Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were running back down the hill towards the village in ruins. In all honesty Harry didn’t have a clue why he was heading there in the first place. The graveyard was on the other side of the hill, and that was where “Frisky” the Death Eater said Voldemort would be waiting. But he wanted to make sure that Ginny got to some place of relative safety before facing off against the Darkest wizard of all time.
“So what’s the plan?” Ginny asked as they reentered the village of Little Hangleton.
“Alright,” Harry started off, coming to stop, “the three of you need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
“What”” Ron started off but Harry cut him off.
“Look, we did what we needed to do; now I need to do what I need to do, got that?”
“No, Harry, we can’t just leave you alone,” Hermione objected.
“Yeah, and don’t treat me like some sort of weak little girl that needs constant rescuing!” Ginny said angrily. “We’re sticking by you.”
Harry looked at each of their determined faces, but he already decided that this was something that he needed to do on his own. “I’m sorry, but this is where we separate. Ron, Hermione, get Ginny as far away from here as possible.”
“I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!” Ginny shouted, poking Harry hard on the chest. “Not while everybody else is out here sticking their necks out!”
“The only reason you’re here is because you’re with me!” Harry yelled back. “Any Death Eater here can try and recapture you.”
“He’s got a point,” Ron said being surprisingly reasonable.
“No,” she said flat out.
As much as he hated to do it, Harry had to find some sort of way to ditch them. He may not have the power to make them leave the battlefield, but Harry wouldn’t allow any of them to be taken by Voldemort. They would simply be tortured and Harry would be forced to watch.
He was on the verge of pulling some kind of pulling something out of thin air, when he heard, “Wait up! Oi, don’t move from that spot until I come back, got it?” Harry turned around to see Bethany running towards them leaving behind a gaggle of confused looking people.
“Beth, you’re okay!” Harry said delightedly, having been worried about the fate of her and many others earlier. Like everybody else her robed were tattered and Bethany’s face was covered in dirt, but she didn’t look tired at all.
But she paid no attention to Harry and went straight for Ron. “I think we got her pinned down, Weasley,” she said, confusing Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. “She’s at the library with a bunch of Death Eaters, and they’re holding well over a dozen Muggles hostage. Are you in or out?”
“Ron, what’s she talking about?” asked Hermione.
Ron didn’t answer. He just stared at Bethany with a serious look. “She’s mine, got that?”
The only possible conclusion for Harry was that Ron had to be talking about Percy’s killer.
“First come, first serve, Weasley.”
“What’s going”?”
“I’m trusting you to get Ginny out of here,” Ron suddenly said to Hermione, grabbing her by the shoulders. He then turned to Harry and patted him on the shoulder. “Good luck, mate.” Ron then swooped down to Ginny and gave her a hug.
“Have you gone mad?” Ginny asked, trying to break free.
Again Ron didn’t answer. He moved over to Hermione again, planted a kiss on her lips, and took off with Bethany back towards the people that she was with.
“Ron, wait! What’s this about?” Hermione demanded, running after him without hesitation.
Ginny and Harry traded a look before she followed, shouting, “You better not be trying to get yourself killed, Ron!”
This was it! Harry thought to himself. He may have preferred to have Ginny taken away from the village, but she should be safe with Ron, Hermione, and Bethany close at hand. And Harry knew full well that Ginny wasn’t a weak little girl that needed constant rescuing. They were all off doing whatever needed to be done, while Harry could go and finally face off against Voldemort.
Still…he worried. Harry didn’t like the look in Ron’s eyes; he knew that he was about to jump into something reckless. And he was leading Ginny and Hermione into it…. “Damn!” Harry took off after them.
They were delving deeper back into the village. More and more destroyed houses came into view, along with more and more dead bodies. Harry was slightly disgusted with himself that the scenery wasn’t having as much an effect on him as it should have. Still he sprinted forward trying to catch up with Ginny, who was trying to catch up with Hermione, who was trying to catch up with Ron.
