'Naturally,' she said proudly, and she hobbled off to join the fighting.
Augusta Longbottom trotted out of the Room of Requirement, and leant heavily on her cane every few steps. As the sounds of the fighting intensified, she withdrew her wand from her pocket. The first two duellers were fighting so intensely that, despite wanting to, she could not find an opening to curse the Death Eater.
A slash from the taller person, a roar of sound, a bolt of a bloody red light, and the Hogwarts student fell to the floor, unconscious.
'Stupefy,' Augusta said fiercely, and she pointed her wand at the Death Eater.
A streak of bright red light erupted from her wand tip and arced towards her quarry at a heart-stopping pace. In a blink of an eye the Death Eater turned to face the jet of light, and was hit directly over the heart. The force of the spell blasted him backwards and he fell to the floor with a thud. Neville's grandmother hobbled over to the unmoving student, and despite the pain, knelt down to feel for a pulse.
It was faint, but still there.
Augusta stood back up and continued her journey to find her grandson. Pride filled her like a balloon as she marvelled at the change that had been wreaked in him. He was no longer the shy, forgetful boy. He wasn't a poor wizard any more. She had done him proud. He had finally lived up to his parent's name. Her name.
Duellers filled the second and first floors as she wove her way down to the heart of the battle. A blonde girl was locked in a duel with a masked Death Eater. Augusta took aim, and shot a perfect stunner at the Death Eater's back. It fell forward and landed with a sickening thud. The girl gasped out a quick thank you, and rushed off to find another Death Eater to duel.
A sight caught her eye as she paused for a second at the top of the staircase, leaning on her walking stick. Bellatrix Lestrange.
'Crucio, Crucio, Crucio,' she crooned happily, revelling in the fear that was etched into Lavender Brown's face, as she dodged the curses, almost hopping from foot to foot. 'Avada Kedavra!'
Lavender dived out of the way just in time, as a bolt of green light streaked from Bellatrix's wand and buried itself in the marble floor, blasting a fairly deep crater.
'Bellatrix Lestrange!' Augusta called angrily. Despite the noise of the spells, and the cracking of masonry and the bangs of the fighting in the grounds, Bellatrix heard her.
The maniacal Death Eater roared with laughter at the sight of the old woman hurriedly hobbling down the stairs to fight her.
Bolts of light erupted from Augusta's wand, a stream of light aimed directly at Bellatrix, who raised her wand just in time to cast a powerful shield charm.
Despite her advanced age, she fought with as much gusto and ferocity as some of the most devout Death Eaters. Bellatrix's laughter turned to a snarl as the duel intensified. A jet of light erupted from Augusta's wand raced towards Bellatrix who deflected it with ease.
'Gran!' Neville called, fear clearly evident in his voice, but she ignored him.
Her wand continued to spit curses and hexes indiscriminately, her anger and hurt etched in to her ancient visage. She wanted to hurt, to maim, to kill, to avenge her son and daughter-in-law's torture and incapacitation.
Neville was beside her now, his wand firing curse after curse at the Death Eater that had caused so much hurt and pain to their family. Together they fought, Neville darted around Bellatrix, trying to cast the killer blow. A bolt of green light erupted from Bellatrix's wand and hit Augusta directly in the chest.
Neville saw it as if it were a film playing in slow motion. His grandmother's already lifeless body arced gracefully, as it recoiled from the power of the killing curse, before she fell to the floor with a sickening thud. Neville raced over to her, completely forgetting about Bellatrix and the battle. His mind was focussed on only one thing.
It couldn't be. No. Not this. Neville cradled his grandmother's lifeless body as tears rolled down his face. Bellatrix raised her wand and prepared to kill Neville too. Her wand was in the air, and the words her half out of her mouth before it happened.
'Avada...'
'No!' Professor McGonagall shrieked, and cast a spell at Bellatrix, who barely managed to stop it. They began to duel fiercely, the power of the spells enough to wither everything within their radius...
XXXXXXX
'Come on, come on,' Colin called. 'Everyone up to the seventh floor!'
'Colin!' A squeaky voice called through the din. 'Colin! Where are you?'
Dennis scrambled through the crowd and made his way over to his older brother.
'We have to stay and fight,' Dennis trilled defiantly.
'No,' yelled Colin. 'Get up to the Room of Requirement.'
He grabbed his brother's shoulder, pushed him towards safety and pulled out his wand, as a window shattered. Death Eaters were racing up the stairs. Everywhere incantations were cried by various students.
