#zipez

Lauren feels the sting of a curse graze her side - here on the battlefield she feels more at home than she ever has in her life, a fact that Lauren has begrudgingly grown to accept. She wishes that the circumstances could somehow have been different, that maybe she'd become someone other than who she was, but Lauren was destined to fight on the side of the Alliance. All around her spells rage as Augustine's army lay siege to Nurmengard, she stuns and disarms her opponents, dealing with any curses with relative ease. For her age, most of her opponents don't anticipate her to be an accomplished Legillimens. Their thoughts always betray them at the last moment, a thought before the words pass their lips. Off in the distance her Grandmother and Mother are close to the gates, she does her best to avoid them at these times... Lest her own thoughts betray her. Lauren deflects another curse before she freezing her opponent solid, a troll lumbers past her and slams into the great enchanted walls of the fortress. It groans and stumbles back as Lauren rolls her eyes at it's utter incompetence, she moves around the beast, wand clutched at the ready before sending another assailant flying.

Addison: grips her wand tightly. It's not the first large battle she's fought, but each time they come up against the WA's new army it feels like, well, it feels like this could be the day. The aurors tried to slow the army's march towards Nurmengard, teaming up with special forces from Germany, but the large numbers, and the well organized giants and dragons under the WA control, kept them from doing anything but giving the combined armies, waiting at Nurmengard, time to assemble larger numbers. Hopefully it was enough, they told themselves. Looking around at the carnage though, Addison has her doubts. The WA have already broke through their lines, the sheer numbers of their conscripted forces, motivated by fear, pushing into the prison. She can see Lauren Zizes in her periphreal vision, Santana is ahead of her. She blocks a spell coming at her side before sending a reducto back. She sees them then, the elder Zizes. She knows for sure, at least Lucille, is part of the inner circle of Augustine's. She signals for Santana that they need to head forward instead of back towards the prison like many had done

Santana throws up a shield to block a spell then deftly fires back a stupefy, knocking her enemy to the ground. A quick disarm seals the deal, and Santana considers kicking the man in the face. Instead, she doubles back to remain firmly by Addison's side, defending her from a particularly nasty spell and regarding the battle field with trained focus. A troll's slams into the walls, but it's too far away for any care to be necessary. Otherwise, the giants and trolls and dragons seem distracted. In the distance, Santana sees a spurt of flame cover the ground and swears she hears pained screaming reverberate in her head. Nostrils filled with the smell of death and blood, she dismisses the sight with casual indifference then catches sight of Lauren while spinning her gaze back to her partner. Her heart leaps into her throat, and she nods at Addison's signal before starting forth. The sight of other Zizes women makes her grasp tighten on her hand, and the picture she carries of Matt burn in one of her robes' many pockets. Despite the rage beginning to cut through the emptiness, she forces herself to keep a clear head and sends another enemy flying with a merciless curse to the chest. He lands in a broken heap near Lauren.

Lauren spots Addison and Santana off in the distance, it isn't the first time she's seen either women - or people she recognizes from back home, fellow students, quidditch players... War has torn this world apart and all she can do is sway in the middle with the eternal tides of conflict, at times Lauren feels powerless - every time she leaks information the Ministry it feels insignificant, Alliance bases, army strength and numbers - the research they had planned for Nurmengard was some of the worst by far. Augustine is demented in his search for power and in this moment, Lauren wishes only to take her friends away from this, but she can't - they won't. This is too important, her Father died for this cause and Lauren has long realized that her life means nothing unless she can help undo some of the evil in this world. It's then that she decides to follow them, to do whatever she had to to stop Lucille from killing them - because the sickening feeling in her stomach tells her that's what will happen. She's too strong, too calculating - too frightening, Lucille is a relic from another time. Her malice knows no depths and her fierce attitude towards self preservation sets her apart from other Alliance members. Lauren always knew that she'd have to die - but after every battle the woman manages to stay very much alive. A screeching flock of Veela fights a dragon mounted wizard above the battle below, fire raging before the man is ripped from the saddle and torn to pieces. The flock moves on before one takes a killing curse and plummets to the ground, Lauren has to look away - has to focus as she moves with a practiced calm through the storm all around her. When the man lands in front of Lauren her eyes lock onto Santana, she's grown cold - Lauren can see it, an emptiness that she'd never been able to relate to more. A tragic fact that is perhaps the most difficult thing for Lauren to overcome, a red bolt stuns an enemy before she deflects a curse and breaks her gaze away from Santana, a single thought leaves her head as she whispers into Addison and Santana's thoughts. Follow them.

