Promises Remembered

Promises Remembered

The Sequel to Promises Unbroken

Chapter Forty: Alea Iacta Est (The Die is Cast)

"Quickly," Alice hissed, waving the others ahead. Frank paused in the doorway to offer her a smile, but it was tight with stress. Her husband would be leading Group Three while Alice brought up the rear--although she was the team's nominal commander, they always worked in this manner. The two had been one of the Aurors' best pairs for many years, and time hadn't changed that. Now, they were just working on a different level.

One by one, her Aurors tiptoed down the stairs, wands at the ready. Alice could already hear the sounds of battle coming from above them, but that was not her concern. As much as she wanted to help Sirius and the others, Group Three was tasked with clearing the cells kept in the depths of the Riddle House. There, Derek Dawlish and Oscar Whitenack had found evidence of Mad-Eye Moody's imprisonment. Now, less than a month later, Alice hoped to find her old Mentor...or at least answers to questions that begged asking.

Suddenly, the stairs shook and Alice felt the deep rumble of an explosion reverberate through the house. Her instincts immediately screamed at her to run back up the stairs, to discover what had happened--but they could not. You've got a job to do, she reminded herself sternly. So do they. A grim smile wormed its way onto Alice's face with the next thought. Besides, it was probably just Sirius being feisty.

Someone up front had cast Lumos too quietly for Alice to hear; it was probably Cornelia, because Frank would want his wand free. Feet padded quietly on cold stone stairs, but they reached the basement quickly enough.

The first thing Alice noticed was the stench of old blood. The second was how abominably cold it was in there.

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"We should..." Gabriel started to speak as Group Two slipped through the kitchen, but Kingsley shook his head.

"We can't," he whispered to his student. "Sirius and the others will hold them." They'll have to, Kingsley didn't add, but he saw the thought reflected on both his students' faces. Unlike everyone except for Francine, Kingsley had taken on two pupils for Mentoring, but he'd yet to regret a moment of it. Simon Edgecombe and Gabriel Binns were both bright kids, and they showed extraordinary promise.

However, they were both major parts of the reason why both Francine and Kingsley had been regulated to Group Two. They were to slip up the stairs and clear the top floor, where little resistance was expected. A good thing, too, seeing as how our students outnumber the full Aurors, the instructor thought darkly, gesturing for both his pupils to precede him. Francine had reached the far side of the kitchen already, and was peeking out around the edge. Her face was unhappy, and Kingsley got a glimpse of why when green light danced off the walls.

Then an explosion rocked the manor, and Kingsley knew it was time.

"Now!" he snapped, without waiting for Francine to give the word. But she wasn't the oldest of the Aurors for nothing (in age, not experience); Francine was already in motion. She hadn't lived so long through being slow.

The shouting sounded distant through the dust cloud. Kingsley pounded along behind his students, twelfth out of twelve in line to protect the others. He couldn't even see Francine anymore through the haze, but he hadn't heard any spells coming in their direction. A rainbow of light continued to show through the gloom, but the frequency of curses was lessening. Ten feet to the stairs.

From far away, Kingsley thought he heard someone shout Sirius' name. Immediately, Gabriel's steps faltered, making his Mentor almost slam into his back. Kingsley growled under his breath and shoved his student forward again. No time, he thought furiously. No time. No time. There weren't moments to spare. Figures were moving towards them through the gloom.

They reached the stairs and ran upwards.

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Sirius stuffed the parchment into his robe as he ran, throwing a shield up to strengthen Bill's as Lawrence dragged Christa out of the way. She regained her balance quickly, limping and snarling in pain, but shook off her student's offer of help.

"Not now," she snapped. "Get a shield--"

Power crackled and their shield buckled. Blackness flashed before Sirius' eyes, and he staggered, bumping into Scott before he could stop himself. Cold. Cold. Cold. Pain. Knowing who had destroyed the shield, Sirius forced a new one up just in time to see a flash of black light bounce off of it. Seconds later--an eternity later--he felt Bill, Tonks, and Christa join in.

