The students of Hogwarts were more than a bit concerned when they were woken in the middle of the night and given orders to quickly dress and pack a small bag of their belongings that they didn't want to be parted with. The students were then gathered in the Great Hall, most of them still half asleep, and informed that Hogwarts was about to come under attack and for their own safety, they were being evacuated.
The older students were given the chance to stay behind and fight, but that opportunity was not presented to certain Slytherins. It didn't matter how much they protested it was clear that Dumbledore and the staff were only letting certain people stay behind. With no other choice but to leave the Slytherins found themselves evacuated and hustled onto The Hogwarts Express along with the other students.
Normally The Hogwarts Express was adult free, but that particular evening several Professors were aboard the train as well as several other adults as it pulled out of Hogsmeade station. The adults spent their time patrolling the train and assuring the scared students that everything would be okay, while in their compartment Pansy, Daphne, Crabbe and Goyle complained about the unfairness of the situation.
"We have to do something," Pansy said firmly. "We have to get a message to The Dark Lord and let him know what's going on."
After receiving their Dark Marks over Easter, the foursome had then had a private meeting with Voldemort where he'd asked them to keep him informed if anything happened they felt he needed to know about. Even though he'd concealed their marks, he'd shown them how to use them to get in touch with him in case of an emergency. As it was, nothing had happened to warrant them using their marks, but now they knew this was the time to do so.
"I'll do it," Daphne volunteered. One of the things Voldemort had made clear was that if they sent him a message it was to be short and to the point, and Daphne knew she would be the one who could get the message across without rambling.
"Goyle, watch the door," Pansy instructed. "We don't want anyone coming poking around while Daphne's busy."
With Goyle keeping watch, Daphne rolled back her left sleeve. Even though the mark was hidden from view, she could feel the magic pulsing on her wrist and she had no problem settling her fingers over the mark. Closing her eyes she focused on Voldemort and once she felt the magic flowing from the mark she briefly thought about what she wanted to tell Voldemort. Keeping the message short, she told him that they were currently on The Hogwarts Express after being evacuated from school and Dumbledore was back at Hogwarts preparing for some sort of attack. She repeated the message twice, just to be sure it got through and was rewarded with Voldemort's voice in her head thanking her.
"I did it," Daphne gasped, her eyes flying open as she heard The Dark Lord in her head. "He got the message and he thanked me."
"So what happens now?" Crabbe asked as Goyle left his position beside the door and sat back down next to him.
"I don't know," Daphne admitted. "I guess all we can do is wait."
"I for one, hope he turns up and stops this train," Pansy said. "I want to get back to Hogwarts if there's going to be a battle."
"Are you ready to fight, Pansy?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, I wouldn't have taken the mark otherwise," Pansy replied. "Are you ready, Daph?"
"I am," Daphne said with a determined nod. She'd never been sure about fighting before, but being whisked away from a potential battle had got her juices flowing and now she wanted nothing more than to return to Hogwarts and fight for her chosen side.
With nothing else to do but wait, the foursome lapsed into silence as they all wondered how The Dark Lord would react to the news Daphne had delivered to him. Although they didn't have to wait long and just over ten minutes after Daphne had been in contact with Voldemort, the lights on The Hogwarts Express began to flicker and the train began to slow. As the train ground to a halt, the lights went off completely and screams of terrified students echoed up and down the silent train.
Before the group even had a chance to share their delight at some action, sounds of fighting could be heard from the corridors of the train. Carefully, Crabbe and Goyle eased open the door, and they were greeted by the sight of a flash of red magic going flying past their compartment. Gingerly poking their heads out into the corridor they spotted Death Eaters battling with the professors and Order members on the train. A few other students were doing the same, but most of the compartment doors were shut tight.
"It's all going off out there," Crabbe said as he pulled his head back to avoid accidental injury.
"I'd say the Death Eaters have them outnumbered," Goyle added gleefully.
"Let's hope they kill the lot of them," Pansy snarled.
Unfortunately they never got to find out how things ended up on the train as a couple of Death Eaters poked their heads into the compartment, and pulling off their masks, they revealed themselves to be Pansy and Daphne's fathers.
"The Dark Lord is very impressed with you four," Mr Parkinson said.
"You're going to come with us, and if you want, you can join us at Hogwarts," Mr Greengrass added.
