May 2, 1998
The Battle of Hogwarts had begun.
There was a horrible keening scream at the edge of the grounds and were horrible bangs of magic exploding into flashes of light against set spell barriers. The sound of statues moving heavily through the grass and earth to attend the sources of the noise, other statues stayed in shadow and waited for the enemy's inevitable arrival.
Then the screams started. War cries, like the American Aurors used on open battlefields, but different. It was all rage and terror, not an intimidation tactic used by a unified force. No war whoops and high yips like barking dogs to add to terror, the Death Eaters did not need that help. The shadows of the grounds did that job for them.
"Get the defenses ready!" A call came from above from a voice I was sure was Katie Bell, but she disappeared out of sight towards the edges of the grounds with the rest of the air support, three splitting off to deliver messages to those defending the towers.
I could hear Arthur ordering us to lay down every defensive ward we knew and my mouth began to move instinctively while my mind refused to focus on the spells I was even casting. Wards of protection and charms flew out of my mouth at a rapid pace, the sparks coming from my ward laid bare my anxiety, the spells were less smooth than I was accustomed to casting, normally flowing like water from a stream, now my spells looked like white water rapids as my wand whistled in terror.
"You need to be quiet!" I whispered as my wand continued to whistle a tone of dread. I could feel Arthur looking in my direction, he was close enough to hear my wand. "I know we're in danger, but if you don't shut up, we're definitely going to die!"
My wand stopped singing, my words seeming to break through its natural love for me and finally silencing itself. I could see the rush of spells from the defenders surging upward to reinforce the crumbling outer wards at the edges of the grounds. The spells converging together in a harmonious chorus of magic that seemed to move outwards to buy us more time and bring harm to the unwary invaders. Images of burning bodies and the earth swallowing the oncoming hoard danced through my mind with each spell I cast. A shield of light spread outward from the combined magic of my group, moving outward until it disappeared, leaving a faint twinkle of lights in the air.
My eyes were drawn to the rolling hills and valleys of the land before me, the faint outline of cobblestone paths and natural walkways of dirt that led directly to more interesting sights or classes at the school. The Forbidden Forest in the distance and stories my grandfather liked to tell about fighting in the war or ambushing dark arts strongholds in America all came flooding back to me in an instant. We would need refuges here to cast spells, fighting on open ground was stupid. All this open space was a terrible idea.
The spell lurched from my wand, each movement of my wand was heavy, pulling at the settled earth below to force it into new shapes. I threw up a large wall of stone from the earth below, the wall was almost over six feet high. I called the earth to form pillars and to swallow my foes, but it would not obey. The ground was too saturated with magic and while it would rise to my demands, it refused to risk those defending the land to a horrific impulse.
Others were casting protection spells, one girl was augmenting the statues and armor that had emerged from the castle with spells of protection, impervious charms and another student had charmed them with spells of invisibility, allowing them to fully slink off into the shadows as the noise grew louder.
The grounds were being lit in the distance by spells as Voldemort's forces began to converge on the castle – coming out of the shadows and encountering the defensive spells set by the professors.
I took refuge behind the wall, pressing my back against it to test its strength as the noise grew louder. Arthur was beside me, peering over the wall with his wand in hand, as tense and ready as the rest of us were for the final eruption. We could hear the sounds of battle coming closer and the air defense that had moved outwards was barely visible unless they were casting spells from above – I hoped Oliver and Katie were okay...
My attentions turned closer to home as a loud spell made me reactively duck down behind the wall, the boom echoing across the grounds sounded closer than it really was. I came up quickly to find Arthur Weasley next to me motioning the other members of the group to take cover at the other stone walls nearby.
Arthur looked remarkably like Percy and suddenly, the tension of it all spewed from my mouth, falling form me in a tone of trembling desperation. "You haven't seen Percy, have you?"
"He's in the castle." Arthur's voice was quiet, barely audible over the incoming noise beyond us as the wards began to fall.
I allowed a quick sigh of relief, before the terror overtook me that Percy was here too, as I suspected he would be. Part of me hoped he would not have made it, I preferred him safe, not risking his life but that was not in his nature, I was growing to understand that as more time passed. Percy and I were too much alike in some ways, we were both here for our families – adoptive, prospective and by blood.
"Why?" The sudden sound of Arthur's voice cut through my horrified relief and this was not how I wanted this to go! The circumstances we were in almost made me blurt out the most honest, most awkward answer I could give a prospective father-in-law in an act of confession for being a corrupting influence in Percy's time away.
