55. A Good Fight

They were all coughing and wiping the dust out of their eyes. It took a moment to regain their bearings, and then Callie shouted, "What the hell just happened?!"

"Ginny?!" Red called out.

"I'm here," his sister replied. "I'm all right."

"Where's Malfoy?" Neville asked, and Callie reached out to grab his arm, not wanting them to get separated in the darkness.

"I don't know, I can't see anything," Ginny said, spluttering.

"What happened, what did he do?"

"Bloody hell!" Red exclaimed. "I've seen this before. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, it's one of Fred and George's products. Oh, I'm going to kill them!"

Callie lifted her wand and incanted, "Lumos!" But all it produced was a single dot of light at the end of the wand. Nothing beyond it was illuminated. "Everybody try it," she commanded. "All at once, come on!"

But when they tried the spell simultaneously, all they got were four little spots of light, none of which could break through the darkness. "Why isn't it working?" Neville asked.

"They must've charmed it somehow to keep the light from getting through," Red guessed. "Damn it!"

"Everybody stand back," Callie said. "Up against the wall, hurry!" She felt around in front of herself to make sure nothing was in the way, and then pointed her wand to try the Fire-Making Spell. A jet of flames stretched a few feet in front of her, but just like the Wand-Lighting Charm, it did nothing to illuminate the corridor. Callie still couldn't see anything but the flame itself.

"Shit," she exclaimed. The four of them tried every spell they could think of, but nothing could penetrate the darkness. "We ought to get out of here," she suggested. "Malfoy could be right in front of us for all we know. We need to get somewhere light and find Lupin and the others."

"Lupin? What would he be doing here?" Red asked.

Pulling Neville along in what she hoped was the direction of the nearest staircase, she explained, "Dumbledore asked him and a few others to patrol the castle tonight. I saw him on the fifth floor."

"Where are you?" Ginny asked. "Ron, follow my voice and take my hand."

Callie led the Gryffindors through the corridor, at the end of which they were finally able to see again. The four then sprinted down and ran into Lupin and Bill Weasley on the sixth floor. "What are you doing here?" Red asked his brother.

"Patrolling," Bill explained. "Dumbledore called on us."

"Professor," Neville said to Lupin. "Draco Malfoy's up to something. We don't know what he's doing, but he came out of the Room of Requirement upstairs and threw some kind of darkness powder at us."

"Draco Malfoy?" Lupin repeated, apparently surprised at the idea that the teenaged boy could be doing something dastardly.

Now was the time to explain. "He's a Death Eater, sir," Callie said. "I've seen his Mark."

Everybody gaped at her, and after a moment, Red exclaimed, "Bloody hell! When were you going to tell us that?"

Before she could respond, Lupin asked, "Are you sure, Callie?"

"Yes. Trust me."

Using his Patronus, Lupin called on Tonks and Professor McGonagall to join them. While they waited, Bill asked, "Was anybody with him?"

"All the entrances are secure," Lupin said. "Nobody could get into the castle."

"Are you sure?" Callie asked, considering the thought. "I mean... is it possible someone could've snuck in before tonight? There are loads of places to hide out in here."

"We've been up and down every floor, every secret space," Lupin replied. "Nothing at all out of the ordinary." Turning to his Order comrade, he asked, "Right, Bill?"

"All's been quiet on my end," he said. He looked over and called out, "Tonks!"

The girl was running towards the group, and asked, "What's going on?"

Lupin turned to her. "Have you seen anything suspicious tonight?"

"No," she replied. "Why? Has something happened?"

Red explained, "We think Draco Malfoy might be plotting something. He was hiding out in a secret room on the seventh floor, and when he finally came out he attacked us with instant darkness powder."

"Draco Malfoy's only a boy, what could he-" Tonks began.

But Lupin cut her off and said, "He's a Death Eater." However, he still looked a bit skeptical. To Callie, he asked again, "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes! I saw the Mark, we had a whole conversation about it!"

"And you didn't think to mention that to anyone?!" Red shouted.

"I did mention it, I told Dumbledore everything! He knows. But he said he felt safer keeping Malfoy around so he could keep an eye on him."

"What's going on?" Professor McGonagall called out, and they all turned to see her coming up the corridor with Professor Flitwick.

