InsaneJournal

Reinforcements arrive.

Andrew, Tracey, Lisa, Ian + Professor Slughorn.

Ian assumed that Slughorn had arrived with the rest of them to flee. That was after all what a smart Slytherin would do, wasn’t it? But once at Hogsmeade the plump professor had bustled about, zipping in and out of sight on various errands.

A good ten minutes later, and Slughorn still had not departed. Neither had Ian himself, for that matter. “I could Apparate,” he said to no one in particular, remembering his licence gained over the last Hogsmeade weekend.

But he didn’t. He looked around at the other students, those who had not succumbed to Sung’s sleeping spell looking scared. Defenceless. Well, he wasn’t defenceless, was he? He’d been in the little IS party for most of the year, learning their spells, practicing his hexing skills. And he was the Slytherin Quidditch captain. A borne athlete, aside from his earlier rational that if Hogwarts fell, there would be nowhere left to run, he realised that it was proving very, very difficult to step away from a competition, even if the price of losing was his life.

“Okay, so maybe I won’t Apparate,” he added. He shrugged with attempted nonchalance, even though his heart was thudding.

Distant pops of wizards arriving into the village began to sound, and presently Slughorn was surrounded, his booming voice gathering everyone to him, calling out orders. He seemed to be organising some sort of resistance movement. Stupid, Ian thought, even as his own feet carried him over there.

“Professor,” he said loudly, “I’m through with running.”

“Then stop running,” Tracey firmly said, as she overheard Ian from where she was doing her own pacing. She sounded as though she was telling herself the very same words. After all, she and Lisa decided they were staying. And though a big part of her was urging her to just go run and apparate away like Juliet had suggested, she knew she needed to stop running away and avoiding things.

“Ian,” Tracey began, as she approached the male who saved her from her failed attempt at a Crucio. “We’re much better than the others in our house who left and you know that,” she said. She knew he had a good heart. He wouldn’t still be here, if he didn’t. Giving him one last knowing look, she went to get Lisa, as she anxiously waited for further instructions from Slughorn.

Andrew had noticed that Slughorn was gathering the forces and had already asked Yue to look after the younger years. He wouldn't call it saying goodbye - that was rubbish because he'd see him later, right? A nervous fluttering in his stomach clearly said that wasn't a foregone conclusion, but he ignored it.

He moved toward Slughorn and tried to get the professor's attention. "When are we going back, Professor?"

His question was echoed by quite a few standing there, as well, who Andrew recognized from Platform 9 ¾ if from nowhere else.

"Soon soon! We're just waiting on a few more arrivals," Slughorn said, eying the crowd as he mentally tallied the total.

“They need our help,” said Lisa Turpin, who stood next to Tracey Davis. She was visibly shaken, and not at all as confident as she usually looked, but she seemed resolved. She had just finished putting Penelope under a Sleeping Charm herself, forcing her to drink the last bit of Calming Draught she had on her -- despite Penelope’s protests. To go back was by far the most reckless decisions Lisa had ever made in her entire life of being practical and careful, but if she was going to go through with it, they needed to go and go now.

Lisa had told Juliet to watch Penelope. There were not many people she would have entrusted with that task, but luckily Juliet was trustworthy enough. She looked over at Tracey and grabbed the other girl’s hand. This war needed to end once and for all.

“Are we ready, Professor?” asked Lisa, sounding a bit impatient.

Slughorn looked around, taking a mental headcount. The thunder of hooves startled him, but he nodded at Bane when the centaurs came to a stop on the outskirts of their group. "Yes, yes, I think we are," he said, nodding more to himself than to anyone else. "Wands out, everyone! Er, and hooves, of course."

Raising his own, he headed in the direction of Hogwarts.



Fights: the second wave.

Chloe and Julian vs Yaxley + Augustus Pye.

It was beginning to be too much. If he’d had time to think at all, Julian would have been grateful for his mother’s triage instruction and his experience observing (and assisting a little) her during his younger days, something which allowed him to quickly sort out who he could cure quickly or leave for Chloe, and who would take more time and care. And who was beyond his aid.

As with being outside with Wayne earlier, he tried not to think too much about the third option.

Leaning (or more accurately, slumping) against the wall for a moment, he charmed two cups out of the air, filling them with an Aguamenti charm. “Here,” he said, passing one to Chloe. “You need a break.”

Chloe took the cup wordlessly, still a little pale after having seen Colin’s body brought in. She’d thought that this would be easier than fighting, but she was finding that while she felt more useful here, it was almost harder to see person after person broken or battered. The ones she recognized were the worst, and she didn’t know that she’d ever get the image of Colin out of her head. “There are so many,” she said, looking among the bodies, trying to focus on the ones that were still moving, that she could help, rather than the ones who she couldn’t. “A break’s almost worse, because then you really see it all. I almost think I’d rather keep working.”

“You’re not going to be able to help anyone if you pass out,” Julian said, not unkindly. He too had been shocked by Colin Creevey being brought into the room, someone who he knew vaguely from school, someone younger than him. That reason alone made it hard to accept that the Gryffindor had died. That was not how things were supposed to work, was it?

“Just focus on what you can do. And what’s in front of you,” he told Chloe. It was something that had become a mantra of his, especially within the last – however long the battle had been going on. He was saying it as much for himself as for Chloe.

“I know, I know,” Chloe said, knowing that Julian was right. A short break, some water, and then she’d go back to it. She’d made it through the first part, after all, so this was the part she really knew how to do. Healing the good guys was much easier than hexing the bad ones.

“Focus on what’s in front of me, I can do that.” She finished the rest of her water and rubbed her eyes, taking a deep breath. It was so late it was almost early, but adrenaline was keeping her going, and she hoped it would hold out. “I’m so glad you taught Em and I this term. I’d much rather be here helping then out there fighting. At least now I know I’m doing something I’m decent at.”

“Yeah. I’m a lover, not a fighter, man.” Julian gave a nervous chuckle. “Out there I would be like...whoa. Wayne and I got Crabbe of the senior variety with a Cheering Charm earlier and then got away. He’s not, like, very bright, so it worked.”

He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner and patted the wall next to him. “I’ve got some chocolate in my pocket. Want a piece?”