'Because Percy and I have been living in sin for months! We're stupid in love, have crazy good sex, and have ideas for baby names! If we survive the night, I'm going to screw his brains out while planning to have as many red headed children as we can tolerate to help fill a country cottage!'
What came out of me instead was something stupid.
"I owe him some money."
By the Twelve, Audrey! You're a moron!
Arthur looked at me with a raised eyebrow and an expression of disbelief and I knew he thought I was an idiot too.
Arthur left to go to another wall further ahead, leaving me alone with only my thoughts and the sudden realization of my own mortality.
There was an explosion of light in the distance and a collection of horrific screams that sent a horrible chill down my back. The first line of defenders had just met the enemy.
I felt something come up next to me, I jumped and looked down to find Colin Creevey standing beside me – his messy, bright blond hair seeming to glow in the faint torchlight coming from the castle entrance.
"Nice night for it," Colin's voice was low and excited – eyes alight with excitement with everything occurring
I was not going to take the bait. "Get inside Colin. You're underage –"
"I want to fight!"
I could not have this argument right now, I looked out at the group of fighters I was with, Arthur Weasley was speaking quietly with a sandy haired young man, the Death Eaters were undoubtedly coming closer with each passing moment.
"Stay with me then."
Colin nodded and gave me a stiff, military salute that made me chortle for a moment. He was too small to be in any sort of military position, but I knew Colin was feisty and sometimes that could do more for person than pure intimidation.
"Dennis is away, right?" I asked quietly, the sudden fear of finding the fourteen-year-old on the battlefield filled me with more terror than finding Colin.
"Yeah, I told him to guard the younger students in Hogsmeade." Colin seemed quite proud of his little bit of hypocrisy; a bit smug about it really. He pulled his camera out of his pocket and snapped a couple of quick pictures of the grounds and his view of the group. He took a quick one of me as well. He pulled a long cord strap out of one of his pockets and attached it to his camera before hanging it around his neck. "I told him I was going to take pictures for posterity. What if nobody believes any of this?"
"Keep your wand close, they won't care if you have a camera or not." I wanted to think about anything else. "Think about what it could do for your photography career? Could be a war reporter like my brother."
"I think I'd like that. I still want a shot at a Death Eater though."
I was not going to acknowledge that with a response. I was to fixated on the shadow of the wraith on a nearby wall, turning to look at me as its antlers stretched upwards.
"Steady!" Arthur's voice cut through the rising crescendo of noise, yanking me away from the comfort and horror of knowing Alex was nearby.
The grass and dirt beneath my feet was soundless as I shifted my weight. I could feel faint trembling of the earth beneath my feet. That must be the giants. How many were there if the ground shook without any in sight of me? I bit my bottom lip and wondered as I stared out into the periodically illuminated darkness of the grounds.
Well, no backing down now. I made my choice.
My mind went to Percy and all I had were the faintest hopes of seeing him again.
The worst part was the waiting, we could hear the sounds of battle growing closer and all we could do was wait for them to arrive. Colin and I watched the light of the wards at the edges of the ground fall. We knew they were coming closer and we exchanged frequent, horrified looks. Colin finally seeming to realize what he had gotten himself into, but he was not cowed or wavering. The fear in his eyes was quickly replaced with excitement and knowledge of the place he would hold in history at the end of the night. He was a brave young man at heart, I always understood that much about him.
"If we die tonight," Colin said as the fading lights of the ground grew closer, "You've been a good teacher!"
"And you've been a wonderful student." I reached out and clasped his shoulder partially to be affectionate and to steady myself for the inevitable. "I also need to thank you for the coin. It's what brought me here tonight, do you want it back now or later?"
"Later! When the war's over, it'll be a great souvenir!"
The laughter that escaped me eased some of the tension at the first blow hit the furthest wall I had erected. The screams suddenly far too close to be ignored any longer.
"GET READY!" A voice sounded from out of my sight and I peered around the wall to see a group of Death Eaters coming towards the main entrance. Giants in the distance behind them, held up by spells, defenders and flying creatures. Were those thestrals?
The onslaught of spells flew over our heads, crashing through the walls of stone I had erected. I heard the first scream from a girl nearby who was knocked away in a cloud of rubble. I popped around the wall to fire my first combat spell of the night and quietly sunk into the routine of war. In the moments that followed, my defensive walls were chipped away with spells and soon found ourselves soon battling on the open ground, ducking behind the remnants of what remained as the last of the living statues behind us leapt into the fray.
