James Castle
Chapter 21: The Storm
"I don't like this Hermione," James frowned as he shared a sundae with his girlfriend. "It's not a good idea, we should have told Dumbledore to cancel the trip, had Luna talk about a vision or something," James ran his hand through his hair.
"James, shut up and eat," Hermione shoved a spoonful of ice cream at his face. "Worrying will not help the situation," she scolded him. "Moody called in some favors to get some extra Aurors patrolling, and everyone is here and ready to go," she pulled her spoon from his mouth, digging back into the sundae. "Now help me eat this, or else," she pointed the filled spoon back at him as he rolled his eyes and ate it.
"Whatever you say Hermione," he smile back at her, joining her in eating the ice cream, trying to ignore the pressure of the situation.
"You really think it is smart to split up like this? We can't get a concentrated line of fire without risking hitting the civilians," Frank brought up his problems with their plan once again.
"Can it," Moody glared at him as Shacklebolt laughed. The three of them were sharing a drink in the Three Broomsticks. "The Aurors I tipped off are out there watching the rest of the town," Moody grumbled quietly. "This is where most of the students will be at any given time and where they will run to, that is why we are here," Moody frowned into his drink. "I don't know why you had to wear those clothes," he frowned at Frank. "If you are caught…"
"Every man goes to war his own way Moody," Frank grinned with Max's face, smiling down at the skull shirt under his robes.
"Mr. Weasley, other Mr. Weasley," Sirius grinned as he pushed a pair of drinks to the Weasley twins. "Mr. Moony and I would very much like to thank you for joining us here today," he waved his hand dramatically at the interior of the Hog's Head pub.
"Indeed," Remus joined in the theatrics. "Mr. Padfoot and I have business to discuss with you," Remus smiled at the wide eyed young men. "We know you are working at Zonko's and have hopes to open your own shop, I hope you have brought some samples of your inventions as asked," Remus shook his head as the twins dropped to the ground praising them and Sirius burst out laughing.
He walked into Hogsmeade for the first time since a trip when he was twenty years old. He laughed to himself at the children playing and running between shops, shaking his head at them. "Watch where you're going you little bastards!" he heard an old woman complain as she was knocked over by some of the more unruly kids.
"Allow me ma'am," he bowed, helping the aged witch to her feet.
"Frank, what are you doing here, you are supposed to be with Moody and Shack," the woman's voice changed to anger immediately.
"Ah, Miss Tonks, good to see you again," he replied, pulling down the hood of his cloak to reveal his whole head. "As you can see, I am not the donor, not the recipient," he ran his head over the still regrowing hair.
"Max?" Tonks questioned, changing back to her usual form. "What the hell are you doing here?" she greeted the man with a quick hug.
"I got an interesting letter from a girl who seemed to know a lot about things," Max explained. "What is a Snorack?" he added quickly.
"Luna…" Tonks laughed.
"Well, through Miss Lovegood's letter and explanations, I was cleared to come here and investigate, this Snorack," he frowned, pulling a letter and some pictures from his robes.
"There is no Snorack Max, the paper her father owns prints stories about imaginary creatures," Tonks laughed. "It's like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster when it isn't wizards playing a trick on the Muggles in Scotland," she explained.
"Miss Tonks, I am not permitted to discuss the existence or non-existence of the creature known as Bigfoot with you," Max recited automatically.
"What? You mean it's real?" her jaw dropped, staring at him.
"No comment," Max frowned, feeling around in his pocket for something. "You should probably duck," he helped by kicking her feet out from under her before firing a tazer at a wizard in a white mask sneaking up behind her. "Miss Lovegood feared you would not make it out of this day alive without assistance," he grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet as screams broke out throughout the small town. "Lead on Tonks, I haven't been here for over twenty years," he chucked as he bound the Death Eater with some plastic wrist ties.
"This is a stupid idea!" Remus shouted as he, Sirius, and the twins ran down the street firing hexes over their shoulders at the half dozen Death Eaters closing in on them. "Completely insane!" he added as Sirius dragged him into Zonko's and the twins locked down the store, activating the wards, keeping the Death Eaters out for now.
"Get everyone out of here now," Sirius grabbed the cashier and started herding her and the shoppers to the back of the store.
"Are you nuts Padfoot? We're sitting ducks here!" Remus shouted at him, watching as the wards began to deteriorate.
"Mister Moony, Mr. Good Twin requests that you look around you," one of the twins smirked and began picking things off the shelves.
