The Worm That Turned

Chapter 5 - Battle for the Pillar

Despite his distraction with Lily, he must have slept after all, because suddenly he was being jerked awake by a stab across his Mark as vicious as the one he'd used to rouse Lucius. He grabbed for his wand and sat up, eyes adjusting to the vision through his mask. The sky was still dark. Lucius and Potter were visible in the light from the Pillar, standing at the crest of the hill with their wands up. There was the sound of a commotion coming from somewhere out in the darkness. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to Lucius, his own wand ready. Lily was right behind him. 'What's happening?' he hissed.

'The destroyers have turned up,' said Lucius shortly, his voice still distorted. 'Look.'

The Ministry camps were visible, lit up more brightly with several magic orbs. Moving amongst the tents were figures in the robes and hoods of Death Eaters. 'You lied to us!' gasped Lily, moving her wand.

Lucius grabbed it before she could do anything. 'Those aren't Death Eaters,' he snapped.

'How do you know?'

'We have ways of knowing.' He glared at her a moment longer and then released her wand. 'Obviously the Ministry aren't going to send people with 'Ministry employee' on the back of their robes. They're trying to pin this on us, remember?'

Severus watched with a growing sense of dread. 'They're making pretty short work of the 'guards'.' He glanced at Lily. 'Let's hope they haven't decided that a spot of extra murder will help their cause further.'

'Don't talk to me about murder, Death Eater,' she returned.

Potter suddenly grabbed their robes and pulled them back. 'Come on, get back, we don't want them to see us,' he hissed. 'We're massively outnumbered. We counted at least twenty. Three will be our people - provided they managed to do what they planned to, but that's not enough. We need to do something, and fast. What about the protective charms? Which one of you was the one who thought that would be a good idea?'

'I did,' said Severus. 'I think we should go for an anchored static protection charm.'

'A what?' asked Lucius irritably.

'It's a strong protective charm that you attach to something at several points, so it forms a case - a bubble, if you like. We could each take a corner, and anchor it to the ground. The Pillar would push it up and out, creating a dome around itself. As long as it held, it would offer protection against magic and even against physical encroachment to some degree.' He looked instinctively at Lily. 'What do you think?'

'What if the Pillar sucks the magic in instead of pushing it out?' asked Lily.

'Then we've lost nothing.'

She shrugged and nodded. 'It's worth a try. But it will be very hard to work a spell like that, this close to the Pillar. It will take a lot of charms skill.' She cast her husband a slightly doubtful look.

'It only needs one of us to actually anchor it. If the others can just hold onto it, the more skilled charms workers can anchor their own, and then run back and help the others.'

Lily shook her head. 'The last will be the hardest to place. You can't leave the weaker members holding it. One of us will need to go back and help, and then the other will have to anchor the charm last.'

'I am still here you know,' said Potter, glaring at Severus even though Lily had been excluding him just as much. Severus felt a warm glow of triumph. 'I'm not that bad at charms, in fact, I'm pretty good. Of course I can hold it.'

'And I can,' chipped in Lucius, also sounding a little hurt. 'What's the incantation?'

The question sparked a brief debate between Severus and Lily about what the best spell would be, with Potter adding unhelpful comments of his own. Lucius wandered away, keeping an eye on their opponents. He Marked Severus, 'They've subdued all the guards. Now they're regrouping at the base of the hill. There are loads of them! Shit!'

'Keep your cool,' Severus Marked back, thinking it probably wasn't the time to remind Lucius whose idea this had been.

They settled on the incantation, and spread out to four corners of the hill. They stood close to the brow, as far from the Pillar as they could go without starting down the slope. Severus and Lily performed the charm first, and after a moment, a bright line like lightning leapt from each of their wands to join up in the middle. He felt a thrill at being so connected, but couldn't dwell on it. The spell was taking all of his concentration to keep going. The Pillar's force was driving the magic downwards, trying to earth the spell before he could complete it. There was a shout from the base of the hill - they'd been seen. Time was short.

He felt a jolt from behind, and realised Lucius had also successfully cast the spell. Glancing across at Lily, he saw a similar bright band linked her and Potter. It was ready. He nodded to Lily, before drawing in all his concentration, and carefully bringing his wand tip down to the ground. It took him almost thirty seconds to anchor the spell, something that he could have done near instantly under normal conditions. As soon as he was sure it was attached, he pulled away his wand and ran back to Lucius.

His friend was on his knees, gripping his wand with both hands. His knuckles were white and Severus knew that sweat would be pouring down the usually calm face. He touched his wand to Lucius', helping him draw it down the rest of the way to the ground, anchoring it. Once it was attached, Lucius slumped onto the ground, chest heaving with exertion. Severus turned and immediately ran to Potter. The longer this went on, the harder it would get for Lily, holding the whole spell on her own.

