A/N: Finally, this is the penultimate chapter and I can leave you all alone to read the tons of better fanfic out there. The epilogue is well underway, I hope you will like it, and I especially hope you'll like this one. Since there wasn't much of a fight scene in Aftermath, I thought I would put one here. But… well, it isn't much of a fight scene either.
Plus, though you probably don't care I have two new stories in the works, and the next chapter of Knights of Walpurgis. Just a hint to read if I post em soon.
Disclaimer: Not mine, JK Rowling's and she clearly does it best.
~*~*~*~
The Burning of Godric's Hollow
In a move that would have done her wizard grandfather proud, the moment Pansy had released her after they Disapparated from the hotel parking lot, Aimee swung out her free leg and tripped her. The witch, temporarily distracted by her search for her companions, fell easily, landing face-first into the snow. Aimee didn't wait around to see her land though, the moment she felt her blow connect she was up and racing down the slick ice-covered street in a vain attempt at escape.
She didn't know where she was, but she did know that she had to get out of there.
Around them, wherever she had taken them, the homes were silent, dark and apparently empty. They were also all apparently Muggle, which further deepened the sinking feeling Aimee was developing. If there was someone home in one of them and she ran to them for help no matter what they did they would be useless in a fight against a wizard.
Who on earth designs bridesmaids' gowns for witches and forgets to include a place for her wand?
Apart from the lack of residents though, the area was also slowly being coated by the heavy snowfall. It was difficult enough trying to find her way when she didn't know where she was to begin with; it was harder to do it when she couldn't see where she was going.
And, as if to prove it, her little shoe slipped on a patch of ice in the middle of the street.
All too quickly her legs went out before her and she landed on her back, heavily. Almost immediately her vision was blurred by the blinding sight of literal thousands of tiny stars and spots. As the pain shot through her back and skull in the midst of her blinding, she cried out, but she was not allowed to dwell on it before she was being pulled upright by the collar of her cape.
Pansy screeched nastily as she tightened her hold on her, "And where do you think you're going? You're the guest of honour this evening; it would be rude of you not to show up!"
"Let me go!" Aimee screamed, struggling furiously. "Let me go, you crazy witch!"
Pansy slapped her, "That's not a nice thing to say, little girl! Have some respect for your betters!"
Aimee ignored it, and gripping the hand clutching her hair sank her nails into the skin, "You-are-not-better-than-me! You're crazy, just like your crazy master was! But Papa killed him, and he's going to kill you too!"
She tugged and pulled on Pansy's arm, dragged her feet in the snow, and failing that, stuck her leg out trying to trip her again. The cold, her fear, the fact that she didn't know where she was, kept her going. She had no plan of escape but she would not stop trying.
Ignoring the girl's wild struggling though, Pansy retorted, "How? I have you and we're both in the last place he would think to look! Unless Draco's told him what I fed him… it's vague but not so that he won't know where to begin. I'm sorry it had to come to this, but your father, a worthless half-blood, refused to bow like the rest of them. He killed my beloved master and for that he is going to pay!"
"He'll get you first!" screamed Aimee, desperately fighting against Pansy's unnaturally strong grip.
"No, he won't. You can't kill the dead," Pansy replied simply.
"You're not dead, everybody knows who you are! You're Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy's stupid ugly ex-girl-AHH!" Aimee cried out as Pansy suddenly twisted her ponytail into a knot and pulled. Aimee bent her head into her hand to try to lessen the strain, but that brought her to look at Pansy's face, and when she saw her she immediately stopped.
She was not fighting against Pansy. The woman, who had taken her from the hotel, had bewitched Ginny to stun Neville and Maia, who had apparently gone through all this trouble just to capture her was not Pansy Parkinson at all. Pansy was a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman who liked and wore expensive things and heavy perfume but had a face like a pug. This woman was also dark-haired and dark-eyed, but was so pale she looked like death, and yet had a faint hint of the beauty of her youth. With no reason for thinking it but unable to stop herself, Aimee exclaimed, "Bellatrix Lestrange? But, how…? You're dead; you're supposed to be dead!"
