Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Six
All around them was darkness, mayhem and confusion. Hermione stumbled, accepting Ron’s steadying hand with only a grim little smile before re-launching defensive spells against their attackers. The ground beneath their feet shook and trembled with misaimed spell-fire and, as exhaustion set in, it was getting increasingly difficult to remain on their feet.
Her tears of before had been replaced by a steely resolve and she was running on almost nothing but adrenaline; moving from one spell-fire exchange to another. There were fallen comrades all around but Hermione couldn’t let herself think about them or even to recognise faces; time enough for grieving later… if they survived that long.
A little way across from them, she could see Harry, Draco and Snape and she took a scant moment to watch as they moved, fought and reacted as a single, cohesive unit. With their backs to one another, facing out towards the enemy forces, nothing took them by surprise. They stepped back and forth as if choreographed; exchanging hexes and curses with the Death Eaters.
And yet, Hermione was concerned to note, exhaustion was clearly wearing them down. Pain had etched itself in Harry’s face, although she couldn’t tell if he’d been injured or if the hurt was Draco or Snape’s. It apparently didn’t matter: what one felt; all felt. With that in mind, she took another moment to cast a broad healing charm at the three men. Before the spell took effect, there was a disconcerting little flare from - she squinted, unable to be sure. A split second later, Harry’s brow eased a little with some relief as the pain vanished.
Before Hermione could give the strange flare of light any further attention, Ron was shouting for her to help him. And so the battle recommenced.
*~*~*
Highly attuned to all that was going on in their immediate periphery, Harry saw Hermione cast the spell and recognised the healing charm by its soft turquoise hue. Before the spell reached Severus’ spell-burnt knee, however, there was a flash of light and the zing of an electric shock through his hand. Through Sev and Draco’s hands too, he realised a moment later. Looking at once to the Nameless ring, he spared just a bare, brief flicker of concern but then a volley of spells narrowly missed him.
‘Pay attention,’ Severus growled tersely as the three of them manoeuvred around the battleground. If they’d still been moving on damaged knees (one real and two phantom) then undoubtedly they wouldn’t have moved so swiftly. Harry made a mental note to thank Hermione later and then stepped smoothly aside for Draco to cast yet more curses.
‘If we can push back this latest wave, we should be able to fall back and regroup.’ Severus said silently and cast a handful of beautiful but deadly silver stars that sent more Death Eaters scurrying for cover.
Harry nodded, raising his wand hand automatically as a curse arrowed his way. He nullified it with a negligent flip of his fingers and then cast a Pit of Darkness. Instantly, there was a glimmer in the Darkness: the faintest gleam of moonlight on a Finir’s black coat. The Death Eaters at the front of the rushing force stumbled to an awkward halt at the edge of the Pit but there was too much momentum in those who were still charging behind them. Several were accidentally pushed into the Pit and the Finirs (more than one by now) pounced.
The Pit of Darkness didn’t give the remaining Death Eaters pause for long; they were soon swarming around the Pit and one, faster than his brethren, charged right at Draco.
‘Un iolco, vor fren nisa!’ Draco cast swiftly and automatically and vanished into darkness. He reappeared behind the running man and dispatched him with a viciously efficient spell that simply removed his heart.
Inherently aware of what Draco had just done, Harry nodded silent approval of his lover’s use of the spell.
‘It’s efficient,’ Draco shrugged, sounding nonchalant within Harry’s head. Beside them, Severus had a brief expression of concern but a moment later, his face cleared and he shrugged as if dismissing his thoughts. Without a word, he then stepped back into the fray and, between them, they began pushing back the latest force, just as he’d said they should.
*~*~*
Padfoot’s mouth was filled with the bright, coppery taste of fresh blood. His nose and throat stung with the burnt-sugar stench of Dark Magic but there was nothing he could do about that. They had made good progress behind the legion of werewolves that were tearing and slashing a swathe through the massed army. And, circling around them, urged and encouraged by Hagrid, the centaurs were picking off Death Eaters with their bows and arrows.
Sirius’ alarm concerning the acromantulas was abated when Hagrid had simply called them to heel. Admittedly, Sirius would rather his old friend hadn’t seen fit to send the giant spiders back past the skittish horses but what was done was done and at least that was one less enemy to deal with.
Having gotten over the panic caused by the retreating spiders, Sophie and Crow were now beside him, linked in spooky unity as they charged forward, trampling anyone who got in their way. And Narcissa followed, riding Leon and casting spells and curses all about her as she worked to keep up.
Meanwhile, Alicia, in the form of her Animagus Labrador, ran shoulder to shoulder with Sirius. She was focused on making their way towards the ruined castle but Sirius noted that she was keeping a close eye on both Sophie and Narcissa. There was something more there, he was almost certain; a particular bond that, no matter how unspoken, was quite clear for anyone to see.
Thinking of his own lovers (and sparing a thought for how he had three of them now) Sirius cast his gaze ahead and up the hill to where Red was running alongside the werewolf princess or whatever she was. A tight curl of possessive jealousy stirred in his belly but Sirius pushed it away in favour of leaping to defend Narcissa. He launched himself, snapping and tearing at the wand arm of a Death Eater about to curse her. His victim shouted and pulled away with a curse, giving Padfoot a dark sense of satisfaction -
And then there was a howl - the sound picked up and relayed around them by the werewolves - and Sirius’ heart skipped a beat until he recognised that the sound was triumphant, not mournful.
They’d made it; Daniel had seen Lucius and was running straight to him. Sirius instantly started looking for Remus but even when he saw him, there was nothing more he could do except keep his beloved in sight as he continued his protection over Narcissa and Sophie.
“Go!” Alicia woofed, brushing her shoulder against him as she trotted close. “Crow and I will mind them.” She indicated Narcissa and Sophie with a tilt of her long nose.
Padfoot glanced at her, looked over at where Crow was mercilessly trampling over an unfortunate Death Eater who hadn’t managed to get out of the way fast enough and gave a deep, gruff woof of acknowledgement.
“Go then,” Alicia said again and Padfoot went, leaping towards his Remus with a joyful bark.
*~*~*
Lucius cast a series of curses, one after other, systematically clearing a little space around him while defending himself and Remus from further incoming hexes. He drew his wand back to cast another half a dozen when a howl rent the air and his head snapped around in a moment of flat panic.
“Was that -?” he began even as Remus shouted his name.
Before Lucius could finish his question as to whether the howl was one of joy or sorrow or simply the call to rally the pack, he saw a werewolf - his gorgeous, beloved, red-haired werewolf. With a yip and a wide, toothy grin, Red came barrelling towards him at breakneck speed and then leapt, changing form mid-air.
Red became Daniel and then Daniel was hugging the living breath out of Lucius, all the while laughing and still yipping in wolfish delight. After just a half-second of surprise, Lucius closed his arms tight around his lover and pulled his head in against his throat.
“We did it! We did it!” Daniel chanted breathlessly, slowly returning to his human state of mind and human speech.
Distantly, Lucius was aware of Remus defending them against continuing attacks because the enemy apparently cared nothing for this ecstatic reunion between Lucius Malfoy and his boy. Except then there were wolves everywhere; leaping, swarming and generally seeing off any Death Eater foolish enough to come close. And now Remus was included in the happy embrace and Daniel was still excitedly babbling - this time about werewolf alphas and their daughters or something.
Before Lucius could make sense of any of it, Padfoot was leaping towards them and dancing around their feet as if he had forgotten that he had a human side.
