Slytherin sparks

Fire

8:00pm The Great hall

The crack of the force field around Hogwarts was the first thing that had truly brought them all back to reality. The waiting had given them plenty of time to think about it, but clearly not enough to truly comprehend it. The students watched it happen, empty eyes, unable to do much now but prepare for the battle, until they got closer.
And for sure, it was easy to see, there was loads of them. A huge crowd of death eaters were charging towards the castle, black swinging through the mist. They watched as the bridge collapsed with fire as the death eaters ran across toward the castle. All part of the plan of course, but it didn't make it any easier to watch.

Iris' eyes was blurry with fear as she continued to look, not being able to pull away, she could hear Lupins voice in the background explaining where people should go, which areas of the castle to protect.
It was hard to make out with screaming students and the panicked hustle that had quickly swept them all up. Iris' blonde locks drooped loosely around either side of her face, and she tucked it smoothly behind her ear, before taking in a deep breath and composing herself.
Syd's fingers intertwined with Iris' and she smiled sadly as they watched the glow from the death eaters wands crash into the castle. Parts of it were set alight in seconds and the screams of fear that could be heard ran down to her bones.
"This is it." Syd shrugged.
"Our seventh year at Hogwarts."
Iris replied hardly a whisper, "I never thought it would end this way."
And truly she didn't, She didn't think that she would've finally opened up about her trauma, she didn't think that she would've fallen in love, and she also didn't think that they would be at war.
This year certainly hadn't been what they had expected it too be, but she was so thankful to still have Syd at her side.

And then, the words trailed out with tears streaming down her cheeks before she could stop them.
The guilt was eating her up.
"Syd... Promise me this."
"Anything."
"If we- survive, then you have to drop Blaise."
"Iris- what?" Syd's face turned toward her friend with confusion and worry, the muffled screams turned to dust in the background as she focused hard.
"He tried to kiss me. The night Malfoy came back."
"Whilst I was asleep?" Tears formed in the corners of Syd's eyes, and although she hardly ever cried, Iris could tell that this was horrribly painful for her, on top off everything else. She was going to wait till after the war to tell her, but had figured, who knew what could happen.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I was going to wait till after all this to say, but it felt strange being around you both today."
Syd sighed and rubbed her head at Iris' confession before composing herself, as she always did.
"It's ok." She let out a large sigh.
"We both knew Blaise was a major fuck boy anyway." Syd smiled sadly, as she tried desperately hard to hide her emotions. Iris could see right through her.

"I'm sorry." She pulled her into a tight hug, "You Sydney Elledge, are worth so much more."
The girls smiled back at eachother.
"This year truly has gone to shit. God I need a smoke." Syd laughed as she rubbed at her eyes and returned them to the burning fire on the bridge outside the front of the castle.

"We need to go."

Iris pulled Syd out into the bustling corridors of panic, down the moving staircases and into the main hallways, it was truly packed with students running in all directions.
Iris lost her grip on Syd's hand and they both got pulled into the crowd in opposite directions, Iris tried to look out for her dark head of hair but it was buried in amongst a sea of panicked heads. She had no choice but to follow the crowd down the stairs and into the front of the castle where many death eaters had already made their way through. Now she was on her own.

Chaos within minutes. Her school was burning away ferociously.

The spells were flying around her head in all different directions, the side of the wall that was on fire heating up her cold flesh.
Narrowly missing a crutias that slashed across the side of her face, she crouched for cover behind a stone pillar.
The blood trickled down into her eye and she rubbed at it ferociously. Fuck.
Breathing quickened, mind fuzzy.
She couldn't fight, Salazar knew that she was shit, healing was where she succeeded. Not here, not on the battlefield. Utterly useless.
Eyes blurred, she scanned around the burning building, rubble and stone already stretched along the path. The sound of deathly laughter and screaming haunting her head.