Draco-

Everything was a blur. One moment, silence emanated throughout the castle, as I stared across the dark, foggy grounds. Next, there came an almost undetected sound- those sleeping would never have been woken from it. I, however, was not sleeping, and was able to hear and understand the sound clearly. Someone had broken curfew in Hogsmeade. The Catter-Waling charm had been activated.

Initially, I rolled my eyes, not bothering to think too much about it. Some idiot down in the village had stuck their nose out of their front door; they had set off the charm by accident. No doubt they would be being punished for it that very moment. Then a thought struck me. No one would be stupid enough to set off the charm, not with Death Eaters patrolling everywhere and Dementors only minutes away should they be called. No one would risk their life just for a peak outside the door. Which made me think- had something important happened? Was something important going to happen? What was happening down in the village at that very moment?

Suspicions aroused, I quickly woke Blaise, who until that point had been snoring in his bed, curtains partially drawn, a foot sticking out of the covers. No bad dreams to plague him, to keep him awake at night like they did me; that much was sure.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily as I shook him roughly by the shoulder.

"Someone set off the Catter-Waling charm in Hogsmeade," I hissed urgently. "Can't you hear it?"

"What does it matter? Just some stupid Mudblood pissing around," he grumbled, pulling the cover up over his head.

I wrenched the sheets back again, causing him to give a yelp of surprise and outrage.

"What're you playing at? It's the middle of the night!" he snapped, not bothering to keep his voice down. Two beds over, Crabbe stirred sleepily, turning over on his side- we hadn't woken him.

"The charm has been set off, do you really think anyone is that stupid to set it off when there's Death Eaters and Dementors wandering around the streets?" I replied angrily, keeping a hold on his covers in case he tried to hide under them again.

"So someone's got a death wish. What's it to do with us? Go back to bed, Draco, for God's sake," he said, just as angrily.

"It's not just someone with a death wish," I insisted. "Something is going to happen tonight, I know it is!"

"Oh good lord, now he's psychic," mumbled Blaise sarcastically, succeeding in wrenching his blankets back from me. "Leave me alone. If it's anything important, Snape will wake us."

I shoved him hard on the shoulder, then turned and went back to the window. The charm had stopped. From this distance, I could see the layer of fog become denser where the village must be- Dementors had been released into the streets. A flash of silver- the fog dissipated slightly. I watched intently, furious I couldn't see more of what was going on. If only our bedrooms had been in the towers, like the Ravenclaw's were, I'd have been able to see better.

No more than 10 minutes passed. Suddenly, Snape's voice rang out across the dormitory, jarring everyone to their senses within seconds.

"All students report to the Great Hall immediately. Any late comers will be punished. Any absent students will be punished. The Great Hall. Immediately."

"Told you Snape would wake us," grumbled Blaise irritably.

"Told you something was going on," I retorted, pulling on my robes and grabbing my wand.

"What's going on?" mumbled Crabbe stupidly, whilst Goyle stood rubbing his eyes with a ham-like fist.

"Are you deaf?" demanded Blaise, in a foul mood from being woken up. "Snape wants us in the Hall. Something must have happened. Draco said curfew was broken in the village not long ago."

"We're being dragged out of bed because of some stupid Mudbloods?" yawned Crabbe.

Blaise and I exchanged an exasperated look.

"Do you honestly think that Snape would be calling us down to the Great Hall in the middle of the night just because of some stupid Mudbloods?" I snapped as I pulled my robes over my head and grabbed my wand from under my pillow.

Pulling my shoes on, I quickly strode from the room, Blaise close on my heels, his own wand tucked up his sleeve. Mumbling dejectedly, Crabbe and Goyle followed, narrowly missing falling out of the door as they came face to face with the other Slytherin boys as they made their own ways out of their dormitories.

-o=o-

It couldn't have been more than half an hour, but it seemed to drag on for an eternity. When we were finally all gathered in the Hall, Snape still proceeded to pace backwards and forwards in an agitated manner, his billowing robes making him reminiscent of a large bat. I watched him silently as the Hall buzzed with the whispers of the hundreds of Hogwarts students. Crabbe and Goyle still muttered next to me, but Blaise was equally attentive towards our headmaster, his eyes following Snape as he moved from one side of the Hall to the other.

Finally, Snape stopped. He stood directly in the middle of the Hall, his hands behind his back, his eyes staring at each house in turn. Silence followed as quickly as Snape had stopped. Every eye was on him. The students waited, and as I glanced around, I could see the looks of panic that were on almost every face in there- every face except for my fellow Slytherins, who were watching Snape with eager expressions.

Snape begin to talk. And as he did, the expressions turned from panic to complete shock. Some looked hopeful; some looked more frightened than they had before. No one spoke, not even a whispered comment to their neighbours. Everyone was stood deadly still. Everyone was silent as Snape explained.

Harry Potter was back.

