Chapter 17: Morsmordre

The scene seemed to unfold in front of James in slow motion. The metal handle glinted in the sunlight a second before it made contact with the side of Sirius's head. This was followed by a sickening crunch. James watched horrified as his friend cried out in pain, blood already starting to dampen his black hair. The auror seemed frozen in place, unable to fully register the act of brutality that he had just witnessed. But the sight of the young Death Eater pulling his hand back, preparing for another blow, spurred him into action.

The only warning that the teen got was the low, dangerous growl that left James's throat before he threw himself at the boy. The auror slammed into the lithe figure a split second later, sending them both crashing into the large wooden frame of the bed. There was a hollow thud as the back of the young teen's head made contact with the floor, but James was too furious to care for the boy's wellbeing, at the moment. All he could think about was the fact that lying under him was a death eater who had just tried to bludgeon his friend to death. James's lips were pulled back into a snarl as he ripped the metal object out of the boy's hand.

"I'll make you regret doing that," the auror spat as he brought the handle crashing down repeatedly into the side of the child's head. He was beyond the point of rational thought now. He was furious. The only thing he could see was the face of his friend's would-be murderer under him.

This is for Harry.

The white mask that shielded the boy's face cracked under the brutal assault, flecks of bright red blood splattering against it with each blow. The teen lay still under James, not making a sound. The dark green eyes had fallen closed at some point, indicating that the young wizard was either dead or unconscious. James didn't really care which one was the case.

The auror raised his hand to deliver another crushing blow when cold fingers wrapped around his forearm. James looked over his shoulder, shocked.

"Stop it," Sirius was glaring at his friend, blood plastering the hair to the right side of his head, "Killing this kid won't make you feel any better about Harry. It isn't worth it and you know that."

James looked back down at the cracked and bloodied mask that still covered the face of the teenager. He knew that Sirius was right. Killing this child would only make things worse, not better for him. His fingers loosened and the metal handle dropped to the floor with a heavy clang.

A deep stillness seemed to hang in the air as Sirius pulled his friend off of the young death eater before the auror hurried over to check on the still body. James vaguely noticed that the white mask was still in place, but the black hood of the cloak had fallen back during the assault. The boy's black, messy hair was matted with blood where James had hit him.

James watched as Sirius put his hand under the child's chin, checking for a pulse. That was when the entire world seemed to crumble around the auror.

Oh Merlin, he thought, anger suddenly replaced by overwhelming regret, What if I have actually killed him? What if I've just killed an unarmed child?

"He's still alive."

James felt an odd urge to weep at the quiet words that Sirius had just spoken. He couldn't believe how close he had actually come to murdering the teen. What the hell had gotten into him? He had never felt so much rage in all of his life, than when he had seen the boy hitting Sirius. But he had done exactly what the young Death Eater had been trying to do. He was no better than-

"James. JAMES!" The auror looked up. Sirius was now standing in front of him, "We need to leave. NOW. You can pity yourself later."

James took a deep breath and nodded sharply. He reached up to grab hold of his friend's hand. His world tilted slightly as he got to his feet, all of the blood rushing away from his head, but he managed to stay upright.

Now wasn't the time for weakness. He would figure it all out later. Right now he needed to make sure that there was a later.

Sirius was kneeling beside the still body of the young death eater. A small pool of blood had begun to form next to the side of the boy's head. James had to look away, suddenly feeling slightly ill.

He had done that. He had caused that.

"James, I'm going to levitate him over to the fireplace," Sirius was speaking to him now, "I need you to find the floo powder and have it ready."

James looked over at the large, ornate fireplace that stood against the far side of the room. The hearth sat cold and empty, waiting for them.

"I think I saw some in a jar on the mantle," James muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

The auror heard Sirius carefully say leviosa as he stumbled over to the hearth. His eyes were fixed on the small black jar that sat above the fireplace. The muscles in his abdomen ached slightly as he reached up and grabbed hold of the container. It was surprisingly heavy.

