It was unusually cold in the tunnel beneath the statue of the one-eyed witch, and it felt like the cold draught from the Honeydukes basement had followed them the entire way. As the time edged closer and closer to four thirty, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were becoming increasingly impatient, all of them wanting the day to be over in an instant. Kingsley and Nick were a façade of calm and patience, with only Nick showing brief moments of boredom. Harry supposed their long wait was nothing new to a seasoned Auror like Kingsley, and he knew Nick must be accustomed to it as well. He had a similar job in Europe, though their Ministry was much larger.

That morning they had waited another hour in Sharon Neil's lounge room before Kingsley announced it was time to leave, and it was another hour by the time they actually got to Hogsmeade after both Sirius and Mr Weasley tried to stall them as long as possible. They had waited the rest of the morning and afternoon in the basement of Honeydukes, though the owner did allow them a taste of their most recent batch of chocolates, and they had been sitting in this very spot since entering the tunnel and finding the end.

With Ginny sitting beside him, Harry felt an enormous responsibility like none he had felt before. Mr Weasley had clapped him on the shoulder as they left London, quietly asking Harry to look after his daughter, a responsibility made no less important by Ginny's protest that she could look after herself. Looking at her in the dim light they had, he could see that she was restless and eager to start, happily twirling her wand around in her fingers now that she could use it undetected. Opposite her sat Ron and Hermione, who were trying to keep their linked hands discretely by their sides.

Harry made to check his watch, forgetting again that it was gone. Absently taking Ginny's hand, he turned her wrist over to check the time, feeling less impatient when he saw that there was only ten minutes to go. Kingsley would keep them on a tight leash, just as Mad-Eye intended, and they would not act even a minute before one thirty, which was the deadline for Dumbledore's Army to block the fireplaces. Still holding Ginny's hand, Harry allowed her to move closer and rest her head against his shoulder, giving an exasperated sigh. Echoing her sigh, Harry leant his jaw against her head, closing his eyes for a moment. An entire morning of inactivity only left room for tiredness to creep back in, and he was undistracted from his headache and unsettled stomach from the late night drinks he had. It wasn't entirely unexpected that he would go to sleep, but faster than normal Harry felt himself slipping away from the tunnel, engulfed by a rushing feeling as though he had fallen from his Firebolt.

He was no longer himself, though he stood in a grand but neglected room that Harry knew all too well. The Great Room of the Riddle House in Little Hangleton was occupied only by himself, and the wizard who knelt at his feet, his long blonde hair a mess around his shoulders. The man was trembling, breathing heavily as he tried to regain a facade of calm. He had no time to this man.

It was a waste of time to trust those around him, and yet he continued to put the future of the Pure Blood society in the hands of others, when he ought to have taken care of things himself. The Dark Lord knew this, and it had been unwise to trust the Malfoy family again, even Bellatrix Lestrange, who up until now had always proven herself. Looking down at Lucius Malfoy, who knelt at his feet in hope of forgiveness, the Dark Lord knew what had happened.

"When?" he asked coldly.

"Last month, my Lord," Lucius said quietly, his voice shaking his fear.

"And what did the boy take?"

Lucius swallowed nervously, answering so quietly that he could not hear.

"What did he take, Lucius?" the Dark Lord shouted, having no time to play games. The one thing he dreaded…the long wait until Malfoy answered was excruciating. "What did he take from that vault?"

Lucius looked up for a moment, hastily looking back at the ground. "A golden goblet, My Lord."

A yell of rage and denial tore from his throat, and he felt crazed and wild before he remembered to control himself. He had thought it impossible, but it was useless to waste time in denial. Somehow, the boy knew, that much he was sure of. The Dark Lord's Horcrux had been taken from him, taken from the very vault that Bellatrix Lestrange assured him was protected by the blood of her ancestors. In an instant, everything made sense. The very matter of interest he had interrogated Potter about in August was answered, but by the end of the interrogation he was certain the boy knew nothing. Now however, the Dark Lord knew what Albus Dumbledore did when he periodically left Hogwarts school, and so did Harry Potter. Dumbledore had been onto him from the very beginning, from the first time he had denied him the job as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and perhaps he had even delved into his past. Now he reached out to him from the grave, through the boy whose strength and cunning he had underestimated.

