Nox (Part III)
When next she awoke, Sansa found to her alarm that she was sprawled in a small clearing, in the middle of a very dark forest. Overhead, the moon was shining bright and full.
What truly made it worse however, was the fact that the Seeker wasn’t exactly alone. Not at all.
Cersei and Jaime were seated across from her, and from the looks of it, cuddling quite cozily against each other. The two men she found in the Ravenclaw common room hovered close by, looking greedily in her direction.
Swallowing, she tried to shift to her feet, feeling for her wand as she did so.
“Looking for this?” One of the brutes asked, holding out her wand. He didn't look like he was the sort who smiled - ever. Even if he did however, Sansa had the distinct suspicion she wouldn't like him better.
With a quick snap, he tossed two halves of shattered Chestnut at her feet.
The other man, he grinned a feral, nasty grin. Raising his wand, Sansa knew exactly what was coming next, judging by the vicious gleam she could see in Cersei’s eyes.
“Crucio.”
***
There was a dream-like quality to the rest of his day, Jaime found. Each time his sister said something, asked him something, he knew that if he only fulfilled what she wanted, he would know absolute peace in very core of his being.
At least, on one level, he knew it.
There was a niggling thought that itched at the back of his mind, a muffled screaming that would not let him alone. It felt as if someone or something was trying to wake him from an endless dream.
“This is how it should be,” his sister whispered as he moved inside of her. Automatically, he hummed in agreement with her; there was nothing better in the world, he thought, than making love to Cersei. There could be nothing better.
So what if he kept on seeing flashes of brilliant blue eyes in his mind’s eye?
“Tell me you love me,” she stated. “Tell me you’re mine and no one else’s.”
“I love you. I could belong to no one else.” he replied, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
You fucking nitwit. She’s made a slave of you.
Jaime looked away for a moment, trying to focus his thoughts, but his sister didn’t seem to notice, lost in the throes of passion as it were.
The twins were in the Room of Requirement, and it was furnished exactly as she liked it. Velvets and silks covered almost every surface, while a roaring fire burned in the wide hearth. Large windows opened to the sight of a rocky beach, where gulls cried overhead and waves crashed unceasingly against the shoreline.
The sun was setting on the horizon, and there was something important he needed to pay attention to, if only he could remember what it was.
With a cry, Cersei came against him. Carefully, he shifted his body off her smaller frame, his own desire still unquenched. Stretching languorously, his sister dropped a kiss on his cheek.
“Get dressed.” she climbed gracefully off the four-poster bed and drew her green robes around herself. “It’s time I showed you the shape of things to come.”
Obediently, he pulled on his trousers and buttoned his shirt, before donning his own prefect’s robes. His wand thumped against his body; it was tucked somewhere within the folds of his clothing.
Say nothing. the familiar voice begged. It was his own voice, he realized. How very odd.
Quietly, he followed his sister as they stole out of the castle grounds. Everyone was sitting down to supper in the dining hall, and the full moon was only just rising outside.
They walked, it seemed, for a long time, past the Black Lake and into the Forbidden Forest.
“Where are we going?” he asked, fighting through a thick fog in his mind to get the words out. Fear was beginning to seep into his awareness now.
If his twin thought it odd that he was able to question her, she did not show it. Instead, she smiled in such a way that made him want to void the contents of his stomach.
“This way.” she steered them unerringly. Outside of his own volition, his steps mimicked hers. Eventually, he found himself in the middle of a clearing where a small fire had been lit. The sight that greeted him caused his heart to sink, as reality filtered into his consciousness through a thick haze.
Sansa lay on the ground, her face obscured by her hair. Osfryd and Osney Kettleblack - brothers who had been expelled when he himself had only just started at Hogwarts - stood guard over her unmoving form.
Rage began to kindle deep in his belly when he realized that they had stripped the girl of her blue robes, and left her only in her thin uniform. Sansa’s skirt had been pushed far past her knees, leaving her body splayed and exposed.
They will die painful, screaming deaths; he would see to it himself, the voice inside him promised coldly.
“Sit with me.” Cersei commanded, tugging him down with her. Numbly, he did as he was told. Shifting her glance to Osney, Cersei smiled sweetly as she said, “It’s time we woke our guest up.”
Nodding, the man turned his attention towards the unconscious Seeker and cast, “Ennervate.”
