Chapter 26: A Terrifying Calm

Dudley followed closely behind Dennis as they weaved through various narrow hallways. Hogwarts seemed to be an endless maze. He wondered how Dennis was able to find his way, the endless corridors made Dudley's head spin, at least he no longer had the double vision!

Sudden bursts of sound echoed through the halls. They were nearing the war zone. Dennis stopped at the end of the hall, and peeked around the corner, quickly retreating when a bright bolt of light zipped past him.

With a few waves of his wand, Dennis cast a spell around them; the surrounding world was now a tinted purple.

"It's a simple shielding spell," Dennis said. "It won't hold up long, so keep on your toes."

Dudley slowly curled his hands into fists. When the shield fell, he would be ready. He wasn't going down without a fight.

The next thing that Dudley knew, they were out in a much larger hall. So many colors and sounds encircled them that it began overwhelming his senses. He watched as Dennis shot a spell at a nearby Death Eater. The man quickly retaliated with a blindingly blue spell. Dudley instinctively grabbed the younger boy by the shirt collar to yank him out of the way, but the spell rebounded off the shield that still surrounded them. The Death Eater was not deterred, however, and the second time he attacked with a yellow burst of energy. Upon impact, the shielding spell broke with a small static fizzle. The two of them were now exposed. Dennis continued to throw spells at the Death Eater in an attempt to keep him at bay.

Dudley's eyes darted nervously around the scene. He was in the middle of a wizarding No-Man's land. For the first time he noticed several bodies lying on the ground. Blood, ash, and rubble consumed the hall. Part of him wanted to freeze in panic, but an adrenaline rush was also flooding through his body. He could either fight or flee. Dudley had no time to make a choice, because a choice was quickly made for him. Through his peripheral vision, Dudley saw a jade light hurtling towards him. He fell the the ground and the light went flying just inches over his head.

Dudley quickly looked for the source of the spell. To his right, a girl roughly his age was fighting another Death Eater whose back was to Dudley. He noticed the girl in red robes was struggling against the man in front of her. The Death Eater hit her with a spell that caused her to grab her stomach in pain. Her screams added the the plethora of sounds echoing through the hall.

Dudley wasted no time in taking action. With a rage of energy, he grabbed a large chunk of rubble from the ground and charged at the Death Eater, bringing it down his head. The Death Eater fell to the floor with a thud. Dudley stood there dazed for a moment as he glanced between the body on the floor and the bit of rubble in his hand, now sporting a streak of blood. The Death Eater was still. Had he killed the bastard?

Dudley decided that he didn't want to know. He refused to look down at them.

Another cry from the girl drew his attention away from the body. He looked up to see the girl still clutching her stomach as she slumped against the wall. Dudley dropped the rock and ran to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, offering his hand out for support.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she cried angrily, though she still took his hand. Dudley flushed, feeling embarrassed. Of course she wasn't okay.

"I think I need a Healer…" the girl whispered as her knees buckled. Dudley struggled to keep her up as she became a pile of dead weight. Dudley's mind immediately drifted to Eve; she would know what to do.

"I know someone that can help," The girl half-smiled at him weakly before stumbling again. "I've got you," Dudley assured her as she began to go pale. Dudley could tell she was losing consciousness. "What's your name?" Dudley asked her in an attempt to keep her awake.

"Katie…" she whispered. Dudley held her up, trying to think of a way to get the girl to safety. Suddenly, Katie let out another cry of pain - though this time her hands flew up to her ears, as though her head was on fire. Dudley was just about to ask her what was wrong when a high-pitch, chilling voice echoed through his ears. It was like someone was attacking his brain with a chisel and filling his mind with ice water

"You've fought valiantly, but in vain..." Dudley wanted to scream. He almost dropped Katie in surprise and fear. He heard other words, but they muddled through his mind. He couldn't seem to focus on everything that the voice was saying. He and magic never seemed to mesh well. He swore he heard the voice speak his cousin's name, but the words kept blending together.

Once the echoing voice stopped, Dudley was finally able to open his eyes. To his surprise, all fighting had ceased. He watched as the remaining Death Eaters in the area fly off in their inky black clouds. They were retreating. Dennis stood a few yards ahead of him. The blond-haired boy turned to face him, he had a few cuts and bruises, but seemed fine overall. He walked to the other side of Katie to help support her.

"Come on, let's get her to the great hall. That's our best bet to find someone to help her."

"What's going on?" Dudley asked as they slowly made their way further into the castle.

"They are retreating for now...and You-Know-Who claims that they'll stop for good if Harry Potter surrenders to him."

"Harry wouldn't do that, would he?"

"Let's hope not," Dennis said with an air of exhaustion as the two of them aided Katie to the Great Hall.

Eve struggled her way into Hogwarts. With each step she seemed more detached, more hardened to the world around her. The sights and sounds of war and death seemed to dull as they walked further into the castle. She knew she had to reel her emotions back; she could not afford to have them to control her...not while this battle continued.

