Jessamine had done her best to set up a triage station to help anyone who retreated during the battle, staying out of it as much as possible. But when You Know Who’s terrifying voice filled the Hall and her head, she’d stopped with a bottle of dittany halfway uncorked. It seemed clear, now, why Alicia and Leon chose to fight against this evil. And though she had been so late to understand, she knew that she wanted to help them all see the next sunrise.
During the ‘ceasefire’, she’d found herself busy treating wounds and quelling pain as much as possible. It was only when she’d given herself a moment to straighten that she recognized a familiar set of shoulders. But this time … something was wrong.
“Alicia!” was a little more shrill than she’d ever thought possible. But she rushed to her sister’s side.
Her skin felt like it was still on fire and the rush of it lingered in her ears, but it couldn’t drown out the sound of Jess’ voice. Alicia turned to find her and all but collapsed when she did. Her sister was there — help was there. She was safe.
“I’m okay,” she said, making it as far as one of Gryffindor house’s benches before she let herself subside onto it. Glancing up at her sister, Alicia winced. “I mean I’m kind of okay.”
Jess knelt by Alicia, reaching out to handle her gently as she inspected her arms and her face. “Kind of okay is not ‘make Death Eaters pay more’ okay. Let me help you.”
She paused. “What spells did they use, love?”
Alicia shook her head as she obliged her sister’s examination — by now she didn’t have much choice in the matter. “I didn’t recognize it,” she said. “It looked like a lightning spell but—” She cut herself off with a wince and continued through clenched teeth. “I’ve never seen a lightning spell do anything like this.”
“You’re fighting some sadistic motherfuckers,” she confirmed. But Jess hadn’t ever seen them do something Dark and full of bullocks that dittany couldn’t fix. She pulled a delicate little vial from her bag to leave several droplets on Alicia’s burning skin.
“But it’s all going to be all right.” Perhaps those words were hollow. But it’s what she’d want to hear in the situation. She waited another moment and then blew gently over the dittany on her sister’s arm.
“ … how do you feel?”
“I feel great,” Alicia said, hoarse with a held breath. When she let it out, the look on her face didn’t look nearly as convincing as she sounded when she said, “I’m probably fine, if there’s someone more — you know.”
“You’re my priority,” she said tersely. And she was. Pulling out a syringe with bright green serum within from her bag, she vigorously rubbed it into her sister’s arms as a binding agent for the dittany.
Alicia’s eyes dropped to watch Jess’ work at her burns and she let out a deep breath as some of the immediate pain of her injuries abated. She sounded even less convincing when she asked, her voice timid, “You can fix this, right?”
Jess’ heart sank -- Alicia, heroic and putting her life on the line for her ideals, in this moment sounded younger than she’d imagined. And she couldn’t fight the Death Eaters for her. She couldn’t ensure that these assholes dropped dead rather than hurt her sister. “Yes,” she said finally. “I can fix anything as long as you promise me something, okay?” She held her sister at the nape of her neck.
“You do not get to step in front of a Curse for someone. And if you see green light? You apparate as hard as you can or hit the dirt, I don’t care. Anything else is fixable. We are almost there. I just need you to survive a little longer, love. Then our lives can start again, ok?” After that moment, she pressed her lips against Alicia’s temple and pulled her wand from her back pocket, the tip glowing as she uttered an incantation meant to speed the potions’ healing properties.
The relief was instant even if it didn’t fully halt the pain or the spread of the burn just beneath her skin. But the air against her no longer stung and for the first time since the Death Eater’s attack, she could take a full breath without bringing a sting to the backs of her eyes.
“I promise,” she mumbled, looking squarely at Jess. “I’m not trying to get myself killed — I don’t —” She stopped to take another deep breath and this time, her eyes stung for a different reason. “I don’t want to do that to you. Or mum or dad. But you have to promise, too.”
“I promise you that I will survive this,” she told her squarely, following up the incantation with another charm of her own design. This one, meant to seal in the protective qualities of the herbs and magic, meant that she could fight on while the medicine continued to counteract the dark magic.
“Now go. Help us to end it.”
“Okay,” Alicia breathed out and nodded slowly. But before she left, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her sister. “I love you.”
Jess held her sister tightly, trying to imbue her with all the strength and courage she possessed. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I’m so very proud of you.”
