The chaos and destruction was unlike anything he had even seen, or even imagined. His beloved school was in ruins with flames rising throughout the grounds. How had it come down to this? Why here? There were so many young children who should have felt safe at the school instead of having to scramble out to safety. It wasn't very fair to them. But he supposed such was life. The battle was underway and they needed to fend off the attack to let Harry do whatever he apparently needed to do. He just had to focus on keeping himself safe, and finding Amelia and making sure she stayed safe. At least he had the skills with the spells to be able to hold his own in this battle.

It was almost a relief when Amelia ran into his arms, even if it hadn't been on purpose. He knew at least for that moment she was safe. He knew where she was. She had survived up until that point. Of course she had a couple of injuries just like him, but nothing serious. "You used to go here.." He said, trailing off as a branch falling caused him to push her away from him to separate them. He looked towards where the spell had come from to see his brother standing there with the same look in his eyes Lucas had seen so many times before. All the times his brother had lashed out at him angry at something. "I'm surprised to see you here" he said to his brother, his wand at the ready. He was no longer the scared scrawny kid who had no chance to defend himself.

"At least father will be proud that I'm on the right side of this." Nicholas shot back before sending a spell towards Amelia. Lucas quickly got in front and blocked it. No his brother didn't need to hurt her. And she had protected him from his brother too many times. "So now you're defending this scum. Now I know all hope is lost on you." Nicholas shouted before sending another spell. This one did hit Lucas, sending him to his feet, but not before he sent one his brother's way that also knocked him down momentarily. "Amelia you should get out of here." he said towards her, keeping an eye on his brother. He didn't need to harm her.

His brother looked almost ominious, silhouetted against the flames and night sky. This was a guy who had been tormenting him since he had been small. He had bullied him all the way until he left Hogwarts after Lucas' fourth year. Even then at home the bullying continued. But Lucas was no longer the scrawny little kid he had been when he was 14 and 15. No longer was he less skilled at magic than his brother. No now he could stand up to the man. Especially with Amelia's life at risk. He felt some need to protect her. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because of all the protection she had given him throughout school.

"I'm not letting him get to you." he said, keeping his eyes on his brother, wand at the ready. As long as she stayed behind him, he could at least block the spells coming towards them. But she egged his brother on, and stepped out from behind him. So when Nicholas shot another spell at her, his reaction was a little slower, having to move in front of her again to take the spell. It knocked him down and away a few feet, the spell he cast sent wide away from his brother. At least the spell momentarily distracted his brother, allowing Amelia to rush over to him. He nodded to her question, although it felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. Unfortunately it was a feeling he was no stranger too.

When she insisted she wasn't going to budge he shook his head, his eyes pleading with her. "Go" he managed to get out. She didn't know what he was really capable of. And she wasn't the strongest when it came to magic. But of course she didn't heed his advice and started egging Nicholas on. That was the wrong move. Which was evident by him yelling at her before shooting a spell at her. And Lucas couldn't do anything to stop it, still gasping for breath, and his wand a foot away from him. He watched helplessly as his brother stepped over her and went to hover over her, threatening her.

Lucas couldn't hear what Nicholas was saying to Amelia, but he figured it was nothing good. He finally got his breath back and was able to roll over and grab his wand. He saw his brother raise his wand and quickly send a red burst of light from his wand sending his brother's wand flying before he could do anything. Of course that sent Nicholas' attention back on Lucas, storming towards him. "You have made the wrong decision for the last time Lucas. Helping this scum of a mudblood. You're ruined." Lucas hurried to his feet, his wand trained on his brother. "I'm not going to just roll over like when we were younger. I'm not afraid of you anymore." He wasn't. Not in this moment. "You're throwing everything away for what? For that? Didn't you learn anything? Clearly you didn't belong in that stupid house of yours." That was enough to put Lucas over the edge and he shot an orange burst of light towards his brother, who flew backwards, hurtling right into a tree and falling limp to the ground.

Lucas took the opportunity to run over to Amelia and crouch over her, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" He needed her to be okay. He just did.

