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Chapter 32: The Witching Hour

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Leading him by the hand up to the seventh floor of the castle, Hermione showed Ron the little hideaway gym that Harry had made for himself to workout in. Ron was amazed at the setup. He had wondered where Harry was toning up at, and knew it must be something like this. Hermione casually showed Ron around the room until they reached the back area by the pool. With a flick of her wand the pool started up.

“Looks pretty good doesn’t it?” she asked. “We ought to give it a try while we’re here don’t you think?”

“I didn’t bring my swim trunks.”

Hermione gave him a knowing type of smile as she used her wand to undress them both. Ron simply stood there starkers staring at Hermione, his eyes rapidly running over her body, with due diligent lingering paid to the breast and pubic areas. His mouth opened and closed as he seemed to fight for words.

“Neither did I, last one in has to blow the first,” she said as she was already diving in to the pool of warm rolling water. She lay in the water face up and kicked water at Ron with her long legs a bit invitingly. “What’s the matter, Ron, are you scared of a little water?”

“Hell no!” said Ron as it finally dawned on him what was happening. He jumped into the pool, took Hermione in his arms, and kissed her, she returned the kiss and they rolled in the water each enjoying the touch of the other. Ron went to full erection almost immediately. Hermione knew that he couldn’t stand much in the way of teasing, so she went to the deep end of the pool where the water went to about shoulder depth on her. With a beckoning finger she called Ron over to her and used the buoyancy of the swirling waters to wrap her legs around his trim waist. With her back to the wall of the pool and her hands on Ron’s shoulders, she positioned herself for him to enter her.

“Fuck me,” she whispered in Ron’s ear as he slid his stubby shaft into her and began a ferocious thrusting. “Shhhh…, slow down a bit, baby. Go easy with that thing. Don’t be too rough on me, remember that I’m a virgin, this is my first time, let’s go gentle with this.”

Ron smiled knowingly and nodded to her. He slowed down and began controlling his thrusts more evenly. Even though Ron didn’t feel especially small inside her now that she had him fully erect, Hermione knew that Ron didn’t really pack the right stuff down there to hurt her. Especially after Harry and Bustanut had stretched it out for her. She had said that to boost his self-confidence and because she didn’t want him to come too quickly. Maybe with a little training Ron would make a good lover, or husband and father. Harry was right, Ron was a good man, and that was enough for her. Anyway, even if Ron wasn’t her dream lover, that was what priority access to the Golden Unicorn was for. Membership in the Inquisition had its privileges.

Even with the slower pace Hermione felt that Ron was quickly losing his ability to hold himself. He instinctively went to short strokes and within seconds he emptied his seed into Hermione. Hermione hugged him close as she felt his orgasm pass, and he gasped for air from the experience. She had not really had the opportunity to get warmed up, much less come near her own orgasm. She was missing Harry already, but knew that the only viable backup plan for tonight was located under her bed with a large gold and red H inscribed on it. Still she closed her eyes and moaned loudly to make Ron think he had made her cum too. When she opened her eyes and looked into Ron’s. He was actually crying like a little boy as he stared into her face.

“Thank you, Hermione, I love you.”

“I love you too, Ron,” she said as she kissed him.

After a bit they left the whirlpool and lay on the mats to cool off. Ron continued to look into Hermione’s face and rubbed his hands slowly across her body. They kissed and nuzzled for a while. Then Ron asked her if he could take a try at pleasing her. She smiled and nodded her assent. It was obvious that Ron had never done this before, but it definitely scored points with Hermione that he seemed to be an eager pupil of learning the art. A good tongue could well make up for other shortcomings she thought.

Hermione positioned herself to give him good access to her twat. It was apparent that Ron had at least had some pointers given him as he went to work. He kept eye contact with Hermione to see what pleased her; he didn’t try to just run his tongue all over her twat, but started on the outside and worked his way in gently. Hermione did her best to provide friendly feedback phrased in a positive way to keep up his confidence, and she encouraged Ron’s efforts by going him little oh’s and ah’s to let him know she was enjoying the experience. Finally, she could see that he was tiring and needed rest.

“Oh Ron, oh Ron, I feel it, Oh baby, I’m going to come … Oh shit I … I’m going to come. Don’t stop, oh baby, don’t stop.” Ron happily picked up the pace and it did feel nice, but it didn’t truly evoke the performance Hermione gave as she pretended to come hard. Where was Bustanut when you needed him? Or Harry, for that matter?

“Oh baby, that was so good! Where did you learn to eat pussy like that?” she asked, while pretending to get her breath back. “I bet you’ve been practicing at that Golden Unicorn place, haven’t you, you naughty boy. Fred and George have been taking you there.”

“No, Hermione,” he said. “That’s my first go at it, I swear.”

“Really? Then you Weasley men must have natural talent,” Hermione giggled. “That’s probably why there are so many of you.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s just in our genes,” Ron replied a bit sheepishly.

“Ron, can I tell you a secret, sort of a confession really?”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

“I have been to the Unicorn a few times this semester with some of my girlfriends. I was always so inhibited concerning sex; I couldn’t just relax, even around you. Going there helped me to loosen up in an environment free of other entanglements. I know you have waited patiently for this night, but before now I just wasn’t ready to be made a real woman by a real man. I hope you understand.”

“I do, and I don’t mind,” said Ron. “It’s the future that’s important. Not the past.”

Hermione looked down and saw that Ron had developed another raging hard-on. She gave him a kiss and lay back with her legs spread. “How about you give me one more quickie, and then we’ll go back to the commons before we get locked out.”

She saw a broad smile cross Ron’s face as he anxiously moved to comply. “Your wish is my command, Ma’am.”

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Ginny lay completely naked on the bed. Her wrists and ankles were tied spread eagle to the corners using soft cloth bindings. She was not in pain, but she could not move her arms and legs to cover herself. She had no wand; she was utterly helpless before him. Her tender womanhood was completely exposed to him. There was a look in his eye that told her exactly what was on his mind, Ginny was about to have her virginity taken from her.

He stood at the foot of the bed, looking at her; there was no mistaking the insatiable lust in his eyes. Plead for mercy as she might, there would be no reprieve. He slowly took off his tee shirt exposing his sleek lean body, with muscles that rippled in the dim light. Slowly he unbuckled his belt, and then undid his worn jeans, allowing them to fall around his ankles, before kicking them away.

Ginny could see the bulge in his pants — dear gods, it was huge! She could see it throbbing under the thin cotton fabric. He put a thumb in the waistband and started sliding down his briefs. Unbelievably, it was growing more erect by the second as she watched him.

After kicking away the briefs he began walking around the bed to her. She couldn’t take her eyes off the enormous cock that swayed in front of him as he approached her. Surely he wouldn’t really try to put all of that hard man meat inside her tight virgin’s pussy. She would die from something that big being put in her. She could feel fear causing her pussy to grow wet; she was beginning to drip down there.

