Lily could tell that Septimius was following her, calling out 'Lisa' breathlessly, until his shouts were completely subsumed by panting. To an outside observer, it would have seemed that Lily was running blindly, but in reality she was trying to make a beeline to the seventh floor, where the Room of Requirement was. Unfortunately, on the first floor she was stopped by a group of adults. Rather, she nearly ran headlong into them.
"Ms. Rushman, what's gotten into you?" Professor McGonagall asked. To her horror, the Professor was joined by none other than Albus Dumbledore, along with another wizard.
"Explosions… dungeons…" Septimius gasped.
Now, all eyes turned on them, and Lily found herself in an awful position. She couldn't bring more fire down on her dad, but there was no way out of this situation. If she lied, she could easily be found out. No matter what she said, attention would be drawn down to the dungeons.
"I don't know what's happening!" She said quickly, injecting panic into her voice. "Professor Riddle told me to run. He said that the entire castle was in danger. He was fighting a wizard, but its all a blur. I'm sorry!"
"It seems that Gellert was right." Dumbledore said. "The attack on Godric's Hollow was a feint."
"But for what purpose? We don't have anything of value down there, do we?" The other wizard asked.
"Other than a quarter of our students, Mr. Shacklebolt?" Minerva asked.
Kingsley Shacklebolt went rigid. "Do you think they're targeting the students? Should I post guards to the dorms?"
"See to it, Kingsley." Dumbledore said. "I will-" At that moment, a hawk patronus materialized in front of Dumbledore. "We have intruders in the facility." Lily Snape's voice said. "I should have them in hand, but they've compromised our subjects."
"It seems." Dumbledore said heavily. "That we're being stretched in all directions. Minerva, Kingsley, see to the safety of the students. I will assist Riddle. Gellert is securing Godric's Hoallow, but I'll direct him to help Lily when he is able."
The wizards went their separate ways, while Professor McGonagall looked down at Lily and Septimius, not unkindly. "Where can I go, Professor?" Lily asked.
McGonagall frowned. "I would suggest another House's dorms, but its possible that none of them are safe." She mulled the problem over for a heavy moment. "For the time being, you two can take shelter in my office. As soon as the situation is in hand, you may return to your dorms." Her words were meant to be reassuring but Lily could see the uncertainty in her, and the impatient briskness in her pace. If she hadn't been trying to keep up appearances, she may well have been running as quickly as Lily had just been. The Professor was rattled. Good.
She led them to her office, and spent several minutes warding the door, and then the walls. She was more than rattled, she was terrified. Terrified for them. "There, you should be safe." She said finally. "I will check on Gryffindor tower. Please stay here until I return."
The two teens nodded dutifully. "Yes, professor." Septimius said, even as McGonagall was turning on her heel. She shut the door behind her. Then, Lily heard a harsh gasp, and the soft thud of a body hitting the floor.
"Professor?" Septimius asked, fear in his voice. "Are-are you still there?" No response. "Professor?" He tried again, reaching for the door handle.
"Are you crazy!" Lily hissed- too late. Septimius opened the door, revealing McGonagall's crumpled form on the floor.
"Oh Merlin." Septimius moaned. He was clearly useless in a crisis. "Is she dead?" This poor sheltered boy. While Septimius panicked, Lily's mind was whirling. What could have killed her so quickly, so soundlessly, so cleanly? She wished she knew more about magic, so she might know what she was be up against.
"Shut the door, get back!" She whisper-hissed. Septimius stumbled back, reaching for the door handle. Something glided into her field of view. She saw a flash of yellow, and the entire world seemed to curl around that color. She'd never seen anything so yellow as those eyes.
-----
"Why don't you enlighten me?"
Harry allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction. He hadn't been sure it would have worked out this way. If his timing had been off, if Riddle hadn't risen to his bait, he could be facing two of the most powerful wizards in the world right now.