I deflected an incoming spell into the castle wall, wincing at the loud banging noise and the crumbling of stone. It was a frightening noise, like thunder but far closer shook my bones harder for it.
I stayed close to Colin, the pair of us fighting together. Colin was good to his word about staying close, and he was ferocious and feisty in his defense of Hogwarts – and me, deflecting curses away from us while I offered returning fire. His small size was hiding a will like iron and he had a particularly nasty blood boiling hex that I never expected from him.
I did not know how long we were in position, I kept shooting spells into the darkness. I saw statues take down Death Eaters who finally got to close to the castle and then wander into the grounds with drawn swords to be met with pained screams that pierced the night.
The time passed, or stayed still, I could not tell anymore. When Colin broke off to recover from a burning curse to the shoulder, I called a ring of fire from my wand to move the enemy back. Robes were set alight and the Death Eaters dispersed for a moment, giving me a chance to breath. I glanced back at Colin who had finished healing himself and was now snapping pictures from behind the remains of one of the walls I had crafted, the flash flickering quickly with the speed of his finger while a girl fired shots into the delayed horde. This was insane!
There was a sudden loud boom. Colin and his companion scampered out from behind the shelter and I found myself fighting beside them, the three of us in tandem of defensive and offensive spells, falling into step with one another despite my being a stranger.
Suddenly, the girl was shoved down into the earth and another blast sent me through the air.
I hit the ground with a gasp and began to roll downhill. I could not stop! It was an ongoing horror of grass, mud and spells I could feel flying over me, the heat of them was warm and would have burned it they hit, but the ground was too wet for fire to take hold. I finally stopped at the bottom of the hill. I grunted as something hard proceeded to roll over me from behind. The thing groaned.
"Ow..."
"Alright, Colin?" I asked as I reached over to shake him, my eyes taking in the sight of the battle around us. There were hippogriffs in the air, swooping down onto giants. A herd of Thestrals coming down from the sky to disorient the giants, blending into the night sky and several coming down to stomp down on the Death Eaters who got too close to hitting them with spells.
"Alive." He moved to get back to his feet but I threw my arm over him to hold him down as a spell flew over us. "We need to get back!"
I glanced around, the spell lights around us making me dizzy and I thought I would have been perfectly content to stay in the dirt for the rest of the night – but I knew better. A brief break in the spells allowed Colin and I to get to our feet, Colin grabbed my robe, and I understood that I would have to follow him. He knew the grounds better than I did.
It was a quick decision, get back to the entrance gate. We did not need to be out here. There were too many Death Eaters and we would do better up at the castle. There was no discussion about this, just an intuitive understanding about where we would be needed.
Deflecting spells and using shield charms was fast becoming a second nature. Colin and I stayed together, fighting our way through the chaos of the grounds. We were waylaid by werewolves, they had no wands and had ragged clothes, the parts of their skin that could be seen were covered in scars that looked like claw marks and bites. I blasted one away who was making a lunge for Colin.
We did not need to be here. I took a deep breath, felt the terrorized beating of my heart and called for the grass to dry, pulling the water upwards as my wand froze it to ice with a flickering thought and sent the spikes of ice upward, through the feet of the werewolves surrounding us. They screamed horribly as the ice went through their feet and legs – giving Colin and I time to press on towards the path that would take us back to the castle.
My attention was grabbed by a mysterious blue car that was running wild through the grounds and running down giant spiders and Death Eaters as it made it's way across the grounds and towards the castle. I elected to ignore that bit of insanity – I had seen enough tonight to never be frightened of anything again.
Not far away we could see Dolohov duelling someone I recognized form the Great Hall. Remus Lupin was putting up a hard fight against the Death Eater, but the green light of a killing curse ended the struggle.
Remus Lupin crumpled to the ground below with barely a noise. Dolohov triumphant over his corpse for a moment before disappearing into the fray.
"REMUS!"
I spared a glance to see a woman with mousey brown hair, on her knees as she shook the dead man's robes as she screamed a horrid, heartbroken wail that I prayed I would never hear again.
