Living the Legend Chapter VII: Rise and Sieze the Day Marie McKinnon

Ron's advice had come none too soon. The next morning more than a hundred sleepy-eyed, dazed children groggily stirred their porridge, drank their pumpkin juice, and accidentally spilled toast crumbs all over their robes. Not even the rush of owls woke them from their early stupor.

Hermione, who was more awake than the average student, noticed an anomaly in the general flight pattern. A falcon soared against the tide of owls to perch on Professor Dumbledore's chair, fierce eyes blinking against the candlelight. Its message delivered, it spread its tremendous wings, beat them against the air, and began its flight. Almost unnoticeable sparks poured off of its wings, and on hitting the ground, burst into hazy clouds of dark mist that finally succeeded in rousing the children. A resoundingly harsh scream echoed in the Great Hall for moments afterwards, soon copied by the terrified multitudes of students.

They yelled, screamed, and generally carried on until Dumbledore rose from his chair and quelled the gathering storm with a large burst of fireworks from his wand and a deep bellow.

"SILENCE!"

Shockingly, the school went dead silent in less time than it takes to tell it. Prefects with more presence of mind than their fellow students cleared away the befuddling mist and directed their attention to the Headmaster.

"I have received a message," he began in thunderous tones, spreading all over the tense student body, "from a representative of the Dark Lord himself." There was nothing less than instant pandemonium.

Panic spread with more speed than a rumor, gripping with ice cold fingers every being in that hall. Younger children cried out for their parents, older students pulled out their wands as though Voldemort were standing in the room, and the teachers grabbed for the letter Dumbledore held. Words not meant to be heard in the hallowed halls of learning were whispered in shock by students and adults alike. Only three people in the room stayed silent, but one of them decided to do something about it.

"SILENCIEUS!" Draco bellowed at the room in general, putting out almost every voice in the room. "You will remain silent and listen to your Headmaster, under a spell if necessary," he continued. "It is highly unlikely that Voldemort will take any action in the next 30 seconds, so Professor Dumbledore can continue explaining the situation. A joint prefect's and teacher's meeting will be held after the meal is over. All other students will be asked to exit as quickly and *quietly* as possible."

Dumbledore nodded his consent. "Thank you, Draco. It is imperative that none of you create the least disorder while I finish reading the message. Your prefects, teachers, Head Boy and Girl," he nodded at Draco and Hermione respectively, "and I will take the utmost caution in pursuing this matter, but first you must understand what the matter is.

"Three students seated in this room right now are wanted by the Dark Lord. If you do not turn yourselves in by sunset tonight, the school will be attacked." There was a collective gasp from the group, but none of them could speak, so it went unnoticed. "Any person who has a view on this choice is welcome to speak out now. Finite Incantatem!"

A Ravenclaw stood immediately and put up a hand for silence. "Why does You-Know-Who want these three people, and who are they?"

Ginny froze. She would not be responsible for more innocent deaths, children's deaths, at the hands of Death Eaters. Her powers had been rewarded to her for the sole purpose of keeping them safe, never mind whether she would live. She tuned the rest of her surroundings out and watched her life end before she'd had a chance to even graduate from school.

"They know who they are, though it is not specified exactly why he wants them. We must assume the worst."

Several Slytherins explained their belief in the need to protect the rest of the school and suggested that they would all be much safer without the three specified students. What were three lives when compared to 200?

The arguments went in that vein for quite some time before Ron Weasely stood, the first Gryffindor to do so. "I speak for my entire house," he said regally, "and we all refuse to allow such things to occur. Those three lives must be valued above our own for You-Know-Who to want them more than the lives of any other person sitting here. They are obviously dangerous to His conquest, so they are dear to us. Can any of us sit here and allow three people who may have the abilities to save the wizarding world be mercilessly killed because we don't want to have to do anything? Whatever the rest of the school says, Gryffindor will defend it rather than surrender its own." He sat down to a roar of applause from the rest of his house and an impressed expression on Dumbledore's face.

"Thank you, Gryffindor, we will take that into consideration. Is there a representative from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin?"

When it became evident that the situation was a matter of loyalty, Hufflepuff spoke up clearly. "None of us will let the bravery of a few be sacrificed for the good of all," they said, "not when the power of all can protect what we hold dear."

"Tactically, it would be ridiculously stupid to give You-Know-Who what he wants without a fight. He has a reason for wanting them, so we should do everything possible to keep them from him," explained Ravenclaw, who saw it as purely a decision of influence and power.

Dumbledore's serious blue eyes turned to Slytherin for the last agreement. "With the power of public opinion against us, it is difficult to differ," Thomas Nott said finally. "Many of us worry about our safety, which is not likely to be protected by going into battle against ruthless hexes and curses. Still, when explained in that eloquent manner, we cannot help but agree with our Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff cousins; there is a huge advantage waiting for us. If we can defeat the Dark Lord's warriors, it will spur the world on to greater heights."

"Thank you," he replied. "I am deeply touched by the bravery and loyalty you all display in protecting your classmates. They will be in your debt for standing by them in their times of need. It is not without great consideration on this matter that I speak to you, however. This has been expected for a great while, and I believe that our safest mode of protection would be to immediately set stronger wards on the castle. All students in Advanced Charms will be expected to help Professor Flitwick with those wards. Any fifth, sixth, or seventh year who is approved by myself and Professor Snape will be recruited to defend the school. Now, all prefects remain with the Head Boy and Girl. Everyone else is dismissed, saving the teachers, of course."

