AN: Not mine. No money. Seriously. My car just died too!

I didn't break my speed fast enough and entered the foyer with a skid. As I caught my balance a streak of silver slipped in from under the front door and shot past me up the stairs.

"Too soon!" I moaned quietly. I took a moment to catch my breath and walked into the Lilac Lounge with my plastic smile in place.

"Gentleman! A toast!" called Goyle Sr. as I entered the room. Angel was just passing out the last glasses of wine and I saw that several more members of Snape's Company had insinuated themselves into the crowd. Dozens of glasses lifted and I sent a silent plea to whomever might be listening to help Goyle make it a short speech.

"To our Dark Lord and to his prophecies!" There was a bawdy roar of laughter and then the glasses were drained. I almost sagged with relief. Severus had said the potion we put in the wine would take effect in under three minutes. Now all we had to do was wait and hope they all went down at the same time. I took another deep breath to calm myself just as the wards dropped two and a half minutes too soon.

The room erupted into yells as everyone in the room felt the dampening field go down.

"Easy! Easy!" cried Goyle. "I'm sure it's just some mistake, brothers! The ladies have no wands, you can't tell me you're frightened of a bunch of trollops, now can you?" He laughed and reached out and snagged Angel by the arm. She let out a yelp that quickly turned into a giggle as she tucked herself under his arm. The other girls took their cue and relaxed and smiled vacuously.

"Still, this needs to be reported," said Yaxley and he pushed his way through the crowded room towards where I was standing in the doorway with my own stupid smile on my face. I stepped to the side and let him pass. Being the only one close to the door, I was the only one who heard the muffled thud.

The tension in the room at Yaxley's exit was unmistakable. Goyle had done well to try and diffuse the situation but now it was back ten-fold and the women's faces were changing from happy smiles to sickening fear. Nadia yelped when the first Death Eater collapsed on her and the room erupted in chaos .

Men shouted and jumped up only to be hexed by what they thought were their fellow Death Eaters. I reached up and snatched my wand out of my hair and the other girls did the same as Jugson made a break for the door only to be knocked flat by a hex that came from over my shoulder. There was an incredible amount of shouting and yelling for the full minute it took for the Death Eaters to drop either from hexes or the drugged wine.

It sounded like a herd of cattle came pounding down the stairs as Percy, Charlie, and Viktor appeared in the doorway with over a hundred others crammed up behind them.

There were bodies lying all over the room and furniture was knocked over here and there.

"Well, that was a rather uninspiring display," drawled Severus as he Rennervated Goyle Sr. and Angel. "Weasley, the ballroom, if you would, get that foyer clear."

Peaches hurried over to make sure they were okay and I asked Nadia to check the bodies and see if any more of our own had gone down. Several women had to be treated for hexes and Nadia and Peaches made short work of fixing them up.

"Let's clear the room, we need space," I said.

Agatha entered the room, her eyes as big as saucers.

"Ma, where should we take our prisoners?" I asked.

Her expression changed instantly. Her eyes got flat and her mouth fell into a cruel smile.

"The Brown Room," she said and every woman's head turned to look at her with the same expression that she was wearing. "Plenty of restraints there already, don't you think?"

The men in the room backed off as the women aimed their wands at the Death Eaters on the floor and began to float them out of the room.

"Gods I'm glad I was never interested in that room," said Vaisey.

"Yea, me too," agreed Nott.

~*^*~

After quickly changing into the tracksuit bottoms and comfortable shirts that Severus had sent, Peaches and I hurried out of the bedroom and headed toward where everyone was gathered in the ballroom downstairs. Penelope joined us with five people in healers'robes following her. We made hasty introductions on our way down the stairs.

"They just Portkeyed in, I thought we should see you all off and give them a look at who's fighting," she said breathlessly.

"Great, and thank you all so much for joining us. Did you all get rings?"

One woman held up her hand, showing the ring on her middle finger, and then reached out to stop me.

