CHAPTER 29
8:37PM
Four responding stares of varying incredulity met the inappropriately exuberant statement. James and Jim looked completely scandalized, whilst Lily and Harry veered towards the visibly nonplussed yet internally concerned variety.
The younger Potter trained his Legilimency on the maniacally grinning Hufflepuff who practically reeked of vindication. At that moment, Harry realized that the thinly veiled mask of overly chipper and good-natured boyishness was officially off, revealing the true darkness that Harry (and those clever enough to perceive it) had always suspected lurked beneath.
That, and Obediah had somehow mastered whatever CoMC spells existed to tame an Acromantula. The only person he knew who was even capable of such a feat was Hagrid, and based on his observations of the half-giant, Harry was certain that the Gryffindor was entirely too guarded to ever share his secrets with anyone save Tom Riddle.
"What the hell are you on about Obediah?! What the hell is going on?!" James struggled ineffectually against his bonds as he glared at his Seneschal, genuinely alarmed at the sudden change in the man's behavior. He continued his struggle, Alastor Moody's gruff words rattling around in his mind at the importance of any auror "worthy of his Academy diploma" to know at least three effective means of non-wanded escape. Mad-Eye had stressed wandless spells as the most effective method, specifically of the Accio and Finite Incantatem variety.
To James' disappointment he was completely incapable of doing either.
Lily (and Bradamante) on the other hand, were perfectly capable of doing the former. The krait symbol on the cuff had manifested into its spellstuff form, slowly and covertly attempting to break through the remarkably tough cobweb rope that tightly bound her hands. Her feet were equally restrained, and she knew it would take significantly more finagling to covertly free herself without garnering Obediah's attention. A little blood magick finagling would get rid of the Animagus-suppressing cuffs anchoring her wrists together. The Slytherin witch was rather amused that the Hufflepuff had assumed she - much like her ex-husband - was an Animagus.
She wasn't alone, as the remaining Potters had similar manacles on the wrist.
"I'm going to ask again Obediah, what the hell is going on here?!" James' expression narrowed. "If this is your idea of a prank, I'll be the first to say it's an incredibly shitty one. And I would know, I'm a bloody Marauder!"
Seneschal Potter rolled his eyes at his would-be Lord. "Yes, because I would definitely tie you up in the bloody Shrieking Shack as some elaborate comedic-scheme." He then paused and tilted his head, the movement even more perturbing as the baby acromantula perched on his shoulder mimicked his movement in perfect synchronicity. He then smiled, revealing his row of overly white teeth that seemed to fill every inch of his mouth and glistened ominously in the moonlight-filled room. "Though I must admit, that would be rather amusing in an infinitely more appropriate context.
"Seriously Uncle Obi, what the hell are you playing at?! We were supposed to have supper together and you ended up kidnapping us?!"
Obediah snarled. "First things first kid; kindly cease with the 'Uncle Obi' nonsense." He sneered viciously. "I've always loathed that insipid little pet name, an even greater testament to your enduring idiocy that you were incapable of realizing just how much I despised it! I mean 'Obi', really?! It was barely cute when you were four, and that was the last time it was remotely any sort of endearing!"
Jim could only gawk, equal parts shocked and hurt at the viciousness of the man he considered an uncle's statement. James glared at the man for his tone as Lily and Harry merely blinked, maintaining entirely nonplussed expressions whilst mutually occluding.
Under Bradamante's keen eye, the ex-Lady Potter made keen note of all viable access points, calculating how much energy she could expend with a multi-dilation to access her wand, incapacitate Obediah, and get the boys away from the madman.
Lord Potter could fend for himself.
It didn't help that her energy was considerably lower than normal, already feeling drained after her encounter with those poisonous spiders. She was amazed that the venom hadn't killed her, but she figured whatever means Obediah had used to conjure those critters minimized their natural lethality.
'All part of his twisted little game.' Though she sneered internally, her expression remained blank.
At this point James' struggling had become more obvious, attempting to break his human bonds and access his would-be animagic savior. This caused Obediah to snort out a laugh.
"I'm guessing you just realized you can't change forms, eh, Prongsy? Yes, I thought it might be problematic to have you prancing and canting around in your typical overly showy manner, so I figured I'd save us all the trouble."
Lord Potter stilled. "How the hell did you know about that?"
The 'Prongs' bit was easy enough; it was all he'd been called by his fellow Marauders during their Hogwarts stint with him and Sirius continuing the tradition until their fallout. However, not a single one had ever revealed (or even could have given the Marauder-bond oaths) their true forms. That Obediah could even hint at it…
"Ah, I see he's getting it now!" Prewett tittered in sinister delight.
"Peter would never tell you, could never have told you!" James' eyes suddenly widened. "He went missing after that night, when You-Know-Who attacked…" His expression turned vicious. "What the hell did you do-"
At that, Harry finally snapped at his father's appalling lack of logic. "Oh for Circe's sake! He's a Death Eater! And Peter Pettigrew was more than likely a Death Eater too!"
"Oh by Jove, I think he's got it!" The Potter Seneschal clapped his hands in affected delight, malice oozing from his pores.
"Impossible!" James spat. Jim could only continue to look horrified as the depth of his godfather's betrayal sank in.
"Oh Potter Elder," replied his Seneschal darkly. "The possibilities are endless." He leered at James. "It was all too easy for Peter to convince you of his innocence, to convince you that your wife's…well ex-wife's concern was just overly Slytherin paranoia. How easy it was for him to convince you to give his poor ole buddy Obediah a chance, to help out a lowly little Hufflepuff." He snorted. "You've always loathed taking personal responsibility for anything, so it was all too easy to swindle a Law Mastery out of you and become your House's Seneschal. The Queen to your King so to speak, the perfect position to weave a most delightfully tangled web."
"I don't loathe taking personal responsibility!" Four pairs of eyes rolled in simultaneity.
Suddenly, a whir-click went off in Harry's mind.
"You were the means to sabotage James and House Potter, from the inside." Obediah's head whipped to Harry's, gaze curious. "As the Seneschal you, quite literally, have the legal power of the House in your hand. And since we've established that your employer is completely incapable of taking any personal responsibility, I can only imagine just how much he's willingly given over to you…"
Another whir-click went off as Obediah nodded almost encouragingly.
"Let me guess; the minute you get through murdering us in your 'master plan', you suddenly become the Potter Regent? Even without Heir Potter's continued existence?"
"Right-in-one, well done Potter Minor!" He gave a polite golf-clap. "And that's a testament to your infinitely more superior child-rearing skills Evans." He cheekily bowed in the woman's direction, tittering at her bored expression.
Her bonds had loosened a touch, allowing a bit more feeling to return to her fingers.
"That's not possible," whispered James desperately. "I would never shirk my Lordly duties in such a way, least of all to you! Never!"
"Awww, isn't it Potter Elder?" Obediah scoffed. "Please! Your entire raison d'être involves you shirking your personal responsibility, especially to your House! The only reason you ever took any personal responsibility for anything is because you wanted to get into her pants!"
