"Brotherly love is more durable, it is like the precious stone that resists the hardest metals, and whose value increases with the years."

Hector Carbonneau

There was silence in the infirmary, but agitation and noise took place when Sirius entered the room. His brother was badly injured and he was afraid. The two men may not have spoken to each other for many years, but he was his little brother, and he couldn't face his death. Sirius could only see the blood on his hair that hadn't dried yet, the blood that soaked his clothes, so much blood that Regulus wasn't going to live if he lost any more. While Sirius panicked, Helena and Remi worked around Regulus' body. Neither of them were panicking, which might have reassured Sirius, but it didn't.

"Black! You're distracting us! Make yourself useful, get some potions, I don't know, do something but stop panicking unnecessarily!"

Seeing that he wasn't obeying, Hermione sent a patronus to James, sternly asking him to come and calm Sirius down, and to Remus, to help them heal Regulus.

"We have to stop the bleeding at all costs, that's the priority. As soon as that's done, he needs a blood transfusion, it's the only way, the blood regeneration potions won't work, he's lost too much blood. Sirius, what is his blood type?"

"I don't know mine, how am I supposed to know my brother's?"

"POMFREY! I need a blood test, now!"

The nurse arrived with a hiccup of shock at Regulus' condition. She hurried to do as Helena asked, being careful to collect an uncontaminated blood sample. At least the tests would be quicker than in the Muggle world, but she hoped her blood type wouldn't be rare.

'It's okay, Regulus. We'll stop the bloody bleeding.'

Hermione didn't know if Regulus could hear her, but the words kept her head down, so she might as well try to encourage herself.

"Rem', don't you have an idea? He's been injured by Nagini, I don't have any anti-venom, none of the spells work, I don't know what to do. Using dark magic is out of the question."

Remus was analyzing the situation, and the idea was born in his mind when Sirius let out a yelp when he heard that Helena didn't know how to heal her brother.

"Transform yourself."

"The full moon is in a two weeks, and in case you've forgotten, I don't transform at will."

"You haven't forgotten that you're an animagus, have you?"

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Her transformations seemed far away now. She hadn't transformed for several years now. Not since she had been tortured, and even before that it had been several months since she had. You couldn't say that being a phoenix was an advantage when it came to spying.

"I don't even know if my body remembers how."

"We need your tears. You can do it, it's not the kind of thing that's easily forgotten."

And indeed, Hermione transformed with consummate ease. She flew to Regulus' body, and wept over him. Her eyes produced tears in abundance, without her even having to ask them to do so, as if it were natural. She saw the wounds gradually close, and turned again when she was sure they would not reopen.

"You were right. It was perfectly natural. We need to transfuse him as soon as possible now."

Hermione left to find Madam Pomfrey, and had to wait for her to finish analysing Regulus' blood type, she hoped he would be common enough to be transfused quickly, he just had to be one of those rare ones. The more common it was, the more likely it was that there would be someone who could donate blood quickly.

"He's AB-."

Hermione immediately went back to Regulus and rolled up her sleeve but before she could stick a needle in her skin, Remus stopped her.

"What are you doing?"

"He's AB-, I'm A-, we're a match. We can't afford to waste time, so I'm giving him my blood."

"Do you want him to become a werewolf?"

"I don't see the connection."

"Lycanthropy is a gene, a particular one, I grant you, but a gene nonetheless, and genes are in every cell of your body. You can't give Regulus two litres of blood and hope he doesn't turn out like us."

Before Hermione could continue, James and Remus entered the infirmary, and immediately headed for Sirius. But first, Hermione called out to James.

"Potter! Your blood type?"

"My blood type?"

"Do you know it or not?"

"I'm A+.

"Shit! Do you know anyone who is negative? Whatever, A-, AB-, B-, O-?"

"I don't know everyone's blood type. How should I know?"

"Because we're at war, I don't know! I knew all my friends' blood types in case of emergency! All it takes is one spell and a bleed to put our lives in danger, and a transfusion is the only way when the spell doesn't go directly inside. And that's the case here!"

Hermione paused for a moment and then stormed out of the infirmary, running towards the Great Hall, as the marauders looked on in bewilderment. Her little speech had made her think of a solution. Neville was O+. For a person to be of blood type O, he or she must have inherited both O alleles, thus forming an OO genotype. This meant that Alice and Frank both had at least one O allele, and even if it was recessive, there was a chance that one of them was O. But you had to be O- for the transfusion to work, so Hermione really hoped that one of them was. She ran through the corridors, and luckily for her, the stairs weren't fickle today. She arrived breathless near Alice and Frank, and had to catch her breath before she could explain things more clearly.

"Do you know your blood type?"

"What's going on?"

