Ginny's heart was racing as she, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan apparated into the Hog's Head. They headed upstairs, where the bartender greeted them. Someone else was in the room, drinking a cup of tea. "Hello," said Cho Chang with a faint smile.

Ginny forced herself to smile back. Cho still had feelings for Harry, she was fairly certain of it. And beside that, she wasn't really in the mood to be smiling, given that there was about to be a battle. But they were on the same side. She'd have to put her personal feelings aside.

"Got the coin, too, then?" Lee asked.

She nodded. "Here to help."

"We'll need it," said Fred.

"Have any details?" Ginny asked.

George shook his head. "But if Harry's here-"

"It's got to be for something big," she agreed.

"Well, get on then," said the bartender. "I'd like to get to sleep, if people will stop using my pub as a through-way."

Ginny nodded. "Let's get on with it."

They all entered the tunnel behind the portrait, making their way through it and into the Room of Requirement. When she stepped out of the hole, they were there. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. For the first time all year. She smiled widely at Harry, hoping nobody would notice the rapid beating of her heart.

But as Harry explained that they weren't there to fight, that they just had to do something quickly and get out, she felt her heart sinking. So there wasn't going to be a battle? It wasn't going to end? They were going to run off again?

She was lost in her own thoughts until Luna piped up about Ravenclaw's diadem. Ginny didn't quite understand why Harry would want it, but if it would help than they would find it. Then Cho offered to help, and for a moment her professionalism dropped. "No, Luna will take Harry," she said quickly. "Won't you, Luna?" She wasn't exactly proud of it, but she felt a fierce protectiveness for the man she still knew she loved.

As Harry and Luna left, Neville said, "Well, what do we do now?"

"We have to call for help," said Fred. "Don't care what Harry says, all of Dumbledore's Army should be here. If he gets sighted in the castle..."

So they spent the next few minutes contacting every member of Dumbledore's Army, who filtered in one by one.

When Angelina Johnson entered, she said, "I've contacted Oliver Wood, he's coming to help."

"Good," said Lee. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"Which is why I contacted Bill," said George. "He's going to let the Order know."

Ginny's heart dropped slightly. "So they're all coming to fight?"

"It'll be alright, Ginny," said Fred. But she wasn't so sure.

They waited for what seemed like forever before Harry and Luna returned. By that point, nearly the entire Order was there. When Harry informed them they were fighting, there was an uproar. But as Ginny ran to join the group, her mother grabbed her arm. "Not a chance, young lady."

"Mum!"

Harry came over, and as she argued with her mother, she pleaded for his help. When he shook his head, she felt the sting of betrayal, and was distracted from her fury only by Percy coming through the portrait hole.

There was dead silence in the room for a moment, and Fleur asking about Teddy didn't help. Ginny stared at her brother. For three years, he had stayed away from them, siding with the Ministry. But here he was, evidently come back around.

"I was a fool!" he shouted, and Ginny couldn't help but agree. But here he was, admitting his mistakes. As her parents hugged him, she felt tears springing to her eyes. Here they were, reconciled once more, all together except Charlie, who was on his way. But they were all about to enter a major battle together. What were the odds they all made it out?

She tried to force those thoughts out. As they walked up to the castle, she tried to sneak away, but was caught. When Lupin came up with his compromise, and her father agreed, she knew it was all she was going to get. Then she and Harry were alone in the room, for the briefest of moments. She informed him that Ron and Hermione had mentioned a bathroom, but as he responded, he put his hand to his scar. "Harry?"

He didn't say anything. "Got to go. See you later, Ginny."

"Is that a promise?"

He didn't reply.

Waiting in the Room of Requirement was agony. She heard nothing, saw nothing; she might as well not be here. Nobody was coming to inform her of anything. But she heard Voldemort's message, and ice spread through her veins. Half an hour? That was all?

People came through the room in hordes, underage students evacuating through the portrait hole. But when they were gone, Ginny was alone again, still waiting in silence.

When Tonks came stumbling through the hole, her eyes widened. "Aren't you supposed to be with Teddy?"

She nodded. "But I couldn't... I couldn't stand it."

Ginny nodded her understanding.

They stood in silence, not quite sure what to say to each other, for about ten minutes, before Neville's grandmother came through the passageway. "Ah, hello." She waved her wand, and Ginny saw the passageway seal.

When Harry, Ron, and Hermione came back a bit later, Ginny jumped at the chance to leave the room. She didn't care what they were doing, clearly it was important, her parents would understand. Pulling out her wand, she followed Tonks into battle.

A few minutes later, they came out again, as she and Tonks shot hexes. As she watched Tonks run outside to find Lupin, she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back into the room, clearly using it for something else, and, the adrenaline the only thing keeping her going, she she ran into the fray.

Time went by in a blur, shooting hexes and dueling with every masked figure she saw as adrenaline pumped through her veins. As she fought her way down to the entrance hall, she saw Percy nearby. He looked at her, and she realized with dread that he was crying. "Percy?"

He opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to form words.

"Percy, what is it? Who..."

"Fred," he said, choking on the word as he said it.