Up ahead Bethany came to a stop at a rather large group of people who were all more or less looking in the same direction. When Harry caught up he saw that it was a rather old and surprisingly intact building. A fancy stone sign declared it the Little Hangleton public library.
“Ginny! Oh my god!”
Harry looked to see that among the group was Bill, and he ran up to embrace Ginny, who was looking very flustered. Bill’s relieved face was covered in so much blood that it looked like his scars reopened.
“We were so worried,” Fleur said next to them, patting her heart. Fleur’s hair was a mess and her robes were torn in many places, but she was proving to be resilient.
“I’m fine, Bill, they didn’t hurt me,” Ginny told him.
“C’mon, we need to get you out of here,” said Bill, taking her by the hand.
“I. Am. Not. Going!” she protested, wrenching her hand free. “Why is everyone telling me to run away? Honestly!”
“Because you’re under age,” Bill told her.
“I’ll be seventeen in a few months, so drop it!”
“Mum would have a fit if she knew you didn’t escape when you had the chance.”
“Speaking of which, where are Mum and Dad?” Ron asked coming up to them.
“They’re in the hillside helping fight the Death Eaters still hold up there,” answered Bill. “And they aren’t making this easy, either.”
“And what about down here?” said Harry. “The village seems a little too quiet.”
“Just this part of the village quieted down because everyone wants to stay clear of the giants,” Bill said to him. “But trust me, there’s plenty of danger to the north of here.”
“Kingsley, when are we going to attack?” a man near the front of the group asked.
“I told you, Fredrick, we’re too few in number to do anything,” Kingsley responded impatiently.
“But the longer we wait the more likely the Muggles in there will be killed!”
“That won’t happen anytime soon. Keeping those Muggles alive is the only thing that’s keeping us from barging after them”we might hurt too many in the process and they know it. We have to wait for reinforcements.”
A growl ripped through the air along with a high-pitched scream. The wizard named Fredrick looked back towards the source nervously. “If there are any left after those giants get through with them.”
“Those damn giants!” Harry heard Natalya say nearby. To his left he saw Natalya had her face buried deep in Charlie’s shoulder, and she was sobbing.
“What happened?” Harry asked, going up to them.
“They killed him!” Natalya shouted turning to face Harry, who immediately stumbled back at the sight of her. Her tear-streaked face was contorted in rage, her eyes were red, her fangs were fully visible, and her nails were more like claws. “Dimitri was able to do away with one, but that caused the others to become more violent. One grabbed his leg while the other snapped Dimitri’s neck like twig! He was still so young!”
Ron pulled Harry back a little, and said quietly, “Remember to keep your distance when she’s peeved.”
“We knew the Death Eaters were going to bring those giants here,” Charlie told her soothingly, tightening his grip on her. “If they didn’t bring giants here then we wouldn’t have needed Dimitri, Natty. Remember that.”
“I was there when he hatched,” she breathed dangerously. “I will make the scum pay for what happened.”
Somewhere in the distance Harry suddenly heard a loud and familiar roar followed by a loud crash. He wondered what it was for a moment when he heard Kingsley say, “Sounds like Hagrid’s brother took up the fight up with the giants.”
“What?” Harry blurted out. “You can’t mean Grawp!”
“But how on earth did he get all the way here?” asked Hermione, stunned.
“Ask him yourself when he gets here,” answered Kingsley, brandishing his wand and sending up a Patronus. “For now everybody form ranks”we start the attack now! Beth, Charlie, Natalya, and Fredrick, you’re with me. Everyone else stay back.”
Kingsley started forward to the closed library doors followed unquestioned by those he called out. Harry took the opportunity to look at those around him. Ron had his face set and seemed determined to face what waited for him inside; Bill was just as ready as his youngest brother, but it didn’t look like he knew that Percy’s killer was inside; Hermione, Fleur, and many others were all ready but nervous at having to go back into battle. Harry felt someone grab his left hand and saw that his was Ginny’s. She gave him a squeeze, which Harry returned before letting go.
