An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Seventy-Six

I could hear the shouts of the Death Eaters continuing behind me as I sprinted for the nearest door ahead. Malfoy was trying to marshall his troops to send some after Harry and the others, while also trying to run after me, since I'd pissed him off. Thankfully, I made it through the first door ahead of me, getting some much needed space from the people actively trying to kill me. The door magically closed behind me, and I quickly whipped out my wand and threw a locking spell on it, too, although I knew it wouldn't hold the Death Eaters long.

The room I found myself in was like a small, dark library. I didn't recognize it, and I didn't see any signs of my friends in here, either. They must've gone through a different door.

I let myself pause long enough to take one deep breath. I knew if I stopped for any longer, the reality of the situation and how close I'd just come to dying, again, would catch up with me and completely destroy my edge. Instead, I focused on the situation ahead.

"Ana," I said, putting a hand to my chest. "Restart."

Nothing. I frowned and moved my hand to my glasses.

"Ana, restart. Activate. ...Hello?"

Still nothing. A tight, clawed hand wrapped around my heart and squeezed for all it was worth, crushing and piercing so hard I felt my knees buckle. Ana couldn't be... gone gone. She couldn't be.

I clenched my teeth and dug my nails into the palms of my hands. Ana existed beyond just the little pack centered on my chest and in my glasses. I could bring her back as soon as I got access to Stark servers again. I would bring her back. But first, I had to get out of here.

I closed my eyes and focused on Ron. After spending almost countless hours in terrible weather together through Angelina's Quidditch practice schedule, even more than I'd spent with Ginny or even Hermione while studying, he was the easiest of our group for me to call to mind. Easy enough that the sling portal started to grow and I managed to keep my focus despite the Death Eaters now banging on the door behind me.

"Stark, when I get in there-"

I didn't catch the end of Malfoy's threat as I stepped through my portal and into a new room, quickly shutting it behind me. I didn't see Ron at first, and I'd started running mental diagnostics on what could've gone wrong when he burst into the room, firing spells over his shoulder as Luna and Ginny stumbled past him.

"Alexa!" cried Luna as soon as she saw me. She had a cut across her forehead, but even more concerning, she was practically dragging Ginny into the room. I sprinted over to them as soon as I saw them, dropping to my knees as they both sank down towards the floor.

"What happened?" I asked, looking between the two of them as Ron shut the door and gave it a magical locking. He joined us a moment later, and a glance at him caused me the most concern out of the group. His face was paler than it should've been, and I noticed a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

"The Death Eaters chased us into a sort of planetarium," Luna explained, her voice remarkably level and calm. "One of them grabbed Ginny, and we managed to get them off her, but I think she broke her ankle. I used the Reductor Curse to blow up Pluto and give us an opening, but a chunk of it spun off and hit Ron in the head."

Luna's expression crumpled a bit. I could tell she felt bad, but none of us could afford not to hold it together right now. I turned my attention to Ron.

"Ron, what day is it?"

He groaned. "Uh... the second to last day before tests are over. So... Thursday?"

"Okay. What year are you at Hogwarts?"

"Fifth."

"Great. I'm getting the three of you the fuck out of here."