CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO:
( the battle of hogwarts, pt i )

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

KINGSLEY AND REMUS ARE the ones leading Spencer and the rest to the Great Hall. She shares a look with Ricky and Theodore, and they give her an assuring glance before refocusing in front of them. Their wands are gripped tightly onto their dominant hand and they hear the gasps of everyone inside. Spencer swallows her fear away and she can hear Harry utter, "It seems, despite your exhaustive defensive strategies..." Kingsley points his wand to the doors of the entrance and they slowly start to open, "...you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster. And I'm afraid it is quite extensive."

Spencer steps forward along with all her companions, her head raised up in defiance while she stares coldly at Severus Snape. All the students gasp even more in surprise, parting themselves to the side and their mouth gaping at them in disbelief. Murmurs begins to be passed around when they notice exactly who is in the crowd of newcomers. Spencer glares around the room, noticing the Carrows behind Snape and yet... Morgana is nowhere near sight. Her blood boils in a mix of anger and fear— where is she?

"How dare you stand where he stood?" Harry begins with a tone of rage. His hands are formed into a fist, clenching them tight in anger that is soon going to explode. All Snape does is stare at him coldly. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked at him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him! TELL THEM!"

Snape glares at him blankly before he immediately takes out his wand and points it at Harry. Spencer raises her own against him and those around her follow along. She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes in disbelief wondering if he truly would try and hex Harry when he is protected by people who would die and kill for him. Professor McGonagall pushes Harry out of the way and takes out her own wand defensively, her head tilted up bravely. Spencer parts her lips in surprise remembering how much she absolutely loves that woman. The students gasp in horror when Snape lowers his wand before raising it up again. Professor McGonagall attacks without hesitation, and unfortunately, Snape defends himself. She repeats her attack and Spencer watches closely to make sure that man does not hurt one of her favorite professors.

At one point, one of the spells Professor McGonagall cast made the two Carrows in the back get hit by them and they fall to the floor unconscious (Spencer hoped they were dead but she figures they are not). Snape starts backing away slowly before he turns into those familiar black shadows that Death Eaters can do and throws himself out of the window. "Coward!" Professor McGonagall yells angrily.

Immediately, all the students begin to chant and cheer when they realized that they have sacked Severus Snape and the Carrows. Professor McGonagall turns around with a bright smile and shines up the entire Great Hall with candles while the students jump happily. Spencer almost lets out a sigh of relief until her head snaps up when they suddenly all hear a hissing sound.

"Harry," the snake-like voice is heard among everyone and they all silence up immediately. Spencer takes a few steps forward in worry when she spots Harry tumble down to the floor and Professor McGonagall is staring down at him in worry. All the grins in the student's faces disappear and the air suddenly becomes damp and cold, the lights flicker off and everyone holds their arms close to their chest. And then, they hear the first scream. Spencer raises her wand defensively before noticing it is just a young first-year crouching down on the floor, her hands holding onto her ears in what seems like pain. Another person starts doing the same thing. And then another.

Again, they all hear the hissing-like voice, "I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter... and you'll be rewarded. You have one hour." Once he finishes, the cold air disappears and all the lights are back on. Every student surrounding Harry steps away in fear and they stare at him wondering what to do.

Gregory Goyle whimpers and points at Harry in accusation. Spencer glares at the Slytherin and heads in front of her friend protectively. She is not the only one for Ricky steps beside her and Theodore follows along with an arched eyebrow toward his past housemate. And then follows on the rest of the Dumbledore's Army and Order members.

No one does anything and their moment is interrupted by Filch running in with his cat on his arms, yelling, "Students out of bed!"

Professor McGonagall turns away from the Slytherin that called Harry out and turns to the caretaker. "They are supposed to be out of bed you blithering idiot!" She sighs in disappointment. Filch apologizes almost immediately looking embarrassed and confused. The older woman shakes her head and starts marching her way toward him. "As it happens, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune," she starts off.

"If you would, I would like you, please..." Professor McGonagall stands beside the Slytherins and points right at Goyle, "...to lead Mr. Goyle and the rest of the Slytherin House from the hall."

Spencer frowns at her statement and steps forward right away. "Professor," she calls out gently, squeezing through others to be right in front of the woman. Professor McGonagall softens her gaze upon noticing her and nods for her to continue. "I'd say we should let the Slytherins who want to fight with us stay. Don't you agree?" Spencer glances around the room to the other houses looking for their agreement.

Ricky raises his hand in agreement, and Harry follows along. Slowly, every one of her own friends and housemates agree with her statement. Theodore steps in with a smirk and bows dramatically to the others. Some students stare at him in surprise, with suspicion, or hatred. However, he does not seem to care as he stands in front of his own housemates with his chin raised up.

