HER HANDS WERE WET WITH blood. They were never given the chance to dry, forcibly drenched by each kill. They weren't the only part of her that was stained with blood, either.
After their departure from the first room, they had gone through the same process twice more. The next area had been much smaller in comparison, but the final location—the Entrance Hall—was much larger than both combined.
The fighting did not just occur at the bottom of the staircase, but also on it, on its landing, and the hallways preceding it. It was an absolute bloodbath. Particularly of students, considering they had reservations about using any particularly dark hexes or jinxes.
The process was the same as their first infiltration. They worked in pairs to inconspicuously eliminate as many Death Eaters as they could. Celestia would slit throats when she got the chance, and when the population in the room dwindled enough so there wasn't any risk of accidental fatalities, she would incorporate the use of the Killing Curse.
There would come a point where it became necessary for Celestia to reveal herself—and by consequence the others, as it was the best course of action. She was restrained but efficient when made to kill covertly. When freed, her effectiveness tripled as did her body count.
In the entrance hall, however, she found she recognised the occasional face. Barring hers, then, wasn't the ideal option. Her solution had been easy—to keep her hood up, even after revealing she wasn't allied with the Death Eaters. It was a bit of struggle, but she had been a Death Eater for a time after all. She had some tricks up her sleeve.
Ramming her dagger through the stomach of a Death Eater, her foot rose in a roundhouse kick to combat the attacker behind her. The Death Eaters' wand clattered to the floor. With the one at her back momentarily stunned, and the one before her debilitating into shock, she shoved her hand into the incision she'd made in the latter.
Her hand curled around the man's intestines. She yanked them out as the man collapsed to the floor. The other Death Eater threw a poor excuse of a punch, and she easily ducked and moved behind them. The intestines were slippery in her hands, and she lost her grip for a second while she wrapped the innards around the Death Eater's throat.
Her boot connected with the back of their knees, and the Death Eater fell to half their height. She tightened the intestines, strangling them, as she breathed heavily. The Death Eater fruitlessly tried to rip away the entrails.
On one of her arms, she could feel a cut running up along her arm. Her hip ached in a way she knew would develop into a bruise. There was a cut somewhere on her leg, too. For the most part, she was relatively unharmed. The pain she felt now was something she could easily handle.
Once she had catalogued all her injuries and somewhat regulated her breathing, she raised two of her fingers to the temple of the Death Eater. "Avada Kedavra," she muttered.
The man instantly became dead weight in her hold. She let go of them, and alongside the intestines, the body collapsed to the floor. Without looking up, she could feel copious eyes on her.
There was the feeling of being approached, and her mind was too hazy to try and figure whether they were friend or foe. It was less effort for her if she merely waited for them to reach her. She needed a break, for as long she could take.
As soon as the person was within reach, she swung around with a punch; her other hand was ready with her wand.
A hand curled around her wrist. Her gaze met Regulus's.
"Sorry," she murmured.
His mouth opened to respond, but her senses were still in overdrive. Using Regulus's grip on her, she utilised her strength to yank him behind her—and out of the trajectory of an incoming spell from one of the last remaining Death Eaters. It was instinct to instantly return their attempt with the Killing Curse. They were dead within seconds.
Gesturing to the crowd of students who had remained behind to watch the slaughter, she told Regulus, "Get them out of here."
She walked away without waiting for a response, and moved up the stairs to where she knew could find Theo. Distantly, she could hear Regulus tell the students to go to Hogsmeade. After the scene they had just witnessed, none of them argued. As she reached the top, he offered her a hand. She gladly took it, feeling more of the adrenaline drain away. With the absence of the adrenaline, the pain of her injuries became more prominent.
She moved to lean against a wall as Theo drew her sleeve up her arm. Her gaze caught on the corpse next to her feet. It was a student. Their eyes were still wide open with terror. Their wand was still clutched in their hand. The red of their Gryffindor robes did a fair job at covering the blood they were covered in.
No matter how many people they killed, students were still dying. She knew that they had made a dent in the Dark Lord's forces. It didn't feel like it was enough—she was confident it wasn't, in fact.
At the end of the day, Harry Potter was still alive.
Which meant Voldemort was too.
The students were outnumbered so significantly by Voldemort's forces. Even after slaughtering three rooms full of Death Eaters, who had been utterly dominating the students, she could still hear fighting. She could still hear screams. The building still shook with the force of explosions.
The sound of Theo's voice drew her back to the present. "How badly does it hurt?"
