The first thing I noticed was the silence.
Then the stillness.
I unsteadily got to my feet, still expecting to see a mass of cheering students or at the very least, Mr. MacFarlan.
Instead, I found myself in a somewhat familiar room; familiar like it was some bad dream I'd had long ago. It was quite musty and had an ancient feel to it. The windows were all boarded up and any furniture in there was completely wrecked; either chewed apart or smashed to fluff.
Just as I recognized that I was in the Shrieking Shack, a blood-curling, maniacal laughter reached my ears. The hair on the back of my neck rose. It was an inhuman laugh, cruel even without context.
I turned, raising my wand at the exact same time.
I found myself pointing it straight at none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. Her heavily hooded eyes and dark tangled hair; the slinking, creeping way in which she walked... Everything about her was menacing.
"Well, well, well," Bellatrix sneered. "If it isn't another Kingsley child." She smirked at me, "How're Mum and Dad?"
I said nothing, only gripped my wand tighter and kept it pointed at her throat. How I resisted from murdering her right then and there, I can't say. My blood boiled and the edges of my vision were a sharp red.
"There's no use pointing your wand at me," she hissed. "You're desperately outnumbered." She drew out her own wand and twirled it between her fingers as two men walked in behind her. The first was tall and dark-skinned with seemingly lifeless eyes and the second was the exact opposite, disgustingly arrogant and haughty with a mane of blonde hair and striking green eyes. I vaguely recalled their names from when I was a first year- Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy. They had both been in their fifth year or above when I'd started Hogwarts.
"And even if you weren't, what chance would you have against us, Mudblood?" she laughed hideously.
"It's all going to go just as planned," she whispered, lifting her wand up. I could tell she was aiming straight at my neck. "You'll see."
"Planned?" I said sharply.
"Oh yes." Lucius Malfoy stepped forth. "You see, the Dark Lord has foreseen this moment. Those ignorant fools that believe that Dumbledore could stand a chance against the Dark Lord will remember today as the day Dumbledore failed."
"In what insane respect could Dumbledore ever lose to you?" I asked defiantly.
"Dumbledore has made the stand that filth like you deserve to infiltrate our world. But we who know the true power of purity will use that against him. Currently, Dumbledore is at the Ministry of Magic, fighting an already lost battle. You see, he thinks he has uncovered our plot to overthrow the Ministry. But he is a pathetic fool. We baited him to get him out of the way. So that when young Bartemius Crouch Jr. tampered with the TriWizard Cup by turning it into a PortKey, Dumbledore would be ignorant of it. And Karkaroff became a volunteer in order to curse Jared, who attacked Julian and essentially cleared your way to the Cup. Well, the great Dumbledore fell for the ruse completely and so now he is unable to stop us here. He is helpless. So are you."
"And what," I said, my voice now shaking slightly because I feared I already knew the answer, "are you here for?"
Rodolphus laughed a hollow laugh and drew his own wand and pointed it straight at my heart. His appearance was utterly terrifying. He looked half-dead already, as if he could not be destroyed to any lesser form.
When he spoke, his voice was rattling and empty, like a rough wind scraping tree branches together in the most ominous way. "To kill you, of course. You, the Mudblood who managed to worm your way into the TriWizard Tournament."
"You should be honored," Bellatrix sneered, stepping forward towards me. I stepped back and bumped into the couch, nearly falling. She cackled and said, "Your life was utterly worthless. But the Dark Lord chose to humiliate and kill you among all other Mudbloods. It's the most significance any disgusting Mudblood could ever ask for."
Lucius then drew his own wand from his cane and pointed it directly at my head.
My breath caught and fear tore at my heart. I am going to die. I am going to die.
My wand trembled but I didn't divert it from Bellatrix. If I was going to take one person down with me, it would be her.
But no, my heart whispered in a trembling voice. It was the first time ever that I had heard my heart speak. Always my mind had controlled me, restrained me in the form of doubt and regret. But now a flame slowly formed in my heart. I cannot die. I cannot die, not even if it's three trained Death Eaters against myself. I just can't. I have to protect my siblings now. I have to protect them. And for that, I must be alive.