"Indeed, Mr. Evil Twin is quite pleased by Mr. Padfoot's plan," the other fired back copying his brother's actions.
"Weren't you the good twin back at Hog's Head before the Death Eaters came through the Floo?" Remus groaned, never being able to tell them apart when he taught them either.
"We can never tell," they replied in unison.
"Can we keep them Moony, please?" Sirius shook with laughter as he gathered a bagful of pranks and took his position where he could see the entrance.
"Down," James frowned as he pulled his pistols out and fired at the group of Death Eaters advancing on Hermione as they left the small ice cream shop. Hermione dropped and dove behind James, pulling out her own gun. Screams erupted throughout the town as the Death Eaters attacked from all sides, seemingly pouring from every building with a Floo connection. "On me, stay safe," he ordered Hermione as he took off down the street towards other shops where he could see flashes of light.
"Shoot to kill, make sure they don't hurt anyone again," he instructed Hermione as he made sure she was close to him as they moved. "Watch my back," he kissed her quickly before kicking down the store's door and going in guns blazing.
"It's cold," Frank frowned, shaking the bad thoughts from his head as he watched his breath in front of him. "It's cold," he said again, pushing his iced over drink at Moody before getting up from the table.
"Dementors likely," Shack nodded as he got up with Frank and walked over to the doorway. "You won't be able to see them Frank, they feed on bad memories, draining all happiness from you, then they kiss you and take your soul," Shack explained quickly as Moody, being Moody, managed to get everyone as far away from the front of the building as possible.
"I'll think of something, just keep them off me until I do," Frank smirked as Moody caught back up to them.
"We need to get out there and help the people, funnel them in here where it's safe," Moody stomped over to the two men. "Ready gentlemen?" he grinned, his eye whirring around in his head.
"Sure, fighting things I can't see or hurt, just another day for me," Frank laughed peeking out the window. "Got an idea how to fix that though," he smiled as he dug around his magically enhanced robes.
Oliver Wood, being the sole survivor of 'the Punisher's attack on Knockturn Alley' was immediately rewarded with command of his own before being dispatched for their first mission as a precautionary measure for a show of force in Hogsmeade. He ducked into the first shop he found after seeing the rest of his crew cut down by Death Eaters that had emerged from a building. "Whoa, take it easy there…Granger?" he raised his hands, showing his wand as he found himself at the business end of Hermione's wand with her pistol shoved into his gut.
"Wood?" Hermione replied questioningly before pushing him out of the way and firing back out the door before magically sealing it. "What are you doing here Oliver, you're an Auror, where's your team?" she angrily questioned him as the two of them cringed each time they heard a gunshot in the other rooms of the house.
"Dead, Death Eaters came out of nowhere," he jerked his head, pointing his wand as the door to the back of the shop opened.
"Put that down before I break it in half and shove it up your arse," James glared at him, going to the doorway immediately. "Building is clear, some Death Eaters were trying to keep the Floo open to get reinforcements, I think I fixed that problem," he poked the curtain so he could peek outside. "Nice shot Hermione," he nodded, seeing the body of a Death Eater right outside the door.
"What did you do to the Floo James, it's normally very difficult to disrupt Floo transport," Hermione frowned.
"Tossed some Fiendfyre in it without giving a destination, then the fireplace blew up," James shrugged.
"That likely took out all Floo travel in England, how much Fiendfyre did you use?" Hermione frowned.
"Um…all of it? I figured we wouldn't be needing it here," James scouted up and down the street from behind the curtain.
"He just knocked out the entire European grid of the Floo network, didn't he?" Wood asked, still trying to adjust to the situation.
"And more likely than not blew up all their fireplaces," Hermione sighed, peeking out the window. "How many?" she asked as James pulled her back with him to Wood.
"We have three Eaters on the right that I can see, as well as a couple others with what looks to be a mountain troll on the left, anyone got a preference?" he smiled as Hermione nodded.
"I'll take the troll, you get the other way," she grinned.
"Are you insane, you knocked out the Floo, no help is coming," Wood protested.
"Help is for those who aren't good enough to win on their own," James glared at him before readying his pistols.
"James Castle, that's you, isn't it?" Wood asked he gathered his courage. "You saved my life a couple times," he sighed, gripping his wand. "What do you want me to do?" he looked at the younger man.
"Help Hermione, I can handle myself, go on three," James grabbed the door handle and started counting.
