Promises Defended

Promises Defended

Chapter Ten: The Last Icon

Snape came through the teachers' entrance quickly, striding with a purpose and hardly looking at anyone. His face seemed paler than usual, and his eyes were narrowed, focused a thousand miles away. Also, deep within the folds of his robe, hidden where none of the students could see it, his left hand was clenched into a fist. As one, the professors turned to stare at him, and then fury filled Shacklebolt's dark eyes.

"You bastard," he all but whispered, his voice hardly changing from its normal tone. Had one not looked into his eyes, the anger would have been impossible to see.

The Auror started forward, his long strides eating up the ground between them. Instinctively, students scattered out of the way, staring at the two professors. Snape never stopped walking, never so much as looked at Shacklebolt.

"Where is he?" the larger man demanded, placing himself in the deputy headmaster's path. He squared his shoulders and waited, patient but deadly.

Harry felt his heart leap into his throat. Is he talking about Remus? he wondered sickly. All the students now knew that Voldemort was out there, and Death Eaters surrounded the school. Harry, however, had long known that Snape was a Death Eater, too--even though his parents, Remus, and others all claimed he was on their side. But what if he wasn't? Frightened murmurs were beginning to fill the Great Hall.

Finally, Snape halted, and his eyes focused on Shacklebolt. "Nowhere," he said softly, "where he can help you."

Shacklebolt's eyes widened, and for a long moment, he seemed able to say nothing. Several seconds ticked by before he breathed the word everyone was thinking:

"Traitor."

"Yes."

Snape's response was almost lost in Sinistra's shout--"The wards are down!"

Shacklebolt moved blindingly fast, reaching for his wand with inhuman speed. But Snape was faster, and suddenly his wand was pointed at the Auror's face, only an inch away from his nose. As students gasped, Harry realized that the deputy headmaster held his wand in his left hand, and the sudden movement had revealed his Dark Mark, burning bright red and angry. Some students screamed. Most of the Slytherins snickered.

"You cannot help him, but you can help them." A jerk of his head sent greasy hair flying everywhere, but every student knew who he meant. "You can hate me another day, Shacklebolt. Kill me some other time. For now, get the students out." He stepped very close to the Auror, shoving his wand away and staring into his eyes. "You have very little time until this place is overrun. Use it."

And then he was gone, striding into the too-early night as Shacklebolt stood frozen, wasting precious moments. They all did, but finally, Shacklebolt turned to exchange a horrified look with Professor Sinistra, who was almost as pale as Snape. Heartbreak made her features sharp. She nodded.

Immediately, the former Auror swung into action. "All students, follow your heads of houses! Professors, follow your designated escape routes!"

Shacklebolt darted forward even as professors started shouting. Sinistra was right behind him, screaming for him to slow down and not do something stupid--an explosion rocked the entire castle, and students screamed.

"Gryffindors!" Professor Tonks yelled over the din, suddenly looking very short amongst the chaos.

"Ravenclaw!" Flitwick squeaked, jumping up on a table and waving his arms.

"Hufflepuffs, here!" Sprout bellowed, using a much larger voice than Harry would have expected from her.

Professor Vector pushed her way through a clump of confused little girls. "Slytherins, to me!"

Harry saw Malfoy and his hangers on hesitate before heading in her direction, but most of the house was heading in her direction. Vector was, at least, one of their own...even if this was no time for house rivalry. Another explosion, and the floor shook underneath them. Not far away, Lavender Brown screamed, and Angelina Johnson fell. Fred dragged her to her feet.

"Come on!" Ron grabbed Harry and Hermione, dragging them deep into the Gryffindor fray. Soon, both were surrounded by a sea of red hair, and Professor Tonks had to struggle to be heard over the shouting.

"Weasley, bring up the rear!" he shouted to Percy, who nodded jerkily, pale faced and frightened. But his wand was out and he was looking everywhere; within seconds, he'd pushed his way out of the crowd and to the back, shouting for students to hurry up, for Merlin's sake, and to follow Professor Tonks.

