AN: Here is the next chapter! A bit later than I wanted to post it today, but I got called into work an hour early so I couldn't finish editing it before I left today. Anyway, hope you like it and don't forget to review!
"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."
― Eleanor Roosevelt
Chapter Nineteen: The End of and Era
For the second time in his life, and for the second time since entering Camelot, Remus found himself thrown into a dungeon. He had no idea where he was, but he was sure that they were no longer in Hogwarts.
The binds on his wrists were tight, cutting off the circulation in his hands, and the gag was pushing his tongue against the back of his throat, but the blindfold was causing him more distress. He was stumbling around the blackness, led by rough hands and harsh words, until suddenly he was pushed forwards. He fell down a few steps and his face hit cold stone. Pain shot throughout his body, and he felt his nose snap. He tried to cry out in pain, but his gag prevented him from doing anything more than moaning.
It wasn't long until he felt a large object fell on top of him. And then a second. Both let out moans of their own and squirmed away from him. He heard a door slam shut and swung his arms under him, placed his foot in between the binds and then used his leg to push the binds off. He dislocated both his thumbs in the process, but he got the binds off and pushed the blindfold away from his face. The room was pitch black even without the blindfold, but creating fires had never been a problem for Remus.
He pulled the gag from his mouth and held out his slightly mangled hand. "Incendio." He muttered. Suddenly there was a small ball of fire floating above his hand. He muttered a few healing spells and his nose and thumbs were quickly put back into place. Then he turned towards the two people who had been thrown into the room after him and was not surprised when he saw James and Lily. He tossed the fireball into the air, where it floated just below the ceiling now.
He muttered another spell and the binds all fell from James and Lily. Lily took a deep breath once her gag was removed and James quickly jumped to his feet.
"Stay quiet." Remus said quickly, fearing that if James started to shout they would come back and ask how their binds had been removed so quickly without injury.
"Who were they?" Lily asked, pushing herself off the ground as well.
"Bloody cowards, that's who." James muttered, kicking at the floor. "How the hell did they get into the castle?"
"We weren't exactly in the castle." Lily said, wringing her hands and looking up at the fireball that Remus had created. Remus glanced up at it too and then back at Lily. They weren't in a situation where he had the option of being gentle with either one of them about his magic. "Why did they take us, would be the better question."
"Because Bella didn't kill the king," Remus sighed, rubbing at his temple. "She tried twice, but she failed. Whoever she's working for is probably come to-" He broke off and looked over at James. The prince took a deep breath and looked away from both of his cellmates.
"We weren't fast enough." He said quietly. "We were scrambling around without a real plan or means to prevent this from happening. My father didn't listen to me so we gave up."
"Why would they be doing this now though?" Lily asked. "You just got back from Godric's Hollow this morning. Wasn't their purpose in murdering those people to make everyone think horribly of you?"
"They already do." James sighed. "It's been what, four days now? Four days since I was in The Hollows and I'd be willing to bet that everyone with magic knows their version of what happened. They have ways of communicating."
"How do you know that?" Remus asked, because he had magic and he didn't know that.
"Dory told me. You were there. They use owls and a patro-patron- I don't know what it's called." He started tapping his leg. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"Getting out isn't the problem." Remus said. "It's what we're going to do once we're out."
"And what's on the other side of the door." Lily said.
"Right, you have magic." James shook his head. "What can you do with it?"
Remus shrugged. "I've never really had the opportunity to find out."
"Well, I think you're about to have an opportunity." Lily said with a tight-lipped smile. James looked over at Lily and took a step towards her until thinking better of it, and crossing his arms over his chest instead.
"You're going to be alright, Lily." He said forcefully. "Remus and I won't let anything happen to you."
"Don't start making promises that you can't keep." Lily said with a small smile. She didn't seem as nervous as Remus would have expected her to be.
"I fully intend to keep that promise." James walked up to the door and laid his head against it. Remus was quiet while James listened and Lily held her breath. She glanced back up at the floating ball of fire and then down at Remus.
"Does it make you uncomfortable?" He whispered.
"No. I'm just trying to work out how it's possible."
"If you do that, let me know." Remus said, stepping up to the door. "Hear anything?"
"No."
"That doesn't mean that no one is there."
"I know that. They all have magic, right? There could be magic on the door." James looked at Remus. "Can you tell if there's magic on the door?"
