Greyback

Fenrir Greyback and Montague had arrived at Hogsmeade early. They had plans to get inside the village and split up. Graham Montague wasn't a Death Eater yet, he had been given this chance to prove himself. His job was to stay among the crowds at Hogsmeade under the guise of buying new robes and ambush any mudblood he saw. They had been given a list, courtesy of the imperiused Mr Ollivander.

Greyback, meanwhile, had concealed himself inside the trees on the road leading to Hogwarts. He would ambush anybody fleeing. He licked his lips greedily—mudblood or not, he didn't care. E would just hedge his bets and attack any stragglers once the attack began.

He was good at concealing himself and lay down in a ditch, his eyes peering through the bushes at the road. It was empty now, all the students were in Hogsmeade, but they would be back soon. As soon as the attack began, they would return, and he would ambush the easiest target he could see.

He didn't grow bored. Greyback was a natural predator. He could wait for hours, he just wished it was a full moon. But still, this would be fun too.

He didn't flinch as an explosion echoed through the forest. He smiled. It was time.

Graham Montague

Graham had had a bit of difficulty shaking off the Slytherins who recognized him. He had managed to avoid Cassius Warrington, who was helping the Aurors—traitor—but he had been spotted by Adrian Pucey and a few others. Luckily, he had managed to claim to be in a rush and had found a secluded area to wait. There was a boy who he recognized standing outside Zoko's Joke Shop. Justin Finch-Fletchley—a mudblood from Huffepuff. He would die. Montague didn't care about killing. The wizarding world would be better off without mudbloods and Finch-Fletchley was only a Hufflepuff. He would be no loss. This was his chance to prove himself to the Dark Lord. Maybe after this, he would be made an official Death Eater?

Cedric Diggory

Cedric had been assigned the center of the village alongside Shacklebolt. With him were two students from his old house, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott. Hannah showed signs of wanting to chat, but Cedric shushed her. They were here to keep people safe, not to reminisce about old times. Shacklebolt assigned the two prefects to stay to the side with orders to evacuate the students if anything went wrong.

Cedric gazed casually around. Most of the people here were students but there were the occasional other witch or wizard loitering around. An old man was rummaging through a cart filled with old quidditch robes. There was a middle-aged witch arguing over cauldrons. Nobody suspicious, but he couldn't let his guard down.

"He, Cedric!" a pretty girl, Padma Patil called. She was a Ravenclaw, Cedric didn't know her too well. He gave a small nod of reply and her and her friends, Mandy Brocklehurst, Sue Li, Parvati Patel and Lavender Brown all giggled.

Cedric turned his attention to the street behind him. He frowned slightly. He had spotted Graham Montague in town and he was lurking in the shadows of a shop opposite Zonko's, his gaze fixed on Susan Bones and Justin-Finch Fletchley. Cedric suddenly had a bad feeling. He knew Montague. He had been a brute and a bully school and had beaten up a few muggleborn students in the past. He didn't think the older boy was wicked enough to join Voldemort, but his presence here was disturbing.

He caught Shacklebolt's eye and gave a small nod in Montague's direction. Shacklebolt nodded. Having received silent approval, Cedric slinked off to a discreet place where he could keep an eye on Montague.

Draco Malfoy

"It's been too long," Lucius said, finally releasing Draco. "Is everything …"

Draco shrugged. "This year is better," he said. "With Roger gone, everybody is leaving me alone."

"And the mudblood?" Lucius's eyes turned cold.

"He hasn't done anything this year," Malfoy said, feeling angry at the thought of Dudley Dursley. He still hated the mudblood for what he had done in the past. Sometimes, he regretted saving him from the Dementors. Dudley deserved it—everything that had gone wrong in Draco's life had been his fault.

"The Dark Lord is angry with you, Draco, very angry …" Lucius said.

"What?" Draco looked up at his dad, his eyes widening.

"He thinks you're a traitor for fighting alongside his enemies …"

"No! I was just protecting my friends! That nutter attacked the train where …"

"I know, Draco!" Lucius interrupted. "I assured him you were no traitor, but he didn't listen … he refused. He has your mother."

"What?" Draco demanded, glaring at his father. "Then why …"

"Let me explain," Lucius said, clearly trying to sound like his old, commanding self and failing. "He wants you to prove your loyalty. I … I fear he will your mother if you don't. Draco, you need to come with me?"

"Go with you?" Draco felt his heart drop. Surely his father didn't mean what he thought?"

"To see him. He wants to speak with you. Wants you to prove yourself."

"He's going to torture me?" Draco said, softly, he felt himself start to tremble. He had been taught about the cruciatus curse by Professor Moody. He didn't want to experience it. He didn't even want to see Lord Voldemort in person.

