GOOD LORD IT'S BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE I UPDATED THIS. 13th of May to be precise.
I finished my college course which has given me a bit more time to write stress-free. But my job on the other hand has given me extra hours, which I didn't exactly realise entailed me working six days a week instead of my four, which has gone and fucked up my writing schedule for this chapter. But I made up for it by making it the longest chapter I've written for thic fic so far - 17 pages on Google Docs.
Content Warning: This chapter involves the death of some students, including from their point of view. I don't go into huge detail but it is there.
Next Chapter: Mourning.
Harry slowly rose from his seat and made towards the door with his barrage of friends behind him. The third years in the doorway made way quickly, as Ginny and Penny stumbled in, supporting Luna between them.
"What happened?" Harry demanded, running his eyes over Luna and quickly scanning. His friend appeared to have a limp.
"There's Death Eaters making their way towards the village." Luna said, her voice not as weak as he expected it to be.
Harry froze, his mind filled with dread. "Did you see how many?"
"We saw at least a dozen when Luna got hit, but obviously we weren't able to do an exact count given the chaos." Penny Haywood said, as her and Ginny gently sat Luna down on a chair a patron had ushered them to have. "A lot of people were being attacked as we were retreating to safety."
As Penny finished her debrief, the doors to the Three Broomsticks flew open again, this time with retreating students. Dennis Creevey and another half dozen third years sprinted inside, Ben Copper among them. None looked too worse for wear - the most he saw were scrapes, cuts and torn robes, but it was plainly obvious a lot of them were going into shock. Just then, more screams became apparent outside.
Gritting his teeth, both in thought and in fear, he turned towards Madam Rosemerta's very shaken looking weekend waitress. "Is there a Floo here?"
The girl looked a bit shocked at being spoken to. "Y-yes. Upstairs seating area, a-against the furthest away wall."
He jogged up the stairs, his friends and sisters close behind. He considered. "Madam Rosmerta, is your Floo connected to anywhere at Hogwarts?"
The woman nodded. "Dumbledore established a connection between here and the school in case of emergencies."
Well, this certainly was one of those.
He turned to Ron. "I need you to Floo back to school and tell Dumbledore that the Death Eater's are attacking the village and that we need all the Auror and Order members here as we can get. Tell him that the Senior DA members will hold our ground until extra reinforcements can get here. I also need you to get my Potions satchel out of my bag in the dorm and give it to Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing. We can probably gather all the injured here and then Floo them to the school, where it will be safer to treat them."
Ron was looking near frantic, but he shook his head adamantly. "No, I'm going to stay and fight. It's what you trained us for, Harry."
He didn't have time for this. "Go! We need adult wizards here, and you have to be the one to get them. Now hurry! There'll be plenty of time for fighting when you get back here."
Ron just nodded, before stepping into the Floo and whizzing off back up to school - only four hundred meters up the path, but too dangerous a run to attempt right now.
His face hardened, hearing more screams even from the upstairs seating area. He moved into action, his friends moving out the way as he strode back down the stairs. He quickly scanned the room - mostly Senior students, but a lot of third and fourth years were here. Even more came through the door just then, panting and sounding shaken. He noticed that a fourth year Slytherin boy - a friend of Barnaby's, - was groaning in pain, clutching his lower leg. He quickly realised that there was a semi-deep gash on it, and the blood was trickling down into his socks. He noticed Hannah Abbott had just come through the door, Neville looking terrified yet determined at her side. If the situation wasn't so dire he would have grinned at the both of them looking like they were a couple. "Hannah! Neville!" He hollered them over.
Hannah jerked slightly, but she seemed to realise what they were being called over for, and grabbed her wand out of an inner jacket pocket. "Heal as many as you can before help arrives. Run a diagnostic spell too, in case there's something internal."
Hannah nodded and got to work on the fourth year boy. Neville spoke up. "This place should be set up as a shelter and a safe zone. It'll need a few Seniors to help defend it, in case the Death Eaters try to come in."
Harry nodded, and praised his friend's quick thinking. "You'll need some help doing that." He turned to see his friends that were gathered. "Fred, George, Ginny, you three stay here and defend the pub."
"I'll definitely be needing help with the healing," Hannah said, turning to them from her position of leaning next to the injured boy - whose leg was no longer freely bleeding. "Daphne and Mandy would be a great help, wherever they are."
Harry took note of that. "We'll find them and send them here to aid you, Hannah." Hannah nodded, looking grateful.
Amelia materialised next to him. "What's our plan now?"
He turned to his twin. "We need to get out there and let people know about the Three Broomsticks being a safe zone. Plus, we need an idea on the Death Eaters numbers. I suspect there will be a few fights to be had as well."
Fred all of a sudden started protesting. "Woah, Dorea, where are you going?"
"To fight!" Dorea answered simply.
"Oh no you don't." Fred replied, and Harry sighed. They didn't have time to be getting overprotective over friends and loved ones right now, they needed to accept the risks and follow plans.
Dorea seemed to be of the same thinking. "I will be fine, Fred, don't worry. I'll come back to you."
After a few moments of just staring, Fred nodded. "You better."
Theo and Blaise were tagging along too, which was good, as they were great duellers, so he had no worries about them getting injured. Theo was sticking very, very close to Amelia's side.
"Alright, stay low and stay quiet. If you see a red light coming towards you, move out of its way. Deflect and block anything else. Blaise, Theo, guard our backs and keep an eye on the roofs of buildings. Hermione, Dorea, Amelia, keep an eye on our left and right sides." He instructed before they opened the door to the pub, quickly moving out.
