Safe and Sound

Pale moonlight shone through the slit in my curtains. I stared at the shaft of light, sitting on the edge of my bed. My hair was still pressed to the nape of my neck from sweat, but I didn’t feel the need to wipe it away. Just moments ago I had started from a nightmare, biting my lip to contain a scream so hard that I had a mouthful of blood. A simple spell had fixed the damage, but I could not erase the taste of metal from my mouth, it seemed.

The clock struck midnight and all throughout the manor is booming echo could be heard. I took a deep breath and stood, moving across my room and down stairs like a shadow. Draco had already left long ago, so I was left to the devices of my nightmares for the night until now.

Hooded figures all stood in the yard, making me feel as if I were late. I pulled the hood of my cloak up, melting in with the other death eaters. We were all one unit with our cloaks, no other different from the other. I could recognize no one except Lucius, whose eyes glowed in the light shining from the moon. His eyes were so like Draco’s that I often wondered how it was possible they contained such a cold hatred.

A silence falls through the room that is unlike any other. It’s like there as been some kind of unspoken command, and suddenly we are all moving, grabbing our brooms that are propped along the house like decoration. I grab mine firmly in my hand and mount it, pushing off the ground and shooting after whom I assume is Snape, leading the attack.

It doesn’t take long to reach our attack point. I look around in the black clouds of the night at the many-cloaked figures. Eerily, I think that we resembled dementors, hovering in our black, floating garb. The moon comes into full view, lighting up the sky and all of the black figures lingering in the clouds. I breathe in the air, and decide that a storm is coming. I can smell the rain.

My wand hand tightens as my scar begins to tingle. Raising my wand in the air, I murmur “Lumos.” I wave the wand briefly, before the figure a few yards away from me nods and does the same, alerting everyone that they are close. The sense of betrayal sets in my heart, but I push it down like I so often have to, knowing that part of saving Harry is to betray his presence, ironically enough.

It is only moments before the first curse is heard and chaos breaks out. Figures explode from a cloud and I dart my eyes back and forth, trying to locate my brother. But I realize quickly that although they did not expect this attack that they knew something was up, for there are several versions of my brother scattering everywhere with members of the order.

I dart forward then, heading for the Harry that rides with Mr. Weasly. I know that this cant be Harry, but if I could just show my face to them, they may get the word out that I’m here and that I’m helping. But this is easier said than done as they shoot curses at me. I dodge them easily but now other death eaters are near me and I know I have to fire back.

“Confringo!” I scream, pointing my wand at the fake Harry. He’s looking right at me and I expect him to block the curse but as the breeze hits my hood and knocks it back, he freezes and lets the curse hit him square in the sit of his head. I let out a shriek that sounds like a war cry of sorts and quickly fly away, wondering whom I’ve just killed or seriously harmed.

I was firing curses and avoiding as many duels as possible as I searched for the real Harry, my scar burning all the time. A blur of white caught my eye and I saw his white owl screeching, flying through a cloud and disappearing. On pure instinct, I shot after the bird and through the cloud.

On the other side I saw Hagrid on his bike, my brother in the side cart. My real brother. And then there were two more of my kind, firing curses, one hitting the half giant right in the back. Rage shot through me as the bike began to lose control, and I knew that I had to do something as I chased after the two death eaters. One saw me and then held back, leaving it to me to take care of this while he summoned the dark lord.

The tattoo on my armed lit on fire then, moving and slithering across my skin. He had called him and there was little else I could do. Without remorse and without particularly thinking, I raised my wand, and shouted the only curse that I knew could save Harry as he screamed after his owl, which was plummeting to the ground, dead. “Avada Kedavra!”

The green curse hit the death eater square in the back, knocking him off of his broom and sending him down to the ground, cloak ripping in the wind. It wasn’t until the hood ripped away that I saw Stan Shunpike, one of the newer recruits. He wasn’t particularly clever, nor did I like him. “Good riddance.”

I looked up from staring after the dead death eater to see Harry’s green pair of eyes rest on me, shock taking over. I gave a half smile before raising my hood over my head and yelling, “Run!”

I left the scene as quickly as possible. I couldn’t be there when Voldemort came, and from the burning in my scar as well as arm, I knew he was close. Harry would have to escape him on his own on this night. I was unable to help him.

“Mother and father,” I whispered quickly. The roar of the wind and thunder around me was so loud that it drowned out the words to even my own ears. But I said them anyways. “Please protect Harry.”