Chapter 10. Atlas
The screams reverberated throughout the campsite. And Harry realised there was more than one group, that the men in dark robes and silver masks weren't just here; they were everywhere.
One of them broke away from the crowd and strode towards them, wand rising, "Avada Kedavra!"
Fleur shoved Harry out of her arms, their dance coming to an abrupt end. In the same motion, she drew her wand and stepped forward, wordlessly conjuring a large slab of stone. The stone intercepted the jet of green light and exploded with a sharp bang, showering them with fragments.
"Fuyez, tout le monde!" she screamed over her shoulder.
She must've said to run, because the others bolted for the woods, obeying without a second thought. They either had blind faith that she could handle the attackers, or they didn't care what happened to her. Having spoken with each of them, Harry knew it was the former.
As more Death Eaters noticed defiance, they turned towards them, but Fleur stood tall, covering the others' escape. Harry would've thought she was fearless, confident in her skills… if not for the slight tremble of her wand arm. Even the way she stood was rigid, terror written plainly over her face, impossible to hide no matter how fiercely she glared at the approaching enemy.
Snapping her wand forward, unable to choose where to aim, she spared him a quick glance and tried to smile. "Go, 'Arry. I will follow you in a moment."
Harry admired her determination, her willingness to sacrifice herself. To square up against certain death just so your friends and family could flee was remarkable. No matter that her hand trembled, that her face was taut with tension, she held her ground. And that proved her gallant beyond doubt. It was easy to be brave when you were ridiculously powerful, but to face an uncertain outcome, to put your life on the line, now that was exceptional. Even if they never met again, he wouldn't forget Fleur Delacour ever. She would leave a deep mark on him.
As four Death Eaters halted a dozen paces away, the rest continuing on their way, Harry stepped beside Fleur and tapped her shoulder, jolting her out of her panic. Her stance became fluid and strong rather than stiff and brittle. "Don't forget who I am. Didn't you say I was the hero? Why would I run from rats?"
The Death Eaters relaxed as the immediate area cleared of civilians. Stepping around the still roaring campfire, they swaggered forward. They looked sinister under the shadows of the dancing red fire, like men not meant to exist. Their robes were inky, blending with the night, and their masks gleamed like cruel steel from the flickering moonlight.
Harry got the distinct impression that they wanted to play with them now that they had the opportunity, that they wanted torment and entertainment rather than quick murders.
"What do you want me to do?" She uprooted the tent with a swish and threw it at them, backing away towards the edge of the treeline, aware if they trapped them in a circle, they'd be as good as dead.
Harry understood that she had accepted his help. Not only that, she had handed him the lead, not wanting to be burdened by it anymore, glad to take orders.
He didn't mind.
"Cover me." Without another word, Harry exploded towards the four Death Eaters, shocking them. Since they were already trying to close the gap, there wasn't much distance to begin with.
Harry's speed was not that great that he became a blur and appeared amidst them next instant. But it was good enough that he dodged their alarmed killing curses and reached them in seconds.
A duck here, a sidestep there, a jump, and then a punch.
His fist met a silver mask, and just like the morning, the head blew off in a shower of blood and gore. The other three leapt away and rounded on him as the headless body fell with a thud, but that took attention away from Fleur, who proved herself capable of taking difficult decisions, whose spell sliced a man's neck.
Two down, two more to go.
The remaining two were not as easy. The element of surprise was gone. One of them began trading spells with Fleur, while the other wisened up and shifted to wide area spells, turning the grassy ground into a sheet of ice, sending a wave of frozen air in Harry's direction, breathing a sigh of relief as Harry was forced to back away.
That was fine with Harry. While the man was busy pushing him away with a chilly gale, he picked up a small stone and hurled it at the other man, the one being dominated by Fleur. The small pebble smashed against his leg with a sickening crunch, half embedding into his flesh. Before the man could scream, Fleur pierced his neck with a cutter. He fell, gurgling a dying breath.