They initially took cover behind a large outdoor seating table that had been turned on its side in the chaos. There was a smell of burning in the air, and banging noises could be heard every few seconds. The Death Eater's were out to cause as much destruction as possible, clearly.
They ran into hordes of fellow students, and they told them about the Three Broomsticks being the refuge place. They nodded, quickly moving to get there. Quite a few were injured, but not too seriously. However that sentiment changed when a group of third years jogged past, crowding protectively around a friend of theirs that had a broken arm, and was clearly crying. They pointed them in the direction of the pub, and told them to be alert. Harry could only be so glad - at least the first and second years weren't being caught up in this.
They turned a corner, and up ahead they could see two robed figures with their backs to them - clearly Death Eaters. They quickly side-stepped or rolled to get behind cover. Harry threw up a hand signal to wait as he peeked round.
"Appears to be only two," he was muttering, "we can't move further up though, there's no cover."
"Can we take them from here?" Hermione whispered.
"Hang on," Harry had said, as he took aim with his wand in the same way a sniper would stare down their scope. Amelia watched as her twin brother spoke the incantation of the Stunning Spell very quietly, so that the two Death Eaters didn't hear it. One spell went forward, and then another was sent out straight after. She heard the sound of two bodies hitting the cobbled street. "Move up," was all Harry said.
Two Death Eaters down, god knows however many to go. Theo snapped their wands, whilst Dorea hit them with an Incarcerous to bind them. Hopefully some Aurors would arrive before they awoke, so that they could straight away be handed in to the authorities.
Five Death Eaters suddenly appeared around a corner, almost walking right into them. They knew what to do.
Amelia ducked and threw a few curses out, with Theo protectively at her side, ferociously doing the same. It suddenly dawned on Amelia that Theo's father, Rohan Nott, could be in this very village, hurting his own son's fellow schoolmates…
They had a small battle at hand, there was no time to think about running into the horrid man. Hermione threw up a shield around them, which proved very strong against the spells being hurled at them. Harry peeked around the shield and sent a Blasting Curse at the ground, aiming it just in front of the five Death Eaters. When they were distracted or shielding themselves from the upturned concrete did Harry send them hurling backwards through the air and against the side of an end building.
Moving forward towards the bodies, they again snapped their wands and bound them in conjured ropes. "That's seven we've taken out in less than five minutes," Theo said as he scanned around them, "that's seven sets of lives we've potentially saved."
"I really hope we are all holding up," Harry said, the 'we' implying their fellow students, "and that there's been no fatal casualties."
"They're Death Eaters, of course there will be kills," Blaise said in an angry tone, although it was obviously aimed more at the terrorist scum than Harry, "they're pathetic and sick bastards - targeting school kids, some as young as thirteen that can't defend themselves that well."
They agreed with that sentiment, before Harry quickly urged them to move forwards.
They appeared down a side street, and sighed in relief when they saw Daphne, Astoria and some younger students all huddled behind some wheelie bins. Daphne jogged forward and hugged them all. "Thank god, friendly faces!"
"Are you okay?" Amelia asked her dear friend.
Daphne nodded. "I went on a rampage trying to find Azzy, took out a few Death Eaters in the process." She explained, gesturing towards her younger sister, who barely had a scratch on her. "We decided to stay with these third years until help arrived. I sealed the wound on one of them, but it needs to be properly treated."
Dorea explained the situation regarding the temporary infirmary and safehouse set-up at the Three Broomsticks. "Hannah's already there, and she said you and Mandy could be a great help."
Daphne considered. "I know it's not that far, but we'd need a clear path if we're all to make it there in one piece - I'm not sure if me and Azzy would be able to take on more than three."
They understood. Then Amelia realised. "Do you know where Anthony is?"
Daphne shook her head, looking worried. "We got separated in the frenzy. He was in the Post Office and I was waiting outside of it when the attack started. Oh no, I hope he's okay…"
Amelia could tell her friend was getting upset - she would be too if she and Theo had gotten separated, she didn't know what she would do. She unconsciously found her boyfriend's hand and gripped it tight. Theo understood her meaning, pulling her a bit closer.
They heard another explosion, somewhere in the village, and more screams. Harry kicked into action. "Hold this position while you can, there are Aurors on the way. Daphne, if you can, do get to the Three Broomsticks, but think of that as an objective, not a priority."
Daphne nodded, wiping her face. Astoria looked worried but determined as she turned to reassure the third years. With that, they left the side street and continued their search.
They continued marching quickly. They came upon two Death Eaters with their backs to them - that were too busy trying to set fire to a row of houses with thatched roofs to notice them. Amelia sent out a Bludgeoning Curse to one of their backs, whilst Dorea sent out a simple Stupefy which caused the other one to crash forwards into the wall of one of the houses. Blaise snapped their wands, whilst Theo bound them this time. The one who had hit their head was bleeding. Amelia hoped she'd damaged the spine of the other one enough so that they couldn't get back up and resume hurting people when they eventually came round again.
The closer they got to the train station, the more people there seemed to be. They all silently deduced that was where the Death Eaters were coming from. When they turned on to the platform, there were a series of small battles happening. It seemed to be mostly Senior DA members holding the fort; Amelia sighed in relief when all the bodies on the ground seemed to be that of Death Eaters.
Dean and Seamus were back to back, duelling two masked Death Eaters. When the two boys won their respective duels, the platform was free of Death Eaters. "No deaths here, I don't think." Dean reported.
"We saw the strangest thing, though, Harry," Seamus started to say. "Well, I didn't, but wee Douglas Horn over there did."
Seamus gestured to a third year Ravenclaw boy who Amelia vaguely recognised. They moved over to the boy who was slumped against the wall of the train station.
"Are you hurt?" Hermione asked, alarmed.
