The Last Gryffindor (Sirius Black)

XXXV: The Brave

Severus equated Gryffindors with reckless fools. And they were. Too self-righteous to realise a fools gambit when they saw it, or too stubborn to surrender to impossible odds when they presented themselves. They did it to show off, as far as Severus was concerned, or at least that's what he had always thought. Only recently had he begun to consider that perhaps there might be another reason for their recklessness. People did foolish things out of love.

He was no exception.

But Aeliana was the biggest fool of them all. She had the blood of fools running through her veins, more so than any other living person, and it showed in her eyes. In the fire and the defiance.

Despite everything he believed, Severus couldn't help but respect the girl who glared down Voldemort like he wasn't worth the mud caking the hem of her robes. That noble, proud look, patented by the Gryffindor line over the generations that Severus had often ridiculed as haughty and pretentious, didn't look so ridiculous anymore.

Abruptly, Aeliana laughed.

"You're not as genius as you think you are," she said, wiping the blood off her face with the sleeve of her robes. The ivory coloured fabric stained red. "I still can't believe that trap actually worked!" She let out another disbelieving chuckle. "But, then again, anger blinds people. I learned that the hard way."

"You call that a success?" Voldemort sneered, snatching Aeliana's wand from Bellatrix and snapping it in two. Her eyes traced the splintering remains of her wand as they slipped from Voldemort's grasp, softly thudding, completely useless, down the earth. "I am still alive, while you are still going to die— like a beggar on your knees!"

"And if you think I will beg for my life, like Bellatrix, then you are mistaken," she said firmly. "You hold no power over me."

"I would say I do hold all power over you, as a matter of fact. It is I, after all, who holds a wand."

As if you emphasise his point, he placed the tip of his wand over her heart, daring her to disagree.

"But it is I who chose to let myself be captured, in the end," she countered, as if they were only discussing the pros and cons of a risky move in a particularly gruelling game of wizard's chess. "This is a fate of my own choosing. I do not fear you, therefore, you have no power over me."

"Is that so? And where did this false bravado come from?" Voldemort inquired coldly, twisting his wand further into her rib cage. "Not so long ago, you were going on about your overwhelming terror."

"How very egocentric of you." Aeliana huffed out a sigh, shaking her head in amused disbelief. "As if I would be afraid of you. Yikes. Not even close. Tone down the self-absorption, would you?"

It could have been Severus's imagination, but he was almost sure he saw his master's cheek twitch, whether in annoyance or fury, he couldn't tell.

"And who would you be so foolish as to fear more than me, the Dark Lord?"

Aeliana gave him a flat look from where she kneeled before him.

"I fear my cat more than you." Her eyes washed over him from head to toe and finally to the wand pressed against her chest, looking like she was surveying a particularly slimy slug. "No, certainly not you. I fear for the future after I'm gone. For those I won't be around to protect."

"I always knew Gryffindors were fools. You could have joined us on the winning side, but you chose death, just like your father."

"One day, that child, Harry Potter, will kill you, standing upon the shoulders of giants," Aeliana swore lowly, so only those listening close could hear, her tone surprisingly even. "When he kills you, it will be because of the sacrifices of my brother and father and the Prewetts and Regu-" Severus saw her bite down on the word midway through, like she accidentally said too much. "My only regret is that I won't be alive to help him achieve it."

Severus could practically see the tides of hatred in Voldemort's crimson eyes reach a boiling point as he realised she spoke of the prophecy, mixed with more than a little fear. Even with out Legilimency, his thoughts were plain as day: How does she know?

Aeliana didn't blink as he raised his wand to her forehead. Her expression remained passive, but her eyes reflected with burning intensity the hatred in Voldemort's eyes a thousand fold.

"Do it!" she spat. "Finish what you started all those months ago by slaughtering my family! Complete the set! But I hope you know, you can't kill all of us. A Gryffindor will always rise up against you. At the end, I hope you realize you brought your doom upon yourself and feel fear, and then remember me. You don't know it yet, but it will be my fault when you're dead."

That was a curse, if Severus had ever heard one.

Deranged rage flickered across Voldemort's face, a breach in his normally cool exterior, and Severus knew she had finally crossed a line she couldn't get back from.

"Avada Kadavra!"

For a second, all was still.

Then, slowly, as if to contrast the speed and heat of the moments before, Aeliana crumpled onto her side. Severus wanted to look away, but her sapphire eyes held him captive, still burning holes into the Dark Lord's head, as if to prove that even Death himself couldn't stop her taunts. Severus wasn't sure if she would haunt Voldemort, but Severus was sure he would never forget those eyes, nor the girl they belonged to.

That brave, reckless Gryffindor who made him want to be brave, too.

• — • — •

Authors note:

Let me preface this by saying: Don't kill me. We all knew how this would end lol. It's against my moral code to deviate from what's canon, so Lia had to to go eventually. But, on the bright(?) side, there's still at least one more chapter. I haven't decided if I actually want to add the second chapter after that that I was planning on writing, because, even though I love the idea for that chapter myself, I personally despise it when other authors do it. Sorry, super vague, I know, but if I'm going to do it, I can't go blabbing about it now, can I?

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter!