*sobbing uncontrollably*

OOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was dark, and my ears felt muffled with a faint ringing sound coming from inside my head. I could vaguely hear voices around me, but couldn't figure out why I could hear but not see anything. Slowly the darkness started to recede though, colors slowly penetrating my vision. I was lying down in an awkward position, my head lying sideways against my outstretched arm on the ground. Dust tickled my nose and I could feel something wet trickling down my forehead; blood or sweat, I didn't know.

I moved my fingers slightly, feeling coming back. With my senses came reality; and I remembered what had happened.

Explosion. Maggie.

I moved myself up from the ground, ignoring the groaning of my muscles and observed my surroundings. People and creatures still swarmed the courtyard, oblivious to my now conscious body, yet something seemed off to me, like something was missing.

It took me a moment to realize that it was the pillars that were missing from my gaze; the pillars Maggie had been hiding behind. I looked to where they had been before the explosion and now only saw a pile of rubble.

My heart stopped. Where was Maggie?

I frantically looked for my wand that was lying a few feet away and then crawled on the ground towards the pile of rubble a few yards away.

"Maggie?!" I cried out, looking around the area to see if I could spot her. I could see bodies lying around, but none of them were her. Spending over a decade of your life around someone tended to give you the ability to spot them anywhere; only that ability wasn't working at the moment.

"Maggie!" I shouted again, my voice dry and coated with dust.

Then I saw it. The mass of golden hair tinted with red.

I let out a cry of anguish when I spotted a glimpse of her hair at a hidden section of the rubble. I scrambled over pieces of stone to get to her and stumbled to my knees by her limp body after slipping on loose debris.

Her skin was pale and her body was covered in bruises and blood. Her legs remained trapped under large pieces of the pillars and I frantically tried to budge the pieces off of her while hysterically calling out her name. I had just managed to push a heavy chunk off of her when I heard her let out a strangled moan.

"Maggie?!" I shuffled back towards her head as her eyes blinked open, and I carefully pushed the blood matted hair away from her face.

"Rigel?" She croaked out, her lips cracked and caked with dust.

"I'm right here," I assured her quickly, trying to keep my panic down, "I'm going to get you out of here, we just need to get these pillars off of you."

"I think… I think my legs are broken…" She whispered, her eyes not completely focussed, "I can't feel… really anything… at all…"

If she couldn't walk or even somewhat support herself, I wouldn't be able to get her out of there by myself. I was still weak from my own injuries and needed more help to move her.

She went to close her eyes and I freaked out, "Don't close your eyes, Mags! Keep them focussed on me!"

I gingerly lifted her torso so I could cradle her head in my lap and kept my eyes trained on her bloodshot blue ones. "Just hold on, Mag. Someone will come and get to us and I'll keep us protected in the meantime."

The pile of rubble trapping her kept us shielded from the main battle, but I kept my wand tightly in one hand anyway.

I could feel the wetness of blood against my arms and felt the panic rising.

Maggie seemed to realize the situation before I did as she choked out, "I don't think…. I can stay awake… for very long…"

"Madam Pomfrey will fix you up in no time," I continued, my voice sounding near hysteric as I tried to reassure her and myself, "Somebody will find us and get us to safety. I know it; you just have to hold on until then,"

The corner of her mouth tipped as she tried to give me a weak smile, "It's okay Rig… we all knew… we would probably end up… dead… by the morning…"

I choked back a sob, "Don't say that!"

"It's true…" She whispered back, and I shook my head furiously, tears blinding my vision.

"You're going to be okay." I repeated, though the words sounded hollow in my own ears. I could tell she was having a hard time breathing. Blood was everywhere and she was so, so pale.

"I'm scared, Rig…" She mumbled, her eyes going in and out of focus, "Death seems so… uncertain…"

"You're not going to die!" I insisted, a tear falling from my face and landing on her white cheek.

"Promise… you'll stay with me... until I go…" She asked, her words slurred and quiet.

I couldn't help the sobs that were escaping me now, and I held her closer to me, "I'll never leave you, Maggie, I'm not going to leave you."

Screams and shouts filled the air around us, and pieces of debris fell nearby as the battle raged on. I felt no fear to the world around me though. I could care less if a Death Eater sent a curse towards me. My eyes and heart were on my friend, who I knew, though I tried to deny it, was fading fast.

Her normally shining blonde hair was covered in dust and blood, and her once sparkling eyes were turning vacant. This was so wrong. She couldn't die this way, not scared and in pain. She was always such a lively person, with passion and drama raging within her every step. To see her now, helpless and hurt, was cruel. It was like I was reliving Fred's death all over again, and in an even more painful manner.

I brushed her temple tenderly and tried to smile at her through my uncontrollable cries, "don't be scared, Mags. I'm here with you."

Her eyes tried to keep focus on me, and her mouth struggled to open to speak, "Tell mum… it happened… quickly…"

She swallowed thickly and I couldn't speak past the hard lump in my throat.

"I don't… want her… to know… I was… in pain."

All I could do was nod, beyond the point of grief. There was no point in denying it anymore. Her wounds were too great and there was nothing we could do. My best friend was dying.

"Tell her… I love her." She gasped out, and her breaths were getting shallower, "I was all…. she had left."

"I'll tell her," I promised hoarsely, "Don't fret about anything."

