A/N: Sorry if it seems like I've hurried through the Battle in this chapter...it will be in the next chapter, possibly the one after that too! It's deliberate as it makes the whole siltation even more panicked and as there's a lot of changes, it hopefully will all make sense. I didn't mention the whole Snape fight in this chapter – you know it happened, but it doesn't fit with this fic, so hopefully it's not too annoying!

DISCLAIMER: * says monotonously * I do not own Harry Potter or any of the related characters, locations and situations mentioned throughout this chapter. The only stuff I am responsible for, is changing it so that Draco's there!

As usual, the stuff in Italics are from the book.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6 – What Brave Little Soldiers.

"Neville - what the – how -?"

But Neville had spotted Ron and Hermione, and with yells of delight was hugging them too. The longer Harry looked at Neville, the worse he appeared: one of his eyes was swollen, yellow and purple, there were gouge marks on his face, and his general air of unkemptness suggested that he had been living rough, Nevertheless, his battered visage shone with happiness as he let go of Hermione and said again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"

He explained to them how he'd received his various war-wounds and then flinched, and visibly jumped back a few steps until he was pressed up against the portrait of Ariana again, his eyes wide in shock,"Uh…Harry?"

"Yep, Neville?"

"Why's Malfoy here?"

Harry twirled around and saw that Malfoy was standing closer to Aberforth, as far away from the newly reunited Gryffindors as possible, and was currently gazing around the room with a look of extreme boredom on his face.

"He's on our side, Neville." Ron surprised them all by saying, "He's been…helping us.

Neville stared at Draco for the longest moment, before nodding his acceptance and motioning for them to follow him through the gap behind the portrait. They followed him down a long, winding, dirty passageway. Neville was telling them about the new 'reformed' Hogwarts –

"It's been…well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore," said Neville. They're in charge of all the discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."

"Like Umbridge?"

"Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do."

"Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defence Against The Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practise the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions-"

"What?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione's united voices echoed up and down the passage. Draco merely nodded. He'd expected nothing less; after all, he'd been subjected to the Cruciatus Curse daily when the Dark Lord had been at the Manor. He was the youngest there, so it was quite common for them to vent their frustration out on him.

"Yeah," said Neville. "That's how I got this one," he pointed to a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."

Draco's heart leapt when he heard his friends names, "Vince and Greg?" he demanded, "They're still alive? I thought…"

Neville gave Draco a funny look, "Yeah. They're still alive." He glanced at Harry, "You're right about him, Harry. I think he really is on our side, else he'd know about the others. Crabbe and Goyle are Death Eaters now. Most of Slytherin are. Have you got the mark, Malfoy?"

Draco gulped, glanced at the others, before nodding. "I'm not a Death Eater though, Longbottom."

"I know. Just wanted to check." He moved away from Draco to stand beside Harry and continued to talk with him before Ron interrupted, with his usual bewildered look in place.

"But," said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't – aren't we heading straight back into Hogwarts?"

"Course," said Neville. "You'll see. We're here."

They turned a corner and there ahead on them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through. As Harry followed, he head Neville call out to unseen people: "Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"

As Harry emerged into the room beyond the passage, there were several screams and yells-

"HARRY!"

"It's Potter, it's POTTER!"

"Ron!"

"Hermione!"

Then suddenly, it was as if someone had stolen everyone's ability to speak, as a large wave of silence filtered through the room as Draco stepped through the door. His eyes visibly widened as saw the massive number of people that had accumulated in the room, and he scanned it looking for green and silver, but only seeing the colours from the other houses – the majority of it red, and every person in the room glared at him, then spun to Harry with a look of pure shock on their faces.

"HARRY? THAT'S MALFOY!"

"Why's he here?"

"Yeah, shouldn't he be out there? Torturing the first years or something?"

"How dare he show his face…he killed Dumbledore! The nerve! Why, I oughta-"

"GUYS!" bellowed Harry angrily, "Malf-Draco's on our side! He's not a Death Eater, ok?"

"Hey, Harry," Seamus asked, strolling up to him, "Since when did you start calling him 'Draco'?"

Draco growled and charged down the steps until he was in front of Seamus, the small Irish man coming up to his chest. The boy gulped and glanced up into the fiery eyes of Draco. "I'll have you know, Finnegan, that he's been calling me that since I saved his life! And Granger and Weasley, so if you don't mind-"

"Saved their lives? Yeah right." Seamus said sceptically.

