Chapter Thirty
The castle quaked, sending Elaine to her knees. It had begun. Then she was up and running again, Fred and George on either side of her. George went off to one side, heading to block off one of the secret passages with instructions to meet them by a specific tapestry before they continued on so they didn't go to the same passageways, and Fred and Elaine continued on.
"Lee, go that way," Fred instructed. The dark skinned boy gave Fred a curt nod and took off, a few students going with him. Fred, Elaine, and the remaining students arrived at statue. "Behind here's one of the passages," Fred said. "Evans?"
She lifted her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa." Fred had to join a second levitation charm to hers, as the statue barely budged. Together they moved it aside and all withdrew their wands, pointing it at dark hole as Harry turned the corner.
"Nice night for it!" Fred called to him as another quake jostled them. "Okay folks. Let's do this."
Together they sealed the passageway, and when they were done, they headed to the rendezvous spot. Elaine looked out the window to see red and green lights closer to the castle entrance than her liking. "They're so close," she murmured, and Fred looked out with her as a giant meandered past. "What...?"
"That's Grawp," George explained, seeing the source of her confusion. "He's on our side, no worries."
"Right," Elaine said, still peering out the window. "Remus!" She shouted, as a spell struck him. He dropped for a second, but then was up again. "I'm going down there," Elaine said sharply. "There's - there's too many of them."
Fred and George exchanged a look. "We'll finish up here," Fred said finally. Elaine gave him a short nod and took off.
Elaine didn't know how much time passed as she shot spell after spell out of her wand. She was covered from head to toe in dirt and grime and sweat, and the fear had taken hold of her heart with each minute that passed without spotting Severus. She saw Remus again at some point, fighting back to back with a woman with pink hair that Elaine suspected was the stepmother she'd never met. She was heading to join them when a green curse lit up the night and Remus dropped, eyes unblinking.
"No!" She screamed, heading in that direction and pointing her wand at the man who'd just murdered her father. "Sectumsempra!" He fell, blood seeping out of the wounds. Elaine reached the woman, who was bent down next to Remus, sobbing his name over and over. She grabbed her arm. "You have to get up," she shouted over the sound of spells and crashes. "Hey!" The woman - Dora, Elaine vaguely recalled - stared at her with blank eyes. "You have to go or you'll be killed! Who's with your son?"
"My - my mother," she stuttered. "Who - you're Elaine?"
"Yes. Go! Leave the battle, okay? Your son will need you."
"Where...? All the exits - "
"Madame Pomfrey is setting up in the Great Hall," Elaine managed, and ducked as a purple light shot in her direction. It went over her head, striking a death eater that had been heading in her direction. "Go join her! Go!" Dora nodded and took off, and Elaine went back to focusing on the battle.
A flash of dark hair had her racing back toward the castle, and she reached Severus's side just as the air exploded. She saw Harry go flying, saw wreckage move as if in slow motion.
"Protego!" Severus roared, and a shield wrapped itself around Fred, who was in the midst of the explosion. And then the air was still, and they all still stood.
Harry slowly rose, panting. Fred too stood, shaking from head to toe. "You save me," he breathed. Severus just gave him a short nod, turning to Elaine.
"Go help Pomfrey," he commanded her. "She has asked for assistance."
"I just sent -"
"Go. Please." Elaine just stared at him, and was about to open her mouth when Hermione let out a scream; they turned to see a large spider crawling through the hole left in the wall by the explosion.
"Arania exumai!" Elaine shouted, and the spider was blasted back.
"He brought friends!" Harry called, and Elaine turned to see more spiders crawling in. "Let's move. NOW!" They rushed off, and as they ran, they passed more people running, but if they were on their side or the death eater's, Elaine had no idea; but she kept going.
"Rookwood!" Elaine briefly looked aside to see Percy hurrying off in the direction of a tall man who was attacking a group of students.
"Elaine, great hall. Now." Elaine looked over at Severus, and saw the pleading look in his eyes. "I need you safe."
"I -"
"Elaine go!" Harry roared in her direction. Elaine nodded, and with one last look at Severus, took off.
Reaching the great hall, she took a moment, sinking onto one of the benches. Pomfrey walked over to her, and she just shook her head. "I'm not injured," she explained. "They - Harry and Severus sent me off. Is-"
"Tonks is here," Pomfrey said quietly. "She says you saved her life." Elaine looked up at the woman and just nodded. "I heard - " She glanced down at Elaine's stomach, and Elaine could only shake her head, not able to find the words to explain anything else. "I am sorry."
Elaine again lost track of time. She and Pomfrey and Dora moved tables and benches aside, making room for the mass of people they expected to come there. They had no idea how long the battle would go on for, no idea how many were already dead and how many were to die.
She was just about to leave, to rejoin the fight, when the dark lord's voice rang out again. "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery." Elaine and Pomfrey looked at each other, fear in their eyes. "Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately." Elaine drew in a shuddering breath, afraid of what was to come. "You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."
"It's about to get busy in here," Pomfrey muttered, and Elaine silently agreed.
"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the forbidden forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, the battle commences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."
Elaine worked for the next twenty minutes, not daring to allow herself to think. There had been no sight of Severus and this terrified her, but she did not let it interfere - too many were injured.
Lavender Brown had been attacked by what looked like a werewolf, and she'd spent ten minutes on her alone staunching the blood and giving her blood replenishing potions and waiting, hoping, for the best. Finally the girl had slipped into an uneasy sleep and she'd moved on, onto another, and another, until her heart felt like it was to burst. .
Silence swept through the hall as Harry, Hermione, and Ron entered, blood coating the bottom of their jeans. Horror filled Elaine; Severus had been with them last -
But Harry was walking to her, straight to her, and she could see the grief on his face and she feared what was coming - feared it so much that she had to sit, sinking into a chair that she swore hadn't been there a second prior, and then Harry had reached her.
He bent down in front of her. "I had to be the one to tell you," he began, and a roaring began in Elaine's ears as her brother spoke, his voice coming from a mile away. "We separated from Severus right after you came here. Lucius Malfoy took Severus to Voldemort, Voldemort asked for him." Elaine started shaking her head, and someone took her hands, but it wasn't Harry, Harry was still looking at her, tears shining in his dark eyes. "He'd cursed him with something and was barely conscious when he arrived, and Voldemort - he said he'd killed Dumbledore and so was the owner of the Elder wand - the wand he's been using-"
"Say it," Elaine said, unable to bear it any longer. "Please, Harry, just - just tell me."
"Elaine - he's dead. Severus is dead."
Yes, I saved Fred and Tonks. Sorry to Severus and Remus, but it had to happen this way. I also apologize to those who have me on alert; I've decided to go ahead and release the remaining chapters.