They entered the Room of Requirement and raised their wands.
"Any idea where to start, Potter?" Blaze questioned.
"It should be at or near a cabinet."
"The one Draco was working on?" Hermione questioned.
"How do you know about that?"
Hermione smiled innocently, "err...just guessing!"
Harry rolled his eyes, "sure...and yes."
Hermione nodded, "then down this way and somewhere in this area." Hermione leads them to where the cabinet is, but it wasn't in the cabinet.
"Maybe the room moved it?" Ron said.
"Likely, just take a section and start looking, " Hermione said and they all did. Everyone was climbing, digging, and or throwing objects looking around for the diadem. Everyone throwing out questions about what they should be seeing a lot of times. They were so concentrated that they didn't notice someone speaking.
"What are we looking for again?"
Hermione annoyed spoke without turning, "how many times do I have to tell you! It's a silver diadem or a tiara if you will. Should have blue stones on it and some sort of Ravenclaw symbol on it, too."
"Do you mean something like this?" the voice said and the whole group went back over and looked at it. There it was the diadem beautifully shining in the light and the person holding it smiled.
"DRACO!" Hermione surprised yelled.
"OH MY GOD MALFOY FOUND IT!" Ron said shocked.
"Well, I was the one who moved it the first time when I had to fix the cabinet. Here Potter seems important."
"First you help us at your manor...now this!" Harry said taking the diadem from him.
"Well, I figured I want to be on the winning side and the side where I was less likely to die."
Hermione, Blaze, Theo, and Daphne smiled. Draco walked up to them. "Sorry, I'm late."
"We thought you were dead," Daphne said.
Draco smiled sadly, "So did I."
"Mate...it's good to see you..." Theo said and Blaze smiled at him.
Draco turned towards Hermione sadly, "Hermione..."
"Please...not now..." Hermione said and she hugged him and he hugged her back tightly knowing what it meant to them.
"WELL WELL WELL!" a new voice rang out.
"LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE!" another voice said.
The large group turned to the new voices and saw Crabbe and Goyle walking to them wands pointed.
"We only heard rumors that Malfoy is a traitor...didn't think it was true," Crabbe said as the group raised their wands at them.
"You two are outnumbered!" Blaze said.
"Not the way I look at it! You see you 'light' people are too good to use the spells that would stop us!"
"Who says we won't use them...I have before!" Hermione said.
"You know I wonder what reward I would get for bringing down the Harry Potter and taking down a traitor, too!" Crabbe said.
"Pretty sure the Dark Lord wants Potter for himself...so that won't last well for you..." Theo remarked.
"I could care less about what the Dark Lord wants! What I want right now is you, people, dead! Avada Kedavra!" Crabbe said and the group dove away from the curse and started running through the piles away from the two.
"Err...Crabbe, they are right...I believe the Dark Lord wants to take care of them." they heard Goyle say.
Crabbe growled, "I DON'T CARE! THEY MAY RUN BUT THEY CAN'T HIDE FOREVER!"
"What are they doing?" Blaze questioned as the group meets up again.
"No idea!" Ron said and they started running again through the piles trying to find the exit now, but they were lost.
Theo and Blaze were running in the front stopped.
"WHAT!" Harry shouted and looked around them. A large fire started engulfing the piles now.
"BLOODY HELL! THEY ARE SETTING THE PLACE ON FIRE!" Ron yelled.
"IT'S FIENDFYRE!" Hermione yelled.
"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Daphne yelled and they started running again. They all reached a dead end and they were surrounded by fire. Hermione pushed the fire away from them.
"I CAN ONLY CONTROL SO MUCH! I DIDN'T START THIS FIRE! IT'S OUT OF CONTROL!" Hermione yelled.
"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Draco yelled and Harry started looking around. Soon Draco felt something being thrown against him and he grabbed it.
"What we require the room provides...brooms!" Harry said, "GET ON AND LET'S GO!"
Theo and Daphne took one, while Draco grabbed Hermione knowing those two weren't the quidditch stars or best fliers. The others had their own brooms. They took off and avoided the flames.
"THERE'S THE DOOR!" Daphne yelled and they raced toward it. Harry looked back to see Crabbe and Goyle on top of one of the piles surrounded by fire.
"WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM!" Harry yelled.
"SERIOUSLY!" Theo yelled as Harry turned around on his broom.
"MENTAL POTTER!" Theo yelled.
Blaze and Ron turned around while the other four continued knowing they couldn't get another person on their brooms.
"IF WE DIE FOR THEM HARRY I'LL KILL YOU!" Ron shouted.
"WOULD YOU MIND SOME HELP!" Blaze said and Ron grinned at Blaze. They raced to the two boys. Harry missed Crabbe's hand and he fell into the fire. Harry had no choice but to turn around and leave.
"WEASLEY WE BOTH GRAB HIM ON THREE!" Blaze said.
"ONE! TWO! THREE!" Ron yelled and the two grabbed Goyle's arms and turned together holding him and pulling him to the door. They barely made it out and collapsed and slid on the ground. Hermione grabbed the diadem from Harry and chucked it into the fire. Draco and Theo closed the doors. They all breathed heavily.
"C-Crabbe!" Goyle cried. Ron and Blaze got up and marched over to Goyle. Ron punched Goyle's nose, while Blaze kicked his (downtown). Goyle curled up in a crying ball.
"Nice punch."
"Nice kick."
Everyone froze as they heard screams and spells from somewhere else in the castle.
