The Greatest Battle of this Era

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is this laptop, my soul and a head full of useless, disconnected pop culture trivia.

Hermione was pacing around her room at DA Headquarters. She kept checking her watch and chewing on her finger nails. This is stupid, she thought. We are all going to get killed. What are we thinking, storming into Voldemorts strong hold, and trying to kill him? The element of surprise my eye.

As she was pacing, Ron slipped into the room, unnoticed. When he spoke, she jumped. "You know, when I was three, Fred and George told me that if I paced in the same spot enough, I would get bigger? I paced in the same spot for so long, I wore a hole in the rug. Yeah, that's what the hole in the den rug between the couch and the table is from. Mum got so mad at me. You see I did it in a spot that couldn't be covered easily. Where it is now is the best we could ever get it. But I guess it worked. I mean I'm between thirteen and fourteen centimeters taller than the twins. I mean I'm taller than they-" his voice broke and he stopped talking, tears in his eyes, the pain of losing one of the twins still fresh.

"Ron. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of Fred. I miss him too. And Angelina. They were important to us all. But the most important thing is that we don't let them die for nothing. We will get the people who did this to them. I promise," she swore.

"Yeah. They were the heart and soul of the team. Well, two thirds of it. Angelina was the 'mom,' and Fred and George were the comic relief. They were on their honeymoon, for crying out loud. We told them it would be ok. And they were killed," he sobbed.

"Oh, good news, though?" she asked, trying to bolster his spirits. "George finally spoke today. We were walking into the meeting room this morning and he said, 'tonight's the night.' I was so shocked, I forgot to ask what today was," she finished lamely.

"I know what that means. That was the last thing Fred said to him. He was getting into the car, and he turned to George and said, 'tonight's the night, brother, tonight's the night,' and then he got in the car and they drove off," Ron choked. He took a shuddering breath and tried to change the subject, by asking her, "So, what were you thinking about? If I'm not mistaken, that was the thinking pace."

"I have different paces?" she asked flabbergasted.

"Yeah, you have this caged animal, tense situation pace, like when we were waiting for news on Luna and Parvati after they were tortured. You have an excited, kid in a candy store, waiting for a surprise pace. Then you also have a talking on the phone pace, the daydreaming pace, and in fact you have two thinking paces. You have the trying to figure out a tough problem, deducing pace, and you have the lots on your mind, trying to figure it all out pace. And if I'm not mistaken, when I came in it was the latter thinking pace. So spill it, 'Mione," Ron ordered.

"You and Harry know me way too well," she sighed.

"Quit stalling," he chided.

"I was thinking that we were going to get killed," she admitted softly.

"Look at me, Hermione," he ordered. "You are not going to die today. Not today, not tomorrow, not for a long time. I promise you that."

She was searching his eyes and found an odd comfort within them. They were suddenly leaning toward each other. Just as their lips brushed, the door to her room opened and they sprang apart. "It is time to go, Hermione. Have you seen- oh, there you are, Ron. It is time to go," Ginny repeated.

"Right. Of course," he mumbled, a slightly bitter tone in his voice. "Well, we will talk after we come back," he finished, the tone gone, and then walked away before she could protest. She followed mutely, making sure her wand was actually in the pocket of her robes she remembered.

"Right, now that we are all here," Harry said as Ron, Hermione, and Ginny entered the room. "We all know the plan right? Group one will enter from the main building from the north window and into the main room. Group two will enter the strong hold through the underground tunnel in the south side of the building. Then we attack from there as soon as we get in. You all know the drill. This is the one we have been training for. They won't hesitate to use the unforgivable curses, so show them the same courtesy. I'm not going to lie to you, not all of us are going to make it out of there alive. But if we all stick together help each other out, we can beat them. I know we can. Neville, you are in charge of the second group. We will all-" Harry was cut off by Neville.

"Me?" Neville squeaked.

"Yes you, Neville. I am aware of what Snape said to you yesterday, but that was Snape and that was yesterday. I believe you can do this, Neville. I trust you," Harry finished. It was true. Neville was no longer the scared, bumbling, forgetful boy that Harry met first year. He had proven himself more than once during the war. "Now, if we are through with that discussion, we will all Apparate into the square around the corner and make sure we are all there before we continue. The Order should be there when we get there. They will handle the east and west points of entry. There is only one rule. No one gets left behind, dead or alive. We won't be able to Apparate into the building, but you should be able to Apparate out. If not, you all know the Portkey spell. Don't be afraid to use it, just make sure you don't have any hitchhikers. Don't go in there afraid. Just know that we will win. Don't doubt that and it will be true. We can do this. I know we can. We will win today. And the war will be over. It ends today," Harry finished. He gave his words a minute to sink in and then he pressed on, "We Apparate in groups. Neville, you and three others first."

They all Apparated like this until only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were left. "Just come back alive. All of you," Harry stated simply and gave a nod to signal it was time to Apparate.

When they got to the square, they were met by both the members of the DA and the Order. Tonks was the only person who seemed like talking.

"Wotcher Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny," she greeted grimly, not at all Tonks-like. She even looked unlike herself. Her hair was long, jet-black, and stick-straight, held out of her face by a black ribbon. Looking around the square Harry saw a sea of black. Only a handful of the robes he saw were in color. McGonagall was in her signature dark green; Ginny was in navy blue; Hermione was in maroon; Amos Diggory was in blood red robes, probably symbolic of the fact that Cedric was the first of Voldemort's non-muggle murders in this war; Dumbledore was in the most extravagant of all: He was in robes that were powder blue on one side, midnight blue on the other. The powder blue side was bewitched to look like the sky in the daytime, complete with a sun and clouds that actually moved. The other side was night, with stars and comets. The sides were even switching to mirror the actual sky.

"May I have your attention, please," Dumbledore spoke. When all heads were turned toward him, he continued. "I hope I am correct in my assumption that we are all aware of what we are here to do. Since it is unnecessary to explain, I would ask for a word with the group leaders," he finished, beckoning the others over. "Are all the members of your groups here?"

"Mine is," Harry replied.

"Likewise," Tonks replied glumly.

"All present, sir," McGonagall stated in her usual manner.

"Yes, Professor," Neville mumbled.

"Wait, aren't you one of the group leaders?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, I am not. One might say I am my own group. I have a special mission," Dumbledore replied. "This will be the greatest battle of this era. Only one side will prevail. Let us make it ours. I would just like you all to know, whatever happens I am very proud of all of you, and I am happy to have known you all."

Before his words had a chance to sink in, he was ordering the split of the groups. Harry led his group around to the appropriate side of the stronghold. "All right, this is it. It all ends here. We are going to end the war right now, here. Let it all hang out. Every thing you have, short of your lives should be left there. We will all come back to headquarters alive and victorious. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Dennis, Luna, Lavender, Dean, Terry, Katie, Susan, George, Padma. Let's do this for those who are unable to fight beside us. For Fred, Angelina, Cedric, Justin, Seamus, Parvati, Sirius, Colin, Remus, my parents, who died so I could fulfill my destiny, all the others who have been killed. This is for them. No matter what happens, just know that I am very proud of all of you. Just watch out for each other. We have a camaraderie that the death eaters will never have because we actually care about each other. They care only about themselves. And that is why we will win. Because we are united. We are stronger together than they will ever be, this I am sure of. We are all fighting for something, someone we lost. Someonethey killed. Don't let them have died in vain. Let us prevail," Harry paraphrased Dumbledore, climbing the window.

A/N: here is the first part. Review and you will see the second part. Muah- muah- oh, who am I kidding. I will probably update anyway. But it might make it easier to write (hint hint)

-ace