Diving Into You | Fred Weasley

79 | Till Darkness Dies

Golden flakes of fire lit up the night sky, casting a light on the bridge that reflected on the army before her. Maria glanced at Neville, who held his wand more unsure than he had only a few minutes ago. She gulped as she watched the man in the front lines swipe a fleck of their last defenses- completely destroyed. Apprehension crowded the witch's thoughts as she watched him take the first step and cast a smug smirk that brought adrenaline through her veins. He charged with a battle cry, the rest soon followed.

"Time to go!" She grabbed Neville's sweater as they both ran across the bridge. The army swarmed the narrow entrance, following at their wake. They cast curse after curse at the two. "Light them up!" She yelled, hanging behind Neville to block curses sent their way. With a flick of his wand, Neville cast a spark at the explosives.

There was a loud boom and the sound of crumbling wood as the bridge began to fall from where they came. The army caught in the entrance began to fall to the icy waters below. Maria willed her feet to run faster as the floor behind them began to crumble. The men who had been right behind them were following, trying to outrun the falling bridge. They stopped firing their curses, suddenly aware of their oncoming fall.

Maria looked behind her, watching as their pursuers screamed and plunged into the depths below. She looked ahead to see the edge of the bridge, Seamus and Cho with outstretched hands ready to grab them.

Fuck. She thought. They might not make it.

With a swipe of her left hand, she sent a blast of Circanian magic before her, shooting Neville off his feet and propelling him forward to safety.

"Maria!"

She willed her legs to go faster, but the wood was cracking and falling beneath her feet. Almost there. She thought. Her arms were stretched before her, reaching for Seamus.

And then as she took a step only inches away from safety, the floor beneath her crumbled and she began to fall with a yelp. The young witch closed her eyes, and not a second later, she was suspended in the air as a strong hand gripped her wrist. Seamus grunted, desperately trying to pull her to safety. "Give me your other hand!"

She raised her right hand, Cho taking it in a tight grip, and the rest heaved and pulled her up. She landed on the ground before her with a huff. Sweet, sweet ground.

They panted, watching as the last of the wooden bridge fell. Maria turned her head to Seamus, still in shock from what would have been her own demise. "Thanks."

***

There were screams and grunts as the battle commenced. Cracks and booms were heard as the Dark Lord's Army swarmed the school entrance. Sirius and the Aurors were handling attacks that came from apparition.

"Look out!" Sirius sent a curse to his left, sharply turning back to his own attacker.

"Thanks!" Tonks let out, ducking and sending a swift cutting curse at a Deatheater trying to apparate away. "Not on my watch, asshole."

The marauder and his niece stood back to back, firing curses at all that came near. There were a few students that the two tried to help out, but were relieved to find them holding off well on their own. There was no time to watch out for everyone, they had to focus on the task at hand.

The Hogwarts entrance was alight, curses being fired from all directions. The older students of the DA stationed in the entrance were quick to dodge spells- way too quick than the Deatheaters were expecting. They knew their lessons on dodging in the DA would come in handy soon enough. At that moment, they couldn't be more thankful to have joined the group in their last year.