Finals are finally finished! Just a heads up: this chapter was mostly written in 10-minute intervals whenever I had a little spare time. There is a lot here because I got a little caught up. I am crap at writing fight scenes, so let me know of any improvements if you could be so kind. That said, on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: If you haven't gotten the idea by now, you are slower than a rock. However, for legal purposes, I will state for the umpteenth time that I do not own any of the characters.
"Speech"
'Thought'
Replayed images
"I can't believe we're being forced to sing against our will! You would think Flitwick would give us a choice," Ron griped as they exited Charms. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It's not that bad. I think learning your inner song sounds kind of interesting."
"You would," Ron muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Ronald?"
"Nothing!"
"This argument's somewhat pathetic, isn't it?"
Harry jumped in surprise and whirled around, wand in hand.
"Holy shit, Dr-Malfoy! Don't come up behind me without warning like that!"
Draco smirked smugly. "What's wrong, Potter? Skittish?"
"You would be too is someone had been trying to kill you every year of your life since you were one!"
Ron discretely rolled his eyes, but the others looked thoughtful. Harry gulped, realizing what he'd let slip.
"Uh, Harry? What did you mean just now? Everyone knows about the time you were one, and Ron and I know about eleven through fifteen, but what about two through ten?"
"Um, well, you see…" Harry glanced desperately at his watch.
"Oh, would you look at the time! We're gonna be late for Defense!"
That said, Harry high-tailed it towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, leaving behind the curious and slightly concerned group. He skidded to a halt outside the door.
"Huh. I'm the first one here for once."
Harry sighed and leaned back, his right leg propped on the wall behind him. He crossed his arms in irritation at himself.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' he mentally berated himself. 'How could I let that slip, of all things? Now Hermione and Pansy are gonna wrack their brains trying to figure it out, though Pansy will be less obsessive, thankfully. Ron's probably trying to find a way to use this information to his advantage. At least I know Blaise will leave me be…for now. Draco…what will Draco do? The guy's got too many damn sides to his personality.'
Harry wrenched himself from his reverie as he heard voices around him. Ron and Hermione were standing on either side of him, while the Silver Trio was huddled together a slight distance away.
"You don't plan to tell us what you meant, do you?" Hermione asked him sadly. Harry shook his head.
"I hadn't planned to, no."
She sighed in surrender. "Fine. I guess we won't force you to tell us if you don't want to."
'Even though you'll try to figure it out yourself.'
Out loud, Harry said, "Thanks for understanding, Hermione." He turned to Ron. "What about you?"
A calculating look appeared in Ron's blue eyes, though he hid it well. "It's you're choice, mate. Tell us or not, we won't pressure you."
Harry nodded and turned as the door opened with an ominous creak. When no one beckoned them inside, most of the class simply shrugged and filed in as usual. However, something about the situation didn't ring true to Harry. Glancing around, he saw that the Silver Trio, Ron, Hermione, and Neville appeared to have the same feeling. He noticed that the Slytherins had moved closer as the corridor emptied of their peers, Draco taking Ron's place when the redhead moved to the back.
"I don't know about you guys, but something doesn't feel right to me," Neville muttered nervously.
Harry nodded. "I think we all feel that way." Taking a last look at the gaping doorway, he came to a decision.
"Like it or not, we have to go in there. There may be actual danger, or we may be paranoid. Either way, no unnecessary risks. Wands out! Draco and I go in first. Ron, you and Pansy get behind us. Hermione and Blaise, behind them." Harry then turned to Neville. "No offense, but I think you should get in the middle of the group."
"None taken. I know I'm not that good at magic, especially under pressure."
Harry placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Just remember what you learned in the D.A, and you'll be fine."
Once everyone was in position, Harry turned to Draco and nodded. Together, they led their friends through the doorway. The door slammed shut as Hermione and Blaise crossed the threshold. Within, the classroom was pitch black. Nothing could be seen, and the only sounds were those of the small group moving cautiously through the darkness. The seven teens unconsciously moved closer to one another.
"What was that?" Hermione asked nervously as Blaise tightened his grip on his wand.
"What was what, Granger?"
About the time Draco finished this question, Harry felt it too; a small breeze, as though someone had just run by.
"That answer your question?"
"Uh…yes."
"Okay, everyone get ready! Blaise, Hermione, you're on defense. Pansy and Ron are on offense. Draco, Neville, and I will fill in whatever's needed on the time."
