Welcome back to all my awesome readers! This is another fic for the QLFC forum, Round 5. This is the Captain fic, the position that I actually have! As I said in the last fic, Thistle, this round is about titles. We choose a title for inspiration from a given team member. The captain position has to choose titles from their Keeper. The Wasps keeper is the wonderful and amazing AshesGleamAndGlow, also known as Ash. Go check her out, she's pretty cool! As for the fic I choose to take the title from, I choose the fic "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly". I got a good little plot bunny from it, although one you may not see right away, so I hope you like it and leave some good reviews below.
Note: This is a slight Battle of Hogwarts AU! Just a warning, nothing is terribly different, but circumstances are slightly different.
Word Count: 1705
Heart pounding, Angelina threw spells at the Death Eater she faced. He was a particularly difficult opponent, deflecting all of the jinxes she thought to send his way with ease.
"Petrificus Totalus!" an unexpected voice called from nearby. Angelina's opponent went stiff, falling backwards and falling among other incapacitated people nearby. Angelina looked around to see who had helped her.
"Fred, how in Merlin's name did you make that shot from so far away?" she questioned and grabbed his arm so that they didn't lose each other in the crowd of people as they threw spells and ran into the castle. His roughened hand reassured her that they could make it through this safely.
"Just consider me your knight in shining armor, love," he retorted, and quickly kissed her forehead. "Are you-" He stopped mid sentence, and grimaced in pain. Instantly, Angelina did the same, feeling Voldemort's voice piecing her mind for the second time that day.
"You have fought valiantly, but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity."
"Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest, and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me. You have one hour."
With the end of the ultimatum, the piercing headache subsided, and the Hogwarts fighters watched in surprise as the Death Eaters fell back into the forest, reminding Angelina of a dark cloud as they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared earlier. It was eerie being alone with the dead in a place that had moments earlier been a warzone.
"You don't think Harry would do that, do you?" Angelina questioned Fred, her face filled with anxiety. If Harry gave up, there would be no point in fighting anymore.
"Of course not." Fred seemed confident, and she relaxed slightly. "I heard that they have a medic center in the Great Hall, and they're gathering the dead."
Fred looked around at the carnage, and Angelina could tell that he was searching for his parents, his siblings, making sure that any of them were not among the fallen. "Let's take some of the bodies there and see if we can find anyone. I need to find…"
"I know you're worried, Fred, but you need to remember that all of your siblings are extremely skilled. I for one would not want to be on the end of one of Ginny's Bat Bogey hexes.
Angelina and Fred grabbed a fallen student, a young woman that was seemingly around Angelina's age. She realized that any one of them might not make it through this night alive. It was sobering to realize that someone so young had not been spared from the horrors of the night.
Angelina sat with the Weasleys as they talked anxiously. The hour was nearly up as far as anyone could tell, and they knew that soon the battle would resume.
"Did you hear that?" Percy asked. Everyone nearby quieted, and tried to listen.
"I don't hear-" Mr. Weasley silenced himself as a huge crash sounded from outside. Everyone went eerily silent as they realized what was happening.
"They're returning to fight because Harry didn't go," Angelina concluded. "It's probably been an hour already." Her heart began to race again. She wanted the battle to end, she wanted everyone fighting safe from You-Know-Who's army, but she knew that the fight had to continue.
As a group, the fighters in the Great Hall stood and headed toward the doors, filing outside to fight again. The sight they were met with was expected, except for one thing: The crowd of Death Eaters approached across the bridge, and in their midst was a familiar, hulking figure.
"That's Hagrid," Ginny said in trepidation. "What's he got in his arms? That can't be…"
Ginny let out a horrified scream as the body in Rubeus Hagrid's arms came into focus. It was Harry, lying limp in Hagrid's enormous arms. Angelina's heart sank as she realized what that meant. She grabbed Fred's hand, hoping that he would reassure her that they could win without Harry.
"Put him down at my feet, where he belongs," Voldemort commanded Hagrid. Angelina assumed that the half-giant was under the Imperius Curse, otherwise he would never have done what he had been asked. Hagrid laid The Boy Who Lived on the ground near Voldemort, tears shining brightly in his dark eyes.
"Harry Potter is dead. Continuing to fight is futile," Voldemort addressed the crowd, glee written all over his reptilian face. "Show your loyalty to me, and you will have mercy. Refuse and all will perish today."
