O, CURSED CHILD. ﹙ harry potter ﹚

LXXII ; the only one he ever feared

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            THERE WAS MOVEMENT GOING ON AROUND THEM, POINTLESS BUSTLING, THE FLASHES OF MORE SPELLS. to elara it was meaningless noise, the deflected curses flying past them did not matter. lupin dragged elara away from the dais, elara and harry still staring at the archway. dumbledore had most of the remaining death eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilized by invisible ropes. mad-eye moody had crawled across the room to where nymphie lay and was attempting to revive her. behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts, and cries — kingsley had run forward to continue sirius's duel with bellatrix.

            "harry? lara?"

            neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to the place where elara and harry stood. they were no longer struggling against lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on their arms nevertheless.

            "i'b really sorry. . . ." said neville. his legs were still dancing uncontrollably. "was dat man — was sirius black a — a friend of yours?"

            elara nodded. harry was still staring in the direction of the archway.

            "here," said lupin quietly, and pointing his wand at neville's legs he said, "finite." the spell was lifted. neville's legs fell back onto the floor and remained still. lupin's face was pale. "let's — let's find the others. where are they all, neville?"

            lupin turned away from the archway as he spoke. it sounded as though every word was causing him pain.

            "dey're all back dere," said neville. "a brain addacked ron bud i dink he's all righd — and herbione's unconscious, bud we could feel a bulse —"

            there was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. elara saw kingsley, yelling in pain, hit the ground. bellatrix turned tail and ran as dumbledore whipped around. he aimed a spell at her but she deflected it. she was halfway up the steps now —

            "harry — lara — no!" cried lupin, but they had already ripped their arms from lupin's slackened grip.

            "SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" bellowed harry. "SHE KILLED HIM — I'LL KILL HER!"

            elara was on board with the notion to kill bellatrix.

            and they were off, scrambling up the stone benches. people were shouting behind elara but she did not care. the hem of bellatrix's robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming. . . .