Disclaimer: See "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"

Disclaimer 2: Wellard and the other Aurors (except Achilles) come from "Hornblower".

To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames so get out of here, if you know what's good for you.

Note 1: This is a sequel to "Stories of the Hogwarts Sisterhood"; taken place several months later during Easter holidays, so read that first.

Rated Pg-13 for language, content and characters' death.

Thank you for your reviews!

Isabelle3- Hm...

WANT A FAST UPDATE? YOU GOT IT! *grins*

Chapter 22: Aurors to the Rescue

"Okay, I think we should go to the Charms Classroom, maybe some of the Hufflepuffs are still there..." started Harry to his friends near the Great Hall.

"And Ravenclaws, Padma told me that she would be having Charms with the Hufflepuffs today..." Parvati added.

"Fine, then we will go to the classroom and find the Hufflepuffs AND the Ravenclaws..." said Harry.

"Oh no, you don't!" yelled Macnair and the Gryffindors froze at the sight of 5 Death Eaters, the other Death Eaters had gone elsewhere.

"What are we going to do now?" whispered Neville to Harry.

Harry whispered to him and Neville passed his message to Dean, soon all Gryffindors had their wands out.

"Don't be a fool, you can't beat us." sneered Macnair.

"Oh yeah?" said Harry slowly and all of the Gryffindors pointed their wands to the every directions except the one behind them.

"NOW!"

"REDUCTO!!"

Suddenly, the ceiling and walls and paintings crumbled and collapsed on the Death Eaters and with Harry's command, the Gryffindors ran off the opposite direction. Neville turn around just in time to see a Death Eater jumped away from the falling ceiling and walls. He glared at the Gryffindor in blazing fury and aimed his wand at them. Neville stopped in his tracks and aimed his wand at him as well.

"STUPEFY!" roared the both of them.

Luckily, Neville was faster than the Death Eater and he ducked to avoid the red light. The light flew and nearly hit Hermione as she ran around a corner with the others. Neville's spell, on the hand, hit the Death Eater squarely on the chest and he tripped over his fellow Death Eater, fell over and landed hard on his back. His Rapier (which was placed securely near his belt) was visible from where Neville was standing.

"Accio Sword!" he called and it flew right at him.

He caught it neatly and stared in awe at the sword, which looked like it had been made yesterday.

"Neville, what the hell are you doing, come on!" yelled Harry and Neville ran.

He caught up with the rest and grinned at them once they were safe. "Sword, anyone?"

"That's a Rapier!" said Hermione knowledgably.

"Neville, where did you get it from?" asked Dean.

"I stunned a Death Eater and I got it from him." said Neville with a slight note of pride in his voice.

"Whoa. Neville, you are getting bolder and I am not surprise if you become an Auror one day." said Ron with a bit of admiration in his voice.

"God, I don't expect that the Death Eaters would use this." said Harry in horror. "One slash and you are dead."

"Yeah, remember what Athena said? Muggle war weapons might be not as good as magic but they are deadly." said Ron.

"Speaking of Athena, where is she?" asked Lavender.

"Maybe she is with Seamus." suggested Neville.

"No, Seamus was alone when we left him, I checked." said Dean.

"Hm, guys? When is the last time we saw Athena?" asked Hermione.

There was a horrified silence.

"Um, okay, let's not worry about her, maybe she is with her mother," said Harry slowly. "Come on, let's go the Charms classroom."

***

"What did you see, Archie?" whispered Hornblower urgently to Kennedy, who was using a telescope.

The Aurors were now lying low behind a long, low wall a few miles away from the Hogwarts gates, heavily armed with their wands, swords and guns. They were watching at the castle for a perfect moment to attack.

"Not much," Kennedy said, continuing to look with the telescope. "Just that a few students were taken as hostages near the gates, some of the Death Eaters were banging on the front door. I think they had..."

Wellard snatched the telescope away from Kennedy and put his eye to it.

"Hey!"

"Shush!" hissed Bush sharply.

Wellard searched frantically among the hostages for Athena, but there was no sight of her.

"She must be still in the common room...." he muttered and lowered the telescope. "Any ex-Gryffindors here?"

"I am." said Bush. Achilles was too far away to listen.

"Where is the Gryffindor Common Room?"

"Once you stepped out of the Great Hall, you go up to the marble staircase and um," Bush scratched his head as he tried to remember. "Darn, I can't quite remember, just look for a Fat Lady portrait."

"Okay...." said Wellard slowly, didn't know whether to believe Bush or not. But he decided to try Bush's so-called directions anyway..

"Hand me the telescope, Mr Wellard, if you please. Thank you." Pellew whispered.

Wellard handed the telescope to Pellew. Pellew put his eye to it and snapped it shut after a while.

"All right, Mr Hornblower, take a few of your men to the gates and handle that Death Eater quietly, when you are done, ask one of your men to come and get us."

Hornblower nodded and said, "Styles, Matthews, Oldroyd, follow me."

***

The teachers were still fighting with the Death Eaters at the Entrance Hall. Hagrid simply slapped one of them on the neck and knocked him out cold.

"HA, tha' will teach yeh ter be a Death-Eater, yeh fool!"

"Hagrid, don't join in the fight, go and stand at the door to prevent them coming in!" ordered Minerva, losing her concentration for a moment.

Bellatrix Lestrange, whom Minerva was fighting with, took the chance and yelled, "Venas!"

Minerva's eyes widened and she screamed as the spell hit her on the arm.

***

Hornblower and his three men sneaked to the wall beside the gates and stood still for a while before he peeped out at the side of the wall. He saw Death Eaters using a huge log to bang the door, trying to break it down.

"What the damnation...." he mumbled.