"I interrogated him, My Lord," Lucius insisted, seeking forgiveness. "Harder and longer than perhaps anyone has before…he was nearly broken!"

"And what did he say?" the Dark Lord questioned, his curiosity aroused. What had Potter said?

"Very little, My Lord. I was not finished with him when he was rescued."

"What did he say?" he repeated, raising his wand and pointing it at Lucius.

Glancing up again, Lucius saw his raised wand and lowered his head even closer to the floor. "Only that his friends intended to destroy what they had stolen, My Lord."

The Dark Lord acted quickly, turning away from Malfoy who still cowered at his feet and striding through the house that his Muggle father had owned. There was nothing more to be said, no more information to be gained from Lucius Malfoy. He summoned Nagini as he went, who must now be kept by his side at all times, no longer sent to do his bidding or surveillance. But to be absolutely sure, he must return to each hiding place, to ensure the safety and protection of his Horcruxes, lest Dumbledore and the boy had been more successful than he realised.

He strode out into the bright afternoon, where Nagini answered his summons and joined him, carefully calculating his next move. The Horcrux in the Gaunt Shack was perhaps the most vulnerable, the most inclined to accidental discovery…Dumbledore had known his middle name. The lake was surely impossible to penetrate, and his Horcrux in Hogwarts would be safe for now, though perhaps should be relocated elsewhere…

When Harry came round, he was still sitting in the same position at the end of the secret passage, and his trip into Voldemort's mind had not gone unnoticed by his friends. Ginny crouched before him, speaking frantically, and it took him a moment to realise she was shaking his shoulder roughly.

"Harry, talk to me!" she said frantically.

He looked at her directly, and he could see how frightened she appeared seeing him come back to the present. Looking past her, Ron and Hermione were by her side, while Kingsley and Nick stood behind them. Shaking his head to completely rid Voldemort from his mind, Harry began to stand up.

"He knows everything," he informed Ron and Hermione, his voice sounding strange in comparison to Voldemort's. "Malfoy told him about the cup."

"You Know Who?" Hermione said, clapping her hand across her mouth in shock. "He knows?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, taking hold of Ginny's hand and pulling her to her feet. He turned to Kingsley now. "He's going to look for the others, and he'll realise they're all gone. He'll come here last…he must think Ravenclaw's diadem is supposed to be here."

"You said you haven't been in his mind for months!" Ron said lowly.

"I haven't, but he's scared!" Harry explained. "He's scared out of his mind, and it just happened. I saw everything."

"How soon will he be here?" Kingsley asked, taking Harry's arm to gain his complete attention.

Harry looked at him, trying to figure out some kind of time frame for Voldemort. He wouldn't waste time at each location. The Gaunt Shack will be his first stop, followed by the cave where the locket was, and then to Hogwarts.

"He'll be apparating," he reasoned to himself, depending on the cave and lake of Inferi to hold him up. "He's only got two other places to go, he could be here in less than an hour."

Kingsley swore as he released Harry. Raising his wand, he cast a Patronus, and large Lynx that disappeared into the walls almost as soon as it appeared. "I've alerted the others," Kingsley began, ushering them all down towards the very end of the tunnel. "We'll move now, scale the timeline forward and bring the students to the Great Hall as soon as all floors are secured."

"Wait," Ron said, pushing past Hermione to see Kingsley. "If he sees us evacuating he'll attack! We should call it off, he'll never know!"

"Ron's right," Hermione added.

"We've already begun, it's too late to stop now," Nick intervene, looking up the stone steps that lead to the statue of the one-eyed witch. "We have to move forward."

"Harry," Ginny said lowly, gripping his hand to the point of pain as she pulled him back a few steps. She looked at him breathlessly, her gaze blazing and holding him to attention. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I won't, he insisted, looking to his left and watching as Kingsley climbed the stairs and carefully began climbing out the back of the witches hump.

