A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

The Battle Begins

"Where were you?" an anxious Hermione cried out at the sight of a sullen Maria.

"I -"

"The Order has arrived!" Ginny exclaimed, pointing towards the Great Hall’s entrance.

"Brilliant, someone tell them to block the seventh floor!" Maria instructed.

"The seventh… the Room of Requirement? That’s just what Harry had figured -"

"Yes Ron," Hermione interjected brusquely, annoyed. "But a bit late isn’t it?"

Members of the staff and of the Order were immediately dispatched to the seventh floor, while others left to patrol the surroundings. So, for the countless time that day, Maria headed up the staircases, but this time she wasn’t alone: she had an army or friends and fellow students at her side. Even though they were few in number, she knew they had the will and skill of many more… but she still hoped the Death Eaters would be much fewer. Thus, she stood in front of the concealed door on the seventh floor, waiting with the others, wand out and ready. Maria was going over all the useful spells she knew in her mind, which was very comforting since she did know a lot. Not a squeak was made from inside the Room, yet everyone stood listening intensely. No one whispered, no one moved: the silence was deafening. They all seemed frozen in time. 

How long had it been? Maria honestly had no clue. But it hadn’t been long enough for her to go over all the spells she knew.

The stone doors magically drew themselves on the wall in front of them, and everyone tensed up at once. They opened, revealing about half a dozen Death Eaters. For a fraction of a second, Maria thought she saw a look of shock on their faces, but it was quickly replaced by a malevolent sneer. The battle had begun.

The first to fire a hex was McGonagall, but it was easily deflected by a heavy-faced Death Eater. That was the opening prompt. Everyone flicked their wand in a dizzying confusion of roars, shrieks and jets of light. Next thing she knew, Maria was being thrown to the side because of a nasty explosion, sending rough chunks of rock flying everywhere. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and shot a body-binding curse at the black-robed wizard coming her way. It missed him and he retaliated with the Tarantallegra curse, but Maria was prepared. "Protego!" she yelled before adding: "Confringo!" Her jinx was swallowed by the ravenous fire the Death Eater had just cast. "Aguamenti!" she tried, knowing it wouldn’t work with a fire this big. Her feeble stream of water was, indeed, of no help; it merely evaporated within a meter of the dragon shaped flames. She cast a flame-freezing charm, but it simply rebounded. The fire was growing rapidly, and with a sudden jerk, its head descended upon Maria. She bolted away from it, her wand over her shoulder, firing any jinx she could think of. Upon shouting "Sectumsempra!" the fire roared angrily as though hurt. She risked a glance at it; a great gash had appeared on the dragon’s head, but the flames mended back at once. She yelled the spell again, repeating it fiercely and managed to slow the monstrous fire down. She then noticed a large mirror hanging on the wall beside her, and an idea struck her. She didn’t have time to think it over; acting on impulse, she cried "Protego horribilis!" into the mirror and levitated it in front of her. It was her last resort; it had to work… and it did, faintly. It was enough to contain the fire, but not repel it. Vicious flames licked the sides of the mirror; Maria had no doubt that even with her protection spell, it would eventually melt and she didn’t fancy still being here when it did.