AN: Hello, fanfiction and Harry Potter fans. I do not own Harry Potter but feel free to enjoy this or hate it. If you enjoy it, please leave a lovely comment, if you hate it, then leave some constructive criticism, thanks!
Can You Take the Jump?
Chapter 74
…
Warning: graphic content, in terms of violence, will be in this chapter. Please be advised.
ALSO: The timeline is not linear in this chapter, so please look carefully at the subheadings
…
The Aftermath: Outskirts of Lestrange Property
He walked carefully stepping over bits of bodies that were splattered around like someone had grinded them down like a smoothie. Dark magic reeked everywhere, for at least another mile. He was here to collect the bodies of their fallen soldiers to bring back to their families, but the more he looked around, the more he was starting to realize there wouldn't be much to bring back nor should he. Normal deaths of loved ones could wound the mind and heart, but to see that their deaths came so inhumanely would leave a mark on their soul.
His sombre thoughts were cut short when he miscalculated his step and his suede shoes landed on a fellow soldier's body cavity.
"Merlin," he muttered as he painfully swallowed back the vomit when his shoes squelched, a sound he hadn't expected when stepping on a dead man's innards.
"Watch your step."
Another scout told him off to the side.
"No kidding," he muttered as he continued walking through what used to be a forest. Some of the sturdier trunks remained standing, but it was as though someone had ripped the top of the tree off like a toothpick. Large chunks of the forest outside the Lestrange Manor were obliterated, flattened as though someone had come in dozens of chained bulldozers and ripped out the forest.
"What'd you think could have done this?" The other scout asked with a shiver and a tremble, not because it was cold out, it was summer after all, but an unsettling chill wouldn't go away no matter how many times they placed heating charms on themselves.
"Maybe it was one of those muggle explosives. I heard they wiped out a whole city with one of them three decades back."
The level of destruction made the theory plausible, but he shook his head. That chill was a coldness that seeped through from Dark magic. Not only did the whole area reek of it, but whatever did this still left a buzz in the air, its effects remaining like a stain in the atmosphere. Whatever or whoever did this was no muggle. It was magical and dangerously powerful.
"OVER HERE!" Someone in the distance shouted.
They rushed over to the source of the voice to see a group hovering over a body. Could it be the perpetrator?
"What is it?" He asked.
"It's just another dead body." One of the men rolled his eyes. "The place is bloody littered with them!"
"No, look." The guy who cried out initially emphasized. "It's intact. And look at this," he dropped to the ground on one knee and traced the blast markings on the floor. "I think this is where it started."
"Where what started?" A skeptical man asked.
"This," he waved his arm around. "The cause of all this death and destruction."
"So he did it?" He pointed to the body on the floor. They all looked down at the lifeless body with a sudden sense of fear and caution. Every other body out there was ripped into shreds by the pure magical energy that had blasted through here. Not only was this one intact, but also placed in a way that made it look like he was sleeping. His black hair looked like it had been pushed out of his face, someone had closed his eyes for him. His expensive clothes were in tatters and covered in blood, but despite lying in the muddy dirt of the damp summer forest, he physically looked clean with no injuries visible, like he had simply drifted off to sleep in the middle of a battlefield.
"No, whatever did this, cared about him. This was likely a response to his death." With a gentle hand, he lifted the head of the slumbering dead boy to get a proper look at his face. "Does anyone recognize him?"
"I do," someone from the back pushed his way to the center of the circle. It was one of the Initiates from earlier tonight, the big one, Mulciber. "Yeah, I went to Hogwarts with him."
…
1 hour before the Aftermath; the Ministry of Magic
As they made their advance to the Auror office where Mad-Eye Moody's second team was, Lily's heart pounded in her chest. Flanked by the Prewett twins and Ester Bagnold, she found herself with gnawing doubt. She wasn't as experienced. What if she wasn't strong enough? What if her magic failed? What if she was the anchor that brought everyone down?
"You need to be able to save yourself before you save anyone else," James's stern voice from their training days echoed in her mind as she pushed forward. "No one wants to fight beside someone they have to constantly protect and defend. If you're not dependable, if you're not an ally, then you're the anchor."
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, disarming one of the Aurors in front of her.
"Nice one, kid!" Fabian shouted with glee.
However, despite her success, the disarmed Auror was quickly replaced by two others who shot the Killing Curse in their direction. The four of them dropped to the floor quickly and rolled out of the way before the spell's rebound off the wall could kill them.
For a split second, she wondered if she had died an hour ago in that supply closet from the brain bleed and her ghost fighting on or her drying mind imagining this whole scenario. It wouldn't be too hard to believe. She had frozen when Lyana had died, stubbornly unable to accept the fact that her best friend had died in front of her. Perhaps even in death she would be stubborn enough to believe she was still alive and try to fight.
The true possibility of death made her wonder what the last thing she said to James today was before she left. Did she say I love you? Did she tell him he was wonderful? Did he know that she thought the world of him? Would he move on after her death? She'd want that for him. Find someone he wasn't using as a replacement for herself, but actual love. She wanted him to find love and purpose even if she died here. She was confident she could be happy for him. She was confident she could wish him the best while he lived out every life milestone with someone who wasn't herself. She'd smile in awe of their child who looked like him and not see the smallest hint of herself. She could do that. And after many many many happy and peaceful years filled with joy and love, when he finally laid his eyes to rest for the last time, she would greet him and welcome him with all the sincerity in the world.
"You alright?" Bagnold asked, pulling her up from the floor, her voice edged with concern and determination.
The soreness of her body felt real, the sweat dripping down her face was real, her heart thundering in her chest so hard that she thought she could cough it out was definitely real. The only conclusion plausible was that she was still very much alive.
"Yeah," Lily nodded, steeling herself against the overwhelming doubt and fear that threatened her. "Still kicking."
