November 20, 1944
Thursday Evening
Harry still couldn't believe that Corene and Elaine were as closely related as they truly were. It hadn't left his mind since Corene had first told him, nor had the fact that one of two missing Gaunts wasn't really missing in the first place; she ran off for one reason or another. He doubted he'd ever find out why, especially with the woman being retired in a faraway home with her husband. In a way, she felt just as unreachable as the other Gaunt relative of Elaine's, only one was far more likely to hold a conversation with him on account of her being alive.
Alive, Harry repeated mentally, scoffing at the word.
Only yesterday he'd read through the daily list of Aurors and Volunteers who were killed combating Grindelwald's forces. It grew daily, just as the front line did and the hundreds of Muggle planes that would go down if the news could be trusty. Most called it murder, well, those that held Muggle-positive views, at least - the fact that Grindelwald was evacuating people from mainland Europe over to the little pit of England he controlled was more than telling in regards to his 'success' on the continent.
Whatever the Dark Lord had thought was worth it in England clearly hadn't worked out for him. If anything, Harry would credit whatever it was that he did with helping to end the war earlier than anticipated despite the extra losses it inflicted on his home nation.
'All victories inevitably come at a cost' was a quote he'd heard during his time, and unfortunately, Harry turned it from a quote into real life on account of his meddling.
"Finally," Harry heard a feminine voice say as he turned the corner, "You're here."
When he looked up at the source of the voice and away from the book he'd been using to avoid conversations with those he passed, he saw a Slytherin girl from the year above him. She was one of the few that remained at Walburga's side. That was enough to make him wary whilst he was standing near her, but the confidence she exuded and the firmness of her voice would've done that regardless of which group she belonged to.
Really, he'd have enough of aggressive, dominant witches. Sarah and Corene becoming commonplace wouldn't be a bother in the slightest - rather them than Elaines and Daphnes all over the gaff.
"You were waiting for me?" He asked, maintaining the distance between them by stepping backwards when she stepped towards him.
"Please. Did you think Walburga wouldn't seek you out this year solely because she lacked success previously? As commendable as it was that you were able to keep her away from you, surely you know that'd be impossible to keep up for three years," The girl, Annie if he wasn't wrong, laughed and floated over a piece of parchment to him. "Read it. Destroy it. Consider it. Don't bother asking me about whatever it is that's written either, only Walburga knows the contents of the letter within. Good evening, Peverell."
Without the chance to ask a single question before the older girl made her way away from him at speed, he was left staring at the single piece of parchment that'd been folded into a letter-like style. At first glance, it didn't seem like it was packed full of writing, in fact, he couldn't see any sign of ink on the paper despite the nearest torch being only a few feet from him. Had he not seen the girl touch it with her bare hands prior to her quick exit, he wouldn't have touched it in the first place.
But… if Annie had held it with no ill effect, and he'd done the same with seemingly no issue, surely he could spend a bit more time away from the common room. He was owed that in his mind, especially after all the time he'd been spending with Elaine on account of her overly-complex plans that likely wouldn't last when chaos came to Hogwarts. That was said with firsthand experience too, not that any save for him would know.
Thus, with his mind made up, he was back within the safety that Slytherin's study had to offer with the door sealed behind him. It always felt odd, being in a room where horrible spells and worse people had studied - by and large - but for whatever reason, the sense of safety he felt wall tucked away in the room was second only to the Chamber.
For obvious reasons, the Chamber wasn't an option with Elaine's presence sure to be there.
With a shake of his head, he unfolded the parchment and wasted no time in reading it.
' My dear friend, Harry Peverell,
Let me preface this letter with a touch of pride and a hint of arrogance on account of the lengths this took me; I told you, friends of mine were spread throughout Europe and the world at large when last we met. I hope that this Walburga Black is on friendly enough terms with you too, and should such old blood be at odds with one another, search for a mark at the top of this page. Such a thing would be marvellous and made from the same blue hue of the water that surrounds the Goldhorns home.
Should you make it to this paragraph, it should mean that the mark was present. I'll be very glad if that's the case. Without further ado, I would extend the hand of friendship once more, only this time, in a manner that withholds nothing from you. I, Giannis, am a very close friend to a man that would like for nothing more than to meet with you. I'm sure with your intelligence as high as it is that you know of whom I speak on account of him visiting England despite these rather trying times. He's a man who shares many of his views with me, and dare I say after our brief time together, a man who holds views that you yourself hold.
Tell us where you would like to meet, and it will be done. Send your response through the daughter of House Black, I'm afraid failure to do so will result in less convenient methods of meeting.
Your friend, Giannis.
Kapste Tora'
No sooner than Harry read the final words did the paper begin to glow, and a second later, it was gone with a burst of flames. Had he been slower in his reaction, his hand would've undoubtedly been burned to some degree.
Some friend you are, Harry thought bitterly as he watched the burnt remnants fall to the ground grow still on account of the stagnant dungeon air. As if I'd like to meet with Grindelwald or anybody else who wants to kill or otherwise enslave the entirety of the Muggle population.
Harry had thought the man was nice when first they met, friendly and welcoming even, but he'd been proven wrong, evidently. As for Walburga, with her efforts to speak with him seemingly restarted and the newfound knowledge of her friendship with Grindelwald's forces in his mind, the decision he'd made to avoid her was twice as vindicated. No knowledge she possessed would make speaking with her such a great risk worth it.
November 22, 1944
Saturday Afternoon
"Grigor's moved out of Hogsmeade, finally!" Aster cheered, a bottle of wine in his hand as he eagerly bounded over to Harry. "Reinhard's best servant, the man who played with us for years - he has his own real home now. You met him, Reinhard said, right? Merlin, the man's a bloody monster and somehow he's still the nicest person I've ever met."
"Not like those Muggles, huh?" Reinhard snarked from his seated position, the large boy nodding to Harry when he made it further into the room.
Aster cast a look at Reinhard, one that made it obvious they'd had similar interactions before. "I told you already, and I've told you dozens of times. Muggles are fascinating, they're like us just not as smart or long-lived. Still, it's incredible, the industrious things they are able to get up to, isn't it?"
Reinhard shrugged, turning his attention over to Harry. "Thinks Muggles and us are separate species, he does. Not that they're all just squibs or born without what makes us wicked as we are. Anyways mate, done your studying for the day and ready to spend some time with us?"
Harry nodded at that. "I am. I've got my snogging with Elaine done, my studying with Corene finished, and my messing about with Sarah, Marcus and the rest crossed off for good measure," He plopped down beside Reinhard then, the larger boy patting him on the back before he slid over a weird candy-looking treat.
"Get one in you before the night's up," Reinhard said, his eyes blinking entirely too often and the redness of them enough to worry Harry. "Made from the essence of a few pot-"
Aster took over, the smallest of the three falling into the seat on Harry's other side with so much force that he bounced. "You scrape off the insides of cauldrons from about a dozen different potions and then you boil it all together, the result is that. Gets you dead fuzzy, it does, but don't worry, it's completely safe. We like to think of it as our own homemade alcohol on account of the ingredients and effects."
Harry blinked. Next, he looked between the pair of them. Finally, he looked back at the small piece of rock-like candy. "You guys made this with a bunch of leftover potions?"
"It's how I sleep if I have too rough a night. Don't knock it without trying it and before you say anything, Elaine's already told us it's safe," Reinhard's final comment was said in an assuring way, almost as if Elaine's word was la- oh… right.
With a shake of his head, Harry reminded himself that he'd have to break his mates of that habit. For now, however, he wouldn't mind wasting the night with the two halfway-drunken mates of his. Not if they'd be as funny as they usually were, and especially not if they had a drink for him - that was funny too, considering he seldom drank back in his time. Whether it was Elaine, the studying, Corene's relationship with the aforementioned girl, Grindelwald's attack or a host of other reasons, he deserved a break.
"Let's have some fun then. Pass the bottle over," Harry grabbed it and topped off the previously filled glass that'd been made his. As for the 'homemade alcohol' item, as the two called it, Harry pocketed the item for use that night… after he talked with Elaine.
It wasn't that he didn't trust his two friends per se, it was more that he didn't trust their definition of safe. Really, with some of the pranks the two pulled and the lengths they'd go through to ensure one victory, he was better safe than sorry.
"You drank in the afternoon, Harry? " Elaine questioned as soon as he made his way over to her with the slightest of stumbles.
"No…?" He responded, his answer more question-like than he wanted it to be.
Elaine raised one eyebrow at him, the perfectly refined dark hair matching beautifully against her entirely too-pale skin just as it always did. "If you didn't drink alcohol, my love, why does your breath smell so strongly of it? Moreover, my hard-working equal, why do I sense hesitance and inability radiating from our connection?"
He narrowed his eyes at the second question, the 'connection' only ever something he'd felt a few times in the dead of night. "Are you looking into myuh mind again?"
