After Crucioing one of the Carrows, I strut into the Great Hall like a queen.
"It seems despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster. And I'm afraid it's quite extensive."
The Order follow me in right on cue as we had rehearsed out in the Entrance Hall. Lupin had not been keen on this showy entrance, but Fred and George backed me up, agreeing how cool we would all look.
And by Merlin it is better than cool. It is brilliant.
Especially when Snape craps himself and flies out of the window.
Everyone cheers all around me and I blow the end of my wand for awesome effect.
"Fuck you're hot," Fred says, dipping me in his arms to give me a sailor's kiss.
This perfect moment is ruined by Voldemort interrupting our heads with an announcement.
Rude twat.
"I know you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harriet Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harriet Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harriet Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
I check my watch, eleven-fifteen pm. That's cool, I still have time to find the diadem, kill the snake and then blast Voldemort into the afterlife.
What I don't expect, however, is my old friend, Pansy, to raise a shaking arm and scream, "But she's there! Potter's there! Someone grab her!"
My mouth falls open as I stare at her aghast. "PANSY?! What the-?"
But I do not get to finish as Fred, George, Ginny and Neville all stand in front of me raising their wands in Pansy's direction.
"You dare touch her!" Fred snarls. "You traitor."
I feel so hurt as the rest of the Slytherins gather around Pansy in defence, all of them glaring over at me. Even Blaise looks angry at my presence. I wonder what lies Snape has been feeding them for them to all turn on me like this.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," Professor McGonagall says in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow. I think there's a cage in the dungeons which will be suitable."
The Slytherins start to angrily protest. I try to push past my wall of defence to get to McGonagall and call her out on this awful decision.
"Where are you going?" Fred asks as he grabs my arm.
"To stop them!" I splutter. "She can't possibly think locking them up is safe!"
"They're going to hand you in if she doesn't." George says. "Clearly your Slytherin status means nothing to them anymore. Their parents are all out there ready to come in and storm the castle."
"We get this job done, and they'll be safe." Fred implores. "We'll all be safe again."
Ugh, they're right, I know. But the pressure to find this diadem has heightened and suddenly time seems horrifically tight.
Kingsley begins organising battle groups while I look rapidly around for Ron and Hermione who have both been suspiciously absent lately.
"Sounds like a job for us," Fred calls, indicating himself and George as Kingsley asks for someone to organise defence of the entrances of the passageways into the school.
I twirl around to face Fred, my heart hammering in my chest. He instantly gathers me in his arms and kisses my forehead as though he can tell how panicked I feel.
"We'll be fine, okay?" He murmurs, his lips moving against my scar. "We'll keep them at bay and buy you some more time. We've got your back, Harri."
"Yeah," George agrees. "He is not getting into this castle on our watch."
I look up into Fred's face, his eyes full of love and adoration. I don't want to leave him. I have a bad feeling.
"I love you, Fred," I whisper, my words dangerously trembling. "I love you so much."
A slight frown flickers across his brow. "Hey, don't talk like that. We'll be outta here in no time, okay? And then we have an awesome wedding to plan. Lee knows of a man who has a houseboat. We'll be sailing off on it only weeks from now."
"You promise?" I ask, smiling despite the situation. Because I can never help smiling when I'm around Fred.
His lips form a crooked smile and he reaches up to tuck a loose stand of my hair behind my ear and gently dance his fingertips across my cheek. "I love you, Harriet Potter. And I want us to marry as soon as possible. I'm never going to say goodbye to you again. I promise."
And then his lips brush against mine, giving me the sweetest and most heartwarming kiss.
I watch him as he and George walk away, and I try to swallow down the huge ball of fear that has risen in my throat as he disappears from view.
"I love you too, Fred."
*****
I finally find Ron and Hermione snogging in the hallways.
"OI!" I yell at them. "THERE'S A FUCKING WAR GOING ON HERE!"
They fall apart, panting heavily.
"We know!" Hermione says gleefully, glancing up adoringly at Ron. "And we've almost won it thanks to this hero."
"Huh?" I ask, as Ron holds up the damaged Hufflepuff cup.
"Basilisk fang," he boasts, smiling smugly. "Thought of it myself."
"Isn't he wonderful?" Hermione breathes, wrapping her arms back around him.
"Yeah, great, thanks," I mutter, wondering where my thanks was when I destroyed the diary all those years ago.
"So," Ron says, rubbing his hands together. "What now?"
"I've just had a chat with the Ravenclaw ghost," I explain quickly. "And she reckons the diadem is in the Room of Hidden Things, which upon thinking about might be the Room of Requirement."
"But how do we know how to conjure the right room?" Hermione frowns.
