The Death Eaters in the Dolohov dining room were boring of one another's company and about to break apart for the evening. Lucius and Narcissa were already gone and the Crabbes were just about to leave. The hearth lit bright green and everyone turned to see who was arriving.

First was Fenrir Greyback, followed by Bellatrix and Rudolphus Lestrange.

"How did it go?" Dolohov asked, seeing the three of them. He smirked at Greyback's sour expression. "Not well, I assume by the poor mutt's attitude?"

"Fuck off," Greyback barked and he slouched over to the table and grabbed a plate, quickly helping himself to the dinner that still lay spread across the table. "I already heard your mission was a mess tonight as well, so you can hold off on your piousness, Dolohov."

"At least mine ended well. Wouldn't you say, Blagojevic?"

Blagojevic nodded slowly, "I suppose so. We have yet to retire to discuss the finalities of the treaty in all the... excitement...  But what we've discussed thus far seems in order." He took a sip from his flask of blood and said, "And it was interesting to see the your Lord in action, to know the sort of strength he possess against his enemies."

"Speaking of which, where is the little bitch?" Bellatrix cooed. "I'm bored." She cackled and started for the stairs.

"The Dark Lord said not to touch her," Severus Snape said coldly from the table. He stared with a look of disgust as Greyback started shoving cuts of meat into his mouth eagerly.

"We'll tell him that she tried to escape and we had to stop her!" Bellatrix sing-songed.

Snape scowled, "You're a fool if you think he wouldn't know precisely the truth the moment you began your lie. The Dark Lord can --" 

He was cut off by a shrill sound like a screaming, howling that filled the entire room - a noise he felt more than he really heard it.

Every one of them looked up. Barty covered his ears, eyes wide with panic. Bellatrix started laughing in her loud and cackling way. "OR MAYBE SHE REALLY IS TRYING AT ESCAPING!" she shrieked with excitement - and she made a mad dash for the stairs, wand drawn.

It was a caterwauling charm.

"An enemy has entered the gates," Antonin Dolohov said. He got up quickly, his countenance darkening and a grin spreading over his mouth, "The Dark Lord was right. Her friends come for her." He looked to Greyback. "Hope you saved some of your appetite."

Greyback laughed as he climbed to his feet.

Severus Snape looked at Blagojevic, who looked back at him, both assessing the other for a moment... and then Blagojevic was on his feet and following after the other Death Eaters, also drawing his wand, though discreetly, tucking it into the sleeve of his shirt so it wasn't easily seen.

Snape rose slowly and followed. Whose side would he fight on? he wondered as he walked.

Upstairs, Bellatrix Lestrange had wrenched open the door of the room where they'd laid Alice Longbottom and shrieked when she'd found the room empty - the bed vacated, the wand missing from the dresser. The windows were still closed, though, so she yanked open the closet door and violently pushed aside the clothes and things within, searching for Alice. She blasted a spell under the bed, shattered the doors of a wardrobe, and then went into the hall, shoving open doors and casting revelio spells into each room, her mouth pucked into a toothy sneer and her breath coming in deep gasps as though she were smelling the air as she moved quickly and strategically through the house, checking everywhere. There was a back stair - dark and twisted that led from the upstairs to the kitchen in one direction and up into the attic in the other. 

She heard a scrape of wood in the ceiling and grinned, racing up into the attic.

"I'll find you," she called out in a childish way, like a kid making up a voice for a ghost story, and she cackled in amusement as she shot a spell at a trunk which blasted it apart and old clothes and photographs fell to the floor. She stepped on them carelessly as she walked past in the dark. The attic was lit only by one small round window at the far end, the rafters exposed under foot so that one had to carefully step on the beams and not between them.

Alice was crouched behind a pile of boxes close to the far wall, her eyes on the round window, deciding if she could fit through it or not. It was a very small window, but she was also a very small girl, and she bit her lip, knowing if Bellatrix got much closer she wouldn't be able to do it. Every second she hesitated was a second closer the crazy witch got and Alice trembled with fear for a just a moment longer before she shoved the feeling out of herself and leaped to her feet, running for the window.