"No. I do believe I promised never to do so again unless given explicit permission. If that's the permission I require, however, I would be more than pleased to see what you're thi-"
Harry cut Elaine off by stupidly taking the small item from his pocket. "Aster and Reinhard said that you said this was safe?"
He never thought it possible to have an item confiscated from him faster than what she did at that moment in time. As for the safety or lack thereof regarding said item, he would never know, for she took it away and changed the course of their conversation back to the usual seriousness that'd hung over them like a cloud thanks to Grindelwald's actions.
November 22, 1944
Saturday Afternoon
Hogsmeade.
The time of year that meant heavy snowfall, festive moods and joyous decorations had come. As such, this trip to Hogsmeade being the last before Christmas - Yule as most called it in this era - was filled with an energy that most other trips lacked. Whether it was the temporary shops, better deals, higher presence of those from outside of Hogsmeade or a combination of all of the above, it didn't matter.
Not when the trip to Hogsmeade was solely for new clothes and a few gifts in preparation for the following day when Professor Slughorn had a more important meeting of his club. Sure, there'd been a few already, but all had lacked the presence of more than a few outsiders. That was the main reason so many attended too, for the connections you could make through the old, round-bellied Professor were seemingly endless.
Whatever you wished to do Post-Hogwarts, the man would know a dozen if not more who were in the very field you'd pursue. If you didn't have anything set in stone or were incapable of making a decision, you weren't any worse off because of that very same reason. It was wicked, really, and Harry only wished he'd taken better advantage of it the year prior.
"Harry Peverell!"
Harry ceased his semi-aimless walking whilst deep in thought and turned towards the source of the voice."Sarah, Sammi - oh, Marcus and Veronica too. Good to see you lot."
"What, no hug? We just get a 'good to see you' and that's it?" Sarah asked once she was closer, her arms crossing as she tried to give him an intimidating look.
"Awfully rude, huh Sarah?" Sammi asked, mimicking her older sister's pose as she came to stand beside the other girl.
"Budge off you two, Vee can go with you to that shop now that he's here. I'll go mental if I have to be dragged into another witches dress store," Marcus said, walking around the two so that he could pull Harry into a quick, rough hug. "Gotta help me, mate. I've been going ballistic in my own head with how many dresses I've seen and satchels I've had to give an opinion on."
Veronica made to move closer to Marcus in a slow, deliberate manner, but one of Sarah's hands quickly stopped her before she made it too far. "You heard your crush, Veronica. He gave you to us while he spends some time with Harry," Sarah turned her attention from the huffing Weasley and over to the two boys. "Don't go running off with Harry, Marcus. He's your break from shopping with us, but we'll want to spend some time with him too. In fact, why don't the two of you just sit on one of the benches or go into the shop beside the clothing store?"
"It's meant for Quidditch, so it should be right up their alley," Sammi quickly commented, jumping on Sarah's suggestion.
Marcus looked between the three girl's faces and sighed, motioning towards the building behind the trio. "We've been volun-told. No point in arguing with a witch either, Pev. If I've learned one thing from my dad, it's that they always win."
"I knew I liked Mister Potter for a reason," Vee said smugly, her freckles accented.
"I'll make sure I pass that along," Marcus shot over his shoulder as he and Harry passed them. "Reckon I got something to tell you too. Probably for the best that it's away from the others."
"That doesn't sound good," Harry said, his tone casual with a hint of concern that sounded perfect.
He blinked a few times at his manufactured tone. Merlin, he thought, Elaine's really getting inside and twisting, huh?
Never before would he… well, that'd be a lie. Sure, he'd try and project a false emotion so he wouldn't hurt any feelings, but it'd never sounded so believable. Really, he'd been so bad at lying or the like with those who intimately knew him that they'd not buy it for a second. The fact that he could do it so easily now, and to somebody who'd known him far better than most had in his own time was worryingly impressive.
"It's nothing too bad, I can promise you that. Just something about Grindelwald and his twatty followers - still can't believe there's so many left on our Island, but I can believe that he's already gone and fled. People like him have no sense of honour, my father always says," Marcus raised a finger as if he was imparting knowledge, and he quickly dropped it thereafter once the two were entering the desolate shop.
"I can't believe it either," Harry agreed. "With how many Aurors we've sent to deal with his followers, especially with the likes of McMacson heading them all, you'd think the problem would've been dealt with pretty quickly. Nobody like Grindelwald will ever have honour mate, should know that well enough. Merlin, even I do thanks to a book I read that gave a detailed accounting of the earliest years."