Tonks was fast for a new Auror, and she seemed good under pressure. Still, she and the others seemed abnormally slow; only after that had registered in Sirius' mind did Scott and Lawrence get shields up. The Aurors retreated together, step by step and foot by foot, but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Even the Death Eater's spells seemed slow as the haze finally receded from the edges of Sirius' vision. The Mark was burning constantly. So close. Too close.

The Conmalesco, Sirius realized abruptly. Until that moment, he had not realized how strongly the potion had affected him...but it had. And Sirius could feel it in every move he made.

They were at the final doorway, and Scott threw it open as the Aurors continued to retreat. Instinctively, Sirius slid a step forward, knowing that he had to be last through the door. A half dozen Death Eaters were crowding the study now, though Voldemort was not amongst them. Sirius searched for the Dark Lord futilely, but gave up the effort quickly. He knew that he'd find Voldemort soon enough.

Someone swore.

"Look out!" Bill shouted, and Sirius saw him crumble to the floor. Immediately, Scott leapt to his side, and was felled by another curse. Tonks, Lawrence, and Christa dove through the door just as Sirius ducked a Killing Curse. Dropping into a roll, he let momentum carry him into the library.

Christa slammed the door shut, but it was of little use. A lightshow was already in progress within the library--there were at least another ten Death Eaters inside, including Narcissa Malfoy and both Baddocks. Spells flew everywhere and Aurors screamed; blood splattered Sirius in the face even as he realized that the floor was stained with it. "Take cover!"

Even as he said the words, Sirius realized that it was useless. There was nothing to take cover behind; save for the bookshelves, all the furniture was gone. They knew, he realized hollowly. They knew we were coming and we've followed his plan every step of the way. But there was no time to figure out how. Sirius could only swallow back the horror and start looking for ways to change the odds.

"Reducto!" Again, it was Bellatrix from the doorway. Christa crumbled, and Lawrence leapt for his unconscious Mentor.

"Offenvox!"

Lawrence collapsed right on top of her, twitching until Bill countered the curse for him. The redhead was bleeding from his right shoulder, but he was up again. That, however, was more than Sirius could say for Tonks as Narcissa's Cruciatus Curse broke through the Aurors lines and the young witch collapsed, screaming.

Again, Bill acted, throwing the torture curse aside even as Scott dragged Lawrence free, hauling him to his feet.

"Ennervate!" Sirius quickly fired the spell in Christa's direction and missed, then staggered as pain shot up his arm.

Tonks stumbled upright as Sirius struggled not to fall to his knees. Far behind him, he heard the spell:

"Rumperis!"

He would have recognized that voice anywhere, but power struck Sirius between the shoulder blades before he could react. A scream rose and was trapped in his throat by the pain; he could not stop himself from falling. Someone shouted his name, but blackness closed in.

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"Nothing here!"

"Clear!"

Ackerly stuck his head in the last cell. "Empty!" he growled, then turned to face the others. "These cells don't look like they've been occupied in years," the son of former Auror Sam Ackerly commented, shaking his head. "But if there was no one here, who--"

He never had time to finish his question before gray hands loomed out of the darkness and fastened around his neck. Ackerly hardly had time to scream as the Dementor swooped down.

"Expecto Patronum!" Frank roared just a second too late.

Freezing cold and rattling breathing. Ackerly collapsed as a pack of Dementors swooped out of the storage area behind the cells--the unlikely area that the Aurors had saved to search last. The Aurors backed up as the Dementors closed, and Frank's Patronus faltered and then disappeared. Several others, including Alice, cast their own, but it was too little, too late--the Dementors were upon them and everything was cold--

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"I think we're good," Joyce Rogers said cautiously, making Francine frown. Immediately, Kingsley arched an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged.

"Nothing," his senior replied. "But we've got one room to go. Let's not get cocky, people."

"I've got it," Kingsley rumbled, gesturing towards his students. "Come along, you two."

Binns and Edgecombe followed without complaint, but Kingsley had read the worry in Francine's eyes. Yes, Group Three had been sent where the least resistance was expected, but this was a little...simple. There had been nothing but furniture upstairs, nothing but dust. Frowning, Kingsley stepped around the corner, with both his students on his heels.

His head turned just in time to see Lucius Malfoy smile, raise his wand, and Apparate away. A split second later, Olive Hornby and Ronald Nott did the same.

