Harry had never been so thankful for Snape's penchant for subtlety as he was in that moment – aside from the Carrows supporters and the more observant Order members, no one else had yet realized what the man had done, as Snape had merely touched his wrist beneath his robes rather than roll up his sleeve. He crossed his fingers that they could keep it that way as long as possible – the last thing they needed was a mass panic. Of course, it was bound to happen anyway once they announced the pending evacuation, but it would be far worse if the students knew that Voldemort was already aware of their plans. For the moment, though, all eyes remained on Snape, the students still awaiting his response to the dark-haired girl's outburst.
"Yes, I can see that," he finally said sardonically. "And now that you've finally succeeded in recognizing the most identifiable teenager in Wizarding Britain, I suggest you follow me. There are things we must do."
In his effort to keep from laughing, Harry bit his lip so hard he nearly broke the skin. The girl obviously wasn't the brightest, as her eager expression suggested she'd missed the rather blatant insult. He wasn't sure what Snape was planning, though, and watched with more than mild curiosity as the small group followed their headmaster from the Great Hall. There was the faint sound of the main doors opening, then shutting, and then nothing. Snape had taken the students outside? Why? Harry looked to Professor McGonagall, but she was now entirely focused on the remaining students gathered before her.
"Listen up," she commanded, though it wasn't really necessary as all eyes were already on her. "Mr. Potter and his friends have not dropped in for a mere social call – You-Know-Who is on his way, and we must act now if we are to defend ourselves with the courage, honor, and loyalty befitting this institution."
Frantic whispering erupted at Professor McGonagall's words. Older students drew their wands, while the younger ones gasped in fright, clinging to friends and classmates. The Deputy Headmistress called them all to order with a loud bang from her wand.
"It is imperative that we act in a timely fashion," she continued. "Before we can do anything else, I am ordering an evacuation of all underage students. No exceptions, Mr. Creevey!" she added sternly when Colin made to protest. Harry felt a pang of sympathy for the younger boy, who'd been in the D.A. and had been instrumental in the downfall of Umbridge. Though he was highly enthusiastic, however, Colin wasn't the best fighter, and Harry would rather have him leave than end up hurt.
"Mr. Potter, if you will please explain the evacuation plans?" Professor McGonagall asked. Harry nodded and stepped to the front.
"The plan is to take you all out of the castle through a secret passage to the Hog's Head bar in Hogsmeade," he explained. "From there, a team of Order members are waiting to take you to a number of safe houses via Side-Along Apparition. If you have the means to contact your families, you will be able to do so from there. Anyone who is of age may stay, but please understand that we're preparing for war – if you don't think you can handle that, please be honest with yourself and go to a safe house. We'd rather be safe than sorry, and the Order members at the safe houses will need all the help they can get." Many of those Order members would also be returning to the castle to fight, increasing the need for help from the older students.
"We will begin immediately," Professor McGonagall said. "I'm sorry I can't give the of-age students more time to decide, but that is the reality of the situation. If you wish to fight, please remain here in the Great Hall. If you wish to help elsewhere, please go with the younger students and make yourself known to an Order member – they will send you where you are most needed. I think it goes without saying that I expect the utmost respect for the situation regardless of what you choose. Professor Slughorn, as you are closest to the doors, if you could please act as Head of Slytherin and escort your house upstairs first. Kingsley should be waiting in the entrance hall to show you the way."
"Right away, Minerva," Slughorn replied. "Slytherin House, follow me, please!" The younger years dutifully followed suit, with most of the older students following along behind. Harry couldn't blame them, really – Slytherin House had always been the most dangerous in terms of outright declaring your loyalties, and he suspected many of them were still scared to do so. They could very well have family or friends in very real danger if they went too far. Nearly a dozen older students remained behind, however, Tracey, Blaise, and Daphne among them. Harry could see Daphne hugging her younger sister in farewell before Astoria was finally forced to join the retreating students and slipped away.
"Pomona, if you will go next, then," Professor McGonagall said crisply. Professor Sprout nodded and guided her Hufflepuffs from the hall.
