Chapter Twelve, The Final Battle
Draco's air of confidence left him as he looked at the skeleton of his former home. A home that had always loomed above the ground, daring anyone and everyone to take it on. A home that he'd grown up in, slept in, eaten in, fell down and learned to get back up in. His air of confidence was gone, and all that was left was tension. He felt Ginny's hand hold his, but the touch felt alien - like he wasn't in his body, like he wasn't really there, really seeing what was going on. Maybe it was a dream...but then again, maybe it wasn't.
Time passed quickly while Draco just stared at the remains. Narcissa, Tonks, Molly, and just about everyone else left Ginny and Draco and went to search through the ashes, to see if they could find anything that had been in the Manor. Thankfully, with Narcissa and Draco not living there anymore, most of their personal possesions, including clothes, hadn't been around for the fire. However all the books in the library, all the portraits in the halls, and all of the family heirlooms had, and had perished in the flames. Draco's mind was blank, while Ginny's was full of worry. Worry about Draco, about Narcissa, about the Burrow, about her own prized possesions...
"Oh, Draco!" came a sudden shriek from his mother. She ran back to the stunned couple in tears, holding something in her hand. "Look, Draco! It made it!" She said, holding out a small silver dragon, whose sheen had been tarnished, but was still intact. Draco looked at the small creature, and took it from his mother, who went back to look for more things. A silent tear fell down his cheek.
Soon enough, the group decided to call it quits and go see what was left of the Burrow. They all apparated away, Ginny side-along apparating with Draco, whose hand she never let go of.
As they arrived at the scene, Molly Weasley screamed and ran to her husband, Ron stood in horror, Fred and George muttered curses, and Ginny fell into Draco's awaiting arms. He'd realized that if he could barely deal with his house being burnt to ashes, she wouldn't be able to hold it in as well. She may have been a fighter, but she hadn't had as much practice in hiding her emotions as he had. And just as suspected, her knees gave out. He caught her smoothly, and whisked her into a hug - pointedly burying her face in his shoulder so she couldn't look at what was before them.
And what was before them was the most frightening thing any of them had ever seen...nothing. There was nothing there. No house, no gardens, no skeleton, not even smoke anymore. just a wide pile of ashes. The Dark Mark lingered in the sky, although no one had been hurt. As the Weasleys stood in shock, Harry led the march towards the ruins of the Burrow. The Order members followed suit, and after a moment to take it all in, Ron and the twins went to have a look. As soon as Molly composed herself, she and Arthur went to look at what was left, leaving Ginny still buried in Draco's shoulder - still too stunned to even cry. Once they were alone, Draco thought he would try to say something. He didn't expect any response - he knew if Ginny had spoken to him earlier he certainly wouldn't hav responded, but he felt he had to say something.
"I'm so sorry, Ginny..." he whispered into her ear. She snaked an arm around him, completing the hug, and put her other hand on his arm, holding on for what seemed to be balance, but was really just comfort.
"I. Will Kill. All of them." she said in a quiet, yet obviously murderous tone. "Every last one of them. I will burn their houses, I will kill them. I'll burn everything they own, everything. Every piece of clothing, every portrait, every special thing in their lives will turn to ash and i will kill them." She was still whispering, content on keeping a calm tone through all this madness.
"Ginny, we'll get them...these," he nodded towards the house, "these are just things. Things can be replaced. We're all ok, Tonks and your Dad are ok, and that's what matters right now...we'll just replace all those things." Tears finally sprang to Ginny's defiant eyes as she looked at her boyfriend's soft and understanding face.
"That's easy for you to say..." she said softly, "but it's not that simple. This was all we had...this was everything.." she turned to look at the nothingness, and finally let her pain get the best of her. She gripped Draco's arm, and fell back into his embrace. He hugged her, and let her cry. Then they heard a rustle in the bushes, and quickly turned his head in the direction of the noise. Ginny felt him move and looked up, suddenly scared. She'd heard it, too, but didn't want to think anyone else was there. She needed to know if anything had survived like Draco's dragon had.