"What the--" he started, then cut himself off.

Kingsley's head snapped around on instinct alone. There was a suspicious lump only a few feet away from him, right between where Kingsley stood and where Malfoy had been. There were others, his objective mind reported even as training set alarms off in his head. In the other rooms. Identical dust covered lumps. Something magical was eating at the edge of his consciousness. Something was about to happen.

"RUN!"

Kingsley had not the time to wait. Not the time to do anything more than warn the others and shove his students towards the exit. Still, those few seconds took too long, and even as he raised his wand to Apparate away, the Riddle House exploded.

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The ceiling came down with a crash, burying Aurors and Dementors alike. Something hit Alice in the head, and she heard Nicole Madley scream--only to be cut off as a giant square of concrete crushed her. Alice reached out for her student, blind in the sudden dark and choking on dust. But her hands grasped only emptiness; Dana was nowhere to be found. "Dana?" she croaked, but the words turned into a cough.

Answering wheezes came from close by.

Cold.

She shivered and felt bony hands touch her shoulder.

"Go, Alice. Frank and Neville need you...and so does the world. Our world needs you far more than it needs a tired old woman."

"Louise..." she whispered, pleading.

Death Eaters came around the corner, no more than thirty feet up the hallway. Both witches jumped, but it was Louise who spun quicker, aiming her wand at the intruders and firing off curses.

"Go, Alice!"

Alice wrenched away from the Dementor, and felt something fly through the air. A strange rattling umph followed, and the creature was suddenly gone. Others were sharing equally close calls, and Alice heard someone cry out in terror.

"Expecto Patronum!" a female voice bellowed, and a giant white light filled the basement. The form dissipated too quickly for Alice to recognize its shape, but she did know the voice. Cornelia Crouch's Patronus drove the Dementors back, and in its light Alice saw Frank stagger to his feet.

Seeing her husband goaded Alice into action. "Everyone upstairs!" she shouted. "Reform behind the house!"

She had no idea what had made the ceiling fall in, but whatever it was, there was no way that the upper floors were safe. They had to get out, and it had to be fast, else more might die. Poor Nicole, Alice thought sadly, sparing one last glance for the crushed girl. Her body was in several pieces, some of which were next to--Alice swore. "Give me a head count!" she ordered, jumping over rubble to reach Missy Erickson's side.

"Got it," Frank said immediately, freeing Alice to care for Missy. Unlike her Nicole, Missy wasn't dead, but she was bleeding from her right temple and bruised all over. Nicole had taken the majority of the falling debris by sheer bad luck, and had inadvertently saved her Mentor's life by dying.

Alice forced the thought back and levitated Missy into the air. A few moments search revealed that Missy's wand was missing, and there simply wasn't further time to look.

"Where's Dawlish?" someone asked.

"Here!" Horace Smeltings piped up, waving his arms to get attention. "He's got it bad."

Jessica Avery swore.

"Is he alive?" Alice demanded, handing Missy over to Oscar and his student.

"Barely," Jessica replied. "We've got to get him out of here."

"Consider it done. I've got lead," Frank and Cornelia had already made it most of the way across the basement, but Alice could see dark shadows lurking in their wake. Oh, Merlin... She forced the urge to shiver aside. Casting a Patronus Charm traditionally forced Dementors to flee, but these Dementors had nowhere to flee to. There was only so much space in the basement, and the Aurors were about to run out of it.

"Outside!" she bellowed, swinging towards the threat. "Expecto Patronum!"

Dana, suddenly at her side, echoed Alice's effort, and the shadows slowed. Pounding footsteps signaled Alice that the others were moving, but unconscious comrades were hard to transport, and it would take time. Out of the corner of her eye, Alice saw Jessica and Horace break towards a hole in the wall, balancing a floating Dawlish between them. Oscar and Waters followed with Missy, but Frank and Cornelia were still rushing for the stairs, trying to convince the Dementors to follow them and buy the others time.

Time they did not have.

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"--Mali." Sirius wheezed as dust wormed its way up his nose, and he snorted it up immediately. He hated using Quick Heal, but it was the only option--especially with the roof caved in and the Death Eaters gone.

The leading Auror struggled to his feet, shouldering a broken bookshelf off to do so. Just seconds before the explosion, the Death Eaters had suddenly disappeared, blasting a hole in the front wall to escape. Just like Rodolphus and the others did. Bellatrix and her group had left before that, also fleeing. As if they knew this would happen. Sirius felt cold, and every bone in his body ached. Voldemort had been the last to go, but even he had Apparated out moments before the roof had come crashing down.

We've been betrayed, Sirius knew. But there still wasn't time to think of it.

"Everyone alright?" he asked, coughing again. Someone moaned in response.

"I think so," Tonks mumbled from his right, sounding groggy and dazed. However, the pain left her voice a mere second later. "Bill!"

The young Auror bent over her Mentor, who Sirius could barely see through the settling debris. Still, there was no missing the darker shade of red that suddenly stained Bill's hair, or the bloody gash that extended down the right side of his skull. Shiny white bone showed through the opening.

"Conscious," Christa gasped, struggling to her feet with Lawrence's help. "Both of us."

Terry Scott groaned from beside Sirius, who swore. Terry's face was split open, his nose was sliced in two, and blood disfigured his normally freckled features. He was the moaning one, Sirius realized. Moaning and bleeding.

"Stupefy," Sirius whispered, doing the only thing that could be done. He followed up the spell with a Blood Clotting Charm, but knew it wasn't enough. Clearing his throat, he turned towards the others.

"Through the hole," he commanded, pointing at the opening Narcissa and the others had left. "Protect our wounded, and prepare for battle."

The calm in his voice surprised even Sirius, for he didn't feel calm--though he was feeling a great deal less pain than he should have been. He ached, yet the Quick Heal seemed to have somehow solved the rest of his problems. And he did feel calm, in an adrenaline-induced kind of way. Prepare for battle, he wanted to snort at his own words. With four mobile Aurors and two critically wounded to carry, they had no choice but to be ready.

Shaking the thoughts away, Sirius rose to lead the others out of the Riddle House and into hell.

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"Cornelia!"

The first thing Alice saw upon stumbling out of the dusty blackness was her husband's student collapsing to the ground underneath Frank's flying tackle. The girl's long brown hair flew everywhere as she collapsed, but Alice caught a look of pain flash across her face. Frank immediately rolled aside, but it was already too late--the darkness had caught them.

And even when Alice started to turn, she knew that she had no time.

"Expecto Patronum!" three voices shouted, and white light surrounded Alice. An unearthly screech filled the air, making her instinctively clap her hands over her ears. Unfortunately, the effort did not help, and Alice had nearly let go of her wand in the process. And you're supposed to be experienced! she raged at herself, wanting to smash her head into the ground. But by the time she finished that thought, the screech had ended, and the light was gone.

The Dementors were gone. Alice stumbled uncertainly, echoes of nightmares flirting with her mind. No time for that! she snapped at herself, pulling her consciousness together. Alice turned her head so fast that it wrenched her neck. Eloise Hauntings, Simon Edgecombe, and Joyce Rogers sprinted up as Frank helped Cornelia to her feet; all three Aurors looked battered and shaken, but concentration kept their faces grim. Not far behind, Alice noticed Francine lying in the grass, as still as--

"What happened?" she asked breathlessly, not even bothering to thank the others. Thanks could come later--if they survived.

"Two shattered arms," Joyce replied, following Alice's gaze and nodding towards Francine. "She's unconscious, but she'll live."

"What about the others?" Frank demanded, still helping his student stand. Cornelia's face was tight with pain, and she'd splinted her right leg, but her eyes remained bright.

"We don't know," Hauntings replied quietly, biting her lower lip. "We only had a few seconds' warning, and everyone ran...and then the house exploded."

For the first time since the blast, Alice turned to look at the Riddle House. The once grand manor was now a smoldering ruin; as Alice watched, a second explosion rocked the night and the entire second floor collapsed down upon itself with a crash. The library seemed to disintegrate at the same time, sending wood, stone, and mortar flying outwards. There were numerous holes in the remaining walls, and sections of the house were still burning. The roof was in shambles, scattered around the yard, and the door Alice and the others had escaped through had completely disappeared. Hopefully, the Dementors were trapped behind the crumbled walls, but only time would tell. Even so, viewing the destruction made Alice wince and pray that there were no Aurors left inside. If so, there would be no survivors.

