Harry walked into the common room just after dinner. He was in a very foul mood. He had just had another encounter with Snape and found out that he could look forward to detention with him tomorrow, for no reason of course. Although, he had to admit, a part of him was grateful for it. If he was in Detention with Snape, he couldn't be with Umbridge. Detention with her made Snape's look like a walk in the park. His hand ached just thinking about the detention he had with her tonight.

When Harry got into the Common room, he found Ron and Hermione there. Hermione was reading her Hogwarts, A History for what had to be the millionth time and Ron was setting up his wizarding chess set. Some others were around as well, like Seamus, Dean, Neville, and a couple of first years.

"Hey, Harry. Want to play a game?" Ron asked.

"I'd love to, but I can't. I've got detention with Umbridge again," Harry said.

"Oh, right. I forgot," Ron said.

"I wish I could," Harry said.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't have detention if you'd stop lying," Seamus butted in.

"Why don't you shove off, Seamus. No one's talking to you," Ron said irritably.

Harry's already short temper began to flare. "I'm not lying! You don't know what the bloody hell you're talking about!"

"Yeah, right," Seamus said in disbelief before going back to whatever he was doing with Dean.

"Don't pay any attention to them, Harry. They'll realize the truth soon enough," Hermione asked.

"Yeah, and then they'll be begging your forgiveness. Then you can tell them to shove off," Ron said.

"Right. Well, I better get to Umbridge's office before I get yet another detention," Harry said.

"Harry, you really should talk to Dumbledore. Tell him what's going on," Hermione urged again. She'd said it before and she would say it again until Harry listened. Harry needed to tell a teacher about Umbridge so that they could put a stop to it.

Harry sighed in exasperation. "We've been through this, Hermione. Dumbledore can't do anything for me. He has no control over Umbridge. She's here because the Minister wants her here. You think if Dumbledore had any power, she could get away with all these decrees? Besides, Dumbledore still won't give me the time of day." Dumbledore had been blatantly ignoring him all year. He refused to even look at him. He wouldn't even stop to talk to him after his trial at the ministry this past summer.

Dumbledore wouldn't be able to ignore you if you brought this to his attention," Hermione said.

"It doesn't matter. He can't do anything. Look, I better get to detention," Harry said.

"That won't be necessary, Potter," A voice from behind Harry said.

Harry turned and was surprised to see Professor McGonagall there. "Professor, I didn't hear you come in. Did you just get here?" he asked, wondering if she'd heard any of their conversation about Umbridge.

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Why? Is there something you didn't want me to here?"

Harry blushed. "No, of course not."

"Professor Umbridge will not be able to see you for detention tonight. She's gone to the Ministry on business for the evening, so you get a temporary reprieve," Minerva told him.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this night wouldn't be completely terrible after all. He was free for the night. "Great. Thanks, Professor."

Minerva nodded and left the Common Room.

"Well, mate, it looks like you can play after all," Ron said.

Harry nodded and sat across from his best friend. The two played for about two hours, with Harry actually winning for once. "Wow, Mate, either I'm getting better or you're just off your game."

"Well, I had to let you win at least one," Ron joked. "Come on, let's go again."

"You know, instead of playing that pointless game, the two of you might try to get some homework done," Hermione lectured.

"Why would we want to do that? Homework is boring," Ron said.

"I don't know. Maybe so you don't fail your classes," Hermione said snidely

Ron was about to respond when he felt the room begin to shake a bit.

"What's that?" one of the first years asked from across the room.

"Don't worry, Firstie. It's probably just one of Fred and George's jokes," Ron said. He was pretty immune to his brother's tricks by now, so he wasn't very worried.

Hermione's face was very panicked. "This is no joke. It's..."

The shakes grew louder and more intense by the second. Suddenly things started flying all over the place. The tables and chairs tipped over, causing some to fall over and the windows started shattering.

Harry, who was right by the door found himself right in the path of glass. When he saw it coming towards him, he covered his face with his arms, causing several glass shards to imbed in his arms. He fell to the floor screaming in pain.

"Harry!" Hermione called out in concern. She'd barely gotten the word out before a portrait fell on top of her hard, knocking her unconscious.

The three first years ran and hid behind the biggest thing they could find in hopes that it would protect them.

Ron ran towards the common room door to try to get help, but halfway there, the light fixture in the middle of the room fell on top of him, knocking him out in the process.

