Ciara burst through the castle doors, eyes widening as she found it devolved into absolute madness. Stone columns were knocked over everywhere. Students were scrambling every which way, screaming in terror or firing curses at the pursuing dangers.
Outside, the battle was just as deadly. A continuous fire-storm rained down on those in the courtyard, who still had Giants and other monsters to deal with.
Suddenly, she heard Professor McGonagall's voice echo through the air.
"Fall inside! Everybody! Fall inside!"
Ciara tried to see what was causing all of the commotion when suddenly the window above her shattered, the force of it sending her falling backwards a few feet.
A bit dazed, she quickly scrambled back to her feet. As she blinked spots out of her eyes, she watched as plumes of dark smoke streamed in from the open doors and broken windows. As they hit the floor, they materialized into the unmistakable forms of Death Eaters. They shot curses out of their wands as soon as they landed. Forcing students and staff alike to engage them in violent duels.
Ciara threw herself into the fray, running down a hallway. Firing curses at any Death Eater that she saw.
Following the sound of screams, she turned another corner, when suddenly a curse hit the wall just above her head. A terrified yelp escaped her throat as she jumped out of the way. Her head shot up, finding herself staring down a Death Eater. His wand arm was raised, with a tight smirk on her face.
As another blast shook the grounds, Ciara fired a curse forward, just barely missing the Death Eaters shoulder. With a growl he fired back and before she knew it she was forced to block several blasts at a time. The fight still raging on around her.
This wasn't like the fight at the Ministry. She barely had time to think, and at that same time knew that any lapse in her judgment would quickly end in her death.
She was losing ground, fast. And she knew it too. One curse flew so close her head that she was forced to drop to the ground in order to avoid it.
Looking up, she watched the Death Eater descend on her, she had to roll over her on her side in order to avoid another blast.
Suddenly a foot caught her ribcage. She cried out, as pain erupted from them. The Death Eater then placed his boot on her chest, restricting all her movements. She looked up to see him looming over her. As he raised his wand to fire again, a sudden flash of light came from behind him. The man's face fell open in shock as he stilled for a second before bursting into pieces, and dissipating right in front of her eyes.
Stunned, it took her a moment to scramble to her feet. When she did however, her breath caught in her throat as she looked upon the face of her savior.
Draco lowered his wand staring back at her from where he stood a few meters down the hallway.
"Draco?" she whispered in disbelief.
She was sure that she would have stood there forever, had it not been for the sudden shaking of the castle walls. Before she knew it, Draco was sprinting forward. He grabbed her by the shoulders and ducked both of them behind a pillar as another shot of magic exploded on the wall above them.
Her back hit stone, and Draco covered both of their heads as rubble briefly fell from the ceiling.
When it ceased, they both picked their heads back up.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
Draco looked back at her for a moment before dipping his head low,
"Harry still has my wand. I've been granted permission to get it back." he answered her.
Ciara blinked,
"Right" she replied a bit awkwardly.
He suddenly looked back up at her, his expression pleading. He tightened the grip he had on her shoulders slightly.
"Ciara-" he started, "Come back with me. I can get you out of here. Maybe they would pardon you-"
"Draco" she interrupted seriously, "You know that can't happen"
He pressed his lips together, his face falling again.
"Besides-" she continued. "I am not abandoning my home. Not while I still hope to defend it."
"You're severely outnumbered. They mean to take the castle by dusk." he whispered hurriedly. "Please Ciara..."
She suddenly placed a hand on his chest, stopping his ramblings. He looked down at it for a moment in surprise. His eyes undoubtedly honing in on the ring that was still sitting snugly on her finger.
"I've made my choice, Draco." she said, looking at him instead. "You can't change my mind...And I can only hope that you will change yours." she whispered.
He winced, and was silent for a moment more before suddenly bringing up a hand to place on top of hers. Ciara dared to let herself hope for a second, but the boy suddenly stood up straight again.
"Be careful. Please." he said painfully, "If anything were to happen to you-" he stopped himself from completing that statement.
Before Ciara could even venture a response, he slipped out of her grasp, and disappeared down the hallway. She dared to call out his name, quickly moving to follow him. She refused to give up on him just yet.
She managed to catch a glimpse of him as he turned a corner. She also took brief note of the fact that Blaise and Goyle were at his side.
Setting her jaw, Ciara scrambled to chase after them.
It was hard to keep up with the three Slytherin boys, with the battle still shaking the castle every two seconds. She had to dip low every so often in order to dodge large blasts of magic.