But there was no such luck for the Weasleys, as Draco and Ginny watched a few dark, hooded figures approach to rubble. Draco let go of Ginny and drew his wand, as she screamed for the rest of the party before turning back and doing the same. They all came running just as maybe twenty Death Eaters came out of hiding.
"We were hoping you'd return," a cold voice hissed. With the masks and the robes, it was nearly impossible to tell what voice belonged to whom, but this voice was female, and Narcissa recognized it immediately.
"Bella?" she asked, in shock, "Bella, is that you?"
"Of course it is, Cissy. I warned you! I warned you so many times!" She said incredulously. "Didn't I tell you? But you didn't listen. You let your name be tarnished by Lucius' betrayal, and now your son's." She turned to Draco, or at least, he thought she did, since now one of the hooded figures had its eyes locked on his, "And you, what are you thinking? Tell me you didn't actually kill Fenrir. And dating a blood traitor? I thought your father raised you better then that, boy!" Draco and Ginny both desperately wanted to throw a hex - even an Unforgivable - at her, but didn't want to be the ones that sparked the battle. If a fight could be avoided, that was probably prudent.
"Don't you talk to my son, you traitor!" Narcissa cried hysterically, "You let them burn my house! You let them burn everything! It's all gone! All of those books and portraits - everything! And for what! Because Draco likes a girl! YOU LET THEM DO THIS!" Bellatrix chuckled maliciously.
"Let them? Dear sister, I lit the matches." she said with venom. If Kingsley hadn't interfered at that second, placing a strong hand on Narcissa wand arm, a fight most surely would have broken out.
"HOW COULD YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? You're my sister! We used to be best friends - share everything! How could you? How could you, Bella, how could you?" She was breaking down in tears, at the thought of her sister destorying everything that was left of Narcissa's husband, and old life. Bella just sneered,
"You are a pathetic excuse for a Black, a pathetic excuse for a Slytherin, and an even more pathetic excuse for a Malfoy. You both are." With that, she spat of the ground, hitting Draco's shoes. Ginny gently touched his arm, begging him silently to just let it go, but his blood was boiling. Hers was, too, but she knew that at any second, he could go off, and all would be lost - lives, rubble, loyalties and family. All would be lost.
"Draco, please..." she whispered to him, begging him verbally to just ignore his aunt.
"Oh yes, Draco, please," mocked Bella. Ginny shot her a venomous glare, "aw, did I anger the poor little Weasley? I'm sorry," she chuckled.
"That's enough!" McGonagall had finally seen the breaking point - she knew that Narcissa, Ginny and Draco wouldn't last much longer - let alone Ron, Harry and the twins. "That's enough," moving to the head of the pack and facing Bellatrix, "Is there something you want? You came for? We don't want a fight, we simply want to examine the remains of the Burrow and leave." she stated authoritatively.
"We've been waiting for you to come back here, to this pathetic excuse for a house. But yes, the Dark Lord did have a message to relay to you. He wanted us to tell you that it was no use. Tonight will be the night of his rising, and tomorrow will be the dawn of a new era. He is currently in the middle of his attack, and when he's through, he will rule. This night will be one of cleansing." she spat. and with a chorus of CRACKs, all the Death Eaters disappeared.
The group assembled, minus Ginny and Draco who again seemed rooted to their spot. They were trying to figure out where Voldemort would be attacking that would give him control over all he pleased.
"The Ministry." Draco whispered.
"What?" Apparently only Ginny had heard him,
"He's attacking the Ministry - he's got to be."
"But it's almost 11 o'clock - there won't be anyone there."
"But if he kills them all and burns all their houses down, there'll be no one to come back next year to head the government...he'll have full control." Draco's voice was still hushed, but his tone was more urgent with every passing second. "He's after all of them..." Ginny's eyes widened at the idea,
"But the Aurors? Attacking them would be silly. They're trained for that sort of thing...aren't they?" She finished less confidently than she began, but still wasn't sure about Draco's idea.