"BEHIND YOU!" I was not sure my voice would rise above the sound of war around us but the woman turned in time to see a horrid cackling witch behind her, her black hair was wild and there was an expression of pride, glee and hate in her eyes and the mousey haired witch fired back, the spells colliding in mid-air. Lighting several feet of the grounds from the force of the collision – the spells broke off to fly in opposite directions.
There was a terrible scream from one of the women, rage, grief, I couldn't tell which but the ground trembled and filled with a terrible heat. The mousy witch held her ground next to the corpse and fired a litany of spells and curses that were deflected and met with derisive, insane laughter. I shifted myself away from the cracking, heated earth as I fired a spell at an incoming Death Eater, shoving him into the earth with a decendio spell before being met with a pair who held me on the defensive. The duel ended suddenly in a blast of yellow light; Colin stood triumphant over the body of one of my opponents. I finished the remaining member of the pair and turned to help the mousey haired witch.
And then there was nothing, the mousey haired woman lay dead on the ground next to Lupin and her opponent cackled over her corpse, baying her triumph over one who consorted with half-breeds and the final pruning of the family tree - I needed to get away from here!
The wild haired witch turned slightly and I recognized Bellatrix Lestrange from the wanted posters at the Ministry. She began firing torture curses at various defenders in her sight, shrieking laughter at her triumph over the grieving woman she had just murdered as pain screams were cut short by jets of green light.
I pushed a horrified Colin onwards, the trail before us leading upwards towards the stone wall of the castle. We moved up the path as quickly as we could, staying low and trying not to draw attention to ourselves as we moved through the scarce trees. At the outer walls of the castle, I could see giant spiders climbing the walls, disappearing inside of the castle through broken windows or holes in the wall - holes in the wall! Oh! By the Twelve! They were already inside!
There were statues with missing limbs continuing to fight and defend the outer wall. There was a giant! I had never seen one in person before. Over twenty feet tall, made of pure muscle like an ox. It had scraggly hair and wore furs at his waist as he wielded a club, swinging it around like a Quod bat. It took a chunk of wall out of the side of the castle as plants came down around it, cast down from a nearby tower, a desperate bid to keep it bound in place and not completely destabilize the castle by breaking through the walls entirely with a giant-sized hole.
Something froze inside of me. If that giant broke through, the castle would be destabilized. The walls could crumble and provide another opening and hurt the defenders inside!
It seemed the air defenses were having the same thoughts I was, they swooped down on their brooms in a tight formation, as they fired spells into the giant's eyes before rising out of reach of the club it was swinging around wildly in a panic as the bat hit the wall of the castle, the noise echoing through the grounds over the screams and the spells. Several members of my defensive team had split off to try and restrain the giant with panicked spells.
I deflected an incoming curse from further afield as I charged forward, with Colin on my heels, his wand in hand. It would bring us closer to the door and needed to be stopped.
'Sagaitae!' Arrows formed themselves over my head, ready to fire at my order as I tried to located my target. 'Fire!'
The arrows sailed through the air at my command, a flash of white in the dark night. They pierced the skin of the giant, into his limbs and into his shoulder, one flew into his neck and he gave an enraged, pained roar as he swung harder at the castle, determined to complete his mission.
Colin deflected an incoming spell from an oncoming Death Eater and I quickly knelt down and jammed the tip of my wand into the earth.
'Latè Pèlen!'
The spell moved outwards from my wand, the earth rising to the call, fissures coming upwards into rows of hard, packed dirt and stone, an imitation of vines that surged upward from the ground below. They grabbed the giant's ankles, pulling his attention from the assault on the castle as he swung his bat down to try and beat back his restraints, several more
'Ligu la Teron!'
The created earthen vines crawled up the giant's body tightening and pulling, dragging the giant down to the earth below. Wrapping around his body, moving up his legs and torso as he came closer to the ground below. Next his arms and shoulders, before finally the giant was laid low with the stone arms wrapped around his neck, pinning him down to the embrace of the earth below.
I exhaled slowly. That was a hard spell to cast, thankfully the earth here was so moist and easy to manipulate.
Suddenly, a killing curse flew past my nose, the green light illuminating the field of battle in a disgusting, sickly way. I whipped around to face my assailant. The sensation of dread falling over me.
Marcel Whitlock was still recognizable under all the dirt and grim of a year of war. He was still plain faced, an average looking specimen, but the deep shadows under his eyes along with the insane smile of recognition when he locked eyes with me reminded me of Harrow Avery and I felt my lips pull back in snarl. There was blood running down his face from a minor head wound, dripping off his nose and clearly someone had already tried to take a shot at him tonight.
