Ultimatums

Chapter 64

The Muggle holding centre was just as bleak as it always was. Thorfinn had been watching over it for Hermione, seeing as she only came in when absolutely necessary. Now it was. They were preparing for a fight, going through all the locks and keys, making sure the Muggles were shut in tight. Hermione was just following behind Thorfinn, watching him do his job. Until they got to Brian and Hannah Martins. Brian drew himself up against the bars, gripping them tight,

"You've nicked my daughter" he snarled. His hair was thinning, and the green eyes Lyra had inherited were dimmed.

Hermione pretended to act surprised. "Who?"

This seemed to anger him further. His wife just slumped against the wall, staring off into space. The preferable abductee. "My kid. Lisa"

It took everything not to correct him or slap him. Her hand was itching to slap him.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're speaking about"

She carried on walking, Thorfinn looking between them curiously.

The plan was coming along nicely and she wouldn't let them put a thorn in it. Lily and James had bought a furnished house in Godric's Hollow, telling Peter they lived there. They spent the day there when he would visit and they made him their secret keeper to lure Voldemort into the house. The plan had been Regulus's idea, though he only made it because of his desire to defeat the Dark Lord.

☎️

Lily grabbed her cauldron and levitated it to the living room. Everyone stood around it, Lily holding Harry's head away from it and kissing his thin hair. Hermione poured each vial of basilisk venom into the cauldron, the liquid hissing and spitting as it hit the bottom.

She grabbed the bag and handed to Regulus, levitating then Horcruxes out one by one.

The ring.

The locket.

The cup.

The diadem.

The diary.

They all watched as they were tossed into the cauldron. Bursts of green flame blurred their vision and swirls of screams twisted around theirs heads. Wind blew from the cauldron, strong gusts that rattled the photo frames and threatened the throw cushions. Lily took Harry upstairs, running up the steps urgently. You could hear her muttering under her breath, reassurances, though to who you couldn't be sure.

Hermione didn't know if the fire blared for hours or seconds, she lost all sense of time. The screams were so intense, so loud that she couldn't hear herself think. She couldn't concentrate.

It all stopped eventually.Everything does. The only remanent inside the cauldron was ash. Regulus swept some up on his finger and said "Now all we have to do is get him" before blowing the dust out completely.