Unsortable

Chapter 7

They stood on a plateau, overlooking a canyon. No wind stirred the sparse landscape.

"Where are we?" Aerie demanded, "Why did you call me daughter? Who are you?"

The woman smiled; with a sweeping hand she indicated the wide space around them. "This is the land owned by our people in a place you call Maine of the United States of America; this is Glory. Humans cannot see it; I brought you here so that we may talk. I called you 'daughter' because that is who you are; you are not what you have been raised to believe. You were born to this world sixteen human years ago and I regret every one of those years giving you up. I am your birth mother."

Aerie narrowed her eyes, waiting for more. When the woman said nothing and only gave her an expectant look with her unnerving blue eyes and lack of pupils, she fumed, the emotional overload fraying all of her patience and not allowing her to absorb the weighty information that was just given her.

"My mother?" she scoffed. The woman nodded, her smile widening. "You pull me away from the biggest battle about to commence in wizard history, from the job I was destined to accomplish, from the man I love to tell me that you are my mother and I'm really sixteen years old and not eighteen? Why couldn't you have done this in a few days or cared at all in the past twelve years when I knew I was adopted by the man I thought was my father and raised by the woman I thought was my mother? Put me the hell back in that frenzy at Hogwarts so that I can be useful!"

Icy wind suddenly sliced across the distance between them. The woman's voice boomed. "That tussle is not a place for my daughter. I will not have you get yourself killed."

Aerie could feel her fury rising. "I don't see how you have a say in anything that I do or don't do. You haven't been a part of my life for me to feel respect for you. I have to get back; take me there."

The cold bluster ceased abruptly and the white woman looked confused. It was at that moment that Aerie realized this almost inhuman female was controlling the weather through her emotions. "You," the woman began in a shocked voice. She paused, gathering her words, then said, "You would risk your life for a human?"

Now it was Aerie's turn to be confused. "That is the second time you have spoken with disdain towards humans. Are you really not human?"

The laugh that escaped the woman's mouth sounded like nothing short of beautiful. Flowers blossomed around her feet. "Of course I am not human. Nor are you, my darling."

Aerie's heart stopped. "Don't tell me that."

She was done. With a fierce determination, Aerie closed her eyes and Apparated back to Hogwarts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She appeared, no longer invisible, at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. She had willed herself to Draco's side, but was thrust outside of the one room of Hogwarts she could not pop into. She tucked herself back into a corner to wait for someone to emerge and took a moment to get a gauge on what was going on.

The castle was a mess. Booms and screams resounded down the corridor, and the foundation shook and threw Aerie to her knees. The window to her left glowed alternately red and green. With an anxious glance at the wall where she had no idea what was going on inside, she leapt up and ran down the hall and a flight of stairs, meaning to do at least some good while she had the opportunity. The woman in white would probably again tear her away from the school momentarily and Aerie wanted to make a dent in the Death Eater scum who were infiltrating the school.

Tracing runes for protection over her chest, Aerie turned a corner, right into a cluster of Death Eaters and Order members. One of the masked men saw her coming around the corner and whipped his wand toward her, long tendrils of cord rushing at her. She ducked instinctively and the Death Eater turned back to the wizards he was fighting. Adrenaline thudded through her veins as a slight trickle of fear crept up. She had never been in a serious battle before. With a deep breath, she forced the fear away, shoving it in a box in the back of her mind, and stood up, pointing her wand at the man, who was slowly cornering the Order member behind a plinth from a statue. She was good; dueling had been a forte during her private lessons with Uncle Albus and Sevus. Now, if she just treated this as a bigger duel...

With a jerk of her wrist, the man flew back and cracked his head against the wall, slumping to the ground. She could have laughed at the simplicity of her charm having such an impact. She turned to the other Death Eaters; with similar movements, all six men smacked the wall and crumpled to the floor with the four Order members staring at her in shock looking between her and the unconscious men.

"Incancarcerus," she said, pointing her wand at the Death Eaters and long black rope whipped out and wrapped around them.

