Saving your life

It was taking all her focus to keep the Shield up as they attacked from every angle. Shooting back was out of the question. Charlie was gone, she was alone, outnumbered and virtually helpless, what was she going to do?

Then one of the Death Eaters attacking her was hit by a freezing charm and fell, and then another, and another. Before she knew what was happening there were only three wizards left in front of her, and whatever had attacked them seemed to have startled them enough to break their concentration.

Lifting the Shield Charm around her she attacked, quickly hitting two of the wizards and watching the last one fall next, hit from beneath.

As her eyes searched the sky again for signs of another attack, still not sure of what had just happened, she felt something wrap tightly around her ankle and yelled in fear, quickly turning to the side and aiming her wand downwards, only to gasp and let go of the reins, nearly falling from Norbert as well.

“Don’t shoot,” she heard Charlie yell as he climbed up the piece of reins he had cut earlier, and she quickly twisted to the side to help him up, wrapping her arms around him the second he was safely on the dragon’s back again.

“I thought you’d fallen,” she whispered relieved to see he was all right.

“Couldn’t curse them from up here,” he told her, as if that was enough of an explanation for what he had just done. “Hey,” he said, when she didn’t let go of him. “It’s all right, you don’t have to worry.”

“Don’t have to worry?! You just jumped off the dragon to curse those Death Eaters!”

“They were going to kill us, I had to d…Bloody hell, they’re here,” he said suddenly, and she straightened up and followed his gaze.

Beneath them she could see movement, and even from where they were she could recognize the figures on the ground. Voldemort’s Inferi had arrived.

“Hold on tight,” Charlie said, then he lifted his wand flicked it quickly. “Is everyone ready?”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Not you,” he whispered.

“Ready,” a voice said, as if someone was speaking from right beside her, but there was no one there. Soon, the response was echoed by other voices. It took her a few seconds to realize it was the other dragon keepers she was hearing.

“All right. I’ll stay behind and take care of the Death Eaters,” Charlie said, “the rest of you follow the plan.”

She watched, amazed, as the five remaining dragons spread their wings wider and lowered their necks, flying down towards the Inferi so fast she knew if she had been there she would have probably had a heart attack before they even reached them.

But before she had much time to dwell on that, Charlie pulled Norbert’s reins again, and they turned to the Death Eaters still flying. There were eight of them left, and they were all entirely focused on her and Charlie.

“What are we going to do?” she found herself asking, as the Death Eaters flew closer to them, forming a line first, and then slowly spreading.

“We can’t let them surround us,” Charlie said. “You take the ones to the right, I’ll take care of the others.”

Without another word, he turned to the side and shot the first curse, which one of the Death Eaters easily deflected. It was as if that one curse had marked the change, and the battle instantly restarted around them.

Focusing on both attacking the dark wizards and protecting her and Charlie, she gave up on the powerful curses in favour of minor charms and jinxes that, at such height, would have the same effect once they hit their target, and would require much less power and concentration.

After a few failed attempts, she managed to Vanish one of the Death Eaters’ broomstick and hit another with a Breaking Charm, causing both wizards to fall, but then a curse caught her unaware and hit her on her side, the force of it knocking her off Norbert, and it was only Charlie’s fast reaction that saved her from falling.

Charlie held her wrist in a bruising grip as he blocked curses right and left, trying to keep the Death Eaters at bay long enough to help her up, but there were still three of them left, and she knew he could not hold them back long enough to help her.

Thanking Merlin that she had managed to hold on to her wand after being hit, she cast a Protective Charm around them, using all the strength she had left. As soon as the remaining Death Eaters realized their curses were being deflected they flew back together, moving closer to each other and further away from Norbert, giving Charlie a chance to pull her back up.

But she should have known the wizard’s sudden retreat was no good sign. She had barely had time to sit straight before they attacked again, but this time as one of them focused on her and Charlie, the other two flew lower, ready to attack Norbert.

And just as she had seen it happen with the other dragon, Norbert’s wings froze as he was hit from beneath, his chest rumbling in a pained scream; and then they were falling.

But even them falling didn’t seem to be enough for the Death Eaters, and they attacked again, hitting Charlie on the back and making him stumble to the side and fall. Without wasting a second to think, she did just as Charlie had done before to save her.

