Harry paced frantically around his room at nearly two o-clock in the morning, racked with both worry and dread. It had been hours since he woke up in a panic over what Voldemort had told him in his dream. But even with those hours to go over it again and again in his head to try and grasp the meaning, he couldn't. What could he possibly mean by "I am going to take something that you hold very dear"? The obvious meaning was that there was an item Harry had the Voldemort wanted, but that didn't make any sense.

Harry's first mindset was that Voldemort was telling him that he was going to harm somebody in some fashion he cared about. But if that were the case why wouldn't he have just told him he was going to harm someone since he obviously thought that Harry could do nothing to stop him. Perhaps he was trying to confuse him into thinking that he was doing something far different then what he really was. Or perhaps, there really was something Harry possessed that Voldemort wished to take from him.

Whatever the case, Harry couldn't make sense of it in the least. He could think of nothing that he owned that Voldemort could possibly want that he could not get himself without the slightest bit of trouble. As for people he could care to harm to in turn punish Harry, again, Harry could think of no one that he could want to harm that was not already safe.

All the members of the Order of the Phoenix he knew, with the exception of a few, were always at the Headquarters or moving around so much they would be practically impossible to track down, like Lupin for example. And all the ones he knew that weren't moving about all the time, such as Tonks, Hagrid, or Mr. Weasley were all more than callable of protecting themselves should the need arise. After all, Tonks was an Auror, Mr. Weasley Worked for the Ministry and was usually surrounded by others who did as well, and Hagrid, well, he was a half giant. Most spells just bounced off him and he could brawl with the best of them; he proved that the night Umbridge had come for him.

Then there was Ginny, Neville, and Luna, sure they were still only students, but they could be three of the best fighters you'd ever meet if the necessity ever arose. What was more, they were the safest people in England as long as they were at Hogwarts, despite not having Dumbledore there any longer.

In fact, the only thing that kept Harry as worried as he was was that he might have let something critical slip his mind and now someone was in danger.

"Harry, will you please sit down, or at least stand still and stop pacing?" Hermione said, she was leaning against the fireplace looking rather tired, which was understandable "You've been doing that for nearly two hours now and it is getting a bit annoying."

"She's right, mate, it is pretty annoying." Said Ron, sitting down on his, looking just as tired as Hermione, if not more so

"I can't!" Harry said adamantly, turning on his heal and starting his circuit over "Not till I figure out what to do."

"I told you, we go to the Order." Hermione told him for the tenth time

"You know we can't because they said they won't help us anymore." Harry said, also for the tenth time

"This is different, isn't it? This isn't just about you, other people could be in danger too. They'd want to know." Hermione said, and she and Harry began a very argumentative discussion

Ron rolled his eyes and shook his head as he listened to his best friends reiterate almost word for word an argument they had already had, having found it boring the first two times.

"Look you two," Ron said, standing from his bed, fully intending to continue his thought. Before he could say another word, however, the door swung open and hit the wall with a clatter

"Oh thank Merlin you're all safe, and already up!" Lupin said bursting into the room and quickly closing the door behind him, he was sweating more than was normal and his face was livid "That's all very good."

"What are you doing here?" Ron demanded, utterly flabbergasted as to why Lupin would just burst into their room at two in the morning and not give a second thought as to why they were all still up… and fully dressed. In fact, it appeared he wanted them as such, for some reason.

"Not now!" Lupin said, snatching a loose book from the floor and tossing it over Ron's head onto Harry's bed "We're leaving, I tell you all what's going on when we get there."

"Excuse me!" Harry said, a bit outraged at being ordered around, without knowing why no less "What makes you think you can just barge in here in the middle of the night, when you thought we were sleeping by the way, and believe you can just tell us that we're going someplace? Now why are you here?"

"Not now Harry!" Lupin yelled at him with a tone that they had only heard when he and Harry had been at odds

Lupin ignored the look Harry was giving him and the distain there of and slipped past him to in between the fireplace and Harry's bed. He then drew his wand, pointed it at the book he had thrown to atop the bed only moments before and said "Portus!".