John Dawlish & Maddie Savage
Maddie swallowed down the last of the blood-replenishing potion she'd been left with, and against Healer's orders she struggling to push herself up into more of a sitting position, to see if she could catch a glimpse of — anyone really, but mostly Jasper. Was he okay? She didn't know. And she wasn't in a position to just get up and wander around looking for him. Even the slight change of position had sent pain searing through her.
Her gaze was caught by a different familiar figure and she paused, surprised that he was here. This all seemed a little bit… not his scene. She pressed her lips together and shifted her gaze again, her pride too much to let her call out to him.
Dawlish’s eyes scanned the Great Hall, mostly looking for his friends and (former) colleagues. As his eyes passed over a familiar blonde, he didn’t acknowledge her at first -- maybe it was because she was banged up nicely or maybe his subconscious made him ignore her completely -- and he did a double-take, his already narrowed eyes, narrowing further.
“Savage?” he squeaked, taking a few steps towards her. “You probably shouldn’t be doing that,” he stated, referring to her pushing herself up, though John dropped to his knees and let his arms come around her so she could do precisely that. “What happened here?”
“I fought a Death Eater and the Death Eater won,” Maddie countered with a scowl. Sitting up, even with his help, really wasn’t a good idea. But she kept her gaze moving around the people in the hall, still desperately seeking confirmation that Jasper was okay.
“What are you doing here?”
“Going for a leisurely stroll,” John was quick to snap, even though he knew that was unnecessary. He sighed, examining the wound he could spot on her shoulder and frowned some. “Jasper is -- somewhat injured,” he added after a moment, his free arm waving toward the entrance, to indicate the ground. “Almost got Kissed, but I was there just in time. He’ll be fine.”
“What?” Maddie screeched, trying to move so she could get off the stretcher and instead just ending up collapsing back in a heap of pain, blood draining from her face. Fresh blood stained the make shift bandage over her shoulder, which she did her best to ignore.
“He almost loses his soul and that’s the best you’ve got? ‘He’ll be fine.’? Fuck off.”
John did his best to not roll his eyes, and instead shrugged. “Well, he will be.” He glanced around the hall again, registering various participants of the battle and frowned. They weren’t supposed to be here -- a good portion of them weren’t trained individuals, but he supposed there was nothing he could do to stop them from fighting, even though younger ones who were surely still students of Hogwarts.
“Stop moving so much,” he finally hissed at her, looking down at the bandage, “lest you lose more blood.”
“That’s what potions are for,” Maddie snapped back. She needed to see for herself. Or find out what the plan was for after YKW’s deadline passed. Anything that wasn’t lying here like the idiot she was. “If you’re not going to make yourself useful and pass me that pain potion then you should go annoy someone else.”
John passed the potion over to her wordlessly and let her go at once. There was no point in squabbling right now, and he genuinely did not have the time nor patience for it. He slowly raised to his feet, eyes narrowing as he finally settled on finding a familiar figure. His stomach felt queasy for a moment but this was not the time for introspection.
Glancing down at Savage, -- his former colleague, his former friend -- John cleared his throat. “Stay safe, Savage.” There were too many fatalities already.
Maddie was in the middle of a long drink of the potion when he looked back at her, and she lowered the cup she was drinking from. It still irritated her the distance he built between them — but that was his issue to get over or not, she wasn’t the one with the problem.
“Don’t get yourself killed, John,” she replied tiredly.
John reacted with a quaint nod. “See you later,” he responded, taking a few steps away and toward a familiar figure several feet away.
Angelina Johnson, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Percy Weasley & Oliver Wood
Charlie had only come in right at the tail end of the battle, before Voldemort's voice boomed over the grounds like the evil megaphone of your worst nightmares, and had left Dragos at the Entrance of the Great Hall to find his family.
"Ginny?" He made a beeline for his sister first, taking in the cuts and bruises on her face, the blood splattered across her torn, battle-worn robes, the bits of stone and dust in her hair. Ginny wasn't one for crying, not since her first year at Hogwarts, but he could see, as clear as day, the streaks down her face clear of dust and dirt and ash.
It wasn't that the gravity of this war hadn't struck him before -- but here, now, seeing her like this while he stood in a clean pair of jeans with nothing more than a misaimed knick on his forearm? Sickness swelled in his gut.
He pulled her into a hug.
From across the room, Oliver saw Charlie head right for his sister. He would’ve done the same if he’d let his sister come. It made his chest ache a little, to think of Evie sitting at the cottage with the dogs, waiting to hear if anyone would make it back.
He considered leaving Charlie and Ginny in peace, but then he reminded himself that they were family, too, and he hurried over. “Hey, you two.”