Taking a shaky breath, Alice glanced around. There were bodies strewn across the grass, some moving and many not. But there were live people rushing in their direction, and Alice suddenly realized that her group had blundered straight into a group of Death Eaters, led by Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Watch out!" Dana cried, and Alice felt a momentary twinge of guilt. Reeling from shock, she'd forgotten to make sure her student was all right, forgotten the most sacred tenant of Mentorship: Never stop watching. Fortunately, Dana was a resourceful girl, and perfectly capable of caring for herself...and for her Mentor, it seemed.

The seven Aurors dove to the ground as curses arched out at them, and Alice realized that the fun was only beginning.

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"Shit!" Tonks swore, crouching at her Mentor's side. If I'd thought this was bad before... They'd both been thrown by the second blast, and she'd ended up cart wheeling away from the Riddle House, only to end up on top of an overgrown rosebush. The sharp thorns, however, were the least of her concerns, and she sprinted to Bill's side. Her knees landed in his blood.

Bill's head was split open from the left ear to the middle of the part in his long red hair. Blood pulsated out of the crack at an alarming rate, bright and red and fresh. It stained the ground, her trousers, his hair...Tonks shook herself out of shock and forced her rolling stomach to behave. This is hardly a time to get sick! she told herself firmly. The sight of blood had always made her want to vomit, but her stomach could wait.

"Arcus!" she snapped, casting the first spell the came to mind. A Sealing Spell wasn't exactly meant to knit gaping head wounds, but it worked and the bleeding stopped. Only then did Tonks dare look around herself.

A very confused Fred Randolph hauled himself to his feet only an arm's length away from Tonks, staring at her like he'd never seen her before. She started to speak--then alarms went off in her head. Wasn't Fred part of Group Two? Tonks stared back, on the edge of panic. Wasn't he supposed to be upstairs?

"You--" she started.

His eyes were as big as bludgers. "I--"

"Get down!"

Sirius' voice thundered out as he rose from a smoke-coated spot in the gloom, stunning first one Death Eater, and then two. He twisted away from a curse, reaching down to drag Tom Lawrence to his feet with the other hand. Soon, their little knot of Aurors numbered five conscious and three unconscious--a bad ratio even if Death Eaters weren't coming on fast.

Yet they were. Led by a cold-looking Narcissa Malfoy, ten Death Eaters closed in on their isolated group. Goyle Senior, Crabbe Senior, Paul Parkinson, Samuel Chang, Osborne Blackwood, Thomas Everard, Daniel Frobisher and both Baddocks were firing curses at Tonks and the others, which made the Aurors dive for cover. Except there wasn't any--even Tonks' rosebush was flattened by now. She heard someone scream in pain, and then Leora Baddock collapsed, felled by Christa Gambledon's Reductor Curse. The uneven exchange continued for several further seconds before Sirius' voice rang out again:

"Get the wounded back!" he ordered, gesturing towards the Riddle House's wide stone wall. Unlike the manor, it was still intact, but that could be changed in a moment.

"Should we blast our way through?" Tonks yelled back, hardly hearing her own voice over the din.

"Not yet!"

Quickly, Tonks, Randolph, and Lawrence dragged the others back; Bill's head had stopped bleeding, but he was still in bad shape. Likewise were Terry Scott and Clara Smythe; Smythe looked like her back was broken and Scott's face was almost split in two. There was hardly time to think between nestling the wounded against the wall and diving back into the fray--Tonks had never cast spells so quickly in her life, and felt exhausted by the time she reached Sirius' side. Only then did she realize that he and Gambledon had been holding the ten Death Eaters back on their own...and that there were more enemies beyond the first group.

"Extundo! Capitiscindo! Contegorum! Crap!" Tonks cast the curses in quick succession and ducked as a Killing Curse nearly took her head off after Randolph ducked. "Stupefy!" It didn't hit.