"I trust you know how to properly use a portkey, so if you would all please gather around it so that we might be on our way it would be much appreciated." Lupin said and the three obediently did as he said and took up spots around the book where they could easily grab hold of it, though Harry did so a bit reluctantly, not liking in the least Lupin coming here and telling him what to do

Harry placed his hand on the book along with the others and had expected to be transported instantly to wherever it was they were going, but nothing happened. At first he thought Lupin had not created the portkey correctly. He had only ever seen Dumbledore do it and Lupin was definitely not him. However, Harry determined what was going on, for the most part, when Lupin started to reach out his wand towards the book. This one was apparently different from the ones Dumbledore had made; this one appeared as if it had to be activated by a person's wand.

"Oh, one last thing," Lupin said, pausing his wand only inches from the book "We are going to Number Twelve Grimauld Place."

As soon as Lupin had said the name of their destination, in full, Harry knew that he must have been the one who the Order had appointed as secret keeper after they had removed him. He thought it was a good choice; he was who he had been thinking of to do it if he were to decline the position all those months ago.

After taking a final look to see that everyone's hands were firmly a hold of the book, Lupin tapped his wand on it and immediately Harry felt the familiar sensation of what felt like a large hook taking hold of him just behind the naval and dragging him skyward with great speed.

Within moments Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lupin landed gently on their feet in the small side street outside Grimauld Place which had already began to grow and push the houses beside it out of the way.

"Quickly, everyone inside," Lupin said, he and the others absentmindedly letting go of the book at the same time, allowing it to fall to the ground

Lupin tapped the door's knob seven times with his wand and several clicking and rattling noises began to sound somewhere within the house and the door itself and soon after the door creaked open no more than four inches.

Lupin pushed the door open and entered the house with a sense of urgency as he looked back at the empty street for any sign of someone coming. Lupin held open the door for the three friends as they followed behind him as fast they could; noticing his haste.

"Now can we know what's going on?" Harry asked as Lupin swung the door closed and relocked it with a single tap of his wand

"Just wait a further few minutes." Lupin said, heading off for the kitchen in a brisk walk "I promise, as soon as we're in the kitchen with everyone else I'll explain, we all will."

Harry stared at the red curtains that hid the horrible portrait as he thought on Lupin's statement, unsure what to make of it. He didn't have the slightest inkling as to who else would be here at this time of night that wasn't sleeping. Nor did he have any inkling of what could possibly be going on to warrant him, Ron, and Hermione to be escorted here by Lupin in the middle of the night.

Many of Harry's questions were answered strait away when he entered the kitchen and several people, most of which were battered or bleeding in some fashion, met his eyes.

Among the very tired and distraught looking group of individuals sitting at the table were a few people who stood out to Harry. At the far end of the table was Professor McGonagall and Harry noticed she had some minor cuts on her bottom lip and above her eyebrow. Tonks was not too far from McGonagall and she seemed to have been unscathed by whatever had happened, but she was rather dirty. Also near McGonagall there was Mad-Eye and he was bleeding from the corner of his mouth and his nose.

"What's happened?" Harry said weakly, looking around the people in front of him, almost all of which he had no idea who they were

"Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, Harry." Lupin said, shaking his head somberly

"But… wait…" Hermione said, terror filling Harry, the both of them, and most likely Ron as well, realizing that if Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts there could be only one reason everyone was here instead of there, even if the attack was over "Did Volde…"

"Yes Hermione," Lupin answered her question before she could finish asking it, the sadness he was feeling clear in his eyes "Voldemort has taken the school."

Harry's mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he received the news he knew had been coming. He could feel his legs weakening beneath him and he thought he might fall over, but somehow kept himself upright.

Harry turned back towards Lupin, Ron, and Hermione to see that Ron and Hermione looked just as shocked and disbelieving as he was sure he did. He could hardly believe it, he couldn't believe. The school couldn't be taken, not by anyone, not even by Voldemort. How could it? After all, it was the safest place anywhere in the world, nowhere was safer than Hogwarts. It wasn't possible.

