Resistance

Chapter 16 - Harry's Request

It was only an hour and a bit since the DA had left the Room of Requirement and stormed down to the Great Hall, full of adrenaline and excitement at finally being able to do something after so long spent cooped up. But for Neville, it felt like an eternity. How could the whole world have changed so fast? Everything had passed in a blur - McGonagall evacuating the younger students, Voldemort's voice ringing out in the Hall as he asked them to give up Harry, and then everyone getting ready to defend Hogwarts and the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry had vanished in his quest for the hidden weapon, and Neville had joined a group who were planning to throw mandrakes from the battlements. It was a clever tactic - the howling mandrakes could disable several Death Eaters at once and dropped from the darkness went unnoticed until it was too late. But Voldemort's forces, who were baying at the walls, had quickly fought back. Neville's little group of four, based on top of Ravenclaw tower, were forced to retreat.

Determined not to be defeated, Neville grabbed the last of the mandrakes and ignored the plea of Padma Patil as he rushed to the other side of the battlements. He threw over the remainder and tore off his earmuffs, just as a huge explosion behind him threw him hard against the wall. Screams were cut off midway. In the ringing quiet that followed, he turned to see Padma, pushing herself up to a sitting position. Next to her, the other two Gryffindor girls had not been so lucky.

One, a girl called Ellie, lay with her eyes still open. They looked bright and moist, but the pupils were fixed. Her mouth was open in an expression of surprise. Her body looked tense, as though she might push off the stone and get up at any moment. The other, Amy, was lying face down. Part of the back of her head was missing and her dark red blood made a horrible puddle against the pale stone.

Another dull thud accompanied by a flare of orange-red light made the whole tower sway. He grabbed Padma, who despite being so covered in dust her dark skin looked grey, seemed to be relatively unscathed. 'Come on, we've got to get out of here! Come on, you get Amy and I'll get Ellie, we can use Mobilicorpus. Quick now!'

Moving as though in a dream, they dragged the bodies out from under the wall and levitated them into the door. Numbly they began to stumble down the spiral stairs. Dust drifted down from the ceiling and walls, a fine powder. As they descended, they became aware of the bangs and clunks from the tower walls, each accompanied by a little shower of gravel. By the time they were halfway down, whole chunks of masonry were falling past them.

There was a horrible splintering groan that seemed to come from deep within the walls. The unearthly echoes sounded like the death throes of some wounded sea monster. Above them, the swaying was becoming ever more apparent. Neville cast a Shield charm to try and ward off the tumbling pieces as another moaning creak rent the air. 'It's like the castle's screaming!' sobbed Padma, who was on the edge of hysteria.

'We'll have to leave the bodies!' panted Neville, pressing himself back against the wall as lump of stone the size of a brick broke into pieces two steps below them.

Padma was in no fit state to disagree, and he pushed downwards, guiding her with his hands on her shoulders. He had no time to even look back, but when he rounded the next bend he caught a glimpse of the two corpses, like a pile of discarded clothing. Padma was barely holding it together, and he knew it wouldn't take much to make her snap. Once she let her emotions take over, they'd be stuck. He couldn't let that happen. He had to keep her moving, keep her focussing on the way down. 'Look at your feet, just focus on the stairs, every step down is another nearer the bottom!' he coaxed, shouting over the noise. He wished they hadn't discarded their earmuffs when they'd lobbed the last of the mandrakes over the parapet. He wondered if Professor Sprout and the others had had any more luck on Gryffindor tower. He prayed his favourite teacher was all right.

The stairs were trembling now and the fall of stone was constant, a thick powdery rain with occasional fragments of rock. It was hard to keep his footing, and Padma stumbled and screamed out loud. He pushed her downwards, desperate to get her out before she froze up. 'Just keep going, we're nearly down!' he yelled, as the biggest chunks of wall yet crashed past them.

Above he heard a tremendous crashing, and realised part of the tower had fallen clean away. He flattened Padma against the wall, narrowly avoiding decapitation by more falling stone. To his immense relief he saw the foot of the staircase. 'There, go!' he shouted. Padma gave a wail of relief and flung herself through the door. Neville tumbled after her, pulling himself into the wooden frame of the door, but something was holding him back. He stopped and turned to the stairs again, ignoring Padma's scream. Pointing his wand upwards he shouted, 'Accio bodies!'