She swore under her breath, clenching her fist into his shirt and making him look back at her. "Damn it, Harry! I know you!" she hissed lowly. "I know you're thinking, and I know you're stupid enough to do it! Promise me you won't!"

"What am I thinking?" Harry said patiently, hearing Nick calling to him. He took her hand tightly, and began to lead her towards the stone steps. "I'm thinking we need to get these students out, that's what I'm thinking."

Ignoring what he could hear her saying under her breath, he let go of her hand just long enough to climb through the hump of the stone witch, checking with Kingsley that the corridor was clear. He immediately turned back to help Ginny through, peering down after her as Hermione followed. Waiting for them, Harry looked around the third floor corridor, feeling strangely detached from the beautiful castle he had once considered to be his true home. Now however, it was occupied by Death Eaters and terrorised students, and felt as alien to Harry as the Dursley residence. As the witches hump closed again, Kingsley immediately split them into two groups, Ron and Hermione following Nick in one direction, while Harry and Ginny followed Kingsley in the other. There were no good byes or wishes of good luck, their separation was only temporary. Clear the floor and secure the students…by the time they reached the Great Hall they would all be together again, as they intended.

Ginny did not release his hand as they walked down the corridors, silently telling him that she was not leaving his side, not for anything. Harry tried not to think too much about what she had said, about what she was implying. Instead he focused on the well learned route they were taking, knowing that any minute they were about to stumble on one of the two groups of Death Eaters or Snatchers that were patrolling the corridors. A moment later they found them, three burly looking wizards who sat casually on a bench outside the very classroom in which they would be locked up.

"Stupefy!" Harry, Ginny and Kingsley each cried, stunning all three of the wizards before they were even seen.

It was comical the way they each tumbled to the stone floor, landing in a heap that they wasted no time in securing. Conjuring strong ropes around their wrists and ankles, they disarmed each of the wizards and gave their wands to Kingsley, who stowed them in his robes.

"Good work," he applauded them, waving his wand and levitating the three men into the empty classroom.

Moving aside tables and chairs, Harry and Ginny made a space where the three men could not be seen, lessening the chances of someone else reviving them. Kingsley dropped them down roughly, immediately turning to look back out into the corridor. Nick, Ron and Hermione would only be a few minutes away, having been sent to check for other patrols on the floor, and it was clear that Kingsley was impatient for their return.

Feeling faint, Harry sat down on a table and bowed his head, distantly feeling Ginny touch his shoulder. He had just enough time to quietly reassure her before he was in the Gaunt Shack again, a mixture of fury and fear engulfing him as Voldemort discovered the ring to be missing. He fled quickly, anxious to make his way to the cave where the locket was kept…he needed to see that in the face of the ring's loss, the locket was safe.

"He's panicking…" Harry muttered to Ginny, taking a deep breath as the last ebbs of panic began to fade. "He knows the ring is gone."

Ginny didn't say anything, only managing a short nod as she looked at Harry in fear. Suddenly he realised she had never seen him experiencing a vision of Voldemort's mind. She must be positively terrified watching him go completely blank, muttering under his breath so lowly that no one could hear. He needed to reassure her, knowing that panic and fear could undermine her true strength and ability to defend herself, and so he stood up again and took her in his arms.

"Everything's okay," he lied to her, feeling her arms tighten around his waist. He kissed the top of her head. "I promise."

"I know," she insisted, pulling away and looking at him.

Harry's response was cut off by Kingsley, who had given a confused shout and shot off down the hallway. Dashing to the doorway, Harry and Ginny looked out, and were shocked to see Nick alone.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Kingsley exclaimed in frustration. "What happened?"

"We secured the other patrol," Nick began with a shrug, walking back to them. "And they took off, reckon they were going to take down Carrow on the second floor."

"Stay here with Nick," Kingsley instructed Harry and Ginny, taking off at a run. "Secure the classrooms!"

Harry and Ginny both watched in complete shock as Kingsley took off in the direction Nick had come, disappearing round the corner in search of Ron and Hermione. His first instinct was to follow, but instead Harry turned back to Nick, something telling him that it wasn't quite right.

