Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 126 - The End of a Feud

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 Al wasn't out for long. She can't have been, because when she finally had the strength to raise her head and wipe her blood from her face, she saw Harry tearing past through the fight. Clambering to her feet, and trying to ignore the searing pain all over her body, she stumbled along after him. "Brackium Emendo," she mumbled, recalling the spell from her emergency first aid chapter of the duelling book Remus had given her.

 She felt her head crack again, and it was quite painful at first, but all that was left was a dull ache, allowing her to focus as she reached the Entrance Hall. There was a crowd of pyjama-clad Hufflepuffs at the top of the steps to the basement. Ernie Macmillan rushed forward, grabbing hold of her and looking panicked.

 "Al! Why are you covered in blood? What's going on?" he asked, and Al saw that Anne had pushed her way to the front of the group. She stared around at the faces of the Hufflepuffs, all of them looking shocked or downright terrified at her blood-soaked appearance. She quickly looked down at herself.

 Her shirt was no longer white, but clinging to her and dark crimson. Where her chest was exposed it was covered in dried stains of red apart from where the scratches were, which were pale and pink. Her face too must have been covered in blood because she'd had to sweep it from her eyes, and her hair felt matted and sticky.

 "Ernie, get them back down to the basement, and tell me which way Harry went," Al ordered, and Ernie opened his mouth to speak but before he could, there was a triumphant shout and a harsh laugh from behind them. Al turned to see two of the Death Eaters galloping down the stairs.

 "Look at the ickle baby Hufflepuffs!" the man taunted, as the woman laughed again.

 Al stepped protectively in front of Ernie, pushing him back into the crowd, and fired a rapid string of hexes and curses at he two of them, firing explosions from her hand to one of them and spells from her wand at the other, swapping over when it was convenient.

 "ERNIE!" Al shouted, "NOW!" There was a rushing of feet and a few other spells flew at them, but she could tell that for the most part the Entrance Hall was now abandoned. The Hufflepuffs were safe.

 The woman's attention was diverted to some people who were fighting from behind Al now, and Al continued to fight the man, who was struggling to block all the spells, and fire more back, and dodge her shots of soul magic.

 Al heard a thud behind her as a stunning spell hit its mark and a jolt shot through Al. But it was only a stunner. "Crucio!" the woman shouted, and Al heard Anne scream out in pain.

 "No!" Al screamed furiously, and she dived in front of Anne, taking the full force of the curse. But compared to Voldemort, whose curse she had endured so many times before, this was quite tame.

 Al did not cry out, only tensing and grinding her teeth as she sat on the floor. "GO!" Al screamed at Anne, who scrambled up looking terrified, "GO, NOW!" Anne nodded and dragged Ernie down the corridor and to safety.

 "Crucio!" The man said, and the pain doubled. This really made Al scream. It hurt so much, feeling like she was being stabbed all over while she was set on fire.

 And then it stopped, and the world spun around her. She watched as all but one of the original Death Eaters sprinted past her and out the front doors without so much as a second glance. She wanted to stop them, but she was exhausted and her wand was all the way over there...

 After what felt like an eternity, the Hufflepuffs and some of the Slytherins emerged once more, filtering hesitantly into the Entrance Hall. A recovered Anne and Ernie darted forward to Al, who batted them away as they tried to help her up. But she soon gave in, and allowed Ernie to place her arm round his shoulders and his arm round her waist while he walked her up to the hospital wing, instructing Anne to keep an eye on any tearful younger students.

 Al arrived in the hospital wing feeling dizzy and sick, and wanting nothing more than to fall asleep. Everyone else was there, and Remus rushed forward, taking her from Ernie and forcing her to lie down on a bed, which she sat up on a moment later to see Ernie leaving the hospital wing.

 "The Slytherins," Al mumbled to a concerned Remus, grabbing the bed frame for support, and trying to get to her feet. "I need to see if they're okay."

 "When I said you'd make a good prefect, I didn't mean now," Remus said, slightly serious, slightly amused. Al sighed and looked around. There was a ginger man that Al vaguely recognised as Bill lying on the bed that everyone was gathered around. She could see Ron, Hermione, Luna and Tonks stood there, some of them looking at her, some at Bill, who Madame Pomfrey was fussing over. Neville was sleeping in a bed a little way away.

 "What happened to Bill?" she asked, gripping tighter on the bed.

 "Greyback," Remus said bitterly. "What happened to you?"

 Al pointed at her scarred and bloody chest, "Greyback." She pointed to her bloody and sore head, "Snape." Then she gestured to the rest of her, "two other death Eaters."

 "The Cruciatus Curse?" Tonks guessed and Al nodded. "Who was it?"

 "A man and a woman," Al said. It didn't really matter who they were in her books. They were all the same.

 "Both of them?" Tonks asked, astounded, and Al nodded.

 "The Carrows," Remus growled, looking murderous.

 "Did you say Greyback had got you too?" Pomfrey asked, rushing over with a jar of paste.

 "Just a scratch," Al said, pointing at her chest.

 Madame Pomfrey's eyes grew wide, "You closed the wound?" she asked, outraged.

 "Well, you see, it was that or bleed to death," Al retorted, and she heard Ron snort.

 "Lie down," Pomfrey ordered, and she obliged, "And keep still." Al did as she was told and gritted her teeth as the Matron re-opened all her wounds and applied a purple smoking and stinging potion to them, including the one on her face.

 When she was done, Al sat up again, accepting a glass of water from Hermione, and gazed around silently. Everyone looked up as Harry and Ginny walked in, and started to discuss Bill's wounds and whether he'd be a werewolf. Until Ron asked where Dumbledore was.

 "Dumbledore's dead," Ginny announced. Somehow, Al knew this already. She wasn't sure how, but she just did. It would make sense - what with Snape and Malfoy fleeing.

 "No!" Remus shouted, looking wildly between Harry and Ginny, but Harry didn't say anything. Remus seemed to lose control, sitting down onto Al's blood-stained bed, and gripping his hair with his hands, before burying his face in them. Al put a single hand on his back, rubbing it until Tonks asked what had happened.

 "Snape killed him," Harry said, his voice shaking ever-so-slightly, "Malfoy cornered us on the Astronomy tower - disarmed Dumbledore - and then more Death Eaters came up and then Snape, and he did it. The Avada Kedavra."

 Madame Pomfrey burst into tears, and was shortly silenced by Ginny, who told everyone to listen. There was a beautiful song echoing across the grounds from Dumbledore's phoenix, seeping into them and soothing every ache that Al had, every worry and fear. Dumbledore was dead, and yet she was at peace.