Angelina thought she had stopped breathing for a few seconds, so high was the tension, anxiety and despair coursing through the Hogwarts fighters.
"WHERE'S HARRY?!" The last bit was the most unexpected of all. Angelina turned to see that on the ground where Harry's lifeless body had lain was bare. If anything had the power to surprise her, this was it. Had he been pretending to be dead? Angelina had no idea, but she knew that soon they would be locked in battle again.
"Back into the castle!" Professor McGonagall yelled, picking up on the quickly changing turn of events. Angelina kept Fred's hand in a death grip as they fled back into the castle with the panicking crowds, the Death Eaters sprinting after them. After the supposed loss of Harry, Angelina didn't want to lose sight of her boyfriend.
Inside, Angelina and Fred quickly took up fighting Yaxley alongside Kingsley Shacklebolt. Spells flew all around. Hogwarts students and Death Eaters alike lay dead or injured all around them. Seeing those people lying helpless on the ground, injured or worse, she had a scary yet hopeful idea. It would certainly give everyone motivation to win.
"Fred, let's get married," Angelina blurted before she could lose her nerve, flinging a Burning Curse at Yaxley who easily blocked it. "Now. I want to at least be married for a little while… in case we don't make it. I want you by my side for the rest of my life. I love you."
Fred gave her a shocked look as he blocked Yaxley's accompanying Cruciatus Curse. "Ang… but there's no minister. Our families…"
"We can have a fancy party another day," Angelina excused, throwing a Body Bind Curse at Yaxley that hit him in the chest, giving them a brief moment. She wanted everyone to stop, to realize what was happening between them, but that was not possible. Angelina knew that it seemed sudden, but she loved Fred "Kingsley is an auror. You can marry us, can't you?"
Kingsley looked at the two of them, seeing Angelina's intensity. "I could, I do weddings on occasion. Fred, do you want this?"
Fred quickly made a decision, determination replacing his earlier doubt. "Yes. Let's do it."
Relieved, Angelina placed her hand in his, gripping her wand tightly in the other.
"Kingsley, go ahead." Angelina sent a Stunning Spell at an approaching bogey, leaving them momentarily free. She searched Fred's eyes, and he gave a reassuring nod that calmed her.
"I'll give the brief version, shall I?" Kingsley muttered, casting a Blasting Curse at someone else. "Do you, Frederick Weasley, take Angelina Johnson to be your wife, in sickness and health, richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?"
Fred deflected a pair of dark purple spells as he gave his answer. "I do."
Kingsley continued. "Do you, Angelina Johnson, take Frederick Weasley to be your husband, in sickness and health, richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?"
Angelina could hardly breathe as she said her required line. "I do, yes!"
"Then I pronounce you husband and wife," Kingsley finished the impromptu ceremony. "Kiss the bride!" As the words came, Angelina stood as tall as she could, kissing her new husband for the first time on the newlyweds grinned through their kiss as spells flew around them, all deflected fairly simply.
However, the moment didn't last long. Still wrapped in their kiss, Angelina watched in horror as Yaxley rose, apparently now free from her Body Bind, and threw a green spell at Fred. It was too late to shout or pull him out of harms way as the Killing Curse hit its mark. Fred gave her one last fleeting look before he fell, another lifeless body among those already gone.
"Oh Merlin, please no," Angelina muttered to herself as she struggled to see past brimming tears. For a few moments she couldn't believe what had happened. Surely it was a nightmare, not reality
She aimed her wand at Yaxley. She wanted to hurt him, to make him feel how she was feeling, but she didn't know many spells that would do what she wanted. She knew the one spell that could do it, but was she really able to perform it?
The answer turned out to be no. "Angelina," Kingsley's calm, low voice spoke. "I know you're angry and distraught, but think about what you're doing."
Angelina knew he was right. "Incarcerous." Ropes quickly bound Yaxley, and he fell to the ground, now completely unable to move or free himself. "You can go to Azkaban once we win."
There wasn't a lot of time to think about everything that had just happened, as people were backing away from a pair of wizards in the center of the hall. One was obviously Voldemort. Angelina was expecting to see Neville facing him, or maybe Ginny or one of the professors, but to her surprise, the opponent battling Voldemort was none other than Harry Potter.
It seemed wrong that no one paid attention to the devastated girl. Angelina knew that the battle between Harry and Voldemort was ultimately more important, she felt that Fred's death would never be overcome.
Looking at the two wizards, she only had one thought.
It's not over yet.