mahogany ; d.m

66 - the battle

The dim passageway into the grounds of Hogwarts from Hogs Head appeared as a never-ending trail of mental conflict. The five of them trudged their way through carefully, led by Bill who stalked confidently ahead.

Athena ghosted beside Dean and behind them were Fleur and Luna, letting silence pervade the passage ahead. Athena absentmindedly fiddled with the small glass vial in her pocket, gifted to her by Fleur that morning, a few minutes before they'd apparated.

One or two drops of phoenix tears.

She'd been persistent that Athena take them without any explanation as to why.

"These can 'eal absolutely anything. Use them wisely and don't, under any circumstance waste them," she'd said.

Athena couldn't bear the responsibility on top of everything that was crammed within her mind.

"Why don't you keep them?" she'd asked, attempting to give them back to Fleur who was already setting off to leave.

"Because I won't need them."

That's all she'd said. As to how exactly she had come to retrieve them, Athena had no idea. When she'd asked, Fleur had swiftly moved past the question, flustered in a rush to get out of the cottage.

The Order had sent for Bill and Fleur that morning, telling them to arrive at Hogs Head where they were all met by an old Wizard who they learned to be Dumbledore's brother.

They were let into the castle once they reached the end of the tunnel, the doorway opening into a room full of familiar faces. They had been led into the Room of Requirement.

"There you are!" Neville's voice was the first to be heard.

Everyone stared up at them, amazed by their entrance.

Almost everyone was there. All of her Gryffindor housemates, most of the Hufflepuffs, many of the Ravenclaws, even Isaac, Aurora, Elias and Forester showed up, surprised to see Athena when she entered. They all flashed pleased grins in her direction, before they set off to fight with the others.

Athena spotted Harry, Hermione and Ron who appeared to be rushing out of the room, giving a brisk wave to them as they left.

There was a minimal amount of time for reunions. Dean bounced into the room, leaping over to Seamus and the two of them hugged. Ginny approached Luna and Athena, embracing them each before seeing her brother and Fleur.

Before much more talking could be done, they were rushed out of the Room of Requirement to join the action being had outside. Spells thrown and rebounded, bodies slumping to the ground; it was chaos Athena hadn't prepared herself for.

"I need to see her," Luna whispered to Athena.

Athena nodded, knowing she meant Pansy. "We'll go."

The girls fled to the Dungeons, assuming the Slytherins would be there, trying to get there in one piece.

The darkness that filled the depths of the castle gave Athena a dreadful sense of nostalgia. She remembered her time trapped within the walls of Malfoy Manor's cellar. Could feel the darkness as it wrapped itself around her throat, enclosing around her entire body.

But she remembered Draco, and his touch and his smell and his eyes and everything that she needed. But with that came the guilt and the dread of the promise she had broken.

I shouldn't be here.

She swatted the thoughts away, focusing on nothing but her main intention.

The Slytherins were all in the Dungeons, confined under an imprisonment spell. She searched for those four faces that she really only cared about and spotted Pansy's short onyx hair between the heads of some other students.