Stumble - A Fred Weasley Fanfiction

Chapter 52: 0 Days Before

Addie braced herself for the first explosion. The statue of the one-eyed witch exploded inwards, large stone chunks caving in and covering the entrance to the tunnel that led to Honeydukes. There were cries from within as those nearest to the entrance were trapped under the rubble, and then there was a moment of silence.

"We did it," Addie said breathlessly. "We stopped them."

She spoke too soon.

There was another blast, from inside this time, and before Addie could register what happened, Fred had pulled her to the ground with him to avoid the chunks of stone that were now raining down on them. Addie felt chunks of stone hit her, cutting into her skin. When the blast stopped, she was up on her feet as quick as she could, wand at the ready, as the hooded figures came through.

She shot out spells and curses as quick as she possibly could, while trying to block the many that were sent her way. She wasn't sure how many Death Eaters came through the tunnel, everyone was moving too quickly to be sure. But they kept coming, one after the other, stepping over their fallen comrades to get at Addie and Fred.

Addie shot another Stunning Spell at a Death Eater, and watched as he fell. She nearly missed the curse shot her way, and she blocked it, while jumping out of the way to avoid another flash of green light that shot her way. It was too hard to fight when the enemies were aiming to kill and she only knew how to stun.

Fred seemed to sense this too. He made his way towards Addie, shooting curses and blocking those sent at him until she and Fred were back to back, surrounded by wizards in black cloaks who were all too eager to watch them fall.

"When I give the signal, run," Fred said, blocking another curse.

"What signal?" Addie asked, managing to send a Death Eater to the floor, knocked unconscious.

Great, she thought. Only fifteen more to go.

She blocked another flash of light, ducked as another Killing Curse shot above her head. She was starting to get exhausted, and was just wondering how much more of this she could handle, when she saw the box hit the ground.

She didn't hesitate for a second. She blocked one final curse and then ran. The Death Eaters were so surprised that they didn't try to stop her as she ran through them, pushing them aside to get out of the way. Fred was right beside her, shooting curses behind him as they sprinted down the hallway, heading for the staircase at the end.

They were halfway down it when the box exploded, the intensity of it causing the ground to shake beneath their feet.

"We need to keep going," Fred said as Addie stopped, nearly falling over from the shock of the blast. He grabbed her hand, pulling her further down the stairs. "Come on, Addie."

She struggled along behind him, trying to keep up with his long strides. They reached the floor below and sprinted down the hallway, shooting curses whenever they could at the Death Eaters around them who were fighting with members of the Order. Fred shot out a curse at a Death Eater fighting his father, and the man fell to the ground.

There wasn't enough time for a thank-you before they were swarmed by three more. Addie joined the fight, but was distracted when a scream cut through the night, and the voice was one she recognized.

Her father.

She ran to the window, looking down at the chaos. And there he was: Dirk was standing in the middle of the courtyard, flanked by two Death Eaters, trying to fight off both at once.

She froze, and was nearly hit by another spell. It would have hit her, had Fred not jumped in front of her to block it. "What's wrong," he asked, backing up so she was pressed against the wall, with him in front of her, blocking spells that came their way. "Are you hurt?"