Bagnold nodded with confidence.
Drawing from the depths of her uncertainty, Lily focused her energy, channelling her magic with newfound determination. Fabian and Gideon had separated from them by rolling in a different direction, but this allowed them to flank the two Aurors from both sides and launch an attack.
In retrospect, it was scary how fast they were able to take them down. How scary and lethal they were as a team. They moved as a unit, firing spells left and right, protecting each other's blind spot. It felt unreal and unbelievable.
Never in her life did she think she was made for this type of thing, fighting. Never in her life did she think that firing dangerous spells at individuals she didn't know would be something she could do, but now that she found herself in the thick of it, not only was she doing it, but she was doing it well. Hell, she wanted to do better, because the mere thought that these people fighting alongside her dying because she lacked in something was a thought she couldn't bear. At this moment, it felt like nothing good in her life was worth it if she let these people down. Fabian, Gideon, and Ester Bagnold were never Lily's friends before, but if they all survived this, she knew that they would have an unbreakable bond. It was like an extremely fast-tracked friendship. Here, in this intense situation of life and death, they were each other's saviour, ally, protector, support, and dependant.
"Death Eaters! The Death Eaters are here!"
Her gut twisted painfully as her heart pumped in her throat.
…
Also little over an hour before the Aftermath; Lestrange Estate
Hermione always knew that Rosier had a sick mind that rivalled the worst of the Death Eaters, and the only thing that limited him was his magical skill but watching him torture the four muggle men was nearing impossible.
Even Mulciber, who was no stranger to inflicting pain grimaced at the brutality that unfolded in front of him. Travers was positively green, while Yaxley clutched his neck gulping loudly. It seems like the trauma she had caused him by choking him with his Slytherin tie in his 3rd year was still affecting him in the depths of his mind despite Dumbledore's obliviate.
She glanced over at Avery who's hand twitched every so often, indicating his panic and anxiety. At least Regulus managed to maintain a neutral face, but even he couldn't stop the cold sweats that dripped from his forehead.
"Please," the muggle man who had spoken up to Rosier gasped as the Cruciatus curse relented. "Please just kill me."
"Don't worry," he smiled. "Death will come soon enough."
Rosier reached down where he removed a small dagger strapped to his ankle. He tossed the dagger toward the two that remained standing.
"Kill your friend. The one who kills him will go free." Rosier promised.
There was a silence caused by horrified shock or impressed surprise.
Clap clap clap
"Hahahaha!" Everyone turned around to see Voldemort laughing and clapping. "Excellent Mr. Rosier! This is excellent!"
"Thank you, my lord."
"Wait," Regulus spoke up.
Hermione whipped her head around, nearly shouting out loud at Regulus, only managing to stop herself at the last second.
"Mr. Black, you have an objection to this brilliant show?"
"No, my lord. I'm simply confused. I thought the other two muggles were tests for Yaxley and Travers who have yet to prove their loyalty."
Voldemort laughed and the other senior Death Eaters laughed along with him.
"My my, Walburga, he doesn't seem like it, but your youngest here is quite a naïve one, isn't he?"
"M-my lord, I apologize, I haven't educated him enough. It seems he is still a boy."
"Then allow me to give you your first lesson, boy." Voldemort placed a heavy hand on Regulus's shoulder and pushed him toward the Initiates and their muggle test subjects.
"There is only one thing muggles are good at, perhaps the only thing muggles are better at than wizards, and that is breeding. They're like insects or mindless beasts, Mr. Black. To make up for their pathetic and short lives they breed and pop out millions of useless imbecilic muggles a day. They are a plague that ruins our world."
"I-I see, my lord."
"After that quick lesson, let's see how well you comprehend and apply new information." He placed both hands on Regulus's shoulder and squeezed it painfully causing him to grunt from the pressure. "Mr. Black, why was your previous question a useless one?"
Regulus shut his eyes to calm his racing heart. He had barely heard what Voldemort had said, let alone remember his own fucking question at this point.
"My question was useless because they are replaceable, my Lord."
"Almost. I'm feeling generous today. I'll give you another try, so please, impress me with your answer."
Think. Think! What does he want to hear?
"Because by killing more muggles, we would be doing a service to our world by ridding it of the disease that plagues it."
He waited with bated breath as Voldemort considered his answer.
"That was more acceptable, Mr. Black." Voldemort nodded with acceptance. "You may go back to standing there."
However, as this whole conversation was happening, the two muggle friends had been listening, waiting and hoping to hear that they were needed for a chance to live a little longer. A chance for someone to come save them. However, the confirmation that they were easily replaceable, meant that their fight to the death was still on.
Brian, Cameron, Michael, and Ethan had been friends since university, they met on their first day in front of their dorm rooms and had maintained a close friendship for nearly 10 years. They had seen each other's first real relationships, breakups, jobs, and so much more. They were best mates, but now Mikey was dead, and Ethan lay on the floor twitching from mysterious pain, begging for death.
"It's your fault." Brian accused. "You just had to fucking make fun of their clothes, didn't you?"
"What did you just say? My fault?!" Cameron whispered with disbelief.
"You could never fucking keep your bloody mouth shut when you drink! How many times in the past have I saved your arse because of your stupid hole!"
"Don't you fucking dare paint yourself innocent! You're the one who pointed it out first! Snickering like a fucking idiot behind your hand! I never would have even noticed it if you hadn't fucking said anything! You were never able to mind your own bloody business, staring, watching, and judging people that you had no fucking business judging!"
The two friends panted as they glared at each other, then at the dagger.
It was hard to say who lunged first, but it was Cameron whose hands wrapped around the hilt of the dagger first. He waved it around clumsily, cutting Brian's cheek.
"Argh!" Brian stepped back, touching his bleeding cheek.
