Harry's POV:
Everyone thinks I’m the one who saves the day, always. Just because I faced Voldemort maybe three or four times, now all of a sudden I’m a hero. The people who think I am a “hero” have it all wrong. I never do any of that stuff without help. If I were facing Voldemort, by myself, without anyone there to help me, I wouldn’t be alive. I may be by myself, just me and him, when we fight. But the preparation and situations leading up to when I encounter Voldemort are the most important moments of all. I would never know any spells, or have information, or know the weaknesses of my enemies, if it weren’t for my friends. They will always be with me every step of the way, helping out. I never want to do anything alone.
But this time, I needed to. When Ron, Fallon and I got out into the courtyard and realized that Quinn wasn’t with us, I had a panic attack. Well, not a literal panic attack, but I started to freak out. The roof of Hogwarts was on fire.
Quinn is basically like my little sister. I’ve known her since she was in her first year at Hogwarts, and we’ve pretty much grown up together. If she was stuck in that burning castle, I knew I had to go in there and save her.
“Uh, c’mon mate…she’s probably, uh, just off with some other people. Maybe she came out with a different group.” Ron tried to some optimistic.
“No, she would’ve stayed with us, I know Quinn.” Fallon replied, looking to me and then back to Ron.
“Hey, I know her better than you do, she’s my sister!” Ron said, raising his eyebrows.
“For your information, Ronald, Quinn tells me everything. She would never tell you anything because you tell everyone’s secrets. So no, you don’t know more about-”
“Okay, okay!” I cut of Fallon. “Stop arguing about stupid things! I think Quinn is still in the castle!”
“Well-” Ron began, but he stopped as soon as he heard the horrifying sound. I heard it, Fallon heard it- everybody heard it. There was a rumbling, and then a cracking, and then a whole bunch of terrifying noises mixed together. The roof started to cave in- all the stone and bricks and rubble fell in to the castle. It looked like a volcano erupting the opposite direction- the fire and everything was shooting in instead of shooting out. And at that very moment, I knew that Quinn was in there. I could feel it. And I had to get her. So, just like that, I took off running.
“Oi, where are you going?!” I heard Ron yell.
“Come back!” screamed Fallon. I kept on running, all the way up to the doors. I made sure my wand was in my pocket, and then went in. Instantly I was overwhelmed with the smoke and fire. The staircases were burning, and I could see the huge pile of rock and stone where the ceiling caved in. There was a massive hole where everything had collapsed- as if there was a skylight, but without the glass covering it.
“QUINN!” I yelled. “QUINN!” No answer. I needed to search through the rubble.
The rocks were stacked high- it looked like a giant puzzle, with all the different sized pieces in a jumble. But this was no puzzle- more of a death trap. I could find Quinn dead.
I heaved the debris aside, still calling Quinn’s name every once in a while. It was hard to breathe because of almost everything being on fire, and my hands were starting to bleed from being cut by the rocks. But I kept going- throwing rocks aside, not caring about crushing a step of a staircase or missing the ground while throwing and letting the rock fall down past the moving staircases.
Finally, I saw it. A black Converse shoe; the same shoe I had given Quinn for her birthday last year. Tears stung in my eyes but I held them in. Heaving one last rock aside, there she was- beautiful Quinn with her gorgeous curly red hair. Her jeans were torn bad, as well as her shirt. The jacket I had seen her wearing earlier had disappeared, and countless gashes and wounds paraded her arms and face. I didn’t even want to see what the rest of her looked like; a giant blood stain seeped through her shirt. Hurriedly, I picked her up and ran through the piles of rubble, fire, and ash all the way out into the courtyard. I instantly had a coughing attack as soon as I entered the fresh air and gulped for breath. In the process of my coughing fit, I fell to the ground and Quinn’s limp body fell beside me. Yes, what a real hero I am.
A swarm of people came up, including Professor McGonagall.