His ex-wife merely blinked at the man's admittedly rude exclamation.
"Merlin, at least Sirius actually meant his contrition, though I imagine his girlfriend and best friend being shredded to bits by an acromantula is enough to inspire a 'coming to Circe' moment, so to speak. Well, and I reckon the nervous breakdown helped speed things along. I can only imagine the month Janus Thickey had with that one haunting their halls!"
James angrily snarled, feeling curiously offended at the dig against his ex-best friend. Harry was startled at that revelation.
"Anywho, your childishly vociferous complaints all amount to the sum total of hot empty air. 'The Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter' signed all the paperwork months ago to give me Regency over the House itself in the event of his and his Heir's death! Even if Potter Minor here somehow lives to contest the claim, the reneging of your custody and parental rights over to your ex-wife during your divorce proceedings significantly diminishes those efforts. That, and his wardship with House Black and the inheritance caveat in House Potter's charter that prevents such a thing from happening."
Lord Potter stared at his Seneschal and Proxy with his mouth open, speechless at the sudden realization of how thoroughly he'd been betrayed.
"All this time," whispered Jim darkly, his tone thick with anger and some other unnamed emotion that made his voice tremble. "All of these years…you've…you've been a traitor for the Dark Lord."
A curious expression overtook his godfather's face, before he smiled with all his teeth. The image was rather frightening considering his eyes had turned nigh obsidian as he slowly - almost sensually - rolled up the sleeve on his wand arm.
"My dear boy…the Dark Lord is my past…my present…and my future."
And with that, he whispered a phrase that sounded as though he were speaking backwards, causing a tattoo resembling raised lupine claw marks in blood-red ink to materialize on his flesh. The real Dark Mark - hidden beneath his dress shirt - pulsed in tandem to the command, a bloodthirsty wolf squirming beneath his flesh.
Bradamante's eyes narrowed at the sound of the Verbis Diablo, peripherally noting Harry's light shudder. Her ex-husband and her firstborn could only gawk in mutual dread and dismay, completely unaware of the implications of what they'd just heard but horrified all the same at the Death Eater's confirmation.
"I warned you, didn't I?" They all turned at the Slytherin witch's deadly and cold tone. "I told you that night the Dark Lord attacked our home, almost succeeded in killing our sons, that Peter Pettigrew could not be trusted. That he'd betrayed us." She leveled a rather terrifyingly blank look at a gaping James. "Seems that I was right all along."
"Ho-ho-ho, what a delight!" The newly-revealed Death Eater clapped his hands in affected glee, the sight even more frightful as the acromantula perched on his shoulder mimicked the movement. "And look how he chose to show his gratitude - curses you with an arcane magical spell that is the pinnacle of insecure men everywhere." James whirled in anger at the man, missing the look of contempt his Heir directed at him. Obediah did notice, causing him to laugh uproariously.
"Oh Merlin, I should have done this ages ago! Family drama can be so delightfully petty!" He leaned against the strange silver containment box as the cloak pooled at his feet. "However, I haven't really gotten all day. Plots to unravel, cabals to revive, people to murder, blah-blah-blah. I'm sure you Slytherins understand that more than anyone."
"And what the hell does that mean?" asked James stonily.
"It means Lord Potter," Harry said flatly, "that we've reached the stage of the grand play where the villain finally gets to the point!"
"Indeed Potter Minor, as succinct as ever!" He clapped once before turning around. "Miranda dear, can you come in for a moment?"
Lily Evans' Private Quarters, 8:58PM
"What the hell do you mean she was taken?!"
Theo winced at Hermione's outraged statement, keeping a close eye on the vine wand tightly gripped in the witch's hand with its tip glowing an ominous orange. She looked fit to charge into battle, golden brown eyes burning in righteous indignation. He remembered Hermione's own harrowing experience witnessing Lily's attack and subsequent discovery of her Petrification. The poor Gryffindor had been inconsolable, blaming herself for Lily's predicament.
The irony made the ex-Nott's head spin.
"I mean, someone attacked us and took her! As I said, it all happened so fast." He closed his eyes to ward off the panic and fear that arose in recollection of the swarming cluster of poisonous spiders raining down on him and Lily with lethal intent. Along with those infernal click-purr-buzz sounds they'd emitted.
'Blimey, is this how Ron Weasley feels all the time?!'
Thankfully, his terror had lasted for less than a beat before the older witch had somehow Banished him from the scene and into the safety of her private quarters.
"Did you get a look at the man?" asked Luna intensely. She and Blaise had accompanied Hermione to look for their club sponsor when she'd failed to appear for their meeting. As the de-facto leader Hermione had left Susan and Amy in charge of watching over the others whilst they searched for the missing woman. Eurus was conspicuously missing, on Patronus workshop duty with Marcus and Professor Scrimgeour.
"It took a minute to calm down, but I was able to catch the back of the man through the door's peephole. Just the back of his head, I think he had an invisibility cloak. Used it to ferry him and Lily away before I could think to get the door open."
"Hang on a mo'," interjected Blaise. "An invisibility cloak? Or the invisibility cloak? And by that, I mean the one the Git-Who-Lived is fond of flashing about and making an even bigger menace of himself with." He scoffed for effect, causing his friends to snicker.
Luna merely stared above his head.
"I reckon it was that invisibility cloak." Theo's expression turned severe. "Jim Potter hasn't been found mucking about, has he?"
Hermione shook her head worriedly. "No, he hasn't. He mentioned that he, his father, and his godfather were going to be having supper tonight in a private room and wouldn't be in the Great Hall." Her eyes widened a fraction. "He wasn't at the meeting tonight either."
"That can't be a coincidence that they're all missing." Luna's expression wrinkled. "I reckon the man who took Lily is the one who took them too."
"You think it was a… Death Eater?" Hermione was quite pale.
Her Slytherin friends exchanged tense glances, confirming the Gryffindor's worst fears.
"And where the hell is Dumbledore while all this is happening in his school?"
"He got called away to the ICW, I overheard Emily and Percy talking about it in the Great Hall." Hermione chewed on her lip. "It's a serious emergency; there was a Death Eater attack in Ilkley and it's apparently really bad. They made it sound like it was happening in multiple places."
"It's no coincidence given all of the madness that's befallen us this year." Luna's tone was completely lacking in its usual sweet airiness, expression uncommonly tight. "First the Express, then Hallowhain…" A shudder went through the blonde, causing Theo to rub her hand soothingly as she smiled in appreciation. "Then Harry and Theo almost get blown to bits after someone cursing those poor muggles into attacking them, then the Dementors try to eat all of us during Quidditch…who else could it be but Death Eaters?"
Blaise snorted. "Wonderful. Our friend and his family have been kidnapped by a Death Muncher and we haven't a bloody clue where they've been taken. Merlin, how could this get any worse?" Then the boy's eyes went wide, because he realized he'd just committed the cardinal sin of challenging the gods of irony.