The world stopped, and she tuned out the sounds of the battle behind her. The room was spinning. She felt her stomach turning, and then became vaguely aware of her brother's arms around her. She tried to stay numb, but she couldn't. She had been fearing this all year... and even stronger tonight. She felt tears streaming down her face, but there would be time for that later. Breaking away from Percy, she gripped her wand harder and blasted the strongest hex she had ever cast at an approaching Death Eater.

"Nice spellwork," said Percy.

"Thanks." She bit her lip. "Who else knows? About..."

"Ron was there when it happened," said Percy. "Harry and Hermione too."

The nauseating feeling intensified. "But... Mum and Dad..."

He shook his head. "Not yet."

She swallowed back her tears, shooting more hexes in every direction. A couple of minutes went by before Voldemort's voice rang through the castle again, telling them they had an hour. An hour for Harry to surrender.

"I'll go and get him," said Percy, still crying.

She nodded blankly, then saw her father entering the entrance hall. She couldn't do this. She couldn't. Ashamed of herself, she ducked away from his line of sight. When Percy returned, a couple minutes later, she felt like throwing up. People were gathering in the entrance hall. Trying to be numb, she followed Percy. Her father had noticed by this point; he had turned pale white. Bill and Fleur had gathered around them as they lay Fred's body on the ground. A minute later, George came running into the room, and he dropped to his knees by Fred's head. Ginny couldn't stop herself from fully crying anymore, and the next thing she knew her father had his arms wrapped around her. It didn't much help.

"Fred!" A voice yelled, and Ginny's heart sank as her mother ran over to them. She collapsed on the ground, sobbing over Fred's body, and Ginny had to look away. Her father let go of her and went over to her mother, kneeling beside her. He was crying, too; Ginny had never seen her father cry before, and that only made everything more real.

Moving away and looking at the other bodies being laid down, she saw another sight that made everything even worse. Lupin and Tonks were lying side-by-side. Heart sinking further, she thought of baby Teddy, then images of Tonks changing her nose to make Ginny laugh and Lupin teaching her filled her mind and she cried even more. She was surprised there was anything left.

A few minutes later, Ron and Hermione walked over to them, and when Hermione hugged her she finally found the energy to return it. They walked back over to the others, and she thought she glimpsed Harry, but he walked away. Dread filling her once more, she got the terrible sense that he was going to turn himself in. She couldn't lose him, too.

But help was needed. Ginny followed instructions and went to help bring wounded people in so that they could be healed. She tried to fight off her own emotions as she helped others, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it. As the hour neared ending, she was outside with a little girl, and thought she sensed Harry's presence near the forest. Her dread grew worse. He was under the Cloak and going to sacrifice himself, wasn't he? She had to stop him. But what could she say? What could she tell him that he didn't already know? Maybe she was just imagining things.

She had thought the night couldn't get any worse. But now Harry was dead. As she looked at him, lying there in Hagrid's arms, she felt the strangest sensation. Was this how it felt to lose a war?

But there was still some hope, it seemed. Her heart swelled with pride as Neville made his speech, and as she joined the crowd giving agreement. When the battle reconvened in the Great Hall, she determined not to hold anything back. She was still here. She could still fight. So she would. Joining Hermione and Luna, she dueled Bellatrix Lestrange, and she had never wanted to hurt someone more. Then she saw Bellatrix raise her wand at her, and wondered for a brief second if she, too, would die tonight.

But there was no need. "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" her mother yelled, and she felt a great rush of appreciation for her mother. She watched in awe as they dueled, as her mother turned Bellatrix's cruel taunting into only more fuel, and then...

Her jaw dropped. Her mother, Molly Weasley, had just killed someone. Despite the terrible, terrible night, she couldn't help but feel satisfaction. Then Voldemort raised his wand on her mother, and she realized with utter horror that she was about to lose her.

Until... "Protego!" Harry shouted, and Ginny felt a rush of relief as she realized that Harry was alive. He was still alive. The war wasn't over.

As Harry and Voldemort began to circle each other, Ginny watched with rapt attention, until the wand flew into the air, and Voldemort fell, and that was it. The war was over. Harry had done it.

Hours later, when they had had a bit of rest and were helping with some immediate cleaning, Ginny found Harry. "Hi."

He turned to her. "Hi. Ginny, I'm so sorry about Fred."

She looked down at her feet, blinking back tears. "And what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you sorry about you? About sacrificing yourself like some prick? Hermione told me what happened. You didn't know you would live."

"I had to-"

"Be noble, I know." She was getting heated, and she knew it was irrational, but she couldn't help it. "And you didn't think about how we would feel when you were gone too?"

"Of course I did! But I figured killing Voldemort mattered more."

She swallowed. "I guess-I guess it did." And her anger had dissipated, and now she was crying again, and he was holding her, and she muttered, so quietly she didn't know if he would hear it, "Don't leave me behind again."

"I won't."

A/N: So, I wasn't sure if I would write this chapter, since it's not really part of the time period described, but the last chapter seemed like a poor way to end it, so I hope I did this okay, I did do some research. Thanks to everyone who followed along with this story!