So, sorry for the slight delay on this one. My brother just had a baby and with the madness of that coupled with how incredibly hard it was to write this chapter things got delayed. But hey, it's a long chapter so please forgive me.
As always please read, enjoy and please leave a review if you have a moment!
The Purple Black
The wind caught on her skirts, the fabric hitting back on her bare legs underneath. A chill ran down her spine that she knew had nothing to do with the cool May breeze. She closed her eyes, taking in the sounds, smells and feel of all that was around her. There was a low hum of people around her whispering between themselves, each voice trying not to be heard by the crowd at large but all was lost in the quiet hum of seemingly hundreds of Death Eaters and their allies. Her hand clenched a little tighter around her wand, feeling the cool wood underneath her fingers and wondering how many would fall beneath her powers today. A small smirk graced her lips as she heard Bellatrix giggling to her side and she opened her eyes to see the witch leant back into her husband. They were awaiting their master. They had not been there long, though it had seemed like hours ago that she had said goodbye to her small daughter.
Nymphadora had thought long and hard about where she would be when this inevitable call for battle would come, she'd romanticised the moment in her mind as images of herself training with her Aunt, torturing prisoners or simply being disturbed from other important works. But the reality was that she had been woken from a nap of all things, with her little girl on her chest having battled with the child to convince her that she was not hungry, she did not need changing, she merely needed to rest. She had watched her angry red locks turn to a deep purple to match her mother's current state, stroking her back and kissing her head as she sung an old lullaby as the perfect child fell to sleep on her mother and soon she had unintentionally joined her in her perfect slumber. That was until her mark had burned with the call of her master. It was a shock awakening that had almost caused her to wake the poor child, but she managed to remain calm. She knew what was happening before she was told. She almost did not want to go, as all she could think about as she tried to get the will to raise from her bed was her daughter. How long would she be? Would she be okay under the sleeping spell as she had many times before? . . . Would she come back to her? What if she died and she was—she had struck the thoughts from her head. She had to. She could hear the others coming from their rooms and knew she would soon be missed if she didn't leave. So she forced herself from the bed, taking each step a little slower than usual as she walked her child over to her cot.
She kissed her head again, lingering for a moment as she whispered to her "I'll be back . . . Mummy loves you . . . so much."
Then she had placed the girl in her cot, ignoring the tears now threatening to burst from her as they swam across her vision. She gave the girl one last kiss, taking in her sleeping form until she was dragged back to reality as she heard the call of her Aunt from the hallway. She placed the necessary spell on the child and raised a ward to ensure that no harm would come to her, then tore herself from the room but not before swatting away the tears that had now fallen unintentionally. She paused as she saw her Aunt, there was a solemn look on her face and in that brief moment there was a silent understanding of two mothers that had faced the fleeting thought that they had perhaps seen their child for the last time. But soon the moment was over and a grin forced its way onto her Aunt's face as she declared they had to leave. Nymphadora simply nodded and followed her, though she was unable to force the excitement onto her face just yet.
She had not said a word since she had spoken since she had said goodbye to her daughter. She had followed orders and was patiently waiting for the order to attack her old school. The place looked beautiful really when she took a moment to think about it. It was if someone had placed a glass bowl threaded with bright white fairy lights over the ancient building, the whole thing ready to shatter and flutter out of existence when the right pressure was placed upon it.
Nymphadora gasped as she felt a body behind her, though as it closed in on her and arms wrapped around her waist she knew who had joined them.
"Took your time . . ." Dora whispered as she felt a head rest on her shoulder.
"I had things to take care of . . ." Barty murmured, placing a kiss on the girl's cheek before he looked out at the castle, "pretty."
"I suppose . . ." Dora nodded, wondering to herself if Barty had been to see Cassie before he left Malfoy Manor. She liked to think so, though she was unsure.
"It will all come crashing down soon," Bellatrix cried with glee, "shattering around them so we can cut them down one by one. Like pigs to slaughter."
"Sounds beautiful," Rodolphus smirked.
"Oh, it is," Bellatrix grinned.
