Hufflepuff Common Room, Ten Minutes Earlier

Susan was surprised when her D.A coin alerted her to an attack taking place on Gryffindor Tower less than ten minutes ago. She was part of a small group of Hufflepuffs that were still members of the D A. Actually it was only her, Justin, and Ernie that were still attending meetings, the rest had dropped it once Dumbledore had taken over teaching defence class.

Susan knew that she was considered a high,-value target because of her aunt's position and didn't want her housemates caught in the crossfire if she could help it.

Susan had immediately sprung into action and sounded the alarm. She informed the sixth and seventh-year prefects of what was happening over their heads and insisted that they prepare for an attack as well.

Her housemates had been hesitant to believe her at first but that quickly changed when the ceiling shook from a powerful explosion from the floors above, sending a cloud of dust raining down on their heads.

After the first explosion was followed seconds later by a second, the older students decided to listen to Susan's warning. Beatrice Haywood (the head girl) ordered everyone to take up defensive positions. They moved the couches around the room so that they formed a horseshoe in front of the tunnel entrance and then transfigured the couches into granite.

There were nineteen of them still at school after Dumbledore had sent the younger years home. Most of them were not skilled fighters but they all crouched down behind the makeshift barricade and prepared for imminent attack.

Over their heads, they could hear more muffled explosions signalling the Gryffindors were really putting up a fight.

"Maybe they won't come down here," Wayne Hopkins mumbled as another muffled explosion sounded overhead.

"I hope they don-

'BOOOOOOOOOOM!'

Megan Jones was cut off as a powerful explosion sounded on the other side of the barrel entrance with so much force that it knocked several hanging plants off of their hooks so the clay pots shattered on the stone floor.

"They're trying to get through," Zacharias Smith whimpered, his voice sounding borderline hysterical.

"No shit, Smith," Susan snorted as another spell slammed into the common room entrance sounding much louder than the first.

"What are we going to do?" Smith asked, his face paling so much that Susan was certain he was close to fainting.

"We're going to fight them," Ernie said as if it were obvious.

"But I can't figh-

'BOOOOOOOOOOOM!'

Smith was cut off as the entrance exploded into the common room, spraying them with splinters of wood and pieces of stone.

" OPEN FIRE!" Ernie bellowed as he began to cast a series of cutting curses into the short earthen tunnel that led to the common room entrance.

Susan did not hesitate and began firing a string of bone-breaking hexes and was soon joined by the others. Within seconds, there was a constant stream of multicoloured beams of magic flying into the tunnel entrance.

Susan was pleased when she heard a scream of surprise followed seconds later by a howl of agony from inside the tunnel.

"We got one!" Justin exclaimed as he continued to send piercing hexes into the tunnel.

Another scream was heard from the tunnel and Susan couldn't fight the vicious grin playing on her lips as she saw one of her piercing hexes hit a black-robed man in the chest, dropping him to the floor of the tunnel.

Susan's moment of elation was cut short, she saw as if in slow-motion as a beam of vibrant green light flew into the common room.

Susan tried to scream but it was too late, the killing curse flew right over the makeshift barricade and struck Justin Finch-Fletchley in the head.

Susan watched on in horror as Justin's limp body slumped to the floor, a look of shock still etched on his face.

Two Minutes Earlier in the Hall

Thomas Avery followed Jeremiah Smith as he showed them the way to the Hufflepuff common room. They were currently walking single file down a narrow stone corridor

This attack should be like cursing pixies in a barrel. Hufflepuffs were known to be a bunch of pushovers so he doubted they would put up much resistance.

He had plans for Bones' niece and if all went well he would break the little bint in before putting her out of her misery. After that, Madam Bones would be getting a memory in the mail... and perhaps a finger.

From the sounds he was hearing overhead, it seemed Rudolphus had bitten off a bit more than he could chew with the Gryffindors. Truthfully, it wouldn't break his heart if both LeStrange brother's joined Bellatrix in the afterlife, he never liked them much anyway.

"This is it, boss," Smith said in his usual nasally voice, pulling Thomas from his musings as the group came to a stop as the corridor dead-ended.

They were standing in what looked like a small storage room with huge wine barrels big enough for a man to walk through if he wanted to. The wine barrels were lying on their sides against the back wall and had been stacked in a pyramid pattern.

"Which one is it?" Avery asked as he assumed one of the barrels formed a tunnel into the Hufflepuff common room.

