Ron and Draco stumbled out of the fireplace in Hog's Head. However, they didn't have time to straightened themselves out, as they needed to get to Hogwarts immediately. It was apparent that Aberforth had already gone to Hogwarts, as there was no sign of the large man in sight. Ron ran for the door, with Draco trailing behind him. The two men sprinted through the village, trying to dodge students who were heading to the safe houses for shelter. Although Ron was concerned about his nieces and nephews, his main goal was to find Hermione.
The moment Rose told her father that Hermione had gone into labor, Ron felt himself go into overdrive as he hurried to get to her. As he ran through the streets, Ron felt like everything was in a blur. However, an explosion off one of the roofs caused Ron to snap out of this blur as he and Draco dodged a wooden block that whirled towards them.
"Look out!" cried Draco, as he threw Ron to the ground to move him out of the way of the debris. Ron peered up at the sky and saw a crimson robe flail above the rooftops casting a spell with a purple light, causing a group of students to flee.
"I've got it!" cried a female voice belonging to a young woman running past him. Based on the straight blonde hair Ron knew immediately that it was Victoire Weasley joining the battle.
"Over here!" shouted a big, burly baritone that belonged to Hagrid, who was directing students to an underground shelter. Upon seeing Hagrid, Ron scurried to stand up and ran towards him, with Draco in tow.
"Oi! Hagrid!" yelled Ron, waving his hands to get Hagrid's attention.
"Ron! What are yer doin' here?" asked Hagrid, as he was directing students into the shelter.
"We have to find Hermione!" exclaimed Ron. "She's in labour!"
"Labour?" asked Hagrid, stunned at the words. "Now?"
"Yes, according to Rose!" said Ron. "I need your help, please! If she's in labour now, she can't go to St. Mungo's..."
"Say no more," said Hagrid, understanding the circumstances. "I'll get ye to the castle. Filius! Ciaran! Hold down the fort!" Professors Flitwick and Craven, upon hearing their names, signaled to Hagrid that they received his command and headed towards the shelter. Just then, Hagrid whistled loud enough to pierce Ron and Draco's ears. Soon, two centaurs, one light blue and the other a deep purple, galloped over and bowed to present themselves.
"Where's Firenze?" asked Ron.
"Back at the castle," said the blue centaur. "We were sent to help out with the evacuation."
"Hagrid, what are these centaurs doing here?" asked Draco, slightly perturbed at the sight of the magical beast.
"Helping out of course!" said Hagrid, patting the back of the purple centaur. "C'mon, hop on!"
"Absolutely not!" protested Draco, who had a mistrust of magical creatures ever since his third year.
"Damn it, Draco, get on!" barked Ron, the frustration and tension in his voice rising. Rolling his eyes, Draco hopped on the blue centaur's back along with Ron, while Hagrid got on the other purple centaur's back.
"Take us to Hogwarts," ordered Hagrid. "We've got a woman who's about to give birth!" The centaur that Draco and Ron were on lifted his front legs, causing Draco to nearly tumble off and lose his balance. Ron, still determined to find Hermione, remained perched on the centaur as the creature bolted through the crowd towards the castle.
"Hang on, love," mumbled Ron, hoping Hermione wasn't scared or alone going through this ordeal.
"Aunt Hermione, can you see the dock?" asked Albus, as he used a locomotion charge to steer the boat along the water.
"Not yet," said Hermione, feeling the pain intensify with each contraction. In an attempt to distract herself from the pain, Hermione turned her attention to the castle. Smoke and flames came from the hospital wing and courtyard, with bursts of coloured lights erupting every minute. The sight of the castle made Hermione think back to the Battle of Hogwarts almost twenty years earlier, which made her feel distressed and traumatized.
"Ah!" bawled Hermione, feeling a sharp pain in her back and around her abdomen.
"Oh bloody hell," murmured Albus, trying not to let his aunt see his fear and anxiety. Even though Scorpius, Rose, and Hermione were confident in Albus, he didn't feel that confident himself. For one thing, Albus knew very little about childbirth, despite his mother having gone through six labour herself. What if something happened to Hermione or the baby under his watch? At that moment, he wished he had Rose's ability to remember everything and Scorpius' fearlessness in approaching new things.
"Albus," asked Hermione. "Do you hear that?" At that question, Albus noticed that he heard a low rumbling noise coming from the right of the lake. The noise slowly grew louder and intensified. Albus recognized the noise as hooves hitting the ground. Sure enough, two centaurs appeared, one with Hagrid and the other with two figures, one with ginger hair and the other with blonde hair.
"Uncle Ron! Mr. Malfoy!" yelled Albus, waving at them. The centaurs approached the water at an accelerating rate, causing dirt and dust to be . The next thing Albus and Hermione saw were the centaurs leaping over the lake.
