Author's Note: The word "broomjumping" comes up in this and future chapters. Broomjumping is a mix of Quidditch, skate boarding, and gymnastics. The basics? You stand on a broom and can steer it like a skate board- yet also use it as a balance beam and high bars. It's interesting…ok you can read now.
"Ashley! Ashley, wake up now!" Hermione shook Ashley violently, a terrified look plastered on her face. "ASHLEY!" The girl suddenly awoke with a start.
"What? What's going on? Who...?" She fell silent as she saw Hermione's face.
"Lemme get dressed, then tell me why you got me up at some ungodly hour of the morning." Ashley glanced at the windows- still dark- and rummaged through her trunk for her uniform.
"Ashley…" Hermione started but the girl had already rushed away. She paced impatiently until Ashley came back.
"Ok, what?" Ashley slammed her trunk closed.
"Ashley, look out at the Quidditch pitch. Just look." She urged after receiving a ludicrous look. Ashley obediently went to the window facing the pitch. The stadium lights were burning a bright white against the stars, clashing with the red and green sparks flying from- wands?
"No." Ashley breathed. She whirled around. "Is Harry out there? Is it really them?" She almost shrieked. Hermione nodded fearfully.
"What if everyone else wakes up? What about the teachers?" Ashley asked breathlessly as she jogged to the pitch alongside Hermione.
"They're all fast asleep. Except for those in Dumbledore's Army- we've managed to get all of them out here. But we can't find the teachers anywhere." Hermione gasped an answer.
"You've brought them out to help?" Ashley shouted, aghast. Hermione just nodded.
"We need them- his followers are here, and do you really think me and Ron can fight them all alone?" Hermione stopped and put her hands on her knees. Ashley slowed down to a stop as well.
"Speaking of the trio…have you found them all? The Horcruxes?" Ashley asked.
"We have. Now it's just up to Harry to…" She trailed off and gazed at the Quidditch grounds. Ashley nodded, understanding. Hermione, before leaving the Weasley's after Bill and Fleur's wedding, told her of the prophecy and of the Horcruxes. She also assigned Ashley the job of keeping Dumbledore's Army together and watching the Slytherins for any leaked information. The trio only came to Hogwarts grounds via Tonks and Lupin sneaking them in at night. Ashley hadn't seen Hermione herself for two weeks.
"We better start up again. Wand out." Hermione stated, sounding more businesslike and calmer than usual. The half-year away from school had changed her dramatically.
As the Quidditch stands grew larger and larger, the sounds of the fight increased as well. Ashley could distinctly recognize Neville Longbottom's high, squeaky voice shouting hexes and charms, along with the other students once enlisted in the DA. Hermione pushed open the door leading into the pitch and, gripping her wand tightly, rushed through the opening.
The vast pitch was a madhouse- black-robed Death Eaters rushed around amidst a mess of seventh-years, each side throwing about and dodging multi-colored spells every which way. A barrage of curses almost immediately came hurtling towards Hermione and Ashley- both threw up a shield and the bolts of light bounced off, smoldering in the sand.
"Sorry, we didn't know who..." Ernie MacMillan started to apologize, then yelled out a shield charm to deflect a hex emanating from a nearby Death Eater's wand. The two other students beside Ernie let out shouts and raced after the Death Eater. Ashley grabbed Hermione's arm, realizing something.
"Hermione, do you think- he's here?" She asked, her voice wavering. Hermione shook her head.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him-"- Ashley's eyes began to well up-"But go try to find him, he must be here somewhere." Hermione reassured her. Ashley nodded and rushed off, ducking underneath a red, careening Bat Bogey hex from Ginny Weasley.
"Ashley, glad to see you've joined!" The redhead waved emphatically at her. Ashley waved back and resumed searching amongst the Death Eaters.
Bloody heck, they all have their masks on! Ashley thought wildly. On an impulse, she turned towards a Death Eater chasing Luna Lovegood and shouted a spell.
