Outside, it was even worse than it had been a few minutes before when Ron escaped into the Common Room. Several sections of the roofing had fallen in, exposing dark sky and shining stars above the castle. Whatever the Death Eaters were doing to the school, it was causing great explosions, and fire was spreading from the wreckage to the grand old carpets. The flames licked up the walls to catch paintings as well, and Ron caught Hermione's horrified glance. They shared a stricken look, but there was no way they could save the paintings if they were to get their charges safely down to the Dining Hall. It was a heartbreaking decision – the subjects of these paintings had been hanging in the halls of Hogwarts for far longer than the past seven years, and some of them were like family – but there was no real choice. They pressed on, Ron and Hermione leading the other students past the flickering destruction. Behind them, the Fat Lady shrieked and ran out of her painting.
They reached the stairs, which were shifting around ceaselessly, agitated. Hermione spied one upper-level staircase that was moving across the great space toward them, and called to Ron. He saw it, and quickly ran to the end of the hall. A heavy, dusky red drapery hung around the window there; it was tied back with a thick, golden cord. Ron unknotted it and yanked it down, running back to the landing. "You there," he called to a tall boy in his line. "Help me catch this staircase."
The boy blinked, but moved forward. When the staircase came to rest briefly at the landing, he and Ron grabbed hold of the wooden rails and held it as Hermione darted forward and slipped the drapery cord through the slats of the banister. She quickly wrapped both ends around the railing of the landing and pulled back, creating tension on the line. When the staircase tried to move away from the landing, the drapery cord held it tethered.
Hermione continued to hold the line until Ron knotted the ends together, and then she let go. "All right, everyone," she called. "Down the stairs. Remember, stick together!"
In groups of twos and threes, the students made their way down the staircase. Luckily, it was a long one, and went nearly to the floor so they only had to "catch" one more staircase. Since they'd left the cord as a tether for the first staircase, Ron and Seamus held on to this one by strength alone until all of the students had reached the bottom. Then they let go and quickly joined the others on the ground floor.
Just then there was another BOOM!, this one even louder than the first. There were screams from the entrance hall, and people began fleeing into the stairwell.
Obviously, the other prefects hadn't managed wrangle as much control over their charges as Hermione, because Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were running everywhere, unchecked and screaming their heads off. A moment later, however, Ron was forced to revise his definition of "screaming their heads off" when Nearly Headless Nick zoomed by, floating several feet in the air. Sir Nicholas' head was tipped all the way back, exposing the incomplete cut that had made him famous (and dead). His mouth – which was currently aimed in the opposite direction from the front of his body – was open and emitting a girlish scream as he floated past, at speed.
Ron shook his head, as if to clear it of the image, and he focused on his own group, looking for Hermione. There she was, at the front, directing the Gryffindors through the door into the Dining Hall. As he watched her, she grabbed what looked to be a First or Second Year Hufflepuff that was running by, and pushed him through the door, too.
Despite the situation, Ron grinned. This was what Hermione did best…boss people around. She was probably having a grand time of it.
Bringing up the rear, Ron kept the Gryffindors ahead of him moving toward the door to the Dining Hall. He was nearly there when there was another surge from the entrance…only this time it wasn't people.
Ron's blood ran cold. Dementors!
It appeared as if the Death Eaters had finally breached the school, and Dementors were to be their first wave of attack. The tall, skeletal figures, hooded in black, glided across the floor toward the small group of Gryffindors remaining. Ron pushed and shoved at the students in front of him, trying to get them to move faster to safety. Hermione was doing the same, standing at the door, moving them along.
The Dementor in the lead was getting closer, closer…it was upon them. Ron pulled out his wand and aimed it at the wraith, thinking of playing Quidditch, thinking of his family, thinking of his friends. Thinking of Hermione's smile. "Expartum Patronus!" he shouted, and a wispy fog came from the end of his wand. As it swirled there before him, it began to solidify and take shape. White wings spread out from the central form, individual feathers only sketches against the mist. A head elongated, a beak forming at one end as the hunting hawk took flight and launched itself against the Dementor. It shrieked a challenge at the figure in black, and reached out with taloned claws to tear into the creature.
Ron tore his eyes from the spectacle. There was no time to watch. He scanned the hall, seeing no more Gryffindors. He grabbed a fistful of the robes the Ravenclaw girl in front of him wore and propelled her through the door into the Dining Hall.
On the other side, they were already shutting the door. He barely made it clear with the girl he'd grabbed, when the door was slammed shut and bolted. Through the heavy oak, Ron could only scarcely hear the hunting cry of his Patronus as it battled with the Dementor.
Out of immediate danger, Ron glanced around. There were quite a few students in the Dining Hall, including all of the Gryffindors, and all of the Slytherins. To Ron's considerable surprise, he saw Draco Malfoy directing his housemates to levitate the long dining tables over against the doors to provide another barrier should the Hall be breached. He'd thought for sure that Draco would be outside, fighting with his father against the Order. Against Hogwarts. He gaped at the strange sight for several seconds before Ginny elbowed her way up to him.
"Ron, Ron!" she called, finally getting through. "Did Hermione come in with you?"
"What?" Ron asked, only confused at first. "No, she was up at the front, with you girls." He craned his neck, looking around at the tops of the heads of the people around him, searching for Hermione's wavy, chestnut hair. He didn't see any, and alarm gripped him. "Where is she?"
Ron heard his name again, from his right this time. He turned, and saw that Neville was the owner of the voice who had called to him. "She didn't come in!" he shouted. "She was trying to round up more students!"
Ron paled as the blood drained from his face. She was still out there? Hermione was out there with the Dementors, alone?
Oh God…he'd lost her.