April 21st, 1998
12:00 am
It took around an hour to get everyone to Hogwarts and into the Room. Once there, it took another thirty minutes to get through the talking and calm everyone down. Everyone was standing in a bit of a circle, and Mia found herself surrounded by Regulus, Avery, Harry, James, Sirius, Emmaline, and the Prewett twins, with the entire Weasley family a bit to the side. Leon and Rodolphus were keeping watch outside, having told Severus that they'd been assigned to the castle for a bit of extra security. The young Slytherins were a bit separated from the group, but they still hovered near Mia, uncomfortable with everyone else. Kat had, in fact, found her sister, and the pair were standing close with the rest of the sixth and seventh year Slytherins.
"Alright, guys," Mia called. People quieted down, and she found herself grabbing onto Fabian's hand as he was on her left, much to her surprise. "We've got lists of who is out there and where they should be. Draco?"
Pulling on the confidence he'd faked his entire life, Draco stepped forward to address the group. "There are usually ten Death Eaters wandering the school with another Death Eater guarding each House aside from Slytherin. Most of them aren't too strong, but we do have the Carrows to look out for. They're really nasty. Someone more powerful will have to take care of don't have a particular schedule, they just walk around wherever and respond to messages for help. Most of the others are at main hallways and on a broom monitoring the staircases. I anticipate that the only one that'll be too hard to handle will be the one at the staircases."
"No one covers the doors?" Kingsley asked him, disbelieving. Draco shook his head.
"They think they've got a good handle on the students, aside from the ones that went missing. Even so, you guys haven't even left the castle. I'd say that they're keeping a good hold on the castle."
"He's right," Neville agreed, standing in between his parents, his gran next to his father. "We'd have all left if it weren't for Hogsmeade infested with Death Eaters. Aberforth has been feeding us and gave us a radio for Potterwatch. He also keeps us updated on the Order and our families if he can."
"I thought you said you think we'll lose," Harry scoffed at the old man. "There's no hope, you said."
"There isn't," Aberforth agreed, looking uncomfortable. Mia rolled her eyes.
"So, two people per Death Eater," Mia instructed. "One DA student and one Order member, okay?"
"We can handle it," Kingsley assured her. She sighed, glancing at him.
"Look, I know you probably could," she shrugged. "But these students know the castle and what's going on better than you do. Besides, they've got different training. I know the Order is used to running things, but the DA is strong as well, and we're going to help."
"Mia," Kingsley sighed, looking like she was a human headache. Even in the middle of the mini argument, she appreciated his use of her name. "You're just children."
She gave him an indignant look, along with Harry and Ron.
"Oh, you just fucked up," Sirius laughed.
"Okay, we're just children, Harry," she told her friend. "So there's no way you saved the Philosopher's Stone, right? That's how Riddle came back, isn't it? Oh, wait, it isn't. Because you saved it."
"And obviously Riddle's diary killed me," Ginny added.
"Except it didn't," Mia agreed. "Because we stopped it - Harry stopped it, and he killed a bloody basilisk."
"And I was kissed," Sirius added, mainly because he was extremely amused by the regret on Kingsley's face. Truthfully, the man hadn't meant to imply that they weren't competent, he just didn't like the idea of children fighting a war. "But I wasn't, because Harry and Mia saved me."
"Okay, I get it," Kingsley shook his head at them. "Apologies. I don't like the idea of you guys fighting."
"But who else will?" Harry asked him. "You guys aren't enough to fight an entire army. Mione figured it all out, but you have to cooperate and listen to us, to her."
"So," Mia looked around. "The leaders that got the students from each House, pick a partner from the Order and get going. I need seven more students to match up with Order members."
"What about the Carrows?" Theo asked her with a frown. He already knew her answer.
"Oh, well, I'll be handling them," she answered, looking around at the Order members. Her eyes settled on Bill, who gave her a soft smile. "With Bill."
"Mia, no," Regulus grabbed her hand gently, giving her a look she'd seen once before, the same look he'd given her the night she stunned him to prove to Severus that she was from the future. A look that could turn to protective anger much too quickly. "You don't know what they can do."
"Anything worse than what Dolohov did?" she asked sharply. She did appreciate his worry, but he couldn't try and protect her anymore. It was going to be one of the most dangerous days of the war. He tensed significantly, and she saw darkness in his eyes that made her wonder if she'd gone too far with the question. "Regulus, I love you, but I'm going to be in danger. You can't prevent that."
He didn't reply, and she turned back to the group around her, who all looked either uncomfortable or confused. "Right. So, let's get into our groups and set to work. I want this done as fast as possible."
The group broke off as they decided who all would be going. Dean paired up with Kingsley, Luna with Emmaline, and Susan was with Hestia Jones. Aside from them, Hannah paired up with Gideon, Justin with Andromeda, Neville went with Frank, Harry snuck out with James, Ron went with Charlie, Ginny with Fabian, and Seamus with Lee Jordan.
Mia and Bill left first as Draco gave instructions on where they might find their Death Eaters. They were sent to the dungeons, where the Carrows often hung around when they were bored. After a joke about not being able to grow up and a glare from Draco, Mia and Bill left on their way to the dungeons.
The password to the Slytherin common rooms was always an academic question that changed based on your year. If you're older than 17, there was no question, which would let them in easily. They disillusioned themselves and walked at a quick pace down the halls.
"There are plenty of capable people for this," Bill told her conversationally. She glanced at him and waited for him to make his point. "Why you? Why us?"
"Because Neville told me why he went to the Room in the first place," she told him as she pulled her hair back into a tight high ponytail. She didn't want it in her way, not while fighting. Truthfully, she wanted to cut it, but there was no time. "Apparently, the Carrows were trying to teach older students how to torture the younger students. Anyone that refused was tortured themselves."
"Okay, and?"
She looked at him in disbelief. "Every student in there has been tortured by them, Bill. Look, when I was in the past, I was forced to see Bellatrix twice, tortured by her twice more. It was hell. Not just the torture, but seeing her. It was an aggressive reminder. And… I imagine that if I saw Dolohov, it would be even worse. So I wanted to spare them that fear and pain because they don't deserve it. They've been taking care of the younger students and hiding them away for as long as possible. Normal Death Eaters they can take, but the people that tortured them? They don't deserve that."
"You're a strong woman," he told her softly. "But you don't have to put yourself in danger for others."
She couldn't help but laugh. "Bill, I've been in danger since I was eleven. I don't mind it if it helps other people. And it is expected of me at this point. And Harry. It doesn't really matter if I want to. Riddle is coming for me, and I can't change that. I just really want this war over with. And hopefully, by the end of today, it will be. We just… have to keep moving."
"Alright," he agreed. "Let's go, then."
They kept walking in silence, and Mia was in thought the entire time. Before she'd left, she'd had a healing bond with Bill, and it had helped tremendously. Now, she had both her soul bond with Regulus and her healing bond with Bill. It helped, and yet she still felt the aches and pains from when she'd been captured. She couldn't help but wonder why. Regulus had said it would take a long while to heal, but surely after over a month and two people to help her heal, she had to be getting much better.
With a sigh, she walked up the few steps into the Slytherin common rooms. They were mostly empty aside from Alecto and Amycus Carrow, who were muttering quietly to one another, sitting by the fire. Mia paused. They hadn't talked about how to take them out. The part of her that still wanted to just stun people and move on told her that it could work. The part of her that knew they were in potentially the final battle of a long war, however, reminded her that stunning left the Carrows open to waking up and joining the fight.
Still disillusioned, she silently walked over and put her hand to Amycus's head, Bill's wand to Alecto's. She cast silently, and Amycus dropped to the floor, the Killing Curse doing its job well. Bill followed only a moment after as Alecto jumped up, and soon she, too, was dead. With a breath of relief, they removed the disillusionment, and Mia cast her Patronus.