"We should make a game of it," Rabastan mused, "highest body count wins?"
"You'll lose that one in a heartbeat," Barty scoffed, taking a step back from Nymphadora as he looked to Rabastan.
"Care to make a bet?" Rabastan raised an eyebrow.
"A bet I'm guaranteed to win?" Barty laughed, "Ten Galleons?"
"Twenty," Rabastan said, watching the man considering his proposition for a moment before with a laugh they both shook hands.
Rodolphus rolled his eyes, though he did seem amused at the pair as Bellatrix laughed at their antics. He opened his mouth to say something, though at that precise moment the crowd began to fall silent. Their master had arrived. She watched as he walked before them, his now seemingly always present snake right by his side as he looked from his soldiers to the challenge set before them. This was not the time for a speech, they knew why they were here—they had already been briefed on arrival as it seemed Bellatrix was already aware of the situation. Dora had wondered if her Aunt Bella had been with The Dark Lord when he received word that Potter was within the castle walls, perhaps he had gone to see his child before he called rallied his troops to arms? But it was not a thought she had lingered on for long. He merely stopped in his slow walk as he reached the space in front of her, sparing a glance for Bellatrix as the woman giggled in anticipation before almost without warning he gave the bellow of a command to attack the defences of the castle.
Streams of hundreds of spells instantly shot over her head, each individual spell on its way to try and break the defences of the castle. Though as she added her own power to the onslaught it was quickly apparent the defences were not about to immediately shatter in the way she had imagined. Their master paced the front of the crowd as his servants put all of their strength into attack the defences of the old building, shouting the occasional command to strengthen the assault. It seemed at least ten minutes had passed and, though the defences were undoubtedly weakened, they had still not brought them down in full. Some had paused, the constant use of their magic on the defences tiring them as they needed to gather their strengths again. Nymphadora looked to her Aunt, there was sweat on her brow though her teeth were gritted and her intense concentration burned like a fire in her dark eyes. With a single command from their master, the attack stopped.
He stepped forward, looking to the wand in his hand. Nymphadora did not recognise it to be his own, nor any wand she could remember him taking, she was sure she would remember from staring into its point as she was punished for her recent failures, surer still that she would remember the wand that had once branded her as his own. The thought was quickly thrown from her mind as he raised the wand to the castle, with a guttural yell he threw his power at the castle. It was a constant stream of light, far larger and more threatening than any of the others. The wards barely stood a chance as the last of the once glistening glass bowl cracked and fell within itself, the remnants of magic fluttering like burning paper to the floor.
"Go," Lord Voldemort's command was just over a whisper but as the first from around them heard his command the rest were soon to follow.
Some ran, some disapparated knowing that the anti apparation wards would have fallen with the rest of the castles protections, some near enough flew into the assault on the wizarding school.
"Come on, Dora," Bellatrix grinned as she turned to her niece, grabbing her hand as Nymphadora did not have a single chance to protest. It was as if she was a child again being taken on a secret adventure with the woman, pulled into side along apparation. Though this was an entirely different sort of adventure.
Bellatrix's cackles echoed around the entrance hall to the old school, mingling with the screams of frightened children and the yells of those trying to protect them. Bellatrix took to the battle naturally, as if she had been training for this moment for her entire life—though Nymphadora supposed she had. The first to fall was a child, barely in their sixth year as the Hufflepuff boy crumpled in on himself and fell to the floor with a thud as the jet of green light hit him square in the chest. That was when their protectors came forward. Apparently, the children knew better than to attempt to fight Bellatrix Lestrange and Nymphadora Tonks, parting like the red sea as they scrambled to get elsewhere. The odd student that stayed behind was soon put to the side as who Nymphadora recognised to be Arthur and Charlie Weasley came forward.
"Oooh, look Dora!" Bellatrix laughed, clearly in her element, "It's the Weasels!"
"Think they can best us?" Dora tilted her head to the side slightly as she assessed the pair, joining in her Aunts laughter as the first spell was thrown.
