Chapter 5

- State of Panic -

The sky was falling. Bright balls of light were cascading down upon the finished shield, hitting it and making the whole castle shake. There were hundreds of them, thousands. Like white comets blazing down, trying to penetrate the once peaceful school.

Teddy struggled to stand properly for the first few rounds of attacks coming from the hill, covered in darkly dressed figures and monstrous creatures.

The sight was truly terrifying. The shield held, but it wouldn't hold forever. Students were staring up, waiting. That's all that could be done. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting for the barrier to break. Waiting for the armies to collide. Waiting for the end which was creeping nearer and nearer.

A though hit Teddy like a slap to the face, followed by a punch to the gut. His heart pounded harder than the Dark Lord's attacks.

'We won't all make it.'

'Some of us will die. And there's nothing any of us can do about it.'

'This is it. We're surrounded.'

As the thoughts continued to punch at his gut, he spotted a group of first years, shaking with fear. They wouldn't stand a chance against the dark forces preparing to rain down upon them. "Go inside." He said, leading them back into the school.

"Teddy," Mr. Weasley was walking up to him. "I saw your dad and Kingsley heading upstairs with Dean. Perhaps you should go join them."

"Thanks, Mr. Weasley."

"I'll take them into the Great Hall." Mr. Weasley nudged the first years forward towards the Great Hall while Teddy ran to the staircase. He could still hear he pounding against the glowing barrier outside, he could see bright flashes through the windows as he climbed. The portraits were in a state of panic, but unable to do anything, they ran through their portraits trying to find a safe place to hide.

Finally, Teddy was able to track down his father and Kingsley, who were walking upon the highest tower of the school. "Dean," Kingsley's low voice said to the boy tagging after them. "Tell Professor McGonagall, Remus and I will handle this side of the castle."

"Yes, sir!" Dean said, but froze when he saw the sea of Death Eaters waiting on the other side of the barrier, which they were still endlessly firing at.

Kingsley and Remus had also stopped at the edge of the long balcony wrapping around the tower. "Hey Dean, with second thoughts, tell Professor McGonagall we might need one or two more wands this side." Kingsley called out. Teddy walked towards the two of them, Remus glanced over his shoulder at Teddy then stared back forwards.

His hair was disheveled already and his eyes were fearful. "It is the quality of one's convictions that determines one's success... not the number of followers."

"Who said that?" Kingsley asked.

There was silence before Remus spoke again in a breathy reply. "Me." The two exchanged looks, but Remus' head flicked over towards the left when he heard footsteps. Teddy, who stood on the other side of Kingsley, leaning over the balcony at the courtyard below, followed his father's gaze. Tonks was running towards them, meeting Remus in a large hug.

"You shouldn't have." Remus gasped, but looked relieved to see his wife. "It's Timothy that's needs you."

"He'll sleep till dawn and snore like his father." The two looked up at each other, lovingly. Remus' hand moved to Tonk's cheek. "It's you who that needs me tonight." She said confidentially and Remus smiled.

Teddy looked at them, but his smile was barely noticeable as he looked down once more at the courtyard. He couldn't see Arkie anywhere, where was she? The barrier was coming close to falling down. He had to find her before it was too late. Further across from him he could see the twins standing beside each other, sharing a few quick inaudible words.

Teddy had known the war would come, but he'd always imagine that he would fight around his friends as well as his family. Arkie, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Freddie, Terry, Leonard, Daniel. All of them, were nowhere to be seen. They must be on the lower floors of the castle, the first place the battle would hit.

Teddy took a step back, catching sight of his parents standing a few feet apart, their hands reaching for one another. Remus' wedding ring glistening on his finger against the flashing of spells on the barrier.

Booooooooooom!

The ground shook violently and Teddy gripped onto the rough stone balcony until his hands turned white. His wand threatened to slip from his hand but he held onto it tighter. Cracks had appeared in the shield that was peeling away like a snake shedding its skin. The blast that had destroyed the shield was beyond anything Teddy had seen.

So it was true. Voldemort had the elder wand. And they were all doomed.

Teddy could see that the truth had struck everyone around him, who all took a step back in fear, wands ready. They were all ready to fight. Below, students screamed as Death Eaters flew above, firing down great spells, destroying the very ground beneath their feet. McGonagall was leading everyone into the school.

Teddy shuddered at the sound of the Death Eater's battle cry, the roaring of trolls and giants and the chill of dementors. There was a wind-like noise and something flew past Teddy, a cloud of black smoke, followed by more that all transformed in Death Eaters.

"Reducto!" The dark wizard in front of Teddy was tossed to the side. Teddy looked to his left to see who'd cast the spell. "Anna?"

The Ravenclaw Duelling captain sped past him, shouting loudly as she ran. "Get your head in the game, Wonder Boy!"

Spells were flying everywhere, there was no longer time to look from Arkie or his parents who had disappeared in the fight. Bright flashes lit up tower, curses smashed into the walls sending chunks of stone and glass raining down on top of him. "Argh!" He ran, covering his head and shooting curses under his arm.

