Chapter 2: Shock
Dean was exhausted. He had never felt so much pain or used so much energy at once. He was sure he had broken his rib. Madame Pomfrey was mending his most severe injuries because of a break in the fighting. As he sat on the steps in the great hall that led up to where the teachers usually sat, he had a clear view of the other injured fighters and the fighters who hadn't survived. He was raking the room with his eyes, desperately searching for Luna, when he saw Harry enter the Great Hall.
Dean watched as Harry took one, horrified, heart-wrenching look towards the lifeless bodies closest to the entrance. Dean followed Harry's gaze, hoping it was no one they knew, but knowing it would be. Shock flooded Dean's veins. One right after the other, in the same row, lay his old DADA professor, Remus Lupin with his wife, Tonks, but next to them was the largest shock. Dean struggled to see since so many people were crowding the body, but as he took in the bright red hair of the people around it, his stomach caught in his throat. Just as he was about to turn away, one of the Weasleys shifted...and Dean saw the body. Fred Weasley lay there. Motionless. Lifeless. Dean turned his head just in time to avoid puking all over Lavender Brown, who was passed out a couple steps below him. Dean couldn't believe it. He had spent so much time around Fred and George. He had even dated their sister briefly. Dean shivered with the shock and pain.
Immediately after entering the hall, Harry turned on his heel and left. That was the last time Dean saw Harry until Voldemort announced Harry's death.
Dean just saw Luna to the left of where he sat, across the hall. Luna was bruised and scratched but mainly uninjured, but Deans thoughts were interrupted by Voldemort's magically magnified voice as he cut in to the pain-filled silence that engulfed the Great Hall. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed while trying to escape, while you laid down your lives for him. We bring you his body, as proof that your hero is dead. The Battle is won."
Again, the shock forced Dean's stomach into his throat, but now he had nothing left inside it to throw up now. He felt his heart drop to his feet. There was absolutely no way Harry could be dead. Dean raised his head to find Luna in the hall again. She was still in the same place, but the look of shock and disbelief that painted her face made him look away. He couldn't handle it.
As Dean had sat there in disbelief, Voldemort had kept talking. Now people were beginning to leave the Great Hall as Voldemort's high, evil voice said, "Come." Dean followed the other fighters as they made their way into the Entrance Hall and outside the front doors of Hogwarts.
As the first few fighters passed through the great, oak front doors, Dean heard them. Professor McGonagall's voice rang out through the crowd with so much pain and shock that Dean was sure his heart had cracked in two. As he heard the voices of Ron and Hermione and Ginny let out mangled screams of shock and horror, Dean's body sprang with life. He had to see Harry's body to believe any of this could be true. He pushed the people blocking his way so he could run to the front. Just as he reached the front line of people and could see Voldemort's tall, slender, evil frame, and red eyes, Voldemort yelled out, "SILENCE!" As quickly as if someone had stupefied him, Dean stopped. He couldn't move his feet; all he could do was look around and wince with shock as Voldemort demanded Hagrid set Harry down in front of everyone at Voldemort's feet. Dean looked to his left to see Luna only a few meters from him. She looked him straight in the eye as tears of shock ran down her cheeks.
Dean couldn't stop himself, the look of Luna crying gave him the strength to pull his feet from the ground and meet her, tears in his eyes now as he took her hand. As Dean had taken his first step toward Luna, Ron's angry voice broke the silence of the crowd and Voldemort's speech, "He beat you!" with Ron's words, everyone began to shout against Voldemort. The silencing charm had been broken. Voldemort yelled back, stupidly saying Harry had been trying to sneak out of the grounds, as if anyone would believe a thing Voldemort said. Then there was a sound of scuffling and a thump as someone tripped, a flash of light, and a pain-filled yell from Neville. Dean held his breath, sure Voldemort would kill Neville too, but instead, all anyone heard was Voldemort's evil cackle as he wondered out loud who this boy was. Dean shivered in disgust and gripped Luna's hand tighter as Bellatrix Lestrange gleefully informed her master that this was Neville—the son of two aurors she had once tortured into insanity.
Dean zoned out in thought of how someone could be so evil as to use the cruciatus curse so many times on a single person. He jumped as Neville shouted out in response to something Voldemort had said. "I'll join you when Hellfreezes over! DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" The whole crowd of fighters around Dean shouted out a second time with Neville, "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" Dean felt so much hope in that moment. He knew then that the battle was not won yet, the battle was only just beginning. This was where everyone's loyalty was being put to the test. Their hero may be dead, but in no way were any of their hearts, hopes, or dreams dead. He smiled at Luna as the whole crowd shouted again. He could see in her eyes that she was thinking the same as him.
The snake was dead, Neville had pulled the sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, showed more bravery than Dean had ever felt, and Harry had disappeared. None of Voldemort's spells were holding either and within seconds of the moment of shocked silence after Neville had sliced off Nagini's head, people were dueling again. Fighting like never before. Dean felt Luna's hand slip from his and before he could look to grab her, they were separated again and curses we flying everywhere.
Dean was fighting a short, curly haired death eater he'd never seen before tonight. Dean's final hex hit the death eater just as Dean watched Luna trip.
Luna was only 10 meters from Dean, dueling against Bellatrix with help from Hermione and Ginny. A killing curse shot from Bellatrix's wand and barely missed the side of Ginny's torso and barely flew over Luna's head as she fell to the ground. Dean ran towards Luna. He could see Harry pulling off an invisibility cloak and running towards Bellatrix, and Dean could hear Mrs. Weasley's angry voice, but before she came into Dean's line of view, he felt the sharp pain of being slammed into by someone else and everything went black.
Luna hit the ground and looked up in time to see a large death eater slam into Dean from the side. Her eyes wide with fear, she saw Dean slam to the ground, a look of agony on his face. She blinked and when her eyes opened again, she saw Dean's head slam into the marble floor of the entrance Hall. He was un-conscience.