The wall behind her suddenly exploded, tossing everyone away and crushing two of the Death Eaters in the rubble. A stone collided heavily with Aerie's back, knocking the breath from her lungs. When she looked behind her for the source of the explosion, what little breath she was gaining left her lungs in place of fear; a giant was attempting to get in the castle! The shouts intensified as spells immediately started ricocheting off the tough hide of the female giant. None of them were working. Aerie scuttled back across the stones, quickly running through her mental repertoire of spells for anything about giants and came up empty. Oh shit, she thought.

The giant had made it into the corridor and was shouldering its way towards them when the familiar suffocation of Apparition enveloped her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aerie suddenly found herself back on the plateau in Glory with the non-human woman in white, her dress floating gracefully around her in the gently breeze.

"What the bloody hell?!" Aerie shouted, getting up from her kneeling position slowly, the pain in her back throbbing minutely. "Why can't you just wait until a few weeks from now to talk with me?"

She attempted to Disapparate, but failed.

The woman was reclining on a chaise lounge, looking very out of place on the sparse landscape. "Because if you keep going back, you may die. Then I will lose the chance to talk with you."

"Maybe you should have thought of that sometime during the last eighteen years of my life."

"You are sixteen, my daughter."

"You keep saying that. I don't believe it. And why can't I Apparate out of here?"

The woman waved a hand and procured another chaise lounge for Aerie to sit on. Aerie remained standing.

"You cannot Apparate because I do not wish you to Apparate. Please sit."

Aerie crossed her arms. "Who are you?"

The woman's sudden smile was breathless. "I am your mother. My name is Dah'liandri-Ahra, and I am an elf."

Yes, it was now confirmed. Control over the situation was entirely impossible because Aerie was speechless. Her mental capacities stopped working, and with a collapse, she plopped onto the seat. In an instant, the woman was kneeling at her feet.

"There is so much to tell you, my darling: so much for me to share with you. You have much to learn," she crooned, her soft hands tucking Aerie's curls behind her ears and allowing a few moments to collect her thoughts.

With desperation, Aerie read her aura, trying to find the deceit that she was certain was lurking in the woman's shadows. She probed for the lies that would make all of this a sick joke at an inconvenient time. Her hopes were dashed as the aura pulsed with the essence of pure truth and deep regret. And, Merlin, this woman was weeping love from every fiber of her being. The ties between their two auras was much more intertwined than she would like to see, but after years of observing familial auras, Aerie had to admit that the ties were definitely that of a mother and daughter. She sniffed a small sob; she had spent years justifying the aura connection with Cassiopeia as just having a different kind of mother/daughter relationship than everyone else. Now she knew it was due to memory alterations. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that this woman spoke the truth. She sighed; she might as well try and understand.

"An elf?" Aerie finally managed, unnerved by the close proximity of the creature. She could not wrap her name around the name.

"Yes. And you are half-elf."

"So I am still human." That little fact provided untold amount of relief for Aerie.

"Yes."

Aerie looked up at Dah'liandri-Ahra and was stunned at the ethereal beauty. "You really don't seem like an elf. I thought all elves were only a couple of feet high and slaves for wizarding families."

The scowl that appeared on the woman's face even looked elegant as she gracefully swept back to her chair. "The 'house-elves,' as you call them, are a lowly species that deviated from our races centuries ago. We have not been associated with them for millennia. We removed ourselves from public interaction with the human world around the same time."

"I have never heard of an elf such as you," Aerie commented, curious despite herself.

"We have been carefully controlling our exposure to remain out of human histories. We found that the portrayals we were given were not always favorable. We are still present, finding the human race to be rather diverting in their silly wars and passionate lives."

Listening raptly, Aerie absorbed the new information like a sponge, but she began working discreetly on trying to Disapparate. She was tracing runes for travel, speed, and time along the hem of her skirt, making it appear as though she was doodling idly as she listened. Though she wanted to know what her true history contained, it seemed to suddenly pale in comparison to the importance of having to get back to Hogwarts. This conversation had temporarily gone on long enough.

"You obviously are," she replied aloud, finishing the last swirl. "So who was the human who distracted you enough to break your un-involvement?"

"Fornax Greengrass."

Aerie blinked in surprise right before her runes rushed her away, thrusting her back to the battle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She appeared in front of the Room of Requirement again within a whirlwind of bright blue runes and the chill of alternate space travel. As soon as the wind died down, a familiar voice behind her asked in undisguised shock, "Aeridia?"

