Snape's family (Severus x OC)

6 Manticores and death eaters

Draco heard the scream, but had frozen, staring at the creature that had come out of the forest.

The manticore was as large as a hippogriff, it had a human head, a lion-shaped body and a scorpion's tail, with stingers aligned on both sides of the sharp tip.

Draco couldn't take his eyes off the beast's, which were red and flaming, and he watched as it opened its mouth, showing three rows of teeth, before roaring, imitating the sound of a thousand trumpets.

The manticore looked at Draco, who still hadn't moved despite Celine's calls, and charged at him. Draco knew he was in danger, but his mind had gone blank, and he didn't know what to do to defend himself.

"Accio!" Celine shouted, and Draco flew towards her.

They both fell to the ground with a dull thud and crawled back, stumbling, still staring at the manticore. The beast raised its tail above its head, as scorpions do, and fired the stinger from the tip at them. The projectile stuck into the floor, between Draco's open legs, and he leaned back further, crushing Celine.

"Move, come on!" she shouted, while the manticore took aim again. Draco wanted to grab the stinger, but Celine stopped him. "Do not touch it! Its poison will kill you in a matter of seconds," and she scurried out from under him.

The manticore pounced on them, preventing Draco from getting up, as it jumped on top of him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him with its claws. He couldn't move his arms, nor point his wand. The manticore arched its tail even further, and Draco could see the final stinger regenerate, hovering just inches from his face.

Celine attacked with fire, but the beast did not retreat, instead crushed Draco further.

Then, Adrien jumped off the tree and fell next to the manticore. He attacked it quickly, stabbing it with something in the side. The beast screeched with its trumpet voice and moved away from Draco, who moved away, feeling enormous pain in his chest. Celine grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the beast.

"Adrien!" she shouted, seeing that Adrien was not fleeing from the next attack. "No!"

"Climb the tree," he ordered, creating a kind of luminous shield around him.

The manticore roared and readied its stinger again, although this time the projectiles were fired in all directions.

Adrien reinforced his shield to prevent the stingers from reaching him, and Draco reacted on pure instinct: he grabbed Celine, who was struggling to get to her brother's side, and pulled her to the ground.

The whistle of the flying stingers made him lie down too, trying to cover the girl with his body. The shells fell around them with a cracking sound, a very short distance away from them. The manticore roared, probably because Adrien had attacked it again, and Draco cautiously lifted his head.

He tried to move but they were completely surrounded by the manticore's stingers, some so close that they grazed their clothing. He looked at Celine, as if she could give him the solution, but the girl was scared, and felt as helpless as he did.

The manticore continued making strange noises, and another stinger fired again, this time aimed at Adrien, but they didn't know what was happening, or if they should be more worried.

Draco reviewed the situation: he was on the ground, above Celine, a scene that would be quite interesting if they weren't surrounded by poisonous stingers and at the mercy of an angry manticore. They had no way to move without touching one of the projectiles, and they didn't know how much longer Adrien would be able to distract the beast.

"Do you have any idea?" Draco asked, looking towards Celine. She gave a nervous laugh.

"Many things come to mind, but unfortunately, they all end in poisoning," she replied. Her green eyes indicated that she was afraid, but she fought to remain calm. Suddenly, Celine looked over Draco's shoulder and smiled. "Harry!"