Just Around the Riverbend

Thanks everyone for reviewing last chapter.

Atrumnex
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Margaritama
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I told you guys I would have something much sooner. And this one just rolled off the tips of my fingers. It's nice and long. Enjoy.

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Phelan stared at the white wolf in front of him. The she-wolf was very large. Her ears were up and alert, and her fur was sleek and smooth. She had a fluffy, bottle-brush tail, and broad wolf-paws. Her eyes were like liquid silver, and shimmered like a star.

“I…umm….” Phelan said. He heard tinkling laughter.

Come now, my son. You’ve called me…what do you need?

“I…I need to face my father…he’ll kill me…and Daisy….and I don’t want her to die. I don’t think I can defeat him by myself…” Phelan said.

My son. You have always been mine. I never had to acquire you. Your strength is far greater than you think. You doubt yourself, and so you fail. Mother Moon spoke gently, her tail swishing as she spoke.

“But he’s kicking my arse.” Phelan argued, and pointed to his face. “Look what he’s done. It doesn’t tickle, you know…” He groused. Mother Moon’s head tilted slightly.

What are you asking me to do? Use some kind of magic to make you stronger? she asked.

“Umm….yeah?”

Oh, my sweet little son. I’ve already given you the tool you need. Do you not command the wolf any time you wish? Your father altered your gift when he bit you. You have mastered your wolf in a way no other has. Use that.

“But…Isn’t that dishonorable?” he asked. Mother Moon’s eyes changed from silver to crimson.

Look, cupcake. I don’t have time for this. He is using his size to his advantage. He is much bigger than you. You have a gift he does not. It evens out. Phelan stared open-mouthed at the wolf, and her eyes faded to silver. I apologize. I should not have been short with you. You are young, and I should have remembered that. But that does not change what I said. The large white wolf stepped close to him, and brushed her nose against his hand. Your strength comes from a place his does not. Mother Moon lifted a large paw and touched it to his chest. You have something to fight for. He is just here for the fight. Use that.

“Do you come to your children often?” Phelan asked.

No.

“Is this a near-death experience?”

No. It is a pain-induced hallucination. Now stop stalling and face him. Mother Moon said, and nipped him gently on the hand. Phelan smiled, and his world faded back to reality.

~~

Fenrir was swatting Daisy’s backside mercilessly, and she was kicking and screaming. But try as she might she couldn’t get out of Fenrir’s grasp. He held her as if she were a suckling kitten, overpowering her by a great margin.

“Alpha, look out!” one of the subordinates called. Fenrir tossed Daisy effortlessly, and turned in time to receive a staggering punch in the gut. His breath actually left him, and as he leaned forward Phelan delivered a swift uppercut. It wasn’t enough to lift him off of his feet, but Fenrir’s body arched up and back, and he took several large steps backwards. Phelan finished his combo attack with a hard shove. As Fenrir fell he tried to regain purchase on Phelan, and his right claw caught on Phelan’s left arm, slicing down cleanly as the werewolf fell backwards, cutting as far as Phelan’s palm before he lost the connection.

Phelan pulled back with a howl, clutching his arm to himself. Fenrir was on his feet in a flash, glaring at his son.

“So you’ve found your second wind, eh? I don’t see that it matters. I’ve managed to get in two blood-letting hits. You knocked me off my feet once. And it wasn’t even that good of a hit…” But Fenrir was winded. He had no idea Phelan could hit that hard.

“I have something to fight for.” Phelan said, his eyes darting to Daisy, who was curled up in a ball on the floor.

“Something to fight for…” Fenrir mocked. Phelan merely grinned.

“I have a surprise for you, you giant fucker.” Phelan said cheerfully, reaching up to casually wipe some blood away from his eyes.

“For me? But it isn’t even my birthday!” Fenrir hissed.

And Phelan changed, melting seamlessly into the wolf. The subordinates inside the dome were in shock. A werewolf out from underneath the full-moon’s light? Impossible! But that wasn’t a normal wolf. The tail was much too fluffy…the paws too formed. A werewolf’s paw was much more spread than a normal wolf’s paw, to allow for slashing. And his muzzle was too broad. Yup….definitely a werewolf.

“So…you’re going there, eh?” Fenrir asked, crouching into striking position. Phelan tilted his head up and howled. The subordinates immediately went to their hands and knees, and then pressed their foreheads to the ground. They were submitting to an Alpha.

Fenrir was pissed. And so he charged.

~~

Lucius looked over at the huddled form of his cousin. He had to get at her. There had to be a way to break this damn barrier. It wasn’t impossible. He refused to believe that.

“I don’t believe in a no-win scenario…” he mumbled to himself. Hermione looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

“What can we do? I can’t break that barrier…” she said softly. Lucius frowned sharply, and his gaze drifted to the side slightly, a sign that he was in deep thought.

“Not by yourself. But if we combined our magic…” he said.

“You’re crazy!” A dancer near him said. Lucius turned on the man, his glacial eyes glowing with magic. The man shrank away, pointedly quiet. When he turned back to Hermione, she was biting her lip.

“We could…but Lucius…that’s dangerous….and…it does funny things to people…” she said softly. He let out a soft breath.

