Liberty - A Harry Potter fan fiction

Chapter 12 - Escaping Hogwarts

The death eaters filed downstairs while I ran to the edge of the tower look after Dumbledore, hoping to find him floating in midair, still alive. Snape grabbed me by my hair, pulling me back harshly. I saw another death eater take hold of Malfoy's neck and shove him towards the stairs. He stumbled and looked around, his eyes landing on me. I stepped towards him slowly, then broke into a few running steps as he held his hand out towards me. I grasped it for support and we took off running down the tower stairs, Snape and the remaining two death eaters on our heels.

We ran, not looking at the people fighting around us. It seemed that many teachers and students had awoke and were dueling. I saw Ginny fighting with Greyback and stopped in my tracks, loosening my death grip on Malfoy's hand. He and Snape kept running and I sent a curse to the werewolf, blasting him out of the window. Ginny looked for the spell caster and smiled a thank you at me.

"Little Libby!" Bellatrix roared from the top of the entrance hall staircase.

"Oh my God!" I heard Ginny say before she was caught in a duel with another death eater.

Knowing that Ginny knew, and wasn't happy with me in the least, I took off after Bellatrix before I could be entangled in a duel of my own. A jet of silver light streamed past me and I shot a curse behind me, not stopping to see if it hit anyone or not. Now halfway across the lawn, I saw Bellatrix shoot a curse at Hagrid's hut. Another spell whizzed past me in Snape's direction, but he turned and deflected it.

"Fight back!" I heard Harry's voice behind me. "You cowardly lot, fight back!"

A hand gripped my hair for the second time that night and I left out a scream. Harry had grabbed ahold of me and was dragging me backwards toward him, his wand poking into my neck. I'd fallen too far behind and doubted that anyone would come back to help me. I swung my fists around and his hand loosened enough for me to get away. He quickly recovered and I felt myself being levitated as he said a spell. 

I had to have been about two stories high before I heard Snape yelling the counter curse. I fell to my knees with a loud crack. Malfoy and Snape had thankfully backtracked a bit, while Bellatrix was running around setting fire to the trees on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy helped me up, but I fell back down almost immediately. My leg was either broken or badly strained. Snape and Harry were arguing. Malfoy tried again to help me, this time his left hand supported my back while his right held onto my arm.

"Do not call me a coward!" We heard Snape roar.

"Come on," Malfoy and I awkwardly made our way to the end of Hogwarts boundaries where Bellatrix was waiting. It was a difficult endeavor with him having to keep a watch while leading both of us to safety. Snape quickly caught up. I tried to stand on my own to relieve Malfoy, but felt myself falling yet again. This time however, it was Bellatrix who grabbed my arm, but with such force that I lost circulation immediately. She disapparated us on the spot.

Feeling the ground beneath me I let myself fall back meeting a wall, rather than the floor. I slid down, crying out in pain. I could see the blood caked around a jagged hole in my jeans. I quickly looked away as I saw a piece of bone protruding from the tear. I gasped for breath and hoped I wasn't about to pass out. I'd make it through if I could just think of something else...

I looked around the room, seeing it full of people, all looking my way. Bellatrix, Snape and Malfoy were all in front of me and the Dark Lord was on his way. I could feel it in my arm, though the pain in my leg was more intense at the current moment. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall, still breathing heavily through the pain.

"The deed is done, my lord," I heard Snape say.

He gave him the details of Dumbledore's death. The Dark Lord fired off question after question. Once it was revealed that Malfoy himself was not the one to kill Dumbledore, he turned toward him, demanding to know why he'd backed out. My eyes fluttered open to see the Dark Lord towering over Malfoy, his want raised high. I used the wall to brace myself to a standing position. I saw the words in the Dark Lords eyes and spoke without thinking.

"Don't!" I stepped away from the wall and shuffled a few feet until I stood close enough to grasp Malfoy's sleeve and pull him to me, begging the Dark Lord with my eyes.

"What have we here?" He teased. It was meant to be questioning, but came off as menacing instead.

"Dumbledore's death isn't the only deed that's been done," I glared at Bellatrix when she spoke those words. "It seems your precious Libby has fallen for my nephew, my lord."

"I see," the Dark Lord began to pace in front of us. "You, Libby, have been climbing up in my ranks. You've trained under Bellatrix herself. You've killed already. And yet once you're away from our tutelage a few months, you let something like this happen. You are weaker than I thought you to be."

"It's not that," I said, holding my ground though I expected to die at any second.

"Then what is it, dearest Libby?" the Dark Lord asked me.

"Snape didn't give him a chance to do anything. He just burst in and..." My voice trailed off as he turned on Snape.

At that point, the pain in my leg had reached its peak and my knees buckled. I felt Malfoy's arms tighten around me. The Dark Lord and Snape had their words and the next thing I knew, I was screaming. More blood began to pour from my leg, making a puddle beneath me in a way I though was only possible in Muggle horror movies. However, I refused to faint, though I could see nothing since my vision had gone completely black. I felt arms around me and voices all around, but nothing quite as clear as my screams.

As quickly as it started, it ended.

"Get her cleaned up," I heard the Dark Lord order through the blackness. I breathed easier as I sensed he was no longer there.

What just happened? I wondered. I was messing things up terribly and didn't even understand why. Or rather, my emotions were responsible for messing them up. Why had I defended Malfoy so whole heartedly? I barely liked him most of the time, even with the sudden change I felt towards him.

I was too weak to attempt standing again. I heard Malfoy asking his mother for help. All my senses were on red alert, but I was so physically and emotionally drained that I could feel myself slipping into the comforts of sleep. The last thing I heard was Bellatrix ordering Malfoy and his mother to get me out of her sight, and that I wasn't worthy of her anymore.