They're flying past clouds under a starless night sky that dowses the city in black shadows. The wind slaps harshly against their bare faces as they tear through the city skyline on their brooms. 

Jisoo doesn't have to look back to know that she's steadily being flanked by Aurors on both of her sides. They're right on her tail. The moment Jisoo's tracking spell went off, she and Johnny miraculously reached to an agreement in under a second: she would go to the Ministry and recruit back up to handle the Death Eaters while Johnny would stay back and observe, only intervening when it was necessary and if the situation would ever take a turn for the worse. This had been Jisoo's job while under the Ministry after all, and Johnny was only meant to report on her progress. Only this time, he bumped up his role a bit. 

She had gone to the Ministry right away and told Nayeon to ring every available Auror up and grabbed the nearest broom from the special equipments closet. 

"What's going on?" Luckily, Jinyoung had still been in the office along with Seulgi. It was almost perfect timing at the most crucial moment, several of the best Aurors gathered in one place. 

Jisoo had rapidly explained what was going on and that they needed to act on it fast. "The tracking spells I placed in Dedham, it caught them. They're on the move." 

Jinyoung had instructed Seulgi's team to go with Jisoo. "I'm going too," Jinyoung said, which surprised Jisoo more than anyone. "You need all the available wands and Nayeon can man the office. Who knows when we'll be able to corner them again like this." Jisoo had to give him credit, there was strong determination in his tone but at the same time, she saw how a sense of fear had washed over him at all the possibilities of how tonight will unfold for everyone. 

Seulgi had glanced at Jinyoung in worry, something Jisoo had caught but thought little of because her mind was busy on more urgent matters and her vibrating enchanted ball was a constant reminder that they needed to go now if they wanted to catch up. "We need to go." 

Then they were off. The dark clouds parted, Jisoo and her tandem of Aurors slowed down as the coordinates led them to an exclusive muggle mansion right in the outskirts of the city. It's where the ball led them, its vibrations thrumming in the pocket of her coat until she could no longer feel it pressed against the fabrics. It had gone completely still. Then that means the Death Eaters were here, they were close by. 

At first, Jisoo didn't think much of the estate other than questioning why would they be raiding or tormenting rich muggles in the middle of the night. There were no signs of anybody else in the property, but they must be around here somewhere and they needed to be careful. 

Jinyoung floated down beside her and let out a guttural groan. "This is bad." He said, head turning to face Jisoo. "It's the muggle Prime Minister's private residence." 

"What are they trying to pull off here?" Seulgi says, speaking out what everyone else was thinking in their minds as she was hovering just a few feet away in her broom. She shook her head and her eyes narrowed into focus. "Whatever it is, we all have to be alert and careful. This could be an ambush." 

Jisoo scanned the perimeter below for anything out of the ordinary. From where they stopped to hover, they were obscured by the dark clouds passing through below them but she knows they had to go lower in order to get a clearer view and a cleaner sweep around the property. They were lurking here somewhere, perhaps in the clouds or in the shadows as well. 

In the back of her head, she wonders if Johnny was around here too. They had come to a silent agreement right away, which was a first, and if he held up his end of the deal then he should be here, wand at the ready incase things wouldn't go as planned. But really, they didn't even have a proper plan in the first place. Jisoo just barged into the office with her heart beating out of her chest and a manic expression painted on her face; in other words, she was just desperate at this point but at least they were getting somewhere, weren't they? 

"There's something on the roof!" Someone among them hissed. 

Their eyes darted to what appeared to be, from afar, a flock of crows circling high above the tiled roofs but when they all dove down for a closer look, Jisoo narrows her eyes and realizes they were human figures draped in stark black cloaks on brooms. Death Eaters.

"Let's go!" Jinyoung roars in command, his voice carrying over all the way to where the Death Eaters were.

It became a total mess from there on out. A bloody, brutal and dangerous mess. 