Chloe took a spot on the wall next to him and nodded, gratefully accepting the chocolate that was offered. “A cheering charm, oh, that’s clever,” she said, immediately feeling a little better once she tasted a little bit. “We weren’t nearly that creative - Mel and Em and I. Oh! And did you know that Professor Blishwick was a Death Eater? I was so confused when he attacked us; wondering if there was someone behind us or something. But we got away, and hurt him a little, at least.”

“You can never tell, can you?” Julian agreed companionably, breaking a second piece off for himself. With his first bite some of the warmth stole back in him, some of the sensation of panicked energy faded. “I mean, take my housemate Lucy Yaxley. She’s as nice as anything, and yet she totally supports their cause.”

He frowned. “It’s easier to think, like, that they’re all wicked people, but it’s not that simple, you know? Lucy must love her father. He must be nice to his own family at least. If he had been horrible to her, it would be easier for her to believe what we believe.”

“I liked Lucy well enough before this year,” Chloe agreed with a nod. “Though I pretty much avoided her this year, like with all the IS members. Well, except for the Gryffindors.” Chloe hadn’t ever given any real thought to why people like Lucy believed what they did; it was much easier to just assume that it was because they were bad. Considering the possibility that they may be good people some of the time, or that they weren’t all wicked, made her a little bit uncomfortable, especially considering the fact that some of her closest friends were out there, fighting them.

“I guess I never thought about it like that, though. But I don’t want to think about them being good people some of the time. It makes understanding why these things have to happen a little overwhelming.” She winced a little as they heard a loud noise on the other side of the wall, and Chloe gave a worried look to the entrance to the Great Hall. “I hope we’re doing okay out there.”

“I suppose it’s easier to defend yourself if you just put things like that to one side while you’re doing it,” he agreed. Julian could scarcely believe how calmly and distantly he was discussing these things, as if it was not a situation they were dealing with themselves presently. “And thank you too, sister. For being here. It’s easier to be brave when you’re being brave for someone other than yourself, I think,” he added, his brown eyes solemn now.

At the noise from the outside he broke off, tightening his grip on his wand and stepping in front of Chloe. Unknowingly in placing himself between the source of the noise and Chloe, he had edged closer to the end of the protective circle the Aurors had surrounded the injured and Healers with.

Contrary to Lucy’s belief, Lawrence Yaxley was not a nice man. He was a bit of a bastard, actually. Oh, he loved his daughter, sure enough, and the rest of his family too, but anyone outside of his immediate circle he couldn’t really give a fig about. He wasn’t a sadist, but he did see people as a sort of disposable barrier that stood in his way. He didn’t care why they were there, and he had no interest in trying to see things from another’s point of view. It made him ruthless, and a very good Death Eater. Once he had alligned with the Dark Lord, he would do anything for the cause. And that included being a little underhand, like the good Death Eater he was, and hexing the injured and defenceless before they could start fighting again.

Yaxley strode away from his most recent dead body and came across the Aurors encircling the injured and the healers. Many of the Aurors were his former colleagues from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Yaxley knew their strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, that also meant that they knew his. As he debated in his head who he could beat, Julian strayed outside the protective circle and Yaxley took his opportunity where he could find it. He cast a painful slicing hex in Julian’s direction, designed to make an opponent double up in pain and render them an easier target for something more permanent.

”Protego!” Julian’s wand snapped up quickly. He had not considered what the curse would be, had no opportunity to register anything other than the blur of movement out of the corner of his eye, but he reacted just in time. Unfortunately while his Shielding Charm was fair, his opponent’s Slicing Hex was stronger, and it found its mark along his left arm. He yelped and dropped to his knees, gritting his teeth against the pain. His right hand came up instinctively to grasp at the wound, then once more jerked upright, pointing towards the wizard. His eyebrows rose in surprise as he recognised Mister Yaxley, who in spite of everything that had happened, he still thought of as Lucy’s father first and a Death Eater second.

“Hey, man, hey. I mean, Mister Yaxley, Sir.” He spoke in a calm, almost friendly tone, though his wand hand was shaking and his skin was growing visibly whiter. Blood was soaking through the sleeve of his hoodie. “This is a triage centre. We’re no threat to you.” Managing to rise to his feet, albeit shakily, he continued to talk, slowly moving around to come between Yaxley and Chloe, and hoping that his conversation drew Lucy’s father’s attention away from the attempt. Or even changed his mind. “There can still be honour found in war, can’t there?” An idea came to him, and as there was no time to assess whether it was a good one or not, he used it. “I’m in Hufflepuff with your daughter, Sir. She was obviously raised with good values, like being fair. She wouldn’t be proud of a father who attacked a bunch of injured, defenceless people.” If his talk had achieved one thing, it was that he was now standing directly in front of Chloe, protecting her from the line of fire.

Chloe wasn’t entirely convinced that trying to talk down a Death Eater was the best idea, but she also didn’t really think that interrupting Julian or trying to hex Yaxley herself was the best idea either. Her hand was wrapped tightly around her wand, and the banishing charm was at the tip of her tongue in case Yaxley so much as twitched wrong, but she held her ground and watched the interaction, on the off chance that he would accept Julian’s pleas and find a more challenging target. Wincing as the sleeve of his hoodie turned red she glanced over her shoulder to try to draw the attention of a healer, but then turned back, ready to spring into action if needed.

Julian was right. They were no threat to him, and Yaxley might have been satisfied with casting one bad hex in that direction before moving on to more challenging targets. However, ironically, Julian’s pleas had pretty much the opposite effect of making the Death Eater more interested in him. Instead of turning and walking away, he stepped closer to the Healer zone.

Lawrence shrugged. “She’s naive,” he said casually. “It seemed safest to keep her that way.” If he had known quite how much of his daughter’s naivete had gone in this last year, he would have been a lot less blase. “Can’t say I’m proud my daughter’s on good terms with a hippy,” he retorted. Then he levelled a cruciatus in Julian’s direction, apparently having already forgotten Chloe was there.

