Sorry it took so long for me to write this. Normally I could've pounded this much out in no time, but it's been probably my most stressful week of college so far. But, now I have a few days of down time so I'll start working on the next chapter right away. Thanks for all your support!! Love ya! =D
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Artemis
And the conquering heroes have arrived, I thought to myself.
Admittedly, I was shocked to see Harry and his friends show up to save the day, but at the same time I wasn’t. They never knew how to leave things be without interfering. It had been that way since say one- the sorcerer’s stone, the Chamber of Secrets, Sirius Black, the Triwizard Tournament, the list went on and on. Undoubtedly they were here to solve their issues with me, but I knew once they had spotted Voldemort the situation was only going to get worse. I glanced between them and the Death Eaters; I sat between them, unsure of whom I was actually going to be fighting.
Never in my short life had I been so mad, so irritated beyond belief. You couldn’t trust anyone these days. I hated myself; why had I entrusted Voldemort of all people to look over Audrey? Oh, yea, that’s right. I thought I could trust him. He had no idea what hell he had unleashed inside of me. He had never seen my full potential, and tonight I was going to show him exactly who he was messing with. But at the same time, I knew Harry was going to want to get payback for what I did earlier. My mind was racing. Something had to give. What was my best bet? Staying on the side of the Death Eaters, fighting Harry, Ron, and Professor McGonagall? Or joining them, keeping my new vow against Lord Voldemort? I made my decision; after moving Audrey, seemingly unnoticed for a moment, to the back of the room out of the way, I joined Harry’s side.
“What do you think you’re doing, Fowl?” he questioned me. “You’re on their side!”
I shook my head. “Not anymore I’m not.” I could feel the venom in my words. I noticed Malfoy had stood by me as well. Even he was keeping his word. “A promise was broken to me, one that can’t be mended.”
“You broke a promise to me! You’re not my friend, and you’re not on my side,” Harry shot back. “You’re no good. Get over yourself.”
“You know, this lover’s quarrel has gone on long enough,” Voldemort shouted over us. “You two both are getting to be a real pain in my side.” I saw that he had pointed his wand at our group. “Either stand together and fight, or fall in pieces. Your choice.”
Harry looked to me, as if he was debating something in his head. When he turned away from me, he looked back at Voldemort. “Do your worst,” he announced. “You’re outnumbered.”
Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Wormtail all chuckled evilly, wands all suddenly at the ready. Before anyone else could get any words out, spells were being launched. We all had picked a victim- Harry and I focused on Voldemort, McGonagall focused solely on Bellatrix, whilst Malfoy and Ron made an unlikely pairing against Wormtail. My focus drifted away from the group as Harry and I worked together to try to bring down our newfound worst enemy. The magic from our wands combined in an intriguing purple color, combining the red from his and the blue from mine. Together, we tried to make our magic over-power the green spell stemming from Voldemort’s wand. I honestly wasn’t quite sure how long we’d be able to hold him off; all I knew is that I didn’t want that spell to hit either one of us.
I cleared my mind of anything. I needed to put all my energy into the situation at hand. Focus, Fowl, I thought to myself. You can do this. I was determined, and a determined Fowl always got what he wanted. And I wanted to put an end to this, before anyone else got hurt.
I pushed all my energy into the spell, willing it to go further, wanting it to destroy him like he had destroyed us. Everything seemed to happened at once. Voldemort cast our spells away, withdrawing his own in the process. After glaring at us, he motioned to Bellatrix and Wormtail to follow him. He began backing away from us slowly.
“I’ll be back! You hear me?! All of you better sleep with one eye open,” he warned. With a loud crack, he and the other Death Eaters vanished before our very eyes. Nothing was left of their visit to Hogwarts, albeit Dumbledore’s dead body upstairs and the somewhat trashed Slytherin common room. When the air settled, I suddenly felt all the eyes in the room fall on Malfoy and me.
Awe shizz, I thought to myself. I am so busted. Be prepared to look at the grim, gray walls of Azkaban for the rest of your life.
“Perhaps you could explain to me what’s going on, Mr. Fowl or Mr. Malfoy?” McGonagall questioned. I knew she was pissed. I didn’t need to hear her to know it either. McGonagall was one of the professors you just knew not to mess with, and that night I knew I had really messed with her. I hadn’t decided what was worse- the fact that I had helped orchestrate the death of one of her closest friends, or the fact that I had dueled Harry and I left him hanging there. Either way, I knew I was toast, burnt toast.
I looked at my shoes. “It’s kind of a long story professor…”
She gave me an expectant look. “I have plenty of time to hear it.”
I closed my eyes, sighing quietly. I wondered where I could even begin. I was certain no matter what I told her, I was probably going to be whisked off to Azkaban Prison, and my school days were over. “Draco and I got caught up in the wrong crowd, and made some poor decisions.” I glanced at my cousin and then Audrey before I looked to the professor. “And I know it looks bad, but please, please believe me when I say we weren’t the ones who killed Dumbledore. It was Snape.” I felt my voice trembling, something that had never happened to me before. “And after what’s happened today, I’m done consorting with Voldemort and his followers. I’m not going to watch people I love get hurt…”
McGonagall stared down at me through her glasses, studying my features. “Very well, Mr. Fowl. You’re very lucky we have several witnesses in the paintings in Dumbeldore’s office telling us the same story. But that still doesn’t excuse your motives. Consider yourself lucky I don’t take further disciplinary actions upon any of you beyond a few weeks of detention.” Her expression softened, but only for a moment. “But I am glad to see you both have come to your senses. We’ll meet again later to discuss the specifics of your detentions, but for now I want you all to go to the Hospital Wing. I have to deal with Snape.”
McGonagall left all of us in the room, wondering what any of us needed to go to the Hospital Wing for. Then I remembered Audrey. I turned to look at my girlfriend. She sat, shaking against the wall. She looked helpless; I doubted she could even make it to the Hospital Wing by herself. I rushed to her side, helping her to her feet. I wrapped my arm around her side, supporting her weight. I looked to the others.
“Anyone else going?” I asked. When no one answered for several moments, I decided to leave without them. Audrey and I slowly made our way to the Hospital Wing. It took way longer than it normally would, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted Audrey to be okay, and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she was. I didn’t care what I had to do, but I wasn’t going to let her end up like Neville Longbottom’s parents.
When I got her to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey seemed to be expecting us already. She was standing in the doorway, and relieved me of carrying Audrey immediately. She laid her down on a bed. While taking vitals, she turned to me.
“What happened to her precisely?” she asked.
I didn’t even want to think about it. “She was under the Cruciatus curse for an extended period of time…”
“Oh dear,” was all she muttered for several minutes. She went to her cabinet and started rifling through the medicines and miscellaneous items inside it. I pulled a chair up to Audrey’s bed and took her hand in mine. She stirred quietly, and it made me worried. I had seen Audrey come through a lot more in her life; Quidditch accidents, heart break, getting enough courage to talk to me… I was praying that this was not going to be how it all ended.
Madame Pomfrey came back to the bed a few moments later. In her hand, she carried a chocolate frog and a glass of water. She handed them both to me. “Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot we can do about the Cruciatus. We just got to keep her positive and calm. I figure you can calm her better than I can,” she said, a frown on her face. “She’s going to survive; it doesn’t appear that she’s too worked up by it, but please, just keep her relaxed.”
I nodded as Madame Pomfrey moved on to help another student. I took a deep breath, knowing that it was up to me to help Audrey. I had been responsible for looking after someone before, and I knew it was going to be hard work. But it was Audrey, and she was so worth it all.