Harry held his arms in agony. It hurt more than almost anything, with the exception being the Cruciatus curse. He looked around the room to see that the danger was far from over. Debris was flying everywhere. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was parts of the ceiling cave in and come right for him.

___________

Severus was in his personal stores doing an inventory of his potion ingredients when he felt it. He knew exactly what those shakes were. Earthquakes were not unheard of around these parts, or anywhere really, but as far as he knew, they'd never happened at Hogwarts before.

Severus was about to run from the room. He knew it would be a bad idea for him to be this close to large heavy shelves while this was going on. Unfortunately, one of the shelves fell on top of him before he got the chance.

___________

Minerva was in Dumbledore's office discussing Umbridge. It was the only time they'd be able to without her possibly hearing. "I'm telling you, Albus, that woman has to go! She is destroying our school!"

"I agree with you, Minerva, but there's nothing I can do. Cornelius is responsible for her appointment. He's the only one that can fire her," Dumbledore said.

And he won't because he's a blubbering imbecile!" Minerva huffed.

Just then, they felt it. Severe shaking throughout the castle.

"What's that?" Minerva asked.

Before Dumbledore could answer, several of his things went flying across the room. He immediately got up and grabbed ahold of his colleague. "Get down!" he yelled before pulling her under his desk and covering her with his body, hoping that if the worst happened, he would catch the worst of it. Throughout all of it, he heard several screams through the castle, telling him that whatever was happening was affecting the entire castle.

Dumbledore wasn't sure how long the incident lasted. It seemed like an awful long time though and he could hear his offices being trashed around him. Thankfully though, his desk never became a casualty, otherwise he and Minerva would've surely been gravely injured.

A few moments after the shaking ceased, Dumbledore stood up and helped Minerva to her feet. Then he looked around his office. It was completely destroyed. There were piles of rubble everywhere. Chunks of the ceiling were missing and now on the floor.

"Oh, Merlin, Albus. Look at this place. How on Earth could this happen?" Minerva asked in horror.

"It was an Earthquake. He knew that of course, most did. Earthquakes were not considered a muggle occurrence. It was a Mother Nature occurrence.

"Well, I know that, but how did it happen? We've never had one at Hogwarts. I assumed the protection of the school must have protected us against them," Minerva said.

Dumbledore didn't answer her. Instead he began wading his way through the destroyed office. They needed to get out. They needed to check on the rest of the school, and most importantly, the students.

They made out of the office with a little difficulty and started down towards the Grand Staircase. Or what was left of it anyway. It was in shambles. Most of the staircases were on a pile on the ground. The Portraits had fallen as well. The ones that weren't were screaming in fear.

Minerva gasped in horror. "Merlin's Beard! Albus if anyone was on the stairs when this happened..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish even the thought.

Just then, they noticed something move under the debris below. "Albus!" Minerva exclaimed.

Dumbledore immediately took out his wand and chanted "Accio broom."

Minerva did the same and soon two brooms flew through the air towards them. They immediately got on and flew down to the ground floor. They then began searching the piles of debris for the injured person. It took a few minutes, but Minerva got a glimpse of red hair. "Mr. Weasley!"

"Professor?" A weak voice called.

She immediately took out her wand to remove the debris around him.

"No!" Dumbledore exclaimed, stopping her in her tracks. "We don't know how many are down here. We must do it the muggle way."
Minerva nodded and mentally smacked herself for the oversight. That should've been an obvious realization. "Hang on, Mr. Weasley. We'll have you out in a moment.

At that moment footsteps were heard and Filch made his way over. He looked disheveled and had a few cuts on his face.

"Mr. Filch. Help us get him free," Dumbledore said as he continued to try to get one of the Weasley twins, he wasn't sure which one at the moment, free.

Between the three of them, they had him free in a few minutes. Minerva bent down next to him. "Mr. Weasley, are you alright?"

He groaned in pain. "My leg hurts. Oi, where's George. He was with me. We were just about go up the stairs."

"Consider yourself lucky you didn't. We'll find him, Mr. Weasley," Minerva assured him before she began a new scavenger hunt.

"Mr. Weasley, can you stand," Dumbledore asked.

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I think my leg is broken," Fred said in agony.

"Shall, I go search for Madam Pomfrey, Professor?" Filch asked.

"Find everyone, Mr. Filch. Get the ghosts and find anyone you can," Dumbledore instructed.

Filch nodded and walked away.

