An Unexpected Return (Book Two In The Prince Of Darkness Trilogy)

The Fall

A/N: This...might be a difficult chapter to write...hmmm... Maybe not. We'll see. Oi Draco, do the disclaimer. I need to go do something.
Draco: Me? And...she's gone. The author doesn't own anything. The Wizarding World belongs to J.K Rowling. The Riordanverse belongs to Rick Riordan. Can I go now?
Me: Yes. Thanks, I forgot to- Probably shouldn't spoil the story. Forget I said anything. On with the chapter!

***Ginny's P.O.V***

It was over far too quickly. Screaming, running, fighting. Then silence. Then...nothing. We'd been doing well. We were winning before it happened. I didn't understand what went wrong.

Earlier...

Everyone was in position. In each hand, I had a dagger. The sun was at our back, and reflected in our enemies eyes. We had the advantage. Nico was right when briefing us on battle plans; these things weren't human. They were monsters. Snarling, flesh eating monsters. I saw scales and fur and fangs on what seemed to have come out of a muggle horror movie.

There was a moment of stillness before we charged. From there on, I was an endless hurricane of moment. I slashed and stabbed anything that came my way. As I ducked under a swing from a half human hybrid (I didn't let it stick around long enough to see what it was) I saw Nico and Hazel fighting an onslaught of monsters with ease. It almost seemed...rehearsed. A beautiful dance. With lots of killing.

Monsters exploded into golden dust as they were killed, the occasional trophy falling to the ground. I assumed we'd look at them later.

I hissed in pain as a blade grazed my arm. I tried to put it at the back of my mind however, as I carried on. My robes were coated in gold, and I doubted it would come out easily. To my left, there was a gasp, and a splatter of red appeared on my robes. Wordlessly looking towards the Gryffindor student that was crouching over the Hufflepuff that had protected them, I was distracted. Before I could regain my focus, I was thrown off my feet and a sharp pain shot through my ankle. Scrambling to my feet, I drove both daggers into a manticore's neck. It died with a roar, shooting the last of its poison spines at me.

I ducked, watching as they impaled themselves into an empousai. Golden dust blew over the armies. That was when I was aware of the foot-long spine sticking out of my gut.

I fell back, and didn't get up as blackness overtook my vision.

***Will's P.O.V***

I staggered out of the forest, and took in the chaos in front of me. I saw Nico and Hazel, fighting a pack of dracanae. There would be time to catch up later though. I didn't want to distract him.

"Will!" A voice called out. Turning around, there was a burst of gold and someone came running through it. "Will, I have your bow!"

Luna Lovegood threw me the weapon and then ran off into the midst of the action. I blinked, picked up a quiver of arrows as they tumbled off a students back, and averted my eyes from the body on the ground. Shooting two arrows that pierced a monster going after a Slytherin, I ran into the fray. It was strange, but after over a month of a world I'd been flung head first into, this felt normal. Normal for a demigod at least.

I'd worked out a kind of rhythm. Duck, slash, kill. Duck, slash, kill. Land the final blow then move on. Move on until it all goes to Hades.

Move on until I regret not saying anything to Nico when I saw him.

Move on until you get a mace smashed into the back of your head because you were protecting a student who's weapon had been knocked out of their hands.

All there was to see was black, and all there was to feel was pain.

***Hermione's P.O.V***

Running through the deserted corners of Hogwarts, I was battling with my mind. Somehow I'd managed to shake off Eris'control without her noticing, but for how long? The picture frames were empty, and I presumed their occupants had gone to find somewhere to watch. I could hear the sounds of the battle, and wasn't aware of someone else walking down the corridor until I'd walked into them and fallen over.

"Watch it Granger." The person's voice was sharp, although they seemed...distracted? I grabbed my wand, which has tumbled out of my pocket, and looked up. Draco Malfoy was offering a hesitant hand, an unreadable expression on his face. I took it, not showing my surprise as he helped me to my feet. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, then stopped himself.

"Thank you?" It came out more like a question. He shrugged, and had no sarcastic remark or insult to throw at me. If anything, this put me off guard than his presence had in the first place. "Are you-- Are you okay Malfoy?" I watched him with a hesitant eye.

"I'm fine, Granger. It's none of your business. I--" The colour drained from his face as something dawned on him. "Oh Merlin, I've made a terrible mistake."

And with that foreboding statement, he silently pushed past me and sprinted down the corridor.

A/N: Thanks for reading! *Ducks things being thrown at me* I hope you enjoyed the chapter! What's happened to Will and Ginny? What's Draco's big mistake? How long until Zebra finds this and yeets me into Tartarus?

Question of the Chapter: What would you guys like to see me write? And: What do you think Draco's mistake is?

Is it bad that I have a huge smile on my face while I type this out? Happy 1st December y'all!

I might do something Christmas related on my short story book...hmm. (Check that out for a weird mystery crossover, solangelo au, and more of my writing!)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, vote and comment! If you want to see more of my work, give me a follow!

Until next time,

~HouserOfStories