Ginny-

I woke suddenly in the tiny, cramped attic room I had had to sleep in since moving in with Aunt Muriel a few months ago. Something seemed wrong- something seemed almost out of place. I glanced around noticing that the room was brighter than it should have been for the hour of night that it was. Curious, I climbed out of bed, and attempted to find the source of the light.

After several minutes of searching and no luck, I decided it would be best to go back to bed and try to get back to sleep. I was so tired. It had been the first time in a long time that I had been having a dreamless sleep, and I was annoyed at the mysterious light for having woken me. Just as I was turning back to the bed, my eye was caught by something which had rolled under the tiny, battered chest of drawers that now held my belongings. I bent down and reached for the something, trying to determine what it was, as it was definitely from this source that the light emanated, that much was obvious now.

Finally my hand stumbled across the object, which felt hot to the touch, and I pulled it out and sat staring at it with ever increasing wonder and fear- the Galleon Hermione had given to every member of the DA in my fourth year was active again. The message was clear- Harry was back at Hogwarts. They were getting ready to fight.

I don't know how long I sat on the floor staring at the Galleon, but I knew it couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. Finally, I managed to regain feeling in my limbs, and pushed myself off the floor with such speed that my head began to spin. Regardless, I quickly dressed and grabbed my wand, the Galleon safely in my pocket, before running down the rickety stairs to Fred and George's bedroom.

Bursting into the room, I saw Fred and George sit up abruptly in bed, almost in exact unison, much like they usually did everything, and blink blearily at me.

"S'going on?" mumbled Fred. "S'happened?"

"The Galleons!" I gasped, sagging onto the end of George's bed.

"Galleons?" asked George, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"From the DA, the ones Hermione gave us- look!" I pulled mine out and handed it to George, who stared at it in a confused way for a moment, before giving a surprised yelp and staring at Fred with wide, excited eyes.

"Harry's back at Hogwarts!" said George.

The effect of this sentence caused Fred to tumble from his bed in his hurry to get himself dressed and ready. When both he and George were standing, dressed in Muggle clothes with their wands clutched in their hands, the three of us bolted from the room and ran down the rest of the stairs to the living room, where Mum, Dad and Aunt Muriel were convened.

"Children!" said Mum, sounding startled. "You're supposed to be in bed! What on earth are you playing at?"

"It's Harry, mum!" said George.

"Harry? What about Harry?" said Dad, suddenly sounding urgent.

"Harry, and no doubt Ron and Hermione, have gone back to Hogwarts!" I said.

"The message says they're preparing to fight!" finished Fred breathlessly.

"Message? What message would this be?" asked Aunt Muriel, looking alarmed by our news. "No one is able to contact this house unless they bring the message here directly, which they can only do if they know where we are. So do tell, what message?"

"There isn't time to explain! We have to get to Hogwarts!" snapped George, trying to pull Mum to her feet.

At that moment, a patronus burst through the window and landed in front of Dad. It was a fox, and when it spoke it did so with the Irish twang of Seamus Finnigan.

"Harry has come back to Hogwarts. We are preparing to fight. All members of the Order of the Phoenix should apparate directly into Aberforth's pub, the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade. He will guide you from there. Come quickly."

The fox vanished in a wisp of smoke, but not before Dad was on his feet.

"All right, kids, we're going to Hogwarts. But you three stay here with Muriel. I don't want you getting yourselves hurt," he said, his gaze drifting onto George's missing ear.

"You can't make us stay here!" snapped George. "We're of age, me and Fred, we can fight!"

"Boy's right, Arthur. Can't stop them fighting if they want to. They're of age," said Aunt Muriel, looking at her great-nephews with something close to admiration on her face. "Braver lads I never knew- let them go."

"What about me?" I demanded furiously. "You can't leave me here, not knowing what's happening- all of my family and friends will be there, all of them!"

"Ginny, this matter is not open for discussion. Right, quickly, we need to get outside the perimeter before we can apparate," said Mum, pulling on her cardigan and looking at Dad with fear in her eyes.

"You can't stop me!" I shouted. "Just because I'm not of age- I'm a part of Dumbledore's Army, I held my own against the Death Eaters all damn year, and I'm not staying here!"

"Oh for heaven's sake- fine, come if you must, but you remain where we tell you to, do you understand?" snapped Dad, taking hold of my wrist and dragging me to the door.

"I understand," I said, my fingers crossed in my pocket.

"Good luck!" called Aunt Muriel behind us. "I'd come along, but you know- I'm a hundred and seven years old!"

A/N: Well, it's almost time for the Battle of Hogwarts! I hope you guys are ready for it! Also, I hope you enjoyed this little pre-battle chapter, I felt it needed something to ease the story into it rather than just charging full steam ahead into a raging battle. As ever, please R&R, favourite, follow- you lovely people now the drill!

Love, Beccari x