Stare Into The Abyss

Chapter 5: Jennifer

It was odd, she supposed.

It was very odd how she had adapted so easily to what her life had become. She'd always thought that spying would involve dangerous missions, evil and tension lurking around every corner.

And, well, it was. Most of the time that is. But the mundane this, like brushing your hair, washing your clothes, and having breakfast were also very many things that needed to happen.

She had never considered that she would be playing pop-poker with a wanted criminal who had killed at least 20 aurors, or that a cannibal would be teaching her how to play violin (wouldn't Lily be proud?).

And so, when the alert came that Aurors were coming, she was just busy hanging her clothes on a wash line.

The easy and relaxed atmosphere that had been present in the garden was gone in an instant and replaced by a practiced frenzy. Narcissa grabbed both her and Draco and began pulling them through the hallways.

"Mom! Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe, this is not something for children to see, and you're too important to be hurt now."

"Jen, you-" Narcissa turned to Jennifer, only to stop in the middle of her sentence when she noticed that she was missing.

"Where did she go?" She demanded from her son.

Draco looked just as shocked as her to find her missing. "I-I don't know."

Narcissa took a deep breath. It would be mere minutes until the Aurors would break through the warding around the house.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." She pushed Draco to the fireplace. "I'll go look for her, you go on ahead. I will be right behind you, okay."

Draco nodded, tears threatening to spill over.

"I love you." She kissed his forehead and pushed him into the fireplace.

Where the hell had that blasted girl run off to?

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''

When the alarm rang, Jay knew it was now or never.

In the resulting chaos, everyone was trying to pack things, make their getaway, or prepare for a fight. And it had left Nagini's room unprotected.

While disillusioned she snuck into the room, the squeaky hinges ruining her chance of surprising the snake. It twisted around and gave off a warning hiss.

Jay clutched her spear with the basilisk fang as tip hard. This might be her only chance of killing the monstrous thing and giving them a fighting chance.

She slowly crept towards it, well aware that even the slightest misstep could mean that these few months were for naught.

Only for her to step on a loose floorboard and almost fall down. Nagini lunged at her, but she was quicker throwing herself to the side and rolling to her knee. She stabbed at it but missed.

The disillusionment had worn off and now Nagini saw who she had in front of her.

"Sister, you would wound me?" It hissed.

"Of course, your existence is a disgrace, to begin with."

Nagini lunged again, but this time she blocked it with the spear. Nagini wrapped herself around the spear and much to her despise she had to drop it.

Now unarmed she faced Nagini, who snapped the spear in half. Her ears popped. The Aurors had gotten through the wards. She was out of time and didn't have a weapon.

"You foolish little girl. Do you really think you can face our master?"

"Your master." She says in disgust. "I will never bow to that monster."

Before she knew it, she was on her back with Nagini coiling around her.

"You should never have betrayed us. You could have had it all, but now you will die."

The snake opened its huge jaw, ready to swallow her like she had seen it eat many others, but she still had one little trick up her sleeve.

She held out her hand and yelled, "ACCIO!".

The spearhead came flying towards them and lodged itself into Nagini's side.

With an unholy screech the creature began jerking and spasming and with every second she felt its grip loosen on her. It began flaking off into black shreds, eventually leaving nothing except a mass of black on the floor.

Jennifer sighed a breath of relief knowing that she had accomplished what she had come here for, what she had sacrificed so much for.

Only to have that relief be ruined when she felt a coldness spreading through her.

Confused, she looked down and saw what was causing it. The tip of the spear was poking out of her side. It wasn't even in for half a centimeter, but it was plenty for her to feel the effects.

Down the hall, she could hear spells being yelled and screams of agony. She got up and after a few seconds of willing the world to stop tilting made for the door.

"Over there!" She heard someone yell. She didn't look back however and instead focused on the single task of getting out of there before the Aurors would get to her, or the poison killed her.

She rounded a corner only to be spotted by even more Aurors and ended up in the servant's elevator. Thankfully, despite her growth spurt over the summer, she was still small enough to fit in it.

She blew out its bottom and took the rope down. It was only three floors but the poison in her veins was making it nearly impossible to hold onto the rope. She fell on the last floor and landed hard on her side. Her hearing blurred out and she could barely feel the pain from the fall through the coldness in her.

She twisted to the side and saw her destination, the fireplace in the basement which the house elves used. Standing was no longer possible and so she began to crawl. It was hard on her; her joints were stiff in a way they had never been before and the few meters towards the fireplace might as well have been a marathon.

Still, she made it there. She had no clue how, because her memory had blacked out about half of it, for which she was grateful.

She grabbed a handful of Floo-powder (way too much her mind supplied). And managed to floo herself out of there.

The world was too much. That was what she thought in those hectic few moments in the floo system. Eventually, she tumbled out into someone's living room. Where she was, was a mystery to her.

It didn't matter, because, with the last strength she had, she sent off a call for help to Neville and Severus.

She was on her back, foam frothing at her mouth and having painful muscle spasms when a dark figure settled over her.