As Harry tried to convince himself that the school could not have been seized, despite knowing full well there was no denying that it had, a new thought entered Harry's mind which consumed his concentration entirely.

"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked Lupin and indeed the whole room frantically, unable to think of anything else, wanting only to know where she was and if she was safe

"She's up stairs in the bedroom on the third landing, you can…" Before Lupin could finish, Harry had already rushed through the kitchen doors into the entrance hall as fast as he possibly could, wanting nothing more than to get to Ginny and make sure she was all right and unharmed. And if she was not, he would make whoever had harmed her suffer ten fold at his own hands, he would make sure of it.

Harry rounded the corner onto the stairs with so much speed that he was thrown off balance and had to grab the post of the banister to keep from falling over. Besides wanting revenge if Ginny were hurt, he would never forgive himself if she were. If she were hurt it would mean that all this time he had been pushing her away for nothing. He had done it in the hope that it would make her distant from him enough that she wouldn't want to be with him and would stay at Hogwarts where she was safe. Instead of with him where, even if it were only a short visit, she would constantly have been in danger. He had done it all to keep her away from him and in safe place. And yet, it was when and where he thought she was most safe that she had been in danger the most without him to protect her. He had failed her worse than he could have ever feared.

Harry reached the third landing much slower than he wanted, having tripped over Kreacher who was on his way down the stairs. When he did arrive, Harry wrenched the bedroom door open with more force than he meant to, startling the people within, and ran in to see Ginny sitting directly in front of him on the end of the bed.

Harry paused slightly as Ginny stood up saying his name with surprise and relief, and then once again ran towards her. There were others in the room besides him and Ginny, but he didn't care, nor did he even know who the others were. All of his attention was focused solely on Ginny.

The moment Harry was within reach of Ginny he enclosed her tightly in his arms and closed his eyes; she was fine. She had a few minor scratches that weren't bleeding and she was dirty, but she was fine.

Harry bit his lower lip and clinched his eyes to hold back tears as he held Ginny as close to him as he could. He never wanted to let her go; he would keep her there as long as possible.

He had wanted to take her in his arms so many times and hadn't been able to because of his own foolishness and something else he couldn't explain. He had hoped that he would be able to do it again one day, but this was not how he wanted the occasion to come about.

Even in the years to come, Harry would never be able to describe the happiness he felt at holding Ginny, it was only for a few minutes, however, those few minutes dragged on blissfully long for him. Especially after his moment of sheer terror in the kitchen when he thought that something might have happened to Ginny.

"I'm sorry; I should have been there… I'm sorry; I should have been there…" Harry repeated in Ginny's ear over and over, once again feeling like his legs wanted to collapse under him, and once again, finding a way to keep himself upright

"It's not your fault Harry, you couldn't possibly have known." Ginny said consolingly

"I never should have told you and the rest of the DA to try and defend the school, how stupid could I have been? If anyone was killed tonight it's my fault for a third time." Harry said, still whispering so that only Ginny, who cringed slightly at his words, could hear him "I should've been there to help."

"Stop it Harry," Ginny whispered in his ear "You did the best thing you possibly could have to give us the greatest chance in case there was an attack. If you hadn't reformed the DA none of us would have been nearly as well trained as we are and we wouldn't have been able to help the teachers defend the school and not nearly as many of us would have made it out. You did the right thing."

"No I didn't," Harry said plainly, unable to say anything else and racked with guilt at having them fight in his place

"Harry," Ginny said, almost as if she knew what he was thinking "You didn't force any of us to join the DA, remember? We did it because we wanted to. You told us all that we might have to fight what's more, and still we stayed, it was our decision, not yours, that put us in danger tonight."

Harry didn't answer; he no longer had the will to do so. He didn't much care what Ginny said. There may have been ways of getting around the fact that it was his fault all the times previous, but not this time. No, this was on his head and his head alone. No one else had asked, nay, ordered the DA to protect Hogwarts with their very lives if the need arose. They had done exactly what he ordered and no amount of times being told that it wasn't his fault would change the fact that it was; and he would take the blame without objection.