A stone block fell from nowhere, so close he felt it almost graze him, followed by a dark shape that hit him before he could avoid it. For a second he thought he was a goner, before he registered the softness and awkwardness of the object. It was the body of his old classmate Ellie Stevens. As he pulled her through the doorway another eerie groan heralded several massive blocks of stone that crunched to the ground, followed by a final long low rumble and a cascade of stone. He fell through the doorway with the body just as the remains of the tower caved in on itself, with a final cloud of billowing dust.

He lay, winded and choking, on the flagstones, trying to catch his breath. Padma flung herself on him, no trace of her usual calm and composed self. 'Neville, why did you do that? You could have been killed!' she screamed, hitting him ineffectually.

'I couldn't leave them there! I know they're... but I couldn't! Amy's body wouldn't come though, something must have fallen on it.' He succumbed to another coughing fit. The doorway was now walled in by chunks of fallen building. He looked at the corpse slumped at his feet. Ellie, who'd shared his lessons for years, she and Amy. Quiet and unobtrusive, overshadowed by the louder Lavender and Parvati, and brainy Hermione. Ellie had once accidentally spilled Shrinking Solution on Snape's foot. Best Potions lesson ever.

Screams and bangs from somewhere to his left jerked him out of his grief. 'Padma, put Ellie somewhere out of the way, stay down yourself until you feel better. Remember what we did in the DA, OK?'

The Ravenclaw girl clung to him, her eyes rolling in panic. Her fingers felt like a vice and he had to resist the urge to push her away. 'Don't go Neville, please! Don't go and die, I can't bear it!'

'I'm not going to die!' he informed her firmly, disentangling himself. He clambered to his feet, wiping dust off his face. The sounds of battle were distinct and definite, calling to him irresistibly. He started along the corridor towards them, pausing to shout back, 'We're going to win, Padma, don't forget it!'

The stairs were lit by multi-coloured flashes of spells and echoed with the cries of those fighting below. The castle shook all the time, dust hanging in the air. As Neville reached the bottom, he dodged sideways to avoid a spell. Whipping around with his wand, he fired off a Stunning spell just in time to knock out a Death Eater who was bearing down on Dean Thomas. Dean had no time to thank him, as he was immediately confronted by another hooded figure.

Neville quickly took stock of where he was. They were back on the ground floor, right outside the empty classroom that Professor Sprout had been using as a sort of additional greenhouse for storing plants that were valuable or dangerous. Everyone seemed to be holding their own for the moment, so he ducked into the room, which was still unlocked, and surveyed the plants. The mandrakes were used up, but there was plenty more greenery here that could be used as a weapon.

A movement made him catch his breath and spin around, casting a shield charm as he did so. But it wasn't a Death Eater. The strange, semi-solid form of Peeves the poltergeist faced him, grinning malevolently. Before it could speak, Neville pointed to a box. 'See those Peeves? Snargaluff pods - take the lot and chuck them down on Death Eaters. We'll see how well they duel then.' The mischievous spirit cackled before swooping down to gather up the fat green pods and zoomed out of the room.

Neville himself approached with caution the Venomous Tentacula standing in a shady corner. Reaching out, he stroked the stem in the right direction, careful not to apply too much pressure, and waited. The plant seemed to relax, its tendrils sagging comfortably. It felt odd, this moment of calm, after the stress and urgency of the situation outside. When he judged the moment was right, he lifted the plant into his arms, and carried it out of the room.

Even in the short time he'd been in the classroom, the fight had moved on. Feeling rather lost, he looked left and right. For a moment he thought everything was over. Then he heard a shattering sound to the left, and he puffed along the corridor towards the Entrance Hall. As he approached, he could hear the other sounds of battle; the shouted spells, the cries of pain and exertion, a great metallic crashing which must have been a suit of armour meeting a sticky end.

