I really can't think of a single thing to say except for the following: the events of this chapter are necessary for plot development. Probably gunna want tissues...
"Are you ready for this?" Helen asked Frank and Alice Longbottom, who had been under her care for the last several weeks, since Hermione had awoken them from their insane state. It had been mostly physical therapy, but there'd been a fair amount of social coaching as well. Years on years of not having to interact with a single soul, not even each other, had left Frank and Alice a bit out of practice with manners. Helen worried that with Frank's current tendency to leer at any woman who passes his way, that he'd ultimately lose Alice. That said, Alice was no princess either. She'd taken to cussing like a sailor, which her husband, who'd been raised among the pureblood elite, was not fond of.
"As ready as we're going to be," Frank answered, running his hands through his messy hair. "It's surreal, you know - I can sort of remember seeing Neville at visits, but my last real memories of my son are of an infant, and now he's nearly a grown man."
"Good looking one, too," Helen mused, having met Neville on a number of occasions. It had been hell to see the boy the last few weeks and not tell him that his parents were, for all intents and purposes, back from the dead. Augusta, however, had insisted that they wait a bit to tell the boy so that if the correction of their mental state didn't hold, he'd not have gotten his hopes up for nothing.
"Does he knew why he's been summoned?" Alice wanted to know.
Minerva, who'd kindly offered her office as a place to hold this meeting, replied. "I didn't tell him anything. Likely, he thinks he's in trouble."
"He's not even the trouble making sort!" Helen defended the young Gryffindor. "He's a highly responsible young man."
"That he is," Minerva agreed, "but he's also close friends to your uncle, and anyone associated with Harry Potter tends to assume they're going to get into trouble at some point."
Helen wrinkled her nose at the reminder of having aunts and uncles who were decades her junior. It was odd enough to consider that her grandmother and by extension of Hermione, her great-grandmother Jean Granger, were both also decades younger than herself. At least her mother was older than her. That was something. "Quite," she agreed. "When is Neville to arrive?"
"Augusta went to fetch him," Alice replied. "Shortly, I'd imagine."
Shortly, it turned out, was mere seconds later, when after a brief knock on the office door sounded, Augusta and Neville stepped into the office. As planned, Helen and Minerva stepped forward to greet them, and Frank and Alice held back in a nook, out of sight. "What's going on?" Neville asked. "I didn't do anything."
Minerva smirked, to which Helen glared at the Headmistress. "Neville, you are not in trouble," Helen spoke. "Several weeks ago, Professor Slytherin was in the Medical Tower speaking with Madams Hammond and McGonagall about your parents and their care. Professor Slytherin suggested a previously untried series of spells to assist in your parents treatment, and the results were… substantial."
"Substantial?" Neville asked. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"
"It means, Neville," Augusta said gently, putting an arm on his shoulder, "that your mum and dad are aware. Walking, talking, and in their right minds. We've got them back, my dear boy."
The Gryffindor looked skeptical. "Is this a joke?"
There was a pause as neither Helen, Minerva, or Augusta had any idea how to answer that. Neville's father, however, decided to take matters into his own hands. "When on earth has Augusta Longbottom ever been known to make a joke, let alone one in such poor taste?"
Neville's eyes shot toward the other side of the room, where his father and mother were both coming out of the alcove and walking toward him, smiles on their faces. "Holy…. Shite."
"Language," Augusta chided.
"Oh, give the kid a break," Alice said. "He's sixteen, and his parents are more or less back from the dead. He's entitled to bloody swear."
"Mum? Dad?"
The couple nodded. "Come let me look at you, son," Frank said, holding out his arms.
Neville approached slowly, looking hopeful but unsure. "Is it really you?"
Alice moved forward to meet her reluctant son, placed a hand on either side of his face and pulled his head down enough so she could press a kiss to his forehead. "Real enough for you?"