Bellatrix had been looking the other direction and the initial sound of Alice getting up was covered by the still sounding caterwauling charm and she didn't turn 'round 'til Alice was already at the window.

"Bombarda!" Alice cried, light bursting from her wand and exploding the window. She threw herself through a rain of glass as it blew, pushing herself into the window frame. Blood drew across her palms as she gripped the frame. Her torso was out in the night air, palms against the outside of the house and she was nearly through --

"Carpe retractum!" Bellatrix's wand burst with bright white-hot light - a rope like band of magic flying through the air and grabbing hold of Alice's ankle, yanking her back, tearing her shirt, smearing the blood from her palms on the house. She slid back across the rafters, bumpy, but before she reached Bellatrix, she turned and fired a stinging hex, which made Bellatrix shriek and faltered. The spell released and Alice lunged again for the window. 

She slipped out and fell onto the slightly slanted bit of roof just below the window, rolling downward right to the edge. She kicked and caught a drain pipe, slowing her enough that she was able to shoot a spell - she copied Bellatrix's and the light from Alice's wand shot through and caught onto a chimney so that when her legs flew over the edge of the roof, she was hanging on just by the magic from her wand. She screamed, four floors up off the ground, legs flailing, fingers clutching her wand already white from clinging so tightly.

Below, chaos was underway, flashes and shouted curses, hexes, and charms echoed in the square and she could see the Death Eaters and the members of the Order as she swung, suspended by the rope of magic, her grip struggling.

There was a crack and a flash of shadow overhead and she saw Bellatrix Lestrange looming, looking down at her from the roof, silver-grey eyes flashing, hair grotesquely voluminous and wildly whipping in the wind that blew over the rooftops, her bright-red painted mouth standing out dark against her pale skin that seemed even more pale in the moon's light. She cackled and shot the same stinging spell at Alice as she'd done to Bellatrix in the attic and Alice swung herself to avoid the jet of light. This was good fun, so Bellatrix shot several more at her. Alice managed to avoid most of them, but finally one caught her and, like Bellatrix had done, she faltered, and the carpe retractum broke, the rope holding her up disappeared with a crackle and she lost the grip of her wand and she fell, the wand falling along side her but not in her grasp. Bellatrix's laugh echoed loudly, shrieking and horribly high pitched as she watched Alice fall toward the paved patio square below.

Bellatrix disapparated from the roof and as she spun head over heels, Alice saw her reappear below, grinning up, watching as Alice fell through the air. Alice screamed - the ground rushing up at her. She closed her eyes, unable to watch the earth flying up as she flew down. Would she die? Or would it just shatter her and leave her alive to feel the aftermath? Bellatrix would kill her, but Voldemort had warned her that his Death Eaters were cruel - would Bellatrix torture her further if she lived through the fall?

"Arresto momentum!"

Frank Longbottom had broken away from the fray behind him, running toward the house.

The spell hit Alice and her body jerked to a stop midway through the fall, about twelve feet from the ground, as though she'd been caught by an invisible hand that up held her - like a bungee jumper reaching the end of the rope, a jerk and then she hung, suspended in the air.

Bellatrix turned and shot a blasting spell at Frank. The ground at his feet exploded and he stumbled backwards, the arresto releasing and Alice screamed as she fell again. But even splayed on the ground, Frank threw another arresto, stopping her again just five feet from the ground.

"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix screamed and the bolt of electric power struck Frank in the stomach. Alice fell the last five feet, but she'd managed to get her legs under her and it was as though she'd jumped that last distance - still painful as the landing jolted through her bones, but she wasn't broken, at least - but Frank now lay convulsing before Bellatrix, who cackled loudly and sang out, "Does it hurt, little boy? Does it burn?"

"Stop hurting him, you bitch!" Alice screamed and she lunged herself at Bellatrix, having not yet collected her wand from the ground - she hadn't seen where it landed. Her hands splayed against Bella's back as she shoved the tiny witch and Bellatrix stumbled, her heeled boots wobbling on the uneven ground she stood on. 

Frank went limp on the patio, choking for air, trembling.