Of course, said gods didn't disappoint.
In a flash the glowing form of Ligeia swooped in and spoke in Eurus' distressed whisper: "Professor Snape's been attacked! Marcus and I are in the Hospital Wing and…Merlin…it's not looking too good." Four sets of eyes widened in horror. "Almost all of P.A.C is here too, they've been poisoned! And they're saying it's Theo's fault!"
Exactly Five Minutes Earlier…
It was utterly amazing how long one could go without breathing.
That was the primary thought running through Snape's conscious mind, stretching the very limits of As-Still-as-the-Ancient-Rock.
The 15th Step earth-based kata was the only thing keeping the Potions professor from asphyxiating from the deadly fumes filling the entirety of his classroom. It helped that he was maintaining a tripartite dilation split between himself and four reserve Personalities, though that was slowly approaching its limits as psychically stretching out the sensation of not breathing was starting to drive him mad.
Though the head-splitting headache, nosebleed, and eye-bleed weren't helping.
One would also think a Bubblehead Charm would provide some respite, but unfortunately, plumes of the sabotaged potion had made its way into the protective orb and further worsened his situation. Running self-diagnosis had revealed he'd aspirated the concoction and it was slowly beginning to disperse in his system despite his herculean efforts in preventing that very thing from happening.
Should it fully enter his system, he'd spend the next few days - if he were lucky - cackling himself into insanity.
He'd swept into his classroom with his usual flair almost half an hour ago, in a hurry to attend to the Elixir. To his alarm, he'd felt his cuff emit an SOS beacon for Lily whilst he'd been administering more Draught of Living Death for their guests in the Longbottom dungeons. It'd gone as quickly as it'd come, but unfortunately, he'd had his hands full with dosing Bellatrix Lestrange and could not afford to lose his concentration.
Of course, that had followed having to check in on the very thing which would now be the architect of his demise.
Someone had sabotaged him, and he sincerely hoped whomever had pulled off this scheme was long dead if he at
'And of course, I'm beset on all sides by poisonous spiders.'
Fist-sized crab and wolf spiders were attempting to breach the Potions Master's temporary shield-dome, which he'd succeeded in transfiguring in the midst of the potion exploding to send him careening into the adjacent storage room and thus surrounded by even more volatile potions' ingredients.
THUMP…THUMP…THUMP…THUMP…THUMP…
His nosebleed was getting worse and he felt his head beginning to properly split in two. Severus was certain an aneurysm was around the corner, though ironically enough that seemed to be a better alternative as he would still remain conscious and thus wouldn't fall unconscious and begin breathing.
He needed a miracle.
"PROFESSOR! ARE YOU IN HERE?! MERLIN WHAT'S WITH THESE SPIDERS?!"
Relief like he'd never known filled Severus, though he was unable to speak to tell Flint where he was. Shouts of Incendio and other choice curses filled the room as Marcus fought off against the persistent arachnids.
After what felt like another eternity the Slytherin prefect burst into the room, face covered by a Bubblehead Charm and eyes wide in horror.
"PROFESSOR! Blimey… what happened?!"
THUMP…THUMP…TH-
Despite his best efforts Snape broke his dilation on an inhale, keeling over unconscious.
Hospital Wing, 9:13PM
"Oh that's a load of complete bollocks and you know it!"
The few conscious occupants flinched at Amy Wilkes' scathing tone as the witchling angrily glared at an equally furious Zacharias Smith.
Worried about Hermione taking longer-than-usual to return from her expedition, the Gryffindor had called for house-elf Curly (Nitwit's right-hand elf) and kindly asked her to take her to Hermione Granger. She'd been startled to appear in the Hospital Wing, further shocked at seeing almost all of PAC filling up the beds. It seemed Cho, Draco, Ginny, Neville, Pansy, and a few others in the club had experienced extremely adverse reactions, currently resting in a healing coma.
Even more shocking was seeing Marcellus Frump leading the healing efforts, mahogany wand deftly flicking over the unconscious form of Professor Snape as Marcus Flint stood guard with a tight expression. It seemed the strange Caretaker spent quite a bit of his free time shadowing Madame Pomfrey, helping her organize her potions and assisting with the more delicate of student health needs. The matron had received an emergency call from her family in Ilkley on account of Messrs. Tyrfing and Justinian's attack, rushing to go be with them.
"Do I look to be laughing, Wilkes?!" Smith looked keenly outraged. "It was the Outcast! Poisoned all of our food in an attempt to kill us all! Just because we're the only ones in this entire Merlin-forsaken school who recognized the true danger he poses!"
"The true danger?!" exclaimed Amy, unintentionally cutting off Hermione's angry response. "You're really full of it aren't you, Zachy?" She sneered as the angry boy turned puce at the use of his most-hated nickname. "All Theo ever did was to be unlucky enough to have Tiberius Nott as his sire, and look what the filthy brute did? Used some arcane magic to make everyone hate his own flesh and blood, enough to make the more dim-witted of us - and yes, that expressly means you! - make the poor boy's life a living hell!"
"Make his life hell?!" exclaimed Marietta angrily. "It's his fault that we're here to begin with! Bloody Outcast is a death and despair magnet, I mean really! Every awful thing that's happened to us can be traced back to the Outcast being here!" She then sneered at Amy. "Though given your father's antics, you'd know all about being a trouble magnet."
Alder flashed in a fury before being stopped by Luna's gentle hand, allaying the Boils Hex that would have inevitably lengthened Marietta's stay in the Hospital Wing. The Ravenclaw scampered back in her bed, eyes wide in fright.
Percy Weasley chose that moment to arrive, flanked by the nervous forms of Fred and George Weasley. The Head Boy had stopped by the Hospital Wing to pick up some headache relief potion when he'd been confronted with the bizarre sight of almost all of P.A.C. violently vomiting and shaking in a high fever, and noses pouring blood. His horror had compounded at seeing Ginny and a few others begin seizing as the particular combination of ingredients wrought havoc on their bodies, startling Frump into initiating emergency triage.
There could only be one potential cause for the chaos, and Percy had immediately set off to acquire them.
Sneering at Smith and Edgecombe, Amy whirled around to join Hermione and the others, all listening to the resident Hogwarts pranksters with rapt attention.
"We swear, we had nothing to do with this!" George looked horrified as Fred grew paler.
Percy blinked. "In the spirit of our new 'turned over leaf', I am giving you the benefit of the doubt. And said benefit only extends to you giving me a reasonable enough explanation that involves more than swearing that you had 'nothing to do with it.'" His brusque tone was enough to make everyone wince.
"Honest Percy, it wasn't us. We wouldn't use any of the Seriously Skiving Snackbox prototypes on anyone, least of all the club our baby sister is a part of!"
"We swear on the Marauders' Honor, it wasn't us!"
"Then who the hell was it?"