Bill approached, battered and bleeding after his round with the Death Eater and a few werewolves. He had an arm wrapped firmly around Fleur’s shoulders, his eyes moving quickly over his family members.
“How is everyone? Have you seen the others?”
Before anyone could answer, George appeared beside them looking a bit bruised but other than a scorched jumper and a uncharacteristically worried expression on his face, he looked well enough. “Where’s Fred?” he demanded, looking past his other family members as if his twin would be hiding behind one of them. “I’ve circled this whole room and can’t find him.”
Percy’s brows arched upward when he heard George. Instinctively, he took a step closer to Oliver. “We fought the Minister together and he took off. He was fine the last I saw him.”
When Percy got close enough, Oliver reached out and took his hand. “He’s gotta be looking for Angelina?” he offered. “Or… I don’t know.” It was a bit worrisome, truthfully. The whole thing was.
“Ang and I were just together, he’s not there,” George whined, head swiveling around. “He’s here somewhere, right? He’s got to be. Where’s Mum?” He reached over to give his sister’s shoulder a squeeze, even with his worry for Fred, relieved to see other family members up and about.
Arthur pushed through some bystanders looking for his family. There was a sense of relief as he saw them gathering together. “Good, most of you all here,” Arthur said, relieved to see Ginny in one piece. “Have we had a head count? Everyone accounted for?” That was when he noticed George with a head on swivel and Arthur noticed Fred was missing. At least the others were okay, he wouldn’t jump to conclusions. “Yes, where is your mother?”
Drawn by the sound of her name and the cluster of gingers — and Oliver, of course — Angelina appeared at Arthur’s side with an answer to their question. “I just saw Mrs W around here,” she said distractedly, waving a hand in the direction she’d come from as her eyes swept across their familiar faces. “I think she’s been healing people. Where’s Fred?” The question was abruptly delivered. She’d lost too much for his absence not to worry her and anxiety twisted in her stomach.
But as Angelina’s eyes swept over their faces again, it was obvious none of them had the answer to that question.
Evelyn Mulciber, Victoria Mulciber, Humberto Pyrites & Lord Voldemort
It was clear that Potter wasn’t coming even despite the Dark Lord’s gracious offer to spare everyone else if he turned himself over.
Regardless of how typically selfish Humberto Pyrites thought that was of Potter, it did mean that the Dark Lord would need plans for a renewed assault on Hogwarts, and he would be the one to deliver them. After all, the previous best laid plans and advice brought to him by his closest advisors clearly hadn’t amounted to much given they were meeting here in the Forbidden Forest and not within the castle itself, toasting to victory.
That thought propelled him to action, striding through the ranks nursing their injuries or keeping watch despite his own injuries. He approached the Dark Lord, sparing no thought for all of those watching. “My Lord,” he announced boldly before dropping to a knee. “It’s clear that Potter isn’t coming. But! — What if we made this all an illusion? I’ve much experience with such matters as you’re well aware, we could turn them on their heads with little tricks.”
Evelyn, awake again and a bit crispy around the edges, reached out a hand to stop Humberto. When he moved past her, she gave the smallest of shrugs. If the man couldn't read the Dark Lord's moods well enough by now, well, he deserved whatever was coming to him.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Vic muttered from the other side of the small clearing where she was nursing an injured leg. Someone beside her sighed.
Voldemort was already several phases into his growing impatience with Potter when the suggestion of turning his stand off into an illusion met his ears. His eyes immediately narrowed as he turned to the Death Eater. All it would’ve taken to incite his temper was the assertion that Potter wouldn’t come.
Of course he would come. He’d done all of this to lure him out of hiding. Potter would come. If he didn’t, they’d all die.
But before any of Potter’s little friends could drop dead, Voldemort whipped his wand out toward Humberto and ensured he did it first.
As the green flash of his Killing Curse dissipated in the air, Voldemort turned to his followers. “Any more bright ideas?”
Humberto slumped over on the ground, dead. It wasn’t an illusion.
Divya Vaisey & Demeter Wiggleswade
Demeter hadn’t noticed that her shoulder was bleeding until quite a while after. Everything was less chaotic for the moment, and she’d found a quiet place to sort herself out after the tangle she’d had with that giant spider. Sat on top of something that might have once been a doorway, Demeter carefully lifted her sleeve and winced as she saw the mess of blood. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly was messy.
