Old warrior
- Hey wake up! Wake up! Girl! Come on you need to hurry or you'll miss it!
The firm hands shaking her shoulders dragged her out of the limbos where she had been wandering for the past couple of minutes.
- What... What happened ? she finally managed to articulate.
- You were attacked. Death Eaters. You almost managed to make it to our barriers when you were shot down and crashed.
Thoughts swirled in her head at full speed, trying to remember what happened. She recalled a spell hitting the motorbike, the barks of the big black dog under her legs, Hagrid yelling something. Explosions.
Her eyes finally managed to focus on what was in front of her, the blurred shaped finally turning into the traits of a face. The man had light-brown hair turning white, framing his concerned smile. The floor under felt strangely smoothed until she realized she was lying on a couch. Many questions scrambled in her head.
- Who are you? she finally chose to ask.
- Ted Tonks. Dora's father.
- Hagrid? Sirius?
- Both okay. They're outside, making sure the perimeter has not been breached, but it looks like our protections are holding up alright. They should not be able to come closer than a hundred meters from the house. How they knew you were moving today, however...
- Erza! cheered a voice behind her. You're up! That was one hell of a crash!
She turned her head to find Sirius, dressed in a new robe too short for him. He caught her questioning gaze and answered.
- My spare robe burnt in the crash. Damn shame, I loved that bike... Thanks for protecting me though! I got just a few bruises, but your ended up with both your legs broken, and a concussion. Ted and Andromeda had to fix you up.
She hadn't suffered broken bones in quite some years, if she didn't count the cracked ribs, and a quick panic settled in. The mission would be much harder if she could not walk.
But she could. To her amazement, her legs felt as good as new, and reacted the commands as usual.
- Magic, just explained Sirius with a smile. Pretty convenient stuff we got sometime. Now hurry up. The Portkey will leave soon, we need to move.
She followed Sirius and Ted Tonks in the a room down a long hallway, where Hagrid and an old-looking woman were talking next to a hairbrush lying on a table.
- Don't worry, Dromeda, said Ted. I'm sure Dora is handling herself perfectly well. She's the best and she has seen worse before. She's a big girl. Oh! Time's up. Everyone, grab the brush, now!
The half-giant and Sirius already had their hands on it, and Erza touched it just in time to be sucked in a magical vacuum for a second time.
- No! No way! I'm not going! I'll walk!
- Don't be stupid Natsu. You have no idea where we are, where we are going and how long it would take you to get there. So don't be a child and come here!
- Natsu! threatened Tonks.
Although it was hard for her to keep her serious and hide her smile. The young man was such a hot head, with such a nerve that he had managed to shut up even Aunt Muriel.
The old woman had, as usual, done nothing but criticize, from Lucy's look, calling her vulgar, and les gentle terms, to Tonk's changing hair. She had complained about being disturbed in her "tight schedule" and having to babysit them, no matter what she actually owed to the Order or Mad-Eye. But when the verbal battle between her and Natsu, who cared about defending his partner, started, it was an all out war. Being called an old hag was nothing new to, but having her perfume compared to the shit of a dragon sick with diarrhea started to chip away her resolve.
The pink-haired man won with insults and metaphor so graphic that Lucy was horrified, Happy hid his face behind his paws, and Tonks bit her hand not to laugh, leaving Aunt Muriel speechless. Since, she was sitting in her chair, grumbling, her eyes fixed on her papers, like they didn't existed anymore.
- I don't want to!
- But I can make you! Don't force me! Come on, hurry up we have just a few minutes left!
In the end, only Lucy's exasperated face convinced him to touch the old frying pan with them. Before he could suck a last breath of air, he himself was sucked into the void, his insides twisted in a way he would not wish onto his worst nemesis.
This time, however, he did not land on his face, but on his arse, hard enough to hurt and wonder if one of his bone did not actually break. Soon after he felt the sickening feeling of the bile running up his throat, and turned to the side just in time to puke on the floor instead of his own lap.
- Goddamit... This is the worst, worst thing ever. I hate you, I hate you all.
- Come on Natsu, cheered Lucy, offering her hand to help him up. It's over. Look at that!
In front of them was standing a house like they had never seen before. It looked like a house, built on top of a house, on top of a house, with beams of wood holding it all up together. It lit up the night through half a dozen windows, casting the dim light of the life inside into the outside world. Several chimneys decorated its roofs, only half of them regurgitating smoke, and a large garden, with all kinds of weeds and plants, both good and bad, all around it.
- How is this thing standing up? wondered Natsu, amazed.
- With magic! answered Tonks with a laugh behind him. Come on! Molly and Arthur are expecting us inside.
Happy was flying around, looking left and right in awe in front of this display of weirdness.
- Natsu! There's a pond over there! Think they got any fish?
