A/N: I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update. I didn't realize it's been that long! I'll try to update faster, I promise.
Enjoy!
Chapter thirty-eight
Harry's words were followed by a great roar, and everyone started running to the stairs. There was a lot of pushing around and I saw Ginny making a few steps before she was stopped by her mother.
"Ginny! Where do you think you're going?"
Ginny straightened up, turning to her mother, a defiance in her eyes. "To the Great Hall."
"You're not going to fight!"
"Of course I am." Ginny's voice shook a little, but she was staring her mother right in the eyes. There was a rather large group of people surrounding them, all of the present Weasleys and Lupin, me and the Cullens and I noticed Harry standing not far from us, watching the scene between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.
"You're under-age!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, grabbing Ginny by her arm. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"
"I won't!" Ginny shouted back, pulling her arm out of her mother's grip. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army!"
"- a teenager's gang!"
"A teenager's gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" Fred cut in.
Mrs. Weasley turned on him and I had to bit back a laugh at the sight of Fred shrinking back from her. "She's sixteen! She's not old enough!" Then, to my horror, she turned to me, making me gulp. "Bella! What were you thinking, bringing her with you?"
I felt my face heat up and I took a step back, right into Edward's chest. "I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I tried to talk her out of it, I really did." Ginny shot me a furious look, but I just shrugged. Her mother was scary when she yelled.
Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but Bill put his hand on her shoulder. "Mum's right, Ginny," he said gently. "You can't do this. Everyone under-age will have to leave, it's only right. You should go home."
"I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, and I could see tears in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and –" Suddenly she turned to Harry, but he shook his head. She turned to the entrance to the tunnel and sighed. "Fine, I'll say goodbye now, then, and –"
"Shouldn't we go?" Edward whispered into my ear, but before I could answer, the entrance of the tunnel opened again, and another person stepped out of it.
I blinked at the newcomer. It had been years since I last saw him. Now he straightened up, looked around the room and said, "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I – I –"
Percy Weasley fell quiet at the sight of almost all of his family in the room. Everyone watched him in silence but after a few moments, when the tension was almost unbearable, Fleur turned to Lupin and asked, "So – 'ow eez leetle Teddy?"
I gasped quietly, surprised that Tonks had already had the baby, but then again, it had been months since Ginny had showed me the picture that had been taken at Christmas, so I shouldn't have been really surprised.
"I – oh yes – he's fine!" Lupin said, too loudly so it was obvious he was trying to break the tension, just like Fleur had. "Here, I've got a picture!"
I, the Cullens, Harry and Fleur gathered around Lupin to take a look at the picture of a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, while the Weasleys were still standing, frozen, staring at one another.
"I was a fool!" Percy roared suddenly, making me jump. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a – "
He seemed to be struggling to find the right word, but Fred was right there ready to help. "Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron?"
"Yes, I was!"
"Well, you can't say fairer than that," said Fred and held out his hand to Percy.
I watched, fascinated, as Mrs. Weasley burst into tears and ran forwards to hug Percy with all her strength.
"I think we really should go," Edward whispered in my ear again, gently tugging at my hand. I nodded and looked around. The room was now completely empty except for the Weasleys, Fleur, Lupin and Harry, who looked quite engrossed in the Weasley family reunion.
Quietly, the Cullens and I slipped out of the Room of Requirement into a staircase lit by torches that led us up until we reached a solid wall.
"Now what?" asked Emmett from behind me, sounding confused.
I bit my lip but then I did the first thing that I thought of. I gave the wall a push. I heard a few gasps around me as the wall started melting away, revealing a dark corridor. I looked both right and left and after noticing a tapestry I'd sometimes used in the past as a shortcut to our common room I decided we were on the fifth floor.
"Okay, let's go," I said and started walking towards the main staircase. The Cullens followed me noiselessly, but I could feel Edward right behind me. As we got closer to the staircase, I could hear the voices of many students that were on their way to the Great Hall.
Right as we were passing the tapestry, it suddenly moved and a large group of people rushed out of it, followed by none other than Professor McGonagall dressed in an old tartan dressing gown.
"You will go right to the Great Hall," she instructed the group of Gryffindors. "Do not stop anywhere and keep close together."
Most of the people followed her instructions but one girl, I guessed a second year I vaguely remembered from last year, stopped and pointed at us.
