Safe and Sound

Draco’s eyes were glowing as he stood up. I looked at him curiously, tilting my head. He had been crouched down, mending a young Gryffindors arm. It was such a strange sight that for a moment, I almost forgot what had just conspired in the Headmaster’s office, momentarily lapsed into thinking that I hadn’t just sent Harry off to get killed by Voldemort.

Everything in the Great Hall had settled down to an uncomfortable calm. No one was audibly crying anymore, but there was a weighty grief hanging in the air, replacing the lit candles that hung over the room during the nighttime. It seemed to cause everyone to stir, not being able to sit still for more than a few minutes.

Sheets were pulled over bodies and some students were quietly going around, healing injuries to the best of their abilities. Blaise was helping Neville Longbottom to his feet, saying something to him that I was out of earshot for. It made me wary to see Draco and Blaise helping others, not because I thought something would happen, but because I wondered if it would last if Voldemort won.

“Where’s Harry?” Draco stopped in front of me, his face free of any particular emotion. My eyes flickered around the hall. “He’s going down to the Dark Forest.”

“But-"

“I promise it will work out.” My voice sounded surer than I felt. In all honesty, I was beginning to feel like I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Just because I had died and come back to life didn’t mean that Harry was going to. In fact, I wasn’t even totally sure how it had worked on me, though Hermione had tried to assure me her calculations were correct. “Do you trust me?” He nodded. “Then keep trusting me. I need it.”

“Potter?” I lifted my head to look around Draco’s shoulder. It was Professor McGonagall. Everyone around her was beginning to turn to look at me. The quite whispers in the room fell very silent as all eyes turned to me. “What do we do now?”

I knew I could not tell them what my brother was doing. So instead of telling them his job, I decided to make up jobs for them. Harry wanted me to lead in his stead, to remain a steadfast leader. “Everyone who is too injured to fight will remain at the back of the room,” I instructed, pointing to a corner where already, the injured were laying, some passed out, some on the verge of fainting. “We will put wards there and Madame Pomfrey can work on them with anyone who can help her. We’re going to clear the sides of the room of rubble and make a sort of blockade in the front, ward the entrance to the great hall. This is our safe haven.”

“Right, so we will fortify the Great Hall.”

I nodded. People were beginning to stand up. Whether it was because they trusted Harry to leave me in charge or because somehow through the night they had began putting trust in me, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think it was the later, though. “Luna, I want you to pick five others to begin warding the doors. Ginny…” Ginny stood up. She had been standing by her fallen brother, but gave a nod of the head, assuring me that there was nothing standing in her way. “I want you and the others on watch. You see a Death Eater, you kill, maim or stun them. Blaise and Seamus, I want you to take a group scouting the halls for anyone who is injured and cannot get themselves to the Great Hall.”

“And what about us?” I whirled around to see Hermione and Ron standing there. Ron’s face was set in a grimace, eons of sadness stretching in his gaze. Hermione’s eyes were rimmed red but her chin was tilted defiantly. I knew that they must have just said their goodbyes to my brother. It made me feel worse than I already did, heart catching in my throat. “What would you like us to do, Reagan?”

“You two are coming with Draco and I.” Draco looked at me sideways but did not protest. “I turned and pointed to Neville, who looked shocked that I was addressing him. “You too, Neville.”

“Why me?”

“Give yourself more credit,” was all I said to him. I looked at McGonagall. “You’re in charge, professor. That’s all I’ve got for you. I’ll be back before Voldemort’s hour is up. We’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.”

Together, our group of five left the Great Hall. They didn’t ask where we were going. As we left, I saw the people I left in charge gathering rounds of people to perform tasks while McGonagall and the adults assigned less specific jobs.

The halls were quiet. Behind us, Seamus and Blaise led their group of hand selected people into the halls in search of any survivors. I hoped that they found people, but only the people that they could save. Not being to save someone would be worse than not finding them at all.

