Author's Notes: Direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are in italics with a * and are cited at the end of the chapter.
~EA
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Before the Battle
The Hog's Head Inn was like some sort of bizarre train station. People were Apparating directly into the bar, and Adrian could hear the crotchety old bartender bellowing in sheer irritation. He'd never heard the man say so much inthe short two years thatAdrian had known him.
Next to him, Alicia was gripping his old Nimbus 2001. Something about her using that broom in a battle against Death Eaters was darkly satisfying. Adrian was sure Lucius Malfoy never foresaw that as a possibility. Served the slimy git right. As people moved forward up the stairs behind the bar, Adrian and his family moved, too.
And then a sudden voice behind them boomed out, "Alania!"
His mother turned, her face lighting with a bright smile. "Straun!"
Straun MacMillan hurried up to her and hugged her. "Thank you for the Patronus," he said. "The Woods let us know, too. We're a bit late getting here, though. I had to convince Eleanor to stay behind. If Minerva sends the children home, Nora will need to be there for Georgina."
"Not Ernie, too?" Alania asked, hoping to make it sound like a joke.
Straun heaved a sigh. "You know damned well Ernie will stay and fight. He's of age. I can't stop him. And Andy probably got here before I did."
"Alania! Uncle Straun!"
The woman's voice was strong and excited, and they all turned to see Bridget MacMillan pushing through the crowded bar towards them. Alania caught her in a hug.
"Darling, what on earth are you doing here?" she cried. "Where is Atticus?"
"He's rounding up a few people in Paris. I told him I was coming ahead. He didn't want me to, but I knew my family would fight, so I have to be here, too."
"Damn it, lass," another male voice interrupted. "I swear to Helga, I'd rather you go back to Paris or MacMillan Castle!"
Bridget turned and smiled. "Ded!" She threw her arms around her father. "I can't stay in Paris if you're all fighting here. Is Mam here, too?"
"No. She and yourAunt Nora stayed behind. I hope that fiancé of yours has a lot of people coming to help," Keiran MacMillan said darkly.
"He has a few. He's going to wait for Charlie Weasley though, and they'll portkey over together."
By that point, they were at the staircase. The bartender angrily sent them to the parlor that Adrian used to meet Dumbledore, and they went through a portrait hole over the fireplace and into a tunnel, which eventually cameout into the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts Castle.
As Adrian helped Alicia out of the tunnel, he stared around and stammered, "Bloody hell! It really does change based on a person's needs!"
"Did you use it yourself, mon fils?" Alania asked curiously, as she followed them out,holding his father's hand to make sure she didn't fall.
Adrian glanced at Alicia and blushed. "A few times."
Alania merely laughed. "I should have guessed."
"Ded!" Ernie MacMillan appeared out of nowhere and his father clapped him hard on the back and pulled him in for a brief hug. Ernie went on brightly, "Helga, I'm glad to see you!"
"I can't tell you to leave, son," Straun said seriously. "But I will tell you to be careful."
Ernie hugged Bridget, but he kept his eyes on his father. "We've been fighting all year, Ded. This won't be anything new. Except now, they'll be aiming to kill us purebloods, I reckon."
Straun grimaced. "I suspect you're right."
The Room of Requirement was already full of people, mostly students who had clearly been using it as a hideout to escape from the Death Eaters who were running Hogwarts. There were hammocks and house banners fluttering against the wall. Adrian felt an unpleasant jolt as he realized the emerald green of Slytherin was not present.
The Weasley twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin, and most of the rest of the Order of the Phoenix were already there. Oliver Wood was holding Katie Bell around the waist; she'd apparently caught a portkey over from France, like Bridget had. Alicia screamed happily, ran to the youngest Chaser, and threw her arms around Katie,clearly excited to see her after so long, and then hugged Angelina, too.
"That's a Nimbus 2001," Angelina said shrewdly, looking at the broom Alicia was holding.
Alicia laughed. "Yes, it's Adrian's old broom."
"The one the Malfoys bought the team?" Angelina's eyes sparkled with humor at that.
"Yes. It's a bit faster than mine though, so I'm going to use it tonight."