"Who are they?" she asked in a trembling voice.
Professor McGonagall turned swiftly, clutching her wand tightly and aiming it at me. She seemed to recognize me quickly though because she lowered her wand immediately.
"Miss Swan!" she said with a gasp but then raised her wand again, this time pointing it at the Cullens. "Vampires?" She looked at them with narrowed eyes. Then she noticed that the Gryffindors had stopped and watched us curiously. "What are you waiting for? Go to the Hall, now!" she barked at them, before turning back to us. There was a lot of disapproving mutterings among the Gryffindors but an older boy whose name was I think Andy, ushered them toward the stairs.
Professor McGonagall now stared at us with her wand raised, clearly waiting for me to explain myself.
"I – we – um… they are the Cullens, Professor, they came to help," I stammered out.
"Help?" she repeated blankly. "As much as I hate to think about it, there will be blood, Miss Swan. Having vampires around is not a good idea."
"That won't be a problem," said Edward, who'd stepped around me to face Professor McGonagall. He quickly told her about the potion.
"Oh," she said, visibly relaxing. "In that case, your help is most welcome." She lowered her wand again and turned back to the staircase, motioning for us to follow her. "Now, we must hurry to the Great Hall. I have to make an announcement about the recent events and then the evacuation must start as quickly as possible." She spoke quickly as she walked. We all hurried after her, Edward grabbing my hand so I wouldn't trip.
"What about Alice?" asked Jasper quietly.
"She's already in the Hall with Ron and Hermione," Edward said. "They missed Harry by a few seconds, so they went straight down to the Hall."
We followed Professor McGonagall who walked very quickly for her age. I was sure I wouldn't be able to keep up with her if it weren't for Edward dragging me along.
Once we were on the first floor I could hear loud voices coming from the Great Hall that was just a floor below. The Entrance Hall was full of people, all trying to get to the Great Hall as quickly as possible.
"Move along!" Professor McGonagall snapped at a group of frightened second years when we reached the ground floor, making them hurry through the huge door on the left.
The Cullens gasped at the enormity of the Hall which, even full of people, looked pretty majestic with the long tables and high enchanted ceiling that reflected the sky outside. Tonight it was dark and scattered with stars, and the Hall was illuminated by torches and candles floating above our heads.
We stopped near the door and remained standing close together, but Professor McGonagall continued walking to the front. When she reached the teacher's table where the rest of the teachers, including the centaur, Firenze, stood, she turned to face the rest of the Hall. Everyone fell quiet at once, but I noticed a few people casting curious glances at me and the Cullens and at the members of the Order of the Phoenix that were scattered around the Hall. No one dared to speak though.
There was a sudden breeze of wind and Alice stood right in front of Jasper, taking his hand. She smiled at us but turned toward the front of the Hall, ready to hear what Professor McGonagall had to say. I could see Ron and Hermione sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table.
"Hogwarts has been threatened," Professor McGonagall said. "We believe that He Who Must Not Be Named is on his way here. Therefore the school is going to be evacuated at once. The evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey." Her eyes then swept around the four tables. "Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."
The younger students looked scared, I could even see a few of them crying silently, but there was also an excited murmur among the older kids.
"And what if we want to stay and fight?" shouted an older boy from Hufflepuff who I knew as Ernie. A few people clapped after his words.
"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall.
"What about our things?" asked a girl from Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"
"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."
A movement on my right made me look that way and I noticed Harry had slipped into the Hall. He stood by the door, not far from us, his eyes on Professor McGonagall. It looked like no one else had noticed him yet.
"Where's Professor Snape?" called a girl from Slytherin.
"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor McGonagall. I had to laugh as everyone started to cheer. Well, everyone except for the Slytherins that looked kind of sour.
Harry then took a few steps and joined Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, but a few other people noticed him and started whispering. Professor McGonagall continued with her speech though.
"We have already placed protection around the castle," she said, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects –"
Suddenly, her words were interrupted by another voice that echoed throughout the Great Hall. It was a high voice, cold and so loud that it felt like it sounded right inside my head but at the same time it seemed to come out of the walls surrounding us.
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."
I felt Edward backing into the wall behind him, his hand leaving mine and when I looked up at him, he had his hands clapped to his sensitive ears. The rest of his family had done the same thing, the look of confusion on their faces. I pressed myself closer to Edward, trying to calm him down somehow but at the same time feeling rather hopeless myself.