___________

Ron began to wake to the searing pain. His wrist felt like someone had bashed it with something over and over and over again. He must have snapped it when he fell.

He was vaguely aware of the panicked voices around him, but he was in too much pain to pay them much attention. Then he notice Hermione on the ground a few feet away from him. He immediately started crawling over to her. "Hermione! Hermione, wake up."

When she didn't respond, he put his head to her chest to see if he could even hear a heartbeat. Thankfully he did. "Hermione. Come on, you have to wake up."

"Oi, Ron!" Seamus called from across the room.

Ron turned to him.
"Come help me. Neville's in trouble," Seamus said.

Ron reluctantly stood up, careful of his broken wrist and made his way over to Seamus and Neville. Neville was pinned to the ground by a large shelf.

"We have to get it off of him," Seamus said.

"My wrist is broken. I don't know if I can lift it," Ron said. He really wanted to help, he just wasn't sure he could.

"Come on, just try," Seamus said.

Ron used his good hand to try to help Seamus free Neville, but he couldn't even get a good grip. He took a deep breath. "Okay, this is gonna hurt."

He used his injured hand and began to try to lift the shelf, but as soon as even the slightest pressure hit his wrist, he let go and started screaming in pain. "I...I can't. What about a wand." He wasn't sure why he hadn't thought about that first. That would be the best way to free his housemate."

"My wand fell out doing the quake and I can't get to Neville's pocket to see if he has his," Seamus said.

"Mine's in the dorm," Ron said. He looked towards the dormitory and found that even trying to go get it wouldn't be an option. The entrance was caved in. "Okay, I'll go get help."

"Have you looked at the door lately?" Seamus asked.

Ron looked towards the Common Room entrance and found that it too was caved in. You could barely tell that there was ever an entrance there. "Oh, bloody hell. So if we have no wand and the entrance is blocked off..."

Seamus nodded with a grim look on his face. "We can't get out."

Before Ron could respond to that terrifying thought, they both heard someone groan from behind them. They turned to see Dean pull himself out of the endless wreckage.

"Dean, you okay?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Dean said as he pulled himself to his feet. His body felt very bruised, but he didn't feel like anything was broken.

"Come help us then. We need to free Neville," Seamus said.

Dean climbed over the piles of debris and made his way over to them.

"Do you have your wand?" Seamus asked hopefully.

Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out small, thin pieces of wood. "Uh, sort of."

"Well, it was worth a shot. Come on, let's pull it off of him," Seamus said.

Dean grabbed one end and they lifted the shelf off of Neville and placed to the side, praying they weren't burying someone else even further.

"Ron?" a female voice called.

Ron turned to see that Hermione had regained consciousness and was sitting up with her hand placed on the back of her head.

Ron got back over to her as fast as he could and knelt down beside her. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so, but my head does kind of hurt. What about you? You're holding your wrist," Hermione noticed.

"Yeah, I think I broke it. It'll be okay though. Others are hurt worse than me," Ron said with poor Neville fresh on his mind. He was almost positive that Neville had hurt his back with the way that thing was on top of him.

"What about Harry? Has anyone found him?" Hermione asked. She vaguely remembered Harry falling to the ground after being hit by glass, but she didn't know what became of him after that.

Ron shook his head sadly. "No, we haven't seen many. Seamus and Dean are alright, we're not sure about Neville. They just freed him from a shelf that had fallen on him. We don't know about anyone else."

"We have to get help," Hermione said as she began to get up.

Ron stood and helped her up. "Hermione, no one's going anywhere right now. The entrance is caved in."

Hermione looked towards the entrance and saw that he was right about that. "Oh, God? What do we do?"

"Right now, I think all we can do is find Harry and anyone else who was in here. We figure out how to get out later. Do you have your wand?" Ron asked.

Hermione searched her pocket and shook her head. It had to have fallen out during the Earthquake.

Ron sighed. "Well, it was worth a try. Come on, let's just start searching."

Hermione nodded and began searching the area around her for anyone buried in the wreckage.

Severus began to wake and tried to move around.  For some reason he couldn't understand though, his back and legs wouldn't cooperate.  It felt like some kind of boulder was sitting on top of him.

Severus opened his eyes fully and saw that he was on the floor of this supply room.  Then it all came back to him.  The earthquake and the shelf falling on top of him.  He looked around to see that the other shelves had fallen as well, but thankfully, they'd fallen in opposite directions.