'Protego!' Colin roared, and a shimmering shield of energy erupted between two frightened second years and a masked Death Eater.
At once, Colin and the Death Eater began to duel. Dennis pulled out his wand as well and aimed it at the Death Eater, which was firing hexes indiscriminately at the older Creevey.
'Stupefy,' he squeaked.
A bolt of red light shot out of his wand and would have hit the Death Eater, if it had not been for fast reflexes.
'Dennis!' Colin roared. 'I told you to get out of here!'
'I'm fighting,' Dennis replied, deftly dodging a curse.
'Impedimenta!' Colin shouted.
The Death Eater was blasted backwards into the wall. More came. Dennis and Colin fought side by side, casting shield charms and stunning every Death Eater that came within range. Students still raced up the staircase towards the Room of Requirement. Finally, the last students in the torrent of frightened children passed the Creevey brothers. Dennis stunned a passing Death Eater, and Colin blasted back another with another well aimed Impediment Jinx.
'Dennis, get out of here!' Colin growled. Dennis made to argue, but Colin turned his wand on him. 'Go, or I'll stun you and get you out myself!'
'You're supposed to be leaving to!'
'I'm older than you! I know how to fight better. Go. Get home. Get mum and dad to safety. I'll find you after the battle. Harry will save us. I know it!'
Dennis made to argue yet again, but Colin cut him off again.
'Go!'
Dennis sighed and raced up the staircase to the Room of Requirement. Colin sighed heavily, wiped sweat from his brow and sped down towards the battle. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he saw a scene of absolute carnage. Bellatrix and an old woman were duelling. He raced passed them and immediately shot a hex at the back of a Death Eater. It hit them between the shoulder blades and was blasted, face first, into the wall. Luna blinked at him for a second.
'Thank you,' she said dreamily, before racing off and fighting yet another Death Eater with Parvati Patil.
Colin raced through the open front doors and fired a hex into a crowd of giant spiders. The jet of purple light careened into the throng of legs and hit one directly between the pincers. A hex flew over his head, and he felt the power ruffle his hair slightly. Colin spun around and cast a shield charm to block a hex from a towering Death Eater. Colin fired Impediment and Revulsion jinxes at the Death Eater, who after narrowly blocking a Stunning spell to the face, lost his mask. Blonde hair and a brutish face were reflected slightly in Colin's eyes due to the spells causing a strobe-like effect.
'Impedimenta,' a female voice called, and Rowle was blasted away from Colin, who saw Ginny race passed him towards a Death Eater baring down on a fallen student.
He turned around and raced after Ginny. Together, they raised their wands and fired curses at the Death Eater, who was blasted onto their back and didn't move again.
'Ginny, I thought you would have left!' Colin gasped, bent over double.
'I couldn't leave. My whole family is fighting. Harry's here!'
'I know,' Colin replied. 'I couldn't leave either.'
Colin left Ginny outside and raced inside, just as Bellatrix and Professor McGonagall's duel intensified.
'Protego,' Colin shouted, and the shield charm erupted between McGonagall and Bellatrix's curse.
Together, they fought the maniacal Bellatrix, who laughed loudly at the sight of McGonagall and Colin.
'Mister Creevey,' Professor said sharply. 'I told you to leave!'
'I couldn't Professor. I had to fight.'
While Bellatrix was never in any real danger, after a few minutes of fast and ferocious fighting, Dolohov raced to her side and joined in.
'Dispembra!'
A slashing movement and the incantation preceded a jet of purple light shooting out of the end of Dolohov's wand. The arrow of light shot towards Colin, who dove out of the way just in time. Professor McGonagall continued to duel with Bellatrix but Colin was being pushed back towards the grounds by Dolohov's constant curses and hexes, that Colin barely dodged or blocked.
Once they were out in the grounds, Dolohov began to use the Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra curses. Colin dived, rolled and dodged as the Death Eater's curses crashed into the ground, leaving small craters in the grass.
'Crucio,' Dolohov snarled, and this time the curse landed. Colin was blasted onto his back, and he writhed in pain. Dolohov narrowed the gap between them, keeping his wand trained on the writhing young man.
He lifted his wand and the pain stopped. Colin panted heavily as his entire body ached.
'Crucio!'
Colin screamed in pain again as the Cruciatus was placed upon him again. Dolohov let out a cruel laugh. He stopped and started the torture, determined to cause the most amount of suffering he could.