"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix shrieked, aiming for Alice this time, but Alice slapped at her at the same moment and Bellatrix's wand was mis-aimed, the spell hitting the side of the house with a burst of light and a spray of broken brick.

Frank was pushing himself up from the ground, shakily, but up just the same. He scrambled for Alice's wand and hurried over, throwing Alice her wand and striking Bellatrix with a pushback charm so that she stumbled backwards. She hissed and recovered from the pushback, turning and cackling as she engaged Alice and Frank, spells flying between the three of them - two on one - at least until Rudolphus spotted them and went to join in so that it was Alice and Bellatrix and Frank and Rudolphus, fighting together - a twisted sort of couples' battle raging between the four of them, a stupid grin of amusement playing over Rudolphus's face as he bit out spell after spell, Frank practically dancing around them as they struck the ground and the wall behind him, Rudolphus similarly dodging and ducking Frank's own spells.

Meanwhile, in the square, there were spells being shot every which way and in the chaos that was happening, a fire had caught to tree, which burned like a huge torch, lighting everything up in a flickering, red light that gave the fight a hellish glow.

They'd arrived in Ovington Square without a problem - disapparating in two stops from Hogsmeade to London - and plans had gone just fine - until they'd opened the gate of the square and it was then that the caterwauling charm had sounded. It wailed on and on and on over the sound of the fight and the roar of the fire in the tree. Evan Rosier were ganged up on Remus Lupin, and a few feet away Edwin Crabbe fought with Elphinstone Urquart while Emmaline fought against Barty Crouch. Marlene and McGonagall faced Dolohov himself and Lily, who had been fighting Rudolphus until he turned to go against Frank and Alice with Bellatrix, was striking as needed. There were loud cracks and more Death Eaters were appearing, masked and in dark cloaks so that their identities were unseen, and she found herself quickly re-engaged with another - and Urquart was forced to fight two at once - Crabbe and one of the masked figures, one on each side of him.

In the midst of everything, no one noticed that Blagojevic - a vampire who was supposedly non-magic - was fighting, too, discreetly shooting spells into the fight, stunning Death Eaters from the sidelines. Likewise, no one noticed that Severus Snape was doing the same, silent spells shooting from his wand as he tried to push his way through to where Lily was slashing her wand against the Death Eaters that fought her.

Suddenly an invisible hand grabbed hold of Severus, yanking him from the crowded square with force and he turned as he was pulled to the sidewalk outside of the private square, dragged 'round the corner. It was strangely silent on the street, away from the fighting. But Severus Snape found himself unable to shake off the grip on himself until suddenly Albus Dumbledore shivered into view.

Severus blinked in surprise at this show of power - a wizard able to make himself invisible without even a cloak to do it? That was impressive and despite himself, Severus couldn't help but stare slack-jawed in awe at Dumbledore as he faded into view. Dumbledore smiled, "Severus," he said, "Just the man I wished to talk to."

"To me?" Severus asked, he laughed, and asked, "Haven't you noticed there's a battle happening just in there and --"

"I have noticed, yes, but my purpose for being here is to speak to you more than it is to fight."

Inside the square, Lily let out a scream as Fenrir Greyback lunged at her, his mouth grinning, his carved teeth bared and she slashed her wand but he caught her wrist with his hand and spun her, twisting her into him so that her back hit his chest and his arm was wrapped over his collar bone and ribs, squeezing her tightly against him. She could smell him as he leaned over her shoulder, laughing and leering and she let out another scream, kicking her feet as his second arm grabbed her wand arm and shook her wand from her fist.

"Circumrota!" 

Greyback was spun about, releasing Lily, who fell to the ground and grappled for her wand.

Remus Lupin stood before Greyback, then, Evan Rosier lay stunned and bound on the ground behind him. 

"You again? Salazar, how many times do I have to fuckin' deal with you?" Greyback growled, seeing Remus.

"Dunno, you'd think you'd have learned your lesson by now," Remus growled back and a jet of red light struck Greyback across the face, blood spurting from a gash that appeared there, as though he'd been cracked by a whip.

