A/N: Thanks to ivynacor, luminare91, Imthesun, LadyEm2, pmulbry, sylpheel12, cool825, & TwilightLynn18 for the follows/favorites, & thank you Amanda for the review! Glad you're all enjoying this so far.

Here's chapter 19! More Quidditch, & some unexpected events. JKR owns all, I'm just playing. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)

"Morning, Ginny!" Hermione said brightly as she joined her friend for breakfast one morning in early February.

"Morning, everyone!" Ginny glanced up at the eighth years and noticed that Blaise and Lisa were standing a little closer together than was strictly necessary, their fingers loosely intertwined.

"When did that happen?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and smirking slightly.

"Couple weeks ago," Lisa answered, her cheeks darkening just a shade. "I promise I won't let him interfere with Quidditch." Blaise laughed and nudged her with his shoulder.

"Like hell you won't," Ginny agreed, but she was smiling. "Seriously though, it's cool. Glad we're seeing some real inter-house cooperation around here. Have a seat, you lot." The group did as she suggested and started piling their plates high as they chatted about classes and Phoenix Rising's next match, which was to take place in two weeks' time. After a short while, the post owls arrived, bringing Hermione's usual copy of the Daily Prophet and a letter for Ginny. Ginny was just about to unroll the parchment when Hermione nearly choked on her pumpkin juice.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked. In answer, Hermione pushed her plate away so she could spread the paper flat on the table. On seeing the headline, Draco groaned and Ginny made a noise like an angry cat.

DEATH EATER INVOLVEMENT SUSPECTED IN LATE-NIGHT ATTACK

"Read it, Hermione," Ginny hissed. Hermione quickly summarized the article for the benefit of the entire table.

"There was an attack in a suburb about a half hour north of London last night," she said, her eyes rapidly scanning the page. "No one was killed, but three people are still in St. Mungo's and an Obliviator team had to be called in because several Muggles came outside to investigate all the noise."

"What's up with the headline?" Susan asked.

"Apparently they still haven't caught all the Death Eaters," Hermione replied. "There's a group of about ten or so that have evaded capture so far, and it seems they've banded together and are getting bolder."

"That's what Harry's letter's about," Ginny said. She'd finally unrolled her own scroll and was skimming it hurriedly. "He says this is the first outright attack, and the Aurors have no idea what the group's objective is, or even if they're really working together. He says some of these Death Eaters are pretty unpredictable and he wants us to be careful."

"Since when have you two ever been careful?" Neville snorted. "Harry does have a point though. We'll have to be on alert."

"Well this is just great," Draco muttered.

"What is?" Ginny asked.

"This!" He gestured towards the paper. "I really don't need any more excuses for people to give me hell."

"Don't be ridiculous, mate," Blaise scoffed. "There's no way you had anything to do with this."

"And you know that, how?" Draco asked almost angrily.

"Because it's realistically impossible," Neville said. "Let's be honest here - it's not like any of us have slept soundly this year. We'd have heard you if you'd tried to leave the dorm."

"And even if you did get out, you'd still have to leave the castle," Susan added. "We may not have a curfew, but we'd certainly get stopped if we tried to go outside in the middle of the night." Draco sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples.

"I'm sorry," he said finally. "It's just...stressful and irritating."

"We're on your side, mate, in case you've forgotten," Blaise reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."

Draco did indeed get dirty looks from some students after the article appeared, but no more than usual, and the only outward sign that anything had happened was the cancellation of the following weekend's Hogsmeade trip. Professor McGonagall requested that the eighth years also refrain from visiting the village until the rogue band was caught, and nobody argued - the last thing any of them wanted was to have to engage in a duel with a dark wizard over a shopping trip.

