3: The Dogfight
All of the Potters and their protectors were outside of Number 4 Privet Drive. It was the night to move the real Harry Potter.
Who was not excited in the slightest, mind you.
But Anna was ready for the adventure. Not excited, but ready. With Mad-Eye Moody by her side, there was nothing to be afraid of. She gave Harry one last side hug before jogging to catch up with the weathered Auror.
He had a broom in his hand as he asked, "You're alright with flying, right?"
"Yeah," she said with a laugh. "I've played all positions except Seeker."
"Good, happy you're not like those pretty wimps over there," he muttered, nodding towards Hermione and Fleur.
Anna gave a giggle, mounting the broom after Moody. The man took up much space, his fake leg dangling over the side of the broom, layers of coats bulky on his frame. She couldn't even wrap her arms all the way around his waist.
The man grumbled, "I feel like we're a pair of muggles posing for a prom picture."
"Maybe someone has a camera? Make it a real memory."
"Oh Black, I can't take you anywhere," he chuckled. His serious demeanour came back quickly as he called out to the group, "Alright, remember which safehouse we're going to! I'll stay by the real Potter, but if we veer off make sure he's protected. When you land, take the portkey to the Burrow immediately. Okay, in 3...2...1...GO!"
All eight pairs accelerated into the sky. They felt a strong wind as they left the barrier of protection from Privet Drive. Harry's eyes locked onto the house one last time, not even able to enjoy the freedom because he was so scared.
Suddenly, a mass of black hoods surrounded the whole group. Lights from spells flashed around them and screams echoed through the skies.
"How many of them?" asked Moody, his eyes, both real and fake, carefully focused on flying swiftly. He was trying his best to not draw attention to themselves.
"At least thirty!" Anna yelled, still not used to her new deep voice. She looked back and saw Bellatrix after Tonks and Remus. "I really think we should help fight!"
"No, you're not using any magic, they'll know it's you," grumbled the man so only she could hear.
They were flying somewhat close to the real Harry but it wasn't noticeable. She tried to refrain from feeling fearful as Hagrid recklessly drove the bike, causing the boy to hang on for dear life. Harry started shooting spells. Anna entered his mind, 'Stop drawing attention to yourself!'
Harry looked to her, but quickly saw five Death Eaters tailing them. One shot a spell of fire. "ANNA, BEHIND YOU!"
Anna's eye's widened as her name was called out. She forced herself to ignore him until she felt the heat of the fire behind her. "Auguamenti!"
"It's her it's the girl!" screamed Bellatrix, diverting her attention from Tonks.
Moody let out a yell of anger. "Damnit, DAMNIT! YOU IDIOTS!"
Anna's heart sunk, but she quickly turned around and fought all five Death Eaters. Moody was zig-zagging the best he could. She did everything to keep from falling. Luckily, she was putting up a good fight and they hadn't found the real Harry yet.
But, it all happened so fast. Someone blasted Moody off of the broom. Anna grabbed his hands, trying desperately to pull him up. His gloved hands were slippery, his wand in one of them. The broom was zooming forward still.
"AVADA KEDAVERA!" screeched Bellatrix as she shot the curse at Moody.
The life left his eyes but Anna still held on. "No, NO!"
The woman still pursued her, "Sectumsempra!"
The curse shot at the girl's hands. Screams escaped her mouth as the was forced to let go. All that was left in her hands was one of Moody's gloves along with his wand. Her hands were profusely bleeding and in severe pain.
The man almost seemed to fall in slow motion, body limp with death as he plummeted meters down.
"Oh, Merlin, NO!" she screamed, choking on sobs. She still flew forward, stuffing the glove and wand into her pocket. Her hands were slick with blood as she gripped onto the broom flying forward. Two Death Eaters behind her shot another fire spell at the broom. She was unable to keep up with all of the magic.
Suddenly, hers and Harry's scars seared with pain. They let out screams. Voldemort was in their heads.
