Chapter 11

...Love will make you do fucked-up things...

~There's Something About Mary(1998)

Joseph and Rose Evans' cabin
Vermilion Bay Ontario, Canada
January 11th, 2000

Joseph Evans always rose when the first rays of sunshine crept through his bedroom windows. He couldn't understand how it came to be but it never failed. In the early morning hours, he walked down the stairs of his cabin in Canada intending to start a pot of tea. He passed the dining room and noticed a letter sitting in the middle of the table. It was laid out in the open for whomever to see, not curled or folded to hide it's contents. Curious, Joseph looked around to see if anybody was awake. Perhaps they were writing the letter and stepped out for a minute.

Creeping up to it, Joseph seen that it was a letter addressed to Harry. Reading more into the letter, Joseph dropped it and moved as fast as old bones would go to wake up his grandson. When he got close to the bedroom door, he started hollering Harry's name before banging on it. It took less than three knocks before the young man swing open the door ready for battle.

"What happened grandfather?"

"It's Davin", Joseph said out of breath. His age had caught up to him and he tried his best to spit it out. He was breathing too heavily to speak full sentences. But he could wheeze out, "dinning room!"

Harry took off without a second thought and entered the room with his wand drawn. He didn't notice anything out of place. No enemy targets and no Davin! 'What was the fuss all about', Harry thought grumpily. The only thing he seen was a letter on the table. Harry moved closer to it and seen that it was his letter...from Davin.

Brother,

I am sorry for not telling you of my plan, but I knew you would stop me and think I was crazy. I'm returning to Britain to get Bellatrix Black. Not out of revenge. but out of love. Something that used to be foreign to the both of us. It gives me great joy to watch you and Lilliana grow closer and I wish to have that feeling for myself. Selfish, I know.

I know full well that there is a certainty that I will be killed. But I have to try. She has invaded my thoughts, my dreams, and my very heart. How can this be when we haven't even had a proper introduction? I cannot explain this feeling I have without her. The closest word I can come to is "hollow".

Please do not call or page me as it might jeopardize my location. I'm positive that if I am captured it will be displayed publicly. If that happens, please do not weep for me! For I am pursuing something that I have longed for since we were children. Love.

Davin

Harry sat down hard in the dining room chair. He thought Davin's comments about Bella were for entertainment value. Never once did he think that he actually cared for the much older woman. Harry was torn between leaving to help his brother in his pursuit for love or pursuing his brother to smack some sense back into him.

After a heated internal struggle, Harry decided to accept Davin's decision. Who was he to begrudge someone of love? Harry thought of the feelings shared between him and Lilliana. He knew he loved her. Neither one has said as much, but he felt it in his very soul. Harry wanted his brother to feel what he was feeling for another person. Even if it was Bellatrix Black. Davin deserved that much.

"What are you going to do Harry", his love asked.

Harry looked at her anew, his feelings for her evident in his eyes as he smiled widely. "If my brother is truly in love, I am happy for him. I would have helped him if he had asked...but I guess he feels he has to do this alone. The only thing we can do we hope he succeeds and pray to the Maker that she reciprocates his feelings."

Harry grabbed Lilliana's hand and motioned her to follow him. When they were alone, Harry professed his love. When she did the same, they lounged around the cabin for the rest of the day with a newly wed glow to them.

********oooo********

Davin swam to shore after what felt like days in the cold English channel. He would have died for sure if it wasn't for magical heating charms. After a long flight, a short portkey, and swim that lasted forever...Davin had finally returned to Britain. He crawled up the shore far enough not to be taken back in by the sea before collapsing in exhaustion.

After a quick kip, Davin managed to get up and apparate to the hideout they had been using in Liverpool. He took awhile to eat, sleep, and rest before he started his mission. He laid in bed thinking of ways to get close to Bellatrix without getting caught. After a short while, he finally managed to fall asleep.

He awoke early the next morning refreshed but sore as hell from the swim. 'Yet another thing I'm sure Harry would berate me for', he humored. After a shower, he dressed and apparated to Knockturn Alley. The very air Davin breathed felt sinister to him as walked past abandoned shops and buildings that should have been condemned.