"Follow me!" Tonks continued, gesturing and leading the Gryffindors through the door Snape had used only moments before. They began to file through one by one, some pushing and shoving at the others, but mostly working together.

"The escape routes have been planned for years," Hermione informed them nervously. "They were designed in case of a fire or an attack hundreds of years ago, and--"

"That's nice, Hermione," George said distractedly, looking around wildly.

"What is it?" Harry started to ask, but was cut off by the largest explosion yet, which was amplified by a deafening clap of thunder.

"Here they come!" Shacklebolt's booming voice drowned everything else out, even people screaming. Harry twisted around just in time to see the doors collapse inwards.

Crack!

Screams.

Professor Trelaweny muttered three words and then fell down in a dead faint.

Students shoved one another in an effort to escape faster. At least one child fell and was only saved from trampling by a quick-handed classmate.

Even the Slytherins seemed frightened, but Harry didn't have time to appreciate that. Dust filled the air, making him cough, and light was beginning to flash--red, green, and purple rainbows of magic. He could hear a high-pitched voice commanding over the din:

"Take them alive!"

Someone screamed in pain. It might have been Sinistra.

"Keep moving! Everyone keep moving!" Percy.

"We have to go! Hurry up! Hurry--we're all going to--"

"Shut up, Lavender!" Neville, shoving her through the door with more force than necessary. Dean caught her, pausing to grin nervously at Neville through his terror.

"Ravenclaws, look out!" Cho Chang?

A table flew through the air and landed on a group of students. Some were pulled from the rubble by their classmates, others laid still. Laughter filled the air.

"Where's Ginny?" George demanded.

"Huh?" Fred asked, for once not on the same brainwave as his twin.

"Where's Ginny?" George shouted again, twisting frantically. "She's not here!"

"Oh, no!" Hermione went white and grabbed George's arm. "She said she was going to take a nap, and you know how Ginny sleeps--"

Like a rock. Harry shivered.

"We have to go get her," Ron said immediately.

"Are you mad?" Hermione and Fred asked together. Hermione continued alone, shaking. "We'll never get out if we do!"

But Ron and Harry exchanged a look. "The cloaks!"

Without another word, the Misfits broke free of the other Gryffindors, shoving through the crowd and heading for the nearest staircase. Fortunately, none of the others wanted to go up: the Slytherins were heading for the basement, the Hufflepuffs towards the greenhouse, and the Ravenclaws towards the library. A few seconds of pushing later and they were free, sprinting for the stairs with George in the lead.

"Where do you think you're going?" Percy's voice chased them as the Misfits took the stairs three or four at a time. "Get back here!"

"Sorry, Perce! We've got to get Ginny!" Ron shouted back, never looking over his shoulder. Percy had his responsibilities. They had their own.

"What happened?" Sirius strode in without knocking, with Lily fast on his heels. She shut the door behind them as James shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know," he admitted, tossing the still ticking and jumping watch towards his friend. Sirius caught it out of reflex.

"'Danger'," he read aloud, then glanced up, his blue eyes calculating. "Has it ever said this before?"

"I don't know. I'm not even sure what it means--the watch has read 'War' every day, except during the attack on Diagon Alley."

"Did it say 'Danger' then?" Lily asked.

"No. It said 'Chance,' which is even worse," James replied. "Those are moments when the world hangs in--"

"Never mind that," Sirius cut him off. "We've got 'Danger' now. What might it mean? You said Project Guardian shows nothing...?"

"Nothing at all, unless he found a way around it."

"No." Lily shook her head. "There's no way around the Marauder's Map, either, and it's the same principle."

Sirius was studying the watch with impassive eyes when the hand slid towards CHANCE. James jumped, starting to open his mouth in the sudden silence, but then the hand inexplicably ticked back to DANGER. Sirius' head snapped up.

"I don't know."

"There's nothing out there," Bill finally said, sighing. He wasn't sure if the sigh came from relief or disappointment; his blood was singing and ready for battle, and every inch of his body was tense for action. But he'd spoken the truth: there was nothing out there.