The voice fell silent for a minute before it continued.
"Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.
"You have until midnight."
The silence swallowed us all again, but every head in the Hall turned around until all eyes seemed to find Harry Potter. Then a girl from the Slytherin table who I recognised as Pansy Parkinson and who I really didn't like, raised her arm, and pointed right at Harry.
"But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" she shrieked, and I felt anger bubble up inside me.
Apparently I wasn't the only one. Ron and Hermione were the first to jump to their feet, standing protectively in front of Harry, facing the Slytherins, immediately followed by the rest of the Gryffindor table. The Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws joined them a second later. Everyone pulled out their wands, pointing them at Parkinson.
I hadn't even realized that I, too, stepped forward with my wand pulled out, until I felt Edward and the Cullens move towards me. I glanced at Harry who looked quite shocked to see everyone's loyalty to him.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall coldly. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."
The Slytherins didn't really protest much and stood up to join Filch who, I just noticed, stood on the other side of the door, looking as unpleasant as ever. Ravenclaws were next to follow Slytherins and then Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Some older students from both Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs stayed behind but almost a half of the Gryffindor table remained rooted to the spot. It took Professor McGonagall to yell at them for the younger kids to move.
When all the younger students were out of the Hall, Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped forward on the raised platform to address those who had remained behind.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers –" he suddenly stopped talking, his eyes on our little group. "Yes?"
I turned around, bewildered, and saw Jasper, who had his hand raised. He cleared his throat, clearly a little embarrassed, but then straightened up, looking determined. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think I might be of some help here," he said, his voice echoing in the huge space around us. "I used to be a soldier in my human life and know a bit about strategy."
Kingsley looked surprised but pleased. "That would be great. Please, if you could join us here." He motioned for us to come forward and I found myself being dragged by Edward to the front of the Hall. As we were passing the long house tables, I could see Harry, Ron and Hemione huddled together, Hermione whispering something to Harry.
When we reached the teacher's table, the rest of the Order, the teachers and all the people that remained behind came closer.
"Do you have some sort of a map or a plan of the castle?" asked Jasper, looking around at the teachers.
"Certainly," squeaked the tiny Professor Flitwick, who was standing on a chair behind the table. He flicked his wand and two seconds later a folded old-looking parchment appeared in his hand. He placed it on the table and unfolded it, revealing a very detailed map of Hogwarts and its grounds.
"We thought we would take groups of fighters up to the three highest Towers," Kingsley was now saying and pointing at Ravenclaw, Astronomy and Gryffindor Towers on the map.
"Yes, that's a good plan," said Jasper, nodding his head. His eyes scanned the map quickly. "We should also place someone at every entrance to the castle."
"And every secret passageway too," said Fred, and George nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds like a job for us!"
"Potter!" Professor McGonagall's voice made me jump and I turned around to see her hurrying towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Aren't you supposed to be looking for something?"
I didn't see Harry's reaction because the view was blocked by more people coming to hear the battle plan. Some people looked wary being so close to vampires, but most of them were eager to find out about the plan.
Jasper seemed to be in his element. He was pointing at various spots on the map, instructing people where they should go and what would be the best strategy for the fight.
"What if we flew above them and sent spells on their heads?" asked Oliver Wood, pointing on a spot on the map that showed the ground bellow the Astronomy tower.
Jasper looked up at him, frowning. "Fly? How?"
"Broomsticks, of course," said Oliver, rolling his eyes.
"That's not really safe, is it?" said Edward, pulling me closer to his side.
"They could cast protective charms around them," said Lupin, clearly open to the idea. "It would be harder for the Death Eaters to hit them if they're moving fast above their heads."
Jasper looked thoughtfully around at Oliver and other members of the old Gryffindor Quidditch team. "All right then. It could hold them back a bit I suppose."
Oliver beamed at him and immediately turned around. "Any volunteers?"
Of course, Katie, Angelina and Alicia were the first to raise their hands, as was Cho Chang and Dean Thomas. With my eyes firmly on Oliver, I tentatively put up my hand.
"What are you doing?" Edward hissed into my ear angrily. I ignored him, my hand now firmly in the air.
Oliver glanced uncertainly between Edward and me. "Are you any good on broomstick?" he asked me like we were on a Quidditch trial and not preparing for a battle.
