Vivens cum Pericula
Chapter 11: Battle
By Anne B. Walsh
Author Notes:
Warning for frightening/suggestive images.
Peri’s heart pounded so hard she was sure Lucius could hear it on the other side of the door. What am I going to do, what am I going to do, she’s dead, Narcissa’s dead, he killed her, what am I going to do...
She lifted her hands and watched them shake with morbid fascination. She wouldn’t be able to cast a spell farther than two feet for hours. Stunning Lucius, or putting him under the Body-Bind, were out of the equation altogether.
But I have to get his attention off Harry long enough to get Harry out. How can I...?
Left hand against her chest to calm herself, she cast a spell on the door behind which she crouched, turning a small section of it transparent.
Harry, still unconscious, lay on a couch in the middle of the room. Lucius was working over a cauldron beside him, carefully measuring spoonfuls of different-colored powders into it. Peri pinched the bridge of her nose and swallowed. Now would be a very bad time to sneeze.
The room was badly lit, but a crumpled form on the floor near the other side could only be Narcissa. Peri bit her lip, forcing tears back. She wouldn’t thank me for crying now and getting caught. I have to help Harry, get him away from here...
A breath of hope whispered through her mind. Narcissa dead...Lucius a kidnapper...someone will need to take care of Ray...
Peri set that thought in the back of her mind to give herself strength through what she would have to do now.
A diversion would be the best idea. Make Lucius attend to something happening elsewhere in the room, then wake Harry and get him out.
On second thought, maybe now wouldn’t be such a bad time to sneeze...
xXxXx
"Achllp!"
Lucius’ head jerked up. Someone nearby...
"Oh, shite," whispered a voice, and hasty footsteps receded from the door Narcissa had entered by.
She was not alone. Another came with her. A wiser other, but still a witness—someone who could speak out—
Lucius drew his wand and hurried to the door, not bothering with stealth. Speed would serve him best now.
Three bodies may be disposed of as easily as two.
xXxXx
Peri released her breath. That went a lot better than I thought it would.
Sirius had taught her the spell to throw her voice (and various other sounds) back while the war was still going on. She’d played games with it all through Ray’s childhood, calling to him from different places in the room until he could figure out where she was truly hiding.
Enough time to reminisce later. Lucius won’t take long to realize he’s been fooled.
She stood up and opened the door. The potion smelled worse inside the room than out, but she pinched her nose shut again. No noise. Nothing to tell Lucius I’m here. Just in, get the boy, and out again.
Wand in her hand, she dropped to her knees beside Harry’s couch. "Ennervate," she whispered.
Harry stirred, then went limp again, his lips moving in a half-mumble.
Peri hissed under her breath and tried again, throwing more power behind her spell. "Ennervate!"
Too late she recalled that people woken up abruptly sometimes shouted.
Harry’s yell echoed through the halls.
xXxXx
In differing parts of the house, two men jerked in surprise at the sound. One needed a moment to work out where it had come from. The other was under no such handicap.
Both, though, were determined to get there as quickly as possible.
xXxXx
Peri cursed once, fervently, then wasted no more time. "Harry, get up," she hissed, pulling the boy off the couch. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"
Harry stood up, wobbled, then regained his balance, staring about him with unfocused eyes. "Where are we? Where’s Ray? What happened?"
Peri dragged him towards the door she’d entered by. "There’s no time, I’ll tell you later, come on, we have to run—"
Lucius slammed through the opposite door, wand out.
Peri spun, shoving Harry behind her and through the door. "Globopillo!" she shouted, and a translucent shell of magic shot from her wand to surround her, deflecting Lucius’ first spell harmlessly into the ceiling—Harry’s footsteps pounded out a rhythm down the hall, he was getting away, he’d be safe now—
"Expelliarmus!"
The spell tore through her block, weakened by her lack of attention. Peri tried to dodge, but the Disarmer caught her wand arm, knocking her back against the wall and tearing her wand from her hand. She hit the floor, winded, thoughts chasing one another through her mind.
Need air, can’t breathe...
Have to protect...
No wand...
Lucius pointed his wand at the wall. "Let the defenses become active," he intoned. "The intruder is to be captured only. Do not harm him."
Peri managed to suck in a breath, and her mind shook partly out of its shock. He’s making it so the house will keep Harry in, so he can’t get away—I have to stop him, Harry has to get out of here—
"I say this, who have the right to say it," Lucius continued inexorably. "This is my home, thus I have the right. So I speak, so I intend—"
He never finished his sentence. Peri had caught her breath, changed forms, and hurled herself at him, impacting square in the middle of his back.