“Go away, let me through!” she said, pushing past students. “Potter!”
“Professor-” I got up slowly. “Quinn was trapped, and- I needed to get her out. I… I didn’t know what else to do, I knew she was in there, she wasn’t with us when she got outside, and-” again, another stupid coughing fit.
“Alright, alright… where’s Madam Pomphrey?! We need to find somewhere to go until the castle is secure. Dumbledore is taking care of everything right now…” McGonagell said. Madam Pomphrey ran up a minute later, gasping.
“Oh, we need to get you two fixed up…someone help me pick up Ms. Weasley!” Madam Pomphrey said as two seventh years ran up to pick up Quinn. Ron and Fallon shoved aside the crowd and came over to us in a rush.
“Quinn! Harry!” Fallon cried. She stood at Quinn’s side and started to cry harder than she already was. I put my arm around her. Ron started getting upset as well as he stood by Quinn’s side, but I could tell he didn’t want to cry.
“Come on, children!” Madam Pomphrey ushered us across the courtyard. Ron helped me as we walked, given that my leg was hardly in walking shape. Fallon continued to walk by Quinn’s side; we all had a close watch on her. She was out cold- but thankfully, we could all tell she was still breathing.
By the time we got to Hagrid’s hut, Quinn had started to wake up.
“W-where am I?” Quinn asked wearily, trying to sit up. We were now inside Hagrid’s hut, a warm fire blazing in the stone-covered fireplace and Fang, Hagrid’s dog, watching closely and quietly at the scene.
“Hagrid, hand me that tonic.” Madam Pomphrey said hurriedly, pushing Quinn back down on the table.
“Hey, what was that?” Quinn asked irritably, trying to sit up again. Her eyes rolled back in the back of her head.
“LAY DOWN!” Madam Pomphrey ordered. I bit my lip as I watched her put a spoonful of brown liquid into Quinn’s mouth. She coughed, rolled over, and then threw up. Fang started barking furiously- he had almost been targeted with the vomit and did not appreciate it.
“Shut up, ye nasty brute.” Hagrid muttered, waving his hand at Fang.
“That’s rank…” Ron said, making a sour face and peeking at the vomit. Fallon smacked Ron in the arm and he yelped. Hagrid got the vomit cleaned up and lit candles throughout the room. All of a sudden, Professor McGonagall came barging in to the small hut and said, “Mr. Weasley, Mr. and Ms. Potter… you three need to go. Now.”
“What?” I asked, looking at Ron in confusion.
“The students are getting send off in carriages in groups. Death Eaters are attacking the school and everyone must evacuate for their own safety. Harry, Fallon, Ron- you can go in the carriage with me.” Professor McGongall explained rather hastily.
“What about Quinn?” Fallon asked.
“Ms. Weasley can go in a separate carriage with Madam Pomphrey and Hagrid. Quinn needs all the help she can get. Let’s go.” And with that, Professor McGonagall left. Fallon, Ron, and I slowly inched towards the door, looking back at Quinn longingly. Then, without even thinking about it, I ran towards Quinn and kissed her. Right there, full on the lips. Her eyes fluttered and I saw her start to wake up, but Professor McGonagall arrived again and ushered us out of the hut before I could say anything else. Ron was a bright shade of pink and looked as if he was about to throw up as we travelled to the carriage, which was pulled by two black Thestrels. Fallon was bubbling inside, I could tell- she’s known I’ve liked Quinn for a while and she was waiting until I made my “move”. Now she’s probably going to give me a lecture later about how I should’ve actually kissed her while she was conscious. My leg still hurt like mad and I was limping bad- the medicine Madam Pomphrey gave me barely helped. I looked back at Hagrid’s Hut one last time as I entered my carriage with Ron and Fallon. Professor McGongall and Madam Pomphrey were beginning to help Quinn across the grass to another carriage, but I couldn’t see her for much longer as our carriage took off into the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
