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Rescue	By : sarcastrow Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 2630 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Rescue

Chapter 6

Flight

Parvati leapt from her bed, ran to her sister’s room, barged through the door, and dashed to the side of the bed. “Wake up, Paddy, wake up!” she whispered as she shook her sister.

“The brooms will be in Tibet by Friday, don’t worry,” Anthony Goldstein muttered, rolling over in his sleep. “Wha– what’s going on, Parv?” Padma asked.

“Get up, get dressed,” Parvati said in a hushed whisper. “Now!!!”

Padma was coming fully awake. “I’m up, I’m up,” she said as she slid naked from the covers. “What’s the rush?”

Parvati held out her necklace. “Look.”

LVNDR HRT GING HGWRTS

Padma’s face grew grim; she dashed to her wardrobe and grabbed the first thing her hands found. Parvati ran to her own room and scooped a dress and robe from the chair. The two women met in their sitting room a few minutes later.

“I left a note for Anthony,” Padma said. “He can let Blaise know when he gets home.”

“I’m coming too,” said Anthony, pulling his shirt on as he entered the room. “Dumbledore’s Army and all that. I changed the note; Blaise’ll get it when he comes home.”

“Here’re your shoes then,” Parvati said, and she passed the other two their shoes from next to the door.

Padma tugged on her boots. “Floo or Apparate?” she asked.

“Let’s Apparate to the gates,” Anthony said while he finished tying the laces of his trainers. “If the message was from Seamus, that’s where we’ll have the best chance of catching up with them.”

At the quizzical looks from the twins he said, “I’ve got one of these things too, you know.” He held out his hand to show them his galleon.

“Alright then,” Padma said, “are we ready?”

The other two nodded their assent.

“Off we go,” she said, and they twisted into the dark.

Seamus and Lavender snapped into reality in a dark alleyway. As soon as he had his bearings he started to run. A cat yowled and tipped a dustbin over as it leapt from his path. The old gate loomed out of the darkness in front of him, and he slid to a stop in front of it.

“Louange Beauxbatons!” he yelled at the gate.

Light chimes sounded and the gate dissolved into mist. Ahead he could see the massive building outlined in the night sky of Marseilles. A young man met him as he dashed up to the rather large and impressive doors.

“Que diable?” he asked.

“Mon Francais merde,” Seamus said. “Tu parles Anglais?”

“Oui, what are you doing ‘ere?”

“No time, lad. I’m here to see Maxime, and then we’re gone, now lead or get out of the way,” Seamus said in a rush.

“’Oo are you? I cannot disturb Madame Maxime. It is late,” he said, attempting to block Seamus’s way. “You cannot barge into the school with a naked woman in your arms without explanation.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Seamus said. “Listen lad, you’ve read ‘La Belle Loup’, right?”

“Oui.”

“This is her. Now out of my way.” He shoved through the door.

“She is Lavender Brown?” the young man said in wonder as he trailed behind Seamus.

“Aye, now what’s the fastest way to Maxime’s suite?” Seamus asked.

“This way, monsieur.” The young man led Seamus at a run down a few hallways and up a short flight of stairs. “Here,” he said as he slid to a stop in front of a tall door.

“Well get her up, lad, we don’t have all day.”

The young man looked at Seamus, worried, and then turned to the door. He laid his palm on an ornate knocker in the center of the door. “Pardon, Madame Maxime, a man is here with Lavender Brown. She is injured.”

Seconds later the door flew open, and Madame Maxime stood there in her dressing gown. “Monsieur Finnigan? What brings you and your lovely wife to Beauxbatons at zis hour?”

“Begging your pardon, Madame,” Seamus said, “but we were in France on a mission. I’d be glad to tell you it about later, but Lav got hurt, badly from what I can tell, and we need to get to Hogwarts right now. Can you get us a Portkey?”

“I will make one for you. I am allowed,” Madam Maxime said proudly. “We ‘ave very good medical facilities ‘ere, do you not wish to take her to them?”

Seamus shook his head. “No, Madame, but thank you. Madam Pomfrey has a lot of experience with Lav and knows her physiology better than anyone.”

“Very well, ‘ere allow me.” She waved her wand at her bed. A blanket slid from under the duvet and flew to her. She bent and wrapped it around Lavender with Seamus’s help.