Jaime watched in dread as Sansa slowly came back to the world; he flinched inwardly as her eyes found his. As she began to climb unsteadily to her feet, and as Osney tossed her the remnants of her broken wand, the dismay and fear he found in her blue depths were unmistakable.
In his mind, he fought desperately against the spell Cersei had woven, slamming his will repeatedly and painfully into a thick, strong wall. Still, he knew the cracks were already there. He just needed try a little harder, work a little more…
Osfryd smiled a terrible smile as he pointed his wand at Sansa. With far too much glee, he murmured, “Crucio.”
No! he screamed silently as Sansa began to writhe on the ground, wailing in unadulterated agony. Her back arched sharply against the dirty snow as her fingers clawed desperately against the frozen ground.
When his right hand twitched towards his pocket and gripped tightly at the Rowan wand within, Jaime knew he had only just won his own internal battle…even if it were a little late.
Hold - wait for an opening. You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead or injured.
Forcing himself to stay calm, he watched as they ended the spell, leaving Sansa a drooling wreck on the ground.
“You do realize of course, this isn’t just because of Jaime…” Cersei laughed. “You Starks are nothing but blood traitors. Your Father, campaigning for better Muggle relations, when really, your family should be joining our fight. The Starks would rather muddy yourselves with filth, and drag the rest of us with you.”
“Please, I’m not a part of this. I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t…” Sansa pleaded in a way that broke Jaime’s heart, as the girl tried to hoist her body up to a sitting position.
Cersei nodded sharply once again at Osfryd. This time, he hissed out a different spell, one every fourth year student knew.
“Diffindo.”
Sansa cried out as a shallow cut appeared on her cheek. Osfryd repeated the spell a few times in rapid succession. Blood began to soak through the Seeker’s white shirt, and gashes materialized on her bare thighs.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a lot of fun.” Cersei observed with cold amusement. “Personally, I can’t wait for Albus Dumbledore to find your corpse strung up at the entrance of Hogwarts. The only Stark daughter, murdered under his very nose…can you imagine how that would look?”
His sister turned to him at last. “Jaime, be creative won’t you? Make the whore scream. Leave something for the boys though. They’ve been so looking forward to their little treat.”
It was the opening he needed, and it hadn’t come a minute too soon. The look of terror on Sansa’s face had stoked his anger past its breaking point, and Jaime was unable to bear a moment more of this living nightmare. Unfolding his body, he drew his wand and ground out, “Confringo.”
At the periphery of his vision, he could see Cersei’s eyes widening as she caught on to his true intentions.
A bright tongue of orange flame leaped out at the Kettleblacks. The moment the light made contact with the men - both of whom had not expected the onslaught - there was a loud explosion followed by piercing screams as their bodies literally burst in flames. Howling, the two ran blindly into the woods, leaving Jaime with a furious Cersei and a stunned Sansa.
Before he could act further, his twin raised her wand and screamed, “Diffindo!”
At first, Jaime didn’t understand what just transpired. That is, until the pain started. Looking down the length of his right arm, he saw to his horror that his casting hand was no longer attached to his person. Distantly, he heard a man’s ragged scream renting the frozen air. It took him a moment to realize that the sound was coming from him.
“You fucking idiot.” Cersei growled. “Impe…”
Jaime looked up through blurry eyes, and watched as Sansa tackled the older girl to the ground. A short struggle ensued, as the injured and bleeding Seeker desperately grabbed for his twin’s wand. With one well placed knee to the groin, Sansa had Cersei shrieking in pain, and an unbroken wand clasped in her casting hand.
“Petrificus Totalus,” Sansa managed to gasp. Immediately, Cersei ceased her struggles, though her green eyes darted furiously from side to side. Not wasting a moment, Sansa staggered to Jaime’s side.
“Stay here,” she said breathlessly. “I’ll go find help.”
“You’re hurt,” he stuttered; the Seeker was still bleeding copiously from her many wounds. “And that spell is going to wear off her. Sansa, I can’t hold her off…”
Without any warning, something large exploded into the clearing and howled. Sansa whipped around. Forcing himself to ignore the excruciating pain, Jaime reached out with his left hand and pried his own wand from the lifeless appendage on the ground, ignoring the macabre picture he must have made.
The creature growled and slavered, falling to all fours as it sniffed the air.
