Chpt. 22 - Dumbledore to the Rescue
Marlene watched the curse hit Walden squarely in the chest from the safety of her cave. All alone, surrounded by only rocks, she was screaming. But no one came to help her. No one could hear her. The commotion caused by the spell has turned the duels into riots. Marlene strength was fading. Her head fell back against the cave floor and the crash plummeted her into a world of black.
Voldemort turned his focus to Remus, who was attempting to stun him with the Stupefy Charm. Voldemort flicked his wand, and a searing gash appeared on the prefect's chest.
Chris rushed from her and Lily's tumble to Remus's side. She wiped her throbbing hand across her eyes to stop the tears, smearing dirt all over her face. She couldn't lose Remus. No way, no how. She loved him so much. Instinctively, she leaned down and let her lips brush against the rough texture of his cheek. He looked up at Chris, and with all the strength in him, kissed her back. She had to know how much he cared about her. He couldn't live without her. And she couldn't live without him.
Within seconds, a crack rang in the air. There stood the noble headmaster, with his crescent moon-shaped spectacles sitting just at the tip of his nose. Dumbledore waved his wand, and shot up red warning sparks into the night air. His angry voice boomed over the cliffs, causing many to cover their ears for protection.
"You will leave my students alone! My school is a sanctuary, and it will not be tainted by your dark magic. Go - now!"
In a black swish of smoke, Voldemort disappeared, his voice echoing, "Dumbledore, I will leave for the moment, but be wise to remember you have not seen the last of me. I will find a way into that school, and my reign will continue. My purpose will prevail!"
The hundreds of Death Eaters in the mountainside followed suit, apparating away, one by one. By this time, it was extremely dark, and therefore hard to tell what was rock and what was man. Professor McGonagall appeared beside Dumbledore, her wand illuminating her face, and began rounding up the students and injured Aurors.
Lily woke up to find herself in a strange, white room. Her bed was surrounded by flowers, and she would hear someone hustling and bustling a few feet away. Madame Pomfrey walked over to Lily's bed to make sure she was awake, and then magically made a note if the time on the clipboard hanging off the edge of the bed. A flood of memories came back to Lily. The cries of pain, the smell of burning flesh, the darkness surrounding her. She sat up in the hospital bed to examine her injuries. She had fared pretty well. She had a few minor bumps and bruises, but nothing serious. Looking up at the calendar clock, she saw that not yet a day had passed since the terrible night. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon then, and she was the first of the group to wake. Whispering, she asked Madame Pomfrey how the others were doing.
"Well, deary, everyone is going to pull through. Let me run down the list… let's see… Mister Potter had a few burns, but nothing major. Laura and Christiana don't seem to be in such bad shape either."
Madame Pomfrey counted the injured students on her fingers as she listed their injuries.
"Those two girls have a few more bruises than you, and a few more scrapes, but they only need some rest, that's all. Av, unfortunately broke her arm and lost a pinkie finger, I'll be able to grow it back, of course, although it'll hurt. Sirius has some nasty side-affects of being put under the Cruciatus Curse, and will need a lot of medication, but he'll be fine, physically, in a few days. Frank was unconscious for most of the day, he woke up an hour or so ago and went back to sleep. Alice is still out cold, poor thing. Mister Lupin still has a big cut across his torso and shoulder, but it will heal quickly. Obviously, that's not all he got now, but... yes. And then, let's see... Miss McKinnon, erm... Macnair? Well… any way you'll have it, she's suffered the most. A concussion and just about everything else that could have gone wrong… There was a time early this morning that, truthfully, I thought I was going to lose her, but somehow, miraculously, she pulled through. Her legs are just fine now... I was finally able to untwist them... so their okay… and so is her..." Madame Pomfrey's voice steadily drifted off as she went back to attending to her patients, lost in thought. Although she was still a tad worried about her friends, Lily let out a sigh of relief. She couldn't go back to sleep now, so she picked up a crossword book on her bedside table and began to flip through it, trying to get her mind off the scene of the night before. She couldn't help but notice Madame Pomfrey had not mentioned if Walden was alright.