Katie moaned enviously. "Bet it turns on a pin, doesn't it?"
"It does," Alicia said cheekily. "Though not as tight as the Firebolt."
Oliver nodded to Adrian. "Thanks for lending her a good broom for tonight, Pucey," he said. "I have a feeling we're going to need to fly out there a bit tonight, and these three lasses can read each other's minds when they're in the air."
Adrian swallowed his anxiety and nodded. "I understand. I need to stay on the ground, though. In case I need to duel."
Katie looked a little worried when he said that, and Alicia came back to him and took a deep breath. "Please stay safe tonight," she said, biting her lip. "I don't like being separated from you."
"We each have different strengths, love," he replied, kissing her temple. "We need to play to those."
"You could fly, too," she suggested. "You're a bloody brilliant flyer, and you know it."
"I didn't bring my broom. Besides, I'll be needed to duel, Alicia. You know that."
Before Alicia could reply, Kenneth and Karen came through the tunnel and hurried over to them. Kenneth looked excited in a way Adrian had never seen, like there was a fire in him that couldn't be contained. Karen, however, looked worried and nervous. Alicia quickly hugged her.
"It's okay," she said knowingly. "I'm a bit scared, too."
Karen nodded. "I'm trying to be brave, I promise. I just have to keep thinking of Cedric, and Will… and Jane… Mumma…" She swallowed. "I have to fight for Mumma. This has gone on long enough."
Suddenly, a younger boy shouted, "Kenny!" in a loud voice, and ran over to them from the Gryffindor side of the room. He collided in a full-force hug with Kenneth, who laughed and returned the hug even as he staggered under the assault. Adrian noticed that Luke Towler was only a few inches shorter than Kenneth. They favored each other with the same golden, light-brown hair and brown eyes, except Luke didn't wear glasses.
The younger boy stepped back and asked sarcastically, "Do Mum and Dad know you're here?"
"Absolutely not," Kenneth retorted, rolling his eyes. "You know Dad forbade me to join the Order."
"And you did anyway?" Luke looked excited.
Kenneth grinned and cuffed Luke on the back of his head. "I joined back in '96, brat. But my work has been secret, so I couldn't say anything. Not even to you."
At that, his brother laughed again. "That's fantastic, Kenny! I knew you weren't like Mum and Dad!"
The random conversations continued as they waited. Adrian gathered from those around him that Harry Potter had apparently gone in search of something in the castle with Luna Lovegood, and everyone was waiting for the go-ahead to move out of the Room of Requirement to fight. Adrian's eyes scanned the witches and wizards in the crowd as the tunnel from the Hog's Head opened yet again and Bess Galbraith emerged with her very sturdy, very Scottish, very Gryffindor husband, who was almost too tall for the tunnel.
Adrian had only met Conall at Bess's wedding nearly a year earlier, when the older Gryffindor had teased him about wanting a Gryffindor himself. Adrian had been so focused on Alicia that evening that he hadn't paid much attention to anything else, not even Bess and Conall. All he knew was that Conall had been a Quidditch Beater for Gryffindor at one time, and was currently a professional Beater for the Prides. At six-foot-five, he was a mountain of muscle with light brown hair that hung just past his ears and almost brushed his shoulders. He had scruff along his jaw and chin, and his brown eyes blazed with fire.
Conall went straight to Bill Weasley and clapped him into a hug, and Bess stopped to hug Karen. Behind them were three Hufflepuffs who had been in Bess's graduating class. They stood tall and proud, the sorts of badgers that everyone invariably underestimated until they found themselves on the wrong end of Hufflepuff wrath. There were also two other Gryffindor blokes from Conall's class, looking ready for battle. Adrian was glad they had come, because they needed as many fighters as they could get at the moment. There weren't as many as he'd hoped, if truth be told.
Harry and Luna suddenly emerged from a panel in the wall. The Boy Who Lived looked shocked to see so many people waiting for him.
"Harry, what's happening?"* asked Lupin, who had hurried forward to meet Harry at the foot of the stairs that led back into the castle.
"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school — Snape's run for it — What are you doing here? How did you know?"
