Guess who just got vaccinated bishesssss!!! :)
Auriga and Remus sprinted hand in hand through the halls of Hogwarts, firing and blocking spells left and right. At some point Remus engaged in a duel, aiding a couple of Ravenclaw students and Auriga was about to go on without him.
"Avada-" came the voice of Antonin Dolohov from behind her. She turned just in time to see him raising his wand in Remus's direction.
"Fuck no," muttered Auriga, before sending a cutting curse directly at his chest, succinctly followed by a full body bind. She glanced round - it looked like this part of the castle was secure, so back to the Entrance Hall she went.
Auriga had never seen such chaos, and quickly engaged in a duel with a couple of Ministry personnel that she'd never spoken to before. Apparently they knew her though. "How's your father?" taunted the one on the left. Auriga barely registered what he's said before she sent an exploding blast of fire his way, sending his charred and kindling corpse to the ground. She quickly discarded the other by sending bursts of acid at his face. She hoped to Merlin they hadn't been imperioused.
She faced more opponents, steadily taking them down as she dodged blocked and fired. She couldn't see anyone she knew well...Fleur Weasley was putting up a good fight further down the hall, and Lee was tackling the last of the acromantulas.
Several people, Auriga included, screamed as the fist of a giant crashed through the ceiling, sending debris and people flying everywhere. She herself was thrown backwards into a wall, and only saved herself with a cushioning charm. Others were not so lucky, and now bodies littered the floor everywhere she looked. She quickly scrambled to her feet, stunning, petrifying and disarming as many feebly stirring Death Eater allies as she could before she was engaged once more in a duel.
She watched in horror over her opponent's shoulder as a student was picked up by the giant, shrieking into the night, wand lost in the fray. "Relashio!" roared Auriga, and the student was released, falling the twenty feet to the ground. In the time it took for Auriga to cast a suitable cushioning charm, she was disarmed and propelled into a pile of rubble, bashing her elbow. She winced. It felt broken. Shit.
"The Dark Lord wants you dead, Malfoy," said the Death Eater. Yaxley, perhaps? Auriga didn't know, nor did she care as she climbed to her feet.
The cruciatus curse hit her in the chest, sending her to her knees as her whole body was set on fire, being crushed and torn apart all at once. Merlin, she'd forgotten it. She was certain she was going to die, die just like her father, just like Shacklebolt, just like Mr Crouch. And she was in too much pain to so much as open her eyes, and look her killer in the eye.
It stopped. In fact, every spell stopped. A voice rang out, high in the air, every pair of ears obeying it. "I order my forces to retreat. You have one hour. Harry Potter, you will meet me in the forest, or I shall enter the fray myself and seek you out."
There was silence. Death Eaters began to apparate, the wards of Hogwarts long since broken. Auriga could feel the giants' footsteps as they too retreated to the forest. She kept her eyes closed, breathing heavily, clutching at the bit of rubble next to her.
She flinched as a gentle hand grazed her arm. The student that the giant had picked up was leaning over her, her eyes wide and full of horror. Horror she should never have seen. She moved away as Auriga pulled herself into a shaking standing position. She felt like she was going to throw up. "Is this your wand?" the girl whispered, and Auriga nodded, mustering the very smallest of smiles.
"Are you hurt?" asked Auriga, gritting her teeth as she felt her elbow seal up and heal with a simple spell.
"Not badly," said the girl, shaking her head.
"Let's..." Auriga began, looking around at the graveyard that had once been a second home. "Let's take them to the Great Hall."
She nodded and flicked her own wand - which apparently she'd found - conjuring a couple of stretchers. Auriga followed suit, levitating the bodies through to lay in a line. She payed no attention to who they were, feeling sick at the thought of them being anyone she knew.
She'd just stepped back into the Entrance Hall when the thudding of footsteps echoed down the corridor as someone ran frantically through. Auriga readied herself for another attack, but her heart flooded with relief when she saw it was Remus. She let out a stifled sob and held out her arms, letting him wrap his own around her. He pulled her head close to his chest, resting his own on top, and the two stood there, holding each other tightly, holding each other because they could.
"Have you seen-?" Remus began.
"No one we know," Auriga said. "Apart from Lee. They've been bringing bodies in from all over the grounds. I was in the Entrance Hall when..." She trailed off as they finally broke apart. She gripped his hand tightly, not caring that it was clammy. She was sure from the way he gripped hers that the bones would shatter.
They walked into the Great Hall. The first thing she saw were the members of the Weasley clan, crouched around a single body and sobbing. Molly was there, along with Percy and George. Auriga realised with a jolt that it was Fred. "Remus," she breathed, tugging at his sleeve and feeing like a small child. He let go of her. But his grief was not for Fred.
Remus Lupin walked ten paces between two bodies, dropping to his knees before the third. Sirius. He let out a silent wail, his face contorting into something crazed and unrecognisable. Auriga stepped forward, but did not dare touch him as he gripped his best friend's hand, rocking back and forward and shaking like he couldn't control the spasms of his movements. Auriga herself had tears filling her eyes, but they were not enough to blur the unmistakeable pink hair being carried in by a couple of students.
"No!" she whispered to herself, clutching her hands to her chest. She abandoned Remus's side, slowly at first and then walking faster, and jogging until she reached the opposite side of the hall. Tonks. Her eyes glassy and lifeless. She looked like an empty waxwork of the once bubbly auror. Auriga let out a quiet sob, which was followed by another. The world felt cold, and her heart felt heavy, like it was being replaced with stone where she kneeled.
Time had stopped. Auriga was unaware of any single person moving aside from herself. And she couldn't help but wonder how the clocks could ever start again without Tonks there to make her smile.