“That’s right, bitch,” he said flatly, the cruelty in his voice cutting her like a knife. “You better start getting wet down there cause that’s all the lube your getting from me.”

She watched as he got close, the throbbing tip of his erection was only inches from her face, she could see every blue vein that roped up and down the shaft. There appeared to already be a drop of pre-cum near the urethra. She saw that his balls were still swaying a bit as he stood there. My god they were big, they looked like each of them could hold a quart of cum when full, and they were hanging so very low in their little pouch right now.

She looked up at him with tears in hers, “Please, Harry, you don’t want to take me like this. I know you want me, but not like this. I don’t love you, I don’t want you.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. You told me to stay away from you. You don’t want Harry Potter sticking his big nasty dick in your little cunt do you?”

“Harry,” she said tearfully. “I’m a virgin, I’ve saving myself for the man I love, and I don’t love you anymore”

Harry looked down at her and began to gently stroke his cock, working it to a rock hard erection. “I got the perfect cure for that virginity problem right here you little back-stabbing bitch. And I well remember when you told me you didn’t love me anymore. That’s all right though, because I’m not here to make love to you. I’m here to fuck your cunt. I been doing some saving up of my own, I’ve saving up a huge load of cum in my balls, and now I’m going to make a withdrawal. Or maybe transfer my account might be more appropriate to the occasion. Either way, I want to drain my nuts in you, and god-damn it that’s exactly what’s about to happen.”

He began to mount her between her legs; her pleas fell on deaf ears. Spreading her legs around him, Harry positioned the head of his dick over her quivering slit. With a quick motion, he plowed into her, shoving his man meat in her wet cunt until he had reached the base of his cock.

“Take it, bitch,” Harry said gruffly. “Take it all, I’m going to fuck you with every inch of it.”

Ginny gasped, she’d never felt anything like what had just happened; she was impaled on Harry’s dick. She couldn’t move, but she could feel the hot organ inside, moving like a living creature wallowing out her insides. Harry began to slide the monster back out to impale her again. She felt Harry reach up and grab her by her hair with both hands. She was totally in his power, utterly dependent upon his mercy.

“So you don’t love me anymore, bitch, so Harry will never have you, huh? What’s my name, bitch? Say my name, UGH,” grunted Harry as he thrust into her.

Harry stroked his cock down into her, repeating his command that she say his name, unable to resist she complied.

“Harry,” she squealed. “Your name’s Harry Potter! It’s Harry, Harry Potter.”

“And what’s Harry Potter doing to you right now, bitch? Tell me, UgH, tell me UgH, UGGH.”

“Ohh, Ohhh …You’re fucking me.”

“Where am I fucking you bitch?”

“You’re fucking my pussy, oh god, you’re fucking my pussy.”

“That’s right bitch, Harry Potter is fucking your pussy,” said Harry between thrusts. “And he’s going to keep on fucking your pussy until he’s done fucking your pussy. And if he wants to fuck your pussy some more he’ll fuck your pussy again. Is that all right with you bitch?"

“Yessss,” Ginny screamed.

“Tell me, bitch, you got any more problems with what I choose to do with my big dick?”

“No.”

“What about who or how many I fuck with my big dick?”

“No.”

Ginny felt the warm juices flowing freely from her twat; she felt the steady glide of Harry’s cock back and forth inside her. She lost all control of her senses, feeling a building of energy inside her. She was going to come. She opened her eyes and saw the leering smile of the man astride and inside her.

“Tell me you love me, bitch.”

“I love you, oh, god, I do love you,” said Ginny. She shut her eyes as she felt her passion begin to break free. She really did love him, she’d always loved him. The first time she had seen him she felt a tremor go up her spine, and a strange warmness between her legs. How could she have ever told him she didn’t want him?

“I love you too, Ginny. I love you too.”

However, it wasn’t Harry’s voice that she heard. Opening her eyes she saw Neville’s face beside her. What the …? Where was she? Where was Harry?

“Ginny, I’ve loved you since the night we danced at the Triwizard Ball. But, darling, my balls are hurting so bad right now. Please, won’t you at least wank me to make them stop hurting. If you truly love me like you say you do you wouldn’t want me to keep hurting like this.”

“Oh, no!” Ginny thought. “I’m still down by the lake with Neville.” It took her a few seconds to realize that they had nodded off. She and Neville had fallen asleep from drinking that champagne, and it was now getting quite late, they might already be locked out of the castle. That was an uncomfortable thought. Even more uncomfortable was that her knickers felt like she had just taken a good warm pee in them. However, Ginny knew full well the wetness she felt soaking her knickers and trousers wasn’t urine. The bed, and Harry, had just been a dream, a wet dream — a very wet dream. Apparently she had started muttering ‘I love you’ in her dream and Neville assumed she was talking to him. Now the poor sod was expecting a hand job from her.

The real trouble was that even though she liked Neville as a friend, she didn’t want him as a lover. As far as she was concerned, he was about as ignorant and impotent sexually as he was magically. Although he was a pureblood wizard, his skills at almost any area of magic were next to none except in Herbology. This time Ginny was pretty much trapped. Either she could listen to him whine and beg; or she could wank him and shut him up. It was pretty much a no-brainer decision.

“All right, Neville, I’ll give you a hand job. Lie back and get comfortable, get the family jewels out for me.”

“Thank you, Ginny,” said Neville already breathing heavy in anticipation. “Ginny there’s something I need to tell you. It’s about my winkle; it’s not all that big, I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Neville, size doesn’t matter to a girl,” Ginny lied. “When a woman loves a man, then the man’s ‘winkle’ only has to meet two qualifications, one end has to be connected to him, and the other end only has to long enough to reach inside her.” Ginny couldn’t believe she was actually using that old lie that every girl learned, and knew was bullshit. She wanted a man with a dick, a real dick. Something that flopped from side to side when he walked. Something that when she was having sex made her feel like a python had crawled up inside her. Most of all, deep down, she knew now that she wanted one end of that huge dick to be attached to Harry Potter, and the other end stuffed deep inside of her cunt.

Ginny reached down gingerly and grasped Neville’s ‘winkle,’ she felt it stiffen to an erection upon her touch. Ginny’s first thought was that whatever else could be said about Neville he was no liar. Even in its near full erect state his cock was only about three inches long from base to tip, the width was only about an inch. Ginny knew that the Longbottoms were pureblood wizards, but they must also be pureblood Irish to be this short. For the first time she truly understood what the guys were talking about when they called each other ‘thumb dick.’

Ginny found that to wank Neville she had to manipulate her hand so that the pinkie was extended and only the other three fingers opposed the thumb because there wasn’t enough shaft to get whole hand around. Fortunately, Ginny realized, this wasn’t going to take very long to finish. In less than a minute Neville started acting as if he was ready for short strokes, of course with his dick every stroke was a short stroke.

