Beginning of the end?

Michael had shouted to Robert when he recognized Lucius striding onto the grounds as if he were coming to a teaparty. "Contego!" he fired a shield spell to cover himself and the people around him, especially the students. He would have to count on Thaor to protect Khaat. She had gotten too far away.

"Add your own name to that list, you old goat!" Robert shouted back at Lucius. "Reducto!" He fired the spell towards Lucius.

Reducto: disintegrating charm

Frank had been busy pulling the girl from hordes of spiders when suddenly others were around him, throwing another girl in... "No, please, I'm asking you to-" but he was pushed away. He had to duck and dodge and he was spun around until he was so far from the girl and so disoriented that he would bot have been able to find his way back if he had tried.

He turned in time to hear the announcement. He caught a flash of white blonde hair and he dashed through the crowd, intent on making himself Shelby Malfoy's protector, now that she had been made into a target. "Shelby, stick with me. I'm going to try to get you to the castle. You're not safe out here!"

Marki gasped as she watched the carnage around her, feeling her breath quicken. She'd start to run one way, when a flash of light would force her to stop and change directions. She heard Jeremiah croak and she pulled him out of her hood, holding him tight to her chest and whispering in a hushed voice, saying, “It's okay, Jeremiah. It'll be okay!”

There was a flash of bright light and she looked up in time to see the spell hit Jeremiah and he froze, midcroak. “J-jeremiah?!” She looked up and screamed after the retreating figure. “Why would you do that?! HE'S ONLY AN INNOCENT BULLFROG! HE'D ONLY HURT A FLY!” She did not know what to do for her faithful companion.

She looked up and saw a familiar face. Michael Tremaine. Surely, he would be able to help Jeremiah. She cleared her throat and searched his face. Hoping for him to catch her eye. “Mi-”

A flash of green, parted lips, and the girl fell backwards into the grass, the frozen bullfrog held in her hands, above her head. Her last act had been to raise him away from the green light and the energy of the spell had allowed him to defrost. He turned and jumped onto the chest of his mistress, letting out a resounding croak, intent to protect her body at the least.

(Someone can take credit for the curse, or it could have been a NPC. Not picky)

Leaila apparated in, a little late for her liking. She had been taking care of some other things when everyone had been called. She dropped what she was doing as soon as she found it was happening in Hogwarts. Only one thing really ran though her mind. Something she was determined to keep safe, along with everyone else.

May.

She immediately looked around the grounds, looking for May. She wasn't there, maybe she had been to tole to go inside alreay? Whatever happened, she hoped nothing bad had happened to her. Now she paid attention to what was going on around her. Most of the Order was there; maybe and there were Death Eaters; obviously. She saw a spell hit a young girl, and before she could've done anything, the girl fell back onto the grass. Leaila was already not having a good day, and this was the last thing she needed, to see a girl be hurt, or to even see her dead. She became very angry, and took out her wand. She pointed it at where the green light had come from and shouted, "Stupify!" She hoped the spell would hit and she ran out into the middle of the grounds, hoping not to see anyone else hurt. Though she knew that would be impossible.

The disintergrating charm narrowly missed Lucius, blasting a nearby treestump to smithereens instead and showering the shrapnel down around him.

However Lucius simply smiled at the Minister as a young girl, blathering about toads stumbled into his peripheral vision.

"Avada Kedavra," his wand whipped in her direction and the child was quickly dead.

"You can't save them all, Lupin!" he gloated.

"Tessie!" Michael shouted in alarm. He saw the whole thing. The spell that hit Jeremiah and how Tessie had so valiently fought for the little frog. He forgot all about himself and dashed to her fallen form, hearing Robert shouting to him to come back. Michael almost didn't hear him. He wasn't often moved by emotion--except in the case of someone he loved.

"Tessie," he called her softly, stroking her hair. She was gone. No light at all in her eyes. He looked at the pitiful frog and picked him up. "Come on, Jeremiah. Its what she'd want," he told the frog. He tucked the frog inside his shirt. And then he spun around and saw the foul Death Eater that had thought it was appropriate to kill one of the gentlest creatures on the face of the earth.

"Avada Kedavra!" he bellowed, firing a shot in their direction, with pure, unbridled rage.

"Michael!" he heard Robert shout at him in a commanding tone, to bring him back to the urgency of the situation. He ignored him. He picked up Tessie and carried her back to where he had been with Robert and the others--at least to a point of relative safety. He was not about to let anyone harm her any further. No more. He just couldn't.

"Michael...." Robert began, in a softer tone.

"Leave her alone!" Michael said, angrily, laying her on the ground behind him.

A stunning charm and a killing curse were what quickly followed his show of ruthlessness, but Lucius had been ready for retribution.

His the stunner burst against his shield and Lucius was already dodging out of the way of more spells, but he needn't have bothered. Riddled with grief, the mourner's pathetic attempt at a killing curse had gone far off the mark. It may even have hit somebody on his own side...

((rockin the double posts))

It was at that moment that Lucius saw his own grandaughter running up to the school with the blood traitor Longbottom.

Was she really that stupid? Well, considering her brother's cowardly ways, almost certainly. However, Lucius was not a complete monster. He sent a stunning spell after the boy and an incarcerating charm for Shelby before hastening after them.

How he hated to be seen running. It was so undignified. As though he couldn't afford the few minutes walking would take. Unfortunately, in this case, he couldn't.

"Shelby Ann Malfoy! If you change sides and return to the Manor at once, I will allow you... and your friend," this concession almost choked him, but he didn't really want to have to kill his grandchild, "to live."

Kaily had been caught in the confusion of some students that had been dumb enough to actually rush outside onto the grounds to see what was going on. She herself wasn't sure of what was happening, but from what she saw it was very bad. She had to get back inside to safety, but how? She was trapped within the crowds of frightened and confused students. She growled frustrated and snuck under the crowd to get out.

She pulled her wand from her robes quickly. She didn't want to get hit with any spells. She didn't want to die, not when she had so much more to live for. She still wanted to prove to her father that she wasn't worthless, just because she had born frail. She clutched her wand hard as she made her way to the castle, or tried to anyways.

(Could someone please hurt Kaily? Just don't kill her.)

Peter was terrified. When he had heard the news, he had thought of only one thing and one thing only. Amelia. And he had bellowed up the girl's staircase, for someone, anyone. That Renny girl had stumbled down and when she heard, he had barely been able to convince her to check for Amelia. When she reported Amelia was gone, they both tore off- Renny saying she was heading for the hospital wing.

Peter realized he would not be able to hold his own in the battle, so he had backtracked and retrieved his broom, a small plan formulating to help Amelia. With his broom in one hand and his wand in the other, he tore down the halls of Hogwarts, thinking about how scared his family would be to hear about all of this. About how perhaps he should have went back to Beauxbatons.

No. He had done the right thing. He knew that every time she spoke...

A seed of hope arose that she might be in the hospital wing with everyone else, but he checked. He had only recognized Selene and Renny before crying out and running to the grounds. The second he was outside, he mounted the broom and took to the sky. He circled the battle, looking for Amelia, calling her name at periodic times. He needed to find her. He could not risk losing her.