I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
Please note that due to the constant technical troubles of the site, the story is now also being published at AO3. The story will update every second Saturday until the story is done.
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Chapter 88: The Longest Day, Part II - High Noon
It had started as a very normal morning in London - business as usual even in such highly unusual times. After all, regardless how big the revelations that shake how the world had been seen, life was still going on and all the big and small things still needed to be done. Nothing was even hinting that this day would be one to go down into history books.
It started when some pedestrians spotted a highly unusual sight: that of a man floating above the rooftops of London, surrounded by a black smoke that seemed to keep him afloat. More and more people noticed, and the recent revelation about magic made some realize this could mean big trouble. Some were running to the next red phone booth to inform the police, while some others pulled out one of those cell phones, which more and more came into the mass market, to call the police.
However, it was only a minute later when everything went to hell quickly.
It sounded like the air above London was filled with thunder and the next moment all hell broke loose in the city. Hundreds of people had appeared out of thin air - people who distinctively were wearing magical fashion and thus had to be wizards and witches - not to speak of all kind of creatures, including things that looked like what one in general would understand as giants. The moment of surprise however quickly gave way to terror and panic when death and destruction started.
From high above, Voldemort observed the beginning of this final chapter.
They will come all out, just as planned, he thought while doing so.
The number of actual Death Eaters made up about a third of the number of people he had on the ground. The rest was all kind of hired and conscripted help, like lowlife scum that would do anything for a warm meal and those animals of Greyback's pack. The giants were there to cause massive destruction while all those other magical beasts they had collected were allowed to run amok and kill whoever they encountered.
Voldemort knew that his enemies would run to come to the defense of those magicless animals. While he had framed it as a decisive strike before they would retreat, that all was bull. While there would be tremendous damage, he knew his followers would be slaughtered in the end. He honestly didn't care about that, feeling they had all disappointed him too much and deserved that fate.
No, his only priority now was to eliminate Potter and to hell with everyone else. In his cracked mind it had become a single-minded obsession.
Back on the ground, London was quickly descending into chaos.
The enemy did not care who was hit by their spells. To the actual Death Eaters anyone without magic was little more than an animal and could be murdered without any second thought. The lowlifes bolstering the ranks without fault were people to whom murder was no problem. And while the werewolves of Greyback were in human form, they had a reputation for being savages.
And that was without considering the various beasts that had been let loose onto the unsuspecting city and which now were running amok. It thankfully were not the worst ones like a Nundu - since even the Death Eaters were not insane enough to keep those around - but it was bad enough. Several cockatrices running wild in a densely populated city was a massive disaster already.
And then there were the giants. All the giants still available to Voldemort's forces had been portkeyed in and didn't waste any time to spread death and destruction. They laughed while crushing anyone they could find with their huge clubs, enjoying the carnage, smashing cars flat or slamming their weapons into buildings, causing serious damage.
In Downing Street, the whole thing had been seen right away.
"Oh no..." Amelia Bones cursed. She had been in a meeting with the Prime Minister and Mr. Shacklebolt in the former's office when all hell had broken loose. "We have to get out of here now!"
Blair knew why that was the case and quickly used the intercom while getting up from behind his desk. "Code Red has happened! Evacuate the building! Security detail to my office!"
"Watch out!" Shacklebolt warned.
Bones barely managed to jump back and then erect a shield to protect them from what happened next. Two enemies flying on brooms were making a beeline for the window and... -BRAAAM- Two spells hit the window, causing it and the surrounding wall to shatter utterly. It was only thanks to the shield that none of them got hurt from the flying debris.
They knew however that it was not over, since both enemies were making another run for them and thanks to the big hole in the wall they would not miss this time. "Shacklebolt, on the defense!" Bones shouted, before attacking first.
Their attackers had expected a direct attack. Instead, the spell Bones shot out aimed for the empty space between those two, where it then suddenly detonated with a strong shockwave! One attacker was cleanly blown off his broom and blasted quite some distance... before falling onto one of the gates restricting access to Downing Street, getting utterly impaled on the many sharp pikes on the top.
The other attacker managed to stay on her broom, but unable to steer did shoot through the hole in the wall and barely managed to get off, before her broom shattered against the wall. Before she could go onto the attack... -wom- The door was kicked open and security stormed in. Seeing the situation, they did not hesitate to open fire onto the attacker, multiple bullets ripping through her and putting a quick end to her life.
"Sir, we have to get into the bunker!" one of the men called to the Prime Minister.
Blair knew that meant the bunker underneath Downing Street - well, more under the garden behind it - which originally was a result of the Cold War but nowadays worked well as a command center in case of emergencies.
"Yes, let us go..." Blair then looked to Bones and Shacklebolt. "You two want to be out there?"
"I think I'm better suited to direct the efforts." Madam Bones knew she would be more effective in that role.
"Yes, I need to go. I have to alarm everyone and act as field commander," Shacklebolt said.
o
The Six had just started their day and nothing out of the ordinary had happened... up until the music on the radio suddenly was cut off and the message that came through it told them what they had expected to happen for the past days. Though the contents of the message still caused them to freeze.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are interrupting our program for breaking news! As of this moment, the city of London is under attack! First reports confirm it has to be the terrorist Death Eater organization..."
"Fuck..." No one said anything about Ron cursing like that, since it was warranted.
They all stormed to the TV and quickly turned on the BBC to see what was going on in London.
"...the attack had started out of nowhere, without any provocation..."
The pictures they saw were ones of death and destruction. The Death Eaters were clearly going for causing as much damage as possible and seemed to feel that everyone in the city was a fair target. While the footage of course mostly was from afar, some was from active security cameras and showed things close-up.
"...police forces are being killed due to not being armed..."
It was like the enemy was trying their hardest to cause as much damage as possible and kill anyone they came across. There was an especially horrible scene of a spell blowing a young child into bloody pieces before the station could cut away. London was turning into a horrible war zone before their eyes.
"...we... There won't be any further live pictures from the battle zone..."
"Oh no..." Ginny whispered.
"I honestly had not expected them to go after London itself," Hermione said with surprise, trying to hide how deeply this was affecting her. "I thought doing so would be insane."
"You told me normal police is not armed with guns," Neville said, looking at the footage with uneasiness. "They can't defend themselves against that."
Harry for his part knew what surely was about to come next. "Let's put on our shoes and jackets now! This will be nasty and I have a feeling everyone will be needed for that, which does include us."
"Even you?" Luna wondered.
Harry knew what that was about. "Considering what's going on I don't think there will be much of a choice."
Getting dressed for outdoors as quick as possible - after all it was early January and they could hardly win a battle while freezing - they tried to listen to the broadcast in the background. What they were hearing was not good. There already was a significant loss of life and serious damage to the city.
They were barely done when -crac- Sirius appeared, looking very alarmed. "There you are! You... ah, you already know." He had seen the report on the TV in the background. "A general mobilization has been called among the Order. All available forces , and that includes you, are to pull into London!"
"If that includes us, it must be really serious," Luna thought aloud.
"We wouldn't call upon you, if not for how big of a mess this is. Such intense fighting in the heart of London... There is no way the army can use heavy long-range firepower or call upon an air strike. It has to be direct battle man-to-man until things like helicopters arrive. The army is already ferrying in soldiers, but that takes time even with helicopters and every minute counts," Sirius explained while searching for something in his pocket.
"That whole attack looks so utterly pointless. What is that supposed to accomplish?" Ginny wondered aloud.
