BANG.

Harry shot straight out of a deep sleep into alert wakefulness, sitting bolt upright, his heart thudding madly in his ears, fumbling for his glasses and his wand at the same time.

'What the – ' he heard Ron gasp from the bed next his.

BANG.

The stone wall of Gryffindor Tower exploded inwards in a hall of bricks; Harry, acting on instinct, yelled, 'Protego!' and heard Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus yelling the same thing. The Shield Charms deflected most of the stones, but not all; Harry's four-poster bed collapsed in a tangle of wood and hangings, and he rolled off the mattress just in time, hitting the floor with a thud.

Dust filled the air, but he could feel a breeze on his face; there was a huge, gaping hole in the side of Gryffindor Tower. Panting and choking, he scrambled to his feet, squinting towards the hole. He caught of a glimpse of dark sky, of stars, and several dark figures swooping towards him –

He heard one of them shout distantly, and again a portion of the wall exploded. There was no time to cast a Shield Charm; Harry ducked as stones flew towards him. One struck him on the side of the head and he flew backwards, hitting what had moments before been his bed; another, larger stone smashed into his leg and he had to bite back a yell of pain.

One side of his head was sticky with blood, he was half blinded by it; his leg was trapped under the huge stone that had been part of Hogwarts' wall. He saw the figures swooping through the hole, landing on the debris-strewn floor of the dormitory, dismounting from their broomsticks, hooded, cloaked…

Death Eaters.

Harry's empty fist clenched and unclenched uselessly; he had dropped his wand when he fell backwards. Where were the others? He could hear nothing of them, and with the dust clogging the air, it was impossible to see them. He thought he could hear distant screaming far below, but it could have just been the ringing in his ears.

He could do nothing but lie there, half-stunned, and watch helplessly as the three Death Eaters advanced towards him. Any moment now and there would be a flash of green light and he'd be in King's Cross again –

But the curse did not come. Instead, the three Death Eaters parted and pulled a smaller cloaked figure from behind them, shoving the person forwards.

'Do it!' Harry heard one yell. 'Do it now!'

The smaller Death Eater stumbled forwards, and suddenly their hood came falling down, revealing a tumble of dark hair and a thin pale face in which the wide, scared violet eyes seemed much too large.

'Do it!' screamed another Death Eater. 'Kill him!'

The girl had to be the same age as Harry, and the two stared at each other as she took a tentative step forwards.

'KILL HIM!' yelled the Death Eater. 'Before they come! NOW!'

The girl raised her wand in a shaking hand –

'Stupefy!' Ron bellowed, and she collapsed limply to the floor. Harry could hear the others yelling, 'Stupefy! Stupefy!' – jets of red light streaked through the air, rebounding off the walls –and then all the Death Eaters were lying prone on the ground.

In the sudden silence that fell, screams and running footsteps echoed up to them. Then Ron staggered out of the dust, ashen-faced and bearing several scratches, but otherwise seemingly unharmed.

'Harry,' he gasped. 'You all right? Blimey, look at the state of you!'

Harry raised a trembling hand to the side of his head. His hair was matted with blood.

'I – I'm fine,' he managed to say. 'Help me shift this rock, will you?'

Ron knelt down beside him and pushed at the rock with all his might, screwing up his face in effort, but it didn't budge.

Harry glanced to his right; his wand lay near him. Reaching over to pick it up, he pointed at the rock and stammered, 'Wing – Wingardium Leviosa.'

The rock floated up into the hair, finally freeing Harry's leg. His jeans – he hadn't bothered changing into pyjamas – were a ripped and bloody mess. Ron seized him under the shoulder and hauled him to his feet.

'Death Eaters!' he said, his eyes wide in his grimy face. 'Death Eaters! What the hell? I thought they were all rounded up!'

'Apparently not,' said Harry grimly. Neville, Dean and Seamus were all bending over the said Death Eaters, looking horrified. Neville had just stepped towards the girl when there was a sudden banging at the door.

'What's going on?' cried Professor McGonagall's voice. 'Open up!'