Remus put his hands on the door and looked as though he was concentrating really hard. "Yeah, I can feel it."
"You can feel it?"
Remus shook his head. "No, James. You can't feel magic."
James sighed and pushed away from the door. "Now isn't the time for jokes, Remus."
"Thought it might help calm you down."
"I don't need to be calm right now, I need to be alert. We need to find out what's on the other side of this door and get back to the castle before they kill my father."
"He has all the knights around him," Lily said, walking up and putting a hand on his arm. "I'm sure that your father is going to be alright."
"They snuck into Camelot." James hung his head. "They have Bella helping them, I'm sure they already have my father."
"They have us too." Remus said. "And they kept all three of us alive, which means that they have to have some sort of plan. If they didn't, we would be dead."
"That would be comforting, except we don't know who these people are, what they want, how many of them there are, or where they are. We know absolutely nothing and who knows when people are going to notice that we're missing, it wasn't as if we were somewhere that I should be, somewhere that people could watch out for me, with people who-" He stopped himself and looked away.
"Sounds pretty bad," Lily said. James looked over at her and pressed his lips together. "But we're going to be just fine."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because you bloody well just promised me that we were going to be fine." She huffed and then leant against a wall. "What are you thinking, Remus?"
"We need to work out where we are." He said, turning to James. "Which means you need to think for a moment, we couldn't have gone all that far, but we're not in Hogwarts. Where could they have taken us? Do the nobles have dungeons in their homes?"
"They shouldn't." James said. "But I don't know where else we could… The old armory!"
"What?" Remus asked as James ran a hand through his hair.
"Of course! Part of the west wing collapsed about a hundred years ago and we moved the training grounds and armory to a field out behind the castle. I used to play back here when I was a kid. This isn't really a dungeon, just a room in the armory! The whole building is mostly underground, the entrance is at a base of a large willow tree, not something you'd know about unless someone told you."
"Does Bella know about it?"
"No."
"Which means she's not the only one working for… whoever took us captive." Remus went up to the door again and pressed his ear against it. There had to be some spell that would allow him to hear what was on the other side, but he didn't know of one. Ever since he'd been learning spells, his magic was much more controllable, but it was harder to just do magic. "Should we just open the door?"
"I've got no sword." James said wearily.
Remus held up his hand and the fireball floated back towards him. "You don't need one."
"Get behind me." James said to Lily.
"What are you going to do if someone attacks us?"
"Just get behind me." James sighed. Lily shook her head, but complied. Remus nodded at them and when they nodded back and waved his free hand over the door.
"Alohomora." He whispered. He heard the lock click, and then pulled at the handle.
oOoOo
Severus stood at the edge of the throne room and watched as the King of Camelot stood before his own throne and begged for his son's life. He wasn't on his knees, as Severus had hoped he would be, but it was still satisfying to hear his voice waiver, and watch his face pale at the thought of harm befalling his only son.
"Where are my children?" Charles asked, bringing a hand up and running it through his hair. Voldemort sat in the throne, one leg thrown over the other and the king's ceremonial robes draped over his shoulders, and a large, extravagant crown rested on top of his greying hair.
"You have no children." He said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Bellatrix belongs to my family more than yours and you shouldn't even have James. If the Gods saw fit for you to have a child, you wouldn't have needed to use magic-"
"WHERE ARE THEY?"
The hall fell silent. Voldemort slowly stood up and removed the crown, letting it fall to the ground, small red and gold jewels broke free from their facets and it rolled to the king's feet.
"I'd watch myself if I were you." Voldemort hissed. "One wrong move and your son might just lose his head."
"I've never responded well to threats."
"And I've never been one to repeat myself."
"I find that it can be helpful when you wish to emphasize something." Charles shifted his weight from one foot to the other and scanned the room. "Have you harmed either one of my children?"
"They're both still alive." Voldemort started walking towards Charles now, his hands clasped behind his back and the large red cloak billowing out behind him. "For now."
"And what is it you want me to do?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Don't play games with me." Charles snapped. "You're not just keeping them hostage for fun. What do you want from me? How do I get them back?"
"You're not going to." Voldemort stopped walking and cocked his head to the side. "See, by the time that today is over, you will be dead. Though I suppose you do have some say over what happens to James. He doesn't have to die, some people close to me have already asked me to spare his life."
