Second fic, please read and
review! cheers.

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All Characters, settings, etc owned by J K Rowling and Warner Bros.

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Ginny stared at the wall, dreading the invisible door that was sure to appear. The dim dusk light that had been spilling through the window at the end of the corridor was disappearing, the night quickly invading the hall, casting a dark shadow across the three occupants – Ginny, Ron and Neville. Ron was standing, wand out, his face slowly draining of colour, but with a strong look of determination on his face. Ginny knew that Ron, even though he was Harry’s best friend, was still having trouble taking him seriously about Malfoy; In fact, Hermione and Ron had both confided this to her. Foul though they all knew Malfoy was, he couldn’t possibly be up to something that dangerous, could he? But the fact that Ron was standing here – this was a sign of their friendship. He murmured something indistinct to noone in particular, but neither Ginny nor Neville answered anyway. Neville was visibly shaking, but wore the same look of determination as Ron.

The fact that Ginny had shared Harry’s remaining Felix Felecis between herself, Ron and Hermione, gave her a faint glimmer of hope – luck was on their side, at least for a few hours. But this didn’t help Harry. She didn’t even know where he was; just what Ron and Hermione had told her, about how he had left with Dumbledore, about the Horcrux, and how he had told them to say goodbye to her… She shook it from her mind. This was, after all Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one, her boyfriend. He would survive. But where was he? Ginny caught a shimmer in the corner of her eye – she swung round, startling Neville as she did. It was just a ghost. The Bloody Baron had swept through the opposite end of the corridor, through the wall. She breathed again, without realising she had held her breath in the first place. Ron looked around at her, giving her a sort of lop-sided, nervous grin.

“So… how long ‘till we give up waiting and attack the wall?”

“Shut up Ronald, that isn’t helping… I wonder how Hermione and Luna are…” said Ginny, causing Ron’s smile to slip slightly.

“C’mon Gin…. Felix is with Hermione as well… they’ll be alright…” He answered, reassuring himself as much as Ginny. Neville gave a little whimper, but tried to stifle it. Ron leant against the wall, but kept his wand in hand, and started to fiddle with the hem of his robes. The moonlight was now the only source of light in the corridor, and an unseasonal chill spread through the three of them. Ginny shivered, but as she did so, she had a sudden feeling of dread, which had nothing to do with the cold draft. She didn’t mention it to Ron or Neville though; why worry them more?

Half an hour later, they were still on guard. Ron had lit the tip of his wand, after a cloud had covered the moon, and was now sliding down the wall he was leaning on. Neville was still standing erect, with exactly the same look on his face. Ginny looked up at her brother. The light from his wand lit up his face, but dark shadows filled the hollows of his eyes. His face looked rather like a skull; and then Ginny registered his hair – red did somehow not fit in the image of a skeleton. Ginny chuckled to herself, smiling slightly.

“What was that?” asked Ron suddenly, pushing himself off of the wall.

“Lumos,” muttered Ginny, pointing her wand in the direction the noise had come from. Ron did the same, and the beams of light fell upon a ginger cat – It was Crookshanks. He meowed quietly, disturbed by the lights. Ginny could hear Neville’s heart beating fast, and saw the cold sweat running down his face. Ron nervously laughed, and pulled his wand down, keeping the light on. Crookshanks slowly strutted up the corridor to them, and slinked between Ginny’s legs, purring. All of a sudden, he stopped, and looked at the wall. The three of them quickly did the same – the door had appeared. Ginny clenched her wand, raising it, as did Ron and Neville. The light from their wands bounced off the smooth door, reflecting back on their faces, giving them all a deathly glow. Slowly the handle turned – it was as though the person was reluctant to come out – but how could they know anyone was out there? The door was now ajar, opening slowly…. A grotesque hand appeared, old and scabbed, held by another, which was pale, with a greyish tinge…

Draco Malfoy stepped out of the Room of Requirement, holding his Hand of Glory. For a second, he looked stunned; so did Ginny, Ron and Neville. Then, suddenly, Draco threw his hands into his robe pocket, emerging with some black coloured powder. He hastily threw it to the ground, pointing his wand at it. Everything disappeared. Ginny frantically looked around, but Ron and Neville had disappeared. She pulled up her wand.

