"Draco, stop it!" I yelled as Draco pulled me towards the Great Lake.

"What did you call me again?" he teased, not letting go of me.

"Princess", I grinned, laughing as he started tickling me again. "Stop it!" I yelled out.

"Take it back", he laughed as he pulled me into the grass. Summer had properly set in at the beginning of May, making it very pleasant outside.

"Then stop stealing my nicknames", I complained, trying to grab his hands so he'd stop tickling me."

"Doesn't mean you can't use them anymore, love", he said, finally quitting so I could breathe properly again.

"It does, because I want my own little nickname, originality and all that."

"Well, princess just doesn't do it for me", he sighed, laying down in the grass. I rolled on my side, pushing some hair out of his face. He stared at me with his beautiful silvery eyes, a relaxed look on his face.

Suddenly, he shot up, a grimace replacing the relaxed look.

"What's wrong?" I asked as he pulled up his sleeve. The Dark Mark looked more prominent than it had before and it seemed to move on his skin.

"What's happening?" I asked, not enjoying seeing him in pain.

"He's calling for us. He's calling all Death Eaters, something is happening", Draco said, panic in his eyes. Just then I noticed how clouds had blocked the sun. I looked up to be met by the shocking sight of the Dark Mark above Hogwarts, drifting in the sky.

"Draco", I whispered, my voice barely audible as I stood up. Draco stood up too and we stood there for a while, staring at the mark in the sky.

"This is trouble, we have to go, Ellie, this is bad", Draco said, grabbing my hand.

"We have to go help", I stated.

"Ellie, Death Eaters are coming here. That means this is the last place you want to be right now", he said. This scared me. I just needed to go see my friends. Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Nott, Benji. I needed to see Kreacher, too. I needed to warn them, to see them.

We were almost back at the castle when we were met with a most peculiar spell. A Patronus tabby cat danced through the sky around us, but the caster wasn't in sight. It then opened its mouth and the voice of McGonagall startled me.

"Head Boy and Head Girl, please report to the Great Hall right away, it's an emergency", the cat said before disintegrating. I grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him with me.

We found McGonagall and all other teachers in the Great Hall. Some of the other prefects had already arrived too.

"Professor, what's going on?" I asked as my eyes scanned the room panicky.

"The castle is under attack", McGonagall said. "Death Eaters will arrive shortly because Harry Potter is within the school. You don't know anything about that by coincidence?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, causing me to frown.

"No, I don't", I said, slightly offended. Did she believe I was still on the Death Eater's side? She had seen my bruises and cuts this year as a result of Amycus and Alecto's punishments.

"What do we need to do?" I asked, deciding to ignore the comment. McGonagall looked at me for a short while before speaking again.

"We must make sure that the students are safe. Speak to the prefects and tell them to bring all students to the Great Hall as fast as possible", she said. "Then come back here, I'd like to keep an eye on the two of you." I blinked a few times. Was this woman serious?

"Professor, what do you think I'm going to do? I'm simply trying to help! I'm not on their side", I said shocked.

"And your boyfriend isn't either?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, then looking at Draco. I clenched my jaw. I hadn't expected her to be so prejudiced. I was used to it, though, everyone was prejudiced. I guess I just had to show them exactly what I wanted them to know.

"Come on", I told Draco and grabbed his hand again. We walked to the prefects and updated them on the situation. They quickly dispersed as the panic was so obvious now. Not even ten minutes later, huge streams of students walked in, all looking completely one edge, but not saying a word.

"Where is Snape?" I asked Draco as I noticed the absence of the Headmaster.

"The Carrow twins aren't here either. They might have left to join Voldemort", Draco whispered. We walked towards the Slytherin prefects who were leading Slytherin house into the Great Hall. I spotted Tracey and Daphne and ran up to them.

"Oh, Merlin, Lea, what's going on?" Tracey asked, a panicky look in her eyes.

"Death Eaters are coming. Potter is here somewhere and they want him."

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, we're all going to die", Tracey panicked. Blaise was immediately at her side and pulled her into a hug to calm her down. Daphne was incredibly quiet, looking into the distance. I put my hand on her shoulder, which pulled her out of her own thoughts.

"You okay?" I asked, squeezing her arm softly.

"Yeah, you?" she asked, forcing out a smile. I nodded even though I was far from okay. I was scared, really scared, but honesty was not very beneficial at the moment.

"Quiet please!" McGonagall's voice sounded through the Great Hall. Not even a moment later, the doors opened again and a very battered looking Potter, Weasley and Granger stood in the opening, along with a few other people I vaguely recognised. The Weasley twins were among them.