"I just want to thank you, Miss Granger. We will help in anyway we can. My sister would have joined you had she known and I know there must be others there who feel the same way, so look for allies."

I saw the family resemblance and put my hand on her shoulder.

"You're Dahlia Parkinson?" She nodded. "I am so very sorry. For what it's worth, the death of your sister spurred a lot of young men towards rebellion."

She pressed her lips together and nodded her head and we hurried into the crowded room.

"Oh! So many!" Dahlia gasped. She turned to me with a tremulous smile. "I have to admit that I really thought this was going to be a symbolic attack and that you all had no chance. I had no idea your group was as big as this! You might just pull this off, Miss Granger."

"Call me Hermione," I said.

She nodded.

"Dahlia," she tossed over her shoulder as she joined the other healers in the corner. Penelope and Nadia were with them. I made my way over to Peaches as she was organizing her group.

"Everyone has her bag? Check the straps, we can't risk losing them in the fight." She walked among the women checking that they had their supplies and Portkeys in the bags strapped across their chests. "Okay, then good luck and go find your teams."

She watched as our girls scattered about the room, joining the teams of fighters that had already started to form.

"You think we have a chance, Hermione?" she asked.

"One way or another we're free, Peaches," I replied honestly. "But I do have a good feeling about this."

"Yeah, me too," She gave me a hug. "You know I always thought of you as a friend, even when you were a soulless bitch, but you are more than that now, so you take care of yourself, Princess." She backed off and scrubbed at her face.

"Same here, Caroline," I replied. She beamed at me and I was unbelievably happy that I finally remembered to use her real name. She reached over and pulled a last bag off the table.

"Make sure your straps are tight, I don't want to see Portkeys flying all over the floor," she ordered and then turned and headed towards Theo.

I pulled the strap over my head and shoved my right arm through it. Behind me I felt warm fingers lift my hair from under the strap, lightly caressing my neck in the process. Just that small touch and I could feel stress start to lose its grip on me. I leaned back until I was just touching his chest and his voice rumbled in my ear.

"You will be careful. You will not do anything foolish; and you will stay behind Longbottom at all times."

I turned to face him.

"I will try, Severus." I reached up and smoothed a wrinkle out of his robes. "And what about you? Could I make the same demands?"

He graced me with a sour face and I chuckled.

"No, I suppose not. Are the wards set?"

"Yes, the house is secure, there is no way in except by Portkey now." He lifted his hand and brushed back a lock of my hair. His black eyes glittered with his thoughts but his face gave nothing away.

"It is time," he said.

I wanted to throw myself in his arms. I wanted to crawl into his pocket. I wanted to let him know how much he meant to me and how glad I was that he had come to the house that night, months ago, lost and empty and looking so defeated and pathetic. I wanted him to know that he had become my reason for living and that if he didn't survive I would die inside, and this time there would be no one to pull me back. I wanted him to know all these things and more, but I didn't say a thing. I just looked into his eyes and thought them all.

He closed his eyes after a while and when he opened them they were so full of love and pain I felt tears form in response.

He leaned in and in a fierce whisper said: "You will live, my goddess. You will survive this!"

I nodded, struggling to keep my lip from quivering, and he stepped back. Reaching into the deep pocket inside his robes he pulled out Harry's cloak.

"It is time!" he announced loudly and the room fell quiet.

"You know the plan," he continued when all eyes were on him. "Keep your heads and try not to hex each other. Good luck to all."

With a last, intense look thrown my way he walked over to join the members of Snape's Company. They would wait behind for the Dark Lord to call them and then Apparate directly to where ever he was. I watched him don Harry's cloak and disappear from sight. He would go after Nagini alone and then link up with his fighters.

I joined the first group and stepped into formation with my team which consisted of Neville, Viktor, Angel, myself and two people from the forest: Kenneth and Andrea. We all reached out and grabbed hold of the Portkey for our team and then waited for it to activate.

The room was went silent as each group stood ready and waiting and then they all activated at once.

I felt the familiar pull behind my navel and the room whirled away.

Yes? No? Tell me!