Potter had remained on his feet, though like Lucius he'd placed both hands on his wand. His face bore an expression of noble suffering that he probably practiced in the mirror. Severus was sorely tempted to trick Potter, perhaps taking the strain and then letting it slip back. It would be like flicking a rubber band in Potter's face. But the backlash could hurt Lily, and the Ministry people might start up the hill at any moment, so he restrained himself.

Fixing the spell to the ground was very hard, and it took three tries before he got it. He had to admit that Potter's grip on it was very good, and without it he probably couldn't have anchored it at all. But there was no time to think about anything, because as soon as he knew the spell was anchored, he was on his feet and running to Lily. He could hear Potter behind him.

Lily had screwed up her face in effort, and seemed to be holding her breath. She stood, feet apart, back ramrod straight, her whole frame rigid and trembling with effort. Her hands shook violently as they grasped her wand, but if you looked more closely, it was more a case of Lily's hands shaking the rest of her body as her wand twitched and jerked in the powerful magical forces. He said her name, holding out his wand, and she opened her eyes to look dead into his.

Their wandtips touched and he gasped, 'Together!' Wands together, not breaking eye contact for a second, they drew the spell down, inch by inch. He knew Potter was somewhere beside them, but he couldn't see him. The whole world had narrowed down to just Lily, and the spell they held between them. He stared into those beautiful green eyes, never wanting to look away. It was almost a shock when his hand grazed the grass.

Anchoring the spell took all their effort, with Lily holding it and him tacking it down bit by bit. Once he'd got it loosely connected, he ran back round again, thinking how Flitwick would be proud of his use of the rules of thaumostasis. When he felt the magic stop twisting, he stopped. A pulse from the invisible dome now stretching up beside them and over the Pillar told him they'd succeeded.

But there was no time to relax or congratulate each other. The fake Death Eaters were halfway up the hill, and Potter and Lucius were rushing forwards to meet them. 'Get back!' yelled Severus. 'Get back, behind the shield!'

Potter, obviously realising the sense in this, ran back, but Lucius hesitated. Severus realised why. The Ministry people were advancing up the side of the hill where the broom was hidden. Their escape route would be cut off. Someone threw a jinx at Lucius and only his quick reflexes saved him. Swearing, Severus ran to join his friend, shoving past Potter. He tried to curse the wizard at the forefront of the little vanguard, but the spell misfired, jerking his wand up and almost out of his hand. Sweating now, he just managed to retain his grip.

Lucius had cast a makeshift shield charm across himself now and was retreating in an undignified scramble back up the hill. Severus ran forwards. 'Go! Go back!' he Marked his friend.

Wand up and ready, he got ready to engage the advancing group. They had the look of Aurors, he realised, all dark clothing and lithe movement. He fired off a volley of spells to cover Lucius' retreat. Two of them responded, and the next moment he was duelling three at once. He duelled silently, always his trademark, pre-empting their moves. He had an advantage in being more familiar with the distorting effect of the Pillar's magic. But they were good, and he was outnumbered, and he was being forced back. He'd have liked to have turned tail and run, but they'd have brought him down before he got a pace. His only hope was to inch back up the hill to the shield dome.

As they got higher up, the duel became slower as all the participants struggled with the spells. A shield charm turned into a rebounding wall of force that nearly decapitated him. He ducked just in time, thanking Lucius' physical training for something at last. But there was no recovery time; his opponents had already tried to cut in with more jinxes, and if both had been successful one would have caught him. Luckily the second wizard misjudged the forcefield's effect and the spell exploded at the tip of his wand, causing him to fall back, cursing.

Severus gained a few more feet of hill, and could feel the ground levelling under his feet. Just in time, because more people were looming out of the darkness towards him now. He summoned all his power, and threw out a powerful Knock-Back jinx, which was enough to send the nearest four people tumbling. He sprinted back up the hill and threw himself onto the grass inside the shimmering distortion of the protective wall.

'That was too damn close!' gasped Lucius, whom he realised had pulled him through the shield.

Looking back, Severus could see the Ministry forces approaching on all sides, their faces strangely blurred as though viewed underwater. 'Is that thing going to hold?' asked Lucius.

'Never against all of them,' replied Severus. 'We'll have to get close to the Pillar and try to duel our way out. The only other option is to try and run, but there's too many...'

