Chapter Four

Don't Leave Me This Way

'Don't leave me this way
I can't survive, I can't stay alive
Without your love, oh baby
Don't leave me this way, no
I can't exist, I'll surely miss your tender kiss
Don't leave me this way' - Thelma Houston

~(*)~(*)~

"COWARD!"

Aurora turned to Minerva, her face impassive. Minerva saw the look and glared down her nose at her.

"Whatever inappropriate liaison you might have had with that snake was over long before it began. You are either with us, Sinistra, or against us."

Gesturing to Potter she turned and made a beeline for the Great Hall, the other teachers following her, and pointedly ignoring Aurora. Only Sybil stood beside her as flecks of lightning escaped from her eyes.

"Let's go to the Great Hall," Sybil said, gently taking her arm in small comfort, "we might be needed there."

They entered the Great Hall to find Order members and past students among the rest of the student body, and it wasn't long before Voldemort was communicating with everyone using Legilimency.

"You heard him," Pansy yelled, "he only wants Potter and he'll leave us alone. Give him Potter, he's right there!"

The other houses formed a wall against the Slytherins, blocking Potter from their view. Aurora observed the happenings sadly, Severus was no longer here to protect his Slytherins from such blatant prejudice.

One trait of a Slytherin was self-preservation, and that may take the form of either retreating, to live and fight another day; or fighting if cornered, to the death if necessary. Aurora was a Slytherin herself and understood more than any of the other professors in the room, the plight of these students.

"Professor Slughorn, please escort the Slytherins to the dungeons and confine them there." Minerva turned to address the rest of the room but froze as a resounding "No" echoed around the hall.

Aurora separated herself from Sybil and moved to stand with the Slytherins students, who looked back at her warily, and some with hope.

"Do you plan on fighting all of us Sinistra?"

Aurora ignored Minerva as she addressed the students in front of her.

"Mr Zabini, are you ready?"

Blaise stood straight and nodded once, "We're ready, professor."

"Good, Miss Parkinson I want you, Miss Bulstrode and a few other seventh years to take the younger ones down to the common room. As you all know, the chamber has been compromised." Seeing that they all understood what she was referring to, she continued. "Do you remember the code?"

Pansy nodded shakily.

"Don't worry, he'll never hurt you," Aurora smiled, placing a calming hand on the frightened girl's shoulders, "We're Slytherins."

"I should have known it was a mistake to let Dumbledore hire you, another traitorous Slytherin!"

"Minerva, you are a grown woman among impressionable young people. You need to conduct yourself accordingly." That said, Aurora turned back to her Slytherins.

"Go, Miss Parkinson and protect the younger ones. All of them." Aurora gave her a long look and Pansy nodded uncertainly.

"If they choose to come with us, professor, I promise we'll protect them."

Aurora turned to Professors Flitwick and Sprout, "If the Head of Houses permits it, the younger years will be safe in the Slytherin common room."

The two glanced at each other but Minerva spoke over them, "Absolutely not! They'll be leaving the school and heading for safety."

"For safety? Where, Minerva, Hogsmeade? There are Death Eaters and Snatchers and other evil creatures everywhere! This school is the only safe place for them at this time." Aurora sighed and raised her hand, signalling the end of any argument. She'd had enough of Minerva McGonagall, the ever consummate Gryffindor.

"Miss Parkinson, please go now." As Parkinson and the others left, she turned to Blaise and the rest of the seventh years who'd remained with him. "Mr Zabini, we'll be going up to the Astronomy tower."

Blaise and the others left immediately and Aurora turned to her friend, "Are you coming, Sybil?"

"Actually Aurora, I'll be needed on another floor," Sybil said shuffling along beside her, "but I have to retrieve my crystal balls so I'll walk up with you."

"You're letting them go?" A seventh year Ravenclaw, whose name she couldn't remember gestured at them. "They could be warning them from up there!"

Aurora shook her head in disappointment at the young mind already completely wired to hate and distrust everything Slytherin. She turned to follow Sybil out of the hall.

"Minerva don't -"

"Petrificus Totalis!"

The spell bounced off of Aurora's hastily erected shield and slowly, she turned, keeping her more dangerous emotions contained.

"Did you just cast a spell at me while my back was turned, Minerva? How… disappointing, and yet you carelessly toss out the word 'coward' at others so easily." She glanced at Potter standing with the other teachers, he seemed impatient and uneasy at the tension. "You all need to get ready for what's coming, I'm sure Potter has things he needs to do and fighting among ourselves now isn't going to help the students."