They parried back and forth, jets of lights flying all around the room and colliding with old stone as small pieces of the already damaged castle clattered to the floor around them unheard over the din of battle. It was not a fair fight, the men were outmatched by Nymphadora and her Aunt and it was a fact they were soon realising as small cuts caused by their spells began to litter their bodies. Nymphadora was inches away from putting a Weasley down for good, but it seemed they had finally accepted the fact they were not going to win this battle. With words the women did not quite hear they quickly let out a spell in unison. A flash of light blinded the women temporarily. Nymphadora hissed and squinted against the light, yelling in frustration as the spell wore off and she could see the Weasleys too far off in the distance running from their fight.
"Cowards!" Bellatrix screeched, throwing a spell at the pair just as they passed a corner and left their sights.
Nymphadora walked to her Aunt's side, looking around the place there were still children scrambling in many directions, Death Eaters hot on everyone's tails. She glimpsed into the Great Hall, momentarily thinking of the days she had spent as a child sat at the Slytherin table speaking to her fellow housemates, a small number of which now battling for the same side as her.
"Looks like the Weasels didn't want to play . . ." Dora murmured, turning her head to look at her Aunt as the woman let out a scoff of laughter.
"There's plenty more toys in the playground," Bellatrix giggled.
"Well then," Dora smirked, "we best go and play."
Bellatrix laughed, barely waiting a moment before without warning she ran off into the battle. Nymphadora tried to run after her, though for a woman nearly twice her age Bellatrix was like a child at the fair at the thought of battle, each potential victim a different ride to take on and each opponent a game to win.
She managed to keep up with her for barely five minutes, though soon the woman had already slain at least two people and Nymphadora had only just managed to kill her first. She stared down at the Gryffindor child, frowning slightly as she thought of the boy's idiocy to attempt to take on a Death Eater single-handed. It was that one moment of thought that distracted her long enough to lose her Aunt. She let out a huff of annoyance, a noise that soon turned into a yell of anger as she barely reacted quickly enough to duck at the spell thrown at her head. She whirled on the spot, instinctively throwing a curse that missed her opponent by mere inches as the woman stepped out of the way just in time.
"Another Weasel?" Nymphadora laughed, "Come on now, I'm growing bored of you lot. What now, Mummy Weasel? Will we fight a little and then you'll grow scared like the others and attempt to run?"
"You wish," Molly Weasley spoke through gritted teeth, her face set in concentration as she threw another spell at the girl.
Nymphadora laughed as she deflected it with ease. Soon the pair were locked in battle, a few spells managed to get past each of the witches defences though in truth it was mainly the old castle walls around them that were taking the brunt of the damage. She did not want to admit it to herself, but of all of the opponents she had already faced that night Molly Weasley was proving more difficult than she would have hoped. She would not be bested by a housewife. She put all of her force into the fight, using each and every method of duelling that her Aunt had taught her from childhood she drove the woman back down the corridor.
"Is that all you've got, blood traitor scum?" Nymphadora laughed as the woman let out a yell of pain, a well-placed curse had sliced her cheek and blood now ran down her jaw and onto her shabby robes.
"You're a half-blood!" Molly yelled, "What does blood matter to you?"
Nymphadora let out a yell of fury, her hair tinging red as she threw curse after curse until the woman was doing all she could to stop herself from being pushed against the wall at the force of it. They barely realised the sounds of battle around them, the screams of pain, the yells of fury, the footsteps of those getting closer and closer to their battle.
Molly Weasley tried as best she could to beat the girl, Dora barely realising that her gaze flicked to something behind her but paying attention enough to realise a slight waver in her attention no matter what the cause. She ducked as a spell was thrown at her head, narrowly missing it she took advantage of her position and sent a painful curse flying at Molly's legs. The woman screamed as her robes tore, cutting deeply enough for Dora to see the splash of blood now turning her skirts a deep crimson. The woman staggered for a moment, another quick curse ensuring she lost her balance, falling back against the wall the woman still feebly tried to fight her off. Though Dora smirked as she got closer, deflecting her spells with ease she noted the blood now steadily flowing towards her. As she was mere feet from the woman she finally managed to disarm her.