"I for one would love to fight alongside my friends," Theodore speaks in a matter-of-fact tone. He stares at his past housemates with some hope. "And if you want to, you can as well. If not, then I'd suggest you start following Filch now. The rest of us will stay here."

Professor McGonagall stares at them in surprise before nodding. "Very well! All of you heard the two of them. If you wish to not join, then you will return to the dungeons," she announces loudly. And with those words, some Slytherins do slip away outside of the Great Hall— those involving Crabbe, Goyle, both older and young students. Unsurprisingly, not every one of them begin disappearing. Is that not beautiful? At this moment, they are witnessing the idea that not all Slytherins are evil.

Pansy Parkinson is holding on tight to her chest, fear evident on her face and yet a side she has chosen to be on. She stays right where she is and beside her is Daphne Greengrass, a beautiful Slytherin girl Spencer rarely talks to but has heard of her own family being indecisive. Beside her is Astoria, her younger sister with the same pretty facial structure and kind look. And then there is Blaise (who she has missed way more than she has imagined), standing with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed firmly. Other Slytherins stay behind, but not all whom she recognizes too much. Either way, her heart lightens knowing she had been correct that the Slytherins are not all evil. Perhaps some of them are scared, or maybe they are not in their side, but the students with them are proving to the rest that they can be good as well— even if some acted like a dimwit the last few years.

Blaise passes by the others and brings her in for a hug. Spencer closes her eyes in relaxation before she hears him whisper, "I've asked Theodore to ask for some more help from former Slytherins— they might be coming from the Room of Requirement if they choose to come."

Spencer gazes up at him. "Who?"

"Adrian Pucey, Terence and Beckham Higgs, some more, but it was hard enough already," Blaise starts listing off. Spencer nods her head recognizing some of the names.

Theodore and Ricky reach to their side, but they do not say anything as Professor McGonagall speaks again, "If you are of age, you may stay. Prefects, you must take the younger ones to the evacuation point and from then, all of them will leave safely, understood?"

Many of the young students listen to their prefects while few of them try to argue that they want to stay as well. She can hear Astoria Greengrass argue that she wants to fight beside her sister, but even she is taken away with the rest of the younger ones. Spencer frowns knowing that she can never have that relationship with her own— the two of them are complete opposites in a way that they can never unite.

"Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Peakes!" She overhears Professor McGonagall warn some kids that were trying to leave from the group to stay. Spencer blows out air from her mouth in thought and she swallows deeply. Ricky narrows his eyes in suspicion as he looks around.

"Where's Morgana?" He questions, grabbing Blaise's arm in wonder. Blaise seems taken back by the question before he takes a look around himself. Spencer pales knowing what that meant. Morgana Montague is still inside the castle— and if they put the protective barriers, then she will continue being so.

Spencer starts moving away from them, but her hand is grasped right away. "Where are you going?" Blaise asks in worry.

"I have to find her," she determines, and her two other friends stare at her like if she is insane. Blaise looks as if he wants to argue, but no words escape from his mouth. In fact, they come from right behind her and she sighs when her eyes meet her brother's.

"You are not going to go to her, Spencer," Daniel orders immediately, his figure tall and seemingly wise. It reminds her of when she first saw his expression of seriousness and anger during the invasion of Death Eaters. He appeared awfully deadly once he noticed Mordra was closing in at her. Truthfully, he could be extremely threatening.

Kingsley steps forward on the raised platform to address those who have remained behind. "We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor — where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile, Remus" — he indicates to the werewolf — "Arthur" — he points toward Mr. Weasley, sitting at the Gryffindor table — "and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school —"

"Sounds like a job for us," Fred calls, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nods his approval. "All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"

"Potter," Professor McGonagall exclaims, hurrying up to him, as students flood the platform, jostling for position, receiving instructions, "Aren't you supposed to be looking for something?"

"What? Oh," Harry wonders out loud. Spencer smacks her hand onto her face in disappoint as then he announces, "Oh yeah!"

Spencer is about to follow him before she hisses in pain as if someone has stabbed her ear right off. Her hand goes up to it expecting to find blood. Yet, nothing is there. However, her fingers touch the outline of the tattooed Montague emblem and she bit her lips to stop herself from letting out a sound of pain. Now that burned. A thought crosses her mind immediately, and she pales when she realizes it can only be true.

Noticing that Daniel has gone to help the professors cast the shields around Hogwarts more secured, Spencer twirls around the room. She spots Ricky and Theodore already talking to some other students in how to be more prepared, urging them to cast protective charms in any direction possible. Blaise is leading his own housemates in what to do— and she heads straight to him. There is a moment of hesitation where all she does is stand behind him before finally, she grabs his Slytherin robes and making him bend down to kiss him one last time. He steps back in surprise before returning the sentiment. His right hand reaches down her waist while his left caresses her cheek. When she parts slightly, completely breathless, she stares at him with adoration. Her nose brushes against his, a touch of the smallest and yet meaningful in every way. An unsaid promise that reveals 'I love you' without the actual words. Still, he told her those words and it would be cruel if she was not truthful.

