The Secret War | Dramione

Chapter 7

"Maybe we should go back to our common rooms," Cho said worriedly. "Wait for the prefects."

"Do as you like, but Voldemort's already broken through the barriers. The fighting will start soon."

Cho flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name.

Susan hurried to the staircase, and after a moment's hesitation, Cho followed, but Michael Corner stood rooted to the spot.

"I'm waiting up here," he said quickly. He turned on his heel and ran down the corridor.

Hermione swallowed, feeling uneasy.

She and Ginny only had until midnight to get to the ship. Then it would sail off, and there would be no way to leave Britain undetected.

Hermione and Ginny jumped onto the next set of stairs.

Susan followed, then Cho, but just as she landed there was another loud BANG.

They were all pitched forward, and Cho lost her footing.

Hermione watched in horror as she flew over the railing. Susan lunged forward, trying to catch hold of her robes, but the cloth slipped through her fingers.

Cho fell several feet, hitting sets of stairs as she went, her hair flying up around her...

She plummeted with the speed of a bullet train, falling lower and lower, until she hit the ground with full force.

There was the sound of cracked stone.

"CHO! CHO!" Susan bellowed.

The students and teachers gathered below cried out in fright.

Ginny's eyes were wide, and her knuckles turned white with how tightly she was gripping the railing.

For several moments Hermione's chest rose and fell, and all she could hear was her own heavy breathing.

And then someone turned the volume back up, and she could make out, clear as day, Susan's screams of anguish.

"CHO!"

"We have to keep moving," Hermione said quickly, finding her voice. She pushed Susan forward, forcing her to go on, but Ginny wouldn't move.

"Ginny, come on."

She shook her head, completely petrified.

Hermione half dragged, half carried Ginny to the landing on the fifth floor.

Susan backed away from them. "You two go on, I can't—"

Before Hermione could convince her otherwise she ran away from them.

Ginny's knees gave way, and she sank to the floor, shaking.

Hermione knelt beside her. "Ginny, look at me, we have to keep going. We can't stay here. We'll be fine alright? Just stay close to me."

"But Cho, she's—she's—"

Ginny couldn't force herself to say the words.

Hermione helped her stand, and they took the next set of stairs.

They dodged falling paintings, candles, torches and uneven staircases. It felt like an eternity passed before they made it all the way down to the entrance hall.

There was a crowd gathered around Cho's body.

Hermione pushed past students and teachers, trying to get to the front. Her breath caught in her throat when she finally made it there. Cho was lying in a pool of blood, her head split open, a look of shock permanently etched on her delicate face.