“Pads, Pads - change, you idiot!” Remus laughed and was reaching for Sirius almost before he’d made the transformation.
And it felt so good - in the midst of so much darkness and fighting - to be laughing like this. To be so happy to have his mate and his pack back together and - yes - a glance told him that Narcissa, Alicia and Sophie were rescued safe and sound. For just another few moments, Lucius closed his eyes and tightened his embrace.
*~*~*
Further along the battlefield, away from any of their allies, the Nameless Community carved a wide path through the increasingly desperate Death Eaters with the silent, wandless heart-removing spell as their weapon of choice. With three pairs of eyes and one consciousness, nothing and no one could creep up on them. That’s not to say that no one tried but the effect of the spell was instantaneous and many of their enemies dropped to the ground without even uttering a single word.
It was still something of a surprise to discover that they’d made it back to where most of their companions were gathered. Some were in a bad way; others had been killed but Harry found that he couldn’t focus on them, couldn’t seem to find it in himself to consider the fallen and what their loss meant to him.
Dumbledore was here, though. He still had Professor McGonagall fussing at him, although Harry couldn’t imagine why the Deputy Headmistress was so concerned all of a sudden. Dumbledore didn’t appear to be listening to her at the moment in any case. Instead, he was staring at Severus, Draco and himself, frowning.
Harry glanced at his lovers, looking for the cause of the Headmaster’s concern but couldn’t see anything wrong and so dismissed the behaviour without another thought.
A small commotion caught Harry’s attention then: Sirius and Daniel had returned safely and, with them, were Narcissa, Alicia and Sophie, which appeared to be a cause for hugs, kisses and general celebration.
Seeing his godfather embracing Lucius brought about a small stirring of… something that hadn’t been there when he’d seen them before. Anger? Hurt? Harry frowned, trying to focus on it whilst at the same time, wondering where it might come from. Draco looked curiously at him and then followed Harry’s gaze to Remus and Daniel embracing with a quiet intensity.
‘We’d already decided to forgive Lucius,’ Draco commented with a shrug.
“Don’t you think, though -” Harry began and then stopped. He shook his head, “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter, Harry?” Dumbledore enquired and Harry felt a shiver of irritation at the old man’s interruption. What business was it of his?
‘Harry,’ Severus cautioned silently, ‘while we might not wish for Dumbledore to know our business, we should at least pretend a little cordiality.’
In response, Harry bit back a sigh but then forced an expression of open friendliness onto his face as he turned to face the Headmaster.
“We were discussing the relationship that appears to have developed between Sirius and Lucius,” he replied blandly, keeping his face carefully blank.
“I see. And does it seem to you that Sirius might have forgotten that he was angry with Lucius on your behalf?” Dumbledore enquired. “Do you perhaps feel that your godfather forgave awfully quickly? Perhaps he doesn’t care as much for you as you thought?”
On some level, Harry recognised that the Headmaster was goading him; he could even feel that slippery knot of anguish in his belly at Dumbledore’s words. But such emotions were quickly smothered and Harry just shrugged and said, “I didn’t realise that you were replacing Jenna as my therapist.”
Severus silently chastised him even as Dumbledore opened his mouth to retort - or perhaps to ask him more impertinent questions - but Harry ignored them both and turned and looked at where Draco was being enfolded in his mother’s embrace.
“I saw you!” Narcissa was saying, her rich voice almost throbbing with intensity. She pulled back then and looked into Draco’s face, “I saw what you were doing out there; you’re so powerful, Draco.” There was a strange mixture of accusation, pride and admonishment in her voice and Harry frowned along with Severus and Draco, trying to decipher what this meant.
And then Draco turned his head and looked at Harry over his shoulder. They exchanged a small, secret smile. It was a special smile that spoke of triumph and victory and the thrill of killing. Later, Harry thought, they would fuck like bunnies and, ignoring the fact that his lover’s mother was right there, he shared his thoughts of Draco - naked, writhing and panting between himself and Severus - with both his lovers.
‘But first,’ he thought to Draco, ‘we could kill more.’ He licked his lips in anticipation and watched as Draco did the same simultaneously, oblivious to Narcissa’s continued admonishments. ‘Fudge wanted me to go to St Mungo’s and then he hurt us. We should pay him back for that.’
‘And the rest of the Ministry,’ Draco replied and his eyes glittered in the night as he focused on the officials in their ministry robes. ‘They wanted to take you away - probably -’
“- Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers, all of them.” Harry finished for Draco, accidentally speaking aloud.
“What?” Narcissa demanded aloud, upon hearing this last thought. “Draco, Harry, what is this? This isn’t you!”
“Severus, can you explain?” Dumbledore demanded, sounding alarmed and Narcissa tried in vain to recapture her son’s attention.
Severus blinked slowly at the Headmaster for a moment and then regarded his boys with a small frown. Narcissa was right, he thought vaguely: this wasn’t typical for Harry or Draco; none of it was. Before he could reply, however, another voice joined them along the telepathic link.
‘No, Severus,’ another voice replied. It was a high, cruel voice and it sent a shiver down Harry and Draco’s spine and brought a startled growl to Severus’ lips. ‘I have to agree with you there: this isn’t like Harry and Draco at all.’
And with that, the Dark Lord was suddenly amongst them, walking calmly into their midst. He was just there, Harry thought in silent alarm; on their side of the battlefield; in their space; in their thoughts.
Holding one of the Dark Lord’s hands, was a young boy and just behind him, stood Bellatrix Lestrange. And on the Dark Lord’s other hand, on one finger, was a Nameless Community ring.
Even more shocking than finding Lord Voldemort in their midst - and wearing a Nameless Community ring at that - was seeing that Bellatrix was clutching Harry’s wand.
*~*~*
Bellatrix watched as the Dark Lord’s arrival caused an immediate effect. In just a handful of seconds, all the little good guys moved around like pieces on a chess board.
Watch them, instructed the voices in her head. She was used to the voices now, used to the way that they nearly always told the truth; instructed her along the right path. So, as all around moved and shifted, she stood perfectly still and just watched.
Snape took two steps forward and placed himself in front of Potter and young Draco. Just adorable. The boys, for their part, were silent and watchful. Bellatrix’s master had played them like little string puppets, making them dance this way and that; killing without conscience; effectively switching off all emotions. But not now. Now, she saw, Potter was struggling to keep his chin above the dark waters of grief and Draco -
Bellatrix frowned for a moment and then concluded that her nephew was communicating telepathically and she wondered if the Dark Lord could still hear them.
While she was watching the Nameless Community, Arthur Weasley and his horrid, orange-haired wife had gathered all their sons, the little Mudblood witch and that Nymphadora Tonks. They had gathered them close and drawn back, never taking their eyes off Bellatrix’s master and the boy, Louis.
At the same time, Shacklebolt, his assorted aurors and the Ministry bastards had stepped warily around the clearing in the crowd that had naturally opened up, keeping their enemy and the Nameless Community in sight at all times. A woman - Bellatrix distantly recognised her as once hanging around with Rabastan - watched their progress and then rolled her eyes at them before sidling over to join them. The look of distaste and suspicion on the woman’s face suggested that she was probably planning to keep an eye on these supposed good guys in case they ‘mistook’ the Nameless Community for an enemy.
Bellatrix sneered silently to herself; evidently there was strife amongst Dumbledore’s forces.
Meanwhile, after only a second of shock, Black, Lupin, Lucius and another man - evidently Narcissa’s replacement - moved closer to Potter, Draco and Snape. Narcissa, Bellatrix saw, was still beside Draco and on her other side, a black Labrador slinked up beside her.