He slipped into the Entrance Hall unnoticed, narrowly missing a Stunning spell that came out of nowhere. He could see Kingsley Shacklebolt and Professor Flitwick both duelling Death Eaters. He murmured to the plant, 'They're yours, the ones with the hoods, the ones who smell evil,' and felt a surge of pleasure as the plant did his bidding and snaked out tentacles to the nearest Death Eater. The man didn't realise at first, then gave a shriek of alarm. Neville allowed himself a small smile. People who enjoyed 'flash and bang' magic rarely paid much attention in Herbology - the better the duellers, the more terrified and baffled they were likely to be by the Tentacula. The hooded figure clearly had no idea what he was faced with or how to disentangle himself, and he was pulled down by the creeping vines.

Kingsley took advantage of the man's distraction and finished him off with a powerful stunner that blasted him backwards, he then joined Flitwick in making short work of the other Death Eater. Neville heard a crash of splintering glass and saw a man crumpled on the floor beneath a shattered crystal ball, his hood halfway off his head. Running forwards, he almost tripped over Lavender Brown who was spread-eagled on the ground, barely moving. He cast a Shield charm over her, just as a window broke and the doors finally burst open.

All eyes turned to the doorway, and even the duellers paused. Something was coming through the doors. It seemed to be in slow motion, yet at the same time happened too quickly. Thick black legs, covered in giant coarse bristles, snaked around the door frame. Far too many of them. In seconds they were everywhere around the frame, with more reaching into the middle, feeling the air. They were followed by solid hairy bodies with pincers and many glittering eyes. Giant spiders. He remembered Ron's horror stories of the huge spiders that lived in the Forest, and his Gran's stories about bad boys who got fed to Acromantulas. But at least spiders were meant to be scary. Somehow it was easier to blast a spider than a person.

He fired off spell after spell, as did everyone else - even some of the Death Eaters seemed to have forgotten - or perhaps never realised - the spiders were on their side. The horrible creatures flailed their legs around, rearing up to an even greater height. Neville tried to aim for their bellies, unsure if this was a weaker part in spiders, and their many eyes. 'Don't hurt 'em, don't hurt 'em!' bellowed a voice, and the next moment Hagrid had appeared in the midst of the spiders.

Cursing, Neville cut off the spell he'd been about to cast, afraid of hitting Hagrid. At first he thought the Gamekeeper's instruction was meant for the beasts, but it dawned on him that Hagrid actually meant to protect the spiders. As he watched, the spiders closed in around Hagrid and began to retreat. Harry Potter appeared as if from nowhere, rushing after Hagrid, shouting his name. Ron and Hermione weren't far behind, trying to call Harry back. Spiders, Hagrid, Harry and Ron and Hermione disappeared through the doors into the darkness.

For a moment everyone was still, regaining their breath, still reeling from the events they just witnessed. The Venomous Tentacula was creeping steadily over the ground towards another Death Eater. Before anyone could restart fighting, a great crashing from outside drew more gasps and hasty shield charms. There were thuds and the sound of breaking glass. 'Giants!' yelled someone, and sure enough, a vast hairy leg was just visible through the gloom outside the doors.

'HAGGER!' came a roar that shook the little remaining glass in the windows. There was another roar, wordless but so loud and deep that it was followed by a tinkling as more glass tumbled from the smashed panes. The ground trembled with more great crashes. There was another yell, much closer, and he turned just in time to see a Death Eater tugged to the ground by the Venomous Tentacula, which was reeling him in. Neville wasn't sure how it managed to look so gleeful when it was just stem, leaves and tendrils, but it somehow did.

The scream acted like a starter's whistle and suddenly the Entrance Hall was alive again with fighters duelling. Neville found himself locked in combat with a short stumpy Death Eater. He could hear the man's fast wheezy breathing. However what he lacked in physical fitness he made up for in magical power. A second spell grazed Neville's ear, missing by the merest fraction. It was all he could do to defend himself, let alone think about attacking, and he was backed further and further away until his back was against the wall.

'Protego!' he kept saying, willing the spell with all his power. He was vaguely aware of more roars and crashes from outside, but all he could think about was his assailant and preventing his spells from penetrating.

