Harry did not consider himself a cruel person. In fact, Harry thought of himself as a push-over most of the time. But things change.
"Rennervate."
Neville's eyes fluttered open, his pupils fighting to adjust to the bright light in his eyes. He tried to shield his eyes with his hand but found that his hands were bound behind him. It finally occurred to him that he was seated in a chair with his hands bound behind his back and a shining light directly in his face. Not good.
"Er - hello?" Neville called out.
There was no answer as the light continued to blind him. Neville attempted to move his head around and try to see behind the light but it was to no avail. Death Eaters? Neville's mind raced as he struggled to remember what lead to him being imprisoned in a chair. He remembered retrieving Harry's Firebolt and then encountering Voldemort. After that, it was a blur though he could hear an indistinct voice yelling at people in the back of his head. What could that possibly be?
He started to rock the chair back and forth, trying to throw himself to the ground and maneuver his way from there. It would be painful but it was better than sitting here and waiting for his captors. As he continued to rock back and forth, a voice suddenly cut through the light.
"You can stop."
Neville froze, unsure whether or not he should listen. The voice was vaguely familiar, but he could not quite spot it just yet. Still blinded by the light, Neville could only make out the dark shape of a body behind the light.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Neville did not respond, knowing that anything he said could be used against him. He squinted, still unable to see anything but the blinding light in front of him. Neville started fidgeting as he searched for his wand but felt nothing in his pockets even without his hands for help.
"Neville," Harry sighed, "It's just me."
They were set up in the corner of the Room of Requirement. A tent had been drawn around them to block anyone from seeing this particular project. Harry had placed a blinding light in front of Neville's face before he woke up, wary of which Neville would return. Would it be the congenial Neville that he regularly knew? Or would it be the You-Know-Who-possessed Neville that could hurt and destroy all of his friends? Harry had to make sure it was the former rather than the latter.
"Harry? What's going on? Why do you have me tied up?" Neville asked, angry at his imprisonment.
"Can you just answer the question?" Harry repeated.
Neville huffed, slightly put-off that he was being interrogated, "I remember getting your Firebolt and then seeing Voldemort. After that - it's - well - I don't remember much. I keep hearing yelling in the back of my head. Why? Harry, what's going on?"
"And that's all you remember?" Harry asked again.
"Yes," Neville sighed impatiently, "Can you let me go? I still don't understand why you have to tie me up and blind me."
"Not just yet."
"Not just yet?" Neville repeated incredulously, "Merlin. Harry, can you just tell me what's going on?"
There was a pause as Harry considered his options. Neville's eyes were not red; that much was certain. That was indeed a good sign. Still, without Madame Pomfrey's expert diagnosis, there was no way to know for certain whether or not You-Know-Who was out of Neville's head. Harry decided to test the waters and tell Neville what the boy said.
"Do you remember yelling at us?"
"Um - no?"
"Do you remember calling my Mum a Mudblood?"
"Harry! I would never call her -"
"Do you remember telling Ron he was an insignificant speck in the world?"
"No - I - why -"
"Do you remember basically calling Hermione a whore?"
"I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!"
"Are you sure?"
Neville was breathing heavily, straining against the ropes as he fought desperately to free himself from the chair. Harry knew that he had hurt Neville, but he had to make sure. He had to make sure You-Know-Who was not swarming around Neville's head somewhere. Judging from Neville's reaction, You-Know-Who was definitely not in Neville's head at the moment.
"Harry," Neville started shakily, "I don't know what's going on, but can you please just let me go? I swear to Merlin nothing you think is going to happen."
Harry shut off the light and for the first time, Neville could see the coldness in Harry's expression. His green eyes were far from warm or comforting but instead cold and calculating. Harry regarded him coolly, his face masked in discretion as he chose his next words carefully.
"I'll get you out, but I have to talk to some people first. Everyone's…unharmed if that's what worries you."
Neville nodded, still confused as to why Harry would be so cold to him. Harry nodded back to him before turning around and exiting through the flap of the tent. Neville could catch a glimpse of red hair outside before the flap closed and he was once again enclosed in the dark shadows of the tent.