Well, he still was facing two of the world's most powerful wizards, but at least they'd be pre-occupied with each other. Harry had seen the two of them duel once before, when he had been fifteen. The two archmages had seemed so unattainable then, wielding magic like a paintbrush on canvas. He remembered some of that awe now, as Dumbledore unleashed his opening barrage. The blades streaked forward, cracking through the air with a noise not dissimilar to apparation. Several of the blades shot at Harry. He deflected most of them, but one had been deliberately aimed to miss him, and sliced clean through his wand. If Harry'd had a moment, he would have marveled at the precision that took, to individually control each blade to such a degree. He didn't have a moment.
With a mental shrug, he tossed the splintered wand aside. Destroying his wand was a minor inconvenience, rather than a shattering handicap, but there was no reason to announce this to Dumbledore. Riddle had evaded the knives as well and responded with a barrage of killing curses. Dumbledore handled them as easily as Harry did, lifting up brick from the floor and launching the shrapnel back at Riddle. Unfortunately for Harry, he was roughly between the two wizards. He dove and rolled while placing a shield around his head. The rest of his body would be protected by his vibranium armor.
Dumbledore was blocking the way up, which meant there was only one way for him out of the dungeons, the same way he got in. He'd need to maneuver past the dueling wizards and back into Riddle's office without drawing either one's ire.
"How dare you keep it from me!" Dumbledore hissed. "How dare you keep them from me!" He lashed his wand, streaking lightning across the hall towards Riddle. However, the electricity didn't dissipate, instead hanging in the air as a permanent obstacle.
"You're so small minded, Albus." Riddle rasped. "You don't even know-"
"Perhaps not." Dumbledore said, cold. "But when I'm through with you, I will." The ropes of lightning constricted, lashing around Riddle's invisible shield. The ropes tightened, and the shield constricted even as Riddle struggled against it, grunting with exertion.
Harry swallowed; he couldn't let the duel end so quickly. With a quick wave of his hand, he transfigured the air between Riddle and Dumbledore into water. Harry saw the flash of electricity arcing across the room and lunged forward to the blasted opening in the wall to Riddle's office. He'd made it two steps when the water froze over and ice sealed his path. A wall of ice shoved into his side, frozen daggers tearing through his robes and stabbing at his vibranium armor as he was shoved into the stone wall on his other side. Simultaneously, Dumbledore launched a hail of those icy daggers down the hall at Riddle.
Harry sensed the ice and could feel Dumbledore's magic animating it. Better not to fight a battle of wills for control. Instead, he vanished the stone wall, tumbling into the far corner of Riddle's office. Almost there…
The ice exploded as Riddle launched another series of killing curses, and Harry saw an opportunity. He enchanted the walls, floor, and ceiling around Dumbledore to repel objects. Riddle's next hail of shrapnel ricocheted off the walls, reflecting back at Dumbledore. Dumbledore took a few moments to vanish the barrage, flashing an annoyed look at Harry. He felt a sudden, terrifying coldness in his hand, like his life force was being drained from it. He glanced at his hand; it was visibly withering. Withering curse. Instinctually, he marshalled the magic of the heart-shaped herb and used a surge of its potency to flush out the curse.
"Professor, what's going on?" A small troop of schoolchildren, most likely first or second years, had ventured out from the Slytherin common room. It was apparent to Harry that they were under the imperious curse. How like Tom, to use schoolchildren as pawns. With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore sent the children flying back. Harry lunged for the door, while Tom darted into the office. They each regarded the other warily, both understanding the situation. Dumbledore was more powerful than either of them. The door to the Room of Requirement would be an escape, but only for one of them. Riddle reassembled the walls and door and summoned barricades. It was quite a passive move on his part. Why try to stall him? What was Riddle waiting for?
The door promptly vanished, and Dumbledore plunged in with a flurry of spells that sparked against Riddle's shield. Simultaneously, the barricades transformed into a pride of lionesses. Two leapt at Harry, and he cut them down with a slashing spell. He took another step towards the door, and Riddle hissed in frustration. He was being pressed hard by Dumbledore, and yet he couldn't let Harry escape.
