They headed towards the Great Hall, because that's where they heard all of the noise coming from. As they did, they needed to pass the Room of Requirement. Ginny saw Malfoy running out of there, looking panic-stricken with Goyle. It was the first time she had seen him in forever. She automatically shouted, "Draco!" He turned and looked at her as if in shock, and then he went sprinting n the other direction.

Just as she called his name again, Harry, Ron and Hermione came hurtling out of the room. They were dirty and grubby and she smelt smoke coming from them. She frowned and Ron walked up to her, grabbing her arm, "Why were you shouting at Malfoy?" Ginny froze and then blinked before muttering, "Just checking he's ok…he looked out of sorts." Ron stared at her in disbelief, "And you actually care about that ferret?"

At that moment, Harry started moaning on the floor and Ginny turned her attention to him. He was clearly in some sort of pain. She bent down and clutched his hand in hers. Ginny glanced at Hermione and asked, "Has this been happening a lot?" Hermione shrugged and sighed, "He can't control it Ginny." Ginny nodded and replied, "I know." She squeezed Harry's hand and then Ron leant forward and murmured, "Look inside him Harry. Look inside him and then we can finish this."

Ginny got up to leave. She couldn't bear to watch this. As she did though, Harry reached out unseeingly for her hand. Ginny turned to glance at Hermione, who nodded encouragingly. She took Harry's hand in hers and whispered "It's going to be ok, Harry." He winced and gripped her hand harder at the intrusion of the unwanted visions. She clasped his hand tighter back. Minutes later, he opened his eyes and whispered painfully, "I know where he is." Ginny swallowed and turned to Ron and Hermione, "Keep him safe. For me."

They didn't say anything as Ginny got up, and then she hurried along the hallway and managed to get into the Great Hall. There was a serious battle going on here between Death Eaters and Hogwarts students. Ginny spotted McLaggen finishing off one with a shattering spell. She wished she had learnt that spell from someone. She saw someone fire a spell at her from the other side of the room and she ducked just in time before firing back at them. She fought for about twenty minutes, casting spells at Death Eater's that were attacking other students. And then Ginny slowly started realizing that Bellatrix and more and more Death Eater's were diminishing and falling around all over the place. That's not to say there weren't any left…but their numbers were decreasing in comparison to the Hogwarts fighters.

There was a voice that echoed across the hall, ceasing all fighting to stop and still for just a moment. The voice said: "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. However if you continue to fight me, you will find your death rates increasing. I do not want this to happen. It would be…such a waste."

Ginny stared at Neville who was mid-fight with a hooded figure. He stood still, but he still had his wand pointed ahead of him. He hadn't relented yet. It was almost as if he didn't quite believe what he was being told…and she probably shouldn't either. Voldemort continued, "I am merciful. My followers will retreat immediately. Get rid of your dead with dignity. Cure your injured. You have one hour." As he said so, the remaining Death Eaters in the hall started backing away. They didn't hesitate for a moment before following orders.
Ginny stood frozen as she watched them disappear as swiftly as they had come. She glanced at Neville, also feeling a combination of relief and disbelief. Then Voldemort continued coldly and sternly: "I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour

Ginny moved without really thinking where she was going. Harry was going to do it. She knew it in her gut that he was going to give himself up at some point this evening within the next hour. She glanced at Neville again and she could see he knew it too. He marched over to her and embraced her in a proper hug as her body began shaking uncontrollably- almost of it's own accord. He whispered, "Ssshhh. Ginny it's ok. We'll find him. We'll convince him he doesn't need to do that. We'll tell him we'll keep fighting." Ginny felt warm tears spilling from her eyes again and she whispered, "It won't be enough, Neville. It won't be enough."
Neville's chin rested on her head and Ginny inhaled sharply, trying to calm her nerves down. As she did so, McGonagall approached them and placed her bony hand on Ginny's shoulder as she said kindly, "Miss Weasley, now is not the time to lose it completely. We still have a long night ahead of us. I'm going to go and find the bodies which we need to levitate back to the Great Hall. If you find anyone injured, please bring them in too. We'll send them to Madame Pomfrey who will be awaiting them in the hospital wing. She'll tend to them."

Ginny nodded and numbly followed orders. Before she left, she turned back to the professor and whispered, "Professor…Tonks and Remus are gone." Professor McGonagall's mouth slackened and fell to the ground for a moment. She was utterly speechless. She shook her head in disbelief and whispered, "And what about their baby?" Ginny shrugged and murmured, "I just thought you should know." McGonagall swallowed thickly and whispered back, "Thank you Ginerva." Ginny was for some reason very aware that it was the first time the professor had used her first name.
Then she walked off briskly to inform those who were still standing upright what the plan of action was. Ginny walked numbly down the corridor. She found fallen students lying all over the face, plenty of whom she didn't know- but maybe vaguely recognized. The most mangled body of all was that of Lavender Brown. Ginny couldn't even actually look at it. Neville was with her when they roamed the halls and when she saw it, she squeaked in despair. The blood and gore running down her neck was unlike any other she'd ever seen. Professor Slughorn had appeared then and covered her body in a blanket which he'd conjured, before levitating it from the grounds and into the hall again.
Ginny leant against Neville, feeling pretty faint. She hid her face from the world because she couldn't bare the destruction around her. Parts of the castle were falling to pieces now and she had to muster the last of the strength she had in her to help everyone else. Ginny didn't usually fall to pieces, but so much damage had occurred within the last few hours that she couldn't help but lose it a bit. Her precious school had slowly but surely been destroyed. She felt broken. Then Ginny saw a person she knew walking towards her. Fred walked heavily towards her and Ginny could tell by his demeanor that something was seriously wrong. She frowned as she lowered a body back down and he looked hauntingly pale. He whispered, "Ginny…I need to tell you something. It's not good." She frowned and then braced herself for the worst, "Mum? Dad? Are they ok?" Fred's eyes looked swollen and he whispered, "Yeah, they're fine…it's just…" She then heard her voice crack, "George?"