Neville was nearly there and had started thrusting his little cock into Ginny’s fingers as though he were really getting some. She heard him grunt then sigh and felt her fingers become bathed in a thick warm liquid. Neville had cum. Now they needed to get the hell back inside before they were locked out, judging by the position of the stars overhead it had to be nearly midnight.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

In his apartment in the Golden Unicorn, Harry was greeted by Poonanni. As expected, everyone else was busy working the clubs and suites downstairs. Releasing Poontang and Poonanni for Harry’s personal benefit was actually a burden tonight. It wasn’t much longer until it would be midnight. A quick change of clothes, a double bouquet of roses, and Harry was ready to visit the cemetery. With a little assistance from Poonanni, Harry apparated directly to the gates of the Godric’s Hollow cemetery under the protection of his invisibility cloak. There were a lot of eyes out and about tonight. Harry had no desire to draw attention to himself if he could help it.

Not surprisingly, there were a few magi in the cemetery tonight. On All Hallows Eve it was thought that communication with those who had recently passed was sometimes possible. There were a few waiting beside recent graves to say a final farewell to loved ones who had died in the past year. But Harry stayed well away from them, he knew where he was going. By the clock tower it was nearly midnight when Harry arrived at the graves of his parents. He waited and looked at their headstones for a while.

He wanted to say something to them, but he couldn’t find the right words. The past few months had opened up a totally new perspective for him on them. They were much more human now. They were more than just a picture that moved around in a frame. As he stood there Harry began to cry, the grief of their loss had become more real too over time. Harry just stood there blubbering over their graves like a little boy. Finally, as the clock began to chime the hour Harry knelt at the graves and placed one bouquet between them. It was midnight of All Hallows Eve, the Witching Hour had begun.

“Mum, Dad…,” Harry muttered, “I love you, I hope that one day I will get to meet you.”

Harry knelt there expectant, hoping that maybe the old tales were true, maybe tonight, this hour, they could reach across to him. But there was nothing, nothing except a cold chill that suddenly fell across him. Harry couldn’t explain it but something suddenly felt wrong. It was almost like the old muggle saying that someone had just stepped across his grave. There was a feeling of loss, like something that had been his was now lost, or maybe taken away. He quickly pulled out his wand and scanned the area for signs of danger just as Moody had taught him. But there was nothing, just an empty cemetery filled with the silent graves of the dead.

After a bit, Harry moved over to the new section where he had been told that Tonks had been buried. Most of the midnight visitors were already leaving to go back to the world of the living. Harry waited under his cloak as the last of the visitors left the area. He was about to go to the grave when he felt more than saw a shadow move in the nearby treeline. Harry’s Auror instincts were good; despite wearing his cloak, he instinctively crouched and froze in position near a headstone. Harry had developed the art of patience, as Moody had taught him that in such situations the first to move was often the first to die. Harry stayed as still as possible for about a minute before he saw the movement repeated. It was a man in wizard robes, and he was approaching the area where Harry was hiding.

The figure was tall and slim; he walked with a bit of a limp. Harry couldn’t make out the features of the wizard well enough to identify him, so he waited and watched to see what he was up to. The figure walked directly to a specific grave almost exactly where Harry had been told that Tonks had been laid to rest. The figure knelt beside the grave and placed what appeared to be a flower on the grave, then began mumbling something.

Harry decided that he should move closer to investigate so he eased his way towards the kneeling figure. Harry had practiced his stealth under Moody and felt that he was being very quiet as he advanced upon the figure by the grave, but as he got within about ten yards of the man he saw him jump to alertness. His head turning all which ways to scan the area, his head angled upward to sniff deeply of the air. Harry froze in place, his wand ready for use if necessary. After a few moments the strange figure seemed to calm down, Harry was hopeful that he had eluded detection. That was not the case.

“Hello, Harry,” said the figure in a voice that Harry knew well. “Fancy meeting you here.” The strange figure beside Tonks’ grave was Harry’s former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and old friend of his parents, Remus J. Lupin.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The great clock in the Main Hall at Hogwarts showed the time as 15 minutes before midnight when Lord Voldemort and his principle followers arrived outside the woodshed on the edge of Hogsmeade. They would form the initial assault force that would attack from within and disable the protective wards defending the castle grounds, while instituting their own anti-apparition shields that would prevent anyone from entering or leaving the castle by that means.

Once the castle’s defenses were down, the main forces waiting outside, which included Dementors, would form into two attack teams. One team would raid Hogsmeade and render it unusable to the Ministry, killing or capturing the inhabitants. The second team would enter through the main gates, surround the castle to prevent any escape of its occupants, and reinforce those already inside so as to carry through the attack on the student commons.

Moving quickly, Voldemort and his group entered the shed and went to the basement area. There Voldemort found the opening to the secret tunnel he had made long ago when he was Head Boy at Hogwarts. He passed easily into the tunnel behind the wall keeping the way open until his force had entered. Then, with only wand tips for light, they proceeded to the hidden room beneath the Head Boy’s tower rooms.

It was there that Voldemort got his first sense of something wrong. The room had been used in his absence. None knew of this place, none could get here, but there were accommodations setup in here. Then he saw the small pillowcases made into tunics and figured it out. House elves were using the room to live in. They could apparate in and out easily. At some point, they must have been told to find extra room for accommodation and simply used this room not knowing it true purpose. Voldemort smiled to himself, the attack route was not compromised.

Going to the basket that held the rope Voldemort raised his wand and softly said the incantation to levitate himself, “ASCENDIO.” He floated up to the top room and looked out the mirror into his old lodgings. He was a bit taken aback that the room still looked almost identical to how it had looked back in his day. It was certainly true that things changed very slowly at Hogwarts, if ever. But dramatic change would occur tonight; the start of a new regime was beginning.

Voldemort passed through the mirror using his wand and turned to the bedroom. There lying in bed before him was his most feared remaining opponent, Harry Potter, the last living descendent of Merlin. Tonight the final threat to his rise to absolute power would be eliminated once and for all. Behind him he heard his attack party begin to file through the mirror. Snape, Draco, Bellatrix and Rodolphus, Lucius, Antonin Dolohov, Greyback, and McNair were in the group filing in wonder into the heart of Hogwarts undetected.

Voldemort stepped into the bedchamber and immediately noticed the sleeping figure begin to rouse awake. Potter had cheated death far too many times in the past for Voldemort to try and give the boy an interesting death now. Nevertheless, he did want the stupid git to know who had done him in at the end; he wanted to see the fear in Potter’s eyes, then watch as the life drained from him.

“Hello, Harry,” Voldemort said quietly, “we meet again, for the last time.”

Poontang felt ashamed of herself as she hurriedly stood beside the bed. How could Master’s enemies have gotten so close to her and she have not perceived the danger? There was no hope of escape even though she had the power to disapparate away to safety in a flash. Master’s orders were that all must believe him to be at Hogwarts this night. There was only one thing to do; she had sworn loyalty to the death to her good Master. She would remain true to her oath. She smiled a bit to herself, songs would be sung about her, her family would hold their heads high when her name was mentioned, for there was no higher honor a house elf could hope to achieve than to make the ultimate sacrifice for the Master.

