The Potter Twins and the Half-Blood Prince {6}

26. Flight of the Prince

"Don't you call my name, I will take you down, should've know that you've been dancing with a wolf" - Dancing with a Wolf, All Time Low

I feel as though I'm hurtling through space, too; it hasn't happened...It can't have happened...

"Out of here, quickly," says Snape.

He seizes Draco by the scruff of the neck and forces him through the door ahead of the rest, though he struggles, casting a horror-struck look at me: Greyback and the squat brother and sister follow, the latter both panting excitedly. As they vanish through the door, fury begins to pump through my veins; what is stopping me from retaliating is no longer my promise to Dumbledore, but shock and horror. In my peripherals, Harry appears, throwing the Invisibility Cloak as I raise my wand at the brutal-faced Death Eater, last to leave the tower top.

"Pertificus Totalus!"

The Death Eater buckles as though hit in the back with something solid and falls to the ground, rigid as waxwork, but he has barely hit the floor when I clamber over him, with Harry close on my heels, running down the darkened staircase.

Terror tears at my heart...we have to get to Dumbledore and we have to catch Snape...Somehow the two are linked...I can reverse what just happened if I have both of them together...Dumbledore can't have died...

I leap the last ten steps of the spiral staircase and stop where I land, my wand raised. Harry comes to a grinding halt behind me, hand on my shoulder. The dimly lit corridor is full of dust; half the ceiling seems to have fallen in; and a battle is raging before us, but even as I attempt to make out who is fighting who, I hear the hated voice shout, "It's over, time to go!" and see Snape disappearing around the corner at the far end of the corridor; he and Draco seem to have forced their way through the fight unscathed.

"Together?" Harry asks, anger evident even in his whisper of a voice.

"Together."

As I begin the chase, one of the fighters detaches themselves from the fray and flies at me; the werewolf, Greyback. I throw myself to the side, his filthy matted hair in my face, the stench of sweat and blood filling my nose and mouth, hot greedy breaths at my throat --

"Pertificus Totalus!"

I feel Fenrir collapse against me; Harry pulls him off me and grabs my hand, ducking as a jet of green light comes flying towards; We run, headfirst, into the fight. My feet meet something squashy and slippery on the floor and we stumble; There are two bodies lying there, face down in a pool of blood, but there's no time to investigate.

"HARRY! HAYLEE!"

I see Dad and Sirius fighting, back to back, both screaming after us, but we press on into the fray. Their shouts fade out as we run, and I now see red hair flying like flames in front of me; Ginny is locked in combat with the lumpy Death Eater, Amycus, who is throwing hex after hex at while she dodges them: Amycus is giggling, enjoying the sport: "Crucio -- Crucio, you can't dance forever, pretty --"

"Impedimenta!" Harry yells.

His jinx hits Amycus in the chest: He gives a piglike squeal of pain, is lifted off his feet and slams into the opposite wall, slides down it, falling out of sight behind Ron, McGonagall, and Lupin, each of whom is battling a separate Death Eater. Beyond them, I see Tonks fighting an enormous blond wizard who is sending curses flying in all directions, to they ricochet off the walls around us, cracking stone, shattering the nearest window -

I curse as somebody crashes into me, taking advantage of my absentness to shove me against a wall, knocking the wind out of me. "Riley," I choke, as the figure comes into focus, his eyes glazed over ever so slightly. I struggle against his weight desperately, and his fist collides with my face in the struggle, sending searing pain through my head.