I snapped first. "Stupefy!"
"Crucio!" "Avada Kedavra!" "Imperio!"
All three Unforgivable Spells collided with the couch as I leapt over and crouched down behind it. It burst into flames and with a yelp I backed away. Another spell was shot at me. I barely ducked in time and instead it blasted a hole in the wall behind me.
"Volumen lectum!" I shouted, pointing at the flaming couch with my wand. It began to barrel over, heading straight for Bellatrix, Lucius, and Rodolphus and all three had to fling themselves out of the way.
"Vaporus!" I whispered and a thick black smoke drifted from the end of my wand, quickly filling up the room. I meant for it to cover my escape route as I Apparated out but I had barely moved a single step when a long, skeletal arm shot out of the smoke, grabbed my neck, and squeezed.
I choked. I struggled, but he was too strong. His face appeared from the smoke. He was grinning, watching me suffer and struggle in his grasp.
"You think you have a chance?" Rodolphus whispered harshly and pointed his wand at my face. "You die now."
I tried to perform wandless magic, tried to think of anything, anything that would save my life- Please!
Stu-Stupefy! I thought desperately but nothing happened.
I closed my eyes as darkness began to take over my mind. Is this it, then? But I have so many things I still have to do...
"Avada Ke-!"
"Don't you dare touch her!"
A loud crack was followed by the sound of a forceful punch and I was suddenly released. I collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
"Come on, Raylynx, get up! Up!"
Somebody grabbed my hand and jerked me onto my feet. It hurt to just breathe, let alone leap onto my feet and start fighting but there was no other option. I coughed as the thick smoke swirled around us. But through that thick smoke, I managed to see my saviour's face.
It was Professor Maudrick.
He dragged me along until he suddenly stiffened, turned, and shouted, "Protego Conjurus!"
A silver shield expanded and deflected a jet of black light that had been nonverbally shot at us.
Another jet of green light flew over our heads and crashed into the boarded-up window besides us. Wood splinters flew everywhere. Another streak of ominous black light flew towards us.
I raised my wand. "Protego!"
It bounced off my shield with a loud clang and I felt my entire wand vibrate in my hand.
"Stupefy!" I shouted into the smoke, which was now clearing due to the window that had been smashed open.
Somebody snarled and deflected it ferociously; it came racing back towards us and Professor Maudrick furiously pushed me away from him. We split up and my own Stunner slammed into the space between us, creating a crater where Maudrick and I had been standing not half a second before.
By now, the air had now cleared enough so that we could all see each other.
"It's you," Lucius said, his eyes, on Professor Maudrick, were alight with fury, "You scum. You were the one who saved that Mudblood family from Greyback a couple weeks ago, didn't you?"
Maudrick didn't respond. His eyes were darting around, calculating the spaces between the Death Eaters. Breathing heavily, I had my own wand pointed back at Bellatrix. I was determined to take her.
"But it was all in vain. They're all dead now. We killed them one by one. Oh, after we tortured them. And you should know- your supposed 'saving' them only cost them more pain. We tortured them more and more for every bit of 'heroism' you showed.'" Rodolphus let out a low, dry laugh, "And you thought you saved them. Tell me, were they important to you? Did you care about them?"
With an animalistic snarl, Maudrick attacked so quickly, I would have missed it had I blinked. He physically leapt at Rodolphus and grabbed his neck with both hands. Rodolphus let out a sickening sound like his neck had been wrung but attempted to fight back. I watched in complete shock as Rodolphus attempted to Apparate, turning into a form of pure darkness, but Maudrick transfigured himself into a form of pure light to hold him in a physical state. As great tunnels of light and dark, they fought, snarling and screaming in anguish, pain, and fury, until they smashed right through the ceiling and disappeared.
I tried to follow them with my eyes, to make sure Professor Maudrick was all right, but Lucius shot a spell at me right then and I ducked sideways.
"Sectarus!" I slashed at the air and a shaft of red light shot straight at Lucius. It caught him in the chest and he grunted in pain as a large bloody slash appeared there.
He tried to cast another spell but had to catch his breath and control his pain.
