156) End times (part 2)

"Damn, Snape," I cursed as I rode Elise at great speed, fleeing from my pursuers.

At this moment, I was being pursued by Death Eaters riding on their brooms. Elise ran, taking us far away, hoping to lose them rather than fight, while I maintained a large ring of blood around us, which I manipulated to block or attack. I hoped to escape without getting further entangled in this mess, but they were relentless.

I had been running from them for quite some time. There were ways to shake them off without much trouble, like using invisibility, but first, I had to get them away from my home. I didn't want to involve Petunia or the Scamander couple. Although I was sure those elders had their ways of dealing with them, I had no intention of dragging them into this senseless war.

After a few more kilometers, I decided it was enough and time to go. Elise was tired. Around me, the ring of liquid blood transformed into mist and flew towards our pursuers, suffocating them. It was only for a moment until some of them used appropriate countermeasures, but by then, they couldn't see their target. Even with detection spells, they found nothing.

The Death Eaters had no idea that both the unicorn and the young man were now floating in the air within a large invisible bubble.

"I'm tired," Elise panted.

"I know, sorry for making you run so much." I caressed her as I felt her frustration and anger. "Don't be angry, I'll make it up to you."

"I'm not upset about that." She got mad at me for misinterpreting her, although it was more about her frustration than anger. "I didn't do anything right."

Elise was frustrated. We were having a romantic time when we were surrounded by these idiots. It wasn't the first time we encountered them, and with our abilities, it was easy to avoid them, but they seemed to have learned. Moreover, it was likely that our information had been revealed to them by Snape... although I was almost sure he wouldn't have told them unless it was necessary. Snape had the mentality to do things for himself when it came to me, but surely his master had ordered him, and he had no other choice.

Anyway, this time we had a real confrontation, and I must say that these Death Eaters were not completely insignificant when it came to magic. There were some useless ones among them, but there were also several highly skilled dark wizards who complicated things for us.

Dark magic is very insidious and, if not careful, very dangerous. I had to protect Elise very carefully because of that, and it upset her. Against purely physical enemies like acromantulas, she was almost unstoppable. Against some wizards, she was their desperation, but against a group of dark wizards as powerful and numerous as the ones who attacked us today, she was an easy target.

If it weren't for me, she would have suffered more injuries, in addition to the few she already had, and more severe ones. That's what kept us so passive. Having to take care of her and not revealing our abilities to avoid attention prolonged the battle more than expected. Plus, a death spell as easily cast as "Avada Kedavra" is incredibly annoying.

Elise was upset about being a burden and a hindrance. Only when she started running to escape did she demonstrate her ability. These Death Eaters had prepared various methods to counter unicorns, which made her suffer a bit. I didn't expect it; I had become complacent by only facing magical creatures. I had relaxed too much, thinking that keeping away from them would make them do the same.

I had to console her for a while to calm her down and soothe her anger. She was so angry that she said things like, "Let's take them to our forest; there I'll show them...". She wanted to fight them again to redeem herself and stop feeling that humiliation and weakness she had only felt that time when she almost died against Quirrell-Mort.

"Let's go back home, eat something delicious, and relax."

Those were my words at that moment, but she was still unsatisfied. With the passage of time and the magical world increasingly in the midst of this war for Voldemort's blood purity, we found ourselves in annoying situations more frequently. Elise and I were easily recognizable, and our accidental actions against the Death Eaters had earned their hatred.

At one point, we even managed to see Riddle, but we managed to escape. The fight wouldn't have made sense, and I had decided that this side campaign would be a vacation with Elise, so we never confronted him.

My companion became more and more frustrated, seeing the one who killed her mother drove her crazy and had caused her to make mistakes during our battles. We talked about it, and she felt worse, but she made a request I didn't expect.

Elise wanted to become stronger, to be able to fight and help me against any enemy without being a burden, not feeling weak and not fearing that person... not fearing that she might lose me too if she made a mistake. That didn't surprise me, to be honest; I saw it in her eyes. The shadow of Voldemort hadn't gone away. We had spent so much time together enjoying life that she forgot that fear. But now that she had seen him again, those emotions were like a giant shadow over her.