"Expelliarmus!" The well-aimed spell hit the figure in the face and shattered the skull-shaped mask, revealing Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Why, you little..." Bellatrix growled, holding one side of her face, and began to rush after her wand. Ashley bent down and grabbed the wand before the other could get to it and waved it tauntingly above her.
"Finders keepers!" She hooted, and took off laughing. She felt like an immature nine-year-oldrunning away from the bully in school around an extremely lethal playground.
"Get back here!" Bellatrix yelled uselessly and started sprinting after her. The elation quickly left Ashley- Bellatrix was faster than she thought. She searched around wildly for an escape- and found it lying by the stands wall.
"Up!" Ashley screamed at the broomstick as she ran towards it, dropping Bellatrix's wand in the process- it rose obediently in the air. Wasting no time, Ashley muttered the broomjumping spell and leapt onto the broom, taking off into the air immediately. Rising above the raging battle, Ashley could clearly see the winners- slowly but surely, the DA were being beaten back, many ducking into the stands for rest before venturing back out again. The black shapes signaling the presence of a Death Eater were spread out in a full circle, surrounding something Ashley had not seen on the ground- two figures standing across from each other. One was sending pointless curses at the other, enraged by the taunts coming from the other. Ashley smiled- Harry was still alive, or so it looked. Yet he could not evade Voldemort's attacks for long, especially harassing him like he was.
Ashley's thoughts were broken from a red burst of light whizzing past her head- Bellatrix had found her at last. She regained her balance on the broom and looked down at the pitch. Not only Bellatrix had noticed her- many of the other Death Eaters were looking up as well, wand arms swinging upward.
"Incendium!" Ashley fired her own hex down at the ground before hurtling backwards to avoid a line of curses. More kept coming- it seemed like all the Death Eaters were firing at her- and Ashley kept escaping them, zooming all around the pitch. She could faintly hear the encouraging shouts from the seventh-years, some even helping to attack the Death Eaters from the stands. The spells stopped briefly, and Ashley halted for a second to catch her breath- and barely missed a green hex fired at her. She leapt into a sloppy back flip, hoping to land back on the broom, but slipped, falling behind the broom instead. Her hands caught the broom at the last minute. Screams issued from the students below, clashing with a single peal of evil laughter.
Bellatrix threw up her arm at the dangling form above and shouted in a terrible finality, "Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light burst from the wand as from a cannon, and raced towards the sky.
An ominous green light flashed brilliantly from the ground- Ashley sucked in her breath. Eyes shut tight, she let go of the broom.
A thousand thoughts raced through Ashley's brain as she fell- memories of Draco, Harry, Hermione, and Quidditch melted and crashed through and into her mind, mixing with visions of Baltimore and her old home. Black fog started creeping into her vision, covering the memories and sounds. Her last thing she heard before the darkness overcame her was a shout- loud and mournful, with a hint of comforting familiarity.
Bellatrix smirked as she watched the girl start to plummet down to the ground from her broom.
"All the better." She said to no one in particular. "She will die a worse death than if she had held on." A shout suddenly came from behind her- a Death Eater was running up from across the pitch, pushing past the others.
"What are you doing, Draco?" Bellatrix recognized the blond hair peeking out from under the black hood. The boy pushed past her and sprinted towards where the girl was to hit the ground.
"Arresto momentum!" Draco's wand flashed blue; the falling body slowed its breakneck fall and floated down into Draco's outstretched arms.
Ron rushed up to the Death Eater and pointed his wand menacingly.
"Get away from her." He ordered, the usual quavering in his voice gone. The hooded figure straightened slowly, and threw his mask to the ground with one hand, the other hand pulling down his hood.
"Draco…Malfoy…" Ron's hand shook, then steadied.
"You step away from her, you foul..." Ron started, but stopped as Hermione ran up to take hold of his arm.