Finally, he sensed the Death Eater weakening, and took advantage. He suddenly ducked low, dropping to a crouch, a trick his Dad's books had shown him. At the same time, he fired a spell upwards, straight at the man's head. Not the way you were taught to stun because of the risk of death if the spell was strong enough, but effective. The Death Eater keeled over backwards.

He looked around the Entrance Hall. They were keeping the Death Eaters off - though off what he wasn't sure what any more. Harry was what they wanted, and he'd left the castle. Presumably they wouldn't stop until they had complete control of Hogwarts and all the resistance members had been wiped out. How much longer could they fight for?

He took the opportunity to run forwards to where Lavender was lying in a crumpled heap. She stirred slightly and made faint whimpering noises when he shook her. Keeping low and looking around for danger all the time, he dragged her away from the centre of the floor to the back wall. He wanted somewhere safe to put her but there was nowhere safe left. He'd barely laid her down when a shout alerted him to the return of a spider - just the one this time, but still horrifying.

Everyone else in the Hall was either injured or fighting, so he ran forwards to take on the beast himself. He cast a series of Stunning spells, aiming for the glittering wall of eyes, hoping that the volley would have a cumulative effect. But the spells seemed to bounce off the spider's hairy body without having the slightest effect, other than annoying it.

Desperate, he tried a bright flash of light, hoping to blind the dark-loving creature. The spider reared up, its foremost legs peddling in the air, and crashing down so close to Neville that he had to step hastily back, craning his neck up to see the huge arachnid. His foot caught something and he stumbled, falling heavily. He opened his hands instinctively and his wand went skittering away. 'No!' he cried, cursing his clumsiness, and trying to back away from the spider which was now looming over him, homing in on its prey.

Then the spider was blasted backwards, with a nasty squelching thump, by a spell so bright Neville shut his eyes. Before he could open them, he was being pulled back to his feet and a familiar voice was saying, 'Accio wand!'

'Gran!' he gasped, as his wand was thrust back into his hand. He was so surprised he couldn't even ask how she came to be there.

Before his Gran could speak, the high, cold voice of Voldemort rang out once again. Everyone stopped in mid fight, and the two sides backed warily away from each other as the Dark Lord spoke. 'You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.'

Neville exchanged a stunned glance with his Gran as the voice continued. 'I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.'

A stunned silence followed the words. The Death Eaters had been melting backwards towards the doors even as their master spoke, they must have been expecting the order to retreat. Some of them looked bitterly disappointed, but none tried to disobey, and all were gone as suddenly as they had arrived. Retreating thuds from outside suggested even the giants were retreating.

He looked again at his grandmother and said weakly, 'Harry isn't even in here. He ran off outside after Hagrid.'

'The whereabouts of Potter is Potter's business,' sniffed his Grandmother. 'We need to focus on our part.'

Kingsley Shaklebolt clapped his hands several times for attention. 'We need to get everybody inside. The castle is badly damaged, we are in a siege situation. We could retreat to the dungeons but that would reduce our options for escape; they are also the part of the castle best known to those from Slytherin house - which many of our enemies are. I suggest we use the Great Hall. It is large enough and we can defend the entrance quite effectively, there's also a back way out. Gather up the injured and help them into the Hall, move the injured first before the dead. Anyone who has knowledge of medi-magic please make themselves known.'

'I was a pretty effective Healer in my time,' announced Gran, and made off for the Hall without any goodbyes.

Neville made his way across the ruined Hall to where Lavender was still slumped against the wall where he'd left her. He bewitched her to reduce her weight, before awkwardly lifting her in his arms. Her boobs pressed against him, which made him feel uncomfortable, like he was taking advantage of her.

The Great Hall had remained relatively untouched by the battle, although a layer of dust over the floor indicated the structural damage to the castle was far reaching. He was relieved to see Professor McGonagall, Ginny's mother, and several of the other teachers. His Gran she was already barking instructions to those who'd arrived in the Hall with bodies or the walking wounded.

He laid Lavender down next to Katie Bell, who was so pale her skin seemed grey. As he turned away he saw Seamus being helped into the Hall by Dean, his arm over his best friend's shoulder and hopping on one leg. When he saw Neville he managed a grin. 'You should see the other guy,' he panted as Dean helped him lower himself onto one of the benches.

