Chapter 24
Bella's POV
When I roused, I leapt to my feet immediately, wand raised instinctively.
The memories flooded back to my mind. Snape. The Stunning Spell. Bellatrix.
I was in the Transfiguration Classroom, I realized. The door was closed, the windows covered by the drapes.
I couldn't have been unconscious long. From outside the door, I heard shouts and yells and screams.
I was the only person in the room…conscious. I realized that my mother, along with two other Death Eaters, were unconscious too.
Incarcerous! I thought, pointing my wand at them. Ropes formed around their wrists and ankles. I grinned. I loved that spell sometimes…or all the time, when it wasn't being used against me...especially since I had used it on that troll in First year. Again, a different story for another time.
As I went to the door, I felt something in my hand. I didn't realize I'd been holding something in my left hand. Surprised, I opened my hand.
A small, sealed vial was there, alongside a note.
You and Potter need to see these memories.
It was not signed, even though I could guess who wrote it. I crumpled it and tossed it behind me as I slipped the vial into my empty pocket.
Snape…I'd been dueling Selwyn. Snape had come up behind my enemy and me, while we were distracted by our duel. He'd Stunned Selwyn…and I had thought he'd been trying to attack me, instead. And I'd attacked him.
But then, my mother had come running in and Stunned me from behind my back. Then, Snape had Stunned her, his ally…Or was she? As I thought back, I realized something: Snape had never cast an offensive spell, curse, hex, or jinx during our short duel.
Oh. So he was an ally...and I'd attacked him.
Oops.
Oh well.
Hurriedly casting a Disillusionment Charm upon myself, I ran out of the room. I cursed, hexed, or jinxed every enemy I saw, not pausing for a moment.
Eventually, I was fighting in the Entrance Hall. Percy and Fred Weasley were near me, their backs to me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rookwood aim his wand at Fred, who had his back turned.
"No!" I screamed as I lunged at Fred. I hit him just in time. We both hit the floor as an explosion went off.
The curse that Rookwood fired partially hit me, partially the wall behind me.
Pain bloomed in my stomach, but I ignored it as I leapt up just in time to see Percy curse Rookwood.
"Bella!" Fred said, shocked. "Where did you come from?!"
I smiled, then winced. "Right behind you."
I helped him up before sprinting off, ignoring the burning pain.
Just before I rounded a corner in an enemy-free corridor, I felt a boiling anger spike inside me. Voldemort's anger.
I allowed myself to see into his mind, trying to discover his location...
He was in an old, musty, but surprisingly familiar room. The echoes of the battle above could be heard.
What I saw made my own anger boil in my stomach.
Snape was there. Maybe he wasn't my ally.
"…I incapacitated Isabella Lestrange inside the Transfiguration classroom, my Lord," the traitor said obediently.
"Is she and the boy still alive?" Voldemort asked in a low voice.
"Yes. I glimpsed the boy as I came here, my Lord."
"Good…" he hissed, pleased.
"But…" Snape paused, "Aren't you concerned that they might be killed by one other than you?"
"No. I am not. My orders were clear. If the Death Eaters cannot obey simple commands, they would not be in my service."
Snape hesitated, but said, "Yes…but I fear Bellatrix was very close to killing her daughter, just a moment before I came. She should be more careful."
"Do not concern yourself, Severus. I have a plan…"
I withdrew from his mind, gasping. HE WASN'T EVEN FIGHTING!!!
"Bella?!" a voice called.
I looked up and saw Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Alice around me.
I asked Harry, "Did you see it, too, Harry?"
He nodded. "Looks like Snape was a traitor after all."
"Maybe. I saw him a few minutes ago…" I paused, then asked Alice, "What's wrong?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're hurt, dummy."
"I am?" I asked confused, but then I glanced down at my torso, where I'd been hit with the curse by Rookwood.
A large, gaping, bloody wound was on my stomach. I'd been too distracted to notice the smell or the pain.
"Oh." I said, surprised. "I didn't even feel it."
She pointed her wand at it and whispered a few unintelligible words. The wound stitched itself up, healing completely, leaving only a bright pink scar.
