'No – no – no!' someone was shouting. 'No! Fred! No!'

And this is what a wild-looking brunette woke to, in her sooty pyjamas and single slipper. Bright blue eyes peered out from among the wreckage, silently surveying the area before panic could set in. It came soon enough when something beneath her moved, and she let out a startled shriek, drawing the attention of a furious redhead with a tear-streaked face who scrambled for something, moving away from the body of another redhead, and yet another appeared, trying to pull him back. Panicking, the brunette backed up, falling off of whatever was under her, leaving it free to rise. It was a man in a black cloak, with an all-too-familiar mask on. The brunette gasped for breath, fear encompassing her as her rational mind flew out the window.

'No!' she shrieked, beginning to sob. 'No!'

Nearby another shriek sounded in a slightly higher pitch.

'Spider!'

It came from near a wall with a gaping hole in it, and brick red hair stood out among the darkness. Sure enough, reaching through the wall as it searched for purchase to pull itself through, was a gigantic spider. A brunette boy with crooked glasses, with his friend, who had been trying to hold back what might've been his brother, shouted a spell and shot the spider back. A girl with light brown hair hurried to move the girl in checkered pyjamas, no slippers to be found, wondering where the grey-eyed girl had come from but knowing not to question anything when they just needed to act.

The one who'd scrambled for his wand had also shouted a spell, knocking the cloaked figure down and on top of the other odd girl with her blue eyes and now, no slippers. He shoved the stunned man off of her, and yanked her to her feet, ignoring how she cried out in pain as he pushed her towards his younger brother. His eyes caught something through the smoke, and he let out a bull-like roar.

'ROOKWOOD!' With this he sprinted off towards a towering man chasing a couple of much shorter people, leaving the trio of all-too-familiar faces to deal with the girls that were clearly out of place.

The brunette had stumbled over to the body, whose eyes were open and a ghost of a smile was on his face. A choked sob broke free, 'Fred,' she said, but she didn't have much time to grasp the situation before her. All too soon the boy with glasses, Harry, a whisper reminded her, had begun to move the body. Then the remaining redhead, Ron, again the whisper provided, hurried to help. The fellow brunette, Hermione, she knew now, dashed forward with the grey-eyed girl's wrist in one hand and soon the blue-eyed girl's wrist in the other. They made their way to a niche, a broken suit of armor nearby, and tucked Fred's body away.

'Marianne, leave him!' the girl with brick red hair cried as the brunette, Marianne, twisted out of Hermione's grasp and made her way forward to Fred. 'He's – He's gone!' she told her shocked friend.

Marianne turned, looking to her friend with pleading eyes. 'Kenna-' she began, but the other girl, Kenna, shook her head.

'No!' she argued, and the trio watched in confusion before leaping back into action, Harry grabbing Marianne's wrist and yanking her after Hermione and Ron when they dashed behind a tapestry.

Ron, seeing a chance to go, tried to run out. But Kenna was faster. She tackled him, his head cracking against the wall, Hermione gasping and Harry wincing while Marianne fumbled with something she'd picked up. Hermione's words struggled to reach Ron, to talk him down from his rage and grief, then the witch turned to Harry and told him to find Voldemort, which Harry quickly agreed to do. Kenna let Ron down from the wall, and left him to Hermione, hurrying over to Marianne, who'd begun to leave the little bit of safety provided by the tapestry.

Yanking her back, Kenna growled angrily. 'What do you think you're doing?'

Marianne looked up, then back down to the object in her hands. 'Fighting.'

Her one word response surprised Kenna until she saw what was in her best friend's hands. Her grey eyes widened, then shot back up to meet blue ones. 'Where-'

'I'm going to try it,' Marianne cut Kenna off, shaking with adrenaline or fear, she couldn't tell.