"She is," said Dean, grinning at me. "She made it to the team last year."
I blushed but smiled gratefully at Dean. It seemed to be enough for Oliver, who waved for me to joined them. Squeezing Edward's fingers I let go of his hand and made it to Oliver and the rest of his volunteers. I looked up at Edward then and saw his angry eyes on me. Alice was whispering something to him, but he didn't look at her.
Averting my eyes I turned back to Oliver who was just waving for us to follow him up to the Astronomy tower. I made to follow him but suddenly Edward was back by my side, grasping my hand. He didn't say a word to me but walked with me and our group. I knew he was furious with me, but I was also sure he wouldn't want to make a scene in front of everyone and now I was really grateful for it. I squeezed his hand again, trying to assure him that I'd be okay. The others cast curious glances at us but Edward kept his eyes in front of him and I tried to do the same.
"Hey! Wait!" someone called out to us just as we reached the end of the Hall and I turned to see Neville and Professor Sprout running after us.
"We thought you could use some ammunition," said Neville when they caught up with us. "You can drop some plants on their heads. They won't know what hit them!"
"What plants?" asked Angelina Johnson curiously.
"Devil's Snares," said Professor Sprout. "We'll get them for you and bring them up to the Astronomy Tower."
We nodded and then split up – Professor Sprout and Neville and a few other people that appeared to volunteer for the job ran off to the greenhouses while our group hurried up the marble staircase. We took a few shortcuts, but I was still out of breath by the time we reached the spiral staircase that led up to the Tower.
As we started climbing up the stairs Katie Bell asked, "Where do we get broomsticks?"
"We just summon them from the shed," Oliver called over his shoulder, entering the circular room with no windows that we used to use for our Astronomy lessons. There were telescopes stationed around the ramparts and wind was blowing through the room.
"Alicia, Angelina, help me with the brooms," Oliver instructed and the three of them stepped towards the ramparts, pointing their wands at the direction of the broom shed. It was quite a distance, but I remembered the twins summoning their brooms from Umbridge's office – where they were locked and chained to the wall – a few years ago so I knew the distance shouldn't be a problem.
Edward used the moment and pulled me aside from the rest of the group.
"How am I supposed to protect you when you run off from me at the first opportunity?" he said in a low, angry voice, towering over me.
I refused to be intimidated by him, so I straightened up, looking right in his eyes. "How am I supposed to help them if won't let me do anything?" I challenged him.
His eyes narrowed. "I promised Charlie that I wouldn't let you out of my sight."
"You can still watch me." I shrugged.
Alice then appeared next to him, and Edward sighed, sagging his shoulders in resignation. I smiled gratefully at her – whatever she was thinking was enough to calm him down a bit.
A noise behind me made me turn around. The others had managed to summon the brooms and Oliver was now handing them out. I walked over to them, and Oliver trust a broom in my hand. It was an ordinary school broom – they weren't that good but they would have to do.
Right then, Neville, Professor Sprout and several other people burst into the circular room, their arms full of potted plants. The plants had their tendrils curled up, looking quite innocent, but I knew how dangerous they really were. Every pot was surrounded by a nearly transparent bubble to protect both us and the plants.
Edward and Alice eyed the plants curiously, but Professor Sprout started to hand them over to us.
"Now, I'm sure you all know this, but it's better to be prepared," she said sternly. "You have to handle them very carefully. You must not touch the tendrils under any circumstances." She looked sternly at all of us. "There is a protective charm around them, so it is unlikely you would touch it, but accidents happen. The charm will lift as soon as you drop it, so do not drop it until you're ready."
"What does it do?" Edward asked me quietly.
"Um… the tendrils can strangle you," I whispered back, not looking at him. I was sure his face wouldn't look very supportive of the idea of me handling a plant that could kill me.
"We thought of bringing mandrakes too," said Neville, grinning. "But then we realised the vampires might not deal well with the screams."
"That's very… considerate of you," piped Alice with a grateful smile.
"We still want to throw them at the Death Eaters, but we'll do it from a smaller height," Neville said. "They're young, they shouldn't cause too much damage." He smiled apologetically at Edward and Alice, who both looked a bit confused.
Now though wasn't the time to explain about mandrakes because at the very moment we all heard it. A long, weird scream. That meant only one thing.
The battle had begun.