Explicit Depictions of Gore (Like I know I said last chapter there was gore but... Remus is a little more descriptive than your average person so it's a little... graphic)
Remus groaned, pressing a hand to his neck to try and curb the burning blood from spilling. That had been… a slaughter. And if those claws had been even a millimeter to the right he would have bled out by now. Thank Merlin for his regeneration.
He grunted, searching the dark carpeted floor for his wand, wincing as his hand caught on a few stray pieces of glass. He knew plenty of charms and spells to heal the damage but doing it wandless was extremely difficult and time consuming.
"Shit."
There was no comforting rod of wood nearby.
He shifted, rolling over and closer to the bed that was highlighted by the outside streetlights. Still no wand. He huffed and focused on the hand over his throat. Slowly, the skin heated in his palm and the gash closed over enough that blood wasn't leaking like a faucet. He'd still need medical attention but it would keep for the moment.
With shaking arms he pushed himself up and glanced around unsuccessfully blinking away the black spots. His body was about ready to sleep until the next full moon but he needed to get up and check on the kids. They were the entire reason he and Molly had rushed ahead of the others… and right into a trap.
Molly had been so hysterical about her children then and he'd been so worried about Harry. And now she was…
Remus paused and took a moment to breathe deeply. Immediately, the overpowering metallic scent of blood clogged his nostrils and he gagged. The heavy malodorous perfume of death that always clung to vampires was also in the room; not strong enough to overcome the foul aroma of blood, but enough that their brief presence was definite. They hadn't just tossed him in here; they'd followed him.
Immediately, his mind jumped to the worst case scenario.
The kids...
"Ginny? Ron? Hermione? Harry?"
His voice was raspy and weak so he cleared his throat, ignoring the painful tugging of his injury, and tried again with no results. With more effort than it should have taken, he pulled himself forward getting his legs under him before standing shakily.
The curtains fluttered behind him, a small breeze shifting against his neck cooling his sweat and blood, and the moonlight slithered further into the room briefly illuminating pale toes behind the end of the bed.
He choked and stumbled forward almost tripping over his feet in his hurry. The body was still, a lump almost indistinguishable in the darkness between the wall and the bed, and his stomach roiled at the overwhelmingly powerful scent. He'd found the source of the blood.
"No, no, no, no."
A light formed at his fingertips with hardly a thought and Remus regretted it the moment he took in the pale blood streaked girl on the floor.
"Ginny? Ginny?"
Her hair covered her face in a red shroud amplifying the jagged mess of her throat. The flesh was puckered and swollen, split in multiple weeping areas that trailed deep viscous red between the new grooves and chasms of her neck into the ever expanding pool on the floor. Deep purpling bruises were already formed over her throat, hardly hidden by any blood and Remus had an idea of what had happened. It made the nausea abruptly force his stomach's contents into his throat. He struggled to force the burning acid back down before it fell from his between his lips.
This much blood and the absolute crushed mess of her trachea… She never stood a chance.
"Oh Ginny. No, no. Oh no…"
Remus crouched over her, gently brushing her hair from her face with a shaking hand. Her eyes were wide and terrified, lips parted as if struggling to breathe, and it shattered his heart. Her death was not quick enough.
The kids weren't supposed to be caught up in this.
There was a faint sob from the hallway and Remus stiffened, slowly standing and turning to peer around the wall at the door. He lifted his nose for a few good whiffs trying to sift through the overpowering metallic scent lingering in a heavy cloud. Ginny's was very pungent, and his own certainly wasn't helping, but there was something familiar about the smells outside. It was on the tip of his tongue. He knew it…
A few steps closer, only a yard away, he heard another sob and a name.
He wasted no time in hurrying outside into the hall.
One twin was face down on the floor, the other crying over his brother as he weaved his wand around the boy's midsection, chanting under his breath.
"Fred, George. Oh Merlin."
The Weasley only looked up briefly when Remus dropped to his knees on the other side of the body. He couldn't help but stare in shocked silence at the horrific sight.
The Weasley's cheek had two long gouges, one going all the way into his hairline where it split his ear in two. They were deep enough that it almost tore the flesh completely from his face. White bone was clearly visible along with with the yellow fat layer as the skin sagged down, pulling his lips and eye down on the injured side. Despite how gruesome it was and how painful it had to be, he never stopped his chanting. With every moment that he mumbled, blood would bead in sections of the rent tissue before they grew too large and rolled down the flap of skin where it pooled in the lower, smaller laceration before overflowing to cover his chin and neck like a morbid crimson fountain.
