In a world ravaged by good and evil, those toeing the line find solace in nothing. Blood runs thicker than water, but is risking your life and livelihood for a war you never wanted a part in worth it? Is becoming a monster in the eyes of some, and a...
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Maeve only had a moment to let the relief wash over her before Anthony was screaming her name and she threw up her hands defensively. The world whirled around them. Maeve caught sight of a red-haired witch hit Bellatrix with a spell so powerful that the dark witch burst into flakes of dark ash. She also saw Neville Longbottom cast a curse so effective it sent a Death Eater flying so far across the hall that the fall behind him broke on impact.
The room echoed with a cold scream, followed by the bright light of the most powerful shield charm Maeve had ever seen.
"HE'S ALIVE!" Someone screamed so loudly the entire hall went silent as all eyes turned to an alive Harry Potter facing Lord Voldemort in the centre of the room. People stumbled out of their way, waiting with bated breath to see what would happen.
"I don't want anyone to help. It's got to be like this. It's got to be me," Harry said loudly and firmly, his words echoing in the silent hall.
"He doesn't mean that. That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today Potter?" Voldemort taunted.
The entire hall watched, horrified, as the two circled each other slowly. Potter slowly laid out a plot, the Dark Lord denying it at every moment. Severus Snape had been a double agent working under Dumbledore's orders. The Elder Wand existed, and Voldemort wasn't the true master of it. The mythos grew more and more complicated, full of twists and turns, only for the truth to come out. Potter was in a duel facing the Dark Lord, when he was the true master of the Elder Wand, the very wand Lord Voldemort held in his hand.
The snakelike face of Voldemort contorted with rage and his eyes shone with pure murder. Then, at the same moment, the two pointed their wands.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
The sound was so catastrophic that Maeve's ears popped. The bright red and green light flowing from their wands so intense her eyes stung, but she couldn't lift her hands to cover her ears or shield her eyes. The spells collided, before the thin wooden stick - The Elder Wand - flew into the air. It spun through the air, and landed in Potter's outstretched hand.
Voldemort lay on the floor, a crumpled husk, in the light of the rising sun.
The silence was broke all at once with excited screams and exclamations. It was like the world had colour again; as if the dark cloud that had hung over them for so long they'd forgotten its presence had moved on.
Maeve turned and hugged Anthony as fiercely as she could. It felt as though he was squeezing the life out of her, but she didn't care. She had a life for him to squeeze.
She hadn't died.
The commotion lasted in the Great Hall for a very long time. Harry Potter was congratulated by all. People reached forward to clasp his hand. Grief hung over the jubilation, but it was far overshadowed by the excitement.
Grief was like that. It disappeared in the happy moments, but would creep back when one was alone and weakened.
Anthony grinned when Harry appeared before them, looking rather dazed.
"Right on, Potter!" Anthony clapped his friend on the back.
Maeve offered him a smirk, but it felt strange on her mouth to even smile at Potter, "thanks, I suppose, Potter."
Anthony roared with laughter as Maeve just stared up at him with a raised eyebrow. Potter was ushered away before he could offer an answer to either of them.
"Ooh!" Said a high voice, "hello, Maeve!"
"Luna!" Maeve turned on her heel and wrapped her arms around the blonde.
"I suppose you didn't fall down the rabbit hole after all," Luna said when Maeve finally released her.
"Sorry," Maeve felt her cheeks crisp with colour, "I just was so worried when you disappeared during Christmas."
"Really?" Luna looked only mildly interested, but smiled either way, "I thought you didn't like me all that much."
"I - " Maeve caught Anthony with his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh, "I suppose I don't mind you all that much after all. Even if you are a Ravenclaw."
Luna, to her surprise, laughed, "you're a very strange witch, Maeve. You should check for Wrackspurts."
Then, she was gone.
"Anthony, what the hell is a Wrackspurt?"
"Honestly?" Anthony let his arm slump over Maeve's shoulders, "I have no bleeding idea."
They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, before something occurred to Maeve.
"Are we ... all right, Anthony?" She said the words with caution. She didn't want to dredge up bad blood, but she needed to know.
"As long as you didn't spend the year kissing Malfoy's ass, we're good Maeve," he joked. When he took in her pale face he laughed, "it was a joke! Are you quite all right? Of course we're friends, you moron."
Maeve laughed nervously along with him.
Kissing Malfoy's ass indeed.
Speaking of, she saw no signs of the blonde wizard. She had a feeling that she probably wouldn't ever again. She wasn't all that sad at the prospect, after all the two had barely known each other. But at the same time ...
He'd been right. Something about him was eerily similar to her. She had a feeling that if they'd actually bothered to communicated aside from rude jabs and snogging in abandoned corridors, they would have found they understood each other better than either had expected.
But that was over and done with. Maeve smiled at Anthony. She'd made a choice, she'd taken ahold of her own life, she'd become herself instead of the person everyone told her to be.
Maeve knew it could take weeks, months, years, or decades even, but she knew one day she'd be great. Her name would be remembered with the likes of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.
The best of the best.
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