Marcus looked interested while he was nodding, but ultimately, the boy decided on furthering the conversation he wanted to rather than asking any questions.
"I wanted to tell you that Grindelwald's followers are mostly trickling away from wherever he puts them. My dad knows the Director of Law Enforcement, and he says that Grindelwald's men are deserting en masse thanks to a few captives they've taken recently - Muggle's not so much, but Magicals, a lot," Marcus sighed and shook his head. "Tell that to any Pureblood that's not wholly for progress like we are and your head'll be lopped off. Trust me, when the Director made mention of it to the Minister, the report was completely sealed with his stamp and personal wards."
Harry wanted to say he couldn't believe that, but with the Ministry of this time being only slightly better than the version in his time, it wasn't at all surprising the degree of ineptitude and corruption that ran rampant.
It made him think, if only for a fleeting moment, that Elaine was at least partially correct. Corruption was at the heart of the Ministry on account of old bloodlines and millennia-old friendships. That needed to go if the Wizengamot and government as a whole were to be run well.
"Look a bit annoyed by that, huh?" Marcus asked before he clicked his tongue and ran a hand through his hair. "I can tell you I am. Merlin only knows how many people this would change the minds of. Muggles can be braver than us, we've had enough old tales of it on account of Arthur to know as much. Those fear-mongers who started up and haven't stopped since the burnings really oughta be dealt with."
Harry cocked his head at those words, but as Marcus had done earlier, he decided on furthering the current topic rather than diving into a completely new one. "Why're they leaving Grindelwald's forces then? Is it because he actually ran or something else?"
Marcus shrugged his shoulders and plucked a new broom cleaning kit off the shelf. "That's just it mate, nobody knows. The only thing they know for certain is the thing they won't tell anybody - his people are buggering off to Merlin only knows where. Now come on, let's get to grabbing a few more things before the birds come to get us. I reckon we've got another hour or so left, so better hurry."
Harry rolled his eyes and made to follow after his friend, all the while thinking about the new information that he'd just learned. If it was true and Grindelwald's followers were fleeing, the magical ones that is, where were they headed? More importantly, was it planned out or are they truly fearing for their lives because Grindelwald really abandoned them after his failure to subdue Dumbledore?
If only everything could go easier for him.
"There the boys are," Vee said as he and Marcus approached the trio of witches with no small amount of bags in their hands.
Sarah smiled and gave a small, awkward wave on account of the aforementioned bags. "Look at that. It's the two of you running late and the three of us who ended up on the waiting end of things."
Harry rolled his eyes playfully and moved closer to Sarah and Sammi both, extending his hands. "I'll make it up to you by carrying everything, yeah?"
Sammi instantly forked over everything that she'd purchased. "Deal."
"You don't have to do that, I was only messing," Sarah said, relenting and offering up her bags when his smile grew whilst his hand moved closer to one of her full ones.
"What're we doing next? Something fun, I hope," Marcus said with a pout as Vee offloaded all of her purchases onto her 'crush.'
"Something very fun, so long as you like eating," Sammi said to Marcus as she began leading the group of five off in the direction of the restaurant-heavy portion of Hogsmeade; everything was a bit better sorted back in this time on account of the people being more plentiful and the businesses booming.
Marcus' pout instantly dropped at the mention of food, and unsurprisingly, Vee's teasing and prodding of the boy ceased too. It was all too easy to see what controlled those two… aside from each other.
With Sammi talking up the restaurant to Marcus and Vee, that left Harry and Sarah to fall a step or two behind so that they could have their own conversation. One that Sarah would initiate with a smile on her face as was typical of the dimpled cutie.
"You seem to be a lot more relaxed this year. Does that mean you've finally adjusted to life in the new world?" Sarah asked curiously, her innocent look and the way she swung her arms the picture of niceness.
Harry nodded a couple of times. "You, Corene and Elaine can read me really well - I'm far more relaxed and happy this year than I was the previous one. That's thanks to you by and large, by the way. Without you, I don't think I'd be half as comfortable in Hogwarts on account of most of my housemates keeping to themselves."
"Just because they do that doesn't mean you would've," Sarah said with a shrug as if it were that simple.
Maybe I'm overthinking everything, 'spose I do that a lot without Hermione or the others to counteract how I've adjusted to this world.
"Maybe," He said neutrally, not wanting to disagree with her. "Still, thank you."
Sarah's smile grew. "I won't stop you from thanking me if you really want to. By the way, my family asked me again about when you'll be visiting next. You wouldn't mind stopping over again this Yule, would you? Maybe we could finally show you the rest of the estate or go swimming this time around… if you come."
