All of the Slytherins around them kept yelling, but Briar lifted her voice above everyone else's and screamed, "Stop it!"

A silence fell over the group at her loud command, and everyone grew still as they waited for Briar's next words.

She declared, "We're in here because of their discrimination and judgement against us. We're here because our fear was wrongfully interpreted to mean that we side with Voldemort and the death eaters, and it better be a wrong interpretation." Briar gave everyone a pointed look as she looked around the crowded cell.

With her eyes on fire, she commanded them, "Once we get out of here, if you're too afraid to fight, then get to safety, but I better not see a single one of you helping the death eaters. Am I clear?"

Briar had never spoken to her house this way, but the panic of the moment seemed to have snapped her.

She wasn't playing around anymore.

Everyone nodded at her commands, their eyes shamefully meeting the floor, but she thought that this wasn't enough. Briar added, "To those of you who may be questioning whether fighting against Voldemort is the right side to be on, I hope to remind you that his side believes it's alright to murder parents and children in the search for power. They are the people who killed my mother and terrorized me for years. They are the ones who tortured Neville's parents, despite knowing that they knew nothing. They are the ones who have destroyed our school and made it as it has been this year. So, if you ever stop and wonder which is the right side, I hope you bloody think about all of that."

Briar turned away from all of them in a huff, but her housemates began to clap for her. Many of them cheered, and she heard a few yell, "We'll destroy them for you, Briar!"

She laughed with the warmth that filled her chest. Slytherins wouldn't go down easily, and they were about to storm the grounds.

As if on cue, a sudden series of explosions blew up the gates on the dungeons, and Briar ducked and covered the heads of a few nearby first and second years. When the dust cleared, students were storming from the cells and running in their different directions. When many of them pulled their wands out and grinned wildly back at Briar, she knew that the death eaters wouldn't stand a chance.

She commanded the first and second years, "Get to safety. You are all young, and I don't want any of you to try to be a hero, okay?"

They all nodded and listened to her commands, sprinting off to safety together. Briar stepped from the cell, and she noticed Malfoy standing off to the side with his wand drawn. She smiled at him and stepped up to him with her own wand in hand.

He snickered, "Nice speech, Black."

"Nice explosions, Malfoy," She retorted back.

Malfoy smirked and taunted, "Yeah, well, someone told me to start making some good choices."

Briar licked her lips and laughed, "Well, she sounds pretty bloody brilliant then."

"You should get going then. You've got a whole host of angry Slytherins to lead into battle now," Malfoy commented with a jerk of his head in the way the students had just ran.

She chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I do." She stepped away from him and started to chase after the students, but Malfoy's voice stopped her.

"Stay safe, Black," He called.

She glanced back over her shoulder and nodded. "You too, Malfoy."

-

Briar was frantically trying to find Neville, but he was nowhere to be found.

She finally ran across Lupin and Tonks in the chaos as everyone prepared for the death eaters to break in through the barrier. Lupin dragged Briar in for a hug and murmured, "I've missed you, dear. Sirius is around here somewhere, and I believe Neville is on the bridge."

"Oh thank you, I've been trying to find Neville," Briar breathed.

Her eyes snapped to the bridge, and she was about to dart off in that direction, but Lupin tugged on the sleeve of her robes and inquired, "Could I talk to you just briefly before you go?"

She nodded her head seriously at him and took a step closer. She agreed, "Of course. What is it, Remus?"

His voice dropped to a whisper, but it cracked as he confessed, "We just had a child last month, Briar."

Her eyebrows shot to her hairline. She grinned, "That's lovely, Remus! Congratulations!" She wasn't sure how to react to news like this in this environment, but she figured she could be encouraging. Maybe he just needed a bit of normalcy to offset the horror of what was to come.

As if sensing her confusion, Remus admitted, "I tell you this now because...because we've made you Teddy's godmother should anything happen to us today-"

Briar's features snapped into a harsh look as she interrupted him, "Absolutely not. No speaking like that. You will make it out of this, I promise you."

Remus shook his head with a sad smile. He murmured, "Sweetheart, you shouldn't make promises you can't keep..."

She stared hard at him and enunciated, "You're being ridiculous, Remus, and we'll laugh about it later, alright?"

He gave her a tired smile, and she stared into his wise eyes that had always seemed to see directly into her soul. She gave him a wide grin and patted him on the arm before she sprinted off to find Neville.

Briar didn't realize that this would be the last smile she would ever exchange with Lupin, one of the few people in this world that she had grown to care for above all else.

———