Promises Remembered

Promises Remembered

The Sequel to Promises Unbroken

Chapter Nineteen: It Begins

"So, as you can see, this situation is a textbook example of what not to do when outnumbered three to one," Bill Weasley explained. "Instead of backing off to regroup with his allies, Alastor Moody rushed forward to meet Avery, Vablatsky, and Madley. In his case, the tactic worked, and Moody killed both Vablatsky and Madley before Avery escaped. However, had Moody's student not been able to hold off both Rosier and Dolohov, and keep Moody's back clear, the tactic would have failed."

His eyes scanned the class of twenty candidates. Weasley crossed his arms, arching one red eyebrow. "Lessons learned?"

Immediately, Jason Clearwater raised his hand. As brilliant as he was obnoxious and pureblooded, Jason always got in first. He responded with a brilliant smile once Weasley called on him, flashing perfect teeth at his fellow candidates. "Never leave your back uncovered, sir."

"Good." Weasley nodded, but Tonks thought that he looked somehow unsatisfied. "Another? Smeltings."

"Don't get separated from your allies," Horace supplied immediately. He was almost as shy as Jason was outgoing, and rarely volunteered in class. Yet Horace always responded correctly when called upon, and Tonks knew that the slightly chubby and Muggleborn candidate was far brighter than he appeared.

"Yes. Had Moody not been able to depend upon his brand new student, he would have died," the instructor confirmed. "In battle, sometimes you have to--"

"Bill!"

The door to Classroom Four burst open with a crack, slamming against the wall so hard that Tonks thought it would break clean off its hinges. She jumped, and noticed that most of her classmates did as well--but she stopped paying attention to their surprise after a few seconds. Hestia Jones rushed into the room, with her black hair trailing behind her like a dark and tangled cloak. The usually immaculate instructor was pale and harried, and her brown eyes were wide.

"What's wrong?" Weasley demanded. His handsome face was still composed, but Tonks observed that his right hand had flown up his left sleeve, where it undoubtedly grasped his wand.

"Voldemort," Jones gasped, making Tonks' heart leap into her throat. The other candidates tensed, and Jones caught her breath abruptly. She proceeded more calmly. "He is attacking Diagon Alley."

"Now?" Despite the startled question, Weasley seemed cool.

"Now."

Somehow, Tonks was not surprised when Weasley only blinked in surprise. Several of her classmates swore, and a few even jumped up from their seats. But the two Aurors hardly seemed to notice; their grim eyes were focused on each other. Tonks only wished that she could even appear as calm as the two of them were, but her heart was racing and her breath felt short. Diagon Alley. It was almost impossible to wrap her mind around the thought. She could hardly believe... All those innocent people! And Tonks knew that Voldemort would not spare a single one of them. His purpose was to create terror, to slay and murder and torture until the world no longer dared to resist. This is what we're fighting for, she thought grimly. This is why we risk everything. Jones continued:

"Frank just called." Her severe face was focused in a way that Tonks had never seen before. "You, Kingsley, and I are to Apparate there as soon as possible."

Weasley paled. "Very well."

"We could--" Jason Clearwater was on his feet.

"No." Weasley cut Jason off, his voice cold. His blue eyes scanned the class. "Ms. Tonks, you are in charge until an instructor returns."

"I--" Me?

"All lessons are cancelled. Keep the island quiet and secure. Study." He overrode her easily, then turned to Jones while Tonks was still busy gaping. "Let's go."

The pair rushed out without another word, leaving Tonks to stare after them and her fellow candidates to stare at her. Several moments passed in shocked silence, then the candidates began turning to look blankly at one another--and then back at Tonks again.

She shrugged helplessly. "Me?"

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The cauldron shop exploded, pelting the pair with boiling metal and brick fragments. Fletcher swore and dove out of the way while Remus ducked back, retreating back into the building where the Floo Entrance was located. It only took a few seconds for the reaction to die down, and Remus almost sighed in relief, but those short moments took entirely too long. By the time that the smoke dissipated, five darkly cloaked and masked figures had come around the corner and were only feet away from the Apothecary. Judging from their silhouettes, Remus guessed that two were witches and the other three were wizards, but there was no sure way to tell. The leader, however, bore a strong resemblance to Bellatrix Lestrange, which made Remus desperately hope that he was mistaken. All five wands came up.

They had no time.

"Watch out!"