"He's right, Seamus. We got captured by Death Eaters, and he saved us." Dean interrupted, suddenly appearing and was attacked in a tight bear hug by his best friend.

"Well, if you say he's ok, Dean…" Seamus shrugged.

There was suddenly a massive influx of questions; as the group was bombarded from all angles. They nodded that yes, they had broken into Gringotts, and yes, they did escape on a dragon. Suddenly, Harry was overcome with an agonising pain in his scar, and ignoring the frightened shouts of the others, he looked at Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. Time was running out fast: if Voldemort chose to visit Hogwarts next they would miss their chance,

"We need to get going," he said, and their expression told him that they understood.

"What are we going to do, then, Harry?" asked Seamus. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" repeated Harry. He was exercising all his will power to prevent himself from succumbing again to Voldemort's rage: his scar was still burning. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione, Draco and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

Nobody was laughing or whooping any more. Neville looked confused.

"What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"

"We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain, unaware his action was copied simultaneously by another in the room. "There's something important we need to do –"

"What is it?"

"I – I can't tell you."

There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted.

"Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-who, right?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Then we'll help you-"

"As much as Potter would appreciate your help," A cold voice drawled, "I do believe we really need to get going. This is Potter's mission, we're just along for the help. Granger's the brains, Weasley's the…brawn?" He screwed up his face, "And I guess I have my uses. So, if you lot don't mind-" He drawled before being interrupted by George.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" said George.

"There isn't one" said Harry, still disorientated by the sudden appearance of all these people – for Luna, Michael Corner, Fred, George, Lee Jordan, Cho and Ginny had just come through the door – unable to take everything in while his scar was still burning so fiercely.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind," said Fred.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane-"

"We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though-"

"You haven't got a wand -?" began Seamus.

Ron turned suddenly to Harry.

"Why can't they help?"

"What?"

"They can help." He dropped his voice and said, so that none of them could hear but Hermione, who stood between them. "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."

Nodding in resignation, Harry turned to the sea of students, and taking a deep breath, trying to summarise the whole Horcrux situation – without revealing that the object in question was a Horcrux; only that they really needed in order to overthrow Voldemort.

Luna explained about Ravenclaw's diadem, filling Harry with hope – a feeling he hadn't experienced in the longest time. She led him out of the Room of Requirement and up the stairs to the Ravenclaw Common Room where they faced the House portrait.

"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"

Harry stared dumbfounded at the portrait, then at Luna who was gazing at it with a dreamy expression upon her pale face. He now wished he'd thought to bring one of the other with him – Hermione with her logic skills would flourish in this situation, as would Draco. Ron would probably stare at him with his usual bewildered expression, Harry thought with a fond grin, but at least they'd be in it together.

"No, I see what you mean," Luna said seriously. "Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."

"Well reasoned," said the voice, and the door swung open.

The deserted Ravenclaw Common Room was a wide, circular room, airier than Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue and bronze skills: by day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight blue carpet.

Brought out his thoughts of the unique beauty of the room, Harry approached the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw and read aloud the inscription on her tiara:

"'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure'."

"Which makes you pretty skint, witless." said a cackling voice.

Harry whirled around, slipped off the plinth and landed on the floor. The sloping-shouldered finger of Alecto Carrow was standing before him, and even as Harry raised his wand, she pressed a stubby forefinger to the skull and snake branded on her forearm.

OOOOOOO

The pain of his burning scar overtook him so suddenly that his vision was blurred and he curled up, screaming quietly. He was brought out his agony when a loud bang echoed throughout the room, and once his vision cleared, he looked up into the mildly interested face of Luna, who admitted that she'd stunned Alecto Carrow and that the noise was a lot louder than she'd expected.

She was right – the booming noise had alerted everyone in the nearby vicinity and he quickly grabbed Luna and shoved her under the invisibility cloak, instantly joining her as they huddled together with their wands raised.

Yelling outside the common room announced that Alecto's brother Amycus was attempting to enter the room but was being thwarted by the portrait – much to Professor McGonagall's barely contained amusement, it seemed.

The door finally opened (once McGonagall had been forced to answer the portrait's question), and Amycus Carrow charged over to his sister before turning on McGonagall.

"It's not a case of what you'll permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."

And he spat in her face.

Harry pulled the cloak off of himself, raised his wand and said, "You shouldn't have done that."

As Amycus spun round, Harry shouted, "Crucio!"

Harry flinched at the Death Eater's screams penetrated his mind, and he turned to face the shocked Head of his house. He hurriedly explained to her about the diadem, and how he really needed to locate it. With a panicked look in her eyes, she eventually consented, and declared that she would unite with the other professors in securing the school against Voldemort for as long as possible.

Harry looked at her fondly for a brief moment, before heading back to the Room of Requirement as fast as his feet would carry him, before ordering everyone out and informing them of the latest developments. The students filtered out the room and down the many flights of stairs to the main hall, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco to stare at each other.

"Right." said Ron, rubbing his hands together, "What's next then?"

OOOO

They hurried down the stairs just as the announcement of evacuations was made, and McGonagall was currently explaining the protection around Hogwarts-

But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it had one commanded, it might have lain dormant there for centuries.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded.

"You have until midnight."

The silence continued, as Harry spun wordlessly to Ron and Hermione, who were staring at them in was hyperventilating, panting breaths escaping from quivering lips and his fists were clenched and shaking at his sides. Reaching out to him and drawing him into the huddled group, he murmured, "I have an idea."

Hermione and Ron instantly nodded, still pale-faced. They'd agree with him no matter what, if it brought about the downfall of Voldemort. Harry, however, was still extremely worried about Draco – he was still gasping for breath despite being close to the trio. "Draco?" he asked tentatively, clutching the blonde's shoulder.

"I..." he gulped. "Sorry...it was like I was back. Back at the Manor." He shook his head as if to rid it of the morbid thoughts, "What can I do?"

Harry grimaced as he furiously rubbed his scar again, "Um. I'm going to go look for the diadem. Can you guys try and find something to destroy the remainders with?"

The trio nodded resolutely and hurried away together. Harry stared after them for the moment, basking in the memory of Draco running alongside Hermione and Ron, before he left the Great Hall in search of Ravenclaw's diadem.

OOOOO

After an extremely peculiar conversation with the Grey Lady of Ravenclaw, where she eventually revealed where the Diadem was hidden – in the Room of Hidden Things, he ran back into Hermione and Ron who thrust a pile of Basilisk fangs at him. He stared wordlessly at them for a second and then suddenly Ron and Hermione were locked at the lips-

"Is this the moment?" Harry asked weakly, and when nothing happened except that Ron and Hermione gripped each other still more firmly and swayed on the spot, he raised his voice. "OI! There's a war going on here!"

Ron and Hermione broke apart, their arms still around each other.

"I know, mate," said Ron, who looked as though he had recently been hit on the back of the head with a Bludger, "so it's now or never, isn't it?"

"Never mind that, what about the Horcrux?" Harry shouted. "D'you think you could just – just hold it in until we've got the diadem?"

"Yeah – right – sorry - " said Ron, and he and Hermione set up gathering up fangs, both pink in the face.

"Hey, Harry..." Hermione suddenly said, "Where's Draco?"

Harry stopped dead, halfway up one of the staircases and he spun round to face them, horror-struck, "I thought he was with you!"

"He spooked out in the chamber, once he saw the Basilisk," Hermione said solemnly, eyes wide, "Once we got back out of the bathroom, he was with us, and then...he wasn't. I thought he'd come down here."

"You don't think..." Ron trailed off, a curious expression on his face and he bit his lip. "You don't think he's gone off with the Slytherin's...do you?"

"He's on our side, Ron!" Harry hissed fiercely.

"Yeah, but they're his friends, Harry! Pansy and Blaise are dead, he's maybe gone to find Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione suggested. "We'll find him, Harry."

OOOO

I need the place where everything is hidden, Harry begged of it, inside his head, and the door materialised on their third run past.

The furore of the battle died the moment they crossed the threshold and closed the door behind them: all was silent. They were in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students.

"And he never realised anyone could get in?" said Ron, his voice echoing in the silence.

"He thought he was the only one," said Harry. "Too bad for him I've had to hide stuff in my time...this way," he added. "I think it's down here."