As if it was the most natural thing in the world Pansy-Bellatrix, calmly began to explain as she dragged Aimee back up the street, "I saw your mother, you know? That filthy slut, thirteen years ago when she was going to have you… round as a pumpkin, and still trying to hide it. Did she think we were blind, or didn't know… or wouldn't have told the Dark Lord the minute we found out? But then she disappeared, and so completely that we had no choice but to let it go, and when she reappeared it was as if nothing had happened…. She did the one thing your grandmother could not have done; she protected you and your sister from us completely. And if your father had not come back she would have gotten away with it too… well, at least until I got my chance again. No matter little Aimee, as they say, `revenge is a course best served cold'… and this is as cold as it's going to get."
She suddenly stopped dragging her and dropped her down into a pile of snow near an old, crumbling stone wall. Her head still throbbing from the abuse of moments before, Aimee quickly scrambled to her feet and looked around her. It only took her a second to come to a complete standstill.
This was also apparently as clichéd as they were going to get. Bellatrix had taken her to the ruins of her grandparents' house in Godric's Hollow. And from the looks of her companions, now appearing slowly from the shadows round them, she was going to make sure that what happened before was not going to happen again. Unlike her famous father, Aimee Potter was quite sure that she had no chances of surviving the Killing Curse.
~*~*~*~
And unlike Draco, when found Ginny had much more to tell.
The first to reach her was Neville. Once he had been revived and had been informed of what had transpired he took off before the rest of them, running out of the hotel into the cold, snowy night. Harry and the others gave chase immediately, but only came upon him just as he was returning with Ginny's limp form in his arms, her long hair swinging loose over his arm, the hem of her full skirt trailing in the snow.
He took her all the way back to the hotel, but this time to the room they had planned to share that night, where instead Mrs Weasley and her daughters-in-law were waiting ready with towels and blankets. She was revived immediately, and when she came to, as she was hurriedly run over by her sisters-in-law and mother Harry anxiously questioned her.
"She's taken Aimee, Ginny. She's taken my daughter and I have no idea where they are. So please, did she-did she tell you anything, did she give you any idea of where she might be?"
Mrs Weasley tried to stop him, "Harry, please, she's been through a lot…."
Hermione took over. Releasing her children, she rose and went over to Ginny and asked simply, "What happened in the back room?"
At once Ginny began to cry, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… I tried to stop her, but I… she's…."
Hermione gently hushed her, and by the default the room, as she continued, "This isn't your fault… you're not responsible for this… we know what Pansy did to you…. But now that we know this, we need to know something else… did she tell where she was going? Where she planned to take my daughter?"
Ginny only said two words, "Godric's Hollow."
It was out of Ron's mouth before he could stop himself, "No way."
The others ignored him though, and Ginny continued, "When we went into the back I went to my closet to find my dress for the reception and she was waiting there for me. She used a Silencing Charm before I could react and then used the Imperius Curse. I tried to fight it, I thought I would have been strong enough to… but I couldn't…."
She looked down at her hands in shame, and Hermione wrapped her arms round her shoulders, "It's okay, not many of us can throw it off completely."
At this Harry cut in again, "How do you know she was taking her to Godric's Hollow, how are you so sure that they're there?"
"After I let her from the closet she said something about taking Aimee to see her grandparents. When she didn't kill her immediately but made me take us out of here instead, I guessed it had to be there. Her Muggle grandparents aren't buried in Godric's Hollow and they want to hurt you," she replied, and as she said the last bit turned to look Harry in the eyes.
He closed his, but after a moment opened them again and said, "I'll send her to hell and her master first."
His tone, his expression, his very air exuded his murderous intent.
At once Ron was with him, "You're not going alone, not this time Harry. If Pansy wants to join Voldemort and all his nutters I'll be right there sending her with you."
"As will I," said Hermione, standing away from Ginny.
Harry made to protest, "Hermione… you should stay with Maia and Caspar, Lupin and the others will come with me, right?" He looked around at the others and they readily volunteered themselves with a nod.
Hermione would not hear of it though, saying only, "I'm going."
One look told that she was very serious, and all further protest would end in failure. But then he remembered something and drawing his wand, pointed it at her stomach and murmured an incantation.
For the barest of moments there was a faint blue glow, barely visible but there, and all the room gasped. Luna had been right, she was pregnant.
Hermione looked down at her stomach and up at him in surprise. But refusing to acknowledge it, she insisted, "My daughter is out in the cold with a mad woman, I'm coming with you."
"You're pregnant, Hermione," he told her, his voice now traced with shock but still deeply serious.
She narrowed her gaze at him, "I helped you search for Voldemort for months while I was pregnant with the twins, compared to him Pansy is a pushover. Don't even think about saying another word against this."