Addison: sighs, she's a practiced legillmens, hours spent in Regina's office after work, the women painfully beating at her head until she finally got it, until the walls were unbreakable, until she didn't need an incarnation to break into the unguarded mind. She lets Lauren in though because at some point along the way she's decided she actually trusts the other woman. In part because Santana does and Addison would trust Santana's opinion over just about anything else in the world, but also because she's come to like Lauren, come to respect her, and, in certain ways, even rely on her. She doesn't really need Lauren's encouragment though. She's single-minded in this instance and she can feel the resolve practically flowing off of Santana as they move. Augue, she casts towards a man in Augustine's dark purple uniform. She casts a shielding charm before signalling to Santana that she's about to apparate into the thick of it. Taking one more deep breath, she tries not to think about England, about the things she's left behind.

Santana feels a strange sense of serenity come over he,r when Lauren's voice invades her mind. It's only two words, but it soothes the fire raging beneath her skin. For a moment, their gazes lock, and Santana zooms through a few memories of better times; spent in the halls of Hogwarts as young, rebellious kids in love. There's lightness for a time, before a memory of Matt seals the bitterness back in and drives Santana to fight with renewed vigor. The walls come back up and Santana watches the enemy dispatched by Addison fall, before dragging down another along with them, with a well placed spell. Soon after, a shield comes up and Santana ducks behind the charm so she can close the distance between herself and Addison and latch on for the ride. Before they go, she sees a group of enraged Veela tear apart a woman in purple robes, while a lone member of their group clutches at the body of another. Shrill screaming in her ears, she braces herself as the world closes in.

Lauren watches as Addison ducks into a shield charm, Santana quickly following suit she hears screams from all around her but her world becomes secular, she hears the whispers of words directed at her before her wand flies up to lock with another, the heat from the aggressive, mysterious Hit Wizard is intense. Flames lick for a moment at her robes and she can feel her patience wearing thin - she can see Lucille and Cora moving swiftly, as they moved Lauren watched as a dragon flew opposite her family, it's fiery breath a distraction from their true goal. A weakness, a fault in the walls of Nurmengard, created by someone Lucille had placed under the imperius. "They have a way in, they plan to focus on the gate as a ruse - Lucille has someone inside." Lauren's words drilled out, she parried with the Hit Wizard, not thrilled by their arrogance and lack of mental focus. With a dismissive wave the girl falls to her feet unconscious, but unharmed. Lauren has to admit that more than anything she hates having to fight with gloved fists - her eyes level again on Lucille as she presses forward.

Addison: lands easily, Santana at her side. They've done this what feels like a million times before, a well-oiled machine that needs very little direction or instruction. She casts another shielding charm when she hears a dragon close by, remembering what happened last time they were within fire range of a Chinese Fireball. She nods slightly, knowing Santana will have seen it before they moving after the women. If she concentrates she can hear the battle in her head, not the noise, but the anger and the desperate thoughts being casted around the battle field like silent screams. Lauren's voice again. It should be obvious at this point, but with the chaos, distractions are hard to notice, and even harder to rally against. She ducks quickly when a green light comes towards them, pulling Santana down with her. They're back up quickly, stalking towards Lucille and Cora Zizes. She hates them. She can feel the hatred coursing through her veins. It's been there so long though, that she's become almost comfortable with it. Nodding to Santana they apparate closer towards the two women