"Did someone steal your stash?" volunteered Luna, staring above their heads. While wrackspurts had sprung up in the face of their visible distress, their nargles hadn't begun wiggling as they were apt to do if someone were lying.
"Not if they want to keep their hand!" Fred coughed at the looks directed his way, grimacing at the glare his twin leveled at the side of his head.
"Would there be any other means for someone to access your stash?"
The Twins shook their heads in the negative, before their eyes widened as the realization sunk in.
"Cedric…"
"Beg your pardon?" said Percy sharply.
With noticeable trepidation the twins went into detail about how Cedric casually chatted them during Quidditch practice, conversation veering into the "ingenuity" of their regular Snackboxes and how he could purchase more. The Gryffindors had somehow been cajoled by the charming Hufflepuff into purchasing three of their prototype boxes.
"Sonofabitch."
Everyone gawked at Hermione swearing, whiskey brown eyes burning in fury. Her wand was in a vice-grip, knuckles white at the sheer force of her hold. Blaise wrapped a warm arm around her in an attempt to calm her through touch.
"And where is the Hufflepuff golden boy?" asked Blaise glibly.
"Went home," replied a scowling Percy. "Something about a family emergency with his mum, apparently she's been quite ill and rather poorly in health. To be frank he probably caught whatever she's got, he's looked rather peaky all day."
None looked convinced at the too-convenient excuse.
Marcus rejoined their group at this point, looking keenly exhausted.
"How is he?" asked Eurus quietly. The elder boy cast a rapid-fire slew of privacy wards, causing Frump's brow to quirk as he set about dispersing Sleeping Potion to the rest of the awake students.
"He'll be in a healing coma for the next 24 hours. Aspirated a botched potion into his lungs, Elixir to Induce Euphoria. Stuff's supposed to make you go insane when it gets into your system. Not sure how but Frump was able to isolate it and extract it out of his body. We'll know the extent of the damage when Snape's conscious again, but Frump's positive he'll make a full recovery. Gave him a drip of something called 'Antidote No. 37' while Snape rests, says it will help purge any remnants from his body, especially his blood and lungs." His expression hardened. "Whoever did this better hope I don't catch them."
"You cannot possibly think Theo-"
Marcus held his hand up in supplication. "No Granger, I don't think Theo was involved in this at all. I think whoever did this to Snape is responsible for what happened to this lot here, and is also responsible for Harry, Lily, and the other Potters getting taken. Not far-fetched to imagine that there's Death Eater involvement."
The responding winces confirmed his suspicions.
"Do you two have the Map?"
The twins jumped at Luna's sudden non-sequitur.
"Sorry?" "What map?"
Her eyes crinkled in amusement, staring above their heads.
"The Map, you silly geese. I reckon it will give us a good starting point." She gave them a significant look, before George finally caved and retrieved a blank piece of parchment from his robes. Covering his mouth, he whispered the password and activated the Map.
"Blimey," Amy whispered in wonder. "It shows any and everyone in Hogwarts!" Their eyes roved over the animated ink that displayed almost every nook and cranny of the ancient castle along with all the surrounding grounds. They saw themselves in the Hospital Wing, watching Frump bustle between the beds.
"Is this how you two avoided getting caught all these years?" Percy seemed caught between his amazement and being put out. His brothers shrugged glibly, though their amusement wasn't hard to miss.
"Something like that," Fred replied, wiggling his eyebrows cheekily.
"How does this all work?" asked an awestruck Hermione, anger momentarily forgotten.
"Not sure really," Fred shrugged. "From what Forge and I gather it tracks all the magical signatures and how they interact with the school's ley lines. The Marauders won't tell us though, something about 'ruining the spirit of the enterprise'."
"Marauders?"
"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, creators of the Map!" "Moony's Remus Lupin." "Wormtail Peter Pettigrew." "Padfoot is Sirius Black." "And Prongs is James Potter!" "That's the four Marauders!" "And our eternal Muses!" "Right devotees we are."
Eyes rolled at the twin-speak but Luna's gaze was more contemplative as she stared at invisible creatures only she could see. An intricate quadruple-helix of nargles pulsed above the map, four intertwined colors that seemed to ebb and flow above the parchment. Though she had no way of knowing, said nargles represented the mirror-soul equivalents of each Marauder around age 15, created by the Homunculus Charm and tied in with other Charms and Transfiguration spells that imbued the parchment with their collective memories of Hogwarts.
In a blink Luna unholstered her wand and touched it to the map, focusing her magic on the obsidian-colored strand that was uncannily like Sirius Black's own.
"I summon the Map-self of Mr. Padfoot!"
A few seconds passed uneventfully, before they all witnessed the map script fade away as one sole sentence appeared in an old-timey script:
Mr. Padfoot responds to the fair-witchling's most polite summons. How may Mr. Padfoot be of service?
Luna smiled, silver-gray eyes sparkling in delight.
"Our friend Harry Potter is in danger, he and his family have been kidnapped."
Kidnapped?!
The panic and anger was palpable as the script looked to be bleeding through the parchment.
"Yes, kidnapped. They could be…are…in very grave danger, and we need to know if they're still on the castle grounds. Can you show us please?"
A beat passed.
Mr. Padfoot doesn't mean to distract from the topic at hand, but would Harry Potter be the son of a certain Mr. Prongs and Lily Evans? More formally known as Hell-flower?
"We don't have bloody time for this!" The Map either didn't hear Amy's snarled whisper or chose to ignore it.
"That would be the one," replied Luna sweetly. "You're his godfather too, practically like his second dad." She smartly chose not to mention the reasons why he'd become a pseudo-dad to Harry.
Mr. Padfoot…is a godfather? For Mr. Prongs' prongslet? …Truly?
They could practically feel the man's wonder emanating off the page.
"Truly, you two love each other very much. He's got a twin brother too, name's Jim." Luna allowed her worry to seep into her tone. "They were taken some hours ago, not sure where, but it's entirely possible they may be in some part of the castle, but it would take forever to search the whole map to find them. Can you please show us?"
A few seconds ticked by tensely. Just as Amy was about to swear the Map replied:
Mr Padfoot will help the fair-witchling find Mr. Padfoot's godson and Mr. Prongs' and Hell-flower's Prongslet.
The Map went completely blank for a few seconds, before reorienting itself to showcase the exact location of Harry Potter and his kidnapped family.
"Oh no, that's not good."
"No Wilkes," replied Marcus gravely. "I can't say that it is."
The Shrieking Shack sprang to life, showing 'Harry Potter' clustered around 'Lily Evans', 'James Potter', and 'Jim Potter'. It was obvious by their relative position and that of Obediah Prewett's that the former were being held captive by the latter.
"What the hell is Bonnevie doing there?" Fred frowned, though George didn't miss the brief flash of concern in his younger twin's eyes.
"Not sure…she's standing next to Prewett but she's not really doing anything. I can't help but feel that she's in trouble as well."