"It would be easy if he took them by surprise himself." The adults hadn't even noticed that the two were engrossed in conversation, or that Harry was standing, stunned, off to the side. Ginny walked timidly over to the group, and mentioned Draco's idea.
"Oh no...he's probably right," Arthur's comment seemed to be the party's consensus. They wondered if he would go for the Minister, Scrimgeor, first or last. They decided that since he'd already attacked the Burrow, they would try to find him mid-attack, and stop him and the Death Eaters as best they could. They all immediately sent out Patronuses to all the Aurors they could think of, and any other Ministry officials - including Rufus Scrimgeor - and even Percy. If Voldemort was going to do this, he would do it completely, and even someone as low on the food chain as Percy was in trouble.
A few moments later, a silvery-white horse galloped up and circled around Professor McGonagall, who quickly rejoined the group.
"They've begun the attack. They're at Kaestner's house now." Tonks' eyes widened at the prospect.
"Why would they start with the Aurors? And why James?"
"To get rid of them, before they can join us. Now we can stand here all night and debate about their tactics, or we can go stop them!" Draco was getting annoyed with the delayed response, and he was nearly yelling at them.
"Draco's right, we have to act fast. We can't all just apparate to the same spot on the street, we'll have to try and take them by surprise." She laid out the plan, some would apparate inside, others outside, still others in the next house, in order to sneak around other Death Eaters. Harry was listening to all of this, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that tonight - New Year's Eve, of all nights - he was going to fulfill the prophecy Voldemort himself had set into motion so many years ago. Ginny noticed his hesitancy, as did Hermoine and Ron. They tried to speak words of comfort, but knew nothing they said could or would change anything. Tonight was the night. And that was it.
Suddenly realization hit Ginny, "Oh God...Hermoine...Harry...cleansing...oh god..." she was spitting out random words, and having trouble completing a sentence. But somehow, her message had gotten across to Draco, whose eyes widened at the prospect.
"You think he'd take the time?" He asked her quietly,
"Time for what?" Hermoine inquired, knowing somehow that she was involved. Ginny just looked at Draco,
"Of course he would...it would break him...oh god...we have to go, Draco, we have to go!" She was on the verge of hysterical, which didn't help Hermoine's condition. The poor uninformed girl looked increasingly worried, as Mr. Weasley approached the teens to find out what exactly was going on in his daughter's brain.
"Mr. Weasley," Draco interrupted before he could get a word out, "Me, Hermoine and Ginny have to go somewhere. We'll send you a Patronus as soon as we finish and then we'll come help, but we have things that need to be taken care of first."
"What 'things'!" Hermoine cried, finally breaking under the frustration, "What do we need to take care of!"
"Your family."
"What? But they're not at the Ministry...they're Muggles!"
"Exactly. 'Tonight will be a night of cleansing'," Draco quoted, "He's coming for muggle-borns as soon as he finishes with the Ministry...he'll probably go after your family and Harry's family first, just because of their connections to the boy-who-lived." Draco clarified. Hermoine looked horrified, and Arthur gave his permission as the three got ready to go,
"We'll go to the Dursleys and tell them to leave, too, Harry. Don't worry, they'll be safe." Harry still wasn't sure if he cared, but decided that any wizard going after a Muggle just wasn't fair, especially if they were just trying to get at him.
"Don't expect them to be too welcoming," he warned.
"It's life and death, for crying out loud! I think they'll listen." Ginny said, as the adults began to apparate away.
"I sure hope you're right..." Harry said, and with a crack, he was gone.
Hermoine, Draco and Ginny stood, no one knowing what to say. They decided silently just to go, and Ginny gripped onto Draco as they apparated straight into Hermoine's house.
