From the playlist:
Welcome to the Jungle - Tommee Profitt (continued)
Tundra - Ola Gjeilo, Tenebrae
Game of Survival - Ruelle
Ch. 25 - The Other Wolf
"My friends, welcome," Voldemort hissed, addressing the Order members on their knees. Even from the adjacent corridor, Emmeline could hear Peter whimpering. "There's no need for tears. This will be a joyous occasion," he continued. "Today, my cause gains eight new capable followers."
Emmeline thought she was going to be sick, and tiptoed around the corner to conceal her panicked breathing. She kicked herself for not taking on Snape and the other four Death Eaters when she had the chance. Now, she was the only one armed up against a room full of Death Eaters, and Volde-bloody-mort himself. She was going to die, and her sacrifice wouldn't even save her friends.
She calmed herself enough to recount what Alastor had said earlier: "If any of you see something, send a Patronus to me." The trouble was, her partner with the ability to produce the Patronus was in the other room without his wand. There was no way for her to call for backup.
...She had to do it.
She had to conjure a Patronus herself.
Not only that - if she wanted to live to see if, she had to perform it non-verbally.
Shit.
"You can't," she thought as she raised her wand. She gripped the hilt so tightly that her knuckles turned white and it shook in her grasp. Alastor was right; the panic was making her forget every happy memory she ever knew. There was only this corridor, and this cellar, and her friends were going to die because she wasn't good enough.
She took in a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, then said the incantation in her mind.
"Expecto Patronum."
Nothing.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit-
"You dare defy me?" she heard Voldemort jeer.
This was her worst nightmare coming true.
She had to do it, and she had to do it now.
She closed her eyes again. Details. Alastor said details. All five senses.
She imagined herself back in Flourish and Blotts. The feeling of the books' textured spines under her fingers. The dust hanging in the air. The smell of old parchment. "I thought I might find you up here."
And Remus.
His goofy smile.
The mess he made of his hair.
The way he perpetually smelled like tea.
She could feel the texture of his bed sheets.
Bed sheets…
Her mind drifted somewhere more raw, as it had every time she'd tried to perform the spell.
Blood on the bed sheets.
Twinges in her belly.
Choking on tears.
Every single time she attempted the Patronus, her mind wandered back to that day. She began to panic again. She was running out of time. Her friends-
…Her friends.
Another deep breath.
Marlene.
Lily.
James.
Sirius.
Peter.
And Remus…
"You're not replaceable, Emmeline. Not to me."
"...Expecto Patronum."
Emmeline felt a surge in her palm and opened her eyes. From the tip of her wand, a brilliant, silver light burst forth and began to take shape. It glowed so bright that she was afraid the Death Eaters in the other room might spot it. Her breath caught when the light materialized into a brilliant, incandescent wolf.
There was no time to marvel at her own creation. "Find Remus," she whispered, focusing hard on his image. As the wolf dashed away, Emmeline prayed that after four lessons of observing others and never practicing for herself, this would work.
…
Remus poked his head into what must've been the hundredth bedroom. "I'm telling you, there's nobody up here."
"I think we should check for hidden passageways or something," Sirius suggested.
"Pad, there are no trap doors or secret passageways. They might not even be here anymore. They might've taken them away from the house."
Suddenly, a silvery wolf leapt into their view, startling them to the point of hurling spells. The light from their wands merely passed through the mist of the Patronus.
Remus puzzled at the wolf, wondering if he'd gone mad. Had his Patronus somehow become independent? But this wolf seemed to have a slightly smaller frame, and a different pattern in its fur...
Sirius squinted at the wolf. "...Who's Patronus is-"
"Emmeline!" Remus exclaimed as he came to the realization.
She'd done it, and it was beautiful, and-
…and it was like his…
As if it had heard him, the wolf bounded back down the hallway towards the staircase with Remus running to catch up with it. "Hurry!" he called back to Sirius.
Thankfully, Marlene and Alastor passed the stairs just in time to catch Remus and Sirius chasing after the wolf.
"Is that your corporeal, Lupin?" Alastor asked, hobbling behind them in the pursuit.
He smiled with pride. "No, it's Emmeline's!"
…
"And what about you, Peter Pettigrew?" Emmeline heard Voldemort question him. The part of him that should have been his lips lingered on the P's in Peter's name in a way that made the hairs on the back of her own neck stand up. "What say you?"
"...I-...I-..."
"Peter, look at me! Resist him!" Emmeline knew that was James.
"Quiet!" scolded one of the Death Eaters. She heard a smack then a grunt, and suspected that someone had hit him.
"Well, Peter?"
"C'mon, c'mon," Emmeline whispered impatiently, praying that her friends would arrive. If they didn't show up soon, her plan b was to run in when Voldemort's back was turned and hit him with a Killing Curse, knowing full well that she would be dead less than a second later.
