Lockwood Part 6

It had been a rough few weeks, I hated being away from Remus for so long and without being able to give him too many details to worry him, I felt alone. I stayed away from the fighting as much as I could, I stayed back and subtly helped the trainers of the sanctuary protect themselves and the creatures, but Valentine’s gang were still pressing forwards.

I read through Remus’s letter, the one thing that caught my attention was the news about Darren. We’d been fighting Valentine’s thugs for far too long without any real knowledge of what they were looking for, that was until Benji had arrived to help in driving them back and caught wind of one word that told us what we needed to know. Lockwood.

My parents had deduced that they knew I was there and that I was what they were looking for, but they had set up camp long before I arrived. Darren, however, had been having blackouts far longer than he was admitting to and I worried for what was happening to him.

I thought about the pain he must still have been in from losing Clara, if it had been me, I wouldn’t be coping very well either. The loss of Remus would kill me too. It only occurred to me late one night that Darren’s guard would have been lowered and that was ideal for the brother. It sent a rage through me that I had rarely felt before, my brother wasn’t surrendering that easily and I wasn’t giving him up for any reason.

It was time to end this and get back to my brother. I snuck into Aleksander’s room in the late evening hours and tried to make sure I was being as quiet as I could.

‘Aleksander.’ I hissed, he turned around to face the window I had snuck in.

‘Angie?’ He whispered back, checking his door for anyone listening close by. He was still fairly banged up from the last attack he defended the sanctuary against, his wounds had just about healed, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Darren was counting on this being over as soon as possible.

‘We need to end this,’ I told him, wand in hand. ‘Tonight. Now.’

We slowly began waking up a few of the trainers who weren’t that badly hurt and were able to fight. Our best chance was to strike in the middle of the night when they were least expecting it and try to take them out that way. Elena was one of the best duellers Aleksander had at the Sanctuary, and my parents could easily take down a mob if they had to, but I wasn’t risking taking the bare minimum.

‘Are you sure about this Angie?’ My father asked just as we had gathered enough wands.

‘I think it’s time to stop waiting for them to attack and actually do something.’ I said, I felt the low growl in my own voice, the one that said I wasn’t messing around and I no longer cared for niceties. We were ending this. Now.

The gang had grown in numbers and I was no longer in a position to wait patiently to be attacked yet again. We surrounded the camp and witnessed most of the wizards drinking, chatting obnoxiously and not a single one had their guard up. We began casting binding charms on anyone we could to reduce any resistance we might have faced, the Aurors had been called and would be on their way soon.

It only took one mistimed spell to alert the gang to our presence. I couldn’t tell who had fired it, but it set off a chain reaction of events all leading to the break out of a fight they couldn’t win. We did well in rounding up the majority of the gang, but a few managed to escape. I caught the glimpse of a dark coat whipping behind a tent, rushing away from the camp site. Something inside me told me to follow them.

I raced towards where the cloak had been running, the dead of night and never quite knowing where my next step would lead me. I knew who I was chasing, my heart was pounding, I had to have known, but the name and face escaped me, all I knew was that I had to keep chasing.

I stopped, having lost any sight of the cloak, blood pumping through my ears was the only sound I could hear. I heard the faintest popping sound, whoever it had been, had disapparated. I sighed, panting hard and started making my way back to the campsite. The Aurors had arrived and were making the appropriate arrests. Several trainers were being taken to the local hospital, my father doing his part to co-ordinate and prioritise the more severely injured. Kasha was sobbing next to Aleksander and my heart dropped for a moment, until I saw his hand move towards her face.

He was being taken with the first round of patients and I wondered what that really meant. Kasha wasn’t allowed to go with him and it broke my heart. The anti-werewolf legislations prevented her from entering into highly populated areas and it only made my chest growl. It was unfair, unjust and inhuman. She wasn’t a threat in human form and she had a right to be by his side.

‘He’s going to be fine.’ My father said, his grey hair spattered with a little blood and dirt. The battle was quick but intense and no one seemed to come out of it easily. ‘Aleksander is just exhausted, his body needs the time to recover, but he will live, Angie.’

‘Good.’ I sighed in relief. ‘Where’s Elena?’

‘Helping your mother, she’s mostly unharmed, just a few cuts and bruises, nothing she hasn’t dealt with before.’ My father reassured me, but it was like the stench of death was suddenly inflated my lungs. ‘We only lost three, Angie.’

‘Three?’ Anger flared inside me. ‘How many did they lose?’ I shot back.

‘You cannot think like that.’ My father snapped, surprising us both. ‘Angie, war cannot be about an eye for an eye, otherwise who would be left to forgive. You’re a Lupin now, you’re better than that. Start acting like it, for all our sakes.’

It was like the scolding’s I would get as a child, my father wanted me to do better, to be better than what I saw around me, but I knew it wasn’t just a simple father’s concern, I had a bigger part to play before this all ended.

I nodded and tried to see where I could help, but something distracted me. My pocket was vibrating, I snatched out the coin and looked worriedly at my father.

‘Go.’ My father commanded me. ‘I’ll explain everything to your mother. Remus needs you now. Go, Angie.’ I looked at my father, the man who’d taught me so much throughout my life and hoped he could see how much I loved him for it. I just had a bad feeling.

I felt my heart in my throat, if Remus needed me then it must have been serious. I held the coin tight and felt my surroundings beginning to change.