"Is he okay?" Ron nervously asked Harry.
"He's himself again," Harry looked back at the tent as if he could see through the entrance, "He doesn't remember saying anything."
"Well that's good at least," Ron still looked a bit green at the thought of talking to Neville again.
"Yeah," Harry muttered in a disbelieving tone, "How's Hermione?"
"She's okay as she can be. I can't get her to talk to me though, you might have to try," Ron looked over at his friend.
Hermione was sitting with Parvati and Lavender, trying to help them master a particularly difficult hex they might need to use against the Death Eaters. She was demonstrating the wand movement to her two roommates, but Harry could see she was growing slightly impatient at their incompetence. Harry was glad she could at least keep herself busy.
"Anyways," Ron interjected, "We're in trouble."
"What? The Malfoy thing?" Harry asked with a dark expression on his face.
"No. That's a whole other can of worms we have to open up later. Harry, look at this," Ron pulled out the Marauder's Map and pointed at the spot near the Willow.
Six little dots were now surrounding the three as compared to the three dots that previously surrounded it. The Death Eaters were now roving that area in larger numbers, clearly protecting it. Harry frowned as he closed the map and looked at a concerned Ron.
"You think You-Know-Who might have caught wind of the plan through Neville's mind?" Harry asked.
"I think You-Know-Who definitely caught wind of the plan. He didn't catch all of it though. Look, there's still no one guarding the Astronomy tower," Ron re-opened the map and started looking for another location.
"So he only caught part of it. What do we do now?"
"I think I can still beat the crazy psycho. We didn't tell you this earlier, but there's another way out," Ron informed him.
"Another way? That really would have been helpful earlier on," Harry sarcastically replied.
"Well, there's a bit of a problem," Ron looked a bit uncomfortable.
Ron pointed at a passageway near the Defense classroom. There was only one little dot patrolling the corridor, but Harry could see why the Trio were hesitant to tell Harry about this other passage. The little dot was Lucius Malfoy.
"Oh."
"In light of recent events, I suppose we should keep it quiet that Malfoy Senior is patrolling that hallway or else we'll have to deal with another dead body around here," Ron looked at the younger Malfoy with a hint of fear in his eyes.
"I don't know what to do with him," Harry was referring to the younger Malfoy, "No one will come even close enough to think of trying to take his wand from him, but we can't just leave him here."
"Why not?"
"Ron, we can't just leave Malfoy to the Death Eaters."
"I still don't see your point. He'll get what's coming to him," Ron muttered under his breath.
"I'll talk to him."
"I wonder what that conversation will be like. Hey, Malfoy! Fancy going for a stroll; try not to kill anyone along the way! Or - hey, Malfoy - glad you could kill that Death Eater. You sure took a load off our hands," Ron imitated several voices as he mocked the faux conversation.
"We can't exactly punish him for anything. Thre isn't some sort of judicial system here."
"Who are we talking about exactly?" Hermione suddenly appeared at their sides.
Harry pointed his chin at Malfoy.
"I suppose we can't punish him but really he's a bit of a menace. Did you see what he did to that Death Eater?" Hermione pointed to the dead body.
"Honestly, it's just one more Death Eater down. I may not agree with his tactics, but Malfoy did do us a favor," Ron shrugged.
"Beyond barbaric, Ron. Glad to see you can keep your humanity about you," Hermione gave him a stern look.
"In case you haven't noticed, Hermione, they're trying to kill us all. All - of - us. Malfoy can be our personal Death Eater executioner," Ron made an axe swinging motion with his arms.
"Malfoy's not going to be anything," Harry kicked Ron lightly in the shin.
"Sheesh, excuse me for trying to bring a suggestion into the midst," Ron rolled his eyes.
"You should talk to him, Harry," Hermione encouraged him.
"And say what?" Harry asked skeptically.
"He seems to listen to you for whatever reason. If anyone can get him to at least listen, it's definitely
you."
"Thanks, Hermione, but I don't know if that's exactly a good thing."
