No one ever really noticed Sally Donegan. At school, or at home. She was loved and she had friends... but she was never the first person to be seen, or heard.
When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named returned, and when everyone believed that Dumbledore was a fraud, and Potter was a nut, she believed them. Not that anyone cared. In other families there were conflicts, and separations. Sallys parents either didn't notice, or they didn't care.
When the ministry was taken over and muggle-borns were being rounded up, she helped as many as she could, without much sucess. She was barely seventeen after all. It was her last year at hogwarts! Such a shame.
It was terrible. She felt so useless, and the two horrible new teachers, the carrows, sir and miss, were the two most dreadful and unhuman people she had ever met. And although she was ashamed of the thought, she was glad that her father was a pureblood and her mother a halfblood. She felt safer. She wasn't a slytherin and she wasn't from an old rich family, but at least she was relatively pure. At least she didn't have to live the persecution, and the fear of being sent to askaban to rot.
She was seventeen and so she spent her entire year trying to help the younger students, and trying to convince the more active students that there was nothing heroic about torture. She didn't convince anyone. The DA continued to do their work. In fact she was the one who ended up being convinced, and she joined the DA. She wasn't the most active member, but she did what was asked of her.
Towards the end of the year though, Sally had lost hope. Two of the three leaders of the DA were gone. Luna Lovegood had disappeared at christmas, and Ginny Weasley had never come home after the easter holidays. Why good could they do? The death eaters would win. They were stronger and the DA, after all, was just a group of children.
And then, one day Harry Potter appeared out of the blue. Not just Harry Potter! But his two friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger! There was laughter and rejoicing and everyone was happy. And then... they were informed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his death-eaters were coming to hogwarts. To fight and to kill. Harry Potter mostly, but also anyone else who got in the way.
It happened so fast too. One second Sally was waiting nervously with her wand ready, and then she was fighing, there were curses flying everywere, people were screaming, people were dying, walls were crumbling, and the halls were filled with caos, death and dispair.
All Sally could think was that she didn't want to die. All she could do was try and survive.
But not everyone can survive in a battle. Not everyone can live.
Sally would never celebrate the victory of the battle of Hogwarts. She would never be thanked by Harry Potter. She would never see the Dark Lords limp body be carried away. She would never watch the muggle-borns leave askaban. She would never live a long life.
She got hit by a death curse aimed for Hermione Grangers back.
Hermione didn't notice.