Hello everyone! Long time, no see. I'm sorry for the wait, this semester has been monstrous - every time I think I'm done and can have a fanfiction weekend, another load of work gets dumped on us x) But here I am, posting the next chapter! I'm sorry if it seems a bit disjointed, I have my plotline, but can't remember the whole of what I've written up until now.
So this Christmas, I'll probably go through the past few chapters and update them to be nice and smooth! I've gotten into the habit of just posting when I'm done, because I don't know when I'll next have time! I'll probably have another one ready in two weeks time though, so be ready!
As usual, thank you so much for your reviews! I can't remember who I have and haven't replied to, so tomorrow morning I'll go through them and reply via PM or update the AN (for those who don't have an account).
Shout out goes to: BennyBerry, Dreamz, Blue Luver5000, Irindiglo, Cae-Leigh Anne, creelluka, AACM25 and lizyeh2000, thank you so much for commenting. Also, thanks to everyone who followed/favourited, since this is chapter "70" (can you believe it?).
Anyway, so sorry again, and I hope you enjoy!
Oh, and PS: I don't know what constitutes as horror or not, but there's some gore in this chapter. I haven't gone into detail on purpose, but if you hate that sort of thing, skip the end of the chapter!
So, Emma thought. Here we are again.
It was the first Monday after the holidays. Everything had been taken care of, wrapped up like a Christmas present. The only thing missing was the ribbon to tie it all together. The full list of potential Death Eater sympathisers had been drawn up, Barty Crouch had been approached on the subject of human Transfiguration, and a tentative plan C had been broached – something to do with tricking centaurs into attacking Amelia Bones. Privately, Emma thought that Amelia Bones was made of too stern stuff to be frightened by a pack of centaurs that hardly ventured out of their forest.
Kreacher was over the moon at the idea of going to the Potters' for Christmas, though Mrs Black had been informed that Kreacher was needed to help reorganise the house. Merlin forbid the elf might have a day off. Mrs Black herself was to enjoy a stately Christmas at Malfoy Manor, courtesy of Narcissa and Lucius. Narcissa had almost insisted when Emma had told her of her plans; she couldn't wait to throw her first real house party. Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus would be there, but Rabastan would be visiting the family villa in France with his parents.
Judging from the sour look on his face, Emma imagined that Rabastan's grandparents were even more unpleasant than Sirius over the holidays.
Lucinda and Alecto were also spending Christmas with their respective families, although Alecto had dismissed the holiday – her family wasn't big on celebration. The only things Alecto's parents thought were worth celebrating were Merlin and Morgana's birthdays. Emma was surprised that more purebloods hadn't taken up the trend, although she supposed Christmas was celebrated at the same time of year as most pagan magical winter festivities.
Briefly, she wondered what the old druids did celebrate, but dismissed the thought just as quickly. Regulus would know, history buff that he was. For now, she had to concentrate on the object at hand.
Another raid. A celebration this time, to mark the weakening of the Ministry. Only the Minister of Magic himself was no longer under their control. Now that they were winning the war, Emma wondered what the next step was. Oh, she knew that the Dark Lord had a plan for Albus Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, but she was more interested in what kind of society they would have once they were able to rebuild the Ministry.
It was something that she and Regulus had dreamed of, talking late into the night about the reforms they wanted to bring about, the chance to make changes that would benefit not only wizards, but Muggles too. They had agreed that the Dark Lord was right in keeping the Statute of Secrecy. William the Muggle's reaction had seen to that.
Emma wanted to know how the Dark Lord was going to bring about the change of heart within the Ministry. After all, they couldn't keep the higher ups under the Imperius Curse for long before Moody caught them. The Aurors were still a force to be reckoned with.
That was also a reason for the raid. Lure the Aurors to an abandoned village, riddled with traps that they would lay out for them. It was one of those Muggle/Magic communities, and was home to one of the highest crime rates in Britain. Emma figured that the Muggles would thank them if there were any criminals still lurking about. Still, the unnatural fog should have driven all Muggles off of the premises.
'It's time,' Bellatrix said to her right, producing an umbrella from the folds of her cloak.