Dung reached for his arm to drag Remus out of the way, but there were times when being a werewolf had its uses; his reflexes were far faster than a mere human's could ever be. Remus dove to the ground even as Bellatrix Lestrange screamed:

"Avada Kedavra!"

Dung fired back immediately with a Strike Spell, but Bellatrix--and it was definitely her--dodged it with ease. Several of her companions retaliated, but Remus' hastily erected Shield Charm ate up their curses even as it died. Sheer instinct led the headmaster to follow up with a Reductor Curse, and he watched with surprised satisfaction when the curse struck Narcissa Malfoy in the right leg, spraying blood everywhere and making her scream in pain. He hadn't known who the slimmest Death Eater was, of course, until she screamed, but there was no problem identifying Narcissa when she stumbled off to his right and fled into an empty building, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.

Four against two, Remus thought grimly. Better, but not good enough.

"Diffindo!" Dung shouted, attempting to cleave the other Malfoy in two. However, the effort was doomed to failure; Lucius Malfoy was far too fast, and that day was no exception. The experienced Death Eater dodged easily, but walked right into Remus' curse.

"Conteracio!"

Malfoy flew high into the air and came crashing down again, hard, into the cobblestone street. Remus grinned bloodlessly, dodged a Confundus Charm from one of the other Death Eaters--Flint?--and selected a new target. Flint. He and Dung struck at the same time.

"Incendio!"

"Offenvox!"

Flint managed to evade Remus' Fire-Lighting Curse, but not Dung's Shocking Spell. The short Death Eater screeched in pain, leaping high into the air and kicking as if the effort could free him from the spell's effects. But Remus did not have time to watch his antics; there were plenty more targets where Flint came from.

Unfortunately, one of those targets got in first. "Crucio!"

"Dung!" Remus shouted, but it was too late--his companion collapsed, screaming under Bellatrix's Cruciatus Curse. Remus dodged an Impediment curse from Mulciber, Flint's erstwhile partner in crime, and fired off a quick spell, hoping to distract Bellatrix.

He missed, and Dung continued screaming.

Remus swore. "Vexameum!"

Bellatrix shrieked when the curse hit her, making her body shake and spasm uncontrollably. And then the unbelievable chance came, and she dropped her wand. Remus cast another spell immediately, but she managed to roll away even as Dung bounced back to his feet, his blue eyes dark with pain and old memories.

"Finite Incantatum!" Bellatrix snapped, still wandless, but yet--Damn, Remus realized worriedly. She can--Bellatrix's wand leapt into her hand, and Remus bolted towards her with hardly a thought.

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A giant bang rocked Diagon Alley, making Molly jump. She'd wisely stepped aside when five Death Eaters had sprinted past, and now sheltered inside the front doorway of Eeylops Owl Emporium. Molly was no warrior, and she knew it. She stood no chance against a single Death Eater, let alone five, and though she might have slowed them down by a few seconds, in the end she would have only gotten herself killed. Facing them was not her job, and besides, she had bigger problems to face.

Molly had watched the children rush into Quality Quidditch Supplies, but had no idea where they had run to since, and worry gnawed at her heart. She prayed that they were safe, but Molly could not afford distraction. Sirius had charged her with dismantling the Anti-Apparation fields, and she had to do it. If she didn't, more innocent people would die, and she knew that Sirius Black would be among them. Molly was not a fool. She knew where he had gone, and who he faced.

And she was well aware of the glowing green mark that even the smoke could not blot out of the sky.

"Think," Molly whispered to herself. "Just think."

With an effort, she forced her mind back to business. A few diagnostic spells had all ready shown her how the multiple wards were layered; they overlapped carefully and were designed so that one spell could not bring them all down. The Death Eaters were definitely talented, and they knew their work well--but the past few months with Lily and the Unicorn Group had taught Molly a type of finesse that they lacked. Unfortunately, dismantling the fields would take time--time that she did not have.

Lifting her wand, Molly went to work.

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"There are Anti-Apparation fields in place," Kingsley Shacklebolt said the moment that Hestia and Bill burst into Avalon's secondary Apparation Area.

Hestia swore, and Bill's heart froze in his chest. A long moment passed before he felt able to speak, and even then, his voice sounded hollow in his own ears. "What do we know?"

"Remus Lupin was warned about the attack," Kingsley replied. "He and Dung Fletcher are on their way to Diagon Alley now--Lupin alerted the Minister beforehand, though, and he called Frank. Frank, of course, called here."

