A/N: This is an intense chapter, but I really enjoyed writing it. Shit gets dark though.

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Chapter 11: Of Green Flames and Sacrifice

It was surprisingly chilly for an early October night. Rowan shivered a little in the dark.

She had been assigned again to a protection mission. Lily, Remus, Peter, and Mina had been put on the lookout team that night at the safehouse the Order had arranged for the Bones family, and James had been overcome with enthusiasm about getting to be on the more "exciting" team, much to Lily's exasperation. Remus had been furious at his placement on the lookout team and wanted to trade roles with Rowan, but Dumbledore had been resolute. It had taken long hours of Rowan's assurances that she'd be fine to make Remus relent.

Dorcas Meadowes, an older jovial woman with a round rosy face, and Rowan were standing guard by the doorway of the Bones residence, both with wands drawn at the ready. Wizengamot member Edgar Bones and his family had been threatened by the Death Eaters after he'd sentenced a group of them to a lifetime in Azkaban. It had been a bold move – many of the men he'd sentenced were influential figures, and there would no doubt be serious grudges held against him for it.

The Bones family was illustrious and renowned for their keen sense of justice, and Rowan was proud to say that she was a comrade of both Edgar and his sister Susan. When Moody had reported that they were under heavy watch by the Dark Lord's followers, the Order had moved immediately to get them into hiding, and she was determined to get them there safely.

The Boneses had two small children, which made the transportation mission more difficult since Polyjuice Potion couldn't be safely taken by individuals so young without risking some dangerous effects. They had determined that the best choice was to wrap the young ones in James' Invisibility Cloak and then Sirius would transport them separately in the sidecar of his flying motorcycle. It was disturbingly loud, but it was the only way they could move them without certainly being caught, and if they were attacked, he'd be able to get away the easiest. The plan was for him to set out first and stop at various safehouses along the way. Rowan hoped the children wouldn't get scared and cry, giving away their position. He left with the children before the sun had set, and as they watched him drive off alone, Edgar and his wife Wisteria held each other tightly.

The remaining couple was given Polyjuice Potion, transforming them into Emmeline Vance and Mundungus Fletcher, who were both stationed at their final destination. Everyone wore black robes to help disguise themselves in the night, and Rowan thought darkly that they resembled Death Eaters.

Rowan had a terrible feeling about the mission and kept finding various holes in it. Though spies watching the Apparition, Floo, and Portkey networks would be looking for the Boneses and not Emmeline or Mundungus, she still felt a sickening dread spread through her stomach. Surely, the Death Eaters weren't so shortsighted to let a group of suspected Order members pass through a Portkey without attacking.

James, the Prewett brothers, Frank Longbottom, and Wisteria Bones head out for the first Portkey as the sun began to set. Rowan watched the older woman grip her husband's hand tightly before leaving nervously with the group. Perhaps it was because they looked like Emmeline and Mundungus, but for some reason, none of it seemed right. The anxiety spread through her limbs.

Rowan, Dorcas Meadowes, Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody, and Edgar head out just after the sky had turned dark for the second Portkey. They moved swiftly and silently through the streets of London until they reached a dark dock. Ducking below a small bridge, they moved into a dark corner to find an old leather boot. Rowan was barely breathing. As they gathered around it, Moody pulled out his pocket watch. He held a gnarled hand up and gestured, counting down.

5-4-3-2-and

The group grabbed onto the boot together as the minute hand hit 8 p.m., and they were sucked into the void.

Her vision twisted sickeningly, and it was if the volume of the world went mute. But as her hearing came rushing back like an opened vacuum, she realized that something was terribly wrong.

Just as Rowan regained her feet, she heard screaming and blinding flashes of light all around her. She instinctively grabbed Edgar and pulled him downward just in time as a green beam of light shot over their heads.