"The one in the middle barrel on the bottom row," Smith answered at once.

"Open it up, we have mudbloods to deal with," Avery ordered.

Smith went forward to tap the pattern on the barrel to open the passageway but Avery stopped him.

"Not that way, Smith. Blow it open, I want those badgers terrified before we even step into the room," Avery instructed.

"O-okay," Smith nodded as he pointed his wand at the barrel and cast the explosive hex at the correct barrel.

'BOOOOM!'

The spell didn't seem to have done any damage whatsoever, the only sign the spell had even been cast was the ringing in their ears and the cloud of dust swirling in the room.

"Fucking pussy, a squib could have done better than that," Avery scoffed as the barrel looked undamaged after Smith's spell.

"It's protected by magic," Smith defended irritably.

"Alright, let's hit it at once on the count of three," Avery ordered as he raised his wand before he began to count out loud.

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

'BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!'

Nine explosive hexes struck the barrels with tremendous force, blowing a massive hole in the wall and destroying all of the wine barrels. Many of the barrels actually had wine in them and the group was hit with a wave of deep red wine before it pooled on the floor so they were now standing ankle-deep in port.

Avery ignored the wine and looked down the tunnel, the room beyond was obscured in a cloud of dust and smoke that was slowly dissipating. He could just make out stone grey couches and the flames of a fireplace distorted by the cloud hanging in the air

Avery had barely raised his wand to cast a ventus charm into the dust-filled room before Jeremiah Smith was hit in the throat by a yellow cutting curse, spraying the group of death eaters with thick droplets of blood.

Smith collapsed into the wine they were standing in, his hands coming up to hold the deep gash across his throat in a futile attempt to slow the bleeding. Avery heard a few piteous gurgles from Smith as blood flowed between his fingers and flowed into the red liquid already covering the floor, the two fluids looking almost identical. Smith only gasped for a few seconds before his eyes rolled back in his head behind his mask and he went still.

Avery was pulled back to the present as the chest of the man standing beside him was hit by three piercing hexes. The man's chest seemed to explode before the spells burst out of his back and struck the man behind him. Avery watched as both men slumped to the floor, the second man screaming as blood gushed out of three sickle-sized holes in his chest.

"FUCKING HELL, FIGHT BACK!" Avery ordered.

Avery had barely raised his wand to cast an explosive hex when the man to his left took a bone-breaking hex to the neck. Avery watched him slump to the floor, his neck broken so badly his head was turned a hundred and eighty degrees so he was literally looking backwards.

Avery knew he had to end this soon, half of his team was already dead. He moved along the side of the tunnel as spells flew past him. Behind him, Avery heard another member of his team fall.

Avery finally got close enough to the common room entrance that he could see inside. It looked like they had been ready for the attack as the whelps were popping up from behind cover and casting spells into the tunnel.

Knowing he would have to be patient, Thomas waited until one of them popped up again. They hadn't spotted him yet but he knew they would as soon as he took a shot at them, so he was going to make it count.

It didn't take long before a sandy-haired kid stand up from behind a sofa to cast a spell and Avery made his move.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Avery exclaimed and watched gleefully as the spell shot across the room, striking the kid square in the face.

Avery backed down tve tunnel but stopped when he saw a red-haired girl standing frozen in place. Thomas recognised her at once, this was Bones and she was the primary target of the Hufflepuff attack.

Avery lamented the fact that he wouldn't get to play with her as he aimed a second spell at her and bellowed the spell.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Back in The Hufflepuff Common Room

Susan was pulled back to the present as Ernie roughly pulled her to the floor a second before a killing curse struck the wall where she had just been standing, staring motionless at Justin's body.

"Snap out of it Bones!" Ernie said before screaming, "EXPLUSO MAXIMA!"

Susan heard a high-pitched ringing in her ears as the spell exploded inside the tunnel, sending a wave of dust back into the common room.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" Susan shrieked as her shock gave way to blinding fury.

Her vision became red as she rose to her feet and cast her own explosive curse. Susan channelled all of the rage she felt into the spell as she bellowed the incantation.

"EXPLUSO MAXIMA!"

Susan barely registered as the inside of the tunnel was engulfed in a white-hot vortex of flames before a deafening concussive blast broke the air and a wave of air pressure crashed over the room, shattering the pots on the many plants hanging around the room.

'KABOOOOOOOOM!'

Susan's eyes blurred with tears at the realization that she had just lost another close friend.