"It is a good thing, Harry. You help people. That's always a good thing," she said earnestly.
Ron coughed uncomfortably, his face looking slightly grumpy as he looked pointedly at the tent. Hermione suddenly realized who was in the tent and who might be in earshot and closed her mouth. Harry sighed as he looked at both of them.
"Neville doesn't remember anything," Harry informed her.
"Well - that's good," Hermione still looked uncomfortable.
"Do you think you can talk to him and let him go, Ron? I don't think I can handle it right now," Harry said to the other boy.
"I'll do my best. Hermione, help me?" Ron asked, clearly needing help in this situation.
"No - I'm sorry - I'm - Parvati and Lavender - have to go," Hermione stuttered, looking quite flustered at the prospect of seeing Neville so soon. She immediately walked as quickly as she could back to her roommates.
"I think Neville really hurt her," Ron frowned.
"You think?" Harry sarcastically replied.
----------------------------------------------------
Harry talked to Malfoy, which was akin to talking to a toaster. Malfoy gave subtle one word responses as Harry warned him that he was scaring people with his behavior. For all intensive purposes, Malfoy simply did not give a damn. Harry sighed as he walked away from the blond boy; there was no getting through to him. As Harry checked up on the various groups of people in preparation for their escape, he spotted Hermione Stunning several target dummies with a look of pure frustration on her face.
"Hermione," he called out from behind her. She apparently did not hear him or chose to ignore him.
"Hermione!" Harry called out a little louder.
Hermione turned around, clearly startled and fired a Stunner at Harry. Harry waved his wand and brought up his shield to deflect it, staring at her bemusedly all the while. Hermione's cheeks turned an adorable red as she profusely apologized for trying to stun him.
"Quite alright. We're all a bit tense today," Harry assured her.
"I'm so sorry! I'm - just - I'm a bit of a mess, aren't I?" Hermione smiled sheepishly.
"We're about to take on a group of Death Eaters. What's there to be worried about?"
"Correction. You're taking on a group of Death Eaters. We're simply taking on Lucius Malfoy. It's a bit of a mismatch, don't you think?" Hermione pointed out.
"Malfoy won't expect all of you to come at him at one time. Ron's done a good job planning this out," Harry looked at the other boy with some admiration. Though he could be rather pig-headed, Ron usually had everyone's best interests in mind.
"You get used to it after a while," Hermione said wryly.
Harry laughed before adopting a more somber tone, "How are you? With the whole Neville thing…"
"I don't know to be complete honest," Hermione wrung her hands anxiously, "I know it wasn't really Neville saying those things, but the things he said…"
"You know I don't think of you like that," Harry quickly interjected.
"You don't think to me in terms of what Neville said or you don't think of me like that at all?" Hermione immediately asked, qualifying her words carefully.
"And what if I did think of you like that?" Harry gulped.
Hermione paused, her eyes steady on his. Though Harry's heart was beating profusely, he kept eye contact with her as he sweated it out for her response.
"I wouldn't be opposed to it," she finally responded.
"I don't think I've ever gotten a maybe before," Harry commented.
"Speaking from your extensive dating experience are you?" Hermione half-smiled at him.
"Oh yes, of course. There were a lot of women before Cho. McGonagall, Pomfrey, Sprout," Harry listed off the teachers with his fingers.
"Sprout's a bit low for your standards, Harry," she teased.
"There's only been one standard for me," Harry looked at her purposefully.
She blushed and dropped her eyes first this time. She fidgeted with the edge of her robes like she usually did when she was nervous as Harry watched her squirm with a smile on his face.
"So I all I get is a vote of 'not opposed'?"
"It's complicated," she said honestly.
It did not take Harry long to connect the dots, "You and Neville aren't - well - you two aren't…"
Harry could not quite say it out loud, but Hermione saved him the trouble, "No - no - nothing like that. It's just that - well - he needs me right now. He needs Ron and I to help him even if he doesn't want it."
Harry frowned internally but did not let it show on his face. One of the characteristics he loved about Hermione was how loyal she was to her friends. She certainly was not going to turn her back on her best friend even if a psychotic murderer was crawling around in his head. For once, Harry understood completely.