"Bastard," hissed Greyback and he slashed his wand at Remus. Remus dodged the jets of light, moving as though he could anticipate each strike of Greyback's, and shooting back his own spells and curses. Greyback reacted just as nimbly as Remus was doing and their magic clashed and cracked, sparks flying through the air as the jets crisscrossed each other.

Suddenly, there were several loud cracks and Gideon Prewett, James Potter, and Sirius Black appeared in the square. "YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE'S ARRIVED FUCKERS!" Sirius shouted, and without any hesitation, he flung himself into the fray, shouting spells - and within moments there was added to the great commotion the squawking of ducks as they spurted from the wands of Death Eaters in great flocks.

Gideon shook his head, "Gods alive he's mental --" and he was off into the fight as well.

James found Lily, ducking under - well, ducks - and dodging spells shooting from Remus and Greyback. He pulled her to her feet. "Alright Evans?" he shouted.

"Thank gods you're here!" she shouted and she wrapped her arms around his neck quickly, then let go and turned so they were back to back, protecting one another in the midst of everything. "What happened - with - with you and Sirius? Dumbledore said - Gideon - was - working with you - at the Ministry?" Lily shot spells between the words.

"Long story Evans," James called over his shoulder, his wand flashing red sparks as he cut and jabbed, "Sirius will likely tell it better than I could ever. You know how he is, with storytelling!"

"He does paint colorful pictures," she answered and slashed at one of the masked figures so that their mask was blown back from their face and she found herself staring into the eyes of Lyra Greengrass. James was blasting another masked figure who shot a spell at his legs and he jumped over the spell like a children's playground game as Lily and Lyra began dueling behind him. Lily could feel his back hitting hers, reassuring that he was still moving and fighting as she did the same.

Gideon had found his own personal target - Matijas Blagojevic - among the crowded yard and engaged him - and Blagojevic shouted at him, "You know what you're doing, don't you?"

"I do," Gideon shouted. "Keeping you covered!"

They dueled - the connection between twins keeping them always one up on one another so that their duel looked just as real as any other on the square, yet neither being in danger as they fought. They met one another with blasts and shields that cracked and sparked loudly, impressive-looking from the outside, and sure to give the mind that Blagojevic was fighting just as fiercely for the Death Eaters as any one of them were actually doing.

Gideon let out a laugh and Blagojevic's eyes flashed with quiet amusement as he moved.

As ducks flew through the smoke cover that had filled the square, the tides were slowly changing in the favor of the Order, though they'd started out numbered. Marlene used a clever charm to accelerate growth of some of the hedges - boxing in Death Eaters so that they were caged in thorny brush, and Emmaline had Barty cornered when Sirius shot one of his marmalade spells and coated Barty with the sticky orange stuff so that he slipped and fell and in a panic disapparated away.

However on the patio, Rudolphus had struck Frank had enough that Frank's right shoulder was dislocated and though he still struck and shot with the left - which as luckily his wand arm - he was weakening and Alice was dizzy - the injuries she'd sustained earlier in the night overcoming her so that her tenacity was wearing thin. James jumped in, then, and blasted the pavement directly between the Lestranges, causing them both to fall back.

"Go to Mungo's! Both of you!" he shouted at the Longbottoms. "We've got this, we're winning."

Frank hesitated.

"Go on!" James shouted, and he looked at Alice, who seemed ready to drop from exhaustion, and Frank nodded, hurrying to Alice and wrapping his good arm around her, wincing at the pain in the other and with a crack the pair of them disapparated away.

Rudolphus and Bellatrix recovered from their falls and converged on James at once. He grit his teeth and fought against them, slashing - jabbing - things exploding and bricks flying into the air. Suddenly Lily was at his side again - Lyra Greengrass stunned on the ground where they'd been fighting. The Potters were shoulder to shoulder and the twisted couples' game restarted, the Potters taking over where the Longbottoms had been.

A loud sound like thunder sounded overhead and there was a great crack of lightning that shot across the sky and James looked up. Rudolphus struck him in the chest with a spell that sent James stumbling backward and Lily turned to catch his arm. Bellatrix shot a spell that flew past Lily and hit Gideon Prewett in the shoulder. Gideon's spell misfired then, and Blagojevic's spell actually hit Gideon as well - though he'd been expecting it to hit a shield charm. Gideon let out a shout of pain and dropped to his knees and Blagojevic reacted -- rushing forward to his knees as well. "Giddy!" he shouted, and Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes flashed.

