Disclaimer: Do not own.
*Beware for possibly disturbing topics: there is a battle scene. I don't believe it is graphic, but I figured better safe than triggered.
The entire game went by in a blur for Skazzy. Since Harry wasn't participating and everyone was flying fast, she saw no reason to try and keep up with it. She had kept a firm grip on her brother when it seemed as if he was going to jump out of the box when the Bulgarian mascots came out, although he seemed able to shake it off easily after the first time.
This just meant that when the game ended she was one of the few who wasn't screaming, whether from joy or anger. In fact, the only reason she realized the game was over was when her brother jostled her from her thoughts. She looked up, having spent the past few hours alternating between trying to put the clues she had gathered today together with what Genny had told her, and going over spells in her head. Her hand itched, wanted to reach for her wand and try the curses and hexes she had learned, but now wasn't the right time.
"Game's over, Skaz," Harry said, when Skazzy looked at him. She nodded and stood up. Harry wanted to spend a little more time with the Weasley's before bed so he and Sirius went back to the Weasley tent. Skazzy begged off, having used up her ability to be social. Harry and Amity looked concerned when she made no comment about Lupin volunteering to go back with her to their tent, but she just told them she was tired.
Which she was. She hadn't been sleeping. Sleep was something she struggled with, and she could take nothing for it anymore for fear of killing herself. Madam Pomfrey had said that the effects of potion abuse, and of that potion specifically, could be long term and affect her sleep patterns. She had become a light sleeper, prone to waking up often. So it was no surprise to her that she was hardly able to sleep with all the celebrating going on.
What was surprising was the frightened screams. In her half awake state, Skazzy jumped up, scrambling for her wand processing nothing but danger. The next thing she checked was for her brother, only to remember that he was at the Weasley's. With screams and laughter echoing in her ears and a burning need to make sure her brother was fine, she ran out of the tent towards where her brother was supposed to be. She didn't hear the voice of Lupin yelling for her to come back, to run away from the danger.
Finding the Weasley's tent in the dark was harder than she thought, especially with people panicking. She got turned around and stopped, trying to orient herself and not be carried away by the crowd of people. She managed to break off into an empty spot, and saw what had scared everyone.
A group of people were being floated above the ground, below them a group dressed in black with masks on. The people in black were wearing silver masks with slitted eye holes, and were laughing as they tortured the people in the air. No one was stopping them, just running in abject terror. Skazzy just stared for a few minutes before whispered words reached her ears from people running nearby.
"Death Eaters."
Skazzy's blood went cold. The danger was supposed to be at Hogwarts. Harry hadn't been forcibly entered here, he hadn't participated and this wasn't Hogwarts. She needed to find Harry. She had to find Harry. Nothing else mattered. Right now, she just had to make sure he was alive for there to be problems at Hogwarts. If she were someone else, she might take the knowledge that Harry would be forcibly entered into something at school as a promise that he would survive tonight, but she wasn't. She remembered two times, where Macnair became soulless, and when he did not. And if those could both have existed, it was possible for Harry to die and to live. She could not let that happen. Not if she had breath in her body.
Remus' first thought was that Phoenix was very fast for a thirteen year old, to have darted out of the tent without much of a warning. His next was worry because she was running into the crowd. He wasn't sure if she had heard him yelling for her to stop and come back, or if she had ignored him. He also wasn't sure he wanted to know.
He had waited a second too long to start chasing after her, and she disappeared into the panicking crowd. At least, he thought ruefully, she's predictable enough to know where she's heading. Remus fought through the crowd towards where Sirius and Harry should be, looking out for a little red haired girl. When he caught a glimpse of what was causing the ruckus, he started to be even more forceful.
Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to harm a child. Especially not if they were drunk, like they probably were. Even more so if they realized who the child was. He needed to find Phoenix, to protect her like he should have been years ago. It was just too crowded, and he was too big to find cracks to get through the throngs of people. He found himself carried away by the crowd, struggling to take back the ground he lost.
He hoped Phoenix found her brother and Sirius.
She had too.