Santana sees the dragon and lingers behind the shield as it swoops down and snatches a wizard from the ground. Blood splatters, as enormous teeth rip through flesh and crush bones, until what had once been a person disappears down the creature's gullet. Disgusted, Santana sneers absently before focusing on the words in her head. Lucille Zizes. Hatred hums through her veins like electricity, until Addison drags her down to avoid a flash of green. Blood running cold, Santana feels her heart hammer in her chest until she breathes in deep to calm it. She needs to focus. Once she's up again, she moves like a big cat towards her goal and sends another enemy flying, before Addison catches up and she returns the nod. They disapparate again, as one. Santana's thirst for revenge grows stronger.

Lauren watches as the two women disappear, they envelop in on each other and Lauren closes her eyes to quickly follow suit, she feels the familiar sensation of being pressed through a tube and appears a short distance from Lucille and Cora, she locks curses again as a bouncing tendril of red hair appears in front of her, Mathilda Nott - an annoyingly devoted Alliance member that'd been a thorn in her side since her arrival. "Fighting with gloved hands? Lauren? I hope you didn't think I wouldn't notice..." She speaks and Lauren resents the layer of condescension - as if she's somehow won, passed her she sees Lucille and Cora exchanging spells with Santana and Addison.... She needs to be there, Lauren can feel it in her bones - Lucille would kill them. "Actually. I was counting on it." Lauren said, her temper finally getting a chance to flare as her hands itched to cast a killing curse on one of the purple robed Alliance members. After everything Lauren had watched Mathilda do it would be a pleasure to finally kill her - expecting a sport, a giant snake began to materialize from Mathilda's wand as a green bolt and a screamed "Avada Kedavra" came from Lauren. The red head fell dead to the ground as her wand and the dissolving dead snake rolled away, Lauren's eyes shot up and she moved to close the now little distance between her friends and Lucille, knocking down stragglers as she went.

Santana finds herself locked in a duel with Cora Zizes, Lauren's mother. With unnerving grace, the two of them move and weave and duck and deflect; with none of Santana's curses hitting home. Enraged by the older woman's smugness and attempting to ignore the fear pounding through her veins, Santana avoids a curse and lowers enough to snatch a hand full of dirt from the ground. Not expecting this, Cora's caught off guard when flecks of wet mud splatter across her face and block her vision. Obviously angered, she throws up a shield and back peddles to clear the dirt away with her wand. Using the distraction to her advantage, Santana bypasses said shield with a side step around it then throws herself into the other woman, to separate her from her mother. When they part again, Santana narrowly avoids a stupefy then raises her wand to unleash a curse in response. Before she can utter the incantation, though, Cora points her wand and screams. "SECTUMSEMPRA!" Unable to dodge the curse, but able to twist her head enough to avoid the full brunt of it, Santana yelps as what feels like a razor sharp edge slices across her face and carves through her skin. Blood splatters and Santana spins once, before squinting through crimson and steadying her wand upon the other woman. Victorious, Cora holds her wand aloft as Santana feels shock weaken her limbs. Her aim becomes shaky. "Such a pretty face! Ruined!" Cora gloats, before whipping her wand back and readying to fire off another curse. Blinded by her own blood, Santana throws up a shield and back attempts a retreat.

Addison: never really thought she'd get the chance to duel Lucille Zizes. She always saw the woman as someone who'd prefer not to fight her own battles, much like Augustine himself. They're getting nowhere. It's a stalemate of wills and all they've managed to do is ignite the grass around them in blue fire. She hears it more than sees it. Santana. It's the only thing going through her head for a second. She knows it's a fatal mistake, one she's watched killed many of her colleagues in the last year, she can practically feel Lucille closing in on her as she tries to walk backwards towards her injured partner. She's able to continue to parry the older woman's spells, Addison can feel the rage and the hatred coming from the woman but she's obviously a practised occulmence and that's all Addison can get as she relies on her wits to move them. It only takes a second and Cora and Lucille are both on her now, she casts her strongest shield and raises her wand, sparing a second to look at the small red tattoo on her wrist before aiming her wands at the ground and shouting, "Terraemotus." The ground beneath them begins to shake and it takes both women off balance for just a second, but that's all Addison needs. She concentrates her legimency for a second, trying to call Lauren, sending her a mental image of Santana -- unfair, she knows, but effective as the woman appears almost immediately.

