Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 85 - Cowardice

Oho folks! My sincerest apologies...

 Neville and Draco followed Al into the hall and she peered through the doorway. There was an amphitheatre carved into stone, and a raised stone dias in the middle with an archway at the top. Twelve Death Eaters milled around at the bottom of the steps around the edge of the dias.

 "OK," Al said, "If we can get onto that dias we'll have the perfect vantage point. I'm talking fire, explosions. Mass destruction. But we need a distraction to get there."

 "I'll do ib!" Neville volunteered.

 "Right, Neville, when Draco and me get to the edges, you need to start coming down the steps and draw their attention," Al instructed him.

 "God ib," Neville said, nodding with fierce determination.

 Al turned to Draco, "You go right, I'll go left?" she offered. Draco nodded, looking sickly green, "You can do this," Al told him. She only got another nod in return.

 The pair approached the door, crouched down, and lightly headed at a careful pace around the edge of the circular room. When they got to halfway, Neville came crashing into the room, yelling about Harry not being alone or something and trying to send stunning spells flying every which way. Three Death Eaters seized him as Al and Draco began making their way down the steps towards the dias. She recognised most of them from the graveyard, but some of them, including Bellatrix Lestrange, were the broken-out criminals.

 "It's Longbottom, isn't it?" the main Death Eater asked, and Al realised with a jolt that it was Lucius Malfoy. She glanced over at Draco, but he was staring down at the floor, at where he was stepping. He looked up at her, his eyes full of pleading terror. All she could offer was a small smile as she pointed up to the archway.

 Neville's screams filled the chamber as Al and Draco hurried up the dias and pinned themselves against the veil filled, stone archway. "You okay?" Al breathed and Draco returned it with a stiff nod. "Just, try not to hit Longbottom," she joked, although she herself couldn't see how any light could possibly be made of the situation.

 Al watched as Malfoy turned to Harry, asking him to give him a prophecy. "Now!" Al said and she sprang out from her position. "Incendio!" she screamed at the group of Death Eaters holding Neville, and they shoved him aside to move from the great burst flame that sprung up from her wand. Al was relieved to see out the corner of her eye that Harry had caught on and Malfoy dived out the way of a burst of flames. "Bombarda!" she yelled, and two more Death eaters flew away from their positions as the stone underneath them exploded.

 Al dodged three flashes of green light and looked up to see Bellatrix with her wand poised. Bellatrix continued to fire a string of curses at her, which Al blocked, firing stunning spells in return. "You do not want to kill me, Lestrange!" she screamed over the din of the hexes that whizzed past her ear.

 "And why is that?" Bellatrix returned, along with two more killing curses and a mirth-filled laugh.

 "My name is Al Dursley," she announced. Al saw Bellatrix's face fall from glee, and she turned from offensive to defensive, only blocking Al's spells. But without the offence, Al was a better duellist and her pace of stunning spells and cutting charms increased.

 "Enough!" Malfoy roared and a disarming spell hit Al in the shoulder. Her wand flew across the dias and she dodged some stunning spells from Bellatrix, before Malfoy yelled, "Enough!" once more. "Your race is run," Malfoy repeated nastily. "Now give me the prophecy."

 Al glanced over at the other side of the dias, where Draco stood, wand gripped tightly in his hand, white and rigid with fear. "Come on, Draco!" she encouraged urgently, "You can do this!" But he shook his head his eyes glued to his Pa. "It doesn't matter!" she shouted, "Come on!"

 Draco didn't move, and the chamber rang with the Death Eater's laughter. "Coward!" Al screamed and Draco's pleading eyes flicked back to Al. "YOU ARE A COWARD!" she repeated, her face hot and her chest filled with unforgiving rage. She stormed over to where he stood, two metres away from her wand, "Go on then!" she shouted, "Go and join your pathetic Father!"

 Al pointed to where Malfoy stood, his arm outstretched to Harry, but Draco didn't move. She bundled the shoulder of his robes up in her fist and Draco winced as she threw him to the floor at his Pa's feet, still looking terrified and paralysed with fear. Then, she swooped down and grabbed her wand. Stunning spells flew her way, but none seemed to hit as she poured white flames from her wand.

 Al did not know the incantation for these flames, nor the wand movement, but she did know how furious she was with Draco, and that all she wanted to do was hurt him as much as possible. Before she could hit him though, Lucius Malfoy swooped in front of him, his wand raised, and began duelling with Al. But duelling to kill. "No!" Bellatrix shrieked, "The Dark Lord said not to!"

 Malfoy stopped his spells and dodged the last few stunners from Al, who stopped too but did not lower her wand. Slowly, and never once looking away from a Death Eater, she stepped backwards up the dias, and towards Harry.

 "What does You-Know-Who want with a prophecy?" Al asked, but it was only met with laughter.

 "Your time for asking questions is over," Malfoy told her and Harry, "Your friends will die if you do not hand it over."

 But Al was still willing to fight. And just as the white flames were at the tip of her wand again, two doors burst open above them. The Order of the Phoenix had arrived. Remus, Sirius, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody burst into the room, as Al turned back to Bellatrix.

 "Let's dance," Al said, gritting her teeth and skidding out the way of a stunner.