"Jus' a scratch," the boy affirmed, holding up his limp looking wrist. Hermione sighed, and cast Brackium Emendo, and they winced a bit when they heard the bone correct itself back into place. The Douglas boy gulped, but said thanks. "Just as the attack started, I saw an unmasked Death Eater.
Amelia wondered where this was going. "What did they look like?" Dorea asked.
"The weird thing - they looked pretty young. Sixteen or seventeen. I only got a glance at their face, but it was a boy. Light coloured hair, tall, and he looked terrifying but his face looked pretty emotionless and weirdly calm. He was leading a small squad of Death Eaters. They went towards the village entrance, where we all come down the path."
That certainly was something - a boy that looked Hogwarts aged? Surely it wasn't a fellow student, though?
"Was he recognisable?" Harry asked.
"No." Douglas affirmed. "I've never seen him before, but he was definitely not a Hogwarts student."
"You-Know-Who scouts other countries, not just Britain, for people to join his cause." Theo voiced. They looked at him. "I heard my dad mention it, during the summer. He even looks for graduates straight out of Durmstrang and the school in Russia."
"The boy was probably from somewhere there, then." Amelia deduced. They all nodded.
Harry moved the subject on. "Right, we need to keep moving - more could be coming. Dean, Seamus, get these students to the Three Broomsticks. This position can easily be overrun if tonnes and tonnes of reinforcements come from this way."
Dean and Seamus looked almost ready to protest, but they nodded and started gathering those remaining on the platform. Within the minute, they were on their way.
They continued. When they came to a junction, Harry stopped them. "I think we should split up."
Amelia looked to Theo. They were definitely staying together, damned whatever Harry said otherwise. "We should Disillusion ourselves. Me and Dorea will go towards the village centre, Amelia and Theo will stick to the outskirts on the left hand side. Hermione, Blaise, keep to the outskirts on the right hand side of the village. Try to take the Death Eaters by surprise and attack them before they even know what's happening. We'll meet back at the Three Broomsticks in an hour."
They nodded, understanding their assignments, and they all disillusioned themselves so that they resembled human chameleons. Though they were all scared in a way, now was not the time to get emotional or worry, they had jobs to do, and they had to be carried through.
"Good luck." they all said, before they split up.
Mandy Brocklehurst had to stay strong. She knew this, and she tried to be - she wanted to be a Healer, after all, ever since she was old enough to understand. But it was getting increasingly harder to be brave when there was a fight happening just outside the door she had barred.
She had barricaded herself inside what seemed to be somebody's house - well, it was somebody's house, but the occupants had all been murdered. She had seen it happening from around the corner she'd been peeking around, desperately trying to find a safe place. She had chosen this house in hopes that the Death Eater's would see the dead occupants crumpled in the doorway and move along - thinking that the house had already been checked. So far, it was working. She'd left the front door open to make it more plausible and had hidden out in one of the upstairs bedrooms.
She had a window behind her that she could dive out of if she had to. Plus, the stairs were creaky, she would have plenty of time to get out since she'd be alerted to somebody's presence the second they stepped foot on the first stair. The thing was, she wasn't alone up here.
Hope Geddes, a fourth year Ravenclaw and DA member, was in the room with her. The girl was trying to calm her shaky breathing - telltale signs of a panic attack, which they really did not need right now. But Mandy knew how hard it would be for Hope to suppress her anxiety - for she was trying to keep hers from bubbling over too.
The DA had prepared her for duels and battles - thank the gods for Harry Potter, but this was very much real. She was confident in her abilities, yet these were grown adults attacking the village - people who had years more experience and knowledge. They were ruthless, too. She had no doubt that Unforgivables were being used on her fellow schoolmates right now.
She felt even more useless being cooped up in this house; there were likely people that needed her medical expertise right now. But she didn't dare move from this house for fear of just who was waiting outside.
Another bang. Mandy had counted twenty different explosions being heard ever since she made camp in this house fifteen minutes ago. Or was it more than that? She wasn't checking time, though she urged the day to be over. This was a living nightmare for anybody to be a part of.
Hope hiccuped across the room, and Mandy glanced over to see the girl's cheeks wet with tears. Silent crying. Poor Hope was only in fourth year, and though the girl had somewhat of a haughty and opinionated attitude, she was only human after all.
"Where are the Auror's?" Hope voiced, suddenly.
Mandy gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure they've been alerted, Hope. They'll be here in no time."
The girl sniffed and rubbed at her face. "I-I just want it to end."
The last word came out a bit cracked, but simultaneously higher pitched. Mandy had cracked the window open slightly - in case they needed to dash for escape, but the house wasn't overly tall - anyone who was outside could have just heard that. She frantically gestured for Hope to keep her voice down, holding a finger to her lips. The girl apologised tearfully and resumed her silent hysterics.
There was a voice outside the house. "Looks like these people tried escapin'. Idiots."
Mandy and Hope froze. That had to mean there were Death Eaters outside the house, right underneath the window, as the dead bodies were right as you came in the front door. Pleasedontcomeinpleasedontcomeinpleasedontcomein… Mandy's brain was thinking at a hundred miles an hour.
The staircase creaked. Once, then slowly again…
Great.
Mandy shakily stood up, and still gesturing to Hope to keep quiet, urged her on her feet. Out the window it had to be, then. Mandy leaned forward and grabbed the handle, and prayed it wouldn't make too much noise as she pushed it open more.
When it was at the maximum amount of open she could get it, she turned to Hope. "Right, let's move." she whispered.
Hope moved to the windowsill, but suddenly became craven. "Mandy, n-no, it's a big drop.."