Once again, Lupin explained everything to the new arrivals. When he was done, Callie piped up, "That's not all, Professor. Malfoy was behind the cursed necklace and the poisoned mead. Both of them were meant for Dumbledore. Malfoy's been assigned by You Know Who to assassinate him."

Apparently the headmaster hadn't explained any of this to anyone, as they all looked completely shocked. McGonagall stuttered, "I- Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure," Callie said. Then an idea came to her. "Is that why he left tonight? Is he protecting himself?"

"No," Red replied, shaking his head. "He and Harry are... doing something."

"Doing what, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked.

"I can't tell you that, ma'am. Harry told us not to tell anyone."

"Ronald, this is not the time for games," she said in a stern voice.

"No, it's not," Lupin cut in. "So I think we ought to go track down Malfoy and stop him from whatever he has planned this time. Before Dumbledore arrives."

With that, they all made their way back to the seventh floor. The darkness had cleared, but nobody knew which way Malfoy had gone. "Should we split up?" Tonks asked.

"I don't think so," Bill replied. "If anyone has somehow gotten into the castle, we ought to stay together in case they attack."

McGonagall turned to the students and said, "Perhaps you four should get back to your common rooms."

"We can't do that, ma'am," Neville replied. "If anything happens, we're prepared to stand with the Order."

"Mr. Longbottom," she sighed, "I suppose I shouldn't have phrased that as a suggestion, but a command."

"We're not going anywhere, Professor," Ginny said. "This is what we prepared for all last year, it's exactly why we formed the D.A."

But the woman argued, "Miss Weasley, I am not about to put four children in danger. You're underage and as your head of house, I am responsible for your well-being."

"But not mine," Red cut in. "I'm seventeen, I can decide for myself whether I fight or not."

McGonagall hesitated. He did have her there.

"And I'll be of age in a month," Neville said. "I'm not going to stay behind over a matter of thirty days."

"And I'm not abandoning my brothers," Ginny declared. "Or anyone else."

"Neville, Ginny, this is serious!" she said in frustration. "We don't know what Mr. Malfoy has planned or if he somehow has backup or-"

"Look out!"

The next thing McGonagall knew, Callie had shoved her up against a wall as a jet of green light just barely missed her. Everybody looked in the direction from which the curse had come, and at least four or five others shot at them all at once.

As everyone moved to deflect the attacks, Bill shouted, "Get back!" aiming his wand at the half dozen hooded figures who stood at the opposite end of the corridor.

All hell had broken loose in a matter of a second. Spells and curses flew all over the place as fifteen people waved their wands about like mad. Callie suddenly felt as if everything she'd ever learned about defense and dueling had gone right out the window, because there wasn't a moment to think, let alone conjure up any of the offensive spells she knew. Deflect, deflect, deflect! It was all she could do. The attacks, one right after the other, from whichever Death Eater was aiming for her were nearly overwhelming. She couldn't shield herself and produce her own jinx at the same time.

You have to physically dodge it. She could practically hear Snape telling her that a year ago during their private defense lesson. And then she was twisting herself sideways as a spell passed two inches from her face. The new angle she was standing at gave her an advantage, because the Death Eater aimed their next attack at the spot she'd just moved from. Stupefy! she silently incanted, and her opponent was knocked to their feet.

There was no time to celebrate, however, as everyone else was locked in battle. She didn't think about who needed her help the most, but simply aimed for the first Death Eater she saw.

And it was bloody Malfoy. He deflected her jinx and returned his own, which she dodged. The two of them were quite evenly matched, both in their dueling skills and in the quickness with which they moved. But Callie was determined to outdo him. Not just because he was the enemy, but because she had actually taken pity on the son of a bitch during their talk in the hospital wing. Christ, what a fool she had been to believe he'd had an ounce of humanity in him. For that alone, she was pissed.

"You let them in!" she shouted. "Dumbledore isn't even here tonight, you stupid bastard!"

"Stand down, Warbeck!" he shot back. "Don't make me have to hurt you!"

They went on exchanging and deflecting jinxes, neither one gaining the upper hand, as the chaos began to move down the corridor towards the Astronomy Tower. Callie kept her focus dead set on Malfoy, unaware of what all was going on around her, who was dueling whom, who was still standing and who might be down - and who had shot the Disarming Charm that suddenly made her wand fly out of her hand.

"Go, Draco!" somebody shouted. And with the unarmed Callie no longer a threat, the boy turned his back on her and ran off.