The corpses of the lions rose up again, this time animated with darker magic- inferi. All six converged on Harry, who huffed out a breath and incinerated the creatures in an instant. Harry made another bid for escape and felt the floor beneath him lurch back, nearly sending him sprawling backwards. Instead, he tucked into a roll, letting his previous momentum carry him. That charm had come from Dumbledore, who no doubt also did not want this marauding wizard to escape. How fortunate for Harry that he was far more focused on Riddle to fully press the issue.
Riddle had tried to keep Dumbledore at bay by summoning obstacles and with liberal application of the killing curse, but the archmage was relentless. After the initial barrage of low-powered spells, Dumbledore had summoned a mass of silvery liquid. He controlled it with incredible precision, forming it into whatever shape he desired. When pressed by a killing curse, it formed a smooth, concave shield in front of him. The curse blasted the mass apart into a mist of tiny droplets that Dumbledore reformed with a flick of his wand. Shrapnel and projectiles lodged into the substance as if caught in molasses. Harry could see that this would be a highly effective weapon against Hela, and that was likely who Dumbledore had developed this spell for.
Dumbledore formed the metallic liquid into long tendrils that hemmed Riddle in. Along each tendril was a finely sharpened edge that cut through wood and stone like butter. A tendril glided towards Harry as he made his final escape, suddenly surging forward to snag his ankle. He pivoted, avoiding the snare. However, it snaked in front of the door, flattening into a panel that barred Harry's path. Another tendril, which had been sharpened to a fine point, shot towards him, this time looking to gore him. Time slowed, quite literally, as Harry considered his options. He'd spent many long hours meditating, trying to access the infinity stone that was tied to him. After the Battle at Wakanda, it was clear that he needed to use its abilities to the fullest and not just hope it came in clutch when his life was on the line.
Fiendfyre would certainly destroy Dumbledore's creation, but it'd also endanger innocent schoolchildren. The killing curse would delay it but couldn't guarantee his escape. With his reaction time enhanced, Harry ducked the tendril as it speared through the empty air where his head had been. He slowed time further, observing the scene closely, noting how the liquid moved- so smoothly, except the moment Riddle detonated an explosion in the ceiling above Dumbledore. The archmage was forced to reinforce and repair the ceiling above him, buying Riddle more time, but Harry noted how the quicksilver vibrated along with the noise of the explosion. Time returned to its normal flow. Harry formed a sonic pulse in his palm, charging it until his hand felt numb from the latent vibrations. For good measure, he placed silencing charms around his ears, and he let loose. He heard nothing, but he could feel the vibrations rattle his bones. Riddle and Dumbledore both staggered, clutching their heads. The quicksilver dissipated into mist.
With both his opponents distracted, Harry made one final lunge and wrenched open the door. As he threw himself back into the Room of Requirement, he was relieved to see the door disappear behind him. His relief only lasted a moment. T'Chone had rushed to him, mouthing something Harry couldn't hear. He canceled the silencing charms. "It's Lily!" He cried, stricken. "I think she's- she's-"
There were two stiff bodies on the floor, and Harry was at Lily's side in an instant. He pressed a hand to her neck, she felt cold… frozen. His breath caught, and suddenly he was twelve again and sitting beside Hermione's bedside. He examined his daughter more closely, she had the blonde hair of her disguise still, but her eyes were green. Carefully, he pointed a finger and levitated the contacts out of her eyes, placing it on his fingertip. It was cracked. Those contacts were made of vibranium. Almost nothing would be able to crack them, short of a killing curse straight to the eyes. A Basilisk stare might be close enough. Riddle's stalling tactics were making a lot more sense now.
"She's not dead, T'Chone. She's petrified." T'Chone still looked near panic, and Harry tugged him into a hug. "Its alright, she'll be fine." He whispered to him. "What happened?"
"The Room gave me a door, and I went out to look, and they were just there. I thought they were- were…"
"Shhh." He soothed, and he felt T'Chone sag against him. "Who's the other boy?"