“REDUCTO!” the five that charged forward cried. The Blasting Charms blew open the doors to the library, and everybody else took it as the sign to charge in too.
“A lot of them are using Muggles as shields!” Kingsley yelled, as he and the four that came in with him started putting up Shield Charms. “Stunning Spells only!”
Up ahead Harry had a clear view as Natalya ran across the entrance hall of the library”her wand not even ready to cast a spell! But quick as lightning, she tackled the nearest Death Eater to the floor, bore her fangs, and bit right into the side of his neck. For the briefest of moments the exchange of spell fire ceased to take in the grisly sight. With each intake of blood Natalya took there was a slight spasm from the Death Eater that almost made Harry empty his stomach.
“Monster!” a Death Eater shouted in horror.
It was Harry who got his wits back first. “Stupefy!” he roared, his jet of red light hitting an enemy whose head was exposed behind a Muggle.
There was then a chorus of “Stupefy!” Unfortunately many Muggles had to take the grunt of the Stunners, but at least they were still alive and of no longer use to the Death Eaters.
“Avada kedavra!” more than one hostile voice shouted.
Harry immediately dropped to the floor, and heard as the Killing Curses either hit some unlucky person got in the way or hit the walls. “Impedimenta!” Harry yelled from the floor, pointing at the retreating Death Eaters that were branching off to different parts of the library.
“You lot get to the roofs and make an entrance to get the drop ‘em. As for you get all of them Muggles to safety,” a familiar voice thundered from the doorway. Harry looked behind him to see Hagrid ordering around a group of people that he couldn’t make out.
He was about to call out to Hagrid, when he heard, “Harry! What are you waiting for?” Hermione was standing at the edge of the staircase leading to the upper floors waving her arms.
So, not waiting to see who the reinforcements were, Harry shot up to the second floor of the library. There it was total pandemonium. Almost all of the bookcases were toppled over with books, paper, and other debris littering the ground. Most of the spell fire was being done at the both end of the bookcases that were still standing, and on the sides the Death Eaters were occupying Harry spotted terrified looking Muggles.
Harry quickly ducked forward to the nearest cover he could find, and began firing spells at whatever Death Eater he could see. “Expelliarmus!” he cried, disarming one that was having a shoot-and-take-cover duel with Hermione and Ginny.
The Death Eater looked from his empty hand to the source of the spell. He jumped up and pointed, saying “Harry Potter’s over”!” A dead on curse from Hermione silenced him. Harry then dashed with his head down over to where they were. With the better view he was able to see that enemy they took down was just one of four that were holding Muggles hostage.
“What’s the status over here?” Harry asked quickly, sending a few jinxes without looking.
“Bloody terrific! The battle’s over, the Death Eaters are rounded up, and we’re all about to go out for a cup of tea!” Ginny rattled off wearing a smile that spilled sarcasm. From the bottom floor Harry heard thundering footsteps that could only have belonged to Hagrid. Harry smiled as he saw Hagrid’s messy hair crossing the threshold, but it faltered when his head disappeared followed by a large crash. “And the stairs can’t support Hagrid!” Ginny continued. “How do you think it’s going?”
“Could be better,” said Harry, taking a quick look around. A quick count told him that there were only about fifteen on the side of the Order and Ministry. “Where’s Ron?”
“Last time I saw him he was”” Hermione started, but was interrupted by a large explosion on the other side of the library. One of the few bookshelves that were still standing was blown apart, sending splinters and paper flying. A blonde woman appeared and shot a jet of light to something on the floor, but it was deflected. Harry then witnessed as Ron stood up and started countering ferociously.
“We need to help him!” Ginny cried, getting up from her cover.
“Avada kedavra!”
Hermione tackled her to the ground just in time, and Harry sent Stunning Spells towards the caster. “We can’t do anything right now!” she said, though it obvious she wanted to do the same.
“Crucio!” a voice shouted nearby. There was an ear shattering cry of pain, and Charlie was writhing on the ground. “Take that blood traitor!”