He walked into a dodgy looking apothecary and approached the teller. A middle aged woman, who looked like she had seen better days, sat at the counter watching him like a hawk. "What do you want", she asked gruffly. Davin handed her a note that asked for Polyjuice potion.

She looked Davin over with a keen eye. Ever since "The Merge", the shape-shifting potion had become highly regulated. Non-magicals had used it to impersonate others to steal money from banks and on a few occasions, a stolen night of passion with a partner they didn't have a claim to. For a month, stories ran rampant with distrust, adultery, and grand larceny. To buy it, one had to fill out forms upon forms along with background checks and permission from the person being 'copied'.

To help the old 'battle ax' along, Davin dropped a sack of gold on the counter that contained five hundred galleons. Her eyes widened just a tad at the sight of it. She greedily shove the coins into her blouse and summoned the potion from the back room. "If I get any blow back from this...", she threatened.

Davin grabbed the bottle and tilted his head in acknowledgment before leaving the shop. He left the dark alley and made his way to the MMTF, or the Muggle Magical Task Force. The last time he had been to the building was with Harry to kidnap Sirius Black. It was also the first time he set his eyes on the woman who had stolen his heart. 'Karma', Davin thought ironically. The same starting place where Harry and his lives were changed (by meeting Dumbledore and learning of Harry's true past) would be the same starting place where his life would hopefully change.

Davin prayed to the Maker that Sirius was in his office. He never learned where Sirius really lived. He had only seen him visiting Dumbledore's hideout. He ended up walking around the block trying to pick out the last ingredient for the Polyjuice potion, human hair.

After an hour, he finally found a suitable candidate that arrogantly walked out of a local bank. 'That man is obviously used to having money and being in charge', Davin thought. He frowned as his target walked into, or straight pushed, people out of his way. 'The trouble that bastard will be in if I get caught would almost be worth it.' Davin really wanted to pick someone else but he couldn't find anybody with the same body type. A prerequisite he demanded since the idea of using magic to alter his clothes or wasting time buying a new set didn't appeal to him.

Davin quickened his pace and walked behind his target. When they reached a cross walk, Davin reached up and snatched a patch of hair of the man's head before taking off into the crowds. He heard the bastard's curses fade away as he sifted through the busy walkway back to the Task Force building. He ducked into a coffee shop and walked straight to the loo.

He latched the divider door, took out the potion, and dropped the hair into the mixture. On contact, the potion absorbed the hair and started to turn an unappetizing brown color. Having used the potion several times before they became regulated, Davin still couldn't understand the color scheme the potions seemed to take. He remembered asking Father Jacobs about it once and the answer he received was along the lines of "it doesn't really matter because they all taste like shit!"

This time was no different. Davin downed the bottle in one go before gagging on it. He felt the effects almost instantly. His skin flushed, the muscle tissue underneath burned in inflammation, and an alarming tingling feeling spread from his toes to his head. Davin's feet shrunk ever so slightly, 'shoes still fit'.

Next, his arm and leg muscles shrunk noticeably. Davin felt his torso bubble and alter it's composition to meet that of his target's, 'bye bye eight pack', Davin thought. His hair grew out a bit and turned color. Davin felt the muscles in his face twitch and reshape. The most notable difference to his appearance could not be seen easily though. A tongue.

It was worth the nasty potion taste a hundred times over in order to have a tongue again. He smacked the back of teeth with it, licked his lips, and talked out loud to get reacquainted with it. Satisfied, he walked out of the coffee shop with a smile on his face. He quickly walked into the MMTF building with the same plan as last time: ask a receptionist for Sirius' office.

Once again, Davin hoped that Sirius was there because the potion only lasted an hour. He changed his expression to one of a disgruntled patron before getting the receptionist's attention. "Excuse me ma'am, I need to see Investigator Black. Some...person", Davin said harshly, "pulled my hair and ran off. I would like to seek charges."