“LUMOS!” She shouted. “LUMOS LUMOS LUMOS!”
She could here Ron and Neville doing the same. Ginny was pushed back – more people were coming out of the room, but she couldn’t see them either…
“INCENDIO!” Demanded Ginny, but it was no use. She felt Ron put his arms around her, pulling her back from the unseen stampede.
“LUMOS! INCENDIO! INCENDIO!” She screamed, pointing her wand blindly into the darkness. From somewhere, she heard a shattering of wood – whoever had come out of the room, had left them behind. But the darkness was still surrounding them, swallowing them all…

As quickly as it had come, the darkness shrunk back into the black powder, which was spread all across the floor in front of the door. Someone came running from behind them, the opposite end of the corridor to the shattered door. Tonks looked distraught, running towards them as fast as she could, her wand raised for attack. She skidded to a halt in front of them, trying to catch her breath. In her other hand, she was carrying a single, fiery red feather, which she dropped.

“What… doing… here…” Tonks gasped.

“No time! Malfoy and some others just headed that way!” Ron pointed towards the shattered doors. “Who…”

“Death Eaters… must go help…” Tonks answered, and broke once again into a run. Ginny, Ron and Neville followed instantly. Ginny could hear shouts and screams, and prayed it was not Hermione or Luna. A loud explosion rattled their ears, as a curse blew up a large portion of a wall somewhere round the corner. Tonks disappeared from view, sending curses flying. Ginny skidded round the corner, hastily taking in the sight. A battle was taking place; there were the death eaters, there was Malfoy, and there was the Order, barely visible through the smoke and dust twirling through the air. She pulled up her wand, and ran in, firing curse after curse, dodging every spell aimed at her. A green streak passed her face, the coldness of the light grazing her cheek. In front of her, Lupin narrowly missed around five killing curses all directed at him, jumping out of the way, and rolling into the wall, covered in the shattered remains of the smashed windows. Ginny jumped the other way as the death eaters quickly sent the same curses at her, hastily pointing her wand at one of her attackers, who was thrown backwards off of his feet.

A green light lit the castle – and an emerald skull rose from the end of a Death Eater’s wand, exiting through the window, into the night.

Ginny looked up to where many others were fighting, and saw her brother Bill duelling with a lone death eater, who was slowly overcoming him. Bill collapsed, but before Ginny could get there, the death eater was on him – he was ripping at Bill’s face with his sharp teeth. Ginny screamed curses as she hurled herself towards them, finally hitting the Death Eater in the temple with a stunning spell, the red light lighting her brother’s now-disfigured face, and the glistening blood dripping down on to him from his attacker’s teeth, who was lying, shocked. Ginny almost glided towards him, and planted her foot into the side of his head, causing him to recoil in pain. He pulled himself up, a murderous glare emitting from his eyes. Fortunately, Tonks jumped in front of Ginny, and continued the attack. Ginny backed away, and then noticed some of the Death Eaters climbing the staircase up to the astronomy tower. A hooded death eater called from the foot of the stairs, and the one that had ravaged Bill dodged past Tonks, following him.

“They’re escaping! STUPEFY!” Ginny shouted, trying to catch another of the hooded men heading up the stairs. Her spell merely bounced off an invisible barrier, denting the opposite wall. Without warning, she was thrown forwards, quickly throwing her hands in front of her. She hit her head off of the cold, stone floor. Lupin ran over to her.

“Are you alright? Ginny! Talk to me!” Ginny slowly pulled herself up, groggy from the fall. She eventually found Lupin’s face – she had never seen him like this before. Gone was the kind, worn face she was used to; his face was white, anger burning through his eyes. Ginny nodded hastily.

“They’ve blocked the astronomy tower! You have to get up there!” As she said this, a purple curse shot past them – obviously there were still death eaters down here. Ginny and Lupin swung round, and returned into the fight.