"What did you say they were doing?" Harry asked, he and Ginny following Nick towards the only occupied classroom on the floor.

"They went to the second floor," Nick replied, falling into step beside Harry. He drew his wand as he continued. "Reckon they were going after Carrow."

Watching as Nick drew his wand, Harry's instincts kicked in, and he did the same, assessing where Ginny was out of the corner of his eye. The very moment Nick lunged at him, Harry took his brief opportunity to shove Ginny far out of the way, hearing her fall against the wall with a yell of surprise. That protective movement proved to be Harry's biggest mistake, allowing Nick to roughly push back Harry's left hand sleeve. His wand needed less than a second of contact with the tattoo on Harry's arm, and that was all it took to do what he planned.

Immense pain shot outwards from the tattoo, and Harry could hear himself yell out in pain as he felt himself begin to fade into Voldemort's mind for the third time in twenty minutes. Voldemort now stood at the edge of a sparse forest, overlooking the large lake that his orphanage had visited when he was a child. In the distance, he could just make out the cave to which he was headed, but he found himself momentarily distracted. He looked down at his left arm, dimly aware of the pain he was experiencing. He rarely felt pain, he had no time for it, and as his own Dark Mark tattoo burned his forearm, he knew Harry Potter could feel the very same.

The Dark Lord frowned, pulling back the sleeve of his robes to look at his arm in curiosity. The significance of his burning tattoo was not lost on him…it signified at a Death Eater somewhere had found Harry Potter, and had touched the Dark Mark that he himself had inflicted on the boy. Thinking for a moment, the Dark Lord sensed that he was being summoned to Hogwarts, which was the root behind his hesitation. If the boy was there…he must be there to destroy another Horcrux, Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem that had been hidden away in the oldest sections of the library, where he had researched and learned of the founding of Hogwarts. The boy must be stopped, prevented from finding another Horcrux, and yet he was torn between that and the need to increase the protection around the locket.

Coming to a quick decision, he held out his arm to Nagini, who slithered up from the ground and wound herself across his shoulders. "Nagini," he whispered to her in Parsletongue. "Go to Hogwarts and find the boy…contain him…perhaps you can have him later."

At that, Nagini vanished, and satisfied that the boy would be held up long enough, he made his way to the water's edge and entered it, effortlessly gliding through the water to the cave's entrance, where his work would begin.

Harry slowly drifted back into himself, though it seemed to be taking longer to rouse. His surroundings slowly came back into focus, as did his hearing, and he could see half a dozen legs standing around him. Someone was squeezing his shoulder, talking to him quietly as he sat leant up against the corridor wall. It was Sirius, who was crouched down beside him in worry, while Kingsley, Ron, Hermione and Ginny watched on.

"Harry…Harry, can you hear me?"

"Yes," he replied softly, sounding more frustrated than he intended. "I can hear you."

"Are you alright?" Sirius pressed.

"Yes…wai- What happened?" he exclaimed, suddenly appearing animated and alert. He first looked to Ginny, who was shaking terribly, her wand held tightly by her side. She was sporting a bloodied lip, and her tied back hair looked a mess.

"He touched your arm!" Ginny explained, her voice wavering before she swallowed thickly. "He touched your arm, and you just went blank again. You just completely stopped."

"How long have I been out?" he muttered, allowing Sirius to help him to his feet. Looking around, he could hear the commotion of students in the corridors, and he looked to his left to see Remus and other Order members beginning to hastily escort students out of their classrooms. Their careful planning had all gone to waste.

"It's been fifteen minutes, Harry," Sirius said carefully, still not releasing his arm.

"Fifteen minutes?" Harry exclaimed. With a horrible pang, he recalled what he had witnessed. "You-Know-Who knows I'm here…that's why that Nick bloke touched my arm, to summon him."

There was a collective groan from around him, Ron and Hermione pushing past Kingsley. "How far away is he?" Ron asked.

Looking down at the floor, Harry tried to recall, the memories of his vision a little blurry. "He's still checking the cave first…we've got time. We can hold him off for a while…he hasn't told the other Death Eaters…he'll come alone first." Uncomfortably he thought of the snake, Nagini, who was being sent ahead to find Harry and secure him for her master. "We need to secure the outside of the castle."