The receptionist, Judy if Davin remembered correctly, looked at Davin and told him in a bored tone that the Investigator didn't manage petty crimes such as simple assaults. The assassin did his best to look outraged, "I am a personal friend to the Investigator and you best believe that he'll see me!"

Finally, Judy looked at Davin to acknowledge him, "I think you will get better results if I summoned an Auror to pursue your charges. Investigator Black usually deals with crimes of a more serious nature. But, since you are persistent, I will contact him for you."

"Thank you ma'am. I'm very sorry for being rash, but I trust Sirius will get better results for me", Davin said using Sirius' first name to portray a personal level to their friendship.

Davin expected Judy to escort him to Sirius' office like the previous time. It caught him off guard when she requested a name. "Excuse me", Davin asked.

"Your name sir", she repeated.

Davin thought quickly, he obviously didn't want to use his real name but he needed to come up with one that Sirius wouldn't question. "Ha...Harold Davins", he said with a slight stutter.

Judy instructed him to have a seat in the waiting area until Sirius collected him. The wait seemed to drag alarmingly slow for Davin. It got to the point that he kept his hand in his pocket with his fingers grasping his wand. He expected to be attacked at any moment.

Another agonizing moment later, Sirius finally walked around the corner and briefly spoke to Judy. She pointed Davin out and he could tell that Sirius was on guard. Davin walked to greet the older man with a hand shake, "Sirius, my old friend! I haven't seen you since Harry went away on vacation."

Davin let the words "Harry" and "vacation" drag out slightly so Sirius would get the hint. Luckily, the light bulb clicked and Sirius greeted him back warmly. "Been too bloody long mate. Come to my office and tell me what's going on."

Davin walked beside Sirius telling him all about how someone pulled his hair and ran off. When they arrived at Sirius' office, he shut the door and pulled a wand on Davin. "Now just who the hell are you?"

Davin smiled brightly, "I'm glad you didn't curse me on sight. It's me, Davin."

Sirius responded with a dumbfounded look, "Davin? As in Davin Drakarn, Harry's best mate?"

"The one and only."

"But...but Davin doesn't speak! He doesn't have a tongue", Sirius spluttered.

"Some Investigator you are! I'm on Polyjuice potion you old dog! And and I only have...", Davin looked to his watch, "twenty five more minutes left. So let's not waste time"

Still not convinced, Sirius thought of a way to truly determine if this was Davin. "If you are who you say you are...what caused Harry to fly out of a second floor window?"

Davin chuckled as he relived the memory, "Dumbledore did it when he caught the poor bastard shagging his daughter!"

Sirius put his wand away, "sorry Davin, just not used to you actually speaking."

"Yeah, too bad this stuff is hard to come by. I'd try and make it myself but the shit takes over thirty days to finish."

Sirius smiled at Davin. It felt good to talk to a friend again after being left behind due to his position. "On to the next question...just what in Merlin's sweaty taint are you doing back in Britain?"

Davin doubled over in laughter trying several times to repeat what Sirius had said about Merlin's nether region. "Quite saying shit like that", Davin laughed, "we won't get much done if I'm geeking out!"

"Well then what brings you back! Tell me you aren't falling for the trap from that Daily Prophet article?"

"So you guessed that too huh? We know it's a trap, a very clever one at that. Harry was ready to come back to defend his honor", Davin chuckled again. "But...falling for...is about correct", Davin said with finger quotes around 'falling for'.

"What do you mean Davin?"

Davin looked at Sirius somewhat bashfully, which in the Polyjuiced state he was in, came out more of a admonished look. Like a dog lowering it's head to the alpha male. "I have fallen for your cousin, Bella."

Sirius gave Davin the look he had come to expect from Harry, that of pure dumbfoundedness. "But you have only met her once! Even then you had her tied up and gagged!" Sirius remembered the stories Harry had told them about their upbringing and assumed that Davin was too naive to distinguish between love and lust. So it was with good intentions that he put his arm around Davin's shoulder and try to break it to him gently. "I know Bellatrix is a very beautiful woman Davin...and I'm sure she would be lucky to have a wizard like you. But think of this logically..."

