Author's Note: Imagine my delight when I realized that in 1998, Valentine's Day fell on a Saturday. So here's a Valentine's Day trip to Hogsmeade, although . . . well, you'll see. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, especially the new readers!!

We made a sickeningly romantic bunch, the six of us, as we headed for Hogsmeade that Saturday, the 14th of February. Ron and Hermione took the lead, with Hermione pointing out the new things in shop windows as we walked down the High Street. Neville and I walked in the middle, a little uncomfortable in our new role as a public couple, but still enjoying each other's company and the company of our friends. Harry and Ginny trailed behind us, speaking too low for anyone to hear most of the way.

We stopped at the Three Broomsticks; I hadn't been there since my first kiss, and I flushed a little at the memory. But no one else noticed, and we got a table to ourselves in the middle of the pub.

In Neville's presence, we couldn't very well discuss the Horcruxes, so instead they all took turns telling me stories about Umbridge, the D.A., and the other adventures they'd gotten themselves into over the years. At one point, Harry and Neville told me about a time that Neville had actually bested Hermione in a duel, which made Hermione go all sullen and narrow-eyed until Ron tickled her into submission.

I decided to have a little fun with my pseudo-Seer abilities and read people's palms. I started with Ron, since he was in a good mood and wouldn't take it all too seriously.

I held his hand gently and peered into the arching lines that graced his palm. "Hmm," I said. "I See . . . I See you attaining the only career you've ever really wanted. It's quite a dangerous one, too. What would that be?" I looked up at him and smiled to see him blushing. "Dragon wrangler? Vampire hunter?" He shook his head swiftly. "Well, you must know what it is. And I See . . . a wedding! Congratulations. I See you very, very happy. And the bride . . . ." At that, he snatched his palm away, and everyone else (except, naturally, Hermione) hooted with laughter.

"Do me," piped Ginny, and I looked at her for a long moment before taking her hand. Oh, Mum. I didn't want to tell her the future that was coming.

"I See a little girl," I said softly. "You love your daughter more than anything in the world." A hush went over the table, and everyone leaned in a bit. "I See the flat where you live. I See that things will be difficult, but never impossible."

The obvious question -- what will become of Harry? -- was left hanging in the air. I snatched Hermione's hand before she could object and began reading it instead to diffuse the tension a bit.

"Oh, this will come as no surprise to anyone," I said, as she struggled to free herself. "Youngest member ever appointed to the Committee on Experimental Charms."

Everyone laughed then. "Laugh it up, Ron," Ginny began, "but someone's got to support your --"

Screams exploded outside, and we all stood up suddenly, knocking over most of our chairs in our hurry. All fun and games were instantly forgotten.

"Expecto Patronum," Harry proclaimed, and the stag erupted immediately. "Prongs, go see," he told it, and it cantered out and came back again within half a minute. Placing a hand on its flank, Harry closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Death Eaters. Let's go. We can't fight them here; just concentrate on getting the students back to the castle."

Wands at the ready, we hussled out of the pub to a ghastly sight. Two people, neither of them Hogwarts students, lay dead or unconscious on the ground. Five Death Eaters in full regalia were terrorizing the populace.

A magically amplified voice -- Hagrid's, I realized -- boomed out. "STUDENTS, STAY IN THE SHOPS IF YE CAN. IF YER OUTSIDE, TRY TER GET IN!"

One of the Death Eaters laughed at this, and I nearly stomped the ground in fury. Neville put a calming hand on the small of my back, and I came back to my senses. This wasn't a game; people's lives were in danger.

"Try to head them off!" Harry cried, and he was off like a shot. We followed behind, breathless both from sprinting and from fear.

Ginny threw the first hex, which hit the closest Death Eater and knocked him off his feet. Another, whose voice I couldn't place, yelled, "Potter! So good of you to join us and save us the trouble of finding you."

"No you don't!" Ginny shrieked, and hexed that one too, though he only stumbled.

Soon the jinxes, hexes, and curses were flying between us. Our group relied heavily on strong Shield Charms, but they weren't always effective; Ron was quickly picked off by a hex that paralyzed him, and Hermione gently toppled him over to make him a less obvious target for our foes.

Before long, we were joined by several former members of the D.A.: Susan Bones, Ernie Macmillan, Dean Thomas, and Luna Lovegood. Even in the heat of the moment, I marveled at their bravery: they were not Harry's compatriots in the same way that the five of us were, and yet they came now.

A vague formation sorted itself out: Dean Thomas and Hermione, whose Shield Charms were the strongest, held a long, magical shield across a span of ground, while the rest of us crouched behind it and shot off hexes above the shield when we felt we had a good shot. Meanwhile, Harry, who had taken to carrying his Invisibility Cloak everywhere, had darted out unseen to grab the younger students and carry them off to the safety of the Three Broomsticks. Ginny looked after him with a horribly pained expression, but stopping Harry from saving innocents would've been like trying to dam the sea.