Wolf and man went down together.
xXxXx
Harry’s feet obeyed him only sluggishly, and he could barely see without his glasses on. His mind was reeling. Strange house, Peri looking scared, Ray’s father—last thing I remember was falling out of that tree—that branch shouldn’t have broken—
He staggered around a corner and slammed into something—no, someone—who clutched at him. Yelling in panic, he shoved at the arms holding him, trying to fight back, get away, get free—
"Harry! Harry!"
The voice, the familiar voice, finally penetrated his fear, and he slumped against Moony in relief. "Thought you were Malfoy," he panted. "Thought he’d doubled around—"
"Where is he? Where’s Peri?"
"That way." Harry pointed over his shoulder. "Told me to run. Pushed me out." Now that he was no longer running, his head and various other parts of his body were registering complaints. "Where are we? What happened?"
"This is Ray’s house," Moony said, his arms tightening around Harry. "And it’s a long story. Is Peri all right?"
"They were fighting." Harry eased his weight off one ankle, which was protesting its further use. "I don’t know what happened."
Moony muttered a few words Harry was fairly sure he shouldn’t be hearing, then shifted his grip, holding Harry’s arm firmly. "We’re going to Apparate," he said. "Hold your breath, and be ready to feel squashed."
Harry drew a deep breath just in time.
xXxXx
Remus pushed aside all his fear for Peri—She’s a grown witch. She can handle herself—focusing instead on the clearing in the woods behind Camelot, on Hermione’s anxious face and Ray’s worried one, on the reunited Black family sleeping nearby—
Maybe I should have warned Harry about that—
Too late. They were there.
"Harry!" Hermione darted forward to hug the boy. "You’re all right!"
Harry grunted, then winced. "Side—Hermione, too tight—"
"Sorry, I’m so sorry." Hermione loosened her hug.
"What was happening?" Ray asked from where he was sitting in Remus’ vacated chair. "What is happening?"
"No time for that now," said Remus. He considered telling the children to get help from Camelot, then changed his mind. The staff were nice enough people, but unlikely to be able to deal with a situation which involved a kidnapping, an identity switch, and a dead man returning to life. Instead, he aimed his wand at the bed he’d brought outside. "Portus," he said firmly. The bed glowed blue and trembled for an instant.
Hermione gaped at him. "But you’re not allowed!" she whispered. "It’s not legal—not without a permit—"
"I’ll deal with that later." Remus cast a careful levitation charm on Sirius and Aletha, lifting both of them, and Meghan between them, into the air. "Get on the bottom of the bed, you three."
Hermione helped Harry over, then went to get Ray, as Remus landed his friends on the bed. The unfinished Portkey spell nudged at him, pushing for him to release it. Not yet, he told it. Wait until I’m ready.
"Thanks," Harry said as Ray handed over his glasses. He hooked them on and looked at Remus. "Where are we going?"
"Just inside. Call the Ministry and tell them what’s happening, and where." Remus lifted his wand and completed the spell.
"But—" Hermione was just beginning as the bed vanished.
Remus quickly sent the chairs back to the library as well, then spun in place, concentrating on Malfoy Manor, the hallway where he’d collided with Harry.
Getting him out to safety took one minute. Maybe. Nothing can have happened in one minute.
But his heart insisted otherwise, and the pressure of Apparition seemed to last much longer than it should.
xXxXx
Lucius coughed painfully, then massaged his throat, hissing under his breath as his hand came away bloody. A closer call than I knew.
"So let it be done," he croaked. His voice was damaged, a shadow of its former self, but the spell recognized it, and a two-toned chime rang through the room, signifying that the spell was active.
With this spell in place, my home is a haven for my own people and a prison for others. No one who does not bear Malfoy blood can enter or leave my property now, by any means magical or Muggle.
He turned to regard the long-furred wolf lying insensible on the floor. So Miss Grant is an Animagus. I wonder what other skills or tricks she has been hiding from me all these years?
The wolf-woman’s first attack had knocked his wand from his hand, forcing him to fight back physically, struggling to keep her jaws from his throat, a struggle he’d nearly lost more than once, as the blood running down his chest could testify. Her teeth had broken his skin, her weight had battered and bruised him, but he had finally been able to throw her from him long enough to regain his wand, and the fight had been over in that moment.
A strange fight. She seemed reluctant to close with me—she could have killed me at almost any time, and yet she held back. Why, I wonder?
He pointed his wand at her and thought an incantation carefully, sparing his voice. Better to see what she is hiding all at once.
The wolf twitched and shuddered, then twisted back into the familiar shape of his son’s governess, sprawled on the floor. Within her clothes, something glowed brightly. Lucius crossed to her, bent down, and retrieved a small, golden locket on a chain.