"Knowing their boss? It's meant to be a suicide run; probably to do as much damage as possible while getting rid of everyone before he makes his exit," Ron said, having seen the sick reasoning behind something like that.
"And that's it." Sirius agreed, having pulled out an old cigarette case (ironic, since Sirius didn't smoke). "Grab your brooms, because we need more mobility."
"Won't Voldemort wait for me to come out and then try to get rid of me before he tries to exit the country? He might have lost it, but there's no way he would miss that opportunity," Harry wondered while taking hold of his broom.
For his part, Sirius sighed. "We all know of that danger and bet that he's indeed been waiting for you to appear. However, he has forced our hand now and we honestly hope he'll try so we can corner him before harm befalls you. I wish we wouldn't have to do this."
"No, I'm actually hoping for it. I finally want him out of my life for good." Harry of course had no illusions that this would be incredibly dangerous and thus took this dead serious.
"Good... Here, you'll needs this." Sirius then gave him what looked like a stiletto in a sheath.
"A dagger?" Harry wondered while tying the sheath to his arm.
"No, the Sword of Gryffindor. I got it from Hogwarts when I knew there is a good chance you'll run into him. It's shrunk down while in the sheath but returns to its true sze once it's removed," Sirius explained.
"Mate, he means when you get the chance, whack Tom's ring with the sword to put end end to this mess," Ron reminded his friend.
Harry snorted. "Oh, I know that. Only it's easier said than done."
Harry then checked his pocket and saw that the feather which Fawkes had given him was safely tucked away so he wouldn't lose it. He also saw what was wrapped around the quill of the feather. Ginny had donated one of her long red hairs, saying that it felt like she is protecting him that way even when not being present. Harry felt very moved by the gesture.
"We are ready!" Hermione called, all of them having gotten their brooms, even though a few of them were not the greatest of fliers.
"All right, touch this. It will get us to the rallying point. MI-X and the government are coordinating with us so don't wonder about their presence there, " Sirius said, holding out the case.
They all touched it and vanished from the house.
...meanwhile...
Life had not been kind to Vernon Dursley - a fact which the man was bemoaning greatly and felt was deeply unfair against him. It often made him wonder when things had started to go downhill for him, resulting in his current situation.
At first he considered it was when that freak Black and his friend had moved in next door to them, but that was not it. After all, his life apart from some annoyances had still went on as normal after that. No, the real point where things had started to go wrong was, when they had turned his son into a freak like them. It was at that very moment when the decline in his life had started.
Up until then everything was perfect. I did what was expected of me. I managed to reach a spot that many other envied me for. And now it's all gone, he thought, feeling he had done no wrong.
Though it was true that everything was gone.
He was still in prison and his release was not for another two months - those paper-pushers told him that his bad conduct in prison made them reject any notion of an early release. Vernon felt they knew nothing. And even once he was released, he now had a conviction permanently in his file. He of course had lost his job at Grunnings, his savings had mostly went to Petunia due to his conviction and the following divorce and after he had gotten the house, he had been forced to sell it due to his debts. He had some money left from the sale, but in his mind it wasn't much since the house had been sold under worth.
All my hard work for nothing and now everyone treats me like I'm the refuse of society. Even the scum in this place, Vernon thought bitterly, remembering how the other inmates disliked him greatly.
That was not to speak of how his private situation had changed. His son, who had become a freak years ago, now was dead to him. Petunia had, as said, divorced him and even retaken her maiden name in what he felt was an act of spite.
And then there was Marge. She had not recovered from her stroke and now was stuck in a nursing facility, with her mobility being limited. She had told him as much from her letters in which she bitterly bemoaned her fate. Vernon knew it would be his obligation to make her life better as soon as he was released (he didn't know yet of course, but he would come to regret that decision deeply).
He himself had also changed. Prison food did not agree with him and he had lost a significant amount of weight, his skin in many places hanging down due to still being made for his former bulk. Also, despite only being in his mid-forties, he was graying already.
And all thanks them them, Vernon thought, not seeing any fault on his own side.
Yes, Vernon Dursley was bemoaning how everything had gone wrong in his life, and he of course didn't waste a second on self-reflection to realize that all those wounds were entirely self-inflicted. However, right now his attention was solely on the TV in the community room. Indeed, all the inmates in the room were giving it their full attention, and that for good reason.
Ever since the freaks had gone public, two different feelings had resided in Dursley. On one he was incensed that those bastards were daring to attack ordinary, hard-working and honest (non-magical) people. On the other hand, he was actually applauding those freaks killing each other, since in his mind that was solving the problem in a long term.
Now however, the TV was showing those abominations of nature rampaging through London, together with all kind of monsters they had brought with them.
In the mind of Vernon Dursley, this was exactly what he had always felt was bound to happen. To him, the only correct solution would have been to kill them all, but now it clearly was too late for that final solution. His only consolation was, that at least a lot of those freaks would die as well, thus reducing their numbers to more manageable levels.
You freaks ruined my life. I swear, I will use my remaining time to make sure you won't spread your freakishness, he thought, already thinking about how to go about it.
Yes, Vernon Dursley felt there was one advantage to the new situation. He now could be very open and vocal about his bigotry against wizards. No one would now think he was insane.
o
Three other people were also watching what happening on a TV screen while being busy with getting ready to head out as fast as they could. They had expected that something like this would happen sooner or later and thus had been ready to head out on short notice. The sheer scale nonetheless was an ugly surprise to them as well.
To be honest, it had been very easy to enter the country, despite the current situation. After all, having valid passports, with two of them actually beng citizens of the UK, the three of them had had little trouble to get in legally. It was not like they were asked what kind of business they were there for, as long as the papers were in order.
Getting their other stuff onto the isle had been somewhat more involved, but in the end it all had worked out. True, there had been lots of doubt that what they were doing was a smart thing, but their decision had been made and they would care about eventual legal problems later on.
"Are our bikes ready?"
"Fully refueled. We just have to jump on and be on our way."
"That really is all hands on deck..."
"I honestly had not thought it would come to this that quickly,"
"Rule number one from Murphy states that if things can go wrong, they will."
"You know, I start to dislike Murphy."
...back in London...
When the Six arrived with Sirius at the rallying point, what greeted them could be described as organized chaos. There was lots of hectic activity everywhere while more and more Order members arrived. MI-X agents were being busy with establishing communication lines and handing out headsets to new arrivals. The whole scene looked like a weird synthesis of magic and technology.
"How is the situation?" Sirius asked as soon as they had arrived.
"The number of regular armed forces is simply too low and it will take time to move them into the city as well as the arrival of helicopters for air support. Our numbers on the ground are rising steadily, but even then it will only be enough to hold them in place until the army reinforcements arrive!" one agent reported to Sirius.
"Oh, wonderful..." Sirius growled, then saw the arrival of Remus and Dora. "Please tell me your son is in a safe place."
"You better believe it. Mum would fight to the death to protect him," Dora said, and everyone knew that to be very true about Andromeda. "Still, this is an utter disaster. I don't even want to know the death count."
"Must be really dire that they are being pulled into this as well," Remus added, looking to the Six.
"Hey, don't act like we aren't present,"Ron complained while they were all getting headsets.
"So, are we all on foot or on brooms?" Harry asked, ignoring his friend's little outburst. "Considering how big London is..."
