In The Darkness
Chapter Fourteen: The Light Against The Darkness
Still dazed from the explosion Draco walked into a battlefield, the entire street had been reduced to rubble and ruin, the entire alley was cloaked in a misty darkness, many bodies lay everywhere, some breathing, some not, some wearing the robes of Death Eaters, others cloaked as operatives or Ministry wizards. Catching his breath Draco came across and familiar body, Harry, his head bloodied and burnt, judging from where he had left him Draco guessed Harry must have been thrown at least a hundred feet by whatever had caused the explosion. 'Harry,' he whispered, not wanting to draw attention to himself, reaching for Harry's wrist he felt a strong pulse there and moved onto Harry's neck. As he did so Harry's arm snapped up and grabbed Draco, the other holding the wand dead between his eyes, looking into Harry's wide emerald eyes Draco saw a mix of confusion and fear.
'He…exploded,' Harry said, 'we were moving everyone out after you…he stood up and exploded…' looking around Harry seemed to be panicking inside but was remaining calm outside, 'Ron, I was helping Ron…oh shit,' he muttered looking across the street, lying against a wall was a body with bright ginger hair. Using Draco as support he rose quietly and the two of them stumbled across the alley, on the other side Harry collapsed against the wall beside Ron while Draco knelt beside him, a bone stuck out of Ron's leg but other than that he was just stunned.
Aiming his wand Draco whispered 'Enervate' to snap him out, as he did so Harry placed his hand over the bone and released a spell that was equivalent to the bone-mender Madam Pomfrey had used on him. Awaking suddenly Ron grasped at Draco with his hands, his eyes were wide like Harry's had been and again he babbled about explosions until Draco calmed him, 'Ron,' he softly, again not wanting to attract attention, 'Ron where are the others?'
* * *
The last thing that Neville remembered was lifting Hermione when the massive explosion was set off, not so much the noise of the blast because he was already hit by the time he heard that, then they had both been sent flying into a window. Shaking his head groggily Neville pushed himself up, aware it was either very quiet or that his ears were concussed, reaching up he couldn't feel any blood coming from them so decided on staying very quiet.
Beside him he saw Hermione's face, covered in bruising but there was no blood despite the amount of shattered glass surrounding them, reaching over he felt the pulse in her neck, as he did so he became aware of deliberate footsteps in the alley. Reaching under Hermione's arms he pulled her to the side of the shop they had landed in and hid behind an overturned counter, sneaking as quick a look as he dared he saw the ragged outline of Snape, his cloak torn to pieces and his face bloodied and burnt beyond belief.
A few seconds later he heard Snape pace away, again the footsteps were deliberate and calm, almost as if this had been planned all along, looking back to Hermione he noted that she was now wide-eyed and awake, but like him had remained silent throughout the eerie encounter. With a twitch of his head that said 'time to go' they both stood up in the shop, and moving silently climbed through the broken window, gritting his teeth as he jumped down.
Neville saw a deep gash in his side he hadn't noticed before, stuffing his robe around the wound he started to creep away from Snape but was pulled back by Hermione. In the distance they heard shouting, and the quickening of Snape's pace towards it, cursing under his breath Neville withdrew his wand and with Hermione they stole into the quiet alley, trying not to alert Snape to their presence and hoping the others could hear him coming.
'Hermione!' Ron shouted again, despite Draco and Harry's cautious nature he could not help himself from crying aloud, 'where are you?', and then, in the distance he thought he saw a figure stagger out of the darkness. Opening his mouth to shout again Ron found himself tackled to the ground by Harry and Draco when the figure raised a wand and sent a golden blast in their direction, diving into cover the trio were covered in dust and rubble as the wall above them took the punishment that had been aimed at Ron. Jumping out of cover Harry raised his arms and released two golden balls of energy that shot towards Snape, just in time to see two red beams shoot out from the mist behind the Dark Wizard and strike him.
With a yell of pain he flew through the air and landed with a sickening thump against a wall, but this time he did not remain there, rising up he drew a gun as well as his wand and released a hail of bullets towards where Harry, Ron and Draco were sheltered. Rolling out into the open left Harry exposed and as he prepared to feel the bullets pass into him he was dragged bodily into cover by an animal with hot breath. Looking up he saw that Ron had transformed into his Animagus form, he was now a ginger-haired cougar, his powerful running legs saving Harry from the swift death that now peppered the alley beside them. With the quick transformation Ron turned back into…well Ron, and spat out a bit of Harry's robe that had been lodged into the cougar's teeth, 'you should wash your clothes more often,' he said, spitting on the ground.
Screaming wildly Snape began to charge towards the now split up force of three when two more red beams shot from the mist and struck him in the back, turning now he saw the figures of Neville and Hermione running towards him. Raising his wand Snape began to chant the incantation that would send the golden beam at them when the combined forces of Harry, Ron and Draco's wands hit him in the back, his body battered he fell on one knee to the ground. 'Quickly!' Harry shouted over Snape's screaming, 'Charge him now while he's weak!' and releasing spells they all ran towards him when he conjured a flame in his hand, 'DOWN!' shouted Harry and dragging Ron to the floor he dove behind a small rubble pile while the others followed suit. With a mad shriek of anger Snape released the massive fireball as he 'exploded' again, the shockwave spread outwards, but this time no one was standing to be hit by it.
