AN: I may have mentioned that my ability to write action scenes is not great. So for the next few chapters draw quite heavily on the Deathly Hallows battle scenes.

April 19th 1998

For a second, there was silence, and then panic broke out among the students.

Before the teachers could move, a loud bang echoed through the Hall and everyone fell silent again, seeing Harry on his feet.

When he spoke, his voice was calm and quiet. "Alright, everyone, let's make sure this goes our way. Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, getting to her feet. She moved to the centre of the Great Hall, everyone's eyes fixed on her, and raised her hands. "I, Hermione Jane Granger-Black, the rightful heir of Lady Rowena Ravenclaw, do hereby reclaim Ravenclaw Castle, currently known as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Ass her words sank in, she glowed a brilliant white light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes from its glare. When it faded, she was holding a longbow studded with sapphires.

"Kady?" Hermione called.

The house-elf appeared in front of her, bowing low. "How can Kady be of service, Lady Ravenclaw, Mistress."

Hermione smiled, handing her the bow. "Kindly find a safe place for this and then alert the rest of the house-elves that Hogwarts is under attack."

Kady's eyes widened. "Yes, my Lady."

As she disappeared, Hermione drew her wand. "Everyone who knows protective enchantments, start casting. Piertotum locamotor!"

For a second, nothing happened.

Then there was a loud thud from the Entrance Hall. The doors opened and the suits of armour marched in, forming an army along with statues that seemed to have been created from the very stone of the castle.

"Hogwarts is threatened," Hermione said. "Man the boundaries; protect us. Do your duty to our school."

As the army marched out, the three teachers had joined the students in firing protective spells towards the enchanted ceiling, creating a bubble-like shield around the castle.

"You realise, of course, that we can't keep out You-Know-Who indefinitely," Aurora whispered.

"Maybe not," Addie said. "But we can at least delay him. And his name is Voldemort, Aurora; you may as well use it. He's going to try to kill you either way."

"Okay," Harry called over the incantations. "If you are in first, second, third or fourth year, kindly stand and follow Draco and Hermione out of the Great Hall. Healers, with them. All other DA members, please make your way to the front of the Great Hall, along with anyone else who wants to fight. Anyone who doesn't, follow the younger years out and make your way to the seventh floor."

His tone left no room for argument.

Hermione and Draco led the way out of the Great Hall to the Room of Requirement. As they reached it, she tapped her pendant twice with her wand.

The door to the room appeared without prompting and she pushed it open. "We're going to get you to safety."

On the last word, the full moon in the portrait widened into a tunnel.

Daphne hadn't waited for Hermione to reach her. She ran straight through the passageway to the now-permanently-reserved room in the Hog's Head, sending a quick Patronus downstairs to Abe, before flooing to the flat about Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Fred! George!"

One of the twins stuck his head round the door, wand in hand. "Who's the Gryffindor Seeker?"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "A wide-mouthed tree frog. It's time. Get the others." She stepped back into the fireplace with another pinch of floo powder. "Ravenscroft Manor!"

Hermione stood to one side, turning to face the crowd of students. "This tunnel will lead to a room with a fireplace. Floo to Ravenscroft Manor."

"Go quickly now," Draco urged, ushering the first students through. "Jen will have had time to set up the link."

Hermione's pendant flashed and she gave a grim smile, sending a Patronus towards the door. "There's a contingent at the edge of the Forest."

"Excellent," Draco said darkly. "That should slow them down."

Ginny sprinted in, wand in hand. "It's worse than we thought. We just checked the Map. Either Daphne underestimated, or more have arrived – there are at least two hundred, plus what looks like a fleet of Dementors, judging by the fog coming from the Forest."

Draco cursed under his breath. "And how many are there on our side?"

"Once you include the students who stayed but aren't in the DA, and take away the healing students," Ginny said, "about seventy."

"We need help," Hermione said faintly.

"I wrote a letter to the Order," Ginny said, pressing it into Hermione's hand. "Better get it to them."

Hermione nodded. "Fawkes!"

The phoenix appeared in a flash of flames, singing a melodic tune that seemed to calm the nerves of everyone who heard it.

Hermione handed him the note. "Would you take this to Dumbledore please?"

As he disappeared with another trill, there were a few screams inside the tunnel and Sirius emerged, wand in hand, Remus and Frank close behind him.

"Great Hall," Hermione said, before either could say anything. "Ministry?"

"Jen's sending a message to Amelia," Sirius said, "but we've got no way of knowing how much help we're going to get."

"Bet they don't come," Fred said, appearing with Angelina as the three men sprinted out of the door. "Keep going, midgets!"

"Fred …" His girlfriend heaved a sigh, apparently giving up. "At least we didn't come alone."

Behind them, Bill, Charlie and George were squeezing past the line of evacuating children, along with Alicia, Oliver Wood, Fleur Delacour, and a woman with dark hair that Hermione didn't recognise.