"I'll find Minerva," Kingsley said, taking off and pushing through the class of students who were heading straight to the passages.

Looking to Ron and Hermione, Harry sensed that Nick had attacked them also, to send Kingsley off after them and ensure that he could be as alone as possible with Harry. "Are you guys alright?" he asked, trying to ignore Sirius who was tugging on his arm.

"Yeah mate, we're good," Ron said, looking to Hermione who nodded in agreement. "Kingsley found us straight away, brought us back round…that bloke was bloody quick with his wand."

"Harry," Sirius interrupted, tugging at his arm and beginning to lead him the opposite way down the hallway. "Come with me."

Tolerating Sirius as he steered him away, Harry grasped Ginny's hand at the last minute and dragged her along with them. "Where are we going?" Harry asked, looking back to see Ron and Hermione follow.

"I'm getting you out of here," he said firmly, not looking at him. "We'll go straight to the Room of Requirement."

"No!" Harry said firmly, coming to a stop and wrenching his arm out of Sirius' tight grip. He managed to draw his wand before Sirius even turned back to him. "I am not leaving! Not while there are still students here."

"Please, Harry," Sirius insisted, reaching out to grab him again. "Please just go while you've got the chance!"

"No," Harry repeated, moving out of the way again. Lowering his wand, he and Ginny took off in the opposite direction, Ron and Hermione falling in step beside them. "You need me here, you know you do," he said over his shoulder.

"You are not a bargaining chip!" Sirius shouted, following them. "You cannot offer yourself to You-Know-Who to save the school!"

To Harry's great relief, Sirius' shouts had gained Remus' attention, and he had broken away from the students in support of Harry. "Go downstairs," he instructed them as he passed, looking back over his shoulder. "Find McGonagall."

Without looking back, the four of them took off at a run, pushing through the students who watched them pass in awe, whispers breaking out at their sudden appearance.

"Professor!" Harry shouted, hastily pulling Ginny out of the way as a tall suit of armour came hurtling past her.

Professor McGonagall turned round at Harry's shout, laying her hand across her chest in shock. She looked between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, both surprised and relieved to see them there. Though not a young woman anyway, it was clear that the months of Death Eater possession had taken their toll on her.

"Potter," she began, addressing them all as she hastily marched over to them. "Kingsley's Patronus said that You-Know-Who is coming to the castle. Is that correct?"

"Yes," he confirmed, casting his eyes at the chaos around them. "He knows I'm here, but not that the Order is. He'll be here any minute."

"Alright then," she nodded vigorously, her tight bun bouncing around a little. "The castle is almost secured…we can't hold him off forever, but if we can keep Hogsmeade clear we should be able to evacuate," she explained, already beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Professor," Hermione shouted. "What do you need us to do?"

She turned back to them, her eyebrows raised. "Evacuate students! I'm not sure who's on the seventh floor, go there first."

"Should we split up?" Hermione asked as they took off again, their lungs and legs aching as they raced up the staircases and headed towards the seventh floor.

"No," Harry said firmly, still holding Ginny's hand as they ran. "We're staying together."

Though he knew he definitely was not splitting up with Ginny, he sensed it would be dangerous to separate from Ron and Hermione. In the back of his mind he knew that Nagini was coming for him, and that although she would not hurt him, Ginny was likely to do something stupid. She would try and protect him, that much Harry was sure of, and if Ron and Hermione were nearby they could stop her. They would trust Harry enough when he told them that he was in no danger from the snake.

The corridors were crowded with confused students, shouting and calling to each other as they tried to determine what was going on. Their controlled and methodical plans to evacuate the students calmly had gone out the window with Voldemort's impending arrival, and now hardly anyone knew what was going on. The four of them slowly made their way through the crowds, placated as they heard teachers and Dumbledore's Army members directing students to various floors, restoring a sense of calm and control over a few small groups. The fifth and sixth floors were mainly empty, and they passed only a few students who appeared slightly befuddled, and they quickly instructed them to follow them to the seventh floor.

