The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 58

Abbie's POV

               "Stupefy!"

         The death eater only feet away from me goes flying backwards and I let out a sigh of relief. But just as I'm about to walk away, he gets back up.

          I raise my wand and start shooting more spells his way but he blocks every single one. He starts shooting blasts towards me and I try to think fast.

         Then he starts throwing spells at not only me, but my friends. An anger boils in my blood when Alyssa gets thrown down to the ground.

                                       "Avada Kedavra!" I scream.

         The death eater instantly falls and doesn't get back up. My heart stops after hearing those words come out of my mouth, and I can tell the other girls are in shock also.

            Normally, I'd never use one of those curses.

        But this is war.

          I look around to make sure each of the girls is still standing and thankfully they are. The only one I don't see is Paige, but I saw her run out of the school.

        She didn't say anything but I know by the look on her face that she needed to do something important.

                    "Did we get all of them?" I ask Luna.

        She gives me a worried look. "We got most of them."

                            "Most?"

          "Two of them went upstairs," Lisa adds. "But it's Lex, she can handle them."

          I nod in agreement. I start to think of something else we can do to help but right as I'm about to speak, someone calls me name.

                            "Abigail!"

          I spin around and see Fred rushing up to me happily. I feel a light grow in my heart and my smile becomes uncontrollable.

       His hands wrap around my body and pick me up.

           "You know I don't like being called by my full name!" I giggle.

           Fred drops me down onto the floor again. "That's why I said it, I knew it would get your attention."

        I scan the bruises and blood covering parts of his body. "You always get my attention, Freddie."

            His hand raises to my face and he wipes the dirt from my cheek. The smile on his face slowly fades but he continues to focus on every detail.

      "I hate to ruin the moment," Alyssa nudges my elbow. "But Fred, have you seen Ron?"

          Fred nods his head and points in the direction of the courtyard. "That's actually why I came to get you. Something is going on."

         I give him a confused look, but don't ask questions. Instead I take his hand in mine and we all head out to the courtyard to join by the remaining Hogwarts students.

                   "I'm scared." Luna whispers in my ear.

           I give her a sympathetic look. As badly as I want to comfort her, I'm not sure what I can say that will make this better.

            This all started with Harry, and it may end with him too; alive or dead.

         As soon as we all get into the yard I see a large group of death eaters standing across from us. I wait for them to charge but they don't. They just stand patiently.

           And then I see why.

         To my right, The Dark Lord comes walking out into the center of the courtyard with Bellatrix Lestrange at his side. All of the death eaters applaud when they enter and I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.

         I expect that to be the most frightening thing I see, but it's not. A few feet behind them are two death eaters with someone in their hands.

          Luna's eyes grow big. "Is that Harry?"

        Just like Luna, that's who I assume it is. He disappeared in the middle of the battle and didn't tell anyone where he was going.

          But as they get closer and I look longer, I see the long dark black hair blowing in the wind.

                  "That's not Harry..." Lisa whispers.

                    Alyssa joins. "Then who is it?"

         They're all struggling to see the person in the death eater's hands but I can see them clearly. I can especially see the mark on their arm, and I know others can too.

           The Dark Lord stops in the middle and when the death eaters approach they do the same. Right as I see the girl's eyes grow big in disbelief, they throw Alexis onto the ground.

          All of the students gasp loudly and it echoes through the yard. For a while, Alexis' eyes stay closed tightly and I feel my heart stop.

           "Hogwarts," The Dark Lord says. "This is what happens when you don't give me what I want."

         He continues to talk but I refuse to look at him. I keep my focus on Alexis and I'm thankful I do so, because slowly I see her starting to wake up.

         The amount of gashes and bruises on her body makes me want to vomit. I've seen her in good and bad times, but never like this.

                     How did you get like this, Lex?

          Slowly, she reaches a hand out across the ground and I see the shard of glass she's trying to grab. The Dark Lord doesn't notice for quite some time and I feel hope growing in not only me, but everyone else.

          But then Bellatrix looks down at Alexis and sees what she's trying to do. She lifts her wand and points it down at Alexis.

                         "Crucio."

           Alexis' screams fill the courtyard and everyone looks away in fear. I try to do the same but instead I push through the group in front of me and run towards the center.

                      "Stop it!" I shout while raising my wand. "Stupe-"

           Before I can finish the spell, one of the death eaters comes from the side and kicks me in the stomach. I can't help but fall backwards.

          I hear Fred shouting and running up to me but can't focus on his words. I squeeze my eyes shut and hope that no one else gets hurt in this.