At that moment, Fawkes reappeared with Mandy and Arabella.

"You're back!" Hermione said. "Do I want to know where the others are?"

Mandy looked furious. "They're not coming. Dumbledore's insisting that Voldemort won't attack until Harry's of age."

"Of course!" Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "This is all our imagination!"

"He says it's just a distraction and they won't get past the wards anyway," Arabella said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hermione said.

"We're going," Mandy said. "Just get the kids out. Great Hall?"

"As far as I know," Hermione said, as they hurried out of the room.

"Ginny, get out of here," Bill said. "It's not safe."

Ginny scowled at him. "I'm better trained than some of the seventh years."

Augusta popped out of the tunnel, much to Hermione's surprise. "Neville?"

"Great Hall," Hermione answered automatically. "Getting ready to fight."

"Well, of course he is," Augusta said proudly. "And I must go and join him." She trotted out of the room with a speed that belied her age.

"I don't care if you're trained," Bill was saying. "Mum and Dad would kill me – this isn't your fight!"

"The hell it isn't!" Ginny snapped. "He tried to use my soul to come back, in case you'd forgotten!"

Bill's next argument was interrupted by a scuffle in the tunnel, and another red-haired figure emerged.

"I came as soon as I could! Madam Bones is trying to round up Ministry workers, but no one's listening; I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Am I too …?"

Percy broke off, having clearly not been expecting to see nearly his whole family standing in front of him.

There was a very awkward silence, as Draco continued to usher students through the tunnel and the Weasleys stared at each other.

In a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension, Fleur – now Bill's fiancée – turned to Hermione. "Hermione, this is Katherine – Charlie's wife."

"Oh, hi!" Hermione shook hands with the young woman she hadn't recognised. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Sorry about the …"

"I was a fool!" Percy shouted suddenly, making them jump. "I was an idiot! I was a …"

"… Pompous, power-hungry, family-disowning, Ministry-loving moron," Fred finished, glaring at Percy, clearly not in a forgiving mood.

Percy swallowed hard. "Yes, I was."

Fred seemed to consider this for a second, before holding his hand out. "Well, you can't say fairer than that. Good to have you back, Perce."

"As touching as this is," Hermione said, "we're under attack and we're outnumbered, so get going!"

As they left the room, a shudder ran through the castle, shaking the floor beneath them.

"What was that?" Ginny asked.

"That was the Death Eaters breaking through the enchantments," Hermione whispered. "This is it."

"But what about the diadem?" Ginny asked fearfully. "We still don't know where it is."

Hermione closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. She had already shut off her empathy, but she suddenly realised that there was a strange itch running up and down her spine – claiming the castle had done more than she expected and … there was a Dark object inside the castle.

Even stranger, it seemed to be right on top of them.

"It's here," she said suddenly.

"In the castle?" Draco asked.

"In this room," Hermione said. "Or, rather, in a variation of this room, which makes sense. Riddle would be arrogant enough to believe he was the only one to ever find it."

Draco sucked in a breath. "I've got an idea. You figure that out; I need to find someone." He shoved a piece of parchment into the hand of one of the healing students, who had hung back to guard the rear. "These are the likely trouble-makers; keep an eye on them."

As he dashed out of the room, Hermione ushered the last of the younger students into the tunnel. "Ginny, you go and …"

At that moment, the last person Hermione had expected emerged from the tunnel.

"Jen, what the hell are you doing here?!" Ginny demanded. "You're eight months pregnant."

Jen was pale faced, strong Glamour Charms and protective spells around her midsection making her pregnancy impossible to see. "Where's Remus?"

"The Great Hall, I think," Hermione answered. "But Jen, you shouldn't …"

Her warning was for nothing, however, as Jen hurried out of the door.

"Oh, for …" Hermione cut herself off. "Ginny, come on!"

They stepped out of the Room of Requirement, just as Draco returned. "I've got it," he said. "I know what happened."

"Okay, Ginny, go and help the others," Hermione said. "We'll join you as soon as she can."

As Ginny hurried away down the corridor, Hermione began pacing up and down. I need to find the place where the Horcrux is hidden.

The door reappeared and she dragged Draco inside, only for both of them to stop dead.

"Whoa …" Draco whispered.

They were standing in a huge room, the size of a large cathedral, which great high windows sending shafts of light down upon piles and piles of objects hidden by generations of Hogwarts inhabitants; teetering piles of broken and damaged furniture, thousands upon thousands of books, mountains of forbidden items.

Hermione shook herself and turned to Draco. "Alright, let's start searching. Where did you go, anyway?"

"Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem is lost," Draco said. "No one in living memory has seen it."

"I know," Hermione said, frowning. "That's what makes it so difficult."

"Then why did we never think to ask someone who's dead?" Draco asked.