"No!" Lucius said sharply. "I … He wants to talk. I believe … he has a task for you. One to prove your loyalty. You must do it Draco! You don't know what it's like. He has me waiting on him hand and foot. Your mother … he has her cleaning," he said in obvious disgust. "Scrubbing floors like some filthy muggle. Cleaning up after the rest of the animals living there."

Lucius lifted his gaze and Draco saw a mix of fear, anger and loathing in his cold eyes. "He ordered me to fetch you. Told me he would kill your mother if you didn't come. Draco, you must do what he asked—it's the only way to restore the family name in his eyes."

"What does he want from me?" Draco asked, softly.

"I don't know," Lucius admitted. "But, Draco, you must come. Now."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak, there came a loud bang from the direction of the village. He jumped and spun around. Above the village, a jet of red sparks shot up—the signal from one of the prefects.

"I have to …" Draco began, starting forward.

"No, Draco—take my hand. Come, for your mother's sake."

Draco turned and looked at his father. He had never seen him like this—shaken, and almost pleading. Usually he was so in control and commanding.

"I … I … Ok …" Draco said. He was terrified, but he couldn't let his mother die. He knew Voldemort would keep his word. If he stayed, his mother would pay the price. He reached out and took his father's hand.

Ron Weasley

"All quiet," Ron said, feeling his stomach growl. He wished he was in Honeydukes or, better yet, in the Three Broomsticks having one of Madame Rosmerta's delicious steak pies. His stomach grumbled loudly again at the thought.

"Maybe not," Hermione whispered, grabbing his hand. She pointed through the trees.

"Oh … shit," Ron whispered. They pressed themselves against the side of the Shrieking Shack. There were two figures walking through the wood towards the village. They were wearing black robes and masks—clearly Death Eaters.

"What shall we do … shall we jump them?" Ron whispered, drawing his wand.

"No!" Hermione hissed. "Let them pass, then send up red sparks …"

"That's if we get attacked," Ron said, remembering. "Green is if we see anything suspicious."

"Green then," said Hermione.

"I still say we can take them," Ron said, peeking around the corner. The Death Eaters were 50 yards away. As Ron watched, they froze and, a few seconds later, they heard talking and giggling coming up the path.

Ron looked at Hermione. "Someone's coming … we can't …"

"No," Hermione said. "They'll murder them … I'll send red sparks—this counts as an attack. You hit them with something."

"Blasting hex, bring the trees down," Ron whispered, taking careful aim at the two Death Eaters.

"Now!" Hermione raised her wand, firing a jet of red sparks into the air. At the same time, Ron drew back his wand and sent a blasting hex shooting into the trees. It struck the trunk of a large birch tree, exploding with a loud crack that echoed over the village. It tore through its trunk easily, sending pieces of battered wood showering down on the Death Eaters. Immediately came screams and cries of alarm from the direction of Hogsmeade.

Dudley Dursley

"Have you tried these?" Luna asked, piling a box of something called Toffee Exploders into Dudley's hands.

"No, they don't exactly seem nice," Dudley said. He liked toffee, but not toffee which apparently exploded. That didn't sound fun at all.

"They're pretty good, I'll give you one," Luna said and headed to the unusual tastes section. "Urgh blood-flavored lollipops, they're for vampires. Maybe Snape will want one …"

"Werewolf," Dudley corrected.

"Both," corrected Luna. "Cockroach Clusters—daddy likes these, I'll get him a box."

'Yuck," Dudley screwed up his face. He was willing to try anything once, but drew the line at cockroach or any other type of insect. "Why not get something normal—there's some cauldron cakes? Ron likes those."

"No, they contain a 'secret ingredient' which rots your brain," Luna said.

"Explains a lot," Dudley muttered, thinking of Ron's occasional idiocy.

"I will get box of fudge flies though …"

Dudley gagged. "Scabbers eats those," he said, remembering. "They're not really flies are they?" Dudley had avoided them for that reason. He had always felt too worried of appearing stupid by asking Ron what they were.

"No, just fudge shaped like flies. They fly around a bit in your stomach," Luna said, grabbing a box.

Dudley was just about to suggest getting some Pepper Imps, when there came a large explosion from the distance. "What was that?" he said, dropping one of his boxes on the floor—exploding toffees scattered everywhere. He joined the rest of the shop in dashing to the window and peering out. From the direction of the Shrieking Shack there was a plume of smoke and a shower of red sparks.

"What do we do?" a third year Hufflepuff cried.

The door slammed open, and a pale-faced Ernie Macmillan hurried in. "Shacklebolt sent me! There's been an attack. Everyone is to head back to the castle. Now! Come on—look lively!" he barked.

There was a rush for the door as everyone in the shop—around 15 students, tried to squeeze through.

"You too, Dursley, look sharp!" Macmillan said.

"Where … who's been attacked?" Dudley said as he left the shop and glanced around.

