It's OK To Not Be Ok...Right?

108. Lets Get It Started

They were sitting on the bottom steps of the grand staircase as the group finally made it up to the castle entryway. Kingsley was leading the charge, closely followed by Tina who had her arms around Annabella and was trying to comfort her. Then the rest of the squad appeared, walking two by two, levitating in between them was Jack.

Or what was left of him at least.

It was like a scene from one of the groups dreams.  Finally come to life. Pure horror. His body was levitating at about waist height. Everyone could see the full extent of his injuries. Jack was missing half of his bottom jaw on the left hand side. They could see his top set of teeth peeking out from the wound. His entire face was covered in scratches, dirt and blood. From the looks of it, he was also missing one eye. Either that or it had burst in its socket. His body was covered in blood, leaving a trail behind them, which an Auror was using his wand to clear as they moved. Jacks clothes were torn as was his skin underneath and on closer inspection it was clear that he was also missing a foot.

Ginny had let out a muffled scream as his body was carried past them, before being lowered onto a stretcher. Luna had given up looking and currently had her head buried in Ron's shoulder. Sloane and Hermione were silently sobbing as Arabella wailed for her friend. Narcissa had her arm around Mrs Zabini, much in the same way Arthur did with Molly. The rescue team set Jack's body down and stood back or sat on the steps themselves to rest. Everyone looked horrible and Madame Pomfrey headed straight for one of the Aurors whose knees seemed to give out where he stood.

'Damn fool,' Draco emotionally snapped as Sloane leaned in close to him. 'We told him not to go down there. We told him this would happen.'

'He thought he could do it on his own,' Sloane cried. 'He was never going to listen to us.'

'He is...was a fucking idiot! He was just like me in sixth year. Thinking I was invincible. He didn't have to die.'

"What happened?" Bill asked not able to look at Jack any longer.

Kingsley took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "He never stood a chance. They caught him as soon as he went down there. But they knew we would go after them. They knew we would not leave him. They....they...."

"They used him as bait," Jerry said walking into the foyer. Sloane nor Draco had even realised he was missing. "Laud him in the middle of one of the rooms and when we ran in to help him, they jumped us." He spat onto the floor, a mouthful of blood. "We never stood a chance and we had no idea that Jack was already dead."

Arabella gave a painful cry as she leaned into Colson who had tears on his own eyes. "How did you get away?" He asked, now holding the female Auror up.

"All thanks to Jerry," Kingsley clapped him on the back.

"I couldn't produce Firestorm, or Blessed Fire, whatever you call it, but they didn't know it. I used Incendio and created fire, and they all ran for cover terrified that it would kill them. We grabbed at the chance and made a mad dash for freedom." Everyone was eagerly listening as Jerry went on to explain who was down there. "Euan is clever. He was hiding in the shadows and had the centaurs hiding behind the doors, ready to fight if needs be."

"Was the corpse thingy there?" Draco asked.

Phil nodded. "Three of them, each missing half their torso but still able to move quickly. There was also two dogs, growling and foaming at the mouth, like they had bloody rabies."

"But there were more gargoyles," Tina said as she and Colson sat Arabella on the steps and stood up dusting herself off before hugging Newt. "I think I counted eleven of them." Hermione gasped. "Each only able to move when you blinked. Absolutely terrifying. One half beautiful and reminded me of the gargoyles at Notre Dame, the other half of them was grotesque and smelt of decay."