"I love you," Spencer lets the three honest words escape her mouth. Upon noticing the growing smile on his face, she brings him in again for their lips to meet. Shorter, but still filled with the same sensation of lust and intimacy. Once she lets go, she starts backing away. Her hand slowly trails down his arm, and once she is at an arm's length, their hands separate from each other's hold. Blaise stays in his place and watches her go, the tenderness on his eyes fade away as confusion starts to take place. Spencer heads to the direction close to where the entrance is and where a whole bunch of students are. "Let me just handle the other students. You should go with Harry," she lies to him, sending him a quick grin in assurance.

Blaise stares at her in surprise before he repeats the same three words she told him. Spencer licks her lips due to the nerves before she turns and makes her way toward where Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are. The two boys stare at her curiously once she arrives and she brings them in front of her to hide her appearance from everyone else.

"What are you doing, Spencer?" Dean questions in concern. Spencer swallows deeply and begs, "If anyone asks where I am— just tell them I had to, okay?"

Seamus scrunches his brows in confusion. "Had to do what?" He repeats, but by then, Spencer is already fleeing from the Great Hall. She passes through the prefects taking the students out of Hogwarts before stopping and holding up her wand. Her steps lower down and she walks slowly around the area.

Spencer immediately turns around with her wand raised when she hears a noise from behind her. Her eyes soften when she spots a young Hufflepuff student standing merely a few feet from her. "Are you lost? You should be heading with your prefect— Protego!" Spencer gasps in surprise and immediately protects herself when the young girl tries to curse her. She squints her eyes and she closes them in regret when she notices the emotionless stare in them.

The poor girl has been Imperiused. Spencer keeps her wand close to her knowing she would not be the only one manipulated. Not when she is supposed to be surrounded with others so there must be a group of students held hostage. She keeps her shield up when the girl continues to aim spells at her— and then comes another one to do the same. Oh, her sister is not as stupid as she seems, Spencer keeps her mouth shut and walks among them warily, making sure she is not available to be harmed with.

She does not want to hurt these innocent children. All they are doing are being pawns to Morgana's little game. Spencer purses her lips in thought before an idea crosses her mind. She waves the wand over all the students, Ventus! A hurricane-force wind makes them all bundle up together and when she notices them completely grouped up, she casts, Silencio! Immediately, all their spells stop being cast and she knows the reason why. They might be Imperiused, but they have not yet learned how to cast nonverbal spells.

Spencer sighs in relief and leans against a wall tiredly. She only glances up when she hears a loud footsteps running by the room she is in. Her eyes immediately catches her brother's figure, but she stays undercover knowing that if he catches her trying to find Morgana... except, that is what he is trying to do. Spencer trails his movements silently before following behind in the shadows.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

MEANWHILE, BLAISE ZABINI KNOWS he cannot simply stand there and wait. After Spencer had left to help the rest of the students on what to do, he did as she recommended. He followed Harry right away, and Theodore and Ricky went along. Harry seemed surprised when he offered his assistance, but upon Ricky giving him a nod of confirmation, Harry let them head with him— asking toward the end where Spencer was. Of course, Blaise replied that she went off to help the younger kids.

Currently, after Harry questioned Helena Ravenclaw where the diadem is, they finally met up with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Now, they are in front of the Room of Requirement which Nymphadora Tonks, Ginny Weasley, and Mrs. Longbottom had left from merely seconds before.

Blaise stands in front of the Room of Requirement and after a few seconds pass— his mind completely blank so Harry can do his own thing— a random door appears. He shares a look with his housemate, both of them wearing a look of confusion while the other four inhale deeply. Blaise glances up hearing the shield around Hogwarts slowly breaking with the continuous spells being hit their way. He purses his lips feeling the fear inside him bubble up, until all of them cross the threshold and the door behind them closes. Everything is silent. They are in a place that appears as the side of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students.

"And he never realized anyone could get in?" Ron scoffs, his voice echoing in the silence.

"He thought he was the only one," Harry murmurs. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time... this way," he adds, "I think it's down here..."

Blaise follows him and they pass some stuffed troll. He notices Theodore stiffen in recognition, and upon noticing the cabinet at the side, Blaise knows he is remembering the time he helped Draco— his best friend— mend it the year before. Ricky grasps onto Theodore's hand, squeezing it in comfort and Blaise can only stare away wishing Spencer was next to him as well.

"Accio Diadem!" cries Hermione in desperation, but nothing flies through the air toward them. It seems that the room would not yield its hidden objects that easily.

"Let's split up," Harry tells them. "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here..."