As she turned down another corridor, a sudden explosion rocked the grounds. The windows were blasted inwards, and the hallway was filled with the smoke that followed falling stones. Having to duck behind a pillar in order to move out of harm's way, she for sure thought that she was going to lose them.
But when the shaking stopped, and the smoke began to clear, she rose to her feet, finding the doors to the Room of Requirement wide open in front of her.
Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on her wand before disappearing inside.
This was certainly not the Room of Requirement that had sheltered the DA for the past two weeks. This one was piled to the ceiling full of a random assortment of objects. It was like a labyrinth. But the sound of voices kept her running the right direction.
"You have something of mine. I'd like it back"
"What's wrong with the one you have?"
"It's my mother's. It's very powerful, but it's not the same. It doesn't...understand me. Know what I mean?"
Ciara rounded the corner, stumbling across the peculiar scene. She saw Harry standing there, wand barely raised. Across from him, Draco, Goyle, and Blaise had their own pointed back at him.
Harry was the first one to notice her as she ran into the clearing. The three others followed his eyeline just in time to see Ciara sidle up with the group.
"Ciara? What are you doing?" Draco's voice whispered pleadingly as she deposited herself next to him.
Just then, from behind Harry two more shapes emerged; Ron and Hermione. The former drew his wand immediately upon seeing the group of Slytherins.
Ciara suddenly felt herself being pushed back slightly as Draco stuck out his free hand in front of her, the other shifting his wand towards the newcomers.
"Easy" he demanded.
"Draco please-" she whispered, grabbing a hold of his arm. His eyes flickered towards her, as Blaise and Goyle eyed her oddly.
Harry's eyes looked upon the scene curiously, before turning his attention to Draco's face.
"Why didn't you tell her?" he asked him.
Draco looked back over at him, blank.
"Bellatrix-" Harry continued, "You knew it was me. But you didn't say anything."
Ciara's mouth parted slightly, looking up at the boy in front of her.
Blaise and Goyle shared a look, as Draco twitched uncomfortably under everyone's gazes.
"Give me my wand." Draco ordered through gritted teeth.
Harry simply looked back at him, as if studying the boy's face.
"No. I don't think so." he said, turning it almost mockingly over in his hand. "Besides, it's allegiance is to me now. If you want it, you'll have to win it back. Perhaps even kill me."
Ciara felt Draco fall still even from the gentle grip she had on his arm. He locked eyes with Harry, and the two engaged in a brief staring contest.
Growing restless, Goyle leaned into Draco's shoulder.
"C'mon Draco. Don't be a prat. Just do 'im in" he ordered.
Ciara scowled, turning towards the boy.
"Stand down Goyle" she said sternly.
He looked back at her bewildered, as if he couldn't believe that she even had spoken to him at all.
"Mind your business mudblood" he said, shoving her slightly.
Draco reacted to this, moving to intercept the two of them, when suddenly his wand flew from his hand.
Ciara glanced across the room in shock, seeing Hermione lower her wand.
"Avada Kedavra!" Goyle yelled, sending a curse back.
"No!" Ciara shouted.
Hermione and Ron dove out of the way just in time. From under a table, Hermione fired back,
"Stupefy!"
But the curse was off, and instead hit a pile of junk, sending the contents falling like an avalanche down the pile. Ron suddenly charged forward, honing in on Goyle and Blaise. The two immediately started running away.
"That's my girlfriend, you numpties!" he shouted as he pursued them.
Draco shared a look with Ciara before taking off after them.
The white-haired witch looked over her shoulder at Hermione and Harry, but they were both busy digging for something in the pile of objects.
Biting down on her lip, she turned around and took off after Draco once again.
It didn't take her long, as she found herself all but crashing into the boys back as he stood frozen in terror. Ciara didn't even have to ask to discover what had caught his attention. A few meters away from them, Goyle stood with the end of his wand producing a line of fire in order to keep Ron at bay.
Suddenly, the flame licked something in the pile, and a rough explosion sent them all sprawling onto their backs.
Ron was the first to recover, getting to his feet and immediately sprinting away.
And Ciara saw why.
Growing taller with every second that she watched it, consuming everything in its path, was a large wall of fire. Ciara's eyes widened in fear, looking to her right and seeing Draco staring just as transfixed.
Taking action, she tried to help him to his feet. He held onto her arm, staring forward at Goyle who stood in the middle of the destruction, shaking his wand over and over again, evidently finding it impossible to stop the flames from exploding from it.
"Goyle what did you do?!" Draco shouted above the roar of the fire as they backed away in horror.
