Chapter 7

Battle at Bones Manor

Susan dove behind a wall just as two curses tore through the space where she had been standing. She peeked around the corner and cast a quick stupefy at one of the two Death Eaters there, hitting him in the face, before ducking back around the corner as a sickly bolt of green shot through the door. She shuddered as it flew past her before blindly casting an impedimenta around the corner, as she looked around desperately for her Aunt. She had told Susan to make a run for it out the back and stayed behind to hold off the Death Eaters that had attacked from the front along with her one of Auror guards, but there had been more Death Eaters making their way in through the back. They had killed the two Auror cadets guarding the back and Susan had been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse ever since, retreating further into the house, trying to find a way to escape. Not seeing her Aunt, she decided to keep falling back, hoping to hold them long enough for more Aurors to come to their aid. Her Aunt was the head of the DMLE, so they must be coming for her, right?

Looking around the corner again, she saw the Death Eater she had hit getting up off the ground, having been revived by his partner. Grimacing, Susan pointed her wand at a chair in between them, "Reducto!" she screamed, before falling back into the kitchen, taking cover behind an overturned table as a few more curses came through the hallway. She crouched behind the table, panting and trying to catch her breath. 'I can't keep this up for much longer', she thought to herself, 'I'm exhausted.' She was surprised she had lasted as long as she had against two adult wizards, but they didn't seem to be slowing down, while she was pushing herself to her limit. She looked at the doorway behind her, deciding it was her only shot. She would make a break for it, try to make it to her broom and fly away.

She stood, casting a cutting curse at her assailants and making a break for the door. She had almost made it through when she was thrown off her feet into the wall, landing on her side, her wand falling on the ground in front of her. She tried to reach for it, but stopped as the pain welled up in her arm. Gritting her teeth she pushed through the pain and had almost reached her wand when it suddenly flew away from her into the waiting hand of one of her attackers.

"Oh no girlie, there will be none of that," said her masked assailant, waving a finger back and forth. She glowered at him and tried to push herself up, only managing to make it into a sitting position.

"Ooh this one has spirit," said the other, walking slowly towards her, "I like the feisty ones."

"Too bad we can't take you with us. I think you could have been a lot of fun," said the first. She blanched in fear at the thought of them taking her with them and almost missed the second part of his statement. But if they weren't going to take her with them, what were they going to do with her?

"Oh c'mon, we can still have a little bit of fun with her," said the second, pointing his wand towards her. She tried to pull herself towards the door in an attempt to get away. "Crucio".

Susan felt like her whole body was on fire. like she had stepped into an inferno. Time stretched as her body convulsed, pain flowing through every single nerve ending. When the pain finally stopped she opened her eyes to find herself in the fetal position with her back against the wall. With a tremendous effort she pushed herself back into a sitting position facing her attackers, feeling her vision dim, her grasp on consciousness fading. 'If I'm going to die, I'm not going to do it lying down,' she thought to herself. She tried to push herself to her feet, but failed, falling back against the wall.

"Oh ho ho, a REALLY spirited one she is, if only we had more time to play."

"Well we don't, so come on, finish her off and let's get moving, Aurors could be here any second."

Susan could only watch in horror as the masked man in front of her raised his wand. She saw the green light gather at the tip of his wand as he shouted, "Avada Kedavra." Her vision dimmed as she watched, resigned to the fact that she was about to die as the green light sped towards her. Her eyes widened in shock as a pot flew in front of her, intercepting the bolt of green death before it could claim her. She watched for a moment as a familiar figure ran into the room engaging the two Death Eaters, before she faded into unconsciousness.

OoOoO

Harry and Tonks reappeared in a small grove of trees at the bottom of the hill he had seen in his vision. He let her go and drew his wand, taking in his surroundings.

"Of all the pigheaded moves Potter," she growled in a low voice, "I should take you back to headquarters right now and leave you tied to the ceiling."

"You can get mad at me later, this isn't the time or the place," he replied planning their next move. Tonks gave him a glare to let him know that they would be speaking of this later, but remained silent. His scar ached, letting him know that Voldemort was close by, but the pain was weak enough to let him know that he was no longer waiting on top of the hill. That hopefully left only the two curse breakers alone on top of the hill, likely monitoring the ward anchor they had used to erect the anti-apparition wards. "Come on," he said, pointing up the hill, "their ward anchor should be up there with only a pair of curse breakers monitoring it."

Tonks followed him as he led the way up the hill, sticking to the shadows, glad he had worn darker colors tonight. They crept up the hill, using a small rise to hide them from the view of anyone remaining to protect the anchor. When they made it to the top they found that their cautiousness was unnecessary, as only the two curse breakers remained at the top of the hill, one monitoring the runes on the ward stone, the other gazing down at the battle playing out on the Manor grounds. He looked at Tonks, motioning first to himself and then the Death Eater watching the battle. She nodded and pointed her wand at the other. He put up three fingers to signify on three, before giving the count and sending a stunner at the preoccupied Death Eater. Another burst of red came from beside him, both finding their mark. They waited for a moment, looking for movement before they moved to the incapacitated Death Eaters.

"What should we do with them?" he asked.

Tonks walked over to hers, "Bind yours, take his wand and bring him here," she ordered, before following her own instructions. Harry quickly bound his Death Eater and summoned his wand, before floating him over next to his companion. Tonks reached down and grabbed a nearby stick. It glowed blue as she tapped it with her wand and dropped it onto their unconscious prisoners, who promptly disappeared. "They'll wake up in a holding cell," she said and started walking down towards the battle.