Nothing, nothing in his life could have prepared him for the sheer amount of pain caused by this hex. It felt like every follicle on his head was on fire. That the pain could not be localised should have made it hurt less, but somehow every spot in him was crying out for attention, vying for his nervous system to recognise its own unique hold on the agony. Julian wasn’t even aware that he was writhing on the floor, that his head was thrown up and issuing a scream that didn’t sound like anything remotely human.

Seeing and hearing Julian’s reactions to the spell almost made Chloe physically ill, and it took her a moment to make sure she wasn’t actually going to lose her dinner. But regained her composure and her fear turned to anger as she turned on the Death Eater.

“You... you... you fucker!” Chloe said, pulling out her wand, not entirely sure what she should cast, but knowing she needed to do something. “Depulso! And... and... repello! And.. and... confundo! And... and... protego!” The shield charm was a weak one, but it seemed to work somewhat, and Chloe hoped that at least some of the string of charms she’d just cast would stick and give her enough time to pull Julian back to the healers. Shaking a bit from adrenaline, she hooked her arms under Julian’s and started pulling him back to the protective circle, watching Yaxley as she did so.

Yaxley laughed, dodging the ineffective spells the girl cast at him. Even if they had hit, what would they have done? Pushed him away slightly? Made him a bit confused? They really had not trained these kids very well in combat. Where was the blood, where was the pain? He assumed that the shield charm would fail utterly - it was a difficult spell and most adults struggled with it, so a child whose idea of attack was a bit of a push surely could not manage it. He was surprised, therefore, that his next curse failed to reach the pair. He narrowed his eyes, irritated now, and concentrated on his next spell, one that did not need to directly hit them to do damage.

”Incendio! Incendio!” Two small fires, one on either side of Julian and Chloe.

”Aguamenti!” countered Chloe quickly, though not quite quickly enough, as the edge of her robes caught on fire and she turned her attention to that quickly to put it out. Chloe bit down on her lip as the fire brushed against her skin, but she knew that, compared to everyone else, she really was getting off easy. ”Tarantallegra,” she tried, hoping something a little more aggressive would throw him off. She knew she was going to have to start doing real curses soon, but she was afraid she didn’t quite have the stomach for it.

“Julian?” she asked her friend, trying to get him to his feet. “You okay? We need to get back to the healers.”

Julian struggled out of Chloe’s grasp, falling to the floor. He wasn’t really coherent of much else, but knew that supporting him would hinder her movements, and didn’t want her in trouble for his sake. His vision was clouding, fading out. With the last dregs of his energy he raised his arm and cast a spell that caused the floor under Yaxley’s feet to turn to slippery ice, then gave up the fight and sunk gratefully into unconsciousness.

A little tap-dancing was annoying, and on ice even more so, but it was nothing Yaxley could not handle. He crashed down to the floor and with a “finite incantantem!” managed to stop his legs. From his seated position he fired some slicing hexes at Julian for good measure. An unconscious opponent was a good opponent, as far as Yaxley was concerned. That would teach the insolent boy to try and hippy his way out of a fight. He thought the girl would have her hands full for now. He cast another “finite incantantem!” at the ice beneath him and stood up.

Chloe took advantage of the momentary distraction to shoot one more banishing charm, and then struggled to pull Julian back towards the circle of Healers. “Help, please!” she called to them, knowing they were busy, but hoping that she could get the attention of just one of them, as she couldn’t hold off an angry Death Eater by herself.

Augustus Pye and two other Healers were working nearby when they heard the girls’ cry for help. Spying the brunette and the rather intimidating looking man who was no doubt a Death Eater on the edge of the safety ward, he tightened his grip on his wand and dashed over. He was not a natural dueller, but he was a Healer, and it was instinctive for him to watch out for the wellbeing of others. Fortunately two pairs of footsteps thundering behind him told him that he was not alone.

Yaxley snarled. That was just cheating. Well, the boy was unconscious, the girl hardly a formidable opponent, and now there were no fewer than three healers coming to her rescue. He could stay and duel all of them - he might even beat them - but it seemed a pretty pointless waste of time when there was a proper battle going on. He couldn’t get into the triage anyway, so all the destruction it would cause would be some injured people getting help a little bit later than they otherwise might. Not exactly a grand triumph. He sent a babbling curse in the direction of Augustus Pye and stunning spells towards the other two healers. Before they could recover, he was away, sprinting through the hall in search of a fresh fight.



Angelina and Dean vs Burke.

Cornelius Burke hated when people called him a coward. It reminded him of all the many times that cowardice was a word implied for him when his whole family would compare him to his courageous Gryffindor brother Tiberius. He wasn’t scared. Just because he was a Hufflepuff and just because he was now running away, behind a tree, trying to find solace in the new battles that have erupted, he refused to still be called a liar. He was merely taking a break, trying to remind himself that he wasn’t a coward for choosing to be a Death Eater. That was a bold move, one that the whole Burke family should be proud of now that he was serving the very person that would bring him and his collegues glory.

The Dark Lord would have been very proud of the many lives he accosted that night - even though, he clearly got away from one bloody bitch that fought of his Imperius. How dare she not abide to his will? Clearly she wasn’t worth it to fight. He wasn’t going to waste his time with that. Not that it mattered, he killed her little friend. That was good enough. With that motivation in mind, Cornelius left his momentary solace, and seeked out the first person he could find near the pile of rubble that looked very vulnerable to break.

“Expulso!” Cornelius cried out, pointing his wand at the rubble, hoping it would immediately fall upon the dark male’s body and add to his growing list of casualties that would surely please his master.

Dean hurt all over. In fact that was grand as a grand understatement could get. However, he soldiered on. He certainly wasn’t as worse for wear as others his seen - a thought that caused him to swallow thickly and caused an ache in his chest that also strengthened his resolve - but it was rather bruised up. He would be hurting in the morning, if he hopefully made it that far, and hopefully many mornings after that.

“I’m kind of a little tired over here to start skulking around and muttering ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are’. How about you stop hiding and come out fight me face to face, mano a - er, wand to wand?” He called out, mentally cursing himself for missing where the Death Eater had run off to.