"Oh dear," Dora pouted, "seems you're done here. Any last words?"
"You won't win," Molly spat, looking up at the witch defiantly even as she knew her last moments were quickly closing in on her, "you'll lose. You can kill me, but I will die for a worthy cause."
Dora let out a huff of laughter, "Won't we all? . . . Avada Kedavra!"
The light left the woman's eyes, though Dora barely got a moment to relish in her victory as a scream of anguish filled the small corridor. She turned her head only to see the youngest Weasley child, tears already rolling down her cheeks in despair though her face was set in determined revenge.
"Walk away little girl," Nymphadora stopped herself from jumping at the sound of Rodolphus Lestrange, grinning as the girl took a step back, "or shall we send you to join your mother?"
Ginny Weasley looked to them as if trying to decide if she could take them on for the briefest of moments.
"Is that what she'd want?" it was Rabastan now, Nymphadora wondered briefly how she had not heard them come up behind her, though the look on the girl's face was too amusing to her for her to care very much at all. She laughed as the girl turned tail and ran from the trio.
"Nice work," Rabastan murmured, nudging the body of the fallen Weasley with his foot and snickering as she slumped sideways onto the floor, "not going for the purple hair look on your victims tonight?"
"There's hardly the time for theatrics," Dora smirked, "where have you two been?"
"Here and there," Rodolphus said, "where's Bellatrix?"
"I lost track of her," Dora said, "she gets a little carried away running about I suppose."
"I suppose she does," Rodolphus smirked, "The last place you saw her?"
"Down by the transfiguration corridor I think," Dora said, "but I—"
Rodolphus wasn't listening, he had already turned and gone to search for his wife.
"But I don't think she'll be there anymore," Dora continued, rolling her eyes as she watched him turn down the corridor. She frowned as she looked to Rabastan, "Where's Barty?"
"Missing him?" Rab grinned as he teased her.
"Stop being jealous that you're lonely, Rab," Dora rolled her eyes, "Where is he?"
"Said he was going to the bell towers, you get a good look from up there—Hey!" Rabastan yelled as the girl went running in the direction of the towers, rolling his eyes as she rounded a corner out of sight, "You're welcome."
The castle was alive with battle, both sides raging on despite the fallen warriors from both sides now littering their path. Nymphadora's heart was pounding as she struggled to catch her breath. Once she finally reached the steps to the bell towers, she could hear the distant yells of Barty Crouch taunting his latest opponent in the midst of his own battle. She couldn't help but smirk at the thought of it. The metamorphmagus took two steps at a time as she practically flew up the stairs, wand drawn ready to join in the fun.
"Is that all you've got, mutt?!" Dolohov roared with laughter, throwing a curse at Remus Lupin though the man seemed to be holding his ground well.
It was an even battle, Barty Crouch Jr and Antonin Dolohov fighting against Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt, a fair fight. But she was a Death Eater, playing fair was never her game. With a grin she ran to Barty and Dolohov, standing in between the pair as she threw a curse at Shacklebolt.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Nymphie," Barty laughed, parrying a spell from Shacklebolt with ease as Nymphadora threw her own at the man.
"Well, I was taking in the scenery, wasn't I?" Dora joked, forcing Shacklebolt to move back slightly as he got uncomfortably close to the pair.
The five were locked in battle, each of them fighting to the best of their abilities as they tried to get the upper hand. It was fair to say that Barty and Dora were more than capable of taking on Kingsley with their combined force, barely a minute had passed and the man was nearly flat against the wall.
"Well, here I was thinking you'd present a challenge Mr Shacklebolt," Dora laughed.
Though as quickly as the words had left her mouth the man had caught her off guard. The wooden floor beneath her took a hefty spell, a small hole now created in the floor, though it was in just the right position and timed in just the right way that Nymphadora fell back slightly thrown off her balance. But it wasn't the sudden jolt of pain that went through her that distracted her from her fight, it was the sharp searing pain in her side and the yell of fury from Barty. She threw up a shield on instinct, barely noticing as Kingsley was knocked off of his feet as the small trickle of blood from her side stained her robes.
