Hermione was halfway to Ravenclaw Tower when she heard the blast.
She froze, her blood chilling in her veins.
"Voldemort," she whispered.
Suddenly, it was like someone had turned over an invisible hourglass. She ran back the way she came, knowing she had to find Ginny.
Hermione flew through the portrait hole that led into the Gryffindor common room.
Seeing that it was empty, she tore up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.
Ginny was sound asleep, holding Crookshanks in her arms.
The ginger cat glared at Hermione as she shook Ginny awake.
"What's going on?!" the younger girl cried.
Hermione dragged her out of bed. "I need you to run!"
They 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.
Below them the Gryffindor common room shook with such force that bookcases and paintings crashed to the floor.
"I have to get you to the dungeons," Hermione said. You'll be safe there."
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.
Hermione crouched down, pulling Ginny down with her.
"Protego!" she shouted.
A sea of books rained down upon them, bouncing left and right.
"Come on! We have to keep moving!"
They climbed out of the portrait hole and raced down the corridor.
Ginny struggled to keep up. "What about Padma and Lavender?" she asked. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"
Hermione shook her head.
Minutes later they reached the landing of the seventh floor, and stopped, waiting for one of the moving staircases.
"But I've left all my things, can't we— "
"We can't go back, Ginny. You'll have to trust me."
The staircase reached them, and they jumped on, moving left.
"But Hermione—"
"There's not time to expla—"
A third blast hit the castle.
"Hold onto something!"
The staircase shook violently.
Ginny shut her eyes, trying not to panic as they swayed left and right. She squeezed 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 Voldemort's name.
Susan hurried to the staircase, and after a moment's hesitation, Cho followed, but Michael Corner stood rooted to the spot.
"I'm waiting up here," he said quickly. He turned on his heel and ran down the corridor.
Hermione swallowed, feeling uneasy.
She and Ginny only had until midnight to get to the ship. Then it would sail off, and there would be no way to leave Britain undetected.
Hermione and Ginny 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 watched in horror as she flew over the railing. Susan lunged forward, trying to catch hold of her robes, but the cloth slipped through her fingers.
Cho fell several feet, hitting sets of stairs as she went, her hair flying up around her…
She plummeted with the speed of a bullet train, falling lower and lower, until she hit the ground with full force.
There was the sound of cracked stone.
"CHO! CHO!" Susan bellowed.
The students and teachers gathered below cried out in fright.
Ginny's eyes were wide, and her knuckles turned white with how tightly she was gripping the railing.
For several moments Hermione's chest rose and fell, and all she could hear was her own heavy breathing.
And then someone turned the volume back up, and she could make out, clear as day, Susan's screams of anguish.
"CHO!"
"We have to keep moving," Hermione said quickly, finding her voice. She pushed Susan forward, forcing her to go on, but Ginny wouldn't move.
"Ginny, come on."
She shook her head, completely petrified.
Hermione 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's knees gave way, and she sank to the floor, shaking.
Hermione knelt 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."
"But Cho, she's—she's—"
Ginny couldn't force herself to say the words.
Hermione helped her stand, and they took the next set of stairs.
They dodged falling paintings, candles, torches and uneven staircases. 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 Ginny away from the crowd and steered her towards the dungeons.
"I need you to listen carefully. Go to the Slytherin common room. Take Crookshanks with you. If I'm not back by midnight, leave without me. Hagrid will take you to safety."
Hermione had sent Hagrid an owl just the day before, asking him to assist her in the evacuation. In the event that anything should happen to her, she'd asked him to lead the younger students out of the castle.
"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, 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'd always told her she was too young to understand. She'd 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," Ginny said, fighting back tears.
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 courage and moved forward.
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.
Hermione jumped from staircase to staircase, trying to formulate a plan.
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.
Hermione 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…
Hermione's chest slammed hard into the ledge. She cried out in pain, her hands slipping as she struggled to maintain her hold.
The staircase crumbled to pieces, and she heard shouts from the people gathered below as they hurried to get out of the way.
Hermione yelled furiously, using 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.
Hermione 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 and 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 fallen over, and 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.
Roman was in a far corner of the room, talking to a male prefect.
"Where are the first and second years?" he demanded.
The prefect had gone extremely pale. "I don't know. 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, marching up to Everley.
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 Hermione, waiting for her to speak.
Hermione swallowed. "I need your help with Malfoy first. Romena locked him away and I—"
Everley marched towards her, and thrust his wand into her neck. "I will blast you to pieces! I don't give a damn about Malfoy! Tell me where my brother is—"
"GET OUT THE WAY!" a student behind them shouted.
Hermione 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, and she and Roman were standing directly in front of it.
"MOVE!" Roman roared. "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 tower was engulfed in flames.
The other students raced out of the common room as fast as their legs would carry them.
Hermione and Everley were about to follow, but Ravenclaw's marble statue tipped over and hit the floor with a thunderous crash.
"We have to move it," said Roman in a panicked voice, seeing that it had blocked their way.
He and Hermione raised their wands.
"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.
Roman turned to her. "Wait here."
He made for the stairs that led to the dormitories.
Hermione seized his arm. "You can't go back up there!"
He twisted free from her hold, and charged up the stairs two at a time.
Hermione 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!"
"What are you doing?" she asked, running into his dormitory.
"I need to find my broom. There! Look! It's stuck…help me lift this."
Hermione craned her neck to see what he was looking at.
Roman's broomstick was trapped under his four poster.
She positioned herself at the other end of it.
Roman nodded at her. "On the count of three."
"One….two…three! Push!"
They lifted the bed.
Roman freed his broom and mounted it."We have to go. Come on."
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 flier, dodging spells and curses, spinning the broom out of the way whenever one got too close.
"There's so many of them," Hermione said, looking down at the Death Eaters.
In the distance she 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'd reach 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.
Hermione screamed.
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 her arms.
With a forceful jerk they were unseated from the broom, landing facedown on the cold, stone floor.
Hermione's lip burst open and bled.
"Watch out!" Roman shouted.
The broom hit the wall and smashed to pieces.
Hermione covered her head with her hands as the debris fell over her.
"Do you hear that?" asked Roman.
Hermione yanked a piece of glass out of her leg, stifling a cry of pain as she tossed it aside.
She heard the sound of rushing wings, and then a multitude of high-pitched shrieks.
"What the—" she started.
A flock of turquoise birds pelted through the window, flying straight at them. They had orange markings around their eyes.
"Get up," Roman yelled, reaching for Hermione's arm. "They breathe fire, we have to move!"
He yanked her up and they raced down the corridor.
"Granger?! Is that you?!" said another voice.
Pansy turned the corner and crashed headlong into Hermione.
"Where have you—"
She stopped short, her eyes widening in surprise when she caught sight of the birds. "Come on, follow me!"
Hermione and Roman 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 closer.
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 birds were upon them.
Roman raised his wand. "Expecto patronum!"
A silver blue fox erupted from his wand, and charged at the beasts. They scattered left and right, momentarily stunned.
Hermione looked over her shoulder just in time to see Pansy disappear through the trap door.
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.
Hermione watched him disappear.
She knew she was out of time. The patronus Roman had conjured was weakening, and the birds moved back into formation, preparing to charge at her.
She ran to the trap door and made a jump for it. A rush of cold air hit her face as she plummeted 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!