"It's Malfoy! I found him!"

Her heart lurched as she grabbed Draco's ducking head, shielding him.

"Tell George! He's out here—"

The voice cut off with a strangled scream, quickly drowned out by a wet snarl.

Draco wrangled free, and they gaped up at the turret just as a wiry animal lunged over it, scattering the sharpshooters over the other side as it landed hard on the stones.

The air was thick and putrid with rotting blood.

The werewolves.

The screaming turned into garbled gasping as the creature latched onto one of the sharpshooter's throats, ripping into the flesh. Draco clasped his hand over Hermione's mouth, holding them still. She blinked up at the sky, her eyes wide in terror. It was a full moon.

Another werewolf joined the other, sniffing at the dead bodies in the pathway. It slunk closer to the turret and Hermione trembled, squeezing her eyes closed. Then the air erupted. Spells and curses flew from all directions. The creatures howled and turned their snarling jowls toward the new attackers.

Draco scrambled to his feet and yanked her upright by the wrist. "We need to get back inside. There has to be a fucking fireplace." He dragged her in a sharp turn and suddenly they were racing up the steep staircase they climbed every Friday night, leading them back to the castle.

Her legs pumped as she sprinted up the stairs behind him, hurrying while they were still open targets. They passed the mangled and torn body of a True Order member — one the werewolves had already gotten to. They ran past fresh destruction to open a small door. A piercing howl came from behind her as he dragged her in, slamming the door behind her.

She struggled to breathe as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Draco cast a Lumos and she jumped, stumbling backward. Dead bodies. Five of them. Their blood sprayed up the wall onto the royal portraits.

The room hummed with Dark Magic.

Draco stepped over one of them to the fireplace. He summoned the Floo powder and tried to ignite the flames. Nothing.

He held out his hand for her. She extended her shaking fingers, stepping over a man whose eyes were open, and taking his hand. His palm was cold and wet as he tugged her around the perimeter and out of the room.

They tried four other side rooms. Two had fireplaces, but they didn't work. They found four Carrow Girls in the fifth room, shuddering and crying in a corner. Draco quickly dragged her away before she could think how to help.

They turned into a dining room, slightly smaller than the one the Slytherin boys used upstairs. A thick body lay on the floor, blood pooling around his head.

Goyle.

Draco stumbled, losing his footing as he blinked at his old classmate.

Hermione heard a whimper from behind the sideboard. She peered around the table and found Susan Bones clutching a broken champagne glass in one hand, and a steak knife in the other — both dripping with Goyle's blood. Hermione jumped as her wild eyes shot up, locking on hers. Susan pulled her knees to her chest, rocking, closing her eyes and murmuring words Hermione couldn't hear.