Eve focused on trying to empty her mind of the mass of thoughts and fears running through her head as Luna led her by the hand into the Great Hall. Eve squeezed the girl's hand tighter as the cries of pain and death echoed through the massive space. All around her rows and rows of the injured and dead lay side by side on the floor. Eve caught sight of two people she recognized from her first meetings with the Order, the male looked older and more ragged while the female looked young and fiery. Her hair was a striking shade of turquoise. Eve ignored her own involuntary flinch. Tonks had been so nice to her. Both of them motionlessly laid next to each other, their hands outreached, like they had been holding hands just before they died.

Luna led her to an open gap in one of the rows of unmoving bodies and moved her wand to gently place Colin's body in the small space. Eve's hand unconsciously grabbed at Colin's wand in her black satchel as she was forced to look at his corpse again. She suppressed a shudder as she continued to stare at the young man. She couldn't look away. She felt herself being sucked back into that dark, emotional hole again. Just as she felt herself sinking, Luna tugged her arm slightly, pulling Eve back to reality.

"Come on," Luna whispered, "There are those living that still need you."

Eve stared at her dully for a moment before nodding. They needed to focus their energy on aiding those who could still be helped. She managed a small half-smile at the whimsical girl.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, clutching her satchel, her thoughts now focused on the various medicinal vials it contained. Luna returned the feeble smile before walking back out of the hall, presumably to help others still out in the war zone.

Eve found herself walking numbly down the rows of the dead and injured, in attempts to find someone she would be capable of helping. She didn't get very far when a familiar set of faces caught her eye. Seven redheads were surrounding a single body in a nearby aisle. Eve suddenly found herself approaching the group with increasing speed and her breath became trapped in her throat. She ran past a bespectacled dark-haired boy that was heading the opposite direction that she vaguely recognized. However, she did not stop to take a second look at him.

She stood there at the edge of the Weasley clan, trying to process what was happening. She immediately recognized the face of the lifeless Fred Weasley. Eve had never met this half of the twins before - and with a sinking realization - she realized she never would. She watched numbly as George clung to his twin in mourning as Molly and Arthur clung to each other.

"Eve?" A voice to her far left croaked. She turned to see Percy staring at her with tears in his eyes.

She found herself scrambling to get next to him. She embraced the friend, the man who had risked his life for months to protect them. It tore her apart to see him in such pain.

"It was all my fault that he's dead," he murmured into her shoulder as she continued to hold him. Eve didn't know what to say to Percy as he continued to sob in her arms. She feared that if she opened her mouth, she would start crying again. Luna was right; she had to be strong, not only for herself, but for those who were also consumed by grief. All she could do was hold onto her friend.

Transporting Katie to the Great Hall had been easy since the Death Eaters had retreated, finding her medical treatment was the difficult part. The Hall was lined with the dead and dying, the cries reverberated off the walls in a horrific manner. Dudley and Dennis were able to find Katie a place to rest that wasn't occupied by a corpse or another injured person.

"Eve is bound to be around here somewhere," Dudley reassured the girl. He turned to speak to Dennis, but the boy had already run off, presumably to find his brother. Katie let out another painful cry. Dudley jumped back to his feet. He needed to find Eve or someone that could help immediately. With another quick promise to the girl, Dudley ran further into the madness.

His eyes darted around the room in a panicked frenzy, he did not dare to stare at anyone who didn't match Eve's tall, lanky profile, for fear that he would become lost in the suffering of others. He searched for her fake blonde wig in the crowd.

It was not her blonde hair that had lead him to her, but the sea of redheads near the furthest corner of the Hall. Dudley recognized them as the Weasley family immediately, though he had only ever encountered a few of them. Their hair stood out like embers in the darkness. He rushed over to them, only to stop in his tracks as he got closer to entire family was huddled around a single point and although he could not distinguish their cries from the masses of others in the room, he could see their distraught expressions as they huddled together. At first, Dudley was hesitant to continue forward, knowing that he would be intruding on a private matter, but amongst the red hair, a single blonde individual sat near the edge as she held one of the Weasley's in her arms.

Dudley's mind suddenly kicked back into gear at the sight of Eve and Percy in mourning. His heart leaped with joy at the sight of his two friends alive. He wanted to shout with excitement, but no sound came out as he opened his mouth. He ran as fast as he could. He nearly tackled the two with an embrace when he reached them. The witch and wizard sat there stunned at the suddenly new source of human contact.

Eve gaped up at him while he hugged her. "Dudley….what….?!" She staggered in confusion.

"Sorry I broke my promise," Dudley said, "But there were other children still in the castle and I couldn't stay there knowing that they were trapped in here." Eve continued to stare at him in baffled surprise. "The other kids are still safe at the pub."