As they came to the foot of the final staircase, they could see that there were more crowds of students there, their teachers having directed them straight to the seventh floor for evacuation. It was clear that no one knew any more than this, and as they pushed their way through the corridors towards the Room of Requirement students called out to them.

"Potter! What's going on?" Ernie Macmillan called to him. "Weasley!"

"Just stay here," Harry instructed everyone. "Someone will come and get you."

When they found the entrance to the Room of Requirement, Harry was surprised to see a set of double doors that were wide open. At the entrance stood Amos Diggory, who was trying his best to keep the crowd of students calm and informed. The four of them slipped straight past him, and into the Room of Requirement, surprised to find that it was virtually empty.

"Diggle!" Harry said, seeing the wizard standing in the centre of the room. "What's happening in here? Why aren't the students going out?"

"We've already got a group in the passage," he explained, removing his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It's only narrow in there, Sharon says she can't take any more than fifteen at once."

"Fifteen?" Harry said in dismay. "Where is she?"

"She'll be back in a few minutes, she just took a group of fifth years, I think."

"We need to work out some order," Ginny said, tugging at Harry's arm and ushering Ron and Hermione to follow her. "Ron, take 'Mione and go left down the corridor, send the older students right back and bring the first years to the front."

Giving a short nod, Ron and Hermione quickly departed and headed to their left, while Harry and Ginny headed to the right.

"Don't go too far away," Harry said to her firmly, wanting to keep her close.

"I won't," she assured him, already pushing her way through the students towards the back of the crowds.

Hearing what Ron and Hermione were shouting, Harry sprang straight into action without thinking, looking around at the students and trying to judge their year. "Older students, go to the back! Move right back, send younger kids to the front! Now, go now! Right to the back!"

Grabbing one sixth year by the arm, Harry repeated what he was saying, pushing him in the right direction and breathing a sigh of relief as the students began moving. Further along the corridor, Harry could just make out Ginny giving the same instructions, and it was the same story behind him where Ron and Hermione were working. It was crowded and cramped, and so Harry began moving the students against the far wall, creating just enough space to move down. He tried to ignore his pounding headache, and the sharp burning in his scar that seemed to be increasing. The anticipation was killing him, knowing that Voldemort was making his way into the cave where his locket was kept, probably already moving across the lake of Inferi towards the small island. Any minute now the vision would come to him…he would see Voldemort making the inevitable discovery.

Younger students were slowly making their way to the front, pale faced and frightened by the impending evacuation. Harry tried to reassure them as best he could, but he simply had no time. Making his way back to the Room of Requirement, he called out to Amos Diggory.

"Amos! Move them inside, seat them in groups of fifteen!"

Amos gave a short nod, immediately beginning to count out groups of fifteen students, slowly sending them inside. The corridor began to clear, the Room of Requirement expanding to accommodate all the students as more moved inside. Looking down the corridor, Harry could see Ginny organising students and telling them as much as she could, and so he quickly ducked back into the Room of Requirement.

Already one group had moved into the corridor, Harry having missed Sharon by only a minute. It didn't really matter, and so checking that Diggle had everything under control, he went back into the corridor in search of Ron. Looking over his shoulder to ensure that Ginny was still occupied, Harry found his mate arguing with a particularly hot headed fifth year, who didn't want to move back to the end of the line. Catching each other's eye, Harry and Ron grabbed the boy by each arm and roughly escorted him back down the corridor, shoving him back into the crowd with the older students.

"And stay there!" Ron growled, he and Harry moving further down towards Hermione.

"Ron," Harry muttered as they walked, leaning close so that they could talk quietly. "You-Know-Who's sending Nagini to hold me up-"

"He's what now?" Ron exclaimed, interrupting him and coming to a standstill in the middle of the corridor.

"It won't hurt me, I know it won't," Harry insisted, making Ron look at him calmly. "But if it gets inside the castle, I need you to keep Ginny back. She'll go nuts, she'll try to protect me."

"He's sending his snake here….the last bloody Horcrux?" he whispered in shock.

