Brontide

“I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.”

A silence fell across the Great Hall, one so heavy it seemed to weigh down upon me.

“Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.”

The bodiless voice that I could only assume belonged to Voldemort had stopped talking. The entirety of the school had been gathered together by Professor McGonagall, my ever-unyielding favorite teacher, though even she looked rightfully afraid. Everyone had turned their attention to Harry, who was standing not too far in front of the rest of the Order. Rae and I were looking at each other nervously. We'd only just entered the Great Hall.

A Slytherin girl I didn't recognize stood up from her seat, pointing a finger at Harry and yelling, “But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!”

All at once, the Order moved in front of Harry and we stared at the girl, who was beginning to look regretful once most of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses stood to glare at the Slytherin table, wands raised and at the ready.

Professor McGonagall swiftly stepped in before a fight broke out. “Thank you, Miss Parkinson. You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch, if the rest of your House could follow.”

The Slytherins, along with the students under age, were being evacuated, while the Order gathered on an empty spot at the Gryffindor table. Harry had gone off to look for what he'd come to Hogwarts for, as well as search for Ron and Hermione, who we still hadn't seen. According to Kingsley, we only had about half an hour before midnight, so we needed to agree on a strategy quickly. We started formulating a battle plan, and ultimately it was decided that Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, and Sprout would cover the three highest towers with groups of fighters. Fred and George would organize the defense of the secret passageways, while Rae and I would go with Mr. Weasley and a few others to the school grounds, Remus and Kingsley taking groups with them as well. I could tell Rae was relieved once they agreed to let her and myself pair up, and I was too.

When it came time to separate from everyone, Fred and George pulled Rae and me in for a group hug, the four of us holding onto each other tightly.

“Be safe, you two,” Rae said with a sigh.

“Don't worry about us,” George said with a smile, “I reckon this'll be a right blast, eh Freddie?”

He let out a chuckle, a grin spreading across his freckled face. “George, it's been too long since we got to blow anything up. I haven't been this excited since we were fifteen. The Great Toilet Massacre, remember?”

I was too anxious to say anything. The feeling of being near my best friends before a potentially large-scale battle spoke in and of itself; I was worried we'd never had this again.

Before they went up the staircase, Fred backtracked and placed a kiss on my lips. “Shoot straight, alright?” he said with a smirk.

“I will if you do,” I smiled back, watching as he and George took the stairs two at a time and disappeared around a corner.

We left the chaos of the school behind and Rae and I hurried after Mr. Weasley, who'd gone ahead of us with a few Ravenclaw students. From the sounds of people yelling and the flashes of light that appeared in the distance, I knew it must've been past midnight then. Through the darkness, I could see people to our left and right in the midst of battle. Though we couldn't see it, a roar was heard that sounded remarkably like a giant, and a chill went down my spine at the possibility of having to fight one.

Before we entered the fray, I'd crouched down behind a rock to tie up my hair since it'd already gotten in the way of my vision. Rae was looking around us with her wand drawn while I did this.

“Rae! Cassie!”

We quickly looked back from where we came, and from the light of the castle I was able to see Angelina heading toward us.

“It's great to see you,” I said when she reached us, giving Rae and I each a quick hug. “Is Lee here too?”

“Remus sent him to help Fred and George,” she said a bit breathlessly, “I hope we're not too late. We got your Patronus but our families were not happy about us coming. I definitely owe my mum an apology with how I yelled.”

I was reminded of the letter Rae left on her fridge. She'd originally intended to use Nestor, but I sensed she got cold feet and never brought it up again. The look of regret on her face led me to believe she was thinking about it too.

“No matter, you're right on time,” I told Angelina. We started tromping across the wet grass in the direction of the fighting, which was gradually growing louder and louder. “Here's to hoping this battle will be the end of it all.”

***

“GET BACK!” Mr. Weasley yelled over the blasts and booms, and I put up a shield in front of him as a jet of red light nearly blasted him away. “There's too many of them, we need to pull back!”

He wasn't wrong to want to regroup with other people. Not only were the grounds swarmed with Death Eaters, but also Snatchers, huge spiders, Dementors...

