Chapter 13 – Two Part Black Blood
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Previously on The Forgiven: Grimm, Liar, Norse, and Kingsley face off against the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. After learning of the extensive damage done to the Longbottoms, the Forgiven will never be the same again.
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A liquid dense and dark as tar bubbled up from Grimm's insides. It intoxicated her and drove her mad with grief and rage.
Every memory she had of the Longbottoms, the warm affections they showed her—she remembered every one of them, and they each plunged her deeper and deeper into her emotional poison.
Hot tears welled in her eyes and her teeth painted red from biting into her lip. Through spitting blood, she howled at the torturers.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO THEM?!"
Bellatrix smiled sadistically.
Grimm aimed her wand.
With her present condition, she would be able to do it. It was the most natural thing to do. Grimm let emotion consume her; giving herself complete and whole to it.
The word freed itself from her voice, like a beast from chains.
"CRUCIO!"
A stream of black and blue lightning stabbed from her wand and dug into Bellatrix's skin. Like roots twining into the earth, the spell sunk into every pore of the Death Eater's body.
Bellatrix collapsed and began writhing on the ground in pain. She tried to scream, but found she could barely even breathe. The Cruciatus Curse tangled and taut every fiber of her being. She was as close to dying from shock as humanly possible.
Grimm wasn't the only one who gave into her hatred.
Liar's Legilimens went chaotic under the stress of his mental link with his leader and the Longbottoms. Without intending to, he synchronized the minds of the Forgiven. In that moment, they shared their thoughts, their memories, and their emotions. What little mercy was left in Norse and Liar's hearts were completely extinguished.
"CRUCIO!"
CRUCIO!
Liar cursed his father, while Norse cursed Rudolphus.
The three of them had never wished so much pain on another person in their whole lives.
A part of them always held them back from going this far. Perhaps, they always felt death was enough punishment for any crime. Now, they knew better. Now, they understood what it meant to hate so purely and completely someone else's very existence.
As much as they chipped away at their victims' souls, they did as much their own. In many ways, the Cruciatus Curse damaged both the enemy and its caster. The three knew they had performed a cruelty that day, which would stain their souls forever…
And they did not care.
…
Crouch Jr., the only Death Eater not under Crucio, watched his allies in terror. Their expressions and the way their bodies contorted was something which would make anyone turn pale. It could only be described as inhumane.
The only one who wasn't connected through the Legilimens Link on the Forgiven's side was Kingsley.
"Confringo!"
A white shockwave blasted Crouch Jr. off his feet and into the wall, knocking him unconscious.
Kingsley stared at the three Forgiven with mixed feelings. He opted to stun the Death Eaters they were torturing.
"Stupefy!"
Three red lights flashed in succession, targeting the Lestranges writhing on the floor. The spell hit them flush and guaranteed a loss of consciousness. Though, the Death Eaters were completely out, their bodies' still twitched with pain.
Grimm, Liar, and Norse had not stopped administering the Cruciatus Curse.
Kingsley looked at them like they had gone insane, which, in this case, was not too far from the truth.
"ENOUGH! Stop, all of you! They are defeated!"
His words fell on deaf ears as the three's remained unwavered.
"I said, ENOUGH! I invoke my right as Forgiver to order the Forgiven—"
"Fine, Kingsley…" Grimm said in an almost bored tone. She dropped her wand hand as if it was of no importance, and the other two did the same. They coldly walked over their victims and took aim at their hearts.
Almost simultaneously, they incanted,
"""Avada Kedavra."""
An eerie, green light blighted everyone's vision.
When the glow dissipated, the Forgiven looked down at their targets. Instead of ending their lives with the Killing Curse, their aim had deviated and blew a large crater beside the Death Eaters' bodies.
The three looked at each other.
"You felt that?" Grimm asked.
"Unbreakable Vow. Dumbledore must have ordered it. Barred us from killing them," Liar answered.
Master…
Grimm turned to Kingsley with an icy stare.
"Countermand the Vow, Kingsley. They don't deserve to live."
He shook his head.
"…No. We bring them in alive."
"What?!" she growled.
Kingsley swallowed hard and repeated himself. "We bring them in alive. If we Obliviate their memories, the Forgiven can still remain secret."
"This isn't about that."
"I know, but you understand what happens if they die. Investigations will be launched and you three will be found."
"That doesn't matter! They die. Now."
"Listen to yourself, Grimm! Do you understand how you are acting? Do not sink to their level."
"We've sunk much deeper than that, I would say." Liar gave him a mischievous smirk. "Kingsley. Look at us. Said it before, didn't I? We're not good people. The fact we can perform Crucio just proves it. So just let us do our job."
Kingsley looked at the Forgiven, whose eyes now possessed a certain hollowness to them. Like pupils devoid of any light or compassion. A line had been crossed when they successfully performed the Cruciatus Curse.
Kingsley wanted so much to save them, even if it was what little left they had.
"No. You are not allowed to kill them. You would endanger yourselves in the long term," he tried to rationalize.
"That doesn't matter."
"Grimm! You three and I must make sure nothing like this ever happens again!"
Suddenly, a string of spells poured from Grimm's lips. Every cast splintered the wand further and further until eventually, it was rendered useless. The witch threw the wand at the Death Eater's bodies, which had several sizzling craters all around them.
"Fine. You and Dumbledore are going to regret letting them live, I just know it." Grimm turned to Liar. "Please see to the Longbottoms. I know what the Legilimens showed us, but if there's any chance—"
"Of course, boss. I'm on it."
Liar went over to the Auror couple and began a more thorough examination of their conditions. Meanwhile, Grimm, Norse, and Kingsley, went to work on modifying the Death Eaters' memories. By the time they finished, they could hear the Ministry arriving outside the villa and a great battle being waged upstairs.
