A/N: Chapter 4. I'm enjoying this almost as much as you guys are, because I have no idea where the story is going. I just sit down, start typing and watch what happens. Please review, would love thoughts, feedback and even flames.

Bellatrix Lestrange curled her lip as her eyes roamed over the Black country house. It hadn't been used for over a century, and every facet of its decaying exterior reflected that. The house itself was small, especially for a Black property, with only two floors and four rooms on each. Dead grass expanded outwards from the hut until it reached an equally dilapidated shed, and the overall image was one of severe neglect.

Much like the house, the wards had seen better days. Once they would have been formidable to breach, a monster of a ward scheme like only the Blacks could create, but time had dulled the impressive defences as wards fizzled out and died, and now they would do little to help protect those inside. At a nod from Bellatrix, the two warders, Augustus Rookwood and Corban Yaxley, stepped forwards. As Rookwood began systemically dismantling the current wards, Yaxley erected anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards that would only allow marked Death Eaters through.

Bellatrix licked her lips impatiently. With Rookwood and Yaxley as warders she had brought Antonin Dolohov and Walden Macnair for wandpower. She had dueled with most of the people in that shack, and she intended to finish what she had started.

Moody looked up from where the four members of the Order of the Phoenix were sitting in wait. Ever since they had arrived his fake eye had been sweeping the area in anticipation of an attack.

"They're here." He said grimly, standing from the ragged armchair he had been seated in. On a sofa opposite him, Tonks and Remus broke off their quiet conversation as Kingsley vacated his own mothbitten seat.

"Who?"

Moody grimaced. "Bellatrix, Rookwood, Dolohov – Macnair?" Surprised flitted briefly across his face.

"Only four?" questioned Tonks. It wasn't like the Death Eaters to risk even odds.

"No, there's five, but I don't recognise the last one. Remember, once our wards go down and theirs go up escape is no longer an option. So no slip ups."

The others nodded solemnly.

"You know what to do. Now get moving!" he snapped.

Tonks and Lupin hurried upstairs, taking positions at both windows facing the front of the house and quietly vanishing the glass panes. Their job was to try and land a few spells before the Death Eaters entered the building. Moody and Kingsley took up defensive positions downstairs, preparing for an all-out battle against Death Eaters just as skilled as they were.

With a shudder of magic that rippled through the house and its occupants the defensive wards broke under Rookwood's efforts, and the five Death Eaters advanced on their target. Immediately two spells streaked from the top floor, forcing the group to scatter. Dolohov and Yaxley went left, Bellatrix, Rookwood and Macnair went right, and Remus's blasting curse landed directly between them. The blast knocked Yaxley off balance, but the other Death Eaters returned fire, preventing the defenders from exploiting it. Remus was forced to duck a cutting curse from Dolohov, while Tonks found her aim blocked when a Warping Curse from Rookwood impacted the window frame. With a groan of protest the ancient wood twisted itself into an unnatural pattern that filled most of her window with a lattice of oak.

Macnair didn't bother trying to curse the people above: instead he focused on the front door, which exploded inwards from his powerful blasting curse. Unfortunately Moody was expecting this, and while he shielded from the hail of splinters Kingsley banished the sofa and both armchairs. His aim was off on one, which soared past Yaxley, while Bellatrix vaulted over the sofa with a gleeful cackle. Macnair however didn't move fast enough, and the second armchair smashed into his hip with a loud crack. He went down yelling in pain.

Moody stepped forwards to engage Bellatrix, but was forced to dodge a Bludgeoning spell from Yaxley. Instead Kingsley was the one to engage her, swapping borderline Dark curses such as the Flesh Rending Curse with Lestrange's trademark Crucios. Dolohov was still occupied with Remus, but Rookwood was unchallenged. Taking careful aim, he cast an Inversion hex at Mad-Eye. The old Auror dodged right of the yellow spell, but Yaxley pressed him while he was distracted. Feeling confident, he was caught off guard when Tonks, descending the stairs at top speed, banished him into Dolohov. Both Death Eaters swore as they hit the ground in a tangle of limbs. Rookwood now engaged Moody, an ex-Unspeakable against an ex-Auror, while Tonks ran to help Kingsley in his losing battle against Bellatrix.

Noticing a lull in Dolohov's bombardment of his window, Remus took the chance to fire a mild cutting curse at Yaxley. The spell caught him straight in the chest, slicing through his clothes and skin with ease. Yaxley winced as blood leaked out of his wound... and then he got up, as did Dolohov.

"You'll have to do better than that lad!" yelled Moody. "If you're gonna throw a cutting curse, at least make it a strong one!"

Abandoning the window, Remus sprinted for the stairs, taking them two at a time and tumbling headfirst down the last few. When Dolohov and Yaxley attacked Moody together, Rookwood had taken the time to transfigure the bottom few steps into pure silver. The moment Remus stepped foot on them his entire werewolf side screamed at him to turn around and get as far from the silver as possible. Instinctively trying to turn back, Remus fell victim to the laws of inertia as his momentum carried him forwards as his body attempted to move backwards. As a result he plunged headfirst into the wall and knocked himself out.

The fight was now four against three, with Kingsley and Tonks dueling fiercely with Bellatrix while Moody handled Yaxley and Dolohov and Rookwood prepared another obscure spell.