"Who close to you is a fan of my son?" For his credit, Charles did not seem all that concerned that his life had been given an expiration date.
"You like to call her your daughter." Voldemort's lips curled up at the corners and Charles blanched.
"Bella?" He shook his head and took a step back. "She's not working for you- she can't be working for you-"
"She is." Voldemort nodded towards Severus and he turned towards the oak doors he had been standing beside and reached for the handle. When the door opened, Rabastan came in, dragging Bella behind him. He was trying to make it look like he wasn't dragging her, but Bella didn't appear as though she wanted to be anywhere near the Throne Room.
"Let go of me," She snapped, wrenching her arm out of his grasp and taking a few steps to the side. "Lay your hands on me again and see what happens."
"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised about the Lestranges." Charles said, looking down at the floor. Bella's eyes snapped up towards him and then over to Voldemort.
"What are you doing with him?" She asked quietly.
Voldemort looked between Bella and the king for a moment and then sighed. "I actually have a question for you if that's alright. Why is he still alive?" Bella started chewing on her lip and then brushed at the sides of her dress. "Bella?" She shrugged one of her shoulders and then shook her head.
"I don't know. I didn't want to kill him."
"And why's that?" Voldemort asked, his tone sharpening.
"I remembered how horrible my father was and I couldn't really think of anything horrible that the king had done to me and… Well, it's not as though I've killed anyone before. It's not as easy as you make it sound." Severus had never met or seen Bella before now and she was nothing like he had thought she would be. Her hair was wild, her dress crooked, she didn't appear to be wearing any shoes and she was stupid if she thought she was going to get away talking to the Dark Lord as she was. "Is it my turn to ask a question now? How come my brother is being held hostage? You want to explain that? I told you that he wasn't to-"
"WHY," Voldemort interrupted, spinning around on his heel. He started marching towards her and Severus didn't know what to think when she stood her ground, even managed to look slightly bored. "Do you think that you get to make any of the orders around here? I thought about keeping your precious prince safe as a way to make sure you would continue to do as you were told, but here we are," He held his hands out, presenting the room to her. "In the throne room, with King Charles."
"James is a good man. He's done nothin-"
"Nothing wrong?" He laughed. "Have you not heard what happened in the Hallows? Did you not hear how James Potter had six men and women executed for practicing magic? He had no proof, they had no trial-"
"YOUR MEN KILLED THOSE PEOPLE!" Bella shouted, taking a step forward and clenching her fists at her side. Sparks were erupted from her hands and there was trace amounts of steam coming out her ears. "You killed witches and wizards because they were willing to listen to James, willing to make peace with the royal family and that didn't fit your agenda. You needed to make James a bad guy-"
"Enough." Voldemort waved his hand and Bella's voice ceased. "I've given you chance after chance, Bella, and if your father hadn't been such a good friend of mine I would let you burn with the rest of your new family. However, I can't blame you for how you've turned out. This man," He placed a hand on Charles' arm, "Has corrupted your mind. He's done that to a lot of people." Bella waved her own hand over her mouth.
"Do not use magic on me." Her voice came out strained, as though she were trying to stay calm, enunciating every word. "You lied to everyone about what happened in the Hallows."
"Not everyone." Rabastan said quietly, but not quietly enough. Bella spun around to face him and then turned back to Voldemort.
"You lied to me. You spread false rumors about my brother to turn me against him?"
"That was not my only reason, but I did think that it might give you a push in the right direction."
"The right-"
"Enough of this," Voldemort walked back over to the throne and took a seat. "It's time to say goodbye to Charles I think."
"You said there was something I could do to save my children." Charles turned away from Bella. His voice was still steady and even.
"Child." Voldemort corrected. Charles turned to Bella, who kept glancing up at him and then down at her bare feet, but she didn't correct Voldemort and Charles sighed and looked at the ground. "And it's really up to Bella." Both the king and Bella narrowed their eyes.
"What's up to me? I've already asked you to spare James' life."
"I need to know that you'll do as you're asked. So far all you've proven is that you are incapable of following even the most simple of instructions. What happened to the poison I gave you?"
"I dropped it." Bella pushed her hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "It was an accident."
