Different Paths

Chapter 20: Consequences of Love

"Run!" someone yelled as a giant blade smashed into the building that was Auror headquarters. Helpless wizards and witches ran from the building screaming in terror as the 15 feet long blade continued demolishing the structure.

"I can't believe it," growled Moody as he was dragged away by one of his subordinates. "Who would've thought something like this would happen? Like something like this would attack Auror headquarters?!"

Somewhere from high above, Wormtail's laughter rang out: "Ha ha ha ha ha! Well done Fenis! With Auror Headquarters demolished, no Auror would be able to lend any assistance to the Order. Now Fenis, off to the Leaky Cauldron to join our comrades in victory!"

A low thunderous growl sounded as the humongous, lumbering figure that was Fenis stomped away toward the Leaky Cauldron, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble that had been Auror Headquarters.

* * *

"Pregnant?" whispered Hermione, her eyes wide in disbelief. The idea seemed surreal. "Pregnant?" she said again, as if repeating the word would help her comprehend it more.

A hundred thoughts crossed her mind at once: 'How can this be true? I was a virgin until last night. OK, we didn't use protection, didn't even think about it. But even if my making love to Harry made me pregnant, how could she find that out after only hours after it happened?'

Taking a deep breath, Hermione managed to compose herself enough to ask, "How can you tell?"

Cassandra gave Hermione a look that looked to her like pity. "I have ways. You see my little Hermione, I am what is known as a Carbon Succubus."

The term instantly clicked in Hermione's mind as she had read about Carbon Succubi in an obscure book of the restricted section of the Hogwarts library. According to the book, during the first Voldemort. Wars, the Dark Lord had experimented in methods of giving ordinary witches and wizards the powers of succubi and incubi, demons who visited men and women at night and sucked out their souls through acts of sex. Not necessarily too different from dementors if one thought about it.

"You...you are a Carbon Succubus?" asked Hermione.

"I see, you're familiar with the term," said Cassandra. "I, Cassandra Frost, am the sole survivor of our Lord's attempts to create the Carbon Succubi and Inccubi. A mere kiss from my lips can kill a human being, much like a Dementor's kiss can suck out a soul. Because of my part demonic nature, I can sense the souls of all human beings. Even," she pointed at Hermione's stomach, "the soul of a child only conceived hours ago."

Hermione didn't know what to think. A part of her still wanted to deny the possibility that she was pregnant, but the larger, more rational part of her knew that it was true. 'I'm pregnant,' she thought. 'I'm going to have a baby. I'm going to have Harry's baby.' Hermione didn't know whether to cry or laugh. As it was, she closed her eyes and let a few tears fall free but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face.

Vaguely, she heard Cassandra say, "So I'm asking you again Hermione, please back out now for the sake of your baby." Every instinct in Hermione screamed at her to back out for the sake of her baby. If she continued, there would be a strong chance that the baby would be miscarried. She couldn't let anything happen to her and Harry's baby. That would be what Harry would want.

'But how would I be able to face Harry then?' she thought. At present Harry was fighting for his own life against Voldemort. How was she supposed to face him when he came back from his battle, while she herself had backed out of her own? How would she be able to stand next to him equally as they brought their baby up in the world?

In that moment, she made her decision. "No," she said, quite sternly.

"No?" said Cassandra. "I am giving you the chance to save your and your child's life. Take it."

"I can't," said Hermione. "Not, when the father, the one I love, is laying his own life on the line to defeat Voldemort. When he comes back, how could I bare to face him knowing that I backed away like a coward while he staked his life? How could I bare to raise his child after that?"

"Fine," said Cassandra. "But that was your last warning, don't expect me to pull you anymore favors!"

Cassandra leveled her wand at Hermione and fired a curse, which Hermione didn't recognize. She decided she didn't want to know what it did and dodged it quite easily. Cassandra continuously shot the curse at Hermione, who continued dodging it, occasionally with a quick roll. After a while, Hermione decided she had been on the defensive long enough and raised her wand, which prompted a laugh from Cassandra.