James carefully lifted it down before tearing the lid off and tossing it away. He sighed with relief. Floo powder. The jar was full of it.

Harry's world had gone black as soon as the first blow had landed. He had felt a horrible, sharp pain tear through his head and heard a sickly cracking sound; the thought had crossed his mind that that probably was the sound of his skill breaking.

But after that, everything had faded away into blissful darkness.

It was the sound of voices close by that first broke through the peaceful thick fog that seemed to encase his mind. This was followed close behind by a horrible pounding pain in his head. It felt as though his entire skull was throbbing along with each beat of his heart. The pain was so strong that Harry felt instantly ill. On top of that, he could feel himself moving…floating?

Harry didn't have much time to dwell on this, however. The sensation of motion had made his nausea instantly reach new heights. The teen's eyes flew open as he lurched to his feet.

Only, there wasn't anything under his feet.

Harry cried out as he fell heavily to the floor. Someone nearby cursed loudly, but Harry didn't have time to figure out who else was in the room with him. The harsh jolt of his knees hitting the hard floor had proved to be too much for the young wizard. The pain in his head doubled, making his stomach instantly revolt.

Harry leaned over onto his hands as he vomited…or, at least, tried to. He had forgotten that he was still wearing the stupid mask. The teen gagged as his mouth filled with a horrible-tasting fluid, but it had nowhere to go. Harry reached up and began to tear at the edges of the mask, his mind screaming frantically at him that he was going to suffocate if he didn't get it off soon.

Frantic voices were shouting somewhere above him, but Harry was too busy trying to rip the mask off. Only the blasted thing wouldn't budge.

The sticking charms need magic to be deactivated, a voice in the back of his head said unhelpfully, and you're out of magic.

Harry's throat felt like it was on fire as his airway was cut off by his vomit. But before the young wizard could fully start to panic the acidic liquid was suddenly gone. Harry gasped, letting icy cold air rush into his lungs.

Fuck.

"Grab his other arm, James," a voice somewhere off to his right said, "We need to get out of here before he starts to fight back again."

Fight back again?

Two sets of hands grabbed his arms and lifted him to his feet. Harry groaned as the movement sent pain shooting through his head once more. Something felt wrong about the two people beside him. His brain was screaming warnings at him, but he wasn't sure why.

Harry's legs were shaking as he tried to stand. This, however, proved to take too long for the two people on either side of him because a second later, the ground started moving under him and his legs instantly gave out. Part of Harry's brain was telling him that he was being dragged across his room, but he couldn't seem to find the energy to care. All he wanted to do was stop moving. His stomach was starting to churn angrily again and he didn't want to have to go through that whole experience again.

After what felt like hours, Harry saw the ground below him stop moving. He didn't remember exactly when he had even opened his eyes. He saw a vaguely familiar stone floor under him and two sets of very unfamiliar robes and dragon-hide boots. The robes were reddish-brown. A colour that Harry knew he had seen before…but where?

Harry felt his vision waver and fade slightly as he felt himself being pulled forward again. He groaned softly at the sudden nauseating movement.

Why couldn't they just let me sleep in peace?

The teen's brain couldn't seem to formulate a response to this.

"James," a voice said, close to his right ear, "Hold h-"

Whatever the man was about to say was cut off by a series of deafening cracks. At least, they sounded deafening to Harry. The sharp sound seemed to cut into his skull like knives. The teen gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed against the pain. But suddenly, a hand tangled in his hair and yanked his head up and back. Harry stilled as he felt the tip of a wand press into the side of his neck.

What the hell?

"You so much as move a muscle and I'll kill the kid. I swear to you I'll kill him."

The sight of the young teen choking and clawing frantically at his mask had spurred Sirius into action. He wasn't sure why the boy was unable to remove the hideous face piece and part of him wondered if You-know-who had somehow managed to permanently attach it to his son's head. Either way, Sirius wasn't going to let the child suffocate on his own vomit.