He passed the stuff troll and the Vanishing Cabinet Draco Malfoy had mended last year with such disastrous consequences, then hesitated, looking up and down aisles of junk; he could not remember where to do next...

"Accio diadem," cried Hermione in desperation, but nothing flew through the air towards them. It seemed that, like the vaults at Gringotts, the room would not yield its hidden objects that easily.

"Let's split up," Harry told the other two, "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here..."

They sped off up adjacent aisles; Harry could hear the others' footsteps echoing through the towering piles of junk, of bottles, hats, crates, chairs, books, weapons, broomsticks, bats...

"Somewhere near here," Harry muttered to himself. "Somewhere...somewhere."

Deeper and deeper into the labyrinth he went, looking for objects he recognised from his one previous trip into the room. His breath was loud in his ears, and then his very soul seemed to shiver: there it was, right ahead, the blistered old cupboard in which he had hidden his old Potions book, and on top of it, the pock-marked stone warlock wearing a dusty, old wig and what looked like an ancient, discoloured tiara.

He had already stretched out his hand, though he remained ten feet away, when a voice behind him said, "Hold it, Potter."

He skidded to a halt and turned round. Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him, shoulder to shoulder, wands pointing right at Harry. Through the small space between their jeering faces, he saw Draco Malfoy.

"Stop right there, Potter." Draco raised his wand up between Harry's eyes, shaking as he suddenly looked away from Harry's narrowed eyes, "Lower...your wand."

"Draco..."

"Draco?" scoffed Crabbe, with an uncharacteristic grin stretching out on his chubby face as he turned around to stare at the smaller boy, "Since when do he call you 'Draco', Malfoy?"

Draco's eyes went impossibly wide and his jaw clamped shut. He furiously shook his head at Crabbe and Goyle, refusing to look at Harry who was staring at him in shock.

"Malfoy." Crabbe repeated menacingly.

Draco's lips flew open and he stuttered out, "Uh...I..." He blinked rapidly. It was clear the situation was spiralling completely out of his control.

"Who's side are you on, Malfoy?" Goyle grunted. "You ain't so powerful anymore. If you're on his side, you're done for. Your parents are done for."

Draco stepped forward, his wand hand wavering as he moved his wand from Harry to focus on Goyle. "Are..." He licked his lips and coughed, "Are they..."

"They're alive. Just." Goyle chucked darkly, "Dunno why. They was really hurt, hurt bad."

Draco audibly gulped, and he turned to look at Harry and his eyes widened, before he turned back to face Crabbe and Goyle, his thin body trembling. "What..."

"Who's side are you on, Malfoy?" Crabbe roared loudly, causing Draco to flinch violently. We're gonna take Potter."

"N-no."

"Oh, so you're gonna do it? I don't think so." Crabbe chuckled.

"Harry?" Ron's voice echoed suddenly from the other side of the wall to Harry's right. "Are you talking to someone?"

With a whip-like movement, Crabbe pointed his wand at the fifty-foot mountain of old furniture, of old books and roves and unidentifiable junk and shouted, "Descendo!"

The wall began to totter, then crumbled into the aisle next door where Ron stood.

"Ron!" Harry bellowed, as somewhere out of sight Hermione screamed, and Harry heard innumerable objects crashing to the floor on the other side of the destabilised wall: he pointed his wand at the rampart, cried "Finite!" and it steadied.

"No!" shouted Malfoy, finally finding his voice as he made to grab Crabbe's wand, "You'll kill us all!"

"Might be better for most of us," Crabbe mocked, "The Dark Lord's gonna kill Potter, and you're already dead. If Potter don't kill you for being a traitor, then we will."

"But..." Malfoy stuttered, face draining of all colour.

"Aww, did Potter think you were friends?" Crabbe cackled loudly, then his grin widened as he stared at Draco, "Or did you think you was friends? You should know Malfoy – you have no friends. We never liked you."

Draco gasped quietly, and raised his wand and shifted it from Crabbe to Goyle and back again. It was clear he was panicking.

"Did we hurt your feelings?" Goyle giggled, "Too bad. Crucio!"

Draco's screams bounced off the walls of the cavernous room, and he sank to the floor on his hands and knees, gazing up at Goyle through his platinum fringe.