Remus swallowed harshly and tore his eyes away. Besides the bleeding the wound was not life threatening and could be fixed easily enough. Whatever was wrong with the other Weasley -George he was assuming by the missing ear- semed more dire.
He listened to what Fred was trying to cast, focusing on the words to block everything else from his mind. It took only a moment to figure out it was a powerful healing spell to put a critically injured patient into stasis. It took another to figure out his spell wasn't working. There were only two reasons for that…
"Fred," he croaked. "Fred. Your brother…"
The red head looked up with burning blue eyes and snarled, face twisting gruesomely , "He is not dead."
"Let me have your wand. Let me… Mine is missing. Let me try."
There was a brief moment of staring, Fred's rage and grief swirling almost visibly around him, before he roughly thrust out his arm.
The werewolf gently took the rod of wood, feeling the same burning energy of its owner searing into his hand, and started the spell. Healing he could do. It had become his forte after many moons of practice on himself. If George was still alive he would be saving the boy unlike Ginny and Harry…
Ron and Hermione arrived to chaos. There were bodies spread everywhere each with its own morbid spread of red surrounding it.
They both paused incredulously and Ron's hand clutched at his girlfriend's tightly as his stomach roiled. Something had happened. He'd been right. Fuck.
"Oh Merlin w-wha-" Her voice choked off as a few more cracks signified the arrival of more wizarding folk. Not a moment later, two figures jumped from the second story, taking off into the air with no assistance.
Ron was not the most observant person but even he caught the pale figure clutched in one of their arms. His wand was out and firing curses before he even realized what he'd done. The raw power behind each curse left him aching and feeling empty even as he cast and cast and cast. But nothing he did mattered, as the two was joined by a third and they disappeared into the inky depths of the sky.
The wizard screamed, rage tearing at his vocals until a hand clenched tightly on his shoulder turned his attention back to Hermione.
He took a moment to observe her drooped shoulders and the wand clutched loosely in her hand. Her eyes were staring at something on the pavement and his gut clenched again, threatening to send his dinner right back up. He didn't want to look. He knew…
As if magnetized, the wizard's blue eyes turned to the splash of orangish red highlighted under street light. Staring back at him were the same wide blue, red streaks decorating her cheeks like macabre tattoos.
Ron puked.
Hermione was just coherent enough to store each scene away for further analysis while she focused on getting her boyfriend to settle. It was shock. It had to be. She would not be so calm otherwise.
Not for the first time, she forced her logic to take hold and dictate her actions. No matter how much she wanted, needed, to soothe Ron and be held in his arms there were more important things to be done. Obviously, from the amount of adult wizards here, underage magic had been cast. Ginny probably needed help and healing. Afterwards, Mrs. Weasley and all the others could be taken care of.
"We need to check on Ginny," she murmured, stroking Ron's back one more time.
"Bloody hell…"
She was actually impressed with how white he could get in his terror. Where did all the blood go?
A brief flash of the surrounding area reminded her she didn't want to know. As long as it was inside his body where it belonged everything was okay.
"Can you stand?"
Without puking, was implied.
"I- bloody… Yea. We need to-Ginny is in the room still."
"Let's go."
Ron straightened but they didn't get more than two steps before more cracks resounded and even more Order members were taking in the scene. It was Tonk's, who'd arrived with the first bunch, who noticed them and rushed over.
"Wotcher! Where've you been!? Do you know how bonkers the Order's been looking for you guys?"
Hermione pursed her lips. Oh, she had an idea.
There was an aggrieved cry that cut off any answer either of them could have given. Mr. Weasley dropped to his knees beside his wife his sobs loud and long as he gently brushed her hair behind her ear.
"We need to go."
"Uh I don't think so," Tonks exclaimed as a few Order member glanced their way. For some reason she was extremely glad that Dumbledore wasn't amongst their numbers. Seeing him might have set her at ease once but lately… Something was wrong, especially after all of the memories she'd been shown of a young Harry. Her head was constantly pounding but it was easily enough ignored if she focused on the task at hand. Which was finding Ginny and not thinking on thoughts that could be pondered over later.
"Ginny is inside. Come if you want but we need to go."
She marched forward, Ron not even a step behind her. They both ignored the indignant 'Oi!' as they brushed past the metamorphmagus.
George was finally stable and Fred allowed himself to relax only slightly. He'd saved his brother.