"I think you're right," Tonks muttered beside him, her brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail. Sometime during their wild preparations, it had reverted to its original color, as had her blue eyes. That hadn't happened before, but Bill appreciated the focus that his trainee showed under pressure. Whatever else could be said about her clumsiness, Tonks did not freeze up over the small stuff.

"Damn," Alice growled, glancing at her husband. Frank nodded wearily.

"The sky's still black," he clarified for the others. "Something is happening."

"But not here." Hestia frowned, then jerked her head back towards the Main Villa. "Unless you count ten panicked French students, but that's another story."

Tonks and Bill had been right--the French students (all of whom were still learning to speak proper English) had been rather frightened by the alarm. Almost all of them had lost family in Laçenne, and they'd gained a healthy respect for Lord Voldemort from that attack. Not knowing what to do had frightened them more than anything, and Bill had been able to calm them down fairly quickly. Still, the situation was far from ideal, and most of the Aurors doubted that they could hold the island long.

"So why is the sky black?" Clearwater pressed, glancing upwards. Bill resisted the urge to bristle--he didn't like Tonks' classmate, and probably never would. Still, Clearwater was a good Auror, even if he was bent on revenge, and Bill respected that.

"Good question," Frank grumbled, then rose out of his crouch. They'd built a shelter to hide behind on the beaches surrounding the island--more a short wall than anything else, that the Aurors could take cover behind while defending the island. Now, however, those carefully thought out defenses seemed less than useless.

"You don't know?"

"Not a clue." The older wizard grinned briefly. "Or, perhaps a clue. An...old book I read spoke of Avalon's weather as a reflection of the Wizarding world. As for storms and darkness, well, you can come to your own conclusions."

"So something bad is happening. Somewhere." Tonks frowned. "But we don't know where."

"Ginny!"

"Ginny!"

"Ginny!"

Five voices yelling out of key was enough to wake anyone up, even Ginny Weasley, heavy sleeper extraordinaire. Even as the rest of the Misfits burst into the common room, they could hear footsteps pounding down the stairs from the first year girl's dorm.

"What's going on?" Ginny demanded, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Death Eaters!" Ron gasped desperately, managing to beat the others by a mere heartbeat. "They're here, and--"

"They've broken into the school," Hermione cut him off. "Professor Lupin is hurt or dead, and everyone's running. We've got to go, now."

Ginny blinked, and then her face went pale. "You're not joking."

"D'you think we're crazy?" George demanded. "Grab whatever you'll need and let's get out of here."

"Right." She bolted up the stairs, followed quickly by Hermione on her way up to her dorm. The boys followed suit, and soon Harry and Ron were ripping into their trunks, searching for Invisibility Cloaks and any useful supplies that they could find.

"Dungbombs?" Ron asked, discovering a package near the bottom of his trunk.

"Definitely. What about itching powder?"

"Probably not. I don't think Death Eaters care if they itch."

"Right," Harry agreed. "Never-Non-Bouncing-Bouncy-Balls?"

"Maybe. What do you think of exploding cards?"

Harry shook his head. "Not a big enough boom."

"True." There was a clonk as a thick maroon sweater impacted with someone's copy of Defensive Magical Theory and knocked it to the floor. "How about Ever-Bashing Boomerangs?"

But Harry didn't answer. He'd dug all the way to the bottom of his trunk, and found something that he'd almost managed to forget until his fingers brushed cool metal. Immediately, his mind flashed back to a letter he'd received months before.

...And so I leave you the Sword of Gryffindor, which is yours by right. Once, it was a gift from Helga Hufflepuff, who loved your ancestor like a brother. After his death, Hufflepuff placed the sword in the Sorting Hat, to be kept there until a day when it would be needed by one of Gryffindor's descendants. When the sword emerged recently, I knew it was meant for you.

Harry lifted the silver blade with careful hands, staring at it. The sword was almost twinkling in the dim light; it seemed to be calling to him, asking to go. For a long moment, Harry stared at the ruby inlaid in the hilt and wondered why, but then it occurred to him that Dumbledore would not have left him such a gift without a good reason. Perhaps this was the day he'd find out why.

