Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

2 May, 1998 - War (III)

The chimes of the bells rang through the castle, familiar and unaltered despite the state of the grounds they now sounded across. Lavinia could feel herself tensing, could feel every muscle in her body tightening, bracing, waiting for the onslaught she was sure was about to come.

And yet... it didn't. The bells were allowed to continue chiming. All twelve tolls sounding out midnight. As though even the Dark Lord didn't want to interrupt the sound of those towers. Or perhaps, he was simply waiting until the hour was well and truly up.

But the last chime rang through the night and Lavinia could have sworn she heard it echo, something she was certain she'd never heard the bells do before. Then again, she had never heard the bells sound when the halls were this silent.

And they were still silent. For a single breath, a single beat after the last bell sounded, there was still quiet across the castle. Across the world. It was, Lavinia thought, a quiet kind of cruelty, and no doubt a calculated one. Because standing there, knowing their time was up, knowing what surely awaited them any moment now, everyone in that hall was allowed that one beat, that one precious moment, to doubt. To hesitate. To wonder.

And only then, with uncertainty now lingering around them, did the Dark Lord strike. And he struck hard.

Even from the Great Hall, Lavinia could see the approaching spells through the windows of the Entrance Hall, like some strange wall of fairy lights raining down on them. It might have been beautiful had they not all known it was deadly. And besides, at the moment of impact, any illusion of beauty was shattered by the sound the collision made. Like thunder amplified ten times over, shaking the ground and the walls and setting the chandeliers shaking and the candles flickering as dust from who knew how long ago drifted down on them.

Lavinia felt herself flinch against the sound of it and knew she wasn't the only one. Indeed, looking around, one hand braced against a cart of potions, Lavinia saw the fighters by the door shaking. One girl had her hand over her mouth and Lavinia wondered if she had screamed. It would have been hard to blame her if she had because Lavinia could see it now, just as she'd predicted. There was terror, flat terror, on the faces of the students at the door as they watched the next volley of lights approach.

To their credit, there were no screams this time and fewer flinches, but Lavinia didn't need those physical reactions to know that these students were realizing suddenly and uncomfortably what they were truly up against. It was written in the tension, in the wands that were raised towards the Entrance Hall door despite the obvious indication that the army was, at least for now, still held off by the protective enchantments. It was in their white faces and terrified eyes. It was in Lavinia's own heart, despite the battles and wars she had seen before. It was in the fear, sharp and bitter that she forced herself to swallow even as the protective enchantments, usually such perfect, invisible barriers around the school, started to fray.

The first indication was the patches of an almost iridescent shimmer that appeared in the sky. Then the blurred bits where the stars seemed to spark as though viewed through tears. And then, worst of all, the places where the stars were suddenly clear as could be, twinkling down on them even as those few lucky spells slipped through holes in the enchantments and landed on the grounds, on the walls, breaking stone and burning grass.

Lavinia didn't know when the enchantments truly fell. There was no grand sound to mark the moment, no flash of light or any such declaration of the school's sudden vulnerability. All she knew was that the thunder of colliding spells diminished and then ceased.

The silence was worse than the thundering spells had been because in the silence, there was no telling what was happening. Only that somewhere, Death Eaters had breached their first line of defense. Beyond that... had they reached the first wave of defenders yet? Had people started fighting? How long would it be before people were brought to her? Or would they be brought at all if their comrades in arms couldn't manage the task?