What can this be?
He tapped the chain with his wand, then pulled it free of her neck, the clasp hanging loosely.
xXxXx
Ray gasped as a cold shiver ran through his body.
"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"I don’t know." Ray wrapped his arms around his chest. "This is a really strange day."
"No kidding," said Harry, who had been staring at the people on the bed ever since the rush of the Portkey had stopped and Hermione had babbled out who they were. "I might never have to go back to the Dursleys’ again, and I don’t think Peri’s going back to your place after she and Moony get back here..."
"What? Why not?"
Harry snorted. "Her dueling with your dad was a pretty good sign."
"Aren’t we supposed to be calling the Ministry?" Hermione said. "Telling them what’s going on?"
"Wait, slow down," Ray said, raising a hand. "Let’s us figure out what’s going on first."
Hermione nodded and sat down, pulling one knee to her chest and hugging it.
Ray twisted a bit of his robes between his fingers. "Father took you to the manor, Harry, only you looked like me and I looked like you, so everyone thought he was taking me home. Then what?"
"Then I woke up with Peri telling me we had to run," Harry said. "I tried, but it was hard because I was still sleepy and I couldn’t see where I was going. Your dad came running in and threw a spell at us, but Peri blocked it and shoved me out the door." He scowled. "And I ran away."
"What else were you supposed to do?" Hermione demanded. "You’re not even in school yet—you don’t even have a wand! We need to call Magical Law Enforcement, now, before something worse happens!"
"It won’t do any good." Ray had both his knees against his chest, his chin resting on them. "Not if Father’s invoked his security spells. He has layers of them, all around the house, meant to stop people who don’t belong there from getting in..." He trailed off, lost in thought. "There’s only one person who could get into that house right now," he said finally, looking up. "If the spells are active."
"Who?" Hermione asked.
"Me."
xXxXx
As he unraveled the layers of spells in and around the amulet Miss Grant had worn, Lucius realized that his removal of Narcissa had been not only expedient but justified.
A conspiracy in my own house, under my very nose. For all these years, I have had not one child, but two. And one of those Muggle-born, for all her claims to the contrary. I should have investigated further when she arrived so conveniently...
He was beginning to suspect some magic in that arrival, as well as in his immediate and unquestioning acceptance of it.
And if my memories and my actions at that time were false or somehow changed, I wonder what other memories involving this particular woman are also different than they appear?
He would have to test it.
But should I test before I go to retrieve the Potter boy, or after?
Truly, Lucius decided, it made no difference. As there was no way the child could have left the house in the scant minute that battling with the wolf had delayed the activation of the security spells, he was still here, and the house itself would make efforts to corral him. He would be easy enough to find, when he was needed.
Besides, I think I deserve some pleasure, after all I have been through today.
His lips curled into a smile as he levitated the unconscious woman off the ground and onto the couch.
And perhaps the boy will think to come to her aid. He is a hero, after all.
He tethered her wrists loosely to the arm of the couch above her head and her ankles to the one below. Her outer robes disappeared with a quick swish from his wand, and his smile grew. Finally, he laid his wand’s tip against her chest. "Ennervate," he said delicately. "Wake up, my dangerous little blossom."
Her eyes opened, and her face tensed, first into confusion as she saw him, then into fear as she tried to move and found herself restrained. "What—how—"
"Long ago, we met late one night, you and I," Lucius reminded her, letting his fingers trail down her face, enjoying the way she flinched from his touch. "It was...unsatisfactory, as I recall. Perhaps it is time to try again."
The terror in her eyes quickened his breath and heated his blood.
xXxXx
Remus swore as the sixth doorknob in a row refused to turn under his hand. "Who keeps all their doors locked in the middle of the afternoon?" he muttered, unlocking the door with a tap of his wand.
This room, like the others, was musty-smelling and devoid of people.
If I weren’t sure I was awake, I’d think I was having a nightmare. Lost in a strange house full of locked doors and empty rooms, searching for the woman I love, having no idea where she is or how to find her, only knowing she’s here and she’s in trouble—
A woman’s scream shattered his thoughts.
Peri!
Remus was bolting in the direction the screams had come from before the second one followed the first. He slammed into a locked door as the third one sounded.
The hell with this. A Reductor Curse blasted it to splinters, and he was running again.
A fourth scream broke at its peak and fell away into silence.
No. No, no, no! Remus bit back a scream of his own and held his breath, listening. Any sound at all now would tell him which way to go—there couldn’t be anyone else in the house, or at least not anyone who would interfere, which meant any sounds would be made by the people he was looking for...