Severus tried to slide himself out from underneath the shelf, but it was no use.  He was stuck.

Severus soon heard footsteps coming his way, followed by Filch's voice.  "Anyone here?"

"In here!" Severus called.

It took a few moments, but Filch finally made his way into the room.  "You okay, Professor?"

"Get this bloody thing off of me!" Severus ordered. 

Filch immediately went over and lifted the shelf up just enough for Severus to slide through.  Once he was out, Filch let go again.

Severus slowly made it to his feet.  His legs ached and appeared to be very bruised, but thankfully they weren't broken.  "How bad is it out there?"

"Bad.  The place is destroyed," Filch told him. 

Rather than question the grounds keeper further, Severus decided to venture out and see for himself.  He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he stepped out the door.  There was destruction everywhere.  You couldn't see a single piece of the floor it was so bad.  There was a gaping hole in the wall into the next room, which happened to be his office.

"Told you it was bad," Filch said.

"Is the rest of the castle this bad?" Severus asked.

"Couldn't tell you?  This is the only floor I can access," Filch said.

"What?" Severus asked in confusion. 

"The Grand Staircase is no more," Filch explained.

Severus gaped in shock.  The idea of something so powerful it was able to get out the entire Grand Staircase was unbelievable to him.  Then again, he never imagined anything capable of causing the damage he was looking at right now.  "Have my Slytherins been evacuated."

Severus wasted no time in headed to the Slytherin Common Room.  Well, to where he estimated the Common Room was.  It was a bit hard to tell at the moment.  There was no way to differentiate one room from another, as they were all filled with the Earthquake's handiwork.  And that was rooms that still appeared to have doorways.  Some of them were completely knocked out, making it all look like one big room.

Severus waded his way through the piles of wood, glass, and metal.  It was endless.  "If anyone can hear me, speak!"

"Professor," came a weak voice that Severus recognized but couldn't place.

Severus headed towards the voice.  "Keep talking."

"It's Theodore Nott," the voice said while walking towards him.

Severus kept walking until he noticed the dark haired fifteen-year-old, along with several other Slytherin students.  "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we are, but there are others still trapped.  We couldn't get them all.  We heard the ceiling creek up above us.  We thought it might cave in on us," Nott said.

"How many are left?" Severus asked.

"I don't know.  A few at least," Nott said.

"Draco's still inside.  We couldn't find him," Pansy said distressed.

"Alright, head towards the Great Hall, or wherever you think the Great Hall might be," Severus said before walking past them.  He had to find the Common Room.  He had to at least attempt to save the remainder of his students. 

A few moments later, two First Years were heading towards him crying.  "Are you two alright?"

They both nodded, but they kept whimpering. 

"Where did the two of you come from?  Where's the Common Room?" Severus asked.

"A few feet that way," one of them stated pointing left.

"Alright, go straight ahead.  You should come to your housemates soon enough," Severus said before heading left.  He soon heard the creaking sound.  Nott was right, it was going to cave in soon. 

Severus swiftly began sifting through the wreckage.  "Is anyone here?"

There was a groan from a few inches away.

Severus would know that groan anywhere.  It was his godson, Draco.  He immediately headed towards him.  "Draco!"

"Uncle Sev?" Draco called quietly. 

Severus started unburying a new area until a head of blond hair was visible.  He moved a few more pieces of debris before pulling Draco out by the collar of his shirt.  "Are you alright?"

"I think so," Draco said as he began to try to stand up.  His knees immediately buckled and he cried out in a pain.  "No, my ankle hurts."

Severus immediately steadied him.  "You have to walk, Draco."

"I...I can't," Draco cried.

Severus listened as the creaking of the ceiling got worse.  He knew they didn't have much time left.  "You have to," he said as he began to half lead, half drag his godson away from danger.  They had just gotten out of danger when they heard the ceiling give underway. 

Severus turned and gulped.  He prayed to Merlin that no one was left in that area.  Because if there was anyone, there was no way they had survived. 

 ___________

Dumbledore, Minerva, and Filch were by the entrance ushering students out of the building.  "All the way out, towards the lake," Minerva told them.  Once the last of them were out, she turned to Dumbledore.  "How many more do you think there are?"

"Too many," Dumbledore said grimly. 

Just then Severus came towards them with Draco.

"Ah, Severus, good?  Are you alright?  How is Mr. Malfoy?"

"