Everyone gave the affirmative. They stood stock-still and tensed, waiting for the attack. When it came, it was from two directions at once.
"Sectumsempra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Protego!" four voices called out at once, successfully blocking the oncoming spells.
"At least now we know that we're against at least two opponents," Harry muttered to himself.
"Well, fat load of good that does us!"
"I wasn't talking to you, Malfoy!"
"Then who were you speaking to? Yourself?"
"As a matter of fact, I-"
"GUYS! Now is not the time!" Hermione interrupted as she blocked an oncoming curse.
Harry held up his left hand, deflecting a Stunning Spell.
"Right as usual, Hermione. Homenum Revelio!"
As he waved his wand around the room, their opponents began to glow. One was an earthy shade of green; the other a dark hue of blue. Harry and Draco glanced at one another and nodded once. When Harry turned to Hermione, about to ask, she sighed.
"Go on. Ron and I can take control from here."
When they got the go-ahead, the boys met eyes once more. Draco then ran right, towards the green opponent. Harry, surprisingly, chose to be stealthier. He crept forward, being as silent as possible, almost reminiscent of a panther stalking its prey.
"Impedimenta!"
Harry winced as he heard Draco go down and did his best to reign in the instinct to leave his target and go help. He suppressed a sigh of relief when he heard someone run over and take over the fight.
Turning his attention back to his own objective, Harry saw that the other was oblivious to his existence, mainly focused on attacking the group. He smirked, knowing he was about to enjoy himself a great deal.
"Incendio!"
The fire shot out of his wand and caught the other's robes in its blaze. Finally, Harry's opponent turned to face him. He mentally screamed in frustration when he saw that the face was obscured, despite the glow from the aura. After putting out the fire with Aguamenti, the blue figure faced Harry completely.
"Sectumsempra!"
Harry threw up a shield and, using his raw magic, grasped the darkness around them. He twisted and manipulated it so that the other person would be constricted, then he created a cloak for himself. Once completely enveloped, he knew he would be visible to no one.
The other had, by this point, somehow managed to free himself from the grasp of the shadows. The person twisted frantically, trying to locate Harry.
"Homenum Revelio!"
Harry began to glow a vivid emerald green, but his shadow cloak hid this fact from view. His opponent let out a growl of annoyance.
"Sectumsempra!"
Rather than aim at a particular target, the spell was fired completely at random. Harry heard a gasp of pain as one of his friends was hit. This one sound distracted him so much that he didn't notice the spell charging at him until it was too late.
Harry clenched his teeth as a white-hot pain seared across his left shoulder, suddenly finding himself thankful to Vernon and his intolerance of shows of pain. Already he could feel his blood flowing through the rip in his uniform. Drops of the crimson liquid dripped to the floor, creating a small puddle.
Even while making these observations, Harry could feel his strength fading away. He steeled himself for one final desperate assault. He focused on the iron contained within the pool of his blood on the floor. His magic soon shaped the plasma into a dagger, dripping with the substance of its creation. Splitting his focus, he took aim at his opponent while maintaining the knife's shape. Once certain he wouldn't miss, Harry envisioned the dagger embedding itself within his adversary, causing the real one to do the same thing.
Harry smirked triumphantly when he heard the pained gasp, followed by a heavy thud. The lights came on a second later, revealing the classroom full of students gaping at the scene of the fighting. The crumpled form of Severus Snape lay gasping heavily before Harry with the Blood Dagger protruding from his chest; Professor Lupin was unconscious in the corner, a small group of five surrounding the werewolf, and…
"Draco!"
Ignoring his own pain and setting aside his failing strength, Harry lurched toward the fallen blonde. He was much paler than usual and shaking fiercely, lying in a puddle of his own gore. Harry ripped off part of his robe and put it on top of the wound, applying pressure as gently as possible. He winced as the administrations caused his own injury to scream in protest, and his own life's blood to spurt from the slash. He looked up at his friends desperately, all of who seemed to be shell-shocked at the sight of so much blood.
"Guys…" he muttered weakly. Surprisingly, it was Neville who sprang to action first. He moved closer to Lupin and pointed his wand at the werewolf.
"Ennervate."
The professor's eyes flickered, snapping open when the scent of blood reached his heightened sense of smell. Upon seeing the carnage, he sprang up and bolted to Snape. He withdrew the Blood Dagger from the man's chest and placed it on the floor, where it returned to its original state. The wounded man sat up slowly as his stab wound re-sealed itself. Upon seeing Draco and Harry, his black eyes widened in a rare show of concern and he forced himself to stand. He and Remus strode to the injured boys, who had been surrounded by their friends.