Lucas didn't know why she was being so insistent on staying there. this was a dangerous place. Nicholas was a dangerous person. He hadn't thought to check to see if the guy was conscious or not, he was too focused on Amelia. "You really should get somewhere safe." He could take the pain, he was used to it, but she looked like she was struggling to cope with the pain. He watched her sit up, a concerned look on his face. He just shook his head when she joked, it wasn't really a time to joke. He stood up with her, making sure she was steady. "I'm fine." His ribs hurt (he wouldn't be surprised if one or two were broken), there was the sticky feeling of blood from the cut on his cheek, and he had the starts of many bruises. But this was nothing. He was too in the moment to care about that. Too focused on staying safe.

"Looks like it." He said with a nod. He was still on alert. Even if his brother was not a current threat, the reality was they were still surrounded by danger. There were foes all around, and this was a battle that was likely going to determine the results of the war. Would the Order win and push back Voldemort? Or would the Death Eaters win and people like Amelia be in more danger than they already were. The Voldemort run ministry had been sending muggleborns to Azkaban. He was sure things would get worse, and that was hard to imagine. He didn't want that at all. Which is why he was here. "It's just a cut." He said, leading them a little bit towards the castle, trying to get closer to where others might be to help. "Yes. That would help." Hopefully they were still alive.

They had gotten closer to the castle, almost close to the courtyard, when he saw a flash of purple light hit Amelia and then felt her grab and hold onto him, almost pulling them both over. Her hands dug in, causing some discomfort, almost pain, before she was ripped back and flew backwards. He followed where she went to see Nicholas standing there. He knew he should have checked him before going off. He knew his brother wouldn't give up if he was still going. Lucas could only watch in horror as he placed his foot on her back and pushed down. He had seen that look on his brother's face so many times, but it only seemed to be intensified.

Lucas was not at all surprised at his brother's cruelty. The two looked like brothers on the outside, but inside they were so completely opposite. Lucas had taken after their mother, Nicholas their father. All except the talent for Quidditch. That had all gone to Lucas, which had caused even more animosity between the boys. But none of that helped right now. He had the girl he cared for greatly in the mud, his boot pushing her down, and he had his wand trained on her. He needed to distract him.

"What are you trying to accomplish with this Nicholas? You're going to lose this war. Even if you survive tonight you're going to Azkaban. What are you going to hear from those dementors huh? Your screams from the night mom died?" He was pushing it, but he knew that was the worst day of his brother's life too. He wanted to redirect his brother's rage onto him. Hopefully let Amelia get away. And it seemed to be working, at least he got Nicholas onto him and not her. The wand changed to be pointed at him, and with a small kick his foot came off Amelia. Lucas silently willed Amelia to run. Better she survive than neither of them.

"You are the worst thing that ever happened to me you good for nothing bastard." his brother sneered. "You deserved to die that day too." And with that he shot a beam of light towards Lucas, who promptly blocked it. "What so the only hope of our family line continuing was your untalented worthless being?" and there came another blast from Nicholas' wand, which was quickly beaten back by one of Lucas's own. Lucas quickly shot back a spell t wards his brother, which was also blocked. Then the brothers sent spells at the exact same moment, the spells collided sending both flying backwards. Lucas hit the ground awkwardly on his shoulder, sending pain into it immediately. He looked up to see his brother had landed against a wall of the courtyard and was starting to get up. But it was then some debris was knocked off the wall and fell right on his brother, knocking him down. Lucas couldn't know for sure, but he was pretty sure that had just killed his brother. Had he just killed another family member? He laid back for a moment, trying to push those thoughts away. Trying to push the pain in his shoulder away. Then his thoughts turned to Amelia. Where was she? Was she safe?

Lucas couldn't really believe what had just happened. The shock of it all was starting to numb the pain in his left arm. He was trying to refocus, get back into the fight. It wasn't over yet. He wasn't out of the woods just yet. None of them were. He was sure there were many who had already lost their lives fighting for what the believed in on both sides, and countless more injured in some way. The destruction all around them was immense. Without magic it would take years and years to restore something after this much damage. Even with magic, it could take a while to repair the damage. The emotional scars of those here tonight could last a lifetime. For Lucas, he had no idea how much what he had done would cost him in the coming weeks and years.

Soon enough he heard Amelia's voice, and he let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding. She as okay, that was a relief. He looked up to her and nodded slightly when she asked if he was okay. "I'm fine." He didn't really believe the words he had just said, but he needed to refocus and make sure they were safe. "Yes, it's not safe here." He said as he grabbed her right hand with his to help get up. He kept his left arm close to his side, his wand securely in his dominant hand.