"On brooms. It's not only the distance, but anything else would make you sitting ducks," an agent said while she was being busy with updating the big map hanging on the wall. "The heaviest fighting is taking place in these areas, so better avoid those and concentrate on the periphery."
The Six knew it was reasonable, since unlike many adults, they were lacking years of combat experience and should not be sent to the worst areas. Little more words were exchanged, before they swarmed out on their brooms and into the chaos that was London.
"Man, it looks even worse when seeing it in person," Neville said when seeing what was going on.
The sight that greeted them indeed was frightening, since there was no doubt that London had turned into a war zone. It was not only the Death Eaters and their 'help' however, but also magical creatures causing destruction. Especially prominent were the giants - hard to miss them - who seemed to take perverse fun at destroying everything in their path.
"Oh-uh, Grawp truly looks like a dwarf compared to them! And I thought Hagrid was being hyperbole about that," Hermione gasped, feeling she owed Hagrid an apology for not believing him.
"They look more scary than I imagined." it seemed that hostile, fully-grown giants were one thing Luna was actually afraid of.
"Let's not waste anymore time," Ron said and everyone agreed.
However, flying into battle, they of course were seen after some time.
About half an hour later, Voldemort for his part was still flying above the city, trying to spot Harry. Of course he knew that he couldn't do that all on his own, but that was what his helpers were there for, making themselves useful one final time. He then saw a bight ball of light fly towards himself.
"Yes, what is the news?" He touched his wand to it and understood. "Well, Harry, you just have made a major error."
The Six meanwhile understood how chaotic the entire situation truly was.
"Well, I know one thing! Tom was an utter dick when unleashing those monsters onto the city. What the hell even was that what we have been forced to kill?" Ginny looked a bit disturbed at the monster they had encountered.
Luna also looked a bit shaken, despite her normally loving exotic creatures. "I better don't say..." She knew her friends wouldn't like the answer.
"Good work, that thing was about to run towards several evacuation busses," came through their ear pieces. "Move to Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, where further evacuation is taking place."
They flew a sharp turn around a corner, at high enough speed to avoid getting a spell into their faces, but thankfully, there was no one trying to curse them. After all, London was big and even hundreds of enemies and a massive number of magical beasts were small for a city of its size. Still, the damage they were causing was adding up fast.
"What the...?" Ron cursed when all of a sudden the wind was picking up... a lot. "Guys, that's not natural!"
"I wouldn't have thought!" Hermione said while trying hard to keep her broom steady. "Oh no, I really should have trained more on a broom!"
"What i all names... guys!" Harry saw that unlike the others, he seemed to be in an entirely calm area, like in the eye of a hurricane.
-wwwwooooshhhh- "HARRY!" That was Ginny when they were swept away from Harry, the strong winds catapulting them towards the zone of intense fighting way further south.
"Damn it! Guys, I..." Harry was about to speed after them, but he didn't get a chance to do so when he had to evade a cuse that barely missed him. Putting his attention to the threat against him, he saw what he had feared would happen when spotting Voldemort hovering in the air on black smoke. "Tom..."
"That's Lord Voldemort to you, Potter," Voldemort said coldly, not showing any of his usual behavior when confronting him. "Here you are now. No allies, your damned friends are gone and you have to rely or a borrowed wand."
Harry knew keeping him talking, even when he was not his overly arrogant self seeking a spectacle, was the best option while he avoided to hover in one spot. "What, no big speech? No playing with your prey?"
"The time for that is over. However, something first..." His other hand reached in a pocket and then pulled out a wand that Harry recognized. "Your wand. I see you sure want that, don't you?" -crac- With strength one wouldn't think he had, Voldemort snapped Harry's wand in his hand, then put the pieces back in his pocket. "Oh, too bad."
Harry of course was angry that his wand got snapped, but knew not to give Voldemort the satisfaction and get distracted. "You petty little man. Are you sending all that kneel before you to their death now?"
"They disappointed me, so they'll get what they deserve. But enough of this chit-chat." Voldemort's features turned nasty. "Now you are going to die and then I finally can leave this diseased country."
That was Harry's cue to fly away as fast as he could, Voldemort hot on his heels. Harry after all had no illusion how a duel in mid-air would end for him. He instead had to hope he could outmaneuver Voldemort. While he did so, he frantically used his headset. "Come in! Come in! Voldemort is after me and I have no idea how long I can keep him away!"
"Harry?" That was Sirius. "Tell me where you are and... Ah, crap!" Then the connection was cut.
Another voice took his place, this time Hermione. "Harry?... Ow...Tell us where..." This time there was silence, though the device was not broken.
"No interruptions from the peanut gallery!" Voldemort called, hinting he must have done something to cut the connection.
As it turned out while the chase continued, Voldemort was damn good at following Harry even without a broom. Several times Harry barely managed to avoid something Voldemort sent his way, until suddenly there was a narrow space that didn't allow for much evasive action. It seemed Voldemort had only waited for such a chance.
"Avada Kedavra!" That was the worst case, Voldemort now was shooting for the kill. However, Harry also felt Fawkes' feather in his pocket feel warm and the curse actually missed him, instead impacting in a wall with a small explosion.
What was that? Harry wondered, then again felt the warmth of the feather. Fawkes, you crafty bird..
Voldemort was perplexed by that turn of events. "Why was my wand aiming wrong intentionally?! Where was that glow coming from that made it miss you?! I snapped your wand, so answer me, Potter!"
"No idea what you are talking about!" Harry had a hunch when feeling the still warm feather that Fawkes had given him a sort of protection, but he had no idea how effective that was apart from avoiding a direct hit with the Killing Curse from Voldemort.
Though Harry could not see him, judging by his voice from further back Voldemort clearly was angry. "Your continued cheating gets tiresome! I have other ways to get you!"
Harry found out quickly that Voldemort was not bluffing.
Instead of attacking him directly, he started to attack him indirectly. If quickly turned out that whatever protection Fawkes' feather was giving him was utterly pointless when Voldemort used something else to hurt him instead. Things like steam explosions from a hot spell hitting a water source, blocking his sight with smoke or causing all kind of debris to fly at him with high speed.
Hell, Voldemort even repurposed the Killing Curse, instead aiming it at walls near Harry, which then exploded into clouds of shrapnel. That he could hate Harry enough that the spell worked even when intentionally aiming at something else spoke volumes of the sheer level of his hatred.
When Harry was flying low through a street, it finally happened.
-wooouuuf- "Aooough!" -crac- A manhole cover shot up from underneath Harry and broke his Numbus 2000. Though the broom did one final service by protecting Harry from the worst of the impact, thus it would only result in a big, painful bruise. However, that was of little use for Harry now when he rolled over the street, hoping the Elder Wand wouldn't get damaged.
Harry tried to get up fast, but then saw that Voldemort had landed as well. Harry took hold of his wand. "So, you want to murder me and then make your exit, right?"
"Very sharp, Potter." By now Harry knew that Voldemort not using his first name showed he was done with games. "What is time to someone immortal? I'll return once your dirty allies have become old, toothless and senile. As for you... A pity you resisted my attempts to give you a fitting end. I have to resort to something as crude as stoning you to death."
Harry wanted to use shielding charms, but seeing the sheer masses of bricks being ripped out of walls made him realize that a Voldemort who was done was games and was unhinged was a very dangerous one.
-vropppprrapraprappp- The sound of motorcycle engines suddenly filled the street. "Who dares...?" Voldemort could not finish, when... -Vraaaaaapppp- -BOF!- A heavy motorcycle smashed into him with enough force to make him fly in an arc before crashing onto the street only to then get buried by the bricks he himself had ripped out and were now, the magic gone, raining down on him.