The evacuation continued, with a number of students remaining behind from each house. Some students volunteered to go to the safe houses – Hannah Abbott, for instance, was still recovering from a recent run-in with the Carrows and wasn't confident in her ability to perform to her highest potential if she stayed – while a handful of others offered to help Madam Pomfrey as a makeshift medical team. Finally, the last of the Gryffindors had left the Great Hall, and those who remained were free to reunite.
"Draco!"
Draco turned around just in time to catch Tracey, who had thrown herself into his arms and was hugging him fiercely. Blaise and Daphne weren't far behind, Blaise grinning in that mischievous way he'd long ago mastered.
"Why didn't you tell us you were coming back, you prat?" Tracey demanded once she'd released him. "We haven't seen you in months!"
"It's good to see you too," Draco teased. "Although technically, I wasn't gone for very long," he added sheepishly.
"What do you mean?" Daphne asked. "You left with the others back in October."
"We didn't, actually," Draco said. "We left the Hog's Head, yeah, but we doubled back around – Harry, Hermione and I were staying in the castle until the Easter holidays." His housemates gaped at him for a moment before Blaise burst out laughing.
"You sneaky little shit!" he said. "All this time we thought you were off in some safe house, and you were right under our noses! I applaud your thoroughly Slytherin move, mate."
"Applaud McGonagall, then," Draco said with a grin. "It was her idea." Blaise laughed even harder at that.
"I always did like her," he said, still snickering a little. "And I'd imagine it'd take more than an evacuation to tear Hermione away from the Hogwarts library."
"Something like that, yeah." Draco's grin faded as he intently studied his friends. "How are you three holding up, really?"
"It's been tough," Tracey said. "Really tough, actually. Those Carrows are a piece of work, and we had to be careful not to give ourselves away – some of the students supporting them are downright nasty."
"Where did they go, anyway?" Daphne asked.
"No idea," Draco replied with a shrug. Snape very well could have taken them off the grounds, but to where? Would those students be marching in with the Death Eaters? Unfortunately, until Snape returned, there was no way of knowing for sure.
The conversation continued as Order members began to trickle into the Great Hall. All of the Weasleys were there except for Percy and Ginny – Draco surmised that the latter had probably been forcibly evacuated by her mother, but if he knew Ginny, he'd see her again before long. She'd already proven over Easter that she wasn't going to stay on the sidelines while the rest of her family risked their lives, and she was definitely smart enough to figure out how to get back. Sirius was chatting with Remus and Tonks – Draco frowned at that; if they were both here, then where was Teddy? – and Ron was bent over the teachers' table, intently studying the defensive plans for the castle and occasionally pointing out something to Harry, who was taking notes. Many others continued to arrive over the course of the next half hour, but while the Heads of Houses returned after seeing the younger students to safety, there was still no sign of Snape.
Hermione was idly chatting with Susan Bones when she suddenly shrieked and raced towards the Great Hall's entrance, where a very familiar curly-haired blonde had just appeared.
"Eloise!" she cried as she hugged her former roommate. "Not that it isn't good to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought you were in America!"
"I was," Eloise replied, equally as thrilled to see Hermione as Hermione was to see her. "But you didn't think we'd just read your updates and do nothing, did you? We've had emergency Portkeys ready for months. It only took us this long to get here because our Headmistress had to explain the situation fully so that people could make an informed decision before volunteering." It was only then that Hermione noticed that Eloise hadn't come alone – behind her stood Lisa Turpin, a former Ravenclaw who had also fled to Salem the previous summer, and over two dozen teenagers Hermione assumed were Salem students. They had four teachers with them, one of whom Hermione assumed must be their Head of School, and Hermione recognized Maria and Julie, the sisters who'd shown Hermione, Ginny, and Tonks around Salem's campus when they'd visited two summers previously.
"I can't believe this!" Hermione said, still in obvious shock. "This is wonderful, thank you all so much!" She turned to her former hosts. "Maria, Julie – it's good to see you again. I promise I won't be stealing anything from you this time."
"No worries," Julie said with a wink. "You did pull off a pretty brilliant heist, if I do say so myself." Hermione chuckled.