Lauren can see the fighting figures of her friends, an image obscured by blue fire - she was making strides but purpled robed witches and wizards are focusing on her now - seeing her as a traitor as more and more Wizard Alliance reinforcements appear. Lauren's temper flares further as a fiendfyre erupts from the tip of her wand in a fiery tempest, the flames take life as a serpent and great tigers appear, it's in that instant that an image flashes in her minds eye. It's forceful, desperate - filled with an undeniable desire to live, then she sees Santana, her face mutilated and bloody as blue fire begins to close in. It only takes an instant for her to appear at Addison's side, she stand over Santana in defiance of her family. Her previously grey eyes fill with passion and rage, enormous amounts of emotion that Lauren had been forced to repress, a bolt from some unknown spell flies from the end of Lucille's wand as Lauren releases a tempest of fire that roars towards her vile grandmother. The two collide and erupt as both parties are forced to take cover from the after effect, the blue fire is swept out as a dust cloud settles around them. Lauren can barely see Addison beside her as she reaches out and grips her hand, always being a left handed duelist herself, sparks fly as Lauren does her best to pin point Lucille and Cora with legillimency, her own mind and open book to Addison. Trust, companionship and friendship partnered with a practiced occlumens is a powerful thing, Lauren hears Lucille call out 'blood traitor' as they were seemingly everywhere at once. "You've killed now Lauren - will you do it again?" Lucille whispers as a cold sweat forms across her skin, she can feel the own change inside of her - killing Mathilda with an Unforgiveable had done something to her, tainted her, how could Lucille see that? She feels the dread and regret of her actions as Santana lays bleeding at her feet, a result of her own inaction and inability to stand up earlier to Lucille - long before this war even began. She could have come forward, she could have said something - instead Lauren was just as guilty, she was a monster, a villain just the same. Lauren feels tears stream down her face for the first time in ages, a figure runs forward with a wand glowing as more sparks fly out from the cloud - "Avada Kedavra" Lauren screams again as Cora becomes visible - Lauren's heart sinks as the cloud suddenly clears and her spell connects, she feels a smile spread on her lips before a force strikes her hard in the back and everything goes black.

Santana curls into herself as everything happens in a blind rush. Unable to see through the red that stains her eyes, she covers her face against the whip of heat and wind and aggression that surrounds them all. Vaguely, she can hear Lauren above her, along with screamed words and the whooshing of deadly spells. Dirt stings her wound and blood covers her hands, as she attempts to find footing enough to rejoin the fight. She's unable to do so, though, and lingers in place as the world spins around her. Then, it happens. Lauren's voice yells the words 'avada kedavra' and Santana knows someone's dead. Her lungs fill with dread and bitterness salts her tongue, along with her own blood. There's quiet for a split second. Then, another green light momentarily catches her peripheral-- A heavy weight lands upon her. A dead weight, that smells and feels familiar. "No." She sounds incredulous at first, like the idea of this being who it is is beyond her. She assumes it's Addison, because it couldn't possibly be-- "No, no, no." She twists in the direction of the weight and claws at it as her vision clears somewhat, blood having wiped off against dirtied clothing. Panic sets in, because grey eyes aren't moving or blinking and previously warm skin is losing its heat. Santana's stomach lurches, as she drags Lauren in close to cradle her protectively, hand clasping tight around her wand and jaws setting. Something snaps inside of her, and she screams in the direction of a wildly laughing Lucille. "SECTUMSEMPRA!" Right after, she curls up around Lauren, like a shield, and proceeds to completely ignore their surroundings... She doesn't care anymore.