Draco and Harry remained in the Great Hall, taking their respective seats at the meeting table. Ginny trudged back to Gryffindor tower alone, so silent that it was suspected something had gone wrong in ending the Silencing Spell on her.

*

"Whatever you do, don't allow yourself to be captured." Dumbledore's final words rang between his ears violently. That would wreak utter havoc on their plans, he thought. The battle was being fought to prevent him from being taken by the Dark Lord; imagine the irony if they were captured anyway. He could easily imagine it.

"Draco, are you paying attention?" Harry asked in frustration, going over a diagram once more. "If you aren't, I'm going to have to explain it again, and I don't think either of us could stand it. Now." He continued, ignoring the furious looks coming into his direction from Ginny. She'd tried to express her opinion every time it looked like Harry was going to pause in the midst of his complex explanations, but as soon as she'd opened her mouth, he began to add in more details.

She jerked her head upwards violently as all the papers, books, and symbols tumbled onto the floor and billowed in dust. "Enough. Thank you for explaining everything to us, Harry, but your plan has too many drawbacks to it. You cannot fathom the human mind, and the things it will come up with in terror and stress are amazing. I would therefore propose a different plan." She looked gravely around the rooms. "I propose we surrender ourselves."

"Every person in this school stood up for us this morning, every single one of them is prepared to risk life and limb to protect us. They're giving their blood to save our skins."

"Which is why I think we should turn ourselves in," Ginny explained. "I don't want anyone to get hurt for me. If anything, I should be the one defending myself, not everyone else. I want to save my own skin and let them keep their blood."

"You'll be killed."

Wheels had started to turn in Draco's head. "Not necessarily. You see, the idea of our surrender will make them overconfident. Wouldn't you be, if your worst fear gave up without a fight? They won't harm us right away, partly for the drama of it and partly because they know not to be afraid of us. Most murders are made because of fear, and once you subtract the fear, we have a better chance of surviving."

"And if we don't survive?"

"We died trying," Gin said solemnly.

Harry looked from one to the other, one to the other, one to the other, and sighed. "I see your point. We leave at sunset."

"No," Draco said. "We leave now, or we won't have the courage. Summon a jumper, but don't delay."

They didn't. Ginny cast a stealth spell so they wouldn't be seen or heard in the throngs of teachers crowding the halls and safely navigated them outside the castle. They wove in and out among spell casters, trainers, and administrators who all prepared for a battle that wouldn't come. She saw her brother conversing lightly with Hermione, his arm finally draped around her waist, and her eyes filled with tears. Their long-distant wedding would be missing one participant, one joyous onlooker who wanted nothing more than to give her blessing. Harry, too, seemed decidedly subdued. They took in last breaths of warm Hogwarts air, opened the door, and stepped out.

Cold November winds whipped their faces and eyes, slapping them in the face with dead leaves, small twigs, splinters, and dirt. It hurt badly, seeming to be Nature's reprimand for daring to disobey Dumbledore. We can make it, Ginny told herself, they can't kill us. Her resolutions froze into icy terror when she made out hooded figures against the horizon.

Draco and Harry noticed them seconds after she did and stopped abruptly. The wind blowing in her eyes had somehow made them water profusely, especially when she gave both boys a hug. Her boyfriend kissed her one last time, tasting her salty tears, chapped lips, and chilly skin. Harry began to make indistinct noises in his throat, prompting them to stop. They both reddened slightly. He jammed his hands into his pockets and was reassured by the smooth surface of something he had almost forgotten.

An even more tangible silence descended on the group for the last leg of the journey. Minds numb with the realization that they had trapped themselves in what was possibly the last major decision of their lives, they walked on. Within ten feet of the Death Eaters, the stealth spell fell away, revealing three teenagers.

A smile must have been curling on each hooded face as they advanced, wands ready. "STUPEFY!"

*

"So anyway, we were playing with some of the lawn gnomes once, and Ginny came running out, waving one of their hats and squealing. She'd been experimenting, trying to see if we could play tag with them, and had found out, however she did it, that the lawn gnomes made their clothes out of all the scraps we'd thrown away. The material of the hat was of her favourite blanket that had mysteriously disappeared when she was five!"

Hermione shook her head disapprovingly. "That's ridiculous, Ron. I do believe you're making that up."

"I am not," he said indignantly. "Gin, isn't that--" He looked around, didn't see Ginny, and looked puzzled. "Where is she? I thought she'd come to lunch early, she wasn't in the tower. Well, Harry was there too, and--d***, he's not here either, is he? Maybe Malfoy knows where she is. Is he over there, can you see, Hermione?"

"He's not. Where is everyone?"

Professor Dumbledore watched the Great Hall anxiously, glad to be able to say that the students had unanimously decided to fight. It would be Hogwarts' finest hour, he was sure, and Ginny, Harry, and Draco would be safe. He looked over the table, didn't see any of them, and sent out a scan of the castle. His heart sank.

They were gone.