"Remind me to go back there and shoot that one I bound when we are done here Miss Tonks," Max ducked under a green spell from the wizard he was advancing on. "I have to admit I am rather enjoying this whole license to kill," he turned to cover Tonks after drilling the Death Eater he faced square between the eyes with a shot from his pistol.
"Having entirely too much fun here Max, can we please be serious?" Tonks shouted back as she conjured a block of stone to block a curse from the Death Eater she was dueling. "Reducto!" she shouted, catching the man in his neck, effectively decapitating him. "That is gross," she grimaced as he bled out. "What, no witty comment, Mr. Secret Agent?"
"No, I have several, just unsure to go the route of making a pun about Sirius's name, rehashing a long line of head jokes from a movie, or wondering how we are going to kill that," he pointed up the street at two Death Eaters and a troll.
"Mountain troll, mean buggers," Tonks explained as she and Max ushered frightened shoppers and students behind them to the safe area they had cleared. "Skin is super tough and spell resistant, so unless you have a trick up your sleeve, this is going to be messy," she explained as they got ready to attack. "What the hell?" she looked up, seeing a large shadow form over the troll before a rock the size of a semi dropped on it.
"Or we can just take down the wizards that were controlling it," Max offered as the said wizards were hit from both sides at once. "Correct me if I'm wrong Tonks, but even in the wizarding world, rocks this big don't just fall out of the sky," Max poked the rock, stepping over the Death Eater.
"Freeze!"
Max stuck his head around the rock, getting a look at the man who was holding his wand in their direction. "Ah…Tonks, mind handling this?" he shouted to the woman who came up behind him peeking around the rock as well.
"Oh god, Hermione!" Tonks cried out, rushing to help the young witch who the man was watching over. "What happened?" she demanded, glaring at the man before recognizing him. "Wood? It's me, Tonks, what happened to Hermione?" she asked again with urgency.
"She got the crazy idea to transfigure a pebble that I levitated into a boulder and drop it to kill the troll," he frowned as he noticed the troll's arm still twitching. "Then she collapsed, I'm supposed to watch over her," he added, jerking his thumb down the street where James was finishing off the three Death Eaters he had engaged earlier.
"I don't know if this is a good sign, or a bad one," Sirius laughed as he dodged a spell from a Death Eater he had turned purple and covered in boils with various things from the shelves.
"Well, we are all in one piece, I take that as a good sign," the twin that had partnered up with him laughed. "How many more out there?" he frowned, digging about his robes for something.
"Oh…just a dozen maybe," Sirius frowned, pulling his head back from the shelf he had taken cover behind. "Any other tricks or we go out wands blazing?" Sirius grinned as the twin pulled two packages from his robes.
"Say activate and chuck it over their heads," the twin smiled. "Fred, we're going to deploy a pair of projects 83 prototypes!" he shouted to where the other twin was pinned down with Lupin.
"Gotcha, going on your count!" Fred yelled back to George.
"One! Two! Three! Activate!" the twins and the two remaining Marauders shouted together before throwing their packages into the air above the Death Eaters. The four of them jumped up when they heard the sounds of a mass of splashing water and hexed anything that moved.
"What exactly is this?" Remus asked as he poked the edge of the much with his foot, where a Death Eater was struggling to free himself before he was stunned.
"Portable swamps, we've been working on them for a while now, the applications are limitless," a twin explained while the other waved his wand saying a sequence in Latin, causing a path to form across the large swamp to where it ended in the street outside. "Going to need to put warning labels on them though, can't go activating them with people underneath them like that, just isn't safe," he led the way down the path, pointing at the bodies of the Death Eaters who had drowned in the unexpected muck.
"Expecto Patronum!" Moody shouted, sending his wolverine Patronus toward the Dementors, scattering them, giving Frank some cover. "You better do whatever you're planning quick Castle!" he yelled as Shacklebolt helped him keep the Dementors at bay.
"Just a couple seconds," Frank shuddered from the feelings that were surfacing, pushing them to the back of his head. He looked around the street, unable to see the Dementors, but seeing the Patroni keeping them at bay. "Here goes nothing," Frank pressed a few buttons on the device he had, setting a timer. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled, throwing the package into the air where the Patroni were herding the invisible Dementors before diving to the ground.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Moody shouted as he dove to the ground copying Frank's actions. "That'll kill us too," he cringed as he heard the bomb go off in the sky.