Blaise gives him an affirmative nod before speeding off up the aisles. He towers piles of junk, books, weapons, anything practically useless at this point. His wand is raised and light is going off by the tip of it. When he hears something off the side, Blaise immediately turns and points his wand out. There is nothing, but he knows that it could not be Theodore or Ricky because he can hear him whispering in the side. Blaise narrows his eyes suspiciously before he shrugs it off and continues searching around for the Ravenclaw's diadem.

After a while, he hears more voices which strikes him as odd because the only voices he should hear should be the ones he came in with. And then he hears Ron call out, "Harry? Are you talking to someone?"

His face pales and he moves to where he hear their voices. Except, then he hears a spell be shouted and the walls begin to totter, and objects soon begin to crash down onto the floor. He raises his wand to protect himself and then hears Hermione scream. Blaise runs to the side and almost hexes Theodore before realizing it was him.

"Did you—?"

"Someone else is here," Blaise gasps out. Ricky curses in frustration before urging them to follow him. The three of them stick together, their wands out in the open before they realized why there has been destruction upon the room. Blaise huffs in annoyance when he spots Crabbe and Goyle to the side. The three of them raise their wand against them. Harry notices them do so, but he shakes his head slightly to warn them not to do anything yet.

"Harry?" mimics Crabbe. "What's going — no, Potter! Crucio!"

Ricky immediately points his wand at the Slytherin and shouts, "Flipendo!" Crabbe is sent flying back and his spell barely misses Harry, but it hits the stone of the diadem and so it flies into the air. Goyle and Draco turn around, their wand raised up against them. That is until Draco spots Blaise and his face falls right away at the sight of him actually fighting along Harry's side.

Draco snaps his eyes away from him and shouts at his two pesky followers, "The Dark Lord wants him alive—"

"So? I'm not killing him, am I?" yells Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy's restraining arm. He points his wand at Ricky instead. "This Mudblood here—" before he can say another word, Theodore sends a hex at his way and the bigger Slytherin barely moves away from it.

"Avada Kedavra!" Crabbe continues to yell foolishly toward Ricky's direction. Blaise sneers in disgust and participates in the small battle they seem to have. Fortunately, Theodore had gotten Ricky out of the way with his quick reflexes. Blaise's attention falls on Draco who yells, "Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" He was referring to his two followers that kept trying to aim at Harry.

In that split second of hesitation, Harry casted the Disarming Charm and Goyle's wand got lost in the objects behind him. Goyle foolishly leaps on the spot trying to retrieve it while Draco jumps out of range of Hermione's Stunning Spell. Ron suddenly appears and shoots a Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe which only narrowly misses.

What the fuck? Blaise thinks to himself as Crabbe wheels around and screams, "Avada Kedavra!" all over the place. Blaise ducks at any green light heading toward him. He continues shooting his spells toward the two boys, noticing that Draco has now hidden behind a wardrobe. Frustrated with his former friend's actions, Blaise sneers loudly, "Get out and fight, Malfoy! You knew this day was coming, right?"

Draco stays quiet and Blaise feels himself slightly calm down. "You can still choose to help—" he dodges the jet of green light almost hitting him on the face curtsy of Crabbe, "—us. Just let Harry get the—" Blaise sends a spell toward Goyle, "—diadem!"

"It's somewhere here!" Harry yells at them, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while I go and helpR —"

"HARRY!" Ricky screams from beside him. They all begin to run to where Harry is when they see flames starting to erupt all over the room. Blaise curses to himself knowing this type of fire would not be able to easily get turned off. He can hear the taunts of Crabbe, but he ignores it as he urges for his girlfriend's friends to continue along the path away from the flames that is only doubling in size.

"RUN!"

Blaise closes his eyes in regret when he notices Draco trying to drag the Stunned Goyle along and Crabbe being separated from him. No matter how angry he is at his best friend, at how they are now at opposite sides— Blaise would never want to see him die. He makes sure Ricky and Theodore have a chance to escape with Harry, Hermione, and Ron before he runs toward Draco.

"W-what?" The blond Slytherin widens his eyes in surprise while Blaise simply wraps Goyle's arm around his shoulders obviously being stronger than Draco. Blaise ignores his question and drags the two along the way, looking around to look for Crabbe before not seeing him around them. Sweat begins to drip from his face as the fire mutates even larger, forming a gigantic pack of fiery beasts: Flaming serpents, chimaeras, and dragons rises and falls and rises again.

He can no longer see the other five, and he makes sure his wand is paced evenly close to his chest so it would not burn. Having no idea where the others are, he lights up his wand and shoots a signal to the rest. Within seconds, he spots Theodore (Ricky is with him) and Harry on their own broomsticks, flying close to the flames toward them. Blaise grimaces when the flames almost reaches the two boys, but they narrowly escape their fate and while Harry grabs onto Draco's arm trying to get him on, Ricky grasps onto Blaise immediately. Harry seems to struggle since Goyle is far bigger than the two boys combined and so Draco's fingers slip from Harry's. Fortunately, Ron and Hermione, both on the same broomstick lowers down and drags Goyle onto their own. Harry finally grasps Draco's arm and pulls him up while Ricky pulls Blaise up behind him.