She stared as the leering face of Master’s enemy as he grinned widely in victory, and with her last moments she used her magic to lock herself in the assumed form of Master. This would allow her corpse to remain in the guise of Harry Potter. Master’s enemies would assume him dead, and Master would be safe. It was a good death.

Lord Voldemort was a bit taken aback at Harry’s reaction. He had expected to see terror in his victim’s eyes, perhaps a few moments of pleading for mercy. Instead this stupid boy was grinning back at him, mocking him in his moment of victory. The fury of such insolence gave added power to his curse. “AVADA KADAVRA,” yelled Voldemort and a beam of green light flowed from his wand. It struck his victim in the center of the chest and flung him back to slam hard against the wall to fall into heap on the floor. Lord Voldemort was beside himself with satisfaction. Even though this was but a part of the evenings activities, he took great personal pride in eradicating Potter.

“See how it’s done, Bella?” Voldemort said over his shoulder. “It’s not so hard when you apply yourself to kill the great and mighty Harry Potter.”

“Yes, my Lord,” came her reply, “a great victory is at hand this night.”

“Yes it is, if you all will follow our instructions and do your jobs. Remember that silence and stealth are essential; the enemy must not be alerted till the last possible moment. The Ministry has added considerably to the castle defenses since Dumbledore’s downfall. Severus, take your group to the Gryffindor tower, leave none alive. Antonin, you are to take your group to the Ravenclaw commons, do the same. Greyback, take your group to the Hufflepuff commons, feast upon their flesh my friend. Bella, your group will go to the sleeping chambers of the House Elves, use the Elfsbane potion on them to steal their breath. Some will be outside the chambers, but most will be neutralized there. Then scour the hallways for instructors, kill all you see, but without raising the alarm. Regroup in the main hall and wait for the sealing charms to lift.”

“My Lord,” asked Severus, “where shall you be, if I may ask?”

“We will be paying a call upon an old acquaintance of some years ago. It is he who provides the magic that protects this castle, when we are done with him the old wards will fall and the castle will be open to entry by our comrades waiting outside.”

“And what of Slytherin house?”

“If any attempt to interfere then kill them, otherwise tell them to remain in their commons and death will pass them by this hallows night.”

The group opened the door to the common hallway and began the stairs down out of the tower. Across the hallway, the door to the Head Girls quarters opened and Pansy Parkinson wearing only her green and silver Slytherin night robe stuck her head out.

“What’s with all the noise, Potter, do you know what time it is?” As her eyes focused in the dim light, she saw the Dark Lord standing before her, his wand pointed at her heart. She gasped in disbelief then went to her knees, her robe flying open exposing her naked breasts and pubic region to the Dark Lord’s view.

“My Lord … it’s really you, you’re here. Please tell me the moment of pureblood victory has come at last?”

“The moment has indeed come for pureblood victory, my child,” said Voldemort as he slowly lowered his wand. “Are you with us in this endeavor?”

“I have begged Draco to let me serve you as he has, make me your servant as well, my Lord. Use me as you will to fulfill your great destiny.”

Voldemort’s eyes ranged over the young supple skin of the girl kneeling before him. In his younger days he had been easily tempted by the pleasures of the flesh and had made a number of sexual conquests to satisfy his lust and his desire for control of others. Some gave themselves willingly, many did not. However, in those days he habitually killed his consorts when he lost interest in them, or, conversely, if he began to have any feelings for them beyond sating his animal lust. He desired no one live for whom he cared, or who might prove a weakness to him.

Even though he had thought such things as animal lust to be alien to him now; he couldn’t help but feel the old desires rise in him again as he gazed at the naked form of this nubile young girl kneeling before him. She was one fine piece of arse. Yes, he could think of a use for her, for a little while anyway. With victory at hand, he could allow himself to enjoy the more worldly pleasures as he had in the days of youth.

“We accept your offer of servitude to us,” said Voldemort, with a touch of his wand to Pansy’s arm there appeared the Dark Mark of a Death Eater. “We command you to remain in your quarters. Later you shall be contacted what to do.”

With that Voldemort disappeared down the stairs with the rest following closely. Pansy saw the look of lust on the faces of the Dark Lord’s male companions, and she was quite pleased to give them a good look at her feminine wares. The only holdout was Bellatrix, who shot Pansy a look of intense hatred as she passed. Bella knew what services the Dark Lord had in mind for Pansy to perform, she had once dreamed of serving those needs for him herself, but now this girl who was young and fresh had drawn his eye. He would have no use for her flesh with this girl around to tempt him.

Draco hung back and let the others proceed downward to the main hall. He rushed to Pansy and kissed her as she wrapped her naked body around his in a tight embrace.

“Draco, … baby, what’s happening, what’s this about,” she gasped.

“Tonight’s the night,” said Draco. “We are taking the castle. Stay here as it’s going to be deadly down there. The Dark Lord has ordered the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws slaughtered to teach their parents a lesson; the Hufflepuffs are going to get it in the arse too. Slytherin’s will be all right if they don’t resist. I’ve got to go. Just stay here and you’ll be safe.”

“What about Potter, wasn’t he over there?”

Draco turned and pointed to the figure crumpled in the corner. “Go over and say your goodbyes to the great and mighty chosen one. The Dark Lord just topped him like he was stepping on a bug. Look, I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can. I want you so badly, darling; I’ve missed you so much.”

“And I’ve missed you, baby, but you have important work to do for both of us. This is your chance to gain the Dark Lord’s trust. Serve him well for both our sakes. Go now before you are missed. I think I’ll have a final quick word with the Chosen One.”

Draco laughed and kissed her again, and then he disappeared down the steps. Pansy walked across the hall and into the Head Boy’s room. There in the faint light she saw the corpse of Harry Potter staring up at her with dead green eyes. She had always liked his eyes, although there was nothing special about the rest of him, or so she had thought until recently. However, she had always liked his pretty Slytherin green eyes. She might have actually even done him a time or two just on account of that, if he hadn’t been such an arrogant Gryffindor prick most of the time.

“Too bad, Harry,” she said softly to the corpse, “I guess you weren’t really the Chosen One after all.” She returned to her rooms across the hall and shut the door behind her.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“Ohh, shit!” Ginny had groaned when she had heard the great clock chime the midnight hour. The way back into the castle was closed until morning. They were stuck outside. She knew they’d be in trouble with McGonagall in the morning and get detention. Plus she’d have to put up with all the bullshit from the other girls about how she had spent all night out drinking and shagging with Neville. That was the last thing she needed to have get back to her mum. She just had to find a way back inside.

“Wait a minute, Ginny,” said Neville. “I know what we can do. Hagrid is still outside somewhere. If we can find him he might be able to get us in, he’s taken Filch’s place hasn’t he?”

“I don’t think even Hagrid can get us in now with all the special security charms in place,” said Ginny, “but I guess it’s worth a try to ask. I just don’t fancy staying the night inside that creepy hut of his.”