Movement drew Bellatrix’s eyes then: a girl swinging down off the far side of a large black horse and appeared to be embraced by someone. She couldn’t see who, however, because the horse was shifting irritably, eyes rolling and hooves pawing at the ground as he strained to apparently get at the surrounding Death Eaters.
Bellatrix’s attention was drawn back as Dumbledore, flanked by his precious Minerva McGonagall and other teachers moved closer towards her and she drew back a step, raising Potter’s wand with a snarl on her lips.
“Steady, Bella,” the Dark Lord murmured. “Let us not be hasty. There is something I want…” he gave a lipless smile, “…first.”
“And what would that be, Tom?” Dumbledore asked, his tone polite with forced calm. Bellatrix rankled at the familiar term so carelessly flung out there as if the Dark Lord were still a wayward teenage student at Hogwarts.
For one distracted moment, her eyes were drawn to the still-smouldering heap that had been the castle. An involuntary and entirely unwanted pang blossomed in her midsection and Bellatrix forced her attention back to her master, fully expecting him to blast Dumbledore from the face of the earth.
However, the Dark Lord didn’t give any indication that he’d heard. He glanced at Louis, released the boy’s hand and then turned his gaze upon Potter. Bellatrix was expecting Potter to quake and recoil and so was deeply shocked when he straightened under the Dark Lord’s stare. He lifted his chin, levelled his returning gaze and narrowed his eyes in blatant defiance.
“Yes,” the Dark Lord said, drawing the word out. “You know what I want, Harry. You always knew that the power we shared couldn’t remain with you forever.” He then gestured to the ground before him, “If you could assume the position,” he smiled. “I’m sure you remember how to kneel before me.”
“Like hell!” Sirius snarled and pushed forward.
Bellatrix took that as her cue. Nothing and no one was going to interrupt her master now and she so dearly wanted to do away with her cousin once again. Before she could do more than draw back her wand, though, Potter spoke up.
“WAIT!” he shouted, making all of them jump. Everyone had been so quiet, she realised then - everyone from Death Eaters to the wolves to the rest of Dumbledore’s allies - and his shout was like an explosion of sound.
*~*~*
On seeing the Dark Lord, Harry had had only a moment of blessedly numb shock before suffering horrified realisation. Voldemort had been in their heads, in that precious telepathic link and so had been silently, insidiously directing their thoughts and actions.
He looked around them at the bodies of their enemies, thinking ‘What have we done? What were we going to do next?’ and then felt Draco’s shaking hand reach for his, even as Severus stepped smoothly forward to place himself between them and the Dark Lord. At just a thought, all three of them removed their rings and, even though the Dark Lord was no longer actively violating their connection, they felt infinitely more comfortable knowing that that was no longer a possibility.
But still, Harry thought despairingly, they’d killed so many people…
‘Harry,’ Draco said silently then, his words resounding within Harry’s mind, ‘Harry, look at me. Look here,’ he said and drew Harry’s eyes to his own.
‘Yes,’ Harry replied, seeing the idea even as it was still forming in Draco’s mind.
Knowing that Severus would keep watch, the two boys’ consciousness shifted and, in one blink, they were in that Inner Space: beside a lake, before a mountain. It was the same place that Draco and Severus had shared while Harry was unconscious. Merlin, that seemed a long time ago!
‘You were in that boat,’ Draco pointed and Harry looked to see a small row boat pulled up on the gravel shoreline. ‘And Caramon was over there,’ he added, pointing to a grassy bank to the right.
‘I remember,’ Harry said slowly although he wondered if it was his memory he was recalling or Sev and Draco’s.
‘We can’t stay long,’ Draco said regretfully. ‘Time is different here but even so -’
‘Sev needs us.’ Harry finished for him.
‘The Death Eaters that died,’ Draco began, changing the subject to the topic that Harry really didn’t want to think about.
‘You mean the Death Eaters we murdered,’ Harry sighed, looking pained.
‘No,’ Draco shook his head and frowned. ‘No, Harry, we weren’t responsible. If we weren’t in control of ourselves then it was the Dark Lord who killed them.’
‘But we did it!’ Harry argued, getting increasingly agitated. ‘We stopped the hearts of all those people and we were planning so many more - and far worse besides.’
‘No!’ Draco exclaimed and grasped Harry by the arms. ‘We weren’t in control; we were being used; made to dance like fucking string puppets. He was so deep in our consciousness that we didn’t even react to my father kissing your godfather!’
Harry blinked, raised his eyebrows and then nodded wordlessly.
‘I feel like bloody reacting to that now, though,’ he said finally, tone flat and pissed off. Draco smirked.
‘Possibly now isn’t the time for demanding answers from our families,’ he said. ‘The Dark Lord is going to challenge you. I’d imagine he’d be quite irked if you ignored him in favour of taking the time to berate Sirius and Remus over snogging the life out of my father and Daniel.’
And while that image was amusing in itself, the idea of Voldemort challenging him made Harry frown again.
‘He’s going to want to complete the Fusion and Coalition of Power spell,’ he said sombrely.
Draco shrugged, ‘He can want all he likes,’ he said blithely. ‘That power is ours now; not just yours. If he wants it, he’ll have to come and get it.’
‘That,’ Harry said, pulling Draco to him for a fierce, heated kiss, ‘is probably what he’s planning. But the magical energy is too big now; it was too big for me to hold on my own and since we cast the Nameless spell -’
‘- It’s grown even more.’ Draco finished for him and offered a wry smile.
‘Boys,’ Severus’ voice interrupted them then and in another blink, both of them were back on the beleaguered battlefield once more.
Looking around, Harry realised that their allies had closed in around them. In just a few moments, he noted everyone’s careful positioning and then focused on the Dark Lord.
“You know what I want, Harry.” Voldemort was saying and Harry’s memories of being imprisoned beneath Malfoy Manor surged around him for a moment before Draco took his hand and Severus silently reminded him of how strong they were now.
So when Voldemort pointed imperiously at the ground before him and invited Harry to kneel, Harry took that strength and used it to straighten his spine.
He would tell this so-called Dark Lord what he could do with his imperious demands and he would -
His intentions vanished, however, when Sirius pushed forward in bold impetuosity with a snarled, “Like hell!”
And then Bellatrix was drawing her wand, looking ready to kill Sirius all over again. Remus was reaching to pull Sirius out of harms way while Daniel shifted into his wolfish alter ego and Lucius was readying a counter spell.
There was no time to fathom how Draco’s father could have gone from hateful, bastard Death Eater to lover and defender of Harry’s godfather. There was no time to halt Bellatrix’s curse. There was no time.
“WAIT!” Harry shouted, as much at the universe itself as at the people before him. He hadn’t expected anything or anyone to pay him any attention; he certainly hadn’t expected the battleground around him to fall utterly silent, save for the creaks and groans from the settling castle ruins.
But all was silent, he realised in astonishment and it took a silent, mental nudge from Sev to move his feet and fill that silence, to shake Harry out of his shock.
“This power,” he began, addressing Voldemort directly, “that you claim to have ‘shared’ with me can no longer be returned. It no longer belongs just to me, you see.”
If the Dark Lord was surprised by Harry’s statement, he quickly covered it with a look of irritated impatience, and this, in turn, was masked by an expression of bland indifference.