"Was it?" He sneered at her and then turned to the king. "You're going to die tonight, but James can live so long as Bellatrix is the one to kill you." There were a few mutters from the men lining the walls, one or two who decided that it was appropriate to laugh, and Severus just stared at the man that they had all pledged to follow.
He understood why the king needed to die; you couldn't start a new world and let the old world leader live. They needed to legitimize the Dark Lord's rule, and killing the king was the simplest way to do that. He did not however, see the merit of having Bellatrix kill that man who had stood in as her father for the last six years. What was this going to prove? If Bellatrix didn't want to work with them, than she was against them and he should throw her in the dungeons with the false prince she called her brother.
"You have pledged your loyalty to me, Bella. Now you must prove it." There was more muttering around the room and that's when Severus understood what he was doing. He wasn't taking over the Kingdoms with the hopes of spreading peace and leniency, he was here to impose change upon people who had lived in fear of magic and anything different from them for as long as they could remember, their whole lives in many cases. The Dark Lord didn't have the option of showing mercy, mercy didn't ignite change, mercy didn't empower people or motivate them to do things differently.
Having someone kill their own father though, Severus didn't think that was entirely justifiable.
"What?" Her voice was small now, and she seemed to have shrunk within herself. Even her hair seemed a bit less wild.
"You heard me, sweet one. Kill the king or you'll watch me kill both the king and the false prince."
oOoOo
The first thing that Sirius had done after leaving Bella's chambers was head down to the armory and find himself some armor. He didn't think so highly of himself that he assumed that he would be recognized by everyone who was working for Voldemort, but he wasn't thick. He had met a lot of unsavory people in his youth and he knew that he looked like a Black. He needed to cover his face.
It took him quite a bit of time to get down to the armory because Voldemort had people standing guard all over the castle. Where the castle guard had stood not half an hour ago, now stood strange men with hand-made masks made to look like skulls. The castle guard had abandoned their posts in some cases, but those who had refused now lay slumped against the walls.
When he finally reached the armory, the door was locked. He yelled in frustration and kicked at the base. He needed to get in there, he didn't even have a sword to protect himself and he was supposed to find Remus, James and Lily.
"Is anyone in there?" He shouted, banging on the door again, looking behind him to make sure that no one was there. "Open the fucking door!" He shouted again. He heard people shuffling around inside and started pounding again. "It's Sirius, open the door."
"Sirius?" It was Dory. The latch dropped and she pushed the door open. Sirius stormed in and pushed past her. Lance and Mary were sitting on the bench closest to the door and a few other knights sat along the other benches.
"What are you all doing?" Sirius asked, feeling blood rush to his face. "You're all knights of Camelot and you're hiding in the Armory while the castle is under attack?"
"They have magic, Sirius." Mary said, quietly.
"We were fighting!" One of the new recruits shouted. "But they-"
"Fabian and Gideon are dead." Lance cut in. "They were right in front of me and- I couldn't do anything. There was a flash of light and- Gideon dropped. Fabian looked as though someone had torn out his insides and then he lunged at the man, but- There was another flash. There was nothing that I could do." Lance was rambling, his voice quiet and soft. Mary put a hand on his shoulder.
Sirius had nothing to say for a moment as he digested what Lance had just said. Fabian and Gideon were dead. That didn't make any sense. They were two of the most brazen and talented knights, how could they be dead? "Are you sure that they're dead? Maybe they were hit with a knock out hex, what color was the light?"
Mary and Dory turned to look at Lance, both looking hopeful. "Green." He said quietly, his helmet muffling his voice. Dory swore and stomped her foot on the ground and Mary fell onto the bench.
"Well," Sirius cleared his throat and looked across the room. "We can't just sit here. They have the king in the throne room and they've kidnapped the prince as well. We're knights of Camelot, aren't we? We can't just sit here and let the kingdom be overtaken."
"They have James?" Arden stood up, his face blotchy and tear stained. "Where are they holding him?"
"I'm not sure." Sirius said, walking over to the sidewall and unhooking his armor. Dory got up and helped him into it as he kept talking. "I was talking to my cousin when Rabastan Lestrange walked in told her that James, Remus and Lily had been taken."
"We need to split up." Lance said. "Half of us need to go to the throne room to protect the king and half of us need to go and find James. It's our job, it's what we signed up for. Life or death we will protect the castle."