With a mad yell Harry rose and charged Snape down, releasing a green ball of energy that knocked the Dark Wizard back a few feet he then jumped and transformed in the air, with a snarl of anger the dog's jaws sought out Snape's wand arm, but was suddenly thrown to the floor when Snape grabbed and clamped his arms around Harry's neck. Transforming into the cougar Ron leapt at the madman when he lifted his wand and released a similar green energy burst that sent Ron flying backwards, landing on top of Draco and pinning him to the ground while Harry was thrown into a wall with a crack. Ducking under a second energy burst Neville managed to plant a good punch on Snape's nose, but was repelled with a wicked snap-kick that sent him rolling to the floor. Releasing a flashing spell that disguised her transformation Hermione landed on Snape and the brown cat managed to sink her claws into his back, refusing to be shaken even when he launched a spell over his shoulder that burnt her fur.
Harry stood up to the sight of Snape dancing crazily with a hissing cat on his shoulder, running forwards he took the advantage and used a Paralysis Charm on Snape's gun hand, causing the weapon to fly into the air and land safely. With a shriek and a hiss Snape managed to dislodge Hermione who leapt nimbly away to land in her human form, still holding her wand she trained it on Snape, removing his wand from his robes Harry did the same, lifting up a bruised Ron, Draco whipped out his wand and on the other side Neville rose with his in his hand. 'Remember the incantation?' Harry said, not so much to everyone as to Snape, 'the five who are Dumbledore's Light will vanquish him.'
'Fool!' Snape spat, 'it is not will, but must, and you will fail and I will reign forever as the Dark Lord,' muttering the spell to himself again, he conjured the flame between glowing fingers that would explode outwards, knocking them all to the floor. Raising it up he threw the blazing ball down deep into the earth that marked the path of the earlier explosions, with a ripple of impact the earth flew upwards, lifting all that surrounded Snape and tearing open the foundations of the alley. Shutting his eyes against the blast Harry felt his skin was being torn off while his body remained where it was, he was burning with pain as the green fire washed over him and Ron who still held onto him for support. Surrounding Snape the other three also stood against the pain as the fire blazed around them, the force was incredible but still they all stood until eventually the shockwave passed, opening his eyes having put all of his will into the casting Snape saw the five companions still surrounding him, steam hissed up from the ground between them.
Five pairs of eyelids fluttered open despite the heat of the steam boiling from the ground, still gripping his wand Harry studied the others, all their robes had been torn and tattered revealing small cuts and bruises on their skin from the path of the debris on the ground. Amazingly everyone who had been hit by the blast still held their wands, even Neville, whose head was caked in blood, held his wand firmly. Slowly Harry raised his wand to point at Snape, the others also followed, wary in their movements in case they distracted the man in the centre, his wand now dangled uselessly by his side, his manic face had settled into one of confusion. Harry was unsettled, Snape had ceased his constant attack suddenly and without explanation, another blast could surely have killed them or put them all out of action – why stop?
The answer came swiftly and without warning, even Snape was taken by surprise, with a crack the ground beneath them collapsed; slabs, earth, witch and wizards fell into the cavern that had formed beneath them. Harry and Ron landed together on the slope of earth that had formed with the alley's collapse, rolling down over the shifting earth Harry felt his body hit by several rocks that continued to fall from the ceiling above them. Sliding into a wall with a thump Harry felt Ron's body slide in beside him, then a yell of pain rang out as a small boulder rolled down beside them and crushed Ron's leg with a resounding crack.
Falling down the other side of the slope Draco grasped Hermione's arm as she slid past him, both stopped before rolling onto the floor below but Neville slid by out of their reach, looking up as he slid down the slope his eyes widened when he saw the slope ended in blackness. 'Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!' he yelled as his legs flew off the edge into space, somehow he managed to claw onto the edge of what felt like cold steel with his right hand, with a twisting wrench he felt his body swing beneath him then he grabbed with his left hand onto the same metal surface. Snape landed flat on top of the earth, the rubble that initially bounced on top of him deflected by a shimmering white shield that he projected above his prone form.
Sweat began to bead and mix with the blood that was on Neville's forehead as he felt his palms begin to slip against the surface beneath him, looking down he saw a few flames glittering in the inky blackness but didn't favour his chances if he fell, as if sensing this the metal bar he hung from let forth a creak. Looking up Neville was in time to see the straining metal snap under the weight of the rubble, opening his mouth to issue forth another cry, Neville was cut off brusquely when a hand grabbed his cloak, the tie cutting deeply into his neck. Choking for breath he felt himself lifted until straining arms reached under his to lift him up, massaging his neck as the cloak tie fell away he looked into the grime covered faces of Hermione and Draco as they supported his shaking legs. That was when Snape rose triumphantly on the top of the mound and sent a sizzling fireball at them, blasting away the platform they stood on and sending them all down into the darkness…
A/N: The final confrontation in chapter 15: the light.