The Great Bald Bitch and his Errand Girls as Nixie affectionately referred to them as during the night were not going to get what they wished for as no one was handing Harry over before midnight or after midnight for that matter. They were foolish to think that it would be that easy.They didn't gather to just hand him over, they gathered to fight and protect him. Once that finally registered through Voldemort's thick skull, the violence began. Death Eaters launched their attacks at the castle, however, they were not able to get through, due to the prep work placed down by those defending the castle walls.
Minerva's statues and suits of armour took down anyone that grew close, while Professor Sprout and Neville decided to show that Herbology was not a waste of a class. Mandrakes were thrown over the walls and wand duels were going back and forth. However, every strike from the Death Eaters caused the castle walls to rattle. Nixie jokingly said that Eleanor should have just knitted a large quilt to throw over the castle as they were gathered in the courtyard. They were separating even though no one really wanted to.
Nixie could see Remus watching Eleanor and Fred as they were parting. Eleanor was assigned to stay with Arthur and Kingsley in the Quad area. The two wrapped each other in a hug, while Nixie felt Sirius take her hand. She glanced over at him, only to observe as Sirius reached out and touched Remus on the shoulder. Remus turned to them, his face pale as he swallowed hard.
"Ready for the final round, Moony?" Sirius asked Remus with a grin. It certainly seemed to lighten the mood as Remus chuckled.
"I think so, Padfoot."
As the two men turned to her, Nixie could already assume what was going to be said next as she prepared herself.
"What about you, Flipper?" Her husband questioned, if she didn't love him so much, she would have thrown him down into the quad area. Instead, she glared at the two playfully.
"We agreed that we wouldn't use that nickname for me," she told the two, but she could see the childish gleams in both of the men's eyes before she smiled.
"Sorry, Nini," Sirius winked in her direction, "Couldn't resist. Hogwarts brings back memories for me."
She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, trying to calm her nerves as another hit shook the ground beneath them. Remus cleared his throat loudly to bring them to look at him once more.
"Promise me something?" He requested them.
Nixie could see him sweating in the light of the spells going back and forth, hitting the protective shields and illuminating the night sky. "What is it, Remus?"
"If anything happens to me," he began, " just look after Eleanor and-"
They wouldn't allow him to continue because they wouldn't allow themselves to even process the thought of losing him. "Remus, don't talk like that!" Nixie scolded him.
"It has to be said!" He told her. "I have to know that my family will be taken care of in case...just in case."
Sirius made sure that his friend was looking directly at him as he spoke because under his watch no one was going to die that evening. Remus had a family and he was going to return to his family and everything was going to be fine. He had to believe that, it was what kept him going in that moment.
"Your family will be taken care of because you will be there to take care of them," Sirius informed him, "We'll all be there to look after one another."
The time had come and Sirius and Nixie had to watch as Eleanor came over to her father before leaving to hug him and tell him that she loved him. She also hugged the two of them as well before leaving with Kingsley and Arthur. Nixie and Sirius pulled on the back of Remus' coat to pull away as he seemed ready to just run after her and try to bring her home.
Nixie kept her eyes open as she tried to spot Tabitha, she knew it was only a matter of time before the two were reunited for the final battle between the two. Nixie had it all planned out in her head that she wasn't going to leave the castle grounds until she made sure that miserable bitch was dead. After everything Tabitha had done to her friends and family, Nixie's words were going to hold true, no mercy and make her regret everything. Remus had gone off to fight while Nixie was working on protective spells with her mother nearby.
She didn't want Meri there, not because she didn't want her mother's support, but the last thing she ever wanted was for her mother to get hurt or worse, end up like her father. Meri had some defensive, she would probably rip out someone's throat if she got close enough but with magic in play, she was defenceless in many ways. The only thing that comforted Nixie's mind was knowing that she had a knitted garment on.
While the knitting prevented magical injuries, there were still those that were falling, getting scrapes and cuts that needed tending to and there was Meri, making sure that all were tended to. Nixie deflected every incoming spell that came in their direction. From where she was in the surrounding courtyard, she could hear everything going around her. Shouts of people telling them to get back, shouts of incantations of the younger students who hadn't mastered non-verbal magic, crashing thunderous sounds, and yells of pain.
It was enough to give her a splitting headache until she heard one yell that rang out louder than anyone.
It sounded like Arthur.
She looked over to where Sirius was across the way, he was frozen in place apparently hearing the same yell as her as well.
"Go," Meri told Nixie, " don't just stand around here because of me."
She was tending to a young boy's leg. "I don't need anyone looking after me, I can take care of myself, now go!"
Running off, Sirius and Nixie made their way to the Quad as fast as they could, only to come upon a horrible scene. Eleanor was on the ground, a bloodied abdomen staining the front of her shirt as Arthur was doing everything in his power to get her to open her eyes. Immediately, the two made their way over to see the injury.