"AAAH!" Hermoine's mother screamed. After jumping a few feet in the air and nearly having a heart attack, she noticed it was just Hermoine, "Hermoine! What's the meaning of this! How did you get here? Why are you here? I thought you weren't going to be home?"
"You need to leave - now." She commanded. Her parents seemed as confused as ever, as her father came up behind his wife, in just as much shock and confusion.
"What? Why?" he asked, trying to say so much more, but needing the basics first.
"There's too much to explain now, I'll have to do it later, but you need to leave, NOW." She said more forcefully.
"Where will we go? Why do we need to go?" Her mother asked, wearily. She knew her daughter was in danger, and sensed that this was not something to be argued about, but needed a few answers at least.
"I can't explain it now!" said Hermoine, incensed, "You have to leave! You can't stay here! Go to Aunt Jamie's or something, but you have to leave!" she was nearly screaming as her parents scrambled to get their things,
"THERE'S NO TIME FOR THAT! YOU HAVE GOT TO GO NOW!" Hermoine screamed, and with that, her parents ran back in front of the three teenagers, almost angry at their daughter's tone.
"Now listen, Hermoine, we don't know what's going on --"
"You don't need to know!" Draco interrupted, "You're in danger and your daughter cares about your welfare! You must leave now!" With this new stranger yelling at them as if they were five years old, the Grangers were not happy, but instead of anger, they showed fear. They might not have known what was happening, but they heard the urgency and fright in the voices of the kids, and knew it was not the time to test their patience.
"Alright, we'll go. What should we bring?"
"Nothing - there's no time." A look of pleading crossed her mother's face, but Hermoine was resolute, "Mother! There is NO time! We've already been here too long! They'll know! You've got to go!" with that, the teenagers ushered the Grangers out to their car, and watched as they drove off. They then moved on to Number Four, Privet Drive.
Apparating straight into the living room of the Dursleys' residence was probably not the best idea, as they were up celebrating the New Year in their own way. Petunia screamed louder and longer than Mrs. Granger had, considering none of them recognized any of the strangers, but Draco quickly shut them up.
"LISTEN!" he screamed, "There's no time to explain, but you've got to get out of here. Now." He said it forcefully, and Vernon took this command quite offensively.
"Now, listen, kid. I don't know who you are, and I don't care. But you cannot expect to just appear in my home, tell me to leave, and watch me listen! This is my home and I would appreciate it if you left!" His face was turning a deep shade of purple.
"Look, Mr. Dursley," Hermoine said more calmly, "You're all in danger - serious danger. Draco was right - you need to leave here. We're friends of Harry's - you're all in trouble and for his sake, leave!" This was not quite what Vernon Dursley had expected, or wanted, to hear.
"Listen, kids, this is our home and we're not leaving. We don't want any of your kind around here, so get out!" he sneered.
"Our kind?" Draco asked incredulously, then turned to Hermoine, "Are all Muggles this dense?" She would have smiled under normal circumstances, but this situation was far from normal. This kind of language angered Vernon Dursley more than any curse he knew.
"GET OUT!" He screamed, approaching Draco aggressively, who quickly responded by pushing Ginny and Hermoine behind him protectively. He might not have been afraid of Vernone Dursley, but he was a big man, and Draco couldn't let him hurt anyone.
"Now you listen to me!" He yelled, in a tone matching the older man's, "There are people after you! They're coming to kill you whether you like us or not! They're coming for you because you know Potter! It doesn't matter what you do! You have to leave here and go someplace where they won't find you! And you have to do this NOW!" he commanded, in a voice that would've scared any wizard in the world. Unfortunately, Vernon Dursley was not a wizard, had never heard the Malfoy name, or known the traits, power and integrity that came with it.
"I will not be spoken to like that by...by...by a child! And a filthy witch no less!"
"You have got to be kidding me," came a voice from behind Draco. Hermoine stepped out from his protective stance to face Petunia, hoping to convince her that her husband was crazy. "You have GOT to be kidding me! Do you hear what he's saying? It's true! There are people, and they're after you! They're coming - probably right now - to kill you and your son!" She cried, pointing towards the outside, where these crazy visitors were supposedly coming from. Petunia was no better than her husband, though, and sneered at the prospect.
