Victoria's Pov.
The wizards, the defenders of Hogwarts and Voldemort's Death Eaters alike were forced back into the castle.
I ran inside, followed by the Ice Prince, shooting spells and curses at every Death Eater I saw.
They all collapsed one after the other without really knowing what or who had hit how.
They just focused on the Hogwarts fighters and didn't expect an ambush.
The retreating mob trampled over the fallen bodies and pushed deeper into the interior of the castle.
Me and Draco were herded into the entrance hall.
I ducked under curses, expecting a Death Eater to attack at any moment.
I looked around the hall and saw Voldemort standing across the room.
He fought now for the first time.
I saw him fire curses from his wand and back away into the great hall.
The dark lord shouted orders to his still-loyal followers while sending spells left and right.
I saw the dark lord fire multiple bolts of green light at students and started running.
I ran to the center of the great hall and brought out some Shield Charms, and Seamus Finnigan and Hanna Abbott, who otherwise would have fallen victim to Voldemort, sped past me into the great hall, where they joined the fight that was already in was in full swing.
More and more people rushed up the front steps as the centaurs burst into the hall with a loud clatter of hooves.
Behind me, the door to the kitchens blew off its hinges, so I jumped to my right and flattened myself against the wall.
The house elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the Entrance Hall, screaming, brandishing carving knives and cleavers, led by Kreacher, whose voice was audible even over the din.
"Fight! Fight for my master, protector of the house elves! Fight the dark lord in the name of the brave Regulus Black! Fight!”
They stabbed the shins of the Death Eaters.
Their little faces full of insidiousness.
Everywhere I looked Death Eaters were pouring in from the sheer numbers, defeated by spells that drew arrows from wounds elves had stabbed in the leg, or who simply tried to escape but were lost in the onrushing horde.
Many familiar faces crossed my path and I found that they were doing well given the circumstances.
I kept running down the hallways, killing a few more Death Eaters.
I couldn't help but notice the horrified faces as I killed one by one the Death Eaters that stood in my way.
I was a walking target.
Now also for both sides.
I felt better and better, like my guilt was fading away.
But I was sure that after the war was over they would come back.
Draco and I continued to support the good side, non-stop firing curses at other Death Eaters.
However, it wasn't easy to keep track of who was friend and who was foe in the crowd.
So I shocked many Death Eaters, but some of my spells just missed the Hogwarts fighters.
It all happened very quickly. Too fast.
Suddenly, Draco and I were backed against the wall.
I gripped my wand tighter and tried to get an idea of the current extent.
My gaze swept through the hall and settled on the silhouette of my mother, who was dueling three opponents at once.
Granger, Ginny Weasley and the Lovegood girl all did their best, but my mother matched them.
As a Killing Curse shot past Ginny Weasley so close that she escaped death by inches, I broke away from the wall and started running.
I ran up to my mom and yelled, "OUT THE WAY!"
The three girls fled in shock when I spoke to my mother.
My mother turned around, roaring with laughter, but her face froze when she saw her new challenger.
With a sweeping flick of my wand, I opened the duel.
"What is this, young lady?" my mother shrieked hysterically, licking her dry lips.
I held the wand higher and a mischievous grin formed on my features.
"I'll pay you back what you deserve!
It would be too kind to let you rot in Azkaban.
Everything you did to me you will regret.
And you will be ashamed of everything you forced me to do!"
I watched as the smile finally faded from her face and became a snarl of teeth.
Her wand whipped and twirled.
Beams of light shot from both of our staffs, and the ground around our feet grew hot and cracked.
We both fought for life and death.
I felt the eyes of the people who were standing on the walls on my neck.
Hundreds of people watched the fights between Voldemort and his three opponents and the fight between my mother and I.
"You're no longer my daughter, you blood traitor!" she screamed insanely, chest heaving with rage as my curses danced around her.
"You were never my mother, Bellatrix!"
A crooked smile formed on my face as my mother continued to laugh.
She laughed just as boisterously as Sirius Black had laughed falling backwards through the Veil.
My wand trembled as a bolt of green light shot out of it.
It swept under my mother's outstretched arm and hit her square in the chest, just above the heart.
Her malicious grin froze, her eyes seemed to bulge.
For a split second she knew what had happened, then she fell over and Voldemort screamed.
It seemed to me that he was turning around in slow motion. I saw it throw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn backwards, writhing and flailing their arms, flying through the air as Voldemort's anger at the fall of his best follower exploded with the force of a bomb.
He pointed his wand at me when he realized I'd stabbed him in the back.
My betrayal, redoubled his anger.
He shot a green flash of light at me.
At the last moment I was able to spread a Shield Charm in front of me and tried to deflect the curse.
However, the killing curse was too strong, so my shield broke and I was thrown backwards against a cool stone wall.
Due to the impact, I could hardly move.
Every single fiber of my body was pierced by an unbelievably strong sting
The light in front of my eyes began to flicker and I could hardly breathe.
The blood was pounding in my ears, muffling all other sounds around me.
In pain, I got back up and leaned against the wall.
Glancing at Voldemort, I realized that some members of the Order were now dueling against the Dark Lord.
By killing my mother, the remaining Death Eaters became aware of me.
You now knew that I am a traitor.
I clutched my wand and killed some of the Dark Lord's followers.
I was in a frenzy of blood.
The adrenaline eased the pain.
I kept fighting my way forward.
Protected and killed.
Fell and got up again.
I kept walking and saw the fighting crowd, made up of students, teachers, parents, Order members and Death Eaters.
Colorful cloaks mingled with the black of the Death Eaters.
The yelling turned into a roar, and flashes of light of different colors shot through the air everywhere.
I could make out a shock of blond hair in front of me and ran towards him.
Some scratches and minor wounds were visible on his face.
When he saw me I could see relief in his eyes.
He shocked a Death Eater and gestured for me to follow him.
I ran alongside him until I suddenly saw a flash of green light fly towards Draco.
At the last second I managed to lunge in front of him and deflect the curse.
He turned to me in shock as I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
We ran back into the great hall and stopped in front of a semicircle of wizards and witches.
A few Death Eaters were still among the living, but were cornered by the Aurors.
Stepping over lifeless bodies, I pushed forward and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Voldemort and Harry Potter facing each other....