"Why my dear Hermione," she said. "You seem to have forgotten that the simple hexes and jinxes they teach in the Hogwarts Defense against the Dark Arts curriculum."

Hermione smirked and said, "Why Cassandra, whoever said I was going to try to hex you? Wingardium Leviosa!" Cassandra was completely surprised as Hermione levitated several small rocks into the air around herself. Thus, she was unprepared when Hermione started waving her wand around like a conductor's baton, sending the rocks flying like bullets toward Cassandra. Cassandra didn't have time to cast a shield charm and could only cover herself with her arms as the rocks start flying around her, constantly pelting her with a barrage of rocks.

'Shield charm! Shield charm!' Cassandra thought desperately as she vainly tried to protect her face from the rocks. She finally managed to yell, "Protego!" creating a silvery, bubble shaped shield around herself that finally stopped the barrage of rocks.

Hermione had already prepared for her next attack though. Reminiscing about her previous night with Harry, she lifted her wand and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" Hermione had clearly read up on succubi before: succubi and incubi essentially drew their power from their victims' spirits. In that sense, they were similar to their cousins, the dementors and thus could be countered with the same method. Indeed, as Hermione's near corporeal otter Patronus scampered toward Cassandra, the succubus part succumbed to the positive powers of Hermione's Patronus and her shield faltered. The silver otter further leveled itself into Cassandra's face, and the carbon succubus recoiled in pain, as the Patronus burnt her skin horribly.

Hermione walked up to where Cassandra was writhing on the ground in pain. "And now, Cassandra, I must ask you to please back out of this duel now," she said, unconsciously repeating Cassandra's words to her.

Cassandra looked up at Hermione incredulously. "What?"

"I don't want to do any serious harm to you," said Hermione. "Your succubi nature is like a double edged sword. It grants you tremendous powers such as your lethal kiss and your immunity to simple hexes and curses. However, you also gained all the weaknesses of succubi and incubi, namely their weakness to Patronuses. Of course, this would give you a huge advantage over someone who doesn't anything about a succubus or can't create a Patronus. However, both don't apply to me."

Cassandra wasn't as hurt as Hermione had first thought however as she suddenly leveled her wand toward Hermione and yelled, "Reducto!" The next instant, Hermione was barely able to realize that she had been blasted 10 feet away into the outer wall of the Leaky Cauldron, leaving an impact crater in the wall. Hermione herself hadn't necessarily been injured enough though her clothes were quite torn up, especially the left shoulder of her shirt which had been torn off, revealing her bra strap. Hermione tried in vain to cover it up, before giving up and slowly standing up. She then examined her wand whereupon she stifled a gasp of horror when she realized that it had snapped into two pieces.

"Don't lecture me about the pros and cons of being a succubus!" snarled Cassandra. "You have no idea, no idea whatsoever it means. I am clearly not human. But I am most certainly not a demon either. So what am I? A freak? Well then, if I am a freak, then the least I can do is be the best for my beloved Lord who breathed life into me. My pure and utmost devotion: that is the consequence of my love for my Lord. Yet, even then, I am constantly by better Death Eaters such as Seth and Yasmin. I am forever thwarted from being the best. So, that means the least I can do is see my Lord's orders through! Therefore, I am not backing out of this duel now!"

Hermione managed to stand up just as Cassandra started conjuring multiple blades of air and started spinning them around herself, like a lethal barrier. Hermione glanced down at her broken wand before pointing it at Cassandra.

"You don't seriously plan to face me with that, do you?" said Cassandra, as her blades started spinning dangerously close to Hermione. Hermione winced as one of the blades slashed at her, leaving a cut on her cheek.

Taking a breath, Hermione looked at Cassandra, her eyes shining with sympathy and pity, but her face stern. "I'm so sorry Cassandra," she said. "I can sympathize with your plight, and I think I can at lest understand your pain a little bit. But that's why I can't back down either: for Harry's sake, for love's sake. These consequences of love come in so many different forms, but they give us the motivation to continue beyond what we're capable of. That's why, because of my love for Harry, I'm not backing out either. Even if I have to continue fighting with a broken wand!"