When she turned, she was met by the most beautiful sight. Draco was getting up from the floor beside an unconscious Goyle, his eyes rapidly absorbing her figure as if he could not quite believe she stood there. As soon as he was sure that he had not hit his head harder than he thought, he rushed forward, crushing her to his chest. His arms tight around her, Aerie lost focus for a few moments and simply hugged him.

He smelled of smoke and a scent thoroughly his own, a mixture of mahogany and spice. She felt him take a deep breath in her hair, sighing heavily as he exhaled. "I just nearly died, Matthews. I thought for sure that you had to be in there. Where the bloody hell have you been? You smell like the sun, and it's the middle of the night."

Aerie was rocketed back into the here and now. She pulled away. "Not in the Room of Requirement. It's a very long story and I don't have the time to tell you. You need to get to safety."

Draco glanced at Goyle lying on the floor. Aerie waved her wand over him, levitating the unconscious boy in the air. Draco took her hand and pulled her around the corner into an abandoned classroom. She gently deposited the young Death Eater on a table. Draco locked the door behind them and turned to her, talking in clipped sentences. "Potter has gotten away. Crabbe is dead. I want you to hide in here until this is all over. I have to go find my mother."

Aerie's heart plummeted. "No! You'll get killed going out there! Listen to me--I don't know how long I have until she pulls me away, but Draco, you are the one that needs to hide. Hogwarts is crumbling."

As if to emphasize her point, the floor trembled and threw them both to their knees.

"Dammit, Matthews. Now is not the time for heroics." He crawled forward, grabbing her by the shoulders. "I don't give a shit about your job. I am not so important that you have to die in the process."

The intensity of his silver gaze and his words melted Aerie further. She raised her hands and gently cupped his soot-covered face. "I'm not doing this because of my job, Draco," she said softly. "I'm doing this because I want to."

His eyebrows dipped in confusion. "Why would you want to protect me? I'm a fucking coward who has done nothing worth commending. I led the Death Eaters into the school last year and nearly killed Dumbledore. Don't you understand? I'm an evil person, Johnny. You should have nothing to do with me. Go save yourself and live with sunshine and rainbows before I get so frustrated with you that I hex you into unconsciousness just to keep your ass in here."

Aerie smiled. "Then let me make it short and simple. I love you."

Draco froze, eyes wide in disbelief, jaw dropping. Aerie took a small pleasure at shutting up the wise-ass for once. The relief she felt at finally telling him how she loved him opened the floodgates to her emotions. She closed his mouth and continued.

"That is the reason behind my motives now, Draco. I love you. I don't care what you have to say about it. I don't care if you love me in return. Right now all I care about is getting the man I fell in love with to safety, knowing that my skills are the only way to make that happen. So we either stand here with you gaping at me like a fish, or you let me put protection spells on you before I disappear again. This time, I don't know how long it will take me to get back."

She gently detached his hands from her shoulders and stood up, pulling him with her. He was still staring at her in blank shock, his normally carefully cultivated sneer completely gone. She gave him a moment to collect himself, but after two or three minutes and he still had not moved, she sighed, pulling out her wand. With two flicks, she cast two protection charms. Walking behind him, she cast two more.

"These will work on any spell thrown at you except those shot at close range. Don't dance with any Death Eaters or you may end up kissing the floor permanently."

She came back around to his front, finding him staring at the floor in a daze.

"You had better snap out of it, honey," she smiled slightly. "There's a war going on."

His eyes came abruptly to hers. "You are a fool, Aeridia."

Aerie chuckled. "All kinds of fool. I'm well aware. I just had to fall for the tortured soul." She shook her head to stop his response just as the school shook again, tossing them away in opposite directions. Aerie's already sore back collided with a desk and she hissed in pain. Draco had been thrown back against a bookshelf, and the books shook off and fell on top of him. With a groan, both slowly got back to their feet.

"Listen," Aerie huffed, "You and I will have plenty of time to argue about this later. But right now, we have to fight. I have to fight against the Death Eaters, and you have to fight to just stay alive. I know what side you're on, but they don't. Keep your head down; you don't have to tell me you're scared. I know you are. I am, too. I cracked a couple of Death Eater skulls earlier and it's taking every ounce of my willpower to keep myself together. I don't like death, but in this situation, preferences are thrown aside for survival, and it's driving me so crazy that I'm about to break out into a fit of giggles at the inappropriate hilarity. I'm begging you now to survive, Draco. Just this once I need you to really listen to me. Just survive."