Remus knew they were in a losing fight, Sirius was in a duel with Malfoy, Lily and James were defending the children, Tonks, Mad-eye and Kingsley were doing all they could to get the upper hand, but Remus knew it was too much. There was a good chance they had arrived too late to actually do anything useful. He couldn’t fathom why Harry would be so reactive, if he’d just have taken a moment to think about it, he might have drawn the same conclusion that everyone else did. It was a trap.

He wondered briefly if the plan to tell Harry as little as possible was a good one, maybe if he’d known what it was they were guarding, he might have thought twice, if he’d known that Sirius wouldn’t have wanted him to come to his rescue for any reason, maybe none of them would be there. But the fact that he’d enlisted the help of his friends, his innocent and unprepared friends, was downright idiotic.

Remus put his anger to one side, knowing full well that it wasn’t all directed at Harry and the situation they found themselves in, and began rounding up Death Eaters as best he could. It started quickly, Tonks guided the children to safety while Remus protected her, dodging incoming spells and deflecting what he could. There were a few close calls before Tonks yelled that everyone was safe. Remus didn’t dare look back, Tonks was good at her job and Remus needed to remain focused on what was in front of him.

Harry was with Sirius, protecting him, but it didn’t look good. Remus hated to do it, but they needed help. He pulled out the coin from inside his trouser pocket, the one Angelina had given him and thought hard on his wife, begging her to come and save them.

Nothing happened. James was up with Sirius, ordering his son to stand behind Lily who now had Tonks by her side, but Remus was thrust into a battle with two Death Eaters and it was a losing fight. He kept his wand twisting and turning between them, one spell after another until by chance, one of them had disappeared. Remus was distracted for a moment, when a bolt of red came shooting out of the darkness. He ducked for cover and watched the other Death Eater being knocked unconscious.

‘Remus.’ That voice.

Remus turned and saw the shimmering blonde hair and deep ocean eyes belonging to his wife. He stilled for a moment, the disbelief that after all these months, she was finally next to him again.

‘Angelina.’ He breathed in relief. She smiled for a moment and wrapped her arms around his neck, the feel of her body was a peace he didn’t know he needed, he noted every part of her body he could feel, noticing how he pressed himself against her with the need to be closer still. He’d missed her more than he could express, all the lonely nights he’d spent in Grimmauld Place without her, all the times he wished he could have woken up next to her, just to feel that comfort and now she was there, in the flesh. She smelt like smoke and fire… and death. ‘Are you alright?’

‘I’m fine.’ She pulled back, scanning his face, it was more than a welcome act, she could stare at him all day if she wanted and he wouldn’t complain. ‘But we have work to do.’ She placed a harsh kiss to his mouth, it wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him, but he remained grateful for the contact, and began sweeping up.

Lily was able to get the children to a safer spot while Tonks dealt with the remaining Death Eaters attacking them. Remus rushed over to help, catching a glimpse of his wife on a higher point of the room, doing everything she could to stop Bellatrix from hurting anyone. Remus made sure Harry was in his sights, keeping him firmly behind him, out of harm’s way, stopping another attacking Death Eater.

At that moment, another Death Eater had appeared from somewhere unseen and began firing off spells towards Angelina, trying to stop her from knocking Bellatrix off her perch. Angelina was quick, quicker than Remus remembered and she had no problems in fighting off both Bellatrix and the other Death Eater.

‘We have to help.’ Harry lurched forward, before Remus caught him, pulling him back.

‘Harry no!’ Remus yelled. ‘Stay here and look after your friends.’ He ordered him.

Remus found himself duelling with a Death Eater, one that was quick, but luckily a well timed shot from roughly where Angelina was still battling Bellatrix was enough for Remus to put him down. Remus took a deep breath, taking advantage of the half a second he he had to recover before getting up to fight again.

‘Remus, are you alright?’ Tonks said.

‘Yes, fine.’ He snapped, still watching his wife battle hard against the two opponents.

‘You’re bleeding.’ Tonks caught his attention, he looked down to his hand that had blood running down it and felt the sharp pain in his shoulder. He hadn’t even noticed he’d been hit, but it was a bad one. The wound looked to be one that wouldn’t close with a simple spell, it would just reopen over and over again. ‘We need to get you to St Mungo’s.’

‘We can’t just leave,’ Remus shook his head. ‘I’ll be fine, just make sure there are no stragglers.’

Tonks reluctantly moved away and Hermione was kind enough to conjure some bandages to at least limit the bleeding. It was almost over.

‘Avada Kedavra!’ He thought he heard the spell come from Angelina’s direction, but he was distracted by Harry lurching forward and screaming as Sirius stilled. Remus felt his heart beginning to burst, his best friend had been hit. ‘Avada Kedavra!’ He heard again.

Remus’s attention turned to where the spell had come from once again. Bellatrix. His entire world went into slow-motion, he missed everything that happened after that. All he saw was his wife’s perfect form falling from the rocks, entirely limp. Lifeless.

His chest felt like it was about burst open, if it wasn’t for Harry racing forwards to where Sirius’s own lifeless body was drifting away into the archway, Remus may never have moved again. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, James had caught his son, stopped him from chasing after his godfather, but there was no one to catch Remus, to stop him from racing over to where Angelina fell behind the rocks. Hermione had just about finished putting bandages over his shoulder, but he no longer felt the pain of it, all he could feel was the tearing of his heart.

It was like the room was suddenly a thousand times bigger and each step he took towards her was a hundred steps. Time was still and the moment between him launching forwards and arriving at the spot his wife had fallen, was a long and painful eternity.