"Keine Zeit verlieren! Hop on!" the young man riding the motorcycle which had run over Voldemort called to Harry after he and his two companions had come to a stop.
Somehow Harry knew him, but he had no idea from where. Knowing this was the only option, he did hop on and all three motorcycles sped away while Voldemort was already freeing himself, his wounds healing, and would soon pick up he chase again.
"Thanks for the save, but... who are you?" Harry wondered.
"I knew you wouldn't remember me right away. Stefan Schuster is the name. I think remember how I left Hogwarts..." the driver told him.
Now Harry remembered him. The student who had been forced to attend Hogwarts against his will, whose family was treated like dirt by the Ministry and who in the end got infected with lycanthropy. "Now I remember you. Does it mean those two are...?" Harry asked, looking to the other young man and the woman his age on the other two motorcycles which were now driving next to them.
"Yep, Fay Dunbar and Allan Foster. You probably wonder what we are doing here?" It was interesting how Stefan could talk so casually while zooming through the streets of London at high speed.
"You mean why we are we in the country that threatened to lock us up and which has become a war zone?" Fay asked, Harry feeling that the formerly rather reserved Fay now being a biker chick wearing leather was a radical change.
"When we could have stayed in the safety of abroad?" Allan added.
Harry knew that sounded a bit like an accusation. "Wouldn't have said it that way, but yes."
"To make it short, we want to make a difference. I know, sounds bizarre coming from me, considering that I have every reason to hate this country after how I was treated, but that's how it is," Stefan explained in a short version. He then looked into the mirror. "Looks like trouble is catching up with us."
Harry did look and saw that Voldemort was gaining on them. "I don't think you can go faster?"
Fay chuckled when hearing that. "We have something better than that."
Moments later Harry understood what she was talking about when all three motorcycles were taking off and then fly into the sky. It seemed they had modified them to have built-in flight capabilities. "My Uncle Sirius also has a flying motorcycle... Though, he's still gaining slowly. Now I'm dragging you into this..."
"Don't say that. It was our own choice, though we indeed have to do something about it, since right now we are rather exposed," Stefan said.
"Kind of impressive what speeds he can reach without a broom," Allan had to admit, then looked to Harry. "You can ride a motorcycle?"
"Yes, I learned how to ride one. Why do you ask?" Harry had a feeling what this was about.
"Good." Stefan said and Fay now was right next to his bike. "I'm about to change rie and you take over. That way you you have a better chance."
"What about the three of you?" Harry was a bit worried about them.
"Don't worry about us," Fay told him while ensuring she was in the right position. "We can take care of ourselves. You make sure that the jerk won't hurt you."
"Ready...? Now!" Stefan quickly jumped into the seat behind Allan and held onto him while Harry took over control of the motorcycle. "Good luck, Harry!"
They then made a sharp corner and saw that Voldemort indeed was not at all interested in them and instead was continuing to chae Harry, as if being able to sniff him out.. "I hope he manages..." Allan said while watching the chase and the spells being thrown back and forth.
"There is nothing we can do about it, as much as it pains me to say. That's outside of our weight class," Fay said with a sigh.
Stefan knew that was true, and staying with him would have forced them to fly slower, thus endangering him. Still, it felt like not doing enough. "Let's better get to work. There is more than enough to do."
Harry meanwhile saw that Voldemort was still after him and tapped his headset, but heard nothing. "Still blocked. What kind of magic did he use?" Harry wondered.
It seemed for the time being he was on his own.
o
Sirius was cursing while making his way through a destroyed street, which was littered with debris and multiple fresh corpses. The fighting had left this area and had moved further, hearing fighting several streets away, leaving behind those silent witnesses.
He knew what had happened to Harry due to his friends contacting him, them leaving no doubt that they knew it had to be Voldemort now being hell-bent to murder Harry and thus had swept them away to get to him without them interfering. However, he up until now had been tied down with getting rid of small fry nailing him down, his broom being damaged and unusable
He also was having a new problem now, one that was further keeping him from trying to come to Harry's aid.
"Both of you, be careful. The spell brought us here, meaning Sirius Black must be very close."
Peter...Sirius thought darkly. A spell? What is he talking about?
Truth to be told, Sirius felt that this final confrontation was long in the coming. Essentially ever since Peter had sold out James and Lily. Their first confrontation in the Ministry resulted in Pettigrew running away, but this time he felt only one of them would leave alive. While he really wanted to help Harry, he had a feeling Pettigrew could easily find him again with whatever spell he was using and thus he had to fight him. Of course that also meant he first had to get rid of the two Death Eaters with him.
Looking to the reflection of a not broken storefront window, Sirius spotted the three men slowly walking down the ravaged street, searching for him. Then looking up. Hm, that could work. Let's see how good I am at casting non-verbally...
Pettigrew and his men meanwhile were slowly walking down the street. "Keep your eyes open," Pettigrew told them, knowing Sirius had to be around somewhere.
Pettigrew had to admit, the plan of the Dark Lord was genius. Thanks to a generous blood donation from Bellatrix - one she needed several blood replenishment potions for - the Dark Lord managed to create three magical talismans, each keyed to an individual with Black blood. The talisman was quite precise, with a radius of 100 meters for error. Bellatrix got Nymphadora, the Carrows got the brats Sirius had spawned and he got Sirius himself.
Too bad that while this dark ritual was highly useful, it had three major drawbacks. It needed a lot of blood, it had to be the blood of someone with a family connection to the target and it had to be freely given. Due to how the lines were drawn in the conflict, that had made the ritual rather pointless. But now that the Dark Lord no longer was reluctant to let Bellatrix do it...
Their orders were clear: to prune the rotten family tree of the Blacks. Bellatrix was especially eager to do so. As for Pettigrew himself, he felt it was finally time to settle the score with Sirius once and for all. He also had wondered why the Dark was not using it to fin his own offspring, but that was none of his concern.
-crrrc- Hearing that from above, one Death Eater looked up and... "AAAAAHHHHH!" -Boooomm- He screamed when a huge chunk of brick wall, already loose from several impacts, broke free and before he could react he was crushed by it, leaving no doubt that he was dead.
"That was him!" Pettigrew cursed.
Knowing the element of surprise was gone now - and he had hoped to get both men with Pettigrew - Sirius wasted no time and made a run for the next cover while throwing spells at the same time. His enemies however did the same and the the advantage of two against one.
"I know you are here Sirius! Show yourself!" Pettigrew shouted.
"Do I look that stupid?!" Sirius was no longer the hothead he used to be in his youth. Also, over a decade of working for the police had a very positive effect on him. "Of course you are not man enough to duel me on your own!"
"Nice try, but I won't fall for that!" Pettigrew shouted back.
I won't hold out once they attack me from two sides! Damn, Mad-Eye always warned to avoid fighting multiple opponents! Sirius cursed himself when running to the next cover, spells from two sides ripping his old one apart.
"Where is your courage now?" Pettigrew gloated.
I have to fight smart. Where...? Looking around, Sirius spotted one heavy metal fece in front of a building which had suffered a heavy impact, the sharp tips at the top now pointing forward due to how bent it was. Let's try that...
Pettigrew then saw Sirius making a run again. "There he is!"