"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."
"What's first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"
"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said, "We're fighting." *
The roar that erupted from the crowd of students was deafening. Everyone hurried for the door in the wall that led to the stairs, which would take them out into the castle.
Alicia grabbed Adrian's hand and grinned at him. He squeezed her fingers back and led her into the narrow staircase. Angelina, Lee, Oliver, Katie and his parents were somewhere behind them, while Kenneth, Karen, and Luke were ahead of them.
The stairs were steep and they could only traverse them one behind the other, but eventually, the passage opened into a corridor and they spilled out. Adrian felt a thrill as he recognized where they were in the castle and began to hurry down the halls, reliving a bit of his teen years as he did so. It felt good to be back at Hogwarts; he'd missed it, if he was honest.
When they finally arrived in the Great Hall, Adrian allowed Alicia to lead him to the Gryffindortable. In fact, most of the fighters who had come through the Hog's Head sat at the Gryffindor or Hufflepuff tables, though a few sat at the Ravenclaw table, too.
Adrian also noticed that the Slytherin table was full of sullen faces and curled lips and narrowed eyes — especially older students who remembered him. Adrian's lip curled in response, but he turned his eyes away from them. He would likely have to fight a few of them before the night was out; he would be shocked if none of the seventh-years at the least had taken the Dark Mark. All in all, it was far too dangerous for him and his parents to sit at their house table, so they joined Alicia at the Gryffindor table.
Adrian's eyes turned upward. The ceiling sparkled with stars, while throughout the crowd, the ghosts shimmered. Professor McGonagall stepped up to the raised platform at the end of the hall, in front of the teacher's table. The remaining professors and a few members of the Order of the Phoenix stood behind her.
McGonagall first order the evacuation of the students, which would be overseen by Filch and Madam Pomfrey, alongside the house prefects.
Just as Straun MacMillan predicted, his second son stood up at the Hufflepuff table and yelled in a strong, demanding voice, "And what if we want to stay and fight?" *
Adrian noticed Straun grimaced from where he was sitting next to his son. There was no stopping Ernie MacMillan, though.
"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall. *
The Slytherins were clearly displeased with the whole affair; they demanded to know where Professor Snape was. Next to him, Adrian heard his father scoff, and when Professor McGonagall announced that Snape had scarpered, Adrian's mother snorted and muttered, "Git."
Adrian almost laughed, but just before he could, a horrible voice echoed throughout the Great Hall, as though coming from the very walls themselves.
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight." *
The silence that followed was heavy. Alicia had tensed next to Adrian, and he could tell his father and others around him were unnerved. Only his mother looked cool and indifferent.
All at once, everyone in the entire Great Hall seemed to turn and look at Harry, who looked nothing like the boy Adrian remembered on the Quidditch pitch searching for the Snitch. Harry had always been slight, but he now looked hardened and skinny from a very difficult life of evading Voldemort for an entire year. But he had evaded Voldemort for an entire year, and that was a feat in and of itself, really.
A girl suddenly screamed from the Slytherin table and broke the silence.
"But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!" *
The students at the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables moved together, all of them rising almost at the same moment, to turn and face the Slytherins. Wands pointed at Pansy Parkinson, that pug-nosed, pureblood little twit, and she looked horrified at the reaction. McGonagall crisply ordered her to lead the Slytherins out of the hall herself, and then asked the Ravenclaws to follow.
Adrian noticed no one remained behind at the Slytherin table to fight against Voldemort, but a few older Ravenclaws remained, and even more Hufflepuffs stayed.
The real problem was, at least half of Gryffindor wanted to stay, and most of them were underaged. It took McGonagall coming over to yell at them to leave before they grudgingly got up to walk out, but even then, some didn't want to do as they were told. Colin Creevey and Jimmy Peakes argued with their Head of House, and while Adrian was watching them bluster at McGonagall, he suddenly heard two people shouting from a few spaces away. Abruptly, Adrian recognized Kenneth's voice. When he turned in surprise, it was to find Kenneth and Luke having a full-out yelling match.
"— need you to go home!"
"I've been fighting all fucking year, Kenny! I'm staying!"
