Tori stood nervously over Lee as he fiddled with a worked down radio in the corner. "Tori," He said slowly, "I can't focus with you standing over me like that."

"Right. Sorry." Tori apologized, taking a step backward. Lee shook his head, "The message will get out to them, I'm almost done..."

Tori nodded, glancing around the room. Everyone was once again talking amongst themselves, wondering how to prepare for battle. Fred's voice took Tori out of her daze.

"You alright?" He asked her. Tori nodded, "Yeah. Lee's getting the message out to the order. I have about fifty girls lining up to be bridesmaids..."

Fred let out a laugh that caused Tori to smile. The room went silent as Lee began to talk into the radio. He pulled out his own Dumbledore's Army coin and gestured the others to do the same.

All at once, the joined warmed up, meaning someone had sent another message. Lee continued to talk to his Potterwatch audience. He repeated the same phrase over and over.

"Potter has been spotted at Hogwarts. We are preparing for battle."

When Lee finished, he tapped the radio with his wand and shrugged. "Now we wait."

Luckily, they did not have to wait long. After about fifteen minutes, the portrait swung open and several people came into view. First, it was Oliver Wood followed by Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet.

Tori greeted her friends quickly. "We thought you went missing! Godric, I was worried sick." Alicia began, wrapping her arms around Tori.

"I'm alright," Tori assured them. "I wanted to reach out, I really did. But we had to go into hiding as soon as I came back."

"What happened?" Angelina asked.

Tori quickly explained the past few months and where she had been. She spoke quietly, unable to met their eyes as they stared at her. But when she finished, they didn't have time to ask questions.

Kingsley and Lupin fell through the portrait, followed by Bill, Fleur, Molly, and Arthur. Moments later, Harry came back with Luna

"Harry, what's happening?" said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school... Snape's run for it— What are you doing here? How did you know?"

"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."

"What first, Harry?" called George.

"What's going on?" Tori asked.

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."

There was a great roar and a surge toward the stairs, Harry was pressed back against the wall as they ran past hi, the mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and Harry's old Quidditch team, all with their wands drawn, heading up into the main castle.

"Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand, she took it and followed him back up the stairs.

The crowd was thinning. Only a little knot of people remained below in the Room of Requirement, and Harry joined them. Mrs. Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Tori, Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur.

"You're underage!" Molly shouted at her daughter as Harry approached "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

"I won't!"

Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip.

"I'm in Dumbledore's Army—"

"A teenagers' gang!"

"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred.

"She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you three were thinking of bringing her with you—"

Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of themselves.

"Mom's right, Ginny," said Bill gently. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."

"I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "my whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and..."

"Fine," She said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say good-by now, then, and—"

There was a scuffling and a great thump. Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up no the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said, "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I— I—"

Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently, he had not expected to run into most of his family. There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Fleur turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension. "So... 'ow eez leetle Teddy?"

Lupin blinked at her, startled. The silence between the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice. Harry and Tori exchanged a skewed glance.

"I... oh yes... he's fine!" Lupin said loudly. "yes, Tonks is with him... at her mother's..."

Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one another, frozen.

"Here, I've got a picture?" Lupin shouted, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to Fleur, Tori, Harry, who saw a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera.

"I was a fool!" Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a... a..."

"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred.

Percy swallowed.

"Yes, I was!"

"Well, you can't say fairer than that," said Fred, holding his hand out to Percy.

Molly burst into tears. She ran forward, pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his father.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Percy said.

Arthur blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son.

"What made you see sense, Perce?" inquired George.

"It's been coming on for a while," said Percy, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his traveling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I am."

"Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said Tori with a grin.

George spoke once more in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."

"So, you're my sister-in-law now?" Said Percy, shaking hands with Fleur as they hurried off toward the staircase with Bill, Tori, Fred, and George.

Fleur and Percy proceeded to speak as Tori followed the twins further ahead. She held her wand out in front of her, ready for what the battle would bring.

it's staring omg im so nervous