As I said, that didn't surprise me, but something else she said did. She knew some of my secrets, many actually, and she told me that she even preferred becoming stronger over changing into a human form as we planned in our priorities. I asked her about it, and although she felt sorry for what we had been looking for, in her opinion, she preferred to be stronger than having a soft and weak body. It's not that she didn't want it; she wanted it a lot, but she wanted to protect what she cared about first.

Knowing her true thoughts, I supported her as I should. In any case, her transformation into a human would be postponed until we returned to our time. I had some ideas and methods with the rituals, but I was afraid of the effects of this campaign if we performed it now. She came with me here as my mount; if she became human, I wouldn't know if something could endanger her, so I decided to wait until we returned.

Thinking about the possibilities and making decisions together, we began preparations to make Elise stronger and prepare her for her revenge. The first step might need Newt's help to get some things. He might not like it, and even though I wanted to lie to him, maybe it would help if I told him the truth. I hate showing my most ruthless side to the elders, but I hope they understand.

...

Inside an apartment somewhere in London. A young woman was trying to put on some earrings in front of the mirror, but it was difficult due to her husband, who couldn't stop meddling with her new dress, now in disarray.

"Stop it, we can't do this now. We'll be late, and they'll notice," Petunia complained bitterly as she removed my hands and tried to fix her dress once again.

"It doesn't matter if they find out; they'll know that we love each other very much and what she's missing," I replied.

"Please, don't be like this with Lily. Things didn't go as you wanted, but..."

"It went just as I wanted," I interrupted.

"Really... will it happen?" she asked with some distress. She remembered what I had told that time, but after so many years, she had also started to believe it might be a lie.

"Yes... but don't make that face," I said, giving her small kisses as I noticed her mood and changed the subject. "Quick, I want to see the pig who got Lily."

So, with more or less words, some groping here and there, a change of wet underwear, and a quick touch-up, we were both ready. It was already sunset when we left and quickly reached our destination through my [Travel] and taxis.

We arrived at the door of a not very conspicuous restaurant/bar in London, decent but not one of the best. We were both dressed somewhere between casual and elegant, with Petunia having a more elegant touch because she was nervous about this meeting and had overprepared.

We entered and saw that Lily hadn't arrived yet. We chose a table, and after waiting for a while with some appetizers, we saw who we were expecting coming through the restaurant door.

Lily, well, she had turned from a cute girl into a beautiful woman, with that Muggle outfit that highlighted certain parts... Although it was unusual, the leather jacket suited her well; it seems she had taken a more dominant path.

As for her companion, although I said I didn't care, seeing that idiot's face made me furrow my brow. It was James Potter, who would have thought, there was a possibility, but I hoped it wasn't so. My actions changed the story, and I hoped her partner would change too, at least that he wouldn't have such a punchable face. Surely she could tell us how she ended up with him, but right now, I just had to make an effort not to kill anyone.

The greeting was strange; both couples stood in front of each other. James and I awkwardly shook hands while the girls hugged. But regarding Lily and me, it seemed she had no intention of having any physical contact with me.

We sat at the table, and a conversation practically guided by the women began, talking about their lives. I only made random comments, while James tried to start conversations that I didn't follow. It wasn't a bad dinner, just like going for the first time with your in-laws; I was sure Potter could feel my penetrating gaze on him, even Lily noticed it.

We reached a point of discomfort when Lily tried to talk to me in a not-so-direct manner, which made James notice that something was happening. I think Lily didn't tell him much about me, except that I was her sister's husband. He knew something about me for sure, as he made it clear that he had read about me in the Prophet, especially about my work with Newt. That's why he was initially so enthusiastic about me, but his enthusiasm waned due to my lack of accessibility.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Lily said, getting up from the table, looking at me as if she wanted to remind me of my sin.

"Me too," I said, preempting Petunia, who was going to accompany her sister, switching places with her, leaving James quite confused as he watched us leave.