"That's a nice sentiment, but we're all going to find James, Remus and Lily." Sirius said, now finished with his armor and attending to his sword. "The throne room is surrounded by wizards, and he's not alone inside either. Not only is Bella inside, but a lot of other powerful wizards and their leader. Going after the king would be a suicide mission."
"We can't leave the king to die." Lance stood up.
"Before I came in here, you all seemed rather content to just sit on your arses and do nothing." He said harshly. "The king is about to reap what he's sewn, there's nothing that we can do for him. Our priority should be getting civilians out of the castle safely and rescuing the prince."
"We should go after the king and Lady Bella." The knight that spoke was older than most of the others, he had been appointed by the king when James was very young. He was highly decorated with a great number of victories to his name. Sirius did not give a rat's arse about any of this.
"Bella is working with these men that have invaded the castle. It's going to be up to her whether or not the king dies, but there's nothing that we can do about it. We can however, go and find the prince. If the king does die, we need to make sure that the kingdom will have a ruler to look up to, and if he doesn't die, I'm sure his first decree will be to lob off all of our heads for not doing our jobs and rescuing his son." After this, many other knights tried to weigh in on the subject but Sirius was done talking. He walked over to Lance and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you with me?"
"Of course." Lance said without hesitating.
"Good." He turned to Mary and Dory. "I think you two would be rather helpful."
"You think." Dory said, finding it necessary to role her eyes despite the dire circumstances. Soon Arden, Amos, Frank and a knight who went only by the name Williamson were heading out to door. The eight of them snuck out the back door while the rest of the knights continued to argue about whether they should be saving the prince or the king. Sirius made sure to slam the door very loudly in hopes of shocking them out of their stupidity.
"Alright," Sirius said. "You four know the castle better than we do. If you had kidnapped the prince, where would you take him?"
"The dungeons." Williamson said surely. "These men have all but taken over the castle, if I were them I would start using the dungeon."
"They are arrogant enough to do that." Arden said with a nod.
"But they haven't taken the castle yet." Sirius said, shaking his head. "I heard Rabastan say that they wanted to make the king sweat a bit before they did anything, so they have to keep James somewhere safe where we can't get to him. It wouldn't be in the castle-"
"There's the old armory out behind the castle." Frank said. "It's mostly empty now and not the many people know about it, but it would be perfect for a holding cell. A lot of the nobles know about it because we used to play down there when we were kids, the Lestranges included."
"I forgot about the armory." Amos said, nodding his head. "Rodolphus locked Calvin Greengrass in there for two days- I bet you anything that's where they're holding James."
"Alright," Sirius nodded. "Lead the way."
oOoOo
The door's latched gave way quietly, and Remus held up a hand behind him as he slowly pushed the door back creating a crack wide enough for him to see through. There were only two guards standing in the corridor, and they had their backs to the door. They were stocky with dark hair and they were talking to one another but Remus couldn't make out what they were saying. What he thought was most notable was that they were wearing armor and carrying swords. He pushed the door closed again and turned around to face James and Lily.
"I don't think they have magic." He said.
"Who?" Lily asked just before James could.
"There are two men outside the door, but they have swords."
"Couldn't they have both magic and swords?" James asked.
"They could," Remus said, "But I don't think they would. You remember those men in the Hallows? They didn't wear armor or carry swords. They're far too arrogant for that. If they have magic, they have no need for any other form of protection."
"Well, either way, can't you just use your magic to knock them out or something?" Lily suggested.
"I've never used my magic on people before." Remus said, shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. "It's much more complex than manipulating a door hinge or cleaning up messes." He'd been reading up on jinxes and hexes ever since they came back from the Hallows but he hadn't practiced any and he wasn't confident that he'd be able to do it.
"Well don't Dory and Mary think that you are some kind of magical prophet?" James asked, looking more uncomfortable than Remus felt.
"I don't think that's what they think I am-"
"Those are the words that Mary used." Lily nodded. "Magical prophet. Emrus she called you."
"How many are there?" James asked, looking back at the door.
"Two." Remus said.
"That's it? And you don't think they have magic?" He stepped up to the door and pushed it open slowly. "I've got this." He whispered, and before Remus could stop him, he slipped out the door and closed it behind him. Remus turned towards Lily with wide eyes and she shook her head in astonishment.
