Legilimens

| Twenty |

**Warning violent content ahead.

19 December, 1998

Josephine was panting, her throat slightly burning from running as fast as she could in the poorly lit tunnel. After a few minutes that felt like hours, they finally reached the castle and flung open the portrait door, no one stopping to pick it back up as it crashed on the floor of the Room of Requirement. The room in itself was exactly as Harry remembered it from the past month of May; practice mats were scattered on the floor, the wooden dummy standing tall in the middle of it, while the hammocks used as replacement beds still hung at the opposite end of the room. It looked as if only yesterday, Neville and the members of the DA had taken refuge between the walls of Hogwarts. Josie let her eyes wander to the back wall, were a gigantic door had materialized, and picked up her pace as the group ran to it, without throwing any look behind them.

As soon as they were out of the room, she felt the urge to cover her ears as the shrill sounds resonated louder than before around the halls of the castle, but simply gritted her teeth and wished the migraine away. They had no time to waste, and any sort of pain couldn't prevent her from doing her job. She wouldn't allow it. Taking a deep breath, she followed Harry, close on his heels. They had come to a walk now, trying to lighten their steps and prevent making any noise to alert the Death Eaters of their position. They walked soundlessly near the walls - or what was left of them - stepping over debris and broken glass every few steps. They were nearing a corner when Ginny whispered.

"Wait! Look out the window."

They all stopped in their tracks and glanced in the direction she pointed. On the castle's ground, Josephine could see the distinct paleness of Luna and her father's hair, whom were standing with Order's members in a circle, surrounded by dark hooded figures. They didn't hesitate to start running in the direction they had come from to reach the stairs of the grand entrance. That would lead them directly to the Order's members. Mission forgotten for the moment, all that mattered now was to help their allies so everyone would come out of this alive. They soon reached what was left of the staircase, Josephine stopping dead in her tracks to avoid falling off the edge. They were running out of time, and turning around to find another way to the grounds would give too much time to the Dementors to perform their soul-sucking kiss. She faced her friends and said.

"We don't have time to go around and find another way. We should just jump and use a cushioning charm or something."

"Or we could use that spell Hermione used at Gringotts. Arresto Momentum." Proposed Ron.

"Right, a cushion wouldn't guarantee a safe landing." Josie thought out loud.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward into the empty space. Heights wasn't a fear of hers, but consciously throwing herself off a broken staircase four or so story high was not the most pleasant idea. She muffled a shriek and pointed her wand at the floor, shouting the spell. She could feel her body slow down mid-air, leaving her enough time to position herself to land as rightly as possible, not to injure herself anymore that was needed. She fell on her feet, a bit harder than expected and winced as she felt the shock of the impact in her bones, her left ankle slightly twisting under the pressure. She quickly cast a healing spell to prevent a broken bone, but knew running would be a little difficult for the next few hours. Looking up, she noticed the group had followed and were falling down towards her. She used the cushioning charm to soften their landing; one swollen ankle was enough for the time being. With everyone on the same floor, they made their way to the grand entrance, Ginny slowing her steps and helping Josephine as she noticed her friend struggling to keep up with the rest of them.

Harry threw open the wooden doors and shouted at the dark shadows hovering over the frightened group.

"Expecto Patronum!"