Emily Potter - Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

Chapter 28: Escape My Mind

How do I feel for a man who took part in raising me? A man who openly favors me over my brother, to which he poured all of his hatred solely because he looked more like our father?

These thoughts bounced back and forth within Emily's mind, tipping the scales of right and wrong, of good and evil – the longer she looked at the bleeding corpse of Severus Snape, the longer her process of thought streamed aimlessly. The twins sprung back to their feet, facing the distraught Ron and Hermione, the glowing vial in the center of attention.

Ron was about to speak up until quite suddenly a cold, harsh voice roamed the air, it had sounded so clear and precise that Emily almost thought Voldemort was reentering the room. His voice reverberated from the walls and floor, expanding the coverage of his voice to withstand the span of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. "You have fought valiantly." The voice proclaimed, coming across as a sinister whisper that raised the hairs at the backs of their necks, though to the twins, it only pained their scars. "Continue to resist me and I shall make sure myself that you will all die by my hand, one by one – I do not wish to spill more magical blood than you already have, what a waste it would be. I have commanded my forces to retreat immediately.

You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak to Harry and Emily Potter directly. You have permitted your friends and loved ones to die for you rather than face me yourselves. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. At the end of this hour, if you have not come to me, then the battle will resume, and Hogwarts will cease to exist. And at that moment, Potters, I will see to it myself of your destruction. I shall punish every last man, woman, child, and half-breed that have tried to conceal you from me. You have one hour."

Both Harry and Emily exchanged glances, then looking at Ron and Hermione who were already staring back at them frantically, not wasting a second from taking the few steps between them and the twins to take their mind off of Voldemort's message. Hermione dusted the dirt from the shoulders of Emily's jacket, her fingers digging deep into her arms, "Don't listen to him – let's go back to the castle, we can think of a new plan there."

With her hands clinging onto the Potter girl, Hermione felt her own body shudder in bitter cold that had emulated from Emily's own body. Underneath the smudges of war on her face and body, there was an unmistakable tinge of grey on Emily's skin, her neck turning almost opaque with delicate traces of blue and green. Hermione's eyes briefly shifted to and from Emily and Snape, immediately getting the grasp of what could go down in that moment. "We need to leave the Shack now." She ordered, her voice shaky in her demand.

"Remus." Emily wailed, catching the trio off-guard, tears beginning to gloss over her eyes; she had moved so quickly that when she cowered over her stomach, Hermione withdrew her hold on her out of fear of her usual tendency of destructive magic. However, it seemed that the younger Potter had greatly enlarged her scope.

The already deteriorating shack trembled, dust cascading from the rotting wooden beams that supported the ceiling; what was left of the glass windows began to crackle under the pressure of the house, eventually blasting into shards when the walls began teeter and snap like twigs. "I need to see Remus." Emily cried, her voice, though calm, proving to be the source of the Shrieking Shack's demise.

Harry grabbed his sister, Ron, and Hermione, chucking them out through the tunnel before the building collapsed in on them, leaving behind the corpse of their professor in the shack. Stomachs curled and twisted at the sound of the building caving in, wood snapping and glass shattering, it made Harry realize if his sister was at all thinking about bringing her former caretaker's body back to the castle. That's the least of our problems now, he told himself as he settled Emily underneath the frozen Whomping Willow.