The Choices We Make

The Choices We Make

Chapter 1--The Fallen

July 1991

Gringotts Bank was one of the oldest and most elegant wizarding structures in London. The white marble was intricately carved and finely polished. Miles of tunnels beneath London made up the majority of the structure, wrapping around the London underground and in some areas, spanning beyond the barriers of the city itself. Gringotts was like a city of its own, populated by goblins. A quiet break from the chaos of Diagon Alley outside. And unlike many other buildings of the wizarding world, there was nothing rickety or abnormal appearing about it. This structure could stand even if magic were to fall. It was common knowledge that this bank was the safest place in the wizarding world, except perhaps for Hogwarts. It was crafted to stand through anything.

This assumption was about to be tested. Word had spread that Gringotts held something of special value--of immense power. Something that Voldemort wanted. Breaching the bank was no easy matter, so it wasn't as though a threat like this could honestly be taken seriously. The Ministry of Magic sent a few first-year aurors and one veteran to guard the bank, more to quiet the public than anything. No need to waste manpower, when the more skilled in the department were needed elsewhere. In the past, many people had tried to try to steal from the goblins. In the past, they had all been caught.

But that was the past, and this time was different. Early that morning, the silence was broken as screams were heard just outside of the building. The doors swung open, and twenty men in black cloaks and featureless white masks swept into the bank. A full detachment of Death Eaters. No one had seen this coming. The main lobby broke into echoing screams as terrified witches and wizards tried to flee. Before any could reach the entrance, the main doors were firmly shut by an elegantly dressed wizard. With a flick of his wand, the lock was set as he casually turned to address the panicking crowd. He was a Death Eater, like the others, although his face wasn't hidden behind a mask. He hid nothing. Even the sleeves of his robes were rolled up, so the dark mark was clearly visible on his left forearm. His cold grey eyes scanned the group, as he slowly walked to the front of the detachment, his silver and black boots clicking on the marble floor.

The room fell silent as he stopped in the center of the lobby and motioned toward one of the goblins. "You. I am making a withdrawal. Vault seven hundred-thirteen."

The goblin didn't seem perturbed. "Do you have a letter?"

The man smiled coldly. "What do you think?" Without waiting for a response, he turned back to the Death Eaters. "Take the vault. Kill anyone and anything that gets in your way..." He paused, his grey eyes glittering. "And remember, we aren't here to have fun."

The Death Eaters attacked just as a side door burst open and the aurors moved into action. But effective action was difficult for nine inexperienced first-years. They only seemed to be adding to the fear and chaos. The first bolt of green light was in the back of the bank. A young red-haired wizard fell.

Marcus Stanton, the only experienced auror on the premises, cursed under his breath. This was going to be a massacre if they didn't do anything soon. He'd told Crouch that they needed to take this rumor seriously, but the Minister had refused to listen. Rumors were rumors, but if they involved Sirius Black, there was always enough truth in them to act.

Stanton grabbed the auror nearest to him by the collar, and dragged her down as she was almost hit by a rogue Crucius curse. More bodies fell. The sick thing was that the screams gave him hope. The Death Eaters weren't killing immediately. But that wouldn't last. Black didn't play games.

Several of Stanton's team were already retaliating, crouched behind counters, blasting stun spells when they could get a clear shot. Five Death Eaters actually went down. Too bad there were fifteen more. The other aurors were just trying to keep casualties down by dragging bystanders out of the way. This group deserved an award. They may have started slow, but even Stanton was impressed by their quick responses now that it counted.

The chaos was finally dying down enough for Stanton to notice Black's absence. His eyes roved across the devastation until he spotted several fallen goblins and an open door behind the main counter. "Shit! He's in." Stanton turned to the blonde auror beside him. "Keep the situation under control out here." Then he dove into the chaos once more, shooting off both defensive and offensive spells as he ran for the door. He almost stumbled over one of the goblins' bodies, lying in his path. This one seemed to have put up a fight, and had lost a hand in the process. Stanton didn't let it phase him. He'd seen worse.

A woman's voice rang out from where he'd been moments before. "Hold them back! Black's through! Jackson, you lead!" She was behind Stanton again in moments.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Her defiant eyes flashed red. He should have seen this coming from her. "Like hell I'm going to let you try to take down Black by yourself. Even you can't do that alone."