"What's going to happen here?" Pansy asked as she took hold of her father's arm and he also took hold of Goyle, while Mr Greengrass took hold of Crabbe and Daphne.
"Anyone who wants to join us will leave like you are," Mr Parkinson replied. "Once we're all free and clear, everyone will disembark and I'm guessing the train will carry on back down to London. Now we don't have much time, so let's go."
Without even getting a chance to sneak a peek out into the corridor where the fight was continuing, the four teenagers were whisked away from The Hogwarts Express and found themselves joining up with the other Death Eaters who were preparing to launch a brutal attack on Hogwarts. The foursome were going to be in the thick of the action and they couldn't be happier.
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While Hogwarts was being evacuated, the Order were gathering at Grimmauld Place. Everyone had been busy and they'd reached out to as many people as they could, and fortunately they'd had a good response. It had been decided that those who weren't fighting were to remain at Grimmauld Place as it was going to be the safest place to be, not that there were many as everyone wanted to play their part in taking down Voldemort and his followers once and for all.
However, Dumbledore was also wanting to set up a medical base in Hogwarts so those injured during the battle could seek medical help. With Madam Pomfrey refusing to leave Lyra's side, it was decided that Molly would take charge of the medical base at Hogwarts. Andromeda Tonks and Neville's grandmother, Augusta, volunteered to help her and all three witches agreed that if they were called upon to fight, they would fight.
When word came from Hogwarts that the students had left and it was time to move, people began to exit Grimmauld Place and head to the castle. Hermione was among the stragglers and she remained at Grimmauld Place for as long as she could, not wanting to be parted from her daughter.
"Go," George urged her as he walked her towards the fireplace. "You know Hogwarts is where you want to be."
"But I shouldn't be leaving her," Hermione sighed. "She's my responsibility, and I'm leaving her."
"You can't do anything here, Hermione," George said gently. "You're more use up at Hogwarts. Go and fight for your daughter's future. Go and help free us all. I promise, I won't leave Lyra's side."
"Thank you George," Hermione said as she gave the redhead a tight hug. She knew he would also rather by fighting, but he was staying behind in order to keep up his pretence of being dead so that Draco would be safe.
Wiping away her tears, Hermione took a few calming breaths before she flooed to Hogwarts and stepped into the madness up in Scotland. With no precise timeline for an attack, everything was being done as quickly as possible in order to fortify the castle. Heavy wards were being erected around the grounds of Hogwarts by almost every adult on site. The wards wouldn't keep Voldemort and his Death Eaters out forever, but it would give everyone in the castle advanced warning of an attack. The four house dorms were also being secured as they hadn't had time to be cleared out completely and Dumbledore was wanting to limit the damage to students' possessions.
Leaping into action, Hermione began to help Molly, Andromeda and Augusta set up the medical base in the Great Hall. It was easier than using the hospital wing as it was much more central to the castle and no-one would hopefully have any real problems getting to it if they needed help.
Hermione was in the middle of helping Andromeda with the potions supplies when Neville burst into The Great Hall and announced that The Hogwarts Express was under attack.
"Bill and Charlie are on that train," Molly gasped as she went deathly white and had to be propped up by Neville's gran.
"They'll be okay, Molly, your boys are strong," Augusta said supportively. "What's happening Neville, are we sending a rescue party?"
"Dumbledore and Harry are sorting it," Neville said, just as Dumbledore, Harry and a group of Order members poured into the Great Hall.
"What is it's a trap?" Harry was asking Dumbledore. "What if we leave Hogwarts and they attack?"
"The wards should hold for a while," Dumbledore answered with a sigh. "But trap or not, we have to respond Harry. That train is carrying hundreds of innocent students."
"I know that, I'm just saying we need to be careful," Harry replied. "We need to keep a strong presence at Hogwarts."
"Harry's right," Sirius said, backing up his godson. "We need to help, but we can't risk all of us in the process. Let's send a small party to help out The Hogwarts Express."
Nodding in agreement, Dumbledore gathered a dozen people, and putting Snape in charge of the group, they headed off to help The Hogwarts Express. For those left behind all they could do was wait and carry on fortifying the castle from an attack. Only now, they had to leave a small portion of the castle un-warded so that the rescue party and any casualties could return to the castle.
"I hope everyone's okay," Hermione said as the youngsters all gathered to wait in the Great Hall for news.