What was left of Neville's hesitation vanished, as did his ability to stand, and the next thing Helen knew all four Longbottoms were on the floor in a huddle, crying. It was heartwarming, to witness reunions such as this one. She imagined the Abnormal community would have many reunions like this down the road, as so many families were separating to send those who couldn't defend themselves well here, to Hogwarts.
"Take as long as you need," Minerva said softly to the four. "I'll just be working on paperwork at my desk."
"And I'm going to go check in on my children," Helen added. "Send a Patronus if you need anything at all."
Augusta nodded on behalf of her family, mouthing her thanks before Minerva stepped to the other side of the office, and Helen took her leave. From the Head Tower, she made her way down to the Orphanage Wing, where Ashley and Henry had been left in the care of Molly and Arthur Weasley. While they were mostly old enough to mind themselves at ten and thirteen years old, they were accustomed to the rules at Hogwarts, and Helen and Hermione had agreed it was not worth the risk of them getting into something that might be dangerous, for the sake of having free run of the castle. As such, they spent time with the Weasleys, helping out as much as they could with the smaller children. Ashley found this distasteful, but Henry had a gentle soul and seemed to being enjoying himself.
"How are my children behaving?" she asked Molly, seeing her friend. They couldn't not be friends after the birth of Vala. That kind of ruckus would bond anyone.
"They're fine," Molly insisted. "Henry's been a gift from Merlin - the little ones adore him. Ashley is less inclined to work with the infants and toddlers, but despite being only ten she's a tough little girl and is seemingly thrilled if I ask her to take a load of diapers down to the laundry. It's just down the hall - Hermione put up special wards so that even House Elves cannot apparate directly into this wing, so we have to get laundry to the outer boundary, and from the the Elves take care of things."
"Ashley never minds getting dirty," Helen agreed. "And I'm glad the Henry is being helpful in his own way."
"Are you coming down from your meeting with the Longbottoms?" Molly inquired.
"Yes, it seems to have gone pretty well," she answered. "As well as such a reunion can go. Of course there were tears, and poor Neville about fell over when his brain caught up with just who was standing in front of him."
"I'd imagine so," Molly whispered.
"Speaking of reunions," Helen said, suddenly remembering something Hermione had mentioned. "Bill's due back from France today, right?"
"He is," Molly nodded. "I'd like to be there to meet him, over at the Room of Requirement, but I hate to drag Vala through the castle. A bit cold, and she's still so little."
"I can watch her," Helen offered. "You and Arthur would do well with some time together anyway. I don't imagine you've had much of that since Vala was born. Even if it's just a brief walk, it'll do you both good."
"I'm not even going to try and talk you out of it," Molly said, letting out a sigh of relief. Helen smirked, glad she'd not been misreading the fatigue on her friend's face.
Fifteen minutes later, Helen was being handed the little red-haired baby, and her parents were exiting the Orphanage Wing, intent on a nice stroll to the other side of the castle.
Ron jogged to catch up to his parents, who were just about to enter the Room of Requirement, which had become an international travel point. With the connection of Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Ilvermorny, Beauxbatons, and Mahoutokoro through each of their own Rooms of Requirement, international travel was faster than ever. While he was not fond of the fact that war had been the cause of such an advancement, it was nice, and would come in handy even after the war was over. Ron hoped that would be soon enough - he didn't want to be away from Harry for long, though with the way Rupert was talking, war or no war he'd be in Sunnydale at least four years.
"Hey Mum, Dad," he greeted. "Ready to have Bill home?"
"Not that we see him much even when he is home," Arthur laughed. "Too busy with that new wife of his. Did he tell you Fleur is pregnant?"
"What?" Ron exclaimed. "No, he didn't, the tosser!"
"I'm still trying to get used to the idea that my youngest child will only be a few months older than my first grandchild," Molly grumped.
"Vala's special, Mum," Ron chided, "don't hold it against her."
"Perish the thought," Arthur agreed.