I lifted my wand again. "Stupe-!"
"STOP! Stop right there or they die!" Bellatrix screeched loudly.
I whirled around.
"Lily! Julian!"
Lily and Julian had been bound and gagged and the cuts on their faces and the haunted looks in their eyes clearly showed that they had been tortured.
Lily's eyes were streaming tears as she looked at me soundlessly.
Julian was struggling against his bonds but Jared, who still looked to be Imperiused, would curse him with a cutting curse every time he got too close to escaping.
"Stop," Bellatrix hissed again, "or I kill the Mudblood."
She jabbed her wand into Lily's neck and Lily let out the most piteous whimper between her gags. It ripped at my heart like cold, jagged metal.
"Lily..." I whispered, pained at having to see her like this.
I lowered my wand, my heart beating rapidly in wretched desperation. But there was no hope of being saved, especially now that it looked like Professor Maudrick was dead. And what were the chances that someone would figure out that something horrible was happening here? They would notice the absence of the three Champions, yes. But nobody knew about the Shrieking Shack.
Nobody?
A mental image of Remus appeared in my mind. He, of all people, was most intimately connected with this place. I tried to reach out to him through my thoughts. I knew it was impossible for him to hear me. Dumbledore had said that by the time two people were out of each other's hearing ranges, Legilimency was ineffective. And yet, my heart pushed me to try and so I did. I thought of Remus and I tried to show in my mind, the only vision of the Shrieking Shack I had- him, that first night in fifth year, lying in the middle of the wreckage that was the Shrieking Shack.
I had run over to him and dropped to my knees besides him…
He was unconscious and looked absolutely terrible- bruises all over his body- his shirt had been ripped badly all the way down the middle- cuts all over his arms and chest and his face was badly maimed as well. He was not only bleeding but feverish, sweating, and incredibly warm to the touch.
"Oh, Remus," I whispered in anguish. What do I do?
Please, Remus... please hear me. Please come!
"Boy!" Bellatrix yelled and turned her wand on Jared. He jolted a little and his eyes seemed strangely unfocused.
"Bring her to me," she commanded and as Lucius replaced Jared's grip on Julian, Jared strode forward towards me without the slightest hesitation.
I raised my wand towards him but my mind immediately warned me: Remember, he's cursed. He doesn't mean this. You can't hurt him.
"Impedimenta!" I said weakly, trying to stop him from approaching me without causing any real harm to him. But the spell was performed so weak-heartedly that he shoved it aside with merely a twitch of his wand and then his hand grabbed the collar of my shirt and he pulled me up to him. It was terrifying to see eyes so blank, so mindless, so… heartless.
"Torture her", Bellatrix hissed in delight and Jared raised his wand.
No, I thought instinctively. I won't allow this to happen to myself again.
"Expelliarmus!" I shouted and Jared's wand went spinning out of his hand. Immediately, he struck me across the face with a closed fist. I felt my teeth jam into the side of my mouth. I fell to the ground, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.
"Fine, have it your way," Bellatrix sneered and she turned her wand towards Lily. "Cruc-!"
"NO!" I shouted and leapt towards her, forgetting about wands, forgetting about everything. But Bellatrix was too quick for me. She whirled around and shot a Killing Curse at me that forced me to stagger back- straight into Jared. His hands wrapped themselves around my neck like a vice and my eyes rolled back in my head. I couldn't breathe, couldn't see-
Please, I begged in my mind, Please! PLEASE! ANYBODY!
The sound of footsteps coming closer rapidly- a loud smash sounded- the door had been broken down. James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Dorcas, and Alice piled out of the passageway that led from the Whomping Willow to here.
Sirius snarled and shot a spell that knocked Bellatrix backwards. She stumbled and lost her grip on Lily.
Remus and Dorcas had both sent Blasting Spells at Jared. He was flung backwards and slammed into the wooden wall.
"No!"I gasped out. "No, don't hurt him! He's cursed!"
Sirius, Peter, and Marlene were all dueling Bellatrix at once. Remus and Dorcas were fighting Lucius.