“Charlie!” Natalya shouted. Her vampire features didn’t leave her but she was now using her wand (Harry could only assume that she already got enough blood). Unfortunately before she could do anything an enemy that came out of hiding disarmed her.
Harry turned his wand towards them but there were already shouts of “Stupefy!” and “Expelliarmus!” from Fleur and Bill, respectively. The one that disarmed Natalya was Stunned and Charlie’s aggressor no longer had a wand. Without a second’s pause Natalya pounced on the one that attacked Charlie. “Have mercy!” was all he got out before Natalya sank her fangs into her second neck of the night.
This time around Harry didn’t allow himself to be distracted. Taking a look over his cover he desperately thought of a way to save the Muggles in danger (“Rancid!” he heard Natalya say).
“Oh my god, Harry, look!” Hermione said, pointing.
“No thanks,” Harry answered, trying to get a better look at the enemy’s position.
“But”!”
“I’ve seen enough blood sucking, Hermione!”
Then there came the sound of a window breaking, and Harry saw somebody on a broom shoot right through the library and crash out another window. Harry barely had any time to wonder what that was all about before it happened again. At least four or five brooms kept on zooming in and out of the library causing both sides to be distracted.
And then there was a small explosion somewhere above Harry. He looked behind where the Death Eaters were, and saw that the ceiling was collapsing. The people on brooms were still winding their way in and out so that the Death Eaters didn’t even notice when somebody jumped in through the roof and Stunned them from behind.
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged looks before leaving their cover to go help untie the Muggles. By the time they reached them the person stood up right, turned around, and pushed back her long, dirty blonde hair.
“Hello, Harry,” Luna Lovegood said pleasantly. “I think it’s better to stay where you are until it’s safe,” she said to the Muggles she just untied. They just nodded quietly.
“Luna!” Harry, Hermione, and Ginny exclaimed.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Luna said giving her usual smile. “Sorry I couldn’t come the last time you called a meeting, but I’ve been under constant supervision.”
“Okay,” Harry said slowly, “but how did you get here?”
Before she got a chance to answer many other parts of the ceiling fell and more D.A. members dropped in to join the battle.
“My coin burned again, only this time the person watching me came here to fight,” she explained as the battle around them raged. “The D.A. met up back at Hogwarts and found Hagrid tying his brother to some thestrals so they can fly here. He didn’t want us to come but we followed on the school brooms and some left over thesrals.” It was only then that Harry noticed that there were indeed thestrals flying all over Little Hangleton.
“No! You don’t know what she’s capable of!” Harry heard Ron shout from the other side of the library.
“Ron,” Hermione said breathlessly, taking off after him. The new surge of reinforcements had completely distracted the Death Eaters, so it was a more or less clear field for her.
“Be careful, Luna,” Harry told her, as he and Ginny took off after Hermione. There were still more than enough Death Eaters to continue to cause major trouble. Nobody was taking cover anymore, with spells flying everywhere. More than once Harry had to dip and dodge as he ran across the field of battle.
Along the way he spotted Cho Chang and Michael Corner both in a duel with the same Death Eater. Justin was covering Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbot as they led away Muggles. Many other members of the D.A. ran to and fro contributing to the battle at had. To Harry’s surprise he even witnessed as Colin Creevey Stunned from behind one of the two Death Eaters that Kingsley was fighting.
“Eveythin’ all righ’ up there, Harry?” Harry heard Hagrid call as he passed where the stairs used to be.
Harry stopped in his tracks to look over the banisters. “Make sure none of the scum get out, Hagrid!” he shouted quickly before taking off again.
When Harry finally reached the other side it was a bit emptier than the rest of the library, but by no means quieter. Ron was still in a fierce duel with that same person that tried to finish him off earlier. Jet after jet of light erupted from the end of his wand, but almost all of them were countered or dodged by the blonde woman.
“Stupefy!” neither of then said. Harry looked to his left and saw Seamus Finnegan emerge from a pile of books.
