Daisy Potter and the Fallen Angel (Book 7, Harry Potter ff)

Chapter 38 - The Battle of Hogwarts

The world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased, the castle fallen silent in horror, and every combatant laid down their arms? My mind was in free fall, spinning out of control, unable to grasp the impossibility, because Harry Potter could not be dead, the evidence of all my senses must be lying.

A body fell past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses flew in at us from the darkness, hitting the wall behind our heads, my wings were shrinking back into my skin, but I didn't give a fuck about any of it.

"Get down!" Fred shouted as more curses flew through the night, but I lay across Harry's body, shielding it from further harm, and when Percy shouted, "Daisy, come on, we've got to move!" I shook my head.

Pain greater than any Cruciatus Curse had ever caused me was coursing through my veins; I felt as if my heart was shrivelling up but also exploding at the same time. I started to sob, grief wracking my body, wailing through great heaving gasps.

"Daze!" I saw tear tracks streaking the grime coating Terry's face as he seized my shoulders and pulled, but I wouldn't budge. "Daze, you can't do anything for him! We're going to -"

Someone yelled in shock, and I didn't need to ask why. A monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall. One of Aragog's descendants had joined the fight.

Fred and George shouted together; their spells collided and the monster was blown backward, its legs jerking horribly, and vanished into the darkness.

"It brought friends!" Percy called to us, glancing over the edge of the castle through the hole in the wall the curses had blasted. Then more curses came soaring over my head, so close I felt the force of them blow my hair. But I didn't care, hot, boiling tears filling my eyes and streaming down my face in waves as I whimpered.

"Let's move, NOW!"

Pushing Fred ahead of him with Percy and Terry, George stooped to seize Harry's body under the armpit. Realising what George was trying to do, I stopped clinging to the body and helped: together, crouching low to avoid the curses flying at us from the grounds, we hauled Harry out of the way.

"Here, princess." George said, and we placed him in a niche where a suit of armour had stood earlier. A strange black substance was leaking from Harry's mouth, eyes, nose, and ears, and I swear I saw him vibrating slightly, but I put it off to my mind playing tricks on me, wishing so desperately for him to be alive. I held his hand, squeezing it hard, praying that the magical orb that had came out of me and saved Terry two years ago could appear right now, but nothing was happening.

A fresh wave of tears gushed from my eyes as Ron and Lee appeared through the dust, sprinting and coughing, then stopped dead as their eyes fixated on Harry.

"No." Ron said, then louder, "No!"

Rounding the corner, Percy let out a bull-like roar: "ROOKWOOD!" and sprinted off in the direction of a tall man, who was pursuing a couple of students.

I heard a malicious cackle from the end of the corridor, which was now full of dust and falling masonry, glass long gone from windows, and I saw many people running backward and forward, whether friends or foes I could not tell.

Then I saw him. His eyes were on the body in the niche, and my blood started boiling; the brick of pain in my chest thrashed, anger pulsing through me as the Death Eater said, gleefully, "Harry Potter! Dead!"

My wand stashed in my pocket, my hands started glowing white. I stormed forward, ignoring the yells of my companions. Ron was at my side, his wand out, directed straight at the Death Eater.

"You will never touch my friends again!" He yelled, his voice strained with grief and his eyes wide and wild.

"Be thankful we only took one." The Death Eater laughed, his wand now trained on us. "Besides..." He tilted his head towards me, a nasty smirk unfurling on his face. "It's not like you don't have a spare."