"'Arry, duck!"
Harry threw himself on the ground, dodging a blast of flame. He winced as heat seared through the back of his shirt. Fortunately, it didn't catch fire.
Fleur sent an arc of red with a yell, cutting the last man in two, the wave of fire vanishing as suddenly as it came.
Harry pulled himself to his feet, alert, looking around for danger. There was none. There were still screams, but they were distant.
What the hell happened? Why were there Death Eaters here? Weren't they gone?
"'Arry." Fleur ran over to him, stopping a step away, looking for any injuries. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good. You?"
There were sweat beads on her forehead; her face was flushed pink, her silver-blonde hair loose and slightly dishevelled. But otherwise she seemed completely fine.
"I am okay," she muttered, grimacing at the bodies around them. They could see ten corpses clearly, not all of them Death Eaters. There were probably more. Then her gaze wandered to her own carnage, and her pupils widened, her breath getting stuck in her throat.
Harry didn't give her time to feel regret. He did what he hoped Daphne had done after he'd killed those guards. Grabbing her shoulders gently, pulling her attention back to him, he fixed her with a sincere look. "Thank you, Fleur. I'd be dead without you. I doubt I can ever repay this debt. But I'll try. You have my everlasting gratitude."
She nodded slowly, her tight expression easing. Wrapping her arms around him, she gave him a desperate squeeze. "You 'ave my thanks, as well. I would be dead without you too. We are even. There is no debt."
A smile flickered over his face, and he stepped back and nodded. "We did nothing wrong. Now hurry to the woods. Apparate to your family."
She shook her head. "I think I will stay and 'elp you find your sister."
"Don't worry about her. She can take care of herself. And I can too. You should go." He declined her help, giving her the option to flee this chaos. He wanted her to take it. In the short time they'd known each other, he'd come to consider her as a friend, his own friend. Unlike Daphne or Hermione, who were shared with his sister, Fleur was his in a way that felt new and strangely precious. He didn't want to see her harmed.
She hesitated, no doubt wanting to do the honourable thing and help. But honour was nothing before the lives of her friends and family. Fleur was deeply worried about their fate. They should be fine after they entered the woods, but her brain wouldn't stop triggering her anxiety until she saw them, until she touched them and became entirely sure about their safety.
She sighed and nodded, embracing him one last time, kissing his cheeks, pressing her forehead against his. "I will see you again, non?"
"Absolutely."
When she finally disappeared into the woods, Harry turned around and ran towards his own tent, towards the screams. He wasn't lying; Rose could take care of herself. But you never know what could happen.
~xXxXx~
Lily and Sirius stepped out of the tent and blinked at the bedlam.
Tents were on fire, people were running around screaming like headless chickens, and Death Eaters herded them, shooting killing curses indiscriminately.
They shared a disbelieving look.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" she whispered hoarsely, her heart racing, a lewd smile tugging at her lips, cheeks flushed with excitement.
Sirius grinned and grabbed his wand, his exhausted eyes finally full of energy and want. "This is a bloody party! I hope you're not planning to be greedy."
"I'll try, old friend. I'll try." She grinned back and held onto her own wand, strutting towards the group of black robes and silver masks, clicking her tongue as she was forced to navigate through the rush of the fleeing crowd.
Cowards, all of them.
"It's her! We found her!" yelled one of the Death Eaters.
Oh? Someone was suicidal. But who was she to deny their wish?
First, she made sure none could run away once terror set in. Twirling her wand overhead, she raised a mighty circular wall from the earth. The neat rows of tents were torn apart as the very ground rose to the sky, forming a twenty feet tall barrier.
Now, they were all fenced in with her and Sirius.
This would be fun. This would be a carnage.
Not once did she seriously think she should hurry to her children and lead them to safety. They were powerful, she told herself; they didn't need a mother hen. And they always kept an emergency portkey with them anyway. All they had to do was get into the woods—leave the domain of the vast wards—and portkey home. They could do that much. They were nearly adults now.