"I agree Little Moon," replied Eurus as she stared rather intensely at the scene before them.
"We need to go get him."
"Are you mad?!" Amy exclaimed. "That's a bloody hostage situation and unless you're telling me you've got an Auror badge hidden in those robes then that's a bloody terrible idea. Not only that, they're right next to the Forbidden Forest! You do realize the Dementors are mucking about don't you?"
"I'll have to agree with Amy." Percy's tone was firm.
"We're not leaving them there, we're not." Hermione glared at the Head Boy, making him awkwardly shift about as Zabini snickered. " It's Harry. We need to get them back, we just need to."
"Agreed. Harry would do the same for any of us. For all of us." Though she smiled, Luna's eyes burned with an intensity that was quite intimidating.
Making up his mind, Marcus said: "Alright. Here's what we'll do."
Shrieking Shack, 9:24PM
'Please spare her. Please leave her be.'
That was the primary thought running through Harry's mind as he watched Obediah stare amusedly at the blonde Slytherin, like a too-smart predator playfully deciding how to devour its oblivious prey.
Miranda stood within arms reach of the Hufflepuff, content to stared glassy-eyed as the Imperius continued its hold. Harry struggled a bit more in his bonds, allowing some of his desperation to bleed through.
"It's interesting you see. I'd been trailing both her and Miss Granger earlier today, trying to decide which of them I would use to…procure you Potter Minor." His brows raised amusedly at the vicious snarl that left Harry's mouth. "Ultimately I decided on Miranda, since she'd have near unfettered access to you in the Slytherin dorms."
A gnarled hornbeam wand seemingly appeared in his hand, using it to suggestively twirl around the stray blonde locks framing the girl's face and further stoking Harry's ire. His father and brother looked appalled as his mother tensed ever so slightly, feeling her restraints further slacken from the spellstuff krait's efforts.
She was almost halfway free.
"Now imagine my surprise upon taking control of her mind that there was actual care and concern for you, Potter Minor!" He repeated his actions with the wand, slowly winding around her as though assessing an intriguing creature. "Her shields were decent, could have kept me out if I'd been obvious about the legilimency bit. But alas, they were no match for the Imperius. She tried to hide her thoughts at first, fought me off a bit. But, naturally, she failed."
Harry glared at the gloating man, clamping down on the dread crawling up his shields.
"It's a pity really…The Family invested so much time and effort into her, I imagine grooming her to ingratiate herself into your circle, to destroy you from within. The Obediah to your James."
The younger Potter stiffened at the invocation of the Selwyns. His reaction wasn't as subtle as he'd hoped, because Prewett noticed and just smiled.
"Worry not Potter Minor; The Family will never get the chance. EXVISCERA!"
A vicious slash saw Miranda's bloodied entrails burst out of her body as the witch dropped lifeless to the ground.
"NOOOO! MIRANDA!" Harry screamed as Jim and James gawked in horrified shock, flinching as sprays of blood macabrely splashed against all their faces. Lily only blinked once in acknowledgement, too far hidden behind Bradamante to react in any other way.
Obediah cackled at their reaction before startling as Harry's rage-filled scream echoed throughout the entirety of the Shack. His other captives mimicked his response, staring dumbly at Harry who glared at the Death Eater with lethal intent.
All noticed his eyes glowing Avada green.
None noticed his scar grow more pronounced on his forehead.
"You'll die for that."
Prewett quirked a brow curiously at the boy's threat, Occlumency repressing the unexpected shudder that went through him. Mr. Arachne had sensed something in the boy's tone…Something Ancient-and-Dangerous…but it eluded him as soon as it'd come.
"I should think not."
A flick of hornbeam separated the intestines from the blood, causing the latter to coalesce into an ichor-like mass that Prewett spread across the top of the orichalcum box. It flashed gold as the blood seeped into the carved symbols. He made a series of fiendish buzz-click-purr sounds to the arachnid perched on his shoulder. It repeated the sounds before scuttling out of the room.
With a deep breath Obediah receded and allowed Arachne full control.
To his captives' mounting horror his pupils turned black as his eyes quadrupled in size, with six additional black eyes appearing. His additional arms appeared and flexed in delight, trichobothria erupting to cover his body.
"HECATE ABOVE!" "WHAT THE HELL?!"
The monstrous leviathan cackled at James and Jim's matching reactions, the sound like coarse sand grating against the ear.
"Just your friendly neighborhood spider-man!" Half of his eyes winked, causing father and son to further balk in revulsion.
Closing his eyes the Death Eater sank his appendages palm-down into the orichalchum box, chanting the Verbis Diablo unboxing spell that would override the Unspeakables' nigh unbreakable runic locking matrix. It would take about a minute for it to be complete, the blood serving as the perfect conduit to facilitate the process.
Bradamante watched blankly, finally free of her bonds. She kept her hands locked at her back, not wanting to arouse her captor's suspicions. She felt the krait slither back to its initial position on her cuff, becoming inert once more. The cobra had been flashing in SOS for almost an hour, but she'd psychically repressed the signal.
She hoped Cador was okay and that he would understand.
With 20 seconds left on the proverbial clock Bradamante took a deep breath, feeling her heart slow down significantly as her senses heightened to acute sharpness. She tightened her form imperceptibly, hands positioned behind her. Her feet remained bound, unable to use the krait to loosen those bonds without drawing Obediah's attention.
It was no matter, since it would be to her next move's advantage.
The orichalchum box had begun opening at the Death Eater's commands, panes of orichalchum sliding and receding downward to reveal that which lay hidden beneath.
12 seconds…
The box was halfway opening, revealing a sliver of a nude man with arms and legs tied in glowing silver restraints.
11 seconds…
The man's face was more visible, and he looked almost familiar…
10 seconds…
Time was up.
THUMP.
She launched into The-Leaping-Mullet, using her forward momentum to aim her body dead-center at Obediah's form as she executed the 8th Step Water-based kata.
9 seconds…
"ACcCIO WANDSsS!"
Three wands flew into her open hand at her command as she somersaulted midair, expertly redirecting her momentum downwards to land on her feet with her wand at the ready.
8 seconds…
THUMP.
"DEPULSsSO!"
A snarling Obediah flew backwards just as one of his arms - now curved into a wicked-looking pincer - slashed through the space where Bradamante's body had briefly occupied. In any other context, the shock in his spider-eyes would have been rather amusing.
7 seconds…
THUMP.
"ACcCIO TRIA!"
The forms of her sons and her ex-husband flew towards her, their reactions comically slow through the lens of her dilation.
6 seconds…
THUMP.
"AEGISsS AERISsS ORBISsS!"
An almost-solid orb of air surrounded the quartet, shielding them from her next spell. A small opening allowed her the perfect means to cast her next spell.
5 seconds…
"BOMBARDA MAXxXIMA!"
