Chapter Eighty-Eight:

It doesn't take long for reinforcements to arrive at Hogwarts, among said reinforcements are my own parents. They both look resolved to the worst. I run to them and attempt to cling to my mother like I did when I was five years old. It doesn't work that well considering I'm more than a foot and a half taller than her. She hugs me back though with enough force to squeeze air from my lungs.

"Where are Rhys and Rebekka?" I wheeze.

"They're with Andromeda and Teddy," my dad says matter of factly, clapping me on the shoulder. Mum pats me on the back and steps back. "We've got to go get ourselves ready, honey," she says. "Will you be all right? We'll be back in a few minutes."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I grumble reluctantly.

They go off to get instructions from some of the Vampire hunters with the other adults and leave me to stand there.

"What do we do now?" I ask out loud.

"Hope for the best."

I turn and see Tyson standing a few feet away, his jaw set and his face bleak. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and his posture's terrible. An image of defeat.

"I take it your mum's not here."

Tyson shakes his head. "Oh, she was here." Tyson's voice is gloomy. "She showed up to try to bring me home. I wouldn't listen though. I mean… I never told you this, but my dad got caught up in the War and he died. I guess Mum's just worried about me. And I get that, but I can't just run and leave you and Lys and Luke everyone else… And since I refused to leave, Mum left and she's furious with me. And I'm probably going to die out there and I'll never see her again.

I'm very tempted to "pull a Ricia" and smack him upside the head. However, I settle for glaring at him with my best withering stare. "What are you doing, you idiot! Don't talk like that! You're not going to die! I mean, what is wrong with you?"

Tyson shrugs. "I just got a bad feeling about all this."

I shake my head. "You're insane. You're terrible at Divination, so shut up about 'bad feelings' and crap. You're just nervous. I am, too. And so is everyone else with any brains."

Tyson manages a lopsided smile. "In any case, there's something I want to tell you. So shut up and listen."

"What?"

"I'm not dating Lysandra. We've never even been on date."

Chapter Eighty-Nine:

I close my eyes and shake my head. "Say what?"

Tyson suddenly brightens. "You don't think I've known that you've had a stick up your arse all year? You don't think I know why? I know you've got it bad for Lysandra."

"Shut up. What do you mean you two aren't dating?" I press. This is highly interesting and incredibly life-altering information.

"I mean, I was seventeen and never gone out with a girl. Never snogged anyone. Never had a girlfriend." Tyson's face scrunches up like he's tasting something bad.

"Really? Never? You never liked anyone?"

"Oh, I like someone. But I don't have a chance with her. I'm not her type."

"Ooh, who is it?"

"Shut up."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TYSON!"

"Fine. Indina."

"Really?"

"Sure," he says, but clearly he's lying.

I'm going to bring this up again at a later date.

"Anyway, my mum was always on ragging on me about the never dating thing," Tyson continues. "I think she was convinced I didn't like girls, if you know what I mean. And I was tired of her always getting on my case about it." Tyson looks heartily embarrassed but continues on. "And interestingly enough, a lot of the girls had been teasing Lysandra about never going out with anyone. So we made a deal…"

I stare at Tyson as if he suddenly announced he was actually an exotic dancer from Tibet named Topanga Merryweather. And then I suddenly realize something. They had been "dating" for months but the only time I'd seen Lysandra and Tyson act like a couple had been at Neville and Luna's wedding… and Tyson's mum had been there. Their public displays of affection had been just that. Displays.

"So you were just pretending to go out?"

Tyson nodded. "Yup. I thought it might make you finally grow a sack and ask her out. But you didn't. And Lysandra has tried to tell you the truth a couple of times but she kept getting interrupted and you were avoiding her... I thought you would like to know. If we make it out of this alive, I'll ditch her publicly and you'll have to go comfort her." He smirks, pleased with himself.

I'm still not fully convinced. "What about last year? I saw the two of you snogging in Hogsmeade."

Tyson scrunches up his face again, embarrassed. "I was telling her how I never kissed anyone… she felt bad for me. Said something about how first kisses should be with someone who cares about you."

I roll my eyes, but internally the hallelujah chorus is singing at full volume. If not for the rebellion that's surely hours away, this would be one of the best days ever.

Tyson reaches up to flick my shoulder. "C'mon, mate. Let's just—"

But whatever it was we were going to do, I am never going to know. At that moment, a loud metallic creaking echoes throughout the castle. And then a deafening crash.

Chapter Ninety:

Tyson and I share a glance before joining the mad rush to the windows. Since I'm the second tallest person in the room besides Hagrid, I can get a pretty good view over everyone else's heads. Unfortunately, it's not a pretty sight. In fact, I'm sure it's going to haunt me. If I could go back to a couple minutes ago, I'd choose not took look.

