chapter fifty-six

                                    

                                          
Tala. The Battle of Hogwarts.



                          
      "...And remember!" I shouted at the crowd of Slytherin students before me, "We're not in duelling class! You're not just fighting to live! You're fighting to kill!"
                          
      The Slytherin students that stayed for the fight nodded at my instructions and ran off to the new positions I told them to cover. 
                          
      All the Professors casted a large dome over the castle as protection, but my heart sank at the sight of maybe a thousand Death Eaters finally breaking through. I knew that if even one of them caught me, I'd be dead.
                          
      I rushed past McGonagall who raised her wand fiercely and yelled, "Piertotum Locomotor!" 
                          
      At that, the statues and suits of armor that lined the school began to jump out and wait for Mcgonagall's orders as if they were alive.
                          
      "Hogwarts is under attack!" McGonagall shouted over the overwhelming crashes and explosions. "Man the boundaries! Protect us! Do your duties to the school!"
                          
       And as they followed her orders, McGonagall began giggling quietly like a giddy little girl. "I've always wanted to use that spell!"
                          
      Ron and Hermione went off by themselves while Luna went with Harry when the battle first began. But before Harry left, I gave him one last hug that I wanted to last forever. I knew that the next time I'd see him, he'd be dead and tears had begun streaming down my face as I ran. 
                          
     "We're kind of in the middle of a war, Tala," Harry chuckled as he held me tighter as the sound of hurrying footsteps and explosions played in the background. "We can't hug forever."
                          
     "I wish we could," I said quietly, holding onto his warmth.
                          
     "We'll be okay," Harry smiled lightly, his dim blue eyes sparkling for a moment just for me.
                          
     "Promise?" I asked hopefully, feeling my stomach drop to my feet, knowing it was another empty promise.
                          
     "Promise," Harry said, letting me go.
                          
     Harry walked away as Luna followed him behind, and I became painfully aware of how cold life would be without him, without his warmth.
                          
      I knew I needed to find Draco. 
                          
      I ran through every hall and every corridor as I checked and made my way all around the school. I fought my way through every room I reached, throwing curses at hooded and masked figures. 
                          
      I kept running even though my feet couldn't handle it anymore as sounds of screams and crashes echoed all around me. I knew I was standing in a graveyard.
                          
      I reached the seventh floor and I felt myself freeze in place as I heard a loud rumbling, even feeling it vibrate on the ground against my feet. I looked at the direction of the Room of Requirement, seeing Fred laugh along with a red headed boy wearing horn-rimmed glasses.
                          
      I don't know what came over me, it was almost instinct. 
                          
      I ran to them. 
                          
      I pushed them both out of the way as I casted Protego on myself, saving myself from the debris and explosion that came from the inside of the Room of Requirement. 
                          
      My ears started to ring and my body began to sore from the impact, feeling myself about to faint as I coughed out and inhaled dust.
                          
      Fred held my weak body up along with the boy with glasses, both healing me with their wands as they shouted things at me with bright smiles on their faces.