“Ah yes, of course,” he said, sounding bored, “you shared it with your little Nameless Community.” He directed a thin smile of pure malice at Harry’s surrounding allies. “Severus,” he hissed, “I do so miss your innovative ideas sometimes; are your young lovers aware of your history? And Lucius,” he continued without waiting for a response, “I see you’ve fallen into unfortunate company of late. A company of wolves, no less.”
Beside him, Bellatrix cackled a crazed laugh.
“You might as well give up,” Harry said matter-of-factly. “We really don’t have time for grandstanding, Tom - can I call you Tom? I don’t know about you but I’ve had a very busy day and, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to -”
Before Harry could finish, however, a high flaring arc of green spell-fire whooshed past his ear and narrowly missed Voldemort. It came from the direction of the Ministry aurors and officials and Harry had just one brief thought of ‘Idiots!’, shared by Sev and Draco before all hell broke loose once again.
Now, however, Harry and Draco were in possession of all their wits and conscience. Their spells were intended to disarm, to confuse or to render unconscious. They very pointedly did not kill.
*~*~*
Lord Voldemort was almost insane with all-consuming anger. It was supposed to have been his moment; his crowning glory. Before the recently defeated and humbled Dumbledore and his rag-tag army of curs and rejects, he had been planning to strip their Boy Saviour of his shared and developed magic. And, in doing so, he would be the strongest, the greatest wizard of all history - even greater than Salazar Slytherin himself!
And yet.
This fucking awful Nameless Community. Harry Potter had shared Lord Voldemort’s magic with Severus and young Draco - as if it was his all along - and, of course, the magic would now be too vast, too strong for one person to hold. Even someone of his mind couldn’t hope to contain such a force.
So he had covered, had uttered some pointless insults about Harry’s allies and he had shuddered inwardly at the appalling lack of sanity in Bella’s laugh. The woman had always been on the edge of madness but it seemed tonight of all nights she had chosen to tip over that edge.
And then some rash individual from the Ministry had dared - DARED - to cast a spell at him. Really, what was the point in casting Imperius over Cornelius Fudge if the blasted man couldn’t then control his own Ministry? And where was the Minister when Lord Voldemort wanted him?
From there, spells were cast back and forth between Death Eaters and Dumbledore’s forces. Worse, because of how Potter’s allies had positioned themselves (and just when had that happened?) Lord Voldemort found that he, Louis and Bellatrix were cut off from the rest of the Death Eaters and were, in fact, caught in a pincer formation.
“Louis,” he murmured and reached out a hand. When no small hand reached back, he took his eyes off the fight for just a moment to search for the boy. Where was he? He had specifically told him to stay close; if things went badly, he would need the boy because then -
“NO!” Bellatrix screamed, pulling Lord Voldemort’s attention to her. What, he wondered desperately? Was it Louis?
And then he saw it: Potter’s wand, flying from Bellatrix’s fingers to Draco Malfoy’s outstretched hand and all owing to a wandless, wordless cast of Expelliarmus. Furious, the Dark Lord drew back a hand to deal swift, merciful death upon Bellatrix but a small hand - Louis’ hand - reached out to halt him.
He looked down into those wide, trusting eyes and was only vaguely aware that Narcissa was retrieving her sister as if the deranged witch could be saved at all.
*~*~*
Bellatrix reeled and struggled futilely to maintain some kind of toe-hold on reality. The voices had shifted from shouting to wordless wailing and nothing - NOTHING - would make them stop. She had been trying to claw her way up to something resembling sanity when Potter’s wand had leapt out of her hand.
‘Alive!’ the voices had whispered and that had been the final word before the wailing began.
“Bella!” Narcissa’s voice had broken through the clamour then and her sister’s hands closing on her shoulders had brought Bellatrix a moment of clarity. For just a handful of seconds, there was an eerie calm to the world, even as spells and curses zipped past them in wild confusion.
“Cissy,” Bella whimpered, wishing without hope that the calm would continue.
“Come on,” Narcissa urged and drew her on a few more steps. Bellatrix didn’t look about them, didn’t look to see where they were heading until her sister halted and offered a hesitant smile. “It’ll be okay. We’ll look after you.” She promised and now Bellatrix looked around.
She was surrounded by Dumbledore’s allies, she realised in shock. All around her, they were fighting her brethren with hexes and curses but few spared her and Narcissa even a glance. The voices renewed their formless wailing and Bellatrix added her own voice to the unholy choir.
“Bella! Bella, no, it’s okay. I’m here - I’ve got you. Don’t fight them!” Narcissa cried and managed to capture Bellatrix’s shoulders between her hands again but something else had caught Bellatrix’s attention.
“Josh,” she whispered because there - right there! - her son was staring at her with wild, startled blue eyes.
“Yes, Bella, that’s Josh,” Narcissa was saying coaxingly, “but we need to come away. Come on. Let’s get to somewhere safe and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Bellatrix allowed her sister to lead her two more footsteps but then faltered, realising what she’d just said.
“No.” she shook her head. “No, Cissy, I can’t leave Josh - not again,” and she turned back towards her son in time to see Sirius - hated, bloody Sirius Black and his little pack struggling with Josh. Sirius had Josh’s arm in one hand and was pulling at him even as another boy (the muggle he’d been with before) was muttering urgently into his ear.
“They’re hurting him!” she shrieked and pulled free of her sister’s hold. At once, the voices swelled to a deafening crescendo and Bellatrix’s wand was in her hand. She’d killed Sirius once but this time, there’d be no resurrecting him. She’d -
Before the thought could be concluded, she was hurling a curse at her cousin. In a flash, Lupin cast the spell aside with a shield charm but Bellatrix was ready with another curse.
*~*~*
Sirius was still trying to pull Josh to safety, away from his deranged mother when her curse whooshed towards him in a streak of black glitter. Remus’ shield charm only just went up in time and Sirius blew out a breath of relief.
“Baby boy, no!” Lucius shouted then and Sirius spun to see Daniel changing form mid-leap again - this time into his wolf form. With a ferocious roaring snarl, Red leapt for Bellatrix’s throat and her follow-up curse died in a blood-filled gurgle.
“Bella!” Narcissa cried out but her voice was drowned out by the enraged shout of Voldemort himself.
“How dare -!” he began, pushing through the masses in a heartbeat. And then, giving up on finding words, he levelled his wand on Red and cast, “Avada -!”
At once, the world slowed down. Through an adrenalin haze, Sirius could see the Dark Lord forming the first syllables of the killing curse and he started forward to push the wolf out of the way. At the same time, he saw Lucius jump forward with a knife in his hand. Sirius just had time to wonder where the knife had come from and then Lucius had plunged it into Voldemort’s throat.
The killing curse died uncompleted, the Dark Lord fell to the ground in an arterial spray of crimson and the world returned to it’s usual speed.
Reeling in shock, Sirius was just trying to recall why killing the Dark Lord’s corporeal body was a bad idea when Dumbledore ran forward with more speed and agility than anyone could have credited him.
*~*~*
Harry had just happened to be facing the right way to see everything. He’d seen Narcissa trying to pull her sister to safety; he’d seen Bellatrix about to curse Sirius; saw Daniel kill Bellatrix and had seen Voldemort about to kill Daniel. And then, mind boggling, he’d seen Lucius kill Voldemort.
‘That’s it,’ he thought in a daze. ‘It’s over!’
Except, for some reason, Dumbledore was charging forward looking harried and upset. Fawkes was suddenly flying alongside him and Harry had no idea where the phoenix had appeared from.