"D-…Dumbledore-" Peter stammered.
"Dumbledore will never be able to protect you like I can."
"Don't give into him!"
"I told you to shut your mouth!" Another smack. Another grunt.
"No one will protect you like I can. Isn't that what you seek?"
She saw a light farther down the corridor as the wolf returned with Remus, Sirius, Marlene, and Alastor. Having done its duty, her Patronus evaporated. God, if she could've kissed it, she would have.
"Em-"
She cut Sirius off by throwing her index finger up to her lips.
"What was that?" someone asked from the other room. Everybody in the exterior corridor froze.
"...Avery, go keep watch," Voldemort ordered.
They heard footsteps as one of the Death Eaters approached, and Alastor motioned for them all to get behind him. When Avery the older came within reach, Alastor pointed his wand and cast a silencing charm, immediately followed by a disarming spell from Remus.
Avery turned to see them and began to yell, but no sound came out. Marlene swiftly petrified him as Sirius and Emmeline came around behind him to lower him noiselessly to the floor. Clutched in his grip was a rolled up leather pouch containing the wands of the captives.
"Fucking idiots," Sirius rejoiced under his breath.
"Don't get too excited. They have everyone, including James and Lily," Emmeline whispered as she dislodged the pouch from Avery's fingers. "He's here too."
"How many Death Eaters?" asked Alastor.
"Twenty-five, at least. Maybe more."
As furtively as he could, Alastor crept into a position that gave him a sightline into the room.
"Severus tells me that you would make a fine edition, Lily," they heard Voldemort say. "If you prove him right, I may even be able look past your tainted blood."
"Lily...please…" Snape beseeched her.
Alastor turned back to the group. "On my signal," he mouthed.
"Never," Lily seethed.
Voldemort's voice moved back to the front of the room. "This is your final opportunity. You will join me, or you will die."
"Fumos," muttered Alastor.
There was confusion within the chamber as a cloud of thick gray smoke bombarded the room. Some hooded figures dropped their torches and drew their wands, but at first there was only shouting - none of the Death Eaters cast any spells for fear of who they may hit. Voldemort, however, took the liberty of casting curses towards the ground where his captives had been, and Bellatrix joined in with him, cackling.
"STOP!" Severus clamored, reaching his arms through the smoke in search of Lily.
All at once, spells began flying from the inside of the circle out towards the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord blindly whipped his head around as he heard grunts and shouts around him. When the smoke began to dissipate, it became clear that the hostages had been reunited with their wands. They were fighting back, and they had help. Voldemort could see that two thirds of his young new Death Eaters were now stupefied, petrified, or otherwise detained. He raised his wand in fury to settle the score, but froze when he saw Albus Dumbledore apparate into the room and lock eyes with him.
Voldemort's mouth twitched.
He swiftly disapparated. Those Death Eaters not already on the floor followed his lead. Snape was the last to disembark, staring longingly at Lily before disappearing with a whoosh.
Coming down off of his adrenaline, Remus spun around to assess everyone. Emmeline was right behind him, looking disturbed by her first face-to-face encounter with Voldemort, but otherwise unharmed. Remus strode to her and took her face in his hands.
"Are you alright?"
"I think so, you?"
"I'm fine. You were brilliant, Emmeline. Absolutely brilliant."
"I thought I was going to vomit. I still might."
Turning back around, Remus saw Marlene help Sirius up off the floor.
"Good?"
"Good."
To their left, James and Lily shared a tight, grateful embrace.
The Longbottoms appeared to be okay, the Prewetts were dusting themselves off, and Edgar was checking on Peter, who was sniveling in the corner of the chamber. Sirius went over too.
"You okay, Pettigrew?"
"I-I dunno, I can't- I don't-"
"You've got to breathe."
"Steady on, Wormtail, you're okay…"
"Alastor," Marlene uttered worriedly, pointing him out to the others.
He was clutching the left side of his face as blood dribbled from underneath his hand. "I'm alright, I'm not dead yet."
Albus approached him, gently removed his hand from his face, and stared into his wound. "This needs attention, Alastor."
"Let me check on things upstairs first."
"Fabian, would you kindly escort Alastor to St. Mungo's?"
Fabian nodded and approached Moody to take his arm. Alastor groaned a bit in opposition, but ultimately listened to Dumbledore. "I expect to see you back in lessons tomorrow, Vance," he said before they disapparated.
Emmeline smiled half-heartedly.
Albus surveyed the Death Eaters on the floor. Some of their masks had fallen off, revealing the faces of people far too young to be fighting a war. They looked like students, and he recognized a few of them from Hogwarts past and present. He wagered the rest were from Koldovstoretz."I will alert Bartemius to come and collect those who have been left behind," he said, peering into the petrified face of a young boy. "As for the rest of you, you should return to the world above. Nothing good can come of this darkness."