-In the women's restroom-

"It seems you haven't lost your old habits," Lily said, looking at herself in the mirror, or rather, looking at me in the reflection behind her. "Is there an innocent girl you can deceive here?" she teased, looking at the stalls.

"I guess you're still resentful. I thought you weren't when we were talking so amiably at the table," I replied as I made sure there was no one around and cast spells to ensure we wouldn't be disturbed.

"I was just happy to introduce my boyfriend to you. He's a worthy man, handsome, skilled, kind-hearted... and in bed, he's lovely, affectionate, wild, virile..." She said, looking at me with narrowed eyes, not stopping with the adjectives, each one more vulgar than the last.

*Crack* The mirrors behind Lily could be heard cracking in an instant, mainly the place where her reflection was.

"...I thought you were from the old school, waiting to get married," I said as I struggled to contain my auras that were about to go haywire.

"Someone changed that, don't you think?" (Lily)

We were back at a standstill, with no one speaking. She was waiting for a response while I tried to control my power seemed to have a mind of its own and wanted to tear Lily apart in front of me. Maybe I couldn't contain it if it weren't for all these years of training with it and going through various situations.

Lily sighed, releasing her angry face as if she were tired. She looked at me somewhat unwillingly before speaking less abruptly than before.

"You know, a good apology and admitting your mistake could have made reconciliation possible, at least not so late," she complained.

"I wasn't wrong" (Red)

"Heh... I thought time would make you mature..." (Lily)

"What I said back then was true" (Red)

"Oh... so how much longer do you have to wait to take me with you as you said?" She said mockingly. "Although you would also have to take James with us, after all, he's my boyfriend. I'd like to see how you trick him into violating him in the bathroom; it would be difficult, but worth seeing," she said intensely with venom in her tone.

"We both know that neither of us wants to see that if it were even remotely possible. We can end this; from your look, I know you want to talk to me, and I don't think it's about discussing these issues. We could do it at any other time," I said, trying to change the conversation before making this last time in the campaign make me a target of the Aurors.

"You're right... the truth is, I wanted to reconcile with you because James and I plan to get married, and we wanted you to attend the wedding," she explained but made it clear with my gaze that I was far from pleased. "I messed up a bit, but bathrooms bring back bad memories."

"Then you're getting married..." I said, hiding my hand behind my back.

"Yes... but there's also something else... James and I belong to the Order of the Phoenix, a group created to stand against You-Know-Who and his followers. We know you've been in conflict with them for a long time, and..." (Lily)

"That only happens because I forget that his name is enchanted and I accidentally say it quite often," I explained, something that was certainly a big problem.

"...we want you to join us too. I know you're powerful; since you were a child, you never stopped surprising me, and the more I learned, the clearer it became to me how powerful you can be. We've heard how you managed to escape on your unicorn so many times from their pursuits. If you join us, we could..." (Lily)

"No." (Red)

"What?" (Lily)

"I won't do it, I'm not interested, I won't get involved in this conflict any more than I am now." (Red)

"But..." Lily was both surprised and confused by my response. "You can't escape forever; the Dark Lord has already targeted you, and things will only get harder for you. Think of Petunia; she'll only be safe when he's stopped..." she continued explaining.

"I'll keep Petunia safe, don't worry about that. If you need help with something specific, I have no problem lending a hand, but I won't get into this." (Red)

"But..." (Lily)

"Goodbye, Lily," I said, turning around and leaving. "I won't be able to attend your wedding, but Petunia will surely be delighted."

After leaving the bathroom, I returned to the table and said goodbye to James as I escorted Petunia out of there. She was confused but thought something might have happened in the bathroom. I ended up taking her to various places, including an amusement park. Later, I took her home and fuck her until she passed out, but I still didn't release the emotions I had.

I would have liked to go with Eileen, Andra, and their girls to relieve the rest of the tension, but I couldn't. Since the last time, things had become complicated between them, and although their relationship didn't break, mainly because I didn't allow it, there was still some distance. It would mend, but it would take time for Eileen to regain trust in Andra, at least without dishonest methods.