded my head to the two men who stood behind her and they stepped forward to pull her away from the corpse. She struggled, but the fight in her was already waning. I didn't know what the funeral process was for the Thenns, not really. The only time I had ever witnessed anything close was during another battle…but I did know that they wouldn't want to be raised and forced to fight for the army of the dead.

"May your gods welcome you into their halls with honor and glory, where thine enemies have been vanquished and the brave shall live forever," I intoned softly, pulling words from long forgotten texts that Hermione had forced me to read for one project or another, and trying my best to translate them into the Olde Tongue. Alfhild was sniffling softly but didn't argue as Severus set the body alight.

I gave them a moment to grieve, only a few seconds really, before I used Chudley's rotund body to forcefully move them away from the corpse and back towards the battle that even now I could still just make out over the howling wind. "There is only one thing we can do for him now," I told Alfhild as we started walking once more, her axe hanging in her loose grip.

I cast a quick episky over the entire group, ignoring the soft exclamations as they shook out their limbs and poked at healed cuts. Alfhild transferred her axe back to her dominant hand, her arm healed, and sent me what could loosely be construed as a small smile, if it wasn't so twisted with anger and sadness. "He is dead, what could we possibly do for him?" She asked, looking more tired than I had ever seen her.

"Avenge him," I replied with a determination I didn't really feel. I was too caught up in the thoughts of the whelps. My words must have worked though, as Alfhild's grip on her axe tightened and she started to jog without complaint as I urged Chudley faster.

We crossed the ice quickly, the last six surviving warriors immediately falling into a column behind me as Chudley surged through the soft snow. One moment we were trying to find the battle that we could only hear, and the next we were fully in it. Visibility was terrible, and it was difficult to make out the living versus the dead, but slowly we started to wade through the battlefield, one meter at a time.

Severus launched himself from my shoulder, braving the harsh winds to get a better view, and I cast bright fairy lights after him. They lit the ground before us, penetrating the thick white blizzard further and allowing us to make out the enemy with more clarity. It also brought survivors as well.

I was tempted to dismount, wielding the Gryffindor sword awkwardly on one side and the wand on the other, but I also didn't want to give away any advantages I had while mounted. Chudley moved faster than I could, tramping down trails in the powder snow, and allowing me to get a better view, even if it was only by a few feet taller. But I was also hesitant to take him fully into battle. Despite his tenacity, bravery, and all-around ability to just not give a shit, he was not a war horse.

Chudley reared and lashed out with his front hooves at an approaching dead…thing. I honestly couldn't make out what sort of creature it was meant to be. Perhaps a cat of some sort, or maybe a dog. His hoof caved in the things head, but still it launched itself forward, straight for Chudley's neck. My sword met it before the claws could dig in, and the beast crumbled apart and stayed dead.

"Harielle!" A voice shouted and I turned to look even as I cast another blasting hex. Loboda was standing next to Ólafur, back to back with Alfhild's father. He was wielding a double pointed spear, one side sharpened to a point and the other tipped with a black stone. Ólafur was swinging his massive axe, downing the dead long enough for Loboda to thrust the black stone tip into them, stilling them completely.

Huh, that was curious.

"Loboda," I called back, charging towards them and using the force of Chudley's bulky chest to trample some of the dead that were trying to get between the two men and the other warriors that were still following me.

"What are you doing here?" He was breathing heavily, a cut above his brow bleeding heavy enough to obscure his vision on one side. Next to him, Alfhild rushed to her father, gripping his forearm in their standard greeting, and quickly assessing each other for injuries before they turned back to the fight.

"Have you seen the dragons?" I had to shout to be heard, pulling the loose hide from my mouth and throwing a protego over the trailing warriors as they slowly backed towards us, taking down the swarming dead with each step.

"Further down, in the valley," he replied, turning away from me as the fairy lights illuminated a massive wave of dead incoming. "Shield wall!" He shouted, bending down to lift a partially broken shield that lay at his feet. Ólafur dropped his axe to pick up another one as the warriors closed in around him to make a wall. "Brace!"

They were seconds from impact, and even I could tell that the wall wouldn't hold. The dead would break through in less than a second and completely overtake them. "Get down!" I shouted, bringing my wand up into position to cast. Loboda, Ólafur, and the other warriors that came with them hesitated, but Alfhild and the ones that came with me didn't. The young woman pulled her father down as I cast, my wand moving with a surety that I didn't even know I had as I spoke the words.

"Incendio vinculum!" The fiery whip burst from my wand and I swung it over my head once and then twice as I waited for Loboda and the others to get low enough that they wouldn't be caught in the spell, before I released it.

The rope of fire launched forward, skimming over the heads of the living my mere inches before it wrapped around the inclosing dead. They shrieked as they burned, though I doubted that they could feel any sort of pain. Once the fire had cleared, the horde of dead had decreased enough to make it easy pickings for the warriors.

Alfhild was the first on her feet, ignoring her father's cry of fear and surprise to charge the few dead that were struggling to stand. The five warriors that had followed her across the ice were right behind her.