“Thanks, Madame Maxime,” Lavender said, in a soft, far away voice.

“You’re very welcome. You ‘ave ‘elped so many, it is ze least I can do.” Madame Maxime turned and snatched a perfume bottle from her vanity. “Tell ‘Agrid to bring ziss back to me on Saturday,” she said to Seamus.

He grinned and nodded as he took the bottle. “Certainly, Madame,” he said.

She held her wand tip to the bottle and said, “Portus.” The bottle glowed blue for a second and then returned to normal. Seamus gently placed the bottle in Lavender’s hand and wrapped his own around it. “You will be at the front gates in moments; un, deux, trois…” She tapped her wand on the top of the bottle. Seamus, with Lavender in his arms, floated into the air and disappeared in a blue flash.

The first to arrive was Katie Bell, still in her nightdress. She was pacing in front of the gates when Angelina Weasley Apparated a few feet away.

“Not here yet?” Angelina asked.

“We seem to be the first,” Katie responded.

There was another series of snaps and Parvati, Padma, and Anthony arrived. They were about to exchange greetings when Hermione, Luna, and then Hannah Longbottom appeared.

“Neville is on his way down from the castle,” Hannah said. “I Flooed him. He was already up, and he’s letting Poppy know Lavender’s coming.”

Luna was bouncing on her toes. “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” she said to herself over and over. Hermione stepped to her side and hugged her.

“She’ll be alright,” Hermione told her. “Seamus has her, and he’s good, he’s very good. They’ll be here in no time, you’ll…”

The Portkey opened in their midst, and Seamus landed lightly on the ground with Lavender in his arms.

Lavender was fading in and out of consciousness. Seamus… Seamus was there with her, saving her again, god how she loved this man. He hugged her closer; there was the squish of Apparition, and then the slap of cold night air on her bare skin… Darkness… He was running… Darkness… The numbness from the shock was wearing off, and she felt like there were rivers of fire running through her. She moaned softly as he hurried up to a doorway… They were flying down a marble hallway… Madame Maxime was there, she was helping, and she wrapped her in a blanket… “Thank you Madame Maxime,” she managed… The sensation of Portkey… Luna.

Lavender! Luna’s voice said in her mind. Lavender, answer me, NOW!

Yeah, Yeah, I’m here. Keep your knickers on, Lavender thought at her.

“She’s barely conscious,” Luna told them. “She’s in a good deal of pain. Where the hell is Neville?”

Angelina looked toward the castle. “He’s coming. There, there’s a lamp, it must be him.”

Neville we be here in seconds, Lavender, stay with us. Luna sent to her.

Where am I going to go? Lavender answered, and then faded into unconsciousness.

Cho Chang snapped into existence a few feet away. “Sorry, it took me a while to get away,” she said. “Dudley had to take over sitting with Anna. Chicken pox,” –she rolled her eyes– “and then I had to get dressed. Is Lavender alright?” she asked Seamus.

“She got hit by some sort o’ electrical spell, took her right out o’ wolf.” Three more snaps sounded. Ginny, Harry, and Lily landed just down the road from them.

“She would not let us leave her,” Ginny said, exasperated, as she hurried up.

“Aunt Lavender!!!” Lily cried as she ran to Seamus’s side. “Is she okay?” she asked Seamus, with tear filled eyes.

Seamus looked down at her and smiled. “With all these powerful people here, Lilywhite, she will be.”

The bobbing lamp had become the dim outline of a running Neville Longbottom. When he was a hundred feet from the gates a bolt of green light shot from his wand and splashed against them. The gates swung open and Seamus was off at a dead run.

“Thanks, Nev,” he said as he dashed past.

“Oi!!! Christ, Shay, you’re going to kill me,” Neville shouted as he turned, panting, and started running back up the hill after his friend.

Even with Lavender in his arms, Seamus outran them all. He was at the front doors and through them before Katie Bell, the closest to him, had made the steps. Seamus flew down the corridors to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey, old and bent but still spry, met him at the doors to the infirmary.

“Her usual bed,” she instructed Seamus.

He ran down the aisle between the beds, and gently laid her in the third one from the end on the right. Seamus sank to the floor, gasping, with stars bursting in front of his eyes. He had made it from Charix to her bed at Hogwarts in less than ten minutes.