'No,' said Lucius, staring at the approaching enemy. 'No, there is another way.' Without warning he ran to the left, and grabbed Lily, who was standing ready in the face of the advancing Ministry forces. She gave a shriek of terror, and Severus jumped between her and Potter, wand out, to stop his enemy interfering. 'Stop! Stay back or the mudblood gets it!' shouted Lucius, wand on her throat. 'I mean it! You've seen what we Death Eaters can do - real Death Eaters! Don't make me blow her up!'

The people outside the bubble had stopped. Potter was yelling abuse, telling Lucius to let Lily go, cursing them and himself for trusting Death Eaters. Lily herself was still and calm, and still holding her wand. She could probably free herself if she wanted to, so Severus took it as a sign she was playing along. Lucius shouted again, 'Back off! Back away, or I will kill her!'

Some of them were obeying, moving away, but Severus knew it was hopeless. How long before an Auror noticed where her wand was and put two and two together? Or decided that it was worth the risk to rush them anyway? He gave it a minute at most. Still covering Potter, he silently prepared himself to duel. Once the fake Death Eaters broke through, there was every possibility that Potter would switch and fight alongside them, forgetting his desire to protect the Pillar in his desperation to harm the two Death Eaters. He didn't fear for Lily - he was certain Lucius wouldn't be able to carry out his threat and kill her in person, even assuming she didn't manage to stop him anyway.

Then something odd happened. The distortion in the air increased, skewing the faces of those on the other side of the barrier. It looked as though their heads had been transplanted onto their knees. There was a whistling noise that had been increasing for some time, but became apparent all of a sudden. He could feel the magic in the air around, a sense of greasiness and tension. The air blurred more, rippling like water, becoming white. Little sparks of static electricity pinged off his hair and fingertips, causing him to jump.

Now the people on the other side of the bubble were retreating in earnest, running. Through an increasing wall of white noise, he heard someone shout, 'Get away, get away, it's going to blow!'

A sense of weight and oppression pushed him to his knees. He looked up to see the shield now clearly visible, glowing with a strange white light. Lightning crackled along it, radiating out from the Pillar. The Pillar itself was glowing like a search light, splitting the dark sky, and the ground itself was beginning to shake.

Lucius had released Lily, and she'd run to James. Now all four of them cowered, forced to the ground, staring open mouthed in terror at the disaster they'd managed to create. 'What's happening?' screamed Lucius, crawling to Severus. His eyes were wild, beyond terrified.

'I don't know!' Severus gasped back. 'We've done too much magic!'

'Should we run?' yelled Lucius, over the ever-increasing whistling. Bolts of blue-white light were spreading over the dome like cracks now.

'Through that!?' yelped Severus incredulously, who was suddenly facing realisation that he might be about to die here, on this hilltop. Watching Lily cling to Potter.

There was a strange dizzying sensation, as though they were on a roundabout. The whole hilltop seemed to twist, throwing the four erstwhile defenders of the Pillar outwards like a centrifuge. Severus hit the ground and rolled a short way down the hill, ears ringing. The shield had disappeared, and Severus vaguely thought they might have just experienced a Temporal Fluctuation. If he hadn't been petrified he might have found it fascinating.

But there was no time for analysing events. The 'shield' no long shimmered around them, instead silver white light, crackling with lightning, streamed from the top of the Pillar. It seemed like a small but intense electrical storm was gathering in the sky. There was a weird strobe effect, which made the world appear as a series of disjointed still images, like a badly animated cartoon. The ground was still shaking and an audible rumbling was coming from within the earth below. The whistling sound was louder than ever, drowning out everything else.

Severus looked around for Lucius but could see no sign of his friend. Movement caught his eye and he saw Lily close to the Pillar, sitting up and holding her ankle, her face contorted with pain. He began to crawl drunkenly up the hill towards her, disorientated by the flashing light. She saw him coming and moved for her wand, but he held up his own. 'We have to get out!' he shouted over the noise, pushing away her protesting hands and taking her ankle. It was swelling up - she must have twisted it when they were thrown.

'You can't use magic now!' she shrieked as he pressed his wand to the spot.

'I think it's a bit late for caution!' he replied, and sure enough, it felt easier to work the spell than he'd expected. It was as though all the power of the Pillar was now channelled upwards into the storm.

She gasped as she felt the healing charm work, but there was no time for thanks because at that moment a red jet of light skimmed them missing Severus by an inch. He threw himself to the side. As though in a stop motion animation he saw Potter fifty metres away, then closer, then Lily on her feet and running towards her fiancé. Severus began to run in the opposite direction, but at the crest of the hill he was faced with the sight of a ring of Ministry men at the bottom, wands ready. They had removed the Death Eater masks. He recognised Black, Lupin and Pettigrew among them, calling frantically to Lily and Potter. They must have been the other half of the Order's plan.