Ginny-

He was already there when we arrived. Fred and George led the way into the Room, which was overly crowded with students from every house except Slytherin. And there, stood in the middle, was Harry.

I stared at him for what felt like forever, and he stared back, an expression of such confusion on his face that for a moment I was unable to register anything else. But then the moment passed, and I began to notice other things. He was thin- much thinner than when he had departed The Burrow all those months ago. He seemed to have ages several years. He had burns covering him from head to toe. None of this mattered. He was there.

"Harry…" I managed to get out, before my throat closed off and no more words would come.

"Typical," someone muttered, and I looked over to see Ron standing closely to Hermione. "She hasn't seen me in months! I'm only her brother!"

"Yeah but she has loads of those doesn't she?" joked someone else, and I saw Seamus grinning from ear to ear as he took in the sight of Harry, Ron and Hermione as well. "There's only one Harry."

Then everyone fell quiet. Harry was talking, telling us how he needed to find something that had belonged to Ravenclaw, that he thought was hidden inside the castle. Ron and Hermione watched him as he talked, and there seemed to be a new aspect in their friendship. Whereas before they had always seemed on par with each other in terms of importance in their trio, it was clear Ron and Hermione now saw Harry as a leader of sorts. He was still their best friend- that much was obvious. But he was something else as well.

"I need to go to Ravenclaw tower," stated Harry.

"I'll take you," offered Cho, and I glared at her as I realised how she was talking to him.

"Luna can show you. Can't you, Luna?" I said quickly, cutting off anything else Cho might have wished to offer Harry.

"Oh yes," said Luna dreamily. "I'd be happy to."

And so they set off. Once Harry was gone, all of the light in the room seemed to fade. There was so much movement, but everything seemed to be in slow motion. I couldn't seem to focus my attention on anything other than that Harry was here, he was here, he'd been within touching distance… but now that he was gone, everything came flooding back. What I'd done with Draco… what would happen when Harry found out…

'But wait,' a little voice seemed to say. 'Aren't you forgetting something? Harry being back can only mean one thing. There's going to be a fight- tonight. He Who Must Not Be Named is coming. The problem is not if Harry finds out- it's if he makes it through the night.'

I suddenly snapped back to reality. This was a war. I could not let my petty little girl problems get in the way of how this night would unfold. I had a part to play in the fighting that was coming. Whether my family liked it or not, I would be involved. I would fight for the freedom of our world and I would be alive at the end of it, me, my family, my friends- Harry. We would come through this, but not if I wasn't focused. If I remained so caught up in my own private, insignificant world, I would not make it through the night.

All of these thoughts whistled through my head at break-neck speed, and I found myself standing outside the Room of Requirement with my brothers, who were arguing with our parents about if they were going to join the fight or not.

Students were flooding past us as they made their way into the Room, shepherded by professors who were trying to evacuate them all before the fighting began. We stood slightly back from them, in our own family discussion.

"We can't stop them, Molly. They're of age," Dad was saying.

"I'm fighting too!" I said suddenly, causing them all to stare at me.

"No, Ginny. Not a chance!" said Mum firmly.

"I can fight too!" I argued. "I'm a member of Dumbledore's Army, same as Fred and George!"

"A teenager's gang!" said Mum shrilly. "I won't allow it! Go back to Aunt Muriel's, now!"

"And wait to see if my family lives through the night? You can't make me!" I shouted.

"She's right, dear," said Dad resignedly.

"Right?!" shrieked Mum.

"We can't make her stay at Muriel's. But your mother's right as well, Ginny. You aren't to fight. You must stay here, in the Room of Requirement. Do you understand?"

"No! I'm fighting too!" I argued.

"No Ginny! Either you stay in the Room, or you go back to Muriel's. Those are your choices, do you understand?" said Dad firmly, and I knew the argument wouldn't turn in my favour.

"I'll stay in the Room," I grumbled angrily- let them go, and then I would sneak out and join the fight later.

"What are we waiting for then?" asked Fred eagerly.

"Let's go!" said George, grinning at his twin in anticipation.

CRASH!

We all started at the sudden explosion that had sounded from below.

"It's time," said Dad solemnly. "Go back into the Room, Ginny."

They turned and sprinted off, wands out, robes flying behind them. I remained behind. I went back into the Room of Requirement, which was eerily still now that there weren't several dozen students packed into it and the last of the students had been evacuated from the castle and the last of the fighters had arrived through the tunnel from the Aberforth's pub in Hogsmeade.

Another series of crashes echoed around the room from the floors below. Shouts and screams suddenly rent the air.

The battle had begun.

A/N:

I realise I haven't updated this in over a year and I cannot begin to apologise enough. I needed a break from writing this, and once I stopped writing it became really hard to get back into it again. I promise to try and update more regularly now that we're almost at the end of the story. I hope this chapter partially makes up for my year long absence, and I hope I still have some readers for this story!

Love, Beccari x