"He found us!" yelled Harry.
"SHUT UP!" screamed Anna angrily, but unable to speak as she was shot with the curciatus curse.
Her body tensed up, and through her spotted vision, she could see Voldemort apparating beside her, face visible and wand outstretched.
The broom was burning, finally catching her clothes on fire. She had no choice but to jump off.
She was plummeting fast, hearing Harry's screams of terror above her. She felt as if she would cease to exist at any moment from the pain and chaos around her.
A vision flashed before her eyes.
"Anna," said Moody kindly with a smile. "I'm glad you're here."
It was the first Order meeting that Anna arrived at this summer. Many were skeptical and believed it to be too dangerous for her to come out of hiding for these meetings. Moody was one of the only ones who outwardly defended Anna.
They had always had a connection, ever since she met him at Grimmauld Place. Her and Tonks were undoubtedly his favorites.
"Thanks, it means a lot. I won't let you down."
He chuckled. "You better not. If I kick the bucket someday, you're taking over."
"I could never-"
"I'm messing with you...I'm not going anywhere. But you'll be a great auror someday. I'm sure you could handle anything."
Anna's eyes widened, new spectacles absent from her face as she was falling closer to the ground. Her vision was blurred and everything looked like an abyss beneath her.
A mass of power surged through her and she let out a bellow before snapping back into the fight. She tried to vision how Voldemort was flying unassisted...it was apparating.
Soon enough, she flew into the sky. She saw Harry and Voldemort fighting, a connection between their spells lighting up the scene. Harry was winning, but Voldemort was beginning to pick up the pace.
Anna brought her hands out and willed the air in front of Voldemort to stop, pushing him back violently. He popped past it, yet the connection with Harry was broken.
Voldemort was about to attack Anna but they flew past some muggle power lines. She let out a yell and blew them up, causing electricity sparks everywhere. Voldemort was hit by a few and cried out in pain, not able to keep up.
But he sent many other Death Eaters after her. She looked to the motorbike not to far from her, Hagrid struggling and Harry trying his best to fight back. Most of the Order behind her was gone.
She decided it was time to break off from the real Harry. She was causing more harm than good. She split off into he night sky, at least a dozen Death Eaters after her. They were flying through a forest, and when she lost them in the trees, she apparated to the Burrow.
Anna plummeted from the sky, hitting the ground with such hard impact that a few ribs racked beneath her. Her screams echoed off the trees.
The Burrow was eriely quiet. She looked up at the house and saw the lights were on and that Molly was heading through the front door, looking around frantically. "Hello, who's out there?!"
Anna tried to keep the groans at a minimum as she stood up. The woman noticed her in the distance. "Oh, Harry dear, is that you?"
The girl forgot she was still disguised as the Potter. "I-It's Anna."
"You're alone-"
She shook her head and hobbled into the house. Hiding her bleeding hands in her pockets, she slid past Molly. "I need to go clean up, just wait for the others."
"But-"
"Don't worry about me," she said with a grimace. Before the woman could pester he further, she went to the washroom, gently closing the door behind her.
Anna looked into the old, splotched mirror, still shocked to see Harry Potter's reflection gleaming back at her, minus the glasses.
Her vision was as terrible as his, but she was grateful as she started slowly shifting back to her normal self. Her thin hands were lacerated, cuts bubbling with blood. She took off her burnt and saw that the curse went up to the middle of her forearms, spreading slowly yet surely.
She was shaking, vision spotted from losing so much blood. It took everything not to pass out. 'I need to stop the spread.'
A memory flooded her. In fifth year, at the Ministry, the DA went to rescue Sirius. Lucius cut Anna's hands, but she was able to heal herself.
She tried to do so now, but all she could do was make the curse stop continuing to creep its way up her arms. Some of the pain ceased, but as she ran water over her hands, they were still bleeding from the existing cuts.