"Get used to it, Malfoy. You make it out here alive, the Dark Lord's gonna do much worse than that to you." he said ominously.

Draco groaned before slowly pushing himself up off the floor, grey eyes flickering back to gaze at Harry, before glaring menacingly at Goyle. "Leave me alone."

"Harry?" shouted Ron again from the other side of the junk wall. "What's going on?"

"'Harry'?" mimicked Crabbe. "What's going – no, Potter! Crucio!"

Harry had lunged for the tiara; Crabbe's curse had missed him but hit the stone burst, which flew into the air; the diadem soared upwards and then dropped out of sight in the mass of objects on which the bust had rested.

"STOP!" Malfoy shouted at Crabbe, his voice echoing through the enormous room. "The Dark Lord want him alive-"

"So? I'm not killing him, am I?" yelled Crabbe, throwing off Malfoy's restraining arm, "but if I can, I will, the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what's the diff-?"

A jet of scarlet shot past Harry by inches: Hermione had run round the corner behind him and sent a Stunning Spell straight at Crabbe's head. It only missed because Malfoy pulled him out of the way.

"It's that Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!"

Harry saw Hermione dive aside and his fury that Crabbe had aimed to kill wiped all else from his mind. He shot a stunning spell at Crabbe, who lurched out of the way, knocking Malfoy's wand out of his hand; it rolled out of sight beneath a mountain of broken furniture and boxes.

"Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" Malfoy yelled at Crabbe and Goyle, who were both aiming at Harry: their split second's hesitation was all Harry needed.

"Expelliarmus!"

Goyle's wand flew out of his hand and disappeared into the bulwark of objects beside him: Goyle leapt foolishly on the spot, trying to retrieve it; Malfoy jumped out of range of Hermione's second Stunning Spell and Ron, appearing suddenly at the end of the aisle, shot a full Body-Bind Curse at Crabbe , which narrowly missed.

Crabbe wheeled around and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" again.

Ron leapt out of sight to avoid the jet of green light, The wandless Malfoy cowered behind a three-legged wardrobe as Hermione charged towards them, hitting Goyle with a Stunning Spell as she came.

"It's somewhere here!" Harry yelled at her, pointing at the pile of junk into which the old tiara had fallen. "Look for it while I go help R-"

"HARRY!" she screamed.

A roaring, billowing noise behind him gave him a moment's warning. He turned and saw both Ron and Crabbe running as hard as they could up the aisle towards them.

"Like it hot, scum?" roared Crabbe as he ran.

But he seemed to have no control over what he had done. Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.

Harry tried to cast Aguamenti at the flames – but the water evaporated instantly He spun around, searching in a panic for her friends, and saw Ron and Hermione only just behind him. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had vanished – seemingly into thin air. Harry cast his eyes around as he ran, searching for a flash on blonde – but none appeared.

The trio were backed into a corner – seemingly trapped. Scanning for an escape and seeing none, he turned to his best friends in horror, only to see Ron holding three broomsticks with a smile on his face. There was still hope – they could survive this.

Launching himself into the air, followed closely by Ron and Hermione, they flew high above the towering inferno, piles of furniture and old belongings quickly turning to dust from the intense heat. As they neared the door, Harry heard a pitiful human scream from the depths of the flames, and turned his harshly trying to locate the owner.

"Draco..." he breathed in horror as he saw them:

Malfoy with his arms around the unconscious Goyle, the pair of them perched on a fragile tower of perched desks, and Harry dived. Malfoy saw him coming, and raised one arm, but even as Harry grasped it he knew at once that it was no good: Goyle was too heavy and Malfoy's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's-

"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice, and as a great, flaming Chimaera bore down upon them he and Hermione tried to grasp Goyle's hand, but he was too heavy – even with their combined weight trying to lug him onto their broom, and as he reached out, he slipped, and fell down to the fiery depths of the floor below as Draco screamed after him as he clutched onto Harry.

Harry, momentarily deafened, turned away from the flames and dived downwards, just managing to catch the diadem in amongst the flames. Swerving to dodge the burning heat, the group managed to slip out of the door and suddenly, they were in the corridor, on their backs, gasping and retching.

Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who was crouched against the wall, sitting down as he looped his arms around his knees, burrowed his sooty head into his arms, and his shoulder began to shake. Hermione and Ron were embracing, Hermione was brushing ashes out of Ron's hair as she kissed him on the nose. "We're ok, we're ok," she murmured softly as Ron burrowed his head into her shoulder.

Giving them some peace, Harry made his way over to Draco, and lowered himself onto the ground. There was no reaction from the shaking blonde, so Harry tentatively called out, "Draco?"

"They're dead." Draco whispered hoarsely, his voice muffled from underneath his arms. "Vince and Greg are dead."

Harry reached out an hand to place on a trembling shoulder, "I know, I'm sorry."

"I don't...I don't know why they turned against me. I tried to bring them over, Harry. I did."

Harry smiled sadly. What Draco had admitted to, Harry could say the same thing about the Slytherin. "I know. Just...what happened in there, Draco?" He asked cautiously, not noticing Hermione and Ron pick up the crumbling diadem and stare at each other in shock.

"I...I had to let them believe I was on there side, or they would have killed us all. Now they're dead, and I never got to apologise." He sniffed wetly.

"Harry! Look!" Ron interrupted, glancing only briefly at the situation on the floor, "The Horcrux...the fire destroyed it, Harry!"

"But of course!" Hermione said in awe, "Fiendfyre!"

"Care to share with the rest of the class, Hermione?" Harry said dully, taking in Hermione's ecstatic expression.

"Fiendfyre – cursed fire – it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared to use it, it's so dangerous. How did Crabbe know how to -?"

"Must've learned from the Carrows," said Harry grimly.

"Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," said Ron, whose hair like Hermione's was singed, and whose face was blackened, "If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quiet sorry he was dead."

A low growl from Draco reminded them of his presence. "Don't talk about him like that!" The blonde snapped, lifting himself off the floor to glare at Ron.

"No-one asked your opinion, traitor!" Ron snarled maliciously, "By all rights, you should be dead too! He tried to kill us, so I'll talk about him how I damn well please!"

"Look, Weasley-" Draco began desperately before he was interrupted by a furious red-head.

"Who's side are you even on, Malfoy? Neither side wants you, so you just keep floating between the two! Make up your bloody mind, you traitor!"

Draco's mouth slammed shut and his face went ghostly white. "Weasley. I've just lost one of my best friends. Someone I've known for my whole life. Can you please just yell at me when all this is...over, please?

The group stared at each other for a long moment, the silence deafening despite the loud booms sounding out from around them; the flashing lights and explosions mingled with the shouts and screams of all the witches and wizards in battle.

Harry looked around and his heart seemed to fail: Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. Fred and Percy had just backed into view, both of them duelling masked and hooded men.

Harry, Ron and Hermione, followed somewhat reluctantly by a pale, trembling Draco, ran forwards to help: jets of light flew in every direction and the man duelling Percy backed off fast: then his hood slipped and they saw a high forehead and streaked hair-

"Hello, Minister!" bellowed Percy, sending a neat jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his robes, apparently in awful discomfort. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

"You're joking, Perce!" shouted Fred, as the Death Eater he was battling collapsed under the weight of three separate Stunning Spells. Thicknesse had fallen to the ground with tiny spikes erupting all over him; he seemed to be turning into some form of sea urchin. Fred looked at Percy with glee.

"You actually are joking, Perce...I don't think I've ever heard you joke since you were-"

The air exploded. They had been grouped together, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Fred and Percy, the two Death Eaters at their feet, one Stunned, the other Transfigured: and in that fragment of a moment, when danger seemed, temporarily, at bay, the world was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the air, and all he could do was hold as tightly as possible to that thin stick of wood that was his one and only weapon, and shield his head in his arms: he heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them -

And then the world resolved itself into pain and semi-darkness: he was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack: cold air told him that the side of the castle had been blown away and hot stickiness on his cheek told him that he was bleeding copiously. Then he heard a terrible cry that pulled at his insides, that expressed agony neither flame nor curse could cause, and he stood up, swaying, more frightened than he had been that day, more frightened, perhaps, than he had been in his life...

And Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and three red-headed men were grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as they staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.

"No-no-no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"

And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

OOOOO

A/N: Sorry for leaving it there! But you know what happens...god dammit JK for killing Fred * cries *

Sorry for the length! I didn't realise it was that long!