Ginny Weasley was lying in her four-poster, listening to her roommates sleep, when she felt the coin in her pocket grow hot. Trying not to move and make the bedsprings creak, she withdrew the worn gold coin from her pocket and read the message. Death Eaters have infiltrated. Prepare to fight. Ginny leapt out of bed and began to dress quickly, grabbing her wand.

“Quick, everyone, get up!” she shouted. “Violet, Lucinda, Venus, Raina, wake up!”

“What’s going on?” Violet muttered.

“Death Eaters, they’re in the castle!” Ginny shouted. “You have to get up and help me start evacuating the younger years!” All four of her roommates shot upright.

“How the hell did Death Eaters get in?” Lucinda asked, grabbing her glasses from her bedside table and blinking at Ginny.

“I don’t know, but we have to get the first, second and third years out!” Ginny shouted, pulling on her shoes and opening the door. “They’re too young to fight, they’ll be killed. Now, are you going to help me or are you going to stay here and wait for the Death Eaters to kill you?”

“I’d rather help,” Raina said, pulling robes on over her pyjamas and brandishing her wand. “Lucinda and Venus, you’re with me. We’ll deal with the boys. Ginny and Violet, you take the girls.” Ginny nodded and, grabbing a yawning Violet by the sleeve, followed the other three out of the dormitory as an explosion rocked the castle. Ginny pulled out her coin and sent Neville a message. Direct them to the secret passage, make sure they get to the Hogs Head.

“The first years are in here,” Violet said as they stopped in front of the door lowest on the staircase. When the door turned out to be locked, Ginny blasted it aside.

“Everyone wake up!” She shouted, running into the room. “You-Know-Who is in the castle and you have to get out of here!”

“Ginny, you could have broken it to them gently!” Violet shouted as all five of the first years started screaming loud enough to wake the whole castle.

“Just go down to the common room and you’ll be shown where to go!” Ginny shouted over the hubbub. The five terrified girls ran towards the door and Ginny could hear them running down the stairs.

“That went well,” Violet remarked as she and Ginny climbed the stairs to the second year dormitory. Ginny grinned and opened the door.

“You-Know-Who is in Hogwarts!” she shouted. The second years inside, who had all already been awoken by the explosion, needed no more incentive before they were gone. Ginny could hear Neville shouting below them, directing the panicked students towards the Room of Requirement.

After repeating the process with the third years, Ginny and Violet descended the stairs to find Neville, Seamus and Dean showing the younger students where to go and most of the upper four years in the common room. They were wearing grim faces and pulling wands from their pockets. Ginny searched the common room desperately and experienced a pang, like no other, when she saw no trace of Harry, Ron or Hermione. She glanced over at the portrait hole, the flow of students out of it had abruptly stopped.

“What’s holding them up?” Neville asked. “They need to get out quickly!” They found out a second later when Ginny’s family - barring Ron and Percy - climbed through the portrait hole. Behind them were Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan and a number of other Hogwarts graduates. Tears came to Ginny’s eyes as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her mother.

“How did you know?” Neville asked, staring in disbelief at the new crowd occupying the room.

“These coins!” Fred replied, holding up his old coin. “I had it in my pocket because I thought it was a real Galleon!” Neville grinned and thrust his wand into the air.

“For Dumbledore!” He shouted. Everyone began cheering raucously and the air bristled with wands.

“You weren’t going to fight this battle without us, were you?” A familiar voice asked. Everyone turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione enter the room, followed by half of the Order of the Phoenix. Ginny stared in disbelief at them for a moment before a smile spread slowly across her face.

“Harry’s here!” Someone shouted. The cry spread through the room and the cheering grew louder. Ginny was the first to break away from the crowd and run to the trio. She hugged them all, clinging to Harry the longest and trying desperately not to give in to the urge to kiss him.

“We’re ready to fight,” Kingsley said in his deep voice. “We fight for everything we’ve worked for. We fight for freedom.” He took out his wand and lit the tip. The white light filled the room and illuminated the face of a new arrival.

