Victoire turned around just in time to see her spell make contact with someone’s face before she quickly did a head count. Seven people were following them but Greyback wasn’t among them. Her wand was in the air again, prepared to send another spell at them when another man joined the group from the back and shouted something loudly.
The air ripped apart. Someone was screaming; Victoire was flying. She felt her body slam against someone else’s and they came crashing back down to the hard earth rolling in the snow. The person beside her groaned and Victoire felt as though an iron bar was being pressed upon her chest as she tried to catch her breath. Two spells flew their way but Victoire was so low to the ground that they soared over her.
Body aching, Victoire slowly rolled herself over and helped Samantha up. Her left arm was throbbing and just the effort of helping her friend up made tears roll down her face at the pain. Sam coughed violently for a moment before coming to her senses. She moved her head slightly and pushed her glasses back onto her face before yelling out and pushing Victoire down.
The pack had found where they were lying and two men were running directly at them, their stunner flying right above Victoire’s head. Samantha raised a shield charm and another would be attack missed them. Victoire lay there on the ground where Samantha had pushed her to keep her out of harm’s way and watched all this as though she was looking from the wrong end of a telescope. Voice were reaching her ears that sounded to muffled to be as close as they were, the snow didn’t feel as cold as it should be, and her left arm dangled to her side uselessly.
Sam was shrieking to her and the two men she was trying to fight off were getting closer to them. Victoire realized she needed to help her but didn’t know how. Slowly she tried to sit back up but she couldn’t. She put her arms on the ground and finally pushed herself up.
A terrible pain shot through her left arm and she howled loudly but the jolt of it woke her up. She jinxed one of the men who had his wand pointed at Samantha and he flew back.
“Victoire!” cried Samantha, her voice mingling fear and relief. That was all she had time to say as the other member of the pack reached them. In desperation Victoire charmed the snow to fly straight at him and was quickly smothered by it.
“Stupefy!” yelled Sam and her spell reached through the snow and knocked the man onto his back. Quickly Sam helped Victoire stand up.
She gasped out in pain again as Sam’s hand made contact with her arm and the world threatened to go black. Sam’s voice came to her from the tunnel again.
“What’s wrong?” she pressed keeping her up right.
“My arm- and my head,” said Victoire as she regained her breath fighting to remain standing, “I think I broke it…”
“We have to move Victoire,” said Sam urgently, “There are more coming-“
“And Teddy-“
Looking around Victoire saw they’d rolled away from the rest of the fight but the bright colors shinning against the white snow showed them where the battle was. Gritting her teeth together so hard that she bit her tongue she began to run up the hill, Samantha right behind her. Tears blurred her vision but she blinked them away and felt them freeze to her face in the cold.
Where was the Order?
They had reached the top of the hill and Victoire quickly saw that they hadn’t arrived. Teddy was nowhere to be seen and in the midst of all the spells stood Avalon hitting everything in reach and placed in front of a barely moving Ryan.
“Stupefy!” both her and Sam yelled together and two of the men fell. The three remaining fighters turned around and Avalon used this as a chance to stun another.
“Victoire, go find Teddy!” said Sam quickly as one of them turned towards them. His stunning spell flew just past Samantha and she quickly retaliated causing the man to duck. “I can get this, just find him!”
Another flash of light danced off the snow as Samantha took on her opponent and Victoire turned and ran looking desperately for Teddy. She didn’t see Greyback anywhere and it scared her. It made her think he was with Teddy. Finally she reached the front of the train where they had been heading and she ran in front of it looking desperately for Teddy.
Something flew through the air in front of Victoire and a scream rose from her lips when she saw what it was. Teddy landed in a pile of snow with a terrifying crunch and Victoire reached out for him.
“Victoire get down!” he hollered and instantly she dropped and the spell soared over her and onto Teddy. He tried to roll away from in but it hit his back and he yelped out in pain.
“Teddy!” she screamed running towards him. “Protego!”
A shield rose around him protecting him from another spell as he lodged himself out of the snow and Victoire spun around to see Boyle standing there his wand raised to attack again.
“Wingardium Leviosa!” he shouted hoarsely. A pile of snow flew off the train and on top of Victoire and Teddy. For a moment all she could see was white snow from every direction but then she burst her hand through the top and kicked herself out. Just a few feet away from her was Teddy, his head just popping out of the snow as he struggled to get out. Victoire had just grabbed his free arm when she heard Boyle yell something again and the snow turned to ice.
Screaming she slid down the pile away from Teddy, stuck inside. Victoire turned to face Boyle and saw his eyes flick up to where Teddy was stuck in the ice.
“No!” she roared and a loud band issued from her wand. Boyle was pushed back from Teddy but he lost no time in pushing himself back up, snarling in Victoire’s direction. She could tell his battle with Teddy hadn’t been going to well, he was bleeding openly on his cheek and parts of his clothes were burned.
It didn’t stop him from being terrifying. Victoire had just enough time to pull out a Shielding Charm as he began his assault against her. Teddy was shouting in the background but she didn’t waste the energy to make out what he was saying. More snow began to fly her way and she was sure that Boyle was attempting to bury her under once again-
“Incendio!” she cried and flames attacked the snow cutting through it and heading straight for Boyle. A smell of burning reached her and his clothes caught fire and he struggled to extinguish them.