Harry nodded emphatically. "I'll be going so long as there's an offer. Your family's absolutely wicked - I mean it too, that's some of my fondest memories."
"I'm glad to hear that," Sarah said with a blush, her dimples seemingly growing under his praise. "Do you thi-"
He didn't hear her next few words on account of the scream; it was blood-curdling, the embodiment of dread and fear to such an extent that the primitive portion of his mind told him to use fire as it would when predators waited in the night.
The flashing of lights followed, and the crackling of spells joined the assault on his senses last. Fighting was happening on the next street or two over, and Harry was bound to get involved, he knew as much, for it was who he was.
"Don't," Harry said immediately, seeing that Sarah was making to move further ahead. "Sammi, Marcus and Vee are only right ahead. We need to be careful instead of running after them."
Sarah made to speak, but she swallowed and nodded. It was obvious that she was choked up despite them seeing nothing save for the flashing of spells. He supposed he'd be just as concerned as her, had he any siblings.
"Stay next to me and take out your wand. I'll go first, make sure it's clear and then we'll find the others, alright?" Harry asked as he gave a reassuring smile to Sarah, the Goldhorn girl clearly very nervous.
"Alright," Sarah said after a few seconds of blinking, the girl fumbling for her wand and eventually succeeding in grabbing it after nearly five seconds. "Can I hold onto you?"
He nodded and moved close enough for Sarah to use her free hand to take hold of the back of his shirt. Her grip was strong, stronger than any he'd felt before, and there wasn't any doubt in his mind that if the adrenaline coursing through his veins was absent, Sarah's hold of him would hurt.
As it was, however, his mind and body were far more preoccupied with the fighting that'd transformed Hogsmeade into a warzone. The sounds of agony, anger and incantations filled the air with the lights from spells not lacking in the slightest. It nearly reminded him of the fight that'd landed him back in time as he was, save for the lack of Voldemort and his followers who hid behind their masks.
"Grindelwald," Harry said under his breath as he peeked around the corner and saw dozens of fights taking place. "They're his people."
Sarah was shaking so horribly that it was transferring over to him thanks to her hold of his back. He needed to calm her, he knew that, but he didn't know how he was supposed to do that. Especially with Sammi and the others still missing; she cared so deeply for them that he knew it'd be folly to try and talk her down.
"There's a door to our left. It's safe, the buildings shut down - I've seen it before," Harry ducked back around the corner, hiding away from the violence so that he could get Sarah's eyes to meet his. "I'm going to get you tucked away inside the basement of this building, and don't worry, I'm going to hide the entrance to it. I'll come back for you when I find the others, alright? Just stay quiet, keep your wand out, and I promise you'll be alright."
He hated the look of fear that took her when he said that, but it had to be done. Sarah was a good friend of his, possibly the best of them all, and with how kind of a soul she was there'd be no room for grotesque violence within her presence; that was exactly what would happen too. If she came with him to look for her sister and the others, the dead bodies felled by dozens of causes would be seared into her brain.
Harry had seen death before, he'd grown accustomed to looking it in the eye during his era and in this one, he was used to kissing it on the lips while occasionally copping a feel. There wasn't a hint of worry within him, for he knew there was more to death than met the eye and beyond that, he'd already gotten a second chance at life whereas the rest of his friends hadn't.
"Go on," Harry said, coaxing Sarah into the building and down the wooden stairs. "I'll make sure it can't cave in on you, and nobody will come looking either. I promise. I just need you to trust me."
"Trust you," Sarah said in a small voice, the smallest he'd ever heard her use as she finally released her hold of him.
Harry kissed her forehead, the action impulsive, and then he pulled away from her. "Stay here, keep your wand out, and know that I'll be able to see the building from wherever I go."
Sarah nodded rapidly before she went into shock or otherwise comatose. It wasn't good, what he was doing. But at the same time, he would rather have her in shock and alive, than with him and dead because he couldn't keep her free of harm's way. One of those would be temporary, whilst the other… the other would be with him so long as he lived in any time.
He shook his head, clearing those types of thoughts from it. Those scenarios wouldn't occur, Harry wouldn't allow them to.
You'll get yours, Grindelwald, Harry promised, the corpse of an older man on the ground with no noticeable wounds on his body making his anger rise. But before that time comes, before I'm the one to do it, I'm going to stop any more deaths here and now.
"Crucio," Harry said, the spell coming from his wand as casually as the word made its way from his lips.