Taking a chance, Tonks paused to glance around. The mansion was crumbling before her eyes--there was no time to look at that--and Death Eaters were everywhere. A set of red eyes stood out from the rest, and Tonks abruptly realized that Voldemort stood between the two groups of Death Eaters, the latter of which appeared to be battling more Aurors. The Dark Lord was taking potshots at both groups, and as red light lit the sky, Tonks identified Avery and Smeltings among the distant Aurors. They were just on the other side of the gravel drive, but for all it mattered, those five Aurors could have been on the other side of the globe. They, too, had wounded comrades, Tonks noticed distantly, spotting Kingsley Shacklebolt staggering towards two prone figures. Half of her instructor's body was covered in blood, and he seemed to be missing his right arm--

"Tonks!"

Had Gambledon not called her name, she'd have lost her head, and the young Auror wrenched her attention back to the battle. They were falling back steadily, now, and out of the corner of her eye she could see more Death Eaters approaching--just two, but they were Mulciber and Flint, Voldemort's pet assassins.

"Sirius!" she screamed his name, knowing who they had to be aiming for, and it was almost too late. The Aurors' leader threw himself aside as green light flashed in the air, landing directly in the path of someone's Strike Curse and being blasted straight off the ground again. He flew a dozen feet in the air before coming down, and Tonks thought she heard something crack.

But before she could act, he rolled up into a crouch and fired off a string of curses at the newcomers, hitting first Flint, and then Mulciber. A flick of his wand sent a giant tree flying through the air, but both Death Eaters jumped around it before the oak could take them out at the knees. Trying to watch as she targeted Goyle with a Decapitation Curse (what a tempting and large target he was), Tonks saw the assassins form a joint shield and keep coming. Seconds later, green light broke through that barrier and Mulciber fell.

Sirius was turning almost before the Killing Curse struck. "Pull them left!" he shouted, leaping to his feet and bolting forward. His long strides ate up the ground at a dizzying rate.

"What are you doing?" Christa yelled, but Tonks saw where he was heading. Sirius was running for Voldemort.

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"Alice!" Frank tackled her to the ground as green light flashed overhead, but was gone before she could even think about thanking her husband. The curse had been aimed by Rodolphus Lestrange, who Frank was now dueling with in earnest, trading deadly spells with and dodging every which way.

Spitting out dirt and blood, Alice rolled to her feet once more, risking yet another look around. Soon, she wished that she had not--Cornelia was still staggering, and Alice had no idea where the rest of her group had gone. Whitenack, Waters, Avery, and Smeltings were still nowhere to be seen. She hoped that they'd escaped with the injured Dawlish and Erickson, but there was no way to be sure. There was only time to fight.

Frank dove right even as Lestrange jumped behind Melinda Smith, who yowled in pain when Frank's Shocking Spell hit. Frank yelled something obscene at Lestrange, making Alice smile, but she soon had other problems on her mind. Problems named Anton Dolohov, William Jugson, and Bradley Jugson. All three were busy trying to cut Alice off from the others, and she had to act fast.

"Rumperis!" The Bone Breaker missed, but it made the younger Jugson jump aside, bumping into his father. William snarled, and Alice barely managed to duck his retaliation curse in time, aiming for his head with a Reductor and missing. "Vexameum!" This time, she tried for Dolohov, but the spell went wide of its mark.

There are too many targets! she raged helplessly. Too many targets and not enough time.

"Stupefy!"

Frank crumbled, and Alice leapt up to take his place. Behind her, Cornelia bent over to awaken her Mentor, but was almost decapitated for her troubles.

There were seven--now six--Aurors against eight Death Eaters--where had Mulciber and Flint gone? No time to wonder--and they were holding their own, but it was not enough. In the distance, she knew that her colleagues were outnumbered, and they had wounded to care for.

The only problem was that she didn't dare run until the others did. And until Sirius gave the word, all she could do was fight.

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"Everbero!" Waters thundered, standing straight and proud amid the carnage.

"You moron!" Oscar screeched, grabbing for his student and missing by at least a foot. The five of them were facing at least twice as many Death Eaters, and Voldemort was striding in their direction. This was no time for Waters to make himself into a target!