"That's Septimius… Snape."
"Oh." Harry muttered. "Is he?"
"I think he's petrified too." Harry moved to Septimius, confirming it for himself. Perhaps he'd just seen its reflection, but the explanation seemed too convenient for him. Harry reached out with his magic, searching for anything on the boy that might explain his survival. He found something in the boy's satchel. Harry summoned the object of interest. It was a potion that emanated vitality unlike anything Harry had felt before. It felt like the Heart Shaped Herb… but more.
He tipped the bottle first into Septimius' mouth. He nearly jumped when the boy coughed. Assured of the potion's safety, he went to Lily's side and put the bottle to her lips. The change came over instantly, and Harry gathered her into his arms before she could get a word out.
"Basilisk!" Was the word, screamed loudly and directly into his ear.
"Well spotted." Harry grinned.
"Wait!" Lily gasped. "Grindelwald's going down to Neville, Ginny, and-"
Harry was on his feet, dashing to the door that Neville, Ron, and Ginny had taken not ten minutes before. Time had a way of bending in the midst of battle, a few short minutes stretching into an eternity. "You two, stay here. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, get out!" He tapped his glasses, sending a quick message to the team that he was on his way.
He put the puzzle of the miraculous potion aside, content that, if nothing else, his two children were safe. It was time to save the rest of his family.
-----
"Reducto!" Neville snarled. The spell hit the flask he'd tossed into the air, the flask containing what was left of the corrosive potion Riddle had given him a lifetime ago. Lily held a hand in the air, and most of the debris bounced harmlessly off her shield, but a man on either side of her fell to the ground, groaning in agony as they began to smoke and sizzle. Hermione, Ginny, and Ron used the distraction to retreat back into the hallway, ducking curses as they ran.
"What's the deal with those tattoos?" Ron asked.
"Oh, do you want to tell them, or shall I?" Lily rounded the corner and negligently caught Neville's blasting curse with her hand. The tattoos running along her arm lit up from the absorbed magic. Ron and Ginny brought the ceiling down on her. She held up a hand to stabilize the collapsing structure, and they used the opportunity to retreat further.
"The others might be ambushing us." Ron hissed.
Neville's enchanted eye pivoted in its socket, and he nodded jerkily in confirmation. "Coming around the side, probably through the potions lab."
"Let's ambush the ambush, then." Ginny said, ducking into the lab. "Nev, give her the nastiest shit you've got."
Neville grimaced, he wasn't exactly eager to dip into the unforgivables, but they might be just about the only thing that would work on her. "Crucio." He hissed. Lily had collected the rubble and set it floating into orbit around her, it seemed trivially easy for her to intercept the curse with one of the floating bricks. "Avada Kedavra!" This time he aimed the spell at the floor in front of her, feeling a sense of triumph as she staggered back from the rain of shrapnel the spell created.
"I'm sorry, Neville. I'm pretty much out." Hermione said quickly. "And Snape's not about to charge me up with a spell."
"Too right you are." Lily snapped. "You should abandon this foolishness and surrender, Ms. Granger."
"I'm not your student." Hermione growled. "And I'd rather die!" In the potions lab, Ginny and Ron were throwing just about everything into the largest cauldron they could find. Mad, absolutely mad, they were. His enchanted eye caught something else from behind him, a stunning spell coming from a completely unexpected direction. He put a shield up to deflect it into Hermione. It hit her, and she shuddered. Hopefully that was a good thing.
Lily frowned, displeased that he'd caught onto her trick. She made a grabbing motion with her hand, and he felt a sudden pressure in his head. He clapped a hand to his enchanted eye, only barely in time to keep it from flying into her hand. Still, it left him vulnerable, and it seemed Hermione used up everything she'd gotten from that spell to shield him from the hail of shrapnel Lily brought down on him. Neville sent a killing curse back at her, Lily rolled beneath it, popping up right in front of Hermione, who was completely vulnerable and-
An explosion rocked the hall, sending all three of them toppling over. "You bloody idiots!" Neville shouted as he scrambled to his feet. "You better not be dead!"