She wasted no more time and left with Sybil. They split up on the seventh floor, Sybil went to collect her crystal balls and Aurora continued on to her room near the Astronomy tower.

Ororo dropped her Glamour and pulled the pins from her hair, letting it bounce passed her shoulders in shiny, white curls. She quickly changed her robes for a fitting, matte-black leather battle armour of pants and a bustier. She attached a rounded matching cape with gold trimming and slipped on a tall pair of black, heeled combat boots.

Opening her trunk, she pushed a small lever at the bottom which revealed a hidden compartment containing a blade she'd commissioned the Goblins to create for her using Adamantium and a witch's staff - made to channel her magick and as strong as a bo staff - from a well-known wandmaker in Wakanda. She tucked the blade in the sheath on her hip and the staff, she shrunk enough and clipped on her other hip.

Replacing a Glamour of her persona as Professor Aurora Sinistra for the moment, she ran up to the Astronomy tower to find Blaise and the others looking over the side.

"Everyone, listen for a moment." Once they gathered in front of her, she continued. "Today, you are going to be fighting for your right to live free. Free from evil, from prejudice; free to be Slytherin. Some of us may be Dark but understand me when I say that Darkness does not signify the level of someone's evil nature. For those of you who have continued into your seventh-year Astronomy classes, you will know of what I speak. For without the Darkness, there can Be. No. Light!"

She noted that Nott, Moon and a few others stand taller at her words. "Out there, surrounding the castle right now are all manner of beings ready to destroy you in the name of Darkness. Today we will put a stop to this for there are Dark and Light Magicks and both can be used for evil. Zabini!"

"Yes, Professor?"

"Why are the Dark Magicks stronger… purer?"

"Because everything came from the Darkness… from Nothingness, even Light."

Aurora smiled grimly as she looked at the proud faces before her. "Protect each other; protect this school. Keep a lookout to the skies there may be dementors and most likely wizards on brooms, some may even be flying animagi so be alert. Most likely they will send in the Dementors and foul creatures first to thin us out, weaken us. If you know the Firestorm Charm or any charm to create fire, take out the Inferi, otherwise leave them to me. Spread out."

No longer needing their undivided attention, she removed her Glamour.

"And one more thing," she intoned softly, there were gasps at her appearance and she transfixed each of them with her azure orbs, "if you see him, no one is to harm Severus Snape. Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of "yes ma'am" before they all returned to their vigil.

~(*)~(*)~

In The Dungeons

In the Slytherin common room, Pansy paced aimlessly in front of the fireplace, chanting the code in her mind. Millicent and the rest of the seventh years distracted the younger ones, playing gobstones and chess by the sitting area near the window to the lake.

Millicent, aware of her friend's dilemma, went over to her. As one of the seventh-year prefects, Pansy had been given the code that would protect the students from harm. Draco Malfoy had been pulled from school and so Blaise had replaced him, learning the code instead. He was now with Professor Sinistra defending the castle from outside, so it was up to Pansy to give the code that could save them all.

"Here, Pansy, drink this. It'll help."

Pansy smiled at the Mediwitch-in-training, and downed the Calming Draught.

"Where'd you get it?"

"The Headmaster," Millicent whispered, looking directly at Pansy, "He warned me to keep stock of a few healing potions. My trunk's full of them."

Pansy's eyes widened before she smiled in relief, "Why didn't you tell me?" Then blushed when Millicent arched a brow at her, "I can keep a secret, you know. I've been chanting one in my head for the last couple of days."

"You'll do fine Pansy, best case scenario, you won't have to use it at all. But I'd move from directly in front of the fireplace before using that code if I were you."

Pansy blanched, before moving over to the other students with Millicent. She was about to help a first-year with a chess move, when the Bloody Baron ghosted through the wall.

"There's a crowd of students milling around outside," he moaned.

Pansy and Millicent opened the wall to find a group of tiny Hufflepuffs gazing up at them hopefully with blatant lost-puppy looks.

"Can we come in? We'll feel safer with you guys than going to Hogsmeade," one firstie with big brown eyes said softly.

Biting back smiles at the firstie's attempt of appealing to a Slytherin's need for an ego stroke, Pansy and Millicent stepped back and directed them toward the sitting area where the Hufflepuffs all rushed over to join the Slytherins.

Remaining outside were two people the Slytherins didn't expect to see, with two smaller groups behind them.

Neville spoke first, "We could only convince a few of the younger ones to come down here. Can they join you?"