Of all the days for Frank to be home with his family... Bill fought the urge to scream. And of course, Avalon was not connected to the Floo Network. The only fires that existed on the island were used for communication, and reconfiguring them as part of the Network would take days, if not weeks. What did the old timers do when they couldn't Apparate? Bill thought with a growl of frustration. Swim? Suddenly, those old security concerns didn't seem like such a great idea.

"How many Death Eaters?" Hestia asked.

Kingsley shook his head. "Frank didn't know. Diagon Alley has been completely cut off."

"Damn," Bill breathed. He was trying hard not to think about anything but the coming mission--contemplating the risks was dangerous, and the past was even more so. Concentrate, Weasley! he snapped at himself. This is no time to freeze!

"It gets worse," Kingsley said quietly.

"Dare I ask?" For the first time, Hestia looked truly frightened.

"Sirius Black is there."

"Is he...?" Bill could not bring himself to finish the question. He did not dare, did not want to think--and yet he remembered the Azkaban Raid, remembered seeing Sirius step around a corner and do the impossible. That memorable day, he had seen the man who had been Voldemort's prisoner for ten years face the Dark Lord and survive. Bill had not ever imagined someone doing that, not after his own experiences...and Sirius Black was the only hope they had.

"There is no way to know," Kingsley answered, swallowing.

Hestia growled. "Not until we get there, anyway."

"Is Frank coming?"

"As soon as he can."

"Then let's make that now," Hestia interjected, raising her wand. "Waiting makes me angry."

Kingsley flashed her a cool smile. "Everything makes you angry, Hestia."

"Let's just get this thing done," Bill interjected, focusing--

But nothing happened.

"Damn!" Hestia's curse summed it all up. They were still stuck.

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Spells scraped by on either side Remus as he ran, but miraculously, none of them hit. There were a few close calls, and he felt like he had a deep burn on his right leg--but maybe having a werewolf sprint at her unnerved Bellatrix Lestrange. Her usually accurate aim was failing, and for a moment, Remus thought he saw fear flash in her blue eyes.

Dementors in the Hogwarts dungeons--

His stride faltered.

"Avada Kedavra!" she screeched.

The fast reflexes of the wolf were all that saved him. Remus threw himself aside, rolling and coming up in a crouch that reminded him painfully of Sirius--Please let him be all right--he threw up a creative shield that Lily had taught him, destroying her next spell.

Not far behind him, Dung was dueling with both Mulciber and Flint at the same time--but where had Malfoy gone? Remus started to look over his shoulder, searching for the fourth Death Eater, but then Bellatrix's Decapitation Spell almost took his head off, and he had to focus on her.

Almost as soon as he had made that decision, a wave of power hit him in the back. Remus sprawled forward, landing hard on his stomach. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs and made his vision swim--but even as he landed, Remus found himself unable to concentrate on Bellatrix or Lucius. Suddenly, their presence, their spells, seemed utterly pointless. Meaningless. Unimportant. And he had almost forgotten why he was there.

His sensitive ears picked up screaming. Sirius!

There were times that the wolf was his curse, but sometimes it proved to be a blessing. Like now.

Remus bounded to his feet just as Bellatrix took a curious step in his direction; two steps forward and they were almost face to face. Thus, when he thrust his wand forward to cast a Stunner, there was no way that he could miss. "Stupefy!"

Bellatrix fell with a resounding thump, collapsing just in time for Remus to jump over her now limp form. Twisting in mid-stride, he aimed a quick curse in Lucius Malfoy's direction, but missed, and barely managed to avoid being roasted alive by the Death Eater's Incinerator Curse. Remus sidestepped quickly, but miscalculated and caught his right ankle on Bellatrix's downed form and fell. That accident, however, turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because green light flashed through the air in the exact spot where he had been a mere second before.

"I'm going to have to betray you."

"Are you mad? Take the offer while you can!"

A new cry of pain split the air, and Malfoy suddenly turned away, sprinting west towards the crossroads with Knockturn Alley.

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"Now!" Kingsley suddenly shouted, making Bill jump. But his reflexes kicked in quickly enough, and he raised his wand--

"Look out!" Frank's voice rang out urgently, and Bill dove without thinking, completely trusting his friend and superior.

Green light flashed.

"Goddamnit!" Hestia snarled from behind a trash bin. "Where the hell did they come from?"