One cutting curse barely missed Sirius, ripping his sleeve, but but he managed to jump behind some cover and then made his move. -woooosh- A concentrated cone of wind blasted towards his two enemies. Pettigrew managed to jump behind some cover. The other man... was no as fortunate.
"Aaarghh-h-h..." The other Death Eater got impaled onto the sharp fence top, the sharp tips sticking out of him like huge nails. That of course was very lethal.
"Now it's just the two of us..." Sirius said calmly. "Do we want to finally get this behind us? After all, last time you ran away. Come on, this was long coming."
Pettigrew snorted. "You want to have a fair duel?"
"No." Sirius was pretty clear about that. "We simply try to kill each other. I'm not interested in fair play."
"Good..." That was all Pettigrew said, and what followed destroyed the street even more than it already was.
Both men were no longer holding back at all, throwing highly destructive spells at each other while also protecting themselves with magic. Sirius again was shown proof how hardened Pettigrew had become, since the Pettigrew that was fresh out of Hogwarts had been a loser. This man however was highly dangerous - a true Death Eater.
Spells and debris flew left and right, both men not holding back at all in their attempts to kill the other. Sirius could allow himself to go out, since any civilians in the area were long gone. A hydrant exploded when hit by an explosion charm, making it look like the entire fight was taking place in the middle of a rainstorm.
"Ha, you think you'll feel better once I'm finally dead?" Pettigrew mocked him, playing upon Sirius wanting to avenge James and Lily.
"I know I won't," Sirius admitted, knowing it would only leave behind a void. "It'll however give me the assurance that you won't come anywhere close to my family."
Pettigrew chuckled. "Oh, you mean the family you left defenseless?"
"What...?" -bram- Sirius then had to shield himself against shrapnel from an exploding metal mailbox. "What are you talking about?!"
"Ahhh, now you are interested." Pettigrew said with a sadistic grin while deflecting a curse. "Don't you wonder how I found you? With the help of Bellatrix' blood ,the Dark Lord found a way to track those of Black blood."
That caught Sirius on the wrong foot. "Diane... the children."
Pettigrew chuckled when seeing how that had hit Sirius. "Don't worry, I think Armycus and Alecto will kill your brats fast, though I guess they then will have some fun with your little Muggle."
However, if anything that had the opposite effect of what Pettigrew had been hoping for. The reveal of a threat towards his wife and children seemed to triple Sirius' strength and resolve, causing him to fight a lot harder and no longer say a word apart for casting spells. His eyes had become cold and hard, actually scaring Pettigrew.
Crap, that was the wrong thing to say! he realized when Sirius almost managed to cut his arm off.
Realizing he was getting pushed into a corner, Pettigrew's survival instincts kicked in. Creating an explosion as a distraction, he turned into a rat and then made a run to the next hole to the sewers to make his escape. However, Sirius this time was expecting such a moved, and himself turning into a dog, he ran after the fleeing rat.
"Squueeeek!" That was the sound that escaped Pettigrew when Sirius bit into him, before starting to maul him mercilessly, only letting go when he felt the man returning to his true form.
Returning to being a man as well, Sirius looked down at the now dying Pettigrew. "Was it really worth it, Peter?" he asked him, not feeling any satisfaction at the sight.
"Worth it? ... Perhaps not," Pettigrew chuckled weakly, the blood he was coughing up adding to the one pooling around him. "Had you treated me better ... this wouldn't have happened... But I made my decisions ... and stand to them..."
Watching him grow still with death, Sirius knew it was true. While it was no excuse and Pettigrew made his own decisions, the root cause was them having treated him badly. However, there right now was a more pressing problem. Checking his pocket, he saw that his communication mirror was intact. Harry had said he no longer needed it, so he instead had given it to Diane, allowing her to stay in contact with her husband. Now he hoped he could reach her.
"Diane! Diane, please answer me!" There was no answer, making Sirius fear something was wrong. "Crap..." He then tried his headset. "Black to command center!"
Thankfully, someone from the Order was present when his call got through and he quickly relayed that his family was in danger. Then he realized something else and added people had to check on Andromeda as well. As soon as he heard that, he cut the connection and instead tried to reach Dora, but only got static. He then tried Remus.
"Padfoot, what is going on? Why are you so panicked?" Remus answered.
"Moony, I... I just killed Peter... But before he died... Voldemort found a way to find people with Black blood."
Remus clearly understood the implications. "Dora! ... We got separated. Damn, I have to find her!"
o
While that was going on, Hermione was trying to orient herself, which was easier said than done, considering she was in the middle of a battle zone. She honestly didn't trust herself on a broom in such conditions and felt it was better to walk. After reporting what had happened - and she was damn sure that it was Voldemort's doing - she was trying to find a safer area from where she could take off again. That was easier said than done, however.
Now I understand how my grandfather felt in World War II, Hermione thought while trying to make progress and avoif the heaviest fighting.
If she now knew one thing for sure, then that she most certainly was not made for war. Yes, she was doing quite well considering the circumstances, but she was not too proud to admit that if not for the earlier hostilities, she would have pissed herself by this point. Once this all was over she knew for sure she would try her hardest to never get into something like this again.
At this rate I won't manage to get to Harry, she thought while avoiding a crossroads which currently was being torn apart by fighting.
Thing was, the bond right now was little help, since it was going kind of crazy due to all of them being in danger at the same time, which included herself. Thus the bond felt rather confused and was of little help to guide her. Though things right now were already dangerous enough, with her just moments ago having had to kill some beast that looked like a cross between a chicken and a porcupine.
"...oes anyone hear me? ... I need serious help! ..."
Hearing that from her headset, Hermione froze for a moment, since that clearly was Dora on the other end. "Dora? Dora, is that you?"
"Herimone? Where are you?" Dora sounded kind of desperate.
Hermione looked around and found a street sign. "At the corner of Dover and Stafford Street." There was something that sounded like an attempted answer, but it cut off and there was only static. "Dora? ... Dora?"
"Watch out!" That was Dora, but she sounded a lot closer. Looking up, Hermione saw Dora in rapid descend on her broom. She seemed unable to hold it steady and was bound for a crash landing. Seeing that, Hermione just in time did cast a cushioning charm.
"Ooof!" It still wasn't a gentle landing, but better than cause her injury... well, further injury. After all, looking at her, Hermione could spot right away that Dora's wand-arm (her right one) was broken and that she was missing her wand. She also sported numerous other injuries which caused her to be covered with a concerning amount of her own blood.
All her injuries however didn't stop her from quickly getting up. "Quick, we have to seek cover! -Urgh!- Bellatrix is after me!"
They ran to a busted-open building, knowing that outside Bellatrix would have every advantage. "How did that happen?" Hermione asked, looking at Dora's injuries.
"I honestly have no idea. It was like she could zero in on me somehow. Nothing I did managed to shake her off. If you mean my arm, that only happened moments ago before I could answer you. Lost my wand and headset in the process..." Dora was wandless and in no shape to fight back.
"Where are you, little abomination? I know you are nearby!" That was Bellatrix and it came from outside.
"Hermione Granger here. If anyone is near the corner of Dover and Stafford Street, help us. Bellatrix Lestrange is hunting us," Hermione gave out a help call. That however was all she could do, before having to avoid a spell.
"Look who we have here! Potter's mudblood," Bellatrix said with sadistic glee. "Good, not only can I prune the Black family tree, but also rid the world of you."