“What happened?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

“Electric… spell,” Seamus replied between pants. “Don’t know… much else.”

The old woman conjured a stool and settled next to Lavender. She waved her wand in slow figure eights over her. The door flew open and a small crowd of people ran towards them. Fine red lines appeared on Lavender’s skin, almost as if she were porcelain that had been crazed and cracked.

“There’s so much,” Madam Pomfrey said, awed, “so much. It’s amazing she’s still alive. I don’t know, Seamus. There’s damage everywhere. I don’t think even with five of me I could heal this.”

“NO! Poppy, no!” Seamus burst out, tears running down his face. “I can’t lose her, we can’t lose her, you have to save her, there has to be a way.” He grabbed Lavender’s hand, and kissed it. “I can’t live without you love, don’t leave me.” He began to weep in earnest.

“Hang on, Shay,” Harry said, and looked at Ginny. She nodded and turned to her friends. Ginny locked eyes with Hermione and tipped her head to Madam Pomfrey. Hermione nodded back.

“What if there were nine of you?” Hermione asked seriously. “You know a little of what we can do, Poppy, but I don’t think you have any idea how much we can do. Join with us; we will be your hands, your eyes, your wands.”

“You would do that?” Madam Pomfrey asked in wonder.

“Of course,” Luna said softly. “For twenty years you’ve been here for Lavender. You were there for all her triumphs. Come, let’s triumph again.” Luna took her hand. “Trice to mine!” she said as she took Katie Bell’s hand.

“And trice to thine!” Hermione said as she, Cho, and Angelina linked hands with them forming a semicircle around Lavender.

Seamus released Lavender’s hand and moved back so that Ginny, Parvati and Padma could stand over her and complete the circle. “And thrice again to make up nine!” Ginny said in a voice filled with power, as she, Parvati, and Padma joined hands with the rest.

A blue glow of magic flared into life around them, and Luna raised her voice. “We are the power! We are the magic! We are the Sisters! Simbios!”

Poppy Pomfrey had been a healer most of her life. She had performed every kind of healing spell in her long career, but she had never been in a magical joining like this. The women around her were part of her, their thoughts, emotions, knowledge, everything was laid open to her, and she to them. And there was a tenth entity among them; that being that was the combination of them all.

We are ready. She felt them feel it rather than say it. She opened her eyes, but not just her own eyes. She was seeing through all their eyes at once, feeling their power ready to do whatever was needed. She drew her wand again and cast the revealing charm. The thin red lines reappeared, and the healing began.

Seamus felt a crackling force around him, and he watched in awe as the women drew their wands and began tracing them over Lavender. They dipped and wove in a pattern more complicated than any knot work he had ever seen. It was a dance, and he was stunned by their grace and beauty as they moved around him. Wands were everywhere, tracing the lines on Lavender’s skin. Soft blue-green light emanated from the tips, and wherever they passed over her the red lines faded. It was like watching a masterful spider spin an ornate web.

Harry, holding Lily’s hand, stepped to Seamus’s side. “It’s remarkable, isn’t it? You ever seen it?” he asked in a whisper.

Seamus looked on in awe. “No. I mean I knew they could do amazing things, and after what happened when Hermione and Rose were kidnapped I knew that we didn’t know the half of it, but no, I’ve never seen it.” He looked over at Anthony, Hannah, and Neville, who were transfixed. Anthony looked like he’d been stunned, Hannah was smiling, tears coursing down her face, and Neville was silently nodding, an expression of understanding on his face.

Lily spoke from Harry’s side. “Rose says that when they join like this their magic is multiplied.”

“Your mum and aunts are something special, aren’t they, Lilywhite?” Seamus asked her.

She looked at him in that way only a ten year old girl can, with an expression of purest wonder that the adult she was talking to could not grasp one simple concept. “Of course, Uncle Seamus, they’re the Sisters of the Moon.”

He smiled and hugged her. “That they are, Lilywhite, that they are.”

The last of the lines faded away, and the wand dance ended. Madam Pomfrey cast another charm and a faint white ball of light pulsed just above Lavender’s abdomen. We need the wolf. We’ve done all we can. She needs its healing power.

