Everyone woke early the next morning. Faces were firm, tones were sharp and words were clipped as everything that was said was said in an few words as possible. Harry and Ron marveled at the efficiency with which the Order moved through the house, not once running into each other or anything else; it was like watching a perfectly choreographed dance and Hermione had joined in as if she had been a part of it from the beginning.
It didn't take long for Harry to sort out how to follow the half-formed statements and fragmented sentences as he watched the orchestration from the kitchen table. Ron remained confused for a considerably longer period of time. It was also fascinating how Ginevra, Draco, and Remus rotated through the kitchen; one of them was present at all times to answer questions but it was rarely the same one from moment to moment.
Almost precisely two hours to the minute after it began the dance was finished and Ginevra stood before Harry and Ron. "Thank you for staying out of the way. Let's go." Her hair was braided and she wore close fitting muggle clothing for ease of movement in combat; everyone had adopted that practice under her leadership. She moved toward the door without waiting for the others to stand.
Hermione was standing in the hall and fell in as they passed. Draco was pulling on a pair of gloves and opened the door for them. The made their way to the designated meeting place where they would wait for the signal. Well, where all of them except Ginevra would wait. Once Draco was positioned she left, after all, she was the one who would be giving the signal.
There were going to be three battles taking place across the country simultaneously. One was staged to occur in Diagon Alley, they had not found a way to avoid it. The second was already being fought in Hogsmeade. The third was supposed to take place in Godric's Hollow.
Ginevra threw a few curses in Hogsmeade before setting off Diagon. Apperating into her brother's store, she cautiously made her way through the streets. Her presence ignited the second battle and she helped get it well under way. When she arrived in Godric's Hollow, however, her heart sank.
"Failed. Riddle Manor. Now." A red blur passed between Draco and Harry. Draco did not hesitate before following her orders and the others barely did so. Draco exercised all of his will power to remain with Harry. Every fiber of his being wanted to be by Ginevra's side as she tried to clean this up, but he was needed here. He smirked as Theodore and Charlie arrived beside him, followed closely by Thompson.
That was enough. Draco motioned with his hand to signify the beginning of their contingency plan. They all spread out and moved through the shadows. Thompson shot up the signal of trouble and the dam broke. Curses were flying and confusion was spreading. Draco started shouting orders as loud as he could, not caring that the death eaters heard them as well.
Carlisle and Longbottom showed up with Tonks and Moody. Finally battle lines were being established. Remus was beside Draco before anyone knew he was there. "Diagon." Draco was gone.
He barely recognized the shopping district when he arrived. Apparently the death eaters due at Godric's Hollow had come here instead. He cursed under his breath as he realized that Ginevra was sending all of their best fighters to Riddle Manor. He caught up with Fred. "Hogs?"
"Gone." Fred shot a curse around the corner and they progressed to the next building.
"Gin?" Draco took down a death eater to their left while Fred took one across the street.
"Malkin's." Draco looked down the street in that direction and bit back a groan. Madame Malkin's was surrounded by death eaters.
"The others?" Fred was silent for a moment as they cleared out the next shop.
"Here: George, Siren, Snape. Hogs: Molly, Pansy, McGonagall. Gone: Bill and Aberforth." Draco yelled as he tackled a death eater he didn't have time to curse. "Siren was with Gin last I saw." They were sprinting an alley so he had time for a full sentence. They ducked behind a dumpster. "Snape and George were in Ollivander's." He grunted out as they pushed the dumpster over two death eaters. "The rest…" he shrugged and indicated the mayhem before them, "or Riddle's."
Draco nodded. They fought in silence for a while and managed to break through to Ollivander's, situated two shops down and across the street from Madam Malkin's. Snape was injured pretty badly but wasn't letting it hinder his fighting any. George rolled his eyes in relief at the appearance of allies. Draco paused long enough to cast a simple healing aid and pain nullifier on Snape. Then the four of them set out again.
Freed from their bunker, George and Snape helped Fred cover Draco as he crossed the street. Once all of them were across, they spread out, Fred and Snape going behind the stores, George going through, and Draco taking the street.
Just as they were about to break through to Madam Malkin's Siren broke out. She looked at Draco and didn't even wait for the question before pointing toward the apothecary. Draco froze for a fraction of a second, but for him it seemed like an eternity. The apothecary was rubble and had at least seven death eaters still firing curses at it. Then he saw it, a jet of purple light shot back from somewhere in the debris. Siren had seen it too. She smirked.
Draco roared.
Every death eater on the street looked in his direction. Five fell immediately, hit in their distraction. Before the others could recover Draco had charged those still standing around the apothecary as Ginevra struggled out and attacked them from behind. Siren and George finished off those in front of Madam Malkin's while Fred and Snape pulled a few more out of the alleyways.
Once the core of the battle was won they could hear distant skirmishes taking place in a few of the shops they had either passed on the other side of the street or had not yet reached. With barely a sideways glance at each other, Draco and Ginevra moved off to help their comrades.
Finally having Diagon secured, they returned to Riddle Manor. Fred and Snape remained behind, both too injured to be of any help in further battle but in well enough shape to help other casualties.
The battle at Riddle Manor was not faring much better than Diagon Alley had been when Draco arrived. Harry was holed up with Ron and Remus near an out building, unable to get anywhere near where they needed to be. Hermione had been separated from them an eternity before and was keeping, or being kept, near Theodore. Charlie was stuck out on his own in a grove and Thompson had fallen. Tonks and Longbottom were trying to clear a path for Harry from their post nearer the house but were failing miserably. Moody was trying to draw more death eaters into the grove and away from the main battle. He was having a little bit of success at it, but not enough.
George and Siren immediately set in to help Moody. Siren got behind a select group and chased them in that direction while George took Moody's lead and acted as bait. Together, the three of them began to make considerable headway, especially when Charlie broke free of those already in the grove and took over for George, allowing him to join Siren.
Draco found Theodore and Hermione and helped them move around the outskirts of the battle to a more advantageous position where they could help Tonks and Longbottom from a distance. Ginevra cut her own path to Harry and the others. Grabbing Ron, she broke out away from them and distracted three or four death eaters, reducing the number of those facing Remus and Harry significantly enough for them to break through and up to the house.
By that time, the rest of the reinforcements, which weren't many, from Diagon had arrived, along with a few of the healed survivors of the Hogsmeade battle. Most of the remaining death eaters were lured into the grove and Harry finally made it inside the Manor. Draco and Ginevra dashed in behind them, pulling their immediate companions with them. Once inside they sealed the door behind them so no one could get in or out until one of them decided to allow it.
Hermione, Theodore, Ron, Ginevra, Remus, and Draco provided enough cover from the personal guards held back to protect Voldemort for Harry to engage in the final confrontation. During that battle Remus fell. It was later discovered that at what was presumed to be almost exactly the same moment, Tonks had fallen on the grounds.
It wasn't until the final battle was finally over that Draco had time to let himself realize how horrible Ginevra looked after having an apothecary fall on top of her. He had to physically grab her and force her to sit down because she was trying to orchestrate the after battle assessment. Had he not, she probably would have fainted from blood loss before she could give her third instruction. Her left arm was immobile and barely attached. Her right hip was a mess of blood and Draco marveled at the power of adrenaline to keep her standing on that leg.
He had barely gotten her cleaned up and sufficiently healed to operated a few hours without more treatment when they attention was demanded elsewhere.