Part Three / Chapter Seventy-Nine
The fighting had not died down once Venus disapparated back into the corridor where she left with Cordelia. Immediately, she sprung back into action as a couple of Death Eaters came charging at her, screaming different sorts of Dark spells and Unforgivable Curses— spells she repelled effortlessly. She held her arm out. The Death Eaters froze in their place, like statues stuck in time, only their eyes moved frantically around. Venus muttered a spell and the Death Eaters all disintegrated into ash to her feet. She stepped over them and walked away, wondering what other Angels and Death Eaters date should be when they encountered her. But two others ran into her as she made her way down a different corridor.
"Vee!" Tonks was beside Remus, but she ripped herself away and threw her arms around Venus. "Are you alright?"
"Are you alright?" Venus motioned toward the cut on Venus' head.
"Yeah, it's noth—" Heavy footsteps interrupted Tonks, and the three of them spun around. Without hesitation, an Angel flung an Angel blade toward Venus, who still had her arms wrapped around her sister.
The blade caught in Venus' leg. A terrible burning sensation creeper it's away from her stab wound and up her leg. She weighed herself down in Tonk's arms in writhing pain. Remus and Tonks shot Angel stunning spells at them, while Venus pulled the knife from her leg.
The Angels weren't letting up, they dodged every single spell. Venus, ignoring the remaining pain in her leg, pulled herself up and limped between the two wizards protecting her. "I surrender."
The fighting stopped in a blink. Remus and Tonks gave her astounded looks, wide eyes flickering back from each other and towards her.
"No, Vee, you can't—"
"I can't have you two die for me." Venus stared at Tonks, a little smile on her lips before she turned away from the older girl and limped toward the two angels who were just as shocked as the two wizards in front of them.
"A-Alright." One of the Angels stumbled, fumbling the handcuffs in his hands.
"Handing yourself over so easily?" The other one questioned, holding Venus' arms firmly behind her back while the other one began to unlock the handcuffs.
"Not quite." Venus snatched her arms away from them, sending swift punches to both of the Angels noses.
The two Angels sprung into action, they sent punches, swipes with their only Angel blades and kicks in her direction. The one with silver hair aimed his knife at her stomach before Venus grabbed his arm, twisting it back until the blade dropped. Kicking the blade away, she took the Archangel blade out from her pocket taking a handful of the Angel's hair and pulling him back down toward her.
Then, she plunged the Archangel blade through his chest. The other Angel flung his blade in her direction before Venus shoved his friends body against the other Angel allowing the edge to the knife to strike him in the abdomen. Bright light consumed her vision and the Angels shriveled up and fell to the ground.
"Tonks!" The alarm in Remus' voice made Venus spin on her feet.
Tonks was still standing. She looked like a heroine with the dirt on her face, dust in her hair and blood smeared on her forehead. A heroine that fought bravely, fought diligently and fought hard. All of the fighting didn't prepare her for the intense speed at which the Angels blade passed Venus' head and speared her in the stomach. She was holding onto her wound, looking at the ground in disbelief. Blood was leaving her body quickly, staining the perimeter of her wound and dripping down the side of the knife.
"Dee." Venus' voice quivered.
Tonks shook her head. "It's alright. I-I'm okay, I don't even feel anything," her feet gave way, but Remus and Venus were quick to catch her and lay her down on the concrete softly. "I don't even f-feel anything. It doesn't hurt. Oh, Vee, please don't cry."
The world was crashing around Venus. Tonks' words didn't relieve the grief already pounding at her heart or the tears steaming down her face. Someone else was doing to die fighting for her, another soul taken before their time, because of her.
"I'm sorry I-I should've stopped the knife. I didn't—"
"Shhh." Tonks was soothing Venus trialing her hand across her sisters face. "Don't say sorry for something you had no control over. There's always... always a plan. This was mine."
"But it shouldn't have been, how can I ever look at Teddy knowing I was the one who killed his mother—"
Venus was shaking in Tonks grasp. She'd lost a mother, a father, two uncles, a best friend, and now her sister. If she weren't a celestial, Venus could swear she were dying right there and now. Dying from all of this death, all of this violence, all of this grief. She could feel the angelic presence around her heart returning it to human and naturally breaking.