“Percy?!” The Weasleys all exclaimed simultaneously. Percy stared at the group gathered before him, all looking at him with surprise.

“Surprise,” he said weakly. “I was in the area, and…” His voice trailed off as he saw the looks his twin brothers were giving him.

“What are you doing here?” Fred asked.

“Have you come to make Ministry trouble?” George questioned, staring coldly at Percy.

“I’m here to fight with you,” Percy said. “I was a fool to disown my family. I was a fool to set the Ministry and my career over my family. I was a-”

“Prat!” Fred and George interjected. Percy nodded grimly.

“I’m sorry for everything,” he said. “But I want to fight alongside my family and my friends. I want to help, I refuse to be stuck in the Ministry’s pocket any more.”

“You can fight,” Fred said, nodding at the man whose entire body appeared to sag in relief.

“But don’t expect us to forgive you any time soon,” George continued. Percy nodded and walked over to stand with his family. Mrs Weasley burst into tears and embraced her son.

“Do we have a plan?” Charlie asked. Everyone turned to look at Harry.

“The plan is to fight and protect each other,” Harry said. “If you see someone on the ground, take them somewhere out of harm’s way. Does anyone know healing magic?” A few hands raised out of the crowd. “You will be our battlefield medi-witches and medi-wizards. If you see someone who is injured, I would ask you to do your best with them and then get them out of harm’s way. Ginny and Neville, could you go and notify all the teachers? We need them to be ready to fight too.”

“We’re on it, Harry,” Neville said and he and Ginny left the common room where Harry was still giving orders.

They started towards Professor McGonagall’s quarters, the closest to Gryffindor Tower. Ginny knocked on the tall oaken door and listened to the sounds of someone walking across the room within.

“Miss Weasley, Mr Longbottom, why are you out of bed at this time?” Professor McGonagall asked as she opened the door.

“Professor McGonagall, there are Death Eaters in Hogwarts and we need the help of the teachers to fight them,” Neville explained. Professor McGonagall looked stricken, then her eyes hardened like steel and she drew her wand.

“I will notify the other teachers,” she said. “We will fight with you.” Ginny nodded and watched the woman run down the corridor.

They returned to the common room to find Harry attempting to put the remaining students into groups. The noise was unbelievable as people clamoured to be placed with their family and their friends and sidled into different groups if they disliked their placement.

“There’s a bloody war going on and you’re worried about who is in your group?!” Ron shouted disbelievingly. “We’re going to fight a battle that everyone may not come out of alive so stop being so childish!” The room fell silent and the students meekly allowed Harry to sort them into groups. Ginny saw the admiring look Hermione gave Ron and the way their hands clasped momentarily.

“Each group will go with an Order member to protect a certain part of the school,” Harry said. “We know vaguely where Death Eaters may attempt to enter. While we may end up fighting away from these locations, I want you to attempt to close to them. Neville, Dean, Seamus and Lavender, you will be watching the Room of Requirement. All the students should be through by now. I want you to allow nothing to go in or come out of that room.” The four seventh years nodded and left the room.

“The group furthest to the right, you will be accompanying Remus to the towers.” Remus embraced his wife and led his group out into the corridor.

“The next group, Arthur will take you down to the dungeons. The next will follow Kingsley to the Entrance and Great Halls.” Harry continued to send the groups away with the members of the Order until finally only the four youngest Weasleys, Harry and Hermione remained.

“You’re doing really well, Harry,” Hermione praised. “You’re a leader.” Harry ran a hand nervously through his hair.

“That was only Gryffindor,” he said. “What about the other houses?”

“The teachers were going to warn the other houses and evacuate the younger students,” Ginny said. Harry nodded and turned to the others.

“Stick together,” he advised. “Fred and George, will you keep an eye on Ginny?” Fred saluted and grabbed hold of Ginny.

“Come on, Ginny, let’s go and fight!” George shouted enthusiastically as, their wands held out in front of them, the three Weasleys walked slowly down the corridors, peering into every shadow, treating every nook and cranny with caution in case a Death Eater ambushed them. A second explosion rocked the floor beneath their feet, making them fight to keep their balance.