James rushed over to Lily and furiously cut her gags and bonds. Alice hurried over to Julian and gently untied him.
Peter yelped just before Bellatrix's Stunning Spell caught him in his arm. He collapsed and Bellatrix grinned as she turned to finish him off. Marlene diverted her attention with a well-aimed Body-Bind Charm; Bellatrix had to turn away from Peter to deflect and Sirius stepped forward to protect Peter.
"James! Alice!" I shouted as I dashed forward to help Sirius and Marlene. "Get back to the Cup! Take Peter with you!"
James nodded and helped Lily over to Peter. He grasped both their hands. Alice and Julian joined them and then Alice shouted, "Accio Cup!"
"NO!" Bellatrix screamed, deranged. Her spell blasted all three of us backwards- Sirius and I fell back from the sheer force of the Blasting Spell, but it had caught Marlene in the leg. She collided heavily with the wardrobe and then fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix shrieked, and the jet of green light shot to the group of James, Lily, Peter, Alice, and Julian all huddled together at the same rate that the Cup was heading towards Alice's outstretched hand.
The Cup touched her hand- the jet reached them- and they disappeared.
"Marlene!" I shouted, and tried to climb over the rubble and debris to get to her as Sirius continued to duel Bellatrix.
She was entirely still. Her leg was covered in burns and blood was trickling down her forehead. My breath caught in my throat in utter fear as I frantically scrabbled at her arm to get at her wrist. I pressed my finger against her vein- and- a pulse. It was dangerously weak, but it was still there.
"Stupe-!" Sirius began, but Bellatrix was quicker. Had their spells not slightly collided in mid-air, Sirius would have died instantly. As it was, he was only knocked out, though a deep gash appeared on his chest and immediately began to soak his shirt in blood.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Dorcas' spell was a second quicker than Lucius' Shield and he froze and fell onto the floor with a dull thud.
All three of us (Dorcas, Remus, and I) turned onto Bellatrix at once, but Bellatrix only laughed harshly and suddenly pulled up her sleeve.
She touched her forefinger to the black skull branded onto her inner arm.
I felt fear wrack my body. Was she Summoning the Dark Lord here?
"Stay together!" I shouted and Remus and Dorcas started to back their way to me over the broken furniture and wood debris, and I to them.
However, we had not gotten far when a dark, heavy smoke suddenly converged onto us.
As soon as it touched me, I knew it was somebody, rather than something.
"Stupefy!" I shouted, blindly aiming my spell. But the smoke was too heavy, too strong- its weight forced me down. I tried to fight against it, but it tangled and bound my arms and put a crushing pressure on me. I was about to buckle under the weight when suddenly, it disappeared as suddenly as it came.
I remained standing, my wand drawn.
The Dark Lord had not joined us, but seven more Death Eaters had. Rabastan Lestrange, Crabbe, Goyle, Dolohov, Narcissa Malfoy, Avery's father, and- Yaxley's father. The man who had attacked my brother and crushed his lifelong dreams, had tortured my mother and father-
He had his hand on Remus' neck and Bellatrix had hers on Dorcas.
My mind split:
Do I kill Bellatrix?
Do I kill Yaxley?
My heart pounded furiously in my chest as my mind screamed: What do I do?
And then my heart whispered to me: What would Jamie and Sola do?
My mouth provided the answer to the question on its own. I didn't have to think. I simply acted.
In a hoarse voice, I proclaimed, "Let them go!"
Bellatrix laughed. "Do you still consider yourself a threat?"
"Your Master won't be too happy if you fail to kill me, right?" I spoke thoughtlessly.
Bellatrix's expression changed and she hissed, "Mudblood, you will die."
"I can make it easy. Let them go," I said. "And you can have me." My mind was a wretched chaos, and my heart was pounding so hard it heart. But as I looked around at my friends, my decision was clear.
Remus and Dorcas were the best fighters. They'll only need half a second to escape. They can help the others.
"No!" Dorcas shrieked, but Bellatrix slapped her in a quick motion, like she was hitting a dog. Her long nails cut into Dorcas' cheek. "Silence!" A drop of blood slowly formed and dropped from Dorcas' cheek.
