Snape and Lily's daughter

Helena Ravenclaw

Ginny and Grace waited for the rest of the people to leave the room, and then the two looked at each other.

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked.

"By now, they must have asked all students to gather in the Great Hall. Let's go." Grace replied, and the two of them ran off toward the Hall.

The two arrived and sat down, each at their own table. All the students were looking at Professor McGonagall, and behind her were the other professors, Firenze, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"... evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organize your House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

Ernie Macmillan stood up. "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

There was a smattering of applause.

"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall.

Ginny and Grace looked at each other.

"What about our things?" called a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl from the Slytherin table.

"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," McGonagall replied, and a great cheer erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws.

Several Slytherin students looked at Grace, who bowed her head.

Harry entered the Hall and walked to the back. All eyes were on him.

"We have already placed protection around the castle," Minerva was saying, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects —"

But her voice was interrupted by a sharp, cold voice. "I know that you are preparing to fight."

Students shouted, hugged each other, as they searched for the source of the voice.

"Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.

There was silence in the Hall now.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

All heads turned to Harry. That's when one person stood up at the Slytherin table, Pansy Parkinson. "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

The Gryffindor students stood up, placing themselves in front of Harry, and faced the Slytherin table. Soon after, the Hufflepuff students did the same, and then the Ravenclaw students.

What many did not expect happened. Grace, Astoria, and several other Slytherin students (who were mostly part of Dumbledore's Army), got up and went to stand in front of Harry as well.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," McGonagall said. "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

The Slytherin students who did not join Harry (which unfortunately were many), were leaving the Hall.

"Ravenclaws, follow on!" cried Professor McGonagall.

The tables were empty, the underage students mostly left the Hall.