Tales of the Battle

Seamus Awake

I seem to have been out in the grounds for an eternity. I haven't seen Dean for at least an hour. It's longer, a lot longer, since I saw Lavender.

She was with the Patil twins and they'll stick together; I reassure myself. They were inside the school; they will be safe in the castle. There are trolls, giants, Acromantula and Death Eaters out here, but inside things should still be relatively calm. My girlfriend should be safe, unlike me.

Lavender is finally mine. The first time I asked her out, at the Yule Ball, I was so nervous that I threw up in front of her. I thought that she'd never speak to me again. Then last year she was crawling all over Ron. It was agony. I wanted to ask her out right after she and Ron split up. But Dean was really depressed about his break-up with Ginny, and things only got worse when she jumped on Harry. So I waited. And then Professor Dumbledore was killed. No one can try to chat up a girl at a funeral. But I gave Lavender a shoulder to cry on.

I think that was when she began to doubt Professor Trelawney, too. 'Why didn't she know?' Lavender asked over and over again as we sat and watched our wonderful, mad, Headmaster being laid to rest. I held her hand and I comforted her and she hugged me. Just before we got on the train home she kissed my cheek. When we got back to school this year, I finally plucked up the courage to ask her out.

I wonder if Lavender will cry at my funeral, because I can't see any way out of this. I'm trapped!

There is a Death Eater in front of me. He's sheltering behind one of many large lumps of stone strewn across the Hogwarts grounds. Some, like the one he's hiding behind, are parts of the castle wall brought down by the battle. Others, like the one I have taken cover behind, are boulders thrown by giants. Soon, one of us is going to have to make a move.

I decide that it will be me. I roll backwards, away from the boulder, and silently slither sideways towards a different stone shelter, another large lump of fallen masonry. I'm still alive; the Death Eater must not have seen me move. I peer cautiously out from behind my new shelter and wait.

It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm wide awake. The last time I was awake at this time in the morning it was because Lavender had sneaked into my dorm to spend the night with me. And it was my dorm. It had been more than half-empty for the entire year. Ron, Harry and Dean had never been in it and Neville had gone into hiding the night before. That was just over a month ago, and it was the best night of my life.

I wonder how Ron will take the news about me and Lavender. Lavender told me that when they were together, he was lovely and he made her laugh, but that he really fancied Hermione and that was why they broke up.

We almost argued about that. I told her that she was crazy. Ron and Hermione fancy each other? How ridiculous an idea is that? I told Lavender that they've been constantly bickering since they were eleven. She agreed. "Bickering like an old married couple," she told me. She has a point, I suppose, but I still don't believe her.

I really need to talk to Dean. Neville is okay, but it's been weird this year with just the two of us in the dormitory. I have missed Dean, and Neville has been really intense. He was devastated when Luna was taken from the train at Christmas, and when Ginny didn't come back after Easter, he went a bit crazy. That is when he really started making his mouth go. He was forced into hiding the day after term started.

Neville is our leader. I remember the look of amazement on Dean's face when I told him that. Just after Harry arrived, before this battle started, I told Dean what had been happening at school. "Neville ... our Neville ... Neville Longbottom? He's your leader?" Dean asked. I laughed at his expression and tried to persuade him that it was true.

Neville is our leader and he gives us a lot of good advice about tactics and stuff. He's almost like another Harry. But despite that, or possibly because of it, I can't talk to Nev about girls. Poor old Neville, I don't suppose that he's ever even kissed a girl, though I've seen a surprising number of girls looking admiringly at him this year. Neville Longbottom, girl magnet, what a laugh!

I need to talk to Dean. I need to find out about Luna, too. Dean was holding her hand. Dean snogged Ginny Weasley (and lived), but now he's holding hands with the loony herself. How did that happen? Maybe her insanity is contagious.

I need to tell Dean about me and Lavender too. She made me promise not to tell anyone what we'd done, that we'd done it, but Dean isn't "anyone", he's my best friend. Telling him doesn't count. I wonder what he'll say...

The stone I had rolled slithered away from explodes, so I stop dreaming and peer out from behind my new shelter. The Death Eater stands and stares towards my last hiding place. He's looking for my bloody corpse and he still hasn't seen me.

'Confringo,' I shout, and the stone in front of him explodes, too. The force of the explosion sends him tumbling across the lawn. He's bleeding badly, but still moving. He struggles to stand.

'Stupefy,' I shout, and he slumps to the ground.

'Protego,' someone sings, and suddenly I'm surrounded by a Shield Charm. There is a sound like thunder right above my head. When I look up, I see that a giant's calloused and dirty-toenailed foot is hovering inches above my head. It's not a pretty sight. That's when I discover that Shield Charms do not protect against smell. I will never complain about Ron's socks again.

I look around for my saviour. She smiles and waves happily. It is loony Luna herself. I cast my own Shield Charm to help her, and she immediately dismisses hers. The giant is stamping, and my spell almost fails. Suddenly, I'm struggling to hold the giant's foot away from my head.

I'm wondering what to do when Luna silently flicks her wand. She lifts the slab of wall I'd been hiding behind and throws it at the giant's head. It hits with a hollow thud and the giant stumbles backwards and falls.

'Thanks, Luna,' I say, dismissing my charm.

'You're welcome,' she replies. Her voice is calm and polite, it's an acknowledgement of the fact I've thanked her, but she makes it sound as though saving my life is as inconsequential as passing me the sugar. 'Have you seen Colin Creevey?' she asks. 'Justin asked me to help find him. No one has seen him for hours.'

'He joined us at the start of the battle, Luna, but that was hours ago. We got separated, but he'll probably be okay. The last time I saw him he was with that pink-haired Auror--Tonks.'

'Nymphadora Lupin is dead,' Luna says. 'And so is Professor Lupin. Professor Flitwick found them in the grounds. I hope that Colin isn't dead too. That would be very sad.' For a second Luna's face creases into a frown.

She's frighteningly matter-of-fact about death. Lupin's dead? Merlin! He was probably the best Defence against the Dark Arts Professor we ever had. He was the only one, apart from Moody of course, who actually knew what he was doing. Lupin taught us a lot. So did Harry, but we don't know enough. If Lupin's dead then, hell, we're probably all dead! We just don't know it yet.

'Why don't we see if he's hiding somewhere further out in the grounds?' I suggest. I need to do something, anything except think about my probably very short future. Luna agrees and we slowly and carefully move away from the castle. Then I take my chance.

'So tell me, you and Dean?' I ask.

'What about me and Dean?'

'Are you going out with him? I saw you holding his hand, when you left the Room of Requirement.'

'He is a very nice boy, isn't he?' she says, but she does not answer my question.

We don't have an opportunity to finish our conversation because Ernie Macmillan shouts: 'Seamus, Luna, over here.'

We run over to help him. As we approach, we feel the Dementors before we see them, and then we see Harry, Ron and Hermione, too. They are in trouble, but between us, we manage to drive the Dementors away.

Then the giant comes back for more and we're back in combat. Will this madness never end?