Chapter 43

Ari's POV

We all silently sneak through the halls in a single file line, with me leading the way. Once we get to the pillar that I had been hiding behind, I hold up my hand and gesture for them to stop. I peek around the pillar and, when I've determined the coast is clear, I turn back to James, who is the person behind me, and whisper, "What time is it?"

James looks at the watch on his wrist as he answers. "It's 9:05. You ready to do this?"

I glance back at the door and nod. "As ready as I'll ever be." I turn back to the others and whisper, "Are you lot ready?"

Everyone behind me nods, visibly gripping their wands more tightly. I watch Freddie grab hold of Brittany's hand and, when I realize that, if I fail tonight, this could be my last opportunity to do so, I grab hold of James hand and squeeze gently. James squeezes my hand in return as he asks, "Do you know what you're going to say once we get in there?"

I smirk and shake my head. "I was thinking I would just wing it… You know how well I do with spontaneity…"

He cracks a small smile and nods as he quietly says, "Better get in there then."

I nod my agreement then give his hand one last squeeze and say a quiet "love you" before releasing his hand and motioning for everyone to follow me. We approach the door and I once again hold up my hand for them to wait while I lightly press my ear to the door. Behind it, I can hear a multitude of voices, all muffled by the door. I turn around to face the others and nod with a smile before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

As the door opens, the voices become clearer, until they see me, which is when they stop completely. I take a look around at all the faces, being sure to give each of them the same contemptuous look as I do, my bravery fading when I see that they all have their wands pointed at me with sneers on their faces.

Suddenly my father's voice echoes throughout the room. "Did you think I didn't know you were following my recruits?" I hear him chuckle a bit manically as he continues. "And now you've fallen right into my trap!"

Without my gaze leaving my father, who no longer looks like Seamus and now looks like my father once again, I twist my head to the side a bit and say over my shoulder, "We're severely outnumbered… You lot need to get out while you still can. Go…"

I hear Freddie scoff as he murmurs, "Fat chance, Brighton…"

My father laughs again while shaking his head. "Your friends in the hall aren't going anywhere. Arowena? Castor? Lead them in please."

I can feel my eyes widen as two of my least favorite people in the world force my friends into the room with us. I shake my head and defiantly say, "Leave them out of this!"

My father grins evilly at me as he asks, "And what do you propose we do instead?"

I take a deep breath in an attempt to keep my cool before I say, "You and I… we'll, er… You and I can duel. One on one."

My father cups a hand around his ear as he sneers at me. "Was that the challenge?! It didn't sound like much of a challenge… I know I raised you to be tougher than that!"

The entire room of recruits emits a low laugh as my fists clench at his final comment and my vision goes red. "Fine! I challenge you to a duel! One final fight, just the two of us!"

My father's sneers expands, almost taking up his entire face, as he pulls out his wand and says, "Now that's more like it! There's my little fireball! Unfortunately, we can't just let your friends go… Hmmm… What to do with them… Oh! I know!" He looks at Arowena and Castor with a malicious grin. "Castor. Arowena. Kill them all."

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Arowena waving her wand but, before I can react, I hear Eli yell, "Bri, DUCK!"

The next few things happened so fast that I almost had trouble registering. All at the same time, Eli shoots a spell at Arowena, sending her flying back into the wall of the classroom, Landen shoots a spell at Castor, shooting him out into the corridor and crashing into the wall out there, my father runs from the room in a panic, and all of the recruits begin crazily firing spells at us.

The moment I've registered what has happened, I turn to Freddie and yell, while ducking under flying spells, "You okay in here?"

He nods while firing a spell at one of the students. "We're fine! Go after your dad!"

I nod my thanks then sprint out of the classroom, following the tail end of a cloak that I see disappear around the corner ahead of me. I grasp my wand tightly as I chase my father outside, shooting a spell at him when I see him heading for the Forbidden Forest.

Little droplets of rain fall on me, cooling my skin as I watch my father dodge my spell. I sprawl out onto the ground when he shoots a returning spell at me then abruptly hop up off the ground and begin chasing him again when he turns and flees toward the forest.

The drizzle turns to a steady, cold rain as I continue to chase my father, my shoes splashing through forming puddles as I go. As we enter the tree line, my father disappears from my sight. I look around frantically, the light of the full moon working as my lantern, hoping and praying that I'll catch even a small glimpse of him.

Suddenly, the wind is knocked from my lungs as I'm slammed back into a tree. I let out a groan and get up onto my hands and knees as I attempt to catch my breath again, however, before I can, I'm forcefully lifted upright, my head trapped in a headlock of a Death Eater while my dad stands across from me with his wand pointed at me threateningly. "Do you have any idea how many times I've tried to have you killed?! After you escaped the explosion at your house that was supposed to kill you and that damned father of yours, I panicked. But now, after so many failed attempts, I finally have you here, and I can finally kill you." I narrow my eyes at him as I watch his face contort into a sneer. "Are you ready to die, little fireball?"

"My father?"I ask as he presses the tip of his wand to my forehead.

He laughs icily as he acerbically says, "Yes, father. You didn't actually think I was your father, did you? Oh, I did pretend to be, for many years after I had your mother murdered, but I'm not your real father. It was quite easy to pretend to be him, since we're twins and all…"

"You... My... Mom?"

"Oh yes. I had your mother murdered! As soon as she realized who I was and what I was planning, she tried, on multiple occasions, to get you back to your father, Jacob." He scowls at the last part before grinning again and adding, "And oh, the things I did to your real dad while I pretended to be him, magnificent! Absolutely brilliant! Things that would even make Voldemort cringe, were he still alive! And, once you're out of the way, I'll be free to attack the American Embassies unopposed."