"You know you can't get rid of me that easily," Harry teased, "I can deal with close male friends."
"Can you now?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Because let me tell you; Ron and Neville are a handful."
"I've lived with them for five years; I can handle them," Harry winked.
Hermione laughed; a true laugh where the corners of her eyes crinkled and her teeth flashed against the light, "Too true, Harry."
After the chuckling died down, Hermione froze as she spotted something or someone over Harry's shoulder. Harry's smile slowly fell off his face as he turned to see Ron leading Neville out of the tent. Neville was wringing his hands, red marks showing exactly where the ropes had cut off his circulation. Ron seemed to be talking to the Neville amicably enough. Neville, for his part, looked slightly grumpy but well for being imprisoned for most of the night. Neville caught sight of the pair and immediately started walking towards them.
Harry immediately shielded Hermione with his body as his face turned hard, regarding the other Gryffindor with a blank look. Hermione did not stop his movement in any way nor did she move out of the way from behind him. Neville saw the small interchange and clenched his jaw but kept resolutely walking to the pair, Ron not far behind him.
"Hermione, can I talk to you?" Neville addressed Hermione even though she was standing behind Harry.
Harry looked behind himself at Hermione questioningly. Hermione was frightened, the expression on her face fearful as she looked up on Harry. With his eyes, Harry communicated that she did not have to confront Neville right now. She nodded but took a deep breath of conviction. She squeezed his hand so Neville could not see and stepped away from Harry's shadow.
"Of course, Neville," she said quietly, "In private?"
Neville nodded as she led him away to a less occupied spot of the room. Hermione was careful to keep her distance from him. Harry watched them with concerned eyes, fearful that Neville might say something to push her further away. Knowing Hermione though, she would tough it out - because it was Neville. Harry turned around to see that the rest of the Fifth years were staring at them as if they were some sort of fascinating soap opera.
"Well, since I have everyone's attention, I guess we can go over the plan…"
-------------------------------------------------
The plan was simple enough from Harry's perspective. Hermione would open a door that would lead Harry to the Astronomy tower. For some reason or another, Hermione could not open a door that was immediately next to the Astronomy tower. Since Harry would be the most exposed, they handed him the Marauder's Map so he could navigate the hallways without encountering any Death Eaters. Though Hermione tried to convince Harry there was no need for him to fly as a distraction, Ron immediately pointed out that it would take at least ten minutes for all forty students to safely crawl into the narrow pathway that lead to the Honeydukes cellar. Harry would indeed have to provide a distraction so the Death Eaters would not hear the clatter surrounding the statue of the one-eyed witch.
When Harry started his flight from the tower, Hermione would open a separate door that was very close to the Defense room and the statue of the one-eyed witch. They would overrun Lucius Malfoy and start to pile people into the narrow corridor that would lead them to their freedom. There were only two caveats to the entire plan; Malfoy and Neville.
Harry did his best to inform Malfoy of the plan and advise him that he did not have to go out of his way to kill anymore Death Eaters than needed. Harry declined to tell Malfoy that his father would be the one protecting the one-eyed witch; there was already enough drama surrounding Malfoy to add another compound to that particular mix.
As for the other caveat, the fact of the matter was that the rest of the students did not trust Neville to hold it together around You-Know-Who. Though Neville protested vehemently, the two occurrences where Neville was possessed by You-Know-Who was seen by the entire Fifth year population. Thus, they were well educated on Neville's sudden outbursts. Hermione wisely decided that it would not be wise to anger the rest of the Fifth years and volunteered to hold onto Neville's wand for him unless the situation turned dire. The rest of the students agreed with this treatment.
Harry was rechecking all of his equipment before he would start the arduous journey to Hogsmeade. His always kept his special holster but this time, he also had the Marauder's Map tucked into jacket. Harry had already discarded his robes as they would create a slight drag in the air and Harry needed all the speed he could garnish. He tried to raise Ginny with the Mirror earlier, but she did not respond. Seeing as he had no use for it outside or in the air, he decided to give it to Hermione.