Emma saw Rabastan bite back a grin at the odd sight of Regulus's cousin unfolding an old umbrella in the middle of the Death Eater ranks. She had an inward chuckle of her own, but immediately saw the reasoning behind it. A portable, but large Portkey could accommodate many more than a shoe, for example. The twenty witches and wizards each grasped a part of the Portkey, and Emma felt a fluttering of her heart as Regulus placed his hand so their fingers were overlapping.
She looked up with a smile at her boyfriend. Even after a month of dating, every contact they made reminded her of that rainy night on the Quidditch pitch. From the slight smirk on Regulus's face and tightening of his grip, she guessed that he was thinking of the same thing.
His face blurred as the Portkey flared to life, spinning them into oblivion.
'You know the drill,' Avery said, readjusting his mask. It was probably just her imagination, but Emma could have sworn his mask matched the feral grin she could hear through his voice. 'But for those who are too... delicate... for the frontlines of the war, I'll repeat myself. Younglings, do as much destruction as possible. It'll leave a nice surprise for the filthy Muggles when they get back. Malfoy, Dolohov, Yaxely, you're with me. I give the Aurors ten minutes before they catch wind of this.'
Although all three members of his designated team were older than him, it was well known that Avery had a knack for placing traps where the Aurors would least expect them. Emma thought it was because Alastor Moody had had time to study Yaxely's strategies. The head Auror was nothing if not dedicated.
She shuddered, remembering the last time she had seen the mad, but powerful wizard. Hopefully, she wouldn't find herself in such close proximity next time.
'Hey,' Rabastan said, joining her after they separated into their different groups. 'Should be fun, right? Practicing a bit of Bombarda Maxima to release all of that pent up energy before it blows up in Black's face?'
'Ha, ha,' Regulus drawled. 'Hilarious, Lestrange. Though I wouldn't mind not being able to recognise my dear brother's face. It'd make a nice change from his usual expression.'
'Oh no,' Alecto said, frowning as she overheard the conversation. 'You're not separating off into your little clan. You're going to do some real damage this time, even if you think it's a game.'
That was how Emma found herself dragged into Bellatrix and Rodolphus's group of five – at least three seasoned Death Eaters paired with two recently Marked. She knew that she should feel flattered that they considered her "seasoned", since the other two were Alecto and Mulciber, but instead a flutter of apprehension made itself known through her veins.
This was not an ideological group or a tactician's, even. Bellatrix and Rodolphus were two of the Dark Lord's best foot soldiers, duellists, known for taking no quarter. Alecto and Mulciber shared a sadistic streak that made even Regulus admit that they scared him, though it was late at night and he denied it the next morning.
Still, what could go wrong? Emma asked herself. It was a simple enough mission, and she would be happy for their company once the Aurors made an appearance.
True enough, they had lit three quarters of the village on fire before the screams began. Emma tried to contain the thrill of anxiety coursing through her, but to no avail. Her head snapped around to look at Alecto, only to see the other girl's eyes shining as they reflected the flames. Bellatrix let out a maniacal laugh and twirled Rodolphus around in a dance, kicking up a fallen beam into ashes. Rodolphus paused a second, tilting his head to the side as though he was listening for something.
'Not ours,' he said, confirming Emma's suspicions.
Before anyone could answer, Mulciber let out a warning shout. 'Patronus!'
'This is where the fun begins!' Bellatrix giggled, spinning her wand around a finger and casually shooting a beam of orange light at a nearby car, which exploded into pieces.
Emma was still trying to figure out how the Aurors had found them so quickly, before remembering Avery's warning, ten minutes. She swivelled her head around on a hunch, and sure enough there it was, the Dark Mark in all of its glory. It was oddly entrancing, the green smoke of the snake blending with the rising tendrils from the village.
Right, she thought, removing any doubts from her mind. That was a sure-fire way to get oneself killed. Let's get rid of as many of these Aurors as possible. Presumably, it was the most Muggle-loving Aurors that would come to the scene first anyway. In actual fact, Emma wouldn't be surprised if only members of Dumbledore's Order came. Most Aurors had been scared away already.
Not two streets down was when it happened. The masks were off by now, smoke inhalation becoming problematic, but a repelling charm had worked wonders for Emma's vision. The village was by now a wreck, with flashes of light piercing through the fog on all sides. Luckily, the smoke also proved to be advantageous for the Death Eaters – they were well hidden and had been briefed on how to recognise Avery's magical signature where there were traps. The Aurors were going in blind, as Emma found out for herself when she came across a particularly unpleasant aftermath of a battle.