"Move aside," Snape snarled. The others reluctantly complied, Ron and Hermione glaring at Snape while Neville hid behind them.
The two teachers knelt down next to their injured pupils. When Lupin tried to pull Harry away, he shook his head frantically and increased the compression on Draco's wound.
"That won't help him in the long run, Harry," Lupin sighed. "The only thing that will is if the counter curse is cast. Otherwise, you'll both die of blood loss."
Harry closed his eyes and allowed himself to be pulled away slightly, though Remus made sure that Draco was still within his charge's range of vision. When he heard Snape approach the blonde, his eyes snapped open and he growled low in his throat. Lupin raised an eyebrow at this action, but refrained from commenting.
The two professors began chanting simultaneously, their incantation sounding almost like a song. Harry soon felt the slash on his shoulder begin to knit up. Looking across at Draco, he saw that the same was happening to the slash on his right shoulder. Once both boys had taken some Essence of Dittany to help control scarring and a Blood Replenishing potion, Remus rounded on Snape.
"Damn you to Hell, Snivellus! I tried to tell you, didn't I? I warned you not to cast that curse! But did you listen to me? OF COURSE NOT! 'I know what I'm doing, werewolf,' you said! 'I won't get carried away,' you said! Well, if this is you 'not carried away,' I'd hate to see you out of fucking control!"
At the end of his rant, Remus glanced behind him and received a reminder that they had an audience. He blushed slightly, but held firm.
"Was anyone seriously hurt, Lupin?" Snape retorted. "No. At least, not hurt beyond repair. If I had wanted to kill, I would have. Everyone is alive. No harm done."
When he saw the hurt expression flicker across Draco's face, the rage that had been held for six years overflowed.
"'No harm done'?" Harry snarled. He stood up swiftly, swaying slightly but not falling. He strode up to Snape and stared him in the eye. "There is harm done when someone is hurt, regardless of them being healed. It was irresponsible of you, as our mentor, to cast that spell at opponents you knew were students. If you and Professor Lupin had been seriously incapacitated, Draco and I could have died. And let me promise you one thing, Snape." Harry's eyes grew as hard as the gemstone they were so often compared to. Behind them, the class ducked as their bags and papers got caught in a fierce whirlwind.
You can cast that damn curse at me all you fucking want. Hell, you can even kill me if you want to. But if ever so much as think of casting it at Draco, or any of my friends, again, I will personally ensure that you rue the day you were conceived."
At the end of this speech, Lupin's solid oaken desk was split in half by a bolt of lightning. Snape simply glared at Harry.
"Fifteen points from Gryffindor, Potter, for threatening a teacher."
Harry shrugged, secretly relieved that his magical outburst was overlooked. "It was worth it."
"Another five points for having a smart mouth." Snape turned to Lupin. "Now if you will excuse me, I have several important potions to finish." That said, the Potions Master turned on his heel and walked out the door, his robes billowing behind him.
Remus growled under his breath and turned to Harry, who was now swaying unsteadily. He glanced around at the seven students who had fought, then returned his attention to the brunette.
"Are you all right, Harry?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "You seem to be in worse shape than everyone else."
Harry looked at the others for the first time since the fighting had ceased. They all had cuts and scrapes on their faces, and Neville's right cheek sported a large purple bruise. Overall, everyone but Draco and he appeared to have escaped with minimal damage.
"I'm fine. It's not as bad as it looks." As soon as he made this statement, his legs gave out on him. "Okay, maybe I'm not so fine," Harry grudgingly admitted. Draco glared at him.
"Oh, of course you're fine! You just can't stand, much less walk!"
Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not like you're any better."
"Oh yeah? Watch me!"
Draco heaved himself up and stood for all of three seconds before falling, landing across Harry's lap.
"This. Proves. Nothing."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Sure it doesn't, Draco," she said sarcastically. She and Blaise hoisted the blonde up while Ron and Hermione did the same with Harry. The six of them and Neville sat in the remaining seats, and Remus moved to the front of the room. He repaired his desk, causing Harry to blush in embarrassment, and turned to face his students. The class immediately silenced themselves when they saw that their professor was about to speak.
"That, students, was a test. A test that most of you failed miserably. Rather than listen to your instincts, you entered the dark, foreboding room like trained sheep. Had this been a real attack, you may have been killed or captured. We are at war; you can't afford to make mistakes like that."