She met my gaze once more, "I love you… Rigel."

My chest shook and tears fell onto her broken body, "I love you too, Maggie."

Her eyes went unfocused again and she coughed thickly, her body giving a short spasm. I cried out and grasped onto her tightly. Then she coughed out again, sputtering out blood.

"No, no, no!" I shrieked, watching in horror.

There was nothing I could do and I turned hysterical, watching as she choked around it.

"Maggie!" I continued to scream as she convulsed in my arms, her eyes rolling back into her head.

And then just as suddenly, she went completely still.

If felt my heart break completely and I could barely breathe past the pain as I held her limp form in my arms. It didn't seem real. I couldn't believe that she was gone just like that. My arms held her painfully tight and I bowed my head down to hers as I wept uncontrollably.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, whether only a few minutes or much longer, but it felt like a lifetime as our entire friendship played out in my mind. Why did I get to finally have her back, only to have her taken away again?

As I stayed absorbed in my own misery, a stillness suddenly came over the courtyard and an eerie voice seemed to sound inside my head.

"You have fought valiantly. Yet you have sustained heavy losses." It echoed, and my skin crawled as I realized who was speaking. "If you continue to resist, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity and treat your injured. I speak now directly to Harry Potter. You have permitted your friends to die rather than face me yourself. I will wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end, you have not come to me to give yourself up, the battle shall recommence. This time I shall enter the fray myself and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child that tries to conceal you from me. You have one hour."

The horrifying sound finally vanished from my head, but I kept my face buried in Maggie's messy locks, refusing to move from my spot. I refused to process what had just been said. I just couldn't.

The next several moments happened in snapshots and I don't remember them all clearly. Lee and some other students found us and removed the debris trapping Maggie's body. I vaguely recall somebody having to fight with me to get her out of my arms, and then I was standing there with Lee's arm wrapped around me as I watched her body being carried away.

"Rigel? Rigel?" I finally heard Lee's voice breaking through my daze. "We should get to the Great Hall, the Order needs to regroup and help the wounded."

I nodded, beyond numb at this point.

We made it to the Great Hall where a sickening amount of bodies were being carried into. I briefly wondered if Percy had gotten Fred in.

I was scared to let my gaze catch any of the faces lying on the floor, too terrified that it might be a loved one. People were yelling and crying in every direction I looked, whether mourning for the death of someone or frantically trying to find somebody in the swarm of people.

Lee murmured something to me that I couldn't process and he left my side to go off somewhere. I stood in the middle of the Hall, trying to regain my thoughts so I could be of use, but the chaos around me was too deafening.

A hand suddenly wrapped around my arm and I jolted automatically and spun around. I stumbled on my feet and my hands grabbed onto a pair of strong arms for balance. My gaze snapped up and caught the gaze of intense dark brown. Within a second I was pulled against a hard chest.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Oliver's voice breathed next to my ear, and tears filled my eyes at the comfort I felt in his arms. I clutched at the back of his shirt, taking the opportunity to feel safe and secure if but for only a few seconds.

The moment ended quickly though as he gently pushed me away from him and held me at an arm's length. I looked to his dirt covered face that seemed to be checking me over for injuries and I noticed several gashes and cuts along his visible skin. His hand came up to push the hair away from my face.

"You're covered in gashes," He said worriedly, looking back to my face and bringing me a bit closer as people jostled around us, "Are you hurt badly?"

I shook my head, still too consumed with pain to speak. He seemed to notice my expression and he tensed.

"What happened? What is it, Rigel?"

"Fred and Maggie," I whispered, barely audible above the noise, "They're gone."

He closed his eyes for a moment and brought me back against his chest, holding me firmly. I clung to him for a moment longer before we both seemed to realize that now was not the time to fully grieve. There were hundreds of people around us that still needed help. We let go of each slowly and I looked back to his face.

"I'm going back out to look for people," He told me, brushing hair back from my face, "I saw your dad in here helping with the wounded, I think it's best if you find him and see how you can help."

He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss to my forehead before meeting my gaze one last time.

I watched him disappear back through the crowd of people before turning around myself to find Dad, breathing a small bit of relief knowing that he was still alive.

I made it only about a third of the way through the hall before I stumbled into the Weasley family, huddled over a body and sobbing uncontrollably. I glimpsed Fred's frozen face and felt a sickness rise in my stomach. I didn't think the pain would ever stop. I quickly maneuvered away from the grieving family and tried to get as far away as possible to try and stop the aching in my chest, just wanting to find comfort in seeing my father.

But a glimpse of pink hair stopped me dead in my tracks and bile rose in my throat. I slowly turned my head, not wanting to look but needing to at the same time. I saw Dory and Remus side by side on the ground unmoving, and I fell to my knees in front of them.

Some screams are too painful to ever be heard by ears, and mine never sounded through my opened mouth.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Literally the most painful chapter I have ever written.

I want to sob. Sob uncontrollably and then continue some more. I knew this was coming for over a year and I still feel heartbroken right now. Not only is reliving Fred's death hard, but killing my own oc that I've been writing about for years is a lot more painful than I thought it would be… and Tonks… well Tonks was the last emotional straw for this chapter and I refused to add more to the chapter after that…

So once I get over my grief, I will try and update the next chapter…

Thank you all for your reviews and encouragements, you guys are the best readers!