Lucky for him, the man was rather loud in the hex he had shouted out and rumble made noise. He was able to make a mad lunge on the opposite direction and land hard on his arm, some of the smaller pieces pelting him on the leg. Was that a crunch? That was definitely not a crunch. That was definitely not his arm. And that curse word was definitely not something his mother would box his ears for and had definitely not come out of his mouth. Was his arm broken? Dean couldn’t really think and he really didn’t care beyond the fact that it hurt. Still, he lifted his arm and managed to fling a, “Reducto!” at the tree. However, while it might have done some damage it was certainly - definitely - not at the full power it could have been if he hadn’t been pulling an Indiana Jones.

Cornelius heard the crunch and a loud cackle emanated from his mouth as he found the boy on the ground. This would be easier than he thought it was going to be. In his merriment however, he didn’t notice the reducto that hit the tree above him and soon he himself was lunging on the ground, feet caught on the tree branch, a yell of pain coming from his mouth.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS BOY!” He called out, as he winced and levitated the bark from his leg. It annoyed him that he was in pain and clearly the boy wasn’t going to get off with an easy Avada Kedavra now. Pulling himself up, he pointed his want to the boy, all anger emanating to the curse coming out of his mouth. “Crucio,” he called, to make the boy feel more than the pain that the tree branch induced.

Dean didn’t know what he had been thinking. He hadn’t been thinking. He should have scrambled to his feet quicker. He never quite absorbed the saying of every second counted. A person would have thought he would have learned that lesson while on the run, and to a certain point he had; however, Dean had never been quite struck with the meaning of that saying until a split second before the crucio hit him. Because a split second before that, he had taken a moment to breath. Grateful for his spell striking true. He had just made it past the pain of his injured arm, forcing himself through that so he could shift and prop himself up with his other hand. Dean had just did that before he had been hit full blast. A scream being ripped through him. His brain wouldn’t have been able to say whether it was because of the harsh spell or the violent way he had landed back on his broken arm.

Angelina kept jogging, kept looking ahead. That was all she could do, and there was no dead Alicia behind her. When it came down to it, life was simple. Stop. Or go forward. Move. Or stay still. Be found. Be killed.

No. Better to go forward.

She had reached a copse of trees when she heard the primal shrieks of someone in pain, then the shouts of a voice that made her blood run cold, then course through her, molten with rage. That Alicia was gone...and he was alive, here still to hurt...no, he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t dare...

“Torture my friends, will you?” she roared, leaping into the clearing. “I’ll torture you! CRUCIO!”

Cornelius screamed in pain, his control over his own Crucio of the boy broken, as he himself was put through the same pain he instilled in the boy. He crippled down on the ground, the pain on his leg exemplified more than ever as he tried to regain control. But clearly the caster of the spell was angered enough to keep him under it. He soon realized it was the friend of the girl he killed. It frustrated Cornelius that he didn’t just kill the girl, but the girl was strong - able enough to fight his Imperius.

“Let... go... you.. HARPY!” Cornelius said with clenched teeth. He tried to gain hold of his wand, finding some way to break away from this, but there was no use. It was a strong hold, and all he could do now was wait and hold onto his will, one he hoped was strong enough after the many times his master performed the very same painful spell on him.

Dean, somewhere, some how, managed to let out a chuckle. It was low and it probably would have caused something to hurt if he hadn’t hurt all over and it was broken and raw but it was a chukle. How could he not? He’d always said that Angelina Johnson was fiercer than Xena and there she was proving him right by coming to his rescue. The situation was only made more bizarre by the death eater’s cry. From his position, on the ground, eyes pushed open, he could see the other man reaching for his wand and Dean attempted to do the same. Pushing forward to reach out where his had rolled away when he’d landed on his arm. If he could just grab onto his wand, he should have enough strength to send the death eater’s wand out of reach.

“Oh no you don’t!” Angelina saw him reaching for his wand and quickly Accioed it over, lifting the Cruciatus off him for a moment. This respite was short-lived, however. One slicing hex hit him, then another, and another. Her insides were warring with her - the suspicion she had that Alicia would not want her to become a killer, even to avenge her own death, and a deep, dark desire that the man be made to pay.

Eventually she lowered her wand back to her side. She was breathing hard and shaking, and there was perspiration on her forehead.

“Well, what should I do with you?” she muttered to herself, giving the man a scathing look. “I know what you’d do to me if I was in your place. But I’ve not killed anyone yet and I’m certainly not going to start with you - pathetic excuse for a human being that you are.” Decision made, she seemed to come back more into herself and performed a final Petrifying curse on the Death Eater, then turned to Dean. “Come on. I’ll get you to Triage. He can live or he can bleed to death there - it makes no difference to me.” For the first time that evening, while the pang of loss hadn’t left her in the slightest, she felt redeemed somewhat - absolved of Alicia’s death.



Andrew and Declan vs Alecto.

It was eerie, returning. Not that Andrew expected it to be anything else, but knowing he was coming back to fight - to finally fight - it just made his stomach flip over. He was damned if he was leaving Emily on her own, though. The children were settled and as soon as Slughorn began heading up, he joined them. He was of age, so no one could stop him. He was barely able to comprehend what he'd seen before and things didn't look any better now. There were duels going on all around him, and all he wanted was to find Emily, to make sure she was safe.

Looking about, he spotted her across the room, a surge of relief rushing through him as he yelled, somehow catching her attention in the midst of it all. Their eyes met a moment, giving him time to smile briefly before a rush of people swirled between them, and he lost sight of her. Swearing under his breath, he took a step in the direction in which he'd last seen her, but the sight of a brandished wand stopped him cold.

After her previous fight, Alecto was not about to be caught off-guard by a bunch of children. Although she had taught many of them who would no doubt be fighting today, she had not expected the magnitude of their skill. So she was now prepared, with her wand out, and her eyes trained on mysterious figures. It didn't take long for her to find someone, and she made quiet strides toward her target.

"Hello," Alecto said, with a sinister tone underneath her sinister smile. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be out?" She didn't waste time waiting for an answer before going in for the big stuff, "Crucio!"

Declan looked around. Chaos had resumed, he had long lost Geoff, and had no idea where anyone else from G6 were. Or Molly, or Parvati, or anyone else he cared about. All he could see right now was a blur of faces and curses.