"Hang on," she said suddenly. "Julie, aren't you underage? You're a year below Ginny, aren't you?"
"Hush," Julie said, pressing a finger to her lips. "No need to let that out – did you really think I was going to let you guys have all the fun without me? Our Head of School knows what I'm capable of, so she let me come. Besides, I've got a wicked trick up my sleeve that I think your Death Eaters will just love." She wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
"Alright, then," she conceded. "Care to share?"
"I think I'll keep it a surprise," Julie replied. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to save it for when everyone can see." The impish gleam in her eyes had Hermione wondering if she shouldn't introduce the younger girl to Fred and George.
The Americans' arrival wasn't the only unexpected surprise. Charlie Weasley had brought along as many of his fellow dragon tamers as their reserve could spare. Peter Johansson, the trio's friend and Harry's fellow Triwizard champion, showed up with a small but powerful contingent from Durmstrang, and they were surprised but pleased when Bastien Gerard, the other champion from Beauxbatons, arrived with a sizeable number of his own former classmates. As it turned out, he'd been helping to lead the resistance in France for quite some time now and had been in frequent contact with Fleur since Dumbledore had died. He and his team had responded to Hogwarts' distress call at once. The unexpected but welcome aid gave them a significant boost in numbers, and Harry, with Ron's help, was able to modify the plans to better protect areas of the castle that had previously been lacking in forces.
After a quick lunch of sandwiches provided by the Hogwarts house-elves, they got down to business. With the aid of a Sonorous Charm and a projection spell, Harry explained the plan, and they began dividing up into groups according to their strengths. The goal was to balance the fighting groups according to where they would be stationed – someone who wasn't good with long-range spells would be useless from one of the towers, for instance, and so they wanted to be sure the right people ended up in the right places. This took far longer than Harry would've liked, but he was pleased with the results nonetheless. When everyone dispersed to find their groups and further refine their strategies, Harry sought out Draco and Hermione.
"Do we know if the room's empty?" he asked when they were alone. "We still have to take care of the diadem, and I'd like to get that done before Riddle arrives." He paused and grimaced, rubbing at his scar, which hadn't stopped hurting all day.
"He's definitely preparing, but I don't know if he knows we know about the Horcruxes," he added. "There's…" He paused again and cried out as a sudden wash of pain shot through him.
"Shite," he cursed as the pain finally subsided. "Scratch that – he definitely knows we know. That's why he isn't here yet – he decided to check on the Horcruxes first. He's just discovered the missing cup."
"He probably thought he was safe – that no one had been clever enough to discover his secret," Draco said darkly.
"His arrogance is rather astounding sometimes," Hermione agreed. "But how is he going to check on all of them? He can't get into Malfoy Manor."
"He'll probably just trust that no one found the hidden compartment and skip it," Draco replied. "After all, Narcissa's been dead for over a decade, and Lucius wasn't in a state to tell anyone anything important for the longest time before he himself died. Assuming he doesn't know about Narcissa's portrait – and from the way she spoke, I don't think he did – Riddle will think that there was no one left to pass along that particular secret."
"He might still have some sort of magic to sense the Horcrux, even if he can't physically access it," Harry cautioned. "And even if he doesn't, that doesn't give us much time – the old Gaunt shack is just down the road from the Riddle house, so he'll know that…" He cut off again as another shot of pain ripped through him.
"Bloody hell, he's mad," he said shakily when it had passed. "He's checked on the cup and the ring, and he already knows about the diary since he was there when I stabbed it, so assuming that the snake is the sixth Horcrux, that just leaves Malfoy Manor and Hogwarts."
"Which means we were out of time several hours ago," Draco said briskly as he grabbed Harry's arm and began hauling him up the marble staircase. "That diadem needs to go, now."
Ginny Weasley was fuming. Enraged. Absolutely irate.