A hysterical scream left her lips as she let loose her rage," DIE!"

Susan's wand came down again without conscious thought as she began to cast a constant stream of the most destructive curses she knew. The spells left her wand with tremendous force, and the room was filled with a thunderous roar as spell after spell exploded inside the entrance tunnel turning it into a cannon.

Susan had no idea that the three remaining death eaters were torn to pieces by her first spell. Thomas Avery who had caused Susan's rage was vapourised when the spell struck him in the chest, the other three were consumed by the white-hot fire that blasted out of the other end of the tunnel. Susan couldn't hear their bloodcurdling screams over the thunderous reports of her follow-up spells but Professors McGonagall and Flitwick got a front-row seat to watch the three death eaters burn to death in a wave of white-hot flame.

Susan continued to cast, her spells flowing together in an unending chain, her wand moving as precisely as a conductor's baton. Tears were running down her cheeks as Susan poured her rage and grief into her magic, every spell that she cast was intended for Justin's killer and she wanted nothing more than to utterly destroy every one of these bastards that had murdered her friends.

Susan saw a silvery spell fly into the common room and she began casting even faster, utterly amazed that there were still people standing in that hallway. She felt lightheaded as she cast another overpowered explosive curse but pushed on regardless.

The sounds of her curses got louder as she poured more of her rage into the spells. Her vision began to get dark around the edges as the cannon blasts-like sounds filled the room every time her hexes detonated inside the entrance tunnel.

"Bones!

" Bones!"

Susan heard someone screaming her name and it sounded like it was coming from a great distance. She tuned it out and prepared to cast another curse when someone roughly shook her shoulder. Susan waved her wand to the side, shoving the person away from her before sending another exploding hex down the entrance tunnel.

"BONES STOP!"

Susan didn't register what was being said until she heard Ernie's voice screaming in her ear.

"BONES STOP, THEY'RE ALL DEAD!"

The shock of Ernies breath inches from her ear broke her concentration from the constant chain of spells she had been casting and her wand slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the floor as an oppressive silence fell over the room.

"The death eaters are down but the professors can't get in with you casting spells," Ernie said in a hollow voice as his own wand clattered to the floor.

Susan looked at Ernie feeling just as lost as she had last Christmas when...

"Are you o-okay?" Ernie asked, his voice cracking as his eyes lingered on Justin's body laying five feet away from them, his lifeless blue eyes looking blankly at the ceiling.

Susan didn't say anything and just stared at Ernie, his face was covered in stone dust and fresh tear tracks were running down his cheeks.

"J-Justin," Susan whimpered and Ernie simply nodded before pulling her into a tight hug and breaking down.

Susan let her own tears flow as Ernie sobbed into her shoulder his much larger frame shaking as he mourned the loss of his closest friends. Justin was Ernie's best friend, they had been like brothers since their first year, Susan also knew that pain well, that gut-wrenching tearing feeling that made it hard to breathe, she had felt it herself when Hannah was murdered and she was feeling it again... now.

Susan was in a daze as Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick entered the common room and began checking over the students. The only injuries were a few minor abrasions from debris kicked up by the explosions but they were so minor that Professor Flitwick was able to heal them without trouble.

Not long after, Professor Sprout and the headmaster came in as well both looking exhausted. Once Professor McGonagall had filled them in, Professor Sprout came over to where Susan and Ernie were still embracing.

Susan watched over Ernie's shoulder as the teary-eyed Professor conjured a stretcher underneath Justin's body and covered him with a sheet. Susan heard her head of house sniffle softly before she gently levitated Justin out of the tunnel entrance.

"Mrs Bones, Mr McMillan, could you please follow me?" Professor McGonagall asked kindly pulling Susan's attention away from Professor Sprout's retreating back.

Neither Susan nor Ernie said a word as they broke their embrace and followed Professor McGonagall through the tunnel.

The tunnel looked the same as it always did though a strange acrid scent hung in the air that Susan couldn't quite place. As they stepped into the storage room, Susan saw the hallway leading toward the kitchens was a complete wreck. The walls were covered in soot and the floor was covered in wine three inches deep. There was a row of bodies covered in white sheets along one wall and massive chunks of stone missing from the ceiling.

They quickly made their way past the downed death eaters, their footsteps causing the wine to slosh around and the pungent fumes to waft up, making Susan feel dizzy.

