CHAPTER 36: COUNTERFORCE
Oh no! Rose's muscles clenched in fear as she watched Bianca sprint down the stairs, screaming at the top of her lungs. Visions of Daleks and Cylons and other fictional monsters burst into her mind, all converging on the Room of Requirement, killing her family and friends.
"C'mon!" James shouted. "We gotta stop her!"
He tore off after Bianca, followed by Robert and Albus. A second later she started after them.
"Wait!"
Rose turned and saw Hugo and Lily bolt out of the room. "We want to help to."
"No!" She pointed over their heads. "Get back in the Room of Requirement and stay there."
Hugo scowled. "You think we're going to stay in there when you -"
"You will stay in that room, even if I have to stun you both and drag you back in there! You're my responsibility, and I'm going to keep you safe no matter what. Now get back in there!"
Hugo's lips twisted in anger. With a curt nod, he backed into the Room of Requirement.
"Be careful," Lily said before she followed Hugo inside and closed the door.
Taking a breath, Rose spun around and darted down the stairs. She found James, Robert and Albus standing around the bottom step. Bianca lay sprawled on the stone floor, opening her mouth wide but emitting no sound.
"What did you do?" she asked.
Albus looked to her. "Impedimus Jinx by yours truly, and a silencing charm by James."
Rose nodded and stared back at Bianca. The Hufflepuff girl tried desperately to scream to no avail.
"So what do we do with the crazy bitch?" Robert glowered at her.
James drew a slow breath, gazing intently at Bianca. "We'll take her back to the Room of Requirement and keep her tied up."
"We can't put her in there," Rose protested. "Not with so many young kids around."
"Well we can't let her run loose around the castle."
"I'm with James." Robert nodded. "So long as she's tied up and gagged, she won't be able to do anything."
"No!" Rose shook her head emphatically. "She's crazy and dangerous and I don't want her anywhere near the younger students."
James grunted. "Look. So long as we secure her properly, she can't threaten any-"
"Argue later, guys. We've got trouble!" Albus pointed down the corridor.
They all turned. Cold gripped Rose's entire body.
Four Daleks rolled around the corner.
Robert and James hurled Reductor Curses at the aliens. The bolts exploded in a fireworks display against their metallic hides. Rose swallowed when she noticed their forcefields stood up to the curses.
"EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!"
Laser bolts sliced through the air. Rose and James cast Shield Spells and retreated down the corridor with Robert and Albus. Tremors raced up her arms as the lasers impacted her shield. She watched as Bianca struggled to sit up, looking from the Daleks to the four of them. The girl tried to scream out something, then waved her hand in their direction.
The Daleks rolled up to her, their eye stalks all pointing down.
"Dammit!" James growled. "She's gonna get away again."
Rose bit her lower lip as they approached an intersection. She slowed her pace, taking in Bianca and the Daleks. The aliens kept staring at her while she waved her hand frantically and tried to yell. A tingling sensation went through Rose's stomach. Something didn't feel right.
"EXTERMINATE!!"
Four blue laser bolts tore into Bianca. Rose gasped as the girl glowed green and convulsed.
"Merlin!" Robert's wide eyes locked on the scene.
Rose, too, couldn't look away. It almost didn't feel real, even as the green glow faded and Bianca lay on the floor unmoving.
She's . . . she's dead. A lump formed in her throat. She swallowed, trying to force it down. Her brain screamed at her for feeling this way. Bianca wanted to destroy her world, her family. How could she feel any sympathy toward her?
She stared unblinking at Bianca's body. My God, she was dead. Just like that.
"Rose! Robert! Come on!"
James' voice pierced her thoughts. She turned around to find her cousin waving for her to hurry up. She and Robert rounded the corner just as two laser bolts exploded against the wall.
"I can't believe they killed her." Albus sounded stunned. "Jeez, she was friends with them."
"No." James stated. "They weren't friends, they were allies. Like Dad says, there's a difference. I guess the Stacyx figured they didn't need her help any more. Wonder if they did the same to Umbridge."
"I can't . . ." Robert looked over his shoulder. "I can't believe I actually . . ." He closed his eyes and turned away as they all kept running.