"To the Order and the DA. The Carrows are out. You're all free to go."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
In Hogsmeade, Fleur met her family and greeted Viktor and his friends. Altogether, there were about 70 people there, anxious to help. There were nearly 20 Death Eaters roaming the small town, and Fleur directed some people to the rooftops to strategically remove them all, though only after they'd removed the alarms around the town. It had been a hard task, but easy enough with Harry's borrowed cloak and silent casting.
Within thirty minutes, every Death Eater had been rendered unconscious at the least and killed at the most and thrown in an alley with their wands broken. With that done, the large group went through the Hog's Head to the castle, where they met up with the Order, the DA, and Mia's good Death Eaters.
"What is next?" Viktor asked Mia after hugging her. Fleur had told him the entire story as they walked through the tunnel, and he was immensely proud of the girl he'd once dated and was then friends with. "We are ready whenever you are."
Mia looked at him in surprise. His English was so good that she thought he might even be able to say her old name. "Right. We're just waiting for Seamus and Lee. They went to take care of the staircases, which is harder than the rest because the guy is on a broom."
"And once they are back?" Gabrielle asked her. Mia smiled at the girl. She was, like her sister, much tougher than she looked.
"Once they get back, we'll need to clear out the room," Harry told her. "Ginny, you remember the room we left my potions book in?"
Ginny blushed, and Mia raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, of course."
"It sounds like the diadem is in there," he explained. "So, we need to change the room, and we can't do that with everyone here."
"You can all help me set the defenses," McGonagall called out. "The more people helping, the stronger they should be."
A thought occurred to Mia. "Okay, I just want to make this clear. There will be a point in time when You-Know-Who calls for Harry. He has to go. I've done research, and he will be okay. It's rather hard to explain right now, but he'll come back. After that, he'll be after me."
"Why is that?" Dean questioned her suspiciously. "I get in the past, but Harry's the Chosen One. Why does he care about you now?"
"She didn't tell you?" Fred let out a short laugh. "You're in for a shock."
Mia made a face, looking at the DA. "Right, okay. You know how I said I brought Sirius back with blood magic?"
"Illegal magic," Susan nodded. The girl's aunt had been the head of the DMLE, and Mia didn't blame her for disagreeing with her choice.
"Yes, illegal," she shrugged. "I don't really care. But I made the bond go both ways. One day, Riddle caught me and he found out I was from the future, along with a few things I know that could and actually are allowing us to eventually kill him. So, he had me killed."
"He had you killed?" Zacharias asked her suspiciously. "I thought you escaped. Hell, I thought he liked to do the killing himself."
She shifted uncomfortably, careful not to look at any of her friends, who also looked uncomfortable. It was clear to everyone that something had happened that still bothered all of them greatly. "Yeah, well, he knew I was afraid of someone else more than I was afraid of him. Anyway, he did have me killed and Sirius brought me back the same way I brought him back. I left not long after that, and he only found out I'm still alive two days ago, so he's bound to be furious."
"That's not the only reason why," Avery added for those that hadn't been in the room earlier. The entire conversation was, generally, for those that had missed it. "Mia is a Legendary, which means she's the Light Lady destined to fight him."
"I thought Legendaries were myths," Jess gasped.
"I thought magic was a myth," Mia replied dryly. "The point is, he knows he has to kill me if he wants to live in peace. I'm sure he's already looking for me. So, if you see Harry go to meet him, don't stop him. Same goes for me. We know what we have to do to end this."
"What is a Legendary?" Cho asked curiously.
"Like… Merlin, Morgana, Circe, those types," Avery answered the girl quickly. Mia tapped her foot impatiently, ready to move on.
"I trust all of you to judge a situation correctly," she told them. "If you feel the need to kill someone, do it. If you don't, then don't, but remember that they will never hesitate to kill you instead. If you don't kill, stun them and break their wands. Silence them as well."
"What about Professor Snape?" Draco asked her with a frown. He didn't want to see his godfather killed, but he also knew that the man had killed Dumbledore, someone precious to the Gryffindors. "I know he killed Dumbledore, but-,"
"Fuck Dumbledore," Mia scoffed. "What I said earlier stands. No one fucking touch him. If he's hurt at all, you answer to me and my friends."
"By her friends, she means us," Regulus said, waving to himself, Avery, Leon, and Rodolphus. They were significantly more threatening looking than Sirius and James.
"We should get going," Theo added quickly, looking between the large group. "If the Death Eaters miss three check-ins, someone will come check on them. As soon as they do that, we're doomed."
"Okay," Ron looked to the boy. "How many have they already missed?"
"I'd say two."
"Great," Harry muttered.
"Let's get going, then."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Severus paced through his office, hands wringing together in concern. He'd gotten a fire-call from Narcissa about Draco. When he'd went to find the boy, he was gone, along with his friends and every other student in the castle. Not just the students, but also the Death Eaters in place to keep them where they were. Something was going on. He wanted to think it was Potter, but he knew it couldn't be. The boy was too Gryffindor for his own good. He'd have rushed carelessly into the castle and begun fighting as soon as possible. No, whatever was happening was a carefully planned attack. Strategic and silent.
There was something else, though, that Narcissa had mentioned. A few quickly whispered sentences before she'd ended the call that made no sense to him.
"Mia Potter his back. The Dark Lord sent Dolohov and Bella after her. Help her."
It was curious for multiple reasons. For one, he knew the Potter line. It ended with Harry, and before him was James, only James. Charlus was also an only child, and so was his father before him. There was no one that should be alive that would be named Mia Potter. Beyond that, no one named Mia Potter had ever infuriated Voldemort so much that he'd set both of his best torturers after them. And finally, Narcissa wanted him to help her, whoever she was. She'd said it in a way that made him think she'd already assumed he would help her. That she was only saying it out of concern.
But who the hell was Mia Potter?
OoOoOoOoOoOo
"Oh, Miss Potter," McGonagall called, rushing after Mia, who was headed quickly out of the castle to help set up the protections while Harry and Ginny worked with Regulus and James to find the diadem. Regulus had wanted to go with her, but since he'd been the only one that could fully control fiendfyre, she wanted him to go as backup in case there was an issue with the basilisk fangs. "Miss Potter, wait."
Mia turned around with a soft smile. "You remember me."
"Oh, of course, I do," the older woman nodded firmly. "You showed up one year and barely came to class, got in constant trouble, and then died. Besides, Albus warned me before Hermione Granger's first year that I'd be seeing a familiar face."
"You never said anything."
"I was the one that gave you your time turner," she raised an eyebrow. "This is important. I appreciate your request not to alarm Riddle any sooner than absolutely necessary, but I don't think we should trap Severus in the castle with us."
"But-,"
"I understand that he is your friend," McGonagall told her quickly. "But unless you are willing to inform him of your return-,"
"I can't," she shook her head. "Well, not yet. I have to get him somewhere quiet and sit down. I blocked the memories away from him. He doesn't remember me. I have to release them, and it'll take him time to fully understand. Honestly, after so long, I can't be sure it'll work. It's different from the way we did it for Alice and Frank. It'll be like becoming a totally different person than the one he's known for twenty years. Kinder, less bitter. It'll be hard for him."
"Then we should get him out of the castle," she told her. "Allow him to tell Riddle we're here. By the time they get here, we should have the castle covered already."
Mia considered the suggestion. She didn't like the idea of sending Severus back to Voldemort, but she saw the woman's point. She nodded once sharply. "Can you take care of that?"
"I can," McGonagall agreed. They'd gotten all the way outside during their conversation, and as she moved inside, McGonagall stopped and ordered the large statues to protect the castle and the people in it. Mia jumped a little when they slammed down to the stone floor and marched out to the bridge and around the grounds.
Mia worked with Molly and the rest of the Order and the students to strengthen the regular wards and activate the war wards. They'd never been used before and were only a precaution put in place after Grindelwald by Dumbledore, who was worried - rightfully so - that another Dark Lord would rise soon.
It was a painfully slow process, but she watched as the holes in the wards were visibly sealed as more people joined. It felt as if the spell wasn't getting stronger with other people but rather just going faster, a fact that frustrated Mia. She'd hoped to hold it until they were completely ready for the battle. But something was better than nothing, and so they kept working.
