Running through the dark tunnels of the old mine felt terrifying. Every move felt like a risky one, every sound caused Emilia to jump and fear for her life, every turn was her expecting to be jumped at by Downer’s loyalists.

She was scared. She felt so scared, and so vulnerable. The initial shot of adrenaline had been long gone and all was left in her body was just pure panic as she could sense herself getting more and more lost in the maze of identical tunnels running in the ground.

Without a wand to defend herself with, all she could count on was pure luck that could lead her out of that hellhole.

She had no idea how long she had been down there, looking for an exit, but when she finally heard distant voices and steps echoing from far away, the initial fear of being spotted was replaced by the realization that she was close to the end of the mine.

Following the sounds, she could hear them more and more clearly, rips of short conversations, orders, occasional screams as multiple people walked around in a hurry, as if preparing for something.

Once Emilia got close enough and could see a faint light up front, she put out the faint flame of the torch and left it behind her, creeping up to the main mineshaft slowly.

‘…We only have 20 minutes left until leaving, boss said the explosives have already been planted at the lowest level and are just waiting until we get out to be set off.’ – a grumpy voice spoke out as she hid behind a rock sticking out of the wall, overhearing the conversation.

‘Explosives? Does he really need to go that far?’ – another, much younger voice asked with an amused chuckle.’

‘Of course, you dumbass, you think he would allow any evidence to be left behind?’ – the other voice scolded.

‘I guess not. Fair enough.’ – the voices got quieter as the two loyalists walked away.

Leaving her hiding spot, the girl looked around frantically, to make sure no one was around and couldn’t help but shiver with fear. Just as she was about to keep on moving forward a deafening alarm sounded, so loud it caused rocks to start falling off the cave’s ceiling.

Fuck. She thought to herself. They realized I’m gone.

She picked up the tempo and began running through the big mineshaft, that began slowly going upwards, and, as she had hoped for, towards the way out of the mine.

...

The sky was already greeted by stars and the faint light of the moon when the big rescue group landed in the small dent between the great hills of the Highlands, right next to the big gaping hole of the mountain, which was what was remaining of the old mine’s entrance.

At the first glance it seemed as if it was blocked off by a cascade of boulders stuck in the entrance but as a bunch of the professors got close and began whispering some complicated incantations the illusion disappeared and the actual entrance, enormous metal doors that were rusted beyond imagination, were revealed.

With everyone’s power they were capable of forcing the doors open and were welcomed by the warm light of the torches going far down the mineshaft and a couple of shocked guards that were immediately hit with Stupefy and fell onto the ground unconsciously.

All of Emilia’s friends rushed in hurriedly, right behind the rest of the big group, and disappeared in the depths of the old mine.

...

The alarm kept on echoing around the chamber as Emilia finally reached the main part of the mine.

An unbelievably huge cave, with an enormous mineshaft going straight down, and a very unsteadily looking bridge built with old and molded wooden planks, being the only way across and towards the exit up front.

Tens of hooded figures were running around the cave, carrying boxes and cages of various sizes out towards the exit, which as she had just then noticed contained magical beasts like phoenixes, mooncalves or nifflers that were either sedated or in pure panic screeching loudly and attacking the bars of the cages. In the meantime even more of the loyalists were running in and out of the many tunnels leading out of it, most likely searching for her.

There was no way for her to get out unnoticed. And she had no wand.

The girl stood there, hiding in the shadow of the tunnel and searching for any possible way for her to get past all of the loyalists.

‘Five minutes until detonation!’ – one of them shouted, visibly hurrying the rest of them.

Her heart was beating so rapidly she could feel it in her throat, pulsating so hard that she struggled to breathe.

As the very last resort, having no other plan in her head, she simply leapt forward, beginning to run towards the bridge, only realizing how stupid that was once all of the loyalists dropped what they were carrying at once, and began running to her.

She managed to get onto the bridge, gasping fearfully as she heard the wood creaking unsteadily under her feet, and ran all the way to the middle, feeling her head get dizzy and her stomach turning as she saw the gaping abyss below her, with nothing supporting her but the old wooden planks.

