The Art of An Ending

Chapter Thirty: Growing Closer (to the End)

Draco and Pansy were sitting together in the common room when she got back. "What does Dumbledore want?" Draco asked at once. "Erica, are you okay?"

"Give me a minute," Erica said shortly, racing past them. She dashed up the stairs and into her dormitory, where she flung open her trunk and pulled out the Marauder's Map, the box in which she had concealed the Horcruxes, a change of clothes (because the Chamber of Secrets was a mess and she at least wanted to look sort-of presentable when she died) and the remainder of the Felix Felicis which she kept in the small glass vial it had come in. Then she sped back down the stairs and into the common room, skidding to a halt where Draco and Pansy sat looking stunned.

"Dumbledore and Harry are leaving soon," she said quickly, handing them the Marauder's Map and the Felix Felicis. "You need to share this between the both of you."

"But don't you need some to?" Draco asked, looking at the vial he now held. "Erica, you could use as much help as either of us."

"No," she shook her head, undoing the wards on the box and folding her change of clothes so it fit inside before closing it firmly shut. "I'm going to go out and let the wards down now, and then I am going to contact Avery letting him know to rally the Death Eaters and to attack in exactly two hours. You both need to alert all of the teachers and begin shoring the defences. Whilst you continue to do so, I'm going to go down to the Chamber of Secrets and destroy the Horcruxes. Find me with the Map after it's done, and we'll work out what to do next from there. The plan is that I'll be out of the Chamber within two hours, so I can help with the beginning of the battle."

"Right," Pansy nodded, seeming to gather herself together. "Are you sure you don't need our help. You're doing a lot there, and-"

"No," Erica shook her head quickly. "You both need to get as many people as possible aware of what is going on. Go to Gryffindor Tower and tell Hermione, Ron and Neville as well- they should know what's happening, because I bet Harry has told them all about the Horcruxes. Okay-"

She cut herself off when Harry entered the common room and dashed up to the stairs to the boys' dormitories, coming back down a few moments later with the Invisibility Cloak in his arms. He exited back the same way he had entered, not shooting a single look in their direction.

"Okay, okay, we should give it a few minutes and then we can start to act," Erica shook her head, taking several, deep, quick, calming breathes. "You shouldn't drink the Felix Felicis until the two hours are up, that way you should be safe for the battle and you aren't wasting hours of time."

"Right," they nodded together as they stood up, each of them readying themselves in their own ways.

Five minutes seemed to tick by slower than an hour as they watched Draco's watch, and when it was over Erica hugged Draco and Pansy tightly to her before hurrying back through the common room and up through the Slytherin dungeons, the both of them close at her heels.

They parted ways in the Entrance Hall as Erica called the Disillusionment Charm over herself as she made her way across the grounds, and she was breathing heavily, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She may have tied the wards to herself, but in order to bring them down without killing herself she would need to be in contact with them, so she set off into a run towards the gates of Hogwarts, knowing that she wouldn't have much time to do everything she needed to do.

When she finally reached the gates she was panting, and she had to take a few moments with her hands on her knees, her chest heaving, before she had recovered enough to straighten up and do what needed to be done.

First, she sent her Patronus to Avery. The message was short and simple. 'Rally the troops. The wards are down. Attack in two hours.'

With that done, and her silver panther Patronus now out of sight, she turned her attention instead to the wards, ignoring the wrought iron gates as instead she sought out the invisible barriers which blocked them from the outside world. It was far easier now than it had been the year before, particularly because the hum of the wards seemed to resonate with her own self, pulsing in time with her heart as her fingers playing along the different knots unravelling them quickly.