Mandy sighed. True, it was more than an eight feet drop, but this was life or death. "You're not going to break your leg, Hope," she whispered, not kindly, "bend your knees when you land and drop into a forward roll, that'll help. Now go!"
Hope was holding her breath as she crouched on the ledge. She poked her head out into the street, and closing her eyes, she let herself drop down.
The stairs were still creaking, but they were getting louder… the Death Eaters were only a few feet away…
Mandy pushed away any fears she had, and pulled herself up onto the ledge. Shuffling so that her feet were on the outside ledge, she looked down. Hope seemed fine from her drop, though she still looked worried.
Just as Mandy was about to let herself drop, did the bedroom door and its barricade suddenly explode open. She let out a yelp, and almost lost her balance. She gripped on to the window handle for some support.
Looking back, there were two Death Eaters. Mandy's heart was in her throat - she had to jump down now, her wand was in her inside pocket, there was no way she could get it out in time.
"MANDY!" She heard Hope shout from below. She'd obviously heard the exploding sound then.
"Where y'going, love?" One of them taunted. The other laughed.
"Piss off!" Mandy growled.
"Ooh, feisty one." the other male Death Eater said.
Jump out, and jump out now! Mandy thought. She could hear Hope, but didn't dare turn her head and look down for fear that the men would strike.
"What should we do with this one, Goyle?"
Mandy froze. Goyle? That was the surname of one of her yearmates - Gregory Goyle, to be exact. This must be one of his relatives.
"Such a pretty thing… hasn't she got nice locks, Scabior?" the man - Goyle Snr, said, not taking his eyes off her. She felt sick.
"Mmm-hmm, very." Scabior agreed - though he was one to talk, his hair looked like it hadn't been washed since forever. "Do y'think she knows where the Potter's are? And Black?"
That caught her off guard. She stiffened, and the men noticed. "Aah, there's our affirmative."
"I don't know where they are," Mandy said, defiant, "I haven't seen them since breakfast this morning!"
Goyle tutted. "Now now, lass, that is obviously a lie."
Mandy's knees were beginning to hurt from being crouched in this position for so long. Just jump! Her mind urged.
So she did. Well, it was more of a fall, but within seconds she landed. Ignoring the sharp pain, she started running. "Come on, Hope, we need to go now!"
They ran, but Mandy had no clue where her legs were taking her. They just ran and ran and ran…
When they knew they'd safely lost Goyle and Scabior, they finally slowed down and caught their breath. Mandy's heart was thumping wildly, and she knew Hope was feeling the same.
Just as they exited the alleyway they'd been hiding down, did two figures suddenly Apparate in front of them.
Oh no.
"Hope, RUN!" Mandy urged. Is this really it?
Hope yelped as she dived sideways to avoid Scabior grabbing her, but she ran, though she did stop and look back, sounding hysterical.
"You're done running, you filth," Goyle Snr sneered.
She felt his wand at her throat. Then, with a simple motion, she felt a slice. Blood poured out of her, and she knew that none of her healing skills would be able to fix this.
Rebel, she thought, thinking of her friends and schoolmates before she blacked out, rebel, and fight this.
Blaise kept as low as he could, Granger doing the same. They found themselves coming out of an alleyway directly opposite Honeydukes, meaning that they were on the high street now; likely where the thick of the fighting was.
They were just about to make forward to the establishment when they realised that the perimeter of the shop was crawling with a Death Eater patrol. Hermione motioned for Blaise to cover her, and they made for the side of the building as soon as the patrol passed. Hermione knocked on the window sharply, and a worker looked up in fear. They opened the window just a crack.
"Do you have a Floo?" Granger demanded, and she cursed under her breath when the worker shook their head. "Stay down, and stay quiet."
"T-the cellar," the worker was trying to say.
"What?" Blaise said, confused, motioning for the worker to continue.
"We have a cellar that has a connection to the school," the worker said, "it's a tunnel that comes out of some statue. Don't know how to access it though - the boss isn't working today, and my supervisor doesn't know either."
Well that's just great, Blaise thought.
"Then you'll just have to stay put until this is dealt with." Hermione said. "We'll take care of the patrol for you."
Just then, said Death Eaters almost ran into them. They managed to Disillusion themselves just in time and made themselves flush against the wall.
Just as they were about to strike, did they see familiar faces. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley were running - and then they were on the ground writhing in pain as the patrolling Death Eaters sent out a Crucio at them.
Granger almost screamed next to him, and Blaise was damned uncomfortable too - he got on well with the two Hufflepuffs, although he wasn't as close to them as he was with other DA members, he wanted to help them. "Stupefy!" Granger cried, and knocked one of them out. Blaise took out the other one.
They removed their Disillusion and ran over to Ernie and Justin. "Get them down that alley!" Blaise said, gesturing to Hermione to follow him. He levitated Ernie out of harm's way and gently placed him against a wall down a secluded looking alleyway. There was a large industrial looking bin that provided them with some cover, which hopefully nobody would check behind.
Granger placed Justin next to Ernie. "Are you two okay?" She seemed shaken.
"I'm alive," Ernie muttered, "I can still fight." Justin was holding his head but was otherwise fine.
"So that's what the Cruciatus feels like," Justin said in an attempt of light humour. Granger looked like she wanted to thump him for not taking it seriously.
"Where were you two fighting?" Blaise asked.
"We were at the Quidditch shop with Wayne when the attack started." Ernie summarised. "We stayed to defend it for a bit, but moved on when the shop owner said she could get students inside the shop and barricade it."
