Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 163 - Into Battle

Shit... :)

There were screams coming from all around Al as the giants came bounding towards them. To her right one or two Order members tried shooting them, only to be batted aside like flies. Al took one look at the one in front of her and knew what to do instantly. She conjured the white flames, wrapped it around its ankles, and pulled. The legs snapped together and it fell backwards onto the grass, landing with a great thud that made her legs tremble. It opened its mouth to cry out and Al knew what to do next. "Reducto!" she shouted, and the spell shot straight into its open mouth.

Its head exploded, blood, brains and flesh flying everywhere and completely drenching Al. But through the explosion came wizards and witches, all firing curses at her and her associates. And there were hundreds. They outnumbered Kingsley's group by nearly ten to one, and that was before the giants. She began to duel three of them at once, taking down two with cutting charms and picking up four more as she did. To her far right Kingsley had six on him, and to her left Terry and Neville were dodging curses while trying to bring down a giant with incarcerous.

Al whirled around in a circle shouting, "Confringo!" and temporarily wiping out her five opponents before firing a reductor curse at the giant attacking Terry and Neville. Its head exploded and it fell to the ground, crushing two Death Eaters and trapping another, which Terry stunned quickly. Another giant fell somewhere, which she only knew from the jolt of the grounds, and now only two remained, the other six having headed up to the castle.

"Diffindo!" a familiar voice shouted from behind Al. She risked a glance up the lawn and saw Daphne sprinting down towards them, her ponytail swinging behind her and an unforeseen ferocity in her eyes. She was joined by the other twenty-one members of Arthur's group, each of them firing as they ran down towards them. But they were falling as they came too, and the original fifty-three members of the two groups couldn't have been more than thirty now. Against over two hundred who seemed to keep getting back up every time they fell.

There were eight Death Eaters on Al, and in her peripherals she could see Order members dropping like flies. Terry and Neville were still fighting though - she could hear their reductors and stunning spells, and it was this that kept her going. She took down two of them with a confringo, just in time to see through the gap that about half the army had rushed up to the castle with the six giants, where they thought Harry would be.

Still she fought on, using her soul magic to blast people away alongside her wand. But every time a gap was made it was instantly filled by another. She heard a cry of pain from nearby and Angelina Johnson fell, succumbing to her duel with four Death Eaters. "No!" Al shouted. She'd quite liked Angelina when they'd shared breakfasts at the twins's flat. She took out all seven of her opponents with successive blasts from her soul magic.

"Crucio!" one of the Death Eaters shouted, and Angelina's ear-splitting screams rang out into the night.

"Sectumsempra!" Al shouted at the offender and his knees buckled as he shouted out in pain. She took out the other three with blasts from her soul magic.

Angelina scrambled up shakily and shouted, "Thanks!" before firing a stunning spell over Al's shoulder. She heard it hit its mark as a Death Eater let out a groan. Al went back to duelling, but she was tiring and they were still outnumbered. She was skimmed by one or two curses that stung, burned, or cut. There was a squeal to her right and Al made a space in the circle that surrounded her, knocking someone out with a stunning spell.

Anne was stood there, mousy hair flying, cuts littering her face, and a venomous fury in her eyes. There were one or two other underage students with her. But Anne was losing her duel. Al ran over and the two groups of opponents converged, Anne and Al fighting twelve Death Eaters.

"Retreat!" Kingsley shouted, and people began scattering up the lawn, "Fall back! To the castle!" Slowly but surely the remaining members obliged, shooting curses and hexes at the army that had split and been reduced to about a hundred. They formed a wobbly sort of wall, trying to fend off Death Eaters and Ministry workers all together.

More and more people dropped, and suddenly a giant lunged forwards. "REDUCTO!" Al, Anne and an Order member all cried at once. The giant's head was blown from its shoulders and it fell sideways into a wall of their allies, Daphne among them. "Impedimenta!" Al shouted, and most of them were blown at the way of the falling mass. Most but not all.

There was a gut-wrenching cry of fear as Professor Vector was crushed underneath the giant. Al kept defending her position though, kept retreating backwards until they reached the courtyard. That was when all hell broke loose. It appeared Voldemort's advancing army had reached the doors and the Entrance hall, but got no further when Remus's group and more from the towers had confronted them. Only about twenty, but they had the vantage point.

Now Arthur and Kingsley's group had armies on both sides of them, so Al fought on, dodging weaving and firing almost endless hexes. Somehow, she found herself in the Entrance hall, and knocked three Death Eaters that had been fighting Brandon off their feet. He took out the other two, offered her a grin, and then sprinted after another.

And then she saw him. Red hair covering his head like a crown, and his gorgeous brown eyes shining with determination. "Reducto!" Al shouted as she rushed over to George.

"Al!" he shouted, his eyes alight with glee as he quickly embraced her.

"Listen," Al said loudly over the din. "I'm pregnant!"

"What?" George shouted, indicating his missing ear.

"I'm-" But Al never finished her sentence. What happened next she didn't quite register in time to act, but George did. He pushed her aside and raised his wand, forcing her into the far wall with a depulso. Al squeezed her eyes shut as she braced for impact, and hit her head sharply on the stone wall.

When she opened her eyes, she couldn't quite believe it as she looked around for where her fiancé was. But then it hit her. There, where she'd been stood just moments ago with George, was a large pile of rubble where a wall had been smashed in. "No," she whispered. This couldn't be happening. They were engaged! He didn't even know about the baby!

"NO!" she screamed, rushing over and clambering onto the rubble. She threw stones aside, curses rippling her hair and narrowly missing her. Tears poured down her face as she screamed her heart out, if she even had one left. It just felt like a great, heavy hole in her chest. "GEORGE!" she cried, begging for him to have survived. "PLEASE! GEORGE!"

Two arms wrapped around her and pulled her away from the rubble and into a near-silent alcove, hidden away from the battle. Al could hardly breath as she let the person hold her, rub her back comfortingly. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until she could no longer make a sound. George was gone. And it was all her fault.