While we had a fair number of people on our side, it was glaringly obvious that Voldemort had an incredibly large army at his disposal. Some of these things made it past us, and we were struggling to keep more away from the castle. Already I'd watched two people from our side get killed.

“REDUCTO!” Angelina yelled, her spell aimed at the ground in front of us. The group of Death Eaters and Snatchers we were battling was suddenly thrown backward by the force of her explosion. While we retreated, Rae and I were throwing spells over our shoulders.

“Do you think – IMPEDIMENTA!” Rae yelled. I was able to make out a fresh cut across her cheek, which was trailing blood down her neck.

I stunned a Death Eater in the chest, continuing to hurry after our group. “Do I think what?”

“Protego!” She cast a Shield Charm and ducked as a jet of green light narrowly went over her head. “Do you think he's here? Maratross, I mean.”

I'd be lying if I said the possibility wasn't at the back of my mind; it was incredibly likely he was somewhere among the masses. “I'd be surprised if he wasn't,” I called back to her as I shielded myself over and over again. The group pursuing us was relentless. “I'm keeping my word, though. I won't do anything unless we happen to find him. We've got other things to worry about right now.”

It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make because the part of me that wanted revenge was very much alive just then.

I caught up with Mr. Weasley, who had a cracked glasses lens and was red in the face from running. He was continuing to fire spells over his shoulder non-verbally. Four of the enemy fighters were suddenly bound together by chains because of him, falling to the ground in a heap. Jets of green and red light were being fired at our group with rapid speed, and I nearly tripped trying to avoid a Killing Curse that flew by my left ear –

“Mr. Weasley, where are we – ”

“We need to get to the bridge!” He pointed ahead of us to where the long, rickety wooden bridge stretched across the upcoming ravine. “They're supposed to be blowing it up, but we should be able to make it across – if we can lure them onto it, we could help thin them out a bit!”

Emerging from the grove of trees near us was a mass of what I thought were more Snatchers. A few broke off to join in chasing us, but the rest seemed to be heading in the same direction we were. If we ran just a bit faster, we'd be able to make it there before them. I was quickly becoming out of breath though, and as we neared the bridge I watched curiously as Angelina yanked off her jacket.

Her wand was pointed at it, and I heard her say, “Engorgio.” Being that the material was bunched up, it was hard to tell exactly how large it'd grown. And then, right before we stepped onto the bridge, the Snatchers and Death Eaters dangerously close, she opened it up and flung it behind us, blocking the enemy from view –

“Duro Maxima!” she shouted. The material hardened to become a wall, and it was at that precise moment that I heard many of them run straight into it, yelling and cursing.

We successfully made it onto the bridge, and though the spells behind us kept coming they were more manageable to deal with, being we were in a narrower space. Our shoes thundered against the old planks, and I ducked as a Blasting Curse hit the railing, sending splinters of wood in every direction.

I gave Angelina a thumb's up. “Nice one, Ange! I dunno how you thought of that but it was wick – Stupefy!” I stunned a female Snatcher who'd gotten too close, sending her flying backward into her companions.

Angelina grinned in response, pushing one of the Ravenclaw boys we were with out of the way of a Killing Curse. “Honestly, I always wanted to do something like that. I watched far too many action films growing up.”

We were about to reach the Clock Tower Courtyard, and I heard Mr. Weasley yell over the sounds of battle, “Neville, Seamus, do it now!”

As though it were hooked up to fuses, the bridge started rumbling before explosions were going off left and right. The one closest to us sent Rae forward with the strength of it and she almost crashed into me, though I grabbed her before she could fall. I watched as the ancient structure crumbled and collapsed upon itself, the Death Eaters and Snatchers who hadn't disapparated yelling as they plummeted below.

The situation in the courtyard wasn't much better than that of the grounds. Luckily we had more people to help us, but the place looked like a war zone with the rubble and bodies strewn on the ground. From every possible direction, curses and jinxes were flying haphazardly. The clock tower itself was heavily damaged on the front, large chunks of stone blasted away and gouge marks left behind. The face of the clock had a decent-sized hole in the glass. Behind us, Seamus Finnigan and Neville were dueling two of the Death Eaters who'd escaped the bridge. Rae, Angelina and I were forming a triangle with our backs to each other while we continued to fire off spells.