"Not so much fun anymore, my darling?" slurred a man’s voice, thick with emotion—
Or with something else. Remus tightened his grip on his wand and moved farther down the hall, tracking the voice. There, that door, I think it’s that door—
"Perhaps we can find a way to...liven you up." A chilling laugh, and the sound of a slap.
Remus didn’t even have time to think a spell. Raw magic shot from his wand, and the door exploded inwards under the force of it.
Peri lay on a couch in the center of the room, her arms stretched above her head. Her robes were torn and disarranged, and her eyes were neither open nor closed. She breathed shallowly from a slackly hanging mouth.
Remus’ world disappeared for an instant, and a sea of red swam before his eyes.
He was going to kill someone for this.
"Seize the intruder!" shouted Malfoy hoarsely, rising from where he’d been crouched. "Destroy him!"
Remus fired a Stunner at Malfoy, who deflected it, but was forced to take a step back. Who is he talking to?
Then the floor split apart under his feet.
xXxXx
Hermione held tightly to Harry and Ray as they spun together through the Floo fire.
This needs to work. This needs to work. This needs to work.
I just hope Ray’s right about the way his father’s spells are set up!
xXxXx
Remus dived to one side and shot another spell at Malfoy just before he landed, turning his landing into a roll to avoid Malfoy’s return salvo.
I have to get out of here—but if I know him, he’ll have that prevented too—
One of the walls rumbled warningly, and Remus stumbled back out of its way as it began to fall, only to have a chair and table charge at him.
Is he insane? If he brings the walls down, the whole house could fall on us!
But he knew magic could prevent that, and would.
And it probably knows the difference between him and me. It could easily kill me and leave him alone.
He shot an Incendio at Malfoy’s feet and blew another charging table into debris over his shoulder.
No, I don’t think so. If I’m dying, he’s dying with me. Especially after what he just did...
He leapt across the gulf separating him from Peri and shot a spell at Malfoy in transit. Malfoy blocked it, but staggered as he did so. He’s weakening. If I can just stay alive for another minute, just long enough to take him down with me...
"Destroy him!" Malfoy shouted as Remus landed beside his love. "Destroy them both! Now!"
The floor shook under Remus’ feet, and he fell to his knees, clinging to Peri’s couch to stay even that upright. Dust billowed up around them. Any second, the boards would buckle and crush them, or the ceiling would fall, or some other death would strike them—
Together. Whatever comes, we’re together.
He found her hand and grasped it.
The boards groaned and shivered.
"NO!" shrieked a high-pitched voice.
A figure hurtled at Remus from out of the dust. Automatically, he reached out to catch it, and it slammed against him, rocking him back into the couch. Arms wrapped around his neck and clung desperately.
The noise in the room stopped.
"Do as I command!" Malfoy shrieked from the other side of the dust cloud. "Destroy these invaders!"
The small section of floor where Remus knelt rippled in frustration, but made no other response.
Remus edged himself around so that he could use his wand to cut the ropes holding Peri to the couch. "I think we may be stalemated, Malfoy," he called back, pausing in his work to ruffle pale hair and return the tentative smile momentarily lifted to him. "Perhaps we should talk."
"Talk, half-breed?" Malfoy sneered. "Give me one reason why I should talk with such as you."
Remus cut the last of Peri’s bonds and flicked his wand to settle the dust. "Because I have something here that you don’t want to hurt," he said as Malfoy came into view.
Malfoy goggled for one instant, then regained his self-control. "Nicely done, Lupin," he said, starting to move around the outside of the room. "Obviously, you’ve fully subverted my son. But simply because the security spells will not harm him does not stop me from—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Remus tracked Malfoy’s wand towards the door and out of sight. "Was that who I think that was?" he asked Ray, who grinned and nodded.
Malfoy swore bitterly and extensively. "—just like your mother, Potter!" he finished at a hoarse half-scream.
"Thank you," answered Harry’s voice, and Harry himself appeared around the corner, taking three running steps and launching himself towards Remus’ oasis of floor. He almost didn’t make it, landing precariously on the edge and windmilling his arms to stay upright. Remus shot out a hand and caught the front of Harry’s robes, pulling him in.
"Thanks," Harry panted, dropping to the floor beside Remus. "Ray, here." He handed the other boy a wand. Ray took it gingerly between finger and thumb, then grimaced and held it properly, pointing it towards his father with the arm he wasn’t still using to hold onto Remus.
Remus lifted Peri’s arms down from where they’d been held. "Well done," he said to Harry. "You must have been paying attention through all those impromptu magic lessons Letha always gives you."
"Letha always gives us?" Ray said cockily.
Remus tweaked a strand of blond hair. "Quiet, you. Where did you get the wand, Harry?"
