From under their masks, three figures looked out. They had been told by their master that they were to do nothing but surround the two insolent children and make sure they stayed where the Dark Lord wanted.
Lucius Malfoy chuckled maliciously as the Potter boy threw his head to the side from the force of the Dark Lord’s spell. Instantly, a large gash appeared on his cheek, and soon after, another materialized on his left shoulder. Potter fell to the ground on his hands and knees. Another spectacular curse hit the brat and left him gasping for breath, his face riddled with pain.
The Mudblood received a large gash across her back as she turned to watch her boyfriend fall. Malfoy sneered in glee at her cry of pain. But, he sucked in his breath when he saw her straighten herself and throw a curse at his Master. The Dark Lord was caught off guard slightly, but deflected the curse easily. The Dark Lord’s face twisted as he looked at the girl, and sent more hexes and curses at the Mudblood.
Lucius couldn’t help himself; he admired the red-haired sprite. She was fiery and quite attractive. Even as he watched her during his latter years at school, he recognized her form and vivid eyes. He felt a strange, sickening disappointment that she was not on the side of evil. He knew he would’ve felt for her, and tried his best to get her into his trust. But alas, she was not, and therefore she must be destroyed. But, before he could watch her be destroyed, a stray spell hit his chest. The last thing he knew was a terribly sharp pain in his skull as he hit the frozen earth.
Bellatrix Lestrange had only one regret about the current duel: her dear cousin Sirius was not here to be crushed. She sniffed at the traitor’s image. Tall, dark, handsome; he looked exactly like how a Death Eater should look. The attractiveness was a family trait, she admitted; she herself was tall and dark, with a fine womanly shape. Sirius also had a resolve about him that made him powerful. She only wished that he hadn’t been so stupid and allowed himself to be caught up in what any of the silly little Mudblood-lovers thought.
She gave a triumphant laugh as the girl”who had done such a good job of remaining on her feet”was thrown to the ground in the few inches of snow. Bella took a moment to leer at the falling flakes. They were too pure, too white, and too clean. She raised her wand and sent a jet of heat to melt those that had the audacity to fall in front of her. Naturally, the effort was futile, but at least it destroyed some of the disgusting snow.
Through the slight steam, she watched as that Potter child pushed himself off the ground and turned to face her Dark Lord. Potter began sending off many curses at the Dark Lord, who was rather surprised at his recovery. Two of them hit his chest. The Dark Lord gave a great coughing laugh (the sound sent trickles of savage glee down to Bellatrix’s toes) and threw the curse off. Potter seemed taken aback, but continued to fight with a stupid bravery that disgusted her.
And, just like Lucius, Bellatrix was soon thrown the ground by Potter’s curse before she could enjoy the downfall of the little monster. She leered once more at the cold snow before losing her consciousness, only half aware of the affects of the curse.
Pushing his head back into his black cowl, Regulus Black looked at his brother’s best friend. He admired Potter. Really, he had always admired the older boy. Potter’s strong resolve and many talents made him jealous of the Potter boy. Regulus could see how some mistook Potter and Sirius”the stupid fool”as brothers. Dark hair, sharp but good looking features, and tall, strong frames were attributes of the Potter boy’s and Regulus’s family.
Regulus watched with mixed emotions as Potter was hit with a curse that looked an awful lot like the Imperius Curse, and yet he made no movement apart from letting his head be pushed to the side slightly from the impact, though the Dark Lord shouted his commands of “Bow!” and “Join us!”
Regulus’s eyebrows rose: That’s impressive, he thought; Potter’s throwing off the curse. He himself had not been able to do that when the Dark Lord tried it out on him, nor had Lucius or Bellatrix.
He glanced over at his cousin and the man that would probably marry his other cousin. Lucius had been hit by a Stunning Spell, and Bellatrix from a curse he couldn’t identify. All he knew was that Bella now had an interesting tint to her skin and tentacle like things were sprouting from her face and back.
He winced and turned back to the fight, as the girl’s voice had now been added to the shouting. She and Potter were fighting side-by-side, and the young Death Eater had to admit that they looked good together. Their noses were red, and he could feel that his own nose was also red and cold.
Suddenly, the Dark Lord started to back up from the amount of spells that the two students were sending at him. Regulus was shocked at the retreat. Although he had ideas of interfering and helping his master, he knew he would be seriously punished if he did so.
