Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than the story line . All rights belong to J.K. Rowling

Chapter Two: Chaos Throughout the Night

As much as Harry wanted to continue his conversation with Hermione, he didn't really feel that he had the time to devote to her that was really called for. Gently separating himself from her, he looked around. "Has anyone else arrived yet?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Not yet. Madam Pomfrey said that the Headmaster had left for the Burrow. He seemed to feel that after my house that would be where Voldemort's Death Eaters would probably strike the hardest."

Harry tended to agree with that assessment. He felt that he would go spare with worry. If anything happened to Ron, or the rest of the Weasleys he didn't know if he could forgive himself. He had to admit that they had been the only real family that he had ever had. Even Sirius, as much as he and Harry had cared about each other, hadn't really been there like the Weasley family had.

He had started pacing by now, the concern evident in his face. Hermione didn't really know what to do, so she joined him, taking his hand gently in her own. She had pledged to him that she would be there for him, and by Merlin she would. He was her best friend and companion. He meant the world to him and she would be damned before she would abandon him.

They walked back and forth in front of the fireplace in the kitchen. It became a comforting pattern for them: back and forth, back and forth, like some twisted metronome. Hermione could tell that the not knowing aspect of it all was beginning to take its toll on Harry. He was close to an emotional collapse as it was, after everything that he had been through in the last month.

Just when the teens thought that they could take no more, something happened. There was a loud, telling crack and Dobby appeared. He was holding the hand of a young girl with long, dirty blonde hair and large, protuberant eyes. Also holding the elf's other hand, was a man that could only be the girl's father. Luna Lovegood had a few scrapes on her face, and her clothing was rather torn up, but otherwise the two of them seemed to be okay. Harry and Hermione rushed to her side, and Hermione threw her arms around the younger girl.

"Oh Luna, we were so scared. I'm so glad that you're alright!" Hermione let out in a rush.

Harry took a moment to look at her father. He was taking in the sight of the kitchen with a reporter's careful eye. Harry thought quickly that he would have to watch the strange looking man. He tried, rather unsuccessfully to squash the thought out of respect for Luna. The man noticed Harry watching him and quickly held out his hand. Harry took it easily. Luna's father had a very strong grip!

"I say, you must be Harry Potter!" he exclaimed. Harry held back a groan. "Luna's told me so much about you. I'm Xenophelius Lovegood, Luna's father. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I must say that you've made a rather large impression on my Luna. Thank you so much for befriending her. I'm afraid that since the accident she hasn't had many friends. It means an awful lot to me, young man." He pumped Harry's hand for a moment and Harry's estimation of the man went up somewhat. Anyone who put their daughter ahead of everything else was alright in his book.

"It was my pleasure, sir," said Harry truthfully. "Luna's a wonderful girl. She keeps us on our toes all the time with her rather unorthodox view points. Makes us think about things that way." He smiled at the man, who beamed at the praise for his daughter.

"Oh, and thank you for the warning, young man. It gave us a chance to shore up the wards around the house. I'm sure that it probably saved our lives." He shuddered for a moment, and seemed to lose a little focus. "What a marvelous manor you have here. I bet there are some wonderful infestations here, Luna," he whispered to his daughter conspiratorially.

He wandered off towards the living room, and Harry let him go. Truth be told he was still worried about his other friends, but he was starting to relax. He barely noticed the crack as Dobby left to go off to another location.

He made his way back to the table and sat in one of the chairs. Hermione and Luna joined him in his silent vigil. If nothing else they shared a companionable silence while waiting for something else to happen.

*0*0*

Dumbledore and Fawkes appeared into a scene of utter chaos. There were spells flying back and forth as Death Eaters and Order members traded hexes and jinxes over and over. Quickly taking in the situation Dumbledore drew his wand and chose a random Death Eater. With a flick of his wand the grass in the garden grew and wrapped itself around the hapless victim, mummifying him quickly. Another quick flick made it so that it was going to be very hard indeed for anyone to get him out of the cocoon.

He strode purposefully into the battle as hexes flew around him.

*0*0*

Ginny crouched down in her parent's bedroom near the window. She was running every healing spell that she had thought to learn from Madam Pomfrey through her head. Unfortunately, she could think of nothing to help her Mum's prone form next to her. She had been hit with a curse early on in the fight. It had sliced right through her shield as if it hadn't even been there. It had to be very powerful magic indeed to do so.

She had managed to get the bleeding stopped from the wound, but her mother was very pale, and appeared to have lost a lot of blood. If they couldn't get out of here soon then she feared that they would be attending at least one funeral, if they got out of here at all that was…

There were two loud cracks and when she looked up Fred and George were there. She let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. There was hope, at last. "Guys, you need to get Mum to St. Mungo's! She's been hit and it looks really bad!"

George looked down and nodded. Deciding to take a chance, he scooped her up in his arms and turned on the spot. As he was doing so the window exploded in, showering all of them with shards of glass. Ginny watched in horror as Fred spun backwards as he was flung over the bed. She let out a scream, half in pain and half in abject terror at the sight. As soon as she was able she jumped over the bed and started applying healing spells to her brother's unconscious form.

As that was going on she failed to notice that the bedroom had been set ablaze! She was so wrapped up in what she was doing that she failed to see the rafter let go above her until the tell-tale sound reached her ears. Looking up she flung herself over her brother in a last ditch attempt to protect him. There was a burst of flame and she saw no more…

*0*0*

Ron had never seen so many Death Eaters. They were everywhere. He fired off stunner after stunner. It was quicker than some of the more powerful hexes that he knew. It was really a moot point. It was just a matter of time before someone got through to him. He was in a poorly defensible position, and his support was for the most part down. His father was still firing hexes, but he was the only one left still with Ron.

