Sophia Holmes and the Search for Horcruxes (Harry Potter Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Twenty Eight

We head back up the marble staircase, people going different directions as they are deployed to different areas of the castle.

"Harry, where are we going?" I ask, keeping close so not to lose him in the crowd.

"Room of Requirement: it's where the portrait led out."

"It was there all along?" I question, frowing.

"Kind of," Harry says, keeping pace but looking back. "Its interior changes according to the need. You need a place of comfort, it transforms into a treehouse. You need a place to hide something, it transforms into a room with thousands of other hidden objects. It must be in there."

I nod in understanding but as we take a door leading away from the stairs, Harry stumbles, roaring in agony.

"Harry?" I rush in front of him, steadying him. He looks up at me, irises red and his face possessed. I take a step back and stagger as the room shakes. I look out and my face falls as the shield shatters, falling like wisps of paper to the ground. A battle cry sounds outside as a group of Snatchers rush down towards the bridge.

Now we're in trouble.

Harry staggers against the wall as the pain loosens its grip, the red in his eyes disappearing as the flames of the torches flicker above us.

Windows shatter on the levels below as plumes of black smoke pierce through them and a roar below sounds contact. We don't have much time.

I help Harry upstairs, still weakened by the effects of Voldemort and watch as the bridge outside falls down into the abyss below, cutting off the Snatchers. There's a loud rumble in the distance and on the horizon, I think I catch sight of one or two giants before we walk past the windows.

The chaos has reached this floor already. We push through the crowd as spells fly and bodies fall - most of them just kids from the school. As we get to a space in the fight, a Death Eater clocks us but Harry has seen him and drops him with a Stunning Spell a moment later.

"Ginny! Neville!" Harry cries, seeing the two running towards us. "You alright?"

Neville looks high on adrenaline as he grins madly at us, covered in charcoal. "Never better!" he says. "Feel like I could spit fire! Haven't seen Luna, have you?"

"Luna?" Harry says, confused.

"I'm mad for her!" he replies. "Think it's about time I told her, seeing as there's a pretty good chance we'll both be dead by dawn!" He rushes off, casting spells left, right and centre to cover himself.

I awkwardly preoccupy myself as Harry and Ginny turn back to each other, their eyes catching. An instant, a moment of meaning in the midst of madness.

"I know." Ginny says to Harry's unspoken but unnecessary confession before she's off again. Harry watches her go.

"Come on, Harry!" I urge and he snaps back to reality.

"This way," he says starting to sprint down the corridor as an explosion detonates and the windows running the length of the corridor explode, one after another, showering us in glass. The wall falls away, rubble falling into the night and below, but we never break stride.

As we get back up to the corridor where the treehouse was, I realise it's empty. There's no door. Perhaps we took a wrong turn somewhere?

I look back at Harry to gauge his reaction but he stands still beside me, calming himself. All of a sudden, a door appears in front of us on the wall out of nowhere. I look up at it in awe momentarily as I follow Harry into the room.