Phoebe did not know the way to the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw entries, nor did she know the passwords, but, Harry being Head Boy had that privilege. When they stepped foot into the Hufflepuff common room, they were bombarded with questions.
"What's going on?"
"What was that sound?"
They had finally calmed everyone down when a boy burst through the portrait-hole, panting.
"Will?" Phoebe said in confusion.
"The teachers—" he gasped. "The teachers have gone! They've been captured. I've got my students. We need to get out of here now."
"Those who want to fight—" Harry began.
"No, Harry, you can't fight. You don't even have a plan. We are going with them. Without Dumbledore, we will lose you without doubt. It's not because of your ability, but because I've seen the Death Eaters. We aren't trained to defeat over a hundred Death Eaters."
Harry looked furious, but he nodded in compliance.
"Hufflepuffs! Follow me!" Phoebe yelled.
"I'll get the Ravenclaws. We can portkey in the tunnels."
Phoebe nodded. Harry ran out of the portrait-hole first. He hurried to the Ravenclaw common room, and, forunately, they were much calmer than the Hufflepuffs, and followed Harry, although fearfully, without fuss. He ran into Ron in the hallway.
"Harry, the Gryffindors have portkeyed away. These are the ones who want to fight."
"Ron, we aren't fighting anymore." Harry said. "We have to go."
"What!"
"The teachers have gone, Ron, we can't defend the school by ourselves. Hogwarts is finished. Come on! We're wasting time. Everyone, make sure you are holding hands with the person behind you, so that you don't get left behind when we portkey out."
Harry and Ron entered last. Before Harry tapped the portkey, Ron stopped him.
"What about Hermione?" he asked.
"Hermione's a smart girl. She'll get herself out of here when she realises that everyone's gone." Harry replied.
"What if there're still people?"
"There won't be. I'm sure that someone would have told us if someone was missing." Harry said reassuringly.
"I still have a bad feeling about this Harry. We really should go after her." Ron said.
"We only have one portkey, Ron, and neither of us know how to apparate."
"She has an extra portkey on her."
"What if she portkeys off without us? We would both be dead. What use is that?" Harry said.
"That's a really pessimistic view on things." Ron said.
"The last time I tried to act the hero to save someone, I got that person killed, remember?" Harry said, eyes flashing.
"Sorry, Harry. Okay, let's go."
As soon as Harry's wand touched the portkey the third time, they both knew they had made a mistake. Both had an alien feeling of extreme fear and vulnerability as they were jerked behind the navel. With a swirl of colours and a burst of wind, they found themselves, thrown onto the ground, by a charred building.
"Where are we?" Ron said, looking around.
There were lights in the building, and everyone made for it silently. Upon reaching the door, they found that the wood had been violently hacked through, most likely by the metal axe that lay on the ground. Upon entering the hall, they found students everywhere, crying. Phoebe and Will were standing and giving chocolate out. The Ravenclaws and the rest of the Gryffindors rushed in, and sat down. Most began to cry and others just stared blankly at a spot in front of their eyes. When they saw Harry and Ron, Will and Phoebe came over.
"Where's Hermione?" They asked.
Harry was choking. A horrible feeling crept up his back and he felt nauseous as his head and scar throbbed. He had failed Hermione. Hermione called out to them just as he escaped to safety. He turned around and punched the wall, crying out in his anguish.
"We left her behind!" Another punch. "Another one of my friends has been killed because of my idiocy."
"Harry, calm down!" Phoebe said, but to no avail.
"Harry, Hermione's a clever girl, she'll get herself out of there." Ron said.
"Harry, does your map work outside of Hogwarts?" Will asked.
Harry stopped punching the wall and took out the crumpled parchment from his pocket. They all stared at it as the ink made its way across the paper, and they flipped through it, until they found her spot. It was obvious that she was fighting the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters seemed to be trapped behind an invisible wall just by the door. Many were faded dots, saying that they were unconscious.
"There's no way she can beat them all." Ron squeaked.
"Why aren't the Death Eaters moving forwards?" Harry asked.
"Hermione's using the same trick as last time. She's improved though." Phoebe said. "She probably put a bunch of runes along here. Booby trapped the whole place. She doesn't seem to be getting hit, so she might have made a wall that stopped their spells from reaching her."
"Or she could have made herself invisible." Will said.
"I have the invisibility cloak." Harry said grimly.
"There are runes that can trick the human eye." Phoebe said. "Hermione's a clever person. Wait. Where's she going?"
Hermione's dot moved in large arches, starting a few feet away from the Death Eaters until she was up against the walls.
"She's putting more runes down." Will said.
And then, her dot fled the room. Harry flipped the pages, until they saw her in the Owlery.
"She's calling for help." Harry said, with a lump in his throat.
The dot froze, but began to run again, and stopped somewhere on the other side of the school.
"What on Earth is she doing?" Will said.
The lamps flickered and all four drew their wands and turned around. It was only the wind. Sighing, they returned to their previous activity.
Hermione was now running. Down a few corridors, zig-zagging. Her dot paused, as though she were lost, but it started moving again. She entered the Hospital Wing. They all looked at the map in horror.
"There were still people in the school." Ron said hoarsely.
Unfortunately, the people nearby heard this and burst into tears, causing a Mexican wave of tearshedding to spread across the room. Harry and co. ignored this and continued looking at the map. They gasped in horror. The Death Eaters were spilling into the school. Hermione's dots and the students' dots were still frozen in place.
"Come on, Hermione. Get out of there!" Harry said angrily.
As though hearing his words, the group moved towards one corner of the fire place. The students disappeared two by two. Ron whimpered, and he was right to. Death Eaters burst into the room, and Hermione moved towards them, as the others moved away. The last two pairs disappeared, and Hermione's dot sped towards the corner, and froze. The dot paled grey.
"NO!" All four yelled.
The people nearby watched them in fright. Harry turned and rammed his fist into the wall, sobbing. Ron had walked off in a different direction. Will stared blankly at the map. Only Phoebe remained calm and turned over the page.
"Harry, the other students are coming. We must go meet them and bring them in." Phoebe said.
"Why? Hermione…" Harry said.
"Harry, if you don't stay strong, these students will fall apart. You are their leader." Phoebe hissed into Harry's ear.
"I don't care anymore." He said back.
"So you're going to let Hermione's sacrifice go to waste?" Phoebe spat angrily. "You should at least understand why she listens to you and nobody else! Because even if she is the thinker – the brains of all this,"
Phoebe gestured around her, at the students, at the place itself.
"She listens to you because you are the leader. You are Head Boy, and you are the one who will lead the students to battle, if need be. Dumbledore isn't here. No teacher is here. Everyone is relying on you. Are you going to let them down? Are you going to let Hermione down?"
Harry stared at Phoebe and hugged her.
"Thank you. I'm sorry. I just… I never wanted this responsibility."
"Even if you don't want it, you've been given it. So, are you going to stay here and sulk? Or are you going to come with me?"
Harry nodded.
"Wait for me!" Ron said.
All three looked expectantly at Will, who was still clutching the map. He folded it and gave it back to Harry.
"You aren't going anywhere without me." He said, grinning.