She felt the tug of transportation. She quickly pushed his chest. "Be the Master Slytherin I know you are, Lysander; don't be too big of a pansy. I will be back as soon as I can escape." And she was gone again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a growl of frustration followed by a deep breath to hold in the tears, Aerie sat on the chaise lounge across from her mother. "Tell me whatever it is that you need to tell me and send me back. I am getting increasingly pissed by your sudden meddling at the most inconvenient time."

The woman smiled. "Certainly, Daughter."

"My name is Aerie," she snapped. "Is there an easier name that I can mentally curse you with?"

"Dah'lia," the elf replied. "Is that what the American named you?"

"You mean my father, who raised me and loved me and taught me the value of family connection? Yes, that would be him." Aerie huffed slightly.

"Oh dear," Dah'lia sighed, doing very well at not rising to the barbed responses. "I am going to have to rewrite everything that you know about your own history."

Aerie glared at her and said with heavy irony. "Not that you haven't already done that, with your appearance and statement about being my mother, or that my uncle is actually my father."

"The woman who has been your mother believes with every fiber of her being that you are her daughter. The story about the love affair with a strange man is all true. You are not the product of that affair."

"What did you do to the girl?" Aerie demanded. "Make her a slave to your kind like we did with yours?"

Dah'lia waved her question away and flicked her red hair over her shoulder all in one graceful movement. "I will get to that momentarily. But, no, she is not a slave, nor is my race slaves to anyone. Your real father, Fornax Greengrass, and I had a dalliance some years ago around the time he married his current wife, Juno Halifax. They had a little girl named Daphne, the same age as the daughter born of Cassiopeia named Astoria. Communication between the families was terminated at the birth of the disgraced Greengrass daughter and the grieving Fornax at the loss of his sister led him to me. We met under circumstances not relevant and continued our acquaintance until I discovered that I was with child."

Dah'lia's face glowed with maternal pride. "You have to understand that for my race, pregnancy is rare. The moment I found out, I immediately argued for Fornax to come with me. Leave his wife and come to Glory to live out our child being born. Our people require a child to be raised with the combined protection of a mother and father. If not, the elf is cast out. I could not have this, but he would not hear of it. I pleaded, I begged, I humiliated myself to a man who was beholden to his rules more so than I. When none of this worked, I began to plan. To allow my child to be born and raised in a loving family without ridicule, knowing that I could not provide it by being exiled, was something I would use my powers for to my advantage."

Aerie was riveted. She could see all of this easily in her mind's eye. A mother would do anything to save her child. Her job at the bequest of Narcissa Malfoy was the perfect example of this.

"I gave Fornax's wife the illusion that she was pregnant again, keeping her on my same cycle. When I went into labor, I gave myself the image of his wife and the midwife delivered you, thinking I was Juno. Once you were born and Fornax named you Astoria, I went into the next part of my plan. Fornax and Juno already believed they had a child, but I did not want you exposed to the kind of family they provided. So I switched you with the Astoria born of Cassiopeia and the American. A little mind altering about the rate of growth and all was well. Fornax and Juno could raise the little girl in whatever pureblood way they wanted, but I would have my daughter raised with the love that I had observed at the Matthews' home."

Dah'lia paused, searching Aerie's face for a reaction. Aerie was reeling from the tale. For a moment, minutes, or hours they sat there, Aerie was not sure. She attempted to wrap her brain around the concept that her whole life had been a lie. A rather creative one, but a lie nonetheless. So she was sixteen, born of Fornax Greengrass and Dah'liandri-Ahra and switched places with the eighteen-year-old daughter of Cassiopeia and some mystery man. Wonderful. Fucking fantastic. Bloody brilliant.

"So what is my real name?" Aerie finally asked.

"Your name is the same as that which you go by, my darling Astoria," Dah'lia replied. "It was one of the alterations of the mind that I inflicted. However, your last name is Greengrass. Not Matthews. If you decide that Aeridia is the name you prefer, I have no say in stopping you."