She conjured a small bandage (not very neat, her Mediwitch mother wouldn’t approve) to cover the wound and pressed her hand against it to gently apply pressure for the moment. Now was the moment that she had to catch her breath.
Divya wandered out of the Great Hall with some vague plan of finding her children, covered in dust, dazed — her wrists hurt like hell, an arresting charm had set chains over them but she’d been released when she couldn’t explain who had attacked her or why.
What was she even doing here?
“Demeter?” she called out, recognising her co-worker. “What’s going on?”
Demeter’s head snapped up as she heard her name. It was Divya, looking bewildered at best. She stood, approached her and held out her good arm. What was going on? Demeter quietly thought that was plainly clear, but didn't want to rush to a snap judgement about Divya’s question.
“What are you doing here?” Demeter answered the question with a query of her own.
"I—I don't know," was all Divya could manage, desperately scouring her memories for the obvious missing chunks of time. "How did I get here?"
Her hand flew to her mouth as she took in her surroundings. Hogwarts. Breached. Crumbling. "Anika, Suraj — have you seen them? Are they—"
Demeter was quick to react, taking Divya’s arm and steering her towards the fallen doorway that Demeter herself had been sitting on just moments earlier. “The children aren’t here,” she reassured her swiftly. “Divya, you should sit down. They’re safe, I swear it, but you need to tell me what’s the last thing you remember. Then we can work out how you got here.”
"I was—oh god. Oh god."
“What is it?” Demeter recoiled slightly, removing her hand from Divya’s arm. Wary, she reached for her wand.
All Divya could remember was the office. Yaxley’s face. And even that memory slipped from her grasp as the haze threatened to take over once more.
She looked up at Demeter — and just for a second, her eyes were glazed over, like she was no longer seeing a friend. She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said instead. “I don’t remember anything.”
Memory loss and confusion all pointed to very worrying possibilities, and Demeter was quick to deduce that Divya was likely confunded — or worse. Her jaw set, suddenly businesslike. “I’m going to get you some help, you stay right here,” she insisted, holding her wand a little closer as she took a step backwards from her friend.
Demeter didn’t wait for an answer before turning her back to Divya and leaving her. A move she’d come to regret, as when she returned there was no sign of Divya.
Robin Burke & Eddie Carmichael feat. Gertie Burke
Robin walked out of the kitchen, Debbie winding her way around his feet, making herself her usual feline nuisance as he tried to watch his step. He was holding a plate stacked with a random assortment of food and a bag of crisps was securely between his elbow and his ribs. “I just don’t think that’s true,” Robin said, wrinkling his nose at Eddie as he went to dump everything on the coffee table. He had briefly cleared it before Eddie had arrived, so everything he was working on was in neat files underneath it and at least not spread out on top of it.
No one wanted to see his scribbles about curses while they spent twenty minutes arguing over films. Really, Robin just enjoyed that Eddie would come around, they’d watch something, and they could both pretend that things were normal and friends just got to hang out and watch a film.
But, for now, the wireless was on still and Eddie was wrongly arguing that Channing Tatum was a great actor. Shoving some crisps into his mouth, Robin said, “Every time he makes a joke I go out of my way not to laugh. One of his movies would not be the right choice.”
"You go out of your way because it's funny and you're just being stubborn," Eddie insisted. "He may look like a thumb, but he's a funny thumb. And you'll like this one! There's crime!"
“What kind of crime can a funny thumb possibly solve?” Robin raised an eyebrow. “The thumb war murders?”
"He could be a victim in the thumb war murders," Eddie pointed out. He held up his thumbs, wiggling them. "Thumbs are weird. I would watch a film about—"
The wireless spiked in with its Important News Update music, and Eddie rolled his eyes. "Ugh, not again. Can we shut that off?"
“It’ll just be on every channel,” Robin said, sighing, though he stood as if he was going to turn it off anyway. He had only started to make his way across the room, stepping over Debbie, when the words the newscaster was saying registered: a large attack, Death Eaters and Order. Hogwarts.
Robin froze for a second, staring at the wireless. His mouth closed, lips thinning, and he turned very slowly to look at Eddie. “What?”
"Hogwarts?" Eddie repeated, at a loss for what else he could even say. "Why the hell would—" The details coming through the wireless were sparse, but he shut up just in time to hear the unconfirmed report that students were being evacuated to Hogsmeade. He looked up at Robin, alarmed.
A shaky breath escaped Robin, air that barely felt like it had been in his lungs before he let it out. His eyes were a little wild as he said, “My sister’s gonna be there, man.”
