Halloween - The Aftermath: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Confusion was the paramount emotion inside the misty bathroom. The Patronus had dissipated, leaving slight wisps of white smoke behind, until it vanished entirely. Silence pervaded the small room, broken slightly by the soft breathing of its two occupants.

Said occupants were staring at each other, standing slightly apart, silently asking the other what the message could have possibly meant. Narcissa shook her head and Harry sighed.

“Well, it’s not as if we can do anything, I’m sure Dad will be sending an owl tomorrow. Maybe some complication arose and he had to stay for a longer duration,”

Narcissa nodded.

“It’s happened a few times before. James might not have too much fieldwork anymore but something surely comes up on occasion,” she agreed, as they walked together outside the bathroom door.

The cold air of his bedroom greeted them as soon as they made their way in. The cooling runes had been at their lowest, and they shivered slightly. Harry touched the rune and channeled to turn them off.

“So,” he began with a wicked smirk on his face, wrapping his arms around her and cupping her arse.

“Now that Dad’s not gonna be home tonight, wanna stay the night? In my bed?” He nibbled on her ear softly, squeezing her naked arse.

His husky voice sent a shiver of pleasure through her and she pressed herself closer. They had done it in every illicit manner they could, but there was something oddly intimate about being in his bed together. A pleasurable sensation coursed through her as Narcissa looked up into his emerald orbs, and she found them dark with lust. Insatiable indeed.

Instead of replying, Narcissa grabbed his slightly erect cock and started caressing it, fondling his balls simultaneously and coaxing a pleasurable sigh out of him. With a smirk, she pulled him by his cock, literally, over to the bed before releasing him. Turning around, she climbed on the bed, sliding herself backward until she was resting against the cushioned headrest. With a sexy smirk, the blonde bombshell curved her dainty finger and beckoned her lover to join her.

That sexy smirk on her face was enough to send Harry into a frenzy, and he swiftly climbed over. Narcissa giggled when he grabbed her and started nuzzling her neck. They fell on the bed sideways and kissed each other tenderly. Narcissa moaned into the kiss when he grabbed her left boob over her sexy lingerie and squeezed softly. Her nails dragged along his pectorals before she found herself playing with his hair.

Slowly, they pulled away and smiled at each other before Narcissa cuddled with him, resting her head on his chest, her leg tangled up with his as they wrapped their arms around each other. With a wave of his hand, the lights inside the bedroom dimmed.

*****

A few hours ago: Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands

“Bloody Hell, Potter! How the fuck could this happen!?”

Normally a calm man, Auror Proudfoot was anything but, as their team took cover behind the barricades hastily erected. And he was right to be alarmed. What was supposed to be a quick snatch-and-grab mission had suddenly transformed into something else altogether.

“Fuck me if I know, man!” James muttered in an uncharacteristically serious voice before he flinched as another piercing spell hit the barricade, a loud bang echoing throughout the valley.

“Motherfucker! Bombarda!”

A loud cry of pain brought a vicious grin on the bespectacled wizard’s lips before he quickly took cover as a sickly yellow spell collided with the barricade, barely missing his forehead. Breathing heavily, he rested his head against the metallic surface, heart thudding in his chest. That was close, way too close!

“Good thing we brought these, eh?” He grinned as Proudfoot caught his breath. Looking around, he saw his team of fifteen scattered around in a fifty-meter radius, having already taken cover behind the runic barricades, and returning fire simultaneously. Proudly, he watched his mates working in cohesion, firing alternately.

He once again thought back to how they got stuck in such a perilous situation.

The department had gotten a tip-off from one of their spies that the Black Swan Group led by one Frederick Jones was looking to finalize the deal they had been rumored to be engaged in. The venue and expected time had been relayed, and the aurors had wasted no time. Within two days, the team had been assembled and briefed. The mission was supposed to be a recon one, with a possible snatch-and-grab, and James had a vested interest in this one. He had a score to settle, after all.

With no hesitation, he had accompanied his team to survey the area for potential hotspots, and once they were sure of the coordinates, they had erected the fortifications around a clearing in the middle of the forest. That had been a few hours ago, and they had been waiting since then, hidden in the snow in their white armor, simply scouting and surveying the area. It was stark and devoid of any life, human or wild, and James had acknowledged that it was a sound location for doing anything shady, with negligible possibility of being intruded on.

It had been smooth sailing as well. A few hours into their arrival and the cunts had started arriving in droves, their dark cloaks billowing behind them as a group of fifteen walked forward, erecting various wards around a clearing not even a hundred meters from where they had established their makeshift base, with the remaining half a dozen or so wizards walking around the clearing, surveying the zone and scrutinizing the activity. However, perplexity and slight unease started creeping in when they felt wards extend all over the mountain, encasing even their clearing, overlapping over their wards, and with a sinking feeling in their guts, they realized they couldn’t apparate or portkey if things went south.

As luck would have it, exactly the unfortunate happened. They were waiting for the other party to arrive, but when half an hour had passed since the erection of wards with no sign on them, the hair on the back of his neck began to rise.