"He doesn't know that we know," Harry said cryptically, pushing Ron to keep moving. They needed to find Hermione. "The important thing is to make sure Ginny doesn't get in its way. It won't hurt me, but it would hurt you lot."

"Righto, got it," Ron muttered unhappily. "I'll tell 'Mione…have you seen anything else, yet?"

"No, not yet," Harry replied, seeing Hermione down the end of the corridor and waving her over. "I don't know what he's up to…he should have found the locket missing by now."

"Maybe he knows what you're doing…maybe he's stopping you."

"Yeah, maybe," he replied as Hermione caught up to them.

"They're all organised," she proclaimed, following them as they rushed back in the other direction to find Ginny. "I've got a few sixth years here that are going to stay, keep everyone in order. They reckon they want to stay and fight!"

"Well that's nice," Ron muttered under his breath, taking her hand and leading her with them.

They quickly caught up to Ginny, who had also organised older students to keep control and manage the students that kept on arriving. Together the four of them slowly made their way through the growing crowds and headed downstairs, knowing that there was nothing more they could do up there. They only needed a glance at the third and second floors to know that the corridors were crowded, and through the noise they could hear familiar voices of the Order members giving instructions, moving and organising students into the passages, where it seemed they were slowly being evacuated. Not wanting to get in the way, they carried on.

With the intention of finding McGonagall on the ground floor, they kept moving downstairs, Harry checking his watch as they reached the first floor. It was almost five thirty, an hour after Voldemort had been told about Harry's successful break in to Gringotts, an hour after he had learned of the stolen ring. Harry was growing more and more uncomfortable, his burning scar supporting this. Voldemort should have been here by now, he should have found the locket missing and have come straight to Hogwarts. But Harry had seen no visions that would indicate this progression. Was Ron right? Had Voldemort sensed his presence and then blocked him out? Was Voldemort there already, striding through the grounds towards the castle?

The four of them reached the hallway that overlooked the Entrance Hall below, the grand staircase just a few yards ahead. Their heart rates accelerated as they heard loud screams and shouts of horror, making Harry wonder if he wasn't right about Voldemort. Was he really here already? Hadn't McGonagall secured the castle? Was this it…was this the moment Harry had been waiting for? As they ran and got closer, Harry looked over the balcony to see McGonagall standing in the doorway to the Great Hall, her wand held high above her as she shielded students from whatever it was that had incited such fear.

Harry and Ginny were halfway down the stairs when they raised their wands, Ron and Hermione close behind them, but still not seeing what had caused such fear. The moment he saw Nagini coming towards him, Harry only had time to think that Ginny was far too close to him, that she might be caught up as well. As he felt Nagini's strong tail wrapping around his right knee, he made sure that Ginny was well out of the way, releasing her hand and pushing her aside at the very moment she tried to reach for him.

Feeling a powerful wrench, Harry wondered for a moment if the snake hadn't pulled his leg clean from his body. Pulled off his feet he landed hard on his side, Nagini dragging him down the last few steps onto the stone floor of the Entrance Hall. There were screams of horror from all around, but Harry wasn't scared at all, perhaps only a little surprised by the sudden attack. Turning his head around, he managed to glimpse Ron, who was holding Ginny tightly by the elbows.

"No! Harry!" she yelled in fright.

He hardly heard her, raising his wand to the snake and shouting, "Releashio!"

Instantly Nagini let him go, but her attack was not over. She reared up at him, snapping her large jaws and spurring him into action. He didn't need to speak in Parsletongue to know exactly what she wanted, and Harry followed her directions obediently. His entire leg felt numb from her attack, and so he did his best to move in the direction she was herding him, still clutching his wand in his hand. Shuffling backwards, she backed him into a corner where he to pull himself to his feet using the wall, and he watched grimly as she slithered her body into position, her large head rearing up. He was trapped, but he felt no fear, only acceptance of what was happening. Daringly, Harry took a step closer, and he began to lower his wand as he looked straight into Nagini's eyes, where he could already see Voldemort looking at him.

A/N Please review! And also thanks to 'blooop' for reminding me to post, which prompted the quick post on chapter 52 and 53.