"You alright?" Ricky shouts over the destruction below them. Blaise instantly replies an affirmative answer before urging Theodore to hurry up. Theodore does as he is told, his eyes squinting while he heads straight to the door and they collide with the wall once they past the exit.

Blaise groans at the impact and lays his head on the floor. "How the fuck did you become a Beater, Theodore?" He questions with a scoff. He stands up with exhaustion and helps Ron and Hermione up immediately knowing Theodore was helping Ricky.

"Mind your business, asshole," Theodore scoffs. "I just saved your ass while you tried helping your best buddy into his death."

All of them wait for Harry, wondering where he is before a broom flies right from the door and Draco falls of the broom, lays facedown, gasping, coughing, and retching. Harry rolls over and sits up. The door to the Room of Requirement had vanished. Goyle lays unconscious on the floor.

"C-Crabbe," chokes Draco as soon as he can speak. "C-Crabbe..."

"He's dead," Ron spits out harshly.

There is silence, apart from panting and coughing. Then a number of huge bangs shakes the castle, and a great cavalcade of transparent figures gallops past on horses, their heads screaming with bloodlust under their arms. Harry staggers to his feet when the Headless Hunt had passed and looked around: The battle is still going on all around them. Blaise swallows deeply and forces himself to stand up. He looks around the area as if Spencer will just randomly appear and yet... nothing. It seems that the Death Eaters have made their way inside the school during their time inside the Room of Requirement.

Blaise stares down at Draco who remains slumped hopelessly on the corridor floor completely wandless. He bends down beside him and looks straight into his grey eyes. "Draco, come on, man," Blaise holds out his hand. "Don't fight against me."

Draco stares at him with his eyes filled with fear. "I don't want to die," he whispers, his hands clasped together and his gaze lands to his left arm.

The taller Slytherin shakes his head disappointedly. "Can't you see, Draco? Crabbe is dead and he was on You-Know-Who's side! Death is inevitable at this moment, and all I know is that I won't let him win," Blaise snaps, glaring at him harshly. Draco frowns and gazes at the floor. Blaise sighs in resignation before deciding, "At least..." he gives him a sad and defeated smile, "...don't be the one that helps him kill Harry, or Spencer. Or any of us here, yeah?"

At that, Draco gives him a short nod in agreement and Blaise stands up from his spot to return with Theodore and Ricky. The latter gives him a pitiful look and motions for them to head with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. At least, that is until Theodore stiffens and tilts his head back in frustration.

"Fuck," Theodore curses, and Blaise follows his gaze to where he sees a handsome man with a hooded cloak around him. He is glaring, not at Harry (surprisingly), but at Theodore and Ricky. Instantly, he knows it to be Theodore Nott Senior. Blaise can see the similarities between the two handsome figures. One, however, is ruined by the darkness within him while the other is a tainted white. Father versus son.

Ricky grasps his boyfriend's arm. "Theo..."

"I have to do this," Theodore whispers, giving him a short nod. Ricky glances at the other three before turning back to his boyfriend. "I'll go with you. Blaise can stay with them, right?"

Blaise nods assuredly knowing it would comfort them if he does. He gives Theodore a comforting pat on his back. "Be careful. It'll be a shame to lose you," Blaise murmurs truthfully. Noticing the raised eyebrows Theodore gave him, he rolls his eyes and adds, "Then who will have the privilege to annoy me as you do?"

             Theodore chuckles amusingly at his words. Blaise barely gives him a smile before making his way beside Ron. The two boys had one stated that they would never become friends. Unfortunately, that has become a lie. While it is true that they do annoy each other endlessly, Blaise knows it is just how they work. Theodore is not horrible and Blaise does consider him a dear friend despite the countless of remarks they give one another.

"But don't you realize?" Hermione whispers lowly that Blaise can barely hear her. He hears the shouts of his own friends being passed toward Theodore's father. "This means, if we can just get the snake—"

But she breaks off as yells and shouts and the unmistakable noises of dueling fills the corridor even more. Blaise looks around and his heart seems to fail: Death Eaters have penetrated Hogwarts and he has no utter clue where Spencer is at the moment. He notices one of the twins and another redhead backed into view, both of them dueling masked and hooded men.

Blaise joins in forward to help once the other three did. He heads beside one of the twins (unlike Spencer, he does not know which) and starts helping him out. Pure jets of light flies in every direction and the man dueling the unknown redhead backed off fast. Then, his hood slips off and Blaise recognizes it to be the current Minister.