"And the other Astoria?"

"What about her?"

"What happens now? What do you plan to do now that you've told me? Do you alter her memories so that she believes she is the daughter of my parents?"

"Oh, my dear," Dah'lia answered and smiled brilliantly, "I do not plan to do a single thing! My only plan was to tell you the truth. It is your decision what you wish to do with it."

Aerie sat up straighter. "Then for now I wish to do nothing about this. What I want is for you to send me back to Hogwarts. If you will give me time to absorb all of this, I will contact you when I wish to talk further."

This appeared to not to be the answer Dah'lia was waiting for. "Astoria--"

"Please," Aerie said simply, her eyes dropping to her lap, her mind threatening to be overwhelmed. Her brain had already put the odd pieces from her picture-less puzzle together and she understood more about herself in the past few moments with Dah'lia than she had in her entire life with her family. She now understood why she was able to retain the knowledge of ancient runes, why she could use wandless magic, and why she could Apparate wherever she wanted to, no matter how warded the building (with the exception of the Room of Requirement, for some reason). House elves were capable of the last two things; so it would make sense that a "higher" race of elf was able to accomplish them as well.

A moment's silence and then Dah'lia replied, "Very well. You may go. When you decide that you wish to communicate, use this." She came forward and pressed a simple necklace of cobalt blue beads and a strange silver charm into Aerie's hand. "Push the pendant and say my name. I will appear shortly thereafter."

Aerie nodded, not looking up to meet her mother's eyes, and Disapparated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She now stood at the top of a set of stairs, overlooking the Hogwarts' Entrance. No Death Eaters were present, having retreated to stand in a long line at the edge of the grounds, which she noticed through a hole in the wall. Students were carrying in the dead into the Great Hall.

"An hour of reprieve," Draco's voice came beside her. "We're down to twenty minutes."

She looked up at him and saw a smear of blood on his chin. "What happened? Is that your blood?"

He sneered. "Weasley can't land a proper punch to save his life."

His aura pulsed green with gratitude. Aerie smirked, looking away. "He saved yours though. What; you couldn't avoid the Death Eaters long enough for me to get back? Who was going to kill you before Ron came in?"

"It doesn't matter," he snapped, "I could have gotten out of it without Weasel's help. Made a bloody fool out of me's what he did."

Aerie nodded wryly. "Oh, of course."

They both lapsed into silence, watching the students and teachers slowly file into the Great Hall. Aerie turned away first, horror writhing through her at the sight of the dead and dying.

"Keep your nose down, Lysander," she muttered, grabbing his arm as she walked away. "If anyone asks, I'm holding you under surveillance until this is all over."

"I don't need a bloody babysitter, Matthews," he retorted instantly.

With a sigh, she pushed him against a stone dais, where the back of his knees connected and he sat with a thump. She plopped down next to him, "Contrary to your devil-may-care attitude to the situation, I know it's affecting you. I know, and you know that I know." She twiddled her fingers around him to indicate his aura. She leaned back on the wall, propping her arms on her bent knees and surveyed his blank stare. "Oh, stop it, Draco. You need a babysitter because it's the only way someone won't kill you on sight while you're in Hogwarts. Even if you were out with the Death Eaters, I don't think you would fare so well, seeing as how you're backing out. I'll tie you up, if you think that will help."

"Kinky."

"Shove off."

"You suggested it. Wouldn't bother me."

"Grow up."

"Lighten up."

"Fuck you."

"That's what I'm suggesting." He smirked.

She glared. "No, but I will help you get through the battle and the ramifications."

His eyes focused on hers. "Why does it have to be you? What gives you the authority to help me through this when you're so conflicted that you couldn't even be Sorted?!"

Aerie's temper flared, her mind instantly connecting to her conversations with her "mother elf." The idea just seemed so science-fiction. She knew at that moment why she had not been Sorted, just as the words the Sorting Hat had murmured in her ear came back to her. I never thought I would see the day that your family would return to England. The Hat had not meant the Matthews family. Not at all. Elves of her mother's kind had not been seen in England for millennia, after all. "You have no fucking clue, Malfoy," she spat, calling him by his last name for the first time since the day they met. "Don't presume to criticize me when you don't know a thing about me."

