AMA-Con: The Compilation

It All Ends

Written by: biankiekay 

Prompt: MaiChard x Battle of Hogwarts

Prompt by: @ninnabautisa

***

Fire. Humans on fire. Screams. The midnight sky was spoiled by the Death Mark. Dementors fed on souls. Giants trampled on allies and foes alike. Spells and curses flashed across the heavens like a terrifying exhibition of fireworks.

It was madness. It was the night of the final battle of Hogwarts.

Smoke and dust covered the sun and the sky completely. The once-majestic north tower was framed against the sky, a shadow of fire licking the sky from one of its windows.

The muggleborn rushed through the darkened hallways, her wand on a holster hidden up in her right arm, a journal and quill in her left hand. The atmosphere was grim; terror was temporarily held in bay by the deceitful calm imparted by the eerie silence within the school.

Echoes of You-Know-Who's ultimatum still rang in everyone's minds.

I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.

Sheer terror and repulsion tormented her very being upon hearing His voice. But she was determined to go through this battle, whether or not it would ultimately lead to her own death.

Cool air wafted from the open windows, blowing harshly against her exposed skin. Her robes were torn, ripped by a wayward curse earlier in the night. The castle was holding up against the continued attacks, but cracks were showing in its façade. The howling wind swept along the halls as if the walls were weeping for the pain of its losses. Shards of glass littered the stony floor. The rushing student navigated through the hallways, displaying her mastery of its nooks and crannies.

She was of average height, brown skin, lithe body, and strikingly large dark eyes. The feeling of foreboding racked her body, but she remained calm as she turned the corner towards the Great Hall. Her dark brown hair was tied in a braid behind her head, her hands were clammy with sweat. She was alone in the Ravenclaw Common Room when the alarm started, so she carried nothing else but herself and her prized journal.

"Maine, watch your step!" called Professor Flitwick when she rushed past him. He was levitating a body (or was it a corpse?) in the same direction as to where she was heading. "Please keep calm as you proceed to the hall!"

Maine slowed her pace, her trepidation racing ahead of her. The battle's peak within the walls was imminent; the castle was barely holding up.

She briefly wondered where the Grey Lady was, and had hoped that she was able to talk to the ghost for what may be their last time. It was an odd friendship that developed in her first year, when she had no one but herself to talk to. Being the only muggleborn in a big family of seven, she was naturally curious in everything magical-- not to mention, ghosts. Ellen, as Maine fondly calls her, was a highly intellectual and taciturn ghost who was also insecure in nature. They had shared many lonely nights together just exchanging stories, or simply listening to the Bloody Baron's playing of the violin at the West Tower. She had learned much of the wizarding world from Ellen, and sometimes the latter would even help her with school work. It was also during her evenings with Ellen when Maine learned that she was quite good at casting nonverbal spells. It was nonverbal spells that had saved her life many times tonight.