Lily and Potter were halfway down already, on their way to rejoining their friends and restoring the usual state of affairs. Lily half turned, looking back over her shoulder. Potter tugged her hand, shouted something to her. But Lily was looking up at Severus, then back at the Ministry forces, then at James. He could make out her reply, 'What about him?'

He didn't need to hear or lipread Potter's response to know that it was, 'He's a Death Eater! Now hurry up!'

Lily looked back at Severus again, a look of true desperation. At that moment a voice sounded in his head, surprisingly clear. 'Behind you, to the left!'

There was barely time to half turn and reach out before Lucius barrelled into him, hauling him onto the broom with what Severus recognised as a powerful gripping charm. Quidditch had finally proven to have a use in the real world. Who'd have thought? He clung on tightly, trying to find a safer seat, as Lucius sped away from the Pillar. 'Watch out!' warned Severus, as several jets of light exploded among them. Lucius jinked and swerved, just evading them.

Looking down, still trying hard not to slip sideways off the broom, Severus saw every remaining witch and wizard with their wands pointing up at them, trying to knock them from the sky. Holding on with one increasingly sweaty hand, he sent down a volley of powerful Stunners, causing them to scatter. Lucius was gaining height again, trying to zig-zag away. He would be heading for the higher ground of the valley sides, sufficiently far from the Ministry forces to land and disapparate.

A shape appeared in the darkness before them, a huge spectral form. Severus screamed before realising what it was. 'Thestrals! They've got thestrals!' He caught a glimpse of the man riding it, dressed in some sort of uniform, before Lucius jerked them round. Now they were heading back towards the Pillar, which was almost obscured in a crackling electrical storm. Volleys of spells continued to explode around them, and Severus nearly fell off as Lucius was forced to twist and dive in the air. 'What do we do?' asked Lucius, mixed in with a string of swearwords.

Another thestral loomed in front of them, its red eyes manic with fear, and Lucius went into a sideways drop of nauseating speed. Severus knew he wouldn't stay on the broom much longer. 'Apparate!'

'Off a moving broom? We'll both be splinched!' The broom dropped a foot as Lucius had to brake sharply to avoid another spell.

'It's our only choice. Go fast and on three, pull the broom round in a circle. I'll cast the spell. Go!' The last was screamed as a thestral flapped up right in front of them.

Lucius put on a sudden burst of speed, flying straight at the thestral. Severus understood the expression 'heart in your mouth' for the first time, as he counted down. He held his wand tightly with one hand, and managed to get the other arm firmly crocked around Lucius' waist. The thestral was metres away now, the rider's eyes showing white all around as the two Death Eaters on a broom barrelled towards him at breakneck speed. The thestral itself however remained still, every inch of its bony body now visible.

'Three!' Just as collision was inevitable, Lucius dragged the broom into a tight turn and Severus concentrated as hard as he could. Determination, deliberation, destination. There was a tearing sound in the air, a sickening lurch and a pop, and then a sense of falling. Moments later, he smashed into the ground and instantly everything went black.

Consciousness returned hazily at first, then with a sudden burst of clarity. He sat up, causing his head to spin so much he retched. Everything hurt, but he seemed to be alive, and not missing any limbs. Rounded grey shapes of tombstones were visible all around him. His ears thundered with tinnitus. He crawled over the ground to where another human shape lay, unmoving. 'Lucius, Lucius!' he groaned as he reached his friend. He touched the body, terrified that when he turned it he would find the front missing, splinched away.

When it turned, for a moment a shriek escaped his lips at the sight of it. The face had gone, replaced only by raw bone. He'd killed him! He'd killed Lucius! Then the bone moved, and rationality returned as he realised it was the mask. He pulled off the hood, revealing a groggy Lucius, coughing as he tried to sit up. Long red grazes were visible on Lucius' cheeks, and when Severus looked more closely at his own body, he realised his was the same, and their clothes were torn and ragged. There was a good reason no one apparated off of a moving broom. He closed his eyes momentarily. It was a miracle they were both alive.

He slumped down on the ground next to Lucius, and the two friends lay side by side, exhausted and aching, staring up at the night sky. After a few minutes, Severus spoke through slightly bleeding lips, 'Next time you want to protect our heritage, count me out.'

Before Lucius could reply, a face appeared above them, silhouetted against the stars. A cruel face, with a reddish hue to the eyes. 'Well if it isn't the heroes,' it said, in the precise and deadly voice of the Dark Lord. 'Get up. It is time to explain yourselves.'