Then suddenly, he heard a scream and he felt his blood freeze in his veins. He knew that voice. It was Andrew.

What in Merlin’s name was Andrew doing back in the castle? Declan thought he had left with Yue, Bethany and the others. In a rush of panic, he ran to where the scream came from and saw that it was indeed Andrew, being attacked by the she-Carrow, who had her back turned from him.

“Oh no, you don’t,” he said with gritted teeth, as instinct made him pick a small piece of wood from the floor (a chair leg? Part of a window frame? He didn’t know and, at this point, he didn’t give a damn) and hit his “teacher” with as much strength as he could muster. Which, he had to admit, wasn’t as much as it would have normally been, but was enough to break her concentration and stop the curse.

The pain was the worst thing Andrew had ever felt, and he couldn't hold his screams back. Even his father hadn't ever done anything this bad to him before - he had used his fists. Suddenly, the pain ended and the absence of it was almost as startling as how it felt initially. He could hear screams and shouts, but most of all he could hear the beat of his heart and his own, ragged breathing.

He needed to get up. He was a goner if he stayed where he was. Lifting his head, he saw Declan standing over Carrow with a chair leg in his hand. Thank Merlin. Weakly, and glad it hadn't lasted any longer, Andrew struggled to his feet, surprised to find his wand still in his hand. His hand was shaking, but he honestly wasn't sure if that was the absolute hate and anger that consumed him or if it was the after-effects of the Curse.

"You bloody bitch," he managed to snarl, losing all pretensions at being anything other than his father's son. "My Muggle-born father hits harder than that - you curse like a fucking girl."

Alecto had more up her sleeve -- as if she would be caught dead relying on only one curse to not only drag out the suspense but not to inflict any real damage. She wasn't like Bellatrix who liked to play with her food -- Alecto preferred a quick end, and this was only for short amusement. The insinuation that she wasn't playing hardball was offensive, to say the least. Especially since the Cruciatus was the least of her tools. She shot a withering look at the intruder who had dared to interrupt her entertainment, noticing that it was Declan McLaggen, someone who had proven to be loyal up until the end, when he decided to be not so loyal. Of course, this meant that she could enact her revenge on him. Not paying Declan too much attention, she cast an "Incarcerous" at him, hoping that would keep him occupied. For more protection, she sent a Reductor Curse his way as well, before turning her attentions on Andrew and what he had just revealed.

She knew better than to react to shocking revelations, but Alecto Carrow often worked against her better judgment. Her face contorted at the mention of a Mudblood father and she channeled that disgust into her magic. One of the most loyal supporters in the blasted Gryffindor House had been a son of a Mudblood -- and was insulting her! Although she was not too familiar with the Entrail Expelling Curse, she pointed her wand at Andrew and said the incantation, sure that his already weak state would keep him unable to move very far. If he did, she would hurt him even more.

As the ropes wrapped around Declan, he cursed himself for being too slow. He should have been faster, he should have reached for his wand instead of just standing there like an idiot. And if that first spell wasn’t enough, a Reductor Curse blasted him out of Alecto’s way almost immediately, making him hit the floor with a loud and excruciatingly painful crack. It took a few seconds for the world around Declan to refocus again and for him to realize that he was tied up and that there seemed to be something wrong with his arm. With extreme difficulty, he struggled with the ropes. He needed to release himself and help Andrew. But everything was still so blurry...

Andrew jumped out of the way before the Curse hit him. Remembering his Dark Arts class, he finally put his whole effort into the Cruciatus Curse, aiming his wand at Alecto. This was going to feel very very good, he suspected.

"Crucio!" he yelled, watching as the red curse sizzled over the air between them and hit her full in the chest. A feeling of power washed over him, but at the same time, he felt a bit sick. Her screams, which he had thought he wanted to hear, filled him with a sense of nausea than anything else. He didn't let up immediately, though. She'd done too much to his friends, to Emily for him to let her off easy, even if using the Curse was making him feel like sicking up.

When he finally ended it, he let his arm drop, suddenly weak. His eyes turned to Declan, who was still struggling with the ropes, even as he kept part of his attention on Carrow. "Finite Incantatem, Finite Incantatem," he said, releasing the ropes and undoing whatever else she'd done to him.

It had almost been victory. But perhaps Alecto had been too quick to assume such a statement, especially in light of the Cruciatus Curse coming her way. She had been so wrapped up in her eventual -- again, assumed -- victory that she had been outsmarted by a teenager. As much as she had loved inflicting the Cruciatus on other people, she had never been the best at withstanding the pain, even though in her training, she had been forced to, with minor successes. Today was not one of those days because she had not expected it, and worse, she had not expected it to be filled with so much hatred, which only made the Curse stronger. Finally, he let it up and feeling disoriented, Alecto stumbled this way and that while Andrew turned his attentions onto Declan.

However, because she had been taught to withstand Cruciatuses and its aftermath, Alecto recovered with only a pounding in her head. Gritting her teeth, she felt the anger boil up inside of her and furiously raised her wand. "Expulso!" She shouted, aiming specifically for Andrew, but not caring if Declan got in the way as well. "Incendio! Reducto! Cruciatus! Cruciatus! Cruciatus!" Her anger was making her aim drop in accuracy, but not by much. One of these spells was bound to hit the children.

In his still dazed state, Declan barely had time to react to the fact that he was suddenly free before Alecto’s curses began flying their way. The first one missed him, but the flames brushed his injured arm and he recoiled with a scream. Gripping his wand with his thankfully still unharmed right hand, he heard more curses being thrown their way and he reacted instinctively. “Impedimenta!”

He opened his eyes. He couldn’t see anything on fire - but then again, his eyes were having trouble focusing from all the smoke and the pain he was feeling. He didn’t know if his spell had worked or even if he had managed to hit his target, but that wasn’t his priority right now. “An... Andrew?” he called.

Somehow, Andrew had been lucky enough to only catch the Incendio, and that had just set fire to his robes. He'd put it out, but he had to admit to a surge of fear at the scent of smoke and the feel of hot, searing pain. His legs still felt like they were on fire a bit. They weren't - he'd checked - but he'd have to get himself to the Hospital Wing soon enough because he was fairly certain he had burns, especially since he wasn't moving very well just now.