"Well, we'll just lock the doors and windows. Vernon will protect us." A giggle escaped from the small red-headed girl who was still behind Draco. She cautiously moved into sight, gripping his arm in case anything were to happen - obviously intimidated by the large man opposing Draco.
"That's ridiculous." she giggled. She wasn't sure why she was giggling - nothing was funny. "You think a few locks will stop them? Not even we can stop them, you dolts. My parents have been fighting these lunatics for almost thirty years, and haven't stopped them, and you think your pathetic muggle husband can stand up to them?" Insults kept flowing out of Ginny's mouth, as did giggles. Draco was still facing Vernon, showing his defiance and resolution, but Hermoine suddenly looked worried about her friend. She seemed to be cracking a bit under the pressure. "If you stay here tonight, you'll die." Ginny finished, the smile lingering on her face. This incensed Vernon more than them apparating into his living room,
"HOW DARE YOU!" He roared, taking a step towards Ginny with his hand raised. It looked as though he was about to hit her, but before anything more could happen, his arms suddenly clasped to his sides, his legs snapped together, and he fell forwards almost into Ginny. Luckily, Draco had been able to sweep her out of the way as he crashed down onto a chair behind them. This caused Ginny to go into fits of giggles, which worried Draco and Hermoine more than the Death Eaters themselves. At least they knew how to deal with Death Eaters.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Petunia cried, rushing over to her husband.
"I cast a body-binding spell, and if you don't come with us willingly, I'll cast one on you, too." Hermoine calmly threatened.
"Don't you insult my Mum!" Dudley finally spoke up, gathering up all the confidence he could and approaching the wizards.
"Then listen to us, for crying out loud!"
"It doesn't matter, Dudley dearest," It was amazing for Ginny to see, and it made her laugh harder, but she'd never known anyone who could sneer and coo at the same time. This new fit of laughter got the best of her, and she nearly doubled over trying to get herself under control. Draco looked alarmingly at his girlfriend, who was now seated on the floor trying to compose herself (and failing miserably).
"Hermoine, take care of them, I gotta talk to Ginny." Hermoine nodded, and Draco picked up the laughing girl and carried her quickly into the kitchen. He seated her on the counter, so that their faces were on the same level. "What's going on?" he asked softly, worry etched into every word. "What's up with you?" She couldn't help but laugh harder at this new predicament she was in.
"This," she gasped for breath, "All of this...so ridiculous...so insane...them...Voldemort...Tom...morons...they're gonna die and they don't even care!" she finally sputtered out between giggles, then she looked him square in the eye, her eyes unreadable to his scared face, "We're all gonna die tonight, Draco...this doesn't matter. Nothing matters. We're all going to die, and tonight is our night." She finished sincerely, her giggling subsiding, a small tear running down her cheek.
"Gin, we're not going to die tonight. Those morons might," he rolled his eyes at their incompetence, and could hear Hermoine yelling at them still. "but we're not. You and me, this matters." He said, grabbing her hands and holding them. "Hermoine and your brother, your parents, my Mother, Tonks and Remus...you and me...this matters." he said again, with sincerity and confidence.
"No, Draco...it's all in vain. They went to that house to die. There was no other purpose. to stop him? Please. Harry could barely stop his MEMORY in my first year! And they expect him to kill the real-live version! It's an impossible task and we're all going to die!" She was now letting the tears fall out of her eyes, and Draco pulled her into a hug.
"We'll survive this...we've all survived so much already. We can do this." pulling away from her, he looked into her eyes, "You can do this." he said forcefully.
"No...I can't..."
"Yes you can. you can and you will. You'll do it for your family, for Hermoine and Harry, and for me. For Tonks and everyone at school - for everything you know and love, Ginny! You can do this! We can fight this! Gin, we have to fight this..." his words had been confident, until that last sentence. Ginny felt like he was almost pleading with her.