Hermione now was very thankful for all the physically taxing lessons from the Order and the DoH, since she sincerely doubted that the Hermione Granger without such training would have survived the first few seconds. There now was a hole in the floor where she had been two seconds ago. Hermione was not helpless however and returned fire with equal force.
However, Bellatrix didn't even evade, instead deflecting her spell with a non-verbal shield. "Hah! Not nearly enough to be a danger to me!" she gloated. Interestingly, Bellatrix only seemed to deem her as a threat and basically ignored Dora entirely. She had to be equaling being wandless with not being a threat at all - something she had to see as the natural order of things.
"How long can you evade before your luck runs out?" Bellatrix said with sadistic glee, sounding like she had really looked forward to this.
All my training... but she's something else, Hermione realized to her dismay, unable to find an opening to exploit.
"Oh, I'll enjoy gutting you like the little piggy you are..." Bellatrix chuckled, feeling sure of her victory. "I'll make it slow. Such things have to be savored according to the Dark L- OUCH!"
Bellatrix was stopped in her ranting when a brick hit her at the back of her head, coming from Dora, who already was aiming with another one. However, while there was blood running down Bellatrix' head, if anything this only served to piss her off more. "You little snot..."
Hermione took the initiative when seeing that Bellatrix was distracted for a moment. "Diffindo!"
The incantation for the Severing Charm was only whispered, so Bellatrix could not react to it in time. However, the spell was not aimed at Bellatrix, since Hermione had a feeling that her training would kick in and made her avoid the spell entirely. No, instead she aimed at something entirely else, reasoning that it was the best way to neutralize the threat. -tchak- Bellatrix looked in disbelief when her wand was cut in two, the top half falling to the floor.
"My wand... Destroying my wand was a mistake!" Bellatrix seethed, no longer being amused now.
Before Hermione could cast another spell, Bellatrix suddenly threw some kind of powder at her. While she avoided it getting into her eyes, she was forced into a coughing fit, making impossible for her to cast any spell. Bellatrix meanwhile threw two throwing knives, one hitting Dora in the leg, making her cry out in pain, while the other barely missed her arm, but still caused a deep cut, making her drop the brick she was holding.
Bellatrix meanwhile had pulled out her trusty dagger. "I'll deal with you in a moment, but first..." She turned to Hermione. "You dirty mudblood... I'll take your wand as a replacement. But first I'll make sure you never need it again... by cutting off your fingers. You'll beg me for death."
Hermione was cornered and was still coughing hard enough she could not cast a spell. Not good! She's armed and I'm forced to hold her off without magic. Hermione knew her odds were bad.
Hermione prepared herself for a valiant defense, picking up a piece of debris she could use as a makeshift club. She would not roll over and die for this psycho. Her weapon might not be deadly, but it did have a greater reach.
"Resorting to a primitive weapon like the beast you are," Bellatrix said with a hateful voice, watching for an opening to appear.
"-cough- You arent's that brave -cough- without your magic," Hermione accused Bellatrix, hoping to stall for time so that her coughing would die down.
Bellatrix was about to give in to her anger when...
-crrrc- Hearing that and noticing a shadow, Bellatrix turned to the door. "Who...?" -BLAM!- She could say little more when taking the full brunt of a hunting rifle directly into the chest, slamming her against a pillar.
Bellatrix look in shock at the bloody mess her chest had been turned into. "But... How?" She then looked to her attacker. "Not... by a..." her shredded lungs failed to give her more air to talk.
The man, still pointing his rifle at her, watched her slide down against the pillar while life slowly left her eyes. "Killed by someone you see as little more than an animal. You made me do something I haven't done in my entire life. But threaten my daughter..."
"-cough- Dad?" Hermione managed to get out between coughs. As thankful as she was for the save, it made her wonder why her father even was being present.
"Looks like I came just in time!" Ian Granger said, then quickly looked to Dora, who with a cry of pain pulled out the throwing knife from her leg. "Oh-uh! You need medical attention fast."
"I wouldn't have thought," Dora said while grimacing due to the pain she was in. She then looked to the dead Bellatrix. "I can't thank you enough for shooting that psycho, but how exactly are you here? I doubt it's a coincidence."
"Yes, Dad, this comes out of nowhere..." Hermione agreed, finally being done with coughing, while they were both helping Dora to get outside. "How come you are here of all places?"
"Well, first of all, when the call came, I decided to stand up for Queen and country. Your mother understood perfectly well and implored me not to act like some kind of daredevil. However, as a concerned father, I of course also followed what was said over radio and thus knew something went wrong. I did ride along in a car into this direction when your emergency call came through," Ian explained.
"Thanks, you saved our necks," Dora thanked him while he led them to a police car, the police present not being of the normal patrolling kind.
Hermione meanwhile had picked up her broom from where she had dropped it. "Good thing I did make regular updates over the radio. But... we really need to find Harry. Voldemort is clearly after him right now."
The gravity of that statement was clear.
o
This was most certainly not going the way the Dark Lord had told them it would go. Not that that came as a surprise to Narcissa. Despite her belief in the Dark Lord, she had thought about the entire thing and concluded it was bound to end in disaster. Yes, her actual opinions had not changed in the slightest - she still was as bigoted and unpleasant as ever - but her survival instincts were stronger.
Their enemies were pushing back against them and instead of the one-sided massacre it was planned to be, this could end very badly for them. Again, not a surprise to Narcissa; she even had expected this to happen. As much as it pained her that they were on the losing side, it opened up a huge opportunity for he.
No doubt the Dark Lord will be killed in the chaos. Once he dies, the mark will lose its power, she thought, while carefully making her way through the chaos.
The city was littered with anti-apparition zones, thus preventing her from making a quick exit. That was an unfortunate side-effect of the entire chaos. Thus she had to get enough distance from the combat zone before she could leave. Then she first would find Lucius and then they both would try to find out what happened to Draco.
So much for the theory.
However, while she was sneaking through another side street, inching further away from the fighting, her luck did run out. "You, stop where you are!" Startled, Narcissa drew her wand and turned, only to be faced with several men pointing guns at her. "Don't even try it. Drop the wand."
Narcissa had enough knowledge about Muggle weapons to know that doing anything else would result in a quick death, so she did as told. "Please, I was only trying to get some distance from the fighting, before..." she tried to spin an excuse.
"Nice try, but we were briefed on important Death Eaters, so we know who you are, Narcissa Malfoy," the leader of the group told her, then gave a nod to one of his men, who stepped forward and slapped cuffs onto Narcissa's wrists. "Don't even try to apparate, those cuffs are designed to prevent you from doing so."
"What are you going to do with me?" Narcissa asked, feeling ashamed that she got arrested by mere Muggles.
"A nice cell is waiting for you and there you'll wait for your trial. Don't worry, you won't be alone for long, since your husband will keep you company soon enough once he's been delivered to the cells," the group leader told her while making her move towards an armored car.
That startled Narcissa. "Wait, you know...? How?!"
"Not that we were told all the details, but the source was Draco Malfoy. Also made the top decide to wait until the best moment, but another group is getting your hubby right now."
Hearing that took the battle out of Narcissa. Their enemy was not only very well-informed, but also had Draco in their grasp. As much as her pride as a Malfoy and Black was rebelling, she knew any kind of resistance would mean never seeing Lucius or Draco ever again.
Her ancestors would turn in their graves, but Narcissa had different priorities than those who were going to their deaths.
...at the same time...
Diane Black's day had become much worse than it already had been.