No, you didn't, an insidious voice whispered. If Remus hadn't shown up George would be dead.
He let out a shuddering breath, feeling the same dry burning behind his eyes from earlier. He'd seen-watched…
Oh Merlin.
He was such a screw up. He couldn't even protect his little sister or save his own brother. What use was he? None. None at all. Worthless.
The air in his lungs hiccuped on the way out.
"Fred…"
No. He didn't want to hear platitudes. Especially not from the soft spoken werewolf. He should have done better, been better. He was taken out by one leech. One. There were other things he could have done. Solem Maxima. Summoned flowing water. Anything other than what he did. Failed.
"We need… to get him back. The shop has… potions. Ginny needs to be-"
He couldn't even finish, his throat closing at the thought of her. How her blood was as red as her hair when that damned vampire-
He blinked away the wavering in his vision.
"Fred you need medical-"
"George is more important."
There was a pause followed by a sigh. "I'm sure your brother would be very upset if he found out you died from blood loss because you were being stubborn. At least let me seal the gash on your face."
Maybe he deserved it. The pain every time he even twitched. He wouldn't, couldn't wish for death. He couldn't do that to Georgie or the rest of his family. But pain? Oh, he would suffer that in spades for what he allowed to happen.
"Stop the bleeding then. Anything else can wait."
"Fred…"
He turned burning eyes onto the blood soaked wizard across from him. He would never know what it was like! He wouldn't feel the crushing grief of watching your sister- not being able to save his brother- being useless- He wouldn't know. He didn't want to hear anything from the man. Didn't want… the logic. He just wanted…
Fred's blues eyes turned down onto his fallen brother. He'd been flipped onto his back after being put into stasis and Remus had done a fairly good job making sure his organs were back in the right place. The gash on his belly was still there and gaping but he wasn't bleeding anymore even if his pale face was extremely worrying.
The wizard ran his fingers over his mirror image's freckled cheek. "It's ok Georgie. It's gonna be o-ok. I won't-won't let this happen a-again. I swear it."
His lip trembled briefly before Fred bit it harshly. There was no time for that.
"Professor Lupin!"
"Fred! George!"
His head shot up to catch Ron and Hermione shoving through the stairwell door. Ron was startling pale as well and Fred had a moment of worry, scanning his little brother for visible injuries. There was nothing. And yet his gut still clenched and his stomach roiled at being unable to help. To be there for his family.
"Oh Merlin, George!"
Ron's eyes were wide enough to pop out of his skull as he sprinted down the hall full tilt. His knees hit the floor hard and he hovered over George, hands quivering as if wanting to touch, to fix.
"He's stable right now," Remus coughed shifting until he was standing again, posture hunched and tired.
"Where's Ginny," the youngest Weasley demanded staring up at Fred.
And Fred couldn't answer. His throat closed and his lungs constricted.
He saw flashes of red and yellow. Heard a sickening crunch.
He couldn't. He couldn't.
"Ron…"
Hermione cut in, reaching out a hand to balance herself -or perhaps stabilise her boyfriend, Fred couldn't tell- on Ron's shoulder. "Where is she? Just… Just tell us."
You could hear it in her voice. She'd already guessed something had happened. But Hermione would not be their lovable Gryffindor Bookworm if she wasn't determined to see things through. Ron, being more perceptive than usual, shook his head, sobs falling from his lips. "No! No, no, no! She was supposed to be safe! They couldn't have known! They couldn't have found her! Something must have tipped them off!"
His heart skipped a few beats listening to the broken rasp of his little brother. He hadn't done anything right. Just another screw up. Mum was going to chew his ear off and then some.
Tonks had been expecting to find the kids holed up in a hotel room somewhere and while she wasn't wrong… this was not anything she wanted to see. Ginny casting with her wand could have been a mistake, not a sign of her being in danger. That's what she'd hoped it would be. Don't get her wrong, Tonks knew the kids could be smart but once you came to rely on magic it was hard to not use it. She would know from muggle stakeouts as an auror.
So when Molly suggested something was wrong, she didn't want to believe it. Neither did the others. Except, Remus wouldn't allow her to run ahead by herself while everyone else got ready just in case. Constant vigilance and all that rot. And blimey did she admire that man and his ideals -even if he could be a bit of a cowards sometimes-.
Wait. She was getting sidetracked again.
She bit her lip, worrying it with her teeth as she followed behind Ron and Hermione into the hotel. Everything was pretty normal except the receptionist that completely ignored them. That… was strange considering their rumpled appearance but they were muggles so who knew for sure with them.