The loyalists gathered on each end of the bridge, no one brave enough to step on and risk falling in, so many voices screaming and arguing, unable to decide on what to do with her.

Suddenly the cave had gone quiet, and she turned around to see everyone’s attention being focused on a significantly taller figure that stepped out of the crowd and with one steady step got onto the bridge.

The man was tall with wide arms, dressed in a black suit with a cloak decorated with purple and gold segments, his hands in black leather gloves, holding a long, completely black wand in hand. His face was covered in small scars, the biggest one going across his eye, that were strikingly grey, just as the singular streaks in his elegantly styled hair and little pointy beard.

‘Not a step further, child.’ – his voice was low and with a hiss similar to the one of a snake.

‘You’re Downer. ‘ – she realized with her fear suddenly growing so strong she could barely stand.

His grey eyes drilled into her as he stepped forward, getting closer with each careful step.

‘And you’re my property. So behave and get back here before it will get painful for you.’ – he got close enough to reach out his arm to her.

She spit at his feet. Her eyes rose up and she stared at him challengingly, despite the overwhelming fear in her heart.

She knew she had no way of winning. But at least she was not going to make this easy on him.

‘I’m not going to be your moneymaker. I’m not some leech you can use to suck money out of sick muggles.’ – she cussed at the man.

‘So be it.’ – he pointed his wand at her and all she could do is watch. – ‘Crucio.’

She fell to her knees, her body trembling as unimaginable pain spread through every vein, burning her like the very pits of hell.

She wiggled on the wooden planks of the bridge, her screams of pain echoing around the silent chamber of the cave, until Downer pulled his wand back.

He grabbed Emilia by the arm forcingly and pulled her up, making her stand up on her weak legs, her knees almost giving in.

He began dragging her off the bridge but in the very last burst of energy in her, she lunged at him and scratched his face with her nails.

Surprised, he loosened the grip enough for her to wiggle out of it and step back.

Holding his face with one hand, he raised his wand back up with the other, about to cast another curse when suddenly a big blast cut through the air and right into the group of loyalists behind him, causing several people to drop down the mineshaft with loud screams.

Emilia turned around to see a big group of both students and teachers, standing by the other end of the bridge, rushing to help and immediately beginning to fight with the loyalists jumping at them.

In the crowd she could even notice a bunch of friendly faces, including Atticus, running over to the bridge to come to her.

The second later, hell broke loose.

...

Atticus alongside with the rest of the students around him was thrown back by the immense impact of the explosives beginning to set off in the underground levels of the mine, shaking up the ground and causing huge pieces of stone ripping off from the cave’s ceiling and falling off, landing in the abyss which began burning up like the mouth of the devil himself, a great firepit right below the bridge. The chaos began raising just like the temperature of the inside of the mine, fights breaking out between both sides, Downer’s loyalists attempting to curse random students only to be protected by their friends or professors.

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The boy tried running through the groups of people to get closer to the bridge but it seemed impossible in the tight crowd of dueling and fighting people. The screams mixed in with yelled out incantations were so loud it was deafening to the ears.

Looking around frantically, searching for a way to get closer to his friend he noticed a small ledge in the wall of the cave and ran for it as soon as he saw it. Holding his wand in one hand and using the other to walk securely by grabbing the fractures in the wall, trying to get to the other end of the cave which had a little clearing formed right by the bridge where he could see Downer approaching Emilia once again.

He jumped down onto the relatively secure ground of the cave and began running towards the bridge, trying to ignore the rocks falling and bolts of magic flying all around as everyone fought.

Atticus noticed the man getting closer to the girl, raising his wand to recite another curse and without thinking he shouted:

‘Confringo!’

A ball of fire struck through the air, hitting the man directly in the chest and lighting his clothes on fire.

Downer growled in pain and almost immediately put down the fire with ‘Aquamenti’, but his skin was still burned and red.

Atticus watched intensely as Emilia suddenly leapt forward, grabbing onto his arm as if she was about to heal him with her power but instead doing something that caused the man to scream at the top of his lungs with immense pain.

The usual white halo grew around both of them but the girl looked as if she was becoming more powerful with each passing second. Downer finally broke off the bond and stumbled backwards, with the very lasts of his power pulling out his wand and aiming it towards her.

