For the Women to look up to challenge- Lavender

"You have until midnight."

Lavender shivered as the chilling voice echoed throughout the Great Hall. She watched as Harry Potter went off on his own mission and mentally prepared for this fiasco she'd gotten herself into. She looked over at Parvati who gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand before they were ushered up to the Astronomy tower behind Professor Sprout.

"Parvati?" Lavender said.

"Yeah?" Parvati answered.

"Are you scared?"

Parvati looked over at her nervously. "A little."

Lavender nodded. "Me too."

They continued on to the top of the Astronomy Tower in silence. There was nothing else to do but wait for instructions. They'd prepared for this for so long. That was the point of all those DA meetings wasn't it? But now that it was actually happening, Lavender was both excited and scared out of her mind. She recalled Harry saying this wouldn't be as noble or heroic as she'd imagined. And as she surveyed the silent Hogwarts grounds she knew he was right.

This wasn't what she was expecting at all.

"All right, troops," Professor Sprout began giving instructions to the group. "You aim to stun, disarm, or petrify. No funny business if you can help it. We don't want to harm anyone on our side if we miss…"

The Professor rattled off directions and the more she talked the more Lavender's palms began to sweat. She kept looking toward the Forbidden Forest and she thought she saw sparks flying from within the trees but she couldn't be sure. Maybe she was imagining things.

She felt Parvati shiver, next to her.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," Parvati said shakily. The she shook her head. "No. I wish Padma had come with us."

"She'll be okay. She went to Ravenclaw Tower. She knows her way around up there." Lavender patted her friend's shoulder in a small attempt to comfort her. "She'll be okay," she repeated.

Then they heard cries from below and Lavender rushed to the window to look out. A swarm of dark figures were coming from out of the Forest as well as from the direction of Hogsmeade. The hour must be up.

"Wands at the ready!" Professor Sprout called out aiming hers toward the figures that were still out of range. "Don't cast any spells until they are past the greenhouses!"

Lavender raised her wand in front of her and now that her targets were before her, she was determined to take as many of them down as she could. She steadily pointed her wand in the direction of a Death Eater who was running toward the far side of a greenhouse that he appeared to be planning to use for cover. She tried her best to take deep breaths and not blink too much, focusing on her target. As soon as she saw the black cloak appear on the other side of the green house she aimed a stunning spell and it hit him causing him to stumble a few steps before falling face down.

"Yes!" she whooped and then searched for another Death Eater to stun. The next spell missed but she on the next one she hit a particularly large Death Eater in the chest with a red beam of light. She looked for another Death Eater within range but was distracted by a crashing sound on the level beneath them as well as yelling and stomping.

Peeves came up the stairs to inform them of the goings on below.

"Some visitors have arrived to pay their respects. Shall I send them up ladies?"

"PEEVES! SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL!" Professor Sprout waved her wand at him threateningly.

Peeves bowed and went back down the flight of stairs. Without hesitation Lavender followed him. There was nothing for it. There weren't many Death Eaters left on the grounds outside. They'd made it into the castle and being cornered in the Astronomy Tower was not the way Lavender wanted to fight. She made her way down the stairs to find that Peeves was, in fact, doing something useful. He was pelting a couple of black robed figures with Dungbombs and cursing up a storm.

Parvati disarmed the Death Eater closest to them. "Nice one!" Lavender said. She then aimed a spell at the other Death Eater who was waving his arms at Peeves and hadn't realized the danger he was in. He fell to the ground, petrified.

Lavender took a deep breath. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins and she summoned up her courage to continue on. There were still plenty of enemies within the castle and there was quite a racket sounding from downstairs. She a Parvati made their way down the hallway to where there was a hidden passage to the third floor when the wall to their right smashed just as they passed. A giant boulder had come through the wall crumbling the whole side of the castle. Stones from the ceiling began to fall and Lavender made a run for it, grabbing Parvati's hand to keep her close. She turned in time to see a giant peer through the hole in the wall before pulling her friend behind a tapestry and into a passageway.

"They have giants," Parvati moaned and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Come on, let's get away from it." Lavender tugged at her friend's sleeve. They hurried down the stairs and as they came closer to the third floor they could hear lots of yelling and every once in a while a crash of glass or the thump of a body hitting the floor. Finally, they were right behind the tapestry that led to the hallway.

"Are you ready?" Lavender asked. She didn't know why she bothered to ask. She knew now that they would never be ready. But her Gryffindor courage was beginning to show.

"No," Parvati said simply but took hold of the tapestry and pulled it aside.

Lavender looked both ways and then jumped into the hallway in front of a duel between Neville and a large dark haired Death Eater. Neville was doing quite well on his own, but the Death Eater was taken by surprise at Lavender's sudden appearance. Neville took the opportunity to stun him.

"Thanks!" Neville yelled as he aimed a spell behind Lavender. It missed but gave them a moment to run away.

"Wait! Parvati!" Lavender twisted around to see where her friend had gone. But Neville pulled her away.

"No time now! Come down here! It's the best angle. I have to go get something." He dragged her down a flight of stairs and into a hallway where there was a balcony overlooking the marble staircase and the entranceway, then left her by herself. Heart pounding she looked over the railing to survey the damage. There were several Death Eaters and students swarming below and Lavender saw Parvati below dueling one of the hooded figures. She tried to aim a spell in their direction to help her friend but they were moving too fast.

She jumped when she heard a thud behind her and was pleased to see Professor Trelawney with a trunk full of crystal balls and a few other items from her classroom.

"How's my girl doing?" Professor Trelawney asked.

"Never bet- PROFESSOR!" Lavender raised her wand to stun the hooded figure who had come up behind Professor Trelawney, but she was unable to cast her spell. The figure decided to jump over the trunk of orbs and grab for her throat instead of using a wand. She looked up into the bloodshot eyes of her attacker, gasping for air. She grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him back with her against the railing of the balcony. She heard Professor Trelawney aim a stunning spell at the man whose grip was beginning to tighten even more around her neck. Thankfully, he loosened his hold a little bit as the spell took effect.

But not enough. He fell against the balcony and then over the railing, taking Lavender with him. It only took a second to fall, but Lavender felt like it was an eternity. She braced herself for the impact and felt her shoulder crunch against the marble floor. She tried to move into an upright position but her head was swimming from pain to the point where she didn't know up from down. She could only look across the emerald littered floor.

Don't pass out. Don't pass out.

But that was all she could do. She couldn't help it. She'd found her Gryffindor courage that had lain dormant for so many years. She'd found it in abundance that night. But not enough to face the disgusting sight that was Fenrir Greyback running toward her. The last thing she remembered was hot breath on her face and a loud crack. Darkness fell and she knew no more.