“You won’t,” said Neville. “I know how to get into the greenhouse after hours, Professor Sprout showed me how. She has her quarters there, you can sleep in her bed tonight, and I’ll set up a cot in the greenhouse and stretch out till daylight.”

“Won’t she be using the bed tonight?”

“Naw, she’s up to the castle getting sloshed with her friends. She’ll be there all night with them. We’ll sleep in the greenhouse if Hagrid can’t get us in. Then get up early before anyone else is up and about. We’ll be at the doors as they open in the morning, head for the commons and tuck in our own beds before anyone sees us or notices we weren’t there. I’ve done it before.”

“You have?” Ginny asked. “When?”

“Well … some of the plants in the nursery have to be transplanted only in full moonlight. I’ve stayed out there all night to finish the transplanting for Professor Sprout so she could sleep and be ready for her classes the next morning,” said Neville.

“Well then, let’s head back towards the castle and try to find Hagrid,” said Ginny.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The party of Death Eaters spilled out of the tower staircase into the side hall. The teams took a minute to assemble on their leaders and split up to take their objectives. Everything depended upon surprise and speed. Voldemort went to the rotating staircase that went to the Headmistress’ office. Many years ago he had managed to cast a Confundus charm on the staircase to allow him to give it a back-door password of his own. He now used that password to descend into the depths of the mountain beneath Hogwarts.

The magic that held the defensive wards in place came from the same fount as the magic that made Hogwarts a living thing. Moving staircases, modern plumbing in a medieval castle, portraits that moved and talked, it was the echoes of Merlin’s power beneath it that made this possible. With Merlin’s amber tomb destroyed, the magic would quickly dissipate and the life force of Hogwarts would die with it, it would become an empty decrepit stone shell. Voldemort admitted to himself that it was a shame that it was necessary to destroy Hogwarts, but the ends totally justified the means. Besides, he would found a new academy that would cater only to the right wizarding stock. No more damned mudbloods and half-breeds to pollute the bloodlines.

In the main hallway, a nervous Minerva McGonagall patrolled the castle for a last time before going to bed. She had been worried that something might happen tonight, but there had been no owls from the Ministry, and there had been no alerts from the defensive wards. Maybe their fears were only an overactive imagination. But as she turned the corner to pass by the main doors she saw a group of black shapes coming down the stairs from the side hall. What were these students up to? Why were they out of bed this late? The commons rooms had already sealed themselves for the night.

“Hold it right there,” she shouted at them. “What is the meaning of this outrage? You are supposed to be in your beds. I’ll have every one of you in detention every night for a month for this.”

The crowd on the stairs froze in place and made no sound. It seemed to Professor McGonagall that they were just calmly waiting for her to come to them and pronounce punishment. As she reached a stand containing a suit of armor she saw a movement at the back of the crowd. A figure standing in the shadows was pointing what appeared to be a wand at her.

“AVADA KADAVERA!” came a muffled shout from the figure, and a beam of green light shot forth. The beam missed Minerva, striking the suit of armor beside her instead, blowing it to pieces and starting a fire. Shouts of “NO you fool,” and “Stop, remember our orders” rang out from the remainder of the dark shapes. For the first time, Minerva McGonagall realized the castle had been infiltrated by Death Eaters again and was under attack.

After the last attack a great deal of care had been given to the castle’s security. All summer the Aurors had worked to install security charms that could be called in an emergency by the faculty to protect the students. Now as she fled around the corner she heard more death curses hitting the walls around her, she knew she couldn’t move fast enough to escape them, and rushing sound of footsteps behind her told her there wasn’t time for her to transform into her animagus cat form. They were going to catch her, all she could do with the time she had left was to try and sound the alarm.

As Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall knew all the security spells and now she used her wand to send forth her Patronus to activate those spells. Immediately the great clock began to sound out an alarm gong to alert the school grounds and the surrounding area. The castle went into a super maximum lockdown mode. The main doors began a magical lockdown as the usual outer wards were strengthened. The entryways into the student common rooms magically began to form into a solid wall of masonry, sealing the students inside. But the moment of delay to cast the spell had been enough for the Death Eaters to catch up to her. She heard running steps turn the corner behind her; she turned and saw Severus Snape standing immediately behind her.

“You murdering bastard,” she said as she attempted to cast a killing curse upon him. But Minerva’s aging body betrayed her for the last time — she was just too damned slow. As she brought her wand to level she saw a beam of green light already flashing towards her. The beam struck her and she crumpled to the floor. Minerva McGonagall was dead, but not before the alarm had been given. Her faculty and students would not be murdered in their beds helplessly asleep; they’d have a chance to fight.

“WHO DID THAT?” screamed Snape as the rest of the party of Death Eaters caught up to him. “Which of you stupid cocksuckers just couldn’t wait to start killing? You’ve ruined the whole attack schedule now. They know we’re here.”

The group around all shook their heads that it wasn’t any of them who had stupidly taken the shot at McGonagall and missed. “It was someone at the back,” said Lucius who was overjoyed that he had been standing at Snape’s side when it happened and that he couldn’t be blamed for the fuckup.

“Who did it? You might as well tell me and die now,” said Snape with his wand raised. “The Dark Lord will find you out and give you a much crueler death than I will.”

All in the group still vigorously denied having sent the curse at McGonagall. From the opposite side of the Great Hall they heard the group led by Bellatrix come into the hallway.

“What the fuck happened?” she shouted. “The alarm is sounding, the wards are closing in. We’re going to have Aurors apparating here in a few minutes.”

“No shit!” retorted Snape. “McGonagall sounded the alarm before we could kill her. I’m headed to try and get into the Gryffindor commons. See if you can disable the alarm spells and hold the main hall.”

“We have the hall secured, the elves in their chambers are being dealt with now, and there’s nothing here to hold,” said Bellatrix. “Rodolphus and I will go with you. With the alarm sounded you’ll need help exterminating the Gryffindor brats.”

Snape wanted to argue as he knew she would try to take over control, but he just didn’t have the time, and he really could use the extra wands to get his job completed. Snape’s reinforced attack force made it outside the Gryffindor commons with minimal resistance. Professors Flitwick and Trelawnry had tried to form a group of about a dozen of so house elves into a half-arse defensive line, but were no match for the Death Eaters, in half a minute the two hapless professors were dead and the house elves killed or in flight.

Outside the entrance to the Gryffindor commons, the Death Eaters formed a firing line and focused their wands at the painting of the Fat Lady. “REDUCTO!” they shouted in unison and their combined force blasted away the painting and part of the blocking tunnel behind it. A few more blasts and the way would be clear. However, Severus Snape knew that time was now the great enemy; the Ministry had been alerted and would soon respond.