"Hold on to this," he pressed it into her hand, "If I can somehow raise you on it, make sure you answer."
"I will, Harry. Good luck," she hesitated for a moment before raising up on her tippy toes and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Who needs luck when I have that?"
Harry accepted the good luck's and amusing condolences of the Slytherins as he prepared to leave the Room of Requirement. Seamus and Dean surrounded him in a bear hug, repeatedly shedding fake tears as they said good-bye to their general. Harry was glad that the pair decided to take the amusing route though they knew Harry was about to launch into a dangerous task. Luna offered him a strangely emotional good-bye to which Harry did not know how to respond; he simply patted her awkwardly on the back as he kept moving. He shook Ron's hand before finally encountering Neville.
Neville immediately thrust out his hand, looking quite sincere when he said, "Thank you for doing this, Harry. Stay safe up there; we'll see you on the other side soon."
Harry nodded and smiled at the boy. Despite his You-Know-Who-induced comments, Harry could not help but like Neville. Hermione gave him one more fierce look before closing her eyes and concentrating on raising the door. A door shimmered into view in front of Harry. He did not bother looking back, knowing that for some reason or another, he would definitely not die today.
Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map and started to inspect the locations. You-Know-Who and Pettigrew were still in the Headmaster's office. A group of six names were patrolling the area around the Whomping Willow. Lucius Malfoy was pacing up and down the hallway where the secret passage was located. Though there were still several other Death Eaters patrolling the halls, there were only two Death Eaters on Harry's path to the Astronomy tower.
Stowing the map in his jacket, Harry gripped his Firebolt tightly and started to sneaking through the hallways. He spotted the first patrol and simply waited until the Death Eater passed him. Harry quickly moved from one alcove to another, staying light on his feet to avoid any noise. The second patrol passed him again and Harry was home free to the Astronomy tower. Leaping up the stairs two at a time, Harry found his way to the top in no time.
Now or never.
Harry mounted the broom and jumped into the air. It would not take long for the Death Eaters outside to notice him. Harry decided to give the signal to his friends as he lifted into the air. Pointing his wand a random tower, Harry hit the said tower with a powerful Bombarda. The tower exploded and the rumbles could be felt through the castle walls. Harry hoped it was enough as he immediately started to maneuver out of the way from incoming spells.
---------------------------------------------
Hermione was afraid for Harry. The stupid boy had since taken a cavalier attitude that both inspired her and made her fear for him even more. She knew that Harry had the much harder job in this escape plan and hoped with every fiber of her being that he would hold on and make it. She felt the slight reverberations of the castle shaking and immediately knew that Harry at least made it out of the Astronomy tower.
"Hermione, go!" Ron yelled.
Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated on a door that would lead to the statue of the one-eyed witch. Her wish was granted as the Room of Requirement created a door for the rest of the students.
"Attack group! Go, go, go!" Ron ushered a group of roughly ten students to take out the elder Malfoy. Draco was obviously not included for everyone's safety.
Hermione rushed out of the Room with her wand prepared. Lucius looked only a bit surprised to see the flood of students heading his way. He immediately started firing different spells towards them. Unfortunately for him, Ron had planned this takedown effectively.
Terry, Padma, and Ernie would immediately raise shields to fend off his first volley of curses. Hermione summoned a stone statue to absorb a Killing curse if Lucius felt particularly threatened. Lucius declined on the Killing curse and opted on more Dark curses instead. Noting that Lucius had released his first volley of curses, Hermione immediately banished the stone statue in his direction.
Lucius deflected the statue easily but could barely shield himself from the secondary group of Stunners behind it that were fired by Seamus, Dean, and Michael. He fought off those series of spells and stepped back as he continued to turn away volley after volley of spells. Three groups of three took turns hitting Malfoy with wave after wave of different hexes, keeping him indefinitely on the defensive. Hermione simply waited until his shield was weakened.