"Seems to be working pretty well I think," Frank stared up at the fireball in the sky, the previously invisible Dementors somewhat visible as the Fiendfyre consumed them. "Besides, if anything can contain that fire, it's got to be a big pile of monsters," Frank laughed he and Moody got to their feet.
"A little help here," Shack got their attention as he transfigured some rocks into a small wall to hide behind as he traded fire with a group of Death Eaters.
"What, can't handle a few bad apples on your own Shacklebolt?" Moody laughed and started firing spells back at the Death Eaters.
"There's only five of them, nothing too difficult," Frank smiled as he took aim and dropped one with a shot to the chest. "Make that four of them," he laughed as the polyjuice finished wearing off and he shrugged off the rest of his disguise.
"It's Castle!" one of the Death Eaters shouted before he was dropped from a stunner by Shacklebolt.
"Damn it Shacklebolt, don't use stunners," Moody swore at him as he spotted another Death Eater Ennervating the fallen Death Eater. "Those are Avada Kedavras they are firing at us, now shoot something that is going to take them out for good, you were an Auror for Merlin's sake," Moody glared at the man.
"If you two are quite through, they have some reinforcements out there," Frank fired a couple shots at the Death Eaters that had transfigured their own barriers to hide behind. He ducked under a green blast, feeling it hit the wall behind him, showering him in bits of rock.
"How many?" Moody stuck his head up to take a look, ducking back down as his eye whirled in his head. "I count about 7, maybe more," Moody frowned. "Give us some cover Frank, we'll try to break down their barriers and take them out," Moody ordered.
"Gotcha," Frank nodded, moving away from the wizards. "Going," he mouthed before popping up spraying bullets at the Death Eaters' positions. He moved out of the way as another green spell barely missed his head, ducking as he kept firing. Moody and Shacklebolt concentrated their spells on the Death Eaters together, blowing apart two of the barriers and the Death Eaters behind them.
"I think you need to work on your counting skills there Moody," Frank yelled at him after they took cover again. "There's a dozen more at least," he glared at the older man.
"So my count was a little off, got any more toys?" Moody ducked as the rock behind him shook from the spells hitting it. "Because we aren't going last much longer against that many at this rate," he added, reinforcing the barrier.
Luna sat inside the Three Broomsticks with all the other students, trying to peek out the windows at the fight going on outside. "There, Moody, Lupin, and Smart are fighting them," Ernie pointed out the window as everyone snuck glances at the street from behind the blinds. "Oh wow," he stammered as he saw Max destroy the Dementors before changing into Frank. "It's him!" he exclaimed when Frank threw off his robes and started firing bullets at the Death Eaters.
"There's too many Death Eaters," Justin watched with his friend as Luna cringed as she saw Shacklebolt drop to the ground from a Crucio. "Shacklebolt is down," he told the other kids who were hiding as far away from the windows as possible, half of them crying. "They're not gonna make it," he realized as Moody went down in a heap, bleeding heavily from a gash across his chest.
"Oh god, he's hit," Ernie paled as Frank dropped with a broken leg, crawling behind cover, firing at the Death Eaters.
"Give it up Castle, drop your weapons and come out and we'll leave the kids alone!" they heard the Death Eater's amplified voice come through the walls.
"Go to hell," they heard him shout back, nailing the exposed Death Eater between the eyes with a shot before being hit with the red light of the Cruciatus and writhing in pain.
"Damn it," Justin swore as the Death Eaters advanced on Frank's body. "We have to do something Ernie, they're all going to be killed out there," he pulled his wand out.
"What are you kids doing!?" looked at the three still at the windows as she tried to comfort and protect the other students. "Don't even think about going out there, we are going to stay here until the Aurors come, the wards will keep us safe," she glared at the two boys who were holding their wands tightly.
"They're going to get killed out there, killed for protecting us," Ernie let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.
"There will be much death today," Luna said calmly. "The stars are not clear as to who though," she nodded weakly at the two boys.
"On your feet Castle, I want to look into your eyes before I kill you," a Death Eater with black hair visible behind his mask ordered two others to hold the man upright. "The Dark Lord will reward me greatly for killing you today, he is quite annoyed at the trouble you have caused him," the man taunted Frank who struggled against the two holding him, the bone sticking out from his leg where they broke it, blood dripping from cuts all up and down his body.
"Go ahead and do it, coward," Frank spat a mouthful of blood at the mask. "Not even man enough to show your face, killing people who can't defend themselves, you're pathetic," Frank grinned at him before the wizard backhanded him, rattling his teeth. "And you hit like a girl," Frank spat more blood at the wizard before the wizard hit him with another Crucio.
