A/N: I updated this early because I am going on a trip to Baltimore. YAY! I tried to make this chapter as interesting as possible, so I hope it lives up to your standards!

Disclaimer: WHY CAN'T I OWN ANYTHING! WHY CAN'T I BE HAPPY! *sob* ... I need mental help...

Chapter 3: The Battle

It was Christmas evening and Cori was sitting on the ground playing a muggle board game with four of her
cousins. The rest of her cousins were around the main hall playing with their various gifts that they had received. The men were around
the dinner table discussing Quidditch statistics (Uncle Marius was the seeker for Puddlemere United), while the women finished up with
the dishes.

"YAY! I WIN!" screamed little Amy.

"What?! No fair! I have more money!" pouted Josh.

"Sorry Joshy-McJoshersons. She has more properties!" explained Cori, beginning to clean the game up.

"Can't we play another game? I might win the next one!" asked Jordan with a hopeful look on his face.

Cori looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "that was the eighth game we've played. If you haven't won by now, I don't think you will. Sorry kiddo." She gave him a quick kiss on the head. "Time for bed!" this was met with a wave of refusal. "Come on! I have already let you stay up for an extra half an hour." No one moved a muscle. "Damn it." She muttered under her breath, "Fine, if you go to bed now, I will make you bacon for breakfast." They began running towards different sections of the house. Before they got more than five feet, the front doors burst open.

Standing in the entrance hall, was around 30 Death Eaters and in the front, was Voldemort himself. "Run!" Cori screamed to the kids, "Run and don't look back!" The kids scrambled to get away. One death eater tried to follow them, but he was soon trapped by an invisible cage conjured by Cori herself. The Entrance Hall was dead silent. (A/N: Cori's house is laid out just like Hogwarts)

No body moved, no body breathed. Taking advantage of the silence, Cori whipped out her wand and ducked behind a pillar. She waved her wand and conjured a patronus. "Emergency, Death Eaters are attacking. Send help. Go to the auror office." She watched the dog patronus run away. Cori took a deep breath before jumping out from behind the pillar. The room was lit up with an array of different spells. It would have been beautiful if it hadn't been such a horrible situation. The adults had joined them and now it was a full out battle. Bodies dropped and never got back up, people screamed in pain. The battle was still going an hour later. All of a sudden, the front wall of the castle blew up. The aurors had arrived. Once the death eaters saw that the aurors were, there, they began to disapperate. Once they were all gone, Cori had a chance to look at the bodies on the ground. It was then that she screamed. A high, terror filled scream ripped from her lips.

"NO! NO! Please no! Not them. Not all of them!" She fell to the ground, her body shaking with her sobs. The scream still rang through the air. It was one that the aurors would not soon forget. Head auror, Charlus Potter, ran over to the girl, who he had known since she was in pigtails. The girl that had always been so happy and held herself in a proud way, was crumpled on the ground with all hope gone. If she had lost hope, was there still hope for the rest of them?

2 weeks later

The funeral was a small affair, just the children and a few of their parents close friends attended. All 8 coffins were open so that the kids could have one last look at their parents before they were gone forever. The Hogwarts term had started yesterday, but the family wasn't planning on going back for another couple of days. The needed time to adjust, they needed time to explain to the younger kids that mommy and daddy weren't coming home. How do you explain death to a child? Well, the same way that you tell them about the family business.

Murder.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter did not live up to your standards, I have been really stressed lately. Hope you enjoyed so leave a review!

Or I will find you, and I will TAKE YOUR COOKIES!