He returned his attention to a single Death Eater, whose back was facing him and was watching over the hostages. The students saw him and started to whimper in fright. Hornblower quickly put his finger to his lips and they went silent. He tiptoed out, and continued to do so until he was right behind the Death Eater. He jumped on him, covered his mouth with his hand to prevent him from yelling for help and dragged him out of the gates.

The Death Eater made so much muffled noises that he irritated Hornblower. He rolled his eyes and whispered to Matthews, "Stun him."

"Stupefy." hissed Matthews softly, but loud enough to get the Death Eater stunned.

He lay limply in Hornblower's arms. He curled his lip in disgust and he dropped him as if he was a sack of Doxy droppings.

"One down," he said dryly. "Oldroyd, sneak out there and get those kids one by one so that the Death Eaters at the door wouldn't notice."

"What?" squeaked Oldroyd.

Hornblower glared at him. "Well, you are the smallest here."

Oldroyd swallowed and tiptoed out slowly to the students.

Styles, go and inform Mr Pellew that the coast is clear."

"Yes Sir."

***

Minerva stared at her badly wounded arm and yelled some foul language that she would never say in front of her family at Bellatrix.

Bellatrix smirked and when she did, Minerva quickly aimed for her leg and screamed, "VENAS!"

This time, it was Bellatrix's turn to scream

***

"It's okay, you are safe now." said Pellew kindly as Oldroyd finally got the last one out.

"The professors and our friends!! Sir, you must save them!" cried some of the students as they clung on Pellew's robes.

"I will," assured Pellew. "You must be very frightened after this, right?"

The students nodded.

"Mr Matthews, take them to the Honeydukes, maybe a few sweets would calm them down. If not, take them to the Three Broomsticks and wait for further news."

"Aye Sir."

After Matthews left with the students, Pellew nodded at Edrington and Edrington conjured a small bomb out of nowhere. He lit it and threw it over the wall and towards the Death Eaters.

BOOM

***

In the Entrance Hall, the fighters fell due to the impact.

"What the..." started Lupin.

***

When all the Death Eaters were trying to figure out who threw the bomb, Pellew took out his wand and roared, "AURORS, ATTACK!"

The Aurors gave a loud cry together and they ran towards their enemies. Some of the Death Eaters scampered and some of the Aurors followed suit. The rest remain behind and soon, the whole school grounds became a large battlefield. Gunfire from the Aurors, slashing sounds of Rapiers from the Death Eaters and flashes of light from both parties' wands filled the air.

"Mr Edrington and Mr Hornblower! Get some of your men and try to go into the castle!" yelled Pellew as he quickly shot a Death Eater with his gun.

"Yes Sir!" replied Edrington and Hornblower.

They got their men (included Wellard) and ran to the side of the castle, trying to find a window.

***

Harry and his friends ran to the Charms classroom (and settled a few Death Eaters and got a few more students along the way) and stared in shock at the scene. Bricks and dusts were everywhere, books were burnt and tables and chairs were overturned.

"Okay, see if there are survivors." said Harry, praying that there were.

They quickly searched the place, throwing the bricks aside, and calling the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students' names.

"Susan? Justin? Ernie?"

"Padma? Terry? Mandy? Anthony? Michael? Lisa?"

"Oh Merlin." said Ron suddenly after he had moved away a table on a small hill of bricks. He stepped down from the bricks and moved slightly away from it.

"What?" said Harry anxiously.

Ron looked at Harry with such fear that Harry thought that he had seen a big spider.

"What?"

"Come and look." said Ron and the students walked over the debris to him.

As they did, he removed more bricks. The girls gasped in horror and the boys swallowed.

Inside the pile lay a blond hair girl. Her face was blank and her eyes were half-opened.

"Is she...dead?" asked Hermione in fear.

"I don't think she is breathing." whispered Neville.

Harry leaned forward and moved a few more bricks away to uncover the girl more. Nervously, he put a finger under her nose. No breathing. He gently slapped her face, "Miss?"

No response.

Harry sighed and looked at Hermione. "She's dead."

"Oh God." said Hermione quietly.

"I think the bricks have crushed her lungs." said Dean.

Harry bit his lip, determined not to show his sorrow. He got up and yelled, "Susan! Justin! Ernie! Answer me!"

"Harry?" a very soft and weak voice answered from somewhere.

Harry turned around. "Who said that?"

"Justin..."

"Justin? Where are you?!"

"Down here...." the voice continued.

"It sounds like it comes from over there." said Dean, pointing a pile of bricks and books near the window.

Harry practically ran to the location where Justin's voice came from. He tossed the books aside and shouted at the boys, "Come on! Help me!"

The boys raced to where Harry was and begin to throw the debris aside until they saw Justin Finch-Fletchley. Justin was covered with dust and he looked as if he was in pain.

"Are you all right? Where are the others?" asked Lavender in concern.

"I'm okay, just that I have broken my leg. The others have escaped, I guess..." said Justin painfully.

"What about my sister?" asked Parvati.

"I don't know....."

Parvati ran off, screaming, "Padma! Padma, answer me!"

No response.

"Maybe she is too weak to answer, everyone, search for more survivors!" ordered Harry.

The students carried on to search while Harry removed all the debris away from Justin. He tried to carry him but his broken leg couldn't support him at all.

"Ron, Ron! Help me!" called Harry.

After a full search of the room, the students found Terry Boot, Susan Bones and Padma Patil. Parvati cried loudly when she found her under a few chairs and hugged her once she got her sister out. They found a few more victims of the explosion and nothing else.

"Well, at least Ernie, Mandy, Anthony, Michael and Lisa are not here, there is still a possibility that they are alive," said Harry. "Come on, let's bring Justin out."