"She's right Harry," A girl's voice chimed almost cheerfully from Harry's right and he didn't look to see who was talking, but he didn't have to, he knew it was Luna

After a short time, Harry loosened his hold on Ginny then removed his arms from around her all together while sliding his hand down her arm and into hers. Harry grasped Ginny's hand tightly as he opened his eyes for the first time since he had gotten to her and led her to the foot of the bed where they sat down together.

Before sitting down, however, Harry noticed, with a painful tinge, that Neville was lying on his back at the head of the large bed, sleeping or unconscious, he didn't know. Though his chest was rising and falling slowly as he breathed which meant he was alive at least, despite having what Harry imagined must have been a very painful gash on his forehead.

He couldn't stand to look at him any longer than in glances. Every time he did, the sight of the dried blood covering most of the left half of Neville's face and clumped in much of his hair only increased his feeling of guilt.

"I'm glad you're here," Said Luna, addressing Harry who only then realized how odd it was to see her in the headquarters for the Order since she was neither a member of the Order or was her father, to his knowledge at least

"Thanks Luna, I'm glad I'm here too." Harry said, not meaning it. If he told the truth he would tell them that he would have much preferred to still be back at the Inn worrying about what might happen instead of knowing what happened and having to worry about who had and who hadn't survived it.

"So why are you three up here and not downstairs with everyone else?" Harry asked after both Ginny and Luna failed to say anything else, looking for something, anything, to say, not wanting to fall into silence

"It's the four of us actually." Ginny said, motioning to a love seat near the closet with a very asleep Ernie Macmillan sprawled across it, his presence there also striking Harry as odd "And because you know how the Order is, none of us are in it, and we're not of age, well, except Ernie and Neville, but even still. They just thought it best if we were up here."

"Also we wanted to be." Luna said, losing some of her already diminished cheer "Neville hasn't woken up since he got hurt. We figured it'd be better if we stayed with him; that way if he wakes up he has us around."

Ginny set her head on Harry's shoulder and he set his head atop hers and they sat thus as closely together as they could for several minutes, falling into silence. Though for some reason Harry no longer cared if they did and merely sat contently thinking over what to do next. It was his duty to protect, or in this case, win back Hogwarts. It had become his duty when Dumbledore had died.

"Ginny," Harry said, thinking of a question he would much like to know the answer to "Why didn't you use the coins to let me know there was a problem?"

"I know I should have, and I'm sorry I didn't, but by the time I knew what was going on and had rounded up the DA I was so preoccupied with everything that, quite honestly, it completely slipped my mind, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault, there was too much going on to remember everything." Harry said, knowing that his words were very similar to the ones she had used to console him, and they hadn't worked for her, so he didn't know why he was using them then

"Harry," Ginny said a bit cautiously a moment later, sitting up strait and giving a slightly worried sideways look at Luna, who returned it "I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tell you this, but there's something you need to…"

"Is everyone all right? Well it does appear… oh," Hermione said entering the room and faltering when she saw Neville, preventing Ginny from continuing, though not on purpose "At least most of you aren't in a bad way."

"Where's Ron?" Said Harry, noticing he wasn't with Hermione

"He's still down stairs, says he'll be up in a few minutes after he talks with his Mum and Dad a bit, after they arrive." Hermione said

"Harry, I really have to tell you something, and Hermione needs to know too." Ginny said as she turned her attention back to Harry, trying to hide the grief that had overtaken her face

"What is it?" Harry said, unsure of whether he truly wanted to know

"Y-y-you-Know-Who…" Said Ginny, the words sticking in her throat

"Ginny," Harry said, his eyes starting to refill with tears at the sight of hers doing the same

"Y-you-Know-Wh-who… You-Know-Who killed H-hagrid." Ginny said bluntly, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks and Harry's face locked in an expression of utter shock, despair, and anger, he had not been at all ready for this news