Fred shook his head as he reached her and he gulped, "It's Percy. He's gone." Ginny never thought she could see her brother look so sad about Percy. But it was written all across his face. Clearly the reconciliation had meant a great deal to Fred, and now that Percy was gone…it meant they could never really have a decent relationship with him. Ginny wasn't sure what to feel. She whispered hoarsely, "How's mum?" Fred shrugged his shoulders and hugged her, "About as good as you can expect her to be." Ginny felt safe in her brothers' arms. She whispered through gritted teeth, "Is it wrong of me to feel relieved that Harry is still alive?" Fred shook his head and whispered, "I don't think so. I've been really worried about Ange. Do you mind if I got and look for her?" Ginny smiled and pulled away from him, "No. I don't mind. Go and find her." He kissed Ginny on the top of the head and then nodded before walking off, shoulders sagged.

Then she heard someone crying in a corner. It was slightly to the left of the bridge, closer to the forest, and she found a girl who was probably in her fourth year or so moaning terribly. Ginny flinched and she asked the girl softly, "Hi. I'm Ginny. What's your name?" The girl glanced up and Ginny saw from her robes that she was in Ravenclaw. She whispered tiredly as tears ran down her face, "My name Brianna. My best friend- Julie- was killed about an hour ago." She winced and shook her head in dismay, "I was supposed to protect her! We promised each other we would!" Ginny stared at the girl with big, brown, scared eyes and she said calmly, "I'm really sorry about your friend. We'll get you inside and then you can get your injuries cleaned…" The girl shook her head and whispered, "No! I want to go home! I don't want to fight anymore!"
Ginny tensed and murmured softly, "I know. I know how you feel Brianna. There have been moments when I've wanted to give up too. I lost one of my best friends this evening. Her name was Tonks…and my brother who I haven't seen in years. I know how you feel…" As Ginny said it, she sensed someone nearby, as if they were listening in on her conversation. She had thought she heard the ground crackling and she whipped her head around to see who it was. It was strange…but she for some reason thought that it might be Harry…she shook her head of the thought.

Ginny whispered to Brianna while she held her hand, "It's a little difficult to leave Hogwarts right now, but we will eventually I promise you." Brianna raised a skeptical eyebrow at her, "How do you know?" Ginny forced a smile for her, "Because my boyfriend is Harry Potter, and I believe that he will save us all." Brianna raised her eyebrows high, "You truly believe he's still alive?" Ginny almost grinned at the hopefulness of her expression, "I know he is. I can feel it. And I know he won't let us down."
Brianna seemed to think about it for another minute longer before she slowly pulled herself upwards and then nodded firmly, "Alright. If you believe it, then I believe it too." Ginny smiled at her and held out her hand as she helped her hobble back towards the Great Hall.

XXX

Once Ginny entered the hall with Brianna, she found Luna talking to Professor Trelawny. The professor was certainly looking quite beat up. She was surprised she had kept fighting so long. All the bodies were lined up on the far side of the hall, on the raised platform where the teachers used to sit during feasts which now seemed like a lifetime ago. That table had been cleared to make more space.

Ginny searched the room for her family. They were at the far end and her mother was crying over Percy's immobile form. She sighed as she walked up to them. Ron and Hermione stood slightly to the side, Hermione's arms wrapped around her brother. For a split second, Ginny wondered where Harry was…why wasn't he with them? And then in the next second, she knew. Ginny didn't know how, but she knew in her bones that Harry was on his way to the forest, or possibly already there!

She marched right up to Ron and Hermione and practically yelled at them, "You KNEW! You knew he was going and you didn't stop him! Why?" Ginny waited for an answer and Ron stared at Ginny in surprise and shrugged his shoulders. She couldn't help what she did next. Ginny slapped Ron's cheek as hard as she could and he winced in pain, but otherwise he didn't say anything. Hermione stared at Ginny in shock, "Ginny! How could you do that? Ron did nothing wrong!"

Ginny felt like she was going to die too. She almost half considered marching down to the forest and asking Voldemort to finish her, so that she could be with Harry. She yelled at Hermione in the fairly quiet hall, "You're just as bad as he is! HOW can you consider yourselves his best friends! You've been through everything together! How did you not prevent him from walking to his death!"

By now, she was out of breath and breathing heavily. For a split second, Ginny closed her eyes and saw a flash of Harry's profile behind them. She could imagine his face clear as day: his green eyes smiling at her, the stubble growing on his chin, and the way he was leaning in to kiss her in his mind's eye had her heart breaking in two. Ginny fell on the floor and she couldn't bare the pain coursing through her body. It was so intense that she felt as if she was going to pass out. Then she felt strong arms around her saying frantically, "Ginny! GINNY!" and then she blacked out.

A/N: Hi All! So due to popular demand, Fred is surviving in my fiction and Percy is the one who will no longer be around. I felt like this was the right decision for my story and I hope that most of you agree. Hope you all had a good Easter weekend and I look forward to writing the next chapter! I think it might very well be the last one abotu the battle.