“Impedimente!”
Her spell reached Boyle just as he had managed to douse himself from the flames and she stumbled back unable to defend himself in time. Victoire once again raised her wand, “Expelliarmus!”
Boyle’s wand flew out of his hand and into the air and everyone’s eyes followed it as it landed in the snow. Sensing an attack Boyle dove out of the way and Victoire summoned his wand and caught it in the air.
“Stupefy!” Victoire cried, both wands pointing at Boyle. There was nothing he could do and the force of both stunner lifted him off his feet for a moment before he crashed into the snow, unconscious. Hastily Victoire turned to the block of ice incasing Teddy and split it open. He stumbled out and Victoire grabbed him firmly with her right arm.
“That was bloody brilliant,” he said shakily, his face drained of all color besides the blue tint to his lips. Besides that he looked entirely unharmed.
“Have you seen the Order? Or Greyback?” she asked as she pointed her wand at Boyle. Ropes appeared around him and he was quickly bound.
“I figured they were all where you guys were, Boyle pushed me back after we all got blasted apart,” he said shivering, “Common we shouldn’t stay standing around here we need to find the Order or the Auror’s-“
He grabbed her arm to lead her away and she yelped pulling it back instantly. Teddy quickly dropped his hand.
“I think I broke it earlier,” said Victoire biting her lip to keep from yelling again.
“I’m sorry here- ferula,” a split appeared and supported her arm, “Is that better?”
“Much, thanks,” she said gratefully and together they started their way back to the train hoping to find the Order there waiting. She didn’t realize how far they’d traveled away from it in their fight but she let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw people near the train. Then her heart stopped.
Teddy saw him in the distance too, “Greyback,” he said backing away slowly. The werewolf hadn’t seen them yet and Teddy quickly cast Disillusionment Charms on them. They weren’t completely invisible, Victoire could still make out where Teddy was standing but from a distance there was almost no way Greyback would notice them. “Let’s move.”
They walked slowly away from the train now and towards the shelter of the trees. Greyback was shouting to two men and with a sinking feeling Victoire realized one of them was the one Avalon had been fighting earlier. The men ran off and Greyback leered after them before taking off in the opposite direction. Victoire and Teddy remained perfectly still for a moment then Teddy made to move.
“Teddy- no,” she hissed as he drew his wand, “You cannot run after him-“
“This is the perfect opportunity!” Teddy moaned.
“You’re still shivering from being in the ice and if you attack Greyback there’s no telling what would happen and it’s not worth the risk, the Order’s nowhere around-“
“Exactly, so who else is going to get him?” shot Teddy. He made to move away from the trees.
“Teddy!”
Before she could argue anymore a loud bang came from the side of the train and Victoire jumped. It looked as though another compartment had been blown open and two people fell out of it and landed onto the ground. Suddenly, tons of people were pouring out of it including-
“The Order!” gasped Victoire. But they weren’t alone, jumping out of the compartment were more of Greyback’s pack and more fighting ensured. Greyback saw them coming and began to run off. Before freezing.
“Mother-“ began Teddy as Greyback looked at the snow and saw their foot prints. Hastily the two of them ran deeper into the woods in more coverage. Looking back Victoire saw the Order still hadn’t reached Greyback but he was just standing there looking at their tracks curiously. She held her breath praying he would turn around before on a snap second decision Greyback seemed to decide to follow them.
“Run,” said Victoire quietly and Teddy cast a charm to silence their footfalls as they ran deeper into the woods. The snow thinned as they went under the cover of more trees and soon they weren’t leaving behind any footprints. Teddy took a hard left and Victoire followed but by the sound of crashing branches not too far behind them she knew Greyback was in pursuit. But just as suddenly as they had been there- they were gone and all was silent.
“I don’t like this,” muttered Teddy quietly as they continued to move in the areas without snow. “Where is he…”
A tree in front of them shook and suddenly Greyback jumped out of it landing directly in front of them. Victoire screamed and Teddy pulled them behind a tree causing Victoire to fall to the ground as a curse flew out of Greyback’s wand.
Greyback turned his wand right in Teddy’s face and Teddy’s in his. Nobody moved and Victoire clutched her wand-
“Don’t even think about it Weasley,” snarled Greyback not taking his eyes off Teddy. Victoire faltered. From the side she could see both Teddy and Greyback glaring at each other, Teddy’s face filled with anger and Greyback’s reflecting his with a mix of greed. She didn’t know what to do, she knew the second she tried to attack Greyback he would do the same thing to Teddy…
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” growled Teddy not looking away from him either, “That would mess things up for you quite a bit wouldn’t it-“
“Don’t push it, Lupin,” warned Greyback bringing his wand closer to him. Teddy copied the movement and Greyback almost smiled, “You’ve got guts kids but that’s not enough.”
“Seemed like enough to take out a fair bit of your pack-“
“Crucio!”
Victoire screamed as the sound of Teddy’s pain reached her and his body fell backwards before jumping to het feet and yelling, “Impedimente!”