"Regulus' cover's blown, he's badly injured, we need to get him a transfusion as soon as possible. Your blood type? Tell me you know it! "

"Of course we know it, we have to pass a whole series of tests to get into the Aurors and our blood type has to be on file in case of an emergency."

Seeing that this was not what Helena wanted to hear, and that she was getting impatient with his wife's explanation, Frank cut her off.

"Alice is A+, I'm O-."

"Can you give us two litres of blood now?"

"Right now?"

"Of course it's right now, Frank. Are you an auror or not? He's been tortured, he's already lost too much blood, he's closer to death every minute! So either you say yes or you better find me a willing person with a negative rhesus soon!"

"No need to use fancy words! I'm coming, I'll do it."

"Helena, where's Dad going? Why are you talking about blood? He's not hurt!"

"Later Neville, your mum will explain, Frank, come with me, and hurry!"

Hermione started to run again, this time towards the infirmary, and Frank quickly followed. When they arrived in the room, Madam Pomfrey and Remus were busy with Regulus while James and Remus were trying to calm Sirius down.

"Black, get out of here, Potter, Lupin, go with him, he's just getting upset, there's nothing useful, go and rest, keep his mind occupied, I don't know, but do something."

As Hermione spoke Madam Pomfrey was already beginning to carefully draw Frank's blood. The marauders left, but not without several shouts from Sirius, yelling to anyone who would listen that he would stay with his brother. In a way, Hermione understood him. They hadn't spoken in years, hadn't had any conversations to sort things out between them, but they cared about each other, and Sirius was worried about his little brother, but on the other hand, she was annoyed that he was hanging around like that, his brother was between life and death and she needed to focus on that, not on the state of panic that Sirius was in.

The transfusion had started and Remus had Frank lie down on the next bed, he had just lost over two litres of blood, his body would need several hours to replenish it. Hermione watched intently as Madam Pomfrey transfused Regulus, so the nurse had to remind her that she knew what she was doing, it was her job after all. She then walked over to Frank, who was rather white.

"Thanks anyway. You're probably the king of the day, your blood will save Regulus' life."

"I wasn't gonna let him die. It's no big deal."

"Not everyone would have done it. Giving blood to save a Death Eater, how horrible. Don't look at me like that, you know very well what everyone thinks of him."

"His motives are unclear. So are Snape's. Many wonder why he came at this time, after you were tortured. Why for you? Sirius has been between life and death too, he saw it on the battlefield, but he came back for you, rather than his brother."

"I don't really know the answer to that question. He was afraid, like everyone else. We were lucky enough to be born on the right side, he wasn't, and not everyone rebels like Sirius did. I think it was the accumulation of a lot of little things, and seeing me tortured like that was the last straw."

"Helena!"

"What now, James?" she asked, exasperated.

She was about to get more upset, but when she saw the wizard's expression, she immediately stopped. He looked panicked, and Hermione sensed that the news was not going to be good.

"St Mungo's is under attack!"

"What? But that's impossible, the place is almost impenetrable!"

"The director is dead, the fidelius broke, I don't know exactly what happened, but the Death Eaters are attacking! We have to go."

"Where's Mad-Eye?"

"He's already there, he's the one who warned me. He's there with aurors and other members of the Order."

"Get ready, get all the members you can, the hospital is huge and I think the Death Eaters are going to want to make their mark. Go and tell Sirius that his brother is out of danger and that he should concentrate on the fight rather than on him. It would be a shame for him to die when he and Regulus are finally on the same side."

James left at once, accompanied by Remus, while Hermione stopped Frank from coming. Even though they needed as many people as possible, she wasn't stupid enough to think that he would survive on the battlefield, weak as he was now.

"Your body needs to make blood again, and you need to sleep! There's no way you're going to risk your life now, you've got no chance of getting out."

"Someone has to look after the children. I can't leave Neville on his own."

"I'll find someone to look after him. You stay put. Madam Pomfrey, I'm counting on you to stop him getting out of here. And be prepared, I have a feeling there's going to be some casualties."

Hermione left the infirmary at once and ran to the Great Hall, where everyone was busy. The teachers were getting the students back to their dormitories as a precaution, while the Order members were rushing to Hogsmeade, where they could . James and Alice were with Harry and Neville, trying to reassure them.

"Go on, we've got to go and defend St. Mungo's!"

"They can't be left alone! They're only five!"

Hermione looked around for a solution, every minute that passed was precious. The solution suddenly appeared before her eyes.

"Raphaël! Come here. I know you're still a bit weak, but I really need you. Can you watch Harry and Neville for me?"

"Helena... I'm not going to leave my son in the hands of just anyone!"

It was true that in the light of recent events, Raphaël did not seem to be the most stable person, but he was the only person who was able to keep an eye on the two children at the moment.