Even a wizard of Lucius Malfoy's caliber could not hold strong against every spell for a continuous thirty second span. Hermione finally saw an opening and hit him with a Stunner. After he fell, the rest of the attacking group hit him with their own Stunners to ensure his defeat. Kicking away his wand, Hermione signaled to Ron that the coast was clear.
"We're in business!" Ron yelled as the rest of the students piled out of the room.
"Dissendio," Hermione said the word that would open the hump of the statue and allow them into the secret passage.
The students started climbing into the passage while the rest of them took defensive positions to cover the hallway. Hermione could hear the yells of Death Eaters outside and took a moment of reprieve to wish that Harry be okay. Nott was holding his wand out beside her as he kept his eyes trained. All of a sudden, he froze as he noticed something suspicious on the wall. Hermione picked up on his behavior and asked him what was wrong.
"There's something off," Nott muttered.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"I recognize those symbols," Nott pointed out at four triangles that were located on each side of the one-eyed witch, "I've seen then at my house. I just don't remember what they're for except that -"
Nott froze as a look of recognition fell over his face.
"Nott, what is it?" Hermione asked in a panicky voice.
But Nott was immediately trying to wrench Ernie away from the open portion of the passage. Ernie yelled as Nott pulled him to the ground.
"Nott, wait your turn!" Ernie yelled.
"DOWN!" Nott yelled as he shielded Ernie's body with his own.
BOOM.
The witch exploded in a fiery blaze, blowing Hermione clear off her feet. The ringing in her ears was deafening as Hermione tried to sit up, shaking her head to try to clear the effects of the percussion blast. She groaned as she saw that the passage was blocked off, the resulting explosion of the witch causing a downpour of rubble that sealed the secret passage.
"Trap," she whispered to herself.
In the distance, even through the slight ringing in her ears, Hermione could hear the distant footsteps of Death Eaters getting closer and closer to them in the hallway. She looked desperately to where the Room of Requirement door was previously at but found it was gone. She crawled to Ron, who was holding his jaw as he tried to regain his bearings.
"Ron! We have to go!" she yelled at him.
Only ten students had made it through the passage before the witch exploded, leaving the rest of the students still on the Hogwarts side of the wall.
"What?!?" Ron yelled back, trying to pick the dirt out of his ears.
"WE HAVE TO GO!" Hermione yelled into his ear.
Ron received the message this time and clambered to his feet. Hermione made her way to Neville and shook him on the shoulder. He was bent over on his knees, coughing up dust as he tried to clear his lungs.
"Neville. Death Eaters on the way. Take your wand," she gasped out as she took deep breathes to steady herself.
Neville nodded and stood up as she placed his wand back in his hands.
"Willow! It's our only shot!" Neville yelled.
"Someone help me!" Ernie shrieked as he tried to pick up an unconscious Nott. Nott's back was covered in scars and burns, a consequence of his heroic act. Blaise Zabini ran over and performed a Levitating charm on Nott as Ernie started to push Nott in the air as if he were riding on an invisible cart.
"Everyone to the Whomping Willow!" Neville waved his arm as he lead the group to the Entrance Hall.
Hermione could only hope Harry was faring better than they were.
-------------------------------------------------------
Harry ducked as he felt a spell sizzle over his shoulder. A couple of Death Eaters were patrolling the walls of Hogwarts and saw him immediately after he lifted off. Harry navigated through the tower, using them as cover as he avoided curse after curse. Harry narrowly dodged a green light as he flew under an archway. Although he could have immediately bolted across the lake, he needed to provide a distraction for the Death Eaters.
He pulled his broom up, gaining altitude as the Death Eater's curses turned more inaccurate the higher he went. Harry paused as he felt the Firebolt begin to reach it's altitude limits. Looking down, Harry could see three blurs zooming up towards him. The Death Eaters were giving chase on broom.
"Let's see how many of you were on the House team," Harry muttered as he pointed his broom down, straight into the heart of the flying Death Eaters.