"Where's your kike?"
The curse left my wand so quickly in response to the slur against Elihu that I barely acknowledged which one it was. I just knew it had blasted Whitlock into the wall behind him with such force he took one of his comrades with him who had been chasing a student, the pair hit the wall with such force that the second Death Eater now seemed to be part of the wall. Both seemed to be making noise, so they were probably still alive.
Whitlock dropped to the ground, his legs giving out beneath him and gasping for breath from the impact of the spell. He gathered himself quickly and glared up at me with a ferocious hate in his eyes. I was not docile anymore and now I was a target.
Colin pointed his wand at Whitlock a firm look in his eyes.
"He's mine! I'll see you when I'm done."
Colin nodded and scampered off to help a nearby boy who was struggling against two Death Eaters.
"Serpensortia!" The snake emerged from the tip of Whitlock's wand, a large rattlesnake who shook his rattling tail as he sized me up as a potential snack. Really? Was this supposed to frighten me?
The snake moved closer as Whitlock staggered to his feet, the Death Eater behind him still lodged in the wall.
Whitlock managed a laugh as I stepped away from the oncoming snake, trying to look nervous as I sized up the sheer stupidity laid out before me.
"I can't wait to keep you as war prize. I wonder how much your daddy wants you back?"
I was not going to justify that with a response.
'Engorgio!' The snake grew larger at my command, my voice was a low as I whispered a thoughtless sort of order, a hiss leaving my mouth with a kind of instinct that was inherent to me, even if I did not fully practice the art. 'Eat him!'
The snake turned on Whitlock, eyes glimmering and suddenly moving towards him with a predatory intent. Whitlock screamed and took off into the darkness of the grounds, pursued by the giant snake and disappearing into the darkness. His path only lit by the sparce, flickering light of spells.
How fitting.
My attention shifted to the ongoing fighting nearby, a Death Eater was struggling with a pair of students who had to meet him as a pair to be equal in skill. I sniped the Death Eater in the back with a stunning spell that put him on the ground, allowing the students to run off and surprise a new opponent.
Colin returned to my side, exhilaration in his eyes as he caught his breath. There was a group of student defenders ahead of us who were holding the line at the path back to the large entry doors – the doors had been breached and I could see the light flowing out from the castle and I felt a chill up my spine. Our failure in this was inevitable, but we should have lasted longer.
The sinking familiarity of Dementors came over me, I looked up to find a horrible, writhing mass of them spreading out over the grounds, sinking downwards towards their targets and a patronus charm burst from my wand. My silver crow gliding through the air around me, offering a sensation of peace and chasing back the incoming Dementors.
A voice I recognized as Shacklebolt's boomed through the air alongside a silvery lynx that had appeared in the air above – "DEFEND THE CASTLE! FALL BACK!"
I was always good at taking orders.
'Glacigo!' A mist erupted from my wand, overtaking the surrounding grounds and opening an avenue for surrounding defenders to retreat. The Death Eaters who tried to run through it found themselves frozen in place. It would not hold for long, but it would be enough.
I shouted for Colin and the boy moved forward with the rest before we were blocked from view from the mist I called with my spell. I could see Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt, urging on the walking wounded onwards near the top of the path. I grabbed Colin to keep him with the group, he matched pace with me and we passed Arthur. I let Colin go as I reinforce my fog and I could hear Colin encouraging others he knew onwards.
There was a flash of green light and my heart stopped at the tell-tale green light.
I risked a glance behind me.
Colin was laying on the ground, a glassy look in his eyes as he peered off into the darkness.
He was dead.
A horrible scream tore itself from my throat as I felt hands pulling me back and away from the sight of the lifeless boy.
"NO! NOO! LET ME GO! LEMME GO!"
I barely acknowledged the voice in my ear as I fought to get to Colin. I knew he was dead – but what if he was not? What if... No... There would be no saving Colin Creevey. Only a heroic sacrifice for a boy who had so much life before him.
But he was so small...!
Arthur was pulling me away from Colin as he fired curses to those who had broken through to pursue us those retreating to the castle. I could hear Arthur cursing at me, ordering me to get a move on or he would leave me behind as he rallied the defenders back into the castle!
I ceased my efforts to return to Colin, there was nothing to be done for the boy.