The Death Eaters were advancing, though, so I shouted out an incantation and filled the lessening gap between us with purple fire. No one could walk through that unscathed, and the enemy didn't even try.

I knew that as full-grown, fully qualified wizards, the Death Eaters had the edge on us in magical talent. However, I also knew that as a rule, they did not cooperate, nor did they trust each other -- that was where our strength lay.

I pulled Neville to me, and also Ernie Macmillan, who was the next closest person. "Let's pick them off," I hissed. "If we all Stupefy one of them at once, I think we'll have it."

They nodded briskly, and I chose the first target. "Stocky one halfway back. On my mark: ready, set" -- we all popped up for a moment -- "STUN!"

"STUPEFY!" we cried in unison, then dropped back behind the shield. It had worked; that Death Eater was blown over as if by a terrible wind.

We regrouped to try again, but all of a sudden we were blinded by a great light, and we heard Hermione scream, "The shield is down!!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean Thomas lying on the ground, badly burned but still breathing. Cursed light began to flash all around us, and I watched, as if in slow motion, as one green bolt zipped through the purple fire and struck Luna on the shoulder. She crumpled gracefully on the ground and was utterly still.

It was no shock to me, so when Ginny screamed in horror, I merely grabbed Neville and yelled, "Shield! Go!" He looked at me uncomprehendingly, but I cast my end of the spell, which seemed to shake him awake; he whispered, "Protego," and our shields stretched in front of our group once more.

Harry bounded back then, and the battle began to turn our way again. I couldn't fight while I was holding the shield up, and neither could Neville, which gave us plenty of opportunity to cast horrified glances at the bodies of Ron and Luna, which were eerily alike in their motionlessness.

From ten feet away, Neville caught my eye and mouthed, "I love you." My heart faltered, and I mouthed it back. How much more terrifying would this all be if I didn't know the ending? Would I also believe I had one last chance to tell of my love?

The Aurors finally showed up a minute or so later; the whole thing had probably only lasted about seven minutes, but it seemed like hours. The two Death Eaters still standing Apparated away quickly upon their arrival; the three prone ones were promptly arrested and spirited away. One Auror, whom I didn't recognize, came over to survey the scene. I let the shield drop and ran to Neville, who embraced me swiftly before taking my hand and leading me over to the others.

First she knelt by Luna's body and waved her wand. A soft green light emanated from Luna, and the Auror shook her head. "Just a child," she said bitterly. "Those monsters."

Then she did the same to Ron, but a faint silver light glowed around him, and she sucked in her breath. "A Freezing Charm," she said warily. "We've got to get him to St. Mungo's." Then she looked around at the rest of us. "Any of you kids injured?"

We looked around at each other slowly. We were all clustered together, clinging each other for support -- I had an arm around Dean Thomas, whom I didn't even really know -- and though we probably all needed medical attention, the thought of having to leave the battlefield and go on with our lives was more of less inconceivable.

Finally Susan Bones spoke up. "I -- I think my leg is broken," she said in a wobbly voice.

"I've got quite a burn on my arms," Dean put in, and I admired how offhand he managed to sound.

"Ginny's bleeding," Harry said, and his voice was hoarse. I swiveled around to see Mum, who was standing a ways behind me. She was even paler than usual; her eyelids fluttered, and blood seeped steadily from a wound in her chest.

"That's it, you're all going to hospital," the Auror said in a businesslike tone. She produced a Portkey from her robes, poked it once with her wand, and said, "All of you grab hold now." We did, while the Auror held Ron's hand in place, and within a moment, we were whisked away to London.

Apparently the Aurors had access to different areas than the general public, because we did not emerge in the reception area, but into a place I would have associated with a Muggle emergency room. A witch hurried straight up to us. "Auror MacDougal informed us of your arrival." She grabbed a passing wizard in a Healer's uniform, gestured to Ron, and said, "Freezing Charm." The wizard's eyes widened, but he grabbed Ron and took him away. Then the witch turned to the rest of us. "Can you please all stand in a line?"

We did, though some of us were supporting others. She took a swift look at us and grabbed Ginny straightaway. "Come on, darling," she said, and led Ginny over to another witch, this one in a Healer's uniform, who took one look at Ginny before whisking her off to another room.

A third Healer, this one a wizard, came by after a few moments. The first witch said, "None of them are critical."

The wizard eyed us. "Nothing to sneeze at, either. I'd like to look them over. Will you take the girls to Exam Room 3? I'll look over the boys first in Room 7."

