"Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
Silence fell upon the hall, a deafening silence that pounded against my raw eardrums already beat by the lash of You-Know-Who's words. It was a silence heavy with weight, tense with emotion. In this silence, barely even a pause, we were all making the same decision, the same impossible choice. Live or die? Turn over Harry Potter or meet our end fighting? See tomorrow as traitors or be remembered as heroes?
"But he's there! Potter's there! Somebody grab him!" A pug-faced Slytherin shouted from across the hall, her pudgy fingers pointing wildly at the Boy-Who-Lived. And suddenly the hall groaned to life with a deafening noise as every Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor pushed back the benches, drew their wands and turned towards the offending student, each with the decision written on their faces. I glanced down at my hand, realizing with a tiny pinprick of shock that I'd stood too and drawn my own wand. The decision hadn't even been a conscious one but one I'd made instinctively without a thought. I'd chosen to die. My eyes drifted up across the hall to the Ravenclaw table where Richard was. He'd stood too, his wand drawn, jaw set with determination. Our eyes met and he nodded, recognizing my choice. I nodded back and looked away.
I guess we hadn't made the choice right here, right now, but had been made for us two years ago when our Hogwarts graduation had been marred by the return of a monster. When Dumbledore had handed me my diploma and I'd looked in his eyes and seen what it really meant. How the thin sheet of parchment I'd worked seven hard years for wasn't releasing me into a world of opportunity but a world of chaos and ever-increasing danger beyond the walls of the safest place on earth. Beyond the walls of Hogwarts. Or maybe I had made the choice barely three months later when Diagon Alley was no longer safe and Richard and I were sharing what would soon be our last sundae from Florean Fortescue. A group of Death Eaters had appeared in front of Ollivander's shop, blasting open the windows and smashing down the door. Unlike now there hadn't been a moment of silence, a slight pause where we could think. There had just been drawing my wand and running, every spell I'd ever learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts flooding my mind, and the rage. The blind rage of a lion. I hadn't meant to kill him. It hadn't been an unforgivable spell but it had done just the same. His blank lifeless eyes staring as his Death Eater cronies dragged him away still haunted my dreams. Whether it had been then or graduation, I'd made that choice. And it had led me to where I was now.
A resounding cheer lifted in the hall as Proffesor McGonagall threw out the entire Slytherin house. As the younger student followed the Slytherins out and the hall descended into a low mumble of chatter again, I sidled over to the Ravenclaw table, crossing my arms clothed in scarlet. These robes had once been new, I though bitterly glancing at the scorched sleeve ends, now look at them.
"Nice to be back," I muttered to Richard, my joke feeling flat on my tongue. Richard raised an eyebrow, crossing his own arms still clothed in Ministry black.
"I guess," he mumbled bluntly, eyes raised to the front of the hall where Kingsley Shacklebolt, my former instructor before the Ministry fell, was motioning for quiet.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers- Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor- where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus" – he indicated my old Professor- "Arthur" – he pointed toward Fred and George's dad, sitting at the Gryffindor table- "and I will take groups into the grounds…" I tuned out, my mind wandering. You-Know-Who had given us half an hour to make a decision and we'd made it in 30 seconds. All it had taken was one stupid Slytherin girl to side with the Dark Lord and we'd all stood to fight.
A small smile crossed my lips as Fred and George immediately volunteered to block the secret passages. Of course they knew where they all were. The smile faded as my eyes trailed around the room, taking in each of face of the students who'd remained behind. Some still wore their pajamas while others had hastily thrown on their robes, missing buttons here and there. One held a pillow. Kids…I thought….just kids. Some I recognized from years past but at least I'd had nearly two years of auror training. They were just kids….
"Alright, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!" Kingsley shouted and the room descended into noise again. I turned to Richard, my lips set in a grim line. He looked down at me, sapphire eyes sparkling.
"I supposed you're going out into the grounds?" he asked, his voice flat.
"Yeah," I replied in an equally flat voice, "And you're going to the towers?"
"Yeah," he replied, eyes drifting towards the doors of the Great Hall, "I'm not great at close combat." I nodded in agreement, not sure how to answer.
"Cate!" Kingsley's voice echoed across the hall, "Remus needs another wand in his group!"
"Ok!" I shouted back, starting towards them. But suddenly Richards's hand clamped on my wrist and I turned back, confused. He wasn't looking at me, staring off into the distance, taking deep breaths.
"Just…." he mumbled, "….be careful." He slowly raised his eyes to mine, a pleading look on his face. The corners of my mouth twitched upward.
"Of course," I mumbled back, "You too." I wanted him to smile, to reassure me we'd all be fine. But he didn't. Instead he leaned forward, kissed me gently on the forehead and turned away, dropping my wrist. I watched his back retreat, hoping he'd look back. But he didn't. So I turned my back and headed towards the ground fighters, wand already drawn, determination set in my eyes.