"IMPOSTER!" she shrieked, "ANOTHER IMPOSTER!" 

Rudolphus looked and saw Blagojevic helping Gideon up and he laughed, threw one last spell in the direction of the Potters, which had Lily stumbling into James, who caught her before she fell, and the Lestranges turned to Blagojevic and Gideon. 

Both struck at once - both Gideon and Blagojevic-Fabian were hit with the cruciatus and they both fell to the ground with shouts.

James and Lily rushed to try to help but were cut off by a sudden burst of shadow as a masked Death Eater disapparated between them and the Lestranges. A cold laugh came from behind the mask, and Lily shot a spell that was easily blocked and redirected. It hit Remus from the side as Greyback was lunging toward him and Greyback's spell shoved Remus backward against the outer wall of the house with a crunch. Remus winced and Greyback laughed heartily.

His laughter was struck from his face when Remus used all the strength in his knee to kick him squarely and Greyback let out a grunt. 

"Oh excellent job, my darling!" shouted Sirius, his barking laugh carrying over the fight. "Possibly just as effective as a good neutering charm, that was!"

Remus had no time to react to this as Evan Rosier had been released by another Death Eater and struck Sirius in the back and as Sirius went down, Remus growled loudly and slashed Evan across the chest with that nasty whip charm. "Don't you fucking dare touch him!" Remus shouted and he blasted Evan to the ground, his eyes flashing. He walked over and stared into Evan's face. "Did you know that there's a pufferfish which is extremely poisonous? It can kill you. Fugu it's called. Sounds an awful lot like fuck you, doesn't it, Evan?"

"Even in a fight the Remcyclopedia's alive and well!" James laughed.

Remus turned and grabbed Sirius's hand, pulling his husband to his feet.

When the Prewetts threw off the cruciatus curses, Rudolphus cast a spell and the polyjuice effect was wiped away from Blagojevic completely - it had begun to falter already during the fight but he was fully revealed now and the Lestranges were now doubled up on the twins, who slashed their wands...

Greyback was back to his feet and he threw himself at Sirius and Remus and Sirius was thrown once again by another spell from Evan, though this time Remus was engaged with Greyback again and Sirius turned to fight Rosier himself as James shot a spell into the back of a Death Eater who had cornered McGonagall and Lily went to reengage Lyra Greengrass with Marlene across the square.

There was a shout and Sirius was on the ground, stunned, and Rosier turned, joining the Lestranges against the Prewetts - three on two - and Barty Crouch slashed his wand across Emmaline's chest so that her blouse burst with blood. Marlene shouted, turning away from Lyra so that Lily was on her own with the girl, rushing to Emmaline as Emma fell backward onto the grass. Lyra shot a spell at the side of Lily's face which sent stars across Lily's vision and Lyra laughed before being promptly stunned by James.

Gideon shot a spell intended for Rudolphus and missed - it shot through the air, striking Greyback, who turned from Remus, who he'd pushed violently against the wall of the house again, so hard that a crack had gone up through Remus's back and the breath left him so he was sputtering for air and scrambling to find his wand, which had been knocked out of hand. Greyback joined Evan and the Lestranges - four on two as the twins fought, back to back, their eyes wild.

James hurried toward the circle of Death Eaters that were converging upon Gideon and Fabian, intending to help when there was a crack an Antonin Dolohov had appeared before him. Anger flashed over Antonin's face and he struck James point blank in the chest with a cruciatus that sent James to the ground - a thousand flashbacks of his time with Voldemort coursing through him and he let out a cry of pain that was so much deeper than the skin. It was like something dark black had opened up inside of him and his eyes went unfocused and he fell backward to the ground.

Lily screamed and ran for James as he stumbled and fell backwards onto the grass.

Dolohov laughed and turned, joining the fray surrounding the Prewetts.

Five on two.

"Enough of this," he said and he pointed his wand into the midst of the circle. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"