The three Weasleys were early on arriving, Bill not set to arrive for another fifteen minutes, so they sat down on provided sofas, and just talked. "How are things with you and Harry?" his mother wanted to know.
Ron blushed, still not used to the idea that his parents knew he was in a relationship - a relationship with another guy - and were interested in the details. He'd expected so much ridicule when he first figured out he was attracted to his best friend, and that was before he and Harry had even gotten involved. Granted, involved was a point of view issue. They still hadn't...er... done it…and agreed that would be happening no time soon. But they kissed a lot. A lot, a lot. His blush deepened at certain memories. "Um, we're good. We're just… yeah, we're good."
His mum raised an eyebrow. "Behaving yourselves, I trust."
"Not like I can get the bloke pregnant, Mum," Ron stammered. "But no, we're not doing anything you wouldn't want to discuss. Just snogging."
"How's he feeling about you going to Sunnydale?" his dad asked. "For that matter, how are you doing with that?"
Ron was used to people asking how Harry was coping, because he was Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, and he was important. Ron on the other hand was just Ron, Number Six of Eight Weasley Kids. Very overrated, according to some. Not that he wasn't proud to be a Weasley. Still, it was a nice rush to feel like he was important too, as his father asked after how he was doing. "I know my duty," he replied. "It's not like I'm just doing it for duty, though. I do it for Harry, and you guys, and Bill and Charlie and Percy and Fred and George and Ginny and Vala…" he paused. "Maybe not Percy. The ponce."
"Ronald Weasley!" his mother predictably screeched. "That's your brother!"
"Who happens to be a tosser," he argued, trying and failing to ignore her glare. "He is!"
"He'll come around," his dad promised. "Just remember that at the end of the day, ponce or not, he is your brother. I expect you to treat him as such when he's ready to…"
"Stop being a ponce?"
His dad sheepishly nodded, which led both Weasley males to flinch under the glare of the wife and mother beside them.
The argument over Percy came to a halt as the magical alarm system started to ring to alert occupants of incoming travelers through the magically manifested Floo systems. Well, Ron wasn't sure if it was really a Floo, because it didn't use Powder and only got you between one Room of Requirement and another, but you did have to state one of those destinations to use it, so in that way it was like a Floo. The three Weasleys stood, ready to greet Bill and his wife Fleur, Ron having in his head to give his elder brother a hard time about not telling him that Fleur was expecting a baby.
But it wasn't Bill and Fleur who stepped through the fireplace in the center of the line. It wasn't even a single fireplace that activated. All six activated and Death Eaters began pouring into the room, wands at the ready and beginning to fire off spells the minute they realized they were not alone. In his surprise, Ron's father didn't even have time to draw his own wand before he was struck down with a bolt of green light that made his son sick. Avada Kedavra.
"Arthur!" his mum screamed, drawing her wand and firing defensive spells in Ron's direction, shielding him from the onslaught while he too drew his wand. "Ron, send Hermione a Patronus!"
He'd just watched his father die, Ron thought numbly, wondering how on earth she expected him to pull off a spell that depended on a happy thought, now of all times. Still, the others needed to be warned, so his trusted his mother to protect him, and he closed his eyes and thought of Harry.
"I don't want to lose you," Harry said. "I don't want to lose my best mate."
Ron stood back up, wiping his face with his sleeve. "You already have," he said sadly, hating that he was doing this to Harry, but knowing he couldn't stay in this stalemate. "All that's left of that Ron is standing right here, right now, asking you to make a choice. I can either walk out that door right now, and you give me some time and space to figure out how to deal with my feelings for you, or you kiss me, and take a chance that maybe I'm not the only one feeling something more. It wasn't Cho you rescued from the lake, you know."
Ron waited for Harry to react. For a minute, he stood there just there not reacting at all, and after a further minute, Ron let out a ragged breath and started to turn towards the door.