Tears streamed down her face as she finished, bending over for a towel but Moody's wand fell out of her pocket and clattered on the floor.
The death suddenly hit her, but she did everything she could to hold back the flooding emotions. She watched his eyes go lifeless...another death she had to witness.
How many more?
She was the first back and with every passing second of silence, fear became more and more real. The plan failed, everyone was in even more danger than before.
Anna decided to stay in the washroom for as long as possible. She needed to compose herself and find a way to explain Moody's death.
She didn't want to rat out Harry for exposing them, she knew it wouldn't go over well. Nobody knew except for the two of them and maybe Hagrid. Everyone else was too occupied.
The girl decided it was time to leave when she heard fighting from the other room. She slowly stepped out, walking down the hallway to see the whole Order congregating in the living room.
All eyes went to her, but before she could speak. Kate roughly grabbed her, thrusting her wand into Anna's neck. "Are you real?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" screamed the girl, coughing from the impact.
"Just listen to her," said Harry weakly, "Remus did it to me too."
"What did I give you on your seventeenth birthday?" asked the woman coldly, yet her hazel eyes held fire.
"My mother's bracelet!" she exclaimed, holding up her wrist. The red and yellow string was faded but still vibrant with nostalgia.
Kate pursed her lips but nodded, quickly pulling Anna into a hug, the matching bracelet peeking from under her sleeve. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, it's a precaution. Someone betrayed us tonight. W...what happened to your hands?"
Anna's eyes sweeped the room, landing on the couch where George lay. His head was tilted, revealing the horrendous hole that Molly was desperately trying to cover. She suddenly went to the couch. "Oh...George? What happened?!"
"He was hit by Snape," said Fred who was also at his side. "'Sectumsempra'. I think he said."
"He got you too," chuckled George delriously, pointing to Anna's hands. "Sorry Freddie, Anna and I are twins now."
"No, it was Bellatrix, she must've heard him though," explained Anna. She got up and looked at her godfather. "You...were supposed to protect him...what happened?"
Remus' eyes were glassy as he shook his head, at a loss for words.
"Where's Mad-Eye, Anna?" asked Tonks quickly from beside Remus with a comforting hand on his back, much to Kate's disdain.
The girl was met with silence. She looked at Harry who just shook his head. Hagrid was in the kitchen drinking whiskey and not paying any mind to the group.
"He's dead."
"What?!" asked everyone in unison.
"They found me. Bellatrix and a few others started chasing us. They blasted him off the broom and I held on but she used the killing curse and then she..." Anna trailed off, holding out her cut hands.
"Come here, dear, you're hurt-"
"How did they know it was you?" interrupted Remus coldly.
Harry began to speak, "I-"
But Anna cut him off quickly, not wanting to have the blame placed on him. "I don't see Mundungus anywhere...someone betrayed us tonight."
"He saw Voldemort...disapparated immediately," said Kingsley solemnly.
The room was silent for a few minutes, everyone unsure of what to do next. Harry was the only one who wasn't depressed. He was angry, but not at just the Dark Army, but the Order and himself. He believed that night was so badly planned.
"I'm leaving," he muttered. "I'm not staying here."
"What?! No-"
"I'm not going to have anyone else get hurt for me. I'm sick of people dying, sick of people getting injured. I'm not safe here and neither are any of you-"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Harry, you need to get over yourself-"
"Shut it, Anna, you shouldn't have even come!" he exclaimed. "Moody's dead! And you almost died too!"
"If it weren't for me, you would've been dead! I led them away from you when they found you! I fought Voldemort until he was forced to leave! And if you think that you can just flee because you're a coward, you're not being yourself."
Molly stepped forward, "Harry, dear, you're safe as long as you're here. We care about you...Bill and Fleur are even having their wedding here so we can all be together-"
"Mad-Eye wouldn't want us to argue," started Bill calmly. With the flick of his wand, glasses were set on the table along with a bottle of fire whiskey. "We should remember him and appreciate that almost all of us made it."