"Let them go! And I'll drop my wand, I swear. I won't even try to run," I said, my voice finally faltering at the end. My thoughts caught up with me and I began to shake again.
"Raylynx," Remus said hoarsely.
Bellatrix pressed her wand into Dorcas' throat and began to cast a Killing Curse when Avery's father spoke in a rumbling, harsh voice, "Don't be stupid, Bellatrix. The Dark Lord doesn't want to kill possible recruits."
"I'll never join you!" Dorcas retorted, her voice dripping with hatred and frustration.
Avery's father laughed a mirthless laugh. "You say that now, pretty. Soon you'll be begging to join us."
A harsh voice arose. "Nobody will be begging to join you worthless scum. All you'll ever recruit are people who are totally psychotic." It was Sirius. He staggered upright, barely managing to stand, but the grip on his wand was tight.
"You're next, blood traitor!" Bellatrix growled.
"He's right," I said, astounded by the words coming out of my own mouth. "Nobody with sense will ever join you. Not while Dumbledore still lives and Hogwarts stands."
Yaxley's father stepped forth and said sharply, "Enough of this! Kill the Mudblood!"
Bellatrix grinned and without any further warning, raised her wand and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of harsh green light came flying at me when- Boom!
The entire wall on my left was blasted apart and utterly destroyed. Wood debris, rocks, and Death Eaters flew everywhere. One rock collided with the Killing Spell centimetres from my face. The rock was decimated. Sharp shards of it caught my cheek and neck, ripping across my skin.
I turned to see Yaxley's father roar in fury and shoot a Stunner at the group of people who had just arrived.
The person at the lead deflected it with a slash of his wand- it was Aberforth.
Behind him stood old Hogwarts students and members of the newborn Order of the Phoenix- Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, and Frank Longbottom.
A loud shriek of curses captured my attention. I turned to see that Bellatrix had shot another Killing Curse at me. I ducked and started to run over the piles of wood. She furiously sent a series of Blasting Curses my way- I was barely fast enough to keep in front of them as the ground behind me was blasted into splinters. Suddenly, I ran straight into Dolohov. He raised his wand at me and Bellatrix shot another Killing Curse at the same time- I was trapped- Then strong arms wrapped around me and pushed me down. We fell, tumbling down the wood pile.
We became disentangled and fell a few feet away from each other.
I looked up to see- "Jared!" I said in awe.
Jared looked at me and I could see his real self reflected in the clear gravity of his eyes.
"Is this a dream?" he asked me, disorientated.
I shook my head.
"I thought not," he answered grimly.
Suddenly, a piercing scream ripped the air.
"Get out of here!"
It was Hestia Jones. She leapt from a wood pile a second before a large flame serpent swallowed the entire pile whole into black ashes.
"It's Fiendfyre!" she screamed. She turned and grabbed Dorcas, who had been fighting alongside Aberforth, and quickly spun. With a crack, she was gone.
"Leave now!" Aberforth shouted. The Prewitt brothers grabbed a Stunned Emmeline and a struggling Sirius and Frank gripped onto a battered Remus and an unconscious Marlene and they all Disapparated as well.
"Incarcerous!"
A Death Eater had shot a spell at Jared, who was attempting to fight the fire with powerful water spells. He had just about succeeded when the ropes tightly bound him down, cutting into his skin.
"Jared!" I shouted, as the fire began to spread again, close to him. He was struggling hard.
"We have to get out of here!" Aberforth shouted at me, but I attempted to run towards Jared.
Just as I did, a flaming beam fell from the roof, blocking my path to him.
"Jared!" I shouted desperately, trying to see through the thick flames. The fire roared like a manticore and leapt out at me. I slashed back at it with my wand, keeping it at bay.
"Come on!" Aberforth shouted and grabbed my arm. He began to turn-
"Jared!" I screamed as loud as I could. Just as I began to be sucked into the vortex of time-space vacuum, I saw a pair of fingers struggling against thick rope just manage to creep over the burning beam. I reached out with my empty hand and snatched onto them as tight as I could.
Then, everything was a black, senseless vortex.