The spell rocketed out of her willow wand, impacting the walls with an ear-splitting CRRRAACCCCK! The resulting damage revealed the scores of wolf spiders crawling along the walls, shrieking in unholy agony as they were blasted apart.
4 seconds…
Bradamante peripherally noticed her cargo screaming at the top of their lungs at the sight and sound of the explosion.
3 seconds…
THUMP.
"ASsSCcCENDIO!"
The upward force of the Parsel-enhanced spell combined with the surrounding explosive force caused the orb shield to shoot up like a cannonball through the wooden ceiling. Using her wand to pilot Bradamante steered their direction towards the Forest.
2 seconds…
THUMP.
"ARRESsSTO MOMENTUM!"
They slowed significantly as she guided the orb to land gently on the ground, adding a Cushioning Charm for extra support.
1 second…
Upon landing the witch lapsed her dilation and removed the restraints from the three Potters, all of whom gawked at her with varying degrees of incredulity at the impossible task she'd pulled in a manner of seconds. It took great effort to not keel over at the amount of energy she'd just expended, feeling the scarlet 'A' on her chest contract in discomfort.
"That was wicked!" Harry and Jim turned at the twin sounds of their voices, before laughing out in delirious amazement.
Their mother's eyes crinkled as she undid the remainder of their restraints, handing her sons wands. The two boys - in another moment of unexpected synchronicity - hugged the witch tightly, pleased to feel her arms wrap around them just as fiercely. Belatedly, Jim was amazed that he wasn't more upset about the surprise discovery of his mother's Parseltongue abilities.
'Must be the adrenaline.'
The tender moment was almost immediately ruined.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"
The elder Potter's eyes blazed as he glared at his ex-wife with sudden contempt.
"You're a Parselmouth!" His tone was tightly accusatory.
"All this time! You're the reason Jim is the way he is! Blimey, I can't believe this! And you had the nerve to say nothing the entire time Jim was getting hounded as a Parselmouth, knowing it was all your fault!" He gestured madly, becoming more infuriated at the witch's disturbingly blank expression and completely missing the looks of matching fury on his sons' faces. "You corrupted my Heir and-"
"OH WILL YOU SHUT UP!"
James jumped at the furious sound of Jim's voice, whose eyes - Lily's eyes - glowed Avada green. Harry only gawked. The elder Potter twin stomped up till he was eye-level with his father.
"That's no way to speak to my mother, the woman who just saved all of our lives, your sorry one included!" James sputtered angrily but was cut off before he could respond.
"And 'getting hounded'?!" Jim sounded delirious. "You're the main one who treated me as if I was some sort of monster when you found out I could talk to snakes. Hell, you cursed the mother of your children over some imaginary jealousy!" He sneered in contempt. "Wonder what you'll have done to me if you'd ever found out when I was a child, the so-called son you claimed to love." He sneered again, savagely pleased to see the stricken look on his father's face.
A sudden roar of inhuman fury echoed through the night, disrupting the tense mood.
Racing to the edge of the forest they saw a bloodied and seriously injured Obediah emerge from the rubble of the Shack, his demented spider-man form bloodied and bruised. They watched with growing trepidation as he crawled for a few moments, stopping at a point in the rubble. With some difficulty he pulled out another body hidden in the rubble, a nude man who seemed oddly familiar to James.
"What in Merlin's name is he doing?!"
Jim's question was soon answered when the traitor transformed back into his full-human form, looking more garish as he dripped blood. To their compounded shock he gently pulled a brown rat out of his robes pocket! He reverently placed the rat right on the man's face, and his audience watched in spellbound horror as the rat gnawed on its front paw, rendering it bloody. It smeared the blood onto the man's face, causing him to go into a violent fit.
Placing the rat back into his pocket a bloodied Prewett turned to smile at his audience, his face and teeth stained blood-red.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY POTTER!"
And with that, he disapparated in a loud CRACK!
The nude man was now standing, jerking and twisting about as several of his bones spontaneously popped and cracked. He threw his head back as he howled in pain, the light of the full moon shining directly on his face.
"REMUS?!"
The transforming man turned sharply towards the sound of his name, and for a brief moment, awareness flooded his expression as shock and sadness bled through his features in recognition of his old friend.
But then the moment was lost as the lycanthrope's eyes burned amber as the curse of Emeric Belasco overtook his body and mind.
"REMUS! REMUS NO!"
James' anguished yells were futile.
Lupin tossed his head back and howled in a mindless rage. His muscles started to bulge and his jaw cracked and distended into a muzzle full of long, sharp teeth. HIs bones continued to crack and lengthen as his entire body grew hirsute, arms elongating to end in wickedly sharp claws. He threw his head back and howled once more, the sound fiendish and horrifying.
And then, the Beast charged towards its prey.
"RUN!"
His ex-wife didn't hesitate as she grabbed the arm of each terrified twin and raced off with them into the Forest.
Free of his restraints Lord Potter charged at the advancing werewolf, reaching deep into his psyche. In the blink of an eye his body transformed into the thick-skinned flesh of a stag, arms and legs became powerful hooves as a mighty set of antlers sprouted from his head. Prongs cantered to crash headfirst into Moony, swinging his antlers into the wolf's body to send him flying some feet away.
Moony whimpered pitifully for a few moments before getting back onto his feet, howling viciously before charging once more at his prey with intent to destroy.
9:51PM
The racing trio finally stopped when they reached a clearing, hunching over to catch their breaths.
"Sh-pant-sh-pant-should we have left him there?" Though he was furious with the man, Jim was understandably worried about leaving his father with a raging werewolf.
"He's an animagus," replied his mother with a noticeably heavy huff. "They're impervious to being transformed by a werewolf, and in his animagic state, he's infinitely more capable of defending himself than any one of us would be."
"Says the one who faced off against Fenrir Greyback and lived to tell the tale." Harry wiggled his eyebrows cheekily, causing the witch to snort out a laugh as her breathing became more level.
"Fair enough." She assessed her surroundings, taking note of the way the trees intertwined and stretched upwards to create a quasi-cocoon around the clearing. "We need to get out of here; I'll send a Patronus to-"
She suddenly froze as the krait on her cuff thrummed red-hot as the krait symbol flashed in SOS at the imminent danger.
Serious imminent danger.
Four lupine forms were closing in on them, fully transformed into flesh-ripping machines. Feral amber eyes glowed with murderous intent, in anticipation of the carnage they intended to wreak against the innocent souls. These were werewolves who'd embraced the Lycanthrope Curse, making them that much deadlier.
And of course, Fenrir Greyback led the pack.
"Well, well, well. Look at what ole Fenrir caught this time. Glad to see Obediah is good at keeping his word, it's long past suppertime." The Alpha licked his dripping fangs, oozing malice all the way. A stuttering growl emanated deep from his chest, emerging through a throat that was not meant for human speech as the wolfman howled in delirious delight. His pack mimicked his actions, spreading out to flank their impending meal.