- I don't know, Happy, we'll ask them. Now's not the time. Damit my stomach is all wrong...
Far in front of them, the front door of the house opened, and a short man with a large belly and flashy ginger hair appeared in its frame.
- Ah! Tonks! Right on time!
Then he rose his wand, setting all of Natsu's reflexes on fire. His body tensed, his fists tightened. Tonks also was ready for battle.
- What's today's password? he asked quietly.
- Flabbergast. What does the swan say to the duck?
- Nothing. Neither of them can speak.
Then both wizards lowered their weapon and smiled.
- Good to see you, Come one, come on in! Ron and Hermione are also there. No problems on the road?
- Good evening Arthur. Sadly there were. They knew we'd be flying tonight.
The cheerful smile of Arthur Weasley vanished.
- What? How?
- No idea. But there were expecting us, and not just one or two... They sent a whole squad after us. Thankfully, Natsu is... a force to be reckoned with. He managed to push them back all by himself.
- Hey!
- With your help, Happy, sorry.
Arthur looked at the flying blue cat, stunned for a second, then to Lucy and Natsu.
- I suppose we owe you then, dear travelers from another world. Ron and Hermione told us a lot about you already, but there's much more I want to ask. Come, come in.
- Any news from the others? asked Tonks, tensed.
- No, nothing yet. But you were supposed to be first anyway, so it's too early to be worried.
- Right...
But before they reached the door, a powerful *pop* sound behind them jumpscared them all. Remus and Wendy appeared out of thin air, landing so much more gracefully than Natsu and Lucy had.
They seemed untouched, but the traits on Wendy's face worried Natsu. The wizards confirmed their identity once again, letting neither their wands not their guard down until all knew it was safe, and only then they could approached. Dora Tonks embraced her husband, and the young blue-haired girl ran toward Natsu straight, jumped on him and hugged him tight.
She had always considered him as his big brother, the first Dragon Slayer she ever met aside for herself, her role-model, her last line of defense. The way she grabbed him, the faint, salty scent of tears he could smell, he knew she was scared and had been crying.
- Wendy. What happened? he asked gently.
She had been in battle, just as much as he had been. He had seen her bleeding, half-dead, determined, enraged, but never this shaken.
Remus gently put his hand on her shoulder and explained in her place.
- We got jumped, about half an hour after we took off. A dozen of them. She... She roared a tornado. I don't know how to describe it other than that. She invoked a tornado, and they just got caught in it. All of them, thrown of their brooms.
- They're all dead, Natsu... she sniffed. I could hear them scream when they fell... They screamed for so long.
- I think I heard some of them use a Slowing Charm, explained Remus, mostly to the attention of his wizard peers. But yes, I think several of them died...
- I... It's... You know...
Arthur tried to say something, between the necessity of the war, the fact that she did not want to, but nothing real and sincere came. So instead, he just did what he did best. He offered her, and the other mages, his friendship and hospitality, inviting them into his home.
- They're late! worried the matriarch.
- I know they're late, Molly, answered Remus, but there's nothing we can do about it right now.
- Moody should already be there! I have a bad feeling...
- Where are Erza, Hagrid and Sirius ? asked Lucy behind them.
- They're supposed to arrive soon, they were the last one on the schedule.
A choked sound of apparition reached Natsu's hear through the wall, before even everyone else reacted and run toward the door.
In the garden, practically at the same spot they had appeared, were now standing Sirius and Erza, looking like children next to the half-giant. Lucy let out a relieved sigh, alongside Dora Tonks. Unphased, prepared for the worst, Remus approached with his wand up.
- What's did you say to James when he told us Lily was pregnant?
- 'Don't be surprised if he looks a bit like me!' answered the dark haired man with a chuckle. Where were we when you told me about you and Dora?
- In your kitchen, eating a steak.
- Aha damn right we were!
Then he turned toward Erza, barely resisting the urge to pat her shoulder.
- Man, you should have seen her! An angel of death! They were twenty or thirty! She rushed to them like they were nothing, with her black wings and all. Cut a man's head clean off! She just destroyed them! I've never seen anything like this!
The woman's face was still blank and empty.
- I don't take pride in cutting down unarmed foes.
- Unarmed? They all had wands! They could all kill us, or at least permanently cripple us with a single spell.
- Still...
- But if you were supposed to be the lasts, where are the Icehead and the Crazy-eye dude? asked Natsu.
- That's the scary question, sighed Remus. They should have been here. But even their Portkey didn't arrive either, so they didn't just miss it...
- Then we should go look for them.
The former teacher looked at his childhood friend.
- Do you know where Mad-Eye had setup his Portkey?
- Not precisely. Only the area he pointed at on the map.
