=== February 22, 1997 ===
"Are there any students left that the Death Eaters can take hostage?" Amanda asks.
Ron quickly examines the map. "Looks like the Slytherin students didn't evacuate."
"We'll get them to the portkey and get them out of here." Draco says.
"Good idea." Ron says as Draco and Amanda head to their room.
"Ginny, I'd like you to go to the Shrieking Shake with the evacuated students." Ron says.
"What? Why?" Ginny asks.
"It's not on the map, I have no way of telling if the Death Eaters find the tunnels." Ron admits. "I also won't be so worried about Lavender if I know you've got her back."
"What about you?" Ginny asks.
"The Gryffindor emergency portkey is over there." Ron answers, pointing to the lion statue in the corner.
Ginny nods. "Okay." She slips out the door.
"We have a problem." Draco says as he and Amanda come back in. "They've barred our door that leads to the Slytherin common room."
"Right now I don't see any Death Eaters in the halls." Ron says.
"I'm going to put on my Death Eater robes and try to get to the common room the long way then." Draco says.
"I should go with you." Amanda says.
"I need you to stay here with Weasley." Draco says. "You can watch my back on the map while he worries about everything else."
Amanda hesitates. "Here." Ron says as he pulls a necklace off nobody has seen he was wearing. A gossamer thin thread that holds a small golden disc hangs from his hand.
"What is this?" Draco asks as he carefully takes the necklace.
"It's an emergency portkey." Ron answers. "That way if the Gryffindor one was used I could stay here and have a way out." He reaches into his robes and pulls out a small piece of parchment. "Here's the activation phrase."
Draco puts the necklace on, then takes the paper and opens it. "Seriously?"
"I didn't pick the phrase." Ron defends.
"Thank you for this." Draco says. Ron nods and turns his attention to the castle as Draco changes his outfit, kissing Amanda before putting on his mask and slipping out the door.
Draco, not taking any chances, stays in the shadows as he walks through the halls, wand firmly in hand. Thankfully he makes it to the dungeons without confrontation, walks up the entrance to the Slytherin common room and gives the password.
The door swings open and Draco steps inside only to find every wand in the room pointing at him. "Easy," he says as he reaches up with his free hand and pulls off his mask. "I'm here to help."
"Why are you wearing a Death Eater mask then?" One of the students asks.
"They found a way into the school, disguising myself as one of them was the easiest way to get around." Draco answers. "Now, let's get you all out of here." He walks over to a corner of the common room where a large snake statue sits. With a flick of his wrist the statue lays down. "Everyone get a hand on the statue, it's a portkey."
The students all start gathering around when a voice is heard outside. "The door is open."
Draco turns and sees that the door into the common room has indeed not closed. "Protego!" He yells as he runs to the door, putting up a shield right in time for a Death Eater to walk into it.
"Malfoy!" The Death Eater says his name like doing so leaves a bad taste in his mouth as he and another stand looking into the room.
Draco looks over at the statue and sees all the students have a hand on it. "Slither away to strike another day!" He calls out and the portkey activates, sending the students away. "You can't kidnap them and use them against their parents now."
"Then we'll just have to settle for killing you." The other Death Eater says. "You can't hold this shield forever.*
"I don't need to." Draco says with a smirk. "Weasley is our king." With that phrase the portkey around his neck activates and he vanishes.
#####
Dolohov and another Death Eater find that the path they took leads them outside of Hogwarts' wards. Looking around he realizes that they are just outside of Hogsmeade village.
"Go find our lord and tell him we have a way in and out." Dolohov tells the Death Eater. "I'll secure the area."
The other Death Eater nods and heads back down the path. Dolohov pulls out his wand, casting the human-revealing spell and looking around. "What do we have here?" He says gleefully when he discovers the Shrieking Shack is overfilled with people.
Inside the Shrieking Shack, Lavender and the prefects work to keep the younger students settled. Thankfully Hermione had enlarged the inside of the shack so the nearly 200 students inside are fairly comfortable.
The sound of bells draws everyone's attention. "Is that the wards?" Colin asks Lavender
Lavender nods."Hermione set them up to go off if anyone got too close to the shack."
"Any chance it's them?" Colin asks.
"They'd send a patronus if the battle was over, and they wouldn't risk coming here if it went badly." Lavender answers.
"Get everyone out of here then." Colin says, "I'll distract them." He heads out the door and walks slowly using anything he can for cover. He's just about to get up from kneeling behind a large rock when he sees Dolohov walking towards the shack.
"Stupify!" Colin shouts, pointing his wand at Dolohov.
Dolohov easily dodges the spell and silently returns fire causing Colin to once again hide behind the rock. "Come out, come out." Dolohov says, "I just want to play."
Colin takes a couple of breaths to steady himself. Then he makes a mad dash for the nearest tree, firing a barrage of spells in Dolohov's direction as he does.
Dolohov sees the spells and uses a shield to block them all. "Not bad spell work, for a child. Surrender now and I promise to kill you quickly."
"Go to Hell!" Colin shouts.
Dolohov shrugs and blows up the tree Colin is hiding behind. Doing so sends Colin flying, landing face down and losing his wand in the process.
"Tell me your name, boy." Dolohov says. Colin grunts and goes to get up.
"Crucio!" Dolohov shouts, the spell hits Colin and cries out in pain. "What's your name?" Dolohov asks again, after releasing the spell.
"Colin," he groans. "Creevey."
"Oh yes! Malfoy told us about you! The mudblood with the camera." Dolohov says. "Is your camera nearby? Maybe I can get this picture. Crucio!"
Colin screams as the spell hits him. After a minute Dolohov releases the spell. Nearly unconscious, Colin points behind Dolohov. "You think if I look away for a second that you can get away?" Dolohov laughs.
"P…Potter." Colin manages.
"The Potters are far away from here." Dolohov says. "Neither of them can save you now. Avada…" He stops mid-word and looks down in shock only to see a slender blade poking through his chest.
"You forgot a Potter." Ginny says as she pulls the blade out and Dolohov falls to the ground dead.
"Gin?" Colin asks in shock as he beholds the red-headed girl standing there holding a rapier. The long slender blade is stained with blood all the way to its basket hilt. A small ruby sits in its pommel.
"Let's get you back to the shack." Ginny says as she levitates a now unconscious Colin back to the Shrieking Shack.
As Ginny steps inside the shack a half dozen wands point at her. She sees the younger students all lined up ready to leave. "The threat is gone for now." Ginny says as she holds her hands out, wand in one hand, rapier in the other.
Recognizing her, the wands go down. "Colin!" One of the prefects says upon seeing him. "What happened?"
"The cruciatus curse was being used on him." Ginny answers.
The prefect nods and takes over levitating him to a makeshift infirmary. ."Ginny," Lavender says as she comes up to her. "Are you okay?" She points to the bloody blade.
"I'm fine." Ginny answers "It's not my blood."