Annalise

Chapter 19

**Annalise's POV**

"Is that the last of it?"

"I think so," Fred puts down the box and wipes his forehead, "after we unpack this, we're all moved in."

I hug him tightly. It took us a while to take the plunge, but after deciding to buy the house, things happened pretty quickly. In the last three months we've bought a whole bunch of furniture and moved all our stuff from the Burrow over here, as well as setting up defenses around the house. Today is our last day of moving, and our first night in the house. There's a crack outside and we turn to the door just as George bursts in.

"We've gotta go," he gasps, "death eaters at Hogwarts!"

He doesn't wait for us to register what he's said, just grabs our arms and disapparates. We appear in Hogsmeade and he pulls us towards Honeydukes. The shop is closed, but he unlocks the door and pushes us down the stairs. Fred clearly knows where he's going and grabs my hand, leading me. He opens up a hidden trap door and helps me down into a roughly cut passage. I light my wand, staring down into the darkness.

"Go," Fred nudges me between the shoulder blades and we run down the passage. I'm out of breath and stumbling when the passage curves upwards. Fred helps me up to an opening, then presses his finger to his lips and pokes his head out. I lean against the wall, shaking from the run.

"All clear," Fred whispers, "here."

He helps me out and I squint around. We're in Hogwarts, but I have no idea where. The twins climb out behind me, their wands out.

"Knox," I mutter, plunging us into darkness.

We tip toe upwards, going towards Gryffindor tower, every sound making us jump.

"Fred! George!"

We turn around to see a boy beckoning to us. We duck in behind a tapestry and squat down, peering at each other in the dim light.

"What's happening, Neville?" Fred asks.

"We're not sure," he whispers, "we contacted the Order, Harry seemed to think there would be an attack tonight."

"Ron and Ginny, are they-"

"They're fine, they've got the Map," Neville says, "they saw you coming up the passage and sent me to get you."

"Great, let's go," George says. Neville leads us along the narrow corridor. We have to dart across a few sections of corridor before we finally reach an old classroom where Ron, Ginny and a brown haired girl are huddled, talking to Lupin, Tonks and Bill.

"Good, reinforcements," Bill says, leaning over to shake his brothers' hands.

"What exactly is going on?" I ask, sinking into a chair.

"Well, that's what we're trying to figure-"

An explosion above us shakes the room and we all leap to our feet. A loud cackle follows and Lupin's mouth tightens.

"Bellatrix," he mutters, "come on!"

We run into the hallway and up the stairs. If the death eaters don't kill me, all this running will.

We reach the next floor up and are confronted with a mass of death eaters. I freeze in shock for a split second before spells start flying. I duck, narrowly avoiding a curse and start firing back as fast as I can think of curses. Something hits me and I stumble and fall, hitting the ground hard. I'm dazed for a moment, then Bill grabs my arm, helping me to my feet.

"You okay?" he yells over the noise. I nod and we dive back into the fray. I've completely lost the twins, I'm just focused on not getting hit again. My left arm feels like it's on fire.

"He's here!"

"Fall back!"

The death eaters suddenly turn and run. We follow, but there's a force field keeping us back. I look around for the twins, but I can barely see two feet in front of my face. The corridor is destroyed, a huge segment of the wall missing, leaving a horrifying drop. I back away and trip over something. I land heavily and look around to see what I tripped on.

"Bill!" I choke. His face is all torn up and bloody. I rip off a chunk of my robes and try to stem the flow of blood. From somewhere above me I hear a yell, but it sounds miles off. There's a sudden explosion and I'm thrown back, debris peppering my face. In a daze I see the death eaters fleeing, then someone running after them. Further down the corridor there is yelling, but I turn my attention back to Bill. I clear the rubble off him and check that he's still breathing.

"Don't you die on me," I mutter. I levitate him and stumble down towards the hospital wing. Teachers are running into the halls now, trying to keep the students in bed and figure out what happened. I take a short cut, away from the chaos. Madame Pomfrey is just about to leave the hospital wing when I arrive. She takes one look at Bill and opens the door, ushering me in. I lie Bill on the bed and Madame Pomfrey thrusts some bandages into my arms. I feel numb, watching her work.

"Oh my God, Bill!"

I'm shunted out of the way as Mr and Mrs Weasley arrive. I sink into a chair, staring at a wall. More of the Order members arrive. Madame Pomfrey has done what she can for Bill and turns her attention to the others, patching them up as they arrive. I close my eyes, silently begging Fred to be okay. I can hear Mrs Weasley and Fleur arguing, then Tonks and Lupin arguing, but I don't look up.

"Anna!"

Warm hands cup my face and I open my eyes to find Fred kneeling in front of me. I fall into his arms and start to cry.

"Are you okay?" he asks urgently. I can't answer, I can't even find the strength to hug him. He holds me tightly, then helps me onto one of the beds.

"Your arm," he says, touching my left arm, making me flinch.

"Nasty hex," Madame Pomfrey says, bustling over to me, "she saved that ones life, if she hadn't gotten him here so fast-"

She's knocked out of the way as Mrs Weasley hugs me, followed by Fleur throwing herself at me.

"Give her some space!" Fred says, shooing them off. Madame Pomfrey rubs something over my arm that makes it burn and sting. I grit my teeth and grab Fred's hand.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, searching his face. He has a few scratches, but he seems okay.

"I'm fine, George too," he says, "but... Dumbledore is dead."

I feel my mouth drop open in shock and horror.

"No," I shake my head, "no, no he can't be."

"He is," McGonagall confirms quietly, "and we have quite a battle ahead of us."

Everyone is very quiet and subdued now. I lean against Fred, listening to his heartbeat. A world without Dumbledore, with Voldemort at war... I shudder, it's a nightmare.

We leave Hogwarts a few hours later and go back to the Burrow. We want as many people with us as possible right now. We all sit in the living room together, mostly still in shock, trying to digest the fact that Dumbledore is gone. After a while Mr Weasley suggests we all go to bed. Mrs Weasley doesn't even seem to notice that Fred comes into Percy's room with me. We lie in bed together, but don't speak. I couldn't think of anything to say even if I wanted to.

The aftermath of Dumbledore's death is huge. The wizarding world is thrown into chaos. A few days afterwards, his funeral is held. I've never seen so many witches and wizards in one place before. 

"What now?" I ask Fred after.

"We fight," he says, "harder than we've been fighting. And we keep fighting until we win this thing."

George comes over to us, looking uncharacteristically grim.

"Mum wants to keep us all at home," he says, "it's going to get very tight."

"I'd rather be squished up with everyone," I say, "it feels safer."

Fred puts his arm around my shoulders.

"Let's go home," he says, "we've got a lot to do."