"The rest of them chose to go into Hogsmeade. They'll be okay," Luna said, seemingly staring into their souls. Leaning toward them she whispered, "There are Heliopaths there that'll protect them."

Pansy nodded with an awkward smile, while Millicent took the smaller group of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors to join the rest. She stood silently while Neville tried to talk a Gryffindor into staying with them in the dungeons.

"All of Dumbledore's Army is fighting out there; I came back to fight too!"

"Actually… Creevey isn't it?" she waited for the sixth year to nod, "if McGonagall sees you, she's going to make you leave anyway. Besides, there are only a few of us here and we need all the help we can get to protect the younger ones. We could really use your help, none of us here has been able to learn all the spells you guys have in your duelling club."

Of course a Slytherin would know how to stroke another's ego.

Searching for any hint of deceit but finding none, Colin nodded in agreement and waved Neville and Luna away, joining the rest of the older years as they made a wall in front of the younger students.

He stared in awe at the Giant Squid resting just outside the glass partition.

"He doesn't usually stay out there this long," Pansy said, noticing him look, "I think the Giant Squid has decided to protect us from underwater threats."

"Cool."

~(*)~(*)~

Astronomy Tower

"There's no need to compensate for distance, aim directly for your target and cast. Once they get close to the defenders, stop. You don't want to hit a friendly by accident."

Ororo stood at the edge of the Astronomy tower between Zabini and Moon. The ten Slytherin students stood, spaced around the circumference of the parapet.

Death eaters and other evil creatures, surrounded the castle casting spells at the Wards, weakening them. As she'd predicted, there were wizards on brooms in the distance, waiting for the Wards to fall.

Opening herself to the elements, Ororo knew her eyes were now completely white when she saw the wall of magick where the Wards would be. She saw them fall.

"They're coming."

The Death Eaters and Snatchers didn't charge onto the grounds; instead, the Dementors, Inferi and Werewolves swarmed toward the castle.

Moon was the only student to cast the Firestorm, which surrounded a group of Inferi, and Storm nodded in approval when the girl shot balls of fire at the Werewolves while keeping up the ring of fire that grew smaller, destroying the Inferi within.

Storm called down the lightning onto the Werewolves, who were only in their human forms as it was not a full moon. Zabini and a few others summoned their Patronus, and sent them charging at the Dementors, while Nott and the rest used Blasting curses.

The grounds were thrumming with magickal energy. Some of the creatures dodged, but were met by the Stone Warriors most likely conjured by McGonagall. Storm noticed Stunners being sent by the defenders and shook her head. What were those teachers and students thinking?

"We need Firestorm on this end!"

"Stay here Moon!" Storm sped to the other side next to Nott, pulling her staff from the holster on her hip, she enlarged it and circled it overhead. A crimson and gold ring of fire encircled a group of Inferi and a few Werewolves; with a flick of her wrist, she caused jets of flames to rush toward the centre of the ring in an explosion that incinerated them all.

That had almost been too easy, Storm thought to herself and just then, she knew why. The students stopped in their attacks, the atmosphere became colder and she looked up to see hundreds of Dementors descending from dark clouds, where they'd been hidden. The few gliding along the grounds had been decoys. She cursed under her breath for her lapse in chasing away the unnatural cloud formations earlier.

The Death Eaters began to advance then, as they were unaffected by the Dementors pouring from the sky.

"Expecto Patronum!" She cast her Patronus, a black panther that raced through the sky toward the Dementors, but there were too many.

"Get up! All of you! Cast the Patronus Charm, even the non-corporeal form will shield you."

Alas! Her students were children of Death Eaters or others who'd chosen to walk an evil path. As such, they had too many bad memories that were now crowding their minds.

The Dementors were still a long distance away, and closing in, but the Death Eaters were already flinging curses at them. Storm's Patronus was still going and it eased the depression on a few of her Slytherins, allowing them to return to fighting.

There had been five mounted Death Eaters circling and casting curses; three of them fell, ominously without a sound, to the grounds far below.

The remaining two Death Eaters expertly evaded the spells the students cast at them. Storm was torn between wanting to protect her students, who were doing the protecting as they grouped around her, and casting her Patronus which was keeping the Dementors at bay.

She had to make a quick decision when both of the Death Eaters took careful aim at her students.

"AVADA-"

"NO!" A bolt of lightning shot from her free hand, hitting the Death Eater saying the Killing Curse before he could finish the spell. She was too slow for the other.

"BOMBARDA MAXIMA!"

The stones beneath the feet of Blaise Zabini and Kalisha Moon crumbled, and both students fell from the tower.