"Harry?" Ron finally broke through to him, and he turned, sword still in hand.

"Yeah?"

"We've got to go, mate."

Harry nodded, and the two ran down the stairs together, each carrying an invisibility cloak. Ron clutched the sack of Dungbombs in his left hand, and Harry had the sword in his right. They reached the bottom of the stairs just as the shouting started.

"Some of them went in here!"

"Open now, foolish portrait, or be destroyed!"

"But I must have the password!" the Fat Lady objected, her voice high with fear.

"Don't test me," one of the Death Eaters growled. It sounded like Flint, the Death Eater who'd already tried to kill Harry once, and despite himself, the boy shivered.

Fred and George came down one set of stairs at almost the exact same time Ginny and Hermione came down the others. Ginny was wearing her glasses, and Hermione had a strange chain around her neck. "We're cooked," Fred said immediately upon hearing the shouting outside the portrait hole.

"Fried," his twin supplied.

"Sautéed."

"Fred! George!" Hermione snapped angrily. "We have to figure out a way out!"

"We could get our broomsticks," Harry suggested tentatively. "Between the six of us, we've got four, and..." He trailed off as Hermione started to turn green.

"No."

"No broomsticks."

"They're not--"

"--necessary, after all."

The twins were at it again, and the others all turned to glare as the Fat Lady screamed. Ginny reddened with anger, making a rude gesture at the door.

"Barbarians," she muttered under her breath. "Can't even--"

Crack.

Splinter.

Crash.

The portrait hole was caving in.

Hermione went white. "Any ideas?"

"Fred, would you like to do the honors?" George asked, turning to his twin.

"Oh, I should be delighted, brother mine," Fred replied, pulling a tattered piece of parchment out of his pocket. With a flourish, he tore one corner away. And waited.

"Will you two stop that?" Ron shouted. "We're inches away from dying, and you--"

"Oh. Wow," Ginny whispered. A door had suddenly appeared right in front of Fred where there had been nothing but air and carpet before. Weird, Harry managed to think through his shock. Hogwarts tended to stretch the limits of the imagination, but even for Hogwarts...this was strange. "What did you do?"

"Tell you later," Fred replied with a tight smile, stepping aside so George could open the door. "Let's get out of here."

Crash.

Splatter.

The portrait hole gave way, and four Death Eaters spilled into the room.

"There they are!" Flint yelled.

"Take them alive!" another added.

"Oh, shit!" Ron swore, dodging a curse.

"Look out, Ron!" Hermione grabbed one of his arms and dragged him backwards, barely causing another curse to fly over his head. "Stay down!"

"Come on!" Ginny shouted, already diving through the door on George's heels. Harry bolted after her, his arms too full of sword and Invisibility Cloak to draw his wand. Fred was shouting for Ron and Hermione to hurry up.

"Throw the Dungbombs, you idiot!" Hermione screamed in his ear.

"What--oh. Yeah." An underhanded lob sent the mess flying right into Flint's face. A second later, the sack exploded, and a horrible stench filled the Gryffindor common room, making everyone gag.

Fred shoved Ron and Hermione through the door on Harry's heels, and slammed it shut behind himself. Immediately, the door disappeared, leaving only a wall in its place. Ahead of the Misfits lay a long corridor, lit only by lanterns spaced about ten feet apart along its length.

"Where are we?" Ginny whispered.

"The Room of Requirement," George explained. "We discovered it running from Filch our first year, but didn't know what it was called until Dumbledore sent us that." Fred held up the parchment. "It calls the room, no matter where you are in Hogwarts."

"Amazing," Hermione breathed, picking herself up off of the floor, where she'd landed in a tangle with Ron.

"No time for admiration," Fred put in. "Let's move."

"Can they get in?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so," Fred replied. "But let's not find out, all right? Time to go. George, if you would?"

They emerged in the courtyard, tentative and frightened. George tried to step out of the passageway alone, just to take a look around, but the moment he opened the door, the Room of Requirement disappeared around them. Suddenly, the Misfits were right in the middle of the broad courtyard--and right in the middle of the fight.

