The Great Hall was full of students eating their school dinner, catching up with friends, and cramming in last-minute lessons. Suddenly, the tables shook resulting in books and plates fell off the table.
"What the hell was that?" asked Scorpius as he and Albus wiped up the gravy that split from the bowl.
Suddenly, a second explosion rumbled through the hall causing the windows to shattered from the aftershock. Fear enveloped the hall as the students screamed in terror. Another blast sounded off through the hall as Professor Slughorn stood at the door and shot an exploding charm to silence the students.
"EVACUATE!" yelled Slughorn.
Although the students had practiced these drills before in an orderly and organized fashion, most students charged out of the hall with some pushing others out of the way. Al and Scorpius struggled to exit the hall due to the chaos and confusion.
"Al!" cried Iris tearfully as she ran to her brother for comfort. Iris and a couple of other first year girls including Evie stood around Al and Scorpius petrified of the explosions and fearful of the unknown. Soon, three or four other first years Slytherins gravitated towards Scorpius looking for guidance.
"Stay close," said Al as he and Scorpius led the first years out of the hall. On the surface, the boys acted tough and strong so the first years would not worry. However, they both were just as concerned especially since Rose was not with them.
Once they were able to get out, most the first years ran towards the long line of students heading towards Hogsmeade as part of the evacuation plan. Iris and Evie stayed behind when since Evie saw James holding Frankie Longbottom and Rory holding the hands of Alice and Gus.
"What's going on?" asked Al
"No idea," said James as Evie took Frankie from his arms. "We were in the common room when we heard an explosion. Next thing that happened was Professor Longbottom handing us his kids before running off!"
"Professor Slughorn, what's going on?!" shouted Scorpius as he waved his arms to get his attention.
"There's been an attack on the Hospital Wing!" replied Professor Slughorn directing students to the evacuation route. "And that's all I know!"
"No," said Scorpius as his heart sank. He thought back to thirty minutes before when Rose was complaining about Before James could ask them any questions, both Albus and Scorpius darted towards the quad.
"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Potter!" called out Professor Slughorn as the boys ignored him.
"Keep her safe, Rory," said James referring to Iris. "Find Lily, and get them out of here!"
"No, Jay!" yelled Iris watching James run behind Scorpius and Albus.
"Wait, Mr. Potter!" cried Professor Slughorn triyng to stop James. "Come back - oh no, not you - stop, Mr. Granger-Weasley!"
While Hugo was in line for the evacuation, he saw Albus and Scorpius ran off towards the hospital wing. However, when Hugo did not see his sister with the boys, he hastily broke out of the line and ran towards the boys despite Finn's protests.
"What are you two doing?" asked Al as James and Hugo caught up to him and Scorpius.
"Same thing you are - finding Rose!" said Hugo.
Scorpius felt his pulse increased tenfold as he thought about Rose. The last thing he wanted to see was her body covered in rubble. Suddenly Scorpius felt his speed increased as his adrenaline skyrocketed and the boys sprinted across the cobblestones until saw Neville and Rose fighting off two figures in crimson masks.
"Stupefy!" cried Neville as one of the figures flew back and hit the stone wall behind him.
"Petrificus Totalus!" said Rose making figure freeze in his tracks up. Scorpius was relieved that Rose wasn't hurt, but his relief was short lived as Hermione, who was hiding behind a column, cried out in pain as she held her stomach.
"Mum, what's wrong?" asked Hugo concerned at seeing his mother in excruciating pain.
"The baby's coming," said Rose. "We have to get her out of here!"
"I'm going ahead," said Neville while Al and Scorpius helped Hermione to her feet. "Go to Hagrid's now!"
Before Hermione responded, a spell hit the roof of one of the upper sections of the stone walls causing rubble to ricochet off and nearly hit the group but for Neville shielding them from the impact.
"Go!" commanded Neville as three figures approached them, although James pulled back with concern at the unfavorable odds against Neville.
Al noticed James taking a defensive stance. It was clear based on this that James was ready for battle. Al looked at James and gave him a quick nod. In response, James gave Al a wink before he ran to help Neville.
"Jay! Come back!" yelled Rose.
"He's fine Rose - let's go!" said Al grabbing her arm.
"We need to get to boat dock," said Scorpius. "We can get off at the edge of the forest." The trek to the docks was treacherous as debris and dust were falling on them and resulted in Rose and Hugo casting protective shields over the group. Meanwhile Hermione continued to have contractions but tried to not slow down the group as they headed towards the dock. An occasional masked figure would appear and attempted to attack the group. Rose noticed that those figures would engage in a fight briefly before taking off or battling a Hogwarts professor or an Order of the Phoenix member. Along the way Bill, Fleur, Seamus, and Lee Jordan appeared before the group. Rose wondered where her father was at this point, especially given her mother's state.
"This way!" said Scorpius, directing everyone to the stairs leading down to docks. Before descending the steps, a bright light hit the top of the entrance causing the front to fall apart. Rose was able to levitate the rubble before it hit Hermione and the boys, and though it was a lot of effort, Rose was able to toss it to the side.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked a familiar, slimy voice that sent chills down Rose's spine, recognizing it as Stanley Steward. Much to their chagrin, Troy, Kyra, Bruno, and Stanley stood before the group all pointing their wands at them.
"Trying to escape, cowards?" asked Kyra. Rose and Hugo stood in front of their mum with their wands up also prepared to defend themselves.
"Your poor mum," sighed Troy. "She's in such pain. Just leave us Malfoy and we'll let you lot get her to a healer..."
"Sod off, Troy!" snapped Hugo as he and Rose stood in front of Hermione.
"Very well," laughed Troy manically as he using a spell to knock Hugo off his feet and hit the ground.
"Get her to Hagrid's!" cried Scorpius as he joined the fight with Rose and Hugo. Before Al could say anything, Hermione had a contraction causing her to once more dig her nails into Al's shoulder. Hermione looked at Al's face and saw his fear at doing this alone without his friends by his friends. Hermione put her hand to Al's face to comfort him and let him know that he was not alone in this.
"We can do this," assured Hermione. Al briefly glanced at his friends to make sure they were alright. With that, Al adjusted his hold on Hermione and they escaped to the docks while the other three battled the Loyalty Leaders.