She'd been surprised to see so many of her fellow students had stuck around to fight, but she was proud of the fact so many people were willing to stand up against Voldemort and his dark forces. In fact the general turnout was pretty impressive and Hermione had already seen plenty of former students who had returned to the castle to fight. Fred had rounded up lots of his and George's friends, and from there word had spread and more people had turned up to fight. Then there were the older people who'd been contacted by the older members of the Order. All in all they had large numbers on their side, and Hermione hoped they were be enough to see off Voldemort and his forces.
The wait for news was nerve wracking, but finally there was some action and people began to return to Hogwarts. It was immediately clear that not of the all rescue team had returned. A small portion of the group had returned with a couple of injured people, which were Bill and Kingsley. They'd also brought with them the body of Professor Sprout, who'd bravely given her life to save the students.
"What happened?" Harry demanded as Bill and Kingsley were settled down to receive medical treatment.
"The train was ambushed," Kingsley answered. "We were outnumbered, but we tried our best to keep them away from the children."
"It appears that several groups of Slytherins are gone," McGonagall explained. She'd been part of the group who had went to answer the distress call aboard The Hogwarts Express. "Apart from the missing students, everyone else is safe. The others have stayed to make up the numbers and they'll be back as soon as they can."
"What happened to Professor Sprout?" Neville asked, gazing down at the prone body of his favourite Professor with tears in his eyes.
"She tried to stop the Death Eaters getting into the compartments," Bill answered quietly. "She died protecting the students."
"Lyra," Hermione suddenly cried, the word protection jolting her thoughts back to her daughter. "Professor Sprout offered her protection to Lyra, what will happen now she's dead?"
"Lyra will be fine, she's got the protection of everyone else still in place," Dumbledore reassured Hermione. "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would have alerted us to any problems with your daughter. But she's so heavily protected, Pomona's loss won't have had much of an effect on her."
"We're the ones affected by her loss," Hermione whispered, pushing aside worries about her daughter as she knew Dumbledore was right and that she was still safe. "We're going to miss her."
"Indeed we are," Dumbledore said with a solemn nod of his head.
"Are you coming with us?" Ron asked Hermione as people began to arrive to pay their respects for Professor Sprout.
"Where to?" Hermione asked.
"The Astronomy Tower," Harry replied. "It's the tallest tower in the castle and offers views all around the grounds. We want to see the enemy approaching."
"I'll come," Hermione said with a nod.
Blaise, Theo, Neville and Ginny also joined the trio as they headed up to The Astronomy Tower. Up in the tower the seven teenagers positioned themselves around the tower so they had a viewpoint of the entire grounds and its surrounding area. Despite it still being night-time there was still enough light to see by as the moon was half full and pretty bright.
"What's the red shimmer around the castle?" Ginny asked.
"The protection spells," Hermione answered. "They form a sort of dome around the castle. I was speaking to McGonagall earlier and she says we will be able to visually see any attacks on the wards as well as hear them."
"Another early warning system," Harry said. "When they come, we're going to be ready for them."
"Let's just hope he has his snake with him," Ron muttered.
"Snake?" Neville questioned, nervously looking around at his friends and the two Slytherins. "No-one mentioned a snake."
"It's Voldemort's," Harry said. "I'll not go into details, but we need to kill the snake before we can kill Voldemort."
"Do you have something to destroy it with?" Blaise asked.
"I do, and that reminds me, I've got something for you all," Harry said as he reached into the bag slung over his shoulder and pulled out several white fangs, which he handed around.
"And this is?" Theo asked.
"A Basilisk fang," Harry answered. "I went and retrieved them from the Chamber of Secrets while Dumbledore was evacuating the castle. The fang will destroy the snake. Dumbledore and some of the others also have them, but I felt as though we should all have one as well. If you see the snake, kill it."
"Will do," Blaise said with a firm nod as he tucked the fang safely into his pocket.
Everyone else tucked their fangs away for safe keeping and turned their attention back towards to the night sky. After a couple of minutes, Neville gave a small cry and pointed into the distance, towards Hogsmeade.
"I can see shapes moving, I'm sure I can," he cried.
"He's right," Theo agreed. "It's bloody hard to see, but there are figures down there."
As they watched the figures seemed to swell in numbers and as the sun began to rise the group of Death Eaters approaching the castle were clearly visible.
"This is it," Harry whispered as the group shared a final look down at the approaching enemy, before turning and leaving the Astronomy Tower to warn everyone else that it was time. "Let's go to war."