It's them, the Vampires. There's a couple hundred of them at least. And the screaming and screeching sounds are coming from the front gate. They're tearing it down with their bare hands. Great. The little hope I had that Helena was exaggerating when she said Vampires were strong enough to crush us like bugs is now officially dead. I gulp and try to fight back the hysteria rising in my stomach. How did they break through the school's magical defenses so quickly?

The gate gives a final squeal and falls into a heap on the ground. The Vampires crawl over it and spill out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Despite the distance, I can tell that they're being led by Laurel's brother-in-law, Pyrite.

Tyson was right. We're all going to die.

No one is going to die! You did good, you got everyone prepared. You got the younger kids out. And they won't be expecting this much resistance. C'mon Warren. You want to be an Auror. This is the kind of thing you're going to have to do every day. Well, not Vampires. Those are typically left the hunters, but you know what I mean—

Ross, shut up! War is upon you! Remember?

Oh yeah.

"They're here!" someone screams.

"Everyone, find your partners!" shouts Andrew, running over to the window to get a glimpse himself. "Get ready. It's time!"

I anxiously scan through the crowd, finally spotting Lysandra's dark blonde hair just as she turns and sees me, as well. We start pushing through the swarm; everyone is panicking, searching for loved ones. Lysandra and I finally make it within arm's length of each other. Lyssie reaches her hand out. Heaving in a deep breath, I take her hand in mine and together we follow the mass of people out into the Entrance Hall, just as the walls begin to quake.

I have sudden flash-backs of the first war, when Voldemort would magnify his voice loud enough for the whole of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade to hear.

"All right," shouts Andrew over the din. "Everyone with their partners? Good. Stay together. You're going to need each other."

Lysandra squeezes my hand. I return the pressure, mostly to keep my hands from shaking.

Helena continues where her husband left off. "The other hunters are going out first, the front line, if you will. The Aurors will follow. Then the teachers and parents and other volunteers. Those of you who are still students will stay with Andrew and me. We're going to go out last."

Lysandra and I lock eyes, still holding hands, while the fighters slowly empty out the Entrance Hall, until only the students, Helena, and Andrew are left.

Chapter Ninety-One:

Still holding hands so we won't get separated, Lysandra and I follow Helena and Andrew, and the mass of other students, out into the front lawn. It's worse than I even imagined. It's pure, unadulterated hell.

Seriously, it is hell. There's even fire, both natural and magical, freely burning along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. A Vampire lunges toward a man with a bloody scratch running down his face. The Vampire stops dead as someone conjures a silver dagger. The dagger flies straight into the Vampire's heart. The Vampire falls over. I nearly stop dead in my tracks at the sight.

I hadn't seen the actual battle during the last war. I had only been twelve at the time and me and the other underage students had been sent to Hogsmeade. I guess I always pictured it more like a scene from a book, glory and honor, and all that. But I was wrong. There's no glory in any of this. I guess there's a little bit of good in the fact that we're protecting the younger kids.

A sudden scream echoes across the grounds.

Lyssie and I turn and see a male Vampire dragging Indina across the ground by her hair. Lysandra swears loudly as I shout out something intelligible. The Vampire stops and turns to look at us, a smirk on his face.

"Stun him on three," whispers Lysandra.

"One, two, three!"

"Stupefy!"

The Vampire keels over, out cold.

"Thanks," Indina calls. She stands up and whirls around."Duck!" she screams at Lysandra and me. Confused, we slump to the ground. "Incendio!" A speeding jet of fire shoots past the top of Lysandra's and my hair. We hear a prolonged cry of agony and a thud.

"I did it!" Indina sounds surprised and elated.

I stand up and take a tentative look over my shoulder. A second Vampire, practically encased in an inferno, is squirming and twisting on the ground, trying to smother the flames. I help Lysandra to her feet. "C'mon! That won't stop him long. We're supposed to use non-magical fire, remember? Go!" I shout.

Lysandra and I run, pulling Indina along with us. "Indy, where's your partner?"asks Lysandra. She sounds furious.

Indina's brow furrows. "Jonah… and I don't know where he is. One of them snuck up on him. I grabbed my wand and shot a stunning spell at the thing. But he could barely even feel the spell. We can't cast strong enough spells on our own… I tried Incendio, but I only kept getting sparks. And that's when that other one started to drag me off." She blinks back tears. "I can't stand this! We've got to go find him."

"We'll get him," I say, even though part of me is screaming that Jonah is already dead. Poor, lumbering, kind-hearted Jonah. He never did very well in DA meetings.