Freedom (Amadeus/Erik)

[natalia]

Nat paced back and forth, the feeling of using her legs an odd one. Sure, she had once in awhile been taken to some strange room here and there, but that was often being dragged across icy stone floors. But she needed the stretching, the practice. Tonight she would run, and she would run as fast as she could handle. Although this dark cell stretched for an eternity into darkness above her, but the space across was minimal.

Even as she walked, stretching her weary legs, she couldn’t believe the reality of her situation. It was as if she had spent the last months in a foggy haze, unaware of the place she had found herself in. She hadn’t even known it had been months until Amadeus had appeared out of the darkness, talking about summer. Summer. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, as if she could imagine the scent of summer blumes. She opened her eyes, stretching her arms above her head, a slight gasp of delight at the feeling of life in her limbs escaped her lips.

”Shut up,” someone called in the darkness as she did so, but she shook her head. Normally she would have obeyed, realized that those like her needed the silence and their own thoughts to keep them tied to themselves. But that would all be over. The time was finally here for her to run. Of course, death was a possibility, a rather large one at that. She had seen it in Amadeus’ eyes. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid, but there was some other unspeakable emotion swelling inside her, growing since Amadeus had brought her that crimson apple that morning. Some sort of hope. Excitement. Death might be well worth it.

[amadeus]

Amadeus had used to be schemer, he hadn't known that he would have it in him again, not after the hell he had been dragged through for nearly the past few years, but he had been unable to escape it. He'd gathered the few supplies he'd be able to carry, and waited. He'd lain in his bed for hours, listening as the expensive grandfather clock in the hall outside his room chimed the hours. Finally, he listened to the deep gong let out a single deep bong! that resonated through the marble halls, and he stood, walking over to his desk and picking up his wand and a small pouch.

He just prayed that it would work, he'd been studying and attempting for months, now was the time to put it to the test. Taking a deep breath, Amadeus focused, and the shift began. Where there had once been a boy of fifteen was now a silvery fox with pale blue eyes and pure platinum white markings on the muzzle and underbelly. It had worked. Snatching up the wand and pouch in his teeth, Amadeus hurriedly slinked down the hall and to the cellar door, which had conveniently been left just ajar enough for his sleek body to fit through.

The small fox sneaked noiselessly past the single Death Eater who was sitting at something of a desk, mindlessly turning a rat into a teacup, and back to a rat again. There was no time to waste. Amadeus ran to the cell at the end, slipping easily between the bars before transforming back, breathing heavily, he hadn't realised that he'd be able to do it so seamlessly, but the worst was far from over. Not wasting any time, Amadeus pulled a small flask from the pouch, reaching up to yank out a few of his hairs and stuffing them into it. "It's weak," said Amadeus very quietly, "we'll only have about fifteen minutes."

[natalia]

Natalia’s head lifted at the sound of breathing, turning to find Amadeus in her cell, panting ever so slightly. It must be night, as suddenly he was here, brandishing a pouch. His presence was her only clue, as it was always the color of night. Even though she had waited for him breathlessly, she winced at the sight of him, the presence of another person. Of Amadeus, who elicited that odd spark of hope. She strained to hear him as he spoke.

Polyjuice, she figured, as he dropped his silvery hairs into the flask. He handed her the flask and she nodded, showing she understood. She reached for the flask, hands trembling from the suspense and excitement. Despite the severity she felt a grin playing across her lips, smiling at him over the flask. Thank-you she mouthed before plugging her nose, the putrid smell stinging her nose. Downing it, Nat paused, wondering if the sour drink would bring what little contents she had in her stomach forward as she heard it bubble.

She closed her eyes, feeling as her skin stretched, probably to allow Amadeus’ considerable height. The icy air hit the now bare nape of her neck, hair receding into her head as she lifted her hands, looking at their clean appearance, much paler than her usual Italian olive, although she saw little difference in the color she had recently taken on in this dark chamber. She grasped at her chest, heart roaring in her chest, afraid it might echo around them.