"You are very formidable for a Muggle, still being conscious after all that," the Death Eater taunted as Frank glared at him, his body crying out in pain. "I will allow you to see my face before I kill you," he pressed his wand to Frank's throat sharply, drawing blood. "Your time is at an end, filthy Muggle," he continued, slowly removing his mask.
"Snape," Frank glared at him. "I guess you weren't as innocent as you led Dumbledore to think," he grinned at the confused Death Eater.
"How did you…" Snape began to ask. "The boy," he scowled. "You've been communicating with Potter," Snape deduced. "Don't worry, he'll be joining you once the Dark Lord find him," Snape smiled, taking a step away, keeping his wand trained on Frank. "Let him stand on his own," he waved the two other Death Eaters off, leaving Frank weakly standing on his good leg. "Goodbye, Punisher," Snape mocked him. "Avada Kedavra!" Snape shouted as all hell broke loose.
"He gonna be okay?" Sirius asked George who was tending to his brother.
"If we get him to St. Mungos soon," George nodded, helping move his brother who had been hit with a bludgeoning curse and had yet to regain consciousness. "I can't leave him alone, mum would kill me," he explained as they pulled him over to the side of the street.
"Sirius? That you?" Tonks shouted as she ran up the street with Max behind her.
"Yeah, isn't he supposed to be at the Three Broomsticks?" Sirius asked, waving for Remus to come back from his point position.
"I just got here, a little bird told me I should make a trip," Max chuckled, examining the injured Weasley. "Pretty bad concussion there, we need to get him to a doctor soon," he frowned. "Are all the Floo connections down up here too?"
"Yeah, half the fireplaces are destroyed too," Remus replied. "You stay here, we'll go ahead forward, come on," he gave Tonks a quick kiss before leading them down the street.
"What's wrong with her?" Tonks asked Wood quickly when they reached where he was helping James carry Hermione down the street.
"Magical exhaustion, that huge rock that crushed the troll back there used to be a pebble before she enlarged it," Wood explained as Tonks took James' spot and helped him with Hermione. "How bad is it?" he asked as they passed more wreckage and bodies.
"Pretty bad, you're the first Auror I've seen," she replied as they watched the Marauders and James lead the way down the street with Max watching their backs.
"They were coming through the Floo before he took it out of commission," Wood shook his head. "The rest of the Aurors should be here by now though, something must be wrong," Wood looked away as he passed one of the Aurors that trained him lying dead on the street. "Something is very wrong…" he whispered under his breath, giving Hermione to Tonks and ran up to where James and the others were pointing their wands at the space in front of the Three Broomsticks.
"Frank," James froze as he saw Snape pointing his wand at Frank's bloody body.
"Avada Kedavra!" Snape shouted as the green light glowed at the end of his wand.
"No!" James yelled as he saw Snape begin the curse, pointing his guns at the Death Eater and pulling the triggers as Wood and the Marauders joined him in throwing spells at the remaining Death Eaters they had snuck up on.
Snape's head turned as he heard the shout from behind him as he finished casting the curse, his eyes growing wide as the front wall of the Three Broomsticks exploded into his face, the shockwave knocking him from his feet and altering the course of the Avada Kedavra into the surprised face of one of the Death Eaters that had held Frank up earlier. Spells poured out of the gaping hole in the building, immediately downing the remaining Death Eater that was guarding Frank, who fell to the ground as well.
The Death Eaters were caught from both sides as James' group opened fire and was joined by half a dozen Hufflepuffs firing from the Three Broomsticks, dropping half the remaining Death Eaters in the confusion. Luna darted out into the open, running for Frank as Justin and Ernie tried to hold her back. She dove at Frank, quickly grabbing him around his midsection and pulling him with her towards the pub.
"Look out!" someone from the pub yelled at her. She turned her head smiling as the black curse hit her directly in the face, knocking her limp body to the ground.
"Luna!" voices screamed from all sides as the defenders redoubled their efforts, cutting down the remaining Death Eaters as Frank Castle wrapped one arm around the girl, pulling himself over her so that he shielded her until the sounds of the battle stopped and he blissfully passed out from pain and exhaustion.
A/N: Btw, if you are not picturing Max with the Inspector Gadget voice, you are banned from reading this story any more. Anyway, another chapter down, two more to go.