"You..." I can't manage to form the question I so desperately want to ask, so I only ask him, "Why?"

My uncle grins as the tip of his wand leaves my forehead. "Because, if I use the Polyjuice Potion and impersonate someone from another country, I can blow it up and make it look like an act of terrorism. Now imagine that at ALL the American Embassies around the world! I could start World War Three!"

He must see my hazy look of confusion because he attempts to elaborate however, before he can say the first word, he and the Death Eater holding me prisoner, are blasted back away from me and sent deep into the forest, followed by a voice that says, "Maybe, for future reference, you should skip the speech and just kill your victim!"

I push my sopping wet hair out of my face and pick up my wand off the ground, grinning at my friends. "Thanks, guys…"

He looks around warily as he asks, "You okay?"

I nod and say, "He's not really my father! He's... my uncle, I think? Merlin, I have an uncle! That doesn't matter. All that matters is that he's not my father!"

James gives me a look of confusion, but I ignore it, still stuck thinking about the fact that my dad isn't really my dad, then my thoughts turn back to my friends. What are they doing here? What happened with the Death Eaters?

Freddie smirks at me, noting my worried expression, as he says, "They were an easy bunch to beat. Now what are we waiting for? Don't we have a father to beat?!"

I shake my head with a grin as I remember the task at hand. "No, we have an uncle to beat!"

Freddie raises an eyebrow in confusion, but I can only manage to gesture for him to follow me and say, as I run deeper into the forest, "I'll tell you about it after!"

I know we are getting close to wherever my uncle landed when, in an attempt to hinder us, a barrage of Death Eaters and spells come flying at us. Immediately my friends begin firing spells back while dodging the multiple spells being fired at them.

I watch Eli fire off a spell before saying, "We've got this! GO!"

I shake myself from my stupor and continue deeper into the forest, the icy rain now falling in a torrential downpour. As I run, I get an eerie sense of déjà vu, as if I've been in this part of the forest before. While this is completely possible, since I venture into the forest regularly, but this feeling of familiarity is different. Before I can put anymore thought into it, I run into a clearing.

I look around and take in where I am in an attempt to get a leg up. This clearing has long grass that has been weighed down by the weight of the rain, and a long, wooden post in the middle of the clearing. The moment I see the post, I can almost imagine Carter's lifeless body lying in the grass ahead.

I'm in the clearing where everything started...

I barely see my uncle come out from the opposite tree line before he's fired a spell at me. The spell barely misses me, but instead, hits the tree right next to me, causing it to explode and sending splinters and shrapnel flying everywhere. Bits of flying wood hit my arm and the side of my face, creating long cuts and scrapes, but I ignore the pain as I wave my wand and turn the raindrops into long icicles. I wave my wand once again and send the icicles sailing toward my uncle, grimacing when he turns them back into water.

I wave my wand again immediately, but so does my uncle. My spell sails out of the end of my wand and heads directly for my uncle, while his spell shoots directly toward me.

Our spells meet in the middle, colliding with each other, and create a resounding explosion that levels all the trees and sends both of us flying backward.

My back hits the ground hard, knocking the wind out of me once again, and leaves me feeling a bit dizzy. I struggle to roll over, gasping for air once I do, and rub my back, wincing and letting a small gasp of pain out when I hit a tender spot that I'm sure will be a nasty bruise tomorrow.

I slowly lift off of the muddy, puddle covered forest floor and use a fallen tree to help myself stand and wince again as I straighten my back out. I frantically look around for my wand, panicking a bit when I can't find it. I look ahead of me and let a small squeak escape my lips when I see my uncle is about to shoot a spell at me, two Death Eaters at his side.

Suddenly, the two Death Eaters are sucked into the ground, enveloped by what appeared to be a whirlpool of mud and grass. My uncle lowers his wand in alarm, wildly looking around for his unseen assailant. He presses his wand to the mark on his arm and two more Death Eaters appear next to him and the scared expression disappears from his face. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

James runs out from the border of the forest and waves his wand, sucking the two new Death Eaters into the ground as well.

I pick up my wand and struggle to rise, using a fallen tree to bring myself upright. Cuts on my face begin to sting as the cold rain hits them, and the dried blood from less recent cuts begins to wash away. I bring my gaze up to look at my uncle and yell angrily when I see a spell that he's shot about to James, who's too busy fighting another two Death Eaters to notice.

I run toward him, gritting my teeth in an attempt to smother the pain, and yell at him, trying to get his attention. I wave my wand and shoot a shielding spell at him, but it gets there too late.

"JAMES!" I yell as I watch his body crumple to the ground in a lifeless mass.

This isn't how it's supposed to happen!

I quickly become very aware of the rain falling down my face, or maybe they're tears. I'm not sure. Either way, I can feel myself becoming increasingly angry as my wand seems to move of its own accord, shooting two spells at the Death Eaters.

I then turn my attention to my uncle, whose face shows a mixture of both fear and superiority. I let out another angry yell as my wand, once again, shoots spell after spell at my uncle. I watch each spell hit him and watch his flesh deteriorate more and more each time a spell hits. Finally, the last spell hits and all that's left is a pile of wet bones.

I release a ragged breath then turn back to James, running over to him, once again ignoring the stabbing pain in my back. I roll his body over so that he's lying on his back and cradle his head, silent tears running down my face.

Suddenly I let out a loud pain filled scream as the sharp pain in my back increases, and I all I can see is darkness, and I'm sure that I've just died.

PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! lol

The next chapter is going to be the last chapter. I know, it's bittersweet, but I promise I'll make it a good one.

As always, I would love to hear your reviews of the chapter! :)

Thanks!

-Tx :)