Up in Severus's office, the door slammed open, revealing a powerfully angry looking Minerva. Severus narrowed his eyes at the woman. Whatever was happening, she knew. They'd had a pact. He would protect students as much as possible, and she would stay quiet and wait until the time was right.
Apparently, she'd decided the time was right without him.
"Minerva, what is happening?" he asked angrily, his voice sharp.
"Harry Potter is here," she told him, much to his horror. She knew that Voldemort could look into his mind whenever he pleased. Obviously, they were ready. For better or worse, he accepted it. "You will leave, Severus."
A thought occurred to him, his earlier ponderings coming back to him. "Someone else is here. Who is it, Minerva?"
"No one important to you," she answered him carefully. Odd, he thought. She was quickly willing to give up Harry Potter, but not this other person. He narrowed his eyes at her.
"Who is Mia Potter? Bellatrix and Dolohov have both been sent after her. Is she here?"
Minerva paled, her eyes wide. Gryffindors, Severus thought, they didn't know how to hide their emotions. Staring him down, she gathered all of her courage and bravery and hid behind them both. "Leave. You aren't wanted here."
"Who is she?" he asked again, this time louder. "Why is she important? If you will not tell me, I shall go find her myself."
And just like that, her wand was out and pointed at him. "Severus, we've worked together for many years. If you've ever valued me or my advice, listen now. Stop asking and leave."
His lips thinned. She wasn't going to tell him, that much was obvious. His wand dropped into his hand and he turned on his heel, apparating out of the room. He wasn't going to get anything more there.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
2:00 am
Neville and Seamus stood on the wooden bridge connecting Hogwarts to the Quidditch pitch and Hagrid's hut, along with the Forbidden Forest. Aside from those things, it connected the castle to the Death Eaters lining up in the forest at the edge of the wards. He'd already watched them rush forward and saw around six people be killed by the wards. Still, he was certain they wouldn't hold. There were multiple curse breakers working on the complex wards already, and he could tell they were weakening. He'd been given the task by a ruffled looking McGonagall to blow up the bridges. He and Seamus had gone to the most direct route while Kat and Jess went for the stone bridge.
The placing of the bombs - courtesy of Fred, George, Fabian, and Gideon, which was a terrifying set of people - had been quick to set, and would go off when someone spelled the trigger, which was why he was at the end of the bridge. He wanted to destroy the bridge, but he found his eyes scanning the crowd. He'd run into many Death Eaters over the last year. The guard of Hogwarts fluctuated constantly, and he'd realized after a while that babysitting the kids was a punishment. An effective one, he assumed, considering no one spent more than a week at Hogwarts aside from the Carrows and Snape.
He'd never told anyone, but he'd always had his suspicions about Snape. He'd been afraid of the man, sure, but when it came to the war, the man hadn't leaned into being cruel but rather exhibited extreme control and restraint. He'd even saved a few non-Slytherin students from detention and subsequent torture. When Hermione - Mia - had firmly claimed that Snape was cruel not because he wanted to be but rather because she'd made him be, it made sense.
He eyed the line of Death Eaters. He could see Voldemort at the front, staring at the castle. The sight gave him chills. He'd never seen the man in person, and now that he had, he knew Voldemort wasn't truly a man anymore. He looked next to Voldemort, where his eyes settled on Bellatrix, speaking heatedly with a man that was clearly an inbred pureblood. Beautiful, but mad. Still, he couldn't help but stare at Bellatrix. She and her brother in law tortured his parents with Barty Crouch Jr. They'd taken many years with his parents from him, and he was only marginally calmer about it since they were better, thanks to Mia.
He wondered what they were talking about and tried to read their lips. He'd gotten good at it when he'd been a child trying to understand what his family was talking about when they put up silencing wards.
"She was yours to take care of," Bellatrix accused, her eyes sharp with madness. "The Dark Lord told you to kill her!"
"I did more than kill her," the man replied with what looked like a cruel laugh. The sight made Neville shiver. "I carved my name into her stomach!"
"Obviously you didn't kill her," Bellatrix shot back. "Since you failed the first time, I shall do it this time."
"She was already afraid of me the first time," the man told her with a smirk. "I'm sure she's terrified of me now. The Dark Lord says she's mine."
Neville watched as Voldemort reprimanded them both and they fell silent, though the man was still smirking, and Neville figured he'd gotten his way. He had a sinking suspicion of what they were talking about, and he pulled out his wand to send a Patronus to the girl in question when he was interrupted by Voldemort screaming loudly in pain, gripping his head in his hands. The sight shocked not only Neville but all the Death Eaters except for those closest to him, who only looked worried.
Someone approached him and in return to the obvious offer of help, Voldemort killed the man before turning his wand angrily to the wards and absolutely destroying them. Neville's eyes widened as he realized there was nothing holding them back from him anymore.
He shot the spell at the trigger and he sprinted down the bridge to avoid being taken down. He knew multiple Death Eaters were following him and he was forced to hold a shield behind him as he ran since they were throwing curses at him. When he was halfway down the bridge, he heard the bombs at the end by the forest blow and was relieved that for the moment, no one else could get to the unprotected castle. He was relieved only for a moment until he saw some Death Eaters simply apparating onto castle grounds, and his heart raced as he sped up.
The bombs caught up with him, and he felt his feet slip from underneath him. He scrambled to grab onto the wood as it cut his shirt and stomach and gasped in relief when he managed to hold onto it. They'd only placed the bombs halfway down the bridge and to the end where the Death Eaters had been lining up, having given the other half of the bombs to Kat and Jess to blow up the stone bridge on the other side of the castle. Truthfully, not many people recognized them, but they'd been the only ones to offer to help with the dangerous project and so they'd been given the job.
Neville pulled himself up and scrambled over to his friends, hugging Ginny back even as she smacked him for almost dying. They rushed away to greet the incoming Death Eaters, wands out and shields up.
OoOoOoOoOoOo
4:00 am
After two hours of fighting to meet up with Sirius, Regulus finally found his brother. He smelled like smoke after the fire getting slightly out of control, though James had helped to control it, having followed them back into the room. The diadem had been destroyed, though the Room of Requirement had survived the fire, much to everyone's surprise. Harry and James had separated to go help fight and Regulus had left to find his brother. He knew they wanted the same thing and as much as he wanted to find them and kill them alone, he was a Slytherin and he fought smarter, not harder.
"There you are," Sirius groaned, shooting a nasty curse at a masked Death Eater. "Are we going to find them?"
"I'd love to," Regulus replied, putting up a shield around them to block a curse coming from the side. "Come on."
"Has anyone seen them?"
Regulus nodded. "I asked around and they were seen together near the kitchen about ten minutes ago."
"Let's go, then."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
5:00 am
"Draco!" Mia called, rushing over. "Draco, where is your mum? Where is she right now?"
He stared at her in confusion. "Shouldn't you be-,"
"Answer me!"
"She's with him," he said in a rush, confused. "With the Dark Lord and my father."
"Okay," Mia breathed in relief. "Let's hope she stays there. Can you get a message to her without anyone else knowing?"
He nodded slowly, confused.
"Tell her that Voldemort - don't flinch, it doesn't fucking matter if we say his name - that Voldemort has to kill Harry but that he will come back. She has to let him kill Harry."
"I'll let her know."
"Thank you," she touched his shoulder lightly before rushing off again. She'd escaped her friends and had been fighting strategically the same way that her Death Eaters were. She'd suggested they do so to protect themselves. They could take out Death Eaters from high points and protect the light and if they got caught, they could simply claim they were doing it the opposite way. Still, they'd left a large gap on the east side of the castle, so she found a room that overlooked the grounds and began taking out Death Eaters quickly and easily.
As far as she could see, it was a fairly even fight, but the Death Eaters were unorganized. The Order and the DA were not. So far, there had been very few deaths on their side. Hestia Jones and Alicia Spinnet had been killed early on, and it hurt to see them lie so motionless, but she moved on nonetheless.
