Chapter 28: Battle and Loss
July 29 - 12:44am - Scottish Coast
Pinned behind an overturned fishing boat, Nymphadora Tonks tried not to think about what might be happening even now in Azkaban.
"The Order needs all of you in this fight, Nymphadora," the kind voice of the headmaster of Hogwarts said from her right.
"I know that," she ground out in response as she returned a volley of stunners in the direction of the death eaters. She knew that Dumbledore meant well, and she knew what she had to do. It didn't mean that she wasn't struggling with the knowledge that one of her mentor's and many of her friends might now be losing their lives if not their souls and there was nothing she could do about it pinned on the beach. The boat she was taking cover behind blew apart and sent her flying backwards across the sand. She landed with a thud and struggled to regain her breath. Several splinters of wood from the boat had pierced her skin. She crawled through the debris and found new cover behind some rocks. She continued to fight firing stunners and reductors as quickly as possible, thankful for all her auror training and preparation.
Minerva McGonagall fired cover spells for the injured auror as she watched the young woman crawl to safety. A curse sent her sprawling just as Tonks reached the rocks. She conjured a wall in front of her to provide more cover reinforcing it to withstand most spells fired against it. She turned a collection of shells into scorpions and used a spell to send them off in the direction of the attackers. She was tired of fighting and worried about the others who hadn't even made it to the beach.
She smiled grimly in satisfaction as a Death Eater fell to one of her stunners before quickly banishing him away from the battle. Screams erupted moments later as the death eaters noticed her scorpions. Noticing some more shells nearby, she quickly transfigured those into large spiders and sent those after the scorpions. She noticed more spiders joining hers from a nearby boat and realized that another Order member had decided to try her trick to help even the odds. She had always stressed to her students that transfiguration was a useful tool in battle. What she had never told them was how often transfiguration spells had saved her own life over the years. She'd seen far too much fighting, but the alternatives weren't pleasant either. With a sigh of tiredness she moved closer to Tonks. The two had been fighting together through most of the battle, and the auror appeared to be in some trouble again.
* * * * *
July 29 - 12:46am - Grimmauld Place
Fred apparated into the hospital room at Grimmauld, George still clutched tightly in his arms. Tears soaked the young man's normally smiling face.
"Dear Merlin!" Molly exclaimed upon seeing George's limp form in his brother's arms.
"Put him on the bed," Poppy Pomfrey directed, "Do you know what he was hit with?" She questioned stepping forward to examine her patient even as Fred laid him across the nearest bed.
"The spell was purple. I didn't hear the incantation," Fred replied crouching on the floor by his twin's bed shaken to his very core.
"Molly, fetch Luna," Poppy snapped hoping to drag the distraught mother out of her shock. Molly turned and hurried from the room. Poppy worked methodically. The results of the spell reminded her very much of Hermione Granger's injuries after the Department of Mysteries debacle. She began giving George all of the necessary potions she had on hand before realizing she might have to make a return trip to Hogwarts for a few more.
Luna entered the room briskly a moment later. She took in the pale form of George Weasley lying on the bed, with Fred still kneeling at his side. She came to a standstill as her heart lurched.
"Luna, I need you to keep an eye on things, and administer these last three potions in exactly thirty minutes," Poppy Pomfrey insisted turning to the blonde haired witch and handing her three vials. "I need to return to Hogwarts for some more potions." With that the capable nurse left the hospital room quickly on her way back to her office and her stock of medicinal potions.
Luna set the three vials on the work table they used in the room and checked her watch carefully noting the time. She approached the bed slowly. She ran her wand over the prone figure of George trying to remember the correct incantations to determine how badly he was injured. Her lessons with Madam Pomfrey had greatly improved her knowledge of healing spells, and increased her desire to become a healer herself. She struggled to think clinically because her friend needed her help and she wouldn't let him down, not now, not ever.
"Was it a purple spell trail?" She asked quietly after assessing her friend's injuries. Fred nodded but didn't say anything. Luna moved to kneel beside him placing an arm around his shoulders. Fred leaned into the embrace as the worst of his own shaking subsided.
"It's a damaging spell, but Madam Pomfrey pulled Hermione through it. He'll be alright, I'm certain," Luna attempted to reassure him along with herself. She'd grown quite fond of all the Weasleys, especially the twins, after spending so much time in their laboratory working with them. It hurt to see either of them injured or even sad. The twins were always so filled with laughter and had a real talent for making others laugh. It just didn't make sense to see all that laughter gone. She bit back her tears. It wouldn't help, but sitting here with Fred and making sure that George got his next round of potions would. Neither moved nor spoke as they watched George's chest rise and fall and willed him to get better.