Theo sighed, "Damn there's no resting is there."
"What's next Potter?" Blaze asked.
"Now we help defend Hogwarts. What's left is the Snake." Harry said.
"Daph, you still have all those fangs?" Theo questioned.
"Yes...why?"
"Each one of us should take one."
Harry looked questioningly at Theo.
"You see if any one of us runs into the snake...we kill it!"
"Pretty sure that thing will kill us before we get to it!" Blaze stated.
"Maybe! But if I'm being all Gryffindor-y and all that for today...might as well go all the way! I can see why you Griffs. do it all the time there's a rush to it!" Theo said and Daph passed out the fangs to everyone.
"LET'S DO THIS!" Theo yelled and grabbed Daphne's hand and they ran off.
"Never get a best friend like him...keeps dragging you into stuff..." Blaze said.
Ron grinned, "Don't I know it!"
Blaze smirked and also ran off to the battle behind them.
"We need to get eyes on where Voldemort is!" Harry said.
"Hermione!" Draco stopped her before she followed.
"Draco...we should talk later!"
"There might not be a later! So I'm just going to do this!" Draco said and before she could comment he grabbed her head and kissed her. He pulled back and they looked into each other eyes before Hermione pulled away from him.
"THERE BETTER BE A LATER!" Hermione shouted at him as she ran off after Harry and Ron.
They ran cursing and helping whoever they saw. The giant spiders from the forest and giants came into the battle on the side of Voldemort. Grawp was holding his own against all the giants. His being small than the other giants gave him the advantage of speed. They saw friends fighting for their lives as they ran toward the center of the battle. They were not prepared for everything.
Blaze, Theo, and Daphne were fighting death eaters on one side of the hall. Fred, George, and Percy were fighting a lot of ministry workers around them, too. Harry, Hermione, and Ron started running toward them to help.
"Minister is that you?" Percy said dueling one of the men. The man sneered at him.
"You know minister...I'm resigning!" Percy shouted at the man. Fred smiled, "WAS THAT A JOKE PERCY! YOU HAVEN'T JOKE SINCE-"
His sentence never finished as the wall behind them blew up. Ron screamed and ran faster.
Blaze, Theo, and Daphne quickly finished their battle to help with the wall. They started lifting the stones off of them. George screamed as he dug. Once all the stones were of the two figures they waited. Percy was on top of Fred not breathing, Fred's arm and leg were completely crushed to no repair.
"Percy..." Fred tried pushing Percy awake, but everyone knew he wouldn't move.
"Come on Fred we have to move," George tried to move his brother.
"WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM HERE!"
"WE WON'T! BUT MORE DEATH EATERS ARE COMING AND WE NEED TO MOVE!"
"I WANNA KILL THEM ALL!" Ron screamed.
"WE NEED TO KILL THE SNAKE!" Hermione reminded them, "that's how we win!"
"DISAPPOINTING! DISGUSTING! SON!" A harsh voice rose behind them and they all turned too late as Nott Sr. raised his wand at Theo. "Avada Kedavra!"
It was too quick for any reaction as Daphne stepped forward in front of the green light and collapsed. Theo just caught her in shock as Hermione soon cursed him to where Nott Sr. collapsed to the ground scratching his own skins off and bleed to death.
"Daph?" Theo whispered shaking her.
"Daphne?" Hermione also said grabbing her still warm arm.
"You-you need to get up now!" Theo said holding her. Her eyes were still open but now lifeless.
"Please..." Theo said and suddenly the death eaters just stopped casting spells and disapparated and Voldemort's voice echoed through everyone's head.
"You have fought hard and violently...take time to tend to your dead and wounded...I speak directly to Harry Potter now...if you wish to stop the bloodshed come to me...in the forest...you have four hours."
The voice stopped and they all looked at each other except Theo who was just holding Daphne and rocking back and forth.
It took a while for them to get to the great hall without having to get Daphne, Percy, and Fred there. Theo just sat down holding Daphne's hand lost in his mind. The Weasleys saw Percy and Fred and Mrs. Weasley collapsed. Madam Pomfrey quickly took Fred from them to tend to his injuries with the other serious injuries with Slughorn. The Weasley cried over Percy hugging him as a goodbye.
Harry and Hermione continued to look at the dead. They passed Dean Thomas, the young Colin Creevy who came back to Hogwarts to help. Harry froze as he got to the cot of three people. There laid Andromeda, Tonks, and Lupin. Sirius stood over them.
"Sirius..." Harry whispered out tiredly. Sirius turned with tears in his eyes and held his arms open for Harry. Harry collapsed and hugged him.
For a long time, they mourned. Until Harry grabbed Hermione and Ron and pulled them away from everyone.
"The Shrieking Shack...he's there with the snake..." Harry whispered out.
"We need to finish this..." Ron whispered out tired and eyes puffy.
"I can't go, Harry..." Hermione said.
"Why?"
"With Daphne...with her...Theo needs my help right now...I can't just leave right now...I know this is bad timing...but I believe you can do it..."Hermione said and grabbed Harry's hand squeezing it.
"What will I do without you?"
Hermione grabbed her bag and handed it to Harry, "live and win...don't be stupid and you better talk to me before you do something stupid."
Harry nodded and the two boys left for the Shrieking Shack. Hermione let out a gasp of air once there was no one in sight and collapsed on the ground shaking on the stairs. The tears started pouring out of her eyes and she sobbed.