Ash From Fire
October 31, 1981, Masquerade | Post Explosion @mugglebcrns
Chunks of stone and metal, growing pools of water and smoldering patches of fire did nothing to deter Severus from moving quickly through the wreckage, feet only occasionally wavering and stumbling in the aftermath of the attack. His mind churned, as turbulent as the broken spray of water coming from the remains of the fountain, processing what had just happened. ‘Death Eaters, beware! The Or--’ The what? Didn’t really matter. The Whoevers clearly hadn’t accounted for the centuries of magics layered around the Ministry, seeped into the stones of the place. A nasty resonance of sort seemed to have happened between that, the planned ‘demonstration’, and the security spells in place. Unless this had been the plan and Idiot Firebird had merely failed the timing of their suicide bombing mission. Doubtful.
He’d been with Lupin when it went off, at the fringes of the room. The spells he and the man had managed to thrown out in defense, plus the column, seemed to have absorbed the brunt of the shockwave. His ears were ringing, the rest of the world painfully deafened, but he was fine. So was Lupin; at least, he’d been alive when Severus left him. He didn’t need to hear properly to know what Lucius, singed, bloodied, but upright, was screaming out -- Narcissa. He couldn’t spot the gold clad witch either, but he had another witch to find.
Black and faded gold with burnished red. That was what he was looking for. He’d spotted Lily shortly before the blast, keeping track of her as he had all evening. That question of what was she doing here renewed itself, a throbbing pain against his temple. She wasn’t so stupid as to have been part of this, surely. Lily wouldn’t have approved of this, not when it left so many innocents strewn about. That wasn’t like her. And yet— Potter’s threats joined the ringing in his ears. Too convenient, too straightforward to been happenstance. They were both part of this, somehow. And it had gone wrong.
Lily had to get out of here. She had to be safe. And he knew he’d have to get her out of here, before she let herself get wrapped up in the aftermath. Lucius would be on a warpath after this, and Severus couldn’t blame him— another glance told him he hadn’t found Cissy yet, a fact that twisted his stomach and made his jaw clench tighter. No, this wouldn’t be blown over easily, and the last thing Lily needed to be doing was sticking around acting guilty.
There was no breath of relief when he spotted her, and urgency overrode any hesitation or restrained as his hand curled around her arm. “You need to leave,” he hissed at her, no preamble or greeting. “Now.”