Keeping her head down, she desperately searched for her wand. Spells were coming from every direction and she had no way to defend herself. Get out, you're useless without your wand and you're an easy target now! But she couldn't abandoned the others to save her own arse. Find it! God damn it, where is it?!

She had just spotted it lying a few feet away when something hit her in the back, throwing her forwards. She hit the floor with a groan, but whatever the jinx had been, it was relatively harmless. But as she pushed herself onto her hands and knees, she looked up to find the most horrifying sight she had ever seen. One of the Death Eaters - a big, hairy bloke - was hunched over a struggling Bill Weasley, and the former appeared to be... eating the redhead. Callie's eyes widened as the cannibal spotted her staring at him, and turned his attention on her.

Holy shit, she thought. The both of them rose to their feet, eyes locked, and the Death Eater's lip curled into an animalistic, and rather excited, smile. And Callie was wandless. She slowly began to back away, her muscles tense, as for the first time throughout all this, she was absolutely terrified. This bloke was huge, and he could tear her apart just as easily - more so - as he had Bill. A low growling sound emanated from his throat, and the wild idea that he really was some kind of animal flashed in her mind.

Still with a hungry-looking grin on his face, he sprang at her. But at the exact same moment, somebody off to the side shouted "No!" and hurled themselves into Callie, knocking her out of the Death Eater's path and onto the ground.

It was Red. He whipped around, shielding Callie with his body as he turned his wand on the animal. He got back on his feet and shouted to her, "Go on, get out, I'll hold him off!"

She scrambled out from behind him, again looking around for her wand, which she'd lost track off. Bloody hell! she thought. But then she spotted someone else's wand - perhaps Bill's - lying a few feet away and snatched it up, praying it would work for her. "Stupefy!" she yelled, and while she was able to produce the Stunning Spell from the mystery wand, her target deflected it. As she dodged yet another spell, she looked up and saw Neville dueling somebody one-on-one. Almost on instinct, she ran to help him, and the two battled the Death Eater side-by-side.

The attacks were relentless - how could anyone move with such speed, conjure up a new jinx so quickly? Even the two of them together couldn't overpower their opponent; the best they could do was not get themselves hurt. Or killed.

"Avada kedavra!" the Death Eater shouted, and Callie didn't wait to find out which of them he'd aimed for. She grabbed Neville by the back of the robes and pulled him downwards along with herself. At the same time, she shot a Knockback Jinx and hit the bastard in the leg.

"The Killing Curse can't be blocked!" she told Neville. "You have to dodge it!"

"I know!"

They straightened up, and something whipped past Callie, cutting her cheek. Next thing she knew, Neville had grabbed her and pulled her behind him, now in combat with an entirely different Death Eater than the one they'd just been fighting. With his free hand, he reached around and held her in place at his back, but she shot her own spells over his shoulder, and they continued to duel as a pair.

"Everyone get to the tower!" someone shouted out. "Yaxley, block them!"

Callie didn't pause to find out who had made the order, or who "Yaxley" was, but the Death Eater that she and Neville were dueling began to back up down the corridor as a few others ran by, flinging their own curses in all directions. "Get down!" Neville yelled, and they both hit the floor as at least three attacks came their way. The boy got on top of her and shielded her with his own body, and she scrunched her eyes shut, thinking, Please God, don't let him get hit.

After a moment, he climbed off of her and she opened her eyes. The Death Eaters who'd gone off down the corridor were gone - but the spells were still coming. She saw Red pull Ginny to the ground, McGonagall deflect an attack without even looking, and Lupin run at one of the black-robed figures from the side and physically knock them off their feet. However, there were only two of their opponents left. "Where are the others?" she shouted.

"They ran off!" Red shot back as he ran to help Lupin out. McGonagall and Tonks were in battle with an enormous bloke who was hurling spells all over the place, apparently not even aiming. And then Neville was also at their side.

"Bill!" Ginny shouted from the floor. Callie ducked her head and got down beside her, the two of them hunched over the Gryffindor's mangled brother. "What happened?" she asked, her eyes wide with horror at the sight of him.

"The-" Callie stammered. "The hairy one attacked him! Looked like he was taking a bite out of him!"

"Was it Greyback? He's a werewolf!"

Oh. It made sense now. They're not all like him. You know, civilized.

"We have to do something," Ginny said. Turning to Callie - the aspiring healer - she asked, "What do we do?"