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Pansy, and Blaise listened to their instincts. They did not enter until they had a set, yet flexible, plan and everyone knew their role. For that, they each receive ten House Points and an Outstanding on this test."
The dark mist is similar to a Muggle video camera. It records everything that occurs within it, though it appears that the actions are occurring in a well-lit area. It also records audio. However, everyone outside of the mist was able to hear what occurred within if the sounds were loud enough. Now, any questions before we watch?
Seamus raised his hand. "Do we have to take notes?"
"I would recommend it, though note-taking is not required. Any more questions?"
"You said that it recorded everything, right? So that means we can see what was going on in a different part of the…arena, for lack of a better word?"
"Yes, Harry. Anyone else?"
When no one raised his or her hand, Lupin waved his wand in a complicated pattern.
"Visum pugna scaena."
A large white rectangle appeared in front of Lupin. The professor moved out from behind it and took a seat in his desk chair, which he'd moved so he could see. The lights in the room dimmed as pictures began to move across the screen. Harry watched as he and his friends entered the room. There were a couple of minutes of little action, then things began to pick up.
'It really is odd,' Harry decided, 'to see yourself fight.'
Since he already knew what had happened with him, he turned his attention to the others, particularly Draco.
Draco charged at Lupin, who was glowing an earthy green. He slid to a halt a little ways from the man, seemingly contemplating his next move. However, he hesitated a little too long and was brought down with the Impediment Curse when he moved forward to have a better aim. He fell heavily, banging his elbow on the stone floor.
Lupin stood over him, ready to cast the Stunner that would eliminate him from the battle. However, before his lips could even begin to form the words, Pansy cast a leg-locker curse at him. The curse only held long enough for Draco to stand and the others to get into the general area.
Despite the hatred they had held for one another since practically day one, the Slytherins and Gryffindors worked well together. They seemed to know what the other would do before they did.
Hermione blocked a spell that was coming at Pansy while Ron tried to put Lupin in a full body-bind. However, the professor dodged the attack and retaliated, bringing the redhead down. Neville, covered by Blaise, managed to revive Ron before he could be removed from the fight.
"Thanks Neville. Any ideas, guys?"
"I've got nothing," Pansy replied. Hermione quickly threw up a shield to block a stinging hex, though she herself got hit with the residual blast when her shield wore off prematurely.
"Wait a minute! What if whomever we're against had creature blood? They'd be more resistant to the spells we cast."
"Zabini, that's brilliant! What do you propose we do, though?"
"I think that's obvious, Granger. We all cast the stunning spell at the same time."
"You don't have to be so scathing, Malfoy!"
"Ron!" Hermione interrupted. "Malfoy's right. It's my fault for not thinking of the obvious."
"So, on the count of three, we stun him," Neville cut in, stopping the argument from getting out of control.
The six of them lined up the best they could in the dark and took aim at Lupin, who was preparing to curse them.
"One. Two. THREE!"
"Stupify!"
The six spells combined into one blinding red light as they hit their target. The professor fell to the floor, his wand falling out of his limp hand. Draco was hit by Snape's spell barely a second after this. His robe and the skin underneath split apart, spilling his blood.
Harry unknowingly growled as he watched the blonde take the curse, as did Draco when Harry was hit. Hermione and Pansy glanced at each other knowingly as the rest of the fight played out.
After Snape had been taken out of commission, Lupin rose from his seat and returned to the front of the room.
"Well, that was revealing," he mumbled. Those who heard this chuckled. "Five points to Slytherin for swiftly coming to the defense of allies, and five points for Blaise's correct assessment of the situation. Now, on to business. Your homework is to write half a scroll on what you saw today. It is also advisable to look at some spells commonly used in duels. Class dismissed!"
That said, Lupin sat down behind his newly repaired desk to grade papers while the students filed out of the classroom, gossiping about what they had watched.
Author's Notes: Told ya chapter 8 was a monster! Let me know if you think I should separate it into halves. There haven't been any new songs or animagus forms suggested. I've pretty much decided on Draco's song (I'm hooked). If anyone knows where I can listen to the song "The 8th Square," I would appreciate him or her telling me. The meaning of the spell Lupin used to conjure the screen can be found below. All the others were found on wikipedia. Finally, any questions can be asked in the review. I'll answer what I can. While it isn't exactly politically correct, I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas!
P.S. I finally figured out how to put the line things in...I hope.
Visum pugna scaena: view fight scene
Thanks to all the Chapter 7 reviewers:
Wayward Fool
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