Daimons

Chapter 25

Armstrong marched into the Defense against the Dark Art class with a singular purpose.

Ron was reaching for his knapsack even before Arm spoke. “It’s now or never.” Armstrong gave Ron an encouraging pat on the back.

With his heart pounding and small beads of sweat forming on his forehead, Ron sprinted to Snape’s lab. He knew this potion backward and forward. He had made it a hundred times and every time it came out perfect. But all those other times didn’t matter. Thousands of lives depended on him making it correctly this time.

He stood motionless in front of the lab table. Trying to contain his emotions he took deep breaths, calming his beating heart. Closing his eyes he tried to visualize exactly what he was to do. Nothing came to him, his mind had gone blank.

‘Everything will be fine, Mr. Weasley.’ Ron could hear Severus’ voice. ‘We’ll get through this together. All the ingredients are ready for you. What comes first?’ the voice asked him.

“To start the fire under the cauldron.” Ron swore he heard Professor Snape chuckle.

‘Yes Ron, a very good place to start.’ Ron automatically started to reach for the proper components to the potion. Ron no longer doubted his ability. He knew he could do this.

‘You’re doing just fine without me. You didn’t need me after all,’ Snape’s voice echoed in his head.

“You’re wrong sir. I could never have done this without you,” Ron spoke to the imaginary voice.

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“From our sources they’ll be a small group of Death Eaters that will strike at Hogsmeade’s reservoir right after sunset. I don’t want to alert them so I want only a small group to go with Ron. No more than six I think. The following men and women will be escorting Ron with the antidote: Kingsley, Armstrong, Remus, Tonks, Miriam, and I,” Harry instructed as he paced the length of the room.

“Harry I’m not questioning your authority, but you are too important to the Order and if something happens to you, it may not recover form the blow.”

“I’m flattered Arm, but if I am sending men and women to their possible deaths, I deeply feel that I should take the same risks as everyone else.”

“Your job is to defeat Voldemort. Let me take Silverrage. We’ve been in battles before and we know how each other think. Stay here, where it’s safe and make plans for the next battle. Be the general you were meant to be. Let us be the foot soldiers we were born for.”

“I don’t like it.” Harry’s forehead was lined with wrinkles, as he contemplated his choices. “I don’t even know anything about Silverrage except that he’s a werewolf.”

“Harry, as his Alpha he will do anything I ask. Even if I weren’t, I would trust him. I wouldn’t mind having another werewolf out there with us. He was raised using his werewolf senses, hearing and smell, where I wasn’t. His abilities will be beyond useful.”

Remus didn’t want Harry in harm’s ways. No matter how he had grown in the last year, he still remained a pup in his eyes.

“I don’t like it.” Harry chewed nervously on his lower lip. “I should be fighting beside you and not cowering here.” His emerald green eyes glistened with rising tears. “All of you mean a great deal to me and I don’t know what I would do if I lost one of you.”

Remus pulled the smaller man into his arms and kissed the top of his ill-mannered hair. “This is not a suicide mission. Walking into a den of werewolves was, but I managed to survived that. We’ll all come back. I promise you.”

Harry clung tighter to his surrogate godfather. “That’s a promise I plan on making you keep.” He pulled away and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his face clean of all the liquids that were flowing. Remus was tempted to pull out his handkerchief from his coat pocket and offer it to Harry, giving him a lecture about the fact that a shirt sleeve was not to be used to wipe his snotty nose on. Instead he ruffled his messy hair as he said, “Your parents would be proud of you. You have become quite the young man.” ‘Oh, what the hell.’ Remus couldn’t help himself. He handed Harry his kerchief. “You use a handkerchief and not the sleeve of your shirt,” he lectured.

Harry snickered. “Yes, mom.”

“If you two are done, we have some plans to finalize,” Arm interrupted, with mock irritation.

“Harry, if you would, keep Rose Marie company this evening,” Remus asked his godson.

“You know I will.”

Remus paused as he readied to leave. “But keep your hands to yourself. I don’t want to come to you molesting my couch again.”

Harry blushed crimson. “At least four feet between us at all times, I promise.”

Moony growled softly. “Good lad.”

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It was nearly sunset, before Ron had finished his potion. Timing was now critical. The mixture was effective for a few hours. If not used within a certain amount of time, the concoction became impotent. By the time Ron would be able to brew another batch it would be too late to save the people of Hogsmeade.

“You all have your instructions. In and out, that’s all I want. I don’t want to encounter the enemy. Our job is to counteract the poison being released into the reservoir and that’s all. Do I make myself clear?” Arm was in charge and was slightly uncomfortable at Silverrage’s reactions. The wolf didn’t like being bossed around. Remus, being his Alpha, could get away with it but the Daimon wasn’t even part of his pack, why listen to him?

Understanding the werewolf’s feeling, Armstrong turned to his agitated friend and asked, “Who would you like to partner with?” Giving the werewolf a choice calmed the beast in Silverrage.

“For any other reason I would choose her.” With a leer he pointed towards Tonks. “But I need my reason about me and she would only distract me.” Tonks was flattered, even if he was a werewolf. “I want to accompany the strong black man. He appears to be able to handle himself.”

Kingsley acknowledged Silverrage with a nod. “Kingsley,” he offered his hand into the werewolf. “I’ll watch your back.”