Rose gazed at him, her stomach squeezed by a leaden hand. She knew that at one time Robert had been attracted to Bianca, before he found out just how radical she was.
"In here!" James flung open a door and waved them inside. Rose identified it as a broom closet before James shut the door, plunging them into darkness. Heavy breathing filled the tiny space. Rose cringed. Good God, but they breathed so loud. And her heart. Could everyone else hear its beating?
"Ssh!" That sounded like James.
Everyone held their breath. Rose closed her eyes, willing her pounding heart to settle down.
It didn't.
A scraping sound could be heard outside.
Daleks.
Rose tensed. She imagined the door exploding and laser bolts burning through their bodies. Moisture welled up in her eyes. She didn't want to die. She didn't want her cousins to die. Or Robert. For a moment she imagined his arms around her, comforting her, protecting her.
Please don't kill us. Please don't kill us.
The scraping grew quieter and quieter, and eventually faded.
"I think they're gone," James whispered.
"Let's give it a few minutes before we check," suggested Robert.
They waited in silence, the seconds taking an eternity to pass. Finally, James slowly opened the door a peeked outside.
"All right, coast is clear."
They all stepped outside, the distant sounds of spells, explosions and gunfire floating through the corridors.
"There's no way we're going to make it to the hospital wing," Albus blurted. "Not with all these Daleks and who the hell knows what else all about."
"Well if we don't get to the hospital wing some of those kids in the Room of Requirement could die," said Robert.
"We could all die, too, trying to get there." Albus threw out his hands.
Rose shook her head and stared off to the right, trying to think. How could they get to the hospital wing in one piece?
Come on. Think! You're Hermione Weasley's daughter. Use that damn brain of yours. People are depending on you.
No brilliant ideas came to mind.
She clenched her teeth, thinking of all the times people had told her she had her mother's brains. What a joke. What an absolute damn joke. If she were Mum she'd have an entire strategy worked out by now. And it would succeed, of course. But she wasn't Hermione Weasley. She was just plain old Rose Wea-
Something caught her eye near a tapestry. A glint of light off plastic. She canted her head and walked over to it.
A rectangular object stuck out from behind the tapestry. She bent down and picked it up.
It was a vid-card. The old Star Blazers anime. She'd bet anything it was Robert's. How many other teenage wizards collected an animated series from way back in the 1970s?
"Rose?" She heard Robert call out. "What are you doing over there?"
"I found this." She held up the vid-card.
James' eyes widened. "Put a Containment Charm around it. Who knows what'll come out of it."
Rose started to put the vid-card back down on the floor, then stopped.
An idea formed.
"Rose!" James shook his hands in front of him, urging her to cast the charm.
"No. We're not going to contain it. We're going to use this."
Albus' brow furrowed. "What are you on about?"
"Remember what out parents did in the last Stacyx war? They knew they'd be outnumbered, so they recruited all sorts of television and movie characters to help fight the Stacyx. That's the whole reason wizards and witches got interested in Muggle vid-cards in the first place. To see the characters who fought alongside their parents."
James' eyed widened. His lips grew into a huge smile. "Rose, you're bloody brilliant."
"Yeah." Robert nodded. "With the aurors tied up in Diagon Alley, we can find some more of these vid-cards and form our own army."
"All right, then." James gazed at them all. "We'll split up so we can cover more ground. I think I can remember the locations of some of the vid-cards Bianca told us about when we gave her the truth serum. How about the rest of you?"
Rose nodded, as did Robert and Albus.
"Good. Albus, you're with me. Robert, you're with Rose. We'll try to convince whatever characters we find to help us get to the hospital wing, and get rid of all these monsters."
"Well, we're gonna have to go outside with that Star Blazers vid-card." Robert pointed to it.
"Why?" Albus asked.
"Because you really can't bring a big hunkin' space battleship into this world from inside a castle."
"So how is that supposed to help us if it's outside?"
Robert worked his jaw back and forth for a few moments. "I don't think the Daleks are going to stand around while the Argo is hovering outside the castle. They'll go out there and attack it. That's fewer Daleks for you and everyone else to deal with."