It had already started horribly enough when the news had come in that London was under attack. The sight of how much death and destruction was being caused had actually intimidated her a bit, though considering the position the enemy was in, it more felt like a desperate last stand. That of course meant Sirius leaving to enter the battle, which made her all too well aware how the wives of soldiers during a war had to feel.
She honestly wanted to not have the children learn what was going on, so Steve and Kathleen were being successfully distracted upstairs, both of her children being busy with something that was keeping their young minds busy. As for herself, she found that watching the TV for constant updates was making her more nervous than anything, so she needed something to do as well.
Thus she had decided to start early lunch preparations, by now knowing how her pregnancy was causing her to react to the mere sight of certain foods. However, the TV being on low volume in the background was a constant reminder of what was happening.
However, all of that meant nothing when the bottom started to fall out from under this day.
-crac- "Hey you, stop right there!" That was the shout of one guard coming from the outside (Sirius had insisted on a few guards).
Damn, that means trouble! Diane realized, especially when the sound of fighting started outside.
Dropping the kitchen knife, she made a beeline for the drawer in which she kept a gun locked in. Normally, a gun had no place in a household, especially in their country, but due to the high danger she managed to get one for her own self-defense. Considering what was happening now, that turned out to be a wise decision. She had just unlocked the drawer, when she heard voices from the stairs.
"Mum, what's going on? We are scared!" a young boy asked.
"Steve! You and your sister, stay hidden upstairs! Don't come out until I tell you so!" Diane called. The sound of small feet running and a door being shut showed that her children did follow the order without question.
Quickly loading the gun she ran back into the kitchen, since the noise had come from the side of the house facing the kitchen entrance door. Suddenly things got silent. "These guys gave us lots of trouble!" "Yes, but now the path is free. Get that door open!"
Diane ducked behind the solid table in the middle of the kitchen and... -blam!- The door from outside into the kitchen was blasted open and a Death Eater stormed in. That also was the last mistake he ever made, because Diane did not hesitate. -blom- -blom- -blom- Hit by multiple bullets and suffering lethal injury, the man staggered backwards out of the door.
"Shit, that little bitch is armed!" "Calm yourself Amycus; it's nothing both of us can't deal with!"
Two of them left... However, she did recognize the name and judging by the fact that the other voice was female, it meant she was being confronted with the Carrows, two very dangerous individuals.
She wondered what those two were planning, when suddenly... "Magneteus gun!" She couldn't react in time when the spell flew through the door and zeroed in onto her gun. As soon it was hit by the spell, it flew out of her hand and attached itself to one of the big cooking pots on the other side of the kitchen.
"Ha, you didn't expect that, did you?!" Alecto gloated while she and Amycus entered the kitchen with their wands pointed at Diane. "-snort- I honestly can't see why Black insists on fucking that sow."
"Maybe now that we have the time, we should play with our prey first? You know cut off her clothes and such," Amycus told his sister, clearly not seeing Diane as a threat anymore.
Feeling the vibration of the communication mirror in her pocket, Diane knew that had to be Sirius calling her and cursed that she could not use it to call for help. Searching for anything to use to fight back, she realized that she was with her back to the stove and there was a pot full with boiling water on in, which she had intended for some tea.
"First comes the job, then the pleasure," Alecto reminded her brother. "You go upstairs and find the brats. Skin them alive if you want, just make sure they are dead."
Those cruel words flipped a switch in Diane. Hearing that open threat against her children made her drop any kind of hesitation. "Hands off my children!" she shouted in a rage, while grabbing the handle of the pot and in a quick move she threw its contents of boiling water directly into Alecto's face!
"YAAAAAAARRGGGGHHHH!" Alecto screamed in pain when the boiling water burned her face and eyes, blinding her.
"Bitch!" Amycus shouted and sent an explosion charm in Diane's direction, but she had already jumped away from the exploding stove and grabbed a handful of salt from a nearby bowl before throwing that into Amycus' face. "Argh, my eyes!" Amycus screamed, the salt causing his eyes to explode in pain.
Crippled, but not out of order! Diane realized, when those two still were throwing around spells blindly, hoping to hit her.
Reaching the knife block, Diane pulled out several knives and then made a run for it when Amycus used his hearing to aim a Severing Charm, barely missing her. In turn, she threw the three knives she had gotten her hands on. The first hit Amycus in the gut, making his cry out. The second got stuck in his chest, making him gasp. The third however, did hit his throat and got stuck there.
"Arglll-l-l..." Choking on his own blood, Amycus collapsed, wondering how he could have been killed by someone without an ounce of magic.
Even though she was in horrible pain and entirely blind, Alecto understood what had happened. "Amycus! You bitch!"
The kitchen got torn up even more, but Diane now was running on pure adrenaline. Taking hold of the big cast iron frying pan she had planned to use, she swung it as hard as she could and... -clang!- -crac- The heavy cooking utensil collided hard with Alecto's skull, audibly cracking it and causing blood to fly. Alecto collapsed into a boneless heap onto the kitchen floor.
Diane waited for a few moments, but saw that Alecto was not moving, not even movement that hinted she was breathing, revealing that the strike had been deadly. It was only then when she dropped the pan and made a beeline for her gun to make sure. She knew perfectly well the only reason she had survived was due to the utter racism of the Carrows making them totally underestimate her.
She laid a hand flat onto her belly after getting her gun. "Sorry. You are not even born yet and I drag you into all of this danger," she apologized to her unborn child. Leaving the destroyed kitchen, she then called upstairs. "Children, are you all right?"
It took a moment, but then she heard a door open. "Yes, Mum, we are not harmed." That was Steve. "But we are scared!" And that was Kathleen.
"I'm coming upstairs. Don't come down the stairs." There was no way she would let her children see that carnage. She then again felt the vibration of the mirror and pulled it out. "Sirius...?"
"Diane? Diane, what is going on?!" Sirius looked ready to have a panic attack. "I learned you are about to get attacked..."
"Too late..." Diane only now felt the reality of her having killed three people in battle. "They attacked... The guards are dead but then... I dealt with them."
Sirius understood what she meant and the look he gave her was one of concern and... respect. He then listened in on something before returning his attention to Diane. "I just got notified that Dora barely survived. Diane, Voldemort is trying to kill the Blacks and I just had my final confrontation with Pettigrew. Reinforcements are already on the way."
She knew there had to be more going on, but details right now could wait. Protecting her children had the highest priority.
o
Ever since the closure of Hogwarts, Dudley felt like he was sitting on hot coals. To him it felt weird that he was sitting things out while Harry and his friends were being in the middle of the action. Indeed, he even felt a bit guilty about it, regardless of Millicent telling him that he should not think like that. Recent events had not helped, either.
And now the bottom was falling out and Dudley was itching to actually do something.
"Dudley, please think about it," Petunia asked her son, having a bad feeling about the whole thing. "You are intending to go to London in the middle of all of that. Please don't tell me this is about proving yourself."
"Mum, it's much more than that. I feel it's wrong that I'm hiding away while people are dying. I want to make a difference." he then looked to Millicent and Daphne, who had arrived just moments ago. "WE want to make a difference."
Petunia knew there was no convincing her son otherwise. Looking to the adult Bulstrodes, she saw that they also knew that their own daughter would not change her mind. "I know I can't change your mind about this. It's that I have true reason to worry about you," she finally told Dudley.
"I know, Mum... I won't be some kind of daredevil throwing myself into battle. At least that I can promise you," Dudley said.
