Chapter 26
Albus was paired up with Arthur. They were crouched behind a bush near the corner of the house. He was aiming his spells towards the front of the house while Arthur was taking out those that attempted to sneak around from the back door. Albus spared a second to take a quick look around to see how the rest of the Order was fairing.
He could see Remus and Bill crouched side by side behind a few trashcans on the curb. Taking turns, they popped over or around the cans and sent wild hexes towards the house. The curses coming their way were too many to take the time to make an aimed shot. They could only hope that at least a few of their spells hit their marks.
He noticed Moody standing out in the open shooting spells off left and right. He paused as he saw several different curses heading straight for Moody but were harmlessly absorbed by a shield spell. 'Loraine,' he thought as he saw a quick movement near the street out of the corner of his eye.
Tonks could be seen crouched low behind a tree on the corner of the property.
His heart stopped and his breath caught as his eyes swept across the scene before him again. 'Where is Minerva?' he thought in a panic. Then suddenly, a tall, lithe form peered out from around the other side of the tree that also protected Tonks. A quick silver light flashed and a Death Eater, not three feet from him, turned into a slug. Albus couldn't prevent the small smile that crept across his face as he inwardly laughed at Minerva's sense of humour. Knowing that everyone was safe, at least for the time being, he quickly redirected his attention back to the fight in front of him.
Loraine took a quick count of Death Eaters as they entered the foray. 'Twelve!' She quickly assessed everyone's locations. 'Okay, Minerva and Tonks are about 20 feet away to my left front, behind that tree with Arthur and Albus about 30 feet in front of her behind the bushes. Bill and Remus are about the same distance as Minerva, but to my right. Leave it to Moody to be in the dead center of it all with nothing for cover. He is probably about 40 feet, directly in front of me.' With a mental map in her head of everyone's location, she turned her attention to the Death Eaters. By watching the general direction they were aiming their spells, Loraine could throw a defensive spell at the Order members that would need it without having to look at them. 'PROTECTO,' she mentally shouted as she watched three Death Eaters aim their wands at Moody. Her shield absorbed the curses as Moody returned their fire with two counter-curses of his own. "You always have to be difficult, Alastor," she mumbled to herself as she shook her head. Concentrating on maintaining her shield for Moody, she caught a glimpse of silver come from Minerva's direction and the Death Eater closest to Albus and Arthur disappeared.
Loraine pulled out her wand and a streak of blue shot from it narrowly missing Moody and hitting another Death Eater near the bushes. The Death Eater was lifted off the ground and crashed through the bay window behind him. As she continued to scan the battlefield to see where her attention was most needed, she saw movement to her right, out of the corner of her eye. A quick glance showed her what she feared most. "No," she whispered in a horrified voice. Muggles were coming out of their homes to investigate the shouts and strange lights coming from their neighbours house.
Sensiblyquirky: Thanks for the review. I am glad that school is going well for you. :o) What is your degree going to be in? I love Chapter 28 and can't wait to post it. But then again, I love the whole story, not that I'm biased or anything. :P Hope you enjoy this chapter too.