Kenna looked over her shoulder, then back to Marianne. The trio was occupied, and it did seem to be a good time to run. It wasn't like hiding would keep them alive…right? Usually it was Kenna to rush into something, Marianne to talk her back, but the roles were reversed now, and Kenna didn't know what to say. So she looked at her best friend, face hardening, and gave a short nod.

The girls took off, biting back yelps of pain and trying not to care where they were stepping because that meant they'd be preoccupied and unable to defend themselves. It was not hard to find a cloaked figure, attacking some students that were firing off what meager spells they knew in an attempt to protect themselves.

'Confringo!' she shouted, the first words to come to mind. The spell shot from the wand, and when it made contact with the cloaked figure, an explosion occurred.

The students shrieked, trying to run away, and Kenna shot forward, Marianne on her heels, to stop the students from running into more trouble. When they were halted, they shrieked again, but listened in fear as Kenna told them the spell, and that it would hopefully be enough to keep them safe. With that she let them go, meeting back up with Marianne, who had cast another spell, stilling the cloaked figure. Kenna wasn't sure she wanted to know what spell her best friend had used, so she swallowed the question and directed Marianne in another direction where she'd seen more running figures.

This process continued until a cold voice echoed through the ears of all those in Hogwarts and the surrounding area.

'You have fought,' said the high, cold voice, 'valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

'Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, on by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

'Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.

'You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

'I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.'

Stunned by the voice, Marianne and Kenna stood among the rubble, until Marianne's knees gave out. Things had gone unnaturally silent, but the air remained thick. The girls kneeled on the ground together for a while, the events of the night coming crashing down on their heads and leaving them unable to speak, although tears streaked through the grime on their faces, sniffling and hiccupping, ever so soft, the only noises coming from them. The spell was broken by hoarse sobbing, and Marianne's head shot up before she quickly scrambled to her feet, Kenna struggling to follow as the brunette hurried amongst the wreck that'd been made of this part of the castle they were in.

The redhead from earlier, the one who'd taken off after a man named Rookwood, came into sight, kneeling by a body. It was Fred, the girls realized, recognizing the area. The amount of noise they made startled the redhead, Percy, the voice came back, and he turned to them with anger and grief in his eyes. He pointed his wand at them, and began shouting.

'What did you do to him? Shouldn't you be back with your Dark Lord? I'll ki-'

'Shut up!' Kenna shrieked, hands balling into fists. 'We don't even want to be here! Do you think we chose to appear, to land on the- the-' words were failing her, and Marianne jumped in.

'Let's get him to the Great Hall, Percy,' she suggested, each word more void of emotion than the one before it. 'Your family needs to see him.'

Percy snapped his mouth shut angrily, then began to stubbornly try to move Fred's body on his own. With a roll of her eyes Kenna moved forward and lifted Fred's leg's with an 'oomph', Percy with his arms under Fred's.

'Lumos,' Marianne whispered, lighting the wand and giving them a bit more light to go by. It was an hour or so before dawn, yet things were practically pitch black. They stumbled along, Marianne beside Kenna and Percy directing them to the Great Hall. They passed through the Entrance Hall, which was deserted and stained with blood. 'Nox.' With the wand extinguished, they entered the room.

The house tables no longer took their places in the Great Hall, instead the room was crowded with people, the survivors in groups and the injured being treated by Madam Pomfrey and a small group of witches and wizards assisting her. Marianne led the way to the row in the middle of the hall, the ceiling dark but everything easily seen. A woman, Molly Weasley, ran forward when she spotted Percy, followed closely by a man, Arthur Weasley. She spoke with relief at first, asking Percy who the two girls in their pyjamas were and why they were barefoot, until she looked down and saw the body of Fred, unmoving and death clear as day in his eyes.

A flurry of motion led to them laying Fred down in the row before Mrs. Weasley collapsed on the ground, sobbing into the chest of her dead son. They were soon joined by the rest of the Weasley clan as they trickled in, George ending up by his twin's head, crying as much as his mother. Mr. Weasley kneeled by his wife, rubbing her back soothingly as he quietly cried. It was Ginny who broke things when she noticed the two girls standing so near, clearly out of place and the brunette clutching a familiar wand.

