Traitor: A Draco Malfoy Story

thirty-six

Lucius and Bellatrix had apparated upon our combined spell, and we took off in different directions. More Death Eaters had appeared out of nowhere, moving like wraiths through the air to chase each of us. My chest burned as I ran, the adrenaline pumping through my veins every time I turned a corner around shelves. Harry was next to me breathing heavily. 

"Stay with me, Azalea!" He shouted. "Don't go anywhere alone, you're what he wants!"

"What about the prophecy?" I asked.

"That's easy enough to pass back and forth to each other, you're the priority."

We ran down a dimly lit aisle and Lucius materialized from a pillar of black smoke much like my own, arm outstretched towards Harry and me. We quickly backtracked and darted down an opposite aisle. "Here, take my jacket," he said, ripping it off as he ran.

"Dammit Harry, did you have to pull the sleeves inside out?" I asked exasperatedly as I desperately tried to right the garment to put it on.

"Put the hood up, and go with Ginny."

"Petrificus Totalus!" I heard someone yell.

"Well done, Neville!" came Luna's calm and proud voice afterward. The group was definitely going to get their DA practice in for the day. It was one hell of a final exam.

Hermione and Ron were running behind us, flinging Stunning Charms at a Death Eater blocking each spell effortlessly. Hermione's spell missed the figure by a foot, hitting the shelf next to him. 

"Take my scarf and go with Luna!" Ginny yelled, throwing the fabric at me. I wrapped it around my head to hide my hair as I tried to deceive Voldemort's followers, but the next thing I knew, I was crashing headlong into the entirety of Sirius' rescue group. Hermione let out a small shriek before we finally realized we weren't the enemy.

The seven of us turned at a whooshing sound to see a plume of smoke hurtling toward us.

"Reducto!" shouted Ginny, and a magnificent burst of white light shot from her wand, leaving black spots dancing on my eyes as the man flew backward head over heels down the aisle he had come from.

But there was no time to celebrate because just as we were about to finally take a breath and rest before continuing, a resounding crash began to fill the room. The tinkling sound of shattering glass rapidly approached us as the prophecies began to fall off the shelves.

"Fucking hell," Ron breathed and began backing away from the white flashes that popped up every time a ball smashed to the ground. 

Ginny grimaced. "Okay, maybe that was too much."

Luna was mesmerized, and Neville grabbed her wrist to pull her back away from the danger.

"Get back the door!" Harry yelled, and the seven of us started running, fleeing like animals from a wildfire towards the exit.

The shelves themselves then began to collapse, and I was becoming increasingly concerned with the stability of the entire room. Each shelf seemed to have been placed on top of each other, not screwed in. Square wooden boards fell with the crystal balls towards us as we bolted.  Shelf after shelf crashed into each other, threatening to smother us in wood and glass, crushing us to death. My lungs were on fire, like I was breathing razorblades as we ran for our lives, the enemy no longer living but inanimate.

Harry shoved the door open and lept through, but let out a sharp, startled cry which was followed by Hermione's shriek and Ron's yell. A surprised sound escaped from my mouth as well as the others when we followed through the exit expecting a black stone hallway and were instead met with the unexpected feeling of our stomachs rising through our chests as we started to free fall.