'Longbottom!' It was Professor McGonagall. 'Are you uninjured?'

'I'm fine Professor,' he confirmed.

'I need volunteers to go into the grounds; we need to try and get as many of our injured and dead back inside before the ceasefire ends. Are you prepared to go?'

'Of course,' he said at once, thinking of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid. They were all out there somewhere.

'Then go with Wood,' she pushed him the direction of the boy who had been Gryffindor Quidditch captain during Neville's early years at the school. He'd never really spoken to Wood, who'd always seemed rather like a god to him. McGonagall had already turned away and was barking instructions at someone else.

'You-Know-Who's not stupid, he knows how to get to Harry,' said Wood, without any preamble. There was something about being fighters for a common cause that made introductions seem unimportant. 'He knows Harry won't be able to bear to think of people dying for him. Where is Harry? Someone needs to find him and...well, stop him.'

'Last time I saw him he was running after Hagrid,' replied Neville. 'But he's looking for this weapon that's hidden at Hogwarts - if he thinks he can actually defeat You-Know-Who with that then maybe he won't...' He broke off as they surveyed the grounds with horror. In the faint grey dawn light, they could see the grounds looked like a battlefield, dotted with crumpled bodies. Trees were uprooted, the greenhouses were all smashed to crumped steel skeletons, and in several places small fires were burning. The tall hoops of the Quidditch goals were buckled and bent. The body of a fallen giant had crushed the broom sheds.

They lit their wands and made their way gingerly over the ruined lawn, not speaking until they reached the first of the bodies. 'Death Eater,' said Wood after a moment's inspection, his voice a mix of disgust and relief.

The next bodies were lying a short distance away from the fallen Death Eater, one to the right and one to the left. The two boys split up, Neville approaching the body on the left. It had fallen face down, one arm extended above the head, as though reaching for something. The clawed hand suggested a painful end.

Once up close, his wandlight illuminated a black school cloak, hitched up to reveal a single leg clad in blue and white striped pyjamas. Kneeling down, he gently shook the body by the shoulder, knowing it was futile. Then he saw the face and gasped. The eyes were still open, the features frozen in an expression of sheer astonishment. 'No!' he heard himself say. 'No, no, no, no, no!'

'Neville?' Wood was approaching.

'Why?' he asked the body in front of him, which was that of earnest, eager Colin Creevey.

'Neville?' asked Wood again, crouching behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

'He wasn't even seventeen, damn it! McGonagall sent him out, I saw her send him out with the other underage kids. He must have sneaked back again. He was only a kid!'

Wood said nothing, but increased the pressure on his shoulder. Snape's words echoed in his head, 'They will follow you to torture and death.' How many times had he told the DA that they must be ready to fight in a final battle, with Colin sitting at the front, mouth slightly open, hanging on his every word? It was obvious that Colin wasn't going to trot off home with the other students and leave the rest of them to fight.

For the first time since the battle began, he was hit by the true horror of it all. He suddenly felt very cold. Although Professor Sprout's death had upset him, Colin was so young, so innocent. He'd never even had a chance to get over his astonishment at magic. Neville reached out with a hand that trembled, and touched Colin's eyelids, to draw them back down over his glassy stare. They felt horrible, and there was something sickeningly intimate about sliding the lids over the cold hard eyeballs. 'I'm sorry, Colin,' he whispered.

'You OK?' asked Wood, after a tactful pause.

Neville took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He had to be OK. He couldn't back out now. 'Yeah,' he said, faintly. 'Let's get him back into the castle.'

Colin's body was very light, even at the age of sixteen he'd been short and weedy. Random thoughts went through Neville's head as they bore the body back to Hogwarts. Where was Colin's camera? Would he have brought it with him to the battle? Suddenly something struck him, and he almost dropped Colin's shoulders. 'Dennis!' he said. Seeing Wood's blank face, he added, 'Colin's little brother, he follows him everywhere like a shadow.'