Once they made it into the corridor they began walking more briskly. Susan walked in a bit of a daze following behind Ernie and McGonagall as she guided them up the narrow stone stairs to the main castle.

Susan gasped when they stepped into the entrance hall as the massive room was covered in sticky-looking pitch-black soot and it looked to have recently been on fire. The tapestries were gone and the massive oak doors looked half burnt and were lying in the doorway having been detached from their hinges.

"It has been a very trying night," Minerva said by way of explanation as she led them across the entrance hall.

They continued up the grand staircase, the smell of burning wood still hanging in the air. They only went up to the landing before getting off of the first-floor corridor, Susan soon realized where they were going when McGonagall pushed open the door to the infirmary and gestured for them to step inside.

The hospital wing was packed with injured Gryffindors and she could see three bodies lying under white sheets on the other side of the ward.

It was fairly obvious that the Gryffindors got hit much harder than they did.

Susan saw Neville and Hermione sitting on one side of a bed that was occupied by Auror Tonks.

Tonks' head was bandaged pretty heavily and the side of her face was bruised so her cheek was a purplish-blue colour.

Harry was sitting on the other side of her bed, holding her hand in his and didn't seem to be taking in his surroundings. Harry looked exhausted, there was no doubt he had been in the thick of the fight. Harry was wearing a torn pair of jeans with no shirt on. He nasty gash that went diagonally across his chest, his face and arms were littered with tiny cuts and he was covered in a layer of grey stone dust.

Harry had his head bowed as he stared at Tonks' face and seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

Susan was pulled from her observations as Madam Pomfrey handed her a calming draught. Susan drank the potion down though she already felt fairly calm, the walk here had helped a lot in clearing the head, if anything she just felt numb.

"Miss Bones, I need to know exactly what happened tonight," Professor McGonagall said as soon as she had swallowed down the potion.

Now she understood why they wanted her to take the potion. Susan took a minute to gather her thoughts before she began to speak in a calm emotionless voice that sounded almost robotic to her own ears.

Susan told her about the warning Harry had sent out and how they had taken up defensive positions. She told them about the death eaters blasting open the entrance and about their defence. Then she told them about Justin, how the green spell had hit him and how he had just dropped to the floor. After that, her memory was a little blurred and Ernie was forced to pick the story up. Susan tuned them out as she stared at the three beds that had bodies covered in white sheets resting on them.

"Who else was killed, Professor?" Susan asked softly.

"I am not at liberty to say but they were both Gryffindors," Professor McGonagall answered and Susan could hear a quiver in her voice.

Before anything else could be said, the infirmary door was flung open and two sixth Year Gryffindors girls entered the hospital helping Katie Bell who seemed to have broken her leg.

Harry sat next to Tonks' bed holding her hand as he tried to process the events of tonight.

He had gotten Tonks here within minutes of leaving Gryffindor tower. Poppy had quickly concluded that Tonks had a broken collarbone, multiple broken ribs, and a serious concussion. Poppy had quickly patched her up and gotten her changed into some pajamas before tucking her into one of the beds.

Poppy assured him that Tonks would be up and about by the morning, Harry had breathed his first sigh of relief when he'd heard this.

He was just about to return to Gryffindor Tower when the infirmary door was thrown open and Neville and Hermione entered the ward levitating Cormac McClaggen. Cormac had a piece of the debris lodged in his neck and his school robes were soaked with blood

A few minutes later, Ron entered helping Lavender walk. They were both pretty banged up but otherwise alright.

Over the next half hour, more Gryffindors entered the wing with broken bones and abrasions but the injuries weren't as bad as he thought they would be.

Harry was still trying to process the fact that two of his housemates hadn't made it.

Cormac McClaggen hadn't made it to the hospital wing in time, he had succumbed to blood loss passing away before Poppy could administer the blood replenisher potion. Harry had never liked the boy very much but Cormac still hadn't deserved to die like that. Hermione had taken the news well and hadn't said a word since arriving in the infirmary.

The second death was even harder for him to deal with. Harry's housemate Dean Thomas had been pronounced dead on arrival twenty minutes ago. Harry had watched when Seamus had carried Dean into the ward and laid him on an empty bed and heard Poppy telling him that he hadn't made it. Seamus must have already known because he had just given her a nod and stared at Dean's body with a lost look while heavy tears ran down his dirty face.