"Reducto!" Amanda Pieters' face was tight as she cast the curse, but that did not subtract from its power. Waters crumbled to the ground, hardly even making a sound in pain.

"Calvin!" Oscar leapt to his student's side and deflected the next spell--a Summoning Charm cast by a laughing Bellatrix Lestrange. Nobody's taking Aurors prisoner while I'm around, Oscar thought grimly. Especially not a student of mine! Bellatrix tried again, and Oscar attempted to retaliate with a Strike Spell, but she batted it aside with ridiculous ease, still laughing.

"Stupefy!" Jessica tried to his left, but that didn't hit either, though it did distract Bellatrix long enough for Oscar to drag Waters back.

He didn't have the energy to spare for a levitation charm, and probably wouldn't have cast one even if he did. If Calvin was dirty and sore when he woke up, that was the least of his problems--at least it might teach him to keep his head down next time. "I am so going to kill you," Oscar muttered darkly, pulling his student behind the others' impromptu line of defense. "Tomorrow. If we live."

Growling under his breath, he raised his wand. "Ennervate." Immediately, Calvin's eyes fluttered open, and they were full of pain. The younger man tried to move, but his arm flopped uselessly by his side, and Oscar could tell that he was struggling to breathe.

"Damn. Adficios Vos." There had to be internal injuries, but color flooded back into Calvin's face. "Cast a Quick Heal on yourself. It'll hurt like hell, but you'll be able to move," he ordered.

"I thought that was supposed to be for emergencies only--" Calvin started.

Oscar barked out a short laugh. "I'd say this qualifies. Now, let's get back into the fray."

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He never even saw the Death Eaters behind him until disaster struck. Sirius was on his feet and running almost before he realized it, with only one thought in mind: I can end this. I can end this now.

Voldemort's back was to him, but Sirius did not care much for honor. He was certain that the Dark Lord would turn before the last moment, anyway, and if he didn't, well, victory was victory. An end was all that mattered.

Less than fifty yards separated them, and Sirius was moving fast. His wand came up, zeroing in on his target, and Voldemort started to turn. Too late. The spell was on Sirius' lips when his world exploded in pain.

And all he was conscious of was the laughter once he hit the ground. Dark and cold laughter. Pain and blackness. Sirius felt broken bones grind together as he rolled, but he did not even want to know what the injuries were. Without thinking, he cast a Quick Heal on himself, stacking it on top of the one he'd cast only a few minutes before--has it really been that little time?--and praying that they would hold. Energy flared through his body, and Sirius staggered to his feet.

He was caught in the crossfire. Half of the group he'd been facing before had spun to engage him, and Voldemort was laughing while his companions spun to do the same. Sirius threw a quick curse in Frobisher's direction and watched the short man stumble and fall face first into the ground, but he was up fast enough. Goyle and Warren Baddock kept firing curses from his left, and suddenly Bellatrix, Travers, and both Moons were closing from the right. Sirius swore and dove, but there were too many wands tracking him, and something hit again.

"Avada Kedavra!" he snarled, aiming for Bellatrix and missing. As the curse sailed by her, it almost struck Jessica Avery, but the Auror managed to twist aside just in time.

"Rumperis!"

"Pulverulentus!"

"Iugulra!"

"Crucio!"

"Vexameum!"

Sirius tried to roll aside, but there wasn't time. The Throat Cutting Spell was the only one that missed, and it tore a gash in his right arm that immediately made his fingers go numb. His wand toppled from his hand, and Sirius' world exploded in bone-shattering and shaking pain. To make matters even worse, a cloud of dust formed around him that made him cough and choke, struggling impossibly to breathe. From outside the dust came another Bone Breaker, and Sirius felt ribs burst. Helplessly, he screamed.

Every nerve was on fire--it felt as if his bones were trying to jerk out of his skin, as if his limbs were trying to spasm their way off of his body. Blackness edged in on his vision and dust crept up his nostrils. It hurt to cough, hurt to think. Beyond it all, though, he felt Voldemort approaching, and he heard the laughter. Cold laughter, telling him that he was out of time.

He could not focus. All that mattered was pain.

"No!"