Still, a small doubt lingered in her chest as she produced a sprawling swamp. Half the Death Eaters sank to their knees in it, while the rest hardened the ground and fired back at her. Sirius stepped up, shielding her while she worked on strengthening the swamp, burying the voice that screamed at her to run back to her children.
Harry and Rose would be alright. They weren't children anymore. They were capable and independent. Nothing would happen to them.
What Lily Potter didn't yet realise was that something was already moving towards them, ready to make this night her greatest regret.
~xXxXx~
"Where are you going?" Neville yelled as she spun around to return to the campsite.
They had only just reached the woods, and already people around them were either apparating or using portkeys to escape. The screams from behind drove them to be hasty and reckless. She wouldn't be surprised if St Mungo's was full of splinched wizards and witches by the morning.
"Harry and Rose. I need to get them."
Neville grimaced but didn't protest. He didn't tell her to leave them and just go home with him. No, her boy was good and kind. Even flustered, he wouldn't suggest something so abhorrent. Instead, he attempted to join her. "I'll come too. I know how to duel."
But dueling wasn't fighting. There was no honour and no rules in a real fight. In a death struggle, you were expected to yank hair and sink nails, to stab from behind and use every dirty trick you had. Neville didn't have it in him. He'd never been pushed to the edge. He hadn't ever fought for his life. And as a mother, she would stand between him and that edge for as long as she lived.
She clutched his arms and kissed his forehead, so proud of how he'd turned out, that he'd risk his life to fight with her. "Go home, Nev. Your place is not here. If something happens to me, know I love you more than the world."
Before he could object, she activated the portkey and stepped back. The last thing she saw was his betrayed face and anguished eyes.
It was alright. She'd rather he live to hate her.
With her son safely away, she ran towards the campsite, against the inertia of the fleeing crowd. She still had a godson and a goddaughter to see to safety. She really hoped Lily was with them. Because while Alice was great, a terrifying combatant she was not. They'd need Lily if they stumbled upon Death Eaters.
~xXxXx~
They were mere hundred metres away from the treeline.
Rose could see the vanishing backs of the people near the pink tent, where she was imprisoned this morning. She could almost believe she too could escape.
But then they came.
Numerous, at least a dozen, Death Eaters appeared, barring the path to the woods. The tents came alive with fire on either side of the path, emitting smoke and light. She turned to go back the way she came, but more Death Eaters appeared, blocking the front and the back.
They were trapped. Pincered.
"Fuck," Daphne muttered, pressing her back against Rose, wand ready.
"What do we do?" Hermione hissed, the panic causing her voice to sound annoyingly high-pitched.
She didn't know. She didn't know what to do.
Rose could perhaps take a couple of Death Eaters out. But there were more than twenty. And they had surrounded them from back and front. Was there even a winning option? Was fighting even viable? She knew powerful spells. But by the time she finished one incantation, they would batter her with half a hundred killing curses. Plus, she had to look out for her friends as well. One mistake would not only mean her own death but theirs as well.
It was an impossible situation. And why did they attract this many Death Eaters? The scums were ignoring the fleeing masses. It was as if they were being specifically targeted for some reason. Probably because of her mother. Were these men out for revenge? Did they want to avenge their deceased relatives? But why now? After sixteen whole years?
Aware that any sort of offence would ensure their deaths, she opted for stalling. She slowly raised her arms and yelled over the clamour. "We surrender. Do not harm us. If you want to kill my mother, she's that way. Feel free." She pointed in the wrong direction, her voice cracking.
Two Death Eaters, the apparent leaders, shared a laugh and snapped their fingers in unison. It must be the signal to relax. Because the rest lowered their wands.
"You're smart and selfish," said one of them as they ambled over, their cruel black eyes their only visible feature. "A shame that such a bright witch has to die because of the sins of her mother."
