I might start posting every two weeks (just because I need time to write more chapters and I only have a short window of time during the day to write)! The plan is to continue this story after the Battle of Hogwarts. If there is anything specific you'd like to read about, then do please let me know! I hope you are enjoying the story so far :)

2 May 1998

The fighting outside the castle was almost as bad as the fighting inside. While it was less likely to find yourself dodging bits of brick, stone and metal and other rubble as deflected spells hit the castle walls, Minerva found herself feeling much more exposed outside than she had been inside.

Spells came from all directions, and a great manner of creatures were emerging from between the trees of the Forbidden Forests, including spiders larger than even Hagrid's hut. And they were making a beeline towards both Martin and Minerva - the former still gripping the latter's hand tightly between his small fingers.

Without wasting a moment, Minerva waved her wand and a powerful jet of air shot from the tip. The spiders that had been charging towards her flew upwards and away, crashing back down again on the grass, and into tree trunks with ground-moving thuds. Minerva staggered and her vision swam. But she refused to give in to the darkness that was creeping into her vision. She blinked hard and straightened, preparing herself to deal with more spiders charging towards her with renewed vigour.

With another wave of her wand, tree roots sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the many spider legs and pulled their owners crashing down onto the ground, which shook beneath their weight. Filius, who was not too far away, wobbled worryingly but fortunately regained his footing before his opponent, Amycus, could take advantage of his vulnerability.

"Avada Kadav—"

Minerva silenced Alecto, who was unsurprisingly only a few feet away from her brother. Alecto clutched at her throat, her eyes bulging outwards as she choked on her own unspoken words. She tore her eyes away from her intended victim - a young girl - and looked for the person who had silenced her, which did not take her long.

Minerva blocked a flurry of red, purple and green spells before she began to retaliate against Alecto's onslaught. She used a stunning spell, then a conjunctivitis spell, before attempting a basic disarming spell, which surprisingly worked. Alecto's wand soared into the air and straight into Minerva's free hand. With a last wave of her wand, Alecto succumbed to a simple body-freezing spell.

In this moment of brief reprieve, Minerva bent down; both for Martin's benefit and for her own. Indeed, she felt that if the fighting continued any longer it would be her racing heart rather than a Death Eater that would claim her.

"Take this," she told the second year. She handed Alecto's wand to him. "Do you know how to cast a shield?"

The boy nodded, and he let go of her hand so that he could grasp his new wand in his own fist. He waved the wand and a whiskery white and blue light shot from the tip to form a barrier. It was a weak one, Minerva could tell. But it would still protect the boy from some spells — and some was better than none, she thought.

"Good," she told him and for a moment, the fear vanished from his features only to be replaced by a somewhat proud expression which only rendered the situation even more absurd. Indeed, how could she have given praise to a boy as though he were in her classroom rather than in the middle of a battlefield?

Minerva straightened, very aware now of the eye-watering pain it caused her even to move. But no one was looking in their direction. Close enough to the Forbidden Forest, but not quite in amongst the trees, Minerva and Martin were now shielded from view by the shadow cast by the branches and leaves swaying eerily in the night.

"You have fought valiantly..."

Minerva and Martin jumped and both spun around as though expecting Voldemort to be right behind them. But there were only trees and darkness.

"Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one."

Martin whimpered and pressed the palm of his hands against his ears as he began to cry. Upon looking behind her again, Minerva noticed that everyone had stopped fighting - Death Eaters, student and staff alike. Some Death Eaters were even disapparating, or making a slow retreat towards the Forest, a little way off from when Minerva and Martin were standing.

"I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilt is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."

The familiar sounds of witches and wizards disapparating echoed across the grassy plane as Death Eaters returned to their master. Minerva felt her stomach twist violently as she thought of the destruction these intruders had left in their wake.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences."

There was a pause, and Minerva thought Voldemort had finished until his cold voice pierced the now easily quiet battlefield.

"This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Minerva tensed. She needed to get all the underage students safely out of Hogwarts. And she needed to find Potter.

"Come now, Mr Lewis," she encouraged the young boy - surprised that her voice was coming out so confidently. She placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him back up to the castle. "Let us get you back to the castle, and I will arrange a portkey to take you home."

"Home?"

"Yes—come along."