"Run! I need you to run!"

Hermione and Ginny raced out of the girl's dormitory, flying down the staircase that led to the Gryffindor common room, as a second blast hit the castle.

Ginny cried out in alarm, clutching Crookshanks to her chest, looking terrified.

Below them the Gryffindor common room shook with such force that bookcases tipped over and paintings crashed to the floor.

"I have to get you to the dungeons. You'll be safe there."

Ginny nodded.

Above them they heard shouting, students were calling to each other in panicked voices, some of them shaken awake by the blast.

"Come on!" Hermione urged.

They raced down the stairs to the common room, climbing over fallen desks and chairs, desperate to get to the other side of the room.

They heard a loud snapping sound behind them, and Hermione watched in horror as the last bookcase detached itself from the wall and tipped forward.

Hermione crouched down, pulling Ginny with her.

"Protego!" she shouted.

A sea of books rained down upon them, bouncing left and right as they hit the shield charm.

"Come on! We have to keep moving!"

They climbed out of the portrait hole and raced down the corridor.

"We have to get to the main staircase," said Hermione.

Ginny struggled to keep up with her.

"What about Padma and Lavender?" she asked. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"No," Hermione said briskly.

Minutes later they reached the landing of the seventh floor, and stopped, waiting for one of the moving staircases.

"We'll be alright," Hermione said reassuringly, as they jumped onto one, and started moving left.

"We just have to—"

A third blast hit the castle.

Hermione screamed. "Hold onto something!"

The staircase shook violently. Hermione and Ginny clutched the railing for support, fearful they'd be thrown off.

"Don't look down," Hermione warned as they swayed left and right.

Ginny shut her eyes, trying not to panic.

"The Order will arrive soon," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice steady. "They'll buy us some time, but we can't stay up here. It's not safe."

Ginny nodded, squeezing Crookshanks so tightly that he hissed at her.

They waited until the shaking stopped, then hurried down the staircase. They were about to catch the next one when they heard movement.

"What's happening?" someone behind them shouted.

Cho Chang skidded to a halt on the landing of the sixth floor, Michael Corner and Susan Bones at her heels.

"We're going to the Great Hall," Hermione lied. "The teachers will try to gather everyone there."

"Maybe we should go back to our common rooms," Cho said worriedly. "Wait for the prefects."

"Do as you like, but Voldemort's already broken through the barriers. The fighting will start soon."

Cho flinched at the mention of the name.

"My common room's all the way down by the kitchens," said Susan, eager to find her Hufflepuff friends. "I'm going with Hermione and Ginny."

She hurried to the staircase, and after a few moment's hesitation, Cho followed. Michael Corner stood rooted to the spot.

"I'm staying," he said simply. He turned on his heel and fled down the corridor.

"We have to move quickly," Hermione warned Cho and Susan.

She only had until midnight.

Then the ship from Durmstrang would sail off, and there would be no way to leave the country undetected.

The staircase moved again.

"GO! GO!"

They ran to the end of it, ready to catch the next one.

"Stay alert, and hold onto me," she told Ginny.

They both jumped onto the next set of stairs.

Susan followed, then Cho…but just as she landed there was another loud BANG.

They were all pitched forward, and Cho lost her footing.

Hermione turned in time to see her fly over the railing.

She lunged forward, trying to catch hold of Cho's robes. But she was too late.

She watched her fall several feet, hitting sets of stairs as she went, her hair flying up around her…

Cho plummeted with the speed of a bullet train, falling lower and lower, until she hit the ground with full force.

The students and teachers gathered below cried out in fright.

"CHO! CHO!" Susan screamed.

Her cries sounded distant, Hermione turned to her left and saw Ginny's widened eyes, and Crookshanks trying to squirm out of her hold. For several moments all Hermione could hear was her own heavy breathing.

She looked down at her hand. Her knuckles had turned white with how tightly she was gripping Ginny's shoulder.

And then someone turned the volume back up, and she could hear, clear as day, Susan's screams of anguish.