- Could something have... happened? asked Molly Weasley, standing behind them in the frame of the door.
- With Mad-Eye? That's likely, but the old bastard is a strong as the World Tree.
- And Gray's not dead, assured Natsu. Half the country would be buried in ice before he dropped.
- I'll go and investigate, claimed Arthur. It's still safe for me to get out. But you should stay here. We can't get Sirius out again.
- Maybe they're lost? offered Happy.
- We should patrol the area, stated Erza. Cannot hurt.
Everyone approved, and soon they divided into teams. Ron and Hermione would go with Mr Weasley, Erza would go with Sirius and Wendy in the hills, while Natsu's team would follow Remus and Tonks into the fields of hay. With the moon and stars hidden by the clouds, the darkness of the night had completely swallowed the world around them, and it would not be easy.
They were walking in the fields for a few minutes only, when Natsu asked the wizards :
- So, when is it due?
They looked at each other, not understanding.
- The kid, I mean.
Remus turned pale while his wife stopped in her tracks.
- Wait, wh.. what? What are you talking about?
- You can hide it from the others, but my nose can tell. You're pregnant.
- Natsu! choked Lucy. You don't just drop that on people!
- You... damn. That's an annoying talent you have... Not long. We're due for March next year
- But please, added Remus, almost begging. Not a word to anyone! We haven't told Sirius or the others just yet. We all have more important things to do right now.
Natsu just shrugged and resumed his march forward, Happy on his shoulder. Lucy just smiled in the dark, a smile that meant something like : Don't worry, he's too silly to really give a crap about it. So, silently, they followed him, lighting the way with the tip of their wands, like beacons in the dark.
The wind gushed over them, shaking all scents of hay, dirt, summer and a past summer storm. Natsu stopped.
- Wait. I smell something.
His nose in the air, he sniffed around for half a minute.
- Blood. Gray! Over there!
Without waiting for anyone, he dashed and disappeared in the hays. Lucy did not hesitate, used to his impulsiveness, and followed his track in the dark, closely chased by the two wizards and their lights.
Soon, they caught up with him, as he was standing still in the middle of nothingness. In front of him, a shapeless shade, standing still.
Gray Fullbuster was bending forward under the burden of the lifeless body he carried on his shoulder. Tonks gasped and Remus froze.
- I'm sorry, he simply said.
He fell on the floor and sat, visibly exhausted. Mad-Eye slipped of his shoulders and landed in the dirt, face first. That seemed to wake up Tonks and Lupin from their transe, and they rushed forward to help. Gray's shirt was covered in blood, although most of it didn't seem to be his. He did have a cut on his forehead which had bled abundantly, but it was all dried up already.
Mad-Eye, however, had a giant cut in his back. His old dusty jacket had been torn apart and was only holding but a couple of threads and strings. The wound ran from his shoulder down to his lower back, and it was all covered with ice, tainted red. Another, even more scary wound had opened his neck, and the ice covering it didn't seem like enough.
Remus hovered the body with his wand, emitting a faint green light, and closed his eyes. He turned his head toward Tonks and shook it.
- No... she whispered.
- I'm sorry, repeated Gray. I tried. I really tried. I froze his wounds but... it was bleeding so much.
Lucy was holding his hand, gripping tightly and fighting the tears in her eyes. Remus kneeled next to him.
- Dora, send a Patronus to the others... Gray. Gray look at me. What happened?
The Ice mage looked over. His was paler than usual, his dark hair dirty with his own blood. His eyes, however, did not feature the same panic as Wendy's, same pain as Lucy's or the same self-disgust as Erza's. Their were as cold as winter. The eyes of a Devil Slayer.
- No idea. We flew without a problem. We met this Fletcher dude that was keeping our Teleportation device, or whatever the name. Weird guy. Looked strange, nervous, but the old man seemed used to it. Didn't fuss about it. We were even a bit early, so we waited around. Two minutes before T time, those guys appeared out of nowhere and fired around. Creepy looking folks, with skull masks and big hoods. Things started exploding all around, didn't really took time to ask question. The old pot we were supposed to use got hit and exploded, and that Fletcher guy ran away.
- Damn coward! Damit!
- Yeah, Mad-Eye said the same thing. He tried to catch him, but... He got hit. I didn't see with what, but it looked like he had been cut by a blade.
- Sounds like Snape's favourite spell, raged Tonks.
- Dunno. He didn't stop to tell me a name. He just grabbed me and... we teleported out. In this field.
- But how... tried Remus.
How did he die.
- I think he was hit again just when we blinked away. Right when we reappeared, he fell on the floor. I hadn't seen it at first but... He had another cut on his throat. It was bleeding a lot. I've never seen anyone bleed this much. I tried to... do something. I iced them, hoped it would stop the bleeding but...
He stopped.