When the students woke up on the morning of the match, it was to find the windows heavily laced with frost and a steady stream of snow falling from an overcast sky. Hermione pulled two Weasley jumpers over her t-shirt before adding her winter cloak, a thick scarf, and a pair of warm gloves Harry had given her for Christmas. She then joined Susan, Neville, Blaise, and Justin for the trek down to the Quidditch pitch. None of them spoke much – Hermione cast a warming charm over the group as they set off across the lawn, but their breath still rose in puffs of steam as they huddled together, the thick snow crunching under their boots as they walked. They clambered up the stands to claim the same bench they'd shared during Phoenix Rising's first game and immediately set to work removing the accumulated snow with their wands before casting more warming charms and settling into their seats.

"Alright, team," Ginny said as she faced her players. The nervousness she'd displayed during the first match had disappeared – her eyes now sparkled with a fierce gleam that anyone who knew her would characterize as determination. "This is gonna be quite a bit different than our first go – unlike Smith, Livingston's actually got a brain in his head, and his squad's been training hard. You know what you have to do, so get out there and do it. Hands in!" The other six navy-robed students obliged, and with a chant of, "Let's go Phoenix!" they exited the locker room.

The snow was still falling steadily as they made their way across the pitch – it was by no means a blizzard, but the flying flakes still made it difficult to pick out individuals in the stands and would definitely affect game play. Ginny shook hands with Steve Livingston, Captain for Hogwarts United – his team stood in a semi-circle behind him, their robes purple with a small patch on the back striped in red, yellow, blue, and green. The fourteen players mounted their brooms, and with a shrill blast from Madam Hooch's whistle, they shot off into the wintry sky.

It wasn't long before everyone was chilled to the bone – the players raced around the pitch as fast as they could in an effort to keep warm, but a bitter wind still nipped at every exposed inch of skin. Draco's fingers were frozen within minutes – his winter arm guards came all the way down to cover the backs of his hands, but as a Seeker, he couldn't wear full gloves in case of a disputed Snitch capture. He swiped his fingers through his hair to dislodge some of the snowflakes and focused on the commentary. From what he could hear over the roar of the crowd, Ginny's prediction had been right – Phoenix Rising was ahead, but only just, and the lead had changed several times already. He flew around the base of Hogwarts United's goal posts just as Ian scored, and he directed his broom upwards to meet the sandy-haired boy's fist bump.

As Draco pulled away from his teammate and the Chasers began their quest anew, he caught a glimpse of something shiny overhead. At first, he thought it was just a trick of the snow – the sun had come out a little and had been throwing shadows of rainbows across his field of vision for the last ten minutes or so – but then he did a double take and realized this shadow had wings. Looping under Rose as she shot off after a Bludger, Draco turned his broomstick skyward and shot after the Snitch. Unlike the first match, there was no wayward chasing necessary, and he soon had the little ball tucked safely in his palm.

The crowd roared its approval when they realized the match was over, but Draco didn't pay them much attention – he, along with his teammates, was too busy focused on returning to solid ground and the warmth of the locker room. They stripped off their sopping robes and pulled extra layers over what they were already wearing before congratulating each other on another excellent match.

"Brilliant!" Ginny said, beaming at them all. "Keep playing like that and we'll have a good shot at the Cup! Sam, fantastic Keeping today, by the way," she added. "You kept us in the game with some of those saves." The other girl blushed but returned Ginny's high-five, and the team made their way out of the locker room, eager to crash by the warm fire.

"Awesome job, guys!" It was Susan who had spoken, and the team looked up to see all the eighth years waiting for them, bundled up from head to toe but sporting huge grins on their faces.

"Thank you!" Ginny replied just as happily. "Sorry you had to put up with such horrible weather…"

The group kept up a stream of excited talk as they made their way back up to the castle with the rest of the school, but a sudden crack and several screams made them turn quickly about, wrenching wands from their hiding places as they did so.

Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach as she realized just what she was seeing – somehow, the rogue Death Eaters had infiltrated the grounds and were now advancing slowly across the lawn. They hadn't shot any curses yet, but it was only a matter of time before chaos ensued. Ginny turned back to the group and hastily started speaking.

