A/N: I haven't posted in a long time, I know. I hope that at least some of you out there are still with me. If you are, let me know what you thought about this chapter. I like to hear from my readers.
Angels of Heaven and Hell
Chapter 14 - Desperate Waiting
oOo
Draco had wondered what Dumbledore would do to protect the students from the Death Eater attack. He still thought no one as eccentric as Dumbledore should lead a school, but he knew Dumbledore cared enough to protect his students - or at least he tried to.
Draco noticed it when they had Potions with the Gryffindors and nobody lifted his hand after Snape had asked a question. Draco turned his head to look at Granger. She wasn't there.
Slowly, one by one, the Muggle-borns were being sent home.
Draco wondered why they'd sent home Granger - she would have been a valuable addition to the fighting group. But then again Granger was a big liability to Potter.
Potter.
Draco still hated him. Potter still was better than him at Quidditch, at school and more popular with the girls. He quickly scratched the last thing - he had Rhiannon. Apart from that, Potter seemed to have a little thing for Rhiannon, so that evened things out a bit.
Draco had started reconsidering Potter, Granger and Weasley since he had been told that he would have to fight the Dark Lord with 'The Boy Who Lived'. He still didn't like them, but he didn't hate them either, like he did before.
There was one thing that made Draco confident when he thought about fighting alongside them - if Potter could survive the killing curse, so could he. And he even had heavenly support.
January slowly passed into a rainy, wet February. Draco and Rhiannon waited for Voldemort to appear at Hogwarts with his Death Eaters. More than half of the students had been sent home and the school was eerily quiet. But what worried them most was, that they had no idea who of the Slytherin students would fight against them.
Draco looked more often at the snow globe, that Rhiannon had given him for Christmas, more often - he never would have thought he'd treat it so seriously one day. Rhiannon herself wasn't wasting too much time worrying - she had started to hone her magic skills right after Draco had told her about the attack plan.
Still both thought that the time they spent waiting was the worst. They felt even more threatened by it, because they knew that one part of the attack would only be because of them.
Another weekend came. No one had received any news about the attack on Hogwarts since Narcissa Malfoy had come and told them about it. By now, all the muggle-borns were gone, and most of the half-bloods, too.
Draco and Rhiannon had managed to push this far enough from their mind to concentrate on their Arithmancy assignment that they were working on right now in Draco's room.
"I don't get it," Draco complained for about the thirty-second time. "The theory of Grupello does not comply with this at all."
"Of course it does," Rhiannon answered absentmindedly and wrote down a zero. "It lines up nicely with what I've got so far."
"That's because you're actually good at this stuff," Draco growled. "If I'd known it would get this hard, I would have dropped it."
Rhiannon smiled and leaned forward to look at Draco's work. It was not everyday that Draco admitted he couldn't do something. Just last week he'd had quite a row with Mark over his Quidditch abilities.
"I'll explain it to you when I'm done. Then we can-" She froze and was silent for a few seconds.
"Rhiannon?" Draco asked worriedly. "What is it? Are you all right?"
She nodded slowly and looked up at Draco. Her face was white as a sheet and her eyes displayed fear.
"Draco, we have to go."
"What?" he asked stupidly and blinked twice. "Rhiannon, are you really okay?"
She didn't respond, she just stood up and went for the door. Draco hurriedly followed suit and grabbed her wrist.
"Rhiannon! What is it?" he demanded. He was infuriated. His parents had almost never told him what they would or would not do. But this was Rhiannon - she always told him in one way or another what she felt and planned to do. He wouldn't take this from her. Not from her - from everyone, just not from her.
As Rhiannon turned her head look over her shoulder Draco realized why he was so panic - he depended on her.
"It's Rowena," said Rhiannon. "She's telling me to go up to the Entrance Hall." Draco nodded. He still didn't know exactly what was up, but e also knew that he would go wherever Rhiannon would go.
"I'll protect you. I promise." As he said this, Draco loosened his grip on Rhiannon's wrist and let his hand slide down to hers.
She smiled at him and that was all he needed for an answer.
The door to Draco's room had closed behind the couple and the room was eerily quiet.
On Draco's night stand stood the enchanted snow globe - Rhiannon's Christmas gift to him. During the time when they had broken up he had hid it away in his closet, so that he wouldn't have to look at it and cause himself more pain.
Afterwards he'd taken it out again, polished it and put it where it was now.
The dragon had been sleeping all the time.
In the quietness of the room he slowly opened one eye. He stretched his wings, the light reflected beautifully on his dark green scales. He heaved himself up.
And then he began to fly in small circles in the snow globe that was his home.
But nobody was there to witness it.
'Faster!' Rowena's voice echoed in Rhiannon's head. 'God knows what will happen if you don't arrive on time!'
'I'm almost there,' Rhiannon shouted back mentally. 'Just this staircase and I'm there!' She and Draco were running up the stairs that led from the dungeons to the Entrance Hall and they were panting heavily. The opening at the end of the staircase was a small speck of light, both had their eyes on it and they, when they would be there, they would have to fight. Only a few more steps to go...
There was a scream.
Rhiannon stopped dead in her tracks. Draco almost ran into her, giving her a curious look.
"Oh no," she whispered. "He's already begun. We're too late."
"Then we really have to go," Draco said. "Only we can stop him. Rhiannon, it doesn't matter when. It only matters that we do it."
'They boy is right. Go on!'
Given the circumstances Draco and Rowena talked very much and very long to Rhiannon.
Finally she nodded.
"Yes."
The last steps were a matter of two seconds.
The sight that the Entrance Hall presented was not a pleasant one. Death Eaters and professors were fighting everywhere, a few sixths and sevenths years fought alongside the professors. Flitwick was engaged into a particularly nasty duel with a Death Eater, Sprout was trying to hold off a group of three Death Eaters of a couple of sixth year students. Everywhere someone was crying or screaming, motionless bodies lay on the ground - mostly those of students.
Only Dumbledore was nowhere in sight.
Rhiannon looked around frantically and Draco seemed equally clueless to her. She could have fought anywhere but that wasn't an option. She'd been dead or badly hurt to soon and that would be of no use to anyone. She only had a few more minutes to decide what to do and then someone of the Death Eaters would notice them.
"Rhiannon," Draco said to her right and to her horror she noticed he had his wand drawn. "I love you and when this is over we'll marry." He placed a quick kiss on her lips and sprang forwards. Rhiannon desperately grabbed for his sleeve and managed to hold him back.
"Wait," she said softly, looking at the floor. Then she took a deep breath, pulled her own wand out and pointed it at her throat.
"Sonorus!"
Rhiannon looked up again - this time Draco saw the determination in her eyes. It seemed like a fire or as if it was the only thing keeping her going. A small, crazy smile formed on her lips and Draco shuddered at the sight.
"STOP IT!" Rhiannon shouted. Her magically enhanced voice rebounded off the walls of the Entrance Hall. Everyone silently turned to look at her, their eyes were full of wonder.
Rhiannon's grin grew wider.
"I'm here to help the Dark Lord," she said, her voice clear. "Take me to him."