“And I yours.” With a few words the two warriors bonded. They grabbed each other’s forearm.

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Lucius was uneasy. Something was terribly amiss, the feeling gnawed at his magical core, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. This was supposed to be easy, nothing to worry ‘his pretty little head about’ Voldemort said. Then why did he feel like the end of the world he knew was about to come crashing down?


He and a dozen Death Eaters were hidden deep in the forest, waiting for dark. He wanted nothing more than to finish this assignment and get back to the safety of his home. Watching the horizon until the last ray of light disappeared, Lucius gestured for his fellow Death Eaters to follow him down to the river.

The sound of a branch breaking, from a few dozen meters away, the Death Eater immediately immobilized. With there wands drawn, you could almost hear them breath a sigh of relief when a opossum crawled from the underbrush. Once again they moved stealthily to the river’s edge. Opening the phial, Lucius poured the vibrant green potion into the lake. He watched it splash silently into the water. The color spread slowly across the length and depth of the lake until a drop wasn’t left that wasn’t poisoned. With a sigh of relief he turned and signaled for his friends to leave.

From the corner of his eye Gavin saw the slightest movement in the woods. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes to concentrate on the different scents that filled the night air. There it was, the scent of men and, taking another breath, of werewolves.

“We are not alone. Battle mode!” Gavin hollered.

“We’ve been seen!” Armstrong gave his own cry. Wands were drawn and the flare from the curses lit up the night sky. “Ron,” Arm yelled over the hexes that were yelled, “get to the lake. We’ll cover you.”

Dashing from behind one tree to the next, Ron slowly moved forwards. He had only minutes left before it would be too late to save the water source. For only a second, Ron looked over his shoulder to watch the battle that was raging behind him. No longer able to wait Ron took off towards the shore. Without a thought to his safety Ron ran in a straight line. He uncorked the top of the vial with his teeth and pulled his arm back as he prepared to throw it into the lake when he felt a searing pain in his hip. The forest was filled with Ron’s agonizing scream. As if in slow motion Ron lobbed the bottle towards the lake as he fell to the ground with a thud. With a smile on his face, he saw the phial landed barely on the edge the lake. The precious liquid flowed from the bottle into the lake. He thought, before he passed out, ‘Close only counts in dancing and horseshoes and in this case, vials of potions.’

Silverrage and Kingsley maneuvered behind the Death Eaters. Tonks, Miriam, Remus, and Armstrong were holding their own against the Death Eaters. Perhaps now Silverrage and Kingsley could break the stalemate. Being an Auror, Kingsley ordered them to give up and lay their wands down. Silverrage rolled his eyes, slightly pissed that the Auror gave up their location.

Lucius turned and threw the killing curse at them. Silverrage countered with a stinging hex that threw the aristocrat back against a tree. His body slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Gavin’s voice could be heard over the battle cries. “Apparate!!!” As soon as the words were spoken the Death Eaters disappeared leaving Voldemort’s favorite behind.

Arm knelt beside Ron and sealed the gaping hole in his thigh shut. Arm had seen wounds like this before and knew the leg would be lost. He pushed the hair off the unconscious boy eyes while he spoke. “I’m proud to know you Ron Weasley. Always remember, when the time gets tough, you did yourself proud this evening. You saved thousands of lives with your bravery.”

Silverrage had an unconscious Lucius thrown over his shoulder when he and Kingsley met up with their group.

“Is he alive?” asked Remus.

“Barely. My hex wasn’t meant to kill but to maim him. I don’t understand why he is still out.”

“Well take him with us. After Del gets a look at Ron, if he has time, he can look at him.” Arm spit the word ‘him’ out.

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Del worked on Ron for hours, not only trying to save Ron’s leg but his life. From mid-thigh down Ron lost his leg but Del did manage to save his life. Draco had left Tyler with Rose Marie for the night, and now sat vigilantly next to his lover. Draco had mixed feelings, proud of his boyfriend but devastated that his father lay unconscious on the bed next to him.

“Will my father live?” Draco asked after Del finished his examination.

“No and I’m not certain why. The hex Silverrage used should have stunned him and not have killed him. I wonder if it has anything to do with his pregnancy.”

Draco nearly fell to the floor. “He’s what?”

“Sorry. Being his son I automatically presumed that you knew. The fetus is about four months along.”

“Can you save it?” Draco hated the idea of losing another member of his family.

“Not without a carrier.” Del saw the confused look on the boy’s face. “Someone to carry the child in their body.”

“Would I do?”

Draco and Del turned to see Severus. Severus looked pale and weak. He held onto the back of the chair to keep from falling.

“Get back into bed this instant,” Del ordered.

“Not until you can tell me if I can be the carrier.”

“Draco, go get Arm.” Draco looked from one man back to the other. “NOW!” Del bellowed. Draco took off in a run to find Severus’ husband.

“To answer your question, yes, if you were well you are primed to be a carrier. Since losing the one child your body would take the parasite as its own. But in your weakened condition I would not do the transfer of the fetus.”

“Then I shall find someone who would be willing to do so.”

“Over my dead body!” Severus’ out of breath bonded stood at the door. Draco stood directly behind him.

Severus walked to his husband and cupped Arm’s face in his hands and kissed him. When the kiss ended Severus looked into Armstrong’s eyes and replied seriously, “That can be arranged.”