"What's going on?" Hugo asked, clinging to his grandmother's arm.
"It's going to be alright, sweetheart," Molly said soothingly, although a panicked expression was coming over her face.
"Did you see anybody out there?" Bill asked Ginny in a hushed tone.
"Yes, but Teddy stunned them," Ginny nodded. "I don't know how many more of them there are, though."
"Grandmum, Molly, take the kids down to the basement," Teddy said.
The two older women nodded, and lead Hugo, Lily and Roxanne downstairs into the basement.
"The rest of will have to hold them off as long as we can," Teddy said.
"How did the protection fall anyway?" George frowned.
"We can't worry about that right now," Arthur said firmly.
"He's right," Teddy nodded. "We need to surround the house. Half of us should take the front, and the rest should go to-"
Suddenly, there was another deafening blast, and the front walls of the house were completely blown away. In came about three dozen of Claritin's followers, their wands stretched out in front of them.
Teddy and the others drew their wands, and within half a second, curses were being shot from both parties.
Ginny had two on her. She hit one woman with her infamous Bat Bogey Hex, but the second she fell, her face a mess, another follower took her place. Ginny had to stop trying to send spells and focus solely on blocking her attackers. She saw Bill and Charlie taking on a group of about ten; Charlie's arm must've been bit by some debris, because it was bleeding steadily, but he didn't even seem to take notice. Her father and Percy were actually faring pretty well against the four followers they had on them. She couldn't see George, though, and she hoped desperately that her brother was okay.
A series of red sparks suddenly collided with Ginny's attackers, and she looked over to see Teddy.
"More are coming!" Teddy cried as she got to her feet. "There's nearly fifty now!"
"Teddy, duck!" Ginny yelled, pulling the boy down just as a green light shot over him where his head used to be.
"Avada Kedavra!" Teddy screamed, and the follower who had just sent the killing curse fell limp onto the floor.
Ginny saw Teddy's eyes widen in shock.
"It's okay, Teddy!" Ginny said. "You're doing good!"
Realizing that Ginny and Teddy were no longer being attacked, the other followers advanced on them. Ginny gripped her wand, ready to send any number of curses their way.
Then she heard a scream coming from downstairs. She glanced over and saw that the door that led to the basement was thrown off its hinges. Her blood grew cold. Without paying any mind to anything else around her, Ginny darted down to the basement with Teddy at her heels.
….
"Hermione!" Ron cried, running over to his wife. "What happened to your arm?"
"Pillar nearly fell on her," Harry coughed, breathing heavily.
"I'm fine, Ron," Hermione told her husband, though she was wincing.
"Did you and Neville get everyone out?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Ron nodded. "Him and a bunch of Aurors are with the kids in the Shrieking Shack. All of the teachers are trying to help with all the damage."
"Where are the rest of her followers?"
"Dead," he said simply. "We gave them more than a fight. Did you spot her in the-"
"She got away," Harry said. "She's not affected by the fire. She's still in there now, I suspect, but no one can get through the flames."
"How are the other locations?" Hermione asked.
"From what I heard," Ron said gravely. "They didn't have the same luck as we did here."
"I've got to get over there then," Harry coughed. "You help Hermione and-"
"Are you mad? They'd kill you in about a second, the shape you're in," Ron told him.
"But I'm-"
"There's nothing you can do, anymore," Kingsley said, limping over to the three.
"What do you mean?" Harry frowned.
"Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley have been completely destroyed," he said, ripping off a sleeve of his robe and tying it around his leg, which was gushing blood. "Our ministry, as well as most ministries in Europe, have collapsed. She's taken over all the schools too, it seems. Hogwarts is the only place from all those locations you had that is still standing."
"Not for long," Harry said darkly, hardly believing he was saying those words. He watched in silence as the flames ate away his first real home. He turned away. He couldn't bare to see the castle fall.
"Harry," Hermione said softly. "Harry, look."
Harry looked back up at the castle and thought for one wild moment that he was hallucinating. The flames that were once so strong had disappeared, and the smoke that was pouring out of the shattered windows was beginning to clear.
The fire had stopped.
…
Ginny and Teddy sped down the stairs and found themselves face-to-face with five of Claridina's followers. Ginny saw that her mother and Teddy's grandmother were lying motionless on the floor. Lily, Hugo and Roxanne were cowering in a corner.
"Avada-" Ginny started, but with one swift flick of his wand, one of the followers disarmed her, leaving her completely defenseless.
"Get away from them!" she screamed, seeing her daughter's frightened face. "They're children, you cowards! Fight me!"
"And me," Teddy said, pointing his wand at the five.
They turned to him, all now pointing their wands at him.
"Teddy," Ginny whispered.
"Fool," whispered one of the women. "Your nobility just cost you your life. Avada-"
"Expelliarmus!" Teddy exclaimed. But instead of just the woman's wand flying out of her hand, the other four lost their wands as well, and all of them were thrown off their feet and into the wall. Ginny stood up and ran to their now still bodies and grabbed their wands. Then she looked over at the three children. "Are you alright?"
They nodded.
Ginny looked over at Teddy who was leaning over his grandmother's body. She hurried over to her mum's side.
"She's still alive, just knocked out," Ginny announced, finding her mother's pulse.
"So is gran," Teddy said, relieved. "We'll need to take them to the hospital, but I think they'll be fine."
Ginny nodded and then ran back over to the children, who still looked absolutely terrified.
"Are you sure you all are okay?"
"Yeah," Lily whispered. "Are grandmum and-"
"They're fine," Ginny said gently.
She turned to Teddy. "You saved them, you know."
"Harry's been running that spell for months with me, you know it's his signature," Teddy said.
"Who's down here?" came Arthur's voice.
"Dad! Dad, it's safe!" Ginny called up.
"Thank goodness," Arthur said, coming down the stairs with everyone else. "I thought-Molly!"
"She's just stunned," Ginny said quickly as her father rushed to her mother's side. "I-I don't know how to revive, though."
"Renneverate," he said, holding his wand against his wife's body. At once Molly's eyes flew open.
"What happened? The children! Are they-"
"Safe," Arthur said, putting his arms around Molly.
Bill bent down and revived Teddy's grandmother, who was just as alarmed as Molly.
"Are the others gone?" Ginny asked as Teddy hugged his grandmother.
"We fought them all off," George nodded as him and Angelina hurried over to Roxanne.
"Mum," Lily said. "Where's daddy?"
"He's-he's-"
"Is he okay?"
"I hope so," Ginny said softly, pulling her daughter into a hug. "I hope so."