Her chest tightened. Was she really going to die tonight? It still felt like a distant thing, death. Even now, she couldn't bring herself to think about it. Of what it would mean, of what lay beyond it.
"She's a mudblood." The other—a woman, Rose realised—quipped. "I doubt she could count past ten."
"Can you?"
"Shut up, brother."
"The Carrow twins," Daphne muttered under her breath. "Wonderful."
Rose vaguely remembered them. They graduated when she was only in her first year. What she knew of them didn't paint them in a flattering light. Cruel, dumb, and incestuous if the rumours were true.
"Wait, is that the Greengrass girl?" Amycus Carrow, if she remembered his name right, stepped forward and stared at Daphne. "Your family has gone downhill since your father's death, you know. Cavorting with mudbloods? What is Proserpina teaching you?"
Daphne remained quiet, thankfully, not throwing a sardonic reply. It wouldn't have helped.
"The Potter brat will be killed." Alecto mused, glowering at her. "What do we do with the other two?"
"The other is mudblood, so she'd die too. As for Greengrass, we can't kill her, obviously. Maybe the punishment can be instructive." Amycus flicked Daphne's hair over her shoulder and trailed his wand down her neck and collarbone.
Daphne froze, her fists clenching at her sides.
Before Rose could intervene and punch the daylights out of him, Alecto kicked him between the legs herself. "Don't touch her! And I never agreed to let another woman in our bed!"
Amycus dropped to his knees and groaned, clutching his crotch. "We had this talk already!"
"And I said no!"
As the twins bickered, as her heart thundered, Rose decided this was the best chance she'd ever get. She could stun Alecto and hold Amycus hostage. The others would surely not attack them if she used these two as human shields. It was a risk, but one she was willing to take. The way Amycus talked about Daphne made it clear there were things worse than death.
In an instant, her wand shot from the holster and slapped into her palm. But before she could aim at any of them, a spell crashed into her back.
"CRUCIO!"
"ROSE!" Her friends shrieked as she went down.
Her nerves ignited. Fire clawed out of her chest and her skin trapped it in, cooking her from the inside. Her organs, her bones, her everything melted from the searing heat.
She screamed until her throat burned. She convulsed until her arms and legs were useless. She sobbed and silently begged someone—anyone—to tear open her skin and let the fire out.
~xXxXx~
Daphne had made it a rule to never cry in front of anyone. Not even Rose and Hermione were allowed to see her like that—weak, messy, exposed.
But now she sobbed and pleaded for Rose's life. She and Hermione clung to Rose's arms as the curse wrecked her body. Disgusting promises tumbled out in blind panic. She told them she'd do anything, that they could all use her, ruin her body and soul, if only they would lift that abominable curse from Rose.
But they didn't.
A Death Eater at the back kept up the spell, while the Carrow twins laughed at Rose's erratic spasms, at her soul-shredding screams.
She scrambled on all fours like a wounded animal, grabbing their boots. "Please, please, make it stop!"
"Don't touch him, whore!" Alecto kicked her so hard she rolled onto her back.
Daphne squeezed her eyes shut and lay there, choking on her sobs, praying she were deaf, anything to not hear Rose screaming her throat raw.
'Someone, please, please help her.'
She buried her face in her hands, ashamed that all she could do was cry while the girl she loved was being tortured. Only now did Daphne realise what Harry must've felt when he killed those men from Weep. The sheer Rage and Terror. Rage that anyone would dare harm Rose, and terror that they could.
She wanted to kill them all. Every last one of them. If she had power, she would butcher their families, scorch their entire lineages from the earth. Better to be a monster than helpless.
She wished Harry was here. He would've already ended this.
But of course she had to drive him away… because she didn't have the guts to accept that people could be two opposite things at once. That a man could be good and evil. That kindness and cruelty could coexist in the same heart.
Just because Harry had killed those men didn't mean the gentleness he showed yesterday was a lie. Their friendship wasn't a pretence. The Harry she knew and liked wasn't just a mask.