"But how do we get outside?" Rose asked. "The Daleks probably have all the exits guarded."
"Then we'll make our own exit. C'mon."
Robert took Rose by the hand and led her down the corridor. They both turned to James and Albus.
"Good luck, guys," Robert said.
"Be careful." Rose chewed on her lower lip, worry twisting her stomach.
"You, too." James nodded to them before running off in the opposite direction with Albus.
Robert pushed open the door of the first classroom they came to and ran over to the window. He opened it and checked outside.
"What, you expect us to jump?" She stared at him with a wary eye.
"Hell no. We're gonna walk."
Rose canted her head. The realization struck her a moment later. "The Wall Walking Charm? Robert, you know how much trouble I've had with that."
"You can do it, Rose."
"What if I can't? What if I mess it up?"
Robert clutched her shoulders. "Rose, you're not gonna mess it up. "You're the daughter of Hermione Weasley for crying out loud."
"I wish people would stop saying that. I'm not like my Mum. I'm not as smart as her, I'm not as skilled as her."
"Okay, fine. You're not. Who the hell is? We're talking about Aunt Hermione, after all. But you're not an idiot, Rose. You are an awesome witch. And you can do this charm."
She drew a deep breath, staring at his face, a face full of determination, of faith. Faith in her. Or maybe Robert was just saying it to make her feel better.
No, she could tell in his eyes, in the lines in his round face, he truly believed in her ability.
She stood up straight as possible, to her full height of five-foot-five. Tightening her lips, she nodded.
Robert smiled and gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. Pure delight swelled within her.
But he's with Lucida.
She closed her eyes and forced the thought from her mind. She had more important things to focus on.
They waved their wands around their shoes and uttered the proper incantation. Robert climbed out the window first. Rose watched him take a few steps along the castle wall before climbing out onto the window sill. She drew a ragged breath and looked down. An abyss of darkness greeted her. She shivered, imagining herself tumbling through the air and smashing into the ground.
No. I can do it. I can do it.
Tentatively, she put one foot below the window sill onto the wall. Then the other. Holding her breath, she pushed herself off the window sill.
Rose let out a long sigh as she stood on the wall just as if she stood on the ground. She took one step, then another, and another. She breathed easier as she followed Robert down the length of the wall.
They made it to the bottom without incident. The sounds of battle could be heard through the walls and windows of the castle. She closed her eyes momentarily, praying everyone inside was all right.
"C'mon." Robert waved to her.
Rose raised her wand. "Lumi-"
"No!" Robert grabbed her wrist and pulled it down.
"Robert? What?"
"No lights. The Daleks or some other aliens might be outside. We don't want to give ourselves away. C'mon. There's a big clearing between the Quidditch field and the forest. Plenty of room to bring the Argo into our world."
They hurried across the school grounds, Rose constantly scanning the darkness, looking for any sign of television or movie aliens. She spied none. From the sounds coming out of the castle, it appeared all the Stacyx's allies were inside.
"All right, this looks good." Robert came to a halt, the shadowy outline of the Quidditch field in the distance.
Rose's breathing quickened as she watched Robert put the vid-card down. Anticipation surged within her. They were actually going to get help. They were actually going to turn the tide of this battle, save their friends and family, their teachers. Stop all this killing. She thought of the two dead students they came upon before they reached the Room of Requirement. She even thought of Bianca.
Is this what Mum and Dad went through during the Battle of Hogwarts? She closed her eyes, thinking of her late Uncle Fred. God, what if another one of her family died here tonight?
Robert aimed his wand at the vid-card. He opened his mouth.
A metallic, dragging sound came from behind her. Rose held her breath. She noticed Robert froze. Fighting the creeping, near-paralyzing fear, she slowly looked over her shoulder.
At first she thought they were centaurs. But these creatures possessed neither horse-like nor human-like qualities. They looked more reptilian in nature. Saliva dripped from their jagged teeth, glistening in the moonlight. All six of the creatures drew large swords as they approached Rose and Robert.
TO BE CONTINUED