There was one moment of sharing Severus’ shock, of hearing his elder lover shout “No, Albus!” and then Dumbledore was pointing his wand at the three of them and -
All around them was darkness, mayhem and confusion. Hermione stumbled, accepting Ron’s steadying hand with only a grim little smile before re-launching defensive spells against their attackers. The ground beneath their feet shook and trembled with misaimed spell-fire and, as exhaustion set in, it was getting increasingly difficult to remain on their feet.
Her tears of before had been replaced by a steely resolve and she was running on almost nothing but adrenaline; moving from one spell-fire exchange to another. There were fallen comrades all around but Hermione couldn’t let herself think about them or even to recognise faces; time enough for grieving later… if they survived that long.
A little way across from them, she could see Harry, Draco and Snape and she took a scant moment to watch as they moved, fought and reacted as a single, cohesive unit. With their backs to one another, facing out towards the enemy forces, nothing took them by surprise. They stepped back and forth as if choreographed; exchanging hexes and curses with the Death Eaters.
And yet, Hermione was concerned to note, exhaustion was clearly wearing them down. Pain had etched itself in Harry’s face, although she couldn’t tell if he’d been injured or if the hurt was Draco or Snape’s. It apparently didn’t matter: what one felt; all felt. With that in mind, she took another moment to cast a broad healing charm at the three men. Before the spell took effect, there was a disconcerting little flare from - she squinted, unable to be sure. A split second later, Harry’s brow eased a little with some relief as the pain vanished.
Before Hermione could give the strange flare of light any further attention, Ron was shouting for her to help him. And so the battle recommenced.
*~*~*
Highly attuned to all that was going on in their immediate periphery, Harry saw Hermione cast the spell and recognised the healing charm by its soft turquoise hue. Before the spell reached Severus’ spell-burnt knee, however, there was a flash of light and the zing of an electric shock through his hand. Through Sev and Draco’s hands too, he realised a moment later. Looking at once to the Nameless ring, he spared just a bare, brief flicker of concern but then a volley of spells narrowly missed him.
‘Pay attention,’ Severus growled tersely as the three of them manoeuvred around the battleground. If they’d still been moving on damaged knees (one real and two phantom) then undoubtedly they wouldn’t have moved so swiftly. Harry made a mental note to thank Hermione later and then stepped smoothly aside for Draco to cast yet more curses.
‘If we can push back this latest wave, we should be able to fall back and regroup.’ Severus said silently and cast a handful of beautiful but deadly silver stars that sent more Death Eaters scurrying for cover.
Harry nodded, raising his wand hand automatically as a curse arrowed his way. He nullified it with a negligent flip of his fingers and then cast a Pit of Darkness. Instantly, there was a glimmer in the Darkness: the faintest gleam of moonlight on a Finir’s black coat. The Death Eaters at the front of the rushing force stumbled to an awkward halt at the edge of the Pit but there was too much momentum in those who were still charging behind them. Several were accidentally pushed into the Pit and the Finirs (more than one by now) pounced.
The Pit of Darkness didn’t give the remaining Death Eaters pause for long; they were soon swarming around the Pit and one, faster than his brethren, charged right at Draco.
‘Un iolco, vor fren nisa!’ Draco cast swiftly and automatically and vanished into darkness. He reappeared behind the running man and dispatched him with a viciously efficient spell that simply removed his heart.
Inherently aware of what Draco had just done, Harry nodded silent approval of his lover’s use of the spell.
‘It’s efficient,’ Draco shrugged, sounding nonchalant within Harry’s head. Beside them, Severus had a brief expression of concern but a moment later, his face cleared and he shrugged as if dismissing his thoughts. Without a word, he then stepped back into the fray and, between them, they began pushing back the latest force, just as he’d said they should.
*~*~*
Padfoot’s mouth was filled with the bright, coppery taste of fresh blood. His nose and throat stung with the burnt-sugar stench of Dark Magic but there was nothing he could do about that. They had made good progress behind the legion of werewolves that were tearing and slashing a swathe through the massed army. And, circling around them, urged and encouraged by Hagrid, the centaurs were picking off Death Eaters with their bows and arrows.
Sirius’ alarm concerning the acromantulas was abated when Hagrid had simply called them to heel. Admittedly, Sirius would rather his old friend hadn’t seen fit to send the giant spiders back past the skittish horses but what was done was done and at least that was one less enemy to deal with.
Having gotten over the panic caused by the retreating spiders, Sophie and Crow were now beside him, linked in spooky unity as they charged forward, trampling anyone who got in their way. And Narcissa followed, riding Leon and casting spells and curses all about her as she worked to keep up.
Meanwhile, Alicia, in the form of her Animagus Labrador, ran shoulder to shoulder with Sirius. She was focused on making their way towards the ruined castle but Sirius noted that she was keeping a close eye on both Sophie and Narcissa. There was something more there, he was almost certain; a particular bond that, no matter how unspoken, was quite clear for anyone to see.
Thinking of his own lovers (and sparing a thought for how he had three of them now) Sirius cast his gaze ahead and up the hill to where Red was running alongside the werewolf princess or whatever she was. A tight curl of possessive jealousy stirred in his belly but Sirius pushed it away in favour of leaping to defend Narcissa. He launched himself, snapping and tearing at the wand arm of a Death Eater about to curse her. His victim shouted and pulled away with a curse, giving Padfoot a dark sense of satisfaction -
And then there was a howl - the sound picked up and relayed around them by the werewolves - and Sirius’ heart skipped a beat until he recognised that the sound was triumphant, not mournful.
They’d made it; Daniel had seen Lucius and was running straight to him. Sirius instantly started looking for Remus but even when he saw him, there was nothing more he could do except keep his beloved in sight as he continued his protection over Narcissa and Sophie.
“Go!” Alicia woofed, brushing her shoulder against him as she trotted close. “Crow and I will mind them.” She indicated Narcissa and Sophie with a tilt of her long nose.
Padfoot glanced at her, looked over at where Crow was mercilessly trampling over an unfortunate Death Eater who hadn’t managed to get out of the way fast enough and gave a deep, gruff woof of acknowledgement.
“Go then,” Alicia said again and Padfoot went, leaping towards his Remus with a joyful bark.
*~*~*
Lucius cast a series of curses, one after other, systematically clearing a little space around him while defending himself and Remus from further incoming hexes. He drew his wand back to cast another half a dozen when a howl rent the air and his head snapped around in a moment of flat panic.
“Was that -?” he began even as Remus shouted his name.
Before Lucius could finish his question as to whether the howl was one of joy or sorrow or simply the call to rally the pack, he saw a werewolf - his gorgeous, beloved, red-haired werewolf. With a yip and a wide, toothy grin, Red came barrelling towards him at breakneck speed and then leapt, changing form mid-air.
Red became Daniel and then Daniel was hugging the living breath out of Lucius, all the while laughing and still yipping in wolfish delight. After just a half-second of surprise, Lucius closed his arms tight around his lover and pulled his head in against his throat.
“We did it! We did it!” Daniel chanted breathlessly, slowly returning to his human state of mind and human speech.
Distantly, Lucius was aware of Remus defending them against continuing attacks because the enemy apparently cared nothing for this ecstatic reunion between Lucius Malfoy and his boy. Except then there were wolves everywhere; leaping, swarming and generally seeing off any Death Eater foolish enough to come close. And now Remus was included in the happy embrace and Daniel was still excitedly babbling - this time about werewolf alphas and their daughters or something.
Before Lucius could make sense of any of it, Padfoot was leaping towards them and dancing around their feet as if he had forgotten that he had a human side.