”Fifteen minutes,” she whispered, wincing slightly at the lower rumble she felt in her chest, rubbing at the flat expanse. She hadn’t thought herself too endowed beforehand, but it felt odd, that constant weight she had once carried having vanished. She looked back at Amadeus, wincing as she found herself at his eye level, feeling like she was almost able to see everything in his eyes. Almost. ”What about you?” she insisted in little more than a whisper.

[amadeus]

Amadeus watched as Nat plugged her nose and downed the Polyjuice. The transformation was almost instant- making her into a carbon copy of himself, it was certainly odd, like looking into a living mirror. He wondered, if she were to roll up her sleeves if the scars and cuts on his own arms would be on hers... Amadeus blinked, they were wasting time, there wasn't a minute to spare. He shrugged off his robes and draped them around Natalia's shoulders to cover her prison clothes, reaching again into his pouch for an antiquated, rusty key. Bending his arm between the bars, he unlocked the door with a heavy clang and pushed it open.

He turned back to Nat when she asked in his voice, what about him. Apparently she hadn't seen him. But the Death Eaters assigned guard this late were thick, they wouldn't look down... "Just follow the fox," said Amadeus, and held out his wand to his temporary clone, "and take this." Discarding the now empty pouch before closing his eyes, Amadeus again shifted into the silver fox. Looking over his shoulder with eyes the same colour as when he was human, Amadeus twitched the end of his tail before padding out into the corridor and ducking behind a column.

He kept his eyes on Natalia, urging him to come forward and also hide behind the column. He'd lead the way out, and if all went well, nobody would know the difference. But if someone were to notice Natalia missing before they got off the grounds... Amadeus didn't even want to think about that. This was the only plan he had, there was no other escape route, this just had to be pulled off, or they were both as good as dead. Putting his nose in the air, he sniffed.

His sense of smell was a lot keener as a fox, he could smell the remaining prisoners in their cells, and the Death Eaters, three of them. Two were a ways off, and the third was at the makeshift desk near, conveniently, the only exit. That was the only one that Amadeus was concerned about, that, and if there was anyone right outside the door that might catch them leaving. But they had to move. He dashed forward to the next column, continually sniffing the air, in case anything were to change...

[natalia]

Nat nodded her thanks as he offered her the robes, pulling them over her shoulders for her. She was shocked at how broad her shoulders now were, stretching up to ensure that the rags of her prison attire was covered. She lifted a hand habitually through what would have been her long raven curls, but found only smooth, short hair greeting her touch. She looked at her hand, still stunned at the feeling of wearing the skin of Amadeus.
Bringing her attention back to the current situation, she flinched as every noise seemed to echo around them, clearly audible and resonate above her companions snoring. She cringed, waiting for the sound of a hex or a curse, but none came. When she relaxed, she found herself looking down at a slender fox, looking up at her with that guarded look Amadeus always had. ”Impressive,” she breathed, raising her eyebrows at the stunt. She had to admit, that was not only powerful, but…it required intelligence.
Nat watched the silvery fox dart off into the darkness as she followed, careful to keep all weight on the balls of her feet, holding her breath as she did so. Sure, she looked like Amadeus, but she didn’t feel like Amadeus. Every thought in her mind that wasn’t screaming for her to remain silent was displaying horrid scenarios of her being found out. Blood staining his silky fox fur. Her stomach tied into a tight knot, breath caught in her throat as she followed him from column to column.
She knelt down behind the second column, eyes locking with the sleek fox, watching as he sniffed. She stared into the darkness, aware that there was always some form of a guard watching that exit. Had Amadeus come down here as Amadeus? If he hadn’t come in…how would he leave? What should she say? Should she say anything? She looked desperately down at him, wondering if this was worth his life.

