The Potter Twins and the Deathly Hallows {7}

37. Underground

"Those who fought for something better, those who taught by how they lived, loved ones taken long before their work was done. Underground, underground, leave them underground." - Underground, Austin Wintory

The world has ended, so why has the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms? My mind is in freefall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the impossibility, because Fred Weasley cannot be dead, the evidence of my senses must be lying --

And suddenly a body falls past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses fly in at us from the darkness, hitting the wall behind our heads.

"Get down!" I shout, as more curses fly through the night: I drag Draco to the floor and grab ahold of his cheeks, tears pouring from my eyes so erratically that my whole face feels wet. "Get out of here, now!" I sob, and behind me, I can hear Harry shouting at Percy to move. I glance over my shoulder to see him laid across Fred's body, protecting it from further harm.

"No -- I can help, I want to help -- " A horrible sob racks my chest, and Draco cups the side of my face. "I'm not leaving you," he says passionately.

"Percy! Percy, you can't do anything for him! We're going to --"

"GO!" I shout as Hermione's scream pierces the air. Turning, I don't need to ask why. A monstrous spider, the size of a small car, is trying to climb through the massive hole in the wall: one of Aragog's descendants has joined the fight.

Ron, Harry, and I shout together; our spells collide, and the monster is blown backwards, its legs jerking horribly, and vanishes into the darkness.

"It brought friends!" Harry calls, and I turn back to Draco quickly, pressing my lips to his in a frantic goodbye. It tastes like tears and blood.

"Go," I say once more, grasping his cheeks. Jets of light are flying over our heads as more giant spiders flood the scene. "Find Blaise, and your mother, and stay alive for me -"

He's crying now, also. "When all this is over, I'm going to be waiting for you," he says, grasping the back of my head and moving our foreheads together, "you better show up."

"I'll see you then" I whisper, flinching as more curses come soaring over our heads, so close that I feel the force of them blow my hair. "Now, go. NOW!"

I turn my back on him before he gets another chance to stop me, pushing Hermione, Ron, and Riley ahead of me, and to my right, Harry stoops down to seize Fred's body under the armpits. Percy, realizing what Harry is trying to do, stops clinging to the body and helps; together, protected by my cover fire, they haul Fred out of the way.

"Here," I say, and they place him in a niche where a suit of armour had stood earlier. I can't bear to look at him a second longer than I have to, and after making sure the body is well-hidden, Harry and I take off after the others. Draco and Goyle have vanished, but at the end of the corridor, which is now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long gone from the windows, I see many people running backwards and forwards, whether friends or foes I cannot tell. Rounding the corner, Percy lets out a bull-like roar, "ROCKWOOD!" and sprints off in the direction of a tall man, who is pursuing a couple of students.

"Harry, Haylee, in here!" Riley screams.

He and Hermione have pulled Ron behind a tapestry. They seem to be wrestling together, and for one mad second I think that all three of them a locked in an embrace; then I see that Riley and Hermione are trying to restrain Ron, to stop him running after Percy.

"Listen to me -- LISTEN, RON!"

"I wanna help -- I wanna kill Death Eaters--"

His face is contorted, smeared with dust and smoke, and he's shaking with rage and grief. With a grunt, Riley grabs Ron's shoulders and shoves him against the wall, using all his strength to keep him contained there. "Ron, we're the only ones who can end this!" Riley shouts. "Come on, we've just gotta kill the snake, and then -- and then --"