We saw no one in the halls- at least, no one that was alive. We went down several floors into the Slytherin common room. It had been raided and the couched were still smoking. Draco put them out, glaring at the charred couches as if he took personal offense to the destruction of the room.

“Why here of all places?” Ron questioned, looking around the room. It occurred to me that he may have never been in the Slytherin common room before. He gestured to the painting of the mermaid that had been hacked to pieces. “She was always very pretty.”

“Oh. I was just thinking you’ve never been here.”

“Long story.”

I shook my head. “We’re in here because no one will come looking here first. I don’t need anyone snooping around and hearing what we’re saying.” Hermione raised her wand to cast a charm but I waved her off. “There is no point. If anyone is trying that hard to hear us, they deserve it.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Harry left me in charge,” I said simply, looking at them all. Ron and Hermione didn’t look surprised, for Harry must have told them as much. It made me feel better that no one protested. “If this goes awry, we have to keep fighting. If Harry doesn’t-“ I broke off and clear my throat. “-we don’t give up. I need all of your support. Hermione, because you’re the smartest person I know, Ron because you are loyal and everyone trusts you, Neville because despite what you think, that prophecy could’ve been you and Draco because you’re strong. The five of us are carry Harry’s best traits, I believe.”

“What trait are you?” Neville asked, not unkindly.

“Selflessness. I will die before the day is done if I’ve got to.” I looked down at my feet. The carpet underneath was torched black, not the same green that it had once been. “I used to be selfish, but I think somewhere down the line I figured out I wasn’t. That being said, if I have to die here today to continue the fight, fine.”

“Alright.” It was Draco who spoke. He nodded his head and then a look took on his face as he suddenly looked at Hermione. I was confused at the sudden shift in his attention, but I said nothing as he looked at her strangely and said, “I’m sorry for all of the times I called you a mudblood.”

“Your what?”

“I’m sorry.”

Hermione opened and closed her mouth, her brows pulled together and she shook her head. For once, it seemed like Hermione Granger was at a loss for words. I had never seen her so stumped on how to reply. I had also never seen Draco apologize to anyone other than me. Ever. “Alright,” she said awkwardly, glancing at him warily. “Thanks.”

“I really enjoy this,” I said dryly, a bland smile on my face as I gestured to the two of them, “But can we continue?” When neither one of them said anything, I nodded. “The snake is the last horcrux. We need to kill that snake, no matter what it takes. Kill the snake and we can kill him.”

“But is Harry the only one who can kill him?” Neville was thinking hard, considering options, it seemed. I could practically see the cogs working in his mind. “If Harry doesn’t make it, who can kill him?”

“One of us.” He grimaced but nodded his head. “We’re the only other two people who can step up to do it. That date of birth meant something, Neville. It is something we three share in common, alright? If Harry can’t do it, it falls to us. We will be his backup plan.”

“And we’re going to help,” Ron affirmed. He pat Neville on the back and gave me a sure nod. “We will always help. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes, I agreed.”

We made our way towards the entrance of the common room. I had just gotten to the mouth of the entrance, the hallway in view when a force slammed into me. The breath left my body and I fell down to my knees, gasping for air as I felt my head snap backwards. My eyes went wide and I couldn’t hear anything for a second.

There was no pain. I could feel nothing for a moment, except that I felt like something was wrong. I felt like suddenly I was freezing cold, like I was standing somewhere alone in a tundra that was below freezing, shivering and alone. Grief filled me up and I began to panic. I felt so hollow that I was gripping my stomach, scared that I would find an empty cavern there.

It took several minutes to find my breath. My eyes smarted and I felt tears run down the sides of my face before I could blink them away, gasping for air. This time, I didn’t struggle to fill my lungs. I gulped deep breaths through my mouth, sounding like a fish on a dry dock.

“Reagan? Reagan?”

It was Draco, his arms wrapping around me. “We need to go back to the Great Hall,” I choked. I still felt disconnected. It was like someone had cut off a life line. Something felt wrong, and I knew what it was. I tried not to think about it, tried not to imagine a pair of scissors cutting my bond with Harry. “He’s gone.”