He knew when to admit defeat. He turned away from her to Maia and Caspar, but then stopped in surprise.
They were gone. And when a quick sweep of the room turned up nothing, he feared where. They could not Apparate, but there were other forms of Wizard travel… Philippe was gone too… the hotel had spare brooms…. The adults would be there long before the children did, but they were still going there.
For a fleeting moment he thought with disappointment at Maia's irresponsibility in taking along Caspar… but they were already gone.
Gone to Godric's Hollow.
~*~*~*~
The moment the words were out of Ginny's mouth, Maia was up and heading determinedly, albeit surreptitiously, to the door. Philippe was only seconds behind her, with Caspar bringing up the rear, but she did not notice them. She didn't have a plan, she didn't have a clear idea of how she would rescue her sister, but as she was her father's child only one thought was clear, that she had to rescue her.
When she got into the hall and began checking doors for an available room the first to stop her was Philippe. He opened a door behind her with a simple, "Alohomora!" and said, "I'm coming with you, you can't fight off Death Eaters alone."
She stopped and turned back to him, "You're not any better, and besides, I wasn't planning on fighting off any Death Eaters, there are other ways to rescue people."
"There's no way that woman will let your sister go just like that, you're going to need help," he insisted.
And then Caspar came into their path, "I can help you, I know how to get around Godric's Hollow."
When he had recovered from his surprise at the boy's sudden appearance, Philippe laughed. "You? I know Godric's Hollow like the back of my hand, you've only been there once and you have no wand. You're just going to get in our way."
"Neither of you are coming with me!" Maia snapped at them both. "You'll both get in the way and I don't need any help. Aimee and I have always gotten in and out of trouble before, this will be no different."
"Apparently you know nothing of the people who've taken your sister. Do you think they'll just let her go because you want them to? Do you think they're just a bunch of bumbling idiots because they've lost their master? They're evil, they were evil before they joined Voldemort and they're still even after he's gone. Your father did his best to keep you from that, all of us from that so don't ruin it by being stupid!" Philippe retorted angrily.
"I'm going!" she declared, much like her mother was doing in the room they had left right then.
Philippe was more forceful than her father though, and immediately whipped out his wand, "Accio Maia's wand!"
When nothing happened, he looked at her confused, and then it turned to amusement, "You were going after Death Eaters without a wand? Where is it, still at home? Are you crazy Maia Potter?"
She looked away from him sullenly, and he continued authoritatively, "We're staying here until the people with wands, the adults, find and bring back your sister. That woman wanted you too and you'd just walk right into her arms."
Caspar asked then, his tone heavy with disappointment, "So we're not going then?"
Maia began to reply but Philippe cut in first, "No, we're not. Your parents have way too much to worry about already without you two adding to it. We're going to stay here and wait. They'll bring Aimee back, you'll see… these are the people who stopped Lord Voldemort, and after him nothing else can stand up to that."
For a moment it seemed as if Maia was going to agree with this, and then, without warning, she yanked open the door he had opened and raced into the room. Before the door could slam behind her again, Philippe and Caspar gave chase, but it was too late. Just as they entered, Maia was vanishing into the flames of the Floo Network, gone off to Northbridge Manor in search of her wand, and after that, to find her sister.
~*~*~*~
For all the fact that she knew she was in grave danger, Aimee made no attempt to go quietly. Without her wand she had little chance of actually successfully escaping, of at least inflicting some kind of harm, not to mention that she had no control over her wandless magic, but she put up her best fight.
She kicked, punched, scratched and bit at her attackers when they advanced on her to set their plans in motion. She screamed and yelled despite the fact that there seemed to be no one around to hear her. When one of them finally managed to wrestle her to the ground a burst of wandless magic expelled him into the wall of a nearby house. And then it seemed to hover over her until Bellatrix finally had enough and bound and dragged her into the ruin of her grandparents' house.
She was then forced to sit silently and watch as she was bound to part of a now iced-over wall in what was once their living room, then as the houses surrounding were set ablaze, one by one, until finally reaching her where they set the blaze in a tight circle round the property. If she didn't asphyxiate on the smoke, she would roast alive, or failing that be burned slowly and painfully to death. And all the while Bellatrix Lestrange would be standing before the house, watching her, waiting for it to happen.