Above them all, moving across the roof of the great hall a lone cloaked figure scrambled through the darkness to get clear of the overhanging towers above. Once in a place with clear sky overhead a wand appeared in the figure’s hand. “MORSMORDRE!” said the figure as a green light went skyward like a rocket. Once it reached the apex of its flight, the spell burst to produce the sickly green image in the sky of a death’s head with a snake coming from its mouth. This was the symbol of the Death Eaters. It informed their enemies that they had struck, and was always left at the scene of an attack just before they left. Now, however, it had been given at the start of the attack where it would only serve to alert Ministry forces that Death Eaters were in residence within the castle.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Even in the caverns deep below Hogwarts, Lord Voldemort could hear the chime of the main clock begin and knew what it meant. The alarm had already been given. So his plan was already going bugger all. Voldemort chuckled softly to himself in mild amusement. Despite the fact that his followers had failed him again, Voldemort was actually not all that surprised, or upset for that matter. He had fully anticipated that it was unlikely that the attack would go as planned, and he had always expected it to come to a fight. The critical mission objectives, that the line of Merlin must be extinguished, he had assigned to himself. That was where no mistakes could be permitted due to the trusting of incompetants.

The first step had been accomplished by killing the Potter whelp, the final step was to remove the source by destroying Merlin himself. The other objectives were secondary. By threatening the children at Hogwarts the Ministry Aurors would exert maximum effort in responding to the attack. But he had created complications that would wrong foot his opponents. He had dispatched teams of his servants across the country to create diversionary attacks. This would confuse and slow the response.

The Ministry forces would try to respond everywhere at first then gradually realize the real attack was at Hogwarts. They would send what they had available to counter attack him. The attacks would be uncoordinated and piecemeal instead of en mass. They would throw themselves pell-mell at his servants heedless of the risks to try and save the children. This should increase their casualty rates, and that was what Voldemort really wanted.

The Ministry was already short handed in trained Aurors, those that died tonight would be impossible to replace. For the fate awaiting his own followers he gave no concern, even if he lost them to the Aurors at three to one the rate of attrition favored him. In the game of power he was playing one expected to sacrifice several pawns in order to take a knight. That was why he had allowed failed servants like Lucius and Bellatrix to remain alive, so they could perform one last service by dying for him tonight in battle.

When the Ministry counter attack began Voldemort anticipated that his Death Eaters would stand and fight out of loyalty to him, or idiotic bonds of friendship and kinship to each other. There was also the fear of facing his vengeance if they fled. Even more compelling at the moment, his servants also knew what fate awaited them if they surrendered or were captured. The deliberate brutality of the attack on Azkaban had made sure of that. None of the worthless bastards would surrender themselves to the Ministry now in hopes of leniency like they did last time. They would die fighting rather than face the Inquisitor’s sphere’s of despair and the Dementor’s kiss. Voldemort figured that the better of his minions would out fight or out smart the Aurors and survive to serve him another day; while the weak and stupid would be culled from his ranks. The perfect win-win scenario.

Upon entering the cavern, he took a moment to contemplate the historic nature of the moment. Before him stood the greatest of the ancient wizards, Merlin himself. How old Merlin was he could only guess, but Voldemort admired his victim for a moment. At the last second of his mortal life Merlin had cheated death of its prey. Voldemort knew that feeling. He had cheated the grim reaper also; he felt a greater sense of camaraderie with Merlin because of it. Few had ever accomplished so much on the road to immortality. This was truly a great moment in the history of magic.

“REDUCTO!” shouted Voldemort with his wand pointed directly at the amber casing which protected Merlin. The brittle casing shattered like glass with pieces flying in every direction. The figure of Merlin, now free of its protection, resumed his mortal existence after a hiatus of over a thousand years. Merlin’s eyes blinked and a half breath was drawn into his lungs, then he died. As he started to fall to the ground the accumulation of a millennium of entropy took effect. His flesh decomposed to dust and fell away; the robes disintegrated exposing dried bones which collapsed. In seconds, the body of Merlin was little more than a pile of dusty bones and rags on the floor.

Upon losing the great source of the magic that had sustained it for all of its existence, Hogwarts castle began to die magically. Not all at once, but gradually. It was as if it were bleeding to death, losing energy that was no longer being replaced. All inside the castle felt the difference; it was if a deathly chill had swept through the castle and descended upon all within it. Voldemort simply laughed and reveled in his success. The line of Merlin was at an end, and Hogwarts was dying. Voldemort now activated his own wards which would prevent any but his own servants from disapparating out of the school grounds. The students and staff were now trapped here with no way to escape his wrath.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Witches night out at Hogwarts wasn’t an especially raucous event, but it was loads of fun for the participants. Poppy Pomfrey, Pomona Sprout, and Irma Pince enjoyed their little late night get togethers and each brought her own specialty to the party. Sprout brought some of her cannabis herb, Pomfrey brought her private stock of firewhiskey, and Pince brought reading and audio-visual selections from her extensive private collection of extreme muggle fem-porn to provide the entertainment. The meeting place moved around from the greenhouse, to the library, and finally to tonight’s location, the hospital dispensary.

There in the back room the three middle-aged witches sat on a large couch with their robes open. The three were fingering themselves frantically as they watched a life-sized projection of a gorgeous young woman in black leather receive oral pleasure from a bound, well endowed, and extremely aroused young male. The groans and moans from the mistress in the video was matched by that of the three witches as they masturbated on the couch.

For some reason Pomfrey was always the first to come, the other girls kidded her about being quick on the draw, but she always retorted that meant she had time for extra orgasms. Pomfrey had just stood up to refill her flask with another round of her own special “witch’s brew’ when she heard the clock begin to chime the alarm. Something was wrong. With her wand she cut off the video projection.

“What the fuck are you doing, Poppy?” shouted Irma. “I was just about to come!”

“Shhhh, listen … the clock is chiming the alarm, something is wrong outside. Hurry and get dressed, McGonny will be looking for us.”

“Damn it!” exclaimed Sprout, “it’s probably that idiot Hagrid up to his usual level of stupidity. He was determined to ‘patrol the grounds’ with that stupid crossbow he carries. I told him he was more likely to trip a false alarm from a warding spell than anything else. Dumb son of a bitch.”

Using their wands the three witches dressed in a flash and made their way to the hospital ward door. As they opened it to go towards the Great Hall, they heard steps approaching them from that direction. Impatient to be done with this false alarm and get back to business, Pince and Sprout took the lead in meeting the advancing party with Pomfrey a step behind. It was probably just McGonagall and the others coming to check on them.

“All right, so what is going on?” asked Pince as she raised her wand to light up the corridor. “Is it that stupid —”

Irma Pince stopped in midsentence as she now saw the approaching party come into the light. She immediately recognized the figure in the lead, she remembered him from his days here as a student, it was Peter Pettigrew. He had long been thought dead, murdered by Sirius Black. Only recently had it been revealed that Pettigrew was the one who had betrayed the Potter’s to their deaths, and blamed it on Black. But he was now a known Death Eater. As was the two standing figures standing immediately behind him, Nott and Mulciber. Pince just stood there frozen in place by surprise. Sprout came to stop beside her, and then the trailing Pomfrey bumped into the back of them both.