The boy could not hear the words that came out of his wand but saw the glimpse of a green bolt shooting out of the wand and as Emilia instinctively moved her hands in front of her to protect herself a similar, white arrow shot right out of her hands and met with the green one.

His breath got taken away by the sight and the fights began to stop as everyone’s attention shifted to the clash happening on the bridge.

The girl was struggling to stand her ground, the power of the spells pulling her further and further back but she kept on pushing through, her face squinted and her mouth open as if she was wailing in pain.

Downer was also still visibly injured, his hand shaking as he slowly began losing control over his part of the spell.

A deadly determination formed on his face as he suddenly pushed forward and cumulated all of his power in one spot, beginning to overpower Emilia.

Seeing that, the girl has panic visible in her eyes and also pushed through all of the pain in the last, hopeless resort.

Both lights grew so strong it blinded everyone around and suddenly exploded in a cascade of white light so bright it looked like staring into the depths of a star itself.

...

As the blinding light faded, he forced his eyes open and saw Downer slowly fall to his knees and then roll off of the platform, disappearing into the flames.

Emilia’s body glowed with an unreal, white halo, her hair floating as if she was underwater. The unbelievable strength of her power spread throughout the entire mine, a wind as strong as a tornado carried her magic through the air, making it soak into the bodies of everyone, students, teachers and Downer’s loyalists. Everyone that was at some point injured during the fight could be now seen surrounded with the same white glow as their hair slowly began turning white from the roots. The majority of the people present had suddenly changed their hair colors switched to white, as their cuts, slits and burns healed almost instantly.

All of the loyalists disapparated from the mine the moment they saw Downer fall down the mineshaft, into the hellfire. The overwhelming cheers that escaped everyone’s mouths that moment caused the already fragile and ruined structure of the mine to collapse even more. The happiness turned into fear within a split second, as the cheers transformed into terrified screams. Everyone began flooding back to the exit of the mine but no one, besides Atticus noticed what happened in the middle of the platform.

She fell.

Emilia fell.

Her body visibly gave up as he could see her fall to her knees, before losing consciousness completely, and falling down onto the fragile wooden panels of the bridge, which were already being consumed by the hungry flames, causing the entire platform to break and collapse.

Almost in slow motion, Atticus watched her fall into the mineshaft as the world around them burned, students ,teachers and the creatures that escaped their cages running away in panic, giant rocks falling down on everyone’s heads and the fire escaping the great pit, catching onto everything flammable around.

‘Emilia!’ – a terrified cry escaped his mouth the moment the girl disappeared in the flames.

‘Accio!’ – he cried out, in agony, feeling his set soul on fire, as he pointed his wand towards the hollowing darkness of the mineshaft.

And there she was.

Like a phoenix, beautiful, tragical phoenix, she flew up from the flames, right towards Atticus. Her hair on fire, her clothes almost burnt entirely, her skin all red from the fresh burns. She flew right into his arms, the force making the boy trip backwards and hitting his head on the stone violently. But the adrenaline took away the whole pain right out of his body, as he immediately got up, holding her in his arms and ran out of the mine with everyone else.

The world was on fire.

Everything was pure chaos.

But nothing else besides her mattered at that moment.

She had to be saved.

He dodged the falling stones and firepits as he ran, as fast as he possibly could, his new, white hair already being darkened by the smoke flakes and ash floating in the boiling air, his tears creating two clear trails down his dirty face, his hands burning from Emilia’s skin, still too hot to touch, as the ends of her hair and clothes were still burning slightly.

The faint moonlight of the outside world appeared in front of him, as he squeezed in between of the panicked people to get her out as soon as possible. He ran out of the mine exit and ran just a few more feet before falling down to his knees.

She laid there, in his arms, suddenly seeming so fragile, so small. Her eyes were closed and her burnt mouth was slightly open. Her unconscious body almost rolled out onto the ground, but he pulled her closer and shook her lightly, yet firmly.

‘Emilia… Emilia, please…’ – he cried out to her.

People started walking up to them, gathering around Atticus, just then noticing that their savior got hurt.