Eddie's own fears went unvoiced—the same that popped up every time Death Eaters clashed with the Order—and he simply nodded. He rose to his feet. "They probably—they'll have to contact your parents, right? Or do you think—"
“I don’t know,” Robin said, sucking in a breath. “I mean, they will but —” He stopped, biting down on his lip. He looked at Eddie — Eddie whose girlfriend was clearly in the Order. Rolf was going to be with her, with them, if they were fighting against the Death Eaters at a school. There was no way he wouldn’t.
He lifted a hand to his hair, pulling it through. “What do we do?” He sounded firm, like he knew he was going to do something, even though it was an idea born of nothing. “Let’s — we gotta.”
“We can’t get in the middle of&smash;” Eddie’s voice was low, and those words felt even more futile than usual. The wireless went on about Undesirable Number One, and Eddie scowled helplessly. What the hell was Potter doing at the school?
“We can get her out of there,” he said instead. Eddie couldn’t do anything to stop Alicia or the rest of the Gryffindors from fighting, he was sure, and he certainly couldn’t do anything about his father, but that was one thing he and Robin could do.
“What about,” Robin started and then trailed off, shrugging helplessly. “What about everyone else?”
Eddie's eyes searched around the room as if somehow, an answer would come to him. Finally, defeated and quiet, he said, "I don't know."
“Yeah,” Robin said, taking a deep breath and then another. He lifted a hand, but it hung in mid-air, useless. Gertie was there; Rolf was probably there; who knew who else was there?
“Right,” Robin said, as if he was making a decision and then he was shoving his feet into trainers, turning towards the door. “We’re going to — look I’ve got to do something so we’re going to make sure Gertie’s out and I’m going to, I dunno, stab someone.”
"We'll make sure she's out," Eddie agreed. He slipped on his shoes and made no promises about stabbing anyone.
"It's gonna be fine."
“Yeah, of course,” Robin said, voice a little rough. “Fine.” He turned towards Eddie, sticking his hand out and side-alonged him into Borgin & Burkes, the wards slipping past them, recognising him easily. He felt the spark of the magic and then a wild rush as he looked around. Everything in this shop was his, really: he could do what he wanted with it.
Looking at Eddie, he shrugged. “If we’re going, I’m not going without some kind of supplies, yeah? Grab whatever you think.” A beat and then, “Ask me before you make skin contact.”
Eddie side-eyed Robin, but made a quick search for a few things to take, if only to reassure Robin. He wasn't planning to do anything that involved cursed weapons, but after a quick signal to his friend to check, he picked up a knife (of course) and a cursed candlestick, because if it was good enough for Cluedo, it was good enough for now.
"Ready?"
Robin didn’t know. He didn’t know what he was hoping to do — get Gertie out of there, throw stuff at people who could help maybe, push a knife into the first person he saw who looked like they could possibly ever have hurt his sister. Still, there were a number of items in his grip when he nodded at Eddie. It made him feel like he was doing something.
“Ready.” He swallowed and then they were off, apparating to Hogsmeade with a loud crack.
When they appeared in a whirl, they were surrounded. Panicked parents and crying students were breaking the new curfew out in the streets. A couple of younger Ravenclaws Eddie recognized but couldn't name swarmed up to him and Robin, asking if they'd seen Maria, had anyone seen Maria? And Eddie felt overwhelmed and helpless even as he scanned the crowd for Gertie. "Do you see her?"
“No,” Robin said, his chest tight as he looked around. He could see a lot of people, a sea of faces, some of them familiar but none of them his sister. “No, not yet.”
It felt like it took forever. More faces and bodies, yelling, a sea of noise, Robin’s heart in his throat and then he saw her, her pale face turned away from him. Robin ran, then, trying not to shove over people smaller than him (a bit, at least), almost colliding with Gertie before she saw him.
“What are you do — oh, Rob.” Gertie blinked up at him, looking young and fearful in a way he should have expected but didn’t. “Where’s Mum? Where’s Dad?”
“Around here somewhere. Merlin, I’m glad to see you,” Robin said and then he turned, partly to look for Eddie and partly so she wasn’t aware how much he meant it. Gertie was still close to him, real and alive and Robin’s relief was palpable, so he was doing everything he could to hide it.
“Should we go hide out somewhere?” Robin asked Eddie.
What Eddie wanted to do more than anything was leave, get as far away as he could from any of it and deal with fallout later, but leaving when so many scared people couldn't felt wrong, too.