The auror pulled out his wand and pointed it at the teen. He, thankfully, remembered the spell that Lily had taught him for situations like this.

"Anapneo!"

In a second, the boy was drawing in huge gulps of air as the vomit vanished from his throat. Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.

James had rushed over to them as soon as he had seen the boy fall to the ground. The auror was holding tightly onto a black jar. Floo powder, no doubt.

"Grab his other arm, James," Sirius said, quickly reaching down to reach under the Death Eater's right arm, "We need to get out of here before he starts to fight back again."

He wanted to add before the kid's father showed up, but he thought better of it and held his tongue. With James firmly gripping the teen's other arm, both aurors were able to pull the limp form up. The boy did not seem to be fully alert yet, for which Sirius was grateful. He didn't want to have to deal with the young Death Eater fighting back again.

Both men remained silent as they all but dragged the young teen over to the fireplace. Sirius pulled them to a stop right at the edge of the hearth as James reached in to grab a handful of floo powder.

They had done it. They were almost out of here.

"James," Sirius started to say, "Hold h-"

But all of his hopes were dashed when the harsh crack of apparation seemed to spit the air in the room in two. Sirius whirled and felt his blood run cold.

There, standing just a few metres away, was You-know-who himself. The dark wizard was dressed in a set of pitch-black robes, but his handsome face remained free of any kind of mask. Beside him stood several other death eaters. And all of them had their wands trained on the two aurors.

Reacting out of pure instinct and desperation, Sirius reached down and grabbed a handful of the teen's hair, yanking the boy's head back. He instantly jammed the end of his wand into the side of the child's neck and shouted,

"You so much as move a muscle and I'll kill the kid. I swear to you I'll kill him."

Surely You-know-who would not let them go rather than risk harm coming upon his son…

Next to him, James was holding his own wand out in front of him. His face was deathly pale.

"Black and Potter," the dark wizard's voice was even, but edged in restrained anger, "You have made a grave mistake by coming here today."

"The only mistake that I can see is on your part," Sirius said, taking a step back, not realising that he had entered the fireplace. If he and James could keep the death eaters at bay just long enough for them to activate the floo then they might still get out of this alive.

"And what mistake would that be exactly?"

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off when James spat,

"You made a mistake when you chose to kill my son. You took Harry away from me and that is why I am going to make sure that your son is taken away from you."

Sirius felt as if all of the air in the room had instantly been sucked out. In his arms, the auror felt the boy stir slightly, muttering something that he couldn't catch. The dark wizard seemed to notice this too and turned his attention back to the young teenager.

"No. You know nothing, Potter. You and that pathetic mutt will not be taking my son anywhere."

Sirius couldn't help but gasp quietly. He realised that this was the first time that anyone had actually received confirmation about the boy's heritage. If he could just get the teen back to the ministry then he-

"You're too late, I'm afraid."

Sirius looked sharply over at his friend. The auror hadn't moved from his place next to the fireplace.

What the fuck is James talking about?

In his arms, the teen seemed to be becoming more aware of what was happening and began to struggle weakly. What happened next, Sirius would never be able to fully remember.

The auror felt his grip on the squirming boy loosen as he shot his friend a panicked look. Upon seeing this, James reached his hand out and threw a handful of something into the floo. As the fine powder hit the ground next to Sirius's feet, a green fire instantly ignited. You-know-who seemed to realise what was about to happen and instantly threw a familiar green curse toward the three figures. Sirius shouted frantically at his fellow auror, but James simply gave him a sad look before yelling,

"Hogwarts! Dumbledore's Office!"

The bedroom instantly began to disappear into a swirl of colours. The last thing that Sirius saw was James collapsing to the ground. You-know-who's scream of furry echoed in the auror's ears as he was carried away to freedom.