"CHO!"

"She's dead," Hermione said slowly, finding her voice. "We have to keep moving."

She pushed Susan forward, forcing her to go on, but Ginny wouldn't move.

"Ginny, come on."

She shook her head, clutching to the railing for dear life, completely petrified.

"We need to keep going, get up."

The adrenaline rushing through Hermione didn't allow her to stop. She half dragged, half carried Ginny to the landing on the fifth floor.

Susan backed away from them. "You two go on, I can't—"

Before Hermione could convince her otherwise she ran away from them.

Ginny was sitting on the floor, shaking. Hermione knelt down beside her.

"Ginny, look at me, we have to keep going. We can't stay here. We'll be fine alright? Just stay close to me."

Tears leaked down Ginny's cheeks but she did as Hermione told her.

She forced herself to stand, her knees trembling.

Hermione grabbed her hand and they took the next set of stairs.

They dodged more falling paintings, candles, torches and uneven staircases. She knew it was only minutes, but it felt like an eternity passed before they made it all the way down to the entrance hall.

There was a crowd gathered around Cho's body.

Hermione pushed past students and teachers, trying to get to the front. Her breath caught in her throat when she finally made it there. Cho was lying in a pool of blood, her head split open, a look of shock permanently etched on her delicate face.

Hermione felt Ginny move behind her, but she held her back.

"Don't look," she snapped. "You don't need to see."

Hermione dragged her away from the crowd and steered her in the direction of the dungeons.

"Meet me in front of the Slytherin common room. Take Crookshanks with you. If I'm not back by midnight leave without me."

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked bewildered. "Why do you want me to go down there?"

"You have to trust me. You'll be safe in the dungeons, Hagrid will explain if I'm not back in time."

Ginny panicked. "Don't leave me. Not you too!"

"Ginny I don't have time to argue. Promise me."

She looked at Hermione for a moment, trying to decipher the secret she was keeping. Her brothers had kept secrets from her all her life. They always told her she was too young to understand. She thought it would be different with Hermione, but apparently there were things she kept to herself too. She guessed it had something to do with Dumbledore, something he needed her to do.

"I promise," she said slowly.

Hermione nodded and rushed back to the main staircase.

"Where are you going?!" Professor Sprout cried, catching sight of her. She clutched her robes. "Are you mad?! It's not safe up there."

Hermione wrenched herself free from her hold, and looked up.

The moving staircases made her head spin. Some had been blasted apart, others were splintered, looking like they might collapse at any second. The image of Cho was still fresh in her mind, but she gathered the last of her resolve and moved forward.

She knew she was risking her life, but something compelled her to keep moving. She didn't want Malfoy to die simply because she hadn't tried. She would do her best to save him while Hogwarts maintained its defenses. If Voldemort or the Death Eaters managed to break into the castle, she would head straight to the dungeons. She was well aware that she only had until midnight.

It wouldn't be that difficult, she thought, trying to distract herself from the terror she felt as she jumped from staircase to staircase.

She would reach Everley, and they would meet Pansy. No doubt Malfoy's guards had abandoned their posts by now, realizing the castle was under attack…

There was a loud cracking sound, and the staircase swayed ominously, threatening to collapse.

She ran for it, seeing the ledge of the fifth floor landing.

It was now or never.

The staircase gave way just as she jumped. Her arms flailed wildly in the air…

She could not meet the same end as Cho…she had to make it…

Her chest slammed hard into the ledge. Hermione cried out in pain, her hands slipping as she struggled to maintain her hold.

The staircase crumbled to pieces, and she heard shouts from below as people scrambled to get out of the way.

She yelled furiously, and used the last of her strength to push herself up. Her arms and legs trembled, and for a few seconds she lay face down on the floor, unable to move.

Keep going, she told herself.

She crawled away from the ledge, and bile rose in her throat. She clutched her stomach and retched, the shock of what happened to Cho finally hitting her.

The rolling wave of sickness coursed through her body over and over again, until there was nothing left for her to bring up, her stomach empty.

