CHAPTER THIRTEEN
August 8, 1997
Twilight wind slamming her mask, Athena swooped down towards Hogwarts, one in the broomstick-riding hoard following the Dark Lord to the castle. As a member of the inner circle, she would be looking for Longbottom and his band, should they arrive, instead of waiting outside and preparing for a battle.
Once inside the castle, she and the other Death Eaters fanned out to systematically search the castle in organized pairs and patterns. Athena and her partner, Amycus Carrow's little sister, crept along their assigned route, which lead through a disused, junk-filled corridor. Even with her wandlight, Snape's daughter could not see all the obstacles, and she stumbled; to her surprise, a pair of hands reached out and steadied her. Without her permission, her cheeks flushed—it was the same grip that had caught her when she had stumbled at the Yule Ball.
"Zephyrus?" she speculated in a whisper.
"Fulmen Brutum," he muttered near her ear. Latin for a harmless thunderbolt, she mentally translated, as she stared at his hands on her bony arm. He must be wearing an invisibility cloak.
In her nasally, grating voice, Alecto Carrow broke Athena out of her reverie. "What's there?"
Unconsciously on defense, Athena turned, and it one fluid, instinctual movement, she Stupefied Alecto. Adrenaline pumping, she swung back to Zeph, ripping off the hood of his cloak so she could see his face. For a second, they locked eyes, then he tore his gaze away, but not before she saw a few memories, allowing her a window into Neville's plans and, most importantly, preventing her from making the senseless decision to Stupefy him in the spell-protected chest…
She aimed at his face instead.
Zephyrus flew backwards, striking his head on the rough stone wall before slumping to the ground. Athena coolly stooped down, searching until she found the Marauder's map and enchanted galleon, which she had seen in his memories. As Zeph had left the map "unlocked," it was easy enough to locate Longbottom, and easier still to direct him toward the Great Hall, where the Death Eaters were gathering.
Briskly, Athena covered Zeph's unconscious body with his invisibility cloak, stuffed the map and galleon into her pocket, then woke Alecto, who blinked dimly and asked what had happened.
Annoyed, Athena sneered, "You hit your head and went out for a few seconds. Come, we have been summoned to the Great Hall."
Without waiting to see if Carrow was following or if she had even gotten up, Athena briskly turned about and stalked off toward the Great Hall. Alecto stumbled after her.
At first, Alecto's echoing steps were the only noise in an otherwise silent corridor, but gradually, Athena could hear the sound of whispered conversation amongst Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange was the most audible, of course, her harsh laughter piercing through the mumbled mingle of other voices. Unexpectedly, the chatter stopped—it was replaced by war-screams… Neville had entered. Abandoning Alecto, Athena bolted the last hundred paces to the Hall, wand at the ready, but before she could enter the battle, she was knocked roughly aside by a square-jawed wizard, who was part of a group of righteous-looking witches and wizards. The group's leader, a former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin, did not rebuke the man who shoved her. The werewolf clearly hadn't changed since his Hogwarts days, when he had allowed Potter and Black to bully her father. Here was a chance for revenge.
SSSS
Something was wrong, Calypso could feel it. Zephyrus had been suspiciously silent, which had led to several near collisions with Death Eaters—with Sirius' help, she had escaped the encounters unscathed—and Zeph's last message had been uncharacteristically snippy: "Longbottom, move to the Great Hall."
Wait, Zeph was very polite, too polite. He always referred to Neville as Mr. Longbottom, and he directed them using a continual stream of instructions and warnings, not a single command. And he had warned them that Death Eaters were swarming the castle, and it was a possibility he would be discovered… Neville was walking into a trap!
Calypso took off running, much to Sirius' surprise, but he quickly shifted in to a dog and followed her without question, soon matching her stride as they raced to the Great Hall.
SSSS
Athena, harried and now sporting a split lip and bloody nose, was in no mood to let the pack of delusional individuals pass her. Without warning, she attacked Lupin, firing off several spells in quick succession, which he managed to deflect. The rest of his group rushed into the battle without him, led by a dumpy, carrot-headed matron.