Mr. Weasley had suddenly changed direction and stormed over to a Death Eater without a mask. He had long blonde hair in a ponytail and was keeping two Hufflepuff girls cornered. “YAXLEY!” Mr. Weasley yelled at him. The man turned away from the girls upon seeing Mr. Weasley and the two immediately began dueling fiercely, yelling insults at each other.

I started to go over with the intent of helping him, but Mr. Weasley put up a hand to stop me. “I appreciate the enthusiasm but don't get involved, Cassie. We have a score to settle. Stick with the others, alright? Keep each other safe.”

I nodded in response and quickly left them to their duel. It was then that I nearly ran straight into someone I didn't expect to see: Tonks.

I looked at her in surprise. Tonks' hair was her favorite shade of bubblegum pink. “Tonks? What are you – ”

“I couldn't just sit home,” she said quickly while she looked around wildly, “I couldn't stand not knowing what was happening. My mother's watching Teddy for the night. Have you seen Remus? I need to help him.”

I hadn't seen him since we discussed battle strategies. “I know he's taken a group with him somewhere on the grounds, I dunno – Protego – where exactly he went.”

She spared a moment to wave to Rae and Angelina before apparating away.

Everything was happening so quickly that it was difficult for me to organize my thoughts. Different spells were getting jumbled around in my head, and I was having an increasingly harder time focusing on the things around me. The blasts and booms were becoming one long, drawn-out sound that seemed to reverberate off of my brain, giving me a headache. After spreading out away from my friends, I fired off a Stunning Spell but didn't see the chunk of rubble behind my foot. Falling backward, my head hit the ground hard and felt the wind get knocked out of me in shock.

My vision was suddenly blurring around the edges and I was having a hard time breathing. A ringing started in my ears that resulted from a particularly loud explosion, one that had many of the people in the courtyard yelling with panic. I didn't think I had the strength to get up in that moment to see what happened, not when my head hurt so badly I thought it'd split open.

You need to get up and help your friends. It'd be pathetic of you to die like this. You couldn't do that to Fred.

I was trying to slowly get up. I couldn't quite see what was going on, save for some jets of light and a few blurred figures. I heard someone that sounded like Angelina shouting, “We need to get out of here! Where the hell is Cassie?”

Why did we need to get out of there? What happened?

I rubbed my forehead as I propped myself up. I blinked a few times, my swimming vision gradually returning to normal –

And then I saw it.

Over two stories tall, a giant had made it into the courtyard. It'd annihilated a large portion of the right wall of the courtyard, wielding a large metal weapon that almost looked like a fork. The giant let out a roar and people were scrambling to put some distance between them and the new enemy. I knew we had to stop it from further destroying the castle, and I had a feeling that we'd be able to take it down as a group. I was having a hard time finding my motor functions though, and when the giant smashed the ground I was sent flying backward into a wall, shrouded in a cloud of dust.

“CASSIE!” I heard Rae screaming somewhere in the distance, her voice sounding far off and it was almost as though she were underwater.

This time when I hit my head, I could feel blood oozing down my face and onto my lips. Everything hurt like hell, and in my haze I had the dreaded realization that my wand had snapped in my hand, half of it dangling by the unicorn hair that was its core.

This isn't how this was supposed to go, I thought to myself tearfully, my trembling hand gripped tightly around the splintered wood. You idiot, this isn't –

Get up.

A voice that wasn't my own had entered my head. My mind immediately clouded over and I began to feel like I was floating, all of the physical pain in my body vanishing. A relaxing sensation had fallen over me and I couldn't exactly understand why, but I was starting to feel...happy? I'd become blissfully unaware of the chaos happening around me, and without much of a thought I stood up like the voice said to do.

Enter the tower and go up one floor.

Unseen by the others, who were busy trying to battle the giant that blocked me from view, my legs took me inside the clock tower. The large, brass pendulum continued to swing between the two staircases, and my feet took me to the right of it. I was only vaguely able to notice the other people running past me on the stairs as I climbed up; two girls had hurried to get to the courtyard, whom I thought might've been Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet. Somewhere in my head, I tried to open my mouth to warn them about the giant but I wasn't even able to do that.