He sighed and tried to think, but it was really tough. If he were honest with himself Ron would have to admit that he wasn't a great tactician. He was a master strategist, but that was the big picture. There was a great difference between strategy and tactics. He knew that, but to see it in action was an eye-opener.

He saw the Death Eater aiming for his father. He called out and cast the strongest shield spell that he knew. He let out a sigh of relief as the Death Eater's curse ricocheted off of it. His relief was short lived however, as he felt pain as he had never felt before in his side. Looking down he saw a knife sticking out from between his lower ribs. He sank to his knees as the strength went out of his legs. The last thing that he saw before he blacked out was strangely enough the kindly face of his headmaster staring down at him.

*0*0*

Harry, Hermione and Luna gasped as there was a flash of light and burst of flame. Fawkes had arrived! He deposited Ginny and one of the twins right in front of the trio and flashed back out! Luna quickly had pried Ginny off of her brother and pulled the trembling girl into a comforting hug. Hermione, seeing that Fred was in desperate need of medical attention cast a levitation charm on him and moved him quickly into the next room to see Madam Pomfrey.

Harry didn't have time to do much, for Professor Dumbledore apparated in with Ron clutched to him. He lowered him down and motioned for Harry to help. Harry helped to hold his best mate up while Dumbledore examined the knife wound. It was turning purple, and slightly green. He nodded to Harry, who ignored the fact that Ron was almost twice his size. He scooped Ron up and hurried him in to see the nurse.

Harry had just placed Ron on the couch when there was a loud crack and a couple of shrieks from the kitchen. He ran in to see what was going on. Katie Bell was in the kitchen now with Dobby. Her right arm was hanging limply at her side, and her trousers were torn and covered in blood that oozed from a nasty looking cut on her left leg. She was crouching next to an older woman who was next to her. The woman gave a great heaving shudder and let out a final wheezing breath before relaxing in a tell-tale boneless manner.

Katie looked at the old woman, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. She saw Harry come running into the room. She slowly stood up and moved over to him. He looked into her eyes and saw the sorrow and grief that was evident there.

"I… I'm sorry, Katie," he said slowly. She surprised him by reaching out and pulling him into an embrace with her left arm.

"It's alright Harry. Your warning got most of my family away. My Auntie couldn't apparate any more. She was old and frail, but she put up a good fight, took a couple of Death Eaters with her. I owe you a lot, Harry. If it weren't for you, we might have all died." She let him go and stumbled on into the next room.

Harry let out a sigh and pulled out his wand. He levitated the body of Katie's aunt into another adjoining room. He placed a preserving spell on the old woman, and conjured a sheet to cover her with. He made sure that she was in a natural position and closed her eyes. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do.

He staggered back out into the kitchen. It was going to be a long night.

It turned out to be a very long night. People came in all throughout the night, in various states of injury. Neville Longbottom was carried off on a stretcher, his sucking chest wound a grim reminder of the reality of what could happen to people when Voldemort wanted them dead.

Some, such as Cho Chang escaped without injury. The unfortunate thing, at least in Harry's mind, was that this seemed to refresh the attraction that Cho had experienced towards Harry during the last school year. He finally had to tell her to leave him alone or he was going to hex her to get her to stop following him around.

She wasn't alone. Hannah Abbot seemed to have the same fan-girl type devotion after the night's events, and strangely enough, so did Seamus Finnegan. Harry thought that this might just be from the shock of living through what was explained to be a major attack in Ireland.

*0*0*

The long night wore on, until by Harry's count almost everyone was accounted for, but he couldn't help but feel that he was missing someone. As Dobby deposited the Creevey family safe and sound in the kitchen Harry decided that he had to know how things were going.

"Dobby, how many more?" he asked.

"Dobby is thinking three, Mr. Harry Potter. He is just going off again." He made to snap his fingers, but as he did so, Harry grabbed his shoulder. He opened his eyes and they were in the ruins of a family home. He watched in horror as a jet of green light made it's way towards a slender, dark-skinned young woman in a pale blue sari.

As he watched an older gentleman dove in front of her. The curse struck him square in the chest. The young woman let out a scream as her father fell to the floor, his lifeless eyes staring up at her.

Harry felt something snap in him. He leveled his wand and screamed out hex. A streak of red light flew out and struck the Death eater in the chest. There was a loud explosion and the Death Eater's bodily parts went in many different directions. The head landed, oddly enough at Harry's feet. He reached down and pulled the mask off. It was Antonin Dolohov! It was the man who had struck down Hermione at the Department of Mysteries! Harry shrunk the head and placed it into his pocket. He needed to let his friend know that she had been avenged.

He stumbled over to the young woman. It was definitely one of the Patil twins. She was crouched over her father's body, sobbing softly. Harry looked around. He didn't see the other twin. He gently shook the girl's shoulder to gain her attention. She looked up. It was Padma.

"Where's your sister?" he asked.

She pointed off into the next room. Harry hurried in to find Parvati clutching the body of her mother. There was nothing that could be done, as the older woman had died a while before.

"Parvati, we have to go," he said softy. As she looked up he motioned to the kitchen. "I'll get her, don't worry. Go and help your sister." As she hesitated he motioned for her to leave again. "Go!" he hissed. He levitated her mother's body to show her that he was serious. They made their way out to the other room.

Padma was there and already had their father covered and ready for transport. They all huddled together and Dobby brought them back to the ancestral home of the Ancient and Noble Black Family.

Author's Note: One dear reviewer has pleaded with me not to have Hermione get together with Ginny, since I have made her prefer girls. Not to worry, it shan't happen. While I have nothing against Hr/G stories, this one will not be going in that direction. I have other plans for Hermione. Since this is directly after OotP, Ginny is with Dean. I am going to keep that little piece of canon, since it fits in well with my nefarious plans (key eerie laugh)...