"And Wayne? Where's Wayne?" Hermione demanded. Blaise did worry for Wayne Hopkins - the boy had been attacked before, and was lucky to only be injured that time. If he wasn't with Ernie and Justin now…
"Injured, but we got him to safety. A Death Eater sent a spell that sliced into his leg, and there was a lot of blood, but he's in good hands now." Justin said.
Granger let out a massive sigh of relief. Blaise didn't realise he was holding his breath until now.
Now that they were caught up, they got back to the task at hand. "We've got to take out as many Death Eaters as possible." Blaise said.
His three companions nodded, Justin and Ernie getting to their feet, albeit a bit gingerly.
"Hey, Blaise," Ernie said.
"Yes?" Blaise looked at his friend expectantly.
"Isn't… isn't your mum's boyfriend a Death Eater?" Ernie nervously said.
To be honest, Blaise hadn't even spared a thought for either his mother or her new beau since he left home. Richard - that was his name - was part of Voldemort's crew. He shrugged, to show he wasn't angry or bothered. "He chooses to side with them vile monsters, so I wouldn't mind taking him down."
He truly had chosen his side now. Zabini's were famously neutral, but Blaise was his own person - damned what his mother thought. He'd abandoned his mantra of thinking himself higher than anyone else ages ago, and now he'd chosen his own path. One worth fighting for.
He looked to his three friends and, probably to their surprise, grinned. "Let's go and send the scum reeling."
Amelia and Theo ran down the path as quickly as they could, wands ready. Amelia of course was still relatively in shape thanks to Quidditch, but Theo was puffing a bit already. "Wait up!" Theo called out frantically. Amelia was only a few meters ahead, but if she was jumped because she ran around a corner too quickly, Theo wouldn't forgive himself.
They turned a corner and came across Susan Bones, Sue Li, Tracey Davis, Megan Jones and Terry Boot, who relaxed upon seeing them.
"Are you all okay?" Theo said, drawing up next to Amelia.
"Michael Corner and Stephen Cornfoot have been badly injured, but we got them to the Three Broomsticks okay. Madam Pomfrey has arrived, and she's even called in some Healer's from St Mungo's to help." Sue Li reported.
He nodded. "And the Aurors?" Amelia asked.
"Arriving by the minute, but we still need more help. Anthony apparently saw Ron arriving with some of the teachers to help." Tracey said.
Theo looked to Amelia - he knew what she was thinking. Sirius and Remus were very likely to drop everything and come along to fight. She was probably uber worried about them.
Megan was about to ask something about the Death Eater numbers when Theo saw a figure drop down from a roof behind the five of their friends. "Watch out!" He said, urging them to step aside so he could neutralise the threat. He sent a Stunning spell at the assailant, and they thankfully dropped to the ground.
"Nice work," Susan said.
"We need to find a better position." Amelia said. They all agreed with her.
"I think the Three Broomsticks will be needing our help." Terry said.
They all looked at him questionably, but they had their answer when they looked down the path.
A whole squad of Death Eaters moving up the high street, towards the pub.
"We have to get there before they do!" Tracey jumped into action, "there are injured people there, and younger students!"
"Let's move!" Amelia ordered, and with that they were running.
They took various shortcuts down side streets and alleyways, doing anything in their power to get to the pub on time. It was a good thing they remembered to Disillusion themselves, as when they finally got to the pub, the squad of Death Eaters were not far off approaching, but still far enough away for them to get inside.
Amelia hammered on the door, and when it opened it almost hit her in the face. "We're students! We're Disillusioned!" She said right away.
"Inside!" Madam Rosmerta said, and they all slipped inside quickly.
Safely in, they removed the Disillusion Charm, and the people relaxed when they realised it was them.
Amelia was telling Rosmerta about the approaching Death Eaters. The woman gasped but thankfully there were already defence measures in place.
Theo scanned the room. It seemed all the injured were in the upstairs seating area, as Hannah Abbott came down from there asking Rosmerta where her fresh rolls of linen were. Clearly, bandages were running low. Not a good sign.
Amelia rejoined him, and she all but collapsed into his side. He was there to hug her tight to him, ever loyal. "I'm just glad you're still alive, at least." She murmured.
He smiled sadly down at her. "You're all the strength I need to get me through this."
She looked up at him, eyes swimming with love. Oh, how he adored her green eyes. Alluring yet calm, but at the same time playful and determined. Now, however, they showed distant grief, of fear. He just wanted to shield her from all of this, to reassure her that everybody was okay. But his Amelia was a spitfire, truly. She led from the front, and many times today she'd quickly assumed almost a commander role from the moment the attack started. There was no holding her back, fearless as she was.
He kissed her forehead and relished the few moments of calm in all of this. She did too - leaning into him more and grasping his hand in hers.
They heard them outside.
"We know you're in there, wittle students!" One of the Death Eaters proclaimed in a sing-song voice, as if taunting them. The other ones started laughing, a stark contrast to the students and adults inside the pub, who were all deadly silent. They all jumped when they started banging on the front door loudly.
"If everyone comes on out, nobody gets 'urt, alright?" One of the Death Eaters outside proposed in a tone that didn't sound convincing at all.
"That's the most shit I've ever heard." Theo suspected George Weasley had said that, a few people nearby were chuckling despite the seriousness of the situation.
"What are we going to do? They're gonna blast the bloody doors off!" a fourth year whispered to nobody in particular.
."We have to be ready." Neville said, taking up a position to Theo's left.
The doors started banging again, as did a few of the barred windows around the side of the building. It sounded like a large group was out there. Not good, he thought. There were about 40 Senior students in here, but who knows how many Death Eaters were out there.
A lot of students came together to form a human wall, putting themselves in between the Death Eaters and the Junior students and the injured. They all drew their wands when it got quiet, as they knew that could only mean trouble.
