Fay and Remington waited at the doors as McGonagall gave her speech. The entire hall was silent, everyone's attention was commanded as she spoke. It was an odd, disconcerting sight, all of the members of Order of the Phoenix among the students and standing behind Professor McGonagall. Rem's eyes scanned the Slytherin table, hoping perhaps she'd missed Draco as he went inside, but no. Draco Malfoy was not there, and neither were Crabbe and Goyle. He was up to something. Likely something she wasn't going to like.

As McGonagall finished explaining their process of evacuation, Ernie Macmillan stood up from his seat at the Hufflepuff table. "And what if we want to stay and fight?" A smattering of applause rose in the room.

"If you are of age, you may stay." Professor McGonagall said.

"What about our things?" A Ravenclaw girl called out, "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions." said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" An underclassman from the Slytherin table called. Rem's eyes flicked to McGonagall. She was wondering the same thing.

"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk." Professor McGonagall replied. Nearly the entirety of the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws cheered. Remington's jaw clenched and she ignored Fay's glance in her direction.

McGonagall began to speak once more. Harry was slowing working his way forward from the back of the room, seeming to look for something. As he went, a cloud of whispering seemed to follow him.

But a voice spoke over McGonagall with no warning. "I know that you are preparing to fight." Students screamed, grasped at each other, searched for a source of the sound in absolute terror. Chills snaked up and down Rem's spine. There was no doubt who the voice belonged to, though she had never heard it before. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood." There was a moment of silence that seemed to pin them all down. It sunk in the air like a weight. Fay's hand moved to grab Rem's. The girls squeezed each other's hands as the voice continued. "Give me Harry Potter, and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded." A final, pressing pause, then, "You have until midnight."

Every eye in the room seemed to find Harry in that moment. Remington suddenly felt bad for him. That's when Pansy Parkinson stood up from the Slytherin table, her arm pointed at Harry. "But he's there! Potter's there. Someone grab him!" She cried.

"Wrong move, Parkinson." Rem muttered as one by one, the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables rose to stand between Pansy and Harry, wands raised.

"Really Slytherin, nobody?" Fay mumbled.

"Few times has a Slytherin ever been prided on bravery." Rem returned quietly.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson." Professor McGonagall said tersely, cutting through the tension filling the room, "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

The Slytherins all rose, moving back towards the doors where Rem and Fay were standing. The two girls shifted slightly so they were out of the way as Slytherin House was ushered out by Filch.

"Rem," A voice called, "Rem Alvers!" Tracey emerged from the crowd that was leaving, Daphne in tow. Fay looked slightly bewildered that these Slytherins that she had never spoken to in her time at Hogwarts seemed oddly close to her best friend.

"Tracey, what- ?" Remington began to say.

"Are you staying?" Daphne asked under her breath as they reached her, the Slytherins moving to go around the four girls.

"Of course I am." Rem replied.

"What about Draco?" Tracey inquired.

"You're not going to fight him, are you?" Daphne finished her friend's thought, concern clear in her voice. Fay was still watching with rapt interest.

"I-" Rem began, organizing her thoughts as she spoke. "I have to fight for what I believe in."

Tracey was nodding lightly, but Daphne looked more distraught than ever. "My parents would kill me even if I survived. I have to go." She glanced between the two Gryffindors.

"I'm staying, too." Tracey remarked decidedly.

Daphne's eyes turned on her friend, wide in disbelief, "Tracey?"

"I can't let the Gryffindors have all the fun." She said, looking at Rem. "I- I want to help."

Daphne's eyes shifted from Tracey, to Rem, and back to Tracey. "Oh, you courageous idiots." She wrapped her arms around the two girls. "Don't you dare get yourselves hurt." She said. Rem thought she might strangle if Daphne didn't let her go soon, the blonde's arm was hooked so tight about her neck. "I love you too much."

"Get out of here while you can, Cinderella." Tracey said, pushing her friend away. In fact, it was only a few Gryffindors who were now trickling out of the Great Hall.

Daphne tore herself away, grabbing Fay's arm as she turned to go. "Take care of yourself, too, Dunbar." She said, looking the Gryffindor in the eyes.

Fay looked quite surprised. She nodded, clearly at a loss for words as Daphne was whisked away with the evacuees. She looked at Rem as if expecting an explanation.

"Daphne has always wanted Gryffindor friends." Rem told her.

"Daphne is a storybook princess who got lost in the real world, is what." Tracey remarked.

Now McGonagall was rousing all the underage Gryffindors that had hung back in hopes of getting to fight. Kingsley Shacklebolt had taken the podium at the front of the room.

"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast. A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers - Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor - where they'll have good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus, Arthur, and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances or the passageways into the school-"

"Sounds like a job for us." Fred called out, gesturing between him and George.

Kingsley nodded in agreement. "All right," He called out, "leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"