She wrapped her arm around the reins as she leaned to the side, catching Charlie as he fell, the pull of his body as she caught him so strong she felt her arm was about to be ripped off. But still she held on to him, knowing that if she let go, he would fall to his death.

Then she realized they were falling anyway, that the ground was coming closer and closer, and with one arm hooked around the reins and the other holding Charlie, there was nothing she could do to stop the fall. If she wanted to use her wand she would have to let go of him, let him fall to save herself. There was no other way to stop the fall, to save either one of them. And still, she didn’t let go.

*

“Crucio!”

As soon as the words were uttered, Draco fell down, his limbs shaking as the curse ran through his body. But something wasn’t right. Perhaps it had been the broken nose, a result of Draco kicking the door into his face as he had entered the room, that had prevented the Death Eater from voicing the words right, or maybe there was something wrong with his wand, but for some reason, the curse didn’t seem to affect him as much as it had in the past.

Draco gritted his teeth and balled his fists, trying to overcome the pain, and after the first few moments it slowly began to fade. Still, the Death Eater, a young wizard Draco couldn’t remember having met before, stepped closer, as if he hadn’t realized the curse wasn’t working as it should.

Trying to stop the smirk that threatened to reach his lips even through the pain, Draco began shaking his body harder, mimicking the effects of the curse as he screamed as loud as he could, even drowning the wizard’s laugh.

The pain continued to fade, but the wizard made no attempt to lift the curse and Draco didn’t stop shaking, being careful as to keep the Death Eater’s eyes away from his arm as he slowly inched closer to his fallen wand.

When in a fraction of a second Draco wrapped his fingers around the wand, twisted around to face the young Death Eater and muttered the words of the Killing Curse, the wizard was so surprised that the only movement he managed before the curse hit him was widening his eyes in fear. It was with a strange sense of satisfaction that Draco watched him fall, heard the wand fall from his dead fingers and clatter on the floor.

Closing his eyes for a second to shake the last lingering effects of the Cruciatus Curse, he slowly stood up, taking a steady breath before opening his eyes again and letting them search the room for the object he had come to find.

He had asked Severus what it was he needed to destroy, and as with everything else, the wizard had refused to give him more information than what was strictly necessary. When he got inside the Dark Lord’s headquarters, if he got inside his Dark Lord’s headquarters, actually, he would know. The object he had to destroy would be the one thing heavily protected inside the room.

Draco couldn’t keep the surprised look from his face when he saw exactly what it was the two Death Eaters had been guarding.

Taking a quick look to make sure Hawkins was still unconscious, he carefully stepped closer to the bed, his free hand reaching for the sword Severus had left for him.

He had seen the snake so many times with his Master, had seen him keep it as a pet, showing it more care than he did anything or anyone else, but Draco had never thought it would be anything more than that, a pet. He had never imagined this snake could be as important as Severus had told him it was, that its survival would condemn any attempt by the light to finally defeat Lord Voldemort for good.

As he slowly raised the sword, Draco kept his eyes on Nagini. It looked fast asleep, its enormous body taking over half the bed, its figure rhythmically rising and falling as it breathed.

As he prepared to strike, a part of him wondered what it was about the snake that made it so powerful, so important, although he guessed it had something to do with the other objects the Order had taken from the Dark Lord, or the cup he had taken for Hermione. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter right now. If killing Nagini would give them a chance to succeed, then there was nothing to contemplate, nothing to think about. He would do what he had gone there to do, and then he would return to the battlefield. Questions could wait.

But then Hawkins groaned loudly, and the second Draco’s head twisted to the side to make sure he was still unconscious Nagini’s eyes snapped open.

As if it had been waiting for a chance to strike, the snake launched itself at Draco, its mouth wide open as it went for him, its fangs finding flesh and tearing it open. The attack had been so sudden it had caught Draco by surprise, and there was nothing he could do to prevent the poisonous fangs from sinking into his flesh.

All he could do as he felt the poison seeping into his veins and quickly spreading through his body was twist his arm and bury the sword deep into Nagini’s body.

If he was dying, he would take the snake with him.

*

There was something wrong with her legs, she knew that much. No matter how hard she tried to move them, they didn’t seem to work. She opened her eyes but it was dark all around her, as if she was behind some sort of wall, and she couldn’t see a thing. She knew she was lying on the ground, she could feel the earth and rocks under her face, but she had no idea why she was there or what had happened.