The Eve he knew normally would have shouted, punched him in the shoulder, or at least argued with him, but the girl in front of him just stared off into space.

"You're alive," she said quietly. "I guess that's all I can ask for in this madness," her unusually cool tone was chilling. Frankly, her lack of anger frightened him.

"Eve, there's a girl who needs you help," Dudley said suddenly, remembering that Katie was waiting for a Healer. Eve nodded sharply.

"Percy...are you okay?" he added, unable to see past the Weasley clan behind him.

"My brother Fred is dead, thanks for asking!" Percy snapped.

"I...I'm so sorry," Dudley whispered, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah? Well…" Percy started, but Eve cut him short.

"Don't take your anger out on him. Please Percy, no more...no more fighting," Eve croaked, her voice cracked unpleasantly. Even with all his rage, Percy seemed caught off guard by her reaction and backed off.

"Now, take me to this girl," she said, staring at him with determination. "Percy, now is the time to be with your family..." she added to the disheveled wizard behind her.

"I won't leave them. Not again," Percy struggled to say as they departed from the mourning family.

Dudley and Eve weaved through the crowds of people in mourning and the scattered dead bodies. Neither of them stopped as Dudley lead her to Katie. The girl had drastically paled in the few minutes that he had left her. Eve said nothing to introduce herself or comfort the girl before she knelt down beside her to inspect the wound. The only time Eve spoke was to ask the girl if she could lift her shirt. Dudley sheepishly looked away. After a couple minutes, Eve spoke again.

"This is a dark magic spell. It slowly turns the stomach acid more acidic. Acidic enough to start eating through the lining of the stomach. I think I have something that can keep it from getting any worse, but we need a fully stocked potions cabinet and some certified Healers to fix it completely...How good are you at handling pain?" She asked Katie.

Katie looked confused, but quickly answered. "I once fractured a bone my foot a few years ago and didn't visit Madam Pomfrey for an entire week because I didn't think there way anything seriously wrong with it, though it hurt."

Eve rolled her eyes. "Well, the pain isn't going to go away. Like I said, I can only stop it from progressing. If you can handle the pain you're feeling now until you can get better help, then I think you'll be okay. Now drink this." She demanded, holding out a vial of grayish liquid that Dudley did not recognize from her black bag. "It will taste horrible, but you have to drink it all. I suggest plugging your nose."

Katie did as she was instructed, though she looked like she was about to spit it out several times. Eve held her jaw closed until she swallowed it. When it finally went down, Katie made a disgusted face, but noticeably relaxed. It must have made an immediate effect.

"Thank you…" Katie whispered, looking absolutely exhausted. Within seconds, the girl had fallen asleep. Dudley raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"It's laced with a sleeping draught," Eve deadpanned. "Trust me, you don't want to take any type of dark magic combative while being conscious. Took me all of the fall season to create a potion that can put you into a dreamless sleep and still work against dark magic," she stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I'm off to find others that could use my help."

"...What about Snape?" Dudley asked. He watched as his friend's expression darkened.

"I do not want to talk about it," she said darkly, turning away again.

"But Eve…" Dudley insisted. He knew her whole reason for coming to England, for joining the Order, was to take Snape out and clear her name. What had happened?

"I said to drop it, Dudley," Eve warned. This time she turned around and walked back up to him. "Just forget about that... Go get those kids that are still in the school and get them out of here. Can you keep that promise for me?" she finished, her eyes narrowing.

"No. No, I can't," Dudley said, to Eve's apparent surprise. "Those kids are as safe as they can be at the moment and there is little I can do to help them anyways," He took a deep breath, "We have been in hiding for the better part of a year. They killed my father, they have destroyed our lives and the lives of countless others. I'm sick of hiding; I'm going to help in any way I can and I know I can assist you with with your potions."

"You have no way of defending yourself when the fighting begins again," Eve pointed out bitterly. When he mentioned that he had run out of capsules.

"I don't care if I have to keep defending myself with rocks. I am not leaving," he said with finality. Eve's eyes bore into his own and a chill ran down his spine.

"Do you always try to be this stupid?" Eve said with gritted teeth, though there was a faint spark in her eye when she said it. Dudley smiled. It was good to see that his friend was still there behind her cold mask.

"Well, I've never been known for my brains," Dudley said with a simple shrug.

This time the witch cracked the smallest of smiles. Yep, she was still the Eve he knew.

"C'mon. Let's see what we can do," Eve sighed in defeat.

Dudley gave her a grim smile and the two of them continued through the abyss.

A/N: Writing about war and death is tough when you have never experienced it firsthand. Though Harry Potter is obviously fiction, war is far from being a story. Hopefully I have been able to capture the emotions and turmoil of a battlefield without too dramatic or being disrespectful of those who have actually witnessed war.

Comments/thoughts are always appreciated and thank you for keeping up with this fanfiction!