He'd have throttled her if he hadn't known she was right. The greying man glowered at her before breaking into a run toward the carts. One was already missing. No surprise there. He hopped into the next one. "Get in," he growled. "If you so much as make a sound that puts us in danger, you'll be out of active duty for as long as I can swing it."

She nodded and got in. The ride was wild. They moved faster than the carts were supposed to go, and without the guide of a goblin. If Stanton hadn't made sure to learn to route to this particular vault as soon as he'd been assigned here, they'd have been lost. He didn't waste time wondering how Black had found out. Somehow Black always found out. That was why when they finally stopped, even though only goblins were supposed to be able to open high security vaults, Stanton wasn't surprised to see Black had found a way past that particular security system. The door wasn't open yet, but he could hear the locks clicking free.

Black dropped the goblin's now useless hand to the ground as he drew his wand and aimed. "Avada Kedavra!"

Stanton threw himself out of the way at the last second. His newly acquired partner strategically tripped at the right time and landed on top of him. Stanton shoved her off and rolled to his feet before Black had another spell out. The contents of the vault would be his in moments. He had to be stopped immediately.

"Petrificus totalis!"

Black laughed and sidestepped it, nodding casually to Stanton. He sent another death curse toward the auror, who was already diving behind the cart. Obstacles didn't stop Black.

"Inflammarae!"

The cart was up in flames, and Stanton was forced to dodge again. "Magum reflectorae!"

Stanton's reversal spell was perfectly timed, as Black had just sent a death curse toward him one final time. Even though the force of the spell did throw Stanton's wand out of reach, it was hard not to enjoy the moment as Black was forced to hit the ground to avoid dying by his own magic. But even this was short lived. Black rolled to a crouch even as the vault door began creaking open. He made a move for it, and ran into a barrier. It took Stanton a moment to realize what had happened.

Unfortunately, Black noticed the girl a moment sooner, just as she completed setting the ward on the door. Stanton struggled to his feet. A twisted knee, and his wand had flown at least ten feet away, somewhere into the shadows. If he didn't find it quickly enough, the girl would be dead.

She managed to dodge the first two of Blacks death curses, stumbled out of the way of a third, and by sheer luck, deflected a fourth. But she was wearing down, and Black was losing patience. He didn't have time to break down a ward with two aurors bearing down on him. So, he needed to kill its creator to get his prize.

"You're fast," he commented, shooting another spell. "I'll give you that little girl. But if I can't kill you quickly--" He changed stance and finally hit her with a Crucius curse. "--then I'll have to resort to dirty work."

She immediately dropped to the floor in pain as he sent a second and third in rapid succession. Only after he was sure she could no longer move, did Black come over to her and crouch beside her trembling body. "Word to the wise. The Crucius curse has a wide range. Even you aren't fast enough to dodge it. Although, I must say, I'm impressed. I haven't had to resort to that spell in ages." He lowered his wand until it was touching her forehead. She was too weak to move. "I don't think I'll miss this time."

Stanton finally spotted his wand, but he knew it would be too late. He saw the girl's head slowly raise. Her eyes were glossed in pain and her focus was waning. As he watched, the pain forced young morphomagus to shift into her natural form. Short, black hair brushed her shoulders as her own grey eyes met his.

Stanton couldn't understand what happened next, but suddenly Black's wand was down, and he was on his feet, backing away from her. The older auror didn't waste time worrying about it. Whatever she'd done, it had bought him the time he needed. Stanton swung his own arm up, muttering to himself, "Forgive me," before resorting to an auror's last resort. "Avada Kedavra!"

Something was wrong with Black. It was as though time had momentarily stopped for him, and by the time he realized he was being attacked, a defensive measure was impossible. If it had been anybody else, Stanton knew that the Death Eater would have been dead. But it was Black. And he'd managed to apparate a second before the spell hit him. This time, however, it wasn't about catching Black. The vault was protected, and they were both alive. That was what mattered right now.

Stanton limped over to the fallen auror. She was still too weak to even sit up. He knelt beside her. "Don't try to move. We'll apparate you to St. Mungo's. You'll be fine in no time."

She was still staring where Black had been. Stanton followed her gaze. "Listen," he said, "what did you do to get him to back off like that?"

She didn't tear her eyes from where he'd been standing moments before. "Nothing. He just looked at me and..." Her voice trailed off, as though she were trying to figure something out.

"Tonks?"

She finally looked at him. "He called me my mum's name."
"What?"

Tonks shook her head. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense to me either, but that's what he did. He just backed off when I looked at him and called me Andromeda..."