Draco blinked at her in surprise. After a moment, he turned slowly toward her, scowl firmly in place. "I don't know you?" he started with equal deliberate slowness. "How can I not have a 'fucking clue' about you when I have been forced to live with your extroverted personality in close living quarters for months? You're stubborn as hell, deceitful as any Slytherin, and so bloody brilliant that you could outwit Mudblood Granger on her best day."

"You're shouting compliments at me? Stop the presses! Draco Malfoy is being nice under insulting pretenses!" Aerie glared at him. "Those are things anyone can notice. You and I have been intentionally not associating with one another because of the impression it would give your 'friends.' So I don't see how you could possibly know something about me that is different than common knowledge. You fail at proving that you truly know me."

"Do your friends know that when you're thinking you bite your left thumbnail?" he immediately shot back. "Do your friends know that when you stare out a window you start to hum Beethoven's 'Ecossaise'? Do your friends know that you make coffee every day, not to drink it, but because you like the smell? Do your friends--"

"Why the hell do you care about those things?" Aerie sat in wondered shock, utterly flabbergasted at his explosion to prove her wrong.

"I don't know!" he shouted, running a hand through his hair. He looked at her in quick alarm. "I mean I don't care. I can't help noticing these things because they annoy me. It's because of such things that I know you better than your friends. That does not mean that I care."

She nodded absentmindedly, still staring at him. Her love for him increased. She quickly masked the emotion and gave him a sardonic grin. "There is some hope in you yet, Draco. A decent human being is starting to crawl out. Better be careful, don't let the emotions overwhelm you."

"Like you're any better," he replied.

Aerie huffed, "I'm a good girl."

"Oh, of course," he drawled wryly. "I play pretend, too."

She had to resist sticking her tongue out at him. Before she could shoot a response back, a deeply sinister voice rose above the air, sending chills of horror down Aerie's spine.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

Aerie and Draco looked wildly at each other in dismay before both rushed back to the hole in the wall overlooking the grounds. Death Eaters lined the lawn and a single figure stood at the front, white head gleaming in the moonlight, a black lump at his feet. Draco hissed in undisguised fear beside her. Aerie's heart plummeted, her own fear coming back in full force as Voldemort continued.

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Instantly, people rushed from the castle and stood on the grass, screams of denial ripping through the night as everyone caught sight of Harry Potter dead at the feet of Lord Voldemort. He attempted to quell the crowd but succeeded in only momentarily quieting the voices before they rose again. Aerie grabbed Draco's arm as he tried to pull away. No matter how hard this was for him (or her for that matter), they would watch.

Neville Longbottom, who had disappeared weeks ago from school, charged forward and was spelled down. The conversation between him and Voldemort did not carry far enough to the castle, but the resulting shout of "Dumbledore's Army!" from the crowd rushed over them.

A window crashed above Aerie and Draco's head and they both ducked instinctively. Whatever it was flew toward Neville and landed on his head. Voldemort's voice rose again.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." And Neville's head burst into flame.

Everything erupted. Curses instantly flew in every direction as the Death Eaters rushed forward and hundreds of people stormed the grounds from off site. Parents and families from Hogsmeade and elsewhere were showing up to help defend their loved ones. A Stunning spell ricocheted off the stones near Aerie's head and Draco pulled her back.

"Let's get out of here," he said, pulling her away. But it was too late, the battle was moving inside as Death Eaters pushed everyone back. Aerie threw a well-aimed curse down into the melee and knocked a masked man aside.

"Quit fighting!" Draco yelled at her, still trying to get her away.

"Quit running!" she shouted back, yanking her arm from his grasp. "You want to make a difference? Do something! This isn't over just because Harry Potter is dead!" She launched another hex down to the fighters, taking a step down the stairs.

"Draco!" Narcissa Malfoy's voice shrieked over the sounds of battle. With a speed Aerie had not known the woman possessed, Narcissa flew up the staircase and barreled into her son, carrying him around the corner.

Aerie almost smirked if the situation had not been so serious. It was at that moment that she realized Lucius Malfoy had also ascended the stairs and was skirting around her. She blocked a curse coming at her from below almost absentmindedly as her whole attention averted to the disgusting man.