"What is he doing?" She asked, walking up to the door and trying to listen. There was a loud thump and then a clash of metal on metal. "We should help him." She pushed the door open just in time to see James knock the second guard over the head with the hilt of his sword. The first guard was already on the ground, unconscious.
"Where did you get that?" Lily asked, nodding towards the sword.
"Nicked it from the first one." He nodded towards the guard.
"Of course." Lily took a deep breath and then looked around the room. "Where are we?"
"The main room of the armory. We don't use this place anymore, but no one's ever cleaned it out either." He walked across the room and opened a door that had no locks on it. Remus walked up beside him and raised his brow.
"Why was this not moved up to the castle armory?"
"I honestly forgot that it was here until now, but I guess we're lucky it was all forgotten about." He moved forward and started dressing himself in chainmail and armor. Remus stepped forward to help him but James shook his head.
"No, you need to get your own armor on." He said. "There's plenty to go around and I don't know what we're going to walk into once we get out of here. You need to be protected." He turned towards Lily to tell her to do the same, but she had already started fitting a breast plate over her head. She picked up a sword and spun it through the air, testing the feel of it before sheathing it in her belt. Remus almost laughed when James' jaw slacked. "W-Where did you learn to handle a sword like that?" He asked, clearing his throat and picking up a shield.
Lily shrugged, but looked proud of herself. "My dad's a blacksmith. He taught me a thing or two."
"It seems like he taught you a bit more than a thing or two." She shrugged again. James shook his head and switched his focus back to the problem at hand. "Alright, we're going to open the main door, and I expect that there will be a few more guards out there, if they don't have magic, than I want you two to stay behind me until I disarm them, then we will move to the castle and find my father. Understand?" They nodded.
James moved out ahead of them, walking quickly and keeping his sword out and at the ready. "I just had a thought." Remus said, stopping James from opening the door. He turned back. "Why would people without magic be following these men? What do they have to gain? What are they going to do for them?"
"I think that's a puzzle for later." James said.
"Maybe they put them under some sort of spell?" Lily suggested, keeping her eyes trained on the door and James reached towards the latch.
"But why would they have men without magic guarding us?" Remus pressed. "It doesn't make sense."
"They don't know that you have magic." James said, testing the latch now. It wasn't locked.
"But they left us in a locked room guarded by two non-magical people, in an armory filled with weapons and armor. Doesn't it seem like it was too easy?"
James sighed and pushed open the door. "No," He said quietly. "I don't think they made it too easy." He pushed the door open further to reveal more than a dozen men standing outside, all wearing armor, but not all carrying swords.
"Four without swords." Lily said, looking to Remus.
"I told you, I've never used my magic on people before!"
"Well, you're going to have to work out how." James said. "I'm not just going to sit here while my father is in danger." With that, he charged out the door.
oOoOo
Sirius had started running the moment his feet hit the earth. He could see James exactly where they had assumed he would be, only he wasn't locked up, at least not anymore. James, Remus and Lily were surrounded by at least twelve men and they were closing in on them fast.
He was still too far away to be helpful when he saw the first sword raise in the air. It swept down towards Lily, who in turn, raised her own sword and met the blow with much more force than Sirius would have thought possible for someone her size. She pushed up and the sword fell back, and James had stepped forward with his own sword drawn before her assailant could try and strike another blow.
Sirius could feel his lungs burn as he struggled to pull in oxygen fast enough to race across the field. He could make out the whites of Remus's eyes when he saw them flash and every single person surrounded them was knocked off their feet and thrown back five or six feet. By the time they had gained their bearings, Sirius, Mary and Arden had reached them and went in for the attack before they could fully register their arrival.
"For Camelot!" Arden shouted and his sword slashed through one man's chainmail as though it were lace and opened his throat in one fluid movement. Arden had his sword up against a second man before the first had fallen to the ground.
Sirius fought his way to the middle of the brawl, more concerned with reaching James, Remus and Lily than with dropping the enemy. He needed to be near them, be able to stop immediate strikes against them. He saw sparks fly somewhere to his left and then heard Mary shout with malice a word he had never heard before. A burst of red light had another man on the ground. Sirius used his sword to push a man off of him and then grabbed another man's helmet with his free hand and threw him on the ground, pushing forward. He reached out and grabbed Remus's shoulder. He spun around rather quickly, his eyes wide and Sirius saw him relax the moment their eyes met. They nodded and then turned their backs toward one another.