In an instant, the target of his spell who'd only been seconds away from murdering two Hogwarts students in Ravenclaw robes was on the ground screaming. He didn't register the begging from the man, he couldn't with how it came from a language he didn't speak. Harry was focused solely on his fellow students once he saw that the pair of them weren't near death.
"Come on!" He shouted to the two, sparing no glance at the man writhing about on the floor. "We need to go, right now. Before any more of them show up."
Those words prompted the two into action, and as they practically sprinted over to Harry, he finished the man on the ground off with a twist of his wand and a mumbled set of words; the man's heart would beat no longer, such was the price for the crimes he'd chosen to take part in this day.
"Did you see anybody else?" Harry asked the two as he stuck close to one side of the road, using the buildings for cover.
One of them, the boy that seemed a bit younger than Harry was, couldn't speak. The girl with him that looked very similar could barely manage to, and when she did, it came out a stuttered mess. "Y-y-y-es. Took o-o-others to, to, to the Hogs-hog-"
"I got it," Harry said, shooting a fleeting glance over his shoulder at the two before his head quickly went back to scanning the opposite buildings and end of the road for potential threats.
It wasn't ideal, being on a side street as they were while the fight raged on, but he'd made the most of it. One follower of the Dark Lord was gone, never again to fight, and had Harry the presence of mind beyond his instincts, he would've realised what he'd just done. Perhaps, no, definitely, it was for the better that his mind was so hung up on rescuing as many of his peers as he could.
"Stay close to me. We're headed to a building that's safe, one of my friends is in it. All I need from the two of y- down!" Harry barely had the chance to say the word of warning before he erected cover from the ruins around them with a masterful silent-casting.
He hadn't even seen the person who cast the spell, they were so quick and accurate.
"You must be Harry Peverell," Said a woman in an elegant manner of speech as she stepped out from behind a building. "I've heard what you look like, how you act, and how you speak. The report from our mutual friend was very intimate, and so when you see him in the next day or so, it'll be him that you'll have to thank for it."
Harry shook his head and nodded towards the door to his left for the two Ravenclaws. "You two, go inside. Only run if you hear the fighting stop and I don't yell to you a second afterwards," he turned his attention over to the very familiar-looking woman. "You'll be speaking with him alone and injured. Maybe you'll even be cursing his name because of his failure in telling you how strong I am."
The woman smiled widely at him, twirling her wand and an errant strand of hair at the same time; she looked like Druella at that moment, albeit an older, more mature and far deadlier version of her.
"You're very optimistic about this outcome, a bit eccentric too, but I hear all the teenage witches do love that in their wizards these days," The woman smiled fondly at him, her gaze flickering to the building he'd parked himself in front of. "If I were half as horrible as you've been conditioned to think I am, I hope you know I would've struck down the building by now."
He shook his head before looking pointedly at his wand. "I won't let this turn into a pissing match, and you won't goad me into having you try it either. If we're going to fight, let's get down to it - wouldn't that be better for the both of us?"
The woman sighed and shook her head. "Boys," she said, a tutting sound emanating from her as she stepped closer to him. "Always with the violence, the fighting, the killing. If only you were half as a cloak and dagger as me, there'd be no need for all of this… unpleasantness. Still, I suppose I'll humour you and give you what it is that you're asking for."
Harry tensed when she lazily, almost sorrowfully, pulled out her wand.
"You shouldn't have attacked Hogsmeade," Harry said as he cast a quick glance around, the burning buildings, painful groans and crackling of spells still present as ever since the start of the violence. "This only made you more enemies, you have to realise that."
"We have the whole world at war with us, or near enough all the parts of it that matter. I don't think it can get any worse, no, from this point on it can only get better for those of us who know the real truth," The woman smiled again, the look as genuine as he'd ever seen before. "I don't believe I could talk you into giving up and coming with me, could I?"
He shook his head and finally raised his wand. "That's not an option. There's people here that need saving and others like you that need to be dealt with."
"I figured. Well, let's not waste any more time."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Harry fired off the largest, fastest chain of spells he'd ever cast before. One after the other after the next went streaking towards her, his voice going until there was no more air left in his lungs to speak with; from the killing curse to the heart-stopping curse, from expelliarmus to a simple stunner.
He tried everything he could think of regardless of the legality or lethality of it to stop the woman before him, for he knew based on her mannerisms alone that she was powerful. Perhaps she was the truest threat currently at Hogsmeade if Grindelwald himself wasn't present. It was for that very reason that he knew he needed to deal with her quickly and offer no respite, lest she takes the upper hand in a longer, protracted sort of battle.