He shouted the word out loud, forcing himself to concentrate before he could die. All of a sudden, the world snapped into focus, and the dust cloud diminished. The searing pain of the Cruciatus Curse went away. Slowly, the world came into focus.

The night sky was a rainbow of colors: purple, red, blue, black, green, and white all at the same time. Bits of silver and orange flame worked their way in and out of the collage, and smoke sought to blot it all out. Shouts and screams filled the air, some in pain and some in triumph. Sirius was vaguely aware of the battle that continued to rage around him, but everything hurt. His body would not respond--even breathing was hell, and he could only lay there and cough. Blood came up, spraying up his nose and into his eyes. Sirius blinked, but it seemed to take all of his strength.

Voldemort was still approaching. Twenty feet, perhaps, was all that separated the two.

"It is time, Sirius," the Dark Lord said softly. "Time to end it all."

The words cleared the fog from his mind, and Sirius rose to his feet. Movement burned, and his body did not want to respond--but it did not matter. Show no pain. Sirius knew that he had internal injuries, knew that his body had rejected the Quick Heal and was trying to die, but... Nothing mattered but the moment.

Voldemort stopped and stared.

Sirius opened his right hand, and felt broken fingers protest. Show no pain. His wand jumped into his open palm.

Fifteen feet apart, the two faced each other in silence.

Breathing was impossible, but then again, so was this. His vision swam, but Sirius forced himself to be still. He simply stood, and waited. Waited not for an end, but for something. Air rattled in his chest, and Sirius knew that he did not have much time. Still, he waited. There was only one way to end this, and they both knew what that would be. Show no pain. He did not know if he could move through the agony, but the one thing he was certain of was that Voldemort did not know, either.

The Dark Lord nodded slightly--almost a show of respect--and Sirius realized what it meant seconds too late. Too late. The world exploded again, and his body twisted around as the curses hit.

There were too many of them to count. Bone Breaker. Strength Stealer. Cruciatus and Cruciatus again. Hammer Curse. Choking Spell. Dark Body Lock. Carnificius, just for variety. Imperius, which bounced away when deflected by something else. More and more. He could not identify them.

Desperate, Sirius forced his body to roll, not even having the strength to scream in pain. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing or not, but he rolled...and the spells tracked him. Distantly, he noticed that Voldemort had not targeted him. The other was merely watching. Watching and waiting.

--------------

Tonks' head snapped around as a dozen curses arched out and Sirius collapsed. Almost every Death Eater in the vicinity had turned away from the Aurors to target their leader, and Voldemort was hardly a dozen feet away from Sirius--to her left, Christa crumbled to the ground, clutching her ribcage and dropping her wand.

Sirius rolled away, but the Death Eaters tracked him. Randolph managed to stun Warren Baddock, but there were still so many.

"We've got to get him out of there!" Lawrence shouted at her, but what could they do? They weren't even full Aurors

Tonks glanced around frantically, but Randolph was busy trying to help Christa and everyone else that was senior to her was unconscious--except for Sirius, and he was still down, not moving now...

'Anyone can order a retreat,' Bill had hammered into them during training. When things get too bad, when you know that we can't win, you just do what you have to do. No matter what. Deep breath. Duck a curse, and raise the wand.

A split second later, a giant gong sounded in the air, over and over again, for twenty seconds. Pink light flashed in the sky, silhouetting the moon in a strangely bright color, and Tonks saw heads turn. The Pink Gong, Bill had called it, and she'd wondered where he'd gotten his sense of humor, but it worked. The Pink Gong was the Case Zulu for this mission, when everyone had to get out and get out fast.

Even as the gong sounded, Sirius staggered to his feet again. How is he--?

"Let's go!" Randolph cried, probably not knowing who sent the message. Moments later, he was gone. But Tonks hesitated, watching Sirius twist right, moving entirely too smoothly for what had to be wrong with him, and send a curse arching in Voldemort's direction.

"Now, Tonks!" Christa gasped, yanking on her arm. "Grab your Mentor and go!"

A curse struck Sirius and he stumbled, and then raised his wand. Within the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

It was all the encouragement Tonks needed. Rushing to Bill's side, she grabbed his hand and his wand, and Buddy-Apparated the two of them to Avalon.

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