“What was that?” Fred asked, his face white beneath his freckles as his eyes darted around the immediate area, searching for their enemies.

“It sounds like it came from down there,” Ginny said. “Come on!” She ran towards the Grand Staircase, followed by her brothers. Just as they reached the third floor, they heard the screams.

The scene they saw when they reached the dungeons was one of total devastation. The corridors were filled with foul-smelling black smoke and pieces of charred and burning wood littered the floor. As they blindly stumbled through the corridors, Ginny’s lit wand-tip illuminated the bodies that already lay motionless on the ground. Kneeling down to check who lay there, Ginny’s throat constricted as she recognised Lucinda’s lopsided glasses. Brushing away her tears, she jumped to her feet as she heard gruff voices, accompanied by heavy footsteps coming her way.

“Greyback, I told you, the Dark Lord said I was allowed to steal the dead’s belongings!”

“Dolohov, I don’t think you understood me. The Dark Lord didn’t want us to cause a panic by killing students!”

“So that explosion you just caused won’t cause a panic?!”

“Hello, boys,” Ginny said as the arguing Death Eaters came into view. “Stupefy!” Their jaws were still hanging open in shock as the red jet of light hit them.

“Ginny, what are you doing going off on your own?” Fred asked, appearing suddenly at her side. “My baby sister isn’t going to get hurt because I wasn’t watching her!”

“I’m sixteen Fred, I’m not a baby any more,” Ginny shouted over the sudden chaos as they saw the vague colours of various spells flying through the smoke ahead of them. “I know my way around a wand.”

“You’re still not leaving our sides again,” George said, whirling around as someone appeared from the gloom.

“Drop your wands, it’s me, Neville!” he shouted. Fred and George both breathed out in relief but Ginny kept her wand held up. A jet of red light shot from her wand and hit ‘Neville’ square in the chest. When she looked closer at the man, the face was that of a Death Eater.

“Neville was up on the top floor, he wouldn’t have been able to get down here that fast,” Ginny said. “Never lower your wand until you know that person really is speaking to you.” Fred and George nodded and they continued through the corridor, ducking or jumping aside as curse flew past them and stunning any Death Eaters they came across.

“Ginny, we found one of our own injured!” Fred called. Ginny whirled around and saw Orla Quikke, a Ravenclaw in her own year, lying on her side coughing.

“The Healers were working their way down,” Ginny said. “We can’t help her right now. Our best bet is to get her out of the way!” Nodding grimly, Fred and George lifted the injured girl and carried her into a deserted classroom.

“I don’t want to leave her, but we have to keep moving,” George said. “There might be more injured like her, and we have to move them out of the battlefield.” Ginny nodded, reluctantly left Orla alone in the room and entered back into the fray.

“Ginny, they’ve moved up to the Entrance Hall!” Violet shouted, her face blackened by soot. “We had to fall back to treat a few of the injured!”

“We’ll follow them,” Ginny replied. “Orla is in that classroom, try and attend to her. And I saw Lucinda on the ground further back. I don’t know if she’s alive or not, but I would say the sooner you get to her the better.” Violet blinked rapidly for a few moments and nodded. Ginny turned and followed her brothers back along the corridor towards the sounds of fighting now echoing from the Entrance Hall.

She knew why Violet had almost cried. To her and many of the other students, the war against Voldemort was some distant storm that they believed would never hang over their heads. They had never thought that they would have to fight a battle, nor that they would lose people they loved. Perhaps, in their idealized version of war, the good side won without anyone being injured or dying. War wasn’t like that. She’d seen the bitter reality of it and, no matter which side won, both sides lost soldiers. Already she’d seen the casualties of this battle. One of her friends was lying there amongst the dead. This was the reality of war.

“Stupefy!” Fred cried as the three Weasleys erupted into the Entrance Hall where shouts and flashes of light filled the place. The curse hit a masked figure who had been battling with Venus. Venus turned and smiled gratefully at them as they ran past her, shooting curses as they went.