[amadeus]

Amadeus paused, large rounded ears twitching slightly, listening for noise. A prisoner moaned in their sleep, a low, mournful sound. There was pain here, suffering, and the sorry souls locked up here didn't get respite even in slumber. Amadeus crept forward, suddenly aware of how bright his silvery fur was in the dimness of the dungeon, of course he couldn't have been an ordinary reddish-brown fox, no, even as an animal he had to be pale and attention-grabbing. He pressed forward, continually hiding behind columns before proceeding to the next, thanking whatever God may exist for his family's overtly traditional tastes in architecture.

They were getting nearer to the desk, just one more column until the staircase. The guard poised nearest the door was still messing with the rat, only now he was turning it to a water goblet and back instead of a teacup. Amadeus watched him a moment, he would likely hear them, or at least Nat, pass by. But she was smart, surely she could talk her way out of this, he was small enough to slip past unnoticed, and his paws wouldn't make much noise against the stairs, she just needed to be able to say something smart to get past the man.

Amadeus turned his head over his shoulder to look at Nat again, his pale gaze pleading, as if warning her that she needed to come up with something good. He then dashed forward, hopping onto the bottom stair and slipping into the shadows. He wasn't going anywhere without Nat, but he needed to count on her Ravenclaw intelligence now more than ever, surely she could weave a little lie that was enough to convince the man behind the desk. Lord knew there was never anyone intelligent down here, except on the rare occasions that Jezebel herself was there...

Amadeus kept sharp watch over the area, continually sniffing to make sure nobody else was around, ears pricked for any change in noise. But whatever Nat was going to come up with, she needed to do it now, there wasn't much time, and the grounds of the manner were extensive. Once they were outside, they would need to run before the weak Polyjuice wore off as she would turn into herself again. Amadeus tensed when he heard footsteps, they needed to move. Now.

[natalia]

Scurry and hide. Scurry and hide. Natalia felt as if she was being hunted, some helpless prey desperately searching for shelter. Still, she heard nothing but the pain filled moans and gasps of her soon to be ex-companions. Soon to be. She followed the sleek fox, glowing like a small light, guiding her down the cavernous corridor until she could see the steps leading up to wherever she was. Amadeus vanished, sliding around the corner to the stairwell, leaving her to face the guard.

Here goes nothing, she could hear her inner voice, still her own as she striaghtened up. How in the world did Amadeus speak to these people? She closed her eyes, pressing her burning face against the cool marble of the corridor before she stepped around, reminding herself she wasn’t Natalia. She couldn’t walk like a small little schoolgirl. Still, the stride she forced seemed unnatural. Enormous steps. Her legs were too long. How far away was the ground? Focus! The guard looked lazily up at her before raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, what are you doing down here?” He stood up, and Nat was shocked that he was barely taller than her Amadeus self. What was she doing down here?

”What are you doing not paying better attention?” she snapped in what was a rumble of a man’s voice, shaking her chest slightly. Her eyes darted down to the water goblet. ”Playing with elementary magic rather than doing your job,” she sneered in a sneer her friends had mocked many a time. The man opened his mouth as if to protest but she picked up the goblet, tossing it to the ground with a loud clang. ”I was doing my job. That mouse of a girl wasn’t talking, and father figured she would talk to a schoolmate,” she lifted her hand as if to flip her hair over her shoulder before realizing she was a man, and shoved her hand through the icy locks instead. She glowered at the man, not needing to feign the hatred she felt when she looked at him. She recognized him, someone who was particularly fond of pulling her hair whenever she wasn’t doing as he wanted.


”Just wait until my father hears about this,” she scoffed, before turning swiftly and climbing the stairs after the fox. As soon as she made a point to close the door, the fox darted off at a break-neck speed, one she was more than thrilled to pick up on, following the luminous fur through the dark labyrinth she found herself in, long legs taking her at a surprising speed.