Jisoo had flown right behind Jinyoung, her heart pounding in her chest and her wand slippery in her hand from the sweat that has accumulated even when the temperature was probably in the 10s. This was all so nerve-wracking and intense, a kind of environment in where one slip up could cost her someone's life, or worse, her own life. She had to focus. 

Jisoo pointed her wand at the two Death Eaters attacking Seulgi simultaneously, sending a stunning spell their way. Seulgi didn't even have time to turn around and thank her because another one came barrelling straight towards her. Jisoo was also preoccupied with a Death Eater that had came out of nowhere and attacked her with a deadly curse. There were more of them and less of Jisoo and her comrades, they were clearly outnumbered. Was Johnny somewhere near and witnessing all of this? This could be a good time for that much needed back up. 

She flew back when she saw a spell being thrown at her from the corner of her eye, just after having finished off the other Death Eater, and she retaliated with a spell of her own, hitting the particular Death Eater square on the chest. He lost balance and fell off his broom. Jisoo moved swiftly amongst her enemies causing them to break ranks and their formation. 

Curses and spells were thrown from all directions, lighting up the night sky in a display of dangerous multi-colored streaks. 

And from the mess of it all, Jisoo's eyes caught sight of him. His tuft of dark brown hair peeked from beneath his hood as he flew and aimed from above all the ruckus. The light coming from the casted spells of the battle reflected against his face and even in the dim setting, he looked absolutely menacing.  

He sent a killing curse, a vicious green light, directly at Seulgi but Jisoo had intervened at the last second right before it could land straight on Seulgi's back. She threw a powerful protection spell in between her and the curse and it had almost knocked Seulgi off her broom when Jisoo flew over and casted it in less than a second. 

"What - " When Seulgi looks back at her and sees Taehyung just a few feet above them, she quickly realizes what Jisoo had just done.  

Jisoo doesn't linger on her for too long, her sight is locked on to Taehyung's figure and how it reigned over the rest of them like the Grim Reaper, his coat billowing behind him and his stance looking regal yet terrifying. The shadow from his hood concealed most of his face in the dark. But that was him, the air of authority and power that surrounded him was just indomitable and definite. His aura was just different from the rest. It had to be him. 

She kicked her broom higher into the air until she was leveled with him. It was the first time in years that they had ever been this close together, a good eight feet of space in between them, and the nanoseconds stretched on longer than it should have. She felt a sense of hatred swell up in her chest, pure and unfettered repulsion blossoming from every corner of her body. It had been there for a while now, perhaps even from the very beginning when he left her. 

She can't kill him. But she can make him feel pain. 

"Sectumsempra!" Hot, white light jets from the tip of her wand and flies towards Taehyung at an incredibly fast speed. 

He dodges it easily in mid air and without even countering back, he turns around and flies away. 

Jisoo blinks, momentarily feeling stunned as if a stunning spell had hit her. She was confused as to why he would break ranks from the others and that he was actually flying away.

He was escaping. 

She glances down at Jinyoung and Seulgi, both still fighting, before making a rushed decision on her own. They seem to be holding off well, everyone seemed to be still alive. Jisoo catches Seulgi's eyes and she purses her lips before shouting to the wind, "I'm going after Taehyung!" 

Seulgi had heard her, judging by the way her eyes widened like saucers. "No, Jisoo! Wait!" 

But Jisoo was already off, driven by an intense hate and loathing found deep inside and the need to put an end to all this chaos. She soared through vapors of clouds, her broom trying to match her wishes of going faster and faster than humanely possible. 

Somehow, this feels just like that night at Nottingham but different all the same. Jisoo has got nothing to lose now. It will be just the two of them, head to head, him and her again. 

She sees him, cloak flapping violently against the wind. When he turns back and sees her tailing after him, he doesn't hesitate to send a potentially lethal curse to hinder her chase. 

Jisoo clusmily dodges it and Taehyung pulls his broom, diving straight down and out of her sight. But Jisoo follows him relentlessly, having no intentions of letting him escape so easily. Not this time, not again.