"You cowardly, disgusting mutt!" Barty yelled, quickly storming over to where Dolohov stood and pushing the man towards the man now getting up from the floor in a silent command for him to take over the fight for him, one that he quickly obeyed. It seemed that although Kingsley had been the one to break the floor, it had been Remus that had decided he could take advantage of the small lapse in concentration from Nymphadora.
"I am no coward," Remus spoke through gritted teeth, his wand now trained firmly on Barty Crouch Jr.
"You hurt my woman," Barty snarled, "you're going to pay for this."
Dora winced as the pair were quickly locked in a stream of spells relentlessly pushing back and forth, each curse or hex looking to hit a deadly mark on its target. She looked to Dolohov, assured that he was handling Shacklebolt on his own as she backed towards the wall, leaning against the supports of the castle as she looked to watch Barty and Remus. It was kind of sweet, when Dora thought of it, the father of her child wanting to defend her honour. Though she didn't exactly agree with being called 'my woman' as if she were his property, the sentiment was there. But she had more important things to think of, as a piece of the rafters fell barely a foot from where she stood she quickly realised that they were destroying the castle around them in their battle, to the point that it could become dangerous. She pointed her wand at some of the larger looking debris, quickly repairing it.
"Argh!" Barty yelled in pain.
Nymphadora snapped her eyes to the pair. Barty was not doing well. How the tables had turned in such a short space of time Nymphadora didn't know. The man was slanted in his stance, dragging his right foot as he tried to defend himself. She needed to help. She ran towards him in vain. When she was mere feet from the battle she stopped within an inch of a quickly thrown up shield. Turning to see Kingsley Shacklebolt had somehow managed to separate her from helping her lover even whilst he was in the midst of his own battle, Nymphadora let out a yell of fury as she tried to break the barrier down.
But Barty was faltering, he was moving further back towards the empty windows of the bell tower, barely fighting off his opponent as Nymphadora watched the blood run freely from his leg. She threw another curse at the barrier, another curse hit Barty, colliding with his left arm, she threw another curse, a curse hit his right arm, it seemed for every inch she came closer to helping her lover the closer he came to being bested by a fucking werewolf, scum, Order nitwit.
"Is that all you've got?" Barty teased, though his voice was weak and his hand was shaking as he kept his wand on the werewolf, "You'll lose this you know, you'll be killed—quickly, if you're lucky. But The Dark Lord will triumph, we will kill all of your little friends. Just like Dumbledore, like the Potters, like old Sirius, you will all die."
Time seemed to freeze. A fury came over Remus Lupin's face that seemed out of place on the worn wizard's features. A jet of bright green flew from his wand as he screamed those two deadly words "Avada Kedavra!"
The room stood still, though time now seemed to be moving again it was at a painfully slow pace. A woman's scream echoed through the bell tower, Nymphadora not even registering the sound coming from her own mouth as she watched as the taunting smirk froze on Barty's face. His eyes remained wide open as his wand clattered to the floor, falling backwards in his death as his feet clumsily crumpled in his robes and the empty window that he was previously so dangerously close to became the thing that made him disappear from view.
Nymphadora could hear her heart beating in her chest, her gasp as she let go of the breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked from the window to the man who had thrown the curse, unwilling to believe what had just happened as the werewolf slowly turned his gaze to the woman. It was as if he was shocked at his own actions, his face emotionless but his eyes wide in the realisation of his actions.
"Get out of here, Remus!" Shacklebolt yelled, "I've got these two!"
Nymphadora considered going for the barrier again, but it was a thought that was not long-lived. She had to see what had happened to Barty for herself, for she could not believe what she had seen. Without a second thought, she ran not towards Remus Lupin but towards the stairs, running down the bell tower steps and only stopping as she grabbed onto the stone wall that led into the courtyard below to steady herself. There were few people out here, merely a few stragglers from the battle within, Death Eaters trying to get the running or Order members defending the barriers. She didn't know. She didn't care. She could see a crumpled heap on the floor, a still form tangled in robes.