'Impedimenta!' Colin heard from afar, and the curse was lifted.
Colin rolled onto his front, and was dimly aware of his surroundings. He slowly got to his feet, the world spun slightly. His legs felt like jelly and he fell to the ground. His head hit the ground hard and the skin over his temple split open. Colin groggily scrambled to his feet, and was vaguely aware of a blonde-haired person duelling with Dolohov.
'Stupefy,' the smaller person shouted, and it sounded vaguely familiar.
'Repello,' Dolohov snarled angrily.
The stunner was directed into the ground, and without breaking his stride, Dolohov closed the gap between himself and Colin's saviour. He grabbed them by the throat and slammed them to the ground. Colin aimed his wand.
'Stupefy,' he called, and a jet of red light shot out of his wand, but missed.
Dolohov raised his wand and opened his mouth to cast his curse. Colin swished and flicked his wand and aimed it at Dolohov's back.
'Wingardium Leviosa.'
Dolohov was hoisted into the air, but he turned around and aimed his wand at Colin.
'Avada Kedavra!'
A lightening shaped slash, a bolt of green light and Dolohov fell to the ground. Colin fell backwards, dead.
'I-impedimenta!' The blonde person called, and Dolohov was blasted backwards and unable to move.
Racing over to Colin, Lavender Brown checked for Colin's pulse. It wasn't there. She lightly placed her fingertips on his eyelids and closed them. She turned her attention back to Dolohov, but he had disappeared.
Standing up, and fighting back tears, she raced back into the castle and rejoined the fight.
XXXXXXX
'Stupefy,' she shouted, and a bolt of red light shot out of her wand directly into the heart of the oncoming hoard of Death Eaters.
She raced straight into the battle and was almost instantly defending herself from curses from every direction. Parvati was by her side, and they fought back to back. They managed to stun and fell three Death Eaters before they became separated. Parvati was swallowed by the chaos, and Lavender tried to find her best friend after stunning a masked Death Eater, with a spell to the face.
'Ooh, look, a blood traitor,' a sadistic voice crooned.
Lavender whirled around and instantly had the Cruciatus curse placed upon her. She screamed in pain and writhed around on the floor. She was faintly aware of a shrill, high-pitched cackle, and the pain continued. A loud bang broke though the pain and the screaming, and the curse was lifted. Lavender ached all over, but scrambled to her feet just in time to cast a shield charm between herself and Bellatrix Lestrange.
They continued to duel, bangs and curses collided in midair between them, and Lavender was barely coping.
'Curcio, Crucio, Crucio,' Bellatrix crooned happily. She seemed to be revelling in the fear on Lavender's face.
Lavender hopped from foot to foot, and ducked under the Cruciatus curses flying towards her. Bellatrix aimed her wand at the young woman.
'Avada Kedavra,' she said, almost bored.
Lavender dived out of the way just in time, as a bolt of green light streaked from Bellatrix's wand and buried itself in the marble floor, blasting a fairly deep crater.
'Bellatrix Lestrange!' An old lady called angrily. Despite the noise of the spells, and the cracking of masonry and the bangs of the fighting in the grounds, Bellatrix heard her.
Bellatrix cackled at the sight of her new challenger, and Lavender scrambled away. She dodged through the fighters and was soon locked in a duel with a Death Eater she swore was called Yaxley.
He spat vitriol at her, while casting curse after curse at her, but she was equal to everything he threw at her.
'Incarcerous,' she bawled.
Ropes sprang from the end of her wand and wrapped themselves around Yaxley, pinning his arms to his sides and his wand was stuck pointing uselessly at the floor. He wobbled as he tried to free himself, but he overbalanced. He fell to the floor and Lavender ran into the grounds.
Acromantula were swarming through the grounds. She raised her wand.
'Reducto,' she shouted. A jet of light shot through the air and sliced through three Acromantula, cleaving them in two.
'Confringo,' Lavender bawled, and three more were blasted into the air, horribly disfigured.
A sight caught her eye. A tall man was baring down on a familiar looking person, who was screaming in pain and rolling around on the ground.
'Impedimenta,' she called.
A bolt of white light shot from her wand towards the Death Eater. Dolohov barely managed to deflect it, but she gave him no reprieve.
'Stupefy, incarcerous, reducto, expelliarmus, impedimenta,' Lavender screamed without taking a breath.