"Someone betrayed us!" she heard an angry shout. Moody was shooting hexes around him wildly though accurately, hitting a few Death Eaters with red beams. He pointed his wand into the air and shot a blast of yellow sparks up into the sky, which exploded loudly and brightly. It illuminated the field, and Rowan counted nearly fifteen glimmering masks around them. Terror seized her body, and she felt as if her spine had frozen rigid.

"We have to move!" Arthur screamed over the mayhem, and he grabbed Edgar, pulling him towards the woods in the distance. Rowan followed but kept her back to the retreating group so that she could defend them from the still attacking Death Eaters. As they moved though, she realized that Dorcas had remained behind.

"Dorcas!" she shouted at the older woman. She was fighting viciously with a trio of Death Eaters and flailed an arm at her to keep going, but the thought of leaving her behind constricted her throat. Dorcas was fighting valiantly and had taken down two Death Eaters with a blast of fire from her wand. Just as Rowan was about to throw a hex at one of her comrade's attackers though, a green light hit the woman from behind.

"NO!" Rowan screamed. Dorcas' eyes were wide and blank as she collapsed to the ground in a heap. Rowan instinctively made a move to run to her body, but she realized that the other Death Eaters were closing in on them and held herself back, half-blinded by the hot tears that had risen to her eyes.

"Rowan, leave her!" she heard someone shout behind her, and she reluctantly continued on.

They miraculously made it into the forest, which offered them some cover but also hindered them as they had to watch their step as they moved through the dense trees and darkness. Rowan panted with exertion as they sprinted through the dark woods, the sound of cackling Death Eaters from behind them urging her onward. Their terrible voices echoed in her ears.

Finally, Rowan saw a glimmer of light and knew that it was a sign that the safehouse was close. They had to hold the Death Eaters off long enough to get Edgar and Wisteria into the safehouse and set up the protective enchantments before it was too late. She saw Arthur turn around and face off against the Death Eaters. Moody did the same.

"Rowan, you have to get Edgar to the safehouse now! We'll do our best to hold them off!" Arthur shouted, throwing hexes into the woods. A distant grunt told them that he'd hit one.

Rowan felt the terror in her blood again but ran forward and grabbed Edgar by the wrist, sprinting further into the woods and looking for the next sign for the safehouse. Just as they approached the last dash, she saw Frank Longbottom running with Wisteria toward them. Wisteria was struggling to keep up.

"Rowan!" he called. "There are about three on our tail! I'll hold them off, but you have to take them and go!" He pushed the older woman into Rowan's arms and then ran back to continue fighting.

The reunited couple embraced tightly, and Rowan could see that Wisteria was about to break down.

"Come on, we have to move!" she bit out impatiently and grabbed the woman's hand to keep running. Edgar followed close behind, throwing a few hexes behind him at the approaching Death Eaters.

Her face and lungs were searing, burning with heat, but she had to keep going. They were so close, and Rowan could see a light in the distance meaning that the house was close. They ran and ran, breathing ragged. Her legs ached, but she kept pushing. Just as they reached the clearing she shoved the Boneses forward.

"Go! You have to get inside the house!" she screamed before turning to face the approaching footsteps. She could hear Remus' voice calling to them and saw Mina from the corner of her eye running towards the couple just before she turned. But just as she had raised her wand to fight the last of their pursuers, there was an explosion of blinding green light from behind her, and she felt herself soaring through the air.

The world twisted around her, and she vaguely heard Remus shouting her name. It all sounded so far away. She wasn't sure what was up or down.

She hit the ground on her left side with a sickening crunch and felt her head bounce against the dirt painfully. She was skidding. There was dirt caked onto her, in her skin. She felt a burning sensation on her right shoulder, but she couldn't find her voice. It burned, but not like the cold fire from the year before. It was hot and searing and green. She wanted to scream, but all she could hear was the pounding of feet running towards her. It sounded so dull. The world turned and flipped around her. Her lungs were in her throat, and she couldn't find control of her eyes, which were rolling wildly.

All she could see was green.