Tenebrous ❆ Sirius Black [2]

Chapter Twenty One

The wind howled through the trees, rattling the shutters of homes that surrounded them in a small village by the shores of Wales. The waves could be head crashing against the cliffs in the distance, and the smell of the sea wafted through the air. Were their hearts not beating a mile a minute; were they all not nervous about what is to come; it would have been quite a beautiful night.

"Are you sure this is where Dumbledore said?" Marlene's voice was the first to break the silence amongst the tense members of the group.

Somehow, Dumbledore had managed to gain some inside information about the next Death Eater attack, and at the last meeting many members of the Order of the Phoenix had volunteered to help defend the Muggle village.

"You were there McKinnon, you head it the same as we did." Fabian pointed out the fact. They were all there together, so even if they had made a mistake someone would have corrected them.

"It's the right place, I know it is." Nadia added on. Just one look around made her remember the dream she had last night; another set of indistinguishable flashes. But now that she was here, at least this scene was clear.

"But where is everyone?" Alice asked with a small frown on her face as she looked around their small group. She clutched on to Frank's hand as they waited in one of the tiny alleys of the village. They were told to meet the other members there. But so far only Nadia, Sirius, Marlene, Peter and the Prewett twins have come alongside them.

They were still waiting on the Aurors; Moody, Kingsley, and Carmichael were supposed to be here. And Viktor had said he would come help too despite being busy with his duties as a professor. It was a point of having strength in numbers, it was what would make their defense stronger than the attackers. They were supposed to outnumber them, but right now that didn't seem very likely.

"What do we do if they don't come?" Peter asked with a wary tone, continuously looking around. It would be any time now. Before either one of the people around him could answer Peter's question, the sound of popping and people apparating into the alley made many of them jump in surprise.

"They're right behind us!" Viktor called to the group, giving them the warning to get ready. The only person with him was Alastor, while Kingsley and Carmichael were nowhere to be seen. But nobody had a chance to question where the other two Aurors were. Nobody had a chance to say anything as the wisps of smoke started to rush around them and people began appearing in the street. The Order had been waiting for the Death Eaters, wanting to catch them by surprise, but that seemed to be a lost cause because as each new person appeared, their eyes were instantly on the alley where they were hiding. They knew they were coming; they were prepared and there was more Death Eaters than they ever expected.

"Bollocks." Gideon mumbled to himself in surprise, clutching on to his wand as he spotted the number of Death Eaters they were supposed to face against. It was the Order that was outnumbered. Moody made quick motions of sending a Patronus, requesting reinforcements as quickly as possible. And he did so just in time, because it wasn't long before the first spell was cast.

Nadia had been taking in the familiar faces among the group of dark wizards. She could feel Sirius inch closer to her as he spotted members of his family there. Not only Bellatrix, but also his father. Nadia was more focused on Mulciber smirking in her direction. She hadn't seen him since last summer; she hadn't seen him after he played his hand in the deaths of her family members. The anger which bubbled within her as soon as she spotted him standing alongside Avery and Malfoy almost blinded her to everything else around.

Were it not for Sirius' quick actions Nadia would have been caught in the effects of the exploding charm cast in the direction of the Order members. Everyone had managed to duck out of the way, covering their heads as the road beneath their feet exploded, leaving large cement stones to fall around them. As they all dove for shelter in different directions, they were now divided, there was no longer even an advantage of defending themselves as a group.

Nadia's ears rang from the explosion as Sirius turned her so she would look at him instead of the wall behind which they had hid. His seemed to be too as he tried to shake the effect off. Whether it worked or not, Nadia didn't know, she only listened to him as he spoke up, his voice loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the fight which had begun with people shooting spells back and forth and things around them crashing with great force.

"Stay by my side, don't let go!" He told her, taking hold of her hand firmly. All Nadia could do was nod her head as the stood to their feet together, their wands out and starting to shoot spells of their own at the Death Eaters who were easily overpowering the group and approaching their position; getting closer and closer.

With their higher numbers it wasn't long before Sirius and Nadia were facing against their former classmates. Standing back to back, Nadia was able to see Mulciber and Avery taking long strides towards her as they shot multiple spells her way. All she could do was use defensive spells against their attacks, waiting for an opportunity to truly fight back. Her moment came in the form of a stray spell distracting the two Death Eaters.

Nadia used her chance, shooting spells at both of them as fast as she could. Able to stun Avery, Mulciber was forced to take a chance to reanimate his fallen comrade giving Nadia even more of an upper hand. Her spells kept coming; Ventus, Confundo, Reducto, Impedimenta. Many of them didn't do much, but she managed to push the two into a wall, bringing them to the position where she was previously; unable to use any other spell or charm aside the ones protecting them from her attacks.

So focused on her own fight, Nadia didn't even notice Sirius and herself slipping away from each other slowly. He fought against his father, against his cousin, completely focused on being the line of defense between them and Nadia whose back remained turned. Their advances and retreats made Sirius' words of sticking together redundant because as the fight continued they parted, further and further away from each other.

But she was bound to become aware of it. And she did. It was the most horrible sound she had ever heard. Nadia had never witnessed the Cruciatus curse in person. She knew it was Sirius. It was his pain that echoed around her. And Nadia lost all focus. Her head spun in the direction of the sound. And she saw him; on the floor, screaming out in pain as Bellatrix and his father pointed their wands at him, cruel smiles on their faces as they reveled in his pain.

The scene made her forget all about Mulciber and Avery, her mind consumed with helping Sirius. But the two used that to their advantage. Before she could do anything to help Sirius, or even herself, Nadia's wand was thrown out of her hand the action forcing her eyes to snap back towards her own opponents.

Sirius' screams echoed, and mixed with the pain and fighting of the others, Nadia couldn't even hear the spells which were cast in her direction. The windows of the building beside her exploded, the flying glass cutting at her face as she tried to shield herself away from the shards. Soon enough the glass didn't matter anymore as she suddenly flew through the air. With no way to stop it or protect herself, Nadia crashed into the brick wall behind her.

Pain erupted in her shoulder, increasing even more as she fell to the ground. There were definitely broken bones, she was more than aware of that as she tried to get back to her feet. She didn't know what she would do next, how she would defend herself with her wand lost. Rising to her hands and knees, fighting against the pain in her body, Nadia became aware of a wand pointed right at her. Looking up, she wasn't surprised to see Mulciber smirking at her.

"And finally, we're as we should be. Remember Volkov, I promised you that one day this would happen." Mulciber gloated at her defenseless state. "And I always keep my promises." The hate was more than obvious in his eyes and as he spoke. Nadia knew what promise he was referring to. The promise to kill her.

"Goodbye Volkov."

With his wand pointed right at her, nothing to distract him and no chance to miss, Nadia heard Mulciber call out the words of the killing curse.

Published: 22nd October, 2019