Dolohov managed to block every spell, but had no time to retalliate. Lavender continued to spit spells as fast as she could. After a few moments, Dolohov blocked a powerful stunning spell, which richocheted back towards Lavender. She dived out of the way and the Death Eater quickly gained the upper hand.
'Stupefy,' she called, but he managed to deflect it.
'Repello,' Dolohov snarled, and leapt towards her. He pinned her to the ground and his hand closed around her throat.
His grip tightened and she choked. The Death Eater raised his wand and opened his mouth to cast a curse. She heard a male voice call out, and Dolohov released her. He was suddenly hoisted into the air. As he spun around, his wand slashed and he shouted the deadliest curse known to wizard-kind.
'Avada Kedavra!'
A bolt of green light shot towards Colin, who fell backwards like a lifeless doll.
'I-impedimenta,' Lavender gasped and Dolohov was blasted onto his back and unable to move.
Lavender raced over to Colin's lifeless body and checked for the non-existent pulse. She lightly lowered his eyelids and looked around for Dolohov determined to avenge Colin's death, but he had gone.
Getting up, she raced back into the castle and fought as many Death Eaters as she could, searching for Dolohov. None of the Death Eaters she fought were him though, and when Voldemort called back his forces, she walked into the Great Hall bitterly disappointed. Her disappointment, though, turned to relief and elation at the sight of a bleeding, but alive, Parvati.
Lavender raced up to her best friend and half-tackled her in a crushing hug. They both sobbed and clung onto each other, deeply relieved to see each other. When they broke apart, Parvati scrutinised her best friend.
'Madam Pomfrey is over there. You need to get that cut looked at,' Parvati said, motioning to Lavender's cut cheek.
'You too,' Lavender pointed out. Together, they walked over to the busy Madam Pomfrey, who directed them to one of her aides. Susan Bones tended to their wounds, instantly healing the cuts with short, sharp pokes with her wand.
'There you go,' she smiled wanly at them. 'Have you seen Hannah?'
'No,' Lavender shook her head. 'Was she fighting?'
'I think so, but I haven't seen her.'
'She'll be fine,' Parvati reassured her. Susan looked close to crying. At that moment, Hannah came into view.
Lavender and Parvati left the two Hufflepuffs alone, and walked through the Great Hall. They saw Neville huddled over a small figure.
'Neville?' Lavender asked.
Neville looked up at them blearily. Tears streaked down his face.
'Who's that, Neville?' Parvati asked softly.
'Gran,' he croaked. Lavender gasped, as the sight of the frail old lady shot through her as she remembered that it was the old lady that had saved her from Bellatrix Lestrange.
When the battle restarted, Lavender fought with renewed hope. She and Parvati fought side by side, always there for each other, but again they got separated. She fought with gusto and took out three Death Eaters. A silver streak raced towards her, and she saw it coming towards her out of the corner of her eye. She turned around and raised her wand.
'Imp-' she started but was bowled over by the silver blur.
Greyback savaged her, biting, scratching and clawing her face and chest. She heard a faint scream and the werewolf was blasted off her. She stirred feebly, and groggily saw a small pearly orb smash off Greyback's head, before he fell to the ground unconscious.
She felt around for her wand. She found it about three inches away from her right hand. She grabbed it, and tried to get up.
'Don't,' she heard and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Susan Bones, aimed her wand at her wounds.
She muttered something and Lavender felt her wounds tingle warmly. Susan tried in vain to repair the damage of Greyback's assault, but to no avail. Lavender stared past her valiant helper, and saw Greyback scramble to his feet and his eyes fell on Susan. He raced towards her, but Lavender raised her wand. Using every last ounce of strength she had, she breathed her last word.
'Stupefy,' she sighed. Susan whirled around and saw a bolt of red light shoot out of Lavender's wand and blast Greyback full in the face. He was hurled backwards and didn't move.
Lavender's hand thudded to the floor. Her body went limp, and Susan tired to resuscitate her.
'Vulnera Sanentur,' Susan moaned desperately. 'Vulnera Sanentur!'
The wounds failed to knit themselves together and Lavender didn't stir.
'Episkey!' Susan half-shouted. 'Come on Lavender!'
Lavender did not move. Parvati heard the shout through the din, and turned around to see Susan crouching over the distinctive sight of her fallen best friend.
'No!' Parvati wailed, and raced over to them. She knelt down and shook her best friend violently. 'Come on Lavender!'