With a flick of her wand she cast a Disillusionment Spell across the four of them and retrained it at the man's neck. He raised his hands in defeat.

"I am unarmed," he croaked.

Aerie glared. "That shouldn't stop me, you fucking sex-crazed, manipulative, cowardly pureblood!"

His eyes narrowed, looking remarkably like Draco. "Your offense seems personal. Do I know you?"

Aerie gave him a chilling smile. "No, we haven't had the misfortune."

Narcissa's cold voice cut through, "Lucius, sit your arse down and don't give the girl a reason to curse you. Her patience is wearing thin, as are mine and Draco's. One more word and I will have no qualm with her killing you."

Lucius' jaw dropped as he turned on Narcissa. "I beg your pardon?"

Draco was the one who answered, "She said 'sit down,' I believe. Father." The title sounded like a curse.

Lucius stepped back as if he had actually been hit by one.

From below, Aerie heard the cries of "Harry? Harry's alive!"

Her spirits soared. Harry was alive! How the hell was that even possible? So riveted by the inkling that hope could be restored, she did not notice Lucius turn back to her before it was too late. He snatched her wand and pointed it back at her.

She raised a brow at his exultant expression. "Taking my wand doesn't give you the upper hand, Lucius. It certainly does not make you better than me now."

"It gives me the advantage," he retorted, flinging an unvoiced curse at her.

Aerie raised her hands in front of her and repelled the curse. All three Malfoys gasped. She smiled vindictively and took a step toward him; he instantly stepped back down the hall and away from his wife and son. "I've always loved my little tricks. Now, Lucius, give me back my wand before you hurt yourself with it."

"Don't you dare talk down to me that way!" he roared, throwing another curse and backing up further.

Just as easily, Aerie deflected it and walked forward. "You are in no position to patronize me, Lord Malfoy. You dragged your wife and child into this mess and condemned them to a life of horror and death and you are getting mad at me? I find that to be a little hypocritical."

With a frenzied expression, Lucius shot two hexes at her. She absorbed them, shooting them back at the ground near his feet and making him jump back.

"Don't pretend to understand my motivations!" he yelled, starting to throw hex after hex toward her.

"Oh, it wasn't to get your family killed and fuck a girl your son's age?" she asked sweetly, flicking away each shot.

With a strangled roar, the man launched four spells at her in quick succession. With a swipe in front of her, a clear shield formed and sucked up the curses, and with a push, she threw them into the wall. It exploded outward, shearing through the stone onto the grounds beyond. Aerie whistled sarcastically, catching Lucius' horrified eyes. "That could have hurt me, Mr. Malfoy."

"What are you?" he murmured.

"I'm the one asking the questions here, you sick pedophile," she hissed. "What were you thinking as you went into the Dark Lord's service? Think you would receive glory? More power? More riches? Need I remind you that you had quite enough of that without being an underhanded, traitorous twit?!"

"Matthews," Draco's voice came strained behind her. She felt his anger toward his father rolling even from twenty feet between them. "We know his problem. Don't push him just to get the answers. Shut him up."

Aerie gave Lucius her coldest grins, making his pallid complexion worsen. "You heard your son. It's time to shut up." She snapped her fingers and her wand whipped out of his hands, flying over the distance to land in her outstretched palm. Aerie maliciously loved toying with the corrupt man and having him realize that she had been in complete control during their entire encounter. With a cut through the air, Lucius' arms bound together behind him and a gag was stuffed in his mouth. She walked forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his wife and son and took Draco's arm in the other hand. Narcissa already had a vice grip on Draco's other arm.

"We are going down there to find out the end of this," she said.

Closing her eyes, she Apparated them into the Great Hall.

They appeared in a far corner and instantly, Aerie shoved Lucius to the ground, placing an Immobilous charm on him. Narcissa caught her eye and nodded, but all eyes were on the pair in the center of the room, slowly circling one another, drawing the newcomers' eyes there as well.

The air of suspense was palpable as Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort paced, Voldemort looking furious and Harry appearing amused.

"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."

Aerie choked on her gasp as her eyes whipped to Draco standing beside her. His jaw had dropped.

Voldemort replied, "But what does it matter? Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone...and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy...."