"You know, I owe you one." Fenrir flexed his left hand, the same hand that he'd lost in his first clash with the Slytherin witch. It'd been replaced with a gold magical hand, since silver and orichalchum weren't options.
"Make that two then," Bradamante replied, eyes glowing eldritch green. Fenrir snarled before huffing, not slowing down on his threatening approach.
"It's cold," stated Jim shakingly. "Why is it cold?"
Their breaths condensed into icy puffs, accompanied by the sensation of being suffocated by chilling air. Looking up, mother and sons saw the already dark skies turned even darker, as though the night itself were coming to life. Eyes widened at the scores of sentient shrouds that appeared, all emitting an ominous death rattle.
The Dementors.
10:06PM
"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea."
Flint snorted out a laugh in response to Theo's statement, not at all disagreeing.
It'd taken quite a bit of finagling (i.e. spirited shouting), but they'd finally settled on him, Eurus, and Theo venturing out to the Shack to rescue Harry as they were capable of casting a fully corporeal Patronus.
The threat of Dementors was too great to risk anything less.
Percy had gone to Professor McGonagall to summon the Aurors, with Hermione and Amy returning to S.P.A.A.M to give them a heavily redacted update. Fred and George would be helping Frump brew more healing potions to restock the Infirmary's heavily depleted stores.
"Are we any closer to him?"
Marcus checked the Map, pleased for the light of Eurus' Lumos. Harry, Jim, and Lily had ended up deeper in the Forest, after the Shack had somehow gotten destroyed. The trio had heard the corresponding explosion, pleased to see their friend had survived.
They continued their trek in silence, keeping a close watch on the Map. About 200 feet away they froze as they heard a series of distinct howls that sent chills racing down their spines. Exchanging grim looks, they charged forward.
10:12PM
"SsSECTUMSsSEMPRA!"
The spell ricocheted out of willow with expert precision, slamming dead center into Canagan and rendering him into bloodied shreds of minced meat. He was the second fatality of the night; the broken and dead form of Rudi lay some feet away, nothing more than a mangled pile of sinew and bone.
The Knight was running on less than fumes, but the stakes were entirely too high for her to falter. Her sons flanked her in a tight formation, maintaining parsel-enhanced mist shields in the face of the swarming Dementor horde. They were also flagging in strength and energy, feeling the supernatural despondence wrought by the swarming horde of creatures growing worse. A light film of frost had formed over their robes, and the encroaching hypothermia was more likely to do them in.
While Harry was faring much better than Jim, his Occlumency could only handle so much of the powerful and disturbing impression of being covered in icy-cold worms that were burrowing deep into his psyche. In a flash of desperation Jim had attempted to try to access his animagus form by running through the mantras Elder Yoo-Ri had taught him, but he was entirely too mentally and physically distressed to succeed.
Fenrir's enraged roar echoed out through the night, regrouping in a three-person wedge formation. As with all unfair things in the world, the transformed lycanthropes were completely impervious to the Dementors. Should they revert to their half-human forms, the Dementors would ravage them in kind.
"M-Mum, you alright?" Lily was out of breath and was visibly struggling.
"F-Fine Harry I'm-"
A swarming pair of Dementors interrupted her, drawing dangerously close.
"EXxXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The glowing form of Vara bounded out her wand and slammed directly into the pair, rebuffing them with a screech. She redirected the creature into another swarming pair, sending them screaming. More kept descending, forcing her to pump more power into maintaining corporeal komodo dragon.
Janos and Stavros used that distraction to race directly towards the brothers, intent on ripping them to shreds.
THUMP/THUMP.
Almost in sync, Harry and Lily dilated their perceptions and bellowed "EXxXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Harry's shield rebuffed Stavros and caused him to yowl, rface smoking as though he'd been hit with an Acid Curse.
Vara slammed into Janos with enough force to cause him to skitter backwards, howling in pain as the embodied reptile sunk its fangs into his neck. He staggered backwards with a scream as his neck smoked.
"FINISsSH HIM!"
At Lily's command the reptile protector used the bulk of her weight to press down on the lycanthrope as she pumped venom into his system. Janos began seizing as he went into shock, with neither Lily nor Vara giving him an inch. A Dementor got too close to the witch before being rebuffed by Jim's shield, leaving him vulnerable.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!"
The Alpha wolf raced unbidden towards the trio, leaping midair to maximize his attack. The Dementor horde descended, a swelling cloud of death and fathomless despair.
They were trapped.
With a grunt of pain Prongs crashed into a tree, barely registering the chunk of flesh missing from his right shoulder. Several scratches marred his face and his sides, steadily bleeding. His left eye was rapidly swelling shut and he was certain his hind leg was broken. The pain was intense, but thankfully it did not overwhelm the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
An enraged Moony howled to the sky above, blood dripping from his fangs as he spat out the chunk of Prongs' shoulder. He'd also been dealt quite a bit of physical damage; his right ear was missing and a considerable chunk of his right thigh had been gouged out. A few of his teeth were missing as well, making his face that much more garish. His troll-like regenerative properties would see him healed within the next few minutes.
A warning grumble erupted from Prongs' chest as gained his bearings, pawing the ground in obvious challenge. Both stag and the man-within knew that if they allowed Moony to escape in the state of his bloodlust, he'd find and slaughter his family.
This needed to end.
Breaking into a run the werewolf raced towards the stag, claws extended and fangs bared with lethal intent. His human mind was completely surrendered to the Beast, entirely under the thrall of Rex Norvegicus' blood invocation.
Crouching his body low, Prongs angled his antlers upward at the best possible angle.
Moony leapt.
Prongs leapt.
His antlers gored the werewolf right through the heart, causing a grisly spray of blood to splash over both their bodies. The stag ran straight towards the closest tree, needing a surface to anchor his prey.
Prongs could feel the wolf's heartbeat slowing, adding more pressure as he pushed his antlers forward. Moony struggled, clawing madly at his own chest in an attempt to free his body as he screamed bloody murder.
It was agony for both parties for two completely different reasons.
Finally…his heart stopped.
Moony was dead.
In a blink James appeared - blood-soaked, battered, and distraught. He crawled towards the mangled form of his best friend, cradling him in his arms whilst rocking back and forth, weeping brokenly.
"I'm sorry-I'm sorry-I'm sorry-I'm sorry-I'm sorry."
10:33PM
Just as Jim was set to scream in Dementor and werewolf-induced panic, three matching cries of "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" sounded in the night.
A trio of embodied creatures flew towards them, their glowing avenging angels.
The boar slammed into Fenrir and pushed him backwards, bodily placing itself between the lycanthrope and his intended target. A trilling Fwooper flew madly around the closest Dementors, causing them to scream and recoil. The bird continued its onslaught as its song reached a higher pitch, causing the Dementors to scream that much as they fled further away. A glowing thestral shrieked as it charged Stavros, spreading its mighty wings in a fury.
"M-Marcus?! Eurus?! Theo?!" Harry gawked while Jim sagged in relief.