In less than half a minute, Athena overpowered her middle-aged opponent, killing him before she too entered the battle. She could see where Longbottom was; he was surrounded by a crowd of Death Eaters, each set on being the one to drag him before the Dark Lord. Longbottom's supporters surged behind the Death Eaters, using the advantage of surprise to take out several.
SSSS
Upon arriving in the Great Hall, Calypso shot off three spells in quick succession: one to protect her eyes from sunlight, the next to create a water-based fog, and lastly, a spell to make a blinding light, which fractured and reflected in the fog, amplifying the blinding effect. With the exception of herself, no one could see, resulting in chaos, which Calypso used to her advantage, darting into the crowd of Death Eaters and grabbing Neville's hand, then pulling him into a side passage.
SSSS
Suddenly, the Hall was filled with blinding light, searing Athena's retinas and sending multiple Death Eaters into ear-shattering screams. When the light went out, Longbottom was gone, stolen away by a resourceful teammate. Calypso, Athena thought with a grim smile but she didn't have much time to reflect, as she soon engaged in a duel with a stately-looking witch, whom she traded for the square-jawed wizard, who was replaced by a witch with black hair. The thousands of hours Athena had spent practicing were paying off. She took on opponent after opponent, posture perfect, spells precise and effective.
Suddenly, Athena was facing her father, who, like herself, appeared to have lost weight, leaving him gaunt. He seemed older; more tired than he had been five days previously, with more gray hairs, more worry lines. In the eternal space of a second, father and daughter stood, uncertain if they should duel or defend the other, but in the following instant, Severus' heart decided, as he deflected a stray jinx away from his little girl. Athena nodded slightly, acknowledging their temporary allegiance. With ease, the pair quickly settled in to their familiar defense-offense pattern, both studiously ignoring the other's choice of opponents as they protected each others' backs.
Shortly into their uneasy truce, however, Athena was hit by a relatively mild hex and she realized that her father had left. She visually swept the immediate vicinity for him, but she couldn't see him.
He's not here… he has a distinctive dueling style, I would notice it… He wouldn't have left without reason… he's not a coward… he was protecting Longbottom, and wouldn't abandon that, unless the Dark Lord beckoned him… but Father's a skilled duelist, it makes no sense to remove him from the fight... something is wrong.
And, having defeated her most recent opponent, Athena bolted for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, where the Dark Lord had stationed himself.
SSSS
Wand hand hitching up the hem of her overlarge borrowed robes, Calypso dragged Neville down a hall, up two flights of stairs and along a corridor, only stopping when he collapsed against the doorpost of a classroom, panting and exhausted. She irritably tapped her foot; yes, they were far from the battle, but Death Eaters were swarming the castle, and she and Neville were still out in the open. They needed to needed to continue moving—or they could just hide in a classroom, like the one next to Neville.
With the practiced gesture of a student used to sneaking into class late, Calypso gently slid the door open and crept in, tugging at Neville to follow her. Just as the door clicked shut behind them, she heard the voice of her former master and froze in fear. It was Neville who had the sense to pull her down behind a desk, which still afforded her a view of the Dark Lord circling her father at the front of the classroom. The lithe body of Nagini coiled and uncoiled in a protective cage.
Voldemort, who had paused as though he had heard something, now continued speaking in his high, hissing voice, gesturing with a long wand made of elder wood. "Why does it refuse to work for me, Severus?"
The questioned must have had a reply, but Calypso didn't hear it. Loose ends were knotting together and reaching toward a dreadful conclusion that exploded in her brain. But these intrusive thoughts were not her own, voiced in a crisp mind-voice that was almost foreign after spending so long without using the twin mind-link. They seemed to be coming from nearby...there Athena was, crouching behind a desk directly across from Calypso, her black eyes fixed on their father. Her bloodied face was the definition of horrified realization.