The Cleanse (Basilisk Attack Thread. PG-13 for violence and death)

Her fingers dug into the wood causing splinters to enter her skin, however her body was numb from fear and she couldn't feel a thing. She could hear him turn to leave and she cried harder, knowing he'd leave he alone, that she'd be left to die or worse, tortured. She was only thirteen, she shouldn't be living a life like this. She was far too young to die.

The girl wanted nothing more than to be with her parents right now, a Muggle, a musician, It'd be nice to have never been a wizard but she would've also never known Ethan and she didn't know if that was a life she wanted to face. Ethan had given her a new viewpoint of life, even if he didn't know. He was the reason she continued to pursue her dreams.

Suddenly, she heard a shuffling, he had turned back, she was going to be saved. She shouldn't know that Ethan, whether alive or not, would never let harm come to her. Before long, he was under the piano with her, his arms wrapped around her and she was crying harder now. "You're alive," she managed to say before he began to back up her hand lingering in hers for a bit before dropping it. He was coaxing her out and she was abiding. Was she sure it was Ethan and not someone under the Polyjuice Potion? No she wasn't, but she trusted Ethan. She shook her head, "I'm scared." He was already waiting to leave, his arm extended to her and she knew she needed to go. At least if they died, they'd be together. Grabbing his hand, she looked him in the eye, "I trust you."

Today was one of his most hated days. Valentines day... He never understood it. What was so amazing about loving someone that it had to have its own stupid day... And why was it so important to say you liked someone on this day? Honestly, if someone ever came up to him and told him they liked him just because it's this day, he'd probably ignore that person. Not that someone would really like him, from all people. But he was content with that. It's better that way, less people to annoy you with useless small talks, like what was the weather tonight or what type of pasta he liked. He had enough from both types to hate small talks to an end.

However, he wasn't going to stay inside on this day. Mostly because he was sure the library would be infested with people kissing each other, because of 'privacy’ and staying in his room all day wasn't the best idea if his room mates decided to make fun of him. No, he went outside on a walk. Though the lake would be full of kissing things, other places outside would hardly have anyone. So, after deciding to actually wear something more normal for his age then his usual wear nowadays (he put on some trousers, a long sleeved shirt and a vast sweater), he went outside.

After a while of walking, he went more nearer to the forest, more correctly the green house. He was just about turn around when he noticed someone in a cloak exit from the forest. He was sure that guy wasn't a teacher... Eyes widening slightly, he stepped back before turning around to run, not knowing of what happened behind him. Not that he was near enough to help, anyways, plus he wasn't a fast runner. All he hoped that he wasn't noticed and that they didn't run fast, which was regrettable. His heart beat fast, not knowing what to do, for once in his life. After a while he hid behind a rock casually standing in the ground and watched as other cloaked figures entered Hogwarts. What was going on...

After he guessed it was safe, he stood up and wondered what to do. He definitely wasn't good enough to fight, neither alethic wise, neither magic wise. All he could do was take his wand out and use it as defence, at least he knew of Protego... He reached into his pocket to find... Nothing. He breathed in quickly, fear filling him. It couldn't... But he did. He left it on his drawer, not thinking it would be needed. How wrong he thought... Now the question was what to do. Even if he went in the forest to hid, there were creatures there and most creatures seemed to hate him as much as he hated them back. On the other hand there were these cloaked... People attacking Hogwarts and he doubted they'd care more or less to kill him, expecially without a wand. So he did the best he could do and began to pick up rocks he could throw, at least that would keep him relatively safe.

Kenneth shook his head. "Such a shame. Really, you should know how to be more welcoming to your guests." He nodded to a woman who moved up to join the professor, searching his mind for her name.

"Professor Moon," he greeted, once he remembered. He adopted his smooth, persuasive tone, the one that usually got him anything he wanted. "It would be such a pity to injure you. You're not a part of this fight. Why don't you just return to your rooms, keep yourself safe? Surely there are people who depend on you, people who need you to remain living and well? Stay safe, for them."

About to respond to the Headmaster's challenge, Ken was interrupted by a student, Hufflepuff from her tie, emerging from the shadows, turning her wand on her professors and declaring her allegiance. "We'll be glad to have you," he told her, turning his face in her direction, though he didn't dare move his eyes away from the Headmaster. "Welcome to your new family. We'll protect you and we won't let any of these scum make fools of us any longer. Remember your anger, because that's what makes you strong."

Returning his full attention to Jameson, he narrowed his eyes. "I've already made it so far. It's quite rude to ask us to leave so soon after arriving. Why not invite us to-" instead of continuing his sentence, Ken whipped his wand into position, firing off a killing curse in the direction of the headmaster and a stupefy towards his companion.

There wasn't much that Winter feared, but war was definitely on top of her list. Winter had a ridiculous fear of it, because the idea had always seemed terrifying. Death, pain, violence...many of the things Winter refused to believe in were combined into a single event. That was enough for her to be afraid of war.

She had been working on a healing potion for one of the kids in the Hospital Wing, a simple one, when the Headmaster's voice filled her work office and most likely the rest of the castle. "...THE CASTLE IS UNDER ATTACK, FORTIFY THE CASTLE, AND KEEP THE CHILDREN SAFE." Those words sent chills through every single part of her body, the vial she had been holding fell to the floor and broke into tiny pieces of glass. Her hands shook, and Winter realized she had been holding her breath. She couldn't even go to the supermarket without tripping over a box, how was she supposed to keep anyone safe?