“Hello, Madam Pince,” said Peter with a wicked smile on his ugly face. “Remember that nasty detention you gave me my fifth year because I tore a page out of one of your bloody precious books? Do you? Cause I sure do.”

At his signal, the three Death Eaters targeted their wands at the three Hogwarts staff. “AVADA KADAVERA!” they shouted in unison as green beams of light left their wands. Poppy Pomfrey had no time to react. She heard the screams from her two friends in front and then a heavy weight hit her hard in the chest. She was propelled back into the wall. She felt her head connect with a stone in the wall and fell heavily to the floor; the coolness of the stone against her cheek seemed such an odd sensation.

She could hear the sounds of footsteps around her, but they sounded like they were far away. Above her she could hear coarse laughter, and someone saying “How’s that for a detention, your dried up old bitch?” Then more laughter fading away. Finally a curtain of darkness descended over her. So this is death, she thought just before the blackness took her.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Most everyone considered Rubeus J. Hagrid to be the Hogwarts equivalent of the village idiot, and they weren’t all that far off in some ways. Hagrid was competent enough in the simple things, but not all that skilled in the ways of magic. As with many near squib magi, he had only one true talent in the magical realm and that was dealing with magical beasts. Fortunately for Hagrid, that was the one area of magical expertise that few magi chose to specialize in, mostly because horseshit smells pretty much the same whether it comes from a beautiful silvery unicorn or a sweaty plow horse.

Therefore, Hagrid mainly kept his job because nobody else wanted Hagrid’s job. Still, Hagrid was very loyal to the school and to those who were friendly to him. He had patrolled the grounds with his trusty crossbow and Fang for hours seeing nothing more suspicious going on but students frolicking around looking for likely places to engage in breeding activities. He had returned to his trusty hut to put a kettle on for a quick midnight repast, then another tour of the grounds before lights out.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He couldn’t put a finger on any one thing, but he just had a feeling that something evil was afoot. Looking down at Fang, he saw that he felt it too. Evil was afoot, and near to them. He drained his mug quickly and picked up his crossbow, he needed to head towards the castle, to warn Professor McGonagall. Hagrid picked up his umbrella that secretly contained his old wand concealed inside the handle from the stand. Technically, he was still forbidden to perform magic, but sod the Wizengamot. It had been a bum rap anyway; it was that damned Tom Riddle that had made a fool of him all those years ago.

As he moved towards the castle he heard the clock begin to chime the alarm — damn it, he was too late. Hurrying as best he could, he arrived at the front doors and found them already sealed and beyond his power to open. Still, he knew that there was dark magic forming out beyond the main gates. Something evil was out there trying to get in. If the alarm was sounding then the Ministry was alerted and help was on the way. Hagrid knew he wasn’t much good with a wand, but he had something better than a wand to defend the castle. In addition, he was half-giant, which meant he could soak up a lot of punishment. He started grabbing nearby stone statues, rocks, and benches, and setting them into place before the massive doors, then he put his back to the main doors and settled in for a fight behind his quickly made breastworks. It didn’t provide much cover but it would have to do. Fang came by and lay down beside him. If the Dark Lord intended to get into Hogwarts by the front door he’d just have to go past their dead bodies first.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

In a loft room above the Three Broomsticks, Roe Hooch and Ripa Balzhoff had been cuddling together in bed when the great clock began to chime incessantly. At first, they had paid it no mind as they lay in each other’s arms enjoying the afterglow of their evening of love, but as it continued, they realized it was sounding an alert. They quickly rolled out of bed and dressed using their wands as Hooch sent an alarm message to the Ministry.

They were prepared for this eventuality. Hooch opened the Ministry case she had brought with her and retrieved two Black Wands. She handed one to her lover and put the other in her own belt. From the bottom of the case she took out two enchanted high-collared robes. They were top-secret defensive gear, the latest issue from the Ministry for Aurors and Inquisitors. The robes acted on curses like the muggle’s body armor acted on projectiles. It could deflect or stop many dangerous spells, or absorb enough energy from a killing curse to leave the wearer weakened but alive. However, the robes did not give the wearer invulnerability, and their shielding magic was depleted with each curse that hit.

The robes also had an optional cloaking enchantment that combined the Bedazzling Hex and Disillusionment Charm effects into one. It allowed the wearer to blend into the background making it difficult for an enemy to see you. It wasn’t the complete concealment of a true invisibility cloak; an opponent could see you if they concentrated hard enough. The cloak had the added advantage in a close quarters fight that friendly forces wearing cloaks bearing a special identifying enchantment could see you quite clearly. That cut down on getting zapped in the back by friendly fire because your own people didn’t know you were standing in the way.

From her own luggage, Professor Balzhoff pulled out the two crystal necklaces she had made several weeks earlier from the spirit crystals Harry had purchased for her. Roe had told her that she had no defenses against Dementors other than to deflect them with the Patronus spell, so Ripa had taught her to perform the spirit entrapment spell using Ministry Dementors as semi-willing guinea pigs. The crystals had been set in silver, and strung so that trapped spirits could be detained within them for later destruction.

“It’s bad,” said Roe as she looked out the window and saw the Dark Mark now formed over the school. It was the worst-case scenario; the Death Eaters were already inside Hogwarts. Looking about from their vantage point, she then saw the somewhat confused Death Eater minions moving out of the tree line to begin their attack on Hogsmeade. Standing at her side and watching the unfolding events Ripa gave Roe a final kiss as she put the necklace around her neck.

“Watch your skinny arse out there,” she said with a grin, “I wouldn’t want to lose my main bitch now that I’ve just gotten her back in my bed.”

“I can take care of my arse, you saw to that,” said Hooch as she gently stroked her lover’s cheek. “So you just worry about your own arse. Let’s go.”

As they left their rooms, they saw the heads of sleepy seventh year students poking out of their doors bewildered at the noise. “We’re under attack by Death Eaters,” Roe shouted, “get dressed quickly, grab your wands and gather downstairs. Make a fight of it.”

Some of the heads simply stared back in disbelief, others ducked back inside. Roe knew that only a few of them, if any, would actually form downstairs and fight. Most would hope that if they stayed inside and kept quiet the Death Eaters would pass on by them. Arriving in the common room of the Three Broomsticks they saw Madam Rosemerta standing there with a few patrons, most of them drunk. Rosemerta was frightened, but she looked determined to defend herself as best she could. Roe told her to gather everyone downstairs and try to make a fight there as a group, mass their spells into groups of Death Eaters to discourage them.