"You should go soon," Kingsley told them.
Grimm nodded and they all went over to check on Liar's progress.
The young wizard shook his head and shuddered.
"Their thoughts are all torn an-and *Sigh*…I can't mend it…Whatever's left of their minds is fading," Liar squeezed out with a pained voice.
Norse let out a small sob, while Grimm caressed Alice's head.
"Alice. I'm so sorry we didn't make it in time."
"….Damage was done long before you got here, Grimma," Mrs. Longbottom whispered faintly. "Don't blame yourself. None of you…You, Kingsley most of all."
Grimm cupped her hands tight around Alice's.
"You…remember me?...The Cruciatus Curse must have cause it—"
"Yes… And just like the boy said, I can feel my thoughts scattering."
"Alice…!"
"You're all magnificent people… No matter what anyone might say."
"…"
Alice's eyes met with Liar's.
"Alastor?"
He nodded.
"Moody's safe. He's resting at St. Mungo's."
*Sigh* "Thank goodness."
"…."
"And Frank?"
"…Gone."
"—I see…"
Alice lifted her trembling hand and stroked Grimm's cheek. She stared at the three Forgiven with a warm, fleeting gaze.
"Would you all listen to a request of mine?"
""OF COURSE!"" they answered.
"Haha…ha….Well…" Tears fell from Alice's eyes and her lips quivered. "….Watch over Neville for me? Please? For me? Promise me, you'll look after my son?"
On the exhalation of her last words, the woman's consciousness dissipated forever…
Her final request begged for the protection of her child. She pleaded with her last sane breath. They wished she didn't. She didn't need to do it so desperately or so worriedly.
They vowed their lives to the promise.
No harm would ever come to the son of the noble witch and wizard.
Even when he would eventually start school at Hogwarts, Neville would have Grimm, Liar, and Norse watching over him.
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(In the Forgiven Underground Base)
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Grimm, Norse, and Liar sat in the middle of the stadium-like training room. On a conjured dining table, glasses stolen from Moody's cupboard were being filled with a dense black liquid. Norse and Grimm stared at the beverage Liar poured for them with a skeptical brow.
"What the hell is this?" Grimm asked, while taking a sniff of it.
"A really good brew is what the hell it is," Liar answered.
*Sigh* "Whatever. It's been a rough day and I don't care anymore."
"That's the spirit! Drink up, then."
Norse nodded and stood with her outstretched glass. Liar smiled and joined her. Reluctantly, Grimm also joined the toasting ceremony and they touched cups.
"To the Forgiven's first, true mission together," their leader said somewhat sarcastically. "No division, no pain unshared among us."
"Oh!" Liar cheered.
Comrades forever warbound!
They toasted and drank.
*Cough! COUGH!*
Norse and Grimm wiped their mouths and glared at their glasses.
"Liar! What the bloody hell is in this?! It tastes like poison!"
"Ah. That would be the poison," he said with a sip.
"THERE'S ACTUAL POISON IN THIS?!"
"For taste."
"For TASTE?!"
"Is there an overdramatic echo in here, or is it just me? Yes, TASTE! Worry not, dear leader. There isn't enough snake venom to kill you. Or scorpion venom….or frog veno—"
"Enough." Grimm stuck her tongue out. "Uggghhh…"
I am actually quite fond of it.
Norse emptied her cup and held it out.
Another!
Grimm looked down at her glass, chugged the rest, and did the same. Once Liar refilled their drinks, they toasted again.
""To the Longbottoms..."" they said solemnly this time.
The glasses clinked softly, and they knocked back the whole drink without pause. The three felt the liquor burn their throats and edge their minds. Rather than dulling their senses, the alcoholic draught seemed to stimulate them instead.
Grimm stuck her tongue out again.
"Yuck. This sick brew have a name?"
"Black Blood," Liar grinned.
"Hm. Fitting…"
All through the night, the three of them talked about stupid things, reminiscing about memories past, and delved into conversations of what could have been. Grimm shared her experiences with the Longbottom couple and they discussed how to go about protecting Neville.
Eventually, the conversation turned to what kind of reprimand they thought they would receive from the Forgivers. They directly opposed Dumbledore's orders, even if they did attain consent from Mad Eye. Kingsley did not have the best impression of them at the moment either.
Liar was standing behind Grimm, recoloring her blue streaks, when he posed the question.
"I wonder what punishment awaits those who defy the great and wise Dumbledore."
"…Fock Albus…" Grimm said with a bite.
"Hoho! 'Albus', eh? I can get behind that. But Norse might not be so…"
No. I am of the same opinion.
"Really? I mean you were his direct apprentice."
Albus takes no apprentices. I was—am— only his weapon.
"Not to us," Grimm said shortly.
Liar smiled in affirmation.
….Thank you.
"So, we were all able to use the Cruciatus Curse…"
"Feels a bit like a rite of passage, really. Quite possibly we all have the minds of sadists."
"And black blood running through our veins," Grimm muttered as she looked at the bottom of her cup.
"Not cold blooded or hot blooded, but black blooded," Liar chuckled.
Figuratively and in the literal sense.
"Venomous creatures capable of felling the greatest of enemies via underhanded means? I believe it suits us perfectly, wouldn't you say?"
Far from honorable, but I would live by it.
"Venomous enough to poison a certain Dark Lord, as well? Should he ever return of course."
Grimm smiled.
"Yeah….Fock Voldemort too."
Norse and Liar flinched at hearing his true name, and then laughed.
""And fock Voldemort too!""
They toasted and continued their drinking until the early morning….