Draco
I'm leading my group onto the grounds, to a spot directly opposite to the hill the Death Eaters are set up on. The Slytherin girl who stood up earlier runs over to walk beside me. I think she's in my year, but I don't remember her name.
"Hi." She says.
"Hey. What you did in the hall, that was amazing."
She laughs, "All of the pent up rage of seven years just broke I guess. I didn't plan it or anything. I didn't expect any of the Slytherins to join me. I was as amazed as everyone else."
"I wish I had the guts to do something like that."
"You punched Voldemort in the face. I wish I could have done that. I always told myself that I would stand up for myself, I planned on punching you in the face a few times over the years, but I always get so anxious and my mind wanders to the worst scenarios, then I end up getting so freaked I chicken out. I can only do things when I get so mad I stop thinking. Sorry, I talk a lot. When I start talking I just can't stop."
"It's okay." I smile. "You were pretty badass. Do you think you can do this?"
She pulls out her wand with a deadly grin on her face. "I'm the awkward introvert, I spend all my time learning spells, practicing. This is what I've been waiting for. I have plenty of rage to fuel me."
We both laugh. "Oh sorry," she says, "you probably don't even know my name. I'm Lex. My name is actually Alexandra, but I hate it, sounds too posh." She offers me her hand, and I take it.
"Pleasure. I wish I'd been your friend in school. I hate the me I was then."
"I hated you too. I could tell you'd changed, the moment you spoke in the hall."
"Twenty minutes to midnight." I say grimly.
"Twenty minutes until my eighteenth birthday." says Lex.
"What day is it?" I ask.
"In twenty minutes it'll be the 10th."
I laugh a bit. "My birthday too. I didn't even know."
"You've probably had a few more important things on your mind recently."
"Yeah."
"Do you know what's been going on at Hogwarts?" she asks.
"Not really."
"Good, I need to keep talking."
Lex explains everything that went on with the D.A.
"You joined the D.A.?" I ask incredulously.
She laughs. "Yeah, Neville let me join. He's pretty badass himself. I'm Slytherin, so I knew all the gossip. It was just me, Neville, Ginny, and Luna when it started."
I laugh. "You are unbelievable."
"Yep. The socially awkward Slytherin who somehow rebelled against the rest of Slytherin's evil ways."
We reach the spot and stop. "Okay people, gather round." I say. Everyone shuffles into place, waiting for me to go on.
"There's twenty minutes to midnight. This is your last chance to leave. If you want to go, do it now." I look around at everyone, at their determined faces. Nobody leaves.
"Good. Tonight we will be fighting for our lives, our school, our world, alongside one another. Tonight we all have the same goal, a common enemy. We have to work together, fight together, have each other's backs. We need to stick together, if I tell you to do something, you do it. We won't have time to argue, so you have to agree now to do what I say. Can you do that?"
Everyone nods. I'm surprised this is going so well. "Okay, the Death Eaters will be coming from up there," I say, pointing at the hill. "Let's make three rows of ten, brooms at the back, leave yourself enough room to kick off."
They all form lines, Lex and I in the middle of the first row. We fall into silence, just waiting. It's so dark out, the black sky twinkling with thousands of stars. Hogwarts is beautiful at night. It would be peaceful if I didn't know what was only minutes away. The calm before the storm. The minutes tick by in silence. At first I was nervous, but here in the quiet night, that all fades away. This fight is going to happen, and I am going to fight with all I have until my last breath.
I'm lost in my thoughts when I hear Lex's grim voice say beside me, "Happy birthday."
I look up at the hill, nothing happens at first, but then hundreds of lights fly up and hit the dome of protection spells. We hear a thousand tiny explosions, like fireworks distorted as if behind wavy glass. Everyone around me shifts anxiously.
"Hold your ground." I say firmly, gripping my wand tighter.
This goes on for a few more minutes, the muffled explosions creating tiny fissures, slowly breaking apart our defenses. We stand in tense silence, watching as the spells break painfully slowly. I silently thank Professor Flitwick for the amazing charms, they're holding up so well so far. I know that soon Voldemort will get impatient and break it down himself.
