I looked from mum to Marcus to Narcissa to Helena. I could only pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying because they were speaking in Latin. There was a couple of 'protection', 'love', and several of 'soul'. My skin felt a little warm and tingly right before I felt a rush of wind around me. The wind then surprised me as it forced itself down my throat, leaving my insides feeling frozen and dry. I then fell to my knees. Helena knelt down and placed her hand on my shoulder. 

"Do you think it worked?" she asked, looking up at my mum. 

She shrugged. "There's no way to tell unless the curse hits here." 

"What curse?" I coughed, my throat feeling as though it was getting dryer. 

"Augumenti," Helena mumbled as she placed the tip of her wand in my mouth. "The killing curse."

I drank the cool water like I had never had a drop in my life. I felt like the life was slowly inflating my strength and warming my insides. I wiped my mouth when I was done, and she stopped the flow. She helped me stand.  

"What makes you think that I will get hit by it?" I asked. 

"Because we know you," Marcus shook his head. "We know that there is nothing stopping you from completing whatever ridiculous mission Dumbledore set you on. You're going to get yourself killed, so we all pulled together to create a spell to prevent you from dying." 

I shook my head. "There are no spells that can block that curse." 

"Well, hopefully, there is one that can now," Narcissa grimaced at me again. "I know that my son loves you, and I couldn't just stand by and let there be a possibility of you being taken from him. He has had too much hurt in his life already." 

"What are you even doing here with the Order?" I asked, looking from her to Helena. 

"I reached out to Beverly shortly after she left with you," Helena spoke up. "She seemed like she was genuine when she told me about how your father was lying to me. I also talked Narcissa into leaving with me. These two have really been like a mother to me. I really needed it." 

"This is a lot to take in, the curse and you all switching sides," I said, finally standing fully erect now. "How is this curse supposed to work?" 

"That's enough with the second degree," Marcus said, cutting off whatever Helena was about to say. "There is no more time. If you survive this battle, I will personally explain it to you." 

With that, the group dispersed, except for Helena. She awkwardly stood there, looking around the room. I slowly turned around to see if I could find Astoria and Kamrynn. They really should've been back by now, but there was no sign of them anywhere. No Draco either. I did happen to see Harry, so I walked over towards him and Ginny. I took a peek behind me to see that Helena was following me. 

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked Ginny. "Where's Hermione?" 

"They said something about a bathroom shortly after you left," she replied. 

"Are you sure they said bath-" 

Harry didn't get to finish what he was saying because he grabbed his forehead. He must've been having another moment of connection to Voldemort. I went to touch his back, but I was shocked by static electricity. 

"Evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, When I give the word, you will organize your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashin, to the evacuation point," McGonagall's voice bombed over the crowd.    

Ernie Macmillan stood up at the Hufflepuff table. "And if we want to stay and fight?" 

"If you are of age, you may stay and fight, if you wish," McGonagall replied. "We have already placed protection around the castle," she continued, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long. unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly,and do as your prefects –"

Her voice was then drowned out by a booming voice echoing through the hall. It was cold, high, and clear. There was no telling where it had came from. I turned to make eye contact with Helena who nodded in response. Goose pimples appeared all over my body as He spoke. 

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams among the students, some of whomclutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want tospill magical blood."

It then fell dead silent in the Hall as we waited to see if he would continue. The silence felt heavy upon us as Helena and I continued our eye contact. She then reached out and grabbed my hand. I didn't realize that I had been shaking, and I was a little surprised that her touch calmed my nerves so quickly. 

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, andI shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. "You have until midnight."

The silence swallowed them all again. Every head turned, every eye in the place seemed to have foundHarry, to hold him frozen in the glare of thousands of invisible beams. Then a figure rose from theSlytherin table and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as she raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he'sthere! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

Ginny stepped in front of Harry with her wand out. Helena let go of my hand and looked crazily around the room, as if she was about to curse Pansy as soon as she found her. McGonagall was on the case though. 

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hallfirst with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."

Helena calmed down some and dropped her hand. I was still a little spooked about seeing her there, but the way she reacted when Parkinson had threatened Harry had started making me believe that she had truly switched sides. 

"Kamrynn and Astoria are still not back yet," Helena said as she looked around the room once again. "No sign of Draco either. We should go look for them." 

I nodded. "Draco went to make his way to the Gryffindor common room to retrieve the Griffindors, but obviously, they are down here." 

"Okay, and where did Astoria and Kamrynn go?" 

"They took Blaise to the evacuation point because he couldn't fight," I sighed. 

She looked a little shocked. "What happened to Blaise?" 

"Why do you care, Helena?" I asked and then instantly regretted the tone that I had used. "I'm sorry-" 

"Don't be. He was just my partner," she shrugged. "He looked out for me. Also, once again, I don't go by Helena anymore." 

I nodded. "I forgot." 

"Well?" 

"Voldemort punished him, and he's currently regrowing bones due to the severity. I have no idea what he did to get punished though." 

She nodded. "Well, I think we should make our way to Draco first. Kamrynn and Astoria just most likely got caught up with the evacuation starting." 

I walked over to Colin Creevey right after he had just gotten yelled at by McGonagall. "Hey, Colin. Did you happen to see where Draco went after he came to get you all?" 

He shrugged. "I don't know where he went, but he was headed for the main entrance after we had gotten down here."

I exchanged looks with Hel-Jade- right before we headed towards the exit. I just had a feeling that he had went outside during this time. What could he possibly be doing? 

A/N: And here we go! The next chapter will start the main action of the battle. I hope you are all enjoying the start of the battle -or also known as the beginning of the end of the prophesy. There has been some big twists already. 

So, I did a thing and decided to get a tiktok. I haven't posted much on it, but there will be more. If you would like to follow me my username is courtneyalexander1991. I will probably be changing that to my wattpad name here soon since I will solely use tiktok to go with my writing. If you would like to, you can send me a question on here or on tiktok to answer in a video. It cane be about my writing or my personal life. As long as its not too personal, I will definitely answer! 

Also, the author that I have tagged in this chapter is one of the best authors on wattpad. She is a true hidden gem. She doesn't just write Harry Potter fics, but she has a star wars series out as well now. Here is a link to her most popular series right now: The Baie Series. It has three books: I'm Better Off. Your Better Off., Lead Me On, and It's Always Been You. These are all Draco Malfoy love stories. I call her the queen of cliffhangers, so prepare for an emotional roller coaster if you start reading! I HOPE YOU DO! 

 https://www.wattpad.com/939197717-i%27m-better-off-you%27re-better-off-0

Well, thanks again for reading. Please be sure to comment, vote, and love. <3 

-Courtney