"Ellie?!" Nixie's hands immediately went to see the wound, only to be covered in blood instantly. The girl wasn't responsive as Sirius took over to hold her up in his arms.
"Come on, Ellie," he said, " come on..."
Arthur had been able to seal the wound but from Nixie was able to see the internal bleeding was still prominent. She tried other healing spells but nothing seemed to be working as Eleanor remained still.
"I-I-I-...."Nixie pushed herself up. "I have to get Remus."
No, she didn't want to bring the man to such a horrible scene but it was his daughter and he had every right to know. The last she had seen him near the viaducts, bringing her to run as fast as she could to get the man. With her wand drawn, she could only pray that she wasn't met with any barriers along the way.
●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●
Fortunately, her prayers were met as she found Remus, although he was battling a death eater by the name of Antonin Dolohov and judging by the grin on the Death Eater's face and the look of pure grief on Remus', it seemed he had already been delivered the bad news in the worst way possible. As soon as Nixie arrived on the scene, Antonin took advantage of it and ran off.
"Remus!" She called to him, her voice cracking near the end. "You have to come-"
"No! No! No! NO!" Remus shouted in protest, knowing what he was going to be seeing. He refused, he didn't want to see it. He didn't want to believe it. Nixie approached him slowly but he held out his hands to stop her.
"Remus, please," she pleaded with him. She was able to grab a hold of his hand and began pulling him in the direction of the quad. He fought her several times, trying to pull away, not wanting to see his daughter dead, but Nixie kept a firm grip. If Eleanor was gone, he needed to be there to say goodbye.
When they did make their way back, Remus' hand dropped from hers and the man stood in total shock. Arthur was standing guard in front of Sirius, who was holding Eleanor in his arms.
"I'm so sorry, Remus," Arthur said, his face was stained with tears, "I...I didn't expect it."
Remus didn't respond, instead, as he reached his daughter's side, his legs gave out from under him as his eyes looked to the pool of blood on the ground and the blood that stained Eleanor's shirt.
"N-no," he whispered to himself as he squeezed his burning eyes shut for a moment. "N-no."
He choked back a violent sob as his hand reached out and grazed his daughter's forehead. "What happened?" He asked looking from Sirius to Nixie, but they looked over at Arthur.
"It was Artemis," Arthur answered solemnly, unable to meet any of their gazes, " it was unexpected. She was handling it just fine, but Antonin showed up and I wasn't able to get to her. They blocked my path, Remus, and Artemis, she had...she had a dagger of some sort. It happened all so fast. I'm so sorry, Remus! I tried. I tried!"
Nixie walked over to Arthur and pulled the man into her, knowing he was feeling responsible for something that wasn't his fault at all. She was in shock herself over Artemis' actions. She didn't think the girl would do such a thing but it seemed they were all in shock. They didn't expect Eleanor of all people to be the first casualty.
"Oh, Ellie," Remus' voice quivered as he cried, pulling Eleanor away from Sirius and into his arms, "I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry! I should have protected you, I should have been right there beside you. No, I shouldn't have let you come at all. I should have made you stay behind somehow. What have I done? I was supposed to keep you safe, I promised I would keep you safe."
Covering her mouth, Nixie had to look away from the scene as she cried.
Everyone seemed to be in enough shock as it was, but the situation didn't seem to get much better for Remus as Tonks arrived. She was supposed to be with her parents, with Teddy at their home, nice and safe. His eyes became wide with horror to see her there, especially as he held his dead daughter in his arms.
"What are you doing here?!" He asked her. She wasn't looking at him, staring down at Eleanor, her lower lip trembling. "What about Teddy?!"
She finally glanced over at him. "He's home with my mother and father. He's safe, Remus, I couldn't stay home, especially knowing what was going on here..."
Remus peered back down at Eleanor. "She tried to warn me, she tried warning all of us. She knew the knitting wouldn't work unless it was a magical attack."
"Remus," Nixie called out to him, trying to get the man to stop blaming himself. It was out of all of their control. The last thing they had anticipated was such a thing to happen. "Remus-"
"I'll kill her!" Remus said after cursing Artemis' name. "I'll kill those filthy-" He didn't finish his words as he grabbed his wand and took off to find Artemis or Antonin.
Sirius held Eleanor as she had been placed back in his arms. "Remus, no! Come back!"
Tonks agreed to go after her husband, leaving Nixie and Sirius with Eleanor. The man lifted Eleanor up in his arms before turning to Nixie. " We need to bring her inside and get Remus before he does something that will get him hurt or that he'll regret."
"Please...don't...let...him...do...something...stupid."
The two had been walking when Sirius stopped and looked over at Nixie, but she shook her head. "I didn't say anything."
They both peered down at Eleanor.