By now, the entire party had reached the fight and they had proven themselves to be a formidable opponent. Shouts of 'For Camelot!' and 'For the crown!' rang out and every time another man would fall. Before long only one man was left to fight Dory and Mary who stood side by side and took turns sending bursts of light in the man's direction. He would raise his arms and shout back at them, producing his own bursts of light but most of it seemed to be only able to protect him from whatever they were sending his way.
"Argh!" He screamed in frustration and Dory turned to Remus and waved him over. Sirius looked at Remus who suddenly looked panic stricken. Mary however, didn't notice Dory's plea for help and had taken the time he used to show his anger to send another spell his way. The man was hit square in the chest and then his entire body froze as though he were being transformed into stone. Dory had turned her attention back to him and threw another spell at him, shattering him to thousands of tiny pieces.
There was a moment where everyone just looked around the field tried to catch their breath, and make sure that they were safe for the time being. Sirius reached over and put a hand on Remus's shoulder. He looked over at James and Lily, noticing that the later was clad with a sword. He nodded at her, "Did you watch James' blind spot?"
"I don't have a blind spot-"
"His back left, yeah." Lily stabbed the ground with her sword and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. Sirius let go of Remus and pulled Lily in for a hug.
"I'm so glad that you guys are alright."
"We knew you were on your way." Lily said, pushing off his chest.
"Where is my dad?"
Sirius looked over at James and pressed his lips together. After a moment, "He's in the Great Hall."
oOoOo
He had burst through the doors, had seen his father standing there, alive, in the middle of the room. When he had looked around, he saw that there weren't all that many people there, not as many as they had just fought out in the yard, they could do this, they could save the king before any harm came to him.
He had his sword drawn when he heard his father yell something, and when he had turned his head in his father's direction, he saw Bella standing not that far from him. She had looked at James, looked him square in the eyes and James had never seen her look so frightened. His father had yelled again and Bella tore her gaze away from James and looked at the king instead. Looking determined, she had sent a pulse of bright green light directly at his chest.
His father had looked quite stunned for a moment, and then, as though he had simply lost the use of his legs, he had fallen to the ground in a heap.
James had felt, but not heard, himself yelling as he ran towards his father. He hadn't registered the soft 'pops' around the room, or noticed that the men in crude masks and black cloaks had vanished as quickly as they had arrived.
Collapsing next to his father hadn't been on purpose, picking up his limp hand and squeezing it, praying that it would squeeze back hadn't been planned. It was just how he had reacted, without thinking, and feeling too much.
His knights had finished securing the room and locking the doors when they said quietly "Long live the king."
OOoOo
Lily wanted to scream and pound on the door, she wanted to kick it open or throw something at it until it broke and fell away. They hadn't let her in, she had seen the look on James' face when Bella killed his father and they hadn't let her in. She needed to get inside, she needed to get to James, and she couldn't, she couldn't reach him because they had locked her out in the corridor like she was just any bloody commoner. They didn't understand, she needed to help him.
"Knights only, ma'am." One of the older men had said, pulling her back away from the door. "Security purposes, you understand."
"No, I don't understand!" Lily shouted, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp. "He's hurting! He's in pain and I need to fix it!"
"Everything will be fine, ma'am. If the prince is injured, the court physician will help him."
"He's not injured you great oaf! He's- he's- didn't you hear him?" Lily pulled her hair at the roots and started shaking her head. She would never be able to get that sound out of her head, the sound of pure agony. "I need to see him." She muttered, repeating it to herself over and over again. "I need to see him." She didn't know why she felt this way, or this strongly, but she did.
"Lily," Remus appeared at her left, and put an arm around her. "They won't let me in either, okay. He's going to be fine, Sirius is with him and we'll see him soon."
"That's not good enough!" Her voice broke and she her vision started to get blurry as fat, hot tears started beading up. "I heard him, Remus." She wiped at her cheek angrily. "I heard him, I need to see him now."
"I know." Remus said, wiping gently at her other cheek. "They have to make sure he's safe first and then they'll let us in." He pulled her against his chest and Lily didn't try and stop the tears now, she didn't bother wiping them away or worrying about getting Remus's shirt all wet. She couldn't stop hearing James' voice as he shouted for his dad and it had broken something inside of her, and so she cried.