"Who cares?" Bill retorted, ducking as a jet of red light flashed overhead. There was no appropriate cover, just a shoddy looking dumpster and a few scorched trash bins, but that was all the four Aurors had. Frank could have only arrived seconds before the trio from Avalon, but it was good that he had. Otherwise they might all have been dead.

So much for hoping that Knockturn Alley would be a place where they weren't expected to show up.

"Get rid of them!" Frank ordered.

"How many are there?" Bill asked urgently, trying to pop his head up and almost losing it in the process.

"Three, I think," the senior Auror replied, sneaking his eyes up over the end of the dumpster long enough to get a look. "Diffindo! Yes, that was Rodolphus Lestrange."

"Did you hit him?" Kingsley rumbled.

"I don't think"--Hestia's trash bins exploded, making Frank jump--"Damn, that was Snape!"

Bill worked his head around the dumpster's far end as Hestia rolled over to join the others. Why is it that we always end up hiding behind smelly dumpsters? he wondered distractedly. "The other one is Macnair."

"Lovely." He could tell that Hestia rolled her eyes just by the sound of her voice.

And then the screams started, and Bill found himself staring at Frank with wide eyes. Those were screams that they both knew, both remembered, back from times that they would rather not recall.

"We don't have time for this!" Frank snarled, rolling away from the dumpster and firing off another curse. Almost immediately, Rodolphus Lestrange yelped and collapsed.

But Snape almost took off Kingsley's head when the big Auror ventured out, and would have if Hestia hadn't dragged him down in time. She shot off a nasty curse at the Potions Master, but missed, and Bill's Strike Spell was blocked easily. Meanwhile, Frank had engaged an angry (but standing) Rodolphus Lestrange, and Kingsley shot after Macnair with a vengeance.

The air fairly crackled with power as spells crisscrossed in the sky, and Bill dodged one of Snape's Imperius Curses with much more ease than he'd expected. Unfortunately, the follow-on got through, and Bill could only be thankful that it hadn't been something fatal as he struggled to shake off the effects of a Conjunctivitis Curse. Hestia jumped in the way, and as his vision reluctantly cleared, Bill could see her and Snape exchanging a flurry of curses--but oddly enough, unlike the other two duels, there were no green flashes. The only potentially fatal curse that Bill could spot was Hestia's attempt at a Throat Cutting Spell, and that missed as Snape moved with far more agility than Bill would have thought he possessed. He squinted at his old Potions Master.

What are you playing at, Snape? Bill felt his eyes narrow. Something was up.

"Rumperis!"

A new scream split the air as Frank's Bone-Breaker connected; Rodolphus Lestrange went down, clutching a suddenly shattered and bleeding arm to his chest. His wand almost bounced free, but he caught it in his left hand, then there was a sudden crack and he was gone.

The tide turned.

"Evanescorpus!" Kingsley shouted, and as Bill's head snapped around, he saw the impossible happen--the Disintegration Spell hit Walden Macnair right in the chest, and the Death Eater simply ceased to exist.

Four against one, and a new screech split the air. Dodging a Decapitation Spell from Hestia (unlike her opponent, she certainly wasn't hesitating to use fatal spells), Snape suddenly spun away. For a split second, he presented his back as a beautiful target--but then Snape sprinted away.

Exchanging confused glances, the Aurors gave chase.

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Sirius rolled to his feet and almost collapsed as pain ripped through his body. Something besides ribs had broken, but there wasn't time to even start to consider what--he hardly even had the breath to bite back the scream that threatened to rise in his throat. Unable to fully control his body, Sirius fell to his right knee as it buckled and refused to carry his weight, and heard it crunch nastily. He almost crumbled, and only caught himself with his right hand--wand hand, damnit!--before falling. Knowing that he did not have time to think, let alone fool around, Sirius wrenched his wand upwards and forced himself to his feet, pain or no.

"Brevisalvum Mali," he hissed, and felt his body suddenly respond to his commands.

Bolting right, Sirius snapped his wand out and fired off a Stunner without bothering to aim. Fiery pain shot through him, but his muscles and his limbs worked, and he didn't have time to consider how or what he'd broken. Hell, he hardly had time to think at all--

Whatever else he was, Voldemort was no coward. He threw off the Cruciatus quickly and whipped his wand around in a sweeping arc. Dark light flashed--was dark light possible?--and Sirius barely dove out of the way in time. Rolling right as his body screamed in agony, he came up into his dueling crouch as quickly as he could, and found that his right leg no longer wanted to work, Quick Heal or no. Getting up was far harder this time than it had been the last, and Sirius struggled to keep from gasping for air against the rising tightness in his chest.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Control. Breathe in.