She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and looked up.

Students were screaming and running out of Ravenclaw tower.

She hurried towards them, trying to shake the dizziness that she felt.

"Have you seen Everley?" Hermione asked as she reached the crowd. "Roman Everley, has anyone seen him?!"

She pushed through the sea of students as she rushed into the common room.

It was a wide, circular room with arched windows and a midnight blue carpet. The domed ceiling above her was covered with stars, and in the center of the room stood a large marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw.

Bookcases had tipped over and books lay strewn all over the floor. Half open trunks lay abandoned. Two students were huddled in a corner, crying.

"Roman!" She shouted. "Roman Everley!"

"He's over there," said a girl, pointing behind Hermione.

She spotted him in a far corner of the room, talking to a male prefect.

"Where are the first and second years?" Everley demanded.

"McGonagall and Flitwick took them earlier. They—"

"I need to find my brother, surely you must know something."

The prefect bristled. "I—"

"I need to speak with you," Hermione interrupted, tapping Everley on the arm.

He turned, recognizing her voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need your help."

"I can't help you Granger. We're being attacked in case you haven't noticed."

He rushed away from her.

"I know where your brother is."

Roman stopped dead.

He spun around to face her.

"Tell me then."

"I need your help with Malfoy first. Romena locked him away and I—"

Everley thrust his wand into her neck. "I will blast you to pieces!"

Hermione swallowed, about to form a reply when a student next to them cried out.

"GET OUT THE WAY!"

They heard a loud rushing sound, and turned to the windows. An orange-red glow was reflected on the glass.

A great ball of fire was shooting towards Ravenclaw tower. Hermione's heart froze. They were standing directly in its path.

"MOVE!" Roman yelled in her ear. "MOVE NOW!"

He dragged her out of the way just as the fireball crashed through the window and smashed into the center of the room. The blue and gold curtains around them caught fire, and in a matter of seconds the room was engulfed in flames.

The remaining students raced out of the common room as fast as their legs would carry them.

Hermione and Everley were about to follow, when Ravenclaw's marble statue hit the floor with a terrible crash.

"We have to move it," said Roman, realizing the statue had blocked their only means of escape.

Hermione nodded.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" they shouted in unison.

The statue lifted an inch then fell again.

"No!" Roman cried in frustration."WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" he shouted, but the statue wouldn't budge.

"It's too heavy!" said Hermione, panicking as the heat from the flames pressed in on them.

"Wait here," said Roman.

He made for the stairs that led to the dormitories.

Hermione seized his arm. "Don't go back up there!"

He twisted free from her hold, and charged up the stairs two at a time.

She heard someone outside in the corridor, shouting. "Fire in Ravenclaw Tower! Get help!"

The flames hissed and shot sparks at her, forcing her further back into the room.

No one was going to arrive in time to save them. They had to find another way…

Hermione ran up the stairs, coughing and shielding her mouth with her cloak. "Everley!" she shouted.

"In here!"

She ran into his dorm. "What are you doing?"

"I need to find my broom…There! Look! It's stuck…help me lift this."

She craned her neck to see what he was looking at. His broom was trapped under a four poster. They positioned themselves at each end of it.

Roman nodded at her. "On the count of three."

"One….two…three! Push!"

They lifted the bed. Roman grabbed hold of his broom and pushed her forward.

"We have to go. Come on."

He mounted the broom and Hermione scrambled up behind him.

They zoomed down the stairs and back into the common room, dodging flames and falling paintings.

"Is there anyone else here?" he asked Hermione, squinting through the flames.

"No, they all made it to the corridor before the statue fell."

"Alright, hold on."

They flew out of the broken window.

As soon as the night air hit their faces, curses whizzed past them. Hermione looked down and saw a sea of hooded figures.

Roman swerved the broom to the left.

"We need to get inside the castle again!" Hermione shouted. "The seventh floor!"

He was a skilled flyer, dodging spells and curses, spinning the broom out of the way whenever one got too close.

"There's so many of them," he said, looking down at the Death Eaters.