Potter walked up to McGonagall and they spoke a few words before McGonagall nodded and looked at the student body again.

"The school is under attack by Lord Voldemort and his supporters. All students who are not of age yet will be escorted out of the school to a safe place. Students who are of age can choose to stay here and fight or leave with the other students. The choice is yours. Mister Filch and Madam Pomfrey will escort you all out", she said. There were panicky voices. This time they weren't interrupted by McGonagall's voice, but by a far scarier one.

"I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is a folly. Give me Harry Potter. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have one hour."

It was quiet for a long time as everyone tried to get rid of the cold, eerie feeling that Voldemort's voice had left behind. His voice chilled you to the bone and left you completely and utterly unhappy.

"What are you waiting for? Someone grab him!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked. Of course she would. But what happened next surprised me.

People started raising their wands, first the Gryffindors, but soon also the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws. Not just at Pansy, but at the entire Slytherin house.

"I think it seems fit that we also escort the entirety of Slytherin house out of here", McGonagall's voice rang as she stepped in front of Harry. The entirety of Slytherin house? But I wanted to fight! I wanted to stay here and fight these people who had hurt me so deeply. I was not going to stand by and watch everything unfold.

I met McGonagall's eyes very briefly and I knew that she saw disbelief in mine, but she just turned away. People started pushing us towards the exit as Madame Pomfrey and Filch started to guide all students under seventeen out of the Great Hall.

"No, I'm staying to help", I said and tried to push myself out of the crowd.

"What are you doing? Tracey asked as I had finally managed to break free in the hallway out of the Great Hall.

"I'm not going to wait until it's over like a coward!" I said. "The school is under attack, we have to help!"

"They're Death Eaters, Lea, they're much stronger than us", Daphne said, who joined too.

"Yes, and much stronger than the people who stay too. The more people stay to help, the better the odds. Benji is still in there! All other houses are! People we shared classes with, teachers who taught us for seven years! I don't want them to die knowing that I wasn't there to help!"

Tracey nodded and soon, so did Daphne.

"What are you doing?" Draco and Blaise joined us.

"We're staying to help", Tracey said decisively. "We're going to fight with the others." Blaise nodded quite quickly, but Draco was looking at me intensely, so I quickly pulled him aside.

"I have to do this, Draco. It's my time to finally make a choice and I choose to support Hogwarts. I want to hurt those who hurt me, Draco and I want to do anything possible so they don't win this war. I have to."

"I don't want you to die, Ellie", he said and put his hands on my cheeks.

"I don't either, Draco, but I also don't want those people in there to die. The people that we spent seven years with. One of them means more to me than all those Death Eaters combined. I have to do this, Draco." A tear rolled down my face so I quickly pulled him into a hug.

"I can't fight them, Ellie. I wear their mark. I won't survive a minute if they notice that I betrayed them", Draco said, his voice shaky. "They'll go after me, you know they will. They'll kill me, Ellie."

"I know, Draco", I reassured him as I gave him a quick kiss. "That's why you have to seek safety. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out later, but if you're safe, nothing can happen to you."

"But something can happen to you, Ellie", he said, tearing up as well.

"I'll be fine, I'm a strong witch", I smiled, hugging him again. Somehow it felt like the last time I'd be able to hug him. It was a stupid thought and I pushed it away quickly. I was not going to die tonight. I was simply going to kick some Death Eater arse.

"I love you, okay? Go find a safe place and I'll see you soon, after we've won this war", I said and kissed him before he could reply.

"I love you", I said again before letting go of him and averting my eyes. I had to do this now or I wouldn't be able to do it again.

"Let's go", I called Tracey and Daphne. They both nodded and followed me, away from the dungeons.

We quickly found the others outside, as all students, teachers and other help had their wands pointed up at the sky, creating a force field.

"Protego Maxima, right? I should have paid more attention in Charms", Tracey chuckled as an attempt to lighten the mood. I smiled at her as we stepped onto the Courtyard. I stood besides professor McGonagall and raised my wand.

"Protego Maxima", I said loudly and soon, my wand lit up, helping the others build the force field. I felt McGonagall's eyes on me, but I refused to look her way. She shouldn't have written me off so quickly. I knew that a shield like this wouldn't hold off the Dark Lord, but maybe it could buy us enough time to ... to figure out something else.