"Bugger it!" Harry suddenly snapped, launching forward and grabbing his friend's face.
Ron responded enthusiastically as Harry kissed him, a sense of coming home overwhelming him.
"Expecto Patronum," Ron whispered, mentally adding a message to warn Hermione, Minerva, and Severus of the oncoming attack. As soon as the spell was cast, he nodded to his mum and she let him handle his own defense while she directed her attention on trying to close down the open Floo that was still letting Death Eaters in. There was dozens in the room now, and more still already having pushed into the hallway beyond.
"Ron, run!" his mother urged, seeing how hopeless it was to defend this point.
"I'm not leaving you!" he bellowed.
"But she's going to leave you, boy," a Death Eater replied. With that said, a slicing hex cut Molly Weasley's throat.
Ron watched her fall, and watched the life leave her eyes as she bled out on the floor. He was beyond rage at this point. He felt nothing. "Just do it," he whispered, begging for this angel of death to get on with it.
The Death Eater, who he now recognized from the posters as Greg Dennover, laughed at him. "I think you'll suffer more if I let you live," he said. "Though I can't have you following me and warning anyone else, so live or die I guess you'll find out if you wake up."
A spell hit Ron in the chest and he fell to the ground. It took a few seconds before he completely lost consciousness. If he lived or died now, he didn't want to be alone. Ron's eyes fluttered shut just as his hand fell into his mother's.
She never thought she'd live to see the day that Hogwarts, her Hogwarts, was overrun by Death Eaters. It had been a shock enough for Minerva when the Carrows had been here with Umbridge, but at least in that case they had known they were coming, and while it had certainly been distasteful from start to the literal bloody finish, it hadn't been a surprise attack. While Minerva had seen numerous surprises happen at this school, both as Transfiguration Professor and as Headmistress, nothing had ever really shocked her. Not like this.
Ronald's Jack Russell Terrier Patronus had reached her in her office, at which point she'd hardly made it to the base of the tower before she was under fire and needing no further proof of the young man's sensational claim of a Death Eater incursion. Knowing Ron, he'd also alerted at least Hermione and Severus, so she ducked behind a stone knight long enough to send her own Patronus to the rest of the staff, as well as Poppy, Helen, Jackie, and Malcolm, who'd need to prepare for casualties in the Medical Tower. Minerva was no stranger to war, and a battle nearly always meant wounded, especially in an environment where there were civilians running about in a panic. With a wince, Minerva saw Amanda Ruehl - a relatively new Order member with two children - lying dead on the ground as she rounded the next corner on her way to the thick of the battle. Amanda had been on Hermione's team of Arithmancers. It was their job to calculate probable events to come. How had they not seen this coming?
Minerva passed a number of other injured men and women as she moved forward, knowing each and every one of them and feeling a sense of guilt over their suffering. Bile rose in her throat at some of the more grievous injuries, and for a moment she paused, trying to decide how to even begin to right this insanity. Her stillness didn't last more than a few moments before Severus came up behind her, barking orders and saving her the trouble of complex thought.
"Minerva," he snapped. "Use your Wardling abilities and start shifting the castle's wards and getting people to safety. Injuries first, directly to the Medical tower. Then those who cannot or should not fight to the Great Hall. I have Leland in there with Remus casting fresh wards to create a safe room. I sent Galahad, Rupert, and Bane down to the Orphanage Wing to help Helen get the children to safety. I haven't a clue where Molly and Arthur are."
"Have you seen Hermione?" she asked urgently.
He sighed, and pointed to a rising billow of smoke in what looked to be the Mid Courtyard. "She said something about turning Death Eaters into crispy critters. Knowing her, she's cooking them with Fiendfyre. I'd steer clear if I were you."
"Do we know how they got in?" she wanted to know.
"I got the warning from Ronald, as, I'm certain, did you. I haven't heard from Molly and Arthur, and Bill was scheduled to return from France today," he said. "I'm betting they took down one of the other schools and are coming in through the Room of Requirement. I'm heading there now to try and shut down the connection, assuming I'm right."