Harry took a deep breath and cast a spell that summoned smoke next. After that, he created and animated a figure of stone that was large enough to pass as him, then he sent it running loudly towards the right while he crept to the left. If it worked as he planned, he would catch her by surprise and from a prime position, the fight would be over in an instant.
When the moment came that he burst through the smoke, a spell on the tip of his tongue and his wand levelled towards where he'd last seen her; she was gone. There was no sign of where she went, in fact, it was eerily quiet and desolate as the smoke slowly dissipated until Harry could see nearly the entirety of the street he'd been on.
"Me-" He stopped his exclamation of shock with a panicked stumble backwards and a hasty casting of a shield charm.
Not a second later, a spell impacted his shield and fizzled out. The force was enough to make him dig into the ground, and the strength of whatever the woman had used on him had very nearly broken his strongest shield in an instant. That worried but, but worse yet, there was still no sign of where she'd cast at him from.
Thus, with his shield still up, he raised various pieces of rubble and very ground itself into a makeshift form of cover. It wasn't great, it wasn't strong, but it'd protect his back well enough in the event that she tried to flank him. On the other hand, if the woman tried to blow up his cover - something that was very possible - he'd be well and truly finished.
Harry knew she wouldn't do that though. Not with her earlier requests to have him come peacefully before she had to try and take him as she currently was. He supposed knowing that she wasn't aiming for the kill was reassuring in some way.
"Are you going to hide the whole time, or are we going to fight?" Harry called out to seemingly thin air, his tone challenging.
No response came to him in the form of words, but a series of spells were fired head-on. They were entirely too fast for him to predict what they were, and furthermore, the ferocity of the chain was fiercer than any he'd faced before, save for Elaine's when she truly tried to beat him.
Harry wouldn't admit it for a while longer, but it was the first-hand experience of battling his girlfriend that allowed him to think fast enough to raise hardcover in the event that a shield-bashing spell had been flung at him; when that cover only barely raised itself high enough to cover his chest and his shield did in fact crack, he was proud of himself.
In the past, that would've been the fight over with, but now, he'd renew his offensive. He threw down his cover, burst forward with a spring in his step and fired off spell after spell at the woman with so little time between them that he doubted he'd ever fought harder in his lifetime. There was too much at stake, the woman was too strong, and most of all, the sounds of battle around them were dying down.
Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and the few Aurors in the village had either won the fight, or Grindelwald's forces had. If it were the former, he was needed to free Sarah and the two Ravenclaws trapped behind him and if it were the latter… he really needed to get to the three of them.
"Confringo, Expelliarmus, Co-" Harry dove to the side, his seeker reflexes kicking in to save him by a few scarce inches from a spell meant to strike him in the side; when he rolled, raised a shield and turned his wand towards the source of it, he saw two men that wore matching clothes.
Ice ran through his veins at the sight of them, or more importantly, the blood that stained their clothing. Whose blood it was didn't matter to him unless it was their own, which it didn't look like it was, for it meant more had died or been seriously wounded because of him and his actions; a fate he wished to avoid with this new time on account of the bad memories his old one was filled with.
"Ludwig, Metzger," The woman greeted, stepping out onto the balcony of a building directly across from Harry. "You were meant to tie down the Aurors."
Harry didn't let the two men respond now that he knew where the woman was, and with a cry, he fired a spell that would end it all very swiftly for one of the two men. "Avada Kedavra!"
The surprise was visible on the man's face before he fell, his friend looked equally as shocked and the woman… well, Harry imagined she would've been too had he the chance to see her face. It wasn't surprising in the slightest that, after he felled one of the three before him, the other two began firing back with a newfound level of ferocity; one that still didn't match his on account of them now blatantly trying to take him captive based on the spells they were using.
To their credit, however, he would admit they were doing a pretty bang on job from keeping him able to do anything. Merlin, Harry had all he could do to raise his shield, dodge out of the way or transfigure cover - the sheer volume of spells and the bombardment from the woman with a vantage point on him was exhausting. There wasn't anything he could do to stop either of them though, not with how they covered one another or kept him from any type of strategic positioning that'd take one from the fight.
Should he try and move under the woman, she would fire a spell at the house where the two children were.
If he tried to block the man off from him via a building, a transfiguration or a concealment spell such as the smoke he'd used earlier, the man would apparate onto a balcony nearby before doing so again to appear at an opening on the ground.