A loud boom behind him was the first sign that things had gone tits up. As they looked on from their hiding spot, they knew just how dire the situation had suddenly become. Suspended right in front of their clearing was the head of their spy, a sight enough to make anyone taste bile in their mouth. James didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his fortune, or the lack thereof.

Blood dripping down on the snow tainting it in red, the face looked like it had been meticulously flayed, not even a speck of skin visible. A few of his Aurors sucked deep breaths in, and James couldn’t blame them. The sight was so heinous that even he was having a hard time keeping his lunch in.

The expression of fascinating horror on their faces turned to one of grim determination at the realization. Their spy had been found. They had been lured, and lured excellently, in what was surely a trap. And how well laid that trap was. His adversary knew that he would not pass up an opportunity to have a go at him, and he had been played expertly. James cursed.

It didn’t take long for the cunts to make their move. Having already secured the entire fucking mountain, and wasn’t it a wonder that they had managed to do so, they had them effectively trapped. The only thing separating his team from the group of terrorists was a network of runic barricades which they had hastily erected following the first indication of spellfire.

The barricades had been developed by the British Unspeakables for wartime situations, particularly for a full-frontal assault. The barricades served as battlefield blockades, enforced by runic magic, and they were well equipped to take even a blast of fiendfyre head-on and stay in the game. Powered by special conduit runes that absorbed energy directly from the magical ley lines, these barricades when used at the proper location could shield an army from a continuous frontal assault for a month or two without any strain whatsoever.

However, what his team had failed in the current scenario was locating a direct ley line. The mountain they had been sequestered on didn’t have one, supplying the energy from the crisscrossing lines that augmented Hogwarts instead. The school was well over 500 kilometers from where they were, which meant they could get the barricades to absorb some energy, but not enough to sustain them for weeks. The best they could hope for was a day or two, assuming a continuous barrage of high-level curses.

James was brought out of his worries as a loud bang echoed around the mountain once again. These assholes were showing no sign of relenting even after continuous assault for over an hour or so.

“What’s the plan, sir?” Smith’s anxious voice grabbed his attention, and James turned to face him, his mind making and discarding plans with each breath.

“For now, stay under cover and take whatever shots you can,” he began, looking around to see his team listening intently. He had a grim look on his perpetually cheerful face, and they knew the situation was dire.

“McCormick, Taylor, Brown, and Wilson, try using wide area spells as much as you can, make them run around or at least lose their concentration enough that they stop firing at least. These bloody blasts are making my ears ring,”

The four aurors nodded, taking cover and readying themselves.

“Williams, Brown, Robbins, and Dettenrieder, take them out once they break off their lines. Keep in mind – no prisoners. These are terrorists intending to kill us. Fuck them in their sodden arses!” The team laughed as the four wizards nodded with grins.

“Murray, Sinclair, and Baker, start digging trenches for the trunks. Be precise. We don’t want the barricades to collapse, or Merlin forbid, the trunk exits blocked. Keep sufficient space on the side. Once their numbers dwindle, they would stop to regroup. Fatigue will set in as well. A respite of even a few hours would be a boon. The rooms therein will come handy,”

At their nods, James looked at the three wizards taking cover with him behind the fourth barricade. Proudfoot, Robards, and Savage. The aurors in question turned around to give him a nod.

“And we will work on taking down these motherfucking wards while simultaneously taking down any stragglers,” he grunted.

With the duties segregated, all fifteen wizards got to work. Spotting a small group some distance away, McCormick let loose a massive gust of wind, blowing the snow and debris around and attacking the cunts head-on. Their shields managed to keep them upright, still in the fight. However, it didn’t last long as well-placed cutters courtesy of Dettenrieder and Robbins sliced their legs clean off. They had opted to shield their upper bodies from the debris, spreading the shields over their heads to cover all six of them, and two terrorists paid the price.

Loud wails of sheer agony echoed and James set his mouth in a grim line before the voices stopped entirely. Twin jets of green made quick work of the suffering duo as the remaining four took proper cover, now rightfully wary.

‘Good, that’s three down now,’ James thought, as the four senior aurors got to work. To cast a ward over such a massive area, the only possibility was using a wardstone. There lay the complication. To take down the wards powered by a wardstone, there were two options. 

The first, and the straightforward one, was to blow the stone up to smithereens. This caused the ward to vanish in an instant. However, this required direct access to the wardstone, which didn’t look possible at the moment. The second, but difficult option, was to tear a hole through the ward for a temporary period and exit in the limited time frame. 

This didn’t require direct access to the wardstone and could be done from anywhere inside or outside the wards from a short distance, but it required time.

The choice was clear, and they would have to borrow time. A lot of time. The Black Swan Group was notorious for using dark stones for warding. They had killed quite several witches and wizards in hostage situations over the past few months around Britain, and their intel had informed them that it took a considerable amount of power as well as finesse to tear through such wards. James sighed. It looked like their work was cut out for them.

