Serpent in the Lion's Den

45. Boom

{Hello! I hope you're all enjoying it and that most of you are still here :) There will be some time jumps within the next few chapters and it might not be the same timeline as in the original series but the events are very similar and I don't want to bore you with reading things you already know if that makes sense. Happy Reading <3}

"Harry! What happened?" Ginny said and rushed into the Great Hall.

The windows had been shattered and fragments of the glass laid across the stone-cold floor, two lifeless bodies were slumped on the ground and the students were gathered in an arc around Harry, Ron, Neville, Seamus, Dean and Cho. McGonagall stood at the front of the hall and lifted her wand, causing all the torches and candles to burst aflame.

"Snape and McGonagall duelled then he took off out the window, Pansy and a couple other Slytherins-turned-Death Eater followed him." Harry explained before pulling Ginny into a hug and whispering into her ear, "see the Carrows dead up there? Snape killed them and I don't know why."

"We'll figure it out later" she reassured him.

"Mr Potter" McGonagall smiled as she glided over, "what can we do for you?"

"I need to find Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem, Cho reckons it could be the Ravenclaw horcrux but it's been lost for years so I need time Professor, as much of it as you can give me." Harry explained and the old witch nodded before raising her voice to address the hall of students.

"Under usual circumstances I would advise all those under seventeen to leave and find safety at once... however these are not usual circumstances, therefore I wish to give every student, of every house the opportunity to stand with the Order of The Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army alike. Those who do not wish to fight raise your hand now."

The hall stood silent and unmoving. Slowly, a few hands of those inexperienced and young were raised and McGonagall smiled and nodded approvingly. When the hands of a few elder students were raised her stare grew cold and sad whilst Draco scanned the room for Crabbe and Goyle, who were nowhere to be seen,

"Very well, Mr Filch will be taking those with raised hands to a safehouse in the muggle world. Those who wish to fight, go and prepare yourselves. Mr Longbottom, the bridge leading to the grounds will have to be taken care of, I assume you're capable of this?"

"Wait... as in blow it up? Boom?" Neville asked, his eyes wide.

"Boom indeed Mr Longbottom. I suggest you take a group with you; Mr Finnegan, Miss Weasley and Mr Malfoy would do... I seem to remember Mr Finnegan's talent for pyrotechnics."

"I can bring it down no bother." Seamus said and walked off excitedly with Neville at his heels. Ginny swiftly kissed Harry and ran after them as Draco groaned and kissed Hermione's forehead and followed.

"Mr and Mr Weasley, Filch's office contains all stolen contraband with a striking purple and orange logo... I assume you know your way into and around that office well enough to find some items of use. Teachers and adults, please follow me"

"Wicked." The twins said in unison and took off running whilst the rest followed the Professor's out of the hall, leaving the Golden Trio alone with Blaise, Luna and Theo.

"Right, we are looking for a diadem, a tiara that has some type of raven and element of blue... I'll take the Ravenclaw common room. You three mind looking in the classrooms? It could be anywhere in this castle."

"I'll come with you Harry, the Ravenclaw common room can be tricky to find your way around if you're not one yourself" Luna said in her usual dreamy tone as Blaise kissed her cheek and took off with Theo who winked at Hermione as he left.

"Right okay, Ron, Mione-"

"Actually Harry, I've already got an idea and I need Mione for it" Ron explained, "we don't have the sword so we need another way to destroy the horcruxes and well, I think I know a way to destroy them. I'll explain on the way Mione let's go."

"Ron, you doubt my intelligence if you don't think I've already figured it out and I must say, it's genius. See you soon Harry!" Hermione laughed, still pink from the entire student body seeing Draco Malfoy kiss her and from Theo's wink. The two parties split at the entrance to the hall and sprinted in opposite directions.

XXX

"Yeah! You and who's army?" Neville shouted and laughed at the group of Snatchers who stood across from the wizard, an invisible sheet of protection between them. Ginny, Seamus and Draco stood on the end of the bridge closest to the school, they'd all agreed Neville was the fastest runner and could make it back without being blown up by the explosives tied to the support beams.

In amidst the tension a horrific scream rippled through the air, followed by a flash of light and the barrier became visible and cracked into pieces. One of the Snatchers at the front of the group took a cautious step forward and he stepped across where the barrier should've been. With a raise of his fist and a cry of war the group of Snatchers raced towards the bridge, towards Neville and towards Hogwarts.

"Godric Gryffindor" Neville said under his breath and took off sprinting down the length of the bridge, flicking his wand to ignite the explosives as he went.

A few yards behind him the bridge began to burst apart and collapse, taking dozens of Snatchers alongside it. Neville could see his school friends a few feet away and desperately tried to speed up in order to make it as the explosions got closer and closer to his feet. Neville felt the wood slip from under his heels, looked up to the ironically short distance to his friends and threw his wand as he fell with the last remaining Snatchers.

"NEVILLE!" Ginny cried and lunged forward as Draco held her back until the last bomb had exploded. The wizards and witch stood silent for a moment, waiting for a sign of movement from the bridge's new edge that never came, all they saw was a broken wooden floor and a wand lying upon it.

Seamus stepped forward and picked up Neville's wand and peered over the edge as he did so. He turned back towards the pair and shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes and Ginny screamed, clutching at Draco as she wept into his shoulder. It was all Draco could do to hold up the witch as she cried and watch as the other Gryffindor dropped to his knees and screamed swear words across an isolated space.

"We have to go. If the barrier broke here it broke everywhere and the fight just began" Draco said, as he softly pushed the witch off of him but making sure to still hold her steady.

"One of our bestfriends just died! Give us a minute you heartless prick!" Seamus shouted through his tears.

"More will if we don't go and fight Finnegan alright? I'm sorry Longbottom is gone but we can't change that now but we can change the fate of others if we go and fight!" Draco said, trying to stay calm.

"He's right, we have to leave now." Ginny choked, roughly wiping her eyes and turning away from the collapsed bridge and making her way towards the front of the school.

{I'm so sorry! I am so sorry!}