"I know how it sounds and it makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever! But ever since that day, I've had this pull...this infatuation... some invisible force drawing me to her. I've meditated over it for hours on end but I can't stop this feeling of...of...hell, I don't even know what to call it!"

Sirius watched the man's expressions and the jumbled emotions coming from them. "What did Harry say about this?" When Davin looked guilty, Sirius looked surprised. "Harry doesn't know, does he?"

"He probably does by now. I left a note trying to explain it. He hasn't called me or tried to contact me, so I think he is respecting my wishes."

"But it's suicide, Davin, you have to know that they will be guarding her better than they are guarding Riddle!"

"Please...Sirius", Davin pleaded with his (somewhat) new friend, "I have to do this! I have to at least know!"

Sirius was about to reply when a beeping noise sounded from Davin's watch. "I've got to go", Davin said.

Davin stood up to leave and Sirius seen the heartbreak in the Polyjuiced man's eyes. "This is going to get us both killed", he said under his breath. Before Davin could reach the door, Sirius called out to him, "Alright, alright. I'll help. The old man's house is still clear. Meet me there tonight and we'll go over some ideas."

Davin's stolen face instantly turned to one of elation, "Thank you Sirius! Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah", Sirius said disgruntled. "You're not going to be thanking me when you find out what we are up against. Now go before you change back!"

********oooo********

Late in the evening, Sirius finally passed through the wards of Dumbledore's old hideout on Thatcher's Lane. He briskly walked to the large house and entered the door. Davin met him in the entrance way, back to his normal looking, tongueless, self. He reverted back to legilimency to communicate, "it's about time you arrived. This house is creepy when it's empty. Been hearing shit all day."

Sirius chuckled a little before motioning the pair to the dining room. "Harry called me a little while after you left." Before Davin could express his fears of Harry condemning his futile mission, Sirius blurted out, "he just wanted to ask if I had heard from you. He said he is not going to stop you or berate you in any way."

Davin smiled in relief at the news. This mission would have been much harder mentally if he thought Harry was going to be against the whole thing.

"He also said that if she meant that much to you, that all you had to do was ask and he would have helped", Sirius continued.

"I know. That's exactly why I didn't tell him. I'm comfortable with the fact that this mission will end up with my death. I just don't want to drag Harry down with me. Because he would, if I asked him too. It's the type of person he is.

Sirius agreed somberly. "Well then, let's get started", he said changing the topic. "This is what I've learned in the past few hours. Bella's routine hasn't changed at all. She still lives in Norwich and she apparates directly to work every morning at eight sharp."

"Since her habits have not changed", Sirius continued, "they must have tracking charms on her somewhere. I've played the concerned cousin role and found out that two squads from her elite military unit dwell in the apartments beside and below her. When she gets to work, she is greeted by no less than five Aurors who escort her into the building...a building that is warded tighter than a frog's asshole thanks to Harry!"

Davin chuckled. "What about her apartment building? Is it heavily warded?"

"Not as bad, but I'm sure they added intruder wards on the grounds. But I'd wager that if you killed her elite guard, it wouldn't win her heart anyway", Sirius said attempting to be humorous.

"No that won't do at all", Davin smiled. "So far...the best way to get to her is when she arrives at work. If I can judge my timing right, I might be able to apparate a second before she does, stun her, heave her over my shoulder...like a true caveman mind you...and escape the ten feet or so out of the anti-apparition wards."

"I'll arrive a little bit early and linger for a moment to make sure you get out safely. That way I can call Harry and tell him the good news", Sirius said with a smile. For if he didn't smile, he would probably be crying. The apparition point to her building is only forty feet long with a couple of steps to the front doors. Even if everything went according to plan, Davin would still be facing five highly trained Aurors and the likely possibility of wandering military members and other law officials. Not to mention, that her elite team would be up Davin's ass every step of the way until he disarmed all the tracking devices.

Thinking about the exit strategy, Sirius asked Davin what he had planned.

"IF", he emphasized, "I get to her, I am going to apparate a few blocks away and vanish anything that might be charmed...which probably means everything but her wand."