The doors were blown off their hinges.
Even though the entrance to the pub was wide enough for two people to fit through easily, that was a blessing - only two could come through at a time, meaning they could easily pick them off. Within a minute, there were Death Eater bodies piling up in the doorway, and they could hear the frustrations of the others as it meant they had to find another way in. That should hold them off for a while.
Everyone got the fright of their lives when the windows smashed, and suddenly Death Eater's appeared in front of them. There was a frantic barrage of defensive and offensive spells being sent out, so much so that Theo didn't know or care what he was sending out - he just aimed at whatever dark cloak was nearby. Most of the spells made contact, and he recalled his DA training when a spell didn't make contact; which was to send another one out straight after it silently so that the opponent didn't have time to dodge it.
Though Death Eater's were falling to the ground everys second, they weren't necessarily losing. More and more just kept on coming inside, and some had even broken through their wall and were stalking towards the Junior students and the injured. There was a horrifying moment when Theo recognised one Death Eater - Jugson, stalking towards the vulnerable like a predator sighting its prey.
The Junior students were terrified, and could do nothing - since half of them weren't learned in complex defensive spells despite Harry's DA group. The younger students let out shrieks. "Go away!" Hannah Abbott snarled ferociously, the Hufflepuff fifth year drawing her wand and trying to shield the injured behind her. "These are defenseless kids you're attacking!"
Somewhere in the fray, Theo heard Neville exclaim "Hannah!", and he knew that Neville would be trying to go to his crush's Hannah's aid. Jugson just laughed. "If you will not join us, sweetie, then I'm afraid I have a job to do."
Jugson sent out a wandless spell, which meant Hannah had to do a mad dive to her left in order to throw up a shield to put right in front of it. The spell was stopped in its tracks, but Theo knew from the DA that Hannah had always half-struggled with getting her shield's strength to hold, so it would falter after two spells.
Jugson was relentless, yet more Death Eater's kept coming. He kept checking on Amelia - she was relentless in dealing with the scum, and were he not fighting battles like everyone else around him, he would have stopped just to stare and fall in love with her all over again.
He didn't know when, but Death Eater's were no longer coming in droves through the window. Which meant they'd almost all been taken care of.
Apart from Jugson.
Jugson seemed to know he was the last Death Eater standing in the pub, but didn't recognise he was at a loss and surrounded. Using some treachery, he wandlessly summoned a random third year student to everyone's horror. The kid had a damaged leg, and couldn't stand all that well, but Jugson simply grabbed the kid by their hair and hauled them up, forcing them to stand painfully. The man then put his wand to the kids throat. The room went deadly silent.
"You kids may have won this round, but don't think you're the victors. I hold all the power now." Jugson said venomously, gripping the wand tighter to the third year's throat when the kid started sniffling and whimpering.
"You let the kid go!" Neville shouted, and made an attempt to stalk forwards, but Fred and George held him back.
"One more step, and I slice this wee bugger's throat." Jugson declared, and nobody dared move or speak.
Theo looked to Amelia, who looked like a wreck. They clearly had to do something, but what? The DA hadn't prepared them for hostage situations at all. Nor negotiation.
Theo prayed for the Auror's to arrive, or a teacher. How there weren't any here yet worried him.
There was silence for another few moments or so. In this situation, they felt like hours. Then Jugson started making threats again. "I think we need to be taught a lesson here, folks. A lesson of how pointless resistance is. Hmmm, yes, I have the perfect idea."
With that, the wand at the third year's throat was removed, but Jugson drew it back slightly before he uttered a terrifying "CRUCIO!"
Before the curse could even painfully afflict the third year, Jugson fell to the floor with a right old thump. Neville and Amelia were the only ones with their wands raised. Theo looked to his girlfriend in amazement. She just held a deadly serious face, yet also let out a sigh of relief at the fact the pub was now clear of danger.
The third year gladly made her way back over to her friends, who protectively asked if she was okay. Hannah Abbott then started badgering the girl, asking her questions regarding if the Cruciatus hit her or not. Thankfully, with Neville and Amelia's super quick thinking, the spell hadn't had a chance to hit her before Jugson's focus fell. That was a relief.
The pub had more visitors trying to get in past the Death Eater bodies, this time in the shape of friendly faces. Auror's, thankfully, and teachers.
Well, that was them safe here for the time being.
Disillusioned, Harry and Dorea sprinted through the village, and found themselves at one end of the high street. This seemed to be where all the action was in terms of the fighting. He sighted Professor Flitwick fighting two masked Death Eaters, and was about to aid him in his battle when the tiny professor took both of them down easily. They kept on moving, keeping an eye out for Sirius or Remus.
Unbeknownst to Dorea and Harry, their Disillusionment Charms were dipping in and out, needing to be renewed. Both of them flew forward with sharp cries when a jinx hit their backs, sending them flying forwards into the cobbled street.
"Dorea! You okay?" Harry groaned out, as he rolled on to his back and quickly got to his feet.
"'M okay," Dorea mumbled, pulling herself to her feet.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here, it's Potter and Black." a voice sneered.
Harry would know that voice anywhere. Merlin, how he despised Lucius Malfoy. Dorea looked to him, eyes wide. They needed a plan…
There was another figure looming behind Malfoy. They were masked, so Harry couldn't identify them, but he knew this was bad.
"Now, Potter, make this quick. We could stop all of this if you just come with us-"
"-Like hell!" Dorea barked. Harry winced as Malfoy sent a curse her way, but his godsister dodged it and held up an impressively strong shield that lasted a full minute before Malfoy lifted the spell.
"Now, see, that was impressive, but I think there is someone else who wants to see you more than I." the Malfoy patriarch said calculatingly, and then struck again.
