Chapter 29: The Battle
Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix rushed through the Malfoy mansion.
"Where are they, Hermione?" Asked Neville, panting and out of breath.
"I don't know, they must be somewhere!" Hermione pushed open the double doors to find herself only feet from the Death Eaters. Harry stood, on his own, to the left and the Death Eaters- including Anika- stood to the right.
"Harry!" Hermione ran towards Harry and so did the rest of the Order.
"Are you ok? What did they do to you? AHHHH!" Hermione was hit with a spell and fell to the ground, her body twitched and then she lied still.
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry knelt at her side, and that's how it all started.
Spells and curses were thrown across the room. It was like a giant volleyball game without a net, except instead of soft volleyballs, spells were used.
Hermione stood when she got the energy, only to see Anika trying to slip out of the side door.
"Don't let her…" Hermione could hardly hear herself when she saw Anika steadily back away from the door. Soon Hermione could see Ginny walking through the wooden door frame. She flicked her wand and the door sealed. Everyone in the room knew you couldn't apparate whilst you were pregnant. Anika had no where to go…
"You're not going anywhere Anika!" Ginny shouted over the noise. "You got your self into this! You're not getting out!"
A spell flew towards Hermione and she spun around to see Draco Malfoy.
"Malfoy!" She spat.
"Hello mudblood! Having fun?" He sneered and threw a curse at Hermione, barely missing her left shoulder.
"Why Malfoy?" The grin slid from Draco's face.
"Why what?" He spat.
"Why are you doing this? I thought after you saw how many people died during the battle you would stop all of this idiocy! I would have thought you of all people would have seen how stupid this was!"
Draco stood still.
"You don't understand Mudblood!"
"I just want to know WHY!"
"I love her… I love her and I want to be with her. I'll do anything for her…" It took Hermione the longest while to realise who he was talking about.
"Ever since we were kids I've loved her… Ever since she came to live with me and my family when Bellatrix got sent to Askaban… I'll do anything for her," The grin returned to Draco's face and he raised his wand again, "anything."
He threw a spell at Hermione, but she dodged it.
Hermione threw back a curse and it hit Draco square in the stomach. He hit the ground with a smack.
Hermione looked around and saw Harry, throwing curses at Lucious.
"This is for Teddy!" Harry yelled, and in an instant, Lucious lay unconscious on the cold floor.
Harry kicked his wand away and then ran over to help Ron who was battling two Death Eaters in the middle of the room.
"Please Ginny! I'm pregnant! What do you think Harry would do if you killed his baby?"
Ginny stopped dead. A grin began to spread across Anika's face.
"That's a good girl! Wouldn't want to hurt the pregnant woman would we?" Anika laughed, sending chills down Ginny's spine.
Anika raised her wand in Harry's direction, but before it could hit him Ginny had jumped in front of it.
At first Harry had no idea what was happening, then he saw Anika with her wand in her hand and Ginny on the floor, feet in front of him.
Anika raised her wand and flicked it towards the roof. Harry bolted to Ginny's side.
Hermione spun around just in time to see it. Ginny was on the floor, Harry at her side, but it was not Harry, nor Ginny that scared her the most. It was the sight of the chandelier falling from the roof. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Anika stood, wand raised, a smile on her face. The elephant sized chandelier came closer towards the ground, and then Hermione saw him.
Too late to do anything, but not too late to see the look of sadness in his eyes. One second he was there… the next, only the shattered pieces of the chandelier remained.
The sickening smash came and everyone shielded their eyes. There was an agonised groan and a voice shouted: "We've done all we can do; let's go!" Then Draco's voice yelled, "We can't just leave Nakesa here!"
"Well do you want to stay with her?" Came the first voice… There was no answer. Someone had grabbed him and apparated. Only sharp cracks were heard. Then there was nothing; silence.
Hermione's head spun. She opened her eyes to find herself on the ground; she must have lost her balance.
She opened her eyes and jumped up as fast as she could. She couldn't hear. Had the smashing of the chandelier deafened her? She looked around. Ginny and Harry knelt on the ground and then Ginny let out a mute scream whilst looking towards the middle of the room. Bellatrix lay unconscious on the floor, along with a few from the order and a few Death Eaters. Everyone else stood, staring at the chandelier. Hermione looked over to where Anika was on her hands and knees with a painful expression. She seemed to be screaming: "It's coming!"
Then she turned back to the chandelier, and saw what she hoped was only a nightmare. The sound hit her as fast as she saw it. Ginny screamed and sobbed and Anika was screaming- for a completely different reason- in the background. An ear piercing sound hit Hermione's ears. Then she realised it was her own scream. She ran over to the limp body that lay under neath the smashed frame of the chandelier. She waved her wand viciously and the frame was thrown across the room.
"Nooo!" Hermione was aware of what she was screaming out now. She knelt in the glass around the bloody body, cutting her knees. But she didn't care. She swept the read hair off of his blood covered face…
Ron's blood covered face…
"Please wake up!" She screamed, aware of everyone's eyes.
"Please Ron! We're going to get married and start a family remember! Please wake up! I love you Ron! Please wake up!!" Hermione lay herself down next to Ron, glass cutting through her clothes. She lay her head on Ron's chest and shut her eyes, willing the air to be put back into his lungs.
