Defend

Chapter Twenty-Six I Get It, He Pushed Me Down The Stairs Once

 "Where is Sirius?!" Harry demands.

 I didn't notice until now, but crowds of Death Eaters have encircled us, blocking off all means of escape.

 The cold drawl of Lucius Malfoy chills me to the bone. "Give me the prophecy, Potter." He holds  out his hand like he just expects Harry to hand it over.

 The orb is a prophecy? I vaguely remember my dad talking about prophecies once at dinner, before my mum silenced him with a look. He wasn't supposed to be talking about the Department of Mysteries.

 But that was years ago, and now I desperately wrack my brain for anything about prophecies. I edge closer to Ginny, the advancing Death Eaters making my heart beat quicker than most Healers at St. Mungos would approve.

 "If your Death Eaters harm my friends I will smash this prophecy," Harry threatens.

 I exhale, relieved we have some sort of upper hand.

 Lucius tells him the sphere contains the story of his scar and explains that only those about whom a prophecy has been made can safely retrieve it. Voldemort could not come himself because the Aurors at the Ministry would have caught him immediately, so they lured Harry here by manipulating his dreams and making him think Sirius was in trouble.

 I almost gasp. This is bad. Suddenly Hermione, who had moved in front of Ginny and I to protect us, leans into me. She whispers so softly I have to strain to hear her over Harry and Lucius' fight.

 "On Harry's signal, shatter the rows and escape."

 Ginny and I nod ever so slightly, indicating we got the message.

 Ginny passes it to Neville and I alert Luna behind me.

 My eyes are glued to Harry waiting for the signal. My heart is about to pop out of my chest. I'm half certain Ginny can hear it.

 "Now!"

 "Reducto!" Neville and I take out the shelf behind us at the same time, creating a huge explosion. We smile at each other and use the dust as cover.

 I grab Ginny's hand and she pulls me through the aisle. We stun countless Death Eaters and knock down too many rows of prophecies to count.

 Hermione gets stunned by a Death Eater, and seeing her body fall traumatises me just as much as seeing my brother's dead body, if not more. I scream, and Ginny pulls me away. A Death Eater attempts to stun Ginny and I knock them back fifty feet.

 "Thanks."

 "Don't mention it."

 Another Death Eater aims a curse at Ginny, and I pick up a piece of wood from the destroyed bookshelf and throw it at them. They bend over, but the curse still hits Ginny. She bends over and howls in pain.

 "Ginny!"

 I quickly disarm the Death Eater and snap their wand over my knee. I drop the pieces of their wand as I fall to my knees and take Ginny's hand.

 "Are you alright?!"

 I'm leaning over her in concern, and the locket with our pictures falls out of my shirt. She smiles when she sees it.

 "Yes."

 "What's wrong?!"

 "I think my ankle is broken."

 I inhale. I once broke my ankle when I was little. Cedric pushed me down the stairs. Besides the point though, it really hurt.

 I pull her to her feet and wrap her arm around my shoulders.

 "I got you. We're gonna get through this. I promise."

 She smiles. "Thank you."

 "I must make it through this. How else am I gonna kill Draco." I whisper to myself. I walk as fast as I can to the front of the room where I see not only the door, but Bellatrix Lestrange.

 "Hello darlings."

 I raise my wand.

 She laughs maliciously at the feeble attempt.

 I'm sure I look stupid. I feel blood trickling down my cheek. My hoodie is ripped by the belly button. I'm falling over from supporting Ginny's weight. My left hand is shaking from fear and exhaustion, and besides, that's not even my wand hand. But all of this doesn't matter. I just have to make it past Bellatrix.

 She raises her own wand. "Crucio!"

 I immediately collapse. My already overexerted body can't take the pain. The pain's tearing at my soul and I would rather just die so I don't have to feel it anymore. I touched the edges of consciousness but before I can leave, Ginny's screams over my own pull me back.

 "Eliza! Are you alright!?"

 I gasp. I didn't realise I was screaming the entire time "Yes. I'll be fine." I inhale and wipe my tears, take strength I didn't know I had and stand up, still supporting Ginny.

 I stumble out the door, relieved Bellatrix is gone. My brain is swimming, struggling to keep everything straight. I've heard stories of people who go insane after exposure to the curse, and I can't let it get to me, because I need my sanity right now.

 We finally all meet up in the room with the strange brains and I collapse again.

 "Ginny! Eliza! Are you alright?" Harry yells.

 "I'm fine. Though Ginny broke her ankle. What happened to Ron?"

 Ron is giggling about something.

 "I'm not sure, I just know now he's acting like a lunatic."

 "Oh my."

 "Are you sure you're fine?"

 "I just got hit with the Cruciatus curse, but other than that I'm fine."

 "Well, I'm sorry about that, but as most of us are out of commission, for right now I really need you. Ginny's out, Ron's out, and Hermione's out too. Neville and I just dragged her here. I think Luna's fine."

 Luna's sitting in a chair watching the hummingbird as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

 I scrape the bottom of the barrel, trying to collect any remaining courage, and exhale a shaky breath.

 "We've been through a LOT tonight. What's next? If Sirius isn't really here, should we just leave?" I know I sound petty, but I really don't care. I could fall asleep on a pile of broken glass right now. I notice Neville's nose is broken.

 In some cruel answer, five Death Eaters burst into the room.

 "Stupefy!" one of them yells.

 The curse hits the brain tank and it explodes. Ron picks one up and tentacles shoot out and try to strangle him. Death Eaters stun Ginny and toss Luna into a desk. I scream at the horror of it all, torn too, not knowing which of my best friends to run too. Both lie unconscious, leaving only Neville, Harry, and I to fight the remaining Death Eaters. Harry, still clutching the prophecy, runs into the room with the arch. Neville follows, and Bellatrix begins to torture Neville with the Crucio curse.

 "Stop! It's hurting him!" I scream.

 "Really, little girl." She shrieks.

 I stand up, my heart about to stop. I have to stall as long as I can. Neville is panting on the floor, relieved the pain has stopped, but I know as well as anyone that's only temporary. "Yes. Don't hurt my friends."

 "Eliza no!"

 "Stupefy!"

 Everything goes black. 

~~~~

A/N 

Thank you so much to anyone who's reading :) i actually just finished this fanfic about a week ago, and I almost cried thinking of how far I've come since I started writing this in middle school and about all the character development Eliza went through I hope you guys enjoy and know plenty of Draco content awaits (and yes maybe some soft Draco...)