"Mione, we need you in the Great Hall," Ron's dog patronus ran into the room. He sounded out of breath and anxious, and talked in a rush. "We're backed into a corner here. Not holding well. Trying to push them out in front of the castle."
She cursed quietly and rushed out. She was six flights of stairs away from the Great Hall, and it would take her too long to run down them all. Cursing herself, she jumped over the banister and fell freely, holding her hand out in front of her and waiting until the right moment.
"Arresto Momentum!" She screamed, stopping her descent barely a foot from the floor. She released the spell and dropped into a run, dodging hexes as they chased her, the wizard running after her silently. Her shield was shaky and she fought to hold it strong.
And then one hit her.
Ropes wrapped around her legs and she fell to the ground, hitting her head hard against the stone floors. She was hit with a cutting hex to her back and she gasped as blood pooled up. Someone walked toward her, and she struggled against the ropes. They were in a somewhat deserted area of the castle as no one wanted to risk using the stairs and falling off during a duel.
She was shoved onto her back and she felt the blood soak through her shirt and stick to the ground beneath her. Her stomach did flips and she felt a sob build up in her chest at the sight of Dolohov grinning above her, his wand held tight in his hand.
"Oh, Mia," he whispered, kneeling down close to her. "I killed you. Did you come back so I could do it again?"
"Get away from me," she shouted, hoping someone would hear her. She could hear steps on the stairs above her, a couple flights up, but no one came running to help her. "Don't touch me."
"You're mine to touch, remember?" his smile turned into a sneer and he sent a cutting hex at her stomach just below her chest, cutting part of her shirt off of her. She bit her lip hard while he traced his name that was carved into her stomach with a finger. "This is proof. Mine."
"If I belonged to anyone," she began, her eyes flashing with a mix of fear and anger. "It would be Regulus. We're bonded, Dolohov. No matter what you do to me, you can't change that."
"How did you do it?" he asked her, ignoring her words, though she could tell it angered him greatly. "How did you come back? I know you were definitely dead."
"Blood magic," she answered shortly. "Something else you can't change."
His eyes lit up brightly and she immediately regretted telling him. She'd thought he'd be upset at the prospect of never truly killing her, but instead he was excited. "So I can kill you however many times I want and you'll always come back… ah, I knew you were perfect for me, Mia."
"Get away from me," she snapped, leaning up to bite his arm hard. She couldn't do much else, and it was somewhat effective. He jumped back to look down at his bleeding arm in shock. When his eyes turned back to her, he looked as unstable as she remembered.
"You bitch!" he shouted, grabbing his wand and pointing it at her thigh. "Sectumsempra!"
She cried out in pain as the curse cut her deep. It was how he'd killed her the first time and she wasn't eager to repeat the process. Still, the steps were getting closer and she only hoped it was someone on their side. She had to keep going.
"Get away from me," she yelled, shifting enough to wandlessly hit the wall with a bombarda. Unfortunately, only some of the debris hit him, a large rock falling on her foot as well and breaking it.
"You'll regret that," he snarled, throwing a cutting hex at her legs. He moved on top of her to straddle her, and she knew her blood was soaking into his robes. She had a sick feeling that he would enjoy that. She struggled as he leaned down and bit down on her neck the way she'd done to his arm, also drawing blood. When he pulled back, he raised his arm. She expected a curse to come, but instead, he did something very muggle.
He slapped her.
She reeled and looked at him in shock, finally understanding what he was doing. He was trying to assert his dominance. He looked down at her and stared at her eyes, but she stared back, a sign that she'd never submit to him. Furious, he raised his wand, though he stopped as his eyes caught on someone walking down the stairs.
"Come to join the fun, Snape?"
OoOoOoOoOoOo
Severus had been unsure why no one stopped him as he walked through the castle. He'd received plenty of glares, but no one had made a move. When he got back to his office, he dropped the memories on the table next to the pensieve and then made his way out. The Dark Lord had called for him and while he didn't want to be late, there were things Potter needed to know.
The walk down the stairs was a long one. He could hear fighting below him, a girl calling out for help. As much as he wanted to help her, he knew he couldn't. It wasn't his place. The war would end with Potter one way or another.
As he rounded the corner and walked down the last few steps, he saw who was there. Dolohov. He frowned. He'd always had a deep hatred for him that he'd never understood. He knew the things the man did to people but it had always felt like there was more to it, so Severus tried to avoid the man as much as possible. And it looked like whatever poor girl he was with was going to receive the ultimate treatment.
"Come to join the fun, Snape?"
Severus kept his face neutral. "Not quite. The Dark Lord has called for me."
"Severus," the girl choked out as he walked around them. He made the mistake of looking down. Very few people addressed him by his first name. He was shocked to find Hermione Granger lying in a pool of her own blood, half dead underneath Dolohov. As the horrible man sat straight up, he caught sight of barely healed scars on her stomach that spelled out Dolohov. His stomach flipped. The sight made him furious, and he suddenly wanted to kill Dolohov, though he wasn't sure why. He knew what the man did, and he'd never cared much for Granger. And yet she spoke his name as if she knew him. "Help."
"Better get going then, huh?" Dolohov suggested. He nodded once and forced himself to look ahead and began walking. The second he started to leave, he could hear Dolohov send a crucio at Granger. After barely a second, it let up, and she screamed a single word.
"Sano!"
He stopped in his tracks as something tickled his mind, something trying to come loose. Dolohov hit her with another Crucio, and he shifted uncomfortably at the sound of her cries. When he let up, she called out again.
"Severus, please! Sano, Sano! Severus, please help me!"
The memories drop into his mind abruptly and he grabbed the wall to stay standing while his fake memories and emotions were replaced with real ones. He understood that Dolohov was still hurting her and she was still begging for help, but as his mind readjusted, he was completely unable to move. His mind ached from the change when it was finished, but he couldn't focus on that.
He turned on his heel and shot an admittedly distracted and weak stunner at Dolohov. The man fell off of her and he rushed over to pull her into his lap and heal her quickly. She'd been hit with Sectumsempra at least three times in different places and had lost a great deal of blood. How she was alive was a wonder to him and he did his best to keep her awake as her head bobbed to the side, resting on his arm as she began to fall unconscious.
"Mia, Sano, stay awake," he requested in a soft whisper. "You're going to be okay. We'll get you downstairs and heal you up, okay? Stay awake, come on."
"Sev," she whispered, her eyes closed.
"I'm right here," he assured her. His mind was a blurry mess, but he knew enough to know that everything he'd done, he'd done for the small, weak girl in his arms. He couldn't let her die then, not again. "You'll be okay. Hang on."
"Severus," she said again, coughing a little. "Please, do you forgive me?"
He scoffed at her as he healed the last major cut. "For what?"
"For making you spend your life like this," she clarified in a whisper so quiet that he barely heard it. "I hated it, I didn't want to ask you to do it. I'm so sorry. It's so selfish but please… forgive me. Be my friend."
"I've never been upset with you," he promised her honestly as he lifted her in his arms and made his way to the dungeons, running and trying not to hurt her as he did. "I only regret that I had to be so cruel to you."
"You are… one of my best friends," she breathed out slowly, her voice getting softer. "I love you."
"Stay awake, Mia," he begged her, speeding up. She was too weak and he was worried she wouldn't make it to the dungeons in time. "Come on, you don't want to leave Regulus, do you?"
A small smile graced her lips. "Did you know… I was going to marry him?"
"You will," he corrected her. "It'll be lovely."
She didn't reply then and he broke into a sprint, trying his best not to jostle her. The potions room was just around the corner and he managed to slam it open with a spell, barely managing not to drop her as he did it. He carefully put her on a table, throwing everything off of it as he did. He summoned a plethora of potions and groaned as the mark on his chest began to burn as she began to die. The heat worsened dramatically every few seconds, and he began to truly wonder if he could save her.
"No, not again," he growled, dumping the potions down her throat before casting a diagnostic spell.