The situation was looking dire when a blasting curse impacted Dolohov from behind and snapped his spine. As one of his opponents collapsed Moody fired a cutting curse at the other, catching Yaxley in the shoulder and causing him to drop his wand. Macnair had been inching painfully along the ground since being downed earlier in the battle and decided it was time to call it quits. Grabbing his wand, he tapped his mark and called the activation phrase for his emergency portkey. To his horror, nothing happened.

"Yaxley you Squib! You cast the wards wrong, I can't get out!" he yelled.

Yaxley dived, scooped up his wand, and spun in a circle, staggering to one side when nothing happened. He suddenly found himself dangling from his ankles, and the last thing he saw was a blasting curse heading for his face.

Macnair cursed as Sirius stepped up to him, grinning. "Now, now, don't blame poor Yaxley for something that wasn't his fault. After all, I'm sure that if I hadn't cast my own set of anti-apparition wards over his, you would still be able to escape like you usually do."

"Sirius!" yelled Moody. "Stop boasting and come deal with Rookwood."

He split his attention for a little too long, as in the time he was yelling at Sirius Rookwood managed to cast the rather lengthy spell Ignis Achelon Encela, nicknamed the Hellfire curse. From the same spell group as Fiendfyre, the Hellfire curse created black flames that fed on ambient magic. Without magic the flames would die, so they actively sought out nearby magic, leaping to consume it. In areas with very high levels of ambient magic, such as Hogwarts, the fire could remain where it was summoned, soaking up the magic saturating the air, but in a place like the abandoned Black property there was nowhere near enough magic in the air to sate its intense appetite. The reason this spell was so feared was that in the absence of sufficient ambient magic it would drain the cores of nearby magicals, leaving them no more than Squibs – a fate that many considered worse than death.

In a matter of seconds the flames had devoured the layer of anti-apparition wards that coated the property, and they began to race towards where Bellatrix was still fighting Tonks, along with Moody. Kingsley, tired from the intense duel, had failed to dodge a Cruciatus Curse and was yet to rejoin the fight. Tonks, by dint of her werewolf reflexes, was still going when she saw the Hellfire racing towards them. Moody saw it too, and he swore. Bellatrix did a manic twirl to glimpse what her opponents had seen, inhaling sharply when she saw black flames racing towards her. The momentary distraction allowed Tonks to hit her with a banishing spell from behind. Lestrange screamed as she entered the flames, while Moody and Tonks disapparated to be further away from the Hellfire. Sirius quickly rescued Remus from where he lay in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairwell, apparating to where Kingsley had staggered over to. From a safe distance the team watched the black flames consume the area, along with the cores of Yaxley, Macnair and Bellatrix. Rookwood was gone; he'd disapparated the moment Sirius's wards had fallen. When there was no magic left to consume , the Hellfire sputtered and died, leaving Bellatrix screaming in incoherent fury until Moody stunned her.

"I thought you said no stunning?" panted Tonks.

Moody snorted. "And who's going to enervate her? Dolohov? Rookwood? Besides, we all saw her fall into the flames. Without magic she's no threat. Nice work there."

"Thanks."

Sirius laughed. "I can't imagine a more fitting fate – for a pureblood that's grown up sneering at Muggles and Squibs to be reduced to their level."

A series of cracks heralded the arrival of a team of scarlet robed Aurors. "Put your wands on the ground and your hands in the air! We have detected high levels of offensive magic and a Class U regulated spell."

"About time you lot showed up!" growled Moody as he stalked over. "I leave the force for a few years and this is what you've become? The battle is over, the Death Eaters are either gone or defeated and the Hellfire has burnt itself out."

The Aurors looked startled to see Moody, and only now did they take in their surroundings.

"Bloody hell! Is that - Bellatrix Lestrange?"

"Yes." Growled Moody. As he harshly informed the Aurors of what had happened the other four Order members worked on finally getting their breath back.

"Class U?" muttered Tonks. She knew about Class A,B,C,D and E regulated spells, and also had covered Class L, M and MM banned spells. But Class U? That was knew.

"Unspeakable." Muttered Sirius. "Class U spells can only be used by Unspeakables, and even they have to have a license and a very good reason."

"Oh."

Kingsley chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it. Unspeakables usually only work in the Department of Mysteries, so we rarely have to deal with any spells like that. Quite frankly, only Unspeakables even know Class U spells, let alone use them."

"Right. So how are we going to explain why we were here in the first place? Because I don't think Minister Scrimgeour is going to be very happy if we tell him that we set a trap for the Death Eaters."

Sirius winked and gave Tonks a roguish grin. "Well, since you were about to move into the new house your dashing cousin generously gave to you, your mentors Mad-Eye and Kingsley, along with said dashing cousin were there to help you get settled."

Tonks stared at him.

"It's our cover story." Sirius explained.

"Ohhhhh. So where does Remus fit in?"

Sirius glanced down at his best friend's unconscious form. "He's my friend. Plus, he doesn't trust me not to get into mischief, which is why he came to keep an eye on me."

Tonks shook her head. "How long have you been planning your cover."

"Since about 2 minutes ago."

Laughing at Tonks's surprise he explained. "I had a lot of practice at school explaining to Minnie why I just happened to be in the same place as a Slytherin who got pranked. Now hush, I want to watch Mad-Eye chew these guys out about how late they are."

A/N: I'm surprised how many people are reading this story, but I certainly won't complain. Bellatrix is out already, but Rookwood got away. I thought it would be interesting if the ex-Unspeakable had some obscure spell knowledge, which is why he uses several spells no-one else does. So? Whaddaya think?