"Never you mind, come on—back to the castle. There are some prefects covering the road to Hogwarts. The Aurors are dealing with the Death Eaters. Now, move!"

Dudley narrowed his eyes, annoyed at being spoken too like that. Macmillan was always pompous, but his throwing his weight around and barking orders was getting on Dudley's nerves.

"Come on, Dud!" Luna urged, tugging on his hand.

"Good—me and Hannah need to check the other shops," Ernie said, importantly and hurried towards Madame Puddifoots.

The Aurors were nowhere to be seen. Dudley assumed they had gone to battle the Death Eaters near the Shrieking Shack. From that direction he could hear the sound of battle.

He half considered joining them—he owed the Death Eaters a lot. He looked down at Luna and put thoughts of battle out of his mind. He had her to look after, that was the priority.

"Come on!" he said, tugging on her hand. He drew his wand and ran forward towards the school. There were many other students on the street, all hurrying or running towards the school. Near the entrance to Hogsmeade, Dudley saw a pair of Slytherin prefects who he didn't recognize urging people on.

Then …

A red incendio hex flew across the street in front of him, slamming into the side of the Three Broomsticks and setting fire to its wall.

A pair of Aurors—Penelope Flint and Marcus Flint appeared, being forced backwards as they dueled.

The nearby students screamed and yelled and dived for cover—darting in alleyways and behind walls. One even climbed inside an extra-large cauldron outside Ceridwen's Cauldrons.

Dudley grabbed Luna and dragged her behind an abandoned cart selling second-hand quidditch robes from different teams.

The Death Eaters came into view—two of them, dueling furiously with the two Flints.

"Let's get them!" Dudley growled, moving to stand up. Luna, however, held his hand.

"No! Let the Aurors handle it!" she whispered.

Dudley hesitated and nodded. "Fine—when they're gone, we move."

Hex Girls

"Shall we stop by Honeyduke's again?" Sue Li called.

Padma spun around and stared at her friend. "Don't you have enough?" she looked pointedly at the three bags that Sue was carrying.

"Well … maybe, but this needs to last until the next Hogsmeade Weekend," Sue said and looked at Mandy. "And you all know you'll start dipping your hands in my stash when your own has run out."

"Fair enough, but we need to get back to the castle if we're going to put Operation Fill Filch's Office With Unpoppable Bubbles into action," Padma said. They had come up with that plan on the spot after discovering the new Zonko's product.

"Good point," said Sue, glancing wistfully at Honeydukes. Chocolate or pranking Filch—what a difficult choice.

Boom! The explosion echoed out over the village.

"What was that?" Parvati cried, glancing hurriedly around.

"Death Eaters—must be! Wands out, girls!" Lavender shouted. Her wand was out and she was glancing around, almost eagerly as if she wanted a fight.

"Back to the castle!" a voice bellowed. He was running towards them, his arms waving. "Everyone back to the castle! Now! Aurors orders! Look lively!"

Some obeyed, a pair of nearby Slytherin third years were already hurrying towards the road that led to Hogwarts, as were some 7th year Hufflepuffs.

"Go on, girls! Look sharp!" Ernie ordered.

"Come on, girls! Stick together!" Padma shouted, starting to lead the way back.

"No chance!" Lavender growled and darted towards where the explosion had come from.

"Lav!" Padma shouted.

"I'll get her," Parvati said. "The idiot. You three go back to the castle."

"Are you sure?" said Padma.

"Yeah … yeah, get out of here! I'll get her," Parvati said and took off after Lavender.

"Should we go?" Mandy asked, anxiously. "I mean … we can't let them …"

"You three! Move! Back to the castle!" a furious voice shouted. It was the Auror Penelope Flint, she had landed next to them. Her and Marcus leapt off their brooms and darted into the woods.

"Let's go!" Sue cried. "They must be close!"

Padma waited until Mandy and Sue had caught up and together they sprinted up the road towards Hogwarts. Two Prefect were waiting at the start of the road and waved them on.

"What … about … the others?" Mandy gasped.

"They'll be fine! Move!" Padma urged.

The other two ran on ahead and Padma stalled, turning around to look behind her. She hoped to see Lavender and her sister. As she watched, the front of the Three Broomsticks burst into flame and the students still on the high street scattered.

"Padma! Move!" Mandy shouted. She and Sue were far ahead.

Padma turned and ran. She just hoped her sister was safe. She should have gone after Lavender, too. Suddenly, she slipped, her foot catching on a loose stone. She fell heavily onto her hands and knees, painfully.

Before she got to her feet, a heavy object hurled itself onto her back and she felt gnarled fingernails grab her hair, hoisting her head back and foul, hot breath on her neck.

"Got you!" a voice snarled.

Padma screamed as she felt sharp teeth tearing into her cheek.