"He has my complete trust, James. You go into my room and keep them occupied. They'll probably cry, you'll have to comfort them, but I trust you, I know you can do it. If the school is attacked, you know the protocol, you'll tell Minerva and-"

"She's gone to fight" James interrupted.

"Well you go and tell Flitwick, and if he's not available you go and tell Sprout, and you make sure you give them the emergency portkey, but they need to know where they are, and what steps to take. After that, you take the portkey that's in my room, make sure Harry and Neville are there, and you get the hell out of here. Is that understood?"

"Yes, I understand."

"Good. I'll be fine."

"I don't want you to die."

"I'm not gonna die today, okay? And be strong in front of Harry and Neville. If they get out of hand, you can give them a calming potion or a sleeping potion."

"He's not gonna drug my son!"

"Harry, Neville, do you promise me that you will be good with Raphaël?"

The two little boys nodded and gave their parent a hug each before they left the Great Hall. Alice and James watched their child leave, their stomachs churning, unsure of the future. Hermione reminded them that they had to go. The three of them walked out of the hall, then out of the castle, before apparate to St. Mungo's, each on their own.

The screams were deafening, it was total panic. There were bodies and blood everywhere, and the wizards were trying to defend themselves and their patients at the same time. The Order members were fighting the Death Eaters, but there were ten times as many of them, and Voldemort wasn't even there. The Death Eaters seemed to be having a field day, killing and torturing as many people as possible. Hermione stood still for a few moments, then pulled herself together and entered the battle, as did everyone else around her. She really hoped that reinforcements would arrive, because she didn't see how they could get away with being so few.

Remus had been gone for quite a while, as soon as Moody had given them the message. He'd helped the wizards get the patients to safety at first, but there were too many Death Eaters attacking, so he'd left them behind, going to wipe out as many Death Eaters as possible, and hoping they could move the patients elsewhere, but as it was, he didn't see how that was going to be possible as there was nowhere big enough and safe enough to protect the whole hospital. It was a massacre. Remus had lost sight of the other members of the Order, he didn't even know who was there in the middle of the ruins. Bodies lay on the ground, but they had not been moved, that was not the priority. He was fighting several Death Eaters at once, all of whom were unfamiliar to him, but who had clearly been highly trained. They were young, but Remus couldn't have given them an exact age. But just because they were young didn't mean Remus was going to show them mercy, far from it, he was there to defeat them, and they couldn't afford to take any more prisoners at the drop of a hat, unless the prisoner in question was able to provide them with a lot of information. Which didn't seem to be the case here, so Remus was going to have to shoot them. But there were still five of them against him, and Remus was just as much a target for them to shoot, the avada that grazed him was further proof.

Hermione was not well. It could have been the piles of bodies lying on the floor, or the smell of blood and death that permeated the hospital, already mixing with the peculiar smells, but no. A pain ripped through her chest, and she didn't know what was happening to her. She could hardly breathe, her vision blurred at times, only to become clear again a few moments later, without her knowing why. Her heart was beating at a random rate, the air seemed to get stuck in her lungs, then flow again, it was hard to understand. She was sweating, her mind was racing, trying to figure out what was happening to her, but she didn't lose sight of her main goal, fighting the Death Eaters. She knew she wasn't having a panic attack, she'd had several before, and she hadn't been in a similar state. Now she could focus on something else, even though the pain was getting worse and worse in her chest. Her heart was speeding up, her breathing was becoming blocked, she had no control over anything.

"Helena!"

James saw a spell with an unsettling colour heading towards Helena, but the witch did not see it. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't seen the spell, just as she hadn't heard James' scream. It was thanks to the wizard's superb reflexes that Hermione didn't get that dubiously coloured spell that day.

James had turned to the witch, ready to ask her what was going on that made her so careless on the battlefield, but he froze. Helena had fallen to her knees, one hand on her chest, her head bowed. She didn't make the slightest movement. James shook her, but nothing helped, the witch was frozen. She looked like a statue. And James realised that her heart was no longer beating. Panic overcame him, but he noticed one last detail. The charm of the hidden objects that Helena always kept for her rings was gone. And James remembered her rings perfectly. The first one he had seen could not be forgotten. He had noticed it right away, as soon as Helena had walked through the doors of the Great Hall when he was in seventh year. It was a ring that was so sparkling, shining with such an aura that he wondered where it had come from. But today, the ring was nothing like that. It no longer sparkled, it no longer shone. It had turned grey, as frozen as its owner. James didn't know what the ring was for, nor did he know what it could mean.

But thousands of miles away, a woman let out a heart-rending scream. She knew what the shining stop meant.

The Time Ring had stopped working.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you thought!