"Thanks, Alice." I said. "You're a lifesaver."
She nodded and ran off.
Later, I found myself dueling a stout, short, cloaked Death Eater.
"Avada Kedavra!" the Death Eater yelled in a familiar, high, girlish voice that instantly reminded me of poisoned honey.
I barely managed to dodge. I snarled, "You!"
I heard the unmistakable false laugh before Umbridge said, "Imperius!"
Then, I heard the pathetic, wimpy little voice in my head, Go to Voldemort. Do it. Go.
I laughed. I couldn't help it. I laughed. "You honestly think that would work, Umbridge? That's pathetic. I learned fight that off in the beginning of my fourth year! If you were any good as a teacher, you would have known that! Stupefy!" She blocked it, but fell, her hood falling down. Yep. I was right. Umbridge...or as I'd nicknamed her, Umbitch.
She didn't look too good. She had a huge, bloody gash down the side of her face, across her cheek.
"Expelliarmus!" I exclaimed. She barely dodged. Edward came up behind me, brandishing his wand. Umbridge visibly paled. She Apparated immediately.
Wimp.
I smiled to Edward. "Thanks." He grinned. "She knew what I was. She…isn't fond of non-humans or half-breeds."
I smiled. "I know."
He smiled sadly to me. "Goodnight, goodnight! parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say goodnight till it be morrow." (1)
I kissed him, "I love you, no matter what. Thank you. Goodnight." I left him then, our goodbye feeling like it was final, like the final parting words between starcross'd lovers about to meet their doom.
A few minutes later, I was dueling near my adoptive father, Lupin, and his wife, Tonks.
We three were dueling Antonin Dolohov, my mother, and Fenrir Greyback.
Bellatrix cried, "Crucio!" And the pain hit me. It felt like I was skinned, rolled in salt, and dipped in acid all at once. Everything I viewed was through a red tinge in my vision.
But I could clearly hear Dolohov yell, "Avada—" his wand was aimed at Lupin.
Through the pain, I managed to gain enough control over my twitching limbs to kick Lupin's legs out from under him.
The Killing Curse flew harmlessly over his head…until it hit another Death Eater. Irony…or Karma...or reaping what you sow. Whatever. Gotta love it.
The pain stopped.
Lupin looked to me and said, "Thanks," just before hitting Dolohov with a curse that sent him flying across the room and into a wall, which caused him to crumple onto the floor, unconscious or dead, I didn't know, nor really care
Tonks was locked in combat with her deranged aunt/my mother
I got up just in time to see Fenrir pounced on me, a hungry look in his eyes. Just before he could do any real damage, however, Lupin shot a curse at the unhinged werewolf.
He fell to the floor, only semiconscious.
Bellatrix had thrown Tonks back with a curse of some sort and was about to kill my technically godmother. Without thinking, I lunged at her and grabbed her by her legs. She lost her balance, and the curse shot at the ceiling. Her wand was thrown from her hand.
"You filthy little brat!" she roared. "You should have never been born!"
I kicked away her wand and cast silently, Incarcerous! The ropes materialized a second too late. She'd gotten her wand. She cut them with a spell and stood quickly.
Suddenly, she winced, grabbing her forearm.
"I'll deal with you later!" she hissed before Disapparating, with all the other enemies. We were among only friends and allies.
For now, we were safe.
But for how long?
A/N: The lines in bold are quoes from Romeo and Juliet, (The story of infamous starcross'd lovers), Act 2, Scene 2. AKA--the balcony scene that we read in English class.
Just...barf. It was so sickeningly sweet. (Here's what they are pretty much saying:
"I love you even though our families hate each other!" "I love you too!" "Will you marry me, then?" "Well, we should not rush it, ya know...let it play out." "I don't want to wait!" "Alright! We can get married tomorrow!" "Yay!...You say goodnight first!" "No you!" "You!" "You!"...
On and on until Juliet's nurse manages to tear them away from each other. Ick. I can stand love. But that is just...sickening. BARF!
Well, anyways...REVIEW!
Unless you want the ending to be like Romeo and Juliet's. (AKA--DEATH!!!)