"Stop! Ron, it's fine." She exclaimed. "I'll explain later." She confided in a lower tone.
Draco had bent down again to examine Ashley, gently turning her over on her back. She groaned softly and stirred uncomfortably, slowly regaining consciousness.
"Move aside! I said, move aside! What is going on-?" Lucius Malfoy had lost no time in appearing on the scene. Draco silently stood up to face his father, whose face was a color purple that would rival Vernon Dursley's large visage.
"No, not possible…" Lucius stared dumbfounded at Draco, then Ashley.
"Sorry to break it to you, father, but yes, it is possible. I- I mean we- have found out about the curse." Draco stated with a hint of sarcasm. Ashley let out another groan and opened her eyes.
"What the- Draco?" Ashley breathed. He helped her to her feet.
"Long time, no see, eh?" Draco could not help murmuring. Ashley laughed and hugged him as long as she dared. Lucius fumbled for his wand.
"Die then, traitor!" He shouted in his rage, and raised his wand.
"Ashley, run!" Draco thrust her to the side and urged her forward. Lucius was about to race forward when he suddenly froze in a binding spell and fell, stiff as a board, onto the sand.
"I've always wanted to do that." Ron lowered his wand with a smug smile on his face.
It seemed as if the world were about to end as the doomed couple winded around the pitch in a panic. The battle had grown more intense- many fighters were now casting spells in a frenzy, not caring who they hit or where the spell went. The isolated heroes had to win their epic battle soon, or only they would be left. Ashley bit back the urge to laugh as she held fast to Draco's hand. Sure, I wanted to be with him- but I never knew that would mean running for my life! She thought morbidly.
They were almost to the door leading out of the field when a gray shadow leapt from the stands in front of them, followed by other dark blurs.
"Well, well, Draco. We meet again." The shadow spoke, and stepped into the moonlight to reveal a gray wolf, its grinning mouth red with fresh blood.
"Fenrir Greyback." Draco acknowledged, his stomach twisting. Greyback sniffed.
"Rushing blood- I can smell it everywhere. Of course, I wouldn't want to partake of a coward's blood"- his animal eyes flashed- "but I'm particularly hungry tonight, and must settle for any little boy that comes my way…" Fenrir's gaze roved to Ashley, and he smiled malevolently.
"Yet there's always his little friend as an appetizer." He lunged for Ashley with a growl.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco sent the werewolf went tumbling backwards into the wall. The other werewolves with him roared angrily and started for the pair themselves.
"This way!" They started backwards again, hoping the web of flying curses would catch some of monsters behind them. The barks and growls began to fade, and the couple slowed down to catch their breath.
"There they are!" A Death Eater called out. Draco groaned and turned around, only to stop after a few steps- the werewolves were stalking back, the pack headed by Greyback himself, a good-sized lump on his head.
"Ashley." Draco grabbed Ashley's arm. "Ash, you have to get yourself out of here. I can distract them." Ashley shook her head.
"It wouldn't do any good- they'd kill you in seconds." She protested.
"Exactly." Ashley froze. Draco shook his head.
"To break the curse, Ashley. Do you think I would carry out a death wish for any other reason?" He asked. Ashley bit her lip.
"Is there any other way?" She murmured.
"Ashley, we've tried for years to find a way- there isn't one. Don't you remember?" His eyes filled with tears. "Goodbye, Ash. Though I hope not forever." He glanced at the werewolves. They had slowed down to a torturously slow stalk, their prey just yards ahead. Death Eaters, led by Lucius Malfoy, were looming on the other side. Draco strode up between them. Ashley stumbled backwards out of the way of both troupes, their focus on the boy between them.
"Oh, protecting your sweetheart, are you?" Bellatrix taunted, standing next to Lucius. "Well, we were going to kill her anyway- but since you're family, we've decided to spare you the torture and kill you first." Lucius grinned.