"Brian," Cameron's eyes widened at the deep cut. He glanced at the dagger, then at Brian's face. "Oh my god, Brian. I-I'm so sorry, but you know I need to go home." He approached Ethan's twitching body. "You know that! My dad… he can't… he needs me, you know that! Y-You know that!"
"We all have people waiting for us, Cam."
Cameron lifted the dagger high in the air, over his friend's chest.
"Cam?" Ethan finally came to, his weak voice called out to his friend, halting the plunging dagger less than an inch away from the deadly blow. "Cam?"
Cameron's face crumbled with despair as he dropped the dagger away from him.
"I-I can't! I won't!" he turned and screamed at the wizards who stood there watching with anticipation. "You monsters! You fucking monsters! What did we ever do to you?! Fuck all you fuckers! The police will come and they are going to get all you fuckers and you will never see the light of day or taste freedom for the rest of you—!"
"Urgh!"
Cameron's rant was cut short by a groan of pain. He turned back around at the source of the groan to see Brian holding the dagger that he'd thrown away and plunged it into their friend's heart.
"See, Mr. Black? Didn't I tell you? Muggles are insects or mindless beasts."
"I did what you asked, now let me go!" Brian screamed.
"Ethan?" Cameron sank to the floor. He surrounded his hand over the dagger in his friend's chest to prevent the hot blood from leaking out.
"You have to let me go! You promised!"
Rosier turned to Voldemort, wordlessly asking for permission. The Dark Lord gave a small nod of satisfaction. As Rosier lifted his want to remove the shackles from Brian, a scream erupted within the room.
"AHHHHHH!" In a furious rage, Cameron grabbed the dagger embedded in Ethan's chest and stabbed Brian repeatedly in the stomach. It wasn't until Brian dropped to the floor that Cameron stopped.
The two friends looked at each other with equal horror.
"My my, we have an unexpected victor!" Voldemort sounded gleeful as he watched Brian drop to the floor, clutching his stomach. He coughed up blood and ended up gurgling in it. Cameron stood amongst his dead or dying friends frozen as though his soul had left the body like an empty shell. The adrenaline in his body had surged to the peak inciting a sympathetic response, aka the fight, flight, or freeze response. So, as he stood there, not sobbing, wailing, running, panicking or fighting, Hermione understood that it was his body's way of coping with the turn of events by simply shutting down.
Hermione sympathized with him, as she too once stood amongst dead friends and family. This day would haunt him for the rest of his life. He would never be a "normal" person ever again. He would always feel damaged and broken. Even if he managed to heal somewhat, the memories from tonight would rush back, crushing any ounce of happiness he had allowed himself to feel.
Rosier smiled in victory for providing his lord with entertainment, ensuring it would get him on his good side. She watched as he glanced over at Rodolphus Lestrange, giving him a subtle nod.
Ah, so that was what Rodolphus had been doing to kill time while his young wife rotted away in Azkaban since the winter holidays last year; training to-be Death Eaters. However, these people were Slytherins. There was no way Rodolphus had given Rosier such lessons without a payment of some sort. She doubted it was financial payment unless it was extremely substantial, but the Rosiers were not as wealthy as the Lestranges. The only families that rivalled the Lestranges in their wealth were the Blacks and the Malfoys. Not even the Potters with a generation of smart investments and businesses could fill the Gringotts banks as those three families could. This could only mean that Rosier had given Rodolphus something in exchange for substantial galleons, such as a carte blanche. Hermione sincerely hoped it wasn't. Giving a man like Rodolphus Lestrange a carte blanche was by far the dumbest thing one person could do. The man was smart, cunning, psychotic, and perverse. Not only could he easily ruin Evan Rosier as an individual, but the whole Rosier family, their businesses, and the subsequent families they were linked with through marriage or other means.
All to get a smile out of the devil…
Rosier lifted his wand to remove the shackles on the last standing friend when the wand suddenly flew out of his hand and into Voldemort's.
"What are you doing?"
"My lord?"
All the amusement on Voldemort's face vanished within a second as he stood there looking disappointed at Rosier.
"Talent with magic, but not so much in deals, Mr. Rosier."
"M-My lord?"
"Can someone else tell me what Mr. Rosier is missing?"
"The deal was," Regulus spoke up, "the one who killed that man," he pointed to the tortured man who was stabbed in the chest, "would be set free, not him."
Cameron's breath hitched. After everything, he wouldn't even get his own life, but then again, what did he expect from these monsters?
"May I, my lord?" Travers was quick to speak up. With a quick nod from Voldemort, Cameron joined the rest of his friends through a flash of green light.
…
While the Muggles are being tortured; Lestrange Dungeons
Sirius had lost track of time a long time ago. That was a thing about this bloody prison cell, it was too dark to understand how much time was passing. There also was no one around him who didn't allow any sound other than the distant sounds of water dripping or a scurrying rat.
The lack of sensory stimulation and being left alone with his thoughts was enough to drive him mad, but to occupy his mind, he chose to count the water drops and consider them as seconds. By that count, approximately 2 hours had passed since Dolohov came to visit him. That meant he was most likely here, and subsequently, Sirius's time was up.
In the time he had spent being locked up in this jail, his crazed mind flipped back and forth between what he wanted. He wanted to live, that much was sure, but he didn't know if he wanted to risk Hermione's life to survive it. She had come to his rescue in the past, only to gain a massive target on her back. If she came to his aid once more… she would get roped in even deeper and deeper until she was in his grasp or killed. He didn't want that for her. He couldn't ask her to do it again, but… he really didn't want to fucking die. The thought of dying made his heart constrict painfully from the fear.
"Stop. Just stop." He whispered, shaking his head.