"Get Filius to go with you. He helped set up the charms, he'll know how to dismantle them quickly," Minerva advised. "I shall do what I can to minimize casualties."
Severus nodded, and in a surprising show of affection pressed a kiss to her forehead before departing. "Stay safe, my friend."
For the next hour, Minerva worked to do as Severus had ordered. For his noted lack of people skills, no one would say that he wasn't an able general, and a worthy leader of their newly founded Confederation. Mostly, Minerva transported people that she knew but didn't know well, and she was able to keep her emotions in check. She even managed to keep herself together when she'd found Sirius sporting an intestines on the outside sort of look, and while she'd transported him to the Medical Tower, she had no idea if he was going to make it and the thought tore her apart.
Shortly after that, she got word from Severus that the Death Eaters were indeed coming in through the Room of Requirement, but that he and Filius couldn't get close enough to shut it down. His Patronus stated he was waiting for backup before they attempted to breach the bottleneck. A few minutes after that, Minerva got her first real dose of heartbreak.
She'd made it all the way to the Training Grounds when an ungodly scream reached her ears. Her eyes shot toward the sound, and was surprised to see a normally very composed Annabeth Prince, bloody and crawling toward a body.
"Oh, gods," she whispered, rushing to assist. "Evelyn…"
The former Head of the Department of Mysteries was already dead by the time the Headmistress reached her. Annabeth was sobbing relentlessly into locks of red hair. "Come back," she whimpered. "Come back, love. Come back!"
Minerva evaluated the grieving woman's injuries, and determined that she needed medical attention as soon as possible. Jackie might be able to save her leg if they acted quickly. "Annabeth, I have to get you to medical."
"No!" Severus' aunt begged. "I won't leave her."
Minerva choked up, empathizing deeply. "Evelyn would want you to live," she whispered. "You won't make it if you stay. Be angry at me if you need to be, but you're going."
With that said, the Headmistress uttered the spells to transport Annabeth, shifted the wards of Hogwarts accordingly, and moved on with her work. It occurred to her then that Hermione and Albus had indicated that with her Wardling powers, she could bring Hogwarts to life and allow it to fight a battle such as this. They'd simply never discussed how to do it, and now was hardly the time for guesswork and potential foul-ups. Smoke was still rising from the Mid Courtyard, so Minerva opted to move her efforts in that direction, only stopping for injured people, in hopes that Hermione would be able to tell her how.
It took her another fifteen minutes to weave her way around skirmishes to get as far as the Great Hall, where she popped in briefly to check, and thankfully confirm, that Harry, Dudley, Emma, and Helena were all safely inside with Leland and Remus. She knew Hermione would ask after them before anything else. Each of the children was distressed over missing friends and loved ones, but promised to stay put and not do anything rash. Harry had taken some convincing on that point, as Ron had not been seen or heard from since he'd sounded the initial alarm.
Once that was settled, Minerva took Leland aside and made him promise to make sure the children kept their promises to stay in the Great Hall, and then after a quick embrace she was out the door again, and headed to where Severus had said Hermione was likely to be. Sure enough, Minerva's lover was in the Mid Courtyard, but while smoke was still rising from a pile of burning corpses - the smell of which was utterly vile - Hermione seemed to have resorted to a system of spells that were routing the Death Eaters out of the main castle and onto the grounds.
A glance down the path let Minerva see that a collection of Order members were already on the grounds, ready to take on the enemy fighters that Hermione sent their way. Still, Minerva observed, it wasn't enough. One out of two Death Eaters were making it past the Order blockade and moving toward the former Quidditch Pitch, which Minerva knew was refuge to a pile of civilians and poorly warded to boot. There weren't enough Order members to break into teams for pursuit. It didn't take a general's mind for Minerva to realize that it was a matter of time before the Death Eaters took the castle. In all likelihood, they had additional forces at the front gate, Hogsmeade was probably already under their control, and all someone on the inside had to do was open the gate and they'd be under attack from both sides.