Voldemort awaited him calmly, watching with unreadable red eyes. Sirius might have thought him a statue had the slightest of smirks not creased his pale face, and--This is getting bad. The silence in the street hurt to hear. Hundreds of innocent eyes did naught but stare, and Sirius could sense their painful attempts at hope. They watched him, and waited, praying for a miracle, believing that Sirius Black might give them one. For a short moment, his mind rebelled--What am I doing here? But he knew the answer, and he felt cold. A graveyard would have been more cheerful. And less deadly.

Sirius blocked an Imperius Curse almost without thinking, but his shield did not weather the impact. He was weakening quickly, and knew it--the problem with silent magic was that it was far more exhausting to use than normal spells. I have to end this quickly, or I won't end this at all. Usually, Sirius depended upon mobility and speed to give him an advantage in any duel, but his body refused to cooperate, and he knew that he would have to be rooted to this spot--or fall over.

Time to change the odds, then. A nasty grin split his face. I'll apologize to the Goblins later.

"Resiacio!" he shouted, and a screeching bang brought the front doors of Gringotts flying off the ground where they had previously fallen. They spun through the air like an insanely twisting bludger, and avoided Voldemort's best efforts to blast them aside.

The Dark Lord was too proud to throw himself aside, and Sirius actually thought they would hit--until the giant bronze doors disintegrated a few feet away from Voldemort's face. But...! It took great power to do so, and even as the Dark Lord turned to face him, Sirius felt the way the spell had drained his reserves. The link still existed, he suddenly realized. Muted and covered up and buried deep, but it was still there!

He did not give Voldemort a chance to recover. "Extundo!"

Green light flashed even as the Hammer Curse hit his opponent full in the chest, making Voldemort stagger. Sirius was forced to dive aside once again to avoid the Killing Curse, forced to ignore the stupidity of doing so. He could hardly move fast enough to stand again--pain made his vision blur--but Sirius thrust his wand forward as soon as he'd come up into his crouch, and set a flurry of trash bins to attacking the Dark Lord. Jumping to his feet, he prepared to fire off another spell--then staggered and almost fell.

Laughter echoed in his ears. "Acervis!"

A whirlwind of power tore Sirius off of his feet and enclosed him in a swirling tornado of darkness. Agony shot through his body; Sirius could not help screaming in pain as he hit the ground with a crash. Bouncing off the street and unable to see through the sudden blackness, he let instinct guide his wand.

"Incarcerous!"

Bleeding and desperate, the curse got through. Voldemort snarled in anger, and Sirius heard him stagger, but knew he did not go down. Then the robes tore, and Sirius knew he was out of time. But his eyes were still dark, still useless--and the triumph in the cold voice was unmistakable.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Shit!

Unable to move in time, Sirius Apparated. He had been lying helplessly in the crossroads of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, but wound up on his feet in front of the smoldering ruins of Florean Fortescue's. Pain and exhaustion made him dizzy, but the unexpected escape had bought him precious moments to act. Even as Voldemort spun to face him, Sirius shouted: "Incendio!"

The counter whipped out almost as quickly as the Auror had thought of the spell. To make matters worse, Voldemort was not nearly as drained as he--the response was as deadly as it was silent, and Sirius barely stopped the Reductor Curse in time. "Everbero!"

Block. Disintergration Spell.

"Protego!" Two burning steps. "Conteriaco!"

Counter and Conjunctivitis Curse.

Sirius sidestepped just in time. "Imperio!"

It had worked in Azkaban, but did not now. Voldemort shrugged the curse aside with ease, laughing. Then he smiled, and Sirius read victory in his eyes.

"Avada Kedavra!" the Dark Lord thundered.

Sirius dove left, rolling and ignoring the protests of his battered body. The street exploded, pelting him with smoking cobblestones and burning debris, but even as he rolled, Sirius realized that the Killing Curse was never meant to hit him. Frantically, he twisted his aching limbs around, struggling to get to his feet before something else happened--

He made it to his knees, only to find himself looking straight at the point of Voldemort's wand. Before he could even act, the cold words were spoken.

"Mors Extoum."

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