"We need to fan out, and fast," she said, her authoritative tone suggesting that she'd done this many times before. "Susan, Lisa, you're in charge of helping the teachers round up the younger students – get them back into the castle as quickly as you can; they'll only be in the way out here. Once they're safe, come back out. Neville, take center – Justin can go with you. Blaise, you'll go left with Luna; Malfoy and Hermione, we're going right." She turned back towards the assembled student body and shouted, "Dumbledore's Army, to your stations! For the Phoenix, fly!" A number of students echoed back this last statement, which Hermione suspected was a sort of rallying cry, and people immediately began moving as the Death Eaters advanced ever closer. After several tense seconds, a bright beam of light shot from someone's wand, and the scene exploded into pandemonium.

Draco and Hermione followed Ginny's group down near the lake, where they immediately took on several of the Death Eaters. Hexes of all colors flew over their heads as they parried the strikes with curses of their own. One of the lakeside boulders exploded when a Death Eater's spell hit it, sending massive shards of stone flying in all directions and forcing several people to duck to avoid being skewered. It was hard to move in all the extra layers, but the students stood their ground and fought fiercely.

"Incarcerous!" Ginny cried, ropes shooting out of her wand to ensnare the closest Death Eater. "Malfoy, behind you!" Draco whirled around to find another hooded figure bearing down on him and shot a Stunning spell at his foe, which he followed up with a Binding jinx of his own.

"Thanks, Little Red!" he shouted back as he jumped in to help Sam with her opponent. Soon, the Death Eaters who'd followed them lay bound at their feet, and all was quiet.

Too quiet, Hermione thought.

"Hermione, down!" Sam yelled. Hermione dropped to the ground and rolled over as a green jet flew over her head. Scrambling to her feet and cursing herself for momentarily letting her guard down, she turned to see one solitary Death Eater advancing their way – one solitary Death Eater, followed by what had to be at least fifty dementors.

"Oh, Merlin," she breathed softly. This was not good.

"Patronuses, go!" Ginny shouted. Cries of "Expecto Patronum!" filled the air, but very few students in Ginny's group seemed capable of casting the charm – Hermione's otter joined Ginny's horse and another seventh year's falcon and attacked a few of the closest dementors, but the three silver specters weren't nearly enough to drive back the whole horde. They also had to contend with the lone Death Eater, who was proving more powerful than any of the others they'd fought, and the small group found themselves retreating as they fought.

Hermione alternated curses and Patronus charms as she backed up the lawn, and she could feel herself fading fast – the charms she was casting were demanding, and she was getting tired. She was also freezing, her warming charms having worn off sometime during the attack. A Blasting curse hit the ground near her feet and she stumbled backwards, spluttering as bits of earth and snow flew up in her face. She shot a Stunner at the hooded man but missed, and as she tried to back up, she ran into something hard. Ginny leaped in to take on the Death Eater, and Hermione had a moment to take in her surroundings. Glancing down, she realized she'd backed straight into Dumbledore's tomb. The marble was still so white that it made the surrounding snow-covered grounds look gray in comparison.

"Oh, I wish you were here," she said softly. She pressed her gloved hands into the cool marble, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. Then she noticed the fine crack running the length of the sarcophagus' cover, and her eyes hardened, her heart aflame with anger. The crack was hardly a hair wide and barely noticeable, but it was a reminder of the desecration that had taken place there. Resolve hardened, Hermione turned to face her foes – this spot was sacred ground; she was not going to let these Dark creatures anywhere near her. Bracing one hand against the tomb, she raised her wand to the heavens.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Her otter burst forth from her wand once more, followed by a blast of the brightest silver light she'd ever seen. She could just make out another shape amongst the light – something with wings? – before it joined the otter and charged down the dementors, which did not merely flee but instead exploded in a huge puff of smoke. Hermione steadied herself against the tomb, her knees threatening to give way. What on earth had just happened?

She only had time to register a shouted "Stupefy!" followed by someone frantically calling her name before her legs gave out and she fainted.