* * *

"Oh," groaned Ginny, as she started to regain consciousness. She felt her side and winced in pain as her fingers brushed her broken ribs. "Oh, what hit me?"

Vaguely, Ginny became aware that she was on some roof by the broken tiles scattered around her. She also noticed that she was far too weak to perform any magic or to even stand up, so she pulled herself into a sitting position. She took a few deep breaths trying to regain her strength. 'I feel like I'm dying here,' she thought.

And most especially, thank you, Ginny, for making my life worthwhile.

"Draco?" Ginny exclaimed, suddenly sitting up. She winced at the pain this sudden movement caused her battered ribs, but had forgotten it a second later as she started contemplating. There was no doubt about it she had just heard Draco's voice. That can only mean one thing,' she thought, 'Harry's saved Draco! Draco's coming back! Oh thank you, thank you Harry!'

However, her moment of ecstasy soon passed as she noticed the scene on the ground below her. Hermione and Cassandra were still dueling, Cassandra's multiple blades constantly slashing at Hermione. Furthermore, Ginny noticed to her horror that Hermione was fending off all the attacks with a broken wand.

'Oh no, Hermione!' Ginny's mind quickly raced over the Fundamental Rules of Wizard Dueling. 'Fundamental rule of wizard dueling number 4: if a dueler's wand is destroyed, then the dueler may take a spare wand from a bystander if he/she chooses, so long as the bystander doesn't intervene in the duel itself.'

Ginny's eyes quickly went to her own wand, lying right next to her. Hurriedly she picked it up and ignoring the pain of her ribs, she threw her wand as hard as she could toward Hermione yelling, "Hermione!"

Ginny's shouting alerted both Hermione and Cassandra of her wand. Cassandra hurriedly threw one of her blades toward the airborne wand while Hermione desperately yelled, "Accio, wand!" praying to God that her broken wand still worked enough for summoning.

Luckily, Hermione's own latent magical powers were enough to summon the wand before it could be slashed by Cassandra's blade, and the wand sailed into Hermione's hand.

Before Cassandra had a chance to react, Hermione quickly thought of Harry and screamed, "Expecto Patronum!" The silver otter charged at horrified Cassandra, completely disabling her in the right leg where it collided. Not taking any more chances, Hermione shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Cassandra's wand flew out of her hand, far out of reach from anyone as Cassandra herself sunk to the ground.

Hermione took a few calming breaths and said, "Thank you so much, Ginny."

"No problem Hermione," said Ginny, beaming. "Besides, now that Draco's coming back, I'm not about to let anyone die in front of me." Hermione was decidedly confused by Ginny's reference to Draco but decided to think about it later.

Hermione walked up to Cassandra. "I win," she said, in a tone stating fact rather than a boast.

"So, you did," said Cassandra. "Well, I suppose you're the better woman than."

"I only won because luck was on my side," said Hermione. "If I hadn't been pregnant, you would've kissed me and I would've been dead."

Cassandra laughed bitterly. "So, it was my own misguided nobility that brought on my defeat was it? My, how humiliating: all my life, I have dedicated to my Lord, every aspect of my life, every breath. And now, he will probably kill me for failing him. Well then, I might as well save him the duty!" Then, to Hermione's horror, Cassandra pulled out a knife from her sleeve, clearly intending to slit her own throat.

"NO!" screamed Hermione, leaping forward to stop Cassandra from committing suicide. She didn't need to bother.

"Oh no you don't!" The next instant, Ginny was standing next to Cassandra. With one powerful chop at Cassandra's neck, Ginny rendered Cassandra unconscious. "I can understand what it's like to be completely devoted to someone, considering that I myself am so devoted to Draco. Still, it's just not worth throwing your life away over."

"Thank you, Ginny," Hermione said again, breathing a sigh of relief.

All around the girls, legions of Death Eaters were now shivering in pure terror. After all, three of the Elite Ten had just been defeated in front of their very eyes, a feat they had zealously believed was impossible. Noticing the remaining Death Eaters, Hermione turned to them, raised Ginny's wand, and said "Anybody else want some?"