~=~
The rest of the night went on. Anna went upstairs and hadn't spoken to Harry for the rest of the evening. She was honestly pretty angry with him for multiple reasons.
The boy had no regard for his actions. He was the reason they were caught and the reason why Moody died. Then to make matters worse, he blamed the rest of the group and threatened to leave, defeating the purpose of the mission.
Anna was simply exhausted from it all. Her hands ached but she was luckily able to stop the bleeding with some help from Molly. Her heart...well, there was no hope for fixing that.
Moody's loss was beginning to take a toll on her. She couldn't be around the Order while they spoke of him.
Harry, on the other hand, was just full of angst. As he sat in Ron's room, getting ready for bed, they heard a faint knock on the door. Ron got up to answer the door, his voice full of surprise when he greeted the person at the door.
"Hi, Ron. I was wondering if I could stay in your room for the night?" asked Hermione from the doorway.
The ginger blushed deeply. "Oh, erm, I'm not sure my mum would be okay with it. Besides, Harry's here...y'know, I didn't ever think you'd be the type to want to rush into-"
"I didn't mean it like that! Honestly, Ronald, you're disgusting. I just meant that I need a room to sleep in."
Ron held even more embarrassment in his expression as he stepped aside, allowing Hermione to enter the room. Harry arched an eyebrow. "Why aren't you with Anna?"
"She asked to be alone," explained Hermione with a frown. "She's not doing so well, I decided to just give her to space."
Harry simply got up and headed upwards towards the girl's room despite Hermione's protests. He knocked on Anna's door.
There was no response, but he just decided to step in anyway.
The girl was sitting on the floor, her head in her hands. She was rocking slightly and grunting, as if she were in such deep thought that it pained her. What he didn't know was that she was trying to enter Voldemort's mind...she needed to know if they knew their location.
"Anna?" asked the boy, causing her to snap out of her daze.
Her wild grey eyes met his, they were bloodshot. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"
"I did," he said simply. "What were you doing?"
"Why are you in here?" asked Anna blandly, ignoring the question.
Harry frowned. "Hermione said that you wanted the room to yourself. I was worried about you so I checked-"
"I'm fine. Can you please leave?"
The boy looked at her, then to the objects in front of her. There was a bloodstained leather glove along with a wand...Moody's wand, to be exact.
He immediately felt bad as he thought back to the nights previous events. Anna held onto Moody for dear life as they sped through the sky. She held on, even when he was dead.
It was all Harry's fault and he knew it. If he hadn't said Anna's name, they would've made it safely. "Hey...I'm really sorry about-"
"Please," she started, her voice cracking as she clutched onto Moody's glove. "Just go. We can talk in the morning. I really can't bear to even look at you right now, if I'm being honest."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head and he just sighed. He gave a sad wave before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him
Anna was left alone again and she let out a sob. Her heart ached for not just Moody, but all of the losses. She wanted everyone back...but there was someone in particular she missed the most.
Sirius Black, her father.
She always thought about him, whether she was sad or happy, she looked to his memory for guidance. All she wanted was for him to burst through the door and give her the biggest hug ever. For him to tell her it was going to be okay.
But she knew what he would say in this situation...that although he was a bloody idiot, she shouldn't place all of the blame on Harry and that they needed to make amends.
The girl wiped away her tears and took a deep breath before getting up. She went to bed, holding the glove and wand close as she drifted off to sleep from exhaustion.
'I'm sorry, Moody.'
~=~
Hey all, I hope you liked this chapter!
It got me a lil emotional, I've always loved Mad-Eye.
~
Question of the chapter...
~Who is your favorite Order member?~
(mine is probably Tonks)
~
OH, also, I've been rewriting book one consistently lately, so feel free to check it out. I really like how they've turned out!
Next update here will be out by Monday! Mondays are better than Sundays for updating for me :)
Love to all,
Lumos
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