"Which way?" I turned my attention back to the elder that had been housing me, the man that had shielded me from the Magnar's wrath and taught me everything I needed to know in order to live with the Thenns, the man that was staring at the burning corpses as if he couldn't understand what he was seeing. "Loboda! Which way were the dragons?"

He turned to me slowly, that look on his face that was on Alfhild's not so long ago. "Where are they?!" I commanded an answer, no longer having the time or patience. Something inside me was urging me to hurry.

Loboda blinked up at me, raising his spear to point in the direction to the right and behind me, further away from the lake. I nodded once, spinning Chudley around to take in those around us. There were perhaps twenty or so warriors not including the ones that came with me. I could leave them here safely, their numbers enough that if they stuck together, they might have a chance…but Aslaug's pleading face came back to me as I started to turn Chudley in the direction of the dragons.

A chance wasn't good enough.

"Alfhild!" The young woman turned to me, her axe falling to decapitate what looked like used to be a child. I fought the burning sensation in the back of my throat that indicated my stomach was trying to rebel. "We're leaving, fall in!"

"Fall in?" She asked, brushing her loose hair away from her sweaty and soot smeared brow.

I groaned in annoyance at the language barrier and fought not to grimace. "Yes, with me," I gestured towards myself and sighed in relief when I didn't have to explain any further. She nodded once and made her way back towards Chudley and I, calling out to a few others and grabbing the arm of one woman who was enthusiastically hacking the limbs off of one of the crawling dead. "Loboda, Ólafur, you too! Everyone!" I shouted, sheathing the sword, and standing in the stirrups to make myself just that little bit taller. "We are leaving to find the others, follow me!"

I turned Chudley, but Loboda seized the reins just under the horse's jaw to pull him to a stop. "Harielle, enough," Loboda's tone was soft enough not to be heard by the others, but his posture led no doubt that this wasn't a friendly conversation. He stood like a father reprimanding their wayward child. "Return to the village, before the Magnar finds out you left!"

My hands gripped tightly at the reins, the wand once more holstered and sword at my hip. I knew I was just a girl, that without the goblin crafted blade and ability to wield magic I would have been a liability, but Loboda was not my father. The only people who were allowed to use that tone with me was my Head of House, Dumbledore, and Severus…and Hermione, but she was always the exception to nearly every rule. And maybe Mrs. Weasley because that woman was just fucking amazing.

The words were in my throat, though I didn't quite know what I was going to say, but Severus alighted onto my shoulder before I could do more than make what could perhaps be described as maybe a humming noise.

"I found them," Severus spoke hurriedly, chest heaving and hot breaths heating my cheek. "Half a kilometer, southeast, near the tree line. Gemini is grounded, and he isn't moving. Romulus and Hera are standing guard over him, the others are airborne, but they are having to fight the wind just as much as the dead. The surviving Thenns are losing ground, soon they will be overrun. We need to hurry!"

I nodded once, heart suddenly in my throat as I turned back to make sure everyone was ready. Alfhild had gathered the warriors close – the ones near the edges leisurely killing the straggling dead – and was speaking hurriedly to her father. Ólafur was holding his left arm oddly, but he didn't let it slow him down. Instead he hefted the massive axe over one shoulder and was shaking his head at something his daughter was telling him.

"Alfhild!" I called out to her, ignoring Loboda's aggravated groan and his harsh grip as he grabbed my knee. "Fall in, we leave now!"

She turned from her father, nodding at me once before calling to the people closest to the perimeter and bringing them back into the group. "Harielle!" Loboda hissed, his grip tightening. I turned to look down at him, my gaze icy cold as I sent a small stinging hex his way and I fought the sudden rush of guilt the welled up as he flinched back, releasing my knee and the reins.

"I said, we leave now," I told him, voice brooking no argument as I urged Chudley into a trot. Several of the warriors remounted the few surviving horses, one woman relinquishing her own bay colored mare to Alfhild, who quickly pulled herself into the saddle and trotted the borrowed horse up to mine.

"Alfhild?" Ólafur called after her, but the young woman only spared a glance back at her father.

"You heard her, fall in!" She replied as the others started to jog after us.

"We were ordered to hold this position!" Ólafur shouted after us, hefting his axe into a better position to run. "The Magnar ordered us to stay!"

"The position seems held, my friend," I replied, turning in the saddle to gesture at the burning dead and giving Chudley his head. The horse could lead us far better than I could, at least he knew where he was supposed to be going. "Severus has scouted ahead," I spoke loudly enough that everyone around us could hear. "He says that the fighters south of us are losing ground. Stay if you must, and may the gods curse you for cowards!"

It was their gods, not mine, but I knew that it would grant me no favors if I kept mentioning my lack of belief in the gods. Besides, in this world, who knew…perhaps their gods were real. And while my words were harsh – again, not that I really believed in gods or their ability to curse anyone – it had the desired result. The men and women around me seemed to shake off their trepidation and a steely determination fell over them, Loboda and Ólafur included.

We traveled the rest of the way in silence.