Something else to focus on besides the bloody morbid scene outside at least.
As the two teens rushed ahead, Tonks stumbled after them yanking her wand out of it's holster. She was the Auror here! She was supposed to be doing the leading.
"Oi, bloody hell! You can't just charge in! Wait a bloody sec!"
Of course they didn't. Tonks always had all the luck.
She followed them up to the second floor doing her damndest not to trip on the steps. As much as she loved being a metamorphmagus it sure was inconvenient at the most inopportune times. Finally, she caught up to the right as they were pushing the door open. And cor' blimey that scene did not fill one with hope.
The younger Weasley was already sprinting over to Remus and his downed brother lying on the floor with a right nasty laceration in his belly. Hermione was quick to follow and she started after them a little slower. She scanned the hallway with a spell and picked up several traces of blood and magic use all over. At the very far end of the wall stakes were embedded in the wood which came from the missing pieces of carpet under her shoes. There were splatters of blood belonging to a human wizard and a vampire. Scorch were scattered up and down the hall. And the scan gave back unmoving heat signatures in some of the rooms which meant there were people here… except they hadn't come out. That was… really strange. Muggles were very nosy as she'd found out from personal experience. Why were these ones not doing anything. She didn't imagine a battle would be quiet.
She tuned into their conversation absentmindedly, still mulling over the feedback from her magic. Until Ron said something that sounded off.
"Wait," she barked. "You knew these vampires were coming?"
The Weasley didn't answer, seemingly lost in his anger and grief as he sobbed over his brother. Granger turned to her instead, eyes dark and somber. "We knew."
Nymphadora Tonks found herself at a loss for words. Thank goodness for Remus who cut in, tone firm, "Then what were you thinking? What happened here could have been avoided-"
"You don't understand how bad Harry was." Her tone was quiet but no less hard. "He would have severely injured himself or possibly even died trying to get to that house by himself. I've never seen him like that before and it scared me."
"Was it worth it?"
As soon as the words left her mouth she wanted to bite her tongue off. George was out of commission and from the lack of the Weasley daughter something terrible had happened. And she just had to go and mouth off.
Three sets of furious eyes turned to her.
"How fuckin dare you," Ron snorted. "How fucking dare you think we don't care for our friend's health! You think we wanted this!?"
He lumbered to his feet, arms hanging heavily at his sides and Tonks clutched her wand. She didn't want to but she would put him down for his own safety right now if needed.
"Ron-"
He brushed off his girlfriend's hand and took two steps forward, eyes turning to smoldering ice chips set into his ashen face. "You think we wanted the fuckin' blood leeches to hurt my family? We came for Harry," he roared. "We came because no one else in the Order was doing a Merlin damned thing to help him! No one ever does! No one listens! Not to him! Not to me! Not even to Hermione! And you know what that's gotten us time and fucking time again!? Nothing! Nothing but heartbreak and pain and taking care of ourselves because the Wizarding World is a rotting cesspool of cowardly adults that leave everything to bloody children while they stick their heads in the sand!"
"Ron please-"
"Say a word Lupin," Ron growled as he whipped around. "You're no better than all the others. You're a bloody fucking coward and it's no wonder that Harry never confided in you. Only Sirius listened and that man was half-mad and unable to anything because of the bloody chains that Dumbledore wrapped him in nice and neat. So no," his head turned over his shoulder to stare her down again. "No, it was not worth it. No, I don't want any of my family to be hurt, but fuck if you guys were willing to do anything. At least we tried and look where that got us," he laughed mirthlessly. "At least we were more useful than you lot."
Her stomach twisted in knots. Was that really what they thought?
When the group arrived back outside, the Order members couldn't help but stare at the solemn faces of the Weasley clan. Arthur was once again stricken by uncontrollable grief at the sight of his daughter's body. Fred almost dropped his brother when he saw his mother and Ron stood, face hardened, next to his girlfriend.
Each of them had their own thoughts on the situation, most slinging blame every which way.
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away a group of vampires were carefully watching their host diagnose their lost brother.
AN: Okay guys I just wanted to apologize that this was a week later but I was having such a hard time with this chapter. And, oh man, I have to get into Vampire stuff next chapter... well, at least it should be exciting for you guys, huh? Since I'm still technically dragging out their reunion.
Anyway, like always please tell me what you think! It really does help with motivation to write when I'm not feeling to into it. I get to use your words as encouragement. :)