"Don't say that. Don't you ever think that." The sternness in Tonks voice returned, and Venus felt as if she were getting scolded. "You had no responsibility for this. This was all Metatron. I told you this was my plan. Now, you two," she turned to Remus who'd been standing over them silently, tears coating his sunken cheeks, "you two have to go finish yours. This time, without me."
"I can't— please, Dee. Don't leave." Venus sobbed and tucked her head in the crook of Tonks neck.
"You can. And you will because you're the key to ending Metatron, once and for all. Besides, it won't be so bad."
"You're lying." Venus sniffled.
Tonks chuckled dryly and coughed nastily. It was coming. Venus couldn't let go as Tonks coughed and coughed and then fell silent. Her chest stopped rising. The breath from her nose didn't hit the side of Venus' neck anymore. The warmth of her soul became cold to the touch. Venus still didn't look. Instead, she took the Angel blade out of her sisters chest and tossed it across the corridor.
"Venus." Remus spoke. Venus didn't move. Not an inch. He rubbed the girls shoulders comfortably and softly pulled her away from the dead body of his wife. The girls eyes were closed and she pressed her face against his chest. Quick and violent sobbing breathes hit him as he allowed Venus to soak his shirt with her sorrows. All the man could do was lightly caress her head. It couldn't bring back her family and it couldn't heal her pain, but it was the best Remus Lupin could offer.
Venus breathed. Over and over again until she regained her composure. "I'm going to go help. Can you—" she wanted to turn to Tonks, but she stopped midway and faced the opposite way.
"Yes. I can take her." Remus responded, stepping in front of her body to shield Venus. "Be safe."
"You too."
Venus was off once again. Then she finally reached the Great Hall, where all the fighting was concentrated. Angels and Death Wizards attacked others, with magic and without it. The wound in her leg hadn't fully healed and a drumming sting in her calf caused her to tumble over onto the ground in pain. Left wounded and bloody, Venus was succumbed to watching the fighting in a corner. She kept a watchful eye, in case any enemy pulled a stunt that cause a causality greater than anyone she'd endured that night.
Something at the other corner of the ruined hall caught her eye. A man, suspicious one at that, was crammed near the corner of the room. He had one half of his body outside of a hole in the wall and the other half inside. The wand in his hand was aimed toward the top of a remaining ceiling of the building. Venus' eyes were moving frantically between the man and the remainder of the ceiling that was hunched right over Fred Weasley. He was in the middle of a duel, and no one else's attention was on the man. Except Venus.
"No." She whispered under her breath.
The pain in her leg was unbearable. Nonetheless, Venus yanked herself up with the towering debris that we covering her and limped toward the center of the hall. Many of her peers were calling her name. She didn't realize she was walking in the middle of fire, but her attention hadn't peeled from the man getting ready to set off an explosion. A yellow beam of light launcher from his wand and a chunk of ceiling came crashing down on the ground, right above Fred.
He watched the massive piece of cobblestone come raining over him and covered his arms with his face. Yet, not even a pebble touched his face and when Fred unwrapped his arms from his eyes, the large ceiling piece was hovering still over him, like it were stuck in time.
"Fred move!"
He turned around and saw Venus. She was standing at the center of the room, her arms outstretched toward him. The cobblestone moved when she moved. Fred immediately obeyed and scurried away from the unmoving pieces of rock that nearly crushed him. Venus' legs were growing wary. Everyone seemed to have stopped what they were doing, except the all of the Angels and Death Eaters in the room had actually stopped dueling and walked out of the hall robotically, like they were being programmed to retreat back to their masters.
This left the rest of the Hogwarts defenders watching Venus collapse to the ground, the debris she prevented from smashing Fred Weasley colliding with the ground simultaneously.
🏵 ANIKA SPEAKS
Happy Harry Potter Day and Eid Mubarak to all of those celebrating and observing! I'm sorry for what I've done in this chapter. So I kept Fred and Lupin alive, don't attack me 🥲.
I wanted to release this chapter as soon as I finished writing so I'm sorry if there are some grammar issues, I'll revise in a moment. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter even if it's not really an 'enjoyable' chapter. Sorry! Not sorry ... 🌝