Wizards in red were beginning to show up and fight back against the Death Eaters, but the mob of Death Eaters had grown, and they were destroying anything in their path. When the wizards began firing at the group, the group began to disperse, but only to fight back. Skazzy barely had time to stumble back when a spell came her way, the streak of light briefly exposing her. It was enough. Three Death Eaters broke off from the attack on the wizards and started to advance on her. She didn't stop to think, she didn't hesitate at all, and she cast one of the curses from The Beginnings of Nightmares.
The person she hit, a man by the sound of his screams, stopped moving forward and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. She didn't have time to acknowledge what she had done before she needed to attack the other two. She fired the curse off again, but a shield was erected and it bounced off harmlessly. She was then forced to dodge two spells, misaimed although not too far off. When she turned around to face her opponents, she realized they were forcing her back towards the main group.
She couldn't die, not yet. Not when she hadn't figured out what would threaten Harry this year. She couldn't die until Harry was safe. He didn't even know about the danger yet. She let her panic and instincts take over, running through the spells she had read and never tried. Most of her spells missed, the two Death Eaters being much better duelists than an almost third year no matter how drunk they were. She was barely managing to dodge their spells, and found herself losing ground.
She knew she couldn't fight them all. Not yet, at least. She needed to survive and train. Train hard. She needed to get better. If she could barely fight them while they weren't at the top of their game, her brother had no chance at all of surviving them when they were better.
She had to do something.
Anything else was failure.
"Shouldn't we help now?" Genny asked, had moving towards her wand. "I'm pretty sure this isn't suppose to happen."
"It is, just wait," the other girl said, looking relaxed although she was just as tense as Genny.
"I don't remember this," Genny said tightly.
"Relax, you will. Wait for it," the other girl replied.
"I don't understand how you're so calm," Genny was clenching her fist.
"You know why, or you will. There are other things to worry about," the girl said, her visible eye clouded as she looked into the sky. "So many other things."
"There won't be if she doesn't live."
"She needs to take this step. On her own."
"She really needs to take it soon."
"What is going on?" the older unspeakable asked, watching as the quill hovered, as the writing flashed.
"Isn't that my line?" the younger one asked, looking from the book to the other unspeakable.
"Not right now."
The quill and the book were misbehaving, writing appearing and disappearing before either of the unspeakables could read it. The minute it had started happening, the two unspeakables had gone to the journals to try and see if it had happened to anyone else. Since there was no phasing in and out of the book, just writing, they knew it didn't mean they were almost out of time.
"Is Time in flux?" the younger one ventured, timidly. "Maybe the Timeless being is causing this?"
"But wouldn't the Timeless being appear in the book like before?" the older one was frustrated, angry.
"Why couldn't this happen to other people?" the younger one quietly moaned.
Time watched as she began to flicker. That was new. It was unpleasant. Not all of her would flicker out at the same time, and it would always flicker back in. Unraveling was normal. Disappearing was not. This made her worried. This was a flexible point in time. It could change with very little effect on her. This shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be possible. Something was wrong.
Something might possibly go horribly wrong, and Time had no idea what it could be.
Fate was ecstatic. She might be closer to winning than she thought. All that needed to happen was for this fluid event to change, and wreck havoc on all fixed points in this timeline. If that happened, then her sister would disappear and she would win.
She waited, eyes glistening as she saw her victory approaching.
Sirius had gone with the kids to make sure they were protected while the elder Weasley's helped protect people against the crowd. He hoped that Remus and Skazzy had managed to get to safety. He was looking around the woods for a good place to stop and rest when he noticed Remus in a crowd. He waved him over, feeling relief wash through him as Remus acknowledged him and came over.
"Thank Merlin you're okay," Sirius breathed. The smile on his face fell off when Remus looked around desperately, and a certain red head did not attach herself to her brother. "Where's Skazzy?"
"I was hoping she had managed to reach you. She ran out of the tent and towards the Weasley's the minute she heard the crowd. I'm not sure if she heard me yelling. And she's so small she can dart between people and she's hard to see in the crowd and everyone was panicking..." Remus said, going pale.
"Where's my sister?" Harry demanded, looking between the two adults. He started to get really worried when they didn't answer. "Where's my sister?"
