A/N: This very nearly wasn't a chapter, but since it is, I think I'll manage to get to a very important stage.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and you do not want to know what it would be like if I did.
Chapter sixteen - Battle At Hogsmeade
Time passed quickly for Ben, Blaise and Draco once they got back to Hogwarts. They were distracted with thinking about what the Prophecy could mean.
Also they had had Quidditch, amongst other things, along with homework and Quidditch.
In fact, before they knew it, the end of year exams were upon
The day before their first exam Blaise was a bad of nerves.
"Oh no! What of I fail? What if I can't remember anything?" he kept asking until the other two could concentrate no more.
"Blaise, you won't fail, and you will remember almost everything! Now shut up so we can carry on cramming!" snapped Draco.
This seemed to work, as Blaise stopped voicing his ridiculous worries about the next day for all about two minutes.
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The next couple of weeks went by painfully slowly, and on the evening following the final day of the exams Ben, Blaise and Draco snuck out of the common room where everyone was hanging around, exhausted after the previous two weeks.
The three of them walked down the corridors, sticking to the shadows, heading to where they knew to be a secret passageway that headed to Hogsmeade that always looked as if it hadn't been used in centuries.
As they arrived the three of them walked up to a door that many thought was a wall pretending to be a door, and Blaise turned the handle counter-clockwise whilst Ben and Draco muttered the unlocking spell, their wands pointed to the centre of the door.
Suddenly it opened and the three of them fell through.
The sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor at high speed, along with the sounds of panicked voices. They only just managed to shut the door in time as many of the teacher rushed passed.
"What was that all about?" asked Ben as soon as he thought it was safe to raise his voice.
"I dunno, but let's carry on to Hogsmeade," replied Draco, wandering down the passage.
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At the Riddle House Voldemort stormed into the kitchen. Something was up with his Death Eaters. He had called them for a meeting, but none had shown up.
He looked over to the fireplace and saw an extremely beat up looking Theodore Nott Sr. stumbled out.
"M... My Lord," he gasped out as he fell to the ground.
"Nott! Tell me what is going on! This instant!" said Voldemort angrily.
He was certain something was up. His Death Eaters hadn't answered his call, and now Nott looked like he had had the cruciatus curse cast on him several times before being punched.
"M... My Lord, its Malfoy! He's gone to attack Hogwarts, M-" Nott stopped speaking and his eyes glazed over as he died.
Furiously Voldemort apparated away from the Riddle House. How dare Lucius Malfoy be in charge of a Death Eater attack, and one that shouldn't have happened, let along one on that school whilst Ben was there.
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Dumbledore rushed down to Hogsmeade where the Death Eaters were attacking. He had seen from a distance that roughly all of them were there, though Voldemort was not. Strange, it seemed, that there would be such an important attack, and Voldemort not be there.
As he arrived on the scene members of the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters were fighting it out, sending curses to and fro.
The noise was tremendous, deafening, almost. But now was not the time to worry about that. Right now he had to figure out a way to stop the attack as quickly as possible.
Several minutes passed, and neither side seemed to be making much progress. For some strange reason the Death Eaters seemed to be holding back, as if they were waiting for something to happen.
On the hilltop near the Shrieking Shack, Ben, Blaise and Draco watched the sight below.
"I guess that was what the professors were rushing off to," said Ben in shock.
Something about this attack didn't feel right. He was certain his father would have contacted him about an attack so near to Hogwarts. It made no sense.
As the minutes passed they saw someone apparate in from wherever just as there was a huge explosion.
The three of them rushed down the hill to the person they recognised as Voldemort was sent flying through the air and someone appeared to be rising from the dust, which had been sent up from the explosion.
A/N: Hehe! This chapter was originally going to be me putting off what happened in this chapter for longer, but I really want to go on to what happens next. I've been looking forwards to the next chapter ever since I realised properly where this was going, and now it's gonna happen.
Goldengirl2: Was it really? Lol! Here's another chapter.
Vic: Thank you!
Hermionegreen: You do? Well, all will be revealed in the next one or two chapters. I promise.
Rogue: Thank you! I did update!
Rain Warrior: Yeah, you've said that before. To begin with it started out as me thanking people for taking time out of the busy lives to read and review my work, but now it's a habit, but not that bad a habit. Did I update before you?
Hpcrazy: If it's so obvious, then why didn't you tell me what it meant? And more excitement will come in the next couple of chapter... hopefully.
Okay, that's everyone. I just have to say I'm not totally happy with this chapter, but it'll do. There is no way I'm going to try and write it again. I think there'll be a maximum of three more chapters, then the sequel.
I really hope you all like what's gonna happen in the next chapter. And if you want anything to be explain, please let me know. I'll make sure it's explained before the end of this fic and before the start of the sequel.