He drew his finger along the edge of the wound on her arm, and she turned her head back to look at him. He was covered in blood, though much less than her. His brow was creased in concern.
"Not that bad," she assured. "I've had worse."
He frowned but didn't comment. "What about the wound on your leg?"
"Worse than my arm, but I can deal with it."
He let go of her and took a step back. Glancing over his shoulder, she saw everyone else reach the top of the stairs. They were equally banged up as her, but Mary was already finishing up using a healing spell on one of Pansy's open wounds.
Mary looked over at her, and Celestia shook her head in silent answer. The pain was more annoying than an actual hinderance. She'd much prefer that Mary put her effort into focusing everyone else's injuries. Celestia could manage. She's always had.
Rather than abiding by her answer, it seemed to encourage Mary to come forward. Theo took a step back as Mary grabbed Celestia's arm to assess the injury. She let out a long, quiet breath, hoping it didn't come across as a sigh.
"It's fairly deep, but nothing I can't heal," said Mary, lifting her wand over the wound. "Episkey."
Could you check on everyone else? she asked, sliding into Theo's mind.
He didn't respond, verbally or telepathically, but she could still feel his agreement as if that was an answer in itself. His agreement was proved a second later when he stepped away from her and Mary and walked towards the rest of the group.
Sliding her gaze away from Theo, she observed the woman in front of her. Mary was concentrating heavily on healing the wound on Celestia's arm. The skin slowly knitted together again, leaving behind another scar on her skin. Happy with the results, Mary pulled her wand away.
"Are you injured anywhere else?" Mary asked. It was hard to tell how much of the blood Celestia was covered in was from herself or from others.
Tell her about the wound on your leg, ordered Theo.
"On my leg," said Celestia. She stuck out her foot and rolled up her pant leg as Mary kneeled on the floor to assess the injury before she healed it. Tilting her head as she observed the older woman, she decided to let curiosity get the best of her. "How did you get so skilled at healing?"
"James, Remus, and Sirius always found themselves injured in some way or another," she answered, and lifted her wand to Celestia's wound. "Episkey." She thought that might be the end of the conversation, but Mary surprised her by continuing. "Oftentimes, I was the one who had to heal them because the reason for their injury was from something they should not have been doing. It kind of became my designated role for a while, not that I minded. It certainly helped by the time war came."
She hummed in response as Mary finished casting the spell. Mary stood up, and Celestia shook her leg in assessment. Despite the dull pain she felt, it was certainly better than what it had been previously.
"Thank you," Celestia murmured softly.
Mary smiled at her. "No problem."
The two women rejoined the rest of the group. Theo gave her a look that told her everybody was fine, and any injuries sustained were merely superficial. She gave a miniscule nod of thanks.
"Merlin, you're covered in a lot of blood," said Draco. "Are you alright under there?"
"Just dandy," she answered. "Though I would much prefer all the blood off, thank you."
Without further prompting, Theo used his wand to cast Auguamenti. A small stream of water burst from the tip of his wand, and she used it to scrub all the blood off of her hands. On her other side, Regulus used Reparo to fix the tear in her cloak. She cupped her hands beneath the stream and splashed her face with water. She cleaned herself the best she could.
Blood still stuck strands of her hair together, stained her clothes, and there was some on her face that she hadn't managed to get off. Still, she felt much more comfortable not being completely covered in it.
"Thanks," she offered absentmindedly as Theo ended the spell. "Are we all ready to move on?"
"We're all ready," affirmed Theo. "But are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm all healed up now."
Theo slanted her a look. "You know that isn't what I meant."
She gave a quiet laugh. "Killing a bunch of people doesn't really make me sociable. I'm okay, though. Just ready for this all to be over with," she said, bumping her shoulder into him.
You sure? he asked privately.
She gave a private smile just for him. Yeah. I promise.
It wasn't like he couldn't feel exactly what she was feeling. She could feel his worry for her. He could undoubtedly sense how she'd become cold—detached, almost. But it was the only way she could make it through all this. Seeing the insides of a man, even of an enemy, didn't exactly make one feel garrulous.
"Alright, then. Let's move," said Regulus, patting her head.
Once again, they all fell into step with one another. Usually, no matter the circumstances, their group was a loud, talkative one. It was just how they were; they found light in the dark. For once, though, the seriousness had silenced them. Celestia was sure the brutal way she had just murdered many men had something to do with their silence as well.
