“Ready as we’ll ever be.” Ron was taking the lead, seemingly thinking that if his girlfriend said it was ready to be ope should be the end of disussion.
“Alright.” Hermione’s hand was shaking a little, enough that Drao k she was afraid. (Ahat happen, that she stopped beiarted being Hermiohree then.”
“Wait. Let me.” Drao stepped in front of her, eased her hands off the th. She didoo muh, aepped in front of her, Drao saw something i felt like it was a fliker of gratitude. “Wands out?”
It was Hermio had beehis whole projet, but it was Harry that Drao looked to. “Whenever you’re ready.” Harry said, and Drao didn’t feel like anything to worry about, when he had Harry wathing his bak. “Just take your time.”
“On three.” Drao said, aension in his arms building, the magi pooling in his wrists and his fiips, that familiar feeling of when he was ready to take atiohe st sylble seemed to streth out, and when he finally did open it, it was with a loud bang and a puff of dust. “Three.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
& times that Drao had thought that he belo he art of things, but as Hermioo Ron’s open arms and Harry turo him, it was ohe rare moments of his life that Drao got to feel like he had beome a entral part of a team. This was a team, a team of three, and here he was, being pulled along for the ride.
& know what it means. All he was looking at rints and notes srawled iing of Mad-Eye Moody, a fat that had sent Hermioears as soon as she realized it. They were h eaters, ah eaters, and werewolf de ells iries just waiting to be unleashed.
A bad. It felt like whehrough the orridors that all studeurn to their houses and Drao had to wait to hear the outside the ourt room waiti for his father, wheing the Dark Lord for the first time. It was the feeling that ame with all bad things, that animal instint that served ohem when they sh.
Hermione knew. And so did Ron. And even Harry, reahing Ron’s shoulder whe him th the journals written in someone’s spidery handwriting (Dumbledore’s, he would learo know it. And really so did Drao, the truth settling somewhere in his stomah even before Hermione spoke.
“It’s his marked the beginnihihe first battle ry of the end, marki where owls flitted from house to house ao arms was sent through all the old, weary soldiers, the oh enough sars to st a lifetime but were he eill got a long fight ahead of us.”
Chapter 6
Harry
He knows he should.
& it when he dragged himself out of bed this m, the effets of ooo mas finally reeping up on him, the ahe in his musles and the fog filling up his mind. He was so lose to alling in sik, but that t him stuk at home, a seemed very impain, now that he had that box to think about, the o he and Ron and Hermione (and Drao, Drao is a part of the three of them now, too, however relutant they all are to admit it) still haven’t told a.
&.
Aold him it was time thting ells, with a traianding on the sideliell a maybe it would be better if he sat this o.
A was time for his tur, faed his oppo, ighumbs up that Ron gave him, dido all the safety warnings that Hermione had fored he and Ron th whe deided to hoose this as their areer pn. (Beause really, you thiwo of you wouldn’t have killed yourselves by the third year if you didh you?) He just stood there, adjusted his grip on his wao the instrutor, aed for the spell to ome at him.
O ame, he didn’t blok it. He didn’t raise his wand to defery to move out of the way. If Harry was bei really eve, or if he did, he did, just saw a fsh of light ahe shok wave that went through his hest, bsting him bakwards into the wall.
& had time to prepare himself for the impat, so when he rumpled down to the floor, it was with every bone in his b out to try a himself. But he still didn’t, just fell, his arm folding awkwardly underh him and his ribs behem snapping.
“Bloody hell.” Ron’s fae swam above him, pale and frekled, red hair falling down over his fae. “Doe.”
Doe. Harry wished he ould bl out, the whispers and stares. He didn’t want to imagi the have spread, hootter had beeed in a duel by some random aur, how he must have been losing his touh. But it must have spread, beause soohere beside him, Ginny running hard at her heels, both of them shh the rowd to khe ground beside him.
&imes, really, where he was fully struk by what it means to have a friehis, as she let him pillow his head in her p and ran her hands down his broken arm, smoothing his hair bak from his forehead and wiping away blood he didn’t even know was there, was o you worry Harry.” She would have made a good healer, he thought,