Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Eight chapters left…
Chapter 12: I'm Not Alone
Draco took a step towards his father, who was holding Hermione.
"Let her go," he growled, his fists clenching. The hand holding his wand tightened, the knuckles whitening. Harry put his hand on Draco's arm, efficiently keeping him from leaping on Lucius. Identical blue-grey eyes met, narrowed.
"Draco, you disappoint me," Lucius said coolly. "Look at how low you've sunk. Caring about the fate of a Mudblood. Taking orders from Potter. How pathetic."
"Better than taking orders from you," Draco shot back, unfazed by his father's biting insults.
Lucius sneered. "if I were you, son," he said, spitting out the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, "I would watch what I say. You wouldn't want me to hurt your precious little Mudblood, would you?"
"Don't call her that," Draco snarled angrily, trying to rip his arm free of Harry's grip. Harry stubbornly refused to let go.
"Shut up, boy, respect your elders," Snape cut in, his black eyes narrowed. Harry looked at his Potions teacher in astonishment.
"Professor Snape?" he said uncertainly. Snape turned his gaze to Harry.
"What's the matter, Potter?" he asked mockingly. "Did you think I was actually on your side? That I was spying for you all this time? Didn't you know that one day I would turn on you and your precious Order?"
During this little speech, Snape's eyes never left Harry's face. Harry stared at him, trying to read the expression in the black eyes. Suddenly, he understood. Snape was bluffing. There was almost a pleading look in his eyes, apologizing, begging for forgiveness. Harry widened his own eyes to show that he understood.
"I trusted you!" he shouted, playing along. "I can't believe you used me like that!"
"As much as I love all this drama," Voldemort cut in sarcastically. "We need to get down to business. I have a proposition for you, young Potter."
"What's that?" Harry snapped.
"Patience is a virtue, my young friend. Now, am I correct in saying that you want your friends out safely?"
"Yes," Harry said slowly, suspiciously. He was vaguely aware of the fact that he was having an almost civilized conversation with Lord Voldemort, but he ignored that.
"Then I will let them go. On the condition that you stay."
Harry saw Luna and Hermione's eyes widen and they began to struggle against their captors. Draco tensed next him. Harry slowly looked from one face to another, considering his options. He slowly nodded his head.
Voldemort threw his head back and laughed. "Excellent! I knew you would come around. Release the girls." Malfoy and Snape shoved the girls to the ground. Draco immediately gathered Hermione into his arms. "Lucius, Macnair, Avery, Bellatrix, and Wormtail. All of you stay with me. Severus, take these four students into the forest and finish them off."
"But you said you'd let them go!" Harry shouted, trying to break away from Snape, who was now holding him.
"Did you really think I was serious?" Voldemort asked, laughing. "Really, Potter, you're too trusting. On second thought, Severus, let's just kill them right here."
Harry suddenly became aware of Snape whispering in his hear. He concentrated on what Snape was saying while Voldemort was explaining his plan to the other Death Eaters.
"…as fast as you can back to the castle," Snape was saying. "Go straight to Albus. Tell him we're here."
"But the others," Harry objected. "They'll be killed."
"When you run, the Dark Lord will be too concerned with you to worry about them. I'll give you a good enough head start. Go, now!"
He released Harry and without thinking twice, Harry took off. He ran as fast as he could, rapidly approaching the castle. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he left his friends in the hands of Voldemort as he ran. Suddenly he heard Snape's shout of "Get back here, Potter!" and he ran even faster. Jets of red light began flying by him and he dodged them expertly. He burst through the front door, succeeding in startling the few students that were not at breakfast. He ignored them and slammed open the doors to the Great Hall, barreling down the center of the room towards the head table, unaware of the silence as every pair of eyes focused on him. He slammed into the table, doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
"Harry, my boy, what is it?" Dumbledore asked, standing up.
Harry only managed to gasp out a few words, but he was sure he got his point across. "Tom…grounds…Snape…ran…coming…"he croaked in between breaths. Dumbledore's face hardened and he straightened up.
"Students, calmly but quickly return to your dorms. I would like all the members of the DA to meet me up here. Now." (A/N: He knows about the DA, remember 5th book and Umbridge? Just because I haven't had them meet doesn't mean they don't exist.)
The Hall quickly emptied and the large group of fifth, six, and seventh years gathered at the Head Table. A few moments later, all the members of the Order of the Phoenix entered the room, with the exception of Snape. Harry had managed to catch his breath a bit, but he was still slightly winded. He straightened up finally and Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, is on the school grounds," Dumbledore began. There were several shocked gasps. "We need to prepare for battle. That is why I've called you here."
"Albus, students?" Tonks asked, indicating the gathered DA.
"I am aware that this group has been meeting for the past two years—Harry's fifth and sixth year, that is—and learning both offensive and defensive spells from Harry. I have full confidence in their abilities. Now, Harry, I need to know how many Death Eaters are out there."
