At the same time, Sirius and Jenna slowly lowered their wands, yet they held each other's gazes. At last, Jenna turned to look around the large room. Everyone was already leaving through its doors, although Jenna couldn't see any sign of Harry, Ron, or Hermione.

    Jenna and Sirius both decided to follow the rest, realizing that they were headed toward the Great Hall, where everyone was already gathered and Professor McGonagall was speaking.

      "...evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

Many of the students looked petrified. But as Harry was making his way into the hall, all eyes fell on him.

Just then, one of the boys stood up at the Hufflepuff table and shouted, "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

     "If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall, looking paler than Jenna had ever seen her, though she held on a brave face. "We will place protection around the castle, but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects —"

But her final words were drowned as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

There was silence in the Hall now, the kind of silence that presses against the eardrums, that seems too huge to be contained by walls.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

The silence swallowed everyone again. Every head turned, every eye in the place seemed to have found Harry. Then a girl rose from the Slytherin table and raised a shaking arm and screamed, "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

  Jenna and Sirius raised their wands along with the rest of the Order members. Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood up defensively.

Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead with their wands raised.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. The rest of your House could follow, if they wish."

Jenna looked over once she heard the grinding of benches and then the sound of the Slytherins trooping out on the other side of the Hall.

"The rest of you, follow on!" cried Professor McGonagall.

Slowly the four tables emptied. The Slytherin table was completely deserted, but a number of older Ravenclaws remained seated while their fellows filed out. Even more Hufflepuffs stayed behind, and half of Gryffindor remained in their seats, necessitating Professor McGonagall's descent from the teachers' platform to chivvy the underage on their way.

"Absolutely not, Creevey, go! And you, Peakes!"

Jenna kept her eyes focused on Harry as he hurried over to the Weasleys and the rest of the Order, as they were all sitting together at the Gryffindor table. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Haven't you found — ?" began Arthur, looking worried. But he broke off as Kingsley and Moody had stepped forward on the raised platform to address those who had remained behind.

"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast!"

Kingsley started ordering while Moody stayed behind him, his healthy eye roaming the hall.

"A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor — where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work spells. Meanwhile Remus, Arthur, and I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school —"

"Sounds like a job for us," called Fred, indicating himself and George, and Kingsley nodded in approval.

      Just then, Jenna turned at the sound of rushed footsteps, only to see Tonks run through the Great Hall among the mass of running people who were exiting.

     Remus's eyes widened and he went pale as she reached him. "What are you doing here!?"

   "I couldn't sit back at home while you were here," said Tonks.

     "But what about Teddy?" said Remus, still in shock.

      "He's at home with my mum." Tonks smiled, bringing him into a hug before pulling away quickly, her arms still around his neck. "Besides... it's you who needs me tonight."

"All right, leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!" Moody shouted, grabbing all of their attention.

     Sirius and Jenna were standing side by side, though neither of them dared to speak a word to the other.

      "FRED!" Turning around at the familiar voice, Jenna and Sirius saw Lexi shouting after Fred to stop him, but he had already left the Great Hall through the panicked crowd.

"And what are you still doing here?" Sirius asked Lexi with raised brows. "Your father would kill me if anything happens to you!"

"But I want to fight back!" said Lexi fiercely.

"Sirius, she's of age. You can't force her to go back," Jenna retorted.

"It's bad enough that you're here!" Sirius snapped at her. "Stop motivating others too!"

      "She's not motivating me!" Lexi said back. "I want to stay! I have to!"

  "Ugh, please! One stubborn woman at a time!" Sirius huffed loudly, before turning to face Jenna angrily. "Go. Home."

"I told you, Sirius. I'm not leaving." She then grimaced. "Not until I've paid my respects to Avery, Trevors, Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange."

      Those were the people who had been haunting Jenna's nightmares for the past years. Jenna had many personal reasons for wanting Avery dead, back from the time she had been undercover. Trevors was the one who had killed Marlene and her Family. The other three were the reason the Longbottoms could never be with their son.

She wanted all of them dead.

Taking advantage of Sirius's distraction, Jenna noticed how Lexi slipped away out of his reach and made a run for it, trying to find where Fred had gone.

     Sirius sighed, closing his eyes for a moment longer before leaving the castle along with Jenna. A mass of students were running in their opposite direction as the two of them exited through the entrance hall, standing underneath the night sky of the Hogwarts grounds.

With one last glance at each other, they raised their wands and pointed them upward just the way the Hogwarts Professors had, casting the protective enchantments.

     "Protego Maxima... Fianto Duri..." Jenna whispered, watching the blue jets of light leave her wand and shoot upwards, joining the others to create a magnificent shield around the castle.

  She then heard Professor McGonagall cry out with her wand raised, "Piertotum Locomotor!"

On cue, all along the walls of the castle the statues and suits of armor jumped down from their plinths.

"Hogwarts is threatened!" shouted Professor McGonagall over the echoing crashes from the floors above and below. "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"

      Jenna then felt a shiver rush down her spine as she looked up and saw hundreds of Death Eaters standing outside the grounds of Hogwarts, getting ready to break down the enchantments and attack.