Midnight Protector | Harry Potter FanFiction

FIFTEEN

Chaos was the only way to describe it. The moment the doors were destroyed, Waves One and Two hurried into the large circular room, surrounding the Death Eaters before the smoke even had a chance to clear. Frantic shouts rang through the room as the Death Eaters realized what was actually happening. As soon as the smoke had lightened enough, both Waves attacked everyone wearing a white mask.

Sirius Black was currently doing everything in his power to maintain control of the attack, fight his own battle and not worry on the lack of communication with his godson. The Aurors and Unspeakables had thankfully taken to shadowing a member of the D.A. even though the majority of them had no problem holding their own ground. Of course, that didn't stop Sirius from taking on multiple Death Eaters at a time to prevent the D.A. from having to do the same.

Remus Lupin found himself in a similar situation as Sirius, trying to attack as many as he could. He already had a cut across his forehead and his left arm was bleeding freely from being nicked by several stray curses. Sending a Reductor Curse at his current opponent, Remus took the opportunity to quickly glace around to take in the surroundings. It was difficult to discern who the Death Eaters were since their masks remained affixed to their faces but it was easy to pick out which ones were higher ranked.

They were the ones that pushed the others to fight against Aurors and Unspeakables.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was stretched between aiding his fellow Aurors, looking out for his students and supporting his friends. Although he would never admit it, Kingsley had never felt a part of something substantial until he became Harry Potter's bodyguard and that feeling had intensified when he had become a teacher. He had been part of a team, contributing to the decision making process.

Hermione Granger knew that she was in over her head. She had always been someone to think things through, analyze every detail until a logical conclusion was made. That line of thinking, however, didn't work when it was three on one. Hermione found herself on the defensive side of dueling significantly more often than the offensive side. All she could do now was throw everything she could at her opponents and hope that it would be enough.

Ronald Weasley could see that the Death Eaters around them were nudging towards Hermione and was doing everything in his power to get to her side. He didn't know why they were signaling out Hermione. It could be that she was a Muggle-born but Ron seriously doubted that. Everyone knew that Hermione was the brightest witch at Hogwarts. That should've been enough to scare the Death Eaters away.

After defeating another two Death Eaters, Sirius took on a bolder approach in an attempt to attract more attention from the Death Eaters. Remus and Kingsley were the first to pick up on Sirius' tactics and joined him. Together, the three of them fired curse after curse and the group they were slowly forcing into a corner. Kingsley went high, Sirius went low and Remus covered their backs. As soon as the Death Eaters fell, Remus took another look around to determine their next move. It was then that Remus realized something.

"Sirius, Bellatrix isn't here," Remus said in horror. "We would have heard her by now."

"Don't worry about her," Moody jumped in. "I'd bet my remaining leg that she was the presence Potter already encountered."

Sirius and Remus shared a look. "Keep an eye on him, Moody," Sirius said as he moved towards the closest Death Eater. "Let us know if he needs help."

"You'll probably know before we will."

Sirius and Remus shared another look. The only way they would hear something was if Harry was dead and that was something neither one of them wanted to consider.

Time seemed to stand still as both Harry and Voldemort waited for the other to move first. Surprisingly, it was a sudden quiver underneath their feet that caused both of them to move at the same time to maintain their balance that started the duel. Voldemort fired first forcing Harry to take the defensive. Turning away, Harry brought his wand around to return fire before hurrying behind the nearest armchair that could provide some sort of cover, even if it was only short term.