𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎, 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 | DRACO MALFOY

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. holdin' out for a hero

"They must have gone the wrong way!" Hermione cursed quietly, terror on her face, body trembling slightly. Neville, somehow the most put together in all this, cut through her nervous breakdown sharply, "Shh, listen!"

Meredith stilled her racing heart and thundering blood for a moment; footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door. The only distinctive roar she could decipher was the one belonging to Lucius Malfoy, shouting at the other Death Eaters to secure the prophecy. Lucius Malfoy. Draco's father. She knew that in this very moment, she should be fearing for her life and trying her very best to protect her friends, but she could not help the twinge in her heart. That Draco Malfoy was the son of a Death Eater, effectively going against everything Meredith believed in. But it was not the time to dwell on such things where her life was literally at stake.

"C'mon Meredith." Harry beckoned, gently taking her arm, "We can't stand here waiting for them to find us." She nodded shakily and ran as quietly as she could to the far end of the room. Her heart hammered in her ears as she felt the room shake. The Death Eaters were trying to get through the door Hermione had charmed shut. A rough voice shouted, "Alohomora!" and Meredith instinctively dived under a desk, pulling Neville down with her. She held her breath, eyes widened, as she watched the bottom of the Death Eater's robes draw nearer and pressed a hand to her lips to stop herself from squeaking in fear. Neville, who was crouched opposite her, mirrored this same fear.

Hermione peeked out from her hiding spot, noticing that the Death Eaters had left, but suddenly, a cry of triumph was heard, and the four of them were all knocked backwards off their feet with an 'IMPEDIMENTA!' Meredith felt her head crash into a bookcase, and a couple of heavy volumes landed on her chest, winding her. Tiny bursts of light blinked in front of her eyes for a moment as she scrambled to stand back up but too no avail. She was far too disoriented to react when the Death Eater approached Harry, calling out for the other Death Eaters. Thankfully, Hermione had been quick enough to cry out a 'Silencio!', extinguishing his voice.

Meredith screamed when the Death Eater that Hermione had just struck made a slashing movement with his wand and a purple flame passed right across Hermione's chest, causing her to crumple onto the floor with a soft 'Oh!'. She lay motionless. Meredith crawled over to the fallen girl, narrowly missing the Death Eater who had hurt Hermione with a stunning spell. But there were more important things at the moment: checking for Hermione's pulse. She nearly cried in relief as she heard the steady thumping in her wrist, assuring Harry, who was kneeling beside her, looking distraught, "She's fine, Harry. She's fine. She's fine." It was as if she was trying to convince herself. Because everything was most definitely not fine.

Neville, who had been kicked in the head, crawled over to the three, blubbering out, "Whaddid he do to her?" His nose was swelling to twice its normal size, blood gushing out. Meredith held Neville's face in her hands, keeping it secure, as she tiredly murmured out, "Hold still, Neville. Episkey." A loud crack and Neville's nose was thankfully in a better state than before but not perfect. She felt her magic ebbing away but Neville was no use with a completely broken bloody nose.

Meredith hardly even registers her actions as she sends "Impedimenta!" to another faceless Death Eater. The hooded figure, frozen in his spot, begins to slowly fall. However, instead of falling back into the bookshelves like they had, his abnormally large head sinks down into the odd looking bell jar from before like a hand through mist. Meredith blinked; she was desperately trying to focus on her main mission of staying alive but she could not help but be perturbed by the fact that the man's head was now shrinking quite quickly, hair retracting back into the head's baldness, the smoothness of his face resembling marble...until there was nothing left but a baby's head in its place. Meredith blinked again;