“I know… But Daisy is hurt. And despite what anyone says of the Malfoys…we take care of family. And Daisy is family to me.” He said, his gaze once more drifting to where Daisy was curled up.

“All right. Let’s do it.”

~~

Phelan darted forward, dodging his father’s first strike almost effortlessly. He swiped out with deadly claws, and caught Fenrir in the side, cutting four long marks into his flesh. Fenrir roared in pain, and whirled on the werewolf, trying to punch at the canine head. Phelan closed his broad jaws around Fenrir’s wrist, and shook his head violently. The sickening sound of bone breaking was heard, and Fenrir howled. Phelan reared up on his hind legs, towering over his father. He didn’t miss the slight fear in the man’s eyes as he pulled back his paw, and swiped him hard across the face, sending him sprawling. Fenrir was still.

The large wolf padded over to Daisy, who was shivering on the ground. The crowd watched, fascinated, as Phelan whined softly. Daisy looked up, her face streaked with tears and blood from her arms.

“Ph-Phelan?” she asked. The large wolf head nodded, and she smiled. He changed back into his human form, grinning when his clothes were still intact. Phelan stood, and held out a hand for Daisy. She unfolded her arms from beneath her, showing him her bloodied forearms and hands. He reached down and looped his arms under her armpits, and pulled her to her feet effortlessly. He then folded her into his arms, and buried his face against her hair, snuffling happily. Daisy giggled.

~~

Yellow eyes snapped open, and watched as the boy hugged his little bitch. His back was to him….big mistake. Almost all attention was on the strange couple near the border of the barrier, and didn’t notice the slight shift in Fenrir’s arm. He was on his knees in a flash, and with his good hand he flung something shiny at his son’s back.

~~

Daisy felt Phelan jerk violently, and pulled back. His mouth was open in shock, and his grasp was loosening on her.

“Phelan?” she asked. He made a gargled sound, and blood bubbled out of his mouth. “Phelan!” she shrieked. She tried to catch him as he fell forward, but only went down with him, wincing as he pulled at her forearms. When he was on his knees, she finally saw what had happened. A dagger was sticking neatly out of Phelan’s back, right between his shoulder blades.

“Oh spirits! Oh gods! No!” she cried. She reached around and pulled the dagger out with some effort. Phelan gagged, and spit up a mouthful of blood down the front of Daisy’s costume. She tossed the dagger aside and laid him down on the ground as gently as she could manage. She took his injured hand in hers, sobbing his name softly. He was gasping in pain, and clutching sporadically at her hand. She leaned down and pressed her forehead against his, her other hand coming up to stroke his face. “Oh Phelan…” she whimpered, and her face moved down slightly. She carefully wiped the blood away from his mouth. “I love you.” She whispered, and pressed her lips to his.

She felt warmth between their palms, and a tingling on her finger.

~~

Hermione and Lucius were pressed close against each other, holding their wands together by pressing their right palms flush.

“Ready?” he asked. She nodded. “On the count of three: one, two three!”

And they both took a breath, and began to speak as one:

”What’s mine is yours
What’s yours is mine
Let our powers cross the line
We offer up this gift to share
Combine our powers through the air”

For a moment nothing happened, but magic began to build at the tips of the combined wands, and Lucius and Hermione both felt the wands heating up with the building energy. The wood got hotter and hotter, and when the two were ready to drop the wood, a single spell shot from the tips. The spell flung against the barrier, and shattered against it, exploding in a shower of sparks. When the fiery sparks faded, Hermione and Lucius almost screamed in frustration when the dome appeared unharmed. But as they separated from each other, one of the dancers pointed.

“Look!”

And they turned back in time to see a single crack forming on the surface. It grew like a fissure on thin ice, spreading and cracking over the entire dome. The dome collapsed on itself, turning into powdery fine magical residue.

“Oh gods, Lucius! Greyback’s going after both of them!” Hermione cried. Lucius looked up to see Fenrir limping towards the young couple. He charged from his place in the crowd, running between two kneeling subordinates. Fenrir looked up at the advancing wizard, and snarled. He didn’t have the strength to face Lucius Malfoy.

Magic crackled like static electricity around Lucius’ wand, and he pointed it right at Fenrir’s chest.

“What are you waiting for? Kill me!” Fenrir barked. Lucius sneered.

Lucius said nothing, but magic began to gather at the tip of his wand. He drew it back, and slashed his wand. A large gash went from Fenrir’s right shoulder down to his left hip. He opened his mouth, and blood bubbled from between his lips, dribbling down into his scruffy grey goatee. He went to his knees, still trying to draw breath. He looked up at Lucius with baleful yellow eyes, before his lids dropped and he fell forward, his blood beginning to form a pool underneath him. Lucius, usually the very embodiment of proper, spat beside Greyback’s head. “Good riddance, you flea-bitten mongrel.”

He turned around to see the Aurors shooting forward out of the crowd to apprehend the remaining subordinates. Hermione was kneeling next to Daisy, and murmuring healing spells over Phelan. He walked towards the two, feeling the drain of the night’s worries starting to weigh heavily on his shoulders.

The gods be with him, it had been a looong night.

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Whoo...such drama. I hope you guys liked, and review well.

This title is another AMND quote

Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

Review, rate, and enjoy!