Harry dodged and barrel rolled away from a series of curses as he hurtled through the air to the Death Eaters. Harry pointed out his broom directly at one of the Death Eaters, avoiding a spell along the way. At the last second, he veered away from the Death Eater and snaked around another of the Death Eaters, causing massive confusion amongst them. As Harry flew figure eights around the Death Eaters, he caused at least one of them to hit another with a curse. Harry caught a Death Eater falling out of the sky out of the corner of his eye and smiled with grim satisfaction.
One down. Two to go.
Harry pointed his broom down and felt the Death Eaters follow him as they vertically raced along the walls of the castle. Harry kept weaving in and out, making sure not to give them an easy target as he approached maximum speed. He gave a quick look over his shoulder to see the Death Eaters following him, their wands still trained on him. As they approached the ground, Harry pulled his broom up sharply and leveled almost flat against the ground. A sick thud echoed behind him and Harry did not need to look back to know that one of the Death Eaters had smashed against the ground.
Two down.
At this point, Harry started to speed towards the lake, noting that a couple more Death Eaters fired harmless spells at him from the ground. They would never hit him at the speed he was flying. Harry barrel rolled to avoid a curse from the last flying Death Eater as he breached the shore of the lake. Skimming the water, Harry weaved to kick up some water and block the Death Eater's vision for a moment.
The Death Eater anticipated this movement and grazed Harry's shoulder with a Dark cutting curse. Harry hissed as he felt the burn on his shoulder. Not bothering to look at the wound, Harry immediately pulled up on his broom and did a complete one eighty in the air and started flying straight towards the Death Eater.
Harry was angry that he let the Death Eater hit him and he was going to let this particular fool know it. He weaved slightly to avoid a spell but kept on course. They approached each other faster and faster, their brooms on an unstoppable course to collide against each other. At the very last moment, Harry flipped over so he was underneath the Death Eater. He simultaneously pulled out his wand during the flip and blasted the Death Eater off his broom. Harry watched the Death Eater tumble into the water, outdone by a simple Fifth year student.
Harry stopped his broom and looked back at the castle. Stray spells were being fired at him, but he was too far away to be bothered. More Death Eaters were rising to the air on their brooms. Harry knew he had done his part and could only hope that the others escaped.
"Good luck guys," Harry muttered to himself as he turned and sped towards Hogsmeade. He felt the magic shudder around him as he passed the magical barrier that defended Hogwarts.
--------------------------------------------
Hermione scrambled behind Neville as they exchanged fire with some of the Death Eaters. Several students were already hit and remained on the ground. Hermione could only hope that they were not victims of the Killing curse.
"Bombarda!"
Hermione aimed at the rafters, taking a cue from Harry's early battles. Several portions of the wall exploded over their heads, causing large chunks of rubble to fall from the sky. Hermione yelled as she felt a Stinging Hex hit her ankle. Although it was most probably friendly fire (Death Eaters would not use such an elementary curse), Hermione fired back with renewed energy as she struggled to fight off the Death Eaters.
Neville was taking down Death Eaters single handedly, leaping through the air and hitting Death Eaters with all sorts of spells. The Death Eaters seemed reluctant to hit him with any deadly curses and kept trying to hit him with Stunners. Hermione watched some of the Stunners literally bend around Neville as he kept fighting.
"No, not the runes!" one of the female Death Eaters yelled.
Hermione looked at where the Death Eater was yelling at and saw a series of glowing runes surrounding the double doors of the Entrance Hall. Not knowing the exact consequences of her actions, she immediately pointed her wand at the runes and yelled out more spells.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
The runes erupted in a fiery blaze as Hermione watched the Death Eaters react rather negatively to this spell. Although Hermione did not quite know what just happened, anything that made the Death Eaters panic was fine with her. The fighting immediately stopped, however, when Voldemort strolled in.
He lifted his wand and circled it in the air. All of the students immediately froze, suspended in animation by Voldemort's curse. Voldemort looked around, apparently seeking a particular target. Voldemort frowned, or at least construed his face into a frown, as he obviously did not find what or who he was looking for.
"Take all of them into the Great Hall," Voldemort ordered.
Hermione could only watch in horror, still frozen in mid-spell, as a Death Eater literally picked her up and carried her to the Great Hall.
-------------------------------