He could hear screaming but knew it couldn't be real because it was James's voice, then it was Remus's, Peter's, Lily's, Mary's, Alice's, but never Hermione's. That's why he knew it wasn't real, no one except Hermione would know he was here. No one would know to look for him, at least not anywhere near the Lestrange's estate. Sure, James would suspect something might have happened by now, but he would have enough sense to ask his father for help, not come here all by himself.
Just because he knew the screams weren't real didn't mean they were any less horrible to hear.
"Please please please," he begged, not knowing exactly what he was begging for. For Hermione to save him? For Hermione to forget about him and save herself? For the screaming to stop? For a miracle?
Suddenly there was a clink. A quiet clink.
With a quick gasp, he lifted his head as far as he could.
"You're one fucking lucky bastard."
…
5 minutes before Sirius's jailbreak; Edge of the Lestrange Property
Dumbledore stood with Frank Longbottom on the edges of the forest that hid the Lestrange home
"Sir, what are we waiting for?"
"A sign, my dear Frank. A sign."
Frank looked around, tapping his legs rapidly, waiting for a bright light or a firecracker to go off. Anything that could be a sign.
He smiled at the young ex-Auror's anxious confusion.
"Are you nervous, Frank?"
"Yes, sir. It's my first real mission with the Order."
"But you've been on missions as an Auror?"
"Well, yes, but never directly to a Pureblood Elite property and never just two people. May I ask, why it's just us?"
"This is not a battle," Dumbledore shook his head. "This is an extraction."
"Extraction, sir?"
"Extraction of what, sir? Are we retrieving a magical item?"
Dumbledore shook his head but did not answer, so Frank turned his head back to the thick forest in front of him. He knew where he was, though he'd never physically been. All Purebloods, whether they were blood purists or not, were related one way or another. There were vague records of this location in his family ledgers claiming that the Lestranges lived just past the forest and that the house held nothing but horror. He didn't understand what could extracted from their house of horrors if it wasn't a magical object that could benefit them in this bloody war.
There was a rustling in the woods next to them.
Frank reached for his wand, but Dumbledore was quick to grab his hand and stop him in his tracks.
A white ghostly Lynx walked towards them.
"Is that… a patronus?"
"Yes, Mr. Shacklebolt's, if I remember correctly."
Frank looked around them, looking for his Auror mentor, but found no one around them.
"Professor, it's Death Eaters! We need backup! There are too many casualties!"
Frank jumped back at the sound of his mentor's voice coming out of the patronus but found himself more shocked at the contents of what was being said. Death Eaters?! At a simple protest? That didn't make any sense.
He made the motions to run but was once again stopped by his old professor.
"You are going the wrong way, Mr. Longbottom."
"Sir?"
"That was our sign."
"Sir?!"
Frank watched as one of the greatest wizards walked into the forest, stepping beyond the anti-apparition line and into the enemy lines. He stood at the edge of the forest, torn at what he was supposed to do, what was the right thing to do? He watched Dumbledore walk away from him without turning around, telling him, ordering him, or coaxing him to follow him. He just walked.
Frank recognized that he was given a choice, a choice to trust the man who had set these plans or follow through with his initial instinct to run to aid his colleagues.
He stared at the spot where Kingsley's lynx had spoken. He didn't know Patroni did that, but Dumbledore didn't startle or blink. Kingsley had never taught him that Patroni could carry messages, and he wasn't the type of mentor to be stingy with tricks and magical spells he taught his mentees, so as far as Frank knew, Kingsley had never known this spell until recently.
Dumbledore taught Kingsley this trick for this mission.
That was our sign.
Frank marched into the forest, following Dumbledore's footsteps, choosing to trust the man that he admired so greatly.
…
Sirius gaped at Severus Snape in disbelief. Of all his potential saviours, Severus Snape was one of the last people in this world, only second to Voldemort himself. He was taken even further aback when he quickly hurried in and started to try and break open the pillory. So he wasn't just here to make fun of his pitiful state…. Snape, frustration evident in his face, pointed his wand at the lock and tried various spells, but it remained locked. Of course, an easy alohomora wouldn't suffice.
"FUCK!" His growl resonated in the cell.
"Did you find Hermione?" Sirius asked, wheezing from his painful hemothorax. "Did you find her?"
Ignoring his question, the Slytherin picked up a wooden stick to pry open the pillory with brute force.
"ANSWER ME!"
"Shut up! If we had found her, she would have insisted on coming here herself. Any second now, they will come down and get you and you will be tortured, then killed by your own younger brother."
"R-Reggie's here?"
"He was—urgghhh—called."
"…Try the hinges."
He paused but gave an abrupt nod before attacking the hinges of the pillory. Loud clangs echoed in his cell as Snape smashed the hinges with the wooden stick. With each clang, Sirius couldn't shake the feeling that it was a beacon signalling their location to the Death Eaters above.
"C'mon… come… on!" Snape's frustration hung in the air like a tense cloud that only grew between the shared anxiety that grew between the two of them.
He let out a gasp of joy when one of the hinges fell to the ground.
"Great, one more to go." Sirius's sarcastic defence mechanism didn't help Snape's hurried attempts at freeing him, only intensifying the feeling that time was slipping away, and capture was imminent.
"Your comments…" clang "…are" clang "unnecessary. URAH!" CLANG
There was another thud on the floor next to him.
"Now, stand up. We need to get going."
Sirius grunted standing up, the heavy metal pieces creaking loudly. Snape watched his struggle with a frown of concern.
"How bad are the injuries?" He asked helping him lift the metal contraption off him. "Not as bad as the hunger," Sirius replied.
Snape tossed him a potion. "It's for the pain from the injuries, it'll numb you enough to move until we get to the apparition point. I don't have anything for the hunger, unfortunately."
"I'll take whatever you got." He pulled off the cork and drained the contents of the vial.
"Let's go."
Severus dragged him through the labyrinth paths. It felt random, and the confused expression he gave didn't give Sirius the boost of confidence he needed.
