33. The Point of No Return
The sudden scream sent goosebumps through Harry. It was Hermione’s voice. What had happened? Had they done something to Ron? Was Hermione hurt? Had something really terrible occurred inside?
Fear for the safety of his friends pulsed through his veins as Harry entered the room immediately. He saw Rebecca squat next to an unconscious Ron, who was chained to the wall at his torso. Ron’s wrists were free, but they were also bleeding tremendously. Rebecca collected the freely flowing blood with a triumphant look on her face, while Hermione, who was chained to the wall opposite, looked white with horror. But Harry’s moment of non-reaction cost him dearly, as a series of events followed one another.
Shaun noticed the Aurors’ presence and raised a wand at them while they were still in the split-second shock. “Avada Kedavra.”
“NO!” Harry screamed, as the green light came soaring towards Ginny. He tried to shield her, but was pushed aside by a pair of hands. There was a thump and someone screamed. Then Harry, in his anger uttered a number of curses, so that Shaun was on the floor and Rebecca was up with the vial of blood still in her hands and a demented expression on her face.
“I have not lost,” was all she said, before waving her wand. Instantly, flames sprang up around the room, spreading all along on a trail of kerosene. “I had thought this through, you know,” Rebecca said, staying incredibly calm. “I have decided that I will not be captured alive. And before you can lay your hands even on my dead body, this place will be on fire.”
Harry, having lost all rationality, rushed into the room, his wand raised at Rebecca. She and Shaun had ruined his life. They had hatched the plot to kill Parvati and now, Shaun had killed Ginny. Harry walked over to Ron, who was literally haemorrhaging from his wrist. His wand was still pointed at Rebecca. “I’m warning you, now. One more trick you play and you’re dead. And I’m saying it literally.” Anger was flooding into his senses, and all he knew was that he wanted to kill Rebecca.
Rebecca smiled. “Try hurting me, Harry, and you’ll wish you were never born.”
Harry glanced at Anthony, who was standing at the doorway. The other Auror gave a curt nod and came into the room too. “You’re under arrest, Rebecca.”
“NO!” said Rebecca, and tried to escape out of the room.
Anthony, though, was too quick for her. He caught her by her arm and held her tightly, while Harry freed Ron and Hermione. Harry looked at Anthony and nodded. “Let’s go.”
“NO, YOU WON’T!” Rebecca waved her wand again and there was an explosion. Suddenly, the flames were everywhere, licking at the walls, doorways and windows. Rebecca took the moment of shock for everybody as an opportunity to escape from Anthony’s grip and Harry saw her just as she leaped out of the doorway.
Determined to catch her before she escaped further, Harry chased her out. He saw Romilda, Chris and Cheryl outside, coughing through the thick black smoke. “Take them outside!” Harry sputtered at Romilda, as the smoke got into his lungs. “Quickly!” He then looked ahead to see Rebecca vanish through a thick wall of smoke, and ran after her. He chased her further and further through several flights of stairs and finally, when the smoke started clearing, she escaped through a narrow, winding staircase and up a trapdoor on the ceiling. Harry took her path and found himself standing on the terrace of the mansion. And Rebecca was right opposite him, standing at the edge of the terrace.
“Expelliarmus,” said Harry, before Rebecca could attack. In a second, her wand was in his hand. “Submit yourself, Rebecca. You’ve done enough.”
“No,” she whispered. “You can’t catch me.”
“We have caught you,” Harry said, showing her both the wands in his hands. “Come with me now.” Harry was just about to take another step towards her, when there was a sound. He pointed his wand at the trapdoor and it opened” but it was Chris. Harry lowered his wand and turned to Rebecca. “Don’t make us force you into surrendering.”
“You can’t,” said Rebecca. There was an unwavering calmness in her voice. She knew what she wanted to do. Chris began to walk towards her, but she raised her hand to stop him. “I have explained the truth to you, Chris. I don’t owe you anything now.”
Chris sighed. “Why, Becks…?”
Rebecca shrugged. “You would never understand it… But… I’m sorry. I ruined a lot of things for you…”
“Then come back now and mend your ways,” said Chris. “You can always do that…”
“No, I can’t,” said Rebecca. She looked at Harry and then again at Chris. “The Aurors will shut me up in prison now. I don’t want that. And there’s only one way to escape it…”
Before Harry could react, Rebecca had turned around and she wasn’t there anymore. It seemed a long time before he heard the thump of her body hit the ground. He turned to Chris, who looked back at him with pain-filled eyes. Harry patted his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
***
Ginny sat down on the grass of Chris’s courtyard, worries eating through her head. Harry and Chris were still inside the house and there was no sign of them. The Muggles in the nearby houses had called the fire trucks and the firemen were there, trying to control the fire in vain. There was an ambulance too. In the meantime, Hermione was supporting a weak and barely conscious Ron so that she could Apparate discreetly with him to St. Mungo’s. Ron was bleeding badly and he needed immediate care. Anthony had brought Shaun out of the house and immediately taken him to Auror headquarters to lock him up in Azkaban temporarily, before he could be interrogated and tried. Cheryl was also there, sitting a little away from Ginny. The girl’s grey eyes reflected the flaring house in front of her and Ginny knew somehow that she was thinking about Chris. Meanwhile, there was a load of commotion, and Ginny’s heart palpitated as she saw the firemen close around somebody. She got up and ran to them.