She put one foot in front of the other, each step feeling like she had heavy weights tied to her feet. It did not get any easier with every step she took, it only seemed to get harder. Though as she reached the motionless form on the ground she found herself falling to her knees. She reached her hand out gingerly, closing her eyes as she took hold of the torn fabric now beneath her grasp. With a gentle tug, she felt the body move over onto its back. It was only then that she dared to look again.
She let out a small whimper, seemingly having lost her voice as she looked down at the glassy-eyed stare of her lover, the small smirk now frozen on his features forever. She shook the man slightly.
"Quit it," Dora mumbled, "get up."
But she knew it was useless, even before the words had left her lips. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks. He was dead. Her child was fatherless. She was without her . . . she was without the man she loved. Despite their flaws, despite their arguments and the imperfections of their relationship, she had loved him. She tried to control herself, knowing that the battle was still raging and she was exposed but not truly caring. She reached forward, placing a gentle hand on his cheek as she wiped some of the blood from his battle wounds away. She bit down hard on her lip, using all of the energy she had to reach forward and close the eyes of her lover, knowing that she had seen them twinkling in his mischievous ways for the last time. She gasped. Though it was not due to the strangled sob trying to escape her, something was trying to get into her mind.
She screwed her eyes shut as her master's voice filled her head, but she could barely pay attention to the words. She let out another gasp as a hand took her shoulder, reaching up her hands not to defend herself but to instead grasp onto her own hair and screwed her eyes tightly shut as she tried to focus, tried to make sense of it all.
"You have fought valiantly," her master's voice whispered within her mind as if his lips were pressed against her ear, "but in vain, I do not wish this . . . every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste . . ." she felt a body lean beside hers, sure she recognised the touch but uncaring, unwilling to acknowledge it, "I therefore command my forces to retreat, in my absence, dispose of your dead with dignity . . ."
Her mind took too long to clear, she didn't even notice when the words eventually died out only to be replaced with another familiar whisper.
"Dora . . . Dora . . . Nymphadora!"
Nymphadora screwed up her features to focus for a moment before she looked towards the voice, staring straight into the heavy-lidded eyes of her Aunt as the woman was mere inches from her face.
"We have to go," Bellatrix said, her gaze flickering slightly towards the body of Barty Crouch Jr before she returned her firm gaze to her niece, "come on."
"No . . ." Dora shook her head, "I . . . . Ah!"
Dora hissed in pain as Bellatrix pulled her to her feet, the pain in her side suddenly stabbing at her. She went to try and see to it, but soon a pair of hands had taken her face and she was forced to look at her Aunt. The woman had a strange look about her, a sympathetic frown as she looked to her niece with kindness in her heavy lidded eyes, it was a rare and odd sight to see on Bellatrix Lestrange.
"We need to keep fighting," Bellatrix near enough whispered, "he died fighting for what he believed in—what we all believed in. It was a valiant and honourable death, for a cause that we would all lay our lives down for. He would not want you stood here weeping over him, he would want you out there cutting down the scum and avenging him. Do you understand me?"
Nymphadora hesitated for a moment before with a deep breath and small nod she composed herself enough to look back at her Aunt with confidence.
"Good," Bellatrix nodded back at the girl, a small smirk now creeping on her features, "there's still more work to do. More scum to kill. He will be avenged and we will win this fight. Together. This battle is barely starting. This is what you've been training for almost all of your life, are you ready to put that into practice? Are you ready to do me proud? To do him proud?"
A calm washed over Nymphadora, a single clarifying thought that made everything seem so simple. "They're going to pay," Dora whispered.
"That they are," Bellatrix smirked.
Sooooo, I hope you enjoyed that hehe
Please do leave me a review, let me know what you think, let me know what you think is gonna happen next, feel free to go over to my Tumblr (Same username as my fanfiction one). Not many more chapters left to go on this one!
The Purple Black