It was over, Harry knew it right then and there. He had all he could do to hold the woman by herself at bay, but with the man that seemed only a degree or two worse than her, it was simply a game of time. Time in which he would slowly tire himself out while the two wolves waited for any showing of weakness to pounce on him.
Any form of a defensive battle, should it be entirely defensive, would be a loss when it came to magic. Especially if he were stuck out in the open whilst trying to simultaneously defend the children he'd rescued earlier.
"Ludwig," The woman said, stopping the man with but his name as she too ceased her attacks - the pair of them transfigured cover whilst casting a few other spells that he hadn't a clue about. "You've fought well, Harry Peverell, but as you've thought yourself, there's no winning this. Save your body from serious physical harm and your mind from the pain that exploring this town would cause - come with us in peace, as you'll do eventually regardless of how many attempts must be made."
Harry shook his head with a laugh escaping him. It wasn't comedic, more so filled with emotion as he thought of the absurdity of her words. "Somebody told you that I'd be here I reckon, and I'd wager I know who that was too. When I leave here and you two are gone, be it running or injured with your tails between your legs, I'll go speak with that person. Fancy a conversation's owed to them anyhow after that letter they delivered on behalf of your master."
Ludwig practically growled at him, but the woman simply smiled and shook her head, that dangerous wand of hers dancing between her fingers. "I told him that writing a message to be delivered to you, was an error. He wouldn't listen, so to prove me right would be most agreeable," she apparated down in an instant, the woman now a dozen feet or so from him. "You'll not be leaving here, unfortunately, and so proving me right will be a moot point."
"Oh I wouldn't be too sure of that," Came a voice from behind Harry that he'd long dreaded and only recently cherished. "Harry, my love, backpedal to me so that we can deal with this rabble together."
Elaine's voice, cold and steely, left no room for him to disobey. Even if he would have wanted to for whatever reason that would be - he was tired and scratched up a great deal as it was - he doubted she would've let him stay as far up by himself as he was.
"I've heard of you as well, darling. Our contact within the walls of this homely castle, one of them that is, made no small amount of mentions regarding the annoyingly strong Gaunt girl," The woman said, switching her attention from Harry over to Elaine.
Elaine smiled and curtsied as he continued his backing over to her. "I'm glad that a failed Rosier from the French branch of the family would think so highly of me. Tell me, do Aster and the rest of his family still bother with you traitorous ones, or have you been completely left to the mercy of Grindelwald? I suppose it'd be warranted on account of your ineptitudes."
Harry saw it the moment Elaine had said it; the woman he'd fought and spoken with off and on had looked familiar for a reason, and that reason was her relation to Aster. He didn't know how he'd been so stupid so as to avoid confirming it himself, for when he looked closer, everything about her screamed of a close relationship with his friend.
"You're awfully full of spite for one so young. I see you're eccentric as our Peverell is, perhaps you would've been worth taking had our contact and sponsor not made it so explicit that you were to die should you be here," The woman sighed and flipped her hair in an exaggeratedly annoyed fashion. "The things we do to secure our funding can be heinous at times, especially when it comes to the spilling of such 'powerful' blood as you're rumoured to have. Still, a deal is a deal, no?"
Elaine laughed and grabbed Harry's hand the moment he was close enough. "Grindelwald should've come himself if you wanted to deal with us. I know he has it even if it's not been confirmed, and it's a good thing too - without the wand, he'll stand no chance against my lover and I."
Harry was still breathing deeply when Elaine raised her wand, making him do much the same before she swept her arm about in a motion he wasn't at all familiar with. When the fire began to pour forth from her wand in the semblance of a whip, he began to transfigure and animate as many small, annoying critters as he could.
"Deal with the man, Harry," Elaine said to him calmly and confidently as she whipped her wand about intricately. "When he's dealt with, you and I will deal with this failed Pureblood. I imagine a good, heavy snog will make for a good reward after our first mutual killing."
If it weren't for the gravity of the situation, that sentence alone would've resulted in a talk needing to happen. As things were, however, he figured that could wait… for a while. He knew from fighting Rosier she'd not be easy to take down, and the man wasn't as simple as Elaine made him out to be either.
Before them were two experienced fighters, and as the fighting picked up again with spells and yells sounding off as egregiously as they had before, Harry knew these two were the key to the overall victory at Hogsmeade. Unless the Professors came with the Seventh Years and Sixth Years and all the Aurors that were still alive and uninjured, the battle would likely be over should he and Elaine fail.
It was a good thing he knew her quality and insanity, for it was one of the few times he wanted it to be unleashed in all its fury.