"I don't know, she ran off to find you, I couldn't see her," Remus said, collapsing to the ground and hiding his head in his hands. "I'm a horrible godfather, I shouldn't be around children, I should never have been named godfather."
Fred and George were holding Harry back as he struggled to get out of the safe place and in the general direction his sister had gone.
"Let me go, I need to find her," Harry said, desperation in his eyes. That desperation only increased when booming voices could be heard telling people to evacuate the area. "Skazzy!"
"You'll only get hurt if you go after her," Hermione said, trying to be rational. "I'm sure she'll be..."
Hermione couldn't finish that sentence. Everyone knew that Skazzy didn't think straight when she was worried for her brother. For many, this was the first time they were seeing how Harry could be when the roles were reversed. Skazzy wouldn't go somewhere safe unless she was sure her brother was fine. Unless she was physically taken somewhere.
"I have to find her," Harry said, struggling so much that Ron had to join the twins in restraining him. Sirius was busy trying to comfort Remus, knowing that going after Skazzy at the moment would lead no where. Amity was clutching Ginny and crying.
"Maybe Dad'll find her," Ron offered, his words hollow. There were too many people. The possibility was low. There was silence for a while, just the sounds of Harry struggling and Remus shuddering. Soon Sirius looked up, grave.
"Our first concern has to be making sure all of you are safe. Then we can come back and find Skazzy," he said. Everyone but Harry nodded.
"We can't leave her! She's just a third year!"
"Mate, she survived a basilisk, you survived You-Know-Who. She's not looking to start a fight with any of the Death Eaters," Ron tried. Harry didn't give up, but Remus and Sirius took him from the twins and started moving away, ignoring his shouts.
The group continued on towards the edges of the apparation wards, and as soon as they reached them Sirius apparated Harry and Ron to the Burrow. Molly looked slightly relieved, until she saw their faces. As soon as Sirius was sure that Harry had let go, he disapparated. Harry just fell to the ground. Ron knelt next to him, silently offering support and comfort.
When Sirius reappeared, Remus took a deep breath and apparated Ginny and Amity to the Burrow. The other three students were quiet, not knowing how to deal with the situation. When Remus returned, he and Sirius apparated the rest of the group away to the Burrow. They were about to leave when the rest of the Weasley's appeared, faces grim.
"There were at least seven deaths, including the muggles originally being baited. The riot is out of control, spells are flying everywhere," Mr. Weasley said grimly. He did a quick sweep to check and make sure everyone was there, and he did a double take when the wrong red head was at Harry's side. He looked up to Remus and Sirius, a question in his eyes.
"She managed to get separated from me in the confusion," Remus said hoarsely. Sirius' tight grip on his arm was the only thing keeping him standing. Mr. Weasley closed his eyes as Bill and Charlie hissed through their teeth.
"She's clearly not a Death Eater, or old enough to be using magic. The Ministry will find her."
Percy didn't sound as confident in the Ministry as he usually did.
Run. She needed to run. Run somewhere. No, she needed to get rid of the two people chasing her. She needed to be better. She wasn't good enough. Think, focus. She needed to fight. She cast another spell, going wide as she just aimed behind her not checking. Another two peeled off the group as she peaked back, causing her to curse. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran into someone. She tumbled down, glancing at the ground and noticing her brother's wand. Her heart jumped to her throat. Did she hit her brother?
But when she looked around, she saw no one. Harry hadn't brought his invisibility cloak, and Sirius wouldn't let him do anything stupid like look for her. So maybe he dropped it. He had to have dropped it. That had to be the answer. Spell fire hit the ground an inch from her head and she struggled to her feet and resumed running. She was in the forest now, and dodged spells using trees and her experience from Potter Hunting her cousin had done. It wasn't enough to lose them.
She stumbled over a tree root and twisted her ankle. Luckily her fall caused her to dodge another spell, a sickly green one. She couldn't get her foot free, and the first two wizards were coming up. She turned as much as she could, and fired a spell from one of the even darker books, one she had only just read the name of and looked at the movements and hadn't had time to read about. Her spell hit, as the wizard wasn't expecting the attack from down low. He fell apart, literally dismembered in front of her. The other wizard gaped, staring at the remains. Reflexively, she cast a spell on him, the same one since it was on her lips already. By the time she realized what she had done, he too had fallen apart.