The women as one stowed their wands and knelt next to Lavender. The nine women placed their hands on her skin. Lavender! they called to her. Lavender, we need the wolf. Help us bring her forth.

Lavender was floating in a soft void of unconsciousness, images and thoughts slowly playing through her mind.

“You’re very close to me,” Thanata’s voice said near her.

“I thought you hadn’t come for me. Has that changed?” Lavender asked.

“No. Your friends are working very hard to prevent that. Look.” Lavender was floating above the bed, looking down on her sisters and herself. Time seemed almost at a standstill for her, and they were moving in a very slow motion dance, their wands tracing lines on her skin. “I have come to take you to see the Spinner, the Weaver, and the Trimmer.” Darkness engulfed her.

A light dawned before her, and Lavender found herself in a place with no walls and only a hint of floor. A short distance away three women stood before what appeared to be a tapestry that stretched in every direction as far as she could see. She looked to her side and Thanata was there.

“I’ve sussed it by the way,” Lavender told her.

“Have you?” Thanata said with a smile.

“Yes. You’re Death, or at least some manifestation of death. But I always thought you were a man, or the skeleton of a man; and where’s the scythe?”

“Very good, Lyra. Yes, I am the embodiment of that concept you call death, but I’m also a good deal more than that. I am the Hierophant, the Ferryman, the conductor of souls between the worlds. I bring them forth, and I retrieve them when it’s time. As to my form, well you have always liked this one. I can be ‘the Grim Reaper’ if you like. I can be anything.”

“I like this form fine,” Lavender replied, “although, the Valkyrie outfit was stunning. Why the change?”

Thanata laughed. “That was what he expected, so that’s what he got, but I prefer this form, and as for the scythe, it’s right here.” She held out her hand and the scythe of death appeared in it. “I’m never without it. It’s what she gave me to signify my task, my badge of office if you will.”

“We’ve been friends a long time, have we?” Lavender asked.

“From the very first time we met, Lyra. If I could choose a daughter she would be you,” Thanata told her.

“Thanks,” Lavender said, overwhelmed, and a little frightened.

They moved toward the three figures and stopped a short distance from them. The three women turned as one to face them. One, a young woman with chestnut hair much like Hermione’s, held a bundle of mist in her right hand from which she pulled a thread. The middle one, a motherly looking woman with graying hair, took the thread and passed the end through a large needle she held, and then passed it into the tapestry where it snaked into the design. The third woman, old and bent, held a large pair of shears in her hand, and she continually snipped at threads that emerged from the tapestry. The needles fell into her outstretched palm and she handed them back to the woman in the center.

Lavender studied the design. It was more than a tapestry; it had three dimensions, and the closer she looked the more detail she saw. Then she realized that the softly glowing threads were lives. She saw her thread. She knew it was her thread, and there was Seamus’s entwined with hers. The silvery one next to hers must be Luna, and there was Hermione, and the rest of the Sisters. She began to fall forward and Thanata pulled her back.

She chuckled. “It’s probably not a good idea for you to contemplate the weave without our help. We’ve never had a mortal here before; it appears you can lose yourself in it.”

Lavender looked at the three women. “The Fates,” she said in whispered awe.

“Yes,” said Thanata, “and I am their partner and friend.”

The younger woman smiled at them. “Welcome, Lyra. I am Clotho, the Spinner. We asked Thanata to bring you before us, we hope you don’t mind.” Her hands continued their work, never ceasing.

“I’m honored, but why?” Lavender asked.

“You have served us so well,” the Weaver said. “Loki delights in tangling the weave. You are, and have always been, our greatest ally in undoing his mischief. I am Lachesis, the Weaver. Behold the weave.” Lachesis waved her hand in a broad arc across the tapestry and Lavender saw the intersection of her life and the lives of the children she had saved in France. She saw how in the future those lives would affect others, how those lives would form a beautiful and complicated pattern of their own. For one brief moment she saw through the eyes of the goddesses, and understood the complexity of their plan for the pattern of the weave. Lavender turned back to the weaver. “For all this and so much more,” Lachesis said, “we have decided to reward you in this life.”

Lavender!!! The chorus of voices rang in the space around them.

“And I am Atropos,” the old woman with the shears said. “Your friends are very powerful. They call and you must go, but know that we love you, and you have done better than we could have hoped.”