"That's us mate!" Marcus didn't let up his spell, pouring more of his power as he directed Ironside to ward off the wraiths. Eurus did the same, hoping Ligeia's song wouldn't succeed in driving them crazy. Theo maintained Tina's onslaught against Stavros. Slowly but surely they gained more ground, succeeding in pushing back the creatures and providing their friends with much needed respite.
Their luck seemed to be turning.
Naturally, it wouldn't last.
A somewhat recovered Stavros had snuck away from the group, using his superior senses to stick to the shadows and evade detection. Soon, he found the perfect opening.
Theo was the furthest behind, so focused on maintaining Tina that he didn't notice the werewolf deftly sneak behind him.
He didn't hear the ominous unfurling of razor-sharp claws.
All he felt was all-encompassing pain as said razor-sharp claws tore through his flesh to rip out his heart, breaking his ribs in the process and causing all of his blood to spray out of his body as he squelched out a bloody cough.
He didn't even have time to scream.
Eurus was the first to notice, screaming at the top of her lungs and drawing their friends' attention. Marcus tripped at the sight, turning pale at the grisly image. Harry and his mother's heads whipped around at the commotion, eyes widening in abject horror.
"NOOOOOO! THEOOOOO!"
But Harry's best friend didn't hear his desperate scream as he dropped lifeless to the ground, cherry wand cluttering from his grip.
Stavros roared in victory, taking a bite out of the still-beating heart in his hand and howling to the moon above.
"SsSECTUMSsSEMPRA!"
Holly vibrated at the sheer force of the magic unleashed, katana-like waves of magic slamming into the werewolf. So powerful was Harry's curse that it physically lifted Stavros and sent him flying into the trees behind him, vivisecting his body into several pieces in the process.
Harry raced towards the downed boy, cradling his head in his arms while struggling against his encroaching grief and panic.
"Please Theo please-please-please, wake up! Please-please-please Theo wake up! C'MON THEO, WAKE UP!" He was screaming at his brother-in-all-but-blood and shaking him for good measure, but the boy was gone from the land of the living.
A sob burst out of Harry's mouth unbidden, clutching Theo's body as a lifeline. He could feel the cracks along his Occlumency shields as he fought to remain calm and not succumb to a screaming nervous breakdown.
Like Beta like Alpha, Fenrir used the commotion to his advantage and raced dead-center towards Lily, intent on devouring her whole. He leapt towards her, claws and fangs extended.
The witch caught him in her periphery but it was a beat too late, crying out in pain as Fenrir's claws slashed her chest into bloodied ribbons and sent her careening some feet away.
Harry's head jerked up at the distressed sound, emerald eyes widening at the sight. As gently as he was able Harry laid Theo's head down before racing to his mother's aid.
"MUM!"
Jim snarled and roared "LACcCERO!" at the werewolf, succeeding in stripping some flesh from his arm.
"Heh," Fenrir responded in that grotesque voice. "Tickles a bit."
Jim roared before casting a slew Parsel-enhanced spells at the laughing werewolf, too far gone in his rage to succumb to the increasing despair and crippling despondence wrought by the relentless Dementors. Marcus redoubled his efforts against Janos, roaring in a rage as Ironside relentlessly charged the lycanthrope. He could faintly hear the screeching of his cackling grandma and screaming Da, but he couldn't afford to pay attention to them now.
Eurus raced and slid to Theo's side, cradling his body against hers while directing Ligeia to push back against the screeching horde. 'With any luck she'll drive them into insanity.' She couldn't afford to succumb to her grief, not now.
"Mum I'm here, mum it's going to be ok."
"S-okay," she grunted, using every limit of her Occlumency to repress her capacity for pain. Her younger son was testing the limit of his own shields.
"I'm going to cast some healing and-" His mother's eyes suddenly widened in alarm, before Harry found himself flying in the air as he was unceremoniously kicked away. Fenrir had grown bored of Jim's antics, leaping past the boy with full intent on slaughtering his mother.
He wouldn't get the chance.
THUMP.
"SsSECTUMSsSEMPRA MAXxXIMA!"
The wereman didn't have a chance to react - didn't even have a chance to be shocked at his imminent demise - before exploding in a gory chunky cloud of flesh, blood, and bone.
As one, the Potter brothers raced to their mothers side to assess her injuries, grateful for the little respite from the still-trilling Fwooper Patronus.
Harry pointed his wand at Lily's chest and incanted "BIOGNOSIS."
It was bad.
"You're severely hemorrhaging, broken back and multiple ribs, significant organ damage too, looks like you've aspirated blood into your lungs." Hidden behind his shields he could keep calm and ignore all of his mother's blood covering his hands, just as he could ignore her desperate gasping for air as her face continued to whiten. Jim's hand gripped hers in a vice, tears running his face at the state of her.
"VULNERA SsSAN-"
"N-no." His mother gripped his arm, fiercely shaking her head in the negative.
"What?!" replied Harry in a panic. "Mum no! You're dying, you need me to heal you!"
"No." Her tone was firm and final. "I've been severely attacked by a fully transformed werewolf on a full moon. If I'm healed or somehow end up healing myself…"
"You become a lycanthrope." Harry's tone was leaden as Jim choked in horror.
"No you can't! I can use Samsara-"
"N-no Jim. The Life Support Charm…" she grimaced as she was wracked with pain, Occlumency unable to repress her capacity to feel. "It'll link our life forces and…it's entirely possible the curse may extend to you." Eldritch eyes flashed. "I'd never let that happen."
A keen ringing had started in Harry's ears, feeling his panic and fear starting to break through his cracking shields.
"M-m-my two boys." She rubbed a tender hand over both their faces, wiping their tears away before gripping their hands. Harry's legilimency realized it was all Lily, Bradamante nowhere in sight.
She gripped their hands fiercely. "Promise me…promise m-m-me that you'll t-take care of e-each o-o-other."
"Mum I-"
"SSSwear to me."
They both flinched at the Parseltongue, not able to look away from her piercing emerald gaze.
"Promissse," they replied in unison.
A beatific smile illuminated Lily's features, a sharp contrast to all the blood covering her.
The ringing got louder in Harry's ears as he felt his heart beat too fast, tears silently streaking down his face. Peripherally he heard Jim choking through sobs as he openly wept.
"My preciousss boysss…mummy lovesss you."
Her grip slackened as she gave her final breath.
Lily Evans' heart beat its last.
Harry Potter's shattered irrevocably.
AN 1: Well, this was painfully tragic. RIP to our favorite Nott and our favorite Slytherin mama bear.
AN 2: James vs. Remus was also tragic, and something both Obediah and Rex Norvegicus knew would hurt him the most.
AN 3: Cher Ami & Lady W.'s reveal is pending, stay-tuned.
AN 4: The role of Zacharias Smith will be played by Will Poulter in his role as Eustace Scrubb (The Chronicles of Narnia: Vogage of the Dawn Treader)