“Pads, Pads - change, you idiot!” Remus laughed and was reaching for Sirius almost before he’d made the transformation.
And it felt so good - in the midst of so much darkness and fighting - to be laughing like this. To be so happy to have his mate and his pack back together and - yes - a glance told him that Narcissa, Alicia and Sophie were rescued safe and sound. For just another few moments, Lucius closed his eyes and tightened his embrace.
*~*~*
Further along the battlefield, away from any of their allies, the Nameless Community carved a wide path through the increasingly desperate Death Eaters with the silent, wandless heart-removing spell as their weapon of choice. With three pairs of eyes and one consciousness, nothing and no one could creep up on them. That’s not to say that no one tried but the effect of the spell was instantaneous and many of their enemies dropped to the ground without even uttering a single word.
It was still something of a surprise to discover that they’d made it back to where most of their companions were gathered. Some were in a bad way; others had been killed but Harry found that he couldn’t focus on them, couldn’t seem to find it in himself to consider the fallen and what their loss meant to him.
Dumbledore was here, though. He still had Professor McGonagall fussing at him, although Harry couldn’t imagine why the Deputy Headmistress was so concerned all of a sudden. Dumbledore didn’t appear to be listening to her at the moment in any case. Instead, he was staring at Severus, Draco and himself, frowning.
Harry glanced at his lovers, looking for the cause of the Headmaster’s concern but couldn’t see anything wrong and so dismissed the behaviour without another thought.
A small commotion caught Harry’s attention then: Sirius and Daniel had returned safely and, with them, were Narcissa, Alicia and Sophie, which appeared to be a cause for hugs, kisses and general celebration.
Seeing his godfather embracing Lucius brought about a small stirring of… something that hadn’t been there when he’d seen them before. Anger? Hurt? Harry frowned, trying to focus on it whilst at the same time, wondering where it might come from. Draco looked curiously at him and then followed Harry’s gaze to Remus and Daniel embracing with a quiet intensity.
‘We’d already decided to forgive Lucius,’ Draco commented with a shrug.
“Don’t you think, though -” Harry began and then stopped. He shook his head, “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter, Harry?” Dumbledore enquired and Harry felt a shiver of irritation at the old man’s interruption. What business was it of his?
‘Harry,’ Severus cautioned silently, ‘while we might not wish for Dumbledore to know our business, we should at least pretend a little cordiality.’
In response, Harry bit back a sigh but then forced an expression of open friendliness onto his face as he turned to face the Headmaster.
“We were discussing the relationship that appears to have developed between Sirius and Lucius,” he replied blandly, keeping his face carefully blank.
“I see. And does it seem to you that Sirius might have forgotten that he was angry with Lucius on your behalf?” Dumbledore enquired. “Do you perhaps feel that your godfather forgave awfully quickly? Perhaps he doesn’t care as much for you as you thought?”
On some level, Harry recognised that the Headmaster was goading him; he could even feel that slippery knot of anguish in his belly at Dumbledore’s words. But such emotions were quickly smothered and Harry just shrugged and said, “I didn’t realise that you were replacing Jenna as my therapist.”
Severus silently chastised him even as Dumbledore opened his mouth to retort - or perhaps to ask him more impertinent questions - but Harry ignored them both and turned and looked at where Draco was being enfolded in his mother’s embrace.
“I saw you!” Narcissa was saying, her rich voice almost throbbing with intensity. She pulled back then and looked into Draco’s face, “I saw what you were doing out there; you’re so powerful, Draco.” There was a strange mixture of accusation, pride and admonishment in her voice and Harry frowned along with Severus and Draco, trying to decipher what this meant.
And then Draco turned his head and looked at Harry over his shoulder. They exchanged a small, secret smile. It was a special smile that spoke of triumph and victory and the thrill of killing. Later, Harry thought, they would fuck like bunnies and, ignoring the fact that his lover’s mother was right there, he shared his thoughts of Draco - naked, writhing and panting between himself and Severus - with both his lovers.
‘But first,’ he thought to Draco, ‘we could kill more.’ He licked his lips in anticipation and watched as Draco did the same simultaneously, oblivious to Narcissa’s continued admonishments. ‘Fudge wanted me to go to St Mungo’s and then he hurt us. We should pay him back for that.’
‘And the rest of the Ministry,’ Draco replied and his eyes glittered in the night as he focused on the officials in their ministry robes. ‘They wanted to take you away - probably -’
“- Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers, all of them.” Harry finished for Draco, accidentally speaking aloud.
“What?” Narcissa demanded aloud, upon hearing this last thought. “Draco, Harry, what is this? This isn’t you!”
“Severus, can you explain?” Dumbledore demanded, sounding alarmed and Narcissa tried in vain to recapture her son’s attention.
Severus blinked slowly at the Headmaster for a moment and then regarded his boys with a small frown. Narcissa was right, he thought vaguely: this wasn’t typical for Harry or Draco; none of it was. Before he could reply, however, another voice joined them along the telepathic link.
‘No, Severus,’ another voice replied. It was a high, cruel voice and it sent a shiver down Harry and Draco’s spine and brought a startled growl to Severus’ lips. ‘I have to agree with you there: this isn’t like Harry and Draco at all.’
And with that, the Dark Lord was suddenly amongst them, walking calmly into their midst. He was just there, Harry thought in silent alarm; on their side of the battlefield; in their space; in their thoughts.
Holding one of the Dark Lord’s hands, was a young boy and just behind him, stood Bellatrix Lestrange. And on the Dark Lord’s other hand, on one finger, was a Nameless Community ring.
Even more shocking than finding Lord Voldemort in their midst - and wearing a Nameless Community ring at that - was seeing that Bellatrix was clutching Harry’s wand.
*~*~*
Bellatrix watched as the Dark Lord’s arrival caused an immediate effect. In just a handful of seconds, all the little good guys moved around like pieces on a chess board.
Watch them, instructed the voices in her head. She was used to the voices now, used to the way that they nearly always told the truth; instructed her along the right path. So, as all around moved and shifted, she stood perfectly still and just watched.
Snape took two steps forward and placed himself in front of Potter and young Draco. Just adorable. The boys, for their part, were silent and watchful. Bellatrix’s master had played them like little string puppets, making them dance this way and that; killing without conscience; effectively switching off all emotions. But not now. Now, she saw, Potter was struggling to keep his chin above the dark waters of grief and Draco -
Bellatrix frowned for a moment and then concluded that her nephew was communicating telepathically and she wondered if the Dark Lord could still hear them.
While she was watching the Nameless Community, Arthur Weasley and his horrid, orange-haired wife had gathered all their sons, the little Mudblood witch and that Nymphadora Tonks. They had gathered them close and drawn back, never taking their eyes off Bellatrix’s master and the boy, Louis.
At the same time, Shacklebolt, his assorted aurors and the Ministry bastards had stepped warily around the clearing in the crowd that had naturally opened up, keeping their enemy and the Nameless Community in sight at all times. A woman - Bellatrix distantly recognised her as once hanging around with Rabastan - watched their progress and then rolled her eyes at them before sidling over to join them. The look of distaste and suspicion on the woman’s face suggested that she was probably planning to keep an eye on these supposed good guys in case they ‘mistook’ the Nameless Community for an enemy.
Bellatrix sneered silently to herself; evidently there was strife amongst Dumbledore’s forces.
Meanwhile, after only a second of shock, Black, Lupin, Lucius and another man - evidently Narcissa’s replacement - moved closer to Potter, Draco and Snape. Narcissa, Bellatrix saw, was still beside Draco and on her other side, a black Labrador slinked up beside her.