Sirius pulled back. "STOP."
"We cannot."
"You don't know where the fuck we're going. There are stories of the Lestrange dungeons. They are deep and treacherous, if you don't know where you're going then we're going to die."
"I know where we're going! I came and got you, didn't I?"
Sirius narrowed his eyes, "Then why don't you know where we're going?"
"Just…just give a fucking second. Just give me a fucking second." Snape closed his eyes, deep in thought. "I made a wrong turn, go back." Snape saw Sirius's look, "Yes, I'm sure. I just miscounted because I was rushing, but I'm sure."
"Fine." Sirius turned around going back the way they came, but it wasn't long until they heard footsteps.
Fuck.
Sirius pulled Severus to the side, waiting for the footsteps to pass them. They heard whispers of a rebellion in the ministry, but when Sirius poked Snape to expand on that, he was silenced with a glare. They waited several seconds until going to the path that Severus had missed. They ran up the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible but came to an abrupt stop when they heard the signal that they were truly out of time.
"Where is he?" They heard a familiar voice asking someone. "Well?! WHERE IS SIRIUS BLACK!"
"Go go go go go." Severus pushed hurriedly. "Right," he directed. "Second left and immediately left again."
This time, with precise instructions and confidence that couldn't be questioned, Severus directed them out of the dungeons. Sirius shut his eyes tightly at the light he hadn't seen for days. It pierced his eyes painfully making them impossible to open.
He was blindly pulled back, his shoulder hitting a stone wall painfully as a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhh!" Snape warned.
"What the fuck is taking them so long?" Someone muttered. "We already have shit happening in the Ministry, now this?"
Despite being blinded, his hearing felt heightened. He could hear two sets of heavy shoes, likely dragon hide boots, hitting the marble floor, walking away from them. He didn't have time to judge whether it was safe to walk again because Severus started dragging him by the collar of his ragged shirt.
Tall fucker.
As his eyes were adjusted to the light, he started to recognize the familiar halls he was running down. He remembered visiting this terrifying home of the Lestranges when he was a child during the holidays when his parents would visit his "uncle" Rodolphus and "cousin" Rabastan.
"Where are we going?"
"Servant's quarters," Snape whispered. "There's a back exit. You and I will run just beyond the anti-apparition wards and get the fuck out of here."
"How will we know we've gone past it?"
"Someone is waiting for us just beyond the line," Snape didn't even have to turn around, rather he heard the small gasp in Sirius's voice. "And no, it's not Hermione."
There was a sudden shift in the air, filling with tension, panic, and anxiety. Everyone noticed that he was no longer in his cell.
"FIND HIM!" Someone roared. "FIND SIRIUS BLACK!"
"Go go go go go," Snape started pushing and pulling him, but weeks of untreated illness, starvation, and confinement had done a number on Sirius's body.
"Come on Black, don't fail me now."
There was no way in hell that was Sirius going to show Severus Snape that he was less fit than the previously lanky hunched-over boy. He groaned but pushed forward. They reached a hidden pathway that was used by servants so that they could walk around the estate without being seen by the owners, back when even the sight of a person with lower status was considered disgraceful.
"Go." Severus gestured for him to go into the hidden pathway.
"I thought you were coming with me?"
"I'm following right behind you, but you need some time. I'll buy you that time with a distraction."
"Don't be stupid."
"Don't be emotional. I'm not going to fucking die for you, Black. But both of us are dead if you don't make it to the fucking meeting point, so go!"
With a firm push, Sirius stumbled into the pathway. He looked back as the hidden door closed, torn between staying to help Snape or running, but he didn't have his wand, still sitting on the bar cart in Malfoy Manor. He didn't even have full mobility of his arm because of his injured shoulder and hadn't been treated since his beating when he was first captured.
He hated the feeling that he was running away. He hated the feeling that he was leaving someone behind. As a Gryffindor, it went against the grain of his identity to tuck his tail between his legs and run off.
…Tail?
No one here knew he was an Animagus.
With his stroke of genius, he transfigured his body into Padfoot. Unlike his human counterpart, Padfoot could easily navigate through the dark pathway through enhanced vision and scent that could detect hints of the fresh air outside. Sure, his chest hurt and he couldn't breathe from a hemothorax, and his front limb was limping due to the injured shoulder but running on 3 well-functioning limbs was significantly faster than stumbling blindly on two legs.
With his hyper-sensitive ears, he could hear the hurried footsteps running around the halls of the house beyond the walls and the whispers of the Death Eaters frantically trying to find him. There was a sense of panic all around, but it seemed whispered like they were trying to keep it a secret from someone like… Voldemort? If they lost him a second time, it didn't take a genius to know that it would mean bad things for them.
"Good," he thought to himself with a smirk. Unconsciously, his tail started to wag at the thought of the Death Eaters being punished by the leader they worshipped so much.
He ran towards the smell of dirt and grass, the smell of his freedom. Never had something as simple as the smell of dirt and grass smelled so wonderful.
Then it was in front of him, his sweet and beloved freedom. The cool summer breeze hit him so lovingly, tingling him to his bones.
"Where are you, Snape." He wondered as he looked left and right. Sirius knew that there wasn't much time until the Death Eaters came in swarms like bees protecting their queen.
"Black? Where the hell is that idiot?"
Sirius looked up to where the voice was coming from to see Snape's head pop out of a window.
He let out a low growl, causing the Slytherin to jump.
"Bloody he—" he stopped and stared intensely. "Black?"
Padfoot's ears tucked back and eyes turned wide.
"Hermione always told me you were a dog, but I never imagined she was being quite so…literal… But then again, she isn't someone who knew how to joke."
With a spell to the ground, Snape jumped out of the window. It surprised Padfoot so much that he let out a loud bark.
"SHHH!"
"Did you hear that?!"