Then she saw them. Coughing, waving their arms around as though it would dissipate the smoke, a family of Muggles were trying to escape the carnage. It was easy to spot them, the Muggle clothing; the general look of helplessness – in some ways, Emma found it unfortunate that they had become a part of the conflict. Most of them weren't like Muggleborns, they couldn't attack, couldn't defend themselves. If she was honest with herself, something about them repulsed her just because they reminded her of how helpless she would be without a wand.
Before she knew it, Bellatrix had her wand up, and the girl was lifted up into the air, her braids trailing behind her. She was in her pyjamas, Emma's brain noticed, had probably woken up to her world burning around her. Belatedly, the witch realised that most Death Eaters, let alone Muggle-hating Avery, would have checked to see if the Muggles had really all been rounded up.
Now, she felt sick to her stomach, watching as the girl floated towards the burning buildings, getting closer every time the mother screamed for help. Soon though, the mother realised that Bellatrix was directing the girl, and marched up to the group fearlessly, her other child hiding between a building that was still partly standing.
'Stop it!' she shrieked. 'Stop it! What are you doing to her? What are you?'
Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Alecto turn white and grip her wand until her knuckles shook from the effort. She's probably thinking of what William said to her, some part of her brain told her analytically. A jet of blue light Emma didn't recognise flew out of the redhead's wand towards the father, who was trying to quietly escape with the other daughter. Immediately, he fell to the floor, bound by what seemed to be liquid cement. The more he struggled, the more Bellatrix laughed and the more Alecto added a band of cement. What had started with a strip of concrete around his knees ended up with the man being encased in stone up to his waist.
'Daddy!' the younger girl cried, but her eyes flitted around, not knowing where to look.
Bile rose to the back of Emma's throat, and she had to retain herself from being physically sick. Next to her, Mulciber clapped her hands with glee, whilst Rodolphus just stood there stoically, waiting for his wife's next command.
'Stop it,' Emma blurted out without thinking.
Four pairs of eyes turned to her, none of them friendly.
Think fast, Emma. With two simple words, six letters, she had just put herself into the most dangerous situation of her life. Shouts in the distance told her that a battle was drawing close. She closed her eyes for half a second, willing herself to turn her sentimental part off, drawing on her Occlumency training with Regulus. It didn't work.
But that had never been her strong point anyway. Instead, Emma funnelled her disgust for her fellow soldiers' actions towards the Muggle family, swapping the visuals around until she felt able to look up again. She allowed her face to curl up into a disdainful sneer, her features the picture of boredom as she watched the floating girl's nightgown catch fire, the cloth steadily burning its way towards the girl's body. The mother screamed again, attempting to scale the crumbling building to get to her child.
'We don't have time for this, Bellatrix,' Emma said, forcing the words out instead of those she wanted to say. You're a monster. Leave them be. You're sick. 'Remember the mission.'
'Aww, ickle Pottie getting cold feet is she?' Bellatrix pouted, putting a finger on her lips. 'Who would have known that one of the Dark Lord's favourites would turn out to be so disappointing?'
'Guess your memory needs a little refreshing, Potter,' Alecto added coldly. 'Or have you forgotten our last encounter with Muggles?'
William's screams had been etched into Emma's brain for weeks after Alecto was through with him, although Emma had agreed that he deserved it. The memory of the Muggleborn Miller flashed across her eyes, and Emma felt her hatred for Muggleborns grow. But now she knew that that hate could apply to wizards too.
She met Bellatrix's gaze coolly, ignoring her former friend. 'Of course not, Alecto, but I doubt the Dark Lord would forgive us so easily if we let the Aurors go after our trap worked so nicely. Or would you like me to tell him that you were off having fun whilst the others did your dirty work?'
'Oh, come now little Pottie, are you jealous?' Bellatrix laughed again, dropping the girl to the ground. A snapping noise was heard, and the girl fell limp. 'Enervate. There. All yours.'
Rodolphus was watching her closely, and Emma knew that this was the moment they would decide whether to kill her or not. She waited for her Slytherin survival instincts to kick in, but when she pointed her wand at the sobbing girl, she couldn't bring herself to use the torture curse. Pity rose in her heart, but she kept her face in the disdainful scowl as she spoke the only words that could save them both.
'Avada Kedavra.'