Harry held the wand where Remus could see it, and Remus sighed. "Just don’t break it," he said. "It’s the only one Sirius ever had, and he’s rather fond of it."
"Don’t worry. I won’t." Harry turned back around, pointing his wand the same way Ray was.
Remus gently disengaged Ray’s arm from his neck and pulled himself upright, turning as Harry had to face Malfoy. "Stalemate," he said again. "You can’t have your house attack us, because your son is here. And you can’t attack us yourself, because we have your wand."
"But if any of you try to leave here without him, my spells will kill you," Malfoy picked up the thought, smiling cruelly. "And he cannot protect all of you if you are moving—or he can, but not forever. Sooner or later one of you will move out of his sphere of influence, and you will die. As for wandwork, I can simply leave this room, and you will be unable to harm me in that way. And I have other defenses in my home besides my wand and the spells you have already seen."
"Isn’t there a word for that?" Harry asked Remus. "Thinking everyone’s out to get you?"
"Paranoid," Remus supplied. "Though that usually means thinking it without any reasonable basis, and I’d say there’s some reasonable basis here."
Harry nodded. "We’ll give you one last chance," he called to Malfoy. "Let us go home, and we won’t say anything about this."
Malfoy laughed. "Let you go home? I doubt it, Potter. Not when you are the key to my living beyond this year. Or my son’s life beyond that same term."
"I’m sorry?" Remus said, taking a step forward. This was important, he knew it—
"That’s too bad," Harry said loudly.
"Stupefy!" cried a new voice, and red light outlined Malfoy for an instant. He looked stunned as he fell.
How appropriate.
"Go Hermione!" Ray shouted as Harry whistled through his fingers.
Clutching Aletha’s wand and shaking, but managing to smile nonetheless, Hermione waved at them from the other side of the chasm. "Are you all right?" she called.
"Most of us," Remus answered, stealing a look at Peri, who lay as though nothing had happened. She still breathed, her pulse beat, but something was very wrong with her.
Figure it out later. For right now, we need to get home.
"There are no more invaders," Ray said to the ceiling. "You can settle down now."
A nearby wall grumbled, but the rubble began to pick itself up and fit itself back into place. The floor rippled once more, then reappeared smooth and whole, and Hermione flew across it and into Harry and Ray’s approving hugs. "You were terrific!" Harry told her, pounding her on the back.
"And you didn’t think you could do it," Ray teased. "You were better than either of us."
Hermione shook her head. "Was not. All I had to do was hide and wait for Harry’s signal, then sneak out and do one spell."
"But if you hadn’t done it right, we all would have died," Remus said, bending down to hug the girl. "Very well done, Hermione."
"Thank you." Hermione leaned up to put her mouth near Remus’ ear. "There’s a woman on the floor over there," she whispered, pointing towards a far corner of the room. "She looks like she could be Ray’s mum. I think she fought with Malfoy and he knocked her out so she wouldn’t make trouble."
"Say, where’s Mum?" Ray was looking around. "She ought to have heard this, or noticed it by now, unless she went out, and I thought she was going to stay in today, she wasn’t feeling well..."
Remus crossed the floor to the corner Hermione had indicated, his heart suddenly pounding harder than it had even in the battle. Narcissa—I haven’t met her myself, but from Peri’s stories about her, she would have fought against this harder than just a Stunner would have stopped...
I don’t want her to be dead. I don’t. But if she is—
The vague shape in the corner resolved into a woman’s body. Remus knelt beside her and took her wrist in his hand, then dropped it without bothering to feel for a pulse. No living flesh felt that cold, or moved that limply.
Narcissa Malfoy is dead. And Lucius will not be seeing daylight again for a very long time.
Remus looked over his shoulder at the three jubilant children and allowed himself to imagine a future. Sirius, Aletha, Meghan, and Harry, all together in one house. Hermione and her parents in another. And in a third, not too far away from either...
I only ever thought I’d have a wife when this was all over. What am I going to do with a son?
It was a thoroughly rhetorical question, of course.
So give it a rhetorical answer. What are you going to do with a son?
Remus smiled, watching Ray recreating his father’s astounded look for Hermione. I think I’ll provide for him, teach him, guide him—oh, yes, and love him. Can’t forget that.
But somewhere in the back of his mind, a pessimistic voice was insisting it couldn’t possibly be this easy. Not for Remus Lupin. There would be a catch somewhere. There was always a catch.
"Catch away," Remus said under his breath. "I’m ready for anything."
Author Notes:
But is he?
Hate me if you must. I’m sure many of you will. But there’s a reason—there’s always a reason, haven’t you noticed that?