The witch nodded briskly, and we followed her to a nearby room, Susan Bones hobbling all the way.

In the room, Hermione finally allowed herself to begin sobbing. I put an arm around her, but couldn't make out a word she was saying. Meanwhile, Susan sat staring blankly at the wall. Her leg was at an odd angle, and I tried very hard not to look at it.

We sat there for an amount of time I couldn't have measured to save my life. When our Healer came in, he introduced himself professionally: "I'm Healer Nettles. I'd like for this to be as quick and painless as possible. I understand that you ladies fought very bravely against Dark forces, and I commend you. I'd like to send you out in the same condition you were in before today happened. I'll need to do a routine examination on each of you; it shouldn't take long. Who's first?"

I volunteered, knowing that there was nothing wrong with me and thinking I could give Hermione some time to compose herself. I had to unbutton my blouse while the Healer listened to my heart, my breathing, and my stomach. He knocked on my joints a little to test my reflexes, then pronounced me perfectly healthy.

Then he approached Susan. "Well, I can see the big problem here," he said gravely, and knelt to look at her leg. "It's a clean break," he said in a satisfied tone, and Conjured up a splint, then began to heal the break. It was a complicated process, and fascinating to watch. He was done in about five minutes, and Susan looked relieved at the end of it. "I'm going to give you some potions to take back to school with you," the Healer told her, "and we're going to give you some exercises that you'll need to do every day until April. Now let me check the rest of you and make sure that there's nothing else the matter."

He gave Susan a once-over, same as he'd done to me, and she was fine in all other respects. Finally the Healer turned to Hermione, who by this point was hyperventilating, but no longer crying. His voice was gentle as he spoke to her. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this," he said. "I just want to make sure you're all right."

Hermione nodded miserably, and unbuttoned her shirt so he could begin the examination. He listened to her heart and frowned for the first time that I'd seen. "Your heartbeat is weak," he told her. "Do you feel all right?"

Hermione shook her head a little. "I feel dizzy."

"Can you cast a basic spell for me?" he asked her.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, then whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa," pointing her wand at Susan's physical therapy pamphlets. The top pamphlet fluttered a little, picked itself off the table for a moment, then fell back on the table, apparently unable to move any further.

The Healer looked seriously alarmed. "Hermione, you've been hit with a Strength-Sapping Curse. I need to start treatment immediately. Do you understand me?"

She nodded a little and slumped down further in her chair. "I'm going to get the palliative potions," the Healer told me. "Keep her awake." He sprinted from the room.

Quickly, I knelt down beside her. "Hermione, stay awake," I said urgently.

My aunt looked at me through half-lidded eyes. "Don' wanna," she slurred.

"I don't care," I said firmly. "Think about -- think about elves. Er, house-elves."

She stared at me in disbelief. "House-elves?"

I began babbling in a desperate attempt to keep her engaged. "I'm sure You Know Who is keeping a whole -- a whole SQUADRON of them enslaved!"

She sat up a little at this. "D'you think?"

"I do!" I cried. In fact, I knew it was nonsense, but it was working. "He probably tortures them, too."

Now she was scowling. "This is what happens when an entire society is encouraged to think of the members of another species simply as servile idiots," she said with something bordering on passion. "When I enter the Ministry, I am going to enact some real change in there. For starters --"

Mercifully, she was cut short by the reappearance of our Healer, who was carrying a smoky, dark grey potion. "Drink this," he said, and helped her tip it into her mouth. "That should stop the curse getting any worse, but it won't reverse the effects. You'll need a certified Curse Breaker for that. We've got one on staff, and we've owled her -- she should be here within a half-hour. Meanwhile, I'm going to take you to a room to rest. Girls, you can follow me back into the waiting room."

We did, but several faces were missing there besides Hermione's: Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Neville were nowhere to be seen. Ernie was deep in conversation with Dean; Ernie looked as unharmed as I, and though Dean's hands and the lower halves of his arms were encased in huge bandages, he too looked mostly all right. Susan Bones went to sit beside Ernie, who smiled at her arrival. I approached the witch who had processed us upon our arrival. "Where are the others, please, ma'am?" I asked, my voice shaking.

She looked at me sympathetically. "Poor dear, don't worry your pretty head. Harry Potter is in with the redheaded girl. The boy who was frozen is in with our cardiac specialist; he has to be unfrozen very carefully, but when he is, he should be perfectly fine. The dark-haired boy asked to see his parents while he was here."

"Where are his parents, please?"

"Janus Thickey Ward, fourth floor," she said. "The stairs are down the corridor to the left."

I nodded my thanks and hurried to the stairs. At the fourth floor, I poked around for a bit before I found the long-term residential ward. I swallowed convulsively a few times before unlocking the door and slipping inside.