That must've been the icebreaker for the Death Eaters. Screaming in terror, they ran from the scene as quick as their feet could take them, scattering away as fast as possible to places where Aurors could easily pick them up later. The few remaining Order members that had been fighting the Death Eaters all cheered.

From the second story window of the Leaky Cauldron, a heavily injured Remus Lupin breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," he said. "I was really worried about you kids there, but you all managed to pull through. I'm really proud of all of you."

"Thanks Remus," said Ginny, signaling her mentor. "Well, I guess we've all earned ourselves a nice rest. What do you think Hermione?"

Hermione however, was occupied by something else. "Do you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" asked Ginny. Then she heard it too: a dull, low thud. "Yes. What is it?"

"I have no idea," said Hermione. She strained her ears and heard the thud again, a little louder. A slow, sense of dread started to grip her and Ginny.

The thud's continued on in a pattern, slowly getting louder and louder. Remus glanced over to some cabinets to his left and noticed that the potions were rippling every time there was a thud. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered.

Soon, the thuds were loud enough to hear without straining. They could also now feel the slight tremble of the ground that came with every thud. Finally, Hermione half-whispered, half-proclaimed, "It's here!"

Indeed it was. The next moment, a fifteen-foot long giant blade smashed into the roof of the Leaky Cauldron, demolishing about a third of the building and leaving nothing but rubble. Remus was still in a part of the building that was still standing but he decided that the inn was no longer safe. Meanwhile, Hermione, Ginny, and the few still conscious Order members were looking up at the object of their terror.

It was a giant. A full 25 feet tall giant, dressed in a full set of half plate armor that resembled the Viking style though slightly different. Most terrifying was the horned, masked helmet on the giant's head, made out in the guise of an Eastern demon. It was holding a fifteen-foot scimitar shaped blade in its right hand. But the thing that drew to them most of all was the man sitting on the giant's shoulder, for they had instantly recognized him.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! Well done, Fenis! Like I've always said before, we the Titan Controller and Titan Controlled are the mightiest of the Dark Lord's army," laughed Peter "Wormtail" Pettigrew from atop of Fenis the giant's shoulder.

"Oh my God," Hermione muttered, sinking to the ground.

"Peter!" yelled Remus. "You pathetic coward! Can't you bear to face us on your own? Or do you have to hide behind your giant here?"

"Oh please Remus," sneered Wormtail. "We are the Titans: mightiest of the Dark Lord's forces. We together are one and neither is complete without the other. Now if you will excuse me, I am about to single handedly wipe out the Order of the Phoenix."

Remus started shouting a series of profanities while he thought, 'Where is Hagrid when we need him?' It was only a split second later that Remus remembered that Hagrid had been seriously injured in the attempted burning of London and had been carted to St. Mungo's.

Meanwhile, Order wizards, including Hermione and Ginny, were looking completely defeated as Fenis started to demolish the surrounding buildings. The giant's appearance had completely burst the bubble of elation following the defeat of Flame, Icicle, and Cassandra and the subsequent fleeing of the Death Eaters. The thought all of them now had was 'We've lost'.

Or at least until someone shouted, "Oh give me a break!"

"Ron!" exclaimed Ginny. Everybody looked toward the voice and noticed that Ron Weasley had regained consciousness.

"What? Is everybody just giving up because a giant's shown up?" yelled Ron, angrily. "You're surrendering now just because something showed up that you weren't expecting? Please, you're members of the Order of the Phoenix! You're supposed to be prepared for the unexpected! Don't give up!"

"Such harsh words, Ron Weasley," said Wormtail. "But do you have the power to back them up? Or the guts?"

"Why don't you come down here and see for yourself, you cowardly, mangy rat! I'm Ronald Weasley, Big Time Super Wizard in training! I can lick you easily!"

Ron's words seemed to completely aggravate Wormtail. "Fenis, kill him first!" he yelled.

"Roooooooon!!!!!" screamed Hermione and Ginny. They burst into tears as Fenis's blade came crashing down on Ron.