"You're an admirable young lady, Miss Selwyn. For you to help with the environment you grew up in, that's admirable. It saddens me that I didn't notice that before", McGonagall said. I swallowed the lump in my throat. It saddened me too, the prejudice against Slytherin. Never in my life had I gotten any help from people who could help me. They knew that I had stayed at Malfoy Manor over the summer, even though my mother was fine. They had to know about my rebellion against the Carrow twins, they had to know about me not actually supporting that side. Even Granger had noticed it.

We also know that you're not like them, at least not really, she had said. Even she knew, but never had anyone from the Hogwarts staff offered any help. They just assumed that I was evil, like everyone did.

"Me too", I said. "It saddens me too."

I felt a hand in mine and as I looked to the side, Tracey smiled at me sadly, having heard the conversation, her wand pointed up at the sky.

"You're one hell of a woman, Lea, don't let anyone tell you otherwise", she said and grinned, tears brimming her eyes. I felt a second hand on the one that was holding Tracey's. Daphne joined us too, her wand up as well.

"We're always on our best when we're with the three of us, aren't we?" she smiled, tears staining her face too. Everyone was scared. Me too, I was scared too.

"I love you girls, really", I said. "I don't say it enough, but I don't know if I'd have survived these seven years without the two of you. Forever and always, okay?" They both nodded strongly, not being able to bring out any words as we kept feeding the force field.

"I want to be the cool aunt to get Daphne's uptight kids into trouble", Tracey laughed, relieving the tension again.

"Daphne and Felix's children, imagine how hot they'll be", I joined the joke, which everyone was grateful for. It was a good time to joke.

As soon as the shield was up completely, people started running around looking for different jobs. McGonagall charmed an army of suits of armor to fight with us. I stared at that in awe before my mind started racing, thinking about things I could possibly do to help.

"You should take cover, Eleanor", professor McGonagall said whilst charming another set of suits. "They are close. Here is a dangerous place to be.

"Which is exactly why I shouldn't", I said, noticing a giant in the distance. I had never seen a giant before. Were they going to help us? "What I should do is empty Snape's stock of Precipitation Potion. I'm experienced with the damaging effects", I said and grinned.

"Come on Trace, I'm sure Filch's office is stacked with things he confiscated from the Weasley twins. Some fireworks could be good", Daphne said and pulled Tracey inside with her. I made my way to the dungeons to get a load of the potion that burned my arm three years ago.

That was insane. It had been almost three years since that had happened. I glanced at the bracelet on my wrist where the cauldron was glistening.

Draco. I hoped Draco was okay.

"Master!" I heard. I turned around to see Kreacher running my way.

"Oh, Kreacher, thank Merlin you're okay", I said and quickly hugged him. Kreacher didn't like hugs at all, but I felt sentimental around everyone at the moment.

"What does Master want Kreacher to do? The elves haven't received any orders", he said. I wanted to tell him to find safety, but I knew that we could use all the help there was and elves had powerful magic.

"I want you to gather all elves and lead them into battle, Kreacher", I said. "I might be a Selwyn, but I don't support the Dark Lord and I want to see him dead, you understand me?"

"Yes, Master, Kreacher is eager to help", the elf said and for a short moment, I thought I noticed a smile.

"You're a good elf, Kreacher, I'm proud of you", I winked before he snapped his fingers and disappeared. I took a deep breath and continued my way to the Potions classroom.

I knew the fifth years had been brewing the potion just last week, so luckily I found an entire box of vials with the Precipitation potion in it, labeled by name, waiting to be graded. I grabbed the box and stuffed in some other potions that seemed or sounded damaging.

I stepped out of the classroom when a loud bang made the castle shiver. I cringed as the sound travelled through my bones, making cold sweat appear on my forehead. The barrier, it wasn't safe anymore.

I started running, I had to find people, I couldn't be alone in the middle of a war. The vials moved dangerously and I hoped none of them would break and give me another unpleasant experience.

As I ran up the stairs, I started hearing shouts and screams, which chilled me to the bone.

"Come on, Colin", I heard and saw a flash of red in the corner of my eyes. I saw the Weasley girl pull a young boy with her. The latter looked terrified.

"Oi, you two should be evacuating!" I shouted at them. The Weasley girl looked at me, determination in her eyes.

"We're here to help", she said, her voice not even quivering a little. The boy next to her nodded, but he didn't even look half as confident. His skin was pale and his hand was shaking vigorously. He was holding a wand, but what would he do against dozens of Death Eaters? I walked over them and handed the boy the box I was holding.

"These potions melt through everything, even Death Eaters if you throw them hard enough", I winked at the boy. He stared at the box with wide eyes before taking it. "Go kick some arses!" I gave him a quick ruffle through his hair before I firmly grabbed my wand, running towards the main floor.