Finally taking a breath, Winter looked around. She had only two students in the Wing, so they would be easy to hide. Walking out of her office, Winter glanced at the two boys, both of them with wide, scared eyes. The older one, Peter, stood up immediately, wand ready. "If you're going, I am." he said, his voice as strong as Winter remembered it but calm nonetheless. She had known Peter Sexton for a while, because he was interested in Healing Magic and had come to her with questions, but she had underestimated his willingness to help.

Nodding, Winter glanced at the younger boy, a Second Year Ravenclaw who still had a cough and raised her wand. Casting an invisibility spell on him, Winter told him to stay in her office. "Lock the door if you have to, but don't move until I get back to you, Aristotle." The poor boy had been in the Wing for a few days now, and Winter knew that he was vulnerable, the most pure soul she had met so far. It would break her to know he had gotten hurt. Seeing her office door close and lock, Winter turned back to Peter. "Let's go."

She ran in front of him, following the voices and screams. They ran in the opposite direction of most students until they reached the Entrance Hall. She noticed the Headmaster, as well as Professor Moon and the man Winter realized was the enemy, the bad guy. It took her a second to realize they were the infamous Basilisks, and when she did, she instinctively pushed Peter behind her. He may be almost a head taller than herself but he was still a boy, and he was a pureblood.

With everyone knowing him by name and looks, it was harder to hide him. Though they were still at a distance, Winter would leave that decision to the boy. He could either run or stay, but she sincerely hoped he chose to run off. In a flash, Winter recognized the killing curse. The guy in the middle of the chaos had casted it and sent it directly towards the Headmaster. Without thinking, well - thinking about the safety of her leader, Winter ran up to the crowd, but the Headmaster dodged the spell in a matter of seconds.

With a breath of relief, Winter took a spot by the crowd, her wand ready. She may not be one to stand at the front but it wasn't due to fear, but because she wasn't confident enough that she could singlehandedly protect anyone. However, something kicked in when she saw Peter standing next to her, the same feeling of protectiveness she had with her brother Charlie. Whether or not she wanted to, it seemed Winter would have to fight.




(((I have spoken to Jake about Daniel moving out of the way, so I've got his permission )))

Bennett didn't have a girlfriend. He didn't want one either, but he liked Valentine's Day because of the insane amounts of chocolate that people are fond of handing out. Everyone seemed to be interested in trying to spread love and all that, that they considered chocolates to be a physical representation of that. So far, he had met five strangers who had handed out chocolates and his hands were full of the goodies that he was more of less out of it. All he wanted to do was eat the sugary goodness, really.

With his head in the clouds, Bennett walked over to the Greenhouses, because he still had some plants to check out for potions. He may be smart, but he didn't know everything. He didn't even make it to the actual greenhouses, as there seemed to be a commotion of sorts and Bennett was barely on the edge of it. There were people everyone, some running and some casting spells. It was terrifying and ridiculous and something that Bennett didn't want to witness.

He had made it almost to the forest when he realized that some of the people weren't students, but taller figures under a cloak. It took him a second to realize they were being attacked, mostly because he had been so out of it that the Headmaster's announcement was the big give-away. Panicking for a second, Bennett dropped the chocolates to the floor as he remembered he had a wand to use in case of attacks. Reaching for it, Bennett looked around, hoping that the hooded figures would be more interested in other things than on a Fourth Year.

They all seemed to be entering the castle, and Bennett's first instinct was to run away from the building. If that's where they were headed, he was sure as hell going to stay away from it. Running towards the forest, Bennett didn't care about the creatures because he wasn't afraid of them. He was scared of people, the ones with the cloaks. Nobody was throwing spells his way, which was great, but there were flashes of light all around him and he didn't know what to do. He was freaking out, and Bennett rarely freaked out. As he came closer to the edge for the forest, he noticed a smaller figure nearby, bent over.

It was a Gryffindor boy from one of his classes, though he couldn't remember which one he knew his name was Alberi. Bennett ran up to him. "What are you doing?!" Bennett asked between breaths, because he wasn't a runner. "We're under attack!" he glared at the younger boy as if he should have known that immediately, though Bennett soon realized the Gryffindor was probably as scared as he was. "Come on, now's not the time to pick up stones. Either we hide and live or we stay and possibly die. Or get injured."

Kai listened to the bickering between Adaline and the snooty French boy and rolled his eyes, clearly tired of listening. At some point, he zoned out but he was pulled back to reality when he felt Adaline's glare towards him. He felt the tug of the boy and realised that Adaline wanted him to let go, so he did. He watched as she led him away, into the forest and followed quickly behind with Naomi. However, he was not prepared for what was bound to happen next.

He could hear Adaline's grunt of pain and he watched as she mouthed words, her face contorting as she felt more pain and he instantly knew, the baby was coming. He stopped, his mind shut down as his heart began to race. This was not the time nor place. This could NOT be happening, NOT now. He wasn't ready, she wasn't ready. They were under attack for crying out loud and it was Valentine's Day! Kai's hands found his face as wave after wave of panic hit him and he began to move again, however, it was sheer adrenaline. Adrenaline kept him close to Adaline. Adrenaline kept him going and he looked over to Naomi in hopes that being a girl she would know what to do because he sure didn't.

For once, he was glad that the French brat was behaving, having realised no one gave two craps here about him but somewhere deep down, Kai wished he'd give a bit of trouble to get his mind off what was happening. However, that also wouldn't be a good idea because Kai might seriously hurt the 12 year old.

For Kai being the one not giving birth he was surely the one breathing heavy and panicking. It was as if he was feeling the labor pains.The pains that would bring his child into the word screaming, hopefully not loud enough to attract attention to them. Hopefully, Adaline could hold off.