What the hell do you think you're doing? Why are you listening to this other voice? Don't you realize what's happening?

I slowly walked up the winding flight of stairs, feeling serene and content, blood continuing to drip down my face and onto my shirt –

You're going to die.

I had reached the landing and was looking at the corridor that led to the hospital wing. At the end of it was a huge set of wooden doors, behind them containing the mechanisms and the face of the clock which I seemed to remember from years of snooping around Hogwarts.

Go to the end of the hall and enter.

I was trying so hard to get my body to cooperate with me. The last thing I wanted to do was enter those doors. I had no idea who was waiting behind them, and frankly, I preferred fighting the giant and Death Eaters down below over putting myself in this situation. But as much as I struggled, as much as my consciousness yelled at me to stop, I couldn't do it.

Once I reached the end of the hall, I pulled open one of the double doors and peered inside. I could see wooden crates along the sides of the room and large gears turned behind the busted face of the clock. Wooden railings surrounded a ladder that descended to the floor below. The room was dusty from lack of use and some of it had been kicked up, presumably from the battle raging outside. The clock tower shook and the giant continued to roar. More screams sounded, booms and blasts following.

Through my daze, I was able to make out a figure standing in front of the gears. It appeared to be a tall man with a dark overcoat, though I couldn't see his face. He was watching the battle below with mild interest.

“Seems the spiders made it over this way,” he said aloud. I wasn't sure if he was just talking to me or himself. Once I'd stepped into the room he turned around, my mind beginning to yell when I saw the dark eyes that matched his messy hair and stubbly face –

But that's the Snatcher – what the hell is going on?

With a flick of his wand, I became bound in rope and suddenly began to feel like myself again. All of the injuries I'd sustained earlier began to hurt again and the rope wasn't helping with how tight it was. My broken wand clattered to the ground and I struggled against my bindings before I felt myself being levitated closer to him, the door slamming shut. More ropes tied around my ankles and I was brought to my knees in front of the man, my bloodied face clouded over with fury.

“What's the meaning of this?” I spat, glaring up at him. “Why did you bring me here like this? I thought I wiped your memory.”

He crouched down so he was on my level, his face stony. “I'll answer whatever questions you have as long as you answer mine first, deal?” I didn't answer but continued to glare at him. “You're Cassie, right? Cassiopeia Bains?”

His wand was pointed at my torso so I felt I had little choice but to comply. “Yes.”

“Daughter to William and Lyra Bains, both muggles, which makes you Muggle-born. You have one brother named Devon, who's also a muggle. Part of the Order of the Phoenix, you also have close ties to the Weasley family – all blood traitors – and are especially close to Fred and George Weasley, as well as Rae Turner, half-blood. The lot of you were living in Diagon Alley above Weasley's Wizard Wheezes before going into hiding, presumably sometime after the Ministry fell. You've been on the run ever since and failed to register as Muggle-born.”

My heart was racing with fear that he knew all of this information about me. I tried not to let the fear reach my face. “Who the hell are you?”

A dark smile came over him and he stood up, starting to pace but continuing to keep his wand pointed right at me. “You know, I have plenty of reasons to either turn you in or kill you right now, but...I don't feel like doing either of those things. At least not yet, anyway. Do you know why?”

I didn't know why, and while I was glad to still be breathing I was certainly curious as to why.

He came to a stop right in front of me, his wand aimed at my forehead. “I'd like you to know exactly how your pathetic parents died.”

It was as though the ropes suddenly became tighter, though I knew they weren't, and I felt like my surroundings had vanished entirely, leaving me with a stark realization.

“W – wha – you're – ?”

“Ivan Maratross,” he said with the faintest of smiles.

I struggled to get up, forgetting I didn't even have a wand anymore. The rage that coursed through me was inexplicable. “What do you mean you're Maratross?! How is that possible? You said – you – ”

He flicked his wand at me again and I wasn't able to move my body anymore. “I was able to recover most of the memory you took away, so if I remember correctly, you didn't ask who I was, just who was in control of the East, yes? I presumed you were looking for their killer.”