"She's lost too much blood."
He jumped at the voice of a young Hermione, who was looking at Mia in concern. "And she has a bad concussion. If you don't take care of those, she's going to die."
"I can't give her too much blood replenishing potion," he argued. "It'll poison her and then that will kill her."
"Then do a blood transfusion," Hermione told him as if it were obvious. And once she'd said it, it really was.
"Am I a match?" he questioned.
"No, but Harry is."
He cursed loudly and cast a Patronus, a doe. "Harry Potter. Mia is bleeding out, she needs a transfusion. Potions will kill her. Come to the potions room now or she will die."
The doe rushed off and he got to work on the concussion which, according to the spell, caused slight brain damage. He tried not to focus on that as he carefully fixed it.
A crack sounded in the air and he saw Harry standing with James and looking spooked. "Potter - Harry - pull your sleeve up… how do we do this?"
"Why are you asking me?" Harry asked him with wide eyes.
"Not you," he snapped, nodding his head at Hermione. "Her."
She talked them quickly through the steps and looked relieved when it began slowly working. "Now spell it to speed up."
"Isn't that dangerous?" James asked, looking between his sister and his son.
Severus groaned in pain as the mark began to glow brightly even through his blood-soaked robes, catching the attention of Harry and James both.
"Yes, but do it," Hermione snapped. James held up his hands as Severus cast the spell and within three silent minutes, the color was returning to Mia's cheeks. He moved onto the other multitude of injuries that weren't life-threatening after the transfusion finished and Hermione disappeared once more. Mia was still unconscious, and Severus didn't feel like waking her until she was all healed, though the burning on his chest was dimming somewhat already.
"How the hell did this happen?" James demanded, his mood changing from worried to furious. "Who did this?"
Severus looked into the man's eyes. "Who do you think?"
James shouted, throwing a sharp hex at the wall across from him. He ran his fingers through his hair and turned around to pace angrily.
"I don't understand," Harry looked between them. "Who…?"
"Mia," Regulus screamed as he ran in the room, Sirius on his heels. "Fuck, Mia…"
"She's okay," Severus told his old friend. "Barely."
"She was dying!" Sirius shouted. "Did you do this?"
"No," Severus replied, his eyes flashing angrily. He would never hurt her, and he'd thought even Sirius knew that. "Take a wild guess who did."
Both brothers stilled, and Severus could see matching fury and insanity in their eyes.
"Sirius?" Harry asked, hesitantly. Severus guessed he'd never seen the man like this before, and he was right. "Who did this?"
"Dolohov," Sirius replied, his hands shaking at his side as he looked at Severus. "Did you kill him?"
"I was trying to get to Mia," Severus shook his head. "It was bad."
"Fuck," Regulus breathed as his eyes caught on a specific injury that Severus had already tried and failed to heal completely. "Fuck!"
A few things shattered around the room with an outburst of accidental magic and Severus looked at Sirius. "Get control of him before his magic hurts her more."
"Reg," Sirius muttered, moving to stand in front of his brother. "She's alive, she's going to be okay."
"Sirius," Regulus said, his voice low and much too calm. "At sixteen, he threatened her with horrible things. After that, he has slapped her arse, tried to kill her in the library, gave her bruises at a fucking ball, tortured her in a classroom, and then tortured her for days before raping and killing her. And now aside from his fucking name on her stomach, he bit her neck so hard it scarred. You want me to fucking calm down?"
Harry paled as he looked at Mia, finally noticing her bare stomach that Severus had carefully been standing in front of. "Oh my god."
"Regulus, get out," James snapped loudly and angrily. At the dangerous look he was given, he continued. "Keep in mind that Harry knew almost none of that, and now you've shared some of the worst things that have ever happened to her without her permission. Remember when Sirius did that when you two first met? She was horrified. Get the fuck out."
"No," he replied sharply. "We have a soul bond, she heals better when I'm-,"
Sirius shot a stunner at his brother and caught him as he fell to the ground, taking his wand from him.
"Dad," Harry looked to James with wide eyes. "Did all of that… did he seriously…?"
"Obliviate him," Severus suggested, earning himself three glares. "Mia never wanted anyone but Regulus to know what happened to her that last day. The only reason you two know is because she wanted Sirius to suffer for bringing her back."
"Why?" Harry questioned in shock.
"Because she wanted to be dead," Sirius answered in a whisper, the memory still haunting him after so long. "She was furious that I'd brought her back. She… she'd begged Dolohov to kill her and she wanted to stay dead, regardless of how safe she was."
"She didn't want to remember," Severus explained. "By bringing her back, you forced her to deal with everything he'd done to her. I know how bad it was, Black. Regulus told me she wanted to kill herself."
"Oh my god," Harry stared at them.
"It was bad, pup," Sirius nodded slowly.
"Did you know? About the… last day?" Harry asked Severus. The man nodded slowly.
"She didn't say it, but she wouldn't let us touch her. She was scared of anyone aside from Regulus for weeks. Eventually, she would hold our hands or hug us again, but it was obvious what had happened, and Regulus just confirmed it now. Besides… Dolohov had a reputation, even then."
Harry was silent for a minute before he nodded once. "Do it."
"Harry, no," James argued, but Severus raised his wand and cast the spell, taking away the memory of the past few minutes. No one tried to stop him because, by the time they could, he'd already begun, and it was incredibly dangerous to interrupt the spell. With the memory removed he turned back to Mia to heal her broken foot before quietly waking her and not giving Sirius or James the opportunity to yell at him.
Her eyes blinked open slowly and she looked up at him, fear in her eyes. He could tell she was still confused and tired, so he gently grabbed her hand.
"It's me, Sano," he told her. "You're okay. I told you that you would be."
"Severus?" she breathed, reaching up to touch his face. He let her and saw her relax when she realized he was real. "What happened? Did I- oh… Oh."
"You're okay now," James reminded her, coming to stand on her other side. Harry followed him, still looking confused. Sirius came to stand next to Severus silently, watching her as she put things together. Understandably, her focus was on Severus.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, holding her hand out to touch his cheek again. He let her, grateful for the comfort and the way her warm hand reminded him she was okay. "Please don't hate me."
"I could never," he promised. "I agreed to all of this. You did nothing we didn't talk about before."
"I wanted to tell you days ago," she promised in a whisper. "But there was so much to do. I wasn't even going to tell you until after the battle."
"When did you get back?" he asked, looking between Mia and James.
"The day we left," Mia answered. "The 19th."
Harry stumbled, grabbing onto the table to hold him up. Though it wasn't only him - everyone in the room could feel and hear the same thing he was.
"You have fought valiantly, but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I, therefore, command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity….
"Harry and Mia Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourselves. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fates. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman, and child who tries to conceal you both from me."
The voice stopped and the group sat in silence for a long minute before Mia pushed herself off the table. "Let's go, Harry."
"Hold on," Severus grabbed her arm gently. "There are things you need to know."
"We know," Harry promised him. "Mione says I'll come back. We planned for this."
"We did not plan for him calling you both at once," Sirius corrected. "I don't like it. We said Harry first, then Mia."
"I can't fight him now," Mia told them like it was obvious. "After Harry, there's still one left, and I'm not sure how we can kill it."
"What is it?" James asked her.
"His snake, Nagini," she replied.
"He takes that snake everywhere with him," Severus warned. "It'll be near impossible to kill."
Mia tilted her head as she thought. "What if we got a basilisk fang to Narcissa and she did it?"
"That would risk her being killed," Severus replied stiffly.
"Then I'll be nearby. She can kill it and I'll jump in right away. They won't have time to hurt her."
"This all depends on him killing me first," Harry reminded them.
"Right," Mia nodded. "Well, we have the basilisk fangs. I'll come with you and give it to her while you face Voldemort."
"I don't like this," Sirius muttered. "I'm coming with."
"No, Pads, you can't," James shook his head. "You have to stay here to tell Regulus what happened when he wakes up. There's no way in hell we can tell him beforehand. I'll go with them."