She felt sick. She felt like she was going to throw up. But the crashing in the woods was getting closer and she was a sitting duck. She wrenched her ankle out of the root it was trapped in, and winced in pain. It was definitely dislocated, at the very least. But she was running on adrenaline and had no time for focusing on pain. She stumbled more, and hid behind a trees a bit more to catch her breath.
She heard voices, the other wizards had found the first two, and it sounded like they were sobering up.
"Are we sure that was a Potter brat?"
"Had the scar. Pretty distinctive. Do you know anyone else with a scar like that?"
"No, but, Merlin. She's a third year. I didn't learn this kind of magic until I was a fifth."
"I didn't think Dumbledore would allow them to learn this magic."
"Aren't they living with Black? His family would know this stuff."
"Yeah, but he wouldn't teach it to the Potters, he wouldn't even use it himself."
"She got lucky then. Came across the spell in the library and learned it then. Probably best if we take her out, then if He is coming back..."
"We'll move up. Who knows, maybe she can give up her brother as well."
Skazzy saw red. No one was going to hurt her brother. Especially not if they were going to try and use her to do it. She turned, trying to see in the darkness where the two were. The minute she cast her first spell, her position would be given up. She needed to make it count. She shot the first curse she had learned, not wanting to dismember more people. Her aim was off, too wide. However, she got a good glance at where the two were standing.
She dove, not in time enough to completely dodge one of the spells, and she felt white hot pain shoot up her right arm. She managed to keep her grip on her brother's wand, and shot off the curse again. Her aim was better, and she managed to clip one of the wizards. She was forced to dodge another spell, and this time her next one made contact. She heard a pop, and when she looked around, the slightly injured wizard was gone.
Skazzy took a moment to breath. She had gotten lucky. Extremely lucky. And everything hurt. Her arm, her ankle. She also didn't want to be around the bodies if anyone came around. But the fighting sounded faint, as if it was far away or dying down, so she wasn't sure anyone would come. She stumbled away from the site, leaning against trees and breathing heavily. When she couldn't stand the pain anymore she collapsed.
When she closed her eye, all she could see was the men being dismembered. What had she done?
"What needed to be done," the voice came, soft and cold. Skazzy couldn't focus when she opened her eye, seeing only gold floating in front of her.
"I..." Skazzy threw up, the images still stuck in her mind.
"If you cannot stomach it, you will not be able to save your brother," the voice said. It was steel, unforgiving, accusing her of not loving her brother enough.
"For...Harry," Skazzy said, closing her eye again. She could do this for Harry. She would do this for Harry. Harry would never be able to stomach this, so she would do it for him.
"For Harry," the voice agreed.
Skazzy passed out.
Cassius Avery felt his wards surround him and he breathed easily. He banished his robes and took stock of his injury. Apparently the brat had barely hit him with a blood boiling curse. He performed the counter spell, glad it had mostly missed him. That brat was dangerous, if she was like that untrained. And the hatred she could put in her spells...
She wasn't experienced enough with magic for her spells to be powerful without her focusing, so it was all her emotions. If she was able to cause pain and suffering and death like that, she had a plethora of dark emotions. Perhaps she would become dark. Perhaps she and her brother were hiding their true alignment. Perhaps they needed a proper wizard to help introduce them to the world...
Plans began to form inside of his mind, plans of replacing the old Dark Lord with a Dark Lord and Dark Lady, or just Dark Lady. Of pulling strings and being the power behind the Potter siblings like he never was with the Dark Lord. He could become powerful, and they would look on him with gratefulness for showing them just how powerful they could be.
His planning was interrupted by a cough. His eyes opened, and he grabbed his wand to face his intruder and how did they breach the wards?
"Yeah, sorry. But your plans? Not going to happen. No hard feelings."
Cassius Avery felt a thrill of fear rush through him at the sight before him. Before he could speak a word, the intruder spoke his death.
"Avada Kedavra."