Movement drew Bellatrix’s eyes then: a girl swinging down off the far side of a large black horse and appeared to be embraced by someone. She couldn’t see who, however, because the horse was shifting irritably, eyes rolling and hooves pawing at the ground as he strained to apparently get at the surrounding Death Eaters.
Bellatrix’s attention was drawn back as Dumbledore, flanked by his precious Minerva McGonagall and other teachers moved closer towards her and she drew back a step, raising Potter’s wand with a snarl on her lips.
“Steady, Bella,” the Dark Lord murmured. “Let us not be hasty. There is something I want…” he gave a lipless smile, “…first.”
“And what would that be, Tom?” Dumbledore asked, his tone polite with forced calm. Bellatrix rankled at the familiar term so carelessly flung out there as if the Dark Lord were still a wayward teenage student at Hogwarts.
For one distracted moment, her eyes were drawn to the still-smouldering heap that had been the castle. An involuntary and entirely unwanted pang blossomed in her midsection and Bellatrix forced her attention back to her master, fully expecting him to blast Dumbledore from the face of the earth.
However, the Dark Lord didn’t give any indication that he’d heard. He glanced at Louis, released the boy’s hand and then turned his gaze upon Potter. Bellatrix was expecting Potter to quake and recoil and so was deeply shocked when he straightened under the Dark Lord’s stare. He lifted his chin, levelled his returning gaze and narrowed his eyes in blatant defiance.
“Yes,” the Dark Lord said, drawing the word out. “You know what I want, Harry. You always knew that the power we shared couldn’t remain with you forever.” He then gestured to the ground before him, “If you could assume the position,” he smiled. “I’m sure you remember how to kneel before me.”
“Like hell!” Sirius snarled and pushed forward.
Bellatrix took that as her cue. Nothing and no one was going to interrupt her master now and she so dearly wanted to do away with her cousin once again. Before she could do more than draw back her wand, though, Potter spoke up.
“WAIT!” he shouted, making all of them jump. Everyone had been so quiet, she realised then - everyone from Death Eaters to the wolves to the rest of Dumbledore’s allies - and his shout was like an explosion of sound.
*~*~*
On seeing the Dark Lord, Harry had had only a moment of blessedly numb shock before suffering horrified realisation. Voldemort had been in their heads, in that precious telepathic link and so had been silently, insidiously directing their thoughts and actions.
He looked around them at the bodies of their enemies, thinking ‘What have we done? What were we going to do next?’ and then felt Draco’s shaking hand reach for his, even as Severus stepped smoothly forward to place himself between them and the Dark Lord. At just a thought, all three of them removed their rings and, even though the Dark Lord was no longer actively violating their connection, they felt infinitely more comfortable knowing that that was no longer a possibility.
But still, Harry thought despairingly, they’d killed so many people…
‘Harry,’ Draco said silently then, his words resounding within Harry’s mind, ‘Harry, look at me. Look here,’ he said and drew Harry’s eyes to his own.
‘Yes,’ Harry replied, seeing the idea even as it was still forming in Draco’s mind.
Knowing that Severus would keep watch, the two boys’ consciousness shifted and, in one blink, they were in that Inner Space: beside a lake, before a mountain. It was the same place that Draco and Severus had shared while Harry was unconscious. Merlin, that seemed a long time ago!
‘You were in that boat,’ Draco pointed and Harry looked to see a small row boat pulled up on the gravel shoreline. ‘And Caramon was over there,’ he added, pointing to a grassy bank to the right.
‘I remember,’ Harry said slowly although he wondered if it was his memory he was recalling or Sev and Draco’s.
‘We can’t stay long,’ Draco said regretfully. ‘Time is different here but even so -’
‘Sev needs us.’ Harry finished for him.
‘The Death Eaters that died,’ Draco began, changing the subject to the topic that Harry really didn’t want to think about.
‘You mean the Death Eaters we murdered,’ Harry sighed, looking pained.
‘No,’ Draco shook his head and frowned. ‘No, Harry, we weren’t responsible. If we weren’t in control of ourselves then it was the Dark Lord who killed them.’
‘But we did it!’ Harry argued, getting increasingly agitated. ‘We stopped the hearts of all those people and we were planning so many more - and far worse besides.’
‘No!’ Draco exclaimed and grasped Harry by the arms. ‘We weren’t in control; we were being used; made to dance like fucking string puppets. He was so deep in our consciousness that we didn’t even react to my father kissing your godfather!’
Harry blinked, raised his eyebrows and then nodded wordlessly.
‘I feel like bloody reacting to that now, though,’ he said finally, tone flat and pissed off. Draco smirked.
‘Possibly now isn’t the time for demanding answers from our families,’ he said. ‘The Dark Lord is going to challenge you. I’d imagine he’d be quite irked if you ignored him in favour of taking the time to berate Sirius and Remus over snogging the life out of my father and Daniel.’
And while that image was amusing in itself, the idea of Voldemort challenging him made Harry frown again.
‘He’s going to want to complete the Fusion and Coalition of Power spell,’ he said sombrely.
Draco shrugged, ‘He can want all he likes,’ he said blithely. ‘That power is ours now; not just yours. If he wants it, he’ll have to come and get it.’
‘That,’ Harry said, pulling Draco to him for a fierce, heated kiss, ‘is probably what he’s planning. But the magical energy is too big now; it was too big for me to hold on my own and since we cast the Nameless spell -’
‘- It’s grown even more.’ Draco finished for him and offered a wry smile.
‘Boys,’ Severus’ voice interrupted them then and in another blink, both of them were back on the beleaguered battlefield once more.
Looking around, Harry realised that their allies had closed in around them. In just a few moments, he noted everyone’s careful positioning and then focused on the Dark Lord.
“You know what I want, Harry.” Voldemort was saying and Harry’s memories of being imprisoned beneath Malfoy Manor surged around him for a moment before Draco took his hand and Severus silently reminded him of how strong they were now.
So when Voldemort pointed imperiously at the ground before him and invited Harry to kneel, Harry took that strength and used it to straighten his spine.
He would tell this so-called Dark Lord what he could do with his imperious demands and he would -
His intentions vanished, however, when Sirius pushed forward in bold impetuosity with a snarled, “Like hell!”
And then Bellatrix was drawing her wand, looking ready to kill Sirius all over again. Remus was reaching to pull Sirius out of harms way while Daniel shifted into his wolfish alter ego and Lucius was readying a counter spell.
There was no time to fathom how Draco’s father could have gone from hateful, bastard Death Eater to lover and defender of Harry’s godfather. There was no time to halt Bellatrix’s curse. There was no time.
“WAIT!” Harry shouted, as much at the universe itself as at the people before him. He hadn’t expected anything or anyone to pay him any attention; he certainly hadn’t expected the battleground around him to fall utterly silent, save for the creaks and groans from the settling castle ruins.
But all was silent, he realised in astonishment and it took a silent, mental nudge from Sev to move his feet and fill that silence, to shake Harry out of his shock.
“This power,” he began, addressing Voldemort directly, “that you claim to have ‘shared’ with me can no longer be returned. It no longer belongs just to me, you see.”
If the Dark Lord was surprised by Harry’s statement, he quickly covered it with a look of irritated impatience, and this, in turn, was masked by an expression of bland indifference.