But the Slytherin had absolutely no idea how to help him. He was covered in blood, which was also pooling on the floor around them. The Cardiostasis Charm might stop, or at least slow, the bleeding, but she didn't want to experiment here, now, on the eldest Weasley child. Come on, damn it, think. Think!

"We need Snape," she said. "Go get him - Madam Pomfrey too if you can find her."

"You go, I'm not leaving him!"

This was not the time for arguments, and Callie was just about to get up to fetch her head of house. But suddenly there was a strange sound, sort of like a very loud electric zap, and somebody was thrown along the corridor, landing face down and shaking all over.

Callie screamed as she saw who it was. "Neville!" She scrambled over to him, thinking, Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead! Leaning down to get a look at his face, she said, "Neville?" Her heart resumed its beat when she heard him groan. "Jesus Christ, what happened?" she asked.

"S- Something hit me," he mumbled. "I ran for the Tower, I think that's where they went." He groaned in pain, before going on, "The stairs are blocked somehow. I got thrown back halfway up."

She looked in the direction where he'd come from, then back to his trembling body. He made like he was trying to get up, but the boy could barely move. "You're injured," she said, nudging him back to the ground. There was no way he could fight now, with the shape he was in. "Stay down," she instructed. And then she whispered in his ear, "Play dead."

"Cal..." he groaned.

"I'll be all right. Just don't move." I will take you out myself if you try to get back in this, she thought, rising to her feet and rejoining the battle. She took her place alongside Red and Lupin. "They ran that way!" she yelled, pointing towards the Astronomy Tower.

"Have you got this?" Red called out.

"Yes, go!"

"Somebody's got to help him!" Lupin said.

"You go!" Callie yelled. "I've got this!"

"You can't hold him off by yourself!"

Don't tell me I can't do something. That only spurs me on. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she shouted out, "Accio knife!" A four-inch blade with a black handle flew into her free hand; it was a tool she used for cutting up potion ingredients. Still deflecting every spell that came at her, she hurled the knife at the Death Eater, which got him in the shoulder and stuck there. It distracted him enough that she could finally stun him.

"Nice work!" Lupin shouted as they both ran down the corridor where Red had gone.

He was almost halfway up the stairs when Callie shouted out, "No, don't, it's cursed!" He jumped back, falling down the steps, as she and Lupin met up with him. "They've blocked the stairs," she explained. Then she aimed her wand and incanted, "Reducto!" Nothing happened. "REDUCTO!" Still nothing.

"There's nothing there," Red remarked, looking up the steps where she was aiming.

"Yes, there is, there's a barrier of some sort. Neville hit it and got thrown back along the corridor. He's hurt." Aiming her wand again, she said, "Stand back - Incendio!" The fire stretched upwards and spread up and down the passageway, as though something were keeping it from moving forward. Callie nixed the flames and said, "See? There is something."

Before anybody could say anything else, a spell flew past them and they all turned to look back. "Tonks!" Lupin shouted, running to defend the girl against the massive Death Eater who had struck her with what looked like a Knockback Jinx. McGonagall was still fighting the bloke, and Ginny had joined her.

Meanwhile, Red tried a couple more spells that might break through the barrier on the stairwell, but it was useless. "Damn it!" he exclaimed, pounding his fist against a wall.

"We've gotta be able to weaken it somehow," Callie said. "Both of us together - you do the Reductor Curse, I'll do the Fire-Making Spell." They both raised their wands, but then a spell hit Red and he was knocked to the side. Callie whipped around, throwing out a preemptive Shield Charm, but to her absolute surprise, Snape was sprinting towards her.

Very quickly, he said, "Flitwick's passed out in my office, go help him." He blew past her and took two steps up the stairs before she grabbed him and tried to pull him back.

"No, no, don't, there's a barrier, it's cursed!" she explained.

But he shook her off of him and shouted, "Warbeck, go!"

She watched him run up the stairs, past the point where the barrier had been, and thought, Follow him. He can't take them all on by himself.

But she hesitated, not sure what to do. There were four or five Death Eaters up there, and the two of them alone still wouldn't be enough to defeat them. Suddenly Lupin appeared at her side and asked, "Was that Severus?"

"Yes," she replied.

"How did he-?" the man began. But then he must have figured that it didn't matter how. The barrier was apparently cleared. He ran up the stairs, and Callie followed. But halfway up, he was thrown backwards, crashing into her and sending them both to the ground.