"Ahhh!" screamed Ron and Draco, before the creature just barely landed on the shoreline. Once the centaur landed, Ron immediately dismounted off the centaur to help Albus directed the boat to the edge of the land. As the boat was brought along the edge of the land, the centaurs helped to hold the boat during which Hagrid helped Albus out of the boat while Ron and Draco helped Hermione out.
"Oh, Ron!" said Hermione, embracing her husband once she was on the dry land.
"'Mione," said Ron, squeezing her tight as he breathed for the first time that day. "Thank Merlin you're alright!"
"You know, I warned you, Granger," sighed Draco, beginning his tangent. "I warned you that something like this would happen..." Before Draco could finish his statement, Hermione shot him a glare that made Draco went to disappear into the ground.
"Where are Rose and Scorpius?" asked Ron.
"Back at the castle," said Albus. "Troy Charmer and his goons ambushed us. I wanted to stay and help, but Scorpius and Rose told me to go ahead."
"Ron, Hugo's there as well," said Hermione, kneeling over as another contraction hit her. "You have to go back to castle."
"What? No! I can't leave you like this!" protested Ron, who had always been present at all of his children's births.
"She won't be alone, Uncle Ron," said Albus. "I'll be with her."
"Same," said Hagrid. "Yer needed up there, Ron." Ron looked at Hermione, who was still holding on to him as the contraction passed. When the contraction has finished, Hermione looked up at Ron and smiled at him. Knowing that Hermione was safe, Ron knew where he had to go and hugged her again.
"I'll get them out," promised Ron.
"I know," responded Hermione, confident in her husband.
"Weasley, let's go!" said Draco, as he got in the boat. Ron kissed Hermione on the forehead before heading towards the boat, but before getting in, Ron noticed Albus trying to hide his panic and fear.
"Don't worry, mate," said Ron, patting Al's shoulder. "Like you said, you're not alone." A small smile appeared on Al's face before one of the centaurs whinnied as a sign that they needed to head to Hagrid's hut now while the battle was still contained.
Ron jumped in with Draco, who started the boat and steered it towards Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Hagrid picked up Hermione and placed her on the purple centaur's back with Al getting on the blue centaur. As the boat sailed down the river, Ron got one last glimpse of the centaurs galloping towards the edge of the forest to Hagrid's hut.
"Weasley," said Draco, with dread in his tone. Ron turned his head towards the castle, glowing with flames. The same dread that Draco felt hit Ron instantly, and Ron immediately casted another locomotion spell to speed up the boat.
Meanwhile Rose, Hugo, and Scorpius continued to battle Troy, Kyra, Bruno, and Stanley. It was clear that Troy was aiming towards Scorpius, so the Weasley siblings took on the other three.
"This is harder than it looks!" exclaimed Hugo to Rose, as he and Rose were blocking the spells casted by the other three. "When do we get to fire back?"
"When the time is right!" said Rose, taking on Kyra and Stanley.
"Crucio!" yelled Bruno, aiming towards Hugo, who was able to block the curse.
"Bloody hell, Tugg!" said Hugo, shaken by having the an Unforgivable curse thrown at him. "What was that for?"
"Crucio!" cried Bruno again, with Hugo dodging the curse this time rather than blocking it.
"Expelliarmus!" shouted Hugo. Despite only recently learning the spell, the wand left a stunned Bruno's hand and flew towards Hugo's free hand.
"Well done, Hugo!" complimented Rose, as she managed to successfully cast a spell binding Kyra and Stanley together while they were distracted by Hugo and Bruno's duel. At the sight of his copatriots bounded, Bruno immediately flee the scene, but not before Rose locked his legs together to prevent his escape.
"Stupefy!" cried Scorpius, as he managed to threw Troy across the space. After Troy landed on the ground, he tried to get up and attack Scorpius. Before Scorpius or Rose had the chance grab Troy's wand, Scorpius was lifted into the air, clutching his throat as he struggled to breathe.
"But, how?" gasped Hugo, as Scorpius flailing around trying to release the mysterious grip.
"No!" cried Rose, horrified at seeing him in such pain. However, before she could do anything, Rose felt herself attached to Hugo and hit the ground. When she tried to stand up, she realized that she and Hugo had been bounded together by chains.
"What's going on?" asked Hugo, as he and Rose managed to get from the floor to a seated position.
Rose's heart went to her throat from the terror that was before her. There was Jason Charmer, covered in dust and a few scrapes, with his wand directed at Scorpius. Besides Charmer was Gamp, who had a smirk on his face as he watched Rose and Hugo squirm on the ground. Also, to Rose's horror, there stood Bohrs Dearborn, a member of the Order. However, when Rose noticed that he wasn't helping Scorpius or ceasing the torture, she knew that Dearborn was cooperating with Charmer and Gamp.
For the first time that day, Rose felt helpless and hopeless.