"The hell you are!" Kenneth shouted. "You're going home, damn it —!"
"— can't tell me what to do!" Luke yelled back.
They were nearly nose to nose and both were pink in the face. A few people around them chuckled or smiled ruefully at them — particularly people who had younger siblings of their own, like most of the Weasleys and Oliver Wood.
"Would you listen to me?!" Kenneth grabbed Luke's shoulders and shook him, and Adrian saw a flicker of fear in Kenneth's expression. "I need you to go home, Luke! You havebeen fighting all year! For the love of Godric, please go home and let me take over from here, okay? I need you to stay safe!"
Adrian noticed Karen watching them with a troubled expression, but she stayed out of the spat.
"Mr. Towler," McGonagall snapped crisply, grasping Luke's arm. "Your brother is right. You're underaged. You need to leave with the others."
Luke glared furiously between the two, his eyes glittering defiantly. "I can fight too, Professor!"
"No one doubts that, young man. But you're still underaged. Follow your classmates, please."
Angrily, Luke snatched his arm out of McGonagall's grip and shoved past Kenneth, nearly knocking his older brother into Oliver Wood.
Oliver steadied Kenneth and shouted, "Watch out for Alex for me, Luke!"
Luke threw up a two-fingered salute and didn't look back as he stormed out.
Adrian shifted uneasily. He hoped to Merlin that Luke was actually leaving and not just going to hide and sneak back into the fight, though he sure as hell wouldn't put it past him or half of the other Gryffindors. If Luke was anything like his brother, Adrian didn't think he was going to give up that easily.
It was Angelina who alerted Alicia to two people who suddenly came into the Great Hall as the last of the Gryffindor students were exiting.
"Fuck," Angelina spat. "Is thatYoungman?"
Alicia started with a jolt. Sure enough, Danny Youngman and Chrysanthe Hayden were striding into the room towards the Hufflepuff table…!
Their entire look had changed since Alicia had seen them last. Gone was the beautiful, sweet, popular Head Girl with her stunning, long, curly blonde hair and her impeccable, school-girl fashion sense. Tonight, Chrysanthe had pinned her hair up in a large, messy bun on top of her head, and she wore hiking boots with high-waisted, ripped-up, light-wash jeans and a yellow sweater that just barely showed her midriff when she raised her arms to point at various people in the Great Hall. As for Danny, helooked like he'd just stepped off the streets of Muggle London's alternative music scene. His baggy jeans were ripped at the knees, and he sported a set of artful chains running between his front belt loop to down low around the side of his thigh and over his arse to his rear pocket. He also wore a t-shirt for the Muggle rock band Oasis, a red and white flannel shirt over that, and a chain necklace around his throat. His thick black hair was styled with gel.
"That idioticarse!" Angelina was out of her seat and storming up the table.
Alicia scrambled to follow her, arriving just in time to hear Angelina snarl, "Youngman!What thefuckdo you think you're doing?"
"What the fuck does it look like, Johnson? Having a fucking picnic?" He grinned at Angelina.
Angelina's eyebrows narrowed like a hawk. "Are youinsane?" she hissed. "You may as well walk around with a glowing target over your head, damn it! Get the hell out of here before you get killed!"
Danny gave her a two-fingered salute and laughed. "Cheers, Johnson! Lovely to see you too. But I ain't going anywhere. I belong in this world, and I aim to fight for my place."
Chrysanthe grinned at Angelina. "We've been waiting for tonight for ages," she said, and her words had a dangerous, stubborn undertone.
Alicia hugged her old friend tightly. She hadn't seen Chrysanthe for months, and she'd been bloody well worried sick about her. "Where the heck have you both been?" she demanded. "You just disappeared! We've all been soworried about you! How did Danny escape the Commission?"
"Eh," Danny said lightly. "We hid out in Muggle London. Underground music scene. Good stuff. Had a run-in with those Snatchers once, though. Learned the hard way back in January not to say Voldemort—"
Everyone around him sucked in sharp breaths or winced horribly. Danny liked to say Voldemort's name to shock people, and Alicia thought he did it mostly to be rebellious. There were plenty of Muggle-borns who knew nothing of Voldemort but still refused to say his name once they learned about him in the wizarding world. Danny just had to be different.