It was a wonder she hadn't been knocked unconscious when the back of her head smacked against the floor. Groaning, she sat up and rubbed at the now throbbing spot, then noticed Lupin lying on his back a few feet away. Moving over to kneel at his side, she asked, "Professor, are you all right?"

"Yes," he replied, grimacing. "It's still blocked."

A slight grin curled her lip as she said, "Clearly." Then, looking back up the staircase, "I don't know how Snape got through."

Nodding towards the battle, Lupin ordered, "Go help them." He winced in pain, before adding, "Tonks... keep an eye on Tonks."

She glanced around and said, "Fuck, I lost my wand again!"

"Callie, watch out!"

Before she knew what was happening, he had grabbed her and thrown her to the side. The Death Eater that she'd stunned before had come up behind her with the knife she had left in him, and he'd been about to stab her before Lupin moved her out of the way. The blade grazed his shoulder instead.

Lupin and the Death Eater were now rolling around on the floor, both of them wandless but struggling for control. The latter pinned Lupin underneath him, holding the knife at his neck while Lupin strained to keep it away.

Meanwhile, Callie had spotted the mystery wand. She grabbed it up and stood above the Death Eater, aiming it at his back. "Get OFF OF HIM!" she screamed.

The attacker howled in pain as she directed the Cruciatus Curse at him. Lupin shoved him away and ran to get his own wand. He turned it on the man, but before he could do anything, there was a loud crumbling sound, and he and Callie both looked up to see the ceiling caving in on them.

Suddenly they were all covered in wood and stone and other debris. Once again Callie was blinded by the dust that flew up around her. Spluttering and wiping her eyes, she got back on her feet and stumbled around trying to reorient herself.

"The barrier," Lupin shouted, "it may broken now! Come on!" A few people ran past Callie towards the staircase, but as she tried to blink away the dust, she felt someone sweep past her in the opposite direction from the others.

When she was finally able to open her eyes again, the Death Eaters who had gone up to the tower were back. She let out a growling scream, not in fear, but in fury. Christ, would this ever end? Everybody had resumed fighting, and she saw that Tonks was in battle with the big Death Eater, who was still wildly firing off spells at random.

Keep an eye on Tonks.

She was not going to let anything happen to the girl; certainly not after the man who loved her had just saved Callie from getting stabbed. She ran to the auror's side, and the two fought together to try and overtake the man.

After a minute or so, someone behind them shouted out, "It's over!" And the Death Eater began to circle around them as they continued to battle.

"They're retreating!" Lupin yelled, and it was then that Callie was knocked off her feet by a spell. The man leapt over her to take her place at Tonks' side, but Callie fired from the ground, hitting the Death Eater in the leg and causing him to stumble backwards. He scrambled to right himself and took off down the corridor with the others.

"Bill!" Red shouted, hurling himself down at his brother's side. Ginny and Lupin joined him, while Tonks went over to check on Neville.

Meanwhile, McGonagall crouched down beside Callie, and asked, "Are you all right, Miss Warbeck?"

"Never better," she groaned. "Are they all gone?"

"Yes." The woman took Callie by the hand and helped her up. And then, to the girl's surprise, she took her in her arms, giving her a tight embrace. "Merlin's beard!" she exclaimed. "You saved my life, Callie. That was a Killing Curse they threw at me."

"Are you all right?" Callie asked as they broke apart.

"Never better," she replied with a slight grin. She ran to join the Weasleys and Lupin at Bill's side, while Callie went over to Neville and Tonks. The two girls rolled him over on his back, and he groaned in pain.

"Is everyone else okay?" he asked.

Callie shot a glance at the bloody, ravaged redhead and replied, "Bill's hurt - badly. But everyone's alive."

"Everyone?" he said in disbelief.

"Well-" Tonks said, nodding down the corridor "-that bloke's dead. But he was one of theirs."

"Bloody hell," Neville breathed. "It must've been the Liquid Luck."

"What Liquid Luck?" Callie asked, furrowing her brow.

"The one Slughorn gave Harry," he explained. "He left it for us and we all took a shot before we went to the Room of Requirement." A realization suddenly came to him. "Oh, fuck!" he said, giving Callie a horrified look. "You never got any!"

She gaped at him, but a smile slowly curled her lip. "That's all right," she replied. "I make my own luck."