I joined Arthur and Auror Shacklebolt in blasting back pursuers as we were backed inside the castle. Shacklebolt called for people to follow him to break the horde, several followed after him, lighting the earth with enchantments that made the ground shake and rise up to throw back the Death Eaters, taking the pressure off of us for just a moment, enough time to let us focus on the battle before us and lay down some defensive spells.
Arthur calling the defenders in the field to get inside. I did not want to be in here, I did not know the castle well enough to be effective here and the stone walls around us suddenly felt very claustrophobic. It was loud, the crumbling walls from spell rebound send a cold chill down my back. The grounds were more dangerous, but I had room for bigger spells. The Death Eaters were already inside the castle, I did not know when the castle had been breached, but judging by the state of things it could have been recent – I don't know why I was thinking about that now! They were here and needed to be dealt with.
I stayed with Arthur, he was easy to find and knew the area. He relayed orders to send people into the castle proper. He kept me close, knowing I did not know the castle well. He did not need to say it for me to understand. If I left the entrance hall – I would find myself looking for Percy and never finding him.
The massive oak doors of the castle were laying on the floor beneath my feet. The walls of the castle were shaking and dust was coming own from the ceiling above. The idea of this castle falling on top of us was not an impossible one.
I blocked an incoming curse from Yaxley that was heading towards Arthur, who had been pulled into a duel with some masked Death Eater. Yaxley had lost his mask in the fray.
All the times Yaxley had tortured Percy and I came flooding back in an instant and a disquieting sensation of pure rage fell over me.
I was going to enjoy this.
"YAXLEY!" I broke off from Arthur as Yaxley turned to face me, a look of utter disgust writ upon his face as I stepped forward to engage. There was no formality in this.
I dodged a killing curse, firing back with a cruciatus curse that was fuelled by every memory of his infliction of the same curse on Percy and I. All the agony of it. The feeling of limbs being cut away. Using it on me in front of Quincy and Elihu to enforce his threat to them about keeping America on a leash. This was pure revenge. My torture curse hit Yaxley with such force he staggered back before falling to the ground and screaming in utter agony.
I kept the curse going. I wanted him to hurt!
"That was to remind you of your place!" I spat, stepping towards the moaning, twitching Yaxley, standing over him with a fire burning in my chest as I fired my second torture curse. Hate offering me comfort and warmth, covering up the cold terror that had kept me focused all night.
Yaxley moaned and tried to stagger to his feet, looking up at me with a focused hatred in his eyes.
I deflected a stray curse into a nearby wall, flinging the down coming rubble into the entryway before hitting Yaxley with a second torture curse.
Yaxley howled like a dog.
I flung Yaxley out the door, using his limp, twitching, possibly unconscious body like a battering ram against his allies at the entrance. Swinging him around and using him to knock the incoming Death Eaters aside before throwing him away into the darkness of the grounds, like the trash he was.
"WHO'S NEXT?" My voice barely scraped the sound of war around me, despite my enraged bellowing as I stared down the Death Eaters who had avoided my Yaxley club. "C'MON YOU FUCKS!"
I could hear nothing but the rage in my ears and I would hold my position, the Death Eaters at the entrance were looking at me nervously, they had seen what I had done to Yaxley. I was clearly no morally upright Defender with scruples.
No. I was a Graves. War was our business and we were good at it.
They attempted to surge through the door, I flung a blasting curse in tandem with a student nearby. The shield charms the Death Eaters in the front of the group cast sent the spells into the ceiling above and there were horrible screams from the upper floor as a large section of floor was blasted away. I saw a foot scramble away from the gapping opening.
Okay. I would have to change my approach.
I brought my wand down to the stone floor with an enraged shout, the stones flew upward, I turned them into knives and flung them blindly at the incoming Death Eaters who insisted on using the front door. Several moved aside and I picked up the large oak entry door with a flick of my wand and moved it forward through the empty doorway and laid it sideways to use it like a large battering ram, shoving Voldemort's followers out of the entryway and into the path of the wild No-Maj car which promptly rammed itself into the group with a series of sickening thuds as it rolled over them.
A retaliatory blasting curse shot through the door – the force of it scattering the remaining defenders scattering for shelter and blasted me into the beautiful marble staircase. I wiped the blood away from my eyes, wincing at the stinging wound at the side of my head as the last of the Voldemort's cohort burst through the doors. There was no sign of Arthur.
