A Reckoning in Shadows
They were surrounded.
He should have trusted his gut, Harry should have known sneaking into the Ministry had been far too easy.
There were at least a dozen death eaters in the chamber with them.
Harry didn't know why there were so many of them here now. He didn't know how they had concealed themselves so well but none of that mattered now as his friends and him lifted their wands higher, ready to go on the defensive at a moment's notice.
A maniacal cackle echoed around the chamber, and Harry’s hand tightened around his wand.
“If it isn't itty bitty baby Potter and his little fan club,” her sing-song-like voice made Harry grit his teeth together.
Bellatrix Lestrange was the last person he wanted to see. She killed his godfather, she tortured Hermione, and she was the reason Dobby was dead.
Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ron had inched in front of Hermione while Hermione glared daggers at the bitch. She had the same look Harry got sometimes when he was about to do something rather brave and stupid.
“Is that what we should call your little group? After all, that's all Mr. Riddle sees you as. You're never going to be his equal no matter how hard you try, isn't that a pity? You're nothing more than a foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach, Bellatrix. Worse than a fan club member I'd say.”
While Hermione smirked at Bellatrix because of her little speech Harry couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to laugh or groan. Laugh because those were the exact words she used to describe Draco Malfoy in third year and groan because it was something he would have said and he knew there would be consequences for her words. He couldn't help but cheer her on though in his head and he let a small smile cross his face as he spotted Malfoy's hair in the crowd of death eaters.
“Nobody asked you, you filthy little mudblood! You dare call our great lord by that name,” Bellatrix’ wand glowed a green he was very familiar with and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would take the curse himself before he let it hit any of his friends.
Before he could even move, a scarred hand clamped down on Bellatrix’s wand arm. Her screech echoed around the room along with the sound of her arm being snapped, her wand clattered uselessly to the floor.
“This is why your lord didn’t put you in charge of this mission Bella, you have an awful trigger finger,” the man who broke her arm growled those words to her.
Harry didn’t recognize the man, he was scarred worse than Remus was, and several bite marks and gashes covered the man’s body. His eyes were a grayish blue, reminding Harry of Sirius all over again, and he had what looked like fangs for teeth. Hair covered the man's whole body. Harry glanced at the man's bulging bare arm and noticed the man wasn't marked. Voldemort's dark mark was nowhere to be seen, so why was this man in charge?
“Be a good girl and pick up your wand, that’s it, nice and easy.” The man watched Bellatrix bend over, an amused smirk crossing his lips as she hunched over with her arm cradled to her chest.
She snatched up her wand in her non-dominant hand and awkwardly jabbed it into his throat.
“Just because Our Lord favors you doesn't mean I'll fall in line because you want me to, mutt.” She hissed these words at him, her eyes alighted in insane anger as she spit in his face.
The man grunted at her, the amused smirk never leaving his face even as he wiped her saliva off of himself.
He clicked his tongue as if she were a misbehaving child who didn't understand what he was telling her.
“Oh dear Bella, it seems Azkaban has ruined that perfect brain of yours. Let me make things clear for you.”
Clawed hands tore through her non-dominant arm, the arm that Bellatrix had been using to shove her wand in his face.
A harsh scream rang from her lips, and the wand clattered loudly against the floor as she whimpered in pain.
“You would do well to remember your place, love, and fall back in line. We wouldn't want sweet Rudolphus to have to find another wife. I hear he requires an heir though, I might be doing him a favor if I kill you here and now.”
Harry watched as the man wrapped his hand around Bellatrix’s throat, lifting her into the air.
She couldn't even try to get away, her broken wand arm was useless at her side and while he had his hand around her throat he still had yet to remove his claws from her other arm.
Bellatrix dangled a few feet above the man who held her in his grasp, her eyes bulging as her legs kicked out uselessly. Her face turned red then purple as the lack of air continued.
Harry watched the man's arm vein as it twitched, his grip tightening around Bellatrix's neck.
A small part of Harry that seemed to burn in anger, hoped the man crushed her. Hope he snapped her neck and that she'd crumble dead to the floor. The bitch deserved it for killing Sirius, he smirked in glee at the thought.
If anyone had been watching Harry in that moment they would have noticed his eyes flash a vibrant red.
The sound of shuffling broke Harry out of his intense angry haze, his eyes returning to their normal green. Robes swished as someone broke through the crowd of death eaters to walk up next to Bellatrix.
With the mask on it was still obvious who the death eater was, snake cane and hair white blonde and long. Harry could already hear the ‘my father will hear about this’ speech in his head.
With a dramatic flick of his wand, the death eater removed his mask revealing the face of Lucius Malfoy.
Lucius cleared his throat. The grip on his cane tightened to the point where his knuckles were visibly lighter. His posture was tense. Lucius seemed nervous, maybe even terrified, as he opened his mouth to speak.
“While I agree that Bellatrix indeed needs to be punished for her misdeeds against you, our numbers are already dwindling because of this Boy and The Order. Spare her life, Greyback, I beg of you.”
Lucius spoke to Greyback through gritted teeth. Harry thought that it looked rather difficult for Lucius to do so as his face was nearly identical to the face his Aunt Petunia used to make while she spied on the neighbors and heard something she didn't agree with.
Harry watched as Greyback's lips pulled into a snarl, a menacing growl left the man's lips. His grip on Bellatrix did not falter as Lucius Malfoy flinched backward. Harry felt Remus shift closer to him, their wands still trained on Greyback.
Greyback's eyes snapped to Remus, steely blue met amber eyes as Harry felt goosebumps break out up his arm. He didn't understand what was happening until it clicked together, why the name Greyback had sounded so familiar.