“You bastard!” I yelled, tears starting to stream down my cheeks. I couldn't believe I'd had my parents' killer cornered and didn't even know; it was too much.

“Although, if you had asked I could've lied and said another name,” he talked over me, “but I would've preferred to have this conversation with you on my terms, and here we are.”

Maratross sat down against the railing, his wand arm resting on his propped up knee. Unable to move, I tried to calm myself down enough to get more answers out of him. “Why did I see you again?” I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice level. “You were in Morpeth a few weeks later, I'm certain it was you. How did you know to look there?”

“It's funny how that happened, actually,” he said, appearing amused. “It's actually because of you that I knew where to go. I had hoped that by going back there I could take care of this, but whatever enchantments you were using to keep yourselves safe must've worked well, because I never found the place again. I only knew because of a newspaper that I saw lying on the ground when one of your friends had me pinned. When you walked over with the light I saw it: The Morpeth Herald.”

I didn't remember seeing the newspaper, but we'd cleaned up Rae's place and it was very likely it got mixed in with the trash. I was very glad our enchantments worked, though. “I've – I've come to terms with my parents' death, but that doesn't mean I don't want to kill you any less. I'd rather not hear what awful things you did, but I do want to know why.” I tried to hold back more tears as I stared at the man I loathed. “Why did you kill my mum and dad?”

He seemed to be remembering something that made him feel somber. “It was because of you that I joined the Snatchers, you know. You might not believe that, but it's very true. Before all of this, I was working for the Ministry, training in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I was pretty skilled at it. Most of what I dealt with was petty thievery or people running from the Ministry, but the tracking skills I possess allowed me to excel. I was never too keen on sticking to laws, though.

“I had a younger brother, Ian, who got wrapped up with the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. He swore up and down that they were going to make a difference, they would change how the magical world works and make it so pure-bloods like us would reign supreme. I'd never been too hyped up about blood status or the war, but I knew that finding a purpose made him happy and he was glad to belong to something bigger than himself.

“At least, he was happy until you blew him up into a thousand pieces.”

The look he was giving me one was I knew too well: disgust.

Images of the Death Eater exploding flew into my head, a sense of dread following. “He and the others were trying to kill me and Rae!” I glared back. “It was all I could do to keep us alive. I don't regret doing it.”

“Crucio!” he growled.

My entire body felt like it'd been set on fire, every single nerve screaming out in pain with me. It wasn't like anything I'd ever felt before. It was immeasurably awful, my eyes rolling back in my head as I writhed on the floor. I thought I might pass out or my head might split open from the pain, but neither of those things happened and he eventually stopped.

I was shaking badly and couldn't sit up, so Maratross got up and stood over me. “When the others told me the description of the person who killed Ian, I made it my mission to find you and kill you. When the Ministry got taken over I took up a position among the ranks of the Snatchers, and soon enough I was put in charge of most of Eastern Britain. Sure, bringing in Muggle-borns was fun and paid well, but this has been my goal all along.

“We're not dissimilar, you and I. We both want revenge for people the other killed. Perhaps I'd been too eager when I left my companions behind to get you, but you didn't kill me then, and I doubt you'd have the nerve to do it now even if you could.”

“That's where you're wrong, arsehole,” I spat. "Had I known who you really were, I would've killed you then and there!”

He grabbed me by my hair and pulled me into a sitting position, causing me to wince in pain. “I wanted to hurt you,” he said quietly, tapping his wand against his leg anxiously, “and I still do. So before I take you out, let's talk about your parents."

While he paused I could hear the sounds of battle outside, but a lot of the smashing had stopped. I wondered silently if they'd killed the giant, and if that were the case then was Rae looking for me?

“Someone in that building said the V-word, because one day in November we went to King's Lynn to bring in who we thought were Muggle-borns or people in hiding. It turned out to just be a bunch of muggles, which the others thought was strange. Two of the lot with me that day were Death Eaters, and they were itching to kill them, so we did.