Sirius chuckled, "well your not going to waste any time!"

Davin sputtered and stuttered, "no..that's...no, it's not like that! I'm not going to do anything to her!"

Davin's reaction only made Sirius laugh harder, "I know son, it's alright. I understand what you meant. Continue."

Davin spilled his plan of hopping from place to place before ending at his hideout in Liverpool. From there, he was hoping to have enough time to start some sort of dialogue. Whether it was one sided or not, it didn't matter. Afterwards, he would let her go! He didn't think he could bring himself to kill or torture information out of her.

"It's a plan then", Sirius said getting up from the table," when are you going to do it?"

"It's too late tonight. I want to be well rested in case something bad happens and I need all my strength."

"The next day it is! Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading upstairs to pass out. It's been a long day."

********oooo********

Davin spent the day before his planned kidnapping meditating and preparing himself for the task ahead. He had come to terms with his death should he fail, that much was true. Now, he had to get his head into the game so that he could win! 'Free the mind and your ass will follow', he thought.

Sirius had left a note saying he would be back that night so they could plan their apparition times. Thinking of the man, Davin appreciated his help immensely. So, towards the evening, Davin wrote several more letters. They were almost like a last will and testament to him. He tried to be upbeat about it, but the thought of not seeing his friends again brought his mood down. So he ended his day with another two hours of meditation.

The day of Bella's kidnapping began with Davin awaking bright and early. He ate a light breakfast and headed out for a "warm up" jog through Dumbledore's warded property. He breathed in the sweet morning air wondering if it would be his last.

His nostalgia continued through his shower and getting dressed in his monk robes. As he was sheathing his throwing knives and his bladed tonfas, the wondering stopped. Like a switch, he finally put his head in the game and mentally prepared himself to not only succeed, but to survive as well.

Sirius arrived at a quarter to eight to wish Davin luck and to leave together to apparate to their starting point. They didn't want the Aurors to track their apparition points like the did Harry. The investigation team came very close to finding them.

"Do you have any way to send letters to Harry or Dumbledore", Davin asked before leaving the house.

"Are they going to Canada? I know Dumbledore had a way to contact Joseph but I was never told how. Just leave them on the table", Sirius said grasping Davin's shoulder. He figured what was in those letters and what they stood for, they were Davin's 'good-bye' letters. What Davin didn't know was that he wasn't the only one to write that type of letter. "I'm sure that if you don't get rid of them, Harry will find them."

Davin nodded solemnly before thanking Sirius for everything he had done for Harry and him. Sirius in return patted Davin on his shoulder before rapping him on his forehead. "Now quit acting like your not coming back and focus!"

Davin was taken aback, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped at the sudden change of Sirius' demeanor. But it worked, Davin's mood reverted back from the sappy state it was going. Davin took out his wand and double checked his other weapons. He didn't want to wear the hood of his robes. Not for this job, he wanted Bellatrix to see his face. 'Maybe it would spark some type of recognition', he thought.

"I'm ready", he told Sirius, who escorted him off the property and past the wards.

"Remember, no less than seven apparition points before going to the Imperial Center. I'll see you there."

Davin nodded and shook Sirius' hand before apparating to six random locations. For his seventh, he apparated to Bowes Church; his old home. He looked at his watch and seen that it was seven fifty nine. He quickly looked around the area he had grown up in, 'wish me luck', he said to his fallen brothers and sisters, 'if not...I'll see you soon.'

"Beep Beep", his watch hollered. It was like a gunshot to Davin's eyes, he had been waiting and dreading this moment for days now! He gripped his wand and turned on the spot to apparate to the Imperial Center. The feeling of being sucked though a straw did not go unnoticed. He hated that feeling. Seconds later, he reappeared in front of his destination with a loud 'crack'.

Time seemed to slow down. Davin's eyes had to adjust since the sun was shining brighter at this part of the country. He instantly started stepping off towards the Imperial Center. His eye shifted from the Aurors he was able to detect to Sirius kneeling down pretending to tie his shoes. He quickly looked for any other threats that they couldn't plan for but nothing stood out to him.