"As will I," Severus said, but Mia shook her head.
"You can't."
"Why?"
"Look," she sighed tiredly, looking between the group. "I read through Orion's book."
Sirius stiffened. "After what he did, I can't believe you kept it."
"What did he do?" Severus frowned.
"It isn't important right now," Mia told him, annoyed. "But from what I can tell… there's a wand out there. I don't know if it's as powerful as the book says, but there's a blood trail to mark where it's been. Orion listed it as far back as he could, and it ended with Dumbledore."
"Okay…"
"So," she breathed out fast, amazed that even Harry didn't understand. "Voldemort wanted this wand. I'd guess he took it from Dumbledore's grave. What he doesn't understand is who the wand is loyal to."
"Okay," James shrugged. "Who is it loyal to?"
"Well, Severus killed Dumbledore, but before that, Draco disarmed him. But Voldemort doesn't know that, so he thinks that the wand is loyal to Severus. Which means, he wants to kill him to get loyalty of the wand."
"Of course," Severus whispered, annoyed. Even in his relatively safe place as Voldemort's trusted friend, he was still marked for death. "But it's loyal to Draco?"
"No," Harry realized with wide eyes. "Mione, are you saying-,"
"Yes," she nodded. "You disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor. The wand belongs to you."
"Holy shit."
"There's more," she told them, looking around at them. "Harry, you have the cloak and the stone."
"Okay."
She blinked. "It's just a story, but it says that whoever holds all three Deathly Hollows will be the Master of Death."
"Right," Sirius said after a long moment of silence. "Let's focus on getting Harry killed and then we can talk about fairy tales."
"Yeah," Harry agreed, looking a bit dizzy. "We should, um… let's go."
OoOoOoOoOoOo
6:30 am
"Mione- um, Mia," Harry whispered as the small group of three made their way through the forest. She looked over at him as James grabbed her arm to duck under a branch. "Does… ah, nevermind."
She knew what he was trying to ask even without hearing the question. Truthfully, their situations would be very different. Voldemort was likely to simply Avada Harry while Mia had died in excruciating pain.
"It won't hurt," she assured him. "It'll be peaceful. I don't know where you go when you're dead… I only remember bits of darkness, but you'll come back to us and be okay. Dying isn't hard, Harry. It's everything leading up to it that's hard."
He nodded his head as they approached the clearing and got a good look at who was waiting for them.
"Perhaps we should seek them out, my Lord," Lucius suggested, earning himself a dangerous glare.
"No. They will come to me."
"Maybe they'll bring you the traitor Snape," Bella suggested with a laugh.
"Calm yourself, sister," Narcissa looked at the woman in disgust.
"You can do it," Mia promised, placing a kiss on Harry's cheek. "Just come back to us."
"Right," Harry nodded, handing his wand over. They didn't want to run the risk of Voldemort disarming him and truly owning the wand he wielded. With the wand in James's tight grasp, Harry stepped forward until he could be seen by the large group.
"Ahh, Mister Potter," Voldemort greeted with a cruel smile. "You didn't bring your aunt."
"She's a bit preoccupied," he deflected the question. It was technically true. She was at the edge of the forest, trying to discreetly gather Narcissa's attention. "I thought maybe I'd be okay instead."
"You are worthless without Mia Potter," Voldemort spat. "You are no threat to me anymore."
"Then why did you want to kill me?"
"To finish what I started all those years ago," Voldemort answered in true villain style. He raised his wand and it took everything in Harry not to run as he screamed the spell Harry had spent so many years hiding from.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Mia was right. It was painless. Harry felt himself jolted out of his body, though he was still…. there. Around him he could see King's Cross in all white. Underneath a nearby bench was a shriveled, dying creature.
"Nasty, isn't it?"
Harry's fists clenched in anger as he turned around to see Albus Dumbledore with his hands held together in front of him. "You."
"My dear boy, what have I done to deserve such clear hatred?"
"You knowingly let Sirius rot in Azkaban," he glared darkly. "You could've put me with my godfather, a man who loves me, and instead you put me with a family who hated me and hated magic to be abused my entire childhood. You put me in numerous dangerous situations all my life, but no more than when I was in your care, in your school. Then you let yourself die and left the entire war sitting on my shoulders, and you didn't even tell me that Hermione is my aunt."
Dumbledore nodded slowly. "I'd always gotten the impression that Miss Potter had a distinct hatred of me. I see she has passed that onto you."
"Because you don't give a shit about people! Or their lives! Tell me the truth, could you have stopped the prophecy and saved my mum?"
The man hesitated. "It was more complicated than that, my boy. Voldemort already knew-,"
"Oh, no," Harry took a step back. "I have two words for you, Albus. Two words that my entire family would love to say to you."
"Oh?"
"Fuck you."
Harry's eyes flew open, though he remained where he was. Someone was leaning over him, and he saw a mix of black and silver hair fall in front of his face.
"Draco," the woman, Narcissa, whispered. "Is he okay? Is he alive?"
"Yes," Harry breathed. Narcissa straightened and turned to Voldemort.
"He's dead."
Voldemort burst into laughter as Hagrid cried out. They were both cut off, however, by an anguished sound of pain from Nagini as a basilisk fang sunk deep into her and she fell to the ground, dead.
With Voldemort in pain and distracted, Mia and James grabbed Harry and shot the chains off of Hagrid and ran as fast as they could. Mia grabbed onto both of them and apparated back to the castle grounds where there was destruction surrounding them.
"They'll be coming," James said in a rush.
"Then we need to make sure everyone is inside," Mia insisted, rushing toward the Great Hall where she found a room of injured. There were few dead, and as bad as she felt for feeling relieved, she saw no one she was close to aside from… "Oh, no…" she whispered, running across the hall to fall to her knees beside the dead body of Samson Dodd. "What was he doing here?"
"He felt you dying," Leon answered her. He was the only one that was near the man, and she appreciated him all the more for staying with his body. "He came to help you."
"And he got killed," she whispered, her hand coming to the bare part of his chest that showed her paw print. "Fuck. He didn't deserve this."
"He left something for you," Leon touched her shoulder, handing her an old journal. "He said it would be important to you someday."
She took it from him, admiring the royal blue color. There were two words written on the front, and she blinked at them in confusion. The Doctor. She shook herself and shoved the notebook into her beaded bag to examine later. "Thank you, Leon. Um… have you seen Reg?"
"Yes," he nodded quickly. "And he's terrified. Severus gave him two calming draughts and stunned him again. I think they're in the back with the waiting students. He didn't want to wake him until you returned."
She got to her feet and grabbed her friend in a hug, overwhelmingly grateful for his help and loyalty. "Thank you."
"Always, Sano."
She gave him a soft smile and made his way over to the seats in the back where she could see Sirius arguing with Severus.
"-saying, he couldn't hurt her if he wanted to," Sirius insisted.
"He's hurt her on accident before," Severus argued heatedly. "And he can't control his accidental magic. Leave him like this until she's killed him."
"I'd prefer if we wake him for now," Mia cut in, getting their attention. "Just in case something… happens. There are things I need him to know."
"Sano," Severus looked at her in worry. She smiled back. Even seeing him older and how she'd known him as a young girl, she only saw one of her best friends, and there was no awkward period in adjusting their relationship. Releasing the memories made it feel like it had been just yesterday, and he finally knew what he was missing, what his motivation for everything he did was. Mia. "That's not a good idea. You didn't see how he reacted-,"
"I don't care," she told him firmly. "He needs to see that right now, I'm okay."
"But are you?" Bill asked, making his way over. She narrowed her eyes at him. Aside from Regulus, he was the only one that would know when she was absolutely bullshitting.
"I just need a couple potions," she nodded. "I'll be fine. Last he saw me, I was unconscious and hurt. I'd panic if I were him."
"She has a point," James told Severus. "When Lily got hurt on a raid, I lost my mind. She did the same when I almost died at work. Just wake him for a bit and let them talk. They don't have long."
