THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH | RON WEASLEY [BOOK FIVE]

22. ONE HOUR

Hogwarts was in flames.

It was nothing like Gene had ever seen before. She watched as students and staff fought shoulder to shoulder, protecting what was left of their school, their home, from the onslaught of Death Eaters.

She saw Padma and Parvati, back to back with Neville and Seamus, while Professor Sprout and Kingsley stood around then, casting their spells and sending the opposition flying backwards.

Gene let Ron lead her, his hand firmly gripped onto her own as they dodged and dived from the incoming curses, hearing a few Unforgivable curses being thrown their way. They began toward the courtyard, though Gene had caught sight of a Death Eater hidden behind a broken pillar, shooting jets of red light at them.

"Carpe Retractum!" she cried, and the Death Eater flew toward them at a hurtling speed, but before Ron could yell at her, "Confringo!"

She casted the spell at the Death Eater and she caught a glimpse of the horrified look on his face before he was suddenly thrown backwards into the night as fast as he came, blasted away by her spell.

"Wow." Ron muttered, before they were forced to run from their place, further into the courtyard.

They continued to dash through the madness, looking around hurriedly for an escape when Gene saw it; Lavender Brown's lifeless eyes, fixed where she stood and she felt her entire stomach lurch with nausea as Greyback's head lifted, his lips curling into a wicked smile, still glistening with her blood.

"Everte Statum!" Gene cried, feeling hot tears skim past her cheek as Greyback took the deafening blast to the chest, the stone behind him crumbling as he hurdled through it.

Gene lingered for a moment, her eyes not leaving Lavender's own, and she could barely let herself cry before she felt Hermione tugging at her wrist, and she had no choice but to follow. They raced away from the castle, burning and trembling with explosions and flames that did their best to swallow it whole, but the castle seemed to be holding its own.

In the distance, part of the forest burned, the trees shedding red sparks into the sky like scarlet feathers. Screams filled Gene's ears until a thunderous shockwave sent her staggering backwards. A giant lurched into view, its foot seemingly the size of one of the corridors, nearly trampled Gene. It began to swing one of the Quidditch goals onto them, the golden ring dripping with blood.

As it swung at them, the force of the throw caused blood to splatter their skin, but the giant had missed them, very narrowly. It groaned in anger and just as it went to swing for them once more, they had sought refuge behind a large shield, welded into the ground.

They ran forward, toward the long bridge at the head of the school, only for a dangerously familiar chill to overwhelm them. Gene lifted her arm to shield her face from the biting cold, catching only a glimpse of the Dementors that hastened toward them, only to be blasted away by a silvery shield of blue light.

Gene turned to find the source of it, looking into the eyes of Aberforth Dumbledore. He gave her a curt nod, and she managed to return it, utterly grateful, in ways that words were likely to have failed her.

She followed Harry as they bolted down the steps of the cliff, heading toward the boat house, a place in which Gene had not been since her very first year at Hogwarts.

They darted forward, moving quietly through the eerie light, before stopping within the safety of the shadows. They were crouched behind a plane of glass, pressed closely to one another. Gene could make out Voldemort's long, white fingers wrapped around the Elder Wand. In the mercurial light, he almost looked like a living thing.