"Hello, Minister!" bellows the redhead, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who drops his wand and claws at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

"You're joking, Perce!" One of the Weasley twins shouts in excitement as the Death Eater he is battling collapses under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse has fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seems to be turning into some form of sea urchin. The redheaded next to Blaise looks at Percy with glee. "You actually are joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were —"

Blaise widens his eyes in surprise as the air around them explodes. He grasps onto the the redhead beside him as they go flying through the air. For a moment, he forgets that he is a wizard until he spots the way the redhead (and him) beside him is being stabbed by the wood and metal that exploded all over them and he waves his wand to cast the Shield Charm. He hears the screams of his own and his companions without knowing what has happened. And as quick as they flew into the air, Blaise lands right onto the cold ground with more wreckage falling onto him.

He can feel blood drip off his skin and his eyes are slightly unfocused. However, upon hearing the awful groans of the redhead beside him, Blaise slowly sits up and removes the items surrounding them. He holds in a gasp when he spots the way one of the Weasley twins is completely bloodied up and instead forces himself to calm down and remember all he has been taught about the magic of healing. Despite being weak himself, he holds himself up and crawls toward the redhead.

"Come on, Weasley," Blaise whispers repeatedly. He coughs to the side for a few seconds before casting many healing spells he knows. The redhead is struggling to keep his eyes open and there is a slow charming smile on his face.

"I... I didn't think I would... see Spencer's boyfriend in my deathbed," the redhead starts to cough out blood and Blaise panics even further. He ignores his words and continues murmuring spells to at least keep him stable.

You can't die on me or Spencer would be devastated, Blaise repeats on his own mind. He hears footsteps starting to surround him and then the gasps of horror and someone yelling 'no!' repeatedly. The Slytherin does not glare at them and instead keeps his eyes on the redhead. Slowly, the redhead stops coughing out blood. The blood that has not gotten the chance to be filled with bacteria starts reentering his skin. The redhead starts reopening his eyes and stares at him in confusion. "I'd prefer Spencer— no offense," the boy coughs out in surprise.

Blaise lets out a sigh of relief. He points his wand right at his forehead and right away, the Weasley closes his eyes unconscious— but alive. The person beside him grips his arm tight and pulls him away from him. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"Percy! Percy, he's with us!"

"He made him close his eyes— that's gonna— that's gonna—," the 'Percy' male cannot finish his sentence as he starts to sob. Blaise pulls his arm away from his hold and swallows deeply.

"He's okay," Blaise whispers. Hermione seems to have heard him as she gasps in surprise. The others do not. "I just made him sleep. It'll make him heal overtime since he won't be fighting until..."

Ron grabs his arm and stares at him intensely before bringing him into a hug. Blaise stiffens slightly as he feels the hot tears escape the redhead's eyes. "Thank you, thank you," Ron cries out repeatedly.

The redhead beside one of the twins starts to sob harder but this time of happiness. "Freddie," he sobs happily. Blaise gazes up and makes eye connection with Harry. The Chosen One gives him a smile of gratitude and he nods sharply.

So, it was Fred Weasley that he helped then, Blaise thinks to himself. He cannot help but let himself be proud of his accomplishment. Can you believe it? He just saved someone's life despite them being closed to death. Not bad for a healer in the works.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

WHILE BLAISE WANDERED OFF to help Harry, Spencer Montague followed her own brother knowing he was looking for Morgana. She kept herself hidden and stares solemnly among the ceiling hearing the continuous spells being casted at Hogwarts to break the barriers. Her hands grip onto the wand and she feels the floor tremble. Curious about how the barriers are holding up, she reaches to one of the windows and looks out at the sky. Her gasps stays right on her throat when she notices cracks all over the shield almost ready to break. Hundreds of Death Eaters are formed outside— werewolves are visible to her eyes even from the distance.

Hogwarts is surrounded.

She feels the need to throw up, and this time she does not stop it from escaping her mouth. The substance comes out and she wipes her lips in disgust. Spencer closes her eyes, wanting to feel the fresh air on her skin before all hell escapes lose. She gazes at the skies that are covered completely by clouds. Despite it, she knows that the stars are still shimmering.

Spencer is fighting for those she loves. For Blaise. For Ricky. For Harry. For Theodore, the Weasleys, Hermione, Fleur, Remus, Tonks, Teddy— everyone she has come to know and care about. She shakes her head out of the thoughts and starts to head back to where her brother was heading. Her ear burns even more, but she ignores the pain and keeps her wand out. There is no escaping this. Not anymore.

She reaches to an area where she hears whimpering and her brother's voice. "Let the kids go, Morgana," Daniel Montague demands, his voice completely serious and filled with anger.

A wicked laughter reaches her ear. "Oh, you must be Daniel," her sister's mocking tone is heard clearly. "You weren't the sibling I was trying to contact, dearest brother."

"You're horrible," Daniel scoffs. Spencer places her ear near the door to listen closely.