Ginny had lost track of time, but she had not stopped fighting back. It dawned on her why she had survived so well; Felix was definitely working. However, some had not been as lucky. Neville was out cold, lying on the stone cold floor, a large bluish bruise on the side of his face from the fall. Ginny was trying to help some of the Order get through the door, but it was no use, they couldn’t get through the invisible barrier. Although, it was hard to concentrate when the remaining death eaters were sending curse after curse over the heads of their opponents at her. Her gaze was suddenly drawn to Bill. His face was continuously releasing blood, staining his robes and the ground around him. Ginny suddenly realised the harsh reality – there was a high chance of them not getting away from this fight. A shout of “Reducto!” Followed by a loud crash of rubble woke Ginny from her thoughts; they had made their way through the blocked archway, and were now running up the Astronomy tower staircase. Ginny ran after them, determined to keep fighting – but she was cut short as Snape and Malfoy ran past. She stood there, confused for a second. She had not even seen Snape run up the stairs… and why was Malfoy with him? But it was not the right time to ask questions – she pushed herself up against the wall as they shot past, and then followed them. However, as Ginny reached the bottom stair, she was thrown forward, skimming across to the other side of the room. A few seconds later, she hastily pulled herself back up, only to quickly use a shield charm; a green flash bounced off, leaving a hole in the ceiling above. A Death Eater was pointing his wand at Ginny, cackling. The man sent curse after curse towards her, and Ginny dodged each one, without even thinking about which way to move. Felix was saving her again.

“Crucio – Crucio – you can’t dance forever, pretty - ” but the Death Eater did not have a chance to finish, as a curse hit him squarely in the chest. Ginny swung round to the caster, shouting her thanks, but stopped. It was Harry. Ginny tried to talk, but her mouth just flapped. Finally, she managed to get out a few words –

“Harry, where did you come from?” But Harry just ran past. Where was he running, or whom was he running after? Malfoy? She watched as Harry sped round the corner, disappearing from view. All the Death eaters seemed to be following him; she ran after, firing hex after hex, but missing every time. The Felix was wearing off. Ginny made to jump down the steps the Death Eaters, but was grabbed round the waist by McGonagall, holding her back.

“Ms. Weasley! Stay with us! They are retreating, and a good thing too! Please, help attend to your brother, he has been badly injured.” She steered Ginny towards the stairway up to the Astronomy tower, who pulled her hand to her mouth in shock. Bill was now clearly visible, but was only recognisable by his dirt-infested red hair. His face was a complete mess, blood still pouring out of his wounds. Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and Bill rose into the air.

“Mr. Weasley, please go and inform Madam Pomfrey that we are in need of an open hospital ward.” She said kindly, her voice wavering as she fought back her emotion. Ron gave a half-nod, the colour draining from his face as he looked down on his floating brother. He swung round, and staggered off down the stairs. All of a sudden, a loud bang echoed throughout the halls, and bright red flames could be seen through the windows. Both Ginny and McGonagall raced towards them, squinting out on to the grounds. Hagrid’s house was the source of the flames; it was slowly burning down to the ground. Ginny squinted, and could see the silhouette of Hagrid; he was aiming spells at, what Ginny could only assume, was the escaping Death eaters.

Ginny almost floated down the stairs, running as fast as she could to get to the grounds. If all the Death Eaters were there, so was Harry, but she could not see him out of the window. The double doors of the entrance hall were already thrown open, and Ginny shot out of them. The cold air stung her eyes as she ran out into it. Wildly, Ginny looked around to Hagrid’s cabin, but it was no longer alight, but was now just a smoking mess. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw something strange next to the Astronomy tower she had just ran down from. A large group of people seemed to be standing around the bottom – there was Hagrid, standing at the back, able to see over them all. He was crying, and so were many others. Ginny quickly walked over to the group, the hardened mud cracking under her boots, dirtying the hem of her robes. She quickened her pace – maybe Harry was there? Many of the crowd had lit their wands, and Ginny did the same. As she got closer and closer, the loud wailing of Hagrid echoed around her, accompanied by the low cries of the students beside him. Each step filled Ginny with a feeling of dread. What were they crowding around? Who were they crowding around? Ginny broke into a run, and the crowd parted as she did. Finally, she reached the middle.

There was Harry. But it was not he in the centre; the form of Dumbledore lay in front of him, dead. Harry reached down, straightened his half-moon glasses, and wiped away a small trickle of blood from the man’s mouth. Ginny stood in disbelief. Dumbledore was dead. He was their only hope. Their only hope. Harry pulled his hand away from Dumbledore’s mouth, and let out a faint cry. Ginny instinctively lay her hand on his shoulder.

“Harry, come on.”

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