- There's nothing to do against a curse this dark, said Remus, trying to lift some guilt off his shoulder.
But he just shrugged.
- His last words were "North. Go north". So I've been walking for an hour... I didn't want to leave his body behind. Wasn't sure I'd find anyone.
- And you wouldn't have if we didn't patrol. Magical protection and all that. Thank you for not leaving him behind. I.. We... will need to bury him properly. And thanks to you, we can.
The man looked lost, his wife scared. Gray turned to Natsu and looked straight in his eyes. The cold had left place to an unusual sincerity, a truth that he did not usually share with his rival.
- It just went right through them, he whispered. Like a knife through the butter. I just used the same thing as usual, the Ice Lance. The basic stuff, you know? Master Makarov had warned us, but I didn't think it would just.. gut them.
- I know brother. I know. I think we all discovered what our old man meant, today. Come. I'm hungry and there's food at the house.
He presented his hand to lift him up, while the wizards enchanted the body of their fallen comrade to carry him.
When they arrived back at the massive house, which left Gray as surprised as Natsu had been a bit earlier, the second group was already back, waiting, alongside everyone from the house. Their faces were displaying a range of emotion from the tears of pain to the forced blank face to hide the same suffering. Molly Weasley took a single step forward but hesitated, and finally stopped, her husband keeping both his hands on her shoulders. Hermione Granger hid her face in Ron's neck, unable to gaze at the terrible wounds that shredded their protector's body.
- I can't believe it, simply said Sirius, when the floating body reached them. Out of all people... He was invincible! I thought... Even the Dark Lord himself could not get to him!
- It seems our old friend Severus did, answered Remus, bitterly.
Erza, who until then had stayed back with Wendy, joined them to examine the body. Wounds and blood were nothing really new to her, but she could not really detach herself from the overwhelming feeling of loss that irradiated from everyone around her. The ice and coagulated frozen blood prevented her from doing any extended analysis, but it still looked very much like a sword cut to her opinion.
- Was he cut by a blade? she asked Gray.
If their enemies had sword wielders amongst their ranks, it would change the rules of a game a bit.
- No. Just spells. But the results seem to be pretty much the same.
She nodded.
- Severus Snape, answered Sirius with hate in his voice. A snivelling bastard that went to school at the same time we did. Joined the Dark Lord as soon as we graduated. Albus Dumbledore managed to recruit him to work as a spy for the Order, years ago, Merlin only knows how... But he never really was the loyal kind. He joined the Death Eaters again as soon as Albus passed away. This spell is his handiwork, his own creation. It's like an invisible sword that carves through your flesh. Except there's no actual blade to parry... It's a very dark, powerful magic. His signature.
A shiver shook Erza to her core. How was she ever supposed to battle a sword she could neither see nor parry. She tried to push back these thoughts deep inside her skull. That would be a problem for later. At that moment, the most pressing matters were to double security, and to organize the burial. Putting the old warrior to rest was the only way to get the others back to the other problems at hand.
It actually went faster than she expected. With magic as their allies, the old warrior Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was quickly built a last home, in the ground of the hills behind the Burrow. The clouds had been kind enough to leave place for the celestial lights of the Milky Way gently lighting up the last goodbyes of his only family, as the dust finally recovered the casket Sirius and Remus had quickly assembled.
Both tried to share a few words, without much success. Turned out they didn't know much about the man, not on a personal level. Arthur Weasley had a bit more to tell, managing to draw new tears from his wife's eyes. He had a better way with words than the others, slipped a few jokes here and there. But there was no denying the worries painted on the faces of everyone, even more than the grief. They were already so very few of them left, and they just lost their best fighter... Things were getting grimmer and grimmer every day.
- This is not the best mission start ever... whispered Natsu.
Gray casted a dark stare at him, as if he had been personally targeted by the remark, as if it had been his fault that Moody had died. But the Dragon Slayer was not looking at him. He was looking at the grave, empathic grief in his eyes. It was not an accusation, it was just a statement.
The house went quiet for the night. It was already very late when they walked down from the hill, maybe closer to dawn than dusk. Molly and her family had prepared beds all around the living room, while waiting to get a proper setup once everyone would arrive. The mages all fell asleep very fast, cuddled by the gentle snoring of Happy between them. All the other rooms were plunged into darkness, all except one. On the top floor, where a very dim light casted shadows on the wall, the shadows of two embracing figures that would drive Arthur and Molly very mad if they ever found out.
A brief flash of ginger hair, few muffled moans, and the deep, deep desire to forget the fear and the grief with the warm embrace of passionate arms.
When the light finally went out, the sun had already started to point out from behind the horizon.
A/N : A shorter chapter, but an important one. Hopefully, you liked it =) See you next time for the wedding ;)