"I'm just that brilliant, that I think I may already have conjured it," I shrug. "Remember last year and I accidentally cut up Draco and had to hide the book from Snape?"
"I don't think you could call purposely using an unknown spell on someone an accident," Hermione scolds me. "More like an act of stupidity."
"Okay, whatever," I say, annoyed - this is no time for a Hermione lecture. "You know I felt crap about it afterwards. I never wanted to hurt Draco and that's the truth."
The castle shakes around us, indicating that the battle has started. I swallow nervously, thinking of Fred and George on the front line.
"Look, let's just get to the seventh floor, alright?" I say, "you can continuing lecturing me when this is all over."
"But I wasn't-"
BOOM! The side of the castle blasts away as a giant punches his fist through the wall. Hermione screams, and Ron and I immediately throw stunning jinxes at the intruder.
"For fuck's sake!" Ron yells as the giant topples backwards and disappears from view, "let's go before its friends arrive!"
The three of us hurry, not stopping until we arrive on the seventh floor. I conjure up the room and the furore of the battle dies the moment we cross the threshold and close the door behind us.
Sweet silence.
We split up, knowing we're more likely to find it if we search separately. I run off down an aisle full of junk, only stopping when I come across a large looming cabinet which I guessed to be what Draco had been killing himself fixing just the previous year.
I reach out to touch it, but a voice makes me freeze.
"I thought I'd find you here, Potter."
My heart racing, I spin around, coming face to face with Draco, wand raised and pointing it directly at me.
"Draco," I breathe, almost laughing with relief, "you scared me!"
"You've got my wand," he says coldly, his expression remaining hard, "and I want it back."
"Look, I'm sorry," I explain, "I didn't mean to take yours, but we were in a desperate situation back then."
"It seems that you're in a desperate situation right now, too," Draco mutters, taking a step towards me, his wand still raised.
I glance down at it. "What's wrong with the one in your hand?" I ask.
"It's my mother's. It's not quite the same."
"Please, Draco," I implore, "you don't get it - I need to find-"
"Oh, I get it, Potter," he snarls, his grey eyes flashing menacingly, "I get that tonight you had all the Slytherins locked up in a cage. It was lucky I came here to free them."
"That was McGonagall!" I spit. "And did the Slytherins mention that Pansy tried to hand me in to You-Know-Who? I thought she was supposed to be my friend?! I thought you were!"
Draco hesitates then, and I don't miss the way he lowers his arm, his expression almost softening. And then his eyes land on my left hand.
"What's that?" He beckons towards the ring Fred gave me.
I glance down at it, feeling my face heat. I don't know why I feel guilty, but I just do.
Before I can offer any explanation, he says, "Oh. I guess you and Weasley are back on, then."
And I see it then, the hurt crumple on his face. And I wonder just how long this boy has been in love with me, or maybe I always knew, and that's why now I feel so guilty for loving someone else and not him.
"Draco-"
"What's the 'old up, Malfoy?"
Draco and I look up. Crabbe comes sneering into view, his wand pointing in my direction and closely followed by Goyle. "Get 'er, then."
"Yeah," Goyle says, equally as menacing as they stroll towards us, cornering us in the aisle. "We gonna get rewarded."
Draco looks between his friends and me, his face paling. And I wait to see whose side he chooses.
It is to my immense relief when he steps in front of me and turns his wand on Crabbe and Goyle. "You don't touch her." He warns as he backs into me, shielding me from their sight.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Crabbe growls, "we don't take orders from yeh anymore. Your dad's finished, and so are you if yer don't step away from Pottah right now."
I can feel Draco's panic, it's in the sudden pounding of his heart, and the way his breath begins to tremble. But still, he refuses to move.
Suddenly, there is a loud bang, and the wall of junk in front of us topples down into the aisle, creating a barrier between the four of us, trapping me and Draco against the cabinet.
"HARRI!?" Ron calls from the other side of the junk wall. "ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"YES!" I yell back, "BUT CRABBE AND GOYLE ARE HERE AND THEY ARE TRYING TO-"
"AVADA KEDVRA!" Crabbe yells, as he appears before us, blasting a jet of green light towards me.
Draco pulls me out of the way just in time so that the curse hits the cabinet, blasting it to pieces. I am splintered and cut by bits of wood, shielding my head in my arms as best I can.
"DON'T KILL HER!" Draco screams, before flicking his wand back at Crabbe, blasting a jet of red light at him.
He grabs my hand as he tries to pull me away from the scene, but I refuse to budge.
"I need to find the diadem!" I explain, wrenching my hand out of his.
Draco looks pained, and utterly exhausted. "Leave it, Harri, we need to get out of here before Crabbe and Goyle do something stup-"
"Like it hot, scum?" Crabbe roars loudly as he waves his wand around his head.