Only then, realising that, did the fight go out of Aimee. Too much time had passed and her father wasn't there yet, she didn't stand a chance. But she would not cry. Harry Potter's children would not face their deaths with tears in their eyes. And it was with this mantra running through her head that she slumped against the cold stone wall with her bowed, waiting for death.
But she had given up too soon.
At the end of the street, masked by the horrific roar of the flames that towered into the dark night sky, there was the firecracker sound of a mass Apparation. Her father and the others had come.
And the moment they appeared Hermione screamed. For as long as they would live, for as long as they had lived, the others were sure that there was probably never a sound more heart-breaking, more gut-wrenching, more blood-curdling than the sound of a mother's anguished wail for a lost child. Or the sight after of her rushing desperately off down a snow-covered street, barely sure of where she was heading, in search of that child.
Unwilling to give up the element of surprise they still had though, Harry gave chase and quickly brought her back. Unexpectedly, she came easily, walking silently back through the falling snow and streets of mush with her head bowed and tears streaming down her face. As he got back to them the others could hear him whispering, albeit unconvincingly, "She's not in any of those houses, she's not there, they'd want to put on a show, not ruin it by acting too quickly. She's not in any of them…."
Ron visibly clenched his fists and looked off to the burning houses. In the background he could hear nothing above the flames and the excited whispers of the others, but he preferred them to the sound of Harry comforting Hermione. Her anguish could have just as easily been Luna's, Harry's pain could have been his… but it wasn't, and with their luck it probably wouldn't. Nobody cared about him when they were there to act as buffers.
Once they stood together then, Lupin began, "The Ministry's sending reinforcements. They should be here momentarily…."
As if on cue there was another set of firecracker Apparation, and Harry looked round them to find that they had been joined by seemingly innumerable dark-robed Aurors.
Lupin nodded to the leader, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and he replied, "The Minister's assigned this top priority; we're here to retrieve the child by any and all means necessary. Our orders are to take no prisoners."
At this Hermione gasped, and alarmed and disgusted, said, "That won't be necessary; I want my daughter back but not at the cost of… even them." She looked off towards the homes, now lit up by their orange-gold flames like Roman candles, their burnt embers mixing in with the falling snowflakes, and then back at them. "Get her back by any means necessary, but don't kill anyone… unless you have to."
"We won't need to," said Kingsley. "They're mostly stupid kids."
Lupin took over again, "Right, now that we're all here, as it is you can see that we seem to be undetected, but that doesn't mean that we weren't expected. We're going to split into groups of twelve, going off all around this place. Every house is going to be surrounded, put out and searched until we find her, any resistance is to be brought under control and when we find Pansy I want her, alive. If the child isn't here, she might be our only hope in finding her."
The Ministry Aurors who weren't Order members looked to Kingsley for command. He barked in reply, "You heard the man, let's find this little girl."
It took only a matter of seconds for them to disappear into the scenery of Godric's Hollow, and then less than that for the first sounds of a fierce Wizard battle to fill the night. As things crackled, popped, and exploded around them though, Harry walked Hermione determinedly down the main street to the site of his parents' home. Without suggestion the others had left this house to them, and somewhat surprisingly for him, Harry had said nothing. With Hermione's hand tightly clasped in his own, and Ron flanking his right, he simply took off down the street, wand drawn, eyes peeled, looking for the slightest trace of Pansy.
And then, before they were at the house, Ron spied her standing at the gate.
He whispered, "There's the witch."
Hermione and Harry looked to the gate too, but Hermione's eyes were searching for Aimee, and seeing nothing, asked, "Where's Aimee?"
At once Harry stopped their advance and commanded, "Ron, take Hermione and go into the house. She has to be in there, it's the only one that isn't burning from the inside out. I can't see any guards but I don't have to tell you guys that she's probably not there alone. I'm going to have a talk with Pansy."
Hermione and Ron did not question him, but simply slipped into the shadows and smoke round a nearby house and began to track their way to the Potter ruin. Harry watched them go, and then continued his walk to Pansy.
But then he stopped and nearly fainted.
He could not believe it, he did not want to believe it… he wasn't looking at what he thought he was… that… couldn't be….
In the shadows on their way to the house, Ron and Hermione found themselves suddenly surrounded by a group. The leader took one look at Hermione and smiled, "Where do you think you're going, love?"
He almost wanted to cry out for Hermione and Ron again, but he didn't. Bellatrix turned to him before he had a chance and smiling evilly, called out to him, "Has Papa come looking for his lost little girl?"