They were interrupted however, when a house-elf appeared.
Daphne for her part did recognize her."Mindy, what is...? Ah, what happened to you, is that blood?!" Daphne was taken aback by the blood splattered over the elf's robe, especially since most of it didn't seem to be her own, though she looked quite hurt as well.
"Mistress Daphne, evil ones attacked the mansion!" the elf reported, sounding as hurt as she looked. She did see the horrified look Daphne gave her. "The attack was repelled. Master and Mistress are hurt, but already called for help. Young Mistress is fine. But... Floppy did not make it."
"Great gods..." Daphne had not expected that now of all times their homes would be attacked. After all, it seemed the Death Eaters were putting all their bets onto London. That one of their two elves got killed in the attack - and she had known Floppy for as long as she could remember - gave the whole thing a terrifying reality.
"Wait a moment!" Mr. Bulstrode had a sudden realization. "If they attack a very prominent family that defied them, wouldn't they also...? Everyone get you wands out. This could get ugly fast."
"You mean they are going to attack our home?" Millicent didn't like that possibility at all while drawing her wand.
"It all fits..." Mr. Bulstrode then looked to Petunia. "Petunia, perhaps you better retreat to one of the inner rooms without a window."
Petunia, who now looked quite scared, nodded. "Would be better... Maybe your servant can keep guard as well?"
While Mrs. Bulstrode called the elf to relay the instructions, Daphne looked to Mindy. "You are hurt, Mindy. Please guard my parents and sister. Make sure nothing happens to them." Mindy nodded and then vanished.
Only moments later... -groomm-m-m-mmmm- The house started to vibrate faintly. Mr. Bulstrode knew what that was. "The protections. I don't know how they are doing it, but the protections are overloading in some sort of feedback loop. They shouldn't be able to do this!"
Who knows with Voldemort? Millicent thought bitterly, knowing that Voldemort had already multiple time pulled out surprises, so it was not beyond him to have something like that available. Interesting was, that they had held back that ability until now.
-WAMM!- The house shook like going through a strong seismic shock. Things toppled over, more fragile items shattering on the floor. That was followed by the sound of multiple people forcing entry into the house violently by blowing open the entrances.
"There they come!" Mrs. Bulstrode warned, and then things got ugly. And chaotic, since in retrospect they could not describe the exact events.
What followed was tearing the house apart from the inside. They were being attacked by no less then six Death Eaters. They had to guess them to be on the lower end of the spectrum, since fighting against six from the higher-tier would have been way worse for them. It still was bad enough and one reason things were slowly turning to their favo was that Millicent's parents were beasts when it came to magical battle.
This is what my parents told me about? Those shock attacks into one's home that killed so many. Now I get why they were so scared of those, Daphne realized while barely avoiding a spell that would have skinned her alive.
"Ah!" That was a short scream of pain from Millicent's mother. It was followed by her father sending a rain of shards from the broken windows to her attacker. The end result was... messy, to say the least.
The tide now had truly turned.
When that became apparent, the final two attackers realized that they would not survive this if they continued fighting and thus made a run for it, the fear of getting killed being bigger than the fear of punishment from Voldemort. One jumped straight out of the broken window, not caring how badly the sharp edges would cut her open.
"Yes, you bastards, run away! You'll be caught soon enough!" Dudley shouted after them, adrenaline still pumping through him.
"Urgh..." That groan from Mrs. Bulstrode pulled them back to reality.
"Oh crap, Mum!" Millicent gasped when seeing that like all of them she had collected her share of bleeding scratches and bruises, she also got hit by some kind of curse which was causing her skin to develop boils which were leaking bloody pus.
"Andrea!" Horatio Bulstrode clearly knew what kind of curse that was. "Bortaldo!" On the command the house-elf appeared and gasped when seeing the condition his Mistress was in. "Quick, Bortaldo, get Andrea to you-know-where for help! I follow soon."
Everyone present knew that was code for the Order of the Phoenix, and in this case the place where Andromeda had set up shop with several other healers (and unknown to most had the children close by). Bortaldo quickly took Andrea Bulstrode away and Horatio address the teenagers. "The house is compromised, so I'll take Petunia along when I follow Bortaldo. It's no longer safe here, and I know I can't stop you anyway."
Watching him leave to get Petunia, Millicent couldn't believe what just had happened. "Our house, which I always thought safe... turned into a battlefield. My mother is injured and we have to leave our own house..."
"How do you think I feel?" Daphne reminded her friend, since her own house had been attacked as well, with her parents getting hurt.
"Girls, I know both of you feel hurt, but maybe paying them back for it in London is the better way to deal with it?" Dudley said, not wanting both girls to spiral right now.
Both girls took a deep breath, though the pain was still visible. "Yes... As shitty as I feel, Mum would have told me to do something about it, instead of sitting around and feel sorry for myself," Millicent then admitted.
"Let's waste no more time..." Daphne then decided. "Let's grab brooms and then apparate away."
All three of them got ready to leave right away. While officially none of them had made the apparition license, with the Ministry being gone no one would ask any questions if they used it anyway. Well, at least Millicent and Daphne, since they had learned it while being stuck at home, their parents not caring that it would have been considered illegal mere weeks ago.
I honestly hope nothing goes wrong when Millie takes me along, Dudley thought, knowing that his girlfriend was new to this and that they had to be careful to appear at a distance to the battle zone, since it for shure and interfering magic.
Millie, please don't hiccup at the worst moment or something like that, Dudley added. it would be highly embarrassing if he would lose a part of his body due to his girlfriend messing up teleportation rather than from battle.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"The Longest Day, Part III - Sunset"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Dead named characters in this chapter: Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix Lestrange, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, Floppy.
Some already guessed some details of the attack on London, like Voldemort using his remaining giants. The attack... essentially is pointless. Tom is throwing a massive tantrum and feels everyone has disappointed him and deserves to get slaughtered. Them causing lots of damage before he makes his exit is his only plan.
The Six normally wouldn't be drawn into this, but as mad as Voldemort now is, he know Harry would get involved at an attack of this scale, and that's the only thing he wants - murder Harry. He's now fully obsessed with it in a sunk cost fallacy.
How many of you thought we would see Vernon one more time? As you could guess by the hints, his life after prison will suck a lot.
Yeah, Tommy of course now tries to murder Harry, and there simply is decades of skill and experience against Harry, though Fawkes' gift at least gives some protection. Honestly, would you have guess Stefan Schuster to appear now of all times? The hints I've given earlier now pay off.
The final confrontation between Sirius and Peter. I felt it was fitting that Peter threatens Sirius' family and Sirius mauling him to death as a dog. I myself was surprised with the emotion at the end of their confrontation.
I did not at all intended to show Hermione as weak. In the contrary, considering how much more skilled and experienced Bellatrix is, Hermione held her ground and managed to destroy Bellatrix' wand, essentially crippling her. That is a strong showing. I felt however, that Ian Granger shooting her was the biggest insult Bellatrix could get.
Narcissa of course tries to run away... but no dice here.
I really wanted to show off that Diane is a badass - a pregnant badass at that - and this finally gave me the opportunity. I actually was inspired quite a bit by the fight in the kitchen in "The Living Daylights". However, that also was possible, because the Carrows were way too arrogant.
You also probably didn't think Dudley and the girls would appear again. Considering the prominent role of the Bulstrodes and the Greengrasses, Tommy of course would send strike teams after them (though not the top crop).