She'd been smart enough to know that vocalizing her protests against the evacuation were pointless and had immediately begun searching her knowledge of Hogwarts' many passageways for a better alternative. She was quite pleased to recall a roomy alcove on the sixth floor, one that the evacuees would be passing on their way to the Room of Requirement. From there, it was a simple enough matter to slip away unnoticed – she wasn't the sister of Fred and George Weasley for nothing, after all – but her good mood had evaporated upon finding the alcove already occupied. Crouched in the far corner of the alcove, her wand in a death grip and her knuckles white, was Pansy Parkinson. Ginny quickly threw up a Notice-Me-Not Charm on the entrance to the alcove, followed by a Muffliato, a useful spell from Snape that kept unwanted listeners from hearing private conversations. She then turned her wand on Pansy.
"What are you doing?" she asked sharply. "Why aren't you in the Great Hall with the others?" Pansy snorted.
"Do you really think I'm willing to show my face to that lot?" she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I thought you were smarter than that, Weasley."
"So you're hiding up here and hoping to tag along after the younger students?" Ginny growled. "I've heard you're decent with Glamour Charms, Parkinson – wouldn't that suffice?" The redhead was growing angrier by the second.
"You have to know that walking into that hall right now wouldn't do me any favors," Pansy replied carelessly.
"So you're just going to abandon them, then?" Ginny asked angrily. "After all they did for you? They let you in on important plans, told you plenty of top-secret information. Draco gave you his trust and listened when you had nowhere else to turn. Hell, Luna probably saved your bloody life, and you're just going to turn your back on them?"
"You don't understand!" Pansy hissed, now just as angry as Ginny. "What do you think would happen if I were to go downstairs right now? Draco and the others might've been foolish enough to give me the benefit of the doubt, but the others won't. I'll be locked up and interrogated without a second thought."
"Better that than fleeing like a coward!" Ginny snapped back. "And I thought you wanted out, that's what you told us that first night – you were half dead, Parkinson…"
"Oh, will you just shut up for two seconds? I never said I was leaving, so stop being such a bullheaded Gryffindor for a minute and listen." Ginny continued to glare at Pansy but said nothing. Pansy took the silence as her cue to continue.
"As I was saying, walking into that hall right now would be a very bad idea," she said. "Which is why I need your help, Weasley."
"My help?" Ginny repeated, blinking hard as if she might've misunderstood. Pansy rolled her eyes.
"Yes," she said impatiently. "I take back what I said earlier – you Weasleys are all bloody useless." Ginny raised her wand threateningly.
"If you expect me to help you, I suggest you keep your comments to yourself," she snarled. Pansy waved her off.
"Whatever. My point is, I can't just waltz into the middle of the Order reunion going on downstairs, but I doubt the Death Eaters will be all too pleased to see me on the other side, either," she said dismissively. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, your dear mother sent you up here in the hopes that you'd see reason and leave with the rest of your classmates – obviously she's forgotten how ridiculously stubborn you can be, as well as that little outburst you had over Easter. Even so, I can't imagine she'll be too thrilled once she finds out you've stayed behind – which you're clearly planning to do, as you wouldn't have entered this alcove otherwise."
"Dammit," Ginny thought, recognizing that she'd been outsmarted. Pansy was right – neither of them were in any position to be out in the open during the upcoming battle. The Slytherin girl had the Death Eaters to think about, and she, Ginny…well, an angry Molly Weasley was almost as scary as Voldemort himself.
"What do you want?" she finally sighed.
"It's not really a matter of want as much as need," Pansy replied smoothly. "We both need a way to participate in the battle while remaining undetected. I'm proposing that we work together to ensure that happens."
"And how do I know I can trust you?" Ginny asked warily.
"You don't – but I'm the only option you've got." Pansy looked completely unperturbed by Ginny's question. Ginny sighed again.
"Alright," she conceded. "What's your plan?"
A/N: And so it begins... The battle is practically writing itself - I've already done another 2000 words in addition to this today, & it's still coming (although unfortunately I have to take a break to take care of some errands. Do I really have to care about real life? Sigh...) We're closing in on the end, but there are still quite a few surprises to go before then...
Thank you all for the follows/faves/reviews, & for reading! Leave me your thoughts on what's coming next, I'd love to hear them!
JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Enjoy! :)