As she twisted around, trying to get her legs to move, she felt something warm lying beside her. What could it be? Her head was pounding, and her brain seemed to be going slower than it ever had, as if her very head was filled with some heavy fog that didn’t let her think. She had no idea where she was or why, all she knew was that she was in danger, and she had to get away from there.

She moved her arms to the warm figure beside her, but one of her shoulders hurt terribly, as if it had been pulled out of its socket. With her other hand she reached to the figure, her fingers touching some rough fabric and some hair.

“Lumos,” she whispered, and saw her wand lit a few inches away from her hand.

The dim light cast by the wand’s tip was enough for her to see around her. Charlie was lying beside her, although she could only see his torso from where she was, and the thing she had thought was some sort of wall was in fact Norbert.

Gritting her teeth to shun the pain away, she reached for her wand, healing her shoulder before sitting up. Now she could see why she couldn’t move her legs; Norbert’s tail had fallen on top of them.

Just like she had with Harry, she used the charm she had learnt so many years before to lift the dragon’s tail, and then quickly scrambled backwards to get out of the way before it fell back down. As she sat back against a tree to gather enough strength to heal her legs she looked up at the sky and wondered how they had survived such a fall. Then she remembered.

They had been falling, hopelessly, the Death Eaters trying to curse them even as they went down, and she had been unable to do anything, one hand holding Charlie and the other holding them both to Norbert.

Then another dragon had come to them, seemingly out of nowhere, and charged at the Death Eaters, making them scramble away long enough for the witch riding it to aim her wand at them and slow their speed. But then one of the Death Eaters had turned to her, his curse hitting target and making her fall too, breaking the charm slowing her and Charlie’s fall at the same time.

It took her a few moments to realize that, ever since she had regained consciousness, she hadn’t seen Charlie move at all.

Unable to push back the gory images that instantly came to her mind, she scrambled towards him, her hand trembling as she moved her wand towards his face, trying to see better.

“Charlie,” she whispered, afraid to speak louder, in case he didn’t react and it confirmed her worse fears. “Charlie,” she said again in a sob, her free hand reaching for his cheek, carefully wiping away the blood covering one side of his face. When he suddenly flinched away form her touch in pain she gasped, surprised, falling backwards and dropping her wand along the way. With a whispered curse she took her wand again and kneeled by him.

“Charlie, can you hear me?” she asked, a little louder this time, and a groan was his only response.

Now she knew he was alive, she focused on searching for wounds, trying to find out how badly hurt he was. She started with his head, using her wand to find heal every cut and bump, moving them to his shoulders and arms. She was so focused on what she was doing that it wasn’t until she reached his chest that she realized that his body was twisted to the side and crushed under Norbert’s wings from his hips down.

“Charlie,” she called again, and she saw his eyes open. “Charlie, can you hear me?” This time his pained groan was accompanied by a small nod of his head. “We have to get you out of here,” she said urgently. “Is there any way to move the dragon?”

He closed his eyes for a second, then shook his head.

“Is Norbert-” he started, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to gather strength. “Is Norbert dead?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Hasn’t moved since we fell.”

“It’s my favourite one,” he told her, his voice barely a whisper.

“Charlie, we have to get out of here, they could find us any minute.”

“Don’t think that’s a possibility,” he said, looking down his body. She followed his gaze for a moment, and realized he was probably right.

“There has to be a way,” she said, refusing to just give up.

Opting for the most obvious course of action, she stood up and stepped closer to the dragon, then gingerly leaned forward, trying to push the wing back. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t get it to move so much as an inch.

Taking a step back, she aimed her wand at Norbert and tried to lift the wing, but between its size and weight, and the fact that magic never worked properly on dragons, all she managed to do was make it tremble for a second, the movement making Charlie scream in pain.

“Do you know any spell or charm that would work? Something I can do to move the wing away?”

“Just the two of us?” he asked in a shaky voice, then shook his head again. He looked at her once more, and then his eyes closed.

“Charlie,” she called, reaching for his face, turning it to her. It was only then that she realized how cold his skin felt. “Charlie,” she repeated, and noticed his breathing slowing down. “Charlie, talk to me,” she pleaded.

“Tired,” he mumbled in response, without even opening his eyes.