Stomping over, Ginny reached for Fred's wand in Marianne's grasp. But Marianne held it close in a defensive manner.

'Give it back!' she demanded, drawing the attention of her family. 'That's not yours!'

'Well I'm using it!' Marianne snapped, eyes narrowing. Kenna, worried for her friend, took up a more menacing stance next to Marianne.

Percy was the next to come forward, anger clear. 'You have no right-' he began, only to be cut off by Kenna.

'Well it's not like he can use it!' she bit out, hiccupping. 'And we don't have wands of our own, so deal with it!' In truth, she wasn't too pleased to find out Marianne was using Fred's wand. But her friend was resourceful, and she knew that when worst came to worst, that they'd have to do what they'd have to do.

'Well you're not using it!' Percy argued, Ginny lunging forward for the wand again.

Marianne sidestepped, then dashed over to hide behind George, who seemed rather out of it. She clutched the wand, holding onto it as if it was all she had left. In fact, that was how she felt. That besides Kenna, all she had left was the wand – Fred's wand – and it was the only thing she had to protect herself with.

'Marianne…' Kenna sighed, shuffling over while the Weasleys, sans George, looked on unhappily. 'Just give it back.'

'No!' Marianne shot back, shaking her head. 'I'm not going to die here!'

Confusion flashed across faces, but not across Kenna's. She squatted down by Marianne and George, but instead of addressing Marianne, Kenna addressed George.

'Ask for the wand back,' she told him, and he looked at her in confusion. It was like he'd ceased functioning upon discovering the lifeless body of his twin, and Kenna took a deep breath, trying to remain patient. 'She won't listen to anyone else, she has Fred's wand.'

George visibly flinched at his twin's name being spoken, then looked over at Marianne, who Kenna had pointed at. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. Words failed him in his grief, and he was suddenly struggling to keep his balance when Marianne lunged forward and hugged him. He looked over at Kenna for help, who tried to pluck the wand from Marianne's hand. But she wouldn't let it go still, and Kenna sighed and shrugged, turning to the Weasleys.

'You'll just have to wait,' she decided, crossing her arms. 'Now then, I'm off to find someone.' Kenna began to walk away, then paused and looked over her shoulder. 'Don't let Marianne do anything stupid!' she added after the thought struck her, then she jogged off to find her favorite character in the whole wide universe created by…by…well, whatever her name had been.

People mourned, and the mourning continued when the trio, consisting of Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered. Hermione embraced Ginny, Percy and Ron cried over Fred, and Harry disappeared. Marianne waited anxiously for Kenna's return, a tight hold on George's arm and on Fred's wand. At last the girl with the brick red hair returned, a boy with blonde hair being towed behind her. He looked nervous, so nervous, and it took Ron's hiss to identify him, beating the whisper the Marianne had come to know in her head.

'Malfoy!' Ron hissed, having to be held back by Percy, while Ginny and Hermione shook as they tried to restrain themselves.

Marianne released George at last, stumbling to her feet and rushing over to Kenna and Draco. 'Is there a reason you went to find him?' she asked, although there was no malice in her voice.

'Of course!' Kenna chirped. After a confused and curious stare from Marianne, she elaborated. 'I'm going to change that awkward scene! Remember it? Do ya? Do ya?'

A look of confusion planted itself on Marianne's face for a good minute, then it was wiped away by realization and humour. Coughing as she tried not to laugh, she nodded. 'Oh, yeah.'

Kenna beamed, and Draco looked on in confusion.

'Can I go now?' Draco asked, trying to tug his arm out of Kenna's grasp.

'Nope!' Kenna and Marianne decided in unison, leaving Draco looking slightly crestfallen.

'Bloody hell, no one wants him here!' Ron complained, although his mouth quickly snapped shut when Kenna turned and glared at him.

It was going to be a long visit.