"Here, Declan," he managed, though his voice was tight with pain as his legs finally gave out and he sat down. He hadn't lose his wand, though, and he struggled to see through the chaos and fading smoke to find Carrow. "Where'd she go? Where is she?"

“Thank Merlin,” Declan whispered, filled with relief. He was well. Well, he was alive and talking, anyway. Now that he knew where to look, he could see his friend, who for some reason seemed to be sitting down. He tried to rush towards him, but as he took his first step his leg gave him a discharge of pain, showing that he was in an even worse state than he thought - but nevertheless, he forced himself to keep on walking. They would be better prepared for anything else that hag could throw at them if they were together.

“I don’t know,” he said, in a voice he hoped Andrew could be able to hear but Alecto couldn’t. The years he’d spent hunting nogtails with his bother and uncle had taught him a few things about stealth action, though he feared what would work with small animals, no matter how dangerous, wouldn’t work with his Muggle Studies teacher - no matter how closely they resembled each other physically. Cautiously, he drew his wand, ready to defend himself if necessary.

"Me either," Andrew replied, looking around. Where had that bitch gone? How could she hide like this? He tried to turn, to see behind him, but the burns on his legs made him suck in his breath. "Think she's gone then?"

Merlin, he hoped so. That would be the best case scenario. But he knew that hoping for the best rarely worked out, so he turned anyway, ignoring the pain in his legs.

“I doubt it.” Declan hoped desperately that Alecto was gone, but his instincts told him it would be too good to be true. No, she was very likely still there, either trying to move again after the Impediment Curse he threw her way, or waiting for the right moment to attack again. It was more likely the second option, of course - he knew the curse wouldn’t have lasted this long.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself. His legs were still complaining from the effort he was putting them through. His fall must have been ever worse that he thought. Still, he needed to reach Andrew.

If Andrew and Declan thought that Alecto Carrow would be defeated by a mere Impedimenta, then they were truly naive and had another thing coming. In her haze of anger, she had been so excitedly casting spells that one of her many, unaimed spells had met the force of the puny Trip Jinx. Still, it was a lucky break, even if she would maintain that she meant to do so to the very end. There was a lull in the fighting now, and although Alecto's first instinct was to make the first move, she had another idea. She was smirking as she was pressed close to the wall so that the two of them wouldn't be able to notice her. Oh, so innocent. She was only biding her time to make her move.

"I doubt it." was Declan's response, and Alecto almost jumped out to scream, "As you should doubt it!" but no, she had a plan. She was going to see this plan through. She was not going to jump to any conclusions. She was not going to let go of her upper hand -- the fact that they had no idea what she was going to do next. Through her years of service to the Dark Lord, she had grown more and more... well, crazy, as the torture continued and the killings happened -- all without any blows to her already deteriorated conscience. That was why she had no qualms about committing evil acts for the Dark Lord, because He was the Dark Lord and He was going to usher in a new era, a better era. And Alecto Carrow would be at the center of it.

Suddenly, as soon as she found her way to Andrew, she grabbed him by his arm so that his back was to her. Pulling him close, she tightened the hold on his arm just to inflict extraneous pain. Besides, in just a few seconds, it would all be over. "And you were so promising," she hissed to him, pointing her wand at his throat. "You could've been such a good helper." With each emphasised word came a jab with her wand. "But your biggest mistake was betraying us and we don't take too well to betrayal." Again, more jabs.

"Too bad I can't do to your Mudblood father what I'm about to do to you," she said, with a certain finality in her voice. She switched the hold from his arm to his neck quickly, tightening the grip on it so that she was, hopefully, suffocating him. "Avada Kedavra!"

Andrew had been taken by surprise by the feel of his arm being pulled behind his back. He recognized her voice and knew, in that instant, that he was going to die. Holy fuck, he was going to die. That wasn't on. The jabs made him wince and though he tried to get away, he couldn't put up much of a struggle. If she'd taken his other arm, he'd have his wand-arm free … but she hadn't.

His eyes flashed to Declan and he hoped Declan would kick her arse so she could be hauled to Azkaban where she belonged. He opened his mouth to say so when he heard the words and saw the flash of green light. He had just enough time to think about everything he had wanted to do. He wanted to see Emily again and meet his baby sister. He wanted to tell his father that -- His last, brief thought was relief that it probably wouldn't hurt.

Everything happened so fast. Declan barely had time to point his wand at Alecto before the Killing Curse was uttered and the flash of green light made him jump.

“NO!”

As soon as he regained focus, Declan saw Alecto standing there, looking triumphant, while Andrew was lying on the floor, dead. Dead. Oh Merlin. Andrew could not be dead. He was going to be a brother soon. And Emily... What was he going to tell Emily?

The shock was quickly replaced by anger, and his hand gripped his wand so tightly his knuckles went white. At that moment he forgot that he was only seventeen and therefore much less skilled than the maniac before him, that he had a broken arm, burn marks and Godric knew what else. All he could think of was that Andrew was dead, and she had killed him. And she had made the mistake of doing so in front of a McLaggen.

“You bitch,” he growled, his wand now pointing at her. “You fucking bitch. You’re going to pay for this. Crucio!”

Alecto was running on the adrenaline of the Avada Kedavra she had just cast, grinning widely and clutching her wand tightly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" she screeched, laughing as well. Still, she made no move deflecting or dodging the curse, instead embracing the pain that she was going to feel. The adrenaline kept pumping through her veins now as she fell to the ground.

She was still older anymore experiences with Dark Magic than Declan, and raised her wand with some difficulty to send a Disarming Charm at Declan. It didn't matter if it hit him or not, just as long as it broke his concentration.

Declan wasn’t really listening to her taunting. In fact, he wasn’t listening to anything beyond the beating of his own heart. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so much anger, even when he attacked his father. He wanted to make Alecto suffer, and he just didn’t care how he did it.

However, in spite of having his judgment clouded by his emotions, he was still able to see her point her wand in his direction and was able to dodge her spell in time. Unfortunately that meant he had to break the curse, but that did not bother him much. He was sure he could find a way to get his revenge without having to resort to an Unforgivable again - pain did come in many ways, after all.