"And that was when I saw your mother, who looked almost exactly like you. Turns out it was her who broke the protective enchantments without realizing. Your father tried to protect her, he even tried going after me with some sort of metal bar, but I killed him on the spot. Now, a few months earlier I'd gone to your place in Diagon Alley to find you, and that's when I realized you'd gone into hiding. Working for the Ministry gave me all the information I needed on anyone we were hunting. I had no other leads at this time though, so I tortured your mother to try and get information.”

I'd started crying again while he said this, wishing more than anything I could've tuned him out.

“She was persistent to stay quiet, but I tortured her over and over, admittedly a bit desperate to find out something, anything. The last thing she said before her brain went completely was: If you ever do find Cassie, I hope you realize the grave mistake you made.”

The sobs that I choked out made me even more frustrated with myself. I couldn't do anything to him.

“After that she was useless, so I offed her with the rest and burned the place to the ground.” He looked at me with contempt when he was finished. “How does that make you feel? Do you want to see your parents again?”

“Of course I want to see them, you bastard!” I yelled, inching forward so his wand was pressed to my forehead. “I'd rather wait until I'm old and grey but I don't have much of a choice now, do I? So do it already, DO IT!”

Before anything could be said or done, the doors crashed open and jets of red light flew in our direction. Standing at the entrance was Rae, who looked incredibly furious.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” she screamed, more jets of light flying from her wand. I ducked down and rolled away from Maratross, who was shielding himself and trying to attack. I winced once I realized my splinched arm had started to ooze blood again. I really didn't need any more injuries to worry about.

“Rae, my wand – it broke earlier, I'm sorry,” I called to her, inching behind the crates that lined the left side of the room.

“It's alright,” she called back. She had scorch marks on her clothes and one leg of her jeans was missing from the knee down. I'd never seen her fight so ferociously before. “Katie and Alicia said they saw you heading up here, but it took a while before the path was clear or else I'd have come sooner. Reducto!”

One of their spells hit the crate nearest my feet, which blew up into wood chips. I crawled faster; the blood from my arm made the rope wet enough that I was able to slide my left arm out, and then my right. I hissed in pain, forcing myself not to pass out. I needed to help Rae somehow.

Maratross was firing off Killing Curses left and right, but Rae dodged and shielded herself. She wouldn't let him get anywhere near me. I couldn't exactly see what was going on from behind the crates but I could hear them. Finally, there was a loud CLANG from Maratross' side of the room, and I peered between the crates near my head. Rae had stunned him and he went flying into one of the large metal gears, landing on the floor in a heap. Before he could move she levitated him so he hovered above the wooden ladder in the middle of the room, bringing her arm down to throw in into the floor below. He landed with a deafening CRASH.

She ran over to me and helped me up, cutting the ropes off of my torso and ankles. Overwhelmed with what had just happened, Rae enveloped me in a hug, careful to avoid my bleeding arm. I hugged her back tightly.

“He used the Imperius Curse to get me up here,” I started to tell her as we left the room quickly, closing the doors behind us. “He's the one who killed my parents, Rae.”

She looked at me in shock. “That was him? What did he want with you?”

“He's after me for revenge, go figure. Apparently, that was his brother I killed back in July.” Sweat was dripping down my face and I wiped it away with the back of my hand, finding blood as well. I probably looked a right mess, and as we hurried down the corridor I knew Rae noticed.

“You look awful,” she said with a small smile. “We'll need to find you another wand if you want to keep fighting, though if you ask me I think you should take it easy for a little bit.”

“Like hell, I'll take it easy,” I scoffed. “I know you prefer not to kill, but I need to settle the score with that son of a bitch. You haven't seen Fred or George anywhere, have you?”

“No, I'm pretty sure they're still guarding the passageways. We took down that giant though,” she grinned, “never thought I'd be able to say I did something like that.”

We were nearing the end of the corridor, and just as we were about to turn the corner to get to the stairs Rae's wand jerked out of her hand and bounced down the steps, far out of reach. I turned around just in time to see Maratross leaning against the other end of the corridor for support.

Killing Curses were being shot right in my direction before I noticed what was happening, and Rae saw them too. The look on her face made me nervous.

“RAE, NO – ”

She pushed me out of the way and one of the curses hit her square in the chest. The green light blinded me as she fell backward and her equally green eyes stared up at me blankly, wide as saucers.