"Too bad. I would have loved to see your face as she died." He remarked off-handedly. "But now you will die first, along with your futile attempts at breaking the curse." He seemed to chuckle. "From your childhood, your mother and I knew you were weak- a disgrace to our pureblooded name."
"There is no such thing as pureblooded- only a vain attempt at setting yourself on a pedestal. Unless you haven't figured that out, father?" Draco mustered a sneer, unnerving Lucius.
"Kill him now. No use listening to this wretch any longer." A Death Eater whined. Lucius held up his hand, regaining his composure.
"Did Dumbledore inform you of that, my son? Or maybe…" Lucius turned to stare at Ashley. "Your dear little Mudblood girlfriend." Draco's wand hand twitched.
"Get away from her." A power resonated from his voice, causing Lucius to face him again.
"Don't worry, her time will come soon." Lucius gave a cold smile after a pause. "But yours, I think, has been delayed too long." He turned to Bellatrix.
"Shall I do the honors?" He inquired with a morbid reverence. Bellatrix nodded in equal solemnity.
"The Dark Lord would have nothing to do with this traitor. Might as well." She answered, then gave way to a cruel laugh. Lucius joined in and moved ahead, wand hand swinging upwards. The werewolves licked their lips, anticipating a fresh meal. Draco glanced at Ashley.
"Te amo siempre." He whispered. I'll love you forever.
"Te amo." Ashley mouthed. Draco closed his eyes for a moment, Ashley's image searing it self in her mind. To him, she had never looked so beautiful, in all the years of brief glances and secret meetings. He could feel the love and fear that was welled up in her eyes washing over him, its rushing sound barely covering a terrible voice muttering the curse. He opened his eyes.
The terrible green blaze of light from Lucius' wand accentuated the tears streaming down Ashley's face.
The green light died away to reveal the Death Eaters scattering as the werewolves leapt towards their dinner- the body now lying still in the pitted sand. Fenrir Greyback was the first to get to it, and sniffed it hungrily. Almost immediately, he jumped back and yelped, the hackles on his back standing up. The other wolves caught the scent and retreated, tails between their legs.
"No-one get close to it! We shall find food elsewhere." Fenrir growled, and loped away from the corpse, the rest of the pack following close behind. Ashley's heart skipped a beat as she watched the wolves race off. What could possibly unnerve them? She crept over, unseen, to the body and rolled it over.
"Draco…" she whispered mournfully as she gazed at his face. For once in his life, he looked peaceful, even happy, with his eyes closed and a ghost of smile on his lips. Ashley suddenly frowned as her mind flashed back to one of Professor Moody's Dark Arts classes.
"Anyone know how to tell if someone's been killed by this curse?" Moody shouted to the class, one gnarled finger pointing to the killing curse scrawled on the blackboard. Hermione raised her hand once more. Moody nodded towards her, his abnormal eye rolling madly.
"One who has been killed by Avada Kedavra" –she took a tentative breath –"can be determined by their face. They look as if they have been utterly terrified, and their eyes-"
"Are open." Ashley murmured. Before she could examine Draco further, a strange expression came over his face- as if he was experiencing a nightmare. Ashley jumped back. Draco let out a pained moan, and she suddenly felt a jab of pain stab at her heart. The curse -at its end after twelve years of ruling over Draco's heart- was fighting for its life.
Ashley collapsed to the ground next to Draco as the pain intensified, racking her whole body. Darkness started creeping into the edges of her sight until she could see almost nothing. As Ashley slowly blacked out, the last words of the curse seemed to echo over the whole stadium.
But if the love is everlasting,
Then the spirit will turn 'round,
To the soul whose heart is asking
Where's my love, to whom I'm bound?
Yet a week shall pass away
A test to see which prevails,
Will this terrible curse still hold sway
Or will he return from beyond the veil?
Only precious time will tell
If the star-crossed lovers shall still win
Over shadowed secrecy, and fell
The curse that kept them in.