Morgana tsks. "Thank you. That heartens me, really. Though, I do hope you realize that you can beg me all you want— but I will do everything it takes to kill my sister. And if you want, you too."

"You don't have to do this," Daniel warns.

Morgana lets out a nasty laugh. "You don't have to do this," she mimics in annoyance. And then, she raises her wand and shoots right at Daniel. The older of the two defends himself right away. Morgana smirks at his actions and taunts, "Let's fight."

Spencer is about to barge into the room, before she feels the whole school tremble and the sound of shattering overfills the area. Hogwarts is being attacked straight ahead without its shield surrounding it anymore. She gets pushed back by the shake that it caused and the wand flies out of her hand. Spencer stretches out her arms and calls out for the wand like how she did back at the Department of Mysteries two years ago. It fails to do so and she knows the reason why is because it is not her wand. Either way, she stands from her place and grasps onto her aunt's wand.

There is another voice that has reached inside the room. She can hear it clearly. Two familiar laughters reigning around like if they have control of everything in the room.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Crucio!"

"Expulso!"

She hears the sound of a small explosion and she grips the wand even tighter. Spencer forces herself to get herself together and then she hears her sister shriek, "Well... my selfish sister didn't show up! You'd think she understood the message since she's a filthy Ravenclaw. All of you dimwits heard what I said— since she isn't coming... which one of you am I going to kill first?"

Spencer pushes the door open and comes to face about ten younger students huddled in a corner while Morgana is standing in front of them with her wand raised. Mordra (who had instantly made her way inside from the other way) is now dueling with Daniel and they continuously move around until the two of them are practically out of the room. Morgana snaps her head toward the entrance and her eyes darkened right away. She smirks widely and points her wand right at her.

"I've been waiting for you," Morgana taunts, turning her attention away from the students and toward Spencer. The youngest of the Montagues places herself in front of the students and urges them to leave. Morgana raises an eyebrow threateningly before shooting a spell to one of them right away. The students among the crowd hurry out of the way, but the jet of green light passes right at a young boy's chest who moved too late. Spencer shoots Morgana, Stupefy!

The spell narrowly misses Morgana, but the one directed at the young Gryffindor does not. Spencer widens her eyes in fear and distraught as his small body drops limp onto the floor. His fragile body completely lifeless. No, she stays frozen on her place. She does not understand why. She should have seen it coming. Morgana has always been manipulative. She would devour in hurting others so why did Spencer assume otherwise—

"Crucio!" Morgana points her wand right at her. Spencer shakes her head out of her thoughts, tears straining right on her eyes, and dodges the spell while shooting one of her own. The young girl moves around from her place as the object behind her snaps into pieces.

"Reducto!" Spencer points at an object near Morgana and she gets thrown back off. Morgana growls in anger and continues throwing the jets of green light toward her. Spencer grabs a vase close to her, mumbles 'duro' under her breath and throws it straight at Morgana. The older girl tries to swap it away before realizing it has been hardened and gets smacked on the face with it. "Incarcarous!"

Morgana ends up tied and she yells furiously. Spencer feels a weak smirk grow on her face. "Oh, don't look at me like that, sister! Are you really surprised you could not kill me with those useless pointers of yours?"

Perhaps she should not anger her, and Spencer immediately regrets her words when Morgana rips off the ropes and starts throwing spells once more. Spencer jumps to the side and casts for a wave of fire to pass through where Morgana is. Her sister destroys the fire with water and immediately yells out the Cruciatus Curse again. This time, it does not miss Spencer and for another time— the young girl yells out in pain.

She can feel her mind buzz around like crazy and her eyelids become droopy. Let me in, her mind repeats. Let me in and together we can fight her off! Spencer! Spencer gasps herself awake and despite still being under the Cruciatus Curse, she grips tight onto the wand and points it at Morgana, Expulso!

Morgana gasps in surprise as she is thrown against a wall. Spencer returns her Shield Charm immediately and feels her eyes hurt with tears wanting to escape her own eyes. She can spot the hatred in her sister's eyes and despite what is going on, Spencer finds herself yelling, "Why do you hate me so much? What did I do to you?!"

She moves around even though she has her shields up. Morgana lets out a menacing laugh and glares at her. "Why?" She repeats with a snarl. "WHY?"

The older Montague shoots another spell in anger. "YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING!" Spencer does not understand what she means. Destroyed what exactly? The fact that their parents never loved them? That she can remember everything while she was cursed to not have empathy? Destroyed a chance to be good? Spencer does not understand. Morgana continuously lets out hundreds of lights from her wand to the point where Spencer's shield breaks. The younger girl scrambles back in fear before she feels a wand pointed right on her back. Her eyes meet Morgana's and she can see her sister narrow her eyes at whoever is behind her.