"Fuck." With a glare, Snape started running. Bewildered, Padfoot stood there staring at him run.
"C'mere, you stupid mutt!"
He let out a low growl but followed nonetheless. They ran into the forest, but soon there were footsteps, many footsteps, following them. Snape shot spells at the people chasing them, but they were both moving too slowly. He hadn't noticed when he first dropped out of the window, but Snape was bleeding from his side and getting paler.
"Even if it's only half of them, we can't hold them all off for longer," Snape said as they hid behind a tree. "Split up." He said as he transfigured his clothes into the ragged clothes that Sirius had been wearing.
The 'half of them', part of what Snape said caught Padfoot's mind, but he shook his head. He bit the ends of Snape's clothes and pulled him back behind the tree.
"Look," Snape crouched down to his level. "I'm a decent duelist, but I can't hold all of them off. Luckily half of them went to the Ministry for the coup, but we still need to split. You run that way, towards the opening between those two maple trees over there. There should be someone waiting for you. A friendly face." Before he could stop him a second time, Snape ran off, his black hair, unlike his own, shaking in the wind.
Huhhhh? A coup?!
"There! It's Black! GET HIM!"
Sirius grunted as he started running in the direction of the maple trees that Snape had pointed out.
Someone jumped down a tree right in front of him.
"What's this? A grim?" Rabastan cocked his head to the side with piqued interest. "With such… interesting eyes."
He growled deeply.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A canine's instincts were sharp, but not infallible. Plus, he was underfed and injured, so he knew he hadn't dodged in time. All this effort and suffering, ended by just a flash of green light. He closed his eyes in trepidation for the wash of cold death to go over him.
He tripped as he landed on the floor, stumbling onto his hands. Hands? He was human again.
He blinked rapidly, unsure of what had just transpired. He was in direct line of the Killing Curse. It was almost as if… as if someone had pushed him out of the way.
Sirius looked around him to see no one by his side. Not even a footprint besides his own.
"THE DOG IS SIRIUS BLACK! GET HIM! Do not dare lose him again! Those are your orders! GET HIM!"
With no more time to investigate what had just happened, Sirius began running again, he wasn't even sure if he was running in the correct direction anymore, he was just propelled by the instinct to survive. Only one thought was in his mind: get away from those black-cloaked figures who were rapidly gaining on him.
His heart thundered in his chest, his eyes moving rapidly to try and see all the spells coming at him from various directions. He thought he had escaped the labyrinth when he escaped the dungeons, but the forest was now a labyrinth of shadows and uncertainty itself. The trees and the cloaked figures blended in his panic. He wasn't sure if he was avoiding a branch or a spell. Everything was closing in around him, echoing the relentless pursuit that threatened to consume him at any second.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
…
Hermione watched Severus and Sirius split up, one dressed up as the other, and the other transfigured into his Animagus form. She smiled at the smart plan. It could work. She felt torn on whom to follow, but with Severus looking like Sirius, he would have a swarm of Death Eaters at his tail. He was the one who needed more support. Besides, Dumbledore was supposed to arrive any second now to give them backup.
With a nervous glance back, she ran after Severus, aiding him as much as she could without notifying the other Death Eaters that an invisible person was amongst them.
She slashed and cursed, disarmed and expelled, pulling out all the tricks and tips she had accumulated over her long life to keep her friend alive. It was working, the fools were being tricked with the majority of the Death Eaters following them, including Dolohov and other inner circle members left behind after most of them were dispatched to aid in the Ministry coup.
"Gah!" Severus tripped and fell, rolling down the slope.
"We got him!" They cheered as the dark figures started closing in on Severus's fallen form.
"THE DOG IS SIRIUS BLACK! GET HIM!" Rabastan's amplified voice echoed in the air.
Dolohov barely hesitated before ditching Severus and running in the direction of Rabastan's voice.
"No!" Hermione screamed.
Many of the Death Eaters joined Dolohov's pursuit of the true prize, leaving a few straggling Death Eaters behind to pick up the easy target lying on the grass bed below.
Hermione fired her spells in rapid succession, taking the stragglers out. None of them had anticipated her, making them even worse opponents than they would be normally. One of them even started accusing their own ranks as traitors and took it upon themselves to take each other out.
"Severus, are you alright?" Hermione quickly crouched next to him assessing his injuries.
"Go. They're chasing after him. I'm fine."
"Shut up." She localized the bleeding. It must've been a pretty dark spell that caused it because it wasn't closing with a high-level wound-healing spell. She pulled out potions from her small pouch and uncorked it with her teeth and started pouring the expensive healing potions right onto the wound.
"T-Th-That'ssss" he hissed. "For Black."
Hermione shook her head, "It's for anyone who's hurt."
"Go. I got this from now. There's no one around anymore, I'll be fine."
Hermione hesitated, but she nodded, it would be for the best. "Go to the apparition point. There probably aren't any watchers right now, so you should get there with ease. Frank should be there with the timed portkey, so you must get there on time."
"I know, but Evans," he gripped onto her shirt. "What if… what if Black doesn't make it on time?"
She clenched her teeth at the worst possible scenario, "You still leave."
…
Avery ran up the slope of the forest alone. The only one of the Initiates that were left behind in the Estate was Regulus. Voldemort claimed that it was so that he could 'prepare' for his Initiation, but everyone knew it was because no one could fully trust that Regulus Black wouldn't let his blood-traitorous older brother go out of the past familial connection.
While Malfoy Manor was surrounded by forest, much like the Lestrange Estate, the latter home was situated at the center of a pit-like geographical location, making it a great place to keep prisoners. If they tried to escape, they'd be seen struggling to go up the slope towards the end of the tree line, while being chased by the guards from the bottom and watchers from the top.