Tears streamed down Parvati's face, and she turned around, hellbent on vengeance. She raced into the crowds and blasted and cursed everything in sight. She was soon locked in a battle with Death Eaters left, right and centre...
XXXXXXX
'Today, we honour the dead. Today, we honour those who gave their lives to protect others and fight against some of the Darkest wizards our community has ever known. Today, we thank them for all that they have sacrificed. They gave their lives in the hope that we would live free. We do thanks to their sacrifice. Their heroic efforts will be forever remembered. We will never forget. We will never not remember their choice to defend their friends and family against the tidal wave of evil. The sacrifice of angels for the good of the light keeps us all safe from the dark. Today, we thank them.'
Harry stepped away from the podium, and the assembled reporters and guests. He raised his wand and, at once, statues were revealed along the Atrium of the Ministry. Fifty statues lined the walls. All were ten feet tall, made of solid gold and every statue was made in a heroic pose.
Parvati stood up and clapped along with the others gathered for the ceremony. After a moment, the crowd dispersed. She walked over to her twin sister, and they walked past each statue as emotions flooded their minds.
They stopped in front of Lavender's statue. She was looking into the distance, and looked very heroic. She had been made whole, and untouched by Greyback.
'I saw her fight Dolohov,' said a dreamy voice. Both Parvati and Padma started, and turned around to look at Luna, who was looking up into Lavender's face. 'She tried to save Colin from Dolohov. She fought bravely. Dolohov was too powerful, and Colin tried to help, but he killed Colin with the Avada Kedavra curse. There was nothing she could do, but she fought bravely.'
Parvati started crying silently. Luna reached out and pulled her into a hug.
'She's fine,' Luna reassured her. 'She's happy now. She's safe.'
Parvati cried harder, and held onto Luna for dear life...
Professor McGonagall stood in front of Colin's statue. She looked up into the young face.
'Hello Professor,' she heard and she started. She turned around and saw Dennis Creevey and his parents.
'Oh, hello Mister Creevey,' she said stiffly.
'This is my mum and dad,' he said.
'Ah, yes, I remember,' she said, remembering the first time she met them. Colin had been eleven years old. That meeting was definitely odd. Colin had not believed her, and neither had his parents until she proved that he was a wizard.
They all stared into Colin's face and silence prevailed. After a few moments, Professor McGonagall spoke.
'He fought along side me,' she sniffed. 'I told him to leave, but he stayed and fought.'
'I wanted to stay and fight as well,' Dennis said in a matter-of-fact voice. 'But he nearly cursed me. He saved a couple of second years and and loads of others. Death Eaters were trying to attack the students who were racing up to the Room of Requirement.'
'Your brother was never very good at following orders,' McGonagall replied, her voice oddly soft. 'I remember having to tell him twice to do stuff. He'd always get caught talking. He also saved my life. He pushed me out of the way of a Killing Curse.'
'He saved a lot of lives,' Dennis replied simply. 'Mine. Yours. Lavender's, until she met Greyback.'
'He was a hero,' she sniffed. Dennis reached out and grabbed her hand. Startled, she turned to look at him.
'Professor,' he said grimly. 'You are not to blame for Colin's death. You shouldn't feel responsible for my brother wanting to do the right thing.'
'The right thing would have been to leave.'
'You might be dead,' Dennis countered. 'Lavender might have been killed by Dolohov, and I might be dead. Colin did what was right. Colin did what was brave. Colin did what he felt he had to.'
Professor McGonagall sniffed again.
'Professor McGonagall,' Colin's mother said sternly. 'We don't blame you. We don't blame anyone except the man who killed our son. Our son died doing what he thought was right. We wanted him to out-live us. No parent shouldn't bury their own child. But, if it wasn't for him, maybe a lot more parents would be burying their children.'
'Our son,' Mister Creevey added croakily. 'Was in our eyes, a hero. He are proud of what he did. He didn't die in vain. He died doing what he thought he had to. Like my wife said, we don't blame you...'
Neville, on the other side of the hall, looked up into the wizened, old face of his grandmother. Stern as she had been, Neville missed her deeply.
'Hello Neville,' he heard and he turned around and saw Hannah Abbott.
'Oh, hello Hannah,' he said wearily.
'Your grandmother was amazing,' she said. 'She saved my life.'
'That was Gran,' Neville said quietly. 'Everyone underestimated her.'
'She was a hero.'
'They all were,' Neville said simply.