Doors whizzed by as she heard a few voices here and there behind them. Often complaining about work. Or cleaning. Nat could hardly believe it as they neared a door. A door to the outside. Outside. Outside. She opened it, the warm summer air, filling her lungs as tears sprung to her eyes as she lifted a hand to wipe at them before realizing they were her own, small hands, with dirt crusted underneath her fingernails...just the way she liked it. She lifted her hands to her head, the long raven curls tickling her back. So much for disguise. She paused at the sound of a startled voice next door.

Intruder...On the grounds....Order Member.... No. No. No! Nat wasted no time in following the fox out on the grounds, finding her feet bare once more as she sprinted across the lush green grass, but already, voices were loud. LIghts were lighting. She glanced over her shoulder as the entire manor litup, room by room, light blaring out over the emerald grounds. ”Over there!” The voices echoed in the enormous spanse, she was unsure where they were coming from.

”No!” She turned around ready to bolt once again but one of the voices must have meant her, for the dreaded word that filled her nightmares resounded around her. ”Crucio!” And down she fell, screams erupting from her lips as her aching body twisted into forms she hadn’t imagined possible, the wand falling from her hands.

[erikoliver]

How Amadeus had managed to contact him both quickly and in secrecy was beyond him. Still, Erik was thrilled. Finally, after all of this time, after all of this worry, he was going to get his Natalia back. His surrogate daughter and little sister, finally, was going to be back with him. He couldn't have been more thrilled. Amadeus had explained the situation in code, in very brief terms, but Erik knew the gist of what was to happen. Amadeus would use the Polyjuice Potion to transform Nat into himself, then use his Animagus abilities to help her escape.

Really, it should have been fool proof. In theory, the plan was genius. Of course, he hadn't been expecting to be caught. Erik was ducked behind bushes near the gates, watching the door to the manor. Unfortunately, he found one of the elegant albino peacocks quickly pecking at his feet. He attempted to shoo the creature away, to which it omitted a loud screeching sound. Immediately, he heard voices. Intruder, Intruder, an Order Member! His heart fell. This was quickly falling apart. Erik stayed crouched, tightening his grip on his wand.

That's when Nat, as Amadeus, exited the building. His heart dropped. They were early, this was all wrong. He saw a silvery fox dart onto the grounds, presumably Amadeus. Erik stood as Nat screamed, shouting something before a curse sent her to the ground. "No!" he yelled, shooting from his hiding place and shooting spells at the oncoming attack. He wasn't going to lose Nat again, even if that meant getting taken himself.

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[amadeus]

If in his current form he had been granted more expression than simply what his eyes could hold, he would have looked very impressed. Nat sounded just like him, or at least how he had used to sound before losing his sisters, before he had descended into what felt like an inescapable depression. She passed by without a hitch, and Amadeus hurriedly lead the way up the stairs and through the manor, periodically glancing behind him to make sure that Nat was still there. This was going so smoothly, he honestly hadn't expected it, nobody was paying them any mind, seemingly glancing over the fox, and just seeing, well, him.

Amadeus was quick leading the way through the house, however, they didn't have much time left for the Polyjuice, in fact as they finally stepped out into the hot summer air and started sprinting, it was already fading away. He could smell Nat behind him rather than himself, but just as it seemed that they were going to get away, there came a cawing that made his blood turn cold. The damn peacocks... He should have told Erik to bring something to shut them up, how could he have overlooked them?

Instantly a handful of Death Eaters ran onto the grounds, and instantly, rather than searching for Erik, one of them went after Nat. He could hear the music professor blow his cover, sprinting out into the fight, while all Amadeus could do was dash around and try to not be stepped on. First things first... Weaving through a set of legs, Amadeus bit down on the heel of the Death Eater torturing Nat, hoping that it might cause a bit of a diversion. The man did release the curse, though his opposite foot was quick to swing back and connect with his forehead.

