Brutal. | Fred Weasley

nine!

Harry is released from his bonds and Aurelia is held back quite firmly by those at her father's beck and call. No matter how she struggles and fights, composed or not, the grip will not loosen. She stills, instead looking on in fear for what might happen to the Boy Who Lived. Even if he does try and run, they're outnumbered at least thirty to two.

"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" Voldemort asks. Aurelia notes just how fragile Harry looks, an injured leg barely supporting his weight and tired out already from the first dose of the Cruciatus Curse. The panic that flits through his eyes tells Aurelia that he knows very little about duelling. "We bow to each other, Harry," he explains, bending every so slightly without removing his eyes from Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed... Dumbledore would like you to show manners. Bow to death, Harry." The Death Eaters all laugh, the circle closed in around the pair. Harry stands defiantly. "I said, bow." Voldemort raises his wand and Harry's spine curves without his permission. He stands up straight as Voldemort releases the weight. "Very good. And now you face me like a man, straight-backed and proud, the way your father died. And now— we duel."

Voldemort is quicker than Harry and he is quickly consumed by pain again. He rolls on the floor, screams tearing themselves from his throat. Voldemort releases the spell and Harry scrambles to his feet, staggering sideways into the wall of Death Eaters just to be pushed back towards his duelling partner.

"A little break," Voldemort offers. "A little pause... that hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?" Once again, Harry stands without answering. He won't be played with, won't be manipulated. "I asked you whether you want me to do that again," he repeats. "Answer me! Imperio!" Harry stands for a moment, swaying but fighting the Imperius Curse.

"I won't!" he yells. The words echo across the graveyard and the Death Eaters are no longer laughing. Aurelia feels a smug sort of pride and sends Harry a tiny but encouraging smile.

"You won't? You won't say no? Harry, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die... perhaps another little dose of pain?" Voldemort raises his wand again, but Harry is ready this time and he leaps to the side, sheltering behind the marble tombstone of Tom Riddle Senior. It cracks under the force of the spell. "We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry." The Death Eaters begin laughing again, but this time is more of a nervous sound. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer for me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry, come out and play, then. It will be quick... it might even be painless. I would not know, I have never died."

Aurelia stands, hands held tightly behind her back and wand in someone else's hand with the hope that Harry Potter will pull yet another amazing feat. That, somehow, the Boy Who Lived will continue to do just that, that her father will be pushed back and that they can return to where they need to go.

Voldemort approaches the headstone slowly, prowling. Harry suddenly leaps out, yelling out 'Expelliarmus' as Voldemort calls out yet another Killing Curse. The red and green collide in mid-air. Both wands seem to vibrate in the hands of their owners, a thin beam of golden light connecting them. Aurelia's mouth falls open as she watches, but nothing could have prepared her to watch both Harry and Voldemort be lifted into the air and towards a clear patch of land. The man holding her hands behind her loosens his grip as everyone begins shouting for instructions. She forces her head back as hard as she can, headbutting him and stomping her foot down onto his harshly. She rips herself from his grip and snatches her wand back from the man next to him, who is watching his Master with wide eyes and shock written all over his body language. She begins firing spells off. The more of these Death Eaters she can defeat now, the easier it will be. Many had drawn their wands at the movement of Voldemort, but none are truly prepared for the force and speed of Aurelia Riddle's duelling.

A golden dome surrounds Voldemort and Harry, cutting off the Death Eaters from getting involved. Aurelia ducks behind a grave to avoid a harsh curse as she hears her father shouting instructions desperately.

"Do nothing! Do nothing unless I command you!"

Aurelia shoots a Backfiring Jinx towards a Death Eater, who then curses himself with the Cruciatus Curse. She begins moving closer to Cedric's body. He's near the Triwizard Cup and she hopes to Merlin that it's still a Portkey.

"Locomotor Wibbly," she calls, casting it behind her before throwing up a shield. She Summons her jacket from the other side of the graveyard, making sure it's no longer a Portkey and shoving it on as she races across the uneven ground.

"Reducto!" she yells, ignoring their frightened yells surrounding Voldemort and Harry's duels. She just hopes Harry will be okay. She reaches Cedric and fights off whichever Death Eaters have noticed her absence. She shakes Cedric's shoulders gently, trying to see if he'll wake. She's not stupid, she knows what the Killing Curse does, but she's hopeful. She grabs her wand and points it at him.

"Rennervate," she whispers. She realises that he was sat two seats down from Nico when she saw him after the Second Task. He was one of the first to stop staring at her in abject horror. "Rennervate!" The second repetition has more power behind it. Instead of the usual flash of red light associated with the spell, gold sparks fly out from the end of her wand. She shakes it frustratedly. She repeats the spell a third, more desperate time and a jet of gold shoots out the end of her wand and hits Cedric in the chest. He still doesn't move.

Suddenly, the dome disappears and Harry begins to run towards her and Cedric's still body. Aurelia jumps into helping him from behind a tombstone, firing off spells and conjuring shields when Harry is otherwise occupied. She spots Wormtail and, in a fit of spitefulness, she shoots a Full Body Bind towards him before summoning his seized body. Someone will pay for Cedric's murder. Shouts of 'stun him' are echoing from Voldemort as Harry reaches the two of them. There is some distance between them and the Cup, but Voldemort is closing in quickly.

"Stand aside, I will kill him! He is mine!" Voldemort shrieks from one tombstone back. Aurelia grabs Cedric's surprisingly warm hand and Wormtail as Harry grabs Cedric's other arm and points his wand at the Triwizard Cup.

"Accio!" he yells. The Cup comes soaring towards them and he catches it by the handle. With a familiar jerk, a whirl of colour encapsulates the four of them. They're going back to Hogwarts.