Harry and Dorea both screamed and writhed in pain when a pair of conjured ropes constricted around them. These weren't the same ropes conjured in the case of casting Incarcerous, no, these were ropes with a more darked purpose. They seared pain through his body.
The pain lifted momentarily when a small explosion sounded near them, and Malfoy got distracted. As Harry and Dorea both heaved and tried to steady their breathing, they heard more voices.
"Get away,"
"From our friends,"
"You sodding arsewipes!"
Harry almost laughed hysterically at the sight and sound of Dean, Seamus, and best of all Ron. He rolled into a sitting position. From next to him, Dorea had managed to work one of her hands free, and had grabbed her wand from where it had dropped to when they'd fallen. Summoning some impressive strength that Harry did not possess, Dorea sent a Bludgeoning Curse at the second Death Eater, causing whoever it was to go crumpling to the ground.
Dean, Seamus and Ron looked a bit comical upon seeing what Dorea just did, and once they took care of Malfoy Snr, jogged over and released them from their binds. Ron and Dean got them to their feet.
"Are you both okay?" Ron all but demanded. His hair was ruffled and all over the place.
"Affirmative," Harry said, Dorea nodding but still breathing heavily from their excursions.
They looked to the ground before them, where the mask of the second Death Eater that had been with Malfoy was damaged. It almost looked like it had caved in partially on the wearer's face. Seamus removed the mask, and Harry's breath caught in his throat a bit.
It was Rohan Nott.
Though Dorea hadn't killed Rohan, she sure as hell would have injured him quite a lot with that Bludgeoning Curse. That ought to keep the horrible, twisted man in some extra pain as he rotted in Azkaban. To be safe, Harry bound them in ropes and hit them with Stunning Spells to make sure they wouldn't wake up anytime soon.
Tonks had seemingly come from nowhere. The young Auror looked very determined, yet her usual spunky nature was still poking through. "You guys aren't looking too hot."
"We aren't feeling too hot either," Harry replied, trying to even his tone.
"How bad is it, Tonks?" Ron asked, and they all knew he was asking about injuries as well as casualties.
"It's bad. I'll say in advance: I'm so sorry. For when you hear the death reports." Was all Tonks said, and they inclined their heads in acknowledgement. With that, the young Auror levitated the unconscious forms of Lucies Malfoy and Rohan Nott, and a cracking sound was heard before Tonks was Apparating away with the captured Death Eater's in the blink of an eye.
When Harry's breath had gone back to normal levels, they gathered their thoughts. "Come on, let's get moving."
They took off again, running through the village. Tonks' words had hit Harry hard: who all was dead? Surely she couldn't mean…
He ran with extra franticness, simultaneously scanning to desperately try and find his godfather and uncle. They arrived where the fighting was thickest, with multiple students fighting Death Eater's back to back. Harry Disillusioned himself again so he could use an element of surprise, and went to the aid of students who looked like they were about to be overpowered. He almost laughed when Lee Jordan started looking around when his opponent suddenly fell to the ground in a heap because of a Stunning Spell that Harry sent out.
He found Professor McGonagall in the chaos. He removed his Disillusion. "Glad you're here at least." He said.
His Transfiguration teacher relaxed noticeably when she realised it was him, but she still looked grimaced. "I could say the same regarding you, Potter."
"Is… everyone okay?" He dared to ask.
McGonagall suddenly looked very old and sounded a bit emotional. "I'm afraid not. We have found… some bodies. It could take hours to find and identify everyone when all this fighting stops."
He knew that deaths would be inevitable and unavoidable, due to the sheer sickening ferocity of this attack, but it still hit Harry hard. He just hoped that every single one of his fellow students, friends, and family weren't among the fallen - or worse, currently captured and taking torture meant for him and his sister.
"Where are Sirius and Remus, Professor? Please, I need to know-"
"-The last I saw of them, they were both fine. They were helping defend the high street. I'd suggest finding them before they start getting even more frantic than they already are." McGonagall said, quickly cutting him off so that she could tell him. He breathed a massive sigh of relief.
He Disillusioned himself once more and went to find Sirius and Remus.
Pansy Parkinson was absolutely terrified.
She'd gotten separated from Millicent and about half of her friends when the chaos started, but even though she was among friendly company just now, it didn't help to calm her.
She was currently hunkered down in some back room - with some other Slytherin students. Among them were some seventh years she knew quite well - Patricia Stimpson and Scarlett Lympsham, whilst the others were younger years. They had to kill the lights to make it look like there was nobody in. Though it sounded deathly quiet, a few were crying silent tears - after seeing or witnessing something truly horrible, nobody could quite say.
Pansy had been raised to believe that the ideology that the people currently attacking Hogsmeade was an ideology worth following - her family had bestowed it on her, and she'd agreed. She'd also been told that anybody who disagreed with her views were worth less than dirt. She'd agreed with that too.
But what she had seen today…
What she had seen today could only be categorised as traumatising. Death Eaters had tried to harm even her - despite her clearly being in Slytherin robes. Why? Pansy had been so sure before that Death Eater beliefs were right, were okay to believe in. But this attack - why were they doing it? What were they gaining from it? All they were inciting was fear and terror.
They fell deathly silent when they heard the front door to the shop creak open, and heard some people walking around.
Scarlett clamped a hand around her mouth, and Pansy prayed that none of them made a noise. Though there was a chance it could be the Aurors searching for survivors, it would be stupid to call out and alert whoever it was to their presence - it could be seriously bad for them.
Unfortunately, the footsteps were getting closer to the door to the back room.