"— thank God my old lady here is fucking brilliant with a wand. I got stunned trying to protect her, but then she cast a Blasting Curse and Disapparated us the fuck out of there. Thought she was gonna castrate me afterwards! Told me I couldn't say his name anymore. But I'm guessing it's okay now, yeah? We're all in the same boat at this point." He laughed at that. "And it's not as if he can Apparate into Hogwarts to find me!"
Chrysanthe hit Danny lightly in the back of his head with her palm. "I swear toMerlin, I thought we werescrewedwhen the Snatchers showed up that day. After I just barely got us out of that mess, andI told him if he ever said it again I was going to murder him myself and save the Snatchers the trouble."
"Ah well," said a sarcastic voice from behind Alicia. "You know how your boyfriend is, 'Santhe. Pretty sure I told you that in seventh-year. A lot."
Chrysanthe's face lit up. "Kenneth!" She pushed past Alicia and Angelina, and threw her arms around him. "Oh, it's so good to see you! Where is Karen?!"
"Sitting with me at the Gryffindor table."
"We'll join you," Chrysanthe said cheerfully. "Feeling rather Gryffindor myself, tonight. Were you at Gringotts this morning?"
Kenneth grinned. "I something was up when that bloody dragon broke out with Harry, Ron, and Hermione on its back. Fucking amazing, that. The epitome of Gryffindor recklessness right there. Karen and I took the day off andwaited for Bess to contact us."
By that point, Karen had hurried over and thrown her arms around Chrysanthe.
"I've been so worried," she cried. "I could hex you, 'Santhe! Disappearing like that and not contacting anyone for months!"
Chrysanthe hugged her back. "I've missed you, too! I really did! Helga, it's good to see you!"
"And yet, I don't hear anyone saying they missed me," another male voice said cheekily.
Alicia, Angelina, Chrysanthe, Danny, Karen, and Kenneth jolted and turned. Gilbert Royle was standing there, smiling nervously. He added, "Got some serious payback to dish out tonight, don't we? Bess sent me a Patronus. Thank HelgaI was in my room and my parents didn't see it, but it took me a bit to sneak out and Apparate to the Hog's Head."
Kenneth sucked in a quick breath. "So they don't know you're here?"
"No." Gilbert's face darkened. "I left without telling them. Dad would have forbademe from coming, but I can't not fight. We're all tired of this shite, aren't we? They killed Cedric, Will, and Dave…they locked up Jane and Karen's mum…"
"That's why we're wearing the black armbands," Bess said. She had suddenly appeared next to Kenneth, and Alicia noticed she was indeed wearing a black armband around her left upper arm. Bess tossed one to Chrysanthe, Danny, and Gilbert each. "For Ced. And the others who were killed or captured by Snatchers." Turning to Kenneth and Karen, she handed them armbands, too. "You may as well have one too, Kenneth. I sort of feel you were one of us, since Ced and Gil were your best mates."
"Awesome," Danny grinned, slipping his on. "Good way to remember them."
Bess gave them a dark smile. "Bastards will be damned sorry. They messed with the wrong fucking house. Never cross an angry badger — the secret motto of Hufflepuff, that."
"Mind if we join you, too?" a woman's voice suddenly asked coolly.
Alicia jolted again, but this time, her surprise was wary. A tall woman with short, curly auburn hair eyed them all with an arrogant smile.
Bess, however, laughed and threw her arms around Gemma Farley, who had been Head Girl the year before Bess.
Except… Gemma had been in Slytherin. And with her was Nigel Warwick, who had been the Slytherin male prefect in Bess's class. Alicia was honestly surprised to see both there. She hadn't anticipated any Slytherins fighting except Adrian and his family.
"I wasn't sure if I should expect you two or not!" Bess grinned.
"We almost didn't come," Nigel muttered. "Not exactly my idea of fun, you know? Fighting against a bunch of Death Eaters? But she dragged me here when your Patronus showed up."