A sickening green blast missed him by an inch.

He stood up when a bald Death Eater flew through the window in front of him, hand extended and fingers crooked like claws, reaching for him. Teddy hadn't even noticed Kingsley, who'd run up behind him, flicking his wand once. As if stuck in slow motion, the wizard froze in place. A noise, something between a grunt and a roar, crackled from Teddy's throat and he propelled the wizard back out the window.

He listened to his terrified scream, but continued onwards without a second thought. "Teddy take cover!" Kingsley shouted.

But Teddy couldn't respond as he was surrounded by two Death Eaters. His wand movements became more and more vigorous, defending and attacking in every direction. Somehow, he was able to knock out his attackers and make it to the stairs.

The moving staircase was alive with action, littered with bodies on its steps. He ran downwards, pushing through the sea of witches and wizards. There was a distant scream, followed by a smashing of glass. A trail of black smoke flew above them. "Petrificus Totalus!" The Death Eater fell to ground and remained there frozen in place.

Teddy didn't know where he was going, but it was in the opposite direction to everyone else. He dashed towards the entrance to the courtyard and skidded to a halt. A large giant, with a bald, peeling scalp and dirty skin, and only three teeth, was smashing his club down upon everything that moved. It stumbled backwards when a spell hit its foot, but got right back up.

"Get inside!" A familiar voice cried to the students.

"Arkie!" He ran across the debris covered ground. Arkie was still firing spells up at the giant, who'd finally seemed to have enough of her and was raising his club over his head. "Raaagh!"

"Accio Arkie." Arkie was whizzed towards him so quickly, Teddy was afraid he'd given her whiplash. But she got on her feet quickly and looked at the spot where she'd been only seconds ago. The giant's club smashed a gigantic hole in the stone ground. "Raaagh!"

"Get inside!" He pushed her back towards the huge doors. Arkie gasped, still facing outside. Teddy followed her gaze. Five Dementors had flown down from the sky, scarred hands outstretched. Their voices mixed together as they hugged each other closely and pointed their wands towards the cloaked figures.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Two bears tackled the Dementors to the ground, then ambled towards the others, their light fur coat gleaming brightly. The Dementors retreated from the powerful light the two Patronus' were producing, screeching as they went. Teddy looked down at Arkie who was looking up at him. He smiled, but jumped went a giant black creature crawled its way towards him, pincers open. The giant spider let out a sharp noise that made Teddy's ears ring painfully. It pushed between the two and aiming its attack at Teddy.

"Sectumsempra!"

The words came out of his mouth before he could think it through. The spider fell on its back as deep cuts appeared all over his furry body.

There was no flood of remorse like he'd expected there would be. His brain didn't have enough time to process the emotion of regret.

In the distance the Quidditch pitch had been set alight and was crumbling to the ground. Loss tasted bitter on his split lip and he stumbled when he felt a whoosh of air above him. He turned his gaze up, spotting students riding brooms. Among them was Terry, leading the pack of Quidditch players, from all houses.

"Fire!"

Teddy ran to the side as spells rained down upon them. The giant gave one last roar before its body make the ground shake.

"Duck!" Freddie shouted from behind him and something flew past his head, hitting three Death Eater's in the face. The fanged frisbee continued to zoom around and around, hitting more opponents as it went, biting them feircly. "Freddie!" Teddy spun around.

Freddie gave a bright, jolly smile, something Teddy had soarly missed seeing. He was throwing a dungbomb up into the air, catching it swiftly. He repeated the action again as he spoke. "Guess all those prank products I bought really did come in handy after-"

Bang!

The ground beneath them exploded and the two were thrown backwards. Their bodies tumbled across the ground together. Teddy winced at the gash that'd been scratched into his knee. His whole body ached and he tasted blood in his mouth. Spitting out the red liquid he got to his knees.

"That was a close. Hey, Freddie..." His hand touched the small boy's shoulder. He was lying face down in the dust, the dungbomb inches from his fingers, but he didn't react to his friend's touch. "Freddie?" He shook his shoulder again. Nothing. "Freddie! Freddie get up, we've got to move!" Freddie still refused to follow his friend's demands. "Freddie! Come on!"

Teddy's grip tightened on his shirt and he pulled him over, letting out a long cry that could've made the heartless of men feel sad. "Get up Freddie! Freddie come on! It's not funny! Get up!" His fist landed on Freddie's chest. He continued to smash it downwards with each word he spoke. "Get up Freddie! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get. Up! Geeeet Uuuup!"

His hits became harder and harder, but Freddie still wouldn't obey his command. He didn't even blink his blank eyes, or close his open mouth, set in a scream that'd never reached his lips. A trail of blood trickled from his hairline all the way down his neck.

"No... No... No... No! No! Noooooooo!" He fell over, his head falling on top of him. He couldn't stop the ugly noise from coming to his open mouth. "Don't go! Don't go. Don't leave..." He grabbed the body by the arms, struggling to get into away from the fight.

Spells flew towards him and he felt a great stab in his chest as he was forced to let go of his friend's body and run inside, tears cleaning his dirty face.