“Can you recognise her, ma’am?” one of the men asked, moving away for Ginny to see someone on the ground, covered in blood. “She just fell from the terrace.”
Ginny did not need another look to recognise Rebecca’s battered body. “R”Rebecca Palmer…” she whispered, shocked at the sight. The men then lifted Rebecca and placed her on a stretcher, covering her with a white cloth. She was then wheeled close to the ambulance, where another stretcher waited with yet another body. But Ginny knew who else had died.
She heard a sob next to her and saw Romilda wipe away a tear. She had been standing next to the stretcher the whole time. Ginny put an arm around the other woman, as tears escaped her eyes too. Irene had died after coming in the way of Shaun’s killing curse that was meant for Ginny. It had been the most horrible moment in Ginny’s life; she had just watched someone die in place of her. Ginny was just wiping away her tears when she heard a horrible blast from the house.
She was on her toes at once. Harry was inside! She had to help him! Before she knew it, she was walking towards the doorway of the house, ignoring Romilda as well as the firemen who called out to her. And then she was inside the house.
***
Getting out of the burning house seemed impossible. Harry and Chris were blinded by the thick black smoke billowing through the house and choking them as it entered their lungs. Harry led Chris down the staircases and with much difficulty; and they had reached the living room when a horrible sight met their eyes. On the floor was a charred body of what looked like a man and when they got a closer look of it, Chris, though, recognised him. “Dad?”
The teenager sank to his knees, too shocked to move further. He knew that he had run out of the house. If it wasn’t now, it was never. But his knees were too weak to support him. He felt a pat on his shoulder and Harry was kneeling beside him. “We’ve got to get out of here now.” There was a loud blast as he said so and a burning pillar nearby fell just feet away from Chris. “Come on!” Harry said again, trying to get Chris to his feet.
He could understand what Harry was saying, but his brain could not transmit the information for his legs to coordinate. And then he couldn’t breathe. He was suddenly hyperventilating. He heard Harry say something in surprise and stand up suddenly. Then there was a shriek and Harry was shaking him. “Chris? Chris…”
After that, everything went black for Chris Stevens.
***
Finding Kevin Stevens dead was almost as much a shock to Harry as it was to Chris, and he watched the boy fall down to his knees in disbelief. But Harry knew that this was no time to mourn. He knelt next to Chris and patted his shoulder. “We’ve got to get out of here.” The teenager didn’t respond, and a blast racked the house, dropping a blazing pillar dangerously close to Chris. “Come on!” Harry tugged at the teenager’s arm, trying to get him to stand up.
Chris looked at him and Harry suddenly knew what was coming, as the teenager began to struggle for breath. There was another noise, and Harry saw something that made him stand up all at once. Ginny had just entered the house. She was alive. She rushed to his side, but a look of terror took over her expression of determination. “Chris!” she shrieked, just in time for Harry to notice Chris slip out of consciousness. He knelt down and shook the teenager vigorously.
“Chris? Chris!” Chris did not respond as his eyes rolled upwards and shut. “Help me,” he said to Ginny, who knelt beside Harry and helped him prop Chris up.
“Who’s that?” Ginny asked, shuddering at the charred body.
“Chris’s dad,” Harry replied, as he tried to find a way to get out through the flaming door of the house.
“What?!”
Harry shuddered. “I think he’s been murdered. But we’ll find out about that later. How do we get out?”
Just then, they heard a strange voice. “Anyone in there, mate?”
“Yes!” Ginny said. She looked at Harry. “It’s probably a fireman.”
In a minute, someone was throwing water at the doorway to kill the fire. Harry and Ginny waited, supporting Chris, until a little bit of the path was cleared. The fireman stood aside and helped them with Chris as they tumbled out of the house. Then, Harry told him about Kevin’s body and the man went back inside to retrieve it.
They walked a little distance and Ginny slumped down upon the grass, clutching at her chest. Harry lay Chris beside her, and sat down too as the fireman came with Kevin’s corpse and lay it on a stretcher, covering it with white cloth. Then he came to Harry and said, “Take the kid to the hospital. The ambulance is right there. Anybody in the house still?”
Harry looked at Ginny to ask if anyone was inside, and she shook her head. “No one’s in,” he told the man, taking in breaths of the fresh air. Then he looked at Ginny as the fireman walked away. “Let’s take Chris to St. Mungo’s.”
“Okay,” said Ginny. “But should we try waking him up first?”
“Though I think he’s fainted because of all the shock, he could still have had a good bit of carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Harry. “We don’t want to cause him trouble by delaying.”
“Then let’s do it now. I’ll just tell Romilda that we’re leaving.”
Harry looked at where Romilda was standing and was shocked to see the third stretcher. “Who” who else died?” he asked Ginny in a strangled voice.
Ginny sighed. “It’s Irene. She blocked me from Shaun’s killing curse.” Then she walked away, turning away from Harry.
Harry watched her walk to Romilda and realised with a pang that if it hadn’t been Irene today, it would have been Ginny. He felt guilty about the sense of relief that was flooding him to see Ginny alive and well, because he knew that it had been at the cost of Irene. He did not know what would have happened to him if Ginny were really dead. He could not imagine life without her, now that she had played an important role in it for at least a month. And that was when Harry realised that he was really in love with Ginny. He was truly and deeply in love with her… to a point of no return.
Killer Instincts by Ginny Weasley Potter
Chapter Notes: Hey all! Enjoy and please R/R! :)
This one is for my new roomie, Shar.