When Dumbledore arrived at Grimmauld Place, he did try and convince Harry to change his mind about the meeting with Voldemort, but he gave in when it became clear that Harry's mind was made up, and he had the support of the others. With the meeting with Voldemort inevitable, Dumbledore started to send for the rest of the Order as he was determined they were going to turn up to the meeting mob handed. Despite the dire circumstances, he was determined that the Order wouldn't go to the meeting with a defeatist attitude.
However, as more people began to arrive, Dumbledore found himself losing the respect of the Order as people discovered the way he'd handled recent events. The Weasleys didn't hide the fact they blamed him for Ginny being in such danger, and Sirius certainly didn't hide his anger at Dumbledore. More than once Sirius made it clear that he believed Remus was dead because of Dumbledore, and eventually his anger reached boiling point and in front of everyone he pretty much accused Dumbledore of working hand in hand with Voldemort.
"Because we keep ignoring the leak, don't we?" Sirius demanded angrily. "We have yet to discuss the fact that all this is happening because someone here in this room is working with the dark. Someone is feeding them information."
"I really don't think they are, Sirius," Dumbledore said soothingly. "Nothing they've done has proven to me that they have an inner working of the Order's movements. Tonks was snatched by chance at that first meeting, it really could have been anyone. Filius was taken from Hogsmeade, and no-one needed inside information to predict you would be able to find a member of Hogwarts staff down in the village from time to time. Remus went missing while out drinking, and Ginny was taken from the twins shop. They weren't hiding, they were out in plain sight."
"Yes, because we didn't know the immediate danger they were in," Bill spat accusingly. None of the Weasleys had said it outright, but it was clear that if Dumbledore had told them what was going on, Ginny would have been nowhere near the twins shop. Maybe even the twins themselves would have closed for a while.
"Although you are forgetting one person whose location wasn't obvious. He wasn't taken from somewhere near his work or home. He was taken from somewhere you sent him," Sirius sneered. "Or are we all totally forgetting that poor Ron being taken was what started this."
"No, I hadn't forgotten about Ron," Dumbledore said.
"Then explain how he was taken," Sirius demanded. "Explain how the Death Eaters knew where he and Hermione would be, when Hermione herself didn't even know. You and Ron were the only two people who knew where he would be, and clearly Ron wasn't the one working with the dark since the poor lad lost his life. So tell me, Headmaster, how did the dark know where he would be? How did they find him?"
"I still maintain my original theory that an undetected ward alerted them to a presence at the cottage, and their threats of a leak were designed to get us to turn on one another," Dumbledore insisted.
"Bullshit," Sirius snorted, not buying Dumbledore's excuses as it simply didn't fit with Hermione's recollection of events, and given how things had been going, he was putting his trust in Hermione, not Dumbledore.
"Arguing about this isn't getting us anywhere," McGonagall cut in sharply, her tone of voice the same one she used to deal with unruly students. "Given what's happened, and the situation we find ourselves in, I don't think it matters right now if there is a leak or not. Our focus needs to be on this evening and finding a way to protect Harry."
"I don't think there is a way to protect me Professor," Harry said with a defeated sigh. "We all know how tonight will end."
"Not necessarily," Dumbledore argued. "Minerva is right. We need to form a plan for this evening. We all know that he can't be killed as we haven't yet tracked down and destroyed all his Horcruxes, but that doesn't mean Harry has to be the one to lose his life this evening. There will be a battle of some sort, that is inevitable. But my advice to everyone is to get away as quickly as we can."
"What about Ginny?" Charlie questioned with a frown. "I'm all for saving Harry, but let's not forget our sister."
"I'm meaning after we have Ginny back," Dumbledore explained. "Getting her back is our priority, but once that's done, we don't have to stay and engage with the dark. We save Harry's life by leaving as quickly as possible."
"And then what?" Harry scoffed. "This starts all over again. I very much doubt he's done all this to get a meeting with me, only to let me slip away as soon as we have Ginny back. And even if that does work, he's only going to start again with the threat and killing people to get me to face him. He doesn't want to just see me and have a quick chat, headmaster, he wants to face me in battle and have a chance to kill me. Running away isn't going to change that."
"No, but it will buy us some time," Dumbledore argued. "And this time, we will know to protect ourselves. In fact, I think we should relocate the Order to Hogwarts. Let's get as many people as we can into the castle."
"And what about the students?" McGonagall questioned. "Or are you forgetting we're still in term time and have other responsibilities?"
"The castle is big enough to hold everyone, and there's no need for classes to be disrupted in any way," Dumbledore argued. "Although with any luck it won't be for long as we can work from there to find his last couple of Horcruxes and destroy them. We are nearing the end, aren't we Hermione?"
"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "We only have a couple more to find."