Aerie grabbed Draco's arm, fearing the dripping promise of death from the man in the center of the room.

"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him."

Aerie recognized the twist of the hawthorn wand in Harry's grasp and felt Draco's hand come up to grip hers around his arm.

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does...I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

A red-gold glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. With a shriek both yelled:

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. The Elder Wand flew high, dark against the sunrise, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

Everyone stared for a moment in silence before the crowd exploded in multitude of cheers, rushing forward at the hero. Aerie stared, unbelieving, as the cause to the living hell of the wizarding world was quickly removed to rot in another room and the celebration began. The tables were moved back and everyone crowded the seats, no longer sitting with accordance to House. Aerie trudged forward, collapsing in a seat, feeling Draco and Narcissa sitting beside her, both equally as silent. Lucius awkwardly sat with them. Aerie waved the gag and bounds away.

"No more a threat, Lucius," she said absentmindedly. The reality was beginning to sink in and her heart soared. "It's over."

She turned to Draco and saw him slumped on the table, his aura weary, but happy. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's over," she repeated.

She looked up at the crowd as it cheered, screamed, and bounded around, and was content with sitting where she was, away from it all. Too much overzealousness for her.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention though, and she saw a few Death Eaters attempting to creep from the Hall. She got up silently and followed, giving Draco a smile at his confused glance as she went. She made it out the door and came up behind the quickly retreating figures.

"Leaving so soon?" she inquired, causing them to freeze.

All four turned back as one.

Aerie stood her ground, cocky in her knowledge of their defeat after the death of their master. "I don't think leaving the party so early is polite."

Their eyes glanced behind her, looking for others in the shadows of the otherwise empty corridor.

"It ain't exactly in our best interest t'stay," one of them burred, pulling out his wand. The other three followed suit, all realizing that she was alone.

Good, she thought, I need to burn off some energy.

This would prove to be a mistake.

As the curses began to fly and Aerie blocked and shot an equal number in return, she quickly began to see that these Death Eaters had skill. More so than the ones she had fought previously. Their shots were aimed better, they were quicker, and the quality of spell was beyond good. She was not recognizing several of the spells intended to harm her. None of them were the Killing Curse, but the intent seemed to be similar. This was deep and dark magic, and Aerie was no longer on the offensive, but was trying desperately to defend herself with ever decreasing efficiency.

Her protection spells were disintegrating almost as soon as she erected them and she gave up all attempts at shooting hexes and focused on protection. As soon as she did, three of the Death Eaters ran off, and the one that had spoken before remained, the most skilled of the four, to finish her off.

"I been wantin' to try this spell out, deary," the man hissed. "An' what better time to do 'at than now? 'Ope you enjoy this. 'Tis worse than death, it is."

"Let me have the pleasure, Wendlaritz," Aerie heard Lucius' voice behind her.

"Father, no!" Draco's voice shouted.

Aerie turned, her eyes connecting with Lucius' just as the spell from a wand that he acquired exploded through all of Aerie's barriers, plunging her into a pain worse than a hundred Cruciatus curses. In the split second between the issuance of the spell and its connection with her, Aerie had recognized the dark magic that she had always feared would get into the enemy's hands. She had dubbed them "The Unspeakable Spells"; spells that were worse than the Unforgivable Curses because of their intensity. Death would be a blessing from spells such as these. This one had feared her the most and it was called "Unmaking." It essentially broke down every component of your body as it worked its way through, piece by excruciating piece.

That horrifying thought was all she reflected before she could think no more. Her insides boiled, a bone cracking in half in her foot every few seconds. She fell to her knees instantly and heard screaming, neither knowing nor caring if she were the one shrieking. As the broken bones travelled their way up her body, her muscles ripped and melted in the intense heat of the pain writhing through her. Aerie shut down, wanting to die, but being unable to escape from the white blaze of torture to the black bliss of unconsciousness. Her body arched back as her pelvis cracked apart, and this time, she was sure it was her screams ripping through the air.

She lost awareness of time. She only knew pain. Hands on her arms caused more fire; words over her head seared her brain, her vertebrae snapped, one by one.

Ice ripped through her lungs as her ribs fractured and blissfully, thankfully, wonderfully, she slipped into blackness.