Sure enough, a minute later, one huge jet of light soars over, and I watch the barrier explode in slow motion. Breaths hitch around me as all falls deadly silent. I act now, I won't let them have the first move.
I pull out my wand, and immediately it warms up in my hands, eager to be used. I raise it in the air, the perfect powerful extension of my arm, and fill my head with thoughts of Harry, channeling that power to cast the phoenix symbol.
The red flames burst out of the tip of my wand, forming the phoenix which flies high into the air, stopping over the highest tower of the castle. It explodes and freezes, wings outstretched, in the flickering orange ring of flames.
People laugh and gasp around me, all staring in awe at the glowing phoenix. Music starts echoing through the grounds from one of the towers.
'PUT ON YOUR WAR PAINT'
Lex starts laughing.
"What is it?" someone asks.
"It's by a muggle band. It's called the Phoenix." She replies, smiling.
I turn around, facing everyone. "The Death Eaters will be coming in a few moments, so when I yell now, the brooms are going to kick off and everyone else will cast shield charms." I turn back around and face the hill. "Let's fucking do this."
We start to see people moving down the hill, straight for us. I wait, wand at the ready, everyone following my lead and waiting for my signal to act.
Just as I start to see details of faces I yell "NOW!" and everyone springs into action.
The brooms kick off and soar into the sky, the shield charms all merge together, creating one huge invisible barrier between us and the Death Eaters. Some of them cast curses, but they bounce off the shield. They stop advancing, twenty feet in front of us.
"On my signal, let down the shield." I whisper out of the corner of my mouth.
I step forward slightly, just behind the shield. Bellatrix steps out from the crowd, staring at me.
"What the hell did you do Draco?" she asks.
I hold up three fingers behind my back. "It's quite simple really," I say nonchalantly. Two fingers. "I screwed all of you over." I put the last finger down, and everyone lowers their wands, dropping the shield.
I slash my wand through the air, and a huge wave of black energy roars out, taking out about a hundred Death Eaters, throwing them backwards encased in the energy, landing on top of their friends behind them.
I hear a few yells of "Holy shit!" "That was fucking awesome!"
"The fuck d'you find that spell?" someone yells from behind me.
"Made it myself in the fourth year." I say casually.
Everyone is speechless for a bit until Lex speaks up. "If we live through this, remind me never to cross you."
"Voldemort crossed me." I say icily, "and now I'm going to make him pay."
"I like the sound of that." Lex says beside me, a murderous glint in her eye.
Tentatively, the next wave of Death Eaters moves down the hill. The people on brooms are hovering a bit behind us. I turn to them. "Go, they will have to make their way around the unconscious ones, take some of them out before they can get here. We can take them out easier in smaller groups."
They fly over, sending down curses into the crowd, but I know some of them will get through soon. I stop and listen to the song.
Hey young blood
Doesn't it feel like our time is running out?
I'm gonna change you like a remix
Then I'll raise you like a phoenix
Wearing our vintage misery
No, I think it looked a little better on me
I'm gonna change you like a remix
Then I'll raise you like a phoenix
Some Death Eaters have made their way through, so we get ready. The first few start throwing curses, I deflect them easily. I just deflect their curses until they stop in front of us. Then we all spring into action.
Harry
I run up the stairs, wondering where the hell Ron and Hermione are. I stop and look out a window, watching the barrier explode. Then, the phoenix symbol flies up from the front lines, and goes over the school. Draco.
I stand, unable to tear my eyes away from the scene unfolding in front of me. The Death Eaters are running down the hill, but our side isn't firing back. They get closer and closer to where I know Draco is, then just stop. I can't breathe, I'm watching, waiting, wondering, then a huge wave of black energy, Draco's black energy roars over the Death Eaters.
I'm worried sick about him, but I'm wasting time. Draco is the best fighter I have ever seen. He is amazing, he can handle this. So can I. We'll live through this.
I'm lying to myself saying this, we'll probably die. We probably won't make it through this. Since Draco left, tricked Voldemort, we're his number one targets. He doesn't care about killing anyone else, but he will kill us. He will kill anyone and everyone just to get to us.
I turn around, start walking again. I've accepted the fact I might die, I accepted it a long time ago.
It's going to be a long night.