Several huge stones were blocking the door. The others hurried to move them, but Harry and Ron remained behind, surveying the bodies of the Death Eaters. Harry moved towards the girl; she was lying face down. He bent down and reached out.

'Careful,' Ron warned.

Harry flipped the girl onto her back. Her eyes were closed, her lashes dark upon her pale cheeks; her chest rose and fell in slow, deep breaths.

'Who d'you think she is?' he asked Ron.

'No idea,' said Ron, staring at her. 'Bit young to be a Death Eater, though, isn't she?' he added in obvious fascination.

Harry was about to reply, but at that moment Professor McGonagall burst in, Professors Slughorn and Sprout right behind her. She took one look at the scene of destruction before her and all colour drained from her face.

'Merlin's beard,' wheezed Slughorn.

'What on earth…?' whispered Professor McGonagall.

'Death Eaters,' said Harry. 'They blasted through the wall.'

'Death Eaters…'

She seemed speechless as she walked over to survey the unconscious group. 'But surely…I thought we captured them all…'

Her eyes landed on the girl, and Harry saw her become very still, her expression freezing,

'Horace,' she said after a moment, in a low, hard voice, 'please send an owl to Kingsley Shacklebolt, requesting his presence immediately.'

'Kingsley…the Minister?' panted Slughorn.

'Please hurry,' said McGonagall calmly. As Slughorn waddled from the room, she cast another indescribable expression at the girl before turning to Harry and Ron.

'Now, will you please explain just – Potter, what happened to you?'

'The wall,' said Harry dazedly. 'It hit me…' He realised that he was shaking all over and felt weak and dizzy. He also became aware that he was dripping blood onto the floor, and wondered which house elf was going to clean it. Then he looked around at the destroyed dormitory, and the huge hole in the wall and the crushed beds, and let out a quick laugh before he could stop himself. Ron looked alarmed.

Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed.

'I suspect,' she said coolly, ever the teacher despite all that had recently happened, 'that you're in no fit state to explain to me exactly what happened here. You'd better go to the hospital wing so that Madam Pomfrey can clean you up. Yes, Weasley, you can go with him, go on now...'

The two of them made their way over the debris and onto the small landing that the all the boys' dormitories led onto. Professor Flitwick was standing outside the door, trying to shoo away the scared and curious students. Several exclaimed when Harry and Ron emerged, but the faces were blurred to Harry and he couldn't make out who any of them belonged too. Ron gripped him firmly by the elbow and steered him towards the staircase.

The Gryffindor common room was now packed with students, all who had been awoken by the sound of the blasts. A sea of pale faces turned upwards to them; voices cried out at the sight of Harry's face and others shouted questions up to them. As Harry and Ron stepped off the staircase, Hermione flew towards them.

'Harry! Ron! Are you all right? Oh – Harry!' Her voice rose to a shriek. 'You're covered in blood! What on earth happened?'

'Death Eaters,' Ron told her. 'They blasted through the wall – they were on broomsticks.'

Hermione clapped a hand over her mouth. 'I thought they were all caught,' she whispered. 'And – then what? Did they go for you, Harry?'

'Not exactly,' Harry mumbled. 'They sent this girl – she looked like she was going to kill me…but would she have? I dunno…'

Hermione blinked at him, and Ron hastily intervened.

'They had a girl, 'bout our age,' he supplied, 'and they pushed her towards Harry and started shouting at her to kill him. Neville and the others and I managed to Stun them all just in time.'

'And was anyone hurt?' said Hermione worriedly. 'Apart from you, Harry, of course – I mean, look at you!' She reached up to rub uselessly at his cheek with her sleeve; the material came away soaked red.

'The rest of us are fine,' Ron assured her, 'and McGonagall told me to take Harry to the hospital wing. He's acting a bit funny,' he added in a loud whisper, 'not exactly himself – must've been the blow to his head.'

'I'm fine,' Harry said loudly, wobbling on his feet. He wobbled a bit too far and pitched forward. Ron and Hermione grabbed him by the arms, and exchanged glances as they pulled him towards the portrait hole.