"And we can do that while everyone is safe at Hogwarts," Dumbledore stated, having clearly already made up his mind on what was going to happen. "But we need you, Harry. We need you to survive this meeting tonight. I know it seems cowardly to flee, but it is the right thing to do in this case. We get Ginny back, and then people get out of there as quickly as they can. We then regroup at Hogwarts and stay there until we're ready to face the dark one final time."
Agreeing to go along with Dumbledore's plan, Harry looked towards Hermione. One glance at her was enough for him to know that their thoughts were on the same wavelength. If the pair of them hadn't been planning on revealing their true allegiance that night, Dumbledore's plan might have actually been a good one. After all, if the Order were hidden away at Hogwarts then they would be safe from Voldemort and his dark forces. But things weren't going to go as Dumbledore hoped and he and the rest of the Order were in for some very nasty shocks over the next few hours.
Voldemort had decided to once again set the meeting for the graveyard at Godric's Hollow, only this time he'd made the time earlier than midnight. The meeting time was set for half past eight, but by quarter past, the Order were packed into the graveyard en-masse. Dumbledore had also made it clear that they weren't to hide in any way as he wanted to send a very clear message that Harry had the support of the Order and they were all there for him.
Hermione was standing right by Harry's side as half past eight arrived and her father's presence was revealed by a pop and a plume of black smoke. No actual plan for the meeting had been put into place as Voldemort believed that rigid planning could easily be derailed by unexpected events. Instead, he trusted Hermione and Harry to act instinctively and to react to any given situation. He didn't really care how they got there, all he cared about was the end result, which was Harry and Hermione back with the dark and Dumbledore dead.
"I see you've brought some friends," Voldemort said, noting the crowds at Harry's back. "I've brought a few along myself."
No sooner had Voldemort finished his sentence than popping sounds filled the graveyard, accompanied by black smoke. Within minutes an army of masked Death Eaters had gathered behind Voldemort. And then three unmasked Death Eaters arrived, settling themselves beside Voldemort. To his right was Bellatrix, and it was no surprise to see her without her mask as she rarely disguised herself when she fought and as she usually did, she looked eager for action.
However, the unmasked wizard to Voldemort's left was Lucius Malfoy, and Hermione didn't have to look to tell the Order were unnerved by the fact that Lucius wasn't hiding. Even though it was common knowledge he was a Death Eater, and a high ranking one at that, Lucius had always been very careful to remain hidden behind him mask when the dark clashed with the Order. However, the fact he'd turned up to this battle unmasked clearly showed that he believed that the dark would be victorious and there would be no comeback on himself or his family.
Although he wasn't the only unmasked Malfoy as right beside him with his son, Draco, who had Ginny held tightly in his grasp. Draco's wand was pressed under Ginny's chin, and Hermione had to wonder if the position was to make sure she kept her mouth shut as if she tried to speak she would jolt the wand and that could prove dangerous for her. Maybe she knew something that might give the game away before her father was ready, or maybe her boyfriend just wasn't taking a chance of Ginny screaming for help while he had hold of her.
As the Death Eaters were gathering, Hermione was aware of her father probing her mind, getting caught up with the Order's plans for the evening. When she thought about Dumbledore's plan for Harry to flee and the Order to move to Hogwarts, she was sure she saw a shadow of a smirk pass over her father's lips. No doubt he would take great pleasure in smashing Dumbledore's best laid plans to pieces.
"So Harry, you finally turned up to face me," Voldemort said, stepping forward so he was standing just in front of his supporters. "I have to admit, you let more people die for you than I thought you would."
"I'm here now, so no more people have to die," Harry said, mirroring Voldemort and stepping in front of the Order. "Let Ginny go."
"Now quite yet," Voldemort cackled, whipping out his wand and shooting a spell to erect a shimmering barrier between Harry and the Order, before doing the same to separate himself from his Death Eaters. "I do hope you don't mind, headmaster," he called as Dumbledore surged forward, crashing into the barrier. "It's taken a lot of time and effort to bring Harry here, so I didn't want any interruptions. The barriers will fall when we're done."
"Harry get out of there," Dumbledore called. "We can save Ginny, save yourself."
"Is that what you're going to do?" Voldemort asked Harry. "Are you going to run away with your tail between your legs?"
"I'm not running away," Harry insisted as he pulled out his wand. "This is where I am meant to be."
However, before he could even raise his wand, Voldemort had his own pointed at Harry and a jet of bright green light shot from it and hit Harry squarely in the chest. Despite knowing that her father hadn't cast the killing curse, he'd merely amended the spell to remove the Horcrux from Harry to give it a green light, Hermione still cried out as her best friend tumbled to the ground seemingly lifeless. Her cries were echoed around the Order as some people surged forward to try and break through the barrier, while some fell to their knees in distress. But what was present throughout the graveyard was a sense of shock that it had all ended so quickly and Harry Potter had fallen without a fight.