“You again!” again the woman screeched. “Avada kedavra!”
“Damn!” Seamus yelled, barely getting out of the way. “Bloody hell! The both of them are off their rocker!” he told Harry, Ginny, and Hermione. “I’m trying to help but Ron doesn’t want any.”
“Because she’s the one that killed Percy,” Hermione said uneasily.
“WHAT!” Ginny screamed, instanly ready to draw blood. She drew out her wand about to jump into the fight, but Harry and Ginny held her back. “Let go of me! I have every right! I heard how Percy came back to us!”
“You don’t want just rush in,” Seamus said, shaken. “Ron didn’t even notice me and almost took my head off!”
“Didn’t expect that, did you!” Harry suddenly heard the woman say to Ron, who was floating in midair. He was then thrown, hit the wall hard, and landed on the floor hard. “Avada kedavra!” Ron rolled out of the way and Harry saw his chance.
So did, Ginny, Hermione, and Seamus. “Stupefy!” the four of them cried. Three of them were blocked, but one caught her left arm and she doubled over in pain. It was at that moment that another broom rushed into the library through a broken window. “Avada kedavra!” she yelled, using her other arm.
As Anthony Goldstein hit the ground dead, the woman snatched the broom and flew off out a window. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry immediately ran forward as far as they could as pointed their wands at the retreating figure. They all cast spells, and it was Ginny’s that hit the tail of the broom making it catch on fire. They watched as the woman left a smoke trail and crashed on the streets.
For some reason Ron took a look around him at the battle, then at Ginny, Hermione, and Harry, seeming very conflicted. But he then pointed his wand out the window, shouting, “Aguamenti frio!” A stream of water burst out of his wand and cascaded out the window, and then freezing into a sort of ice slide.
Without hesitation Ron launched himself down the slide, and took off at a run upon hitting the ground.
“You three get goin’,” said Seamus. “I think we can take down the rest of these Death Eaters on our own.”
“Thank you,” said Hermione and Ginny, going down the slide. Harry nodded his appreciation before following.
“You have two other brothers fighting in there, Ginny,” Harry said after catching up.
“Neither of which are as stupid as Ron,” she responded.
“Hey,” he heard Ron say from farther ahead. “Fleur isn’t going to let anything happen to Bill. And you saw what Natalya did to the one that attacked Charlie. They’ll both be fine.”
It wasn’t long before they spotted the broom with the burnt tail. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were going rush toward it, but Ron stuck his arm out to stop them. “Too easy,” he muttered. “Stay here.”
Ginny grabbed Ron’s arm and gave him a hard look. “I want a piece of her too. I don’t care if I wasn’t there when he died.”
Ron pulled his arm away. “Just watch, okay?” He then started forward as Ginny, Hermione, and Harry watched anxiously. When Ron got closer to the broom there was a shout of, “Avada kedavra!”
It seemed as if Ron expected that. The Killing Curse emerged from an alley, and Ron dove to the ground to avoid it and return fire. “Make sure that you cover the other exits so she can’t get out,” was all he said before getting back to his feet and rushing into the alley.
The three of them did as they were told. Harry went left while Hermione and Ginny went right. Harry made the first turn into the alley he found and went in a little deep before stopping upon hearing the sounds of a duel. As he stood next to the trash bins and took in the mossy smell, Harry wondered how on earth he found himself in such a situation. He was supposed to be at the graveyard to finally faceoff against Voldemort, but instead he was helping Ron take revenge.
“You’re a coward!” Harry heard the woman’s voice yell. Harry heard footsteps getting louder from a right turn ahead. He drew his wand and blocked the escape just as the woman appeared.
“Ava”oh it’s you,” she spat, looking up and down at Harry. Along with her injured left arm, it looked like that fall she took off her broom caused many cuts and bruises. “I’ll be taking you to the Dark Lord after I finish off the blood traitor.”
“Back up then,” Harry said coolly.