Lavender, we need the wolf…

Clotho pulled another gleaming strand from the mist. “For you,” she said, smiling, and handed the thread to Lachesis.

Help us bring her forth.

“Until we meet again, Lyra, thank you, live well,” Atropos said as she snipped another thread. Thanata turned to go, and they faded into darkness.

Lavender was floating in the void again. She could feel her friends near, and she could feel her wolfself too. They need you, my sweet. I need you. With all her strength she called her wolfself forward.

Luna felt Lavender’s effort to call the wolf. We have to help her, she said in the shared consciousness that was formed in the link. The nine women poured their energy into Lavender.

Seamus watched as Lavender quivered on the bed, and then the change began. He was always fascinated by the metamorphosis. First the coarse outer fur would spring from her skin, followed closely by the fine inner coat. Her arms and legs stretched and swelled as her bones lengthened and the muscles expanded. The nails on her fingers and toes grew into the terrible weapons that had brought retribution and justice to so many. At the same time her face changed from the beautiful woman that he so loved, to the friendly visage of her wolfself. The old bed creaked and groaned as her weight nearly tripled.

Another complicated dance of wands began over her. Lavender shivered and twitched as sprays and sparks of magic brushed across her. Alright, girls, Madam Pomfrey sent in the link, we’re going to flush all the impurities from her. We’ve healed most of the damage, and her wolf physiology is doing the rest, but that has flooded her system with waste and toxins. The women’s wands swept upwards, and thin, sticky, black strings emerged from Lavender’s body and puffed into an acrid smelling smoke before dissipating.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Lavender and a ball of light flared to life above her, and then a few moments later a second one appeared and shone as brightly as the first. We’ve succeeded, she sent. All she needs now is rest. I think I do too. The old woman swayed and Hermione steadied her.

Luna quietly said, “Finite.” and the link dissolved.

Katie Bell chuckled as she helped Madam Pomfrey sit on her stool next to the bed. “Takes a little out of you, eh Madam Pomfrey?”

“Oh hush,” she said smiling, “we’ll talk when you’re seventy nine, see how you like it.”

Seamus took Madam Pomfrey’s hand. “Thank you, Poppy. I…” He choked with tears and emotion.

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Finnigan. But I do think it’s time for you and Mrs. Finnigan to think about a career change, hmm?”

Seamus laughed. “Yes, we’ll be speaking about that soon.”

Lavender stirred and her eyes opened and shut a few times, and then found Seamus. “Oww,” she said softly.

“Hey there, love,” he said. “Feeling a bit peaky?”

“Better now, just tired,” she said as Seamus took her hand, and stroked the fur on her arm.

“I love you, Lav,” Seamus said.

“Love you, Shay,” she said weakly.

Lily pushed her way to the side of the bed. “I love you too, Aunt Lavender. You scared us, don’t do that again,” she said seriously.

“Hey there, Lilywhite, what are you doing here?” Lavender asked.

“She wouldn’t let go of us so we could Disapparate,” Ginny said, looking sternly at her daughter.

Lavender chuckled because for the barest moment mother and daughter wore the exact same defiant expression.

“I had to make sure you were alright,” Lilly said proudly.

“I’m going to be fine,” Lavender told her. “Go home. You’re up way to late.”

Madam Pomfrey leaned over her. “You are, too. Get some sleep, Lavender. Mr. Finnigan can stay with you.” She rose and turned to the assembly. “As for the rest of you, out!” As she shooed them down the aisle she tugged on Luna’s robe, and the blonde woman turned to her. “I just wanted to thank you for your trust and the experience, it was… exhilarating,” she said, awed.

“The thanks is ours to give, Madam Pomfrey. You have served the wizarding community so well for so long they should name the hospital wing here at Hogwarts after you,” Luna told her. “Lavender always says you are the best healer in Britain. I think after tonight there’s a great deal more support for that opinion.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Scamander,” Madam Pomfrey said earnestly. “Thank you for helping me save her, and I think there may be more… interesting things happening in the near future to Lavender.”

“Like?” Luna asked.

“We’ll see,” Madam Pomfrey replied. “It’s just a suspicion now. I’ll know more in a few days.” At Luna’s worried look she smiled. “Oh, it’s good. In fact it could be the best news she’s ever had.”
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