“Ah yes, of course,” he said, sounding bored, “you shared it with your little Nameless Community.” He directed a thin smile of pure malice at Harry’s surrounding allies. “Severus,” he hissed, “I do so miss your innovative ideas sometimes; are your young lovers aware of your history? And Lucius,” he continued without waiting for a response, “I see you’ve fallen into unfortunate company of late. A company of wolves, no less.”
Beside him, Bellatrix cackled a crazed laugh.
“You might as well give up,” Harry said matter-of-factly. “We really don’t have time for grandstanding, Tom - can I call you Tom? I don’t know about you but I’ve had a very busy day and, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to -”
Before Harry could finish, however, a high flaring arc of green spell-fire whooshed past his ear and narrowly missed Voldemort. It came from the direction of the Ministry aurors and officials and Harry had just one brief thought of ‘Idiots!’, shared by Sev and Draco before all hell broke loose once again.
Now, however, Harry and Draco were in possession of all their wits and conscience. Their spells were intended to disarm, to confuse or to render unconscious. They very pointedly did not kill.
*~*~*
Lord Voldemort was almost insane with all-consuming anger. It was supposed to have been his moment; his crowning glory. Before the recently defeated and humbled Dumbledore and his rag-tag army of curs and rejects, he had been planning to strip their Boy Saviour of his shared and developed magic. And, in doing so, he would be the strongest, the greatest wizard of all history - even greater than Salazar Slytherin himself!
And yet.
This fucking awful Nameless Community. Harry Potter had shared Lord Voldemort’s magic with Severus and young Draco - as if it was his all along - and, of course, the magic would now be too vast, too strong for one person to hold. Even someone of his mind couldn’t hope to contain such a force.
So he had covered, had uttered some pointless insults about Harry’s allies and he had shuddered inwardly at the appalling lack of sanity in Bella’s laugh. The woman had always been on the edge of madness but it seemed tonight of all nights she had chosen to tip over that edge.
And then some rash individual from the Ministry had dared - DARED - to cast a spell at him. Really, what was the point in casting Imperius over Cornelius Fudge if the blasted man couldn’t then control his own Ministry? And where was the Minister when Lord Voldemort wanted him?
From there, spells were cast back and forth between Death Eaters and Dumbledore’s forces. Worse, because of how Potter’s allies had positioned themselves (and just when had that happened?) Lord Voldemort found that he, Louis and Bellatrix were cut off from the rest of the Death Eaters and were, in fact, caught in a pincer formation.
“Louis,” he murmured and reached out a hand. When no small hand reached back, he took his eyes off the fight for just a moment to search for the boy. Where was he? He had specifically told him to stay close; if things went badly, he would need the boy because then -
“NO!” Bellatrix screamed, pulling Lord Voldemort’s attention to her. What, he wondered desperately? Was it Louis?
And then he saw it: Potter’s wand, flying from Bellatrix’s fingers to Draco Malfoy’s outstretched hand and all owing to a wandless, wordless cast of Expelliarmus. Furious, the Dark Lord drew back a hand to deal swift, merciful death upon Bellatrix but a small hand - Louis’ hand - reached out to halt him.
He looked down into those wide, trusting eyes and was only vaguely aware that Narcissa was retrieving her sister as if the deranged witch could be saved at all.
*~*~*
Bellatrix reeled and struggled futilely to maintain some kind of toe-hold on reality. The voices had shifted from shouting to wordless wailing and nothing - NOTHING - would make them stop. She had been trying to claw her way up to something resembling sanity when Potter’s wand had leapt out of her hand.
‘Alive!’ the voices had whispered and that had been the final word before the wailing began.
“Bella!” Narcissa’s voice had broken through the clamour then and her sister’s hands closing on her shoulders had brought Bellatrix a moment of clarity. For just a handful of seconds, there was an eerie calm to the world, even as spells and curses zipped past them in wild confusion.
“Cissy,” Bella whimpered, wishing without hope that the calm would continue.
“Come on,” Narcissa urged and drew her on a few more steps. Bellatrix didn’t look about them, didn’t look to see where they were heading until her sister halted and offered a hesitant smile. “It’ll be okay. We’ll look after you.” She promised and now Bellatrix looked around.
She was surrounded by Dumbledore’s allies, she realised in shock. All around her, they were fighting her brethren with hexes and curses but few spared her and Narcissa even a glance. The voices renewed their formless wailing and Bellatrix added her own voice to the unholy choir.
“Bella! Bella, no, it’s okay. I’m here - I’ve got you. Don’t fight them!” Narcissa cried and managed to capture Bellatrix’s shoulders between her hands again but something else had caught Bellatrix’s attention.
“Josh,” she whispered because there - right there! - her son was staring at her with wild, startled blue eyes.
“Yes, Bella, that’s Josh,” Narcissa was saying coaxingly, “but we need to come away. Come on. Let’s get to somewhere safe and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
Bellatrix allowed her sister to lead her two more footsteps but then faltered, realising what she’d just said.
“No.” she shook her head. “No, Cissy, I can’t leave Josh - not again,” and she turned back towards her son in time to see Sirius - hated, bloody Sirius Black and his little pack struggling with Josh. Sirius had Josh’s arm in one hand and was pulling at him even as another boy (the muggle he’d been with before) was muttering urgently into his ear.
“They’re hurting him!” she shrieked and pulled free of her sister’s hold. At once, the voices swelled to a deafening crescendo and Bellatrix’s wand was in her hand. She’d killed Sirius once but this time, there’d be no resurrecting him. She’d -
Before the thought could be concluded, she was hurling a curse at her cousin. In a flash, Lupin cast the spell aside with a shield charm but Bellatrix was ready with another curse.
*~*~*
Sirius was still trying to pull Josh to safety, away from his deranged mother when her curse whooshed towards him in a streak of black glitter. Remus’ shield charm only just went up in time and Sirius blew out a breath of relief.
“Baby boy, no!” Lucius shouted then and Sirius spun to see Daniel changing form mid-leap again - this time into his wolf form. With a ferocious roaring snarl, Red leapt for Bellatrix’s throat and her follow-up curse died in a blood-filled gurgle.
“Bella!” Narcissa cried out but her voice was drowned out by the enraged shout of Voldemort himself.
“How dare -!” he began, pushing through the masses in a heartbeat. And then, giving up on finding words, he levelled his wand on Red and cast, “Avada -!”
At once, the world slowed down. Through an adrenalin haze, Sirius could see the Dark Lord forming the first syllables of the killing curse and he started forward to push the wolf out of the way. At the same time, he saw Lucius jump forward with a knife in his hand. Sirius just had time to wonder where the knife had come from and then Lucius had plunged it into Voldemort’s throat.
The killing curse died uncompleted, the Dark Lord fell to the ground in an arterial spray of crimson and the world returned to it’s usual speed.
Reeling in shock, Sirius was just trying to recall why killing the Dark Lord’s corporeal body was a bad idea when Dumbledore ran forward with more speed and agility than anyone could have credited him.
*~*~*
Harry had just happened to be facing the right way to see everything. He’d seen Narcissa trying to pull her sister to safety; he’d seen Bellatrix about to curse Sirius; saw Daniel kill Bellatrix and had seen Voldemort about to kill Daniel. And then, mind boggling, he’d seen Lucius kill Voldemort.
‘That’s it,’ he thought in a daze. ‘It’s over!’
Except, for some reason, Dumbledore was charging forward looking harried and upset. Fawkes was suddenly flying alongside him and Harry had no idea where the phoenix had appeared from.
There was one moment of sharing Severus’ shock, of hearing his elder lover shout “No, Albus!” and then Dumbledore was pointing his wand at the three of them and -