Thankfully for Alecto, her Disarming Spell did exactly what it was intended to do, lifting the Cruciatus. Still smiling manically, enjoying the power she had wielded and intended to wield once again, she took the free time to cast a spell that sent a lightning bolt straight at Declan. It was small stuff compared to what she could do with Dark Magic, but she was having fun again and she was working her way up.

Declan had absolutely no idea of what it was that Alecto had just thrown at him but whatever it was it fucking hurt. It took him no time at all to regain his balance, but he felt as if it was taking forever to take a move. His vision was once again blurry, but in a completely different way, as if the world was trying to spin around him. However, he managed with great effort to keep his eyes on the squat figure that he knew was staring mockingly at him, waiting for his next step.

He tried to say something but ended up coughing instead, and a bit of blood escaped his mouth. The shock she had given him, he realized, must have caused some damage. Still, it didn’t matter as long as he could make her pay.

Dizzy from the curse, blinded by anger and with the pain rising from his chest increasing his adrenaline, he found himself casting the most unlikely spell to use on a situation where his life was on the line. “Avis!” It was only when a few blackbirds escaped his wand that he realized just what he had done, and how ridiculous it looked.

Alecto had to laugh at the sight of the black birds flying around Declan. How ridiculous! Here they were, in a battle for their lives, Declan having seen Andrew die at her hands, and his move was to summon birds? "Is that your brilliant move, McLaggen? Birds?" Her body shook with the sharp bark of her laughter as she pointed and jeered at Declan. "Even I expected more from you!"

This time, Declan did hear Alecto’s taunting - and, if his blood hadn’t been boiling with rage already, this would have probably made it. As it was, it made him snap back, even if only slightly, to thinking somewhat coherently.

He looked at the birds, and a sudden idea crossed his mind. Ridiculous as his spell might have looked, it could still be useful. It could be a good way to distract her while he thought of something really painful to throw at her. The stupid cow was so busy taunting him she wouldn’t even realize what he was doing until it was too late.

Slowly, he pointed his wand at the birds. “Oppugno!”

Unfortunately, Alecto was so busy taunting that she had no idea what Declan was doing until it was too late. She had actually thought that Declan would stop there, after brandishing the birds. Why he had done it, she had no idea, but she had actually thought that was his move. Perhaps it was for intimidation, although why Alecto would be intimidated by birds was an entirely different question. One minute the birds were swirling around Declan, chirping, chirping, chirping away (in a rather annoying manner, Alecto thought, and had contemplated Avada Kedava-ing them), and the next, as soon as she blinked, she found them coming straight for her, almost at breakneck speed.

Instinctively, she threw her arms up to cover her face, but the birds were relentlessly pecking at her arms and her hands, as well as the parts of her face that were not hidden away. Somewhere in the shuffle she had lost her wand, with the birds having come after her hands so hard that she lost her grip on her wand. Agitated and feeling helpless without her hand, she tried to get to the ground to search for her wand, but the birds took that moment to come after her face with a renewed spirit, one after another, as they pecked her face, her nose, her cheeks, her eyes with abandon. She tried to swat them away, but working against magic was always foolhardy and that didn't work out. Screaming as the birds continued pecking, she couldn't open her eyes because the tiny blackbirds had already done the damage it needed.

Alecto fell to the ground, using only her hands to palm for her wand. Where was it? She looked like a sore sight, her face bearing the marks of the birds' attacks, and her eyes squeezed shut as blood flowed from the sides. Finally -- finally, she found her wand, gripping it so tightly as she heard the wood creak, as if it was going to break if she continued her cruel mistreatment of her weapon. "Expulso!" she cried, in an attempt to get rid of the birds. Without her sight, she couldn't see where she was aiming, but she wanted those damn birds away. There were still a few birds after her, and she felt completely hopeless, helpless, and weak without her sight. With an enraged scream, she sent up a heavy smokescreen, using that to escape the battle site, albeit slowly and not so steadily. She hoped that maybe Amycus was around the corner. She needed her brother.

Declan watched that scene with a mixture of horror and vindication. That was not what he had planned to do at all with the birds when he set them on Alecto, but he couldn’t help but feel some strange satisfaction with the way things turned out. He wondered if perhaps the birds were sharing his rage, making them more vicious than they would have been otherwise. Well, it didn’t matter. He had been right: pain did come in many different ways, and this was a way that, albeit gruesome, had stopped him from casting the dark curses the other Carrow had been teaching them and which he was trying to remember at that moment.

He couldn’t help but laugh when Alecto’s attempt to get rid of the birds failed, though this made his chest feel once again as if it was exploding, and he coughed a bit more blood. I hope you’re watching this, mate, he thought, thinking of Andrew.

He was about to shout something at Alecto when everything filled with smoke. The burning feeling on his chest doubled in intensity, and he doubled over. He felt like his insides were about to burst into flames. With great effort, he tried to clear the smoke, but to no avail. Slowly, he crawled towards the spot where he knew Andrew’s body was lying, his movements hindered by his broken arm and the sensitive spots of skin that had been touched by the flames - but, eventually, the effort proved to be too much and he fell face down on the floor, unconscious.



Nathan and Michael vs Aragog's babies.

“Get down!” Michael shouted, before sending a blasting hex over Nathan’s shoulder. The spell went a bit closer than he intended it to, but it was either take the risk or let the giant spider hurt Nathan. And really Terry would never let him live that down.

After Neville’s stand things had erupted again so quickly. The castle and grounds were full of chaos as they put forth one final push. Even hurting with every bit of his body telling him to stop, the sheer adrenaline rushing through his veins was enough to keep him going. Michael had meant it when he said he would rather die than live in a world where the Dark Lord ruled.

While Michael knocked one spider back, more kept coming, making their way through the hole in the castle wall. All he could think about was how close they where to the Great Hall and all the people there who were in no shape to fight. “Alright,” he said making his way to Nathan’s side. “You and me?”