Things had just started to die down when a teary-eyed Professor Sprout entered the room levitating another body under a white she and set and gently moved it so it was laying on a bed beside Cormac and Dean.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall led in Ernie McMillan and Susan Bones. Harry had listened intently as Susan and Ernie had retold what happened in Hufflepuff. Harry felt his stomach clench tightly when he realised who was under the third white sheet.

It was when the infirmary door loudly banged open that he looked away from Tonks. Harry watched Katie's friends bring her into the room, the Gryffindor chaser seemed to have broken her leg and she looked to be covered in tiny cuts and bruises.

"Mr Potter, I would like to hear your version of events," Minerva said as she noticed Harry coming out of his trance.

Sighing Harry began to retell his version of events while Susan listened on intently. Harry was just getting to the part about Voldemort arriving when he felt a burning pain in his chest followed by an intense cold.

"A bit of warning would have been nice," Harry gasped when he noticed Madam Pomfrey directing her wand at the gash on his chest.

"That was just a disinfectant spell, Potter," Poppy sighed as she cast a sec d spell to seal the wound.

"What happened in Hogsmeade?" Tonks' croaky voice sounded, making Harry's head snap to look at her.

"The battle in the village is still ongoing, how are you feeling, Auror Tonks?" McGonagall asked.

"Awful, my head is splitting," Tonks groaned as she attempted to sit up only to hiss painfully.

"You have a broken collar bone and four broken ribs, moving would not be advisable," Poppy warned as she uncorked a tiny potion vial and held it to her lips.

"How did you get hurt?" Minerva questioned after Tonks' had drank down the potion.

"Potter shoved me into the path of a bludgeoning hex," Tonks snorted.

"Voldemort cast a killing curse at you, I pushed you out of the path of that curse," Harry defended.

"Dobby must be teaching you how to save someone's life," Tonks muttered.

"Better maimed or seriously injured than dead," Harry shrugged as he gently squeezed her hand.

"Thanks for saving me," Tonks said softly giving him a grateful smile before she shut her eyes again as the pain relief draught took effect.

"He was here?" Susan asked sharply.

"Yes, he arrived towards the end," Harry shrugged.

"So they attacked Hufflepuff at the same time they attacked our common room?" Hermione said quietly.

"Yes, they also set the entrance hall on fire," Susan added.

"Not just the entrance hall, most of the grounds as well," McGonagall admitted.

"Where is Theodore Nott?" Harry asked as he gave McGonagall a questioning look.

"Nott?" Susan asked in confusion.

"Theodore Nott helped get them into the castle all of this was because of him,p" Harry exclaimed.

"Albus ordered Severus to get Mister Nott out of the castle after dinner this evening," Minerva said and there was no mistaking the anger in her voice.

"Doesn't that figure" Harry muttered darkly.

"if you will excuse me, I have to go check on the state of the tower," Minerva muttered before turning on her heel and sweeping from the room.

"Theodore Nott set this up?" Susan asked in an eerily calm voice.

"Yes, and Dumbledore has known about him repairing that vanishing cabinet since April but he hasn't done anything about it," Harry exclaimed, having to use his occlumency to stop himself from screaming.

"So why didn't you deal with him like you did Malfoy?" Susan demanded.

"I don't know what you mean," Harry said evasively as he looked around to make sure no one had heard her.

Harry quickly cast a privacy charm over them, idly noticing Ernie had wandered off to talk to Seamus by the bodies of their fallen friends.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"I can't prove it but I would bet my trust vault that Harry's the one who snapped Malfoy's neck," Susan explained, giving Harry an unreadable look.

"Believe what you want, Bones," Harry said with a shrug.

"I will, so why is Nott still alive?" Susan hissed angrily.

"Dumbledore had him watched around the clock since we tipped him off about Nott," Harry sighed.

"He was protecting him?!" Susan exclaimed and the glass door of the potions cabinet shattered as her magic flared.

"Yes, that's why he had Snape spirit him away this evening, he must have known the attack was tonight," Harry said as he felt his own anger at the headmaster start to build.

Harry would find a way to make Nott suffer for this, the fact that Dumbledore was helping protect the person that had enabled the attack tonight.

"Come on, Susan, let's go get some tea," Hermione said gently as angry tears began to run down Susan's cheeks

Harry was pleased when Hermione led Susan away so that it was just him and Tonks as Neville seemed to have wandered off while they were talking.

He would figure out where to go from here but first he had to wait for Tonks to heal up, he predicted that the next few days were not going to be pleasant.