Amadeus yelped, falling back as pain exploded in his skull. He needed to not be in this shape, he couldn't fight fully-grown men as a fox. In the confusion, he stumbled off to the side of the house, shifting back into human form, his head still pounding from the kick. Looking around and thinking fast on his feet, Amadeus summoned a mask and cloak with his wand before running off to join the fight. He just hoped in the chaos of the moment nobody would notice he was attacking the wrong side, and that Erik wouldn't strike him. Perhaps he hadn't thought this through completely.

[natalia]

Nat screeched at the pain of the curse, feeling as if her body was being pulled apart from the inside out, but sure enough, it stopped. Her head throbbed, a dull aching left behind in her broken body as she lay on the grass, head spinning, unsure if she had imagined that voice. No! It was too awful to be true. Not Erik. Not after she had sacrificed herself to avoid this very concept. She bit down on her lip, tasting blood leaking from her mouth, probably from biting down on her tongue or lip in pain, but that didn't matter. Not now.

Curses and hexes were flying everywhere, people shouting, and it seemed to be all against Erik. She searched around, as if she might magically find her wand, which she knew was long gone, laying in the grass. The fox had vanished, and she wasn't sure what to do as she watched them all close in on Erik. Nat's thoughts were barely defined as they flickered at lightning speed through her mind before she found herself on the back of a masked monster, adrenaline coursing through her body, the pain dissipating as her arms encircled his throat, listening as he coughed so helplessly and painfully, grasping at her arm in desperation. She tightened her grip until the wand fell to the ground and she dropped down with it, snatching it up.

"Petrificus Totalus" the spell came out at an instinctive speed, something she'd rehearsed for months on end. Every spell she knew. Heaven knew she had even imagined the unforgivable curses, especially as she had writhed beneath their pain. Facing these demons that had laughed at her pain, it took every ounce in her body to hold back the words that would taste so sweet on her bloody lips.

"Erik, behind you!" She called out, an expelliarmus charm errupting from her wand as she did so. Her head swiveled around, desperately searching for Amadeus. She wasn't leaving without him. Not after this. Not after all of this. But he was gone. Her stomach tangled into unspeakable knots. "Erik you have to run!" Shielding charm. She wasn't going to let Erik take the fall for her. She'd rather die.

[amadeus]

Amadeus ducked beneath a stray hex, holding the wand tightly, it was fighting him with every use, he had given Natalia his own, and this one... He hadn't won it, merely found it, and it was protesting him using it. It felt as foreign as having someone else's hand on the end of his arm. But it was working enough for him to deflect a curse that got a bit too close to Nat for comfort. He looked around from behind his mask, nobody else was coming, it seemed as if they'd attracted all the wand power stationed at the Manor. Nat and Erik needed to move before more were called in...

Slipping behind one of the burlier Death Eaters, a man called Holmes, Amadeus stunned him, ducking out of the way before he fell backward to avoid being crushed. Ideally, he would be able to render the others unconscious without them realizing it, and in the heat of the moment it seemed that everyone else was far too busy pursuing Nat and Erik to notice what he had done. Under this cover, he took out two more, making their odds seven against three, though to anyone but him it would likely appear eight to two... He needed to communicate to Nat somehow that it was him behind the mask, tell her to go on without him.

He was safe here, but she and Erik were not. They needed to leave, now. He would be fine, this was a thick lot, they wouldn't have the faintest idea that he had been the instigator for this mayhem, it would take brains to figure that out, something which the prison-tending Death Eaters weren't exactly known for. Amadeus deflected another curse meant for Nat, but had accidentally positioned himself in the cross-hairs of another spell. It caught him in his right elbow, producing an audible snapping noise rendering his right arm useless as pain exploded from the ruined joint.

Amadeus made a growl of pain, tears coming to his eyes as he braced the injury by grasping his left side with his right hand, taking up the stolen wand in his non-dominant hand to resume the fight. There wasn't any time for this. Slipping again behind the frontlines, Amadeus managed to take down another, but he didn't know exactly how long he could continue this without being noticed...