Chapter 46

After magicking the wizards around him, Blaise fell into his old past time, the waiting game. Draco was sitting with his head down, his only movement the rise and fall of his chest while he breathed. Dolohov was sat with his face towards the Great Hall entrance doors, as still as a statue. Flint was also facing the doors, but he looked more alive than Dolohov. Nott was seated facing Draco, but his eyes were closed. Blaise was standing next to the rough stone hearth warming his hands. He needed to be very mentally fine-tuned, to pull of this game of chess he was putting into place. He would need to think very quickly, to orchestrate this so smoothly that no one would be suspicious of him in the after math.

He sighed. He was beginning to be very frustrated with the way things were playing out. He itched to be free of this, to be one with his own wills again.

Adette Brignac was the first to come back through the doors of the great hall. She had another professor, Royce Broadbent, and Millicent Bulstrode with her. Adette had mud caked around the hem of her robes, Millicent was in riding leathers instead of a robe, and Royce had several long parchments rolled up in his arms, some of which looked charred as if they had been rescued from a fire. His muscles tightened. He did not turn to meet Draco's eye, and Draco would not turn to meet his. Those little actions only served to give away your intentions.

As the door opened to their full width, he heard Marcus Flint rise out of his chair, so quickly that the chair was knocked backwards, crashing against the tables behind it. The sudden sound brought all faces in the great hall towards Flint.

A fraction of a second later, his wand was out. The madness erupted from there.

"Confractus," Flint called, raising his wand high. The tables closest to the great hall entrance doors slid forward, knocking Adette into Royce, and toppling Millicent over to her knees.

Blaise jumped from his position in an instant, wand drawn. Nott and Dolohov reacted a little slower, each raising from their seats and pulling their wands out mechanically. Wait for more people to enter to the hall. Doge my curse, Blaise silently commanded. Blaise jumped from the hearth to the floor steps in front of Flint. "Expelliarmus!" He cats, but Flint dodged it.

Royce and Millicent were getting to their feet now, as more witches and wizards came into the great hall. Behind Blaise, Flint was now standing in front of Draco, still tied to his chair, in a defensive position. Dolohov was beside Blaise, casting some hexes towards Flint, and missing with each one. What a nice little show we are putting on, Blaise thought to himself sardonically.

"Oye!" Tiberius McLaggen called out, as he stumbled into the confusion of the great hall. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Flint is betraying us!" Blaise called back, over the rising cacophony around him.

As he finished his question, a stream of green light sailed passed his head, as flint cast the killing curse. It missed Tiberius, hitting, and cracking the marble behind him. Chaos erupted after that.

Spells erupted around the great hall, as more people filed in, drawn by the noise and disarray. Blaise cast a few mindless cruses at Flint's direction, and then willed him to crack the great hall's marble floor in half, to make it harder for the Death Eaters to get to him. Curses were flying dangerously close to Draco and Flint. Destroy the Great Hall floor, Blaise commanded, wary of anyone getting close enough to put a stop to the escape attempt. Draco sat tied to his chair, eerily calm as he watched the bedlam erupting around him.

"Deprimo!" Flint cast, and the floor cracked open in a spectacular fashion, with chunks of marble flying through the air. Witches and wizards were blown backwards, and dust filled the air, making visibility low. Brightly colored curses still flew towards the front of the hall. Nott had taken a defensive position in front of Blaise, and it proved handy. A crucio hit him, cast from Flint.

Move quicker, Blaise commanded in a whisper, as wizards and witches started to make it across the crack in the floor. As if guided by a remote control, Flint magically untied Draco.

"He's letting the blood traitor escape!" Blaise called out, casting curses left and right, hitting the wall behind Flint. He would kill flint once Draco had made it through the exit door. Cast Fumus et Speculum, Blaise silently commanded, knowing that Flint was only powerful enough to cast it for a few seconds. But a few seconds was all Draco would need to escape.

Bodies started to make it to where Flint and Draco were positioned. Draco was scrambling on his hands and knees towards the back exit of the hall, avoiding curses.

"Fumus et Speculum!" Flint cast, and the great hall filled with a dark, black smoke. Not even the colorful curses could be seen through the haze. Almost as quickly as it had come in, it seeped out, bringing light and visibility back into the Great Hall. "Aveda Kevadra," Blaise cast, almost lazily. Voldemort would not want Flint dead, but Blaise couldn't risk it. While there were still pockets of smoke around him, Blaise obliviated Dolohov and Nott, erasing any traces of the imperius curse.

Blaise took off first, as the smoke cleared. "Malfoy has made it out of the hall!" He yelled to the growing crowd behind him. He was out of Great Hall quickly, smirking to himself as he watched a broomstick disappear from view through the Forbidden Forest.

Draco

Draco had scurried out of the hall as if he had just drunk a speed potion, almost falling over himself to get to the courtyard. His eyes had been wild, scanning all the available space around him for Death Eaters, or students, or anyone who could give him away. He felt incredibly vulnerable without a wand and being surrounded by a hex firefight made it worse. He felt small, and weak, and unable to take care of himself at all.

He had spotted the broom just where Blaise had said it would be. Draco did not hesitate to climb on to it and kick off the ground. He chose to trust Blaise blindly right now. It was his only true option, besides surrendering to death at the hands of Voldemort.

As he sliced his way through the forbidden forest, Hermione's face popped into his mind. When she had thrown open the Great Hall's doors, and called out for Voldemort to stop, his body had reacted strongly. His stomach seemed to drop, seeing her, and he had been filled with the intense need to break free of his ropes and run to her, protect her, escape with her. She had looked so fragile, but she had also looked intense. He started to feel guilty, that he was flying away without helping her, as she had helped him. But if she must be able to escape the grounds, he considered. She was not a captive, and it did not appear as though anyone had found her before I escaped. And she has her wand.

He slowed his broom as he thought. He was still in the shallow part of the Forest but could no longer see Hogwarts. He reached for the rucksack attached to the broom and opened it. Inside was a vial, that bubbled with a grey, shimmering liquid, and an envelope.

17 West Ironshore Lane

Drink the Polyjuice. You would do best to not be seen at all. Destroy the broom before entering Hogsmeade. Once at the cottage knock and announce that the front step is broken.

Draco recognized Blaise's neat, spiny handwriting and sighed. A apprehension jumped into Draco's mind. Would it not be safer to take off on the broom and leave the area all together? He took a deep breath and sighed. Now is not the time for paranoia. Draco told himself, straightening his riding posture and pressing his broom forward, picking up speed. He began the trek to Hogsmeade, and considered the idea that Blaise may have helped Hermione as well, and she might already be at the cottage.