Chapter 27.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in a huddle as they discussed where about they presumed Alex and Draco had gone. Of course, their first guess was she was asking how to get her bracelet of her wrist but Harry was getting a paranoid that maybe there was more than just a friendship.
Little did he know, the more he spent thinking about these thoughts, the closer Alex had been to Voldemort.
When Draco walked around the corner, the trio couldn't describe it but they felt a great dread fill in their stomachs. Wasn't Draco with Alex? They at first presumed Alex had maybe gone to comfort Fred but after seeing the letters in Draco's hands, they knew straight away that wasn't the case.
Harry was the first to spring up and walk forwards to be standing in front of Draco. He stared him down. Where was his Alex? Sure she didn't belong to him but he felt it was his responsibility to protect her now as Tonks and Remus were gone. Draco held the letters out cautiously and all four plucked out the letters that had their names on them. There was five letters, one addressed to each of them and the other being a note written to everyone else they presumed. Alex's writing was always a bit iffy.
They all took deep breathes before they put the letters into their pockets, whatever Alex had wrote could wait for now. This was war and they would see Alex in a few minutes.
Of course, they expected her to be alive when they saw her. She wouldn't be though and they would be finding out in a matter of minutes.
Maybe it had been for the best that Alex never personally said goodbye to them all. They would be able to sever ties to her easier. She didn't want them to throw away their lives and mope around for a second. They wouldn't know this though until they read their letters.
The four slowly headed back to the great hall. The sun had rose now but it wasn't a pleasant light. It was grey and dull, basically reflecting the mood of them all.
The Weasleys were still huddled around Fred's body and various order members were around Tonks and Remus' death bed.
Harry couldn't bear to have to watch any longer. He felt a glass tube pressed into his hand and he looked down to see Hermione had pressed the vial he had used to collect Snape's dying tears in. He patted them all on the shoulder before storming upstairs to watch the memories. He never reached his destination.
The windows in the corridor were smashed or missing completely but Harry could still spot the advancing crowd of black that was walking towards the castle. He felt fury rising in his throat. All of this death just because Voldemort didn't like Alex? His mind wandered to where Alex was once again but he dismisses it when he remembered the crowd of Voldemort's followers.
He spun urgently on his heel, slipping the vial onto its chain and placing it around his neck. He might need it later.
He was the first outside as overs followed after his warning. Everyone filed out, many gasping once they saw Voldemort standing at the front of the group advancing.
Harry cast a glance at Ron and Hermione who were clenching tightly on to each others hands.
Trust them to finally get together in the middle of a battle.
He nodded and they tried to smile but it didn't work. He turned back around and saw Draco standing beside him, Harry's midnight black hair contrasting against Draco's platinum blonde hair.
It took Harry the quickest to adjust to the sight in front of him. His eyes focused on the corpse, and he heard a scream.
It wasn't until his throat hurt that he realised it was indeed himself who had been screaming. He lunged forward yelling her name but Draco caught him and held him back.
Voldemort laughed and cast a silencing spell on them all. He chuckled and ordered Hagrid to dump the body on the ground.
Alex's face was partially covered by her long, black hair and her eyes were still open, thus proving she wasn't just sleeping.
There was no rise of her chest with each breath, there was no breaths to have made her chest rose. Her skin was still tanned but didn't have that healthy glow to it. What made them all realise that she was definitely dead was the way she was slumped on the ground. Her hand lying loose and open almost as if she was reaching out to grab something. Of course she hadn't, her hand had just relaxed the second the curse had hit her.
Harry slumped back in defeat. The love of his life was dead, the one they had said would be able to save them all wasn't here to save them all. It was up to him now as no one else believed they could do it. Voldemort smirked at them all as he walked back and forth laughing at their heartbroken faces.
Draco however wasn't concentrating on Voldemort or Alex. He was looking straight at his parents. Lucious was scowling back at him and Narcissa was trying to get him to walk over to their side. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Voldemort for long.
"Who will be the first to join our ranks?" He searched the crowd for Draco but found him straight away.
"Draco. Come." He hissed out, not as a question but as an order. Everyone sighed as Draco took one step forward. They knew he would give in.
However he hasn't given in. He had reached down to pick up the hat Neville had dropped. He flung it swiftly back over to Neville before he spoke.
"No. My place is here. I don't fight with you." As Draco said that, he felt a tingling sensation on his arm and he pulled up his sleeve to look at his left arm.
His dark mark, was fading. Everyone gasped, that had never happened before. It was only a few seconds before it faded. Draco grinned at Harry and he grinned back. Maybe there was just a sprinkle of hope.