"Oh, fuck, right," Mia winced, getting to her feet with Bill's help. She was beginning to shake again, a good reminder to everyone of what she'd just gone through. She cast Sonorus and addressed the entire room. "We have an update, if I can have your attention!" The room quieted and the only noises came from healers bustling around the room. "Okay. Every object that was necessary to destroy before killing Voldemort has been destroyed!"
There was some confused clapping.
"No, that's a really good thing," she laughed. "It took us a good long while to do that."
There was some more enthusiastic clapping and she moved on.
"Right. He's had his shot at Harry - he's fine, don't worry, he's right here - and now he's after me, and he's fucking pissed. I'm going to request everyone stay indoors while we fight. We don't know what he's going to throw at me and I want you all to stay safe. It shouldn't be long. He should be relatively easy for me to kill now."
"When will he be here?" Gideon asked her from the bedside of… Percy?
"Soon," she told them. "Maybe twenty minutes. So count all your friends and family and make sure you know where they are…. this is the end. If everything works out as planned, this is how it ends. This is good."
She cancelled the spell and sat back down, watching everyone huddle into groups and talk in hushed whispers, as if speaking too loudly could ruin everything.
While she waited for Severus to retrieve the potions for her and another calming draught for Regulus, she walked around the hall with Bill taking note of the dead. After two laps, she'd counted all of them. Eleven people had died. She repeated their names and faces in her mind, a mantra reminder her not to let them die in vain.
Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, Sybill Trewlaney, Cho Chang, Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias Smith, Aurora Sinistra, Hestia Jones, Elphias Doge, Alicia Spinnet, Samson Dodd.
There were only a few others, and they'd been taken home to Bulgaria by their family when Voldemort had called the break. Still, Mia pledged to learn their names later on and honor them accordingly.
She made her way over to Regulus and sat down, waiting for them to wake Regulus. Sirius stayed with the couple but everyone else - Harry, Avery, and Severus - walked away from them to give them privacy.
Mia woke Regulus and Sirius stepped back, far enough away for them to talk alone but close enough to help if Regulus lost it again. Regulus shot up, his eyes wild with fear and fury. Mia leaned back as he grabbed her shoulders.
"Regulus, stop," she put her hand on his arm. "Stop it, I'm okay."
"No, it hurts," he argued, and she had to admit he was right. She could easily lie to her friends, but Regulus knew every bit of pain she felt. "He hurt you again, Mia."
"I know," she breathed, slowly pressing his hands down from her shoulders and cupping his face in her hands. "And I'd love to take the time talking about it but Reg, Voldemort is coming and he'll be here in ten minutes. We don't have the time."
"Fuck. What the hell happened while I was out?"
"It actually… went really well, considering," she told him truthfully. "Voldemort told Harry and I to come to the forest and called off his forces. We went and while he killed Harry - he's okay - I killed Nagini because Narcissa was preoccupied. It was… difficult not being noticed, but we managed it. Reg, that's it. That was the last one. He's going to be here soon and I'm going to end it."
"You have to be careful, Mia," Regulus told her, looking into her eyes seriously. "It won't take much to kill him but he's strong. Be careful."
"I'm scared," she admitted softly. He nodded and pulled her into his arms, where she relaxed gratefully.
"Me too, Little Lion."
Across the room, Harry, Severus, and Avery were walking together. Not on purpose, in Harry's case. They'd just sort of stuck together, and no one seemed willing to bother them.
"I'm not hurting her!" Kat yelled angrily, standing protectively in front of a bed holding her older sister, who was pale and unconscious. "She's my sister!"
"You're a Slytherin," Parvati defended, her wand still raised at Kat. "How did you escape? They put you somewhere!"
"We didn't- oh my god," Kat ran her fingers through her long black hair in frustration, looking ready to curse the girl in front of her. "Would it help if I told you she's a Ravenclaw? Just leave her alone. She needs to heal."
"Parvati," Harry rushed over, standing between the two with Avery and Severus following him. "Stop it. Hermi- er, Mia said they're good, they're fine. Worked with us."
"Harry," Parvati looked tired and scared, and Harry couldn't really blame her for the way she was treating the girl. "Didn't Hermione put all the Slytherins in the Chamber?"
"She did," he confirmed. "But some of them, like Kat and Daphne, worked with us. I promise. Right?" he looked to the girl, who nodded firmly.
"We took out the other bridge."
Severus nodded. "I can vouch for Miss Miles."
"Miles," Avery spoke up with a confused frown. "Like Nikoli Miles?"
"He was our father," she nodded slowly. "You knew him?"
"A long time ago, apparently. Is he-,"
"He died," she interrupted. "Last year with our mother."
"But who is she?" Parvati asked, relaxed more now that Harry seemed to trust her.
"Kat Miles," she introduced. "We've been in classes together for seven years, thanks for noticing."
"What happened to Jessica?" Severus asked, frowning at the unconscious but otherwise seemingly unhurt girl.
A flash of shame crossed Kat's face before it disappeared, her face void of emotion for the first time in the conversation. "I was duelling a nasty Death Eater by the stairs and he got me for a second… it was awful. She felt it and came to find me. She managed to distract him, but he hit her with a curse and I didn't recognize it. She's been like this ever since."
"It might help to know who it was," Avery suggested. "Did you see his face?"
Kat looked furious. "I know who it was. He killed our parents. When I got over there, he'd been stunned, and I thought maybe I could… I don't know, but he got up before I did anything."
"I see," Severus's lips thinned. "Excuse me for a moment."
Harry watched as his old professor moved back over to Mia, Regulus, and Sirius and muttered a few words to Sirius before both men made their way back over to them. Sirius looked as angry as he'd been earlier when he'd found Mia, and Harry suddenly realized what had happened. Kat had stumbled upon an unconscious Dolohov, and apparently, he'd killed their parents.
"Miss Miles," Severus nodded at Sirius. "This is Sirius Black. Unfortunately, he's the best expert on diagnosing dark curses that we have right now."
"Tell me what happened," Sirius demanded. Kat repeated herself, this time adding more details and even showing him the way Dolohov had flourished his wand when casting the curse. When she was done, Sirius got to his knees and cast a few spells on Jess. "This is simple, actually. He must have been in a hurry."
"What is it?" Kat asked him, her brow furrowed. "I can feel her, she's… uncomfortable."
"Wait, what?" Harry looked between the people around him before looking at Kat. "You can feel her?"
"They share a rare bond," Severus explained. "It caused quite a few issues when Jessica came to school in her first year. There have only been a few cases of misplaced twin bonds the way that they have."
"So like… Fred and George?" Harry guessed.
Avery nodded. "Fred was pretty uncomfortable when he was in the past. He hid it from Mia because she had a lot going on, but it physically and mentally pained him to be away from George. It was easy to see, especially once I understood what was going on."
Harry looked between Jess and Kat. There looked to be only a year or so difference between them, and he understood why they'd be so uncomfortable being apart.
Sirius chanted softly as he waved his wand over her body healing her. As he went along, Kat visibly relaxed as if she could feel her sister being cured. When Sirius lifted his wand, Jess was still asleep, but Kat didn't seem concerned.
"Thank you," she offered Sirius a genuine smile.
"It's a good thing I got to you when I did," he admitted. "The curse Dolohov shot at her is easily reversed but still nasty. It was essentially transfiguring her internal organs into stone permanently. If it had finished, it would be incurable."
"I'd just like to ask whoever stunned Dolohov why they didn't fucking kill him," Kat muttered. Sirius looked to Severus, eyebrow raised.
"That is a good question, isn't it? If he'd just died, the stress of him hurting her again would be over," he said, obviously referring to Mia instead of Jess now.
"I want to kill him," Kat decided firmly. Avery let out a humorless laugh.
"Get in line. It's a long one."
Harry doubled over, gripping his head in pain. It was happening again.
Mia Potter. You cannot escape me again. If you refuse to face me, we will come inside and slaughter every friend and family you've ever known. You have two minutes.
