Professor McGonnagal made her announcement. Students of age could stay and fight.
Most of Slytherin had made an obvious choice; they would not cross wands with their parents, nor with their older brothers and sisters. Not all of them were Death Eaters, but enough of them had close relatives who were. And even more of them could look at the correlation of forces and decide that sitting this one out instead of making a heroic last stand would be a wise decision.
Gryffindor stood as a unified class. None of the remaining 6th or 7th Years made a move to exit the Great Hall. Half of the 5th Years were arguing ferociously for the ability to stay. They were mostly placated by the argument that the younger students needed to be protected during the evacuation.
The older Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were divided. This was a desperate stand. Many stayed, some left. No one was judged for either decision.
One of the Puffs who stayed had just turned seventeen the previous week. This was an easy decision. He had taken to the Room of Requirement in March as the hallways of Hogwarts were getting too hot for a Halfblood who had three Squibs for siblings. He had no place in the world that the Death Eaters envisioned. He had trained with the rebels and Potter's compatriots. Neville Longbottom had made it a particular point to teach him how to cast a corporeal patronus just weeks ago. There were plans for him to flee to America and transfer to Ilvermorny next term. That had to be held off until his family could flee the country. An owl from his mother had just arrived with that good news a week ago; they had landed in Boston and were waiting to see him in a few weeks once the term was over.
Patrick O'Shea looked at his friends whom he had not seen in months. Courtney had a black eye. Loren still looked like the world was his oyster, Donovan limped after a long detention with the Carrows. Marie smiled and gave them a hug as she left the hall. She whispered in Donovan's ear that she would try to get back but she needed to make sure her twin sisters, third years in Ravenclaw and her cousin, a firstie in Slytherin were safe.
Hours later, the Great Hall was now a Great Morgue. Donovan had bled out when a trio of cutting curses opened up his thigh and his torso in a four second period. A series of explosive curses and then shield charms cast by Marie and Loren had allowed for Courtney and Patrick to drag their friend's body back behind cover. The elves had moved him to the Great Hall where a sheet covered him. Courtney was with Madame Pomphrey. Blood replenishing potions and a tourniquet had saved her life but she would need weeks at St. Mungos. They had been fighting hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder along a secondary staircase that half a dozen Death Eaters had tried to storm. It was only the winding stairs that had given them a chance to slowly retreat from superior numbers. A trio of Hogwarts gargoyles took the Death Eaters in the rear. During that chaos, Loren, Patrick, and Marie had all cast long strings of cutting, severing and bone breaking curses while Courtney had jinxed the stairs with lubricant. No one knew whose curse hit nor whose curse missed but the combination of lost footing, ankle biting statues and exhaustion led to the Death Eaters having poorly positioned shield charms. Two heads came off in a five second burst.
Minutes after the small entrance was secured again, the cease fire had been called. The Puffs charmed the stairwell with a one way barrier. They could go down, but nothing could come up. They then went to the Great Hall to rest, recuperate and get their wounds treated.
The next hour was calm. House elves brought up sandwiches, tea and coffee. A few students were wailing as they saw the still bodies of their friends, classmates and for a few, lovers, lie in stillness. Patrick saw a cluster of redheads huddled together around a single sheet. The Weasleys had lost one of their own. He did not look at Donovan's body. He could not yet. He merely chewed his food and regained some energy. Marie passed around a few vials of Pepper-up and soon he was ready to move again. The clock kept on ticking through the ceasefire. Loren rested against a table with his eyes closed, not quite napping but not quite alert either.
And then a booming voice penetrated the castle walls. It was a taunt, a declaration of victory and an offer of pardon and parley. The defenders ran back to the walls. Across the damaged fields of the Hogwarts outer defenses a line of Death Eaters and Giants advanced. Hagrid was in the middle, captured during the first round of battle and he carried something. It was Potter.
Patrick was ready to put down his wand. He was willing to fight for what he believed in, but he would not die when there was no hope and a way out, but suddenly Longbottom who had been pulled out of the line of defenders to be made an example of what would happen to the reluctant and obstinate, broke free of Voldemort's body binds and beheaded a giant snake. Shield charms were cast between the two opposing armies and chaos ensued.
He could not recount the next three hours. He knew that Loren and Marie were seldom more than ten feet from him. The three of them cast curses, juked jinxes, hopped over hexes. Marie was stunning in her flexibility during a duel with a minor death eater. She went on an offensive tear trusting that her two friends would shield and block anything that could endanger her. Anyone with an outside view would have seen an infinitely long and amazing shortly duel come to an end forty nine seconds after it started as a trio of transfigured steel spikes slammed into her opponent's chest pinning him to the wall. She completed the duel by severing his wand hand from his body. The three students continued to fight through the start of dawn. Most of the times it was a few hexes as they emerged from cover for a moment and then a rapid sprint to new cover. Somehow they were never severely wounded. A few cutting curses drew blood and a langlock tied his tongue for a few minutes.
As the sun broke through the mountains, Potter and Voldemort circled just after Weasley's mother battled the crazed Lestrange in a deadly dance. Few Death Eaters were left alive and fighting. The counter-attack of centaurs and the reinforcement of the families had smashed the ability and the will of the Death Eaters to resist.
And then the battle suddenly ended as Potter disarmed and defeated Voldemort.
It was over.
It was over.
It was over.