Ron's POV

"Genius!"

I beamed as Hermione and I turned away from Harry and hurried back down the cracking stone steps of the Grand Staircase and towards the first floor Girl's Lavatory and the Entrance to the Chamber of secrets. Hearing Hermione call me a Genius for coming up with the idea of going down and fetching up Basalisk Fangs to act as weapons against the Horcruxes, made me feel warm inside. It gave me a sense of hope. I had thought of a backup plan.

But If I'm honest, I couldn't help but be more thrilled about the fact I had impressed Hermione.

Hogwarts was in complete chaos. Hundreds and hundreds of students from each of the four houses were yelling, calling out for friends and loved ones, arguing with one another and preparing for war. The younger years were currently being evacuated through the passageway in the room of requirement but it seemed every seventh Year - and a few rebellious sixth year - students remained behind to fight.

We had all grown up knowing the stories. We had been the ones to go through the horror of Cedric's death and the return of Voldemort. We were the ones who decided we'd had enough. Everyone was going to fight. They knew they'd rather fight and die in battle than live in a world ruled by The Dark Lord.

Someone barged into me but Hermione's arm linked with me and kept me upright as we ran. My thoughts drifted towards Harry; how he was off on some fool's errand to find the Gray Lady in hopes she could shed some light on where that bloody diadem crown thing could possibly be! And it may not even be a Horcrux! He was taking a risk, as were Hermione and I in trusting him. But we did trust him. Everyone trusted Harry. We had to hope he knew what he was doing.

As we reached the first floor and pushed our way past a crowd of trembling girls, the halls of our school filled suddenly with the sound of shattering glass, the buzz of magic and the screams of the innocents. Just as a stream of darkness flew past our heads, I knew that the Death Easters and Voldemort's supporters had gotten in. The school was under attack.

Before we could take another step, a man took a step out of the shadows; clad in black leather, robes and an intricately detailed silver mask. Before I had a chance to rise my own wand, Kingsley appeared out of nowhere and, with a flick of his wrist, send a jet of red light into the Death Eater's chest and the man flew out of the tall, arched window behind of him with a startled cry.

"Kingsley!" I gasped out of instinct.

"Are you two alright?" He asked but he was already looking around for someone else to help.

"Yeah, thanks, but we've got to go. This way." Hermione blurted out and she pulled me along the corridor to our right and we took off sprinting without another word. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters, Snatchers and other creatures of darkness were pouring into the school. Crawling in through crumbled walls, flying in through shattered windows and kicking down doors; multi-coloured jets of light flew in every direction, the sound of the magic sizzled in the air along with the sounds of battle cries and screaming.

We ran head-first into a crowd of Snatchers, dressed in torn and filthy rags with snarls on their faces. Hermione was the first to strike, she didn't hesitate or give them a chance to get out of our way before she pivoted, her wand came up and as she clenched her teeth in frustration, a transparent wall of blue energy exploded outwards and sent the crowd of men and women scrambling. In no time at all, they were on their feet and yelling curses and jinxes our way. I took a step in front of Hermione and brought my arm up, pushing protective thoughts and instincts to the front of my mind. My magic took a hold of them and summoned a wall of faded red energy to protect us both from the onslaught of light.

Hermione leaned into me while I stood there, tall and strong while pouring every bit of my strength into keeping that wall up. Hermione then lifted her own wand - well, the one she had stolen from Bellatrix for the time being - and pointed it towards my wavering wall of magic.

"This won't hold, we need to keep them at bay while we get around them!" She cried as a flash of green light hit the wall of energy right by her cheek.

"Maxima?" I asked,

She beamed, "Say it with me!"

On the count of three, we both poured all of our magic into our wands as we bellowed "Protego Maxima!" The moment we uttered the words, light burst from the tip of her wand, fused with my own and powered the wall of energy so that it blew all of the Snatchers back, keeping them bound behind the wall as we ran by. As we ran down the hall, Hermione called over her shoulder "Petrificus Totalus Tria!"

It wasn't enough to take them all down but her spell his three of the Snatchers, petrifying them before a second had past. The three had crumpled into the arms of the others long enough for Hermione and I to get out of sight and before they had a chance to recover, we were gone.

It didn't take long before we came to a stop at the end of the hall; at the Girls Lavatory. The tall, arched wooden doors had somehow been blown off their hinges and lay, broken in half, across the smooth stone tiles. The column of sinks and mirrors had been blown to pieces and - and across the room, a body lay beneath a pile of bricks and rubble. Hermione caught sight of her and immediately went to check if the girl was okay but I tightened my grip on Hermione's hand and pulled her into my arms, holding her head close to my chest.

At that moment Hermione had seen what I had seen. What part of the young girl's face that was visible showed her eyes wide open and a trickle of dried blood leading out from her nose. It was too late. "Oh god!" Hermione gasped, cringing away from it. She spared a single moment to mourn for the stranger who had lost her life before pulling back, wiping her eyes on her sleeve before turning to the giant, perfect hole in the stone. The chute that lead to the chamber of secrets.

"We've got to go." She said, standing atop the pile of debris. I nodded and stepped up beside her.

"It has a lot of twists and turns and at the end opens into a small circular room. Watch yourself, last time there were bones down there from the animals the Basilisk had been catching and eating." She nodded but then glanced up at me, gave my palm a squeeze before letting go and stepping over the edge. I watched her vanish into the darkness with a cry - the last thing I saw of her was the tip of her flaying pony-tail. I waited a good minute before taking in a deep breath and following her down.

FanWriter's Note: Hey guys! Next chapter is here Let me know what you think. Oh, and just to let you know, I have about...twelve, maybe thirteen chapters left of this story!

~FanWriter Asher~