“Where d’you think you’re headed, Coleman?” Ron said, appearing with his wand up. The two of them slowly made their way to the middle and more spacious part of the alley, staring each other down.
Harry had his wand up too and made sure to block the Coleman woman’s means of escape. In other turn offs in the alley he spotted Hermione and Ginny emerging. Ginny looked as if she was going to jump into the fight, but Ron said, “No! You don’t know what she’s capable of, Ginny.” Miraculously, Ginny listened to her brother.
“What’s wrong, Andrew? Not letting your mates fight your battles for you?” she sneered.
“No, just making sure you can’t run like the little coward you are,” Ron spat, raising his wand.
The only other times that Harry remembered such tension was back when Snap and Sirius were face to face. And just like them, nothing but loathing was etched into Ron’s and Coleman’s face. The two of them just stared at each other, just waiting for the other person to attack first.
“You were just leading me on,” Coleman whispered with pure malice.
“It wasn’t easy to listen to all that crap you were spewing,” Ron said without a hint of remorse.
The two cast their curses at the same time, and the two jets of light met in midair to explode in a cloud of purple haze. Ron and Coleman charged forward and clashed inside of the smoke. For more than a minute all Harry could do was keep his guard up and waited until the cloud lifted. In the meanwhile he had to listen to the curses cast from within.
Harry was expecting to see a tooth-and-nail duel once the cloud lifted. He surely thought that they were punching, kicking, and biting at one another. Instead Ron was actually keeping his distance from Coleman. Every time she tried to get in closer he backed off.
As it went on it was clear that they were in a stalemate (despite Coleman being injured). Every curse, jinx, and spell was being dodged, countered, or only just grazed its target. Harry had never seen Ron duel for fiercely.
From across the dueling field Harry saw Hermione with her wand in one hand, but the thumb of the other hand between her teeth. Ginny was on the verge of stepping in, but knew that there was no opening to jump into the fray. The three of them could have easily sent Stunning Spells, but the there was a very good chance they’d hit Ron. Better Stunned than dead, Harry thought.
It was then that Ron went on to do a series of Shield Charms. Coleman had found an opening, and Ron was being walking backwards trying to be overtaken. He went too far too fast and crashed into some trash bins.
There was a glint in Coleman’s eyes that didn’t bode well for Ron. “Avada kedav”ah!” Ron had grabbed one of the lids of the trash bins and tossed it like a Frisbee. It caught Coleman hard on the shins and her Killing Curse went flying in the wrong direction.
Coleman tried not to fall to her knees, and that gave Ron his chance. “Expelliarmus!” Ron cried, knocking the wand out of her hand.
Harry suddenly became aware of how his body was positioned. In the brief second that Ron was down he had prepared himself to duel, and had his wand stretched out to save him. On other side of the alley Ginny and Hermione were the same story. They were only a split second away from taking action before Ron saved himself.
“It’s over, Coleman,” Ron declared, pointing his wand at the defenseless woman. “Give up.”
Coleman said nothing. She looked from her wand ten feet away to Ron, and slowly made his way to Ron. “Don’t move!” But she didn’t.
“I remember this Auror from that battle in Diagon Alley,” she started, getting closer. “I saw her wand arm injured and was about to be finished off…but she did something rather unexpected.” Everybody was bewildered. Harry and Ron made eye contact, and Harry just shrugged. Why did the enemy always have to get in those last words? Coleman was barely two feet from Ron when she stopped. “That woman”that Williams, I think her name was”had a good strategy that I decided to use just”in”case.” Harry saw her reach into her pocket and it clicked.
“Ron! She has a second wand!” Harry bellowed.
The wand was only half way out of Coleman’s pocket before Ron panicked. With his wand he made a diagonal slashing motion cross Coleman’s chest, shouting, “Dicorga!”
Coleman’s eyes nearly left their sockets. For a second it looked as if Ron’s curse had no effect. Then, blood dribbled out of Coleman’s mouth as she muttered, “You bastard.” Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground dead.
Why did the enemy always have to get in those last few words?