Meanwhile, the aurors were doing a remarkable job. The assault on their barricades had almost stopped. Their strategy had paid off substantial dividends. Forcing the terrorists to abandon their roles to shield themselves against hailstorms and firestorms while individually picking them off with well-placed cutters, piercers and good old AKs was working wonders. Six more terrorists had met their due end already, and their natural cover had been burned away, compelling them to resort to physical shields. 

Looking ahead, they could make out the number of their opponents, and it was still skewed against them. 22 to their 15. However, instead of disheartening them, it filled them with confidence that they could do it.

As James looked over the barricade, he saw another terrorist go down in a nasty explosion of blood and gore as his insides exploded violently, and he looked over to see Savage turning around. He grinned at the auror’s stoic look. 21 to their 15 now.

Heartened, James looked over at his team, “Brilliant job, people! Keep this up and we will be done here in no time!”

He had a wide smile on his face, and he was quite right to sport one. However, the battle never ended until it truly did. They had drawn first blood, but the enemy wasn’t to stay silent. 

A loud cry from the other end drew their attention and their eyes widened at the scene. The remaining wizards pointed their wands toward them as one, and bluish-green curses shot from each one toward all four barricades. Two of the wizards went down as piercers went through their heads before the curses could strike the barricades. 19 to their 15 now.

However, they had no time to rejoice as they hastened to take cover. A massive blast sounded as the curses hit the barricades, and they grunted as the heavy metal shields struck them on their backs. His eyes widened as he looked down. Proudfoot frowned.

“James, what-” he began before his eyes trailed down and widened. The barricade had shifted backward from the force and dislodged from where it was buried in the ground. Their hasty work was now coming to bite them back at the most inopportune moment. James quickly signaled the three aurors with him. Savage and Proudfoot nodded as they returned fire as Robards and he got to work and started waving their wands in intricate patterns. Soon, the barricades were reinforced once again, not perfectly but at least their connection with the ley lines was restored.

Eyes wide, they nodded to one another before James barked, “Everyone! Change of plans! Reinforce the barricades, closed foundation level, NOW!”

The aurors hastened to follow the order. They saw the terrorists preparing to throw more curses and James leaped at the chance. A massive blasting curse of his own tore through the air and slammed the ground right in front of a group of three. Being exposed and in the open, they had no chance as their bodies were shredded with debris and their dead carcasses greeted the snowy ground, crimson seeping through in the dark. Proudfoot and Savage took down another group of four as the remaining cunts took cover. 12 to their 15 now.

“Done?” He asked, and a chorus of ‘YES!’ sounded.

“Good. Now, expand your trunks and get in. Once done, cover the trunks entirely with the barricade. Hell will freeze over before they manage to break through tonight,” James hissed, and the aurors didn’t hesitate even once.

Looking on, he saw the other three groups getting inside their trunks and his group making its way inside.

“Savage, with me,” James called, and the stoic auror shifted over to stand beside him. Robards and Proudfoot gave them significant nods and walked in.

“On my command,” James began and looking straight ahead at the group of terrorists huddled across the clearing, muttered with “cast Fiendfyre and release it. Once done, get inside.”

All he got from Savage was a raised eyebrow before the stoic wizard uncharacteristically bellowed. James’ bellow joined his as the cursed word echoed in the dead silence of the night.

“FIENDFYRE!”

The terrorists’ eyes widened as they gazed upon the literal flames of hell that originated from where those accursed aurors had hidden like wet kittens. They scrambled to take cover, hastily putting up whatever barriers they could to fend off the cursed flames while they ran to put as much distance between them as they could, the smoldering heat gradually escalating to excruciating heights.

The final barricade covered the trunk entirely, and four shiny specks of black laid in contrast with soft bluish snow under the moonlight, the foundations secured on every side as literal hellfire danced across the clearing, unbound and unimpeded.

*****

"... Will try to explain tomorrow somehow. See you soon."

The silvery stag of his bounded out of his room inside the auror trunk. Sighing, James Potter made his way over to the bathroom and stood under the shower. He didn’t know how much respite they had gotten. However, he believed they had managed to do enough to hold them off until the reinforcements arrived.

Turning the shower off after a long fifteen minutes, he got out and dried himself up. Donning his vest and camouflage joggers, he made his way to the common area and saw that the mirror was set up, with every member of his team already present for the conference.

“What’s the status?”

“Well, Taylor caught a slice of debris to his thigh, nothing serious.”

James looked at Taylor with a raised eyebrow, and the man nodded with a chuckle.

“Even then, check for any dark magic residue and fix it up properly. Robards, what about the thing I told you to do?”

“I’ve sent the message to the HQ as you ordered, they should have already got it I believe,”

James nodded.

“Considering the entire mountain is warded, I don’t think they would be able to make it before sunrise,” he muttered. The team frowned slightly.

“Well,” he chuckled, “let’s hope they stay busy with the fiendfyre for a long time then,” the team laughed.

“Good job, people! Get some much needed shut eye, we should be safe for a few hours at least. Dismissed.”

The aurors saluted as one, and the screen blanked. With a nod, the four wizards parted ways, going to their respective rooms for some much-needed rest.

*****

To be continued...