"Don't worry about it." he said emotionless to her apology. He could think about what had transpired later. He needed to keep her safe, keep himself safe. His ability to compartmentalize ingrained after his childhood abuse and needing to quickly appear as nothing had happened. "I'll be fine. There are people with more need than me. And I can fight, it's not my wand hand." He wasn't too concerned about it at the moment, he was focused on staying alive. Because if he didn't keep them safe it wouldn't matter if his arm was fine or not. "We could get into the Ravenclaw one too." He didn't specifically know the password, but they didn't have a password though. It was always a riddle. "I suppose we could do that." He'd feel bad leaving other people out there to fight, but if kept her safe he'd do it. "Just stay close." he said as they started off towards the common rooms. He knew it would get dangerous once they were in the castle, but hopefully they'd make it there safe.

He shook his head in agreement that they needed to go. As they were running, he here and there had to caught shield charms and send back spells towards those who were on the other side. He had trained to fight, and knew to keep alert on their way to the castle. Inside the castle it was a little tougher as the darkness kept things hidden. He just needed to remain on higher alert, making sure to keep an eye out for any movement at all. Of course he almost sent a charm into a ghost because of that, but he stopped when he realized what it was. He followed Amelia through the castle, keeping a grasp on her to not lose her. He knew vaguely where the Gryffindor common room was, but it wasn't as automatic for him. "Alright." he said, glad they were almost done running.

When they got to the portrait, he let her figure out what was going on with the portrait, while he kept on alert to make sure no one was following them. Soon enough he was being led into the common room and he could let out a breath once the door was closed. Amelia's hand let go of his own, and he almost wished she hadn't. At least there was the comfort that if this was the end he had been near Amelia for quite a while. "Potter and the Order." He said while looking around the common room. He only knew the Ravenclaw Tower. This was also in a tower, but completely different. While looking, his right hand moved up to his left arm and felt to see what was going on. It seemed as though his collarbone was possibly broken. Wouldn't be the first time, and it's be easy to fix when he found someone else to cast the healing spell, as he didn't quite feel comfortable casting it on himself.

He then looked up and into Amelia's sad eyes when she spoke. He looked away, unsure of the fate of anyone he knew, and couldn't bear to look at her sadness. "I don't know." All the people he had met as part of the Order. The people from school, both classmates and teachers. There was no telling what destruction was really out there. How many families would learn a loved one had perished today. "I should be out there with them." He was part of the Order. He should be helping them. Right?

Lucas had been working with the order for over a year, helping gather resources, contributing some funds. He had done it very secretly, hiding the fact he had been working with them from his brother and father. It had been tricky at times, but it was worth it. He had made several friends, although on a day like today he was reminded as to why he had tried to not get too close to anyone. He was sure several people he knew had laid down their lives for this cause. "I hope so." He said when she said they'll be okay. He knew it likely wasn't true though, but he didn't want to think on that too much, as he knew the reality would come to light sooner or later.

He shook his head "Never had a reason, or ability, to come in here. Much different than Ravenclaw's." The Ravenclaw one was more open and airy. Plus the roof had a map of the stars he quite liked. This one was a little more airy. But he didn't need to tell her what his had been like. No there had been that dance where all the staff and prefects were tied up, and his common room was easier to get into without comment from the statue. Those were simpler times. "I think I prefer Ravenclaw's, but I'm also probably biased." He had spent many many hours in the confines of the common room. It had been a safe spot from his brother and his pals. Even if they wanted to get into Ravenclaw, Lucas doubted they were clever enough to get past the riddle.

"I can fight hurt." He hadn't really tested that theory out, seeming as usually when he was hurt as a kid he just kept letting the hits come, but he had played injured many times. This wasn't his wand arm, he could still cast spells. But keeping her safe was enough for right now. "Really I need a medic to cast the healing spell. But maybe there is something I could use to wrap around my arm to keep it to my body around here." Then she took his hand and led him over to the windowsill after telling him to sit. She sat and beckoned for him to sit, so he did just that. "I'm pretty sure my collarbone is broken, but that's not awful." It didn't really hurt. But he was also still numb from what he had done. His eyes turned out over the grounds of Hogwarts. No doubt the memories of the night would haunt him if he made it out. "I wonder how long this'll last." he said quietly.