Ron scoffed, "Move it! Hermione doesn't want me to hurt you, but I didn't make any promises."
He recovered speedily and called, "You should be dead!"
She scoffed, but ignored it, continuing instead and switching to the mocking babyish voice she had used before, "Baby Potter all grown up… with a baby of his own… and just like his father before him with a filthy little Mudblood whore."
The ringleader had the audacity to laugh, and Ron lost it. Without warning he dropped him with a Stunner, and then almost immediately his companions descended upon them.
Through clenched teeth Harry snapped, "Haven't you got anything better than that? I'm so bloody fed up of hearing the same words over and over again, 'filthy Mudblood whore'… of course, it's probably better than 'crazy Pureblood bitch'!"
"Mind your language!" she snapped in return, glowering at him. "Remember I have your daughter."
Harry allowed his expression to calm into a smile, "I haven't forgotten, I've come to get her-Crucio!"
Maybe because it hadn't worked the last time or maybe she didn't think he would have done it or maybe still it was because she had aged that she couldn't, but Bellatrix made no attempt at blocking the curse or moving out of the way. But unlike the last time, she was to find, instead of her being able to shake it off and come at him, she was sent to the ground writhing violently while Harry stood watching. Unlike the last time, when he had meant to harm for Sirius' death and was filled with nothing more than righteous rage, this time he meant to harm because he hated her.
When he released her from it, she lay for a moment staring at him shocked, and then she was up on her feet again and shot off the Killing Curse. He deflected it in one swift movement that would have done Severus Snape proud, and snapped, "For years I've chased you, for years I thought you were the only thing standing between me and my family, for years I let something that had never bothered me before trap me… but now… did you for one moment think I would let you get away with it?"
"I'm going to kill you," she declared angrily.
"Then you should have done it when you met me in the Department of Mysteries instead of incessantly talking!" he told her, and shot a Stunner at her.
She blocked it, Disapparated and then Apparated into the safety of the side of a nearby house and used the smoke as a screen to send off the Killing Curse. The smoke though, seemed to amplify the glimmer of the green jet and Harry, having spun about wildly when she first disappeared, jumped out of the way. Barely waiting to come up bruised, he sent it back at her, and then got up and ran towards her hiding place.
He called to her as he ran, "Don't even think about it, Bella! I want my daughter back and if I have to follow you to hell I'm going to get her!"
Bellatrix didn't wait for him. As he got to her she Disapparated, and Harry was left to search desperately through air until she let him find her.
She yelled from her new hiding place, enraged, "Little Potter with your scar… let's see if your daughter will get one!"
His heart seizing, but his anger building, Harry turned back to the house and ran all the way to it. Ignoring the flames and blinding smoke that made his eyes water and singed his robes, Harry almost dove unto the front lawn. But when he stood up, with beads of sweat actually trickling down his back, Bellatrix was waiting for him with Aimee at her mercy. The girl stood helpless beside her, her arm trapped in a vice grip that drew blood, and strangely did not cry. All Harry cared for at the moment though, was that his daughter was alive.
He called to her, ignoring Bellatrix, "Aimee, are you alright? Look at me, Aimee!"
Aimee flicked her eyes to him, blinked and then coughed. She looked weak though, the smoke must have been choking her for quite some time.
Bellatrix interrupted the moment at once, "Have a last look Potter. I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago!"
"Oh no, you won't!" declared a voice behind her, and startled she turned to them. And just as she did Hermione shouted, "STUPEFY!" and she crumpled to her feet.
Aimee went with her, but she was up again in an instant and ran into her mother's arms. Harry was with them moments later, lifting his daughter into his arms and pulling Hermione into an embrace as tears of relief and joy escaped his eyes. They were fine, it was finally over, and they were fine.
And this would be how Ron, Lupin and the others would find them when they finally fought off and rounded up the neo-Death Eaters, of which Pansy was a member, and put out the last burning house. It was how Maia, Philippe and Caspar, intercepted by Fred and George, would meet them when they finally arrived, and raced through the growing crowd of Muggles and Wizards to the ruin. They would separate of course, but only to Disapparate off to, first, the wedding to show everyone that they were fine, and then back to Northbridge Manor, to home.
Harry didn't care what happened to Bellatrix or the others, he didn't want to know what the press would say or the Ministry either, he had his daughter back, the wedding was over, and it was time to go home.
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