Ciara looked around them quickly, observing the tall piles of objects they were surrounded by that had yet to fall victim to Goyle's fire.
"Climb!" she ordered, "Quickly!"
Blaise and Draco listened to her immediately, following her up a large pile of furniture. Goyle ended up abandoning his wand into the fire before finally taking after them. Ciara felt her heartbeat increase as pieces of furniture slipped under her hands every so often.
Behind her, she heard a scream, and looked over her shoulder just in time to see Goyle fall into the flames, the broken leg of a chair still in his hands. She looked into the fire in disbelief for a moment, the two boys ahead of her did the same. But they had to keep climbing, lest they suffer the same fate.
Draco and Balise made it to the top just before her, when suddenly a voice sounded from the rafters.
"IF WE DIE FOR THEM HARRY, I'LL KILL YOU!" she heard Ron scream.
Looking up, she watched as three shapes darted across the ceiling on broomsticks.
She had smiled slightly at the sight, and forgot the task at hand. That's when she felt her feet slip out from under her. She shouted in fear, desperately grabbing hold of a piece of furniture above her head, leaving her hanging out above the flames by a single hand.
"Ciara!" Draco shouted fearfully. He maneuvered himself to try and reach down and grab her arm, but he couldn't get any closer without risking falling off the mountain as well.
Ciara looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear. He was at a loss for what to do.
"Hang on!" he called out to her desperately.
Just as he said that however, something appeared behind him, snatching him up into the air. Ciara watched as Harry deposited Draco on the back of his broom. He was startled, but still was yelling for Ciara as they darted off beyond the flames.
Ciara sighed in slight relief, trying to tighten her grip.
Ron dipped down and grabbed Blaise.
However the instant Blaise's weight left the tower of junk, it collapsed in on itself.
Ciara screamed as she plummeted towards the pit of fire below, when suddenly the end of a broomstick appeared above her. Instinctively, she reached for it, managing to grab on at the last second, feeling the heat of the fire on her back.
She hung from the back of the broom by two hands, as Hermione struggled to lift them up. Taking a breath, Ciara finally managed to throw all her body weight upwards enough so that she landed in a seated position. With a new balance, Hermione shot up, just as the pile of junk crashed into a mushroom cloud of pure flames.
Ciara gripped onto Hermione's back like a lifeline as she darted through the ceiling. The smoke was pretty much impossible to see through, and Hermione swerved dangerously as high piles of furniture appeared out of nowhere. Glancing over her shoulder, Ciara gasped as she watched the huge wall of flames still chasing after them.
Suddenly, and without warning, they crashed through the stone wall. The force knocked them all off their brooms. Sending them sprawling out onto the floor.
Ciara coughed harshly, trying to expel the dust and smoke from her lungs. From where she and Hermione crashed, something silver spun out across the floor. Bracing herself with her hands, she watched as Harry snatched it up quickly. From beside her, Hermione tossed him something curved and white, which he caught with ease. Gripping it in his hand, he brought it down on the silver object without hesitation.
Harry screamed in pain, as if he had stabbed himself instead, black goo spurting from the silver object at his knees. Seconds later, he gasped in relief. He looked down at the object, and Ciara followed his eyeline as the doors to the Room of Requirement shuddered close behind them. Blaise was quick to sprint away, leaving the group that saved his life behind.
"Was that the diadem?" Ciara coughed, shakily rising to her feet.
Hermione managed a nod, helping steady her.
"Ciara!"
She turned just in time for Draco to all but crash into her, his hands gripping her shoulders tightly. His eyes flickered over her face momentarily,
"Are you alright?" he asked frantically.
"I'm fine" she answered with a nod.
She then glanced to her left, noticing the trio watching on a bit awkwardly. Gulping, she turned towards them, Draco's hands slowly falling from her shoulders.
"Thank you, for coming back for us." she told them seriously.
Hermione nodded immediately, the boys following suit. But she did not miss the way that they were eyeing Draco suspiciously.
Ciara pressed her lips together into a line,
"Go save the world for us, ok?" she told them.
The trio bid the two goodbye, before sprinting off down the halls together.
Ciara turned back to Draco, holding her wand at her side.
"I am going back to fight, Draco." she said, holding his gaze strongly. "What about you?"
He continued to look at her, his expression momentarily unreadable. She waited patiently, when suddenly a hand came up to the side of her face. He used a single finger to gently brush away some ash that had collected above her brow.
"I'll go with you" he said, his hand falling. "I'm not leaving your side again."
Ciara managed a smile,
"I'm holding you to that."