Flames erupt from the end of his wand, abnormally large and out of control. It takes seconds for everything to light around us, as though someone had doused the contents of the Room with petrol beforehand.
Draco once again tries to grab my hand, but I pull away, desperate to find the diadem.
"For fuck's sake, Harri!" He yells as I climb a tower of yet to be lit junk. "We need to get out of here!"
"Try and see if you can control the flames," I yell back down to him. "I'll be out as soon as I get what I came in for."
"Are you fucking crazy?!!!"
Yes, yes I am. But I don't answer because I've already jumped over the pile of junk, leaving Draco behind. I just pray he manages to get out safely.
Rounding a corner, I bump into Ron and Hermione who both look as desperate as I feel.
"Harri!" Hermione gasps, throwing her arms around me. "We thought we heard someone trying to kill you!"
"You did," I mutter bitterly. "Bloody Crabbe. He lit the fire and you too need to get out - it's out of control."
"We all need to get out!" Ron demands, "nothing will tame this fire."
"But the diadem-"
Just then, a thin, piteous human scream pierces the air. I swallow, knowing that without a doubt that was the sound of someone getting burnt alive. And I think about Draco and I feel so horrendously sick that I cannot breathe.
Or maybe that's the smoke.
"We need to save Draco," I cry, my voice strangled with panic, the diadem all but forgotten about.
Without arguing, Ron plucks out a pair of broomsticks from the junk pile. He throws one to me and gets Hermione to climb on behind him.
I immediately fly into the air, looking down frantically for any sign of the white-blond haired Slytherin.
And then I see him, my heart fluttering with relief: Draco with his arms around an unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of classroom desks, and I dive.
Draco sees me coming, and raises one arm, but even as I grasp it I know at once that it is no good: Goyle is too heavy and Draco's hand, covered in sweat, slides instantly of mine.
"Just go!" Draco urges. "It's no use. Just save yourself!"
"I'm not leaving without you!" I yell, remembering the day I shook his hand and agreed to be a team.
Luckily, at that point, Ron flies up, and he and Hermione drag Goyle onto their broom. "WE BETTER NOT DIE FOR THIS GIT!" Ron hollars.
Draco instantly clambers on behind me, and I feel him sigh in relief as his arms go around me. "The door, Harri, get to the door, the door!"
I mean, duh. Where does he think I'm going to go?
I speed up, following Ron, Hermione and Goyle through the billowing black smoke, hardly able to breathe. Draco's arms tighten around me and I feel relieved to have him here with me, the thud of his heart against my back reassuring.
I keep having to lift my arm to wipe the soot from my glasses, causing us to dangerously wobble.
"Harri-" Draco chokes, "you need to go faster. Remember everything I taught you in our flying lessons."
"I can't see!" I yell back, "my glasses!"
"Fuck," he mutters in my ear, "it's okay, Harri, I can just about see the door, just keep going in the direction you're headed. I can try and guide the broom for you."
He somehow manages to reach his hands down so he is gripping the stick in front of me. My heart races as he propels us forwards.
"Keep your head down, Harri!" Draco shouts in my ear.
I squeeze my eyes shut as moments later clean air fills my lungs and we collide with the wall in the corridor beyond the door.
Draco and I topple off the broom, rolling away in different directions. I lie on my back gasping, coughing and retching, hardly daring to believe we'd made it out alive.
"The diadem-" I say weakly, when I eventually can. And I want to cry because we never even got it and now I have no idea how we'll ever win the war.
"It's okay," Hermione says. "That's was Fiendfyre. It will have destroyed the Horcrux anyway."
I turn my head and blink at her. "You mean we can toss Nagini and You-Know-Who in there and be done for the day?"
"Pretty much, yes," Hermione agrees. "We've just got to get them here first."
Damn. This war business is exhausting.
"Harri-" Draco croaks as he reaches across the corridor to me, his fingers clasping at my arm.
I sit up, my heart racing in my chest as Draco sits up too. "You came back for me," he murmurs hoarsely sliding across the floor to me.
I look away. "We're friends, aren't we?" I remind him. "But I would have saved you anyway."
Just then, yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of duelling fill the corridor. I look around and my heart seems to fail: Fred and Percy back into view, both of them duelling masked and hooded men.
I hurriedly get to my feet, wanting to run forward and help. But a hand clasps around my wrist, preventing me from going any further, and I spin around angrily to see Draco restraining me.
"Let me go!" I yell, "I have to help!"
But his grip is hard and he refuses to let me go. "You'll get yourself killed!"
I pull harder, desperate and panicked. "Draco, let me go! Let me go!"
And then I hear Fred laugh: "You actually are joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were-"
The air explodes.
******