"Yeah, well," Gemma shrugged. "Living under a tyrant government isn't fun, either."
"We have three other Slytherins with us too," Bess said. "You aren't alone."
Nigel glanced around, and apparently saw Adrian and his parents at the Gryffindor table. "Sitting a bit far away from where they started, aren't they?" he asked sarcastically.
"It wasn't safe for them to sit at the Slytherin table earlier, with all the other Slytherins still sitting there," Alicia reminded them. She didn't know Gemma or Nigel well, but she did remember that Gemma had been very fair as a Head Girl. Nigel, however, had always struck her as very arrogant and moody. She didn't know what Gemma saw in him. He seemed more of a typical Slytherin.
"Makes sense," Nigel said darkly. "But we'll sit at our table since it's empty."
She watched as the two of them made their way to the long, vacated table, their backs straight and their wands at their sides. A small part of her hoped they were really on the side of the defenders, and she hated to think she was doubting them when they needed all the help they could get right now.
As the last few defenders trickled into the Great Hall, Kingsley Shacklebolt stood up on the raised platform where the teachers normally ate and called for everyone's attention. Kenneth and Karen quickly sat back down at the Gryffindor table, and Chrysanthe and Danny joined them.
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor — where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus, Arthur, and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school —"
"Sounds like a job for us," called Fred, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nodded his approval.
"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!" *
Professor Sprout took Neville Longbottom and handpicked several others to help defend the castle from the top of the Astronomy Tower, including Bridget MacMillan and Alexander Pucey, mostly due to his knowledge of Herbology as a potioneer.
Professor Flitwick agreed to take all of the Ravenclaws, including Audrey Sprayberry and Cho Chang, to the top of Ravenclaw Tower to defend it.
McGonagall looked at the Gryffindor table and exhaled. "Mr. Towler," she called out imperiously. "I trust you remember how to be a Head Boy?"
Kenneth actually laughed. "Maybe!"
She ignored his joking sarcasm. "Gather several people to go to the top of Gryffindor Tower. I also assume you remember the spells to enter the secret trap door that will take us to the battlements from the top of the boys' dorms?"
At that, he grinned. "I do, Professor."
There were several indignant shouts from a few Gryffindor students, particularly boys, along the table; the secret trap door was not common knowledge, and was always heavily protected by spells to prevent students from getting onto the battlements. Kenneth hadn't even learned of it's existence until he became Head Boy and McGonagall had told him about the door and explained why it had to remain secret. No one needed students on top of Gryffindor Tower if they could help it. Gryffindors were too reckless.
As he stood, Kenneth leaned to down to Karen and murmured, "You'll be with me, love."
She nodded, and he then moved down the table to handpick several others, while the Weasley twins also moved up and down the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, picking students to help guard the entrances to secret passageways throughout the school.
Oliver Wood volunteered the Gryffindor team to fly and aim spells down at Death Eaters from above once they got closer to the castle, and Kenneth was glad to take them for his group. It meant that Angelina, Alicia, and Katie would be with him for a while, and they had all been members of the D.A. Kenneth knew their spell work would be top notch.
Kingsley and Remus were handpicking fighters, too. Much as Kenneth wanted to take Adrian with him, he knew he couldn't. Kingsley and Remus needed Adrian and Alania with them, as both were too skilled at dueling to be anywhere else but on the ground, battling Death Eaters head-on.
Taking a deep breath, Kenneth turned to the group he'd assembled and said, "Let's go."
But as Karen slipped her hand into his and they hurried for the marble staircase, Kenneth felt anxiety clawing suddenly in his chest. He hoped they would all make it out of this night safely, but logically, he knew damned well that some of them wouldn't. And that thought terrified him.
At five minutes 'til midnight, Alicia found herself clutching Adrian's old Nimbus 2001 on top of Gryffindor Tower, alongside Angelina, Katie, and Oliver. The oddest things kept going through her mind: Courtney's brusque but heartening notes all semester; the ruby necklace at her throat that Adrian had given her for Christmas; how Doreen called her Cinnamon; her parents' deaths; how Neville had pulled Alicia aside for all of fifteen seconds as everyone was leaving the Great Hall, to hurriedly thank her for the note and the gum wrapper she'd left with Augusta Longbottom over the Christmas holidays. He said it had been the morale boost he needed, before he squeezed her hand and hurried off with Sprout.