"I can't lose anyone, Draco...I don't know what I would do..." she cried silently and buried herself into his shoulder. suddenly, they heard someone scream, "Incendio!", and looked up, because the voice had been male. They ran into the living room, where Hermoine stood with her wand at-ready, Dudley and Vernon in full body-binds, Petunia had been silenced by the people outside her house.
"What happened? Who is it?" Draco asked, but a look from Hermoine silenced him, and provoked Ginny to grab her wand, too.
"Who is it!" Petunia cried,
"Will you shut up! They might hear you!" Hermoine scrambled to the door and cast a few different locking charms on it, as someone tried to kick it in. The banging caught Petunia's attention, and she immediately stood up to retreat to a corner. "Oh, for Heaven's sake! We TOLD you to leave! Now they're here!" Hermoine shrieked. Just then, it all clicked in Draco's head. The spell, the door, the people outside.
"Hermoine - they set the house on fire! We have to get out of here now!"
"But what about them? What will they do? They can't get out! They can't apparate!" She was rambling, trying to figure out a way to save everyone, when the most unexpected voice piped in.
"You two will apparate them to safety. As far away from here as possible. You can start with Harry's Aunt and Uncle, then come back for me and Dudley." Ginny said resolutely. Draco looked at her, shocked.
"We can't leave you here! Not with them outside!"
"I'm going to go upstairs and try to put out some of the fire, I'll levitate him with me. You can come up there as soon as you can and take us away, too."
"Ginny, no!" Hermoine cried, "We're not leaving you here!"
"If you don't do this now they'll get in! The house will burn down and we'll all burn with it! Now GO!" Ginny yelled at her friends, shooting sparks from her wand. She went to the door, cast another curse on it to try and deter the three or four Death Eaters that had been assigned the honorable duty of wiping out Harry Potter's only family. Hermoine walked over to Petunia.
"Hold onto my arm." she instructed.
"WHAT! NO! I WILL DO NOTHING OF THE SORT! I KNEW CONSORTING WITH YOUR KIND WOULD LEAD US HERE! LEAVE US ALONE! WE WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR FILTHY PEOPLE!" Hermoine, not wanting to hear any more, grabbed her arm, held on tight, and apparated away.
"She could've at least told me where she was going." Draco pointed out as he grabbed Vernon's arm the same way. "Ginny, I swear, I'll be back in one minute." he said nervously, before apparating to Arabella Figg's house, a few blocks away. She immediately appeared outside, and recognizing Draco ushered him in. Hermoine had apparently had the same idea, as she and Petunia were already seated inside.
"Glad you had the same thought," Hermoine said seriously,
"Yeah, well...I knew you lived somewhere around here. It was pure luck I found the place." Draco said off handedly.
"So, you're...you're...one of THEM?" Petunia inquired incredulously.
"Unfortunately, no," she said before turning back to Draco and Hermoine. "What's going on?" she asked worriedly.
"Voldemort's attacking the whole wizarding world." Hermoine stated seriously, as Arabella gasped. "We have to go now - their house is on fire and Dudley and Ginny Weasley are still there." with that, the pair apparated away. Landing inside the house once more, Hermoine and Draco noted the dramatic change in temperature.
"Oh no...I knew we were gone too long!" Draco cried, anxious to find Ginny and get out of there.
"BACK HERE!" Screamed a voice, and Draco and Hermoine hurried into the kitchen to find Ginny and Dudley on the floor, coughing for air in the burning house. Draco grabbed her, hugged her, and apparated away. Hermoine quickly followed. They arrived at Arabella's house, dropped off Dudley, cast a quick silencing charm on Petunia (for Arabella's sake), a few locking charms on all the doors, and impeneterable charms on the windows for good measure. While Draco and Hermoine finished up, Ginny sent a Patronus to her parents, and more quickly than expected a stag appeared and circled her.