Hermione grimaced. "I don't know. You asked one of the ghosts?"

"Yeah, turns out the Grey Lady is Helena Ravenclaw," Draco said. "She stole the diadem while her mother was still alive and ran away. When her mother was on her death-bed, she begged one of Helena's suitors to find her and bring her home. The Baron tracked her to Albania. When she heard him coming, she hid the diadem in a tree. They argued; he stabbed her. When he realised what he'd done, he stabbed himself, and was forced to bear his chains for all eternity."

"Chains?" Hermione repeated, gingerly opening a chest. "You mean the Bloody Baron? That's why he's covered in blood?"

"That's it," Draco said. "Turns out, Helena told this story to one other person."

"Let me guess," Hermione said. "Tom Riddle. When he was Head Boy?"

"Exactly," Draco said. "Dumbledore said he came back to Hogwarts to ask for the DADA job."

"You think he wanted it?" Hermione asked. "Or did he just want an excuse to come back and hide the diadem?"

"Who knows?" Draco said. "Does it really matter?"

"I suppose not," Hermione said. "I guess that explains his connection to Albania."

"Hey," Draco said sharply. "Is this it?"

Hermione closed the trunk she was rooting through and jogged towards his voice. She found him staring at a bust of a very old and ugly warlock, which had a sparkling tiara perched on top of it.

As Hermione lifted it down, the door opened and closed again.

"Were you followed?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't think so," Draco murmured. "I'll go and make sure." He drew his wand and disappeared around the corner.

Hermione carefully examined the diadem. It held a magnificent sapphire, silver strands shaped around it like the body and wings of an eagle.

It was altogether too beautiful to destroy.

Drawing her wand, Hermione aimed it at the diadem. "Aufero malum res."

Black smoke poured from the diadem and Hermione quickly set up a shield that forced the spoke into the bust.

That was something she didn't mind destroying.

Before she could retrieve the basilisk fang from her bag, however, there was a soft footfall behind her.

A spike of emotion in the air caused to hit the ground, just in time for a chilling jet of green light to fly over her head, colliding with a cabinet.

"Nott," Hermione snarled, getting to her feet. "Why am I not surprised?"

"The Dark Lord will be victorious, Mudblood," Nott sneered. "I don't know how you fooled the castle …"

"I didn't," Hermione interrupted. "My mother was a pureblood. Some of us are secure enough in our abilities that we don't have to hide behind our blood status."

"Then you're as bad as Potter," Nott said. "An upstart half-blood."

Hermione smirked. "I have the same blood status as your precious Dark Lord, you know. Pureblood mother, Muggle father. At least my mother was a proper witch, rather than a near Squib."

Fury clouded Nott's features, but a Stunning Spell hit him from behind before he could fire another curse.

Hermione relaxed. "Thanks."

"No problem," Draco said, bending to put a Portkey on Nott. "Crabbe and Goyle were lurking near the door. They were easily stopped though."

"I transferred the Horcrux into the bust," Hermione said. "Pity Nott's Killing Curse didn't hit that instead of the cabinet."

"That would have been rather ironic," Draco agreed.

Hermione retrieved the bag of basilisk fangs and held one out to Draco. "Do you want to do the honours?"

Draco took the fang, but as he lifted it, the bust suddenly blinked.

"Draco Malfoy … you need not betray your blood like this … I am the Heir of Slytherin … join me and I will give you the world …"

"My world relies on you being gone," Draco said. "And you got disowned; I am the Heir of Slytherin, you son of a bitch."

He plunged the fang into the white marble. It yielded easily beneath the venom; as it shattered, an awful scream echoed through the room.

Hermione clapped her hands over her ears. "The cup didn't scream."

"Maybe the less there are, the greater the effect of the destruction," Draco said, gazing at the destroyed bust speculatively.

Hermione carefully wrapped the diadem and set it on a shelf, taking a moment to memorise the location so she could retrieve it later. "Just one to go then." She glanced at Draco, who still looked deep in thought. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking …" Draco said quietly. "Voldemort was planning on making a Horcrux with Harry's death that Halloween, right?"

"Yes, but he didn't," Hermione said. "That's why he turned the snake into one when he got back, presumably. That, and the diary had been destroyed."

"But he must have completed the ritual before he reached Godric's Hollow," Draco said. "He wouldn't have had time after Harry was killed, so all he had to do was commit murder and transport the soul portion into the vessel. Thing is, no one's ever said that the 'evil act' needed to split your soul has to be murder."

Hermione sucked in a breath, "You're not saying …?"

"Look at Harry's scar," Draco said. "The way it hurts when Voldemort's feeling strong emotions, the way he can see through Voldemort's and Nagini's eyes, the Dark Magic you and Jen both found during Occlumency lessons. I mean … is it possible Harry's an accidental Horcrux?"