Ripa and Roe knew that they could provide their best service by going on the offensive, take down the leaders, and break up the enemy ranks while they were still forming. They would buy time until the Ministry reinforcements arrived. At the door they touched their wands to the cloaks to activate the camouflage. Then they shifted their regular wands to their left hands to act as a main gauche. Taking out the Black Wands with their right hand they gave each other one last kiss and plunged out the door to take the battle to the enemy.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Ron and Hermione had made it back to the Gryffindor common room about 11:30. Most had already partied themselves out and gone on to bed. A couple of older students sat talking by the fire. Ron led Hermione to a soft couch near the back wall that had always been a favorite of his and soon they were discretely snogging, trying not to be noticed.

“Hermione, there is something I want to ask you,” said Ron, “I really do love you, will you marry me and be my wife?”

Hermione sat there stunned; this had really come out of the blue. She looked deeply into his eyes for a few moments and saw that he really was sincere. Hermione knew that if she had her druthers she would have wished to have heard Harry ask her this question; but that would never be. Harry truly wanted Ginny as his wife. Hermione didn’t want to think of Ron as a consolation prize, but he was a good man, and had the potential to be a good and kind lover. She could do far worse than him.

“Yes, Ron, I’ll marry you.”

Ron just sat there for a few seconds as if in disbelief that Hermione had actually accepted his offer, then he pulled her to him and kissed her. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear.

As it neared midnight, Hermione told Ron that it was time for them to get some sleep, there would be time enough tomorrow to find a private place and pick up where they had left off. The night had almost dreamlike to her. She had made love to Ron, and he had asked her to marry him. Still, she felt a pang of regret, there was another who would always hold a place of affection in her heart, but his heart had been given to another, her best friend. It would have to do.

Hermione had just gotten undressed and about to crawl into bed when she heard the clock start chiming the alarm signal. Something was wrong; she hurriedly redressed and went down to the common room. The entryway into the common room was no longer there, it had been replaced by a solid stonewall. Hermione knew that this could only mean that Hogwarts was under attack. The common room was slowly becoming packed as the Gryffindor students came down from the dormitories to see what was the matter. Hermione saw Ron tugging his robes back on as he came down the stairs too.

As House Prefects they tried to restore order and see if everyone was accounted for, that’s when it was noticed that Ginny and Neville were absent. In a couple of minutes though all hope of order was lost when the wall around where the opening back into the castle had been suddenly acted as though it had been struck by a giant hammer. A cloud of mortar and stone dust recoiled from the fractured wall and covered everything and everyone in the commons in a fine gray powder. Someone, or something, was trying to break into the common room.

The younger students panicked and began to run back upstairs to the dormitories. The natural leadership was missing as many of the seventh year students were away in Hogsmeade or other places. Only Ron, Hermione and a few other seventh years were there to try and organize a defense. That idea went to hell as a second wave of force struck the entryway and caused the protective layers of stone to crumble into a heap. A narrow opening to the outside corridor had been forced through the wall. Another such blast of power would remove the remaining barrier and let whatever was trying to enter do so.

The remaining students now tried to flee. Hermione and Ron tried to get some order established to prevent trampling, but many students were injured in the rush. Hermione knew that if the attackers were Death Eaters then she was the only one with the training in forbidden curses to try and take them on. She quickly aimed her wand at the opening in the wall and shouted the killing curse. “AVADA KADAVRA!”

A brilliant green light shot from her wand as Ron looked on in total amazement that Hermione knew how to perform the killing curse. She knew that she had hit something outside from the shrieks she could hear coming through the opening in the wall.

Outside in the corridor, an anguished Bellatrix LeStrange screamed in grief and rage as she knelt over the body of her husband, Rodolphus, who had been hit in the head by a death curse from within the commons. Snape was shocked into inaction. The students weren’t supposed to know how to do that type of magic, they only knew how to stun, now an old classmate had died only inches from him. It could easily have been him now lying on the floor dead.

“Stand away from the middle you fools,” Snape shouted, thinking that there must be a teacher who was trapped in the common room with the students. No matter, more fish in the net. “Focus on the job you twits, one more good hit and we’ll break through. Then we can rush them.”

The remaining Death Eaters formed and sent a final blast of magical energy into the wall shattering the stone and leaving an opening large enough to get through. As a group they focused on the opening and sent a stream of curses through the opening to clear the path before them.

Inside the commons, Hermione and Ron heard the sound of breaking glass above them; the students were smashing the windows to exit the tower using their broomsticks. Hermione figured that if there were already Death Eaters inside the castle surely there must be even more outside it, but it was too late to do anything, the herd was in panic mode. All she could do was try and buy them time to escape.

“Ron,” she shouted, “go upstairs and help the others get out. Use the Patronus charm if there are any Death Eaters outside, you know how.”

“Hermione, come with me, I’m not leaving you here.”

“Somebody has to slow them down,” she shouted back. “I’m the only one who can, go and once everybody is clear I’ll get out last. Hurry, I can’t last too long against all of them.”

Ron turned to go up the stairs as another wave of spells came through the opening. Another Reducto spell struck the back wall sending a rain of heavy stones bouncing off the wall and ricocheting across the room. One of these struck Hermione’s left arm and broke it. The impact sent her flying across the room to the floor, her now shattered left arm at a painful angle. Ron heard her screaming as she came to a stop and he turned back to the commons.

“HERMIONE!” he screamed.

“Go on, Ron,” Hermione cried out over the crippling pain she felt through her body. “Save yourself, I’m done for. You can’t save me. Go!”

“I not leaving you, Hermione,” Ron said as he ran back and knelt beside her. “I love you.”

The Death Eaters filed cautiously into the Gryffindor commons led by Lucius Malfoy.

“How touching!” sneered the elder Malfoy at the couple. “The muggle loving blood traitor Weasley is in love with his little mudblood girlfriend.” Behind him the bevy of Death Eaters snickered and laughed.

Hermione looked up at Ron; she had somehow managed to retain her grip on her wand through the hit she had taken. She guessed that all that training she had received really did pay off. She had just enough reserve to put up a Patronus that would hold the Death Eaters at bay while Ron escaped.

“Ron,” she whispered so only he could hear, “I’m going to cast a Patronus, you can escape behind it, please go, you don’t have to die with me, please go.”

Ronald Weasley looked down at the pain-wracked body of his wife-to-be, and knew he couldn’t leave her, but then his mind latched onto one last desperate hope. Tears filled his eyes as he knew what must be done.

“I love you, Hermione Granger,” he said again to the laughter of the Death Eaters in the room. “But I have no intentions of dying with you.”

To the surprise of his opponents, Ron stood and pointed his wand at them. “EXPELLIARMIS!” he shouted as a reddish light left the tip of his wand.

Lucius Malfoy deflected the spell with contempt. “You call that a spell do you, Weasley? Let me show you a real spell. AVADA KADAVRA!”

Ron simply stood there as the bolt of green light struck him in the chest and he was thrown back to land on the floor in a heap beside the horror struck Hermione. “RON! Oh no, nooooo, noooooo, Ron,” she screamed as she pulled at his body. But to no avail, Ron Weasley was dead.

“One … less … Weasley,” mocked Lucius, to the continued laughter of the others. “And now it is your turn to die, girlie.”