Then, he finally allowed himself to gaze at her. She was sashaying her hips sensually in the tight military dress uniform. Davin's eyes followed her creamy legs past her skirt and became momentarily transfixed on the way the muscles contracted with her steps. Then his attention was drawn up to her shoulders and her dark curly hair that was tied in a loose bun. He glimpsed at Bella's neck and absentmindedly yearned to trail kisses down to her collar bone.

Davin was close now, all he had to do was reach out to her. 'This is it', he thought.

As her arm swung behind her in a natural, yet very sensual fashion according to Davin, he reached out and grabbed her hand. He didn't grip it violently, he squeezed it almost lovingly, stopping her forward motion. She turned and looked at him. 'Just as beautiful as I had remembered', Davin thought.

She didn't pull away or fight to retrieve her hand back . She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. Although from Sirius' perspective, it was only a second. Davin's wand arm moved, seemingly, by it's own accord and gently fired off a stunning spell. When Bella started dropping, Davin caught her and tried to slow her decent. But her falling down allowed the young assassin a look at the Aurors behind Bella.

And then time multiplied to unbelievable levels! Before Bella's limp body could hit the ground, Davin had blocked four stunning spells and twisted his body to dodge another. The five Aurors were sending spell after spell at Davin that made the average wizard's jaw drop. But they were no match for the assassin!

He stood his ground, years of training since childhood had kicked in and it showed.

'Shield, shield, Diffindo, parry, Bombarda!'

Davin's exploding hex caught one Auror in the chest. Blood sprayed into his nearby comrade, delaying his spell casting long enough for Davin to take him out with a cutting curse.

'Shield, shield, Diffindo, parry, parry!'

Bystanders and employees alike took notice of the fight. Several members of the MMTF joined the fight to help their Auror brothers and sisters. But Davin would not be denied. Spell fire rained down on the blonde assassin like a balloon caught in a Tsunami. At one point, he was combating twelve Aurors at once!

Davin had to resort to using wandless magic to keep up. At first, he levitated debris, shrubbery, and even other wizards to block the incoming spells. Then he did something that Sirius had never seen before...Davin appeared to be grabbing the offensive spells with his bare hand and redirecting them back at the caster! 'Unbelievable', Sirius thought.

Davin spun to his right and grabbed a spell with his left hand. He continued his spin and let the spell fly back at the castor before batting away another curse. Davin jumped and made a tight spin horizontally as two spells, one high and one low, almost hit him. Upon landing, Davin shot off a cutting curse and grabbed hold of another spell to redirect. Sirius continued to look in astonishment as Davin's opposition slowly started to dwindle.

When it appeared that the amount of people casting spells at him had decreased back to five, Davin used wandless magic to levitate Bella's unconscious body back to the edge of wards. It went way too slow. He would defend against all the attacks, take a step back, then shift Bella over to him. Sirius knew that Davin was almost out of time. Soon enough he would be fighting the entire MMTF.

And as Sirius thought it, it happened. Two squads of non-magicals ran out of the building with automatic weapons aimed right at Davin. They were decked to nines in dark camouflaged uniforms, black vests, and automatic rifles. Davin had to dedicate his free hand to hold a physical barrier shield to stop the bullets they were spraying at him. They continuously fired and ran to positions around Davin for a successful crossfire.

More Aurors and hit wizards rushed to join the fight forcing Davin to use his wand to supply another shield. Both of Davin's hands were busy maintaining his shields when he finally started feeling the fatigue. He could no longer move back towards the wards with Bella. The spell fire was so thick that static lightning crawled through the small city block where the MMTF was located and lit up the square. It licked Davin's shield like an inverse plasma ball; but it didn't interfere with the shield spell at all.

The Spec Ops squads never let up and only took their finger's off the trigger long enough to reload another magazine. Piles of shell casings began to grow around their formation as the projectiles shot towards Davin only to be stopped by the physical barrier shield and drop to the ground around it. With the lightning illuminating Davin's shield and the ever growing mound of lead, bystanders would later claim that the law department was attacking a giant demented snow globe.