In the distance Hermione could see more of Voldemort's army gathering. He had brought all sorts of creatures with him. Dragons, dementors and who knew what else. She thought she heard the distant howl of a wolf. They would be at the castle gates much sooner than she'd predicted.

A jet of green light shot past her ear. "Hurry!" she shouted. "That window there."

The Death Eaters sent another round of curses at them, but Roman spun them out of the way just in time.

They were flying upside down now, moving at breakneck speed…

They crashed through the seventh floor window. Hermione cried out in pain as shards of glass cut her face and arms.

With a forceful jerk they were unseated from the broom, landing facedown on the cold, stone floor.

Hermione felt her lip burst open and bleed.

"Watch out!" Roman shouted.

The broom hit the wall, smashing to pieces.

Hermione covered her head with her hands as the debris rained down on them.

When it was over she lifted herself up cautiously. The corridor was empty.

She yanked a piece of glass out of her leg, stifling a cry of pain as she tossed it aside.

"Do you hear that?" asked Roman, lying on the ground next to her.

They heard the sound of rushing wings, and shrill, high pitched shrieks.

"What the—" he started.

A flock of fire birds pelted through the window, flying straight at them.

"Get up," yelled Roman, reaching for her arm. "Come on!"

He yanked her up and they raced down the corridor.

"Granger?! Is that you?!" said a second voice.

Pansy turned the corner and crashed headlong into Hermione.

"Where have you—"

She stopped short, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Fire birds," she said weakly. "Come on, follow me!"

They tore down the halls, chasing after Pansy, turning left then right then left again.

"They're gaining on us!" Hermione shouted as she looked over her shoulder.

"Here!" said Pansy, stopping suddenly.

She pulled back a tapestry to reveal—a solid wall.

"Where have you taken us?!" Roman cried in disbelief.

Pansy dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a flat gold pendant. She pressed it to the wall. There was a flash of blinding blue light. Hermione instinctively lifted her hands to shield her eyes.

The wall began to dissolve stone by stone until it was completely gone, revealing a small corridor beyond.

The three of them ran inside, and Pansy crouched down, tapping the floor with her wand.

She muttered an incantation.

"Hurry!" Hermione urged, hearing the roar of the birds draw nearer.

A trap door appeared out of thin air, and Pansy reached for the handle.

She rattled the door.

"It won't budge! It's stuck!"

The high-pitched shrieks grew louder.

"They're getting closer, we're not going to make it!" Hermione warned.

Pansy and Roman tugged the door with all their might.

Hermione ducked her head into the hall. The beasts were turning the corner, making a dive for them.

"There!" Pansy shouted.

Hermione turned. The trap door had swung open.

"Once you're down stay close," Pansy instructed. "Don't dream, or you'll be lost. I'll need the two of you to open the entrance."

Hermione and Roman looked at her like she'd gone mad, but there was no time to ask questions.

The fire birds were upon them.

Roman raised his wand. "Expecto patronum!"

A silver blue fox erupted from his wand, and charged at the birds. They scattered left and right, momentarily stunned.

Hermione looked over her shoulder just in time to see Pansy shoot down. Roman made to follow, but hesitated, looking at Hermione for the briefest of moments.

He didn't trust Pansy and he didn't trust her, but the alternative was to face a fiery death, and so he lowered himself down.

The top of his head disappeared just as the birds moved back into formation.

Hermione was out of time. Roman's patronus was weakening, and the birds were preparing to charge at her. She ran towards the trap door and made a jump for it.

A rush of cold air hit her face as she shot down into the abyss.

She heard the door swing shut above her and everything went dark.

As she fell, for some strange reason Harry and Ron's faces flashed through her mind.

Here she was going down a secret passage like so many times before…except tonight she didn't have her friends with her.

She wondered where Harry and Ron were, if they were safe, and she hoped that one day, she would see them again.


Author's Note: Thank you for reading! If you like this story be sure to click the follow button to receive a notification when the next chapter is posted. See you next time!