"Oh, no..."
"What? What's going on?"
"They're outnumbered...almost three to one. Looks like we haven't lost anybody yet, but it does look pretty dim. That was Harry - he can't get away from the fighting, but he's been looking for...for him..." she trailed off.
"Well? Where are they?" Draco asked impatiently, "Are they still at that Auror's place?"
"No, it looks like they lost that battle. James is ok, but his house is in the same state as the Burrow. He said the Aurors are now all on alert, and hae all come out to fight, but they're not all there yet..."
"Going there is going to do nothing to help." Hermoine stated matter-of-factly.
"And what, Miss Know-it-all? What exactly WILL help?" Draco spat.
"We need to alert everyone who hasn't been alerted yet. We need to tell everyone what's going on - especially the Muggle borns. We can alert the DA!" Hermoine cried, as if she struck gold. Ginny smacked her head in frustration. Harry had revived the DA with Hermoine infamous coins as sort of a memory for Dumbledore. Ginny and Hermoine knew just about everything he was teaching, so they didn't go anymore. They'd almost completely forgotten about the group.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Ginny said, amazed at her own obliviousness. Hermoine took a coin out of her pocket, and touched it with her wand. It glowed red, something it had never done before, and instead of a date appearing, the words "Attack!" and "Be Ready!" appeared on the coin. A few seconds later, the coin began screeching obnoxiously. The trio covered their ears.
"God, Hermoine, what did you do!" Ginny cried.
"No one's going to have their coins on them - I have to get their attention somehow!" she explained. In the next minute, they were flooded by a swarm of Patronuses - apparently Harry had gotten around to teaching the group about that new method of communication. Noticing getting to Hermoine was going to be impossible for the next few minutes, a few moved over to Draco and Ginny. They heard the whispers of the voices of the owners of the Patronuses, anxiously crying out about what could possibly be going down that Hermoine would make the coins do that. They tried to answer each one with a quick message about staying alert, and a few were answered with a place to go to meet the trio.
As the swarm died down, CRACKs were heard around the block. A few sixth and seventh years, some of whom were licensed to apparate, some of whom weren't, appeared and ran towards the house. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas approached the trio, expecting the worst.
"What's going on?" Neville asked, frightened out of his wits.
"Voldemort's attacking everyone tonight. We need everyone to be on alert - he's going after Ministry people first, then Muggle-borns and Muggles. He's already destroyed Harry's childhood home," Hermoine explained, pointing to the flames in the sky, "and it won't be long before he comes after all of you. Go home, warn everyone you can, and keep your families safe." She finished
"Hermoine, I don't know what planet you live on, but we're coming with you - we're going to help." Seamus interjected. Dean nodded, as did Luna and Neville. Hermoine hadn't expected this, and didn't know how to react. She looked at Draco and Ginny,
"But even WE don't know what we're going to do!" She whispered urgently.
"Listen up, everyone!" Draco decided to take charge. "Do all of your families know what's going on?" The whole group shook their heads. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. Hermoine's going to Scrimgeor's house, because he doesn't seem to be at the fight, for God knows why. You all go to your families, explain the situation, and then apparate all around, telling people. If they're looking for a fight - and don't take this lightly because people are dying," he warned, "If they're looking to help us out, they can go to Arch Street in London - that's where they seem to be now. I don't know what's going to happen, so don't go unless you are seriously ready for a fight to the death." He cautioned. "I hope to see you there, but what we need to do now is alert the wizarding community." Hermoine was grateful for Draco's sudden take-over, and thanked him quietly. The group apparated away, to the other DA members houses, and to their own, to explain the situation. Hermoine was going to the Minister's house alone because Draco knew that if he or Ginny went, they'd crack for sure. Plus, their parents needed reinforcements, and they wanted to go fight.
"Are you ready for this?" Draco asked gently.
"No." Ginny said simply, "but I don't have a choice."
And with that, they apparated to the outskirts of the battle.