"Tonks wait, shouldn't we destroy this?" he asked, pointing at the ward anchor.

"No," she said, shaking her head, "it will stop them from Apparating away and maybe help us capture some."

"But it will stop us from Apparating too. Besides, as long as they don't know their wards are down, we'll have an advantage, won't we?"

She looked at him for a moment before nodding, "Good idea Harry. We can apparate to the back of the Manor and take out any that are trying to break in from the back."

Harry nodded before aiming at the ward stone and blowing it up. He then walked over to Tonks, allowing her to take his arm and Apparate them to the back of the Manor.

They moved quickly and quietly to the back door, which had been blown open. They moved inside carefully, moving past the three bodies laying on the ground. Two young Aurors lay on the ground, one surrounded by a pool of blood, the other with the glassy eyed stare that marked a victim of the killing curse. A Death Eater also lay surrounded by a pool of blood near the remains of an overturned table, a piece of which stuck out of the eye hole of his mask. Harry shuddered as they passed the grizzly scene, intent on finding any survivors. They continued searching room by room until they were interrupted by a scream.

Harry took off before Tonks could stop him, trying to find the source of the screaming, but it cut off after a few seconds, leaving him guessing. He stuck his head into room after room, searching for the source. He ran into the kitchen, his eyes taking in the two Death Eaters standing over a red headed girl just in time to see one raise his wand. "Avada Kedavra," he screamed, bringing his wand down towards the injured girl.

Even as his arm still fell, Harry aimed at a pot lying on the counter, "Depulso," he said quietly, banishing it towards the man just in time to intercept his curse. Harry didn't let his moment of surprise go to waste as he attacked the two Death Eaters, trying to take their attention from the injured girl lying on the floor. He pushed them away from her as he advanced, not letting up in his assault as he alternated between stunners, bludgeoners and cutters. He had just made it even with the girl when the tide changed and he suddenly found himself on the defensive. He raised a shield, blocking the first pair of curses, before diving behind a counter as they sent a pair of Unforgivables towards him, the twin green lights smashing into the wall behind him. He winced in pain as he was hit by a few of the splinters that exploded out from the wall, before jumping up from the ground and casting another stunner over the counter as Tonks ran into the room, joining the fight. Harry used the distraction to pull the girl behind cover, before jumping back into the fight.

They quickly took the offensive, overpowering the Death Eaters as Tonks managed to score a hit with a bludgeoner, dislocating the shoulder of one of them and forcing him to drop his wand. Both Harry and Tonks pressed the remaining Death Eater, showering him with spells as he held a shield to give time for his partner to regain his wand. Harry could see him straining to hold the shield and pushed as much power as he could into his next spell, shattering it. Harry smiled grimly and moved to finish the fight, but was forced to change his stunner into a shield as two more Death Eaters joined the first two, giving the others time to regain the wands. Once again, Harry found himself pushed on the defensive. He winced in pain as a cutting curse knicked his arm, before blocking a pair of ugly looking curses and dropping to one knee behind his cover to avoid another Killing Curse as they focused on him.

He looked over at Tonks, trying to decide on a plan. She blindly cast a few curses in the direction of the Death Eaters before turning to him, "What do you think, retreat?" she asked.

Harry shook his head, a grin spreading across his face, "Make some noise." He raised his wand over the counter and shot off two quick bombarda's at the ceiling above the Death Eaters and using the noise to mask the sound of his apparation. He reappeared behind their attackers, who remained unaware of his presence. All four were aiming curses at the counter he had just disappeared from behind, one more slowly as he was using his off hand. Harry quickly began raining down a barrage of curses on the unprepared Death Eaters. His first two landed on the one closest to him, stunning and binding the man, before switching to his next target. One of the Death Eaters yelled out, "Behind us!," spinning to meet the new attack. Tonks, seeing his strategy used the confusion to add her own spells into the mix. Harry managed to hit the already wounded man with an cutting curse on his other arm as he dove behind cover, causing him to drop his wand as Tonks' target smashed into the wall with a heavy thud. They both advanced on the remaining armed Death Eater before he disappeared with a pop, taking his wounded companion with him.

Harry summoned the wands from the downed Death Eaters, placing them with the one he had acquired earlier while Tonks bound the man she had incapacitated, before grabbing a wooden spoon from one of the drawers, turning it into a Portkey before dropping it on the bound men.

Harry raced back towards his original cover, and checked on the girl he'd found. He recognized her as he brushed the hair out her face, "Susan," he said, recognizing the girl as she groaned beneath him, "Tonks, get over here, I need you to check on her. I don't know any healing spells."

Tonks knelt over her, waving her wand, "Hmm.. Broken arm, bruised ribs, concussion and Cruciatus exposure. I can't do anything for her, we should get her out of here, take her to St. Mungo's."

Harry leaned down, and gently picked her up, she groaned as he lifted her into his arms. "I got her Tonks, you ready?"

"Harry, you can't Apparate into St. Mungo's, you're still only fifteen," Tonks said, stopping him.

Harry shook his head, "Just put your hand on my shoulder. I'll Apparate myself and her, you just come along at the same time. We can just pretend that you brought us, no one will be able to tell the difference."

Tonks muttered softly before nodding, "Fine, let's just be quick about it. On three, to the street outside St. Mungo's. One. Two. Three."

Harry nodded, calling up his memory of his last visit to the hospital. On three they both turned on the spot and disappeared before reappearing in front of an old department store. They walked up to the window, where Tonks spoke to one of the dummies before walking through the glass. Harry quickly followed, carrying the wounded redhead in his arms.