"Remember me?" Mordra murmurs her ear. She takes a look at the wand on Spencer's hand and immediately snatches it from her. "Now that is MINE," she shrieks in disgust and immediately points both the wands at Spencer's chest.

The young Montague widens her eyes in fear. Was that it for her? Being surrounded by the two people that have longed for her to die for ages? Allowing them to win? Spencer feels her hope die down slowly. She is surrounded... nothing can help her when both of these figures are the ones that want to torture her. Her eyes begin to close and the sensation of defeat is starting to alert her adrenaline that her time has passed. Within a few seconds, she will be—

No, her mind cuts itself off. Do not give up, Spencer. Just THINK. What is your aunt holding that belongs to you? Spencer furrows her eyebrows in confusion. And then, she opens her eyes in realization and stares right at it. The wand chooses the wizard— not the other way around, she answers afterwards.

Spencer holds her hand out without saying a word nor thought and without hesitation, her wand lights up and causes a short explosion among them. The two of them are thrown back, and Spencer feels the familiarness of her own wand reach her hand. However, Morgana pulls her down and places her wand at her neck. Spencer gulps nervously before smacking her head against hers and throwing a punch right at her to the point where she hears something break.

"Cr—"

"Transmogrificate!"

She stands up weakly, raising her wand against Morgana. However, their attention heads toward their relatives as the two of them hear their aunt shriek in pain. Spencer has her eyes wide open in shock when she spots her brother's hand trembling, his face completely covered in blood. His wand is pointed against Modra's who was undeniably aiming her wand at Spencer. Daniel watches in horror in contrast to their sister who watches in amazement.

Morgana stares at Daniel with a gruesome and sharp smile. "Maybe we aren't so different after all," she murmurs, glancing from Daniel to their aunt who is withering in pain, slowly succumbing away from the earth. Spencer knew she would— there is no stopping the spell her brother casted. In her second year, Spencer had possibly one of the worst professors to teach at Hogwarts. She never liked Gilderoy Lockhart. At first, she had been impressed extensively on how knowledgeable he is. However, when he first began teaching in class, she had come to realize that he did not even know anything and so she went to investigate on his name and had come up with a whole bunch of accusations that what he wrote about in his books were claims already said before. What he said were not lies, they were just not his truths. Once he told them about the Transmogrification Torture and how it was a mix of two Unforgivable Curses— the Cruciatus and the Killing Curse. This, in easier words, tortures the victims to death.

She gazes at her brother with a look of appreciation not wanting to scare him off like he is currently doing to himself. Daniel is obviously filled with shock that the spell even worked because just like the Unforgivable Curses, he had to mean it. And he did all because their aunt was about to torture her once more.

Morgana, noticing their moment of weakness, points her wand at Daniel and casts, "Petrificus Totalus!" Spencer jumps in surprise and quickly shoots Morgana with a spell, but her brother had already fallen to the ground face-struck. Morgana tilts her head threateningly toward Spencer. "Guess it's just us now, sister," she hisses quietly.

Blood is dripping from her face and arms, but then again, so is Spencer's. The two sisters face each other wands pointed against the other and they dance around each other. Rage is filling up in Spencer's slender figure, for the way she smiles when someone is in pain... for the way she hexed her brother and if she does not do something now, perhaps even kill afterwards. The sounds heard all around them are of battle. Screams, lights, thuds, cries continuously echoing around Hogwarts. The loudest one yet is the way their aunt is crying out (and despite hating herself for it, Spencer admits she is glad she is getting what she deserves) in a pain never have felt before.

Point your wand, the voice inside her head murmurs knowingly.

Spencer furrows her eyebrows in concentrations and confusion. Why? She does not even know what spell she is going to use. And what if Morgana casts the Killing Curse? She would not be able to survive that like Harry had previously done.

Trust me, the words repeat inside continuously and so she raises her chin up. Her wand raises up and at the same time, so does Morgana's. Spencer stares at her right in the eyes— Morgana stares right back. It seems almost poetic. Two completely different sides; one of light where hope can be found while another of darkness where there is nothing but suffering.

In what feels like slow motion, Spencer grunts, pulls back her wand and points at Morgana letting her magic flow right through her wand; Morgana scowls, raising it up and then shoots right at Spencer at the same time. And the two jets of lights connect, one of them a pure blue and the other a tainted red. Some type of electricity runs through the magic and Spencer shifts her head to side, squinting her eyes at the bright intensity of light. She ignores how exhausting it is to hold her hand up and points it even further toward Morgana, but her sister does the same.

Spencer stares widely at their magic colliding, noticing how it is getting even stronger than it should be. The last thing Spencer sees is the bundle of lights exploding and the room collapsing slowly around them... BOOM!

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
and boom. so, fred, huh? 😄💖 
so, thank you daniel + blaise<3 😁🙌
and yes, mordra suffered in her death !