Dementors were everywhere, and people were screaming. Professor Flitwick's voice rang out above most of the racket as he shouted for the Ravenclaws to get back, to come this way--but it was of little use. On the other side of the courtyard, Professor Sprout was screaming at Cedric Diggory to come back, but he kept edging towards the fray. A group of four or five students had been caught between a group of Death Eaters and a clump of Dementors. Foolishly, they fled as the Death Eaters cursed them, laughing all the while. Even as Harry watched, Marietta Edgecombe stumbled, and--

"Reducto!" It sounded like Narcissa Malfoy's voice, and Marietta had no chance. The girl crumbled the moment that the curse hit, and Harry heard a scream.

"Marietta!" Cho Chang rushed forward out of the cluster of Ravenclaws near Professor Flitwick, sprinting for her friend's side--only to be caught in a flying tackle by Cedric Diggory.

"You can't!" Harry heard him shouting in the distance. "You can't do anything!"

"No!" Cho howled.

"Get back here!" Sprout shouted.

"Look out!" Flitwick added, and the pair dove to the ground as a rainbow of curses criss-crossed over their heads.

"Let's go while they're distracted," George hissed, and the Misfits started inching forward, so far unnoticed by both Dementors and Death Eaters. The main gate was wide open, now, torn off its hinges by some giant force, and it wasn't far away--

Another scream, and then another. Screeching from too many voices to keep count of them--the Dementors had closed in on the small group of Ravenclaws, and Harry watched in horror as gray hands reached out for them. He couldn't recognize faces, not from this far away, but he thought he saw four or five of them. Cho and Cedric were running again.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione grabbed his arm, goading him forward, and Harry saw why. Dementors were headed in their direction. At the same time, Ron swore:

"Oh, bloody hell. Here they come!"

"Hurry up!" Ginny was leading the way, her wand out and face serious.

Several Slytherins emerged from the castle just then, and Harry thought he heard Draco Malfoy's voice: "Run, Gryffindors, run!"

Laughter drifted over to the Misfits, and they ran harder. Harry didn't turn around in time to see Vincent Crabbe wander too close to a Dementor and be kissed, or to see Megan Jones struck by Flint's Cruciatus Curse and go down screaming, to be kept under the curse until she died. Those, however, were only a handful of casualties, a statistic of war. Students were running in every direction, Kingsley Shacklebolt lay bleeding on the ground, and Auriga Sinistra was dodging curses with unexpected agility as she ran to his side.

The Misfits, however, did not dare look back. They could only run, panting and sweating, for the main gate, jumping over rubble and at least one dead body along the way. The gate loomed closer and closer, until finally they were through and into the forest beyond.

The owl landed on James' desk shortly after Sirius gave the watch back. All three of the office's occupants were stumped; they knew there was trouble, but did not know where from. The recent report from Avalon had not helped much, either--it also indicated that something was wrong, but no one knew what. Dark skies swirling over the Isle of Light, however, told them how bad it was.

And now the owl, brown feathered and rather plain. Ordinary. A Hogwarts owl.

James felt his heart constrict, and his eyes widen.

"No," Lily whispered.

"Shit." Sirius started to stand, then waited for James to open the letter. He was reading over James' shoulder by the time the Minister of Magic broke the seal.

It was from Remus.

James,

By the time you receive this, it will be too late. We will have fought, but we will lose. I know that as I have known nothing else before--as horrible as it sounds, there is no other outcome.

Hogwarts will be taken soon. Do what you can to save the children; work with Severus. I know he will have done his best. If he loves nothing else in this world, he loves Hogwarts. He'll not let the students die, or Hogwarts crumble to dust.

I wish there was time for more.

Remus.

"I'll leave right now." Sirius headed for the door, but James stopped him, somehow managing to speak through the heavy feeling in his chest.

"No." He had to swallow. "If Remus is right, there's nothing we can do." Merlin, it hurt to say that. "Let me call an emergency meeting. We'll figure out where to go from there."

"I..." Sirius trailed off, looking torn.

"I know." James swallowed back the tears that wanted to rise. "But it won't take long. I promise."