With Terry out and Molly off somewhere, hopefully safe, the best bet they had was to stand by each other. "Let’s do this," said Nathan. There would be time to for gratitude later, right now they needed to focus on the matter at hand. It would have been easy to worry about everything that had happened since the cease sire, but it was better for Nathan to cling onto the victory over Rabastan. If he could handle one death eater with Molly, surely he and Michael could deal with some spiders.

Normally spiders alone weren’t something to be afraid of, but these were not normal spiders. Even not at their full size, the acromantulas from the Forbidden Forest were huge. Covered in thick black hair with legs spanning up to at least nine feet – that wasn’t even the scariest part of them. No, that went to their giant fangs and pincers wildly clicking as they rushed the grounds once more.

The spiders went after anyone, enemy and ally, seeing them all as the next meal and the reason they were pushed from their home. Chaotic as they looked, they were smart going right for the castle where the highest density of people was.

The pair fell into a steady rhythm. Spells were flying everywhere, but all they really were doing was trying to stop a wound from bleeding out. The two could only keep the spiders as bay and keep each other safe for so long. More and more kept flooding back in, just as angry, just as hungry.

Nathan moved back a few steps, hoping to give himself a few more seconds to react – not that it really changed anything. “I think we need a new plan here,” said Nathan over the scream of a spider he blasted back through the hole.

For Michael Corner it was all tunnel vision. The adrenaline might have been rushing through him, but the only way he could keep it going was being completely focused on the spiders and the next hex he could get out from his unsteady hands.

“Michael!” Nathan shouted again, this time a bit louder. “This isn’t working!”

That seemed to get through to Michael, causing him to jump and look toward the younger boy. “Well, what’s your bright idea?” He didn’t mean to come off angry, but he certainly didn’t have anything because it took everything he had to just keep the offense up.

“Why don’t we cut them off at the bottleneck?” Nathan motioned to the hole in the castle wall. There wasn’t much by way of stone to collapse in on the opening and even that would just cause another hole higher up. And the spiders would still be able to set through. “We could try to set up a ward, keep them out.”

Michael nodded. Right now that was so beyond his range of ability. Wards required steady hands and a mind that wasn’t all jumbled up. On good days he could barely pull off a strong one, tonight he wasn’t even going to try. “Okay, okay, you get going on that. I’ll cover.”

Nathan set to work on setting up a ward to keep the spiders out, while Michael kept blasting them back. Looking back, Michael should have known that his offer to provide cover probably wasn’t any better than the situation they were in before, but what other choice did he have?

Between the weak grasp he had on the wand and the spider coming right at him, Michael managed to get off a spell just before the wand fell from his hand. He screamed out, feeling like some stupid second year only just learning how to duel when he was anything but. To add insult to injury, as the spider was knocked back it snapped Kat’s wand in two.

The scream caught Nathan’s attention, but he couldn’t look, not yet. He rushed through the rest of the ward, hoping it would hold, before glancing over to see another spider coming at Michael. “Protego,” he cried out to shield Michael.

The second he looked elsewhere to protect Michael, one of the last spiders on the their side of the sealed hole attacked, sinking his fangs into Nathan’s left arm hard. While the acromantula venom earned a high price in trade, it was also highly toxic. The spider on Nathan withdrew its fangs and covered the open wound with its mouth, pushing its salvia into Nathan’s blood. Human flesh was great, but human slush was even tastier.

Across the corridor, Michael Corner didn’t feel like much of a wizard at all. There Nathan was trying not to scream out in pain and he was just standing there. Useless. But that was his MO lately – Michael Corner, the boy who got other people hurt. With no other choice he reached for the broken wand, hoping it would give him at least one more spell.

“Confringo!”

The spell hit the spider, causing it to explode, but not without scorching a good part of his arm, leaving it completely useless and painfully throbbing. Nathan barely had time to react before another spider was coming toward him, jaws clicking furiously, ready to avenge his fallen brother.

Michael couldn’t be bothered with divination, but he didn’t need to be a seer to know what would happen next. He really didn’t want to be the one to explain to the Boot family how Nathan died. It was already bad enough. With a belly deep scream, Michael launched himself, placing his body between Nathan and the spider.

Like the idiot he was, he shoved the broken wand into the spider’s eye causing the spider to flail in agony. Michael was proud of himself until the spider’s pincers pierced through the nice fleshy part of his torso. There was absolutely nothing manly about the shriek that Michael let out.

Nathan couldn’t entirely believe what he was seeing. Michael Corner had to have a death wish. He cast a slicing spell to sever the spider’s pincers from its body, preventing him from hurting Michael anymore. One spider down, he just had one more to stun before he could move to help Michael.

For his part, all Michael could do was wait. Again. How had his life come down to this? Hands fumbling, he tried to stop the blood without causing himself more pain. The one good thing he had going for him was that with his current rate of blood loss and shock was slowing down his heart rate, stopping the venom from passing too quickly through his body.

Once the threat was neutralized and the spider bodies in the corridor were confirmed dead and pushed off to the side, Nathan went over to check on Michael. “You’re an idiot,” he said bending down to assess the extent of Michael’s injuries.

Michael laughed and immediately thought better of it. “Terry would kill me if you didn’t make it.” That was all the reason he felt he needed to offer, even if Nathan could have been safe, that risk wasn’t worth taking.

“And he’s not going to yell at me for you?” After bandaging his own wound, Nathan did his best to at least start to patch Michael’s a little. Right now they were both a mess, but he was in slightly better standing. “Don’t even try to argue the point.”

Down the hall there was a yell of shock, cheers of Harry that were stifled almost as quickly as they started. Michael paused, Nathan momentarily distracted at the excitement. Undoubtedly they were both thinking the same thing. Harry Potter was dead. They had all seen the body, then what the hell was happening in the Great Hall.

“Nathan, I’m fine.” Judging by the eye roll he received, Michael didn’t think Nathan believed him. “Okay, I’ll be fine for a few minutes while you go find help.” What went unspoken was the ask to find out what was happening in the Great Hall. Michael wasn’t about to go anywhere.

Nathan looked at him for a moment, not really trusting what Michael was saying, but weighing it against what he knew to determine the best outcome. “You better not die on me.”

“Never,” he said letting himself collapse against the wall behind him as Nathan set out to go find help.