“Kingsley!” George shouted as they saw a familiar broad-shouldered figure shooting curses at Bellatrix Lestrange. “Have you seen the rest of our family?”

“Outside!” Kingsley shouted as a reply, ducking a green jet of light and retaliating with a stunner. “That’s where the battle really is!” George ran past, followed quickly by Fred but Ginny hung back to help Kingsley.

“Look out!” Venus shouted, fear in her voice as she watched Ginny battling Bellatrix. Ginny ducked a curse that hit the wall behind her, causing it to explode violently and send bits of plaster and stone over the fighters in the hall.

“Ginny, weren’t you supposed to stick with Fred and George?” Kingsley asked, shooting another stunner at Bellatrix.

“I got bored of trailing around after them like a child!” Ginny bellowed back, blocking a stunner from another Death Eater attempting to help Bellatrix. The Death Eater in question engaged Ginny in combat, effectively ending any talking, excluding the shouted incantations as she ducked, shielded herself and occasionally found a breach in his defence.

“Go for the offence, Ginny!” Venus screamed from the sidelines. Ginny dived behind a statue that was blasted apart by her opponent. The battle was getting worse and Voldemort hadn’t even appeared yet. Nothing had been seen of the trio since they’d sent everyone away. If they were dead, there was no hope for any of them.

“I won’t let there be no hope!” Ginny screamed, sending a stunner towards her opponent. If Harry, Ron and Hermione were dead, she wouldn’t let everyone believe they could do nothing but stand aside and watch Voldemort and his Death Eaters destroy everything. They could fight back, with or without Harry.

“Crucio!” the Death Eater shouted. Ginny’s dive to the side wasn’t quite fast enough. The curse hit her and her world exploded into a black hole of excruciating pain. She screamed and writhed on the cold stone floor and through the red dots in front of her eyes she could see the Death Eater walking slowly towards her, his wand out to finish the job.

“Not Ginny!” a voice screamed and a blur passed across her vision. The pain was gone in an instant and when Ginny looked up she saw Violet battling the Death Eater fiercely.

“Ginny, go, just go!” Violet shrieked. “Lucinda is dead, make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else!” Ginny nodded and ran outside, pausing only to dodge a curse from Bellatrix.

“Ginny, how could you stay behind?” Fred asked as she arrived in the epicentre of what looked like a spectacular fireworks display. “Was that you screaming?”

“No, it was someone else,” Ginny lied, deciding it would be better to tell him later what had happened. “Where’s everyone else?”

“I last saw Mum taking her group to the kitchens,” George said, jogging up to them. “Dad was down in the dungeons, Bill and Fleur were taking the people who know healing magic to the Hospital Wing, Charlie is somewhere in all this,” he gestured to the general battle surrounding them, “and Percy was last seen fighting Lucius Malfoy.”

“Move!” Fred yelled, and pushed Ginny aside as a jet of orange light flew out of the fray towards them. Ginny crashed onto the grass and fought to get to her feet, ducking curses as she charged into the battle.

“Ginny, what are you doing out here?” Charlie yelled, recognising his sister throwing jinxes left and right. “It’s not safe!”

“I don’t care!” Ginny shouted. “Where’s Hagrid? I heard you two were teaming up.”

“He went into the forest for something!” Charlie replied, ducking a jinx and throwing one of his own. “He wouldn’t tell me what.”

A roar split the night, making the very air vibrate with the sound. Every soldier on the battlefield, whether of the Hogwarts army or the Death Eaters, stopped battling and looked wildly around for the source of the sound. The ground was vibrating beneath their feet as if a whole army was charging at them.

“HAGGER!” came a roar and a giant loomed into view. People screamed and started running, Death Eaters and students alike scrambling to safety. Centaurs suddenly bloomed out of the forest, firing bows and arrows towards the school. Ginny was laughing and merrily shooting curses at the retreating Death Eaters when a howl of misery not unlike that of a wounded dog reached her ears. The happiness lasted only seconds, for the words that echoed around the grounds and school pierced her heart like a splinter.

"Harry Potter is dead."