They're flying above an open field, far from the city proper and the Prime Minister's residence now. There's nothing but grass and crops in the darkness down below, until they reach a large lake in the middle of the field. 

Taehyung suddenly stops, his back turned to her. Jisoo stops as well, maintaining a good and cautionary distance between them, she lifts up her wand. They're situated right above the lake, the dark waters churning below them. If she hits him now, he'd fall. 

She tightens her grip on her wand when he slowly turns around. The hood of his cloak has been pushed back and the sight of his face in these circumstances almost makes her falter if it weren't for the fact that he too has his arm up and wand at the ready. It's the first time in a long time that she's seen his face. 

His expression is stoic but intimdating. He looks older and more rugged. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? Jisoo almost forgets that his parents had been found dead just this afternoon. She had always wondered how long he was going to hold up as a Death Eater. Did the death of his parents finally break him? Does she care? Maybe. 

But not enough to let her guard down and abandon her mission, which is the very sole reason why she was even here in the first place. She needed to remember that. His face just holds so much memories, some painful and some the best she had ever experienced. She needs to secure and tighten the iron walls around her heart. She can't let him get to her, she can't let any part of him seep inside. 

"Surrender now." 

It takes Jisoo a few seconds to realize that the voice had been coming from him. It was deeper than the last time she's heard it, it was hoarse and rough and raw with so much emotion. She's never ever seen him this emotional, but the toll of his parent's death must have caused this. So, he still has a heart after all. There's a strong possibility to that. 

"I'm not going to kill you." Jisoo says foolishly. She didn't need to state the obvious, and yet she did. She has no plan prepared. She's just winging it at this point. "I can't kill you and you can't kill me. Let's just stop this madness, Tae -" she halts. She was about to say his name aloud to him, but the weight of this moment is too intense for her to handle so she doesn't say it, she's physically unable to say it. Not when he's right there. 

Jisoo grips onto her wand and scolds herself. She needs to stop stalling, she needs to get him, she had to move! She lifts her wand higher and is about to shoot a stunning spell when he speaks again. 

"I killed your parents that night." 

That stops her cold and she almost lets go of her wand, almost lets it slip from her grasp. She almost lets go of her grip on her broom and falls into the water. But even if she hadn't, she's drowning in a raging sea of emotions the moment those words escaped from his lips. 

"And the Auror that was there to protect them."

The Auror protecting them had been Bona. "You - you're lying," her voice is shaky, she tries to tighten the iron walls around her heart but they've been completely demolished. Her whole exterior crumbles down and her focus snaps into half. She's spiraling down a dark hole. Just like that, she's suddenly at his mercy. "You were with me... at Nottingham, back against the alley and unarmed -" 

It's the look he has on that makes her stop blabbering. It's so cold, serious and so unfamiliar. There's no room for errors in his expression, it's real and unaffected by the words he just uttered. He's so far from the Taehyung she once knew. But that was before. It was all in the past. This wasn't that Taehyung anymore, this wasn't her Taehyung. In front of her was a monster. 

A single word escpaes her lips, "Why?" 

Taehyung's face is unforgiving, the look in his eyes is ruthless. She's looking at someone who she doesn't know because the person she used to know is dead to him, and maybe to her now as well. He doesn't even bother to answer, just turns around in his broom and flies away from her yet again. 

Jisoo points her wand weakly at his flying figure as he gets away. Her hand was shaking violently, tears flooded her vision, and her heart was breaking into a tiny million pieces inside of her. Say a spell! A curse! Anything at all!  

But she can't, she couldn't, she's frozen in her spot and she's unable to move or think or say anything because she's overwhelmed by all the emotions building up inside. His words replay in her head and it pierces through the depths of her being. 

There's distant yelling somewhere from behind her, a voice that's too far away to stop her hands from growing weaker and weaker. "Jisoo! Jisoo, are you okay?!" 

Her grip on her broom loosens, her body tilts to the side and her consciousness begins to slip away. She feels herself falling. She's falling. 

She welcomes in the dark waters, lett