𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐇𝐁𝐏 𝟐𝟓

Emily felt as though the world had been ripped away beneath her feet. She was falling—hurtling through a void of disbelief, denial, and horror so sharp it tore through her chest. It had not happened. It could not have happened.
Dumbledore could not be gone. He couldn't.

Her knees buckled, crashing against the cold stone. Her lungs burned as sobs tore out of her throat, raw and broken, her hands trembling against her face as though she could hide from what she'd just seen. The sound that escaped her wasn't even human—it was grief made flesh, torn from somewhere deep inside her soul.

"Out of here, quickly," Snape's voice sliced through the storm inside her. "Draco, grab Lupin."

Draco didn't move. His face was ghost-pale, his wand limp at his side. He just stared—stared at his cousin, shattered on the floor, her sobs echoing across the ramparts, her pain pulling him down like an anchor.

Snape's patience broke. With a sharp movement, he lunged forward, grabbing Emily roughly by the arm.

"Just kill me!" Emily screamed, her voice shaking with rage and anguish. "I'd rather die than join his side! Kill me, damn it!"

Her cries tore through the night. The castle, once filled with magic and laughter, now echoed only with pain. She kicked and thrashed, nails clawing at Snape's arm, but his grip was iron, unrelenting.

He seized Draco by the scruff of the neck, dragging both of them through the door, and Emily caught one last glimpse of the place where Dumbledore had stood—where he had fallen. Her body convulsed with another sob as they were forced through the doorway, the laughter of Death Eaters ringing in her ears.

Harry broke free at last, but the paralysis wasn't magic—it was the weight of grief. His body moved before his mind caught up, flinging the Invisibility Cloak aside, fury burning behind his tears.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The spell hit, the Death Eater fell—but Harry barely noticed. His feet pounded against the stone stairs as he chased after them, his heart splintering in his chest.
He had to reach them.
He had to save Emily.
He had to make this right.
If he could find her, if he could find Snape—if Emily could just reach Dumbledore—maybe, maybe it wasn't too late.

But below, chaos erupted.

Emily stumbled at the last step, her head spinning, her knees scraping stone. Screams and spells collided around her, the air thick with dust and smoke. The sound of clashing magic was deafening, but all she could hear was her own heartbeat—erratic, desperate.

Through the haze, she saw them. Lupin. Ethan. Eric.
They were fighting—her family, the last pieces of her heart—and in that moment, hope flickered.
She could get away.
She could reach them.

"ERIC!" Emily screamed, her voice breaking as she kicked against Snape's hold. "Help me! HELP! PLEASE!"

Her brother turned instantly, sprinting toward her, his wand raised, his expression fierce and determined.
For a fleeting second, she believed he'd make it. That Snape would see reason—that this nightmare could still be undone.

But Snape turned his head slightly—just enough.
A single nod.
A silent order.

Emily's stomach dropped. She knew what that meant.
Her breath hitched—
"Eric!" she screamed, her voice cracking, raw with panic. "Run! They're going to—"

The green light flashed before she could finish.
It struck him square in the chest.

The sound that followed wasn't human.

Eric's body jerked violently, then collapsed. His head hit the stone with a dull, final thud.
For a heartbeat, the world stopped.

Then Emily screamed.