Medici the Magnificent meets Hogwarts. Maria Fiore, adopted friend and sister of the Medicis, must overcome her draw to the enigmatic Francesco Pazzi. Or give in.
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Twelve pairs of eyes whirled around to assess the approaching threat.
Two men in silvery masks that covered everything but their mouths strode right for us, then stopped two aisles away.
My heart beat too fast to count the beats as I held my breath and reached for the wand tucked into my sock.
"Watch out!" Giuliano cried just as the first volley of curses were flung. His weight crashed into me as he tackled me to the ground, and we both slid behind the safety of a towering shelf.
I gasped out of fright and surprised, then tried to push Giuliano off of me. We locked eyes, and any animosity we had been feeling the past few days vanished instantly. Now crouching before me, I saw the boy I once loved and who I had always thought of as a dear friend. We would always have our differences, but in the end we were loyal. I couldn't hate him forever, and he couldn't let anything truly terrible happen to me. We each cared for the other in our own selfish way.
He nodded grimly as our silent understanding passed between us, then we took turns peeking out from behind the shelf to deflect the spells the Death Eaters fired at us and our friends. In the minutes to come, every breath, every heartbeat, and every spell counted.
I became increasingly grateful to some of the Ravenclaw students who spent hours with me, teaching me to cast nonverbal spells. It made all the difference when I went to fire at the Death Eaters. Unfortunately, I missed and instead hit the corner of the shelf. The glowing orbs of priceless prophecies began to rain down. They turned to piles of glass shards and misty smoke on the black tiles. Had we been in any other circumstance, I might have felt guilty, but with all our lives on the line, I couldn't bring myself to care.
After a few more volleys between us and the Death Eaters, Perry shouted from another aisle, "We have to get out of here! The shelves are dominoing!" Just as he said it, the shelves Giuliano and I crouched behind began to teeter. More and more glass shattered on the ground, and the sound became deafening when we went to make a run for it. One of the orbs struck Perry on the side of the head, and he fell to the ground.
The Death Eaters had already disapparated to who knows where, leaving myself and the rest of the DA to escape the crashing room or be buried alive in glass and shelving.
"Run!" someone shouted. I wasn't sure who.
Giuliano tried to drag me along, but I whirled away from him and ran right back into the dangerous part of the room where orbs fell all around me and the shelves were mere seconds away from folding.
"What are you doing?" he cried.
"Go!" I screamed back at him as I thrust my shoulder up under Perry's limp arms. I couldn't leave him. I couldn't leave anyone. Though no one in the DA had grown particularly attached to me, I had grown attached to all of them. I admired their spirits, their courage, and their hearts. Most of us were reckless, but we all wanted to be here for something. Our reasons were different for every one of us, but we were the select few who refused to be bullied and beaten down by Umbridge. We were the thorn in her side, and now we would be the thorn in Voldemort's side.
Perry came slightly back to consciousness and limped along as I pulled him. We were the last two in the line of students racing for the door at the far end of the Hall of Prophecy. There were many close calls and narrow misses as the shelves splintered and flung shards of wood and glass our way.
Just as we leaped across the threshold, Quincy threw the door closed, and the Hall of Prophecy fell apart behind it.
I set Perry down on the ground, leaning him up against the wall as I crouched to inspect his head wound. "No blood," I deduced, "but you already have a lump. I think you'll be okay."
Shouting echoed down the hall from some other part of the Department of Mysteries. Quincy met my eyes, then dashed off in the direction of the commotion. If the Death Eaters were there, then our friends would need our help.
Perry started to push off the wall, but I shoved him back. "No you don't," I ordered. "You're in no condition to fight."
"Our friends need us," he slurred.
"You'd just get in the way if it's a fight. Go get help instead. Take the stairs or the lift, but you have to notify someone."
Perry nodded. Though he wanted to fight, we both knew he would have trouble even standing on his own. At least this way, he still could do his part and not endanger either his own life or the lives of his friends.
I sent him on his way then wandered down the hall, following the shouts and screams.
The closer I got, the faster my steps became until I was running towards the end of the hall. Towards my friends.
Sparks flashed and cries echoed. As I turned the corner, I took in the sight of several Death Eaters facing off with my friends. We were either outnumbered or evenly matched, but it seemed like we only barely managed to hold our own for the time being. I hardly had time to process and was just about to jump into the fray when my eyes caught on Giuliano in the far corner of the room.
Spells collided and sparks flew as Giuliano faced off with a Death Eater.
"Crucio!" Giuliano roared. I had never heard him even consider one of the lethal curses, but he used it now viciously in an attempt to subdue his opponent. When the spell didn't land, he tried again, but with an even deadlier curse. "Avada Kedavra!"
I gasped.
The Death Eater deflected the spell.
But the ricocheted spell found another home.
It found Giuliano.
Suddenly, without warning, and far too soon, Giuliano's body went rigid.
Someone screamed his name. Probably me.
I watched as his body fell in slow motion till it hit the floor in a lifeless heap.