'We'll go back and look, mate,' said Wood, 'but if Colin was the man I think he was, he'd have made sure Dennis was out of harm's way before he came back.'

They made their way carefully up the steps towards the inviting rectangle of light spilling from the open doors. As they reached the doorway, Wood said, 'You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville.' With a sense of relief Neville allowed Wood to hoist Colin up over his shoulder. He didn't think he could have borne to carry him into the Great Hall, lay him out under the starlit ceiling, feeling the accusing stares of those who knew who had psyched Colin up to take part in a battle he could never have hoped to win.

Momentarily, he leant on the doorframe, wiping his brow. He wanted to break down and cry, shout and scream and rail at the world which had allowed things to turn out this way. But he couldn't. He forced himself to stand up straight, go down the stairs. He needed to look for Dennis. He had a horrible feeling the younger boy would never have stayed behind whilst Colin returned to fight.

Heavy hearted, he made his way over to a crumpled body he hadn't yet checked on. He could see that it had been bitten, mauled by some horrible creature. He wasn't sure if it was one of his own or a Death Eater. He bent forwards, trying to make out features. 'Neville.'

The voice made him jump so hard he almost tripped on the body, whirling round just as Harry Potter appeared at his side, pulling away his Invisibility Cloak. 'Blimey Harry, you nearly gave me heart failure!' His voice was higher than normal, partly from shock but also the relief at seeing Harry still alive and apparently unharmed, although he did seem to have blood on his clothes.

He stared at the boy for whom all this fighting was for. The boy who'd shared a dorm with him, sat through boring lessons with him, laughed and joked and stood up for him. He remembered his conversation with Wood, his suspicion that Harry would hand himself over rather than let people die for him. 'Where are you going, alone?' he asked.

'It's all part of the plan,' said Harry confidently. 'There's something I've got to do. Listen - Neville-'

Those words didn't sound good to Neville. 'Harry! Harry, you're not thinking of handing yourself over?' He looked hard into Harry's green eyes, visible through his smeared glasses lenses.

'No, course not,' replied Harry. He sounded very calm and confident, a much stronger and more together person than the distracted, confused boy who'd arrived in the Room of Requirement. 'This is something else. But I might be out of sight for a while. You know Voldemort's snake, Neville? He's got a huge snake... calls it Nagini?'

'I've heard, yeah - what about it?' Maybe Harry was calm and confident because he'd found the hidden weapon. He certainly didn't look like a man on his way to his death.

'It's got to be killed,' said Harry, in a low strong voice. 'Ron and Hermione know that, but just in case they-' His breath caught slightly and he didn't seem able to finish the sentence. 'Just in case they're busy, and you get the chance-'

'Kill the snake?' he repeated, to show he was following.

'Kill the snake,' Harry confirmed.

'All right, Harry. You're OK, are you?' He looked hard at the other boy. He thought of the pressure he felt, when the DA looked to him, the guilt he felt over Colin. Multiply that by a hundred, and maybe he'd know how Harry felt at that moment. He suddenly wanted badly to protect Harry, to tell him it was all OK, it wasn't his fault.

'I'm fine. Thanks, Neville.' Harry smiled, and just for a second he thought he saw something in those eyes, a flicker of sadness, of resignation. Of goodbye. As Harry turned to go, Neville grabbed his wrists, wanting him to keep him there, keep him safe.

'We're all going to keep fighting, Harry. You know that?' He couldn't say the words, but he silently willed Harry to keep believing, to be bolstered by the support of his friends, rather than burdened by it.

'Yeah, I...' Harry stopped, unable to say more. The two boys stared at each other for a moment more, then Neville patted Harry's shoulder, and turned away to look for Dennis. Every step away hurt, but he know he had to let Harry get on, complete his mission. He still couldn't shake the fear that Harry was going to hand himself over, but at the same time he knew that he couldn't keep him there. After a few paces, he looked back, but Harry had vanished, back under the cloak.

As he knelt next to the mutilated corpse, which turned out to be an older woman he thought was an Order member, he turned over Harry's strange request in his head. 'Kill the snake,' he said to himself, as he sadly gathered up the corpse and began the slow painful walk back to the castle.