But it was too late for such realisations.
Then Hermione's gasp cut through the chaos, and Daphne's eyes snapped open.
A shadow had swallowed them, as if a cloud smothering the moon. When her eyes flicked to the sky, she realised it wasn't a cloud. It was something far greater.
A stone—colossal, slightly round, glinting in the firelight—hurtled across the sky like a rogue meteor unleashed from the cosmos. Its sheer size dwarfed the tents, the trees, the tiny humans below. It arced with impossible grace before crashing down on the Death Eaters who blocked the path to the woods.
The world seemed to hold its breath. Shield charms flared weakly, then flickered and died.
Daphne sat up and gaped as the stone smashed into them.
THUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The ground shook like the planet itself had been struck. Dust and debris roared skyward. The boulder crushed everything in its path, turning men into a grotesque spray of blood and shattered bodies. Those who weren't immediately obliterated were ripped apart, their limbs torn, torsos split, their screams swallowed by the monstrous impact.
Then there was silence. The Death Eater who'd been holding Rose under the Cruciatus Curse had long since let it drop, dumbfounded by the spectacle.
Daphne realised this was her chance. Taking advantage of the lull, she hauled Rose over her shoulder and limped towards the woods, towards the large stone sitting like a monolith in a puddle of blood and meat. She had no idea what the hell happened, but she wouldn't waste this opening.
Hermione caught on and slid under Rose's right arm, helping her drag their best friend away from the flabbergasted Death Eaters.
From around twenty, only six remained. Yet they were still more than enough to overwhelm them. Daphne bit her lip and pushed forward, wishing she had more strength, that she could sweep Rose into her arms and run to safety.
"Where are you going?" Amycus snarled, pointing a trembling wand at her, still shaken by whatever just happened. "What did you do?"
Daphne cursed, looking back, preparing for more torment.
Instead, relief washed through her. She slumped on the ground with Rose in her arms.
They were at last saved.
Harry had leapt into their midst with his fist cocked back.
It found Amycus. Amycus lost his head.
Alecto screamed. She lost hers too.
Before the remaining Death Eaters could react, a rain of arrows from the darkness behind them turned their bodies into pincushions. Neville's mother strode forward, finishing off the ones still twitching. By the time she reached the girls, Harry had already dealt with the rest.
~xXxXx~
A minute ago
His blood roared when he heard his sister's screams. It was a primal, thunderous surge that drowned every other sound. He rounded the corner, murder in his eyes, ready to throw himself into the swarm of Death Eaters and tear them apart with bare hands.
A hand seized his collar and attempted to yank him back.
He whirled, fist already swinging.
"It's me!" hissed Alice.
His fist stopped short. "Alice—? What are you doing here?"
"I came for you and Rose," she snapped, eyes darting to where Rose's screams ripped the night. "Don't sprint to your death. We are saving them, not dying with them."
Her words pierced the fury fogging his mind. He forced himself to listen, to heed the advice. Because she was right. He would die if he attacked them outright. All he had was a super body, not a godly one. He wouldn't be able to dodge spells from that many Death Eaters.
And so he forced himself to breathe, to think for a second. A plan came to his mind, simple and effective.
"Alice," he said quickly. "Conjure a massive stone. Large, like a small mountain. The size of a house."
She didn't hesitate, aware of his true powers, and twirled her wand.
The leaping flames from the tents hid them well, keeping the Death Eaters in the dark. When she was done conjuring, he did the throwing.
Harry stepped forward and pressed his hands into it. The stone groaned under his fingers as they sank into the hard surface.
Then he lifted it.
The colossal weight rested on his hands and shoulders.
For a heartbeat, he held the world in his hands, like Atlas.
Then he hurled it—a controlled, precise arc—carefully, impossibly careful, to make sure it wouldn't so much as graze Rose or her friends.
The night split open with the roar of a falling star.
And the Death Eaters never even had time to scream.