Avery had seen a glimpse of 'Sirius Black' running, but even from this distance, he could recognize the difference between the physique of the man running and Sirius Black. Even when they had brought him in initially, he had not been that tall, Black sported a broader figure, more muscular and built with wider shoulders. The man running was more slender, with longer limbs and the black hair had a shiny, fine quality.
Severus Snape.
He thought about running towards Snape to help out his fellow Slytherin Trainee, but made a split-second decision, Avery ran the other way where a large dog had run off. He had assumed it was a pet that Hermione had given Severus as support, but that didn't make much sense. If the person pretending to be Black was Severus, then that big dog…was Sirius Black.
He panted as he started closing in on the big black dog. He made eye contact with the small number of other Death Eaters who nodded at him, but it didn't feel like a signal of camaraderie, but rather competition. This wasn't a team effort, Voldemort hadn't appointed a leader amongst them. This was a chaotic free-for-all.
Avery could use this. It would exhaust him, but he could get Sirius Black out without outing himself as a traitor.
He maneuvered around the big dog, which moved much faster than expected for his size and health condition. It was like herding, or at least what he assumed herding was like. Every time Sirius Black would go in the wrong direction, he would blast a spell that would just miss him by a hair to redirect him towards the end of the trees where an anti-apparition point was. He wasn't sure if it was the one Severus wanted Black to go to, but arriving at an anti-apparition point was better than arriving at none.
Everything was working according to plan, at least until Rabastan appeared out of nowhere. He must've been a watcher at the end of the tree line.
"What's this?" He wore a creepy smile on his face. "A grim? With such interesting eyes."
Dog-Black growled.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Without even thinking, Avery flung himself to the floor. He turned his head to make sure he was out of the trajectory of the spell, only to see an invisible spell push the large dog out of the way. As the large grim flew in the air, Avery saw the transfiguration spell come undone. The hair on the dog's fur retracted, reforming into the ragged clothes that Black had been wearing, the snout shortening into Black's handsome face, and those paws turning into hands and feet.
Rabastan screamed, revealing the façade that had tricked them all.
Avery rushed to get up. It was only a matter of time before Black was swarmed with Death Eaters from every direction. He needed to act quickly.
Whether it was the animal instinct in him or he was just that good, Black managed to shake himself out of the shock of nearly dying remarkably quickly and started running on his two human legs.
Avery scrambled after him, hoping to protect him, all the while looking like he was trying to hunt him down, but soon there was no need to worry about how he appeared. Spells were flying in every which direction, so chaotic to the point where even he was nearly taken down a few times by "friendly" fire. Trees exploded, splintered, and burned, spells collided, debris flew in unpredictable directions, and the shouts of Death Eaters created a nightmarish symphony. The once serene environment had transformed into a manhunting battlefield.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Rabastan roared once more, ignoring Voldemort's orders to bring back Sirius Black alive.
Avery choked on his own gasp as the Killing Curse missed Black by a hair as he dove behind a large rock, leading him to a dead end. The green light illuminated the ensuing demise of the Gryffindor.
Dolohov stood on the top of the rock, pointing his wand down at the fallen young man. Avery empathized with the terror in his face as his eyes flickered to all corners trying to find a way out of the situation, but there was none. It was done. Sirius Black was trapped.
Avery could hear his ragged breath, the wheezing, and the blood oozing from a wound that could have been fresh or from the beatings and torture he had endured in the past… pain and suffering he had endured all because of him.
Out of shame, he wanted to hide. He couldn't bear to watch Sirius Black die. The guilt…
He hugged himself, trying to make himself smaller and fade into the background when he felt the hard surface of an object in his pocket. He blinked, he didn't have anything in his pocket before, right?
He shoved his gloved hand into his pocket and pulled out the object to see a dog tag and a familiar silver chain. It was the portkey that Regulus had failed to give to his brother during last year's first Initiation attempt.
"So," Dolohov dropped down from the rock, purposely landing on Sirius's left knee. There was a sickening pop.
"ARGAHHHH!"
"Mr. Black. You've attempted another getaway. Who was your friend?"
Even in this precarious moment, Avery was astonished by the bravery on Sirius's face. With only one look at that glare, he knew that the name Severus Snape would never leave that man's lips. Dolohov seemed to know this too, curling his lips with distaste.
"No need, whoever they are, they will be caught soon. Hopefully, it's that girlfriend of yours." He licked his lips, causing some of the other Death Eaters to snicker darkly.
"He is mine! He was found on our property and held in our dungeons!" Rabastan argued, trying to intervene with Dolohov's line of questioning.
"And yet, it is there that he escaped and I'm the one that cornered him."
The two were nearly nose to nose glaring at each other with burning competition. Normally Dolohov was the leader but this Rabastan was a Lestrange.
"You can have him," Rabastan snarled, "WHEN I'M DONE WITH HIM!"
He shot a spell of a unique colour that Avery had never seen before, despite that fact, Avery's body moved without him even intending it to. He jumped to the center of the circle, his arms extending out. The Gryffindor's wide and confused eyes turned to look at him.
Suddenly it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. As though he had all the time in the world to do the things he needed to do at that very moment, and what he needed to do had never been clearer and more prominent than before. No matter how many times he thought about it, he knew that this was the right decision and the best course of action. Avery felt the fear that had always been there, blocking every decision he'd ever wanted to make, getting kicked down for the first time in his life.
He threw the chain necklace to Black, screaming at him to catch it. The beaten and starved man lurched forward to grab it, if he missed, the two would collide and they would both get hit with the mysterious spell that Rabastan conjured.
Instead of the uncomfortable collision between two bodies, Avery landed on leaves and dirt.
"NOOOOO!"
Dolohov and Rabastan shouted at the space that Sirius Black had occupied, but Avery couldn't pay them any mind as white-hot searing pain spread across his abdomen.