Once upon a time, she would've thought it was her that disgusted them. But as she recalled Regulus's hand on her head, Theo's soul gliding against her, Mary tending to her wounds, Blaise's earlier hug, Draco stomping on her foot when she appeared distracted—and Pansy's hand, now, reaching out for hers. No, it wasn't disgust for her. Somehow, they separated the gore she had exposed them to from her. It was something she held onto with both hands, and refused to let go of.
She tightened her grip on Pansy's hand. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She would do anything to protect her. Pansy knew the deepest, darkest grooves of her soul—and still loved her in spite of them.
It saddened her when she was forced to let go of Pansy's hand so she could hold both her wand and dagger again. There were multiple Death Eaters that they killed in the next few hallways they passed through, but in comparison to their previous rooms, the number paled in comparison.
They found themselves in an empty hallway, which they'd come to acknowledge as a rarity, but none of them lowered their guard. The sound of battle echoed down to them, and they understood any moment chaos could strike.
Two people turned the corner into their hallway, and instantly, seven wands were pointed at the newcomers. Like a mirror image, the two had raised their wands to combat them—and then they lowered their wands, recognising Celestia as an ally.
Several hundred possibilities ran through Celestia's mind. She held it all in the palm of her hands.
She lowered her wand, and then so did her companions. They knew well enough now to trust her judgement, even if it went against their baser instincts. She could see the tremble of Pansy's hand, could see Blaise's hand bunching up into a fist. Still, neither of them commented.
Painting a wide smile on her face, Celestia stepped forward, approaching the duo. They looked at her rather relieved.
"It's been a while since I've seen you, Carrows," she exclaimed, her tone tainted with relief. "How has running Hogwarts been?"
"Well," answered Amycus Carrow.
Her smile widened as she placed a hand over her heart. If they knew her better, they would've known how out of the ordinary she was acting. Even after all the vile acts she had committed in the name of Voldemort, though, they still saw her as a child. An overeager, eccentric child who they'd gladly sacrifice if the time required it.
An exaggerated sigh escaped her. "That's wonderful. Merlin, you have no idea how glad I am to see you." She waved her hand at all her friends, abandoned behind her. "It's been surprisingly tough so far; I was really hoping you could relay something to the Dark Lord for me."
She opened her arms wide in the universal beckoning of a hug. It was then that the first sign of trepidation crawled onto their face. One thing they had picked up over the years was that Celestia was not a particularly touchy person. For her to offer them a hug was out of the norm.
It was too late by the time the realisation came.
Time slowed down.
Her once empty outstretched hand had a dagger in it; courtesy of her finally putting the gift Theo had gotten her for her birthday to use. She was just now passing through the gap between the siblings. The blade was easily drawn across Amycus's throat—and then she was behind Alecto.
Before Alecto could react, Celestia had unsheathed her sword and jammed it through the bottom of her spine. The woman half-collapsed, skewered by Celestia's sword, and let out a horrifying scream.
"Tell him to greet me in hell."
With those final words, Celestia drew her sword up through Alecto's body. Her sword cut through her body like butter. There was no resistance, even through her bones and organs. Alecto's body flopped to the floor, split in half from her waist upwards. The sight of her insides was enough to make her gag.
Despite knowing they must've seen, Celestia still stepped forward and covered the body from view the best she could. They didn't need to see the utter butchery she'd produced for longer than needed.
"Sorry for stealing your kill," she said to Pansy and Blaise once they were close enough.
Pansy looked a little pale, and Blaise looked dazed, but they both still offered her tentative smiles. Celestia gave them a small, shaky smile in return.
"It's alright," said Blaise, quickly recovering.
"Consider it my apology for abandoning you both here," Celestia murmured quietly.
Before Celestia could blink, Pansy had reached forward and wrapped her arms around her. She decisively dug her head into Celestia's shoulder, a clear effort to not look at the mangled body behind them. Instantly, Celestia returned the hug.
When Pansy spoke, her voice was so quiet that Celestia knew that she was the only one that could hear her. "So, you don't hate me for . . . for using the Cruciatus Curse on other people? Even after what happened to you?"
Closing her eyes, she pressed her face into the top of Pansy's head. It was just as she had feared. She could never bring herself to hate Pansy, though. If anything, it was Celestia's fault that she'd been forced into that position. Celestia had failed to consider all scenarios—she had failed to protect Pansy.
"I could never hate you, Pansy," she replied, her voice just as quiet as Pansy's had been.
Pansy pulled back, and Celestia could see tears bundled on her eyelashes. She used a hand to wipe away the remnants of her tears and offered Celestia a watery smile. "Thank you." She laughed a little, then. "Merlin, you're brutal, CeCe."
