"You look as if a chimaera has chewed on your face!"

Terry grinned at the disgusted portrait, baring his blood stained teeth as he limped through the corridors of Hogwarts.

Stephen Fawcett had seen a lot of fights in his day. With five siblings, it was hard not to go a day without someone shrieking or crying, so he’d been in the middle of various frays before. The one that stood before him right now, however, was like nothing he’d ever seen, and he forced his grip on his wand to stay steady and strong. He watched as the spells were bouncing into and off the walls of the corridor leading to Ravenclaw Tower, and he had to fight every urge not to leave his post at the entrance way. A group of fighters had gone up the Tower to fight from the various windows to gain some height on Hogwarts’ attackers, and Stephen, who was Professor Flitwick’s shining student when it came to inventive Charms, had been given the task of keeping the intruders from reaching the dorms.

He believed he was the best man for the job, but he wondered if it was because he was of all the spells he knew how to use, or because of his willingness to lay down his life against the death eaters.

The Ravenclaw would never admit it out loud, but he had thought a lot about dying this year. If he shared his musing with his friends or family they’d grow all concerned and begin to feel sorry for him and that was the last thing he wanted. He loved his parents as much as he could, but Stephen would never, could never forget that his biological parents were both killed by death eaters during the first war. Death Eaters had changed the course of his life before he could understand the consequences, and Stephen had found himself ready to give his own life to fight back to avenge those he’d lost.

A rally of spells shot his way and with quick slashes of the air Stephen had deflected them nearly twenty feet before they hit the door. Not only was he Flitwick’s favorite Charms student, but he’d been learning how to duel from the professor since his first year, gaining tips from a world class dueler while he graded their homework assignments. It was something Stephen had been immediately drawn to, and he was glad to have a head of house that was willing to use his spare time to teach him outside of class.

Stephen hoped that wherever Professor Flitwick was, and how ever he ended this battle, that the man knew how much he had appreciated his time here at Hogwarts.

Another volley of spells came his way, trying to break through the shield he’d set up corridor-wide. Stephen was ready for them, and watched as the air seemed to reverberate with the intensity of the spells. He watched one shoot through and hit over the door to the dorms, and his stance took on a more permanent hold on the ground. Soon his shield would be gone, and he’d have to duel them one on one, but he was ready, he’d been ready his entire life.

No sooner had he planted his feet that the shield he’d created was broken. There was no time to set up another one, so Stephen began his assault of spells that would hurt, maim, and hopefully take down whatever death eaters were making their way down the dark corridor. All he could see were the spells shooting out of their wands, and when one purple hex that he didn’t recognize shot jaggedly toward him, hitting him square in the shoulder and knocking him down to his knees, Stephen was sure that his time was up and that they were going to storm Ravenclaw Tower.

“Oy, get up, Fawcett!”

A hand reached him through the dust and darkness and he was amazed to see his older sister Sadie grinning down at him. She looked like a madwoman, hair blown back from her face from all the spells she must have been battling, dirt and blood covering every inch of her. Stephen couldn’t tell if the blood was Sadie’s, but by the look on her face she didn’t seem to care either way. It seemed fitting that he was with her, with his sister, someone who also had never fully fit in with their family even though it was for reasons completely different than his own. Sadie’s hitwizard training would surely benefit their defense and managing to match Sadie’s wicked grin, Stephen got back up on his feet and once again began to hurl spells at the shadows of the death eaters.

They were going to go through hell and back, but there was no way those death eaters were making it into Ravenclaw Tower.