A Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter 7

By the end of February, Moody had allowed Jason back on the field, but not before he and Kingsley had lectured him about how he needs to control himself and not to do anything foolish. Avenge him by staying alive and doing your duty.

Their eyes followed Jason's every move wherever he went. It was annoying, but he could live with it.

At least, their hunt for the last horcrux started again.

"The Dark Lord has essentially trapped the snake within a protective bubble. He only lets it out when he's inside his manor and is sure that there would be no harm to her." Regulus said.

"So, there's no way of getting the snake alone now?" Jason asked, mulling over what they could do now.

Regulus shook his head.

"So what? We just barge inside his castle to kill, what we think is probably his last horcrux?" Sirius tossed the ball at his brother, who caught it and immediately threw it back at him.

They were sitting by the Black Lake, wanting some fresh air and open spaces. They were trying their best to live a normal life, but it was very difficult without Remus.

Merlin, Jason missed the man so much.

"Ah yes, nothing is sweeter than suicidal mission, isn't it, brother?"

"No, you're right." They kept tossing the ball at each other, suggesting the wildest way they could kill Nagini.

"What if we let them inside Hogwarts?" Jason suggested, making his mom look incredulously at him.

"Look, our nephew has joined us too! I say, let's tie up several rats in the centre of Diagon Alley. That ought to bring it out. The feast would be too delicious for her to ignore." Sirius said, grinning at Lily who looked serious all of a sudden.

"Hey. What has got you in such deep thought, love?" His dad joined them near the lake, sitting beside his mom.

"What if we let them in?" She said, making the two brothers stop.

"What?" His dad looked confused.

"No." Regulus said. "No. Stop your thoughts right there, Lily. What you're thinking is just plain stupid."

"Let them in? And then what? We aren't even half of them, Lils. And what about the students–"

"Hear me out, Sirius. I am not telling you to let them in right now. Of course, I will never endanger the students." She signalled them to come closer.

Jason was immediately wary. The way his mother looked whenever she was strategizing always reminded him of someone he did not like to think about.

They sat in a circle, listening to her.

"What if we let them in during the vacations in May? Till then, we can find an alternate place for those who stay behind during summers too."

"And what about the embarrassingly small number of our people?"

"Let me finish, Black." She breathed in and looked at Jason.

"I am not sure whether I should tell you about it or not." There was guilt and steel in her eyes, as if she knew whatever she was suggesting was something he'd never do, but there was no stopping her.

"I am not a child, mom. I'll turn thirty next year, for Merlin's sake. I am fighting this war too–"

"Alright, alright. So, hear me out and please do keep an open mind."

He really wished Remus was here with them. Among the five of them, the werewolf had been the most level-headed one without being reckless or unnecessarily cruel. His parents and the two Black brothers, he wasn't proud to admit it, weren't as kind.

_________________________________________

"Are you even listening to yourself!?" Jason yelled, looking at her with shock and disbelief.

Lily sighed, looking at the others for help.

They looked as helpless as she did.

Letting the Death Eaters inside Hogwarts in the middle of the war was way too risky, no matter how much they prepared for it. Not that anyone would even agree to it. The only people who might, were sitting in front of her. (Except for her son.)

Not that he would disagree with working against Moody and Shacklebolt, but it was her plan to reduce the number of Death Eaters in Voldemort's rank.

Sirius was correct. Their number was painfully less compared to the Death Eaters. That was their first problem among a number of others.

But she had an idea. A cold, cruel idea. Something that she was not proud of but she was ready to do it to lessen the number of Death Eaters and their supporters drastically.

Lily had, over the years, created a spell which would connect to a person's blood and would kill everyone with the same blood within a set amount of time.

Now, the problem was that the British wizarding world was too entangled. Everyone was related to someone in one or the other way. There was a probability that the spell might even kill half of Britain even if they used it on one person.

So, she had tweaked it a little bit, with at least forty-five percent of the DNA needed in a person to kill them. It narrowed the range of people they could target, but the number of people who would die was still large.

The spell might erase off an entire family, innocent or otherwise, but it was a step she was ready to take. They had already lost too many people to this war.

She looked at her friends and was relieved to see the same resignation and determination on their faces.

They nodded at her, making her turn at her son.

Jason had joined the Order at the age of seventeen, as soon as he had graduated. Ever since then, he'd been an active member and a kind of idol for the Resistance. He'd fought and bled, but Jason had never killed. He did use spells like imperio and crucio once in a while, but he'd never taken a life. He would never put an innocent in harm's way. Jason was a very moral person in that way, and Lily did not want her war-hardened heart to contaminate his pure soul.

"It will be alright, sweetheart."

"No-- whatever you're planning, it's wrong. For god's sake you're talking about killing innocent peo--"

An orange spell hit Jason in the back, making him lose consciousness.

"Are we sure we're doing this?" James asked, kneeling down beside Jason.

"Yes." She answered resolutely. Sirius and Regulus nodded at him.

Lily kneeled beside her husband and raised her wand near their son's head.

"Obliviate."

Letting the Death Eaters in Hogwarts would be the end of the war, whatever the outcome might be.