He tried not to think of all the people he cared about up in that castle.
"Gertie, what's even happening?" he asked.
“We’re getting out because the Death Eaters have come to kill everyone and probably definitely Harry Potter who is definitely there,” Gertie said, trying to sound matter of fact and adult, though she pulled her arms closer around her. “They’ve been fighting for ages. There were — I saw some bodies.”
Robin frowned more and reached out, fingers brushing against her arm. There was still a crowd around them, shouting, clambering for each other. He didn’t hug his sister, but he stood close to her.
“They’re killing people in Hogwarts, then,” he said, and tried not to think about the myriad of people he knew who could be up there. He looked at Eddie and then said, “It’s probably not her.”
Eddie's nod was rigid and quick. The last thing he'd done with Alicia was fight over that damn bug. "We can...we can find a place and wait. Until we know more. Right? And just stay close if we need to beat it out of here."
“Yeah,” Robin said, a flicker of concern passing across his face as he looked at Eddie. “Yeah, we can go wait. Hey, Gertie, you wanna knife just in case?”
Gertie’s nod was instant and the look she gave him very pointed as she said, “Course I do, dummy, hand it over.”
Lucius Malfoy & Narcissa Malfoy
It figured the first night Narcissa was allowed out of her home that she would be dragged to the Forbidden Forest, waiting for the Potter boy when the only face she wanted to see was her son’s. It figured she would be expected to play a role in this sham of a night, when she didn’t even have a wand because she’d given it to her son. It figured that they’d all gotten themselves into a situation that was much bigger than they’d anticipated and they’d dragged her son into it.
Careful to avoid the Dark Lord’s gaze, she tried to study the faces and masks of the gathered Death Eaters as surreptitiously as possible. None of them were Draco.
“Where is he?” she asked quietly, her cheek pressed to Lucius’s shoulder. She knew her husband likely didn’t know either, but that didn’t stop her from asking anyway.
After his own appraisal of the Death Eaters there, Lucius was relieved to have not spotted Draco there. He shook his head as surreptitiously as possible, signalling that he didn't know and hoping that it wouldn't draw any attention on them. The last thing he wanted was for the Death Eaters to turn their attention on them. He wished Potter would show up already; every second they waited felt like an eternity to him.
But although he didn't know where their son was, he felt like he needed to say something. "Safe," he decided. "He's smart."
“He is,” she agreed. That their son was smart, anyway. She couldn’t be so certain of his safety and that made her feel like a failure of a mother
Sitting there, though, with no idea where Draco was or if he was still in one piece, something within her was galvanized. The Fairbourne girl had disappeared without a trace and Narcissa had thought for sure the brand on the girl’s arm meant she would be dragged back to Malfoy Manor, kicking and screaming. She hadn’t. Because the all-knowing Dark Lord wasn’t as all-knowing as he would like them all to believe.
There was a noise like a twig snapping off in the distance and, like some of the others, she turned to see what it was, staying close to Lucius still. She whispered, “When we return to the castle, we need to find him. No matter what’s asked of us.”
Despite the hushed tones, Lucius couldn't help but be on edge. He stilled for a moment, holding his breath, waiting for someone to have heard — and then no one had and he slowly breathed out. What Narcissa said went against everything he knew to do, but there was less resistance to the idea than he thought there would be. He didn't want to be here, trapped in the forest waiting on someone who might never show up — and Potter probably wouldn't show up because it would be just like him to ruin their night — while their son was nowhere to be found. He nodded again and reached for Narcissa's hand. "We'll go as soon as we can."
Narcissa looked at Lucius now. She didn’t let anything telling like gratitude or relief flash across her face, though she felt them both in overwhelming measure. Instead she squeezed his hand, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards almost imperceptibly, before resuming her vigil at his side, her cheek pressed to his shoulder again. After a long moment, she murmured, “I love you.”
Lucius squeezed back, his fingers tightening around hers for a brief second, wanting the gesture to substitute for much more than it could. "I love you too," he said, and with more conviction in his voice than he felt, he added, "We'll be fine."
“We will,” she agreed softly, glad that through everything she had at least had Lucius at her side.
There was another noise and Narcissa turned to look again as two of the Death Eaters rejoined the group. Without the Potter boy. She felt a surge of apprehension, sure that it was plain on her face and hoping it wasn’t obvious why. She took a deep breath and exhaled shakily, quietly, before turning her attention to the Dark Lord, anxious to find out what came next.