“Stupe…” Sansa began to say, lifting Cersei’s wand, but it was far too late. The monstrous thing fell on her in a flurry of claws and teeth, and bit hard at her torn shoulder. Falling to her knees, the girl cried out in anguish.
“Remus no!” someone shouted.
Remus? Remus Lupin? Jaime wondered through a haze of agony.
A stag crashed through the undergrowth and threw the monstrous thing into the air with its massive antlers. Landing heavily on the ground, the lupine creature whined loudly as claws scrabbled to find purchase. Yellow eyes glared maliciously at the stag, before turning and loping off into the woods.
Crouching protectively over Sansa, Jaime forced himself to focus his energy on lifting his wand, despite knowing that the two of them were outmatched.
Blinking, he found himself staring at a stricken Sirius Black.
The air shimmered and the stag changed, resolving into the familiar shape of James Potter; the boy looked between the still immobilized Cersei and the injured couple on the ground.
“Sirius, run. Get Dumbledore now.” James ordered. Quickly, he cast a spell to bind the Slytherin girl in sturdy ropes, before hurrying to crouch over a rapidly declining Jaime. When Sirius didn’t seem inclined to move from his spot and instead, continued to stare in horror at the bloody tableau, James barked, “Sirius. Now.”
Then and only then, the other boy transformed into a large black dog and dashed away in the direction of Hogwarts.
“His hand.” Sansa gasped from the effort of speaking. “She cut off his hand.”
“I don’t know enough healing magic that could fix that, but I could stop the bleeding.” James said grimly. With a series of complicated gestures, the flow of blood was staunched at Jaime’s wrist. Satisfied, he repeated the process with Sansa. All the wounds that had been inflicted upon her body were healed immediately…except for the bite on her shoulder.
“You keep going around doing heroic things, people are going to think you’re a Gryffindor.” James said tiredly as he wiped at his forehead.
“Potter, you must have lost your mind to even think that matters now.” Jaime spat. “Why the fuck was Lupin allowed to roam unchecked during a full moon? That’s who it was wasn’t it?”
For a second, James looked panicked, but then his chin jutted out determinedly. “He got out of the Shrieking Shack. We were trying to get to him before any real harm was done.”
“Bang up job.” Jaime said sarcastically, wrapping his good arm protectively around Sansa. “Behold your success. Is Dumbledore aware one of his students is a bloody werewolf?”
For the second time that night, Jaime felt a killing rage rise within him, as he beheld the look of defiance mixed with guilt on James Potter’s face.
“Yes. Of course he knows.” the Gryffindor said at last. The Slytherin prefect turned away in disgust.
Beside him, Sansa paled rapidly. “Oh Merlin. Remus bit me. Does this mean…”
He didn’t have the heart to speak aloud, the truth of the matter. Instead, Jaime buried his nose into Sansa’s thick hair, assuring himself with the knowledge that she still lived. By the fire, Cersei began to laugh as the first spell wore off her.
“The cripple and his wolf bitch.” she sneered. “What a pair you make.”
“Sweet sister,” Jaime said in a voice he didn’t quite recognize as his own, swinging his furious gaze to meet his twin’s. “I beg you to think carefully upon your next words; they may be the last you ever say to me.”
“I don’t believe you.” she scoffed.
“You saw fit to make me your mindless fuck puppet, your obedient little slave. Your own brother…” Jaime stood up and stalked towards her bound form, ignoring a worried looking James. “You maimed me, sister, and brought catastrophe down upon our heads. Believe me, you have singlehandedly destroyed everything we have ever shared.”
“You will never stop loving me. You and I, we’re the same. We’re different halves of a whole.” she said, her voice never wavering. “Jaime, I lo…”
“Stupefy” he said. As he suspected, casting with his left hand was a gamble - the spell hit much harder than he expected, and knocked Cersei a few feet backwards. Her body slammed against the trunk of a tree, before she slid to the ground like lifeless a rag doll.
Jaime could not find it within himself to care if he had inadvertently hurt her.
There was a sharp crack in the air; it was the sound of someone else materializing in the forest.
The newly arrived Albus Dumbledore solemnly surveyed the scene, before his eyes finally landed on Cersei’s still form.
“Headmaster, I assure you. Everything is exactly as it looks like.” Jaime drawled, ignoring the gnawing emptiness that was growing inside of him.