For a split second, his thoughts turned inward and he wondered about what he was doing following such a man… A feeling of self-loathing come over him and it surprised him. He pushed it away. One day, maybe after he graduated, he would sit down and think. Think about many things, especially about the Dark Lord.
Thus, he stayed were he was and watched. But unfortunately, not for long. Suddenly, he was thrown into the air, and landed by the shore of the lake in a crumpled heap of pain. He groaned and in his peripheral vision, he saw the Dark Lord get hit with a curse. He went into a slight bow, holding his ribs. Regulus couldn’t take the astonishment; his head hit the ground and as he lost his present mind, he dimly felt as his body went into a feeling not unlike an Apparition.
James shouted his last curse and, after watching Voldemort bow with the pain, he gave a great gasp and fell back into the snow on his hands and knees. Gathering as much strength as he could, he looked up and saw Voldemort flick his wand, do a quarter turn, and disappear with his Death Eaters. James rolled over onto his back in the snow and felt as Lily fell down at his side. She placed her head on his chest as sobs shook her body. James fought off the intense pain from Voldemort’s last curse and raised his body so he could hold Lily close to him.
Minutes later their clothes were soaked. Lily stopped crying and brought herself to her feet. She reached down and with the last bit of strength she had, she pulled James up. He clung to her shoulders and that scared Lily. He wouldn’t have put this much pressure on anyone unless he was hurt intensely. She bit back her own cry of pain and looked up into James’s face.
“James, what is it?” she asked, bringing his arm over her shoulder.
“It’s nothing,” he said. He moved his arm down her back to give her some support, and Lily gave a shriek of protest. James stopped abruptly and leant against a nearby tree. He turned Lily around and cursed at the sight of a long gash across her back that was bleeding profusely. He pushed himself off the tree and started to walk quickly back up to the castle, his own gashes and pain nearly forgotten as he carried Lily in his arms.
They were in luck. As they entered the school through one of the many doorways, Dumbledore was walking toward them, his face as James had never seen it. There was anger, and fear, and a bit of hatred in his worn features. James didn’t have to say anything, nor did Lily, but with two flicks of his wand, two hovering stretchers were conjured from the thin air, and Dumbledore ordered the two students onto them. They floated quickly up staircases and down empty corridors, as class was in session, until they reached the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey shrieked and Remus, Josey, Frank, Alice and Sirius shot up from the bedside of Nikeia. Madam Pomfrey had allowed them to stay, mostly because she knew they weren’t going to move from Nikeia’s side even if she had demanded.
“Oh dear Merlin! What ever happened?” cried Madam Pomfrey as Dumbledore levitated James and Lily onto two beds.
“I am not sure, but they need to be tended to quickly,” said Dumbledore. “I suggest a Calming Draught and a sleeping potion. I must go; please send someone to tell me when they awake.” Dumbledore turned to go, stopping as he passed Remus. “Mr. Lupin, I would like you to watch over your friends and make sure they don’t badger Mr. Potter and Miss Evans when they come around. I would also like it if you all return to your classes soon,” he added, addressing all five students. “You may visit your friends during lunch. It is your last year and it is imperative that you miss as little of your studies as possibly.” With a nod of his head, Dumbledore strode from the room and closed the large door behind him.
Needless to say, Remus, Sirius, Frank, Alice and Josey took quite a while to be convinced to return to their classes. Finally Madam Pomfrey was able to usher them out of the room and into the throng of students leaving their first class.
During their argument, the nurse got Lily into a hospital gown and she was placed on the bed on her stomach, the back of the gown left open. Madam Pomfrey applied the same thick purple paste to Lily’s back and James’s shoulder as had been given to Nikeia. Lily sucked in her breath as the paste stung her back, and she gladly drank the sleeping potion Madam Pomfrey gave to her. The cut on James’s cheek was gone easily with a movement of Madam Pomfrey’s wand. Then, he drank the sleeping potion and almost instantly fell into a calm sleep.
Madam Pomfrey clucked her tongue as she walked back over to Nikeia. She removed the purple paste and gauze bandages. The deep, thick cuts that had been slashed into Nikeia’s body weren’t healing at the speed the nurse wanted them too, and she hoped they wouldn’t take too much longer. She reapplied the paste and bandages and drew the blanket up to the shoulders of the unconscious girl.
She walked back to her office, shaking her head, wondering what everyone was getting in to.