Greyback flew back into a tree and the curse was lifted; Teddy pushed himself up instantly and Victoire rushed to him as he shot a stunning spell at Greyback. The werewolf jumped out of the way and was soon throwing more unforgivables at them. Trees became shields as they managed to avoid them and Greyback skillfully deflected everything they threw at him. Victoire began to panic, no one in the Order knew where they were and it was just them and Greyback, if he got Teddy unconscious-
In a sudden rush of desperation she pointed her wand up at the sky and set off a loud bang and a multitude of red sparks. Greyback yelled and one of his spells hit her before she could bring her wand back down to protect herself and her body flew back hitting Teddy and crashing them both into a tree.
It was like the first time she had fallen, all of her injuries burned again and the world started to go black. But then she pulled herself out of it, thinking of Teddy, of the danger right in front of them-
Then just as suddenly as Greyback had appeared in front of them Harry appeared in front of him. They began to duel with twice the intensity he had used against Casella and Greyback sensing his defeat turned on the spot and apparated-
And reappeared five feet from where he had been. He swore loudly and Teddy took this opportunity to shout, “Stupefy!”
The spell came so close to Greyback that his hair stood on end. Growling he turned to Teddy before he remembered Harry was there and deflected a spell just in time. Harry began to attack more and more fiercely and Greyback started to lost his footing. Victoire and Teddy joined in, throwing more stunning spells until with an angry shout Greyback pushed them both back again and Victoire felt her body slamming onto the forest ground. Her dizziness returned and to many things were happening at once; different colored spells were dancing around her, Harry was shouting, Greyback was growling and Teddy was struggling to his feet-
“Incarcerous!”
Ropes erupted from the end of Harry’s wand and just as suddenly as Greyback had been standing he was on the ground covered in ropes. At the same time four Aurors rushed in their wands all trained on the spot where Greyback lay.
Teddy stood up quickly and helped Victoire to her feet, carefully to avoid touching her left arm. Numbly, they both glanced at Greyback on the ground. Victoire could not believe they had finally caught him, but there he was lying on the ground covered in ropes. The look on his face was completely terrifying; she had never seen him this angry. Teddy’s face was a mask of hatred as he glared at Greyback, and Victoire pulled him into a hug, glad neither of them was injured this time, and that it was finally all over.
“You got him,” said Teddy, almost in shock. Harry grimaced.
“We’re lucky, if he’d been any farther this way when he tried to apparate he would have gotten away, were on the very edge of the enchantment,” he said rolling back his sleeves. He cleared his throat and recognized Greyback, “As part of Ministry precautions, I’m going to need you to cooperate with me, understand Greyback?” he said, his voice filled with malice.
Greyback said nothing and merely spat at the ground and after waiting a moment one of the aurors stepped out from behind Victoire and Teddy and walked forward, pointing his wand at Greyback. At Harry’s nod, the auror removed the ropes and gingerly Greyback stood up. While the first auror remained standing with his wand pointed at Greyback another walked over and stood in between Harry and Greyback. Harry roughly grabbed Greyback’s hand and the man beside them lay his wand down on the joining fingers.
“Do you, Fenrir Greyback promise to abandon your attempt to kidnap Teddy Lupin?” Harry said, glaring down at the werewolf. Greyback bit his lip and glanced around as though someone was coming to help him out of it. His eyes lingered shortly on the wand pointed at him before his eyes rested on Teddy. Teddy stiffened and returned his stare until Greyback broke away. Suddenly he looked at back at him and Victoire and the most horrible smile over took his features.
“I do,” he rasped still smirking to himself as though the whole thing was a joke. Thin chains that looked as if they were made of wire wove themselves around Harry and Greyback’s arm and Harry began to speak again.
“Do you promise not to force him to join your pack?” continued Harry, still looking straight at Greyback. Greyback merely grinned again.
“I do,” he repeated. Harry opened his mouth to say something again but a sudden jet of light shot through the trees and hit one of the aurors in the face. In an instant, Harry, Teddy, and Victoire had all pointed their wands towards where the spell had come from while the still standing auror kept his wand on Greyback. There was a moment of silence, no one daring to move or look away before Harry slowly let go of Greyback’s hand and walked towards the forest. There was silence then-
“Stupefy!”Victoire heard Harry yell and all of the sudden there was an uproar in the forest. Five men streamed out of the forest Victoire had no idea how they had gotten there. Before she even had time to consider it, spells were flying everywhere and the forest had caught aflame. She launched herself at the nearest man and quickly started throwing everything at him she had while trying to avoid the fire spreading throughout the tress, there was no way they were losing now, not when they had finally caught Greyback…
Greyback! Victoire spun around and saw him running towards the fallen aurors wand. She shot a stunning spell at him, but it missed as he ran. He leaned over to grab it, turned on the spot and-
“No!” she shouted, but it was too late. With a loud crack, Greyback disapperated into the night and away from the place he had been convicted.
A/N I know, I'm mean. Thanks to everyone for the huge spike in reads lately, I've finally passed 10k! :) You're all the greatest; please leave a review and the next chapter will probably be out by the third.
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