As they waited on top of the Tower, Oliver cricked his neck back and forth and loosened his shoulders, Angelina rolled her own and bounced on the balls of her feet, and Katie couldn't quite stand still.
Alicia ran her hand down Adrian's broomstick, feeling the sleek, satin-finished handle under her palm. She sure was glad to have his Nimbus. It was slightly faster than her own broomstick, and it turned on a knut. She'd gotten used to flying it over the past few months, no matter how much she'd hated how he'd gotten the thing years ago.
There were sudden shouts from the grounds below, coming from the direction of the gates, and Alicia felt every nerve in her body tauten.
"Get ready," Professor McGonagall said grimly, stepping to the battlements and aiming her wand down at the oncoming Death Eaters. The others did the same, spacing themselves along the Tower to cover as much as they could.
The battlements of Gryffindor Tower weren't as high as the Astronomy Tower, but they were still pretty damned high up. Kenneth leaned over the parapet, frowning down at the moonlit grounds with his wand aimed at the gates. Next to him, Karen was completely still, her eyes narrowed on the same point. He intended to stick with Karen like glue for the entire battle; she was more scared than he was and she wasn't as good at Defense.
On his other side, several older Gryffindors were also frowning down, waiting. Oliver Wood and the Gryffindor Chasers were watching the incoming Death Eaters closely. Gilbert Royle looked paler than usual, but his face was set. Kenneth had picked him because he knew Gilbert didn't need to be on the grounds, much like Karen.
McGonagall suddenly appeared beside him. "Aim carefully," she said quietly to the group. "And use the battlements for protection as much as possible. If it looks like they're going to breach our defenses, we'll make our way down to the common room and into the castle itself to fight head-on."
Kenneth nodded and took a slow breath. He hoped Luke had actually left for home.
Quite suddenly, there were shouts from the drive below, and he realized dark shapes were moving along it from both ends: Death Eaters from the gates, and suits of armor from the castle. Kenneth steeled himself at the same time McGonagall did. They had to end this madness.
Adrian found himself alongside his mother on the grounds of Hogwarts, just to the left of the great oak front doors. On the other side of the steps stood Danny Youngman, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet, and Chrysanthe Hayden, who was standing stock-still. The suits of armor stood between them and the castle.
Kingsley Shacklebolt and Remus Lupin were also very still; so was Conall and Bess Galbraith, Straun and Keiren MacMillan, Ernie MacMillan, and several others who had spaced themselves out around the grounds to ensure they protected the castle from all angles. Adrian couldn't see all of them in the darkness.
"We'll let those on the battlements start," Kingsley had told them before they had exited the Entrance Hall. "Do not start fighting one-on-one until the Death Eaters breach the winds and the enchanted suits of armor. Until then, cast shields."
Adrian suddenly heard an eerie shout from somewhere down the drive and he tensed.
Next to him, his mother murmured in a cold voice, "Remember what I said, mon fils."
He nodded. "Kill if I must."
"Many will underestimate them tonight. Don't be one of those who do."
"I won't,maman." Adrian centered himself and waited.
A moment later, he saw spells flash above him from the top of the Astronomy Tower, and another set from the direction of Gryffindor Tower, and a third from Ravenclaw Tower. The spells collided with a number of shields the Death Eaters were casting around themselves.
Adrian thought of Alicia. He didn't have time to worry about her, much as he wanted to. The Death Eaters would be fighting back in seconds, and he needed to focus entirely on dueling.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Sacking of Severus Snape
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Sacking of Severus Snape
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Battle of Hogwarts
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Battle of Hogwarts
Author's Notes:
1. Bridget and Ernie use the terms "Ded" and "Mam" for "Dad" and "Mum", which are Scottish variants.
2. In the movies, Gryffindor Tower apparently did not have battlements. I always pictured most of the towers having battlements, so that's just something I went with in this. I much prefer the books to the movies.