“Charlie, I think you’re still bleeding, but I can’t get to the wound,” she said, wondering how long she had to move the dragon, find it and heal it before it was too late.

“It’s cold.”

“We have to move Norbert,” she said again, but this time he didn’t even respond. “Charlie,” she said urgently, shaking him slightly. “Charlie, you can’t fall asleep. We have to get you out of here.”

Her eyes searched their surroundings again, trying to find something that would help her save him. It was just like it had been with Ron, the same fear and helplessness all over again. Then she realized there might be a way.

“Charlie,” she said, shaking him again, harder this time. “Charlie,” she called louder, and as soon as his eyes opened she asked, “Would the dragon’s magic affect a Portkey?” He looked at her for a moment, frowning as he tried to understand what she was saying, but then his eyelids started to drift closed. “Listen to me,” she insisted, while he was still conscious. “Would you be able to get away form here with a Portkey being so close to Norbert?”

“I…Yes, I think so.”

“Where’s your Portkey?” she asked urgently, looking up at the sky when she heard a dragon roar just in time to see a large column of fire leaving it’s mouth, lighting the sky above them.

“Pocket,” he whispered tiredly, and she reached to his robes, searching for the one that held the Portkey. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t there, which meant it had to be in another pocket; the only ones left were under Norbert.

“Here,” she said, reaching inside her own robes, “take mine.”

“No,” he whispered, shaking his head slowly. “You could need that later.”

“Well, you need t now,” she said firmly, hooking the chain around his neck. “Thank you, Charlie,” she whispered. “Thank you for helping me.”

Without giving him time to reply, to try to convince her to keep the Portkey, she activated it and watched him vanish in mid-air, hoping, yet again, that the Order would be able to help him.

As soon as she was sure the Portkey had worked, she jumped to her feet and ran around Norbert, following the sounds of the battle into the clearing.

There were large bumps on the ground she instantly recognized as dragons, and half the forest around her was on fire. Even through all that, it was the rhythmic thumping of feet that caught her attention and she followed the sound, gasping loudly when she saw just what was causing it.

Inferi, dozens of them, were marching across the clearing, moving as one, oblivious to the chaos around them, only halting to stop those wizards closest to them.

There were still two dragons flying over them, but now there were more Death Eaters in the air around them, making it impossible for them to do anything about the Inferi.

She knew they were going to reach the main battlefield, it was only a matter of time, and when they did, the Order would be lost.

There weren’t many things she could do to stop them, but running away wasn’t an option, so she did the only other thing she could. Running to the closest fallen dragon, she carefully but hurriedly climbed to its back. Now that she was high enough she could see the entire group of Inferi clearly.

Going through every single one of Severus’ comments on the curse and hoping it wouldn’t go as badly as it had the last time, she carefully voiced the words as she twirled and flicked her wand. After a second the tip lit up, and a shot of fire erupted from it.

She focused on silently guiding the flame as she made it grow. It only took it a second to reach the first line of Inferi. The group continued to move for a few moments, the Fiendfyre stopping just an inch from them, as if they had an invisible protection around them, just like the Horcruxes had. But she knew the fire could get past the protection, and she concentrated on making it advance.

Soon the invisible shield vanished, the flames finally touching the creatures. Their shrieks were deafening as the first line burned and the others soon tried to scramble away, but she made the flames circle them, surrounding most.

They had been people once, she knew. They had been alive, and loved, but if she let her mind go there, she wouldn’t be able to go on, so instead she shut the screams and the smell of burning flesh away as she empowered the fire, watching it grow until it was a wall around them, the flames so high she couldn’t see what was happening beyond them anymore.

The concentration and energy it took to keep the Fiendfyre under control was draining, and soon she felt the curse weaken, but she used every bit of energy she had left, holding it long enough to take down every Inferi in the group.

She was about to lift the curse when a Death Eater, who had been stunned by one of the wizards on the dragons, fell into her, knocking her from the dragon’s back.

As she fell she saw the sky turn orange, the air around her so heated from the fire she could almost feel it burning her skin. Without wasting a second she climbed back onto the dragon, needing to see what was happening, even though she knew it already; the Fiendfyre was out of control.

She tried to focus on quelling it, but she was too drained, and no matter how hard she tried, nothing she did worked. The flames were now so high she was sure they could be seen from anywhere in the forest, and as they moved in every direction they burned all that was on their way, quickly reducing the area to ashes.