Davin started sweating profusely as his muscles started to burn from exertion. He caught a break when he touched his wand to a lightning bolt and sent it to a squad of soldiers. It created a slight lull in the gunfire as an entire squad dropped from either the electrocution or from the vehicle explosion when it hit a nearby car. Davin stabbed his wand to the ground, the tip barely touching the deck, and commanded the expended projectiles to rise before they suddenly exploded outward like a military claymore mine.

A literal wall of lead shot outwards and claimed lives selfishly. Nearby cars were thrown like toys and crushed the Spec Ops soldiers hiding behind them. Magical combatants that were close enough to the assassin were torn to shreds; limbs and chunks of flesh scattered everywhere. The entire block seemed to shift away from Davin as bodies were thrown and glass from all the neighboring buildings shattered. A dust cloud followed the over sized frag grenade and shook the ground to the point of cracking the pavement.

Then, after the booming echo retreated, all was silent except for distant car alarms. Davin dropped to his knees. He was beyond tired but he refused to give up. His free hand shook as he once again gripped Bellatrix's hand and started to drag her out of the apparition wards.

Ten feet...

Eight feet...

Three feet...

He was nearly there, the light at the end of the tunnel. He dug deep within himself and found a renewed energy born from the thought of near completion with the mission. Like a marathon runner going full sprint to finish strong. He could feel the tingle from the edge of wards tantalizing his magical senses. He was almost there!

The powers that be, however, sent another obstacle his way in the form of the Emperor himself. Tom Riddle materialized twenty feet away at the entrance of the Imperial Center and sent a quick Impedimenta curse. Davin turned and blocked it but just barely. The force of it knocked the exhausted assassin on his backside. He tried to get back up but Tom kept sending spell after spell keeping Davin busy.

Sirius opened his eyes and looked up into the sky. His ears rang and his body hurt something terrible. While he took assessment of his injuries, he could feel the force from the spells hitting Davin's shield shake his bones. His left arm was shattered from the blast and looking at his torso he seen three puncture wounds. He raised up into a sitting position, fighting through the light-headed feeling, and noticed the pool of blood around him. He looked around for his wand to try and use magic to stop the bleeding.

In his search, he seen Davin block a spell with his wand and then wandlessly levitate a severed leg at the Emperor's head. The distraction was enough for Davin to stand up but he was still on the defensive. Sirius found his wand only to realize that it was snapped in half. The blackness of death was starting to creep up to him. He could feel his body getting colder and strength was leaving him fast. Sirius looked up in time to see Davin finally get hit by a spell, the first since the start of the mission.

Tom Riddle slowly advanced on the young assassin and spoke in a low tone. Sirius couldn't hear what was said as his ears were still ringing. He slowly got to his feet and staggered in their direction. He shuffled a little faster when Davin cried out in pain from another curse. As Sirius got closer he noticed the defeated look in Davin's eyes as he possessively grabbed Bella's hand again. He was so close Sirius thought using all of his willpower to merge into a jog. 'All he needs is a little push!'

"And now...our time has come to an end. It is too bad I couldn't get here earlier", Riddle told Davin, "I've always enjoyed a good duel." The Emperor raised his wand intent on finishing the fight. Davin could barely raise his head in response, he knew this was it. He straightened his back, looked the Emperor in the eyes and prepared to die standing on his feet with his prize still gripped in his hands.

Davin exhaled in relief and surprise when Sirius ran up and rammed his shoulder into the Emperor. Davin used the distraction to drag his prize beyond the ward boundary when Sirius stumbled and fell to his knees. At that moment, the young man noticed the blood soaking the front of Sirius' robes. Davin stuck his hand out for Sirius to grab, but it was not to be.

Even before the sickly green light of Tom Riddles' Avada Kedavra hit him, Sirius was gasping and gurgling for air. It was a mercy kill as far as Davin was concerned as he recognized that Sirius was choking on his own blood. 'Probably from a sucking chest wound', he figured.

And yet, when the lights finally went out for Sirius Black, the old dog had a huge smile on his face. A split second later, Davin apparated away with Bellatrix.