‘Emilia, I’m begging you… Wake up…’ – he whimpered in pain, a pain on such a scale, which he had never experienced before.

The distressed crowd started moving in, shrinking the circle around the boy and girl. All of her friends, Jaz, Rosie, Elle, Sebastian and Ominis rushed into the circle and looked down at them with piercing fear in their eyes. Rosie immediately burst into tears and Ominis had to hold her up so she wouldn’t fall in distress.

‘We need to transport her to St. Mungo’s. Now.’ – the terrified voice of Professor Crane cut through the air like a knife.

‘How? It’s hours away from here.’ – someone in the crowd cried out.

‘Someone apparate with her back to London.’ – another voice called out.

‘No, she can’t apparate when in this state, it’ll kill her.’ – Professor Weasley scolded, also at the verge of tears.

Atticus just laid there, holding her, his head lowered down over hers, their foreheads touching as he rocked her back and forth, crying, whispering her name over and over again.

The mine suddenly exploded once more, the entrance releasing a powerful burst of fire, causing even more panic, as the beasts and creatures began running away in fear, right into the forbidden forest. Countless screams cut through the air. The moon disappeared for a second as a graphorn that had just flied out of the remains of the mine spread its wings and flew away, covering the entire scene happening by the collapsed entrance.

Suddenly, a familiar screech echoed around the distressed crowd. A phoenix, its feathers also being mostly white, circled around them as it descended down to the ground. It flew right into the crowd and landed on Emilia’s chest.

The crowd went silent, as the phoenix bent it’s neck and began dropping tears onto the girls face, that immediately disappeared right into her still hot, burnt skin, leaving nothing but trails on her face covered with ashes from the fire.

After a minute, which seemed like forever, the phoenix spread its wings and flew up and immediately got lost in between of the trees of the forest.

Everyone, all of her friends as well as the rest of the students and teachers stood in complete silence, waiting, full of hope, for any sign of life.

The only sound was Atticus’ almost inaudible cry, as he caressed her lifeless face with his bloody fingers, leaving a crimson red trail on her cheek.

His eyes had such indescribable fear in them. He never felt so terrified, so vulnerable, so helpless.

He looked down at Emilia.

His only joy.

His only friend.

His love.

His angel.

All of their moments together began flashing right through his head at the speed of light.

Their first meeting.

Her wearing his glasses.

Running away from the troll in the Forbidden Forest.

Learning about her hidden powers.

Traveling through the Highlands.

Hanging out at the Three Broomsticks.

Seeing her laugh at his jokes.

Saving her from drowning in the Black Lake.

Running away from the tomb after almost getting killed by Ash.

Holding her in his arms as she was freed from the Imperius curse.

Holding her just as he held her now. Wishing he could turn back in time to save her. He closed his eyes as a single tear escaped his eye and landed on her nose.

The entire crowd gasped loudly. A shocked cry escaped Rosie’s mouth, Sebastian laughed loudly and Jaz exclaimed ‘Yes!’ and began cheering.

Emilia opened her eyes slightly, visibly exhausted and gently moved her head towards Atticus as her eyes moved around slowly.

‘Atticus?’ – she whispered, her voice cracking, despite being barely audible.

A wave of cheer crashed through the crowd as everyone laughed, yelled and cried with relief.

Atticus looked down at her, right into her violet eyes.

‘Emilia…’ – he cried louder as he pulled her closer, embracing her in a hug so tight, it took her breath away.

He held her close to his heart, rocking her again, crying out loud with happiness. The relief flowed right through him like an ocean wave, lifting up his soul, a desperate laugh escaped his mouth as he held her up to look into her eyes again.

She gave him a weak smile and looked at him with a comforting expression, letting him know that it was going to be okay, without actually saying anything.

That’s when he kissed her.

He pressed his lips onto her own, still very hot and dirty. He cupped her face with one of his hands and used the other one to hold her up. Another tear down his face and disappeared as both of their faces connected.

He waited for that moment ever since he first laid his eyes on her but never expected it would happen this way, right after he thought he was going to lose her forever.

Emilia moved her face away slightly and smiled at him as he grinned back at her, his grey eyes shining happily.