She watched them move closer to where she was, unstoppable, and she tightened her hold on her wand, redoubling her efforts to control the fire. She had done it once, the only other time she had used the curse, and although she had had Severus’ help then, she wouldn’t give up.

Then, just as the flames were about to reach her, a loud roar broke through the air, a sound she had heard before. It seemed Voldemort had seen the flames, had realized what was happening, and for once she hoped he was every bit as powerful as everyone thought, because she knew the wizard hated nothing more than losing. He would try to put the fire out, and she silently prayed to Merlin he would succeed, not only for her, but for the other witches and wizards there, fighting for the Order.

Suddenly everything went dark, and she looked up to see the sky covered in black clouds. There was a loud thundering sound, and then it was raining, so hard the raindrops hurt her face as they fell. The rain was so hard and dense her clothes were drenched in a matter of seconds, but she could tell it was no regular rain. Whatever charm or curse it was that Voldemort had cast, it was clearly the right one. The water drops were quickly weakening the Fiendfyre, and after just a few moments there were only a few flames left. Without wasting a second she aimed her wand at what was left of the fire, making it vanish. If only Voldemort knew his rain had come too late to save his Inferi, but just in time to save her…

Hoping the Order witches and wizards still there would be able to deal with the remaining Death Eaters, she quickly climbed back down, her gaze soon landing on the wizard that had knocked her off the dragon earlier and on the broom still in his hand.

Cursing the fact that she would have to fly again, she summoned the broom to her and climbed on it, ready to fly away form the Inferi and the dragons, towards the main battlefield.

It was time she went back to help Harry.

*

The poison was quickly paralyzing Draco’s body, and the pain and blood loss was making him dizzy, but even through the fog that was threatening to take over his brain he heard Hawkins groan again and stir, and he knew he only had a few seconds before the wizard woke up and killed him. If he was lucky.

And then Draco remembered Severus had given him one more thing with the note in the library the previous night. He remembered the wizard had handed him a small vial filled with some strange green potion, and when Draco had asked him what that Severus had only said that he would know what it was for if he needed it.

As his brain seemed to slow down even more, Draco wondered if perhaps what Severus had given him was in fact not a potion, but a simple antidote, if maybe the wizard had guessed Draco might find himself in a situation such as this, and had given him a means of survival.

Knowing there was nothing left to lose and no time to waste, he used the little strength he had left to push the dead snake away from himself and reach inside his pocket. A small sigh of relief passed his lips when his fingers closed tightly around the vial; it was a miracle it hadn’t broken.

Hearing Hawkins groan again, Draco retrieved the vial from his pocket as fast as his failing body would allow him and carefully uncorked it, moving it closer to his mouth and tilting it so he could drink the green fluid, feeling it burn down his throat and hoping it wasn’t too late.

As the last remains of strength left his body he fell back, his eyes closing as he took a shuddering breath. Well, at least he had managed to kill the damn snake.

But then his entire body began to burn, as if the blood in his veins was on fire, and when he suddenly shook and twisted in pain he realized he was no longer paralyzed. As the seconds passed and Severus’ potion burned Nagini’s poison away, the pain began to fade, slowly clearing his mind once more.

He was still badly injured and bleeding profusely, and he knew that if he wanted to survive he would need to find a wand, and fast. Using the sword he was still holding for support, he slowly rose to his knees, willing the dizziness away as he stumbled to his feet. It was hard to move, and even harder to think, but he would not give up, he would not let Voldemort win.

Then the sound of movement distracted him, followed by yet another groan. As he turned his head to the side he saw Hawkins’ eyes open, and knew he only had a few seconds before the spell wore off and the wizard was able to move again. If that happened, he was lost; there was no way he could win any kind of fight or duel in his state.

His eyes quickly searched the room again, and he saw his wand, lying on the floor by the chest. There was no time to reach it.

Knowing it was the only way, and that there was no time to waste, he staggered towards the fallen wizard, tightened his hold on the sword when he reached him, and then he lifted it, closing his eyes tightly as he buried it deep into the man’s chest, trying to shun away the pained sounds, the soft gurgle of the blood as it filled his lungs and spilled to the floor.

It was strange, ironic even, how more blood had tainted his hands since he had started working with the Order of the Phoenix than it had in all the time he had followed the Dark Lord.