Harry turned to look at his friend, surprised to see she was engaged in a deep kiss with Regulus. The sight made him cringe, but he didn't have to worry because it ended abruptly and Mia ran down the steps and from the room, not looking at anyone on her way out. Harry rushed after her with the crowd and they stopped just outside of the door, their eyes on the powerful pair.
Voldemort held the Elder Wand in his hand while Mia's own was empty. They stood for a moment of silence before Mia spoke.
"Tom Riddle," she addressed him. He visibly tensed, and she felt a trill of satisfaction run through her. "You had me killed once. What makes you think you can do it again?"
"Your luck is not endless, Potter," he spat back at her.
"Neither is yours. We got rid of all the horcruxes. Hell, you even killed Harry for us. Don't you think it's ironic that, had you just left him alone, you could've lived forever? And now all it'll take is just the right spell…"
Voldemort's eyes drifted to the crowd, where they paused on Regulus and Avery, who he thought to be dead. "Regulus. I always thought that maybe you'd become a trusted friend. I was crushed when you died."
"I was never loyal to you," Regulus told him, his voice a deadly calm. He was practically vibrating with nerves watching his old master stand in front of his soul mate with the intent of killing her.
"Ah, I see that now," Voldemort nodded, looking back at Mia calmly. "You will not win, Potter."
"Tom," she said, her eyes flashing a brighter gold. "Your own muggle father didn't want you. Why would the wizarding world?"
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort screamed. Mia tossed a nearby piece of the castle in her path and watched it explode. Only her hastily placed shield blocked her from the debris. With her shield still up, she began throwing silent curses of her own. An Impendimenta was directly followed by Rectus. The first spell hit him, but the other slammed into the ground next to him. He threw another Avada at her and it missed, hitting the wall behind her.
Mia moved to the side as he pulled himself to his feet and she cast Avis and then Oppugno. Whatever spell he cast next was not one she recognized, and fire bloomed from his wand in shape of a snake, swallowing her birds whole and rushing after her. She dropped to her knees and moved the shield above her instead of in front. For the most part, it worked, but the fire caught her hip and part of her leg, and she grit her teeth, willing herself not to scream. She used Aguamenti to cut off his fire, and he ended the spell when he saw it was no longer working.
Voldemort threw another Avada, though this time at Regulus, who was wincing in pain and holding his hip, feeling the burn she'd just gotten. Her breath caught as she pulled another piece of the castle over and watched the horrible spell be absorbed. Unfortunately for her, Voldemort took the moment while she was distracted to his advantage. She felt a crucio hit her and forced herself to stand still and refused to fall to the ground as her body so desperately wanted. She gathered all the strength she had and twitched her hand toward the man, throwing a Confrigo at him. The bright light of the spell tipped him off and while she did miss, he also let up on the Crucio.
She hurriedly put a shield back up and assessed the situation. He looked tired already and while she was in excruciating pain from the nights earlier torture and the torture she'd just endured, she was still fine power wise and felt okay to beat him. Everyone watching was silent and she knew that after Voldemort had attacked Regulus, they'd rushed some of the younger students and more frail people inside the castle again.
Voldemort threw another silent curse at her and her shield deflected it. It rebounded and she watched, uncaring, as it hit a Death Eater and killed them. Voldemort cast again, and she returned, ducking to avoid the spell while her shield moved to cover her side, where he'd sent a Bombarda. The pair were moving faster now, casting faster, racing to see who could do better, who could finish it all.
When an Atlas curse hit Oliver Wood, Mia screamed in frustration and, to the absolute disapproval of all of her friends, removed the shield from her and stretched it farther than she'd ever done before to cover every member of the light that stood behind her. It was bright and tall and strong, but it also left her open to be hit, which, by the smile on Voldemort's nast face, was his plan.
They began shooting off spells once more, moving quickly again. She'd yet to hit him with anything strong enough to kill him, while he was wearing her down. Without her shield, she was hit with a deep cutting hex, an unknown dark curse that made it hard to move her hands, which messed up her casting, and finally, he'd hit her with another Crucio that lasted only moments before she'd collapsed to the ground screaming.
"You can't win, Mia," he taunted, walking over to her with his wand pointed down at her. "You will lose. Your power is so wasteful on the blood traitors. Join me and we can rule the world. Join me and you need not ever fear Dolohov again."
She met his eyes, furious. "It's your fucking fault he ever hurt me to begin with, Riddle. I won't fear him because someday soon, I'm going to kill him, but not before I kill you."
"Shame," he sighed, jerking his wand forward to silently cast the Cruciatus again. She could vaguely hear people screaming but no one came to help because during it all, she still held the shield that protected them.
When he let up, she rolled onto her back to look up at him, her face grim. Her arms were pinned somewhat underneath her, but her hands were sticking out just enough to hit him.
"Give up, Riddle," she told him. "Your horcruxes are gone. There's nothing more you can do."
And then he cast a spell she'd only ever read about in a book she'd found in Grimmauld Place, a book Sirius had taken from her when he'd found her with. Omnis Dolor.
She screamed in pain, her body curling up into a ball as every bit of pain she'd ever felt came back to her all at once, overwhelming her mind, body, and magic. She couldn't move, and all she could think was that she wanted to die, she wanted to be dead again. It hurt so much that part of her felt like it was just normal, like she could survive like that. The rest of her, however, heard Regulus screaming.
She twitched painfully and moved her hand to point at Voldemort, casting the only spell she could think of. Deprimo. The pain stopped suddenly as the spell hit Voldemort and he dropped his wand to the ground. Her entire body twitched and she watched the invisible force press down on him, somewhat like the Atlas curse, until he just… exploded. She felt drips of blood rain down on her as she faded into a painful unconsciousness.
As soon as she passed out, her shield dropped and people ran forward. Unfortunately for the Death Eaters, Minerva and Severus had reset the anti-apparation wards while Mia was fighting Voldemort. Multiple people grabbed the Death Eaters and tied them up, but there was a large group of people that didn't even notice as Mia's friends reached her. Regulus was unconscious, his chest glowing brightly through his robes. The same was happening to all of her Death Eaters, and Sirius was gripping his wrist in pain.
She was dying. Again.
They transported her into the Great Hall where Madame Pomfrey and Sirius - the best resource on dark magic that wasn't unconscious, dead, or arrested - began healing her to the best of their ability.
"Fuck," Sirius whispered, his wand rushing over her hands. The nerves in them had been cut with a spell and it took him nearly ten minutes to heal them up. The other injuries were hard to heal, but the most difficult one was from the torture. With how frequently she'd endured it, the permanent damage she had was worsening, especially with the toxic magic Voldemort had had. While torturing her, his magic had poisoned hers, feeding off of it and growing the infection.
"I am unsure how to heal this," Madame Pomfrey admitted. "She'd need a healing bond, but she cannot make a new one in such a dire state."
"She has one," Sirius called, sprinting from the room. When he returned, a panicked Bill followed him, stopping only when he reached Mia's side. He grabbed her hand and winced hard, looking tense.
"She's dying," he told them. Sirius held up his glowing wrist.
"Thanks, we know."
"Mister Weasley," Madame Pomfrey addressed Bill. "You need to tell me if what I'm doing is spreading the infection or making it worse. There's no way for me to tell right now."
Bill nodded and they got to work, Bill guiding the nurse the whole way. It took nearly six hours to remove the entire thing, and when they were done, they were exhausted.
"Now she needs to rest," Madame Pomfrey told them after giving her a plethora of potions.
"Will she be okay?" James asked anxiously, having joined them an hour earlier.
Madame Pomfrey offered him a kind smile. "It's too early to know, but I'm hopeful. How is Mister Black?"
Sirius winced. "Still unconscious. And we're all still glowing."
The woman let out a tired sigh, looking between them. "Most people don't endure the things this girl has in their entire life. She's gone through all of this in the course of under a year. It's understandable that her body and mind are exhausted. You have to be prepared for the possibility that… she may not be the same as she was before."
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