Celestia smiled back, but she was sure it must have wavered a little. She didn't offer Pansy a response, and the other girl finally took a step back. There was a collective release of tension from the group, and they all moved to finally leave the dreaded hallway. No one looked at the brutalised bodies Celestia had left behind.
Regulus reached out to ruffle her hair. No matter how many times he did it, she didn't think she'd ever tire of it. "Remind me to never get on your bad side, huh?" he joked.
In lieu of responding, she simply stuck out her tongue. Any other answer would've got stuck in her throat. The truth was he was far too intertwined with her life; if he were to betray her now, she would break rather than battle. She couldn't bear to harm him, even if he had harmed her.
They were halfway down the next hallway when she felt an excruciating pain in her left forearm.
Her steps slowed until she came to a complete halt. Everyone turned to face her the moment she stopped, confusion colouring each of their faces. It confirmed her immediate suspicions—none of them had received Voldemort's summons.
Only her.
"We need to speed up our plan," she announced.
"Alright, what do you need us to do?" Theo asked, already knowing she must have some alterations for their previous plan.
"I need you all to keep killing Death Eaters and attempt to find the general area where the Dark Lord is," she explained. "While I find Harry Potter and kill him."
"Alone?" demanded Blaise.
She nodded. "I know you're all going to argue, but you all know I'm capable of handling it on my own. We'll reconvene after I kill Potter and figure out the next course of action."
All of them looked disgruntled, but they seemed to all be taking their time to try and come up with an argument. Theo stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and dragged her away from the rest of the group.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. She had expected more anger, more of a fight. He sounded resigned, though.
"Yes," she answered. "I expected more resistance from you."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't want you to go. I think you should take at least me or Regulus with you. But. . ."
"This is something I need to do myself," she concluded, though she doubted that was exactly how he had wanted to finish his sentence.
"And I know you can handle yourself. I know Potter is nowhere close to you in skill. I know Regulus and I are needed for killing the rest of the Death Eaters." He laughed sardonically. "Still, I don't want to part from you."
She stepped forward so they were toe-to-toe. "You won't be parting from me." She tapped his temple. "I'm in here." Then, she moved her hand down and placed it over his heart. "And I'm in here."
"So cliché," he joked, but he reached up and grabbed her hand. He squeezed her hand. "You're not alone, you know? If you're doing this alone because you think you have to, you don't. We're all more than happy to help you."
"I know," she promised. Once upon a time, she would've thought that way. She knew now, though, that if she wanted to protect her friends, then she should let them protect her, too. "Just trust my judgement on this. Please?"
"Will you erase my memory if I say no?" Theo said, his voice teasing.
Laughter burst out of her, and she leaned forward to press her forehead against his shoulder. Her laughter shook her entire body, and she took a moment to calm down. "I'm never going to live that down," she replied. Her voice turned serious, even though she knew he had been joking. "No, Theo, I won't erase your memories. Never again. If you really think you need to come, I'll let you."
He looked at her. Her mouth was still twisted in a small smile due to her bout of laughter, and there was still some blood on her face she hadn't managed to wash off. He raised his hand and cupped her face, dragging his thumb against the small, slowly healing cut on her cheek made from the debris of the earlier explosion.
"Okay. I'll let you go," he said softly.
She smiled at him. "Thank you. I love you."
"I love you more."
With that, he let go of her and moved back towards the rest of the group. They all looked at him, hoping he had managed to convince her. He shook his head, and she watched as their shoulders slumped. Still, they look less annoyed than she had expected.
Their gazes moved from Theo to her. She raised her hand and waved. One by one, they each raised their hands and waved back. It made her smile, and laughter tickled her throat. There was no need for goodbye.
She turned, unsheathed her weapons, and started her search for Harry.
AUTHORS NOTE
okay, i know you guys probably hate me for making celestia separate from the group and that ending, but bear with me, alright? it's not the worst thing i've ever done to you! i'm even updating super early!
i'll keep it quick — thank you for all the love and well wishes from the last chapter! i feel the need to always remind you all how grateful i am because i don't think i'll ever be able to properly verbalise the gratitude i feel. you're all too kind to me, and i wish i could respond to every single comment.
the next chapter should come soon, too! i am very excited to write it. i'm assuming it'll probably be a fairly long chapter, so buckle in for that! i can't believe we're so close to the end. betrayal of the black has been such a large part of my life the past couple years, and i can't believe it's all coming to an end soon.
have a wonderful rest of the week. take care of yourselves.
yours,
beth.