Fighting put me back on my feet as I was forced to ascend backwards up the stairs deflecting spells with each step, I barely noted the glittering gemstones that tumbled from the hourglasses, I did my best not to slip on them. I could not give a thought to the bodies. There were shouts on both sides of me, the continues sounds of duels and a sudden horrible scream as I dove behind a suit of armor to blast one of my pursuers right out of the open entrance door as he reached the top of the marble stairs. I risked a glance over to see a flash of red hair and a knit lined cloak – Molly Weasley was ripping apart a giant spider about the same size as the wild car on the grounds. A second spider appeared above me, dropping from the ceiling above and I dove away from the armor and set it on fire with a Confringo. Oh! Now it's on fire and crawling at me! Ew!
I blasted the giant, flaming, spider at the Death Eaters coming up the stairs. I found myself pushed back duelling the pair and holding my own. Returning spells with the vigor only several near brushes with death can create. The portraits nearby were shouting encouragement to me and cursing my assailants as I continued backwards, the portraits directing me back so I could focus my attention on the duels
Then a loud blast shot through the corridor and there was only the scent of dirt, dust and the utter eclipse of darkness.
I came too with only the pained noises of my opponents to keep me company. I wiped the dirt from my eyes and coughed when I inhaled more of it. I felt like I was choking.
"Well – trapped are ye?" I heard one of the Death Eaters speak and I felt something dark pull at me. The calm chill of the wraith was behind me and I had no desire to chase it away now as I heard the steps move closer to me. Blood ran down my arm – I must have hurt myself when the wall came down. "Trapped in here alone with us."
"No. I think you have that wrong." I got to my feet slowly, beginning to laugh carelessly as my eyes began adjusting to the slivers of light coming from behind me. "This is your tomb. Not mine."
The wraith moved along the wall, birdish and predatory with the antlers reaching for the ceiling above. It stepped out of the wall and the stench of rotting flesh filled the corridor.
"What the devil is that!" The Death Eaters fired spells that did nothing to the wraith for it was of the earth and spirit world. I stepped back, closing my eyes as the Death Eaters panicked noises turned to horrified screams and the sound of tearing flesh. When a hand landed at my feet, I walked away from the carnage towards the slivers of light.
I had no idea where I was, but I would find a way out and back to the fight. I moved the rubble aside with a spell, clearing my way to a corridor of the castle I was not familiar with. It turned and twisted in fascinating ways while also appearing empty. I heaved a sigh – ignoring the sounds of the wraith behind me feasting. It would be fine.
A voice suddenly reverberated through the castle, coming from the walls and the floor under my feet.
It felt as if Voldemort was standing right beside me again, his voice high, cold and horrific.
"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery."
"Then come out here and die, coward!" My voice echoed through the empty corridor.
"Yet, you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste."
Colin was worth ten of you!
"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately."
My teeth gnashed. Do I honor the retreat of my foes, knowing all they had done tonight? Or sit quietly to lick my own wounds? My hand came away from my arm bloody and I winced. I'm in no condition to break international courtesies. Not right now anyway.
"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."
My mind was crafting a healing spell to close my own open wound, cooling the inflamed skin and allowing me a chance to breath and focus on other things as my head continued to ring with the sound of Voldemort's voice. Did he ever shut up?
"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to, have not given yourself up, then the battle recommences."
Come find him yourself you lazy bastard!
"This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."
Voldemort was coming. There would be an armistice, but it was only time to build the threat of him. Potter was somewhere in this castle... I was not sure what he would do. I could only control myself. The wraith dug its bone fingers into my shoulders and I understood what it wanted.
The Death Eaters retreated from the field as ordered, giant spiders were banished through holes in the wall, fleeing across the grounds to the darkness of the Forbidden Forest and then there were only pained screams from the injured and calls for help, for friends and comfort.
I had survived the night.
Oo0Oo0
Author's Note: I um... really like writing action scenes apparently. Some dialogue taken from chapter 33 of Deathly Hallows to end the chapter.
Is everyone going through it in the next few hours? Absolutely. I sent Audrey outside because of the reasons she listed and also because I had a lot more room to manoeuvre as a writer.
I also never liked the idea of Tonks not putting up a fight against Bellatrix and getting murdered in the back. She's an Auror, dammit! Also – I was always kind of sad we never saw the Ford Angela again, so it's here now being completely unhinged.
And three cheers for PTSD everyone! A friend to all and the most developing character in this final arc!