"What are we going to do, Hermione?" Minerva asked desperately, upon reaching her lover's position.
"Has Severus gotten the Room shut down yet?" Hermione asked through gritted teeth.
"Not last I heard," she said solemnly. "Can I use the Wardling connection to wake Hogwarts up? Bring the castle into the fight?"
Hermione's eyes widened, considering. "There's a pile of spellwork needed to do that, and we don't have time for you to learn it. There is something I can do, however. It was a failsafe… Godric's idea, but we all agreed to the blood oath. Minerva, love, I can stop this attack."
Minerva looked at her with exasperation. "Well then, do it already!"
Chocolate eyes met emerald ones and Minerva saw tears welling up in Hermione's eyes. It didn't take her long to consider that what she could do to stop this madness likely had a heavy cost.
"Tell the children that I love them very much," Hermione said, leaning forward and pressing a passionate kiss to her lover's lips. Minerva spent a few more seconds battling the Death Eater in front of her before taking off after her partner, who had bolted out of the courtyard and toward the castle gate.
"Wait, Hermione!" Minerva said, sprinting after her.
She was only a few strides behind her lover by the time the Head of the Order reached the gate, but calling out didn't make Hermione stop what she was doing. She placed a hand on the Hogwarts Crest, engraved on the stone pillar just inside the gate, and with her wand raised above her head she began to speak.
"Nam centum anima mea cor tuum pro millia mi vitae est salus huic in arce. Sanguinem reddet pretium est Conditoris, mortem obiit inimicos receptus," Hermione chanted, and each Latin word caused Minerva to pale even further.
No. That could not be the catch! That was too high a price to pay. "Hermione, no!" she shouted.
Hermione turned to look at her lover, offering a sad smile as her body began to disintegrate and float away into the wind, like a log burned to ash but held together until a gust of air disturbed it. "Live, Minerva," her voice echoed as her face crumbled. The echo of Albus' last words to Minerva hurt badly enough, but she didn't start screaming until Hermione's wand clattered to the ground, its owner completely gone.
My soul for the hundreds, my heart for the thousands, my life for the safety of this castle's keep. My blood for the price that a Founder must pay, death of my enemies to keep death at bay.
The Latin had been simple enough to translate and understand as Hermione had cast the spell, but Minerva's mind couldn't function beyond the echo of the words that had come after. She didn't register the wards beginning to crackle around her, nor did she remotely notice that lightning strikes were hitting all over the castle, taking out the Death Eaters one by one, regardless of any shields with which they tried to defend themselves. By the time Minerva stopped screaming a minute later, no one else was screaming anymore, either. The castle had fallen silent as their attackers dropped like flies.
Mutely, she began to walk back up the hill toward the castle, desperate to get away from the body that wasn't there to mourn. Severus saw her coming, and rushed down the hill to meet her. "Minerva," he said. "What the hell just happened? Filius and I got the Room closed off but we were pinned down inside, and then the Death Eaters just started dropping dead."
"Dead?" she said mutely.
Severus suddenly noticed the shock on his friend's face. He grabbed her shoulders, and shook a little. "Minerva, what happened? Where's Hermione?"
Like a broken dam, tears began, finally, to fall down her face as reality sank in. "Dead," she whispered. "Hermione… is dead."
She collapsed into Severus' arms a moment later as her knees gave way, and he sank to the ground holding tightly, but saying nothing. What could he say? What Hermione had done had saved her life, as well as thousands more inside Hogwarts, but what was the point of any of that when the reason Minerva wanted to live was the cost of her survival?
PLEASE REVIEW! Also, I am sorry, and please know I took a week to write this chapter because I had to keep stopping to emotionally compose myself.