* * * * *
July 26 - 12:49am - Grimmauld Place
Laughter rang through Harry's head as he sat bolt upright in bed shaking with his hand over his scar. Voldemort was obviously very happy. He rubbed his hand over his scar hard as if trying to rub the pain away, and only then realized that Hermione was awake and sitting up in bed next to him.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled in apology.
"Something bad has happened hasn't it?" Hermione stated simply. "I felt it, a shooting pain in my head, and now a dull throbbing." Harry's eyes widened and his hand fell away from his forehead.
"What?"
"You felt Voldemort through your scar right?"
"Yes, he's really happy about something. He was laughing." Harry replied staring at Hermione still surprised that she had apparently felt something of the pain he had felt from his connection to Voldemort.
"I didn't hear any laughter or get a sense of his feelings. I must have felt only a fraction of what you did," Hermione explained. "It makes sense really."
"Hermione," Harry started only to be interrupted.
"Don't start this again, Harry." He looked down at his hands not knowing what else to do. "Don't apologize, don't try to protect me," she added exasperated. She brushed his hair away from his scar and their eyes met. "I'm not going anywhere, Harry." They both leaned forward foreheads touching, brown curls enveloping them. Harry struggled not knowing how to express what he was feeling.
"I love you, Hermione," he finally managed and it really was as simple and as complex as that.
"I love you, too, Harry," Hermione replied and brought her lips to his in a soft kiss. She rested her head against his neck and they held each other finding comfort in just being near the other.
"We should see if anyone is awake downstairs and let them know that something has happened," Harry said with a sigh although he really didn't want to let go of Hermione even long enough to do exactly that.
"You're right," Hermione added and reluctantly pulled away from him. Moments later the two entered the kitchen to find Molly Weasley openly crying at the kitchen table. Her whole body shook with racking sobs and Harry flashed to the moment when he'd discovered Mrs. Weasley facing the boggart last year. The two hurried to her side and Hermione placed an arm around the older woman's shoulders.
"Mrs. Weasley, what's happened?" She asked near the other woman's ear as she continued to cry.
"George…" was all she managed before a loud crack reverberated through the kitchen. Harry and Hermione's wands appeared at once trained on the newly arrived figures.
"It's me," Bill Weasley called looking up and struggling with the limp figure at his side. "We need to get Remus to Poppy." He added and Harry immediately took Remus's other arm and together the two dragged the last marauder to the hospital room. They placed him on a bed next to George. Luna snapped to attention and looked over her former teacher's wounds.
"Harry, help Bill into a chair. I'll look at his arm next," she ordered as she ran her wand over Remus checking his vitals and measuring his injuries. She swept across the room to the potions stock and retrieved several vials administering them one after another. Within moments the kindly werewolf seemed to settle into a more peaceful sleep, and Luna turned to Bill and the others. Fred remained on the floor by his twin's bed though he now looked at his oldest brother who sat wearily in a chair.
"He should be fine. Werewolves have incredible healing powers. He just needs some rest," she informed the others as they stared at her.
"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" Bill questioned as Luna began examining his arm.
"She had to return to Hogwarts to get some potions for George. He should be fine as well, though it will take him awhile to recover completely," Luna added. Satisfied at her diagnosis of a slashing curse on Bill's arm that had even damaged the bone, she moved to the table to find the proper potions to heal his arm. The three watched in fascination as she moved around the make shift hospital like a true healer. Checking her watch carefully, she gave George his additional potions and then turned to Harry.
"Do you need something for your head?" She asked him as Harry once again unconsciously rubbed his forehead. His hand dropped to his side as he shook his head.
"What happened tonight?"
"Voldemort launched an attack on Azkaban and the Order tried to stop him," Bill replied. His arm was beginning to feel better already. "Thanks, Luna," he added as the witch took a seat at the end of George's bed.
"You're welcome," she answered just before more Order members came through the door.
"Just help me patch up these scrapes and I'll go back to help," Tonks said limping into the room as she floated two stretchers into the room in front of her. She moved each to an open bed. "Not sure what Arthur got hit with, but he's not responding to enervate. Em took some nasty cutting curses. Fleur did some basic triage to stop the bleeding, but she couldn't get the wounds to close." Luna started checking the vitals of the two new patients.
"Oh, and Molly fainted when she saw Arthur, but I think Hermione's got her under control," the young auror added wincing as she used magic to remove another splinter from her arm.
"I can help you with that and go back as well," Bill Weasley offered standing. A wave of dizziness had him collapsing back into his chair.