Pansy's heart was hammering. Surely they wouldn't actually harm them? What if she told them she was a Parkinson - a pure-blood for generations, believer in pure-blood excellency. That she was sympathetic to their cause?
The door burst open, and they did not hide their shrieks anymore. Pansy covered her face when some debris came flying from the sheer force of their entry.
When she uncovered her face to try and be brave, her heart stopped.
Standing in the doorway was Millicent's uncle, Axel Bulstrode.
A known menace to literally everyone, even those he was aligned with. This was really, really bad. She had to do something!
She remembered a saying her mum taught her. Thirty seconds of courage.
"W-wait!" A boldness overtook Pansy as she lurched to her feet, her vision lurching with her. She felt herself cower a bit when Axel Bulstrode's deathly haunting eyes were on her. "Don't hurt us, I-I know your niece! Millicent! She's my best friend! We're in Slytherin house together, I'm literally a pure-blood!"
Axel Bulstrode was silent as he considered. She glanced back at the girls behind her, counting on her to get him to see reason not to harm them. "Pure-blood, eh?" The man said, though didn't say anything else. She contorted her face in a look that he hoped would interpret to mean "keep speaking". "What family?"
"Parkinson! I'm Pansy Parkinson! My parents are Dahlia and Cassius! They agree with Voldemort's views, sir, you have no cause to harm us!" She said in a rush, this man was making her extremely nervous.
Axel kept on staring her out, which just made her more and more uncomfortable. The scariest thing about him was that he seemed to be a man of few words. "Sure, your parents might agree with our Lord, Pansy," Bulstrode said, almost in mocking, and then he raised his wand arm towards her friends, "but do they?"
The tension was palpable. Was he expecting her to answer? She knew that Scarlett wasn't exactly… a believer, but she would say that she was to protect her and the others.
"We are Slytherin's, s-sir," she said, trying to be brave, "the house that accepts only the best, only the p-purest of blood."
(Patricia was a half-blood).
Axel Bulstrode was still looking at her. She did not allow her face to drop even the tiniest bit, lest it mean life or death.
"Very well." The man said after what felt like ages. He almost turned to leave, but then he whipped back around and growled, "Avada Kedavra!"
Pansy felt nothing but anguish and despair override her as the Killing Curse hit both Patricia and Scarlett.
Amelia never felt more glad when she found herself with Hermione and Blaise again. That glad that she even pulled her best friend into a hug, delighted she was okay after they initially split up. There was still the unknown of Harry, Dorea and Ron though..
They had decided to defend the Three Broomsticks from the outside, and to create an opening for students to get inside of it unharmed. Daphne and Astoria had turned up eventually, with the older Greengrass sister eager to start helping Hannah inside with the injured and shaken.
"Has Mandy come by yet?" Daphne asked over the commotion.
"No," Hermione had answered, and they silently feared the worst.
"She may have slipped inside and we maybe just didn't notice her," Theo offered hopefully, although even he was probably thinking the same thing they all were - had Mandy been killed?
Daphne put on a brave face before grabbing Astoria protectively and making their way inside the pub. Amelia pushed all of her worst thoughts aside and kept on fighting.
The fighting continued for goodness knows how long - Amelia was tired on the inside, but didn't let herself falter for one moment. If she learned one thing from the lessons Sirius had given them in the duelling rooms back at Black Manor during the summer - never let your opponent think you are getting weary, for relentlessness will be their hand against your vulnerability.
After she had taken out her most recent opponent, she allowed herself a moment of respite, since the volume of Death Eater's was thinning. She found herself horrified, though, when she saw Roger Davies being hauled to safety by his friends; the horror being that one of his arms had been severed to his elbow. Blood was covering his friend's clothes in a stark amount, which made her slightly sick. She could only watch as Madam Pomfrey quickly met his friends halfway and made inside the Three Broomsticks to start immediately treating him.
Well, you could only mutter silent best wishes after seeing something as brutal as that.
Amelia was enveloped into another battle again, which helped her hone her focus on something else. She quickly dealt with the Death Eater, who was surprisingly a female. There was no way it could have been Bellatrix Lestrage though - the woman wouldn't have gone down that easily, and she knew what the woman looked like.
Death Eater reinforcements had finally stopped coming on their position, and when Blaise took down the last one, a few people gladly collapsed onto the ground in what looked to be exhaustion. Amelia would have done the same, but something caught her attention.
Her godfather and uncle rounded a corner and came upon where they were, with about a half-dozen Aurors and Professor Flitwick.
When Sirius sighted her, he burst forward towards them.
"Amelia!" He cried when he swallowed her up into his arms. "You're alive! You're okay, sweet girl, I've got you."
Her heart warmed. "We've just had some fight on our hands."
"Are you hurt?" He pulled back instantly at her words and ran a hand down her face, checking for injuries.
"Nope, though there were some close calls." She gestured to Theo, who hadn't left her side once. "I suppose my boyfriend came in handy for aiding me."
Sirius surprisingly grinned. "He better have. Else James would come down from the heavens and tan his hide for life."
Theo let out a nervous laugh. Amelia grinned for the first time in hours. Then she realised something. "Sirius.. Is the fighting finally done?"
Remus appeared. "From where we were fighting at our previous position, they retreated once they got overwhelmed. But we're not sure - that could be a trap. So we're going to remain here."
That made sense. But the thing that mattered most was that the Death Eaters had been expelled from Hogsmeade for the time being - no more deaths or injuries. This was surely a win?
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The day (for now) was done.
It was made even better when Harry, Ron and Dorea appeared, looking relatively unharmed.
But they knew one thing for certain.
There was going to be a clean-up, and with that came identifying those that had died.
That was by far going to be the worst part.