Harry thought for a moment. "Probably around a hundred, maybe a little more. I'm not completely sure, I couldn't see how many were surrounding us."
"Us?" McGonagall interjected. Harry swore, earning himself a stern glare from Mrs. Weasley. He ignored her.
"Draco, Hermione, and Luna are still out there!" he exclaimed. He felt Dumbledore's hand tighten on his shoulder.
"Harry, stay out of sight, but go open the front doors," the headmaster ordered. Harry sprinted from the hall without bothering to question the strange orders. He heard Dumbledore telling Remus to alert the Ministry. Harry reached the Entrance Hall and made it halfway to the doors before they burst open, revealing Draco, Hermione, Luna, and Snape. The sky behind them was dark, and Harry saw that it was pouring rain.
"Potter, get into the Great Hall," Snape said tersely. Harry obeyed without a moment's hesitation. Snape swept past him and ran up to Dumbledore. The headmaster turned to the dark haired man.
"Severus?" he said simply. Snape gave a small nod.
"He knows, Albus," Snape said. "He figured it out and I had to run for it. I did manage to get the three students out, but the troops are coming."
Dumbledore turned to the group, which was not much larger. "Keep them out of the castle at all costs. I want them nowhere near the rest of the students. Move out."
Everyone began moving for the door. Dumbledore stopped the DA suddenly. The Aurors and Order members continued into the battle.
"I want you all the stay here," Dumbledore said, holding up his hand to stop the loud protests. "I want to send you out as a last resort. You'll not be risking your lives unnecessarily. Harry is in charge. Harry," he said, turning to the Boy-Who-Lived, "I will call you when you are needed. Until then, stay put." Harry nodded, determination and anger glowing in his emerald eyes. Without another word, Dumbledore swept out of the room. Harry turned to find the remaining people staring at him.
"What?" he asked.
"Well, you're in charge," Neville spoke up. "What do we do?"
"We stay put," Harry said. There was an outburst of protests.
"Come on, Harry, we can't just sit here," Seamus said angrily.
"We can, and we will," Harry said.
"The whole reason we started this group was to fight You-Know-Who, Harry," Dean said. Harry was reminded painfully of the night in his fifth year, when Ginny had said the same exact thing to him after he had refused to let her accompany him.
"He's not getting away tonight," Ginny butted in, her brown eyes flashing dangerously. Harry was slightly startled. As she had not been speaking to him, he had not heard her voice since Ron's funeral.
"Have you lot been out there?" Draco yelled, losing it completely. "No! You haven't! I have! We have!" He indicated himself, Hermione, Luna, and Harry. "I know those men out there. They're animals. They'll do anything to win. They won't spare you just because you're a student, or just because you have a family, or just because you're hurt. They'll win at all costs."
"Why aren't you out there with them, then?" Colin Creevy challenged. Draco's eyes clouded over and he started towards Colin. Harry grabbed his arm.
"That's enough, Colin," Harry said firmly. "We're staying put."
"At least go see what's going on," Luna suggested. Harry agreed and approached the door, motioning for the others to stay back. He opened the door slightly.
He stuck his head out into the Entrance Hall. It was thankfully empty. He could hear the sounds of the fighting over the rain from the direction of the open door. It took a lot of self-control to keep himself inside. He began to close the door when a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him into the Entrance Hall. The door to the Great Hall was slammed shut in a shower of sparks. A hand clapped over his mouth and he was slammed back into the stone wall. He looked into the face of his attacker and was met with a pair of startlingly familiar blue eyes. His heart pounded wildly as the hand was removed from his mouth.
"Ron?"
A/N: Once again…Dun, dun, dun! Mwahahahahahahahaha!
Aren't shoulder devils just the worst?
I'm just going to leave y'all hanging on this one. I'm not gonna update for a while, just because the only thing that gets me through the day at school is knowing that my faithful readers are biting their nails and tearing their hair out in anticipation of the next chapter.
And I do have the next chapter finished.
Thanks to all of you who have reviewed in the short time that I've been updating. Wow, what is it, like, three chapters in two days or something? I don't know, but it's been a lot. I am so on a roll!
Also, I have no idea if that whole virtual party thing is gonna work out. I am so busy with softball practice and choir practice and everything lately that I just don't have any free time at all. I write these chapters in study hall, and then I have to find the time to type and post them. It just sucks.
And guess what? My ex boyfriend, the one that cheated on me, he tried to come crawling back to me. He asked me out again, and I said no! Aren't you all so proud of me? I'm proud of myself! Yay for standing strong!
Okay, well, the next chapter will be up soon. Probably before next weekend, and if not, then it will definitely be up before the weekend is over. Oh, except on March 12, I can't update, because I have a show choir competition in Watseka, Illinois. I really have no idea where that is, but it is two hours away from where I live.
But make me happy in the meantime and REVIEW!