"You're staying where you are and letting your arm heal properly," Luna ordered. "And Tonks, I'll help you as soon as I can, but you should stay as well so we can get all of those out and get you the appropriate healing potion to prevent infection." The others fell silent as they all stared at Luna. She didn't seem to notice as she continued running her wand over Emmeline Vance. She didn't like the results she was getting and hoped the older healer would return soon. Keeping her voice even, she said, "Harry, please help Bill upstairs to his room." Neither argued with Luna as Harry helped steady the eldest Weasley as he got to his feet once again. Madam Pomfrey entered the room just as they were leaving.
"Emmeline needs your help, Madam Pomfrey. She's got several deep lacerations from cutting curses," Luna stated moving to examine Arthur Weasley as Poppy took her place beside Emmeline Vance. She performed several incantations, and then gave the very pale woman several potions, knowing that there was only a slim chance they would work. The woman had lost a lot of blood and her lungs and heart had both been damaged by the cutting curses. Stopping the flow of blood had bought her time, but Poppy knew from experience that it wasn't enough to stop the loss of blood, one also had to replenish it and repair the damage to the organs enough so that they would work properly. Unfortunately, most non healers only knew how to stop the blood loss, and perhaps could make the blood replenishing potion, but even that should be administered immediately meaning one had to have it readily accessible in case of emergency. Sighing heavily she moved to stand beside her pupil and examine Arthur Weasley as well.
The Weasley patriarch lay deathly still his chest barely moving. He seemed to be in a heavy sleep and she began running through her repertoire of spells to try to awaken him. Luna stepped back as Madam Pomfrey went to work. She, too, had noticed the deep coma like sleep of Mr. Weasley. She watched carefully as the healer ran through her litany of spells, most of which she didn't recognize. Reminding herself that she still had one more patient to examine she turned to Tonks who was removing yet another splinter of wood from her arm. She grabbed a potion from the table and handed it to the scratched and bloody auror.
"What is it?" Tonks questioned curious because she didn't recognize the pale blue potion.
"It's an older potion that Madam Pomfrey and I have been working on that should take the sting away from all those scrapes and splinters. It should also get rid of any other splinters that you have," Luna informed her.
"My mum used something like that on me when I was a child, but it wasn't this color," Tonks replied sniffing the liquid.
"We've added a few things to see if we can make it better," Luna explained, "but it's probably the same basic recipe that your mother followed when you were younger. It's very handy to have when it comes to children or flying or working on brooms."
"Or battle," Tonks added before downing the contents of the vial. She felt a strange tingle as the potion entered her system, but her aches were slowly fading away.
"Both Arthur and Emmeline should be sent on to St. Mungos," Poppy Pomfrey informed the two. "Nothing I've tried works to awaken Arthur, and Emmeline is hanging by a thread. The curses damaged her heart and lungs, and although I've started to repair the damage, I'm not sure I got to her soon enough," the tired healer admitted.
"Should we risk taking them to St. Mungos?" Tonks asked thinking about how to explain the injuries of the two. The Order and the Ministry were on very tentative terms. Amelia was a great resource and allowed the aurors and the Order to work together, but Fudge did not seem too fond of Dumbledore's group.
"I don't think we have much of a choice. There's only so much that I can do. Perhaps Arthur just needs some time, and I can certainly keep trying, but there's nothing else I can do for Emmeline other than keep her comfortable and continue to administer the potions that I have."
"I'll take them," Tonks offered standing. With the splinters and pain gone, she felt fine if tired.
"How many more should we expect?" Poppy broached.
"I'm not sure really, several though I'm hoping most are relatively minor. How's Remus and George?"
"I expect Mr. Weasley will recover fully in time," Poppy replied, "I haven't examined Remus, though he appears to be sleeping peacefully."
"He should be fine. He was hit with several relatively minor spells. It was the combination of the spells that knocked him out. His own natural healing abilities had already begun the healing process before I even examined him," Luna explained easily.
"Thanks," Tonks said before casting mobilicorpus on the two Order members and portkeying out to St. Mungos. Luna walked back over to where Fred still sat on the floor by his brother. He hadn't spoken through anything that had happened. Silent tears slid down his face. Luna knelt and pulled him into a hug as he cried into her hair. Poppy Pomfrey watched them for a moment before examining Remus herself and nodding at her pupil's skill at diagnosing and treating the werewolf. The young woman was surprisingly talented, and her quick assessments and skill had already earned the older healer's respect.
She moved to check on George once again. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully as well. She left the two young people on the floor and turned to her work station to unpack her newer potions and organize her tools. George would need another round of potions in a couple of hours, and she expected others would be arriving soon, also in need of her assistance. It was going to be a long night.
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Author's note: Sorry, I didn't get much writing done over the holidays, so I have been playing catch up
these last few weeks trying to crank out a few more chapters. I've also been doing some research for future events.
I hope you like this chapter. Please let me know what you think. I respond to all reviews and appreciate the
feedback.