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Frank leaned nonchalantly against one of the pillars supporting Platform 9¾, pulling a watch out of his Muggle jacket and tensely reading its face before throwing a cursory look around the platform, noting the winter-bundled parents eagerly awaiting their children, the on-duty Aurors prowling the place with wands out, the grim fortitude on all of their faces. He was here only to meet Alice and wasn't technically on duty, but memories of what had happened the last time the Hogwarts Express had been in Station were keeping him on edge.
Jaw clenched in anticipation, he forced himself to relax his hold on the bunch of flowers he had brought for Alice, afraid of snapping their stems. Instead, he took a firmer hold on his own wand, feeling the comforting grain of it against the tips of his fingers, and willed himself to calm down, to trust his fellow Aurors to keep the platform secure. In just another moment, he repeated to himself, the train would appear, Alice would disembark, and he could whisk her away to some place better protected, some place they could be alone for a time.
But with a brief and shuddering pause on the watch dial, that moment passed, ticking away into the next minute. The train was late.
Eyes narrowed but his face otherwise blank, doing his best to keep from alarming the impatient and muttering parents, he eased over to where Fabian was patrolling along the tracks.
"I know what you're thinking," muttered Fabian, using slight hand signals to communicate with the seven other Aurors on the platform. "But they passed the city limits, and must be only a few minutes delayed." Frank read Fabian's various commands out of the corner of his eyes: watch, come with me, ambush.
Ambush.
"Alice." With the whisper of fear, Frank's breath caught in his throat for half a second and his world came crashing down around him-and then, suddenly, he felt almost out of his body. He was hardly aware of settling the bouquet onto the platform, of placing a strong Disillusionment charm on himself and silently moving with six of the Aurors down the tracks, fanning out across the lane to best prepare for an ambush. He was suddenly calm, objective, focused only on finding and securing the Hogwarts Express.
They heard the ambush before they saw it, but it was still heart-wrenching to see the train partially de-railed two hundred meters away from the platform, so close to safety yet so vulnerable. Death Eaters had surrounded the compartments and were trying to breach the multitude of Shield Charms protecting the train, to surpass the Stunning and Dismarming Spells radiating from it. Frank could see that the students had been somewhat organized by the Prefects, James, and Lily, but it wasn't enough against the onslaught of thirty Death Eaters who had no qualms about harming or killing to gain their ends.
"Look, Aurors!" came an insistent shout from the front of the train. "Aurors, look, by the engine!"
Fabian cursed quietly and passed a wary eye over the compartment. "Bloody Slytherin warning his dad, I bet."
"Wouldn't dare curse a Ministry employee," grunted Frank, still focusing on the rank of slowly-advancing Death Eaters. "Might attack another student, though…"
As Fabian signaled for another Auror to keep an eye on the compartments offering the least resistance to the Death Eaters, Frank and Fabian continued to cautiously enter the fray, now dodging the curses that had been fired wildly in their general direction.
It was some consolation to take the Death Eater's by surprise; they hadn't expected so much resistance from the students, perhaps, and were too busy dealing with it that they were unable to handle the Auror attack, expected or not. The Death Eaters, cloaked in darkness and masks, blending in almost as well with the night and depths of snowfall as the Aurors did, rallied at the tail of the train, trying to fight unseen attackers while finishing their work.
"You three, flank them from the other side," commanded Fabian quietly, gesturing between hastily aimed spells at the three Aurors behind himself. There was no need to admonish the Aurors to stun only, that the Death Eaters were desperately needed for questioning; it had been impressed, time and time again, into their minds. Fabian sent another Auror for reinforcements before quickly catching Frank's eye. "Come with me."
Nodding, Frank crouched and started toward the caboose, leveling his wand just below the indistinct whitish smear of a Death Eater's mask and silently attempting to stun the cloaked figure. As they neared the train, the sound of students screaming in terror or yelling battle cries, resounding against the Death Eaters' own bellowed oaths, became almost overwhelming. Heart hammering in his chest, Frank fought to keep control of himself, to keep breathing and thinking and fighting. "Do it, or die," he muttered through clenched teeth, before edging ever nearer to the train.
"Just stun the girl, for Merlin's sake!" The almost-indistinct yell was shrill with fear, the Death Eater from which it stemmed seeking refuge on his belly under the train, firing curses blindly into the darkness as fast as he could. Several of the Death Eaters on board the train suddenly collapsed against the causeway railing, felled by jets and swirls of color. "Or kill her, just a Mudblood, innit?"
Rage boiled within Frank as several of the surrounding Death Eaters agreed. After sharing a dark look with Fabian, whom Frank could just barely make out a meter to the right of him, Frank set his teeth, preparing for the inevitable fight that would follow the barrage of curses he was about to let loose. Arm shaking with adrenaline, he pointed his wand into the center or the gob of Death Eaters-and froze.
Laying in the dirty snow between the railways, bound and gagged by magic, were several limp figures, dressed in Muggle clothing. As Frank watched on, a Death Eater on the backside of the train raised his wand, and after the Summoning Charm infiltrated the gap between shields, something large and struggling broke through a compartment wall, flying to land in a heap at the Death Eater's feet.
Children, Frank realized, horrified. The blood seemed to freeze in his veins in that split-second of shock. The Death Eaters were taking the children as hostages.
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