It was so sudden and so painful that he couldn't even make a sound. He could feel his body twitching as it tried to comprehend the number of nociceptors firing at rapid speed. It was like his body shut off basic functions because he soon realized he wasn't even breathing. The basic life support systems in his brain started rebooting, causing him to take in a huge gasp of air and then let out a scream he had never made in his life.
He looked down to the origin of all his pain to see something his brain simply couldn't understand. There was blood, which was expected because he was feeling so much pain, but why was there also so much pink?
It looked like… like…
"Urrraaghhhhh!" He screamed. "Araughhhhh!"
Rabastan pointed his wand once more, but Dolohov stopped him.
"No, let the traitor die a slow death. A pitiful death, being gutted like a pig for slaughter."
"H-h-hel-p," he managed to stutter. "P-p-p-pl-please."
A deep and thunderous boom was heard in the distance, an explosion large enough to cause the ground to shake and the trees to flutter.
"Was that—?" The Death Eaters all turned to the sound.
"That was the Estate! The Lestrange Estate is under attack! Our Dark Lord is being targeted!" Dolohov shouted. "You half!" He pointed to the runts of Death Eaters. "Stay and look for Sirius Black, there's a chance that he might have not portkeyed too far. "The rest of you, back to the Estate!"
Everyone started to scatter, leaving Avery helpless on the floor, blinded by his own tears and deafened by his own cries.
"NO PLEASE! PLEASE HELP ME! HELP ME!"
…
Hermione hid up in the trees when the large group of Death Eaters ran back to the Lestrange Estate after the large explosion.
Dumbledore or Voldemort. Those were the only two people who were powerful enough to make an explosion of that scale, however, Dumbledore had no access inside the Lestrange Estate and Voldemort had no reason to blow up the residence he was commandeering.
"Why is Dumbledore attacking the Lestrange Estate and not helping Sirius?!"
She hurried down the tree and ran in the direction where the Death Eaters had come from. She cancelled the silencing spell on her voice and started whispering.
"Sirius? Sirius?" She searched, hoping to any god out there that he had made it out, that she was being overly anxious and that everyone was safe.
"Sirius?" The silence was neither helpful nor calming. It could be because he had escaped, but also because he had… no, the thought was too terrible.
"Somebody…"
"Hello?" Hermione rushed toward the weak voice. "Who's there?!"
"Help…"
She ran to the voice, only to stop dead in her tracks at what she saw.
"Hel…p"
She undid all the charms that made her invisible and sprinted to Avery's side. "Oh, Fredrick."
"H-Hermi—"
"Shh, don't speak. It's okay. You're okay."
"I… I'm"
"I've got you, don't worry. I've got you."
"I'm s-sor-ry."
"Shh, none of that. You're going to be fine. I can fix this."
"Pl-e…ase…"
"I'm right here. Don't worry, you're going to be okay. I've got all the potions, I can fix this."
Hermione's fingers fumbled in a way that they'd never before, slipping from all the blood around her. Images of Albus Severus Potter kept popping up, her mental switch threatened to flip, flooding her mind with memories that would make her comatose.
"C'mon, c'mon!" She screamed at herself. She finally uncorked the same expensive healing potion she'd given Severus and started pouring it everywhere, but the damage was too much.
"I have more, don't worry, Avery." Her shaking hand reached into her pouch and pulled out all the healing potions she had. Too impatient to uncork all of them individually, she wandlessly broke the tips of the bottles, pouring all of the contents onto the broken boy's body.
"See? It's all stitching back up! All we have to do is p-p-put your o-organs back into their proper places and sew you back up, and you'll be fine. I can fix it, see? See Avery? Avery?"
Hermione looked into the glassy eyes of her very very very still friend.
"Don't worry," tears dripped down her face as she forced her lips to form a smile. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine."
"Hermione," Harry placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from performing more healing charms.
She threw his hand off and continued to work. She collected all the organs scattered in the area and picked off the leaves and dirt stuck on them. Her fingers were no longer shaking, her mind was no longer frantic. Everything felt eerily calm.
"You'll need a serious round of antibiotics," she whispered. "But you'll be okay. I promise."
"Who's there?!" Footsteps came closer and closer, but she ignored them as she placed each organ in its correct location in her friend's body cavity.
"This is going to leave one nasty scar," she let out an empty laugh, "but don't let that bother you, I've got scars too, maybe I'll show you later."
Someone laughed above her.
"Look at this bitch! She's absolutely crazy!"
The forced smile on Hermione dropped as she placed the last stitch on Avery's torn abdominal skin.
"She's healing a dead man!" The men around him laughed along.
Hermione positioned Avery in a more comfortable position, lying on his side like she'd often seen when he was napping in the Slytherin Common room or at Malfoy Manor after a rigorous training session. She always thought it made him look much younger than his actual age, like a baby, curled up in a mother's arms. She tucked his dark black hair behind his ears.
"Oh Fredrick… I'm so sorry."
…
AN: And so the Aftermath ensued
So, thanks for another chapter, everyone. Happy 2024?
In all honesty, I really flipped back and forth on the ending, wondering if there should be a longer more emotional conversation between Hermione and Avery, with lots of reflection on their time together and their relationship, it would have involved a lot of tears and regret, but… obv I didn't do that. I thought this way was more realistic in the sense that Hermione can't save everyone and having the chance to say long and meaningful goodbyes is just not a luxury that's afforded in a battlefield.
This was a very long chapter, I think maybe my longest. But I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I also contemplated cutting the chapter off at different points in the chapter for cliff-hanger effects, but I thought that would be too cruel and the flow of the chapter would also be cut, which is the bigger reason, so yeah, it's a nearly 10k worded chapter for you all haha
Also, can anyone guess who secretly pushed Sirius away from the first Avada by Rabastan?
Love ya, and I'll see you in the next chapter 3
-ihatemakingupusernames.