"We're alive!" Ginny cried. "Just… regretting some choices." Neville hauled Hermione up and dragged them into the ruined potions lab. The charred bodies of the Order members were present, along with Ginny and Ron, huddled together behind a shield and an overturned desk in the far corner.
"Come on!" Neville shouted as they pelted into the opposite hall. He was caught between the desire to escape with what they had, and to draw Lily out so that Luna might escape unnoticed. His decision was made for them when a fist plowed through the stone wall, tattooed lines glowing along it.
"Fuck!" Ron cursed, moments before the entire wall exploded. A brick hit Ron's head, knocking him out cold, while Ginny managed to dive out of the way. Neville and Hermione ran for the elevator room. Spellfire flashed briefly behind them as Lily took Ginny out, thankfully with a stunner. She was picking them off one by one, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it. Analytically, he knew what needed to be done. They needed to cut their losses and leave. They didn't know where Harry was, or even if he was alive, and this was maybe the only chance any of them would have to escape.
Yet… he couldn't imagine abandoning them. If the choice was going down fighting side by side with his friends, or running like a coward, Neville would stand and fight every damn time.
Luna was in the elevator room with two unfamiliar women in tow, when he and Hermione came charging in. "I hope you have something that can stop her." He said. Luna looked uncertain, but girded herself. When Lily followed them through the doorway, Luna lit her up with a gout of flame.
"I taught you those tricks, Luna." Lily said, parting the fire with a glare. "You should know that they'd never work on me.
"Don't you touch her!" One of Luna's companions snarled, lunging at Lily. She jerked up in the air, where she wriggled helplessly.
"I'll deal with you later, mutant." Lily said dismissively. "This is personal." The other prisoner, a dark-skinned woman, came at Lily wielding an iron bar that had been ripped from the prison cells. She joined the mutant up in the air.
Hermione retrieved a wand from one of the Order wizards' corpses, making to hex Lily. But it was clear that she hadn't had any practice with wand-work in the intervening years. Lily easily disarmed her and sent her flying back into the wall. She groaned weakly as she tried to rise back to her feet. Instinctively, Neville moved in front of her, shielding her with his own body.
Luna screamed in rage. "Don't hurt her!" The runes on her hands lit up, triggering a concussive blast that ricocheted off Lily's shield and sent Luna flying back.
Ding. Neville was the only one who paid note of the elevator. He glanced quickly at his pocket mirror, and Harry's message in it. He felt bad for being so relieved. They needed the help but… he didn't want Harry to see this.
"You're predictable, you know that?" Lily mocked. "I've given you a limited set of runic abilities. Powerful, yes. But when you know them all, there's no surprises left. Hermione is more flexible, of course, but she needs to be charged up. And look at me." Neville did, while Luna's runes seemed to all be specialized to a variety of purposes, Lily's were all identical, strategically placed across her body to feed into the tattooed network of lines. Lily's runes powered her abilities, but they didn't determine them. "I have perfect wandless magic. This could save the wizarding world, you know that? It could save my son, it could have saved your friends, had they not betrayed their people." She approached Luna, who tried to rise again to her feet. Lily backhanded her, sending her stumbling back to the ground, tears stinging her eyes. "This is pathetic. You would have been a hero if you'd accepted this as a sacrifice for your people. Instead-"
Lily would not get the chance to continue her rant. Harry Potter made his presence known, casting a beam of energy from his hand that lanced through the air. Even more than a meter away, Neville could feel its heat. It struck Lily's shield and carved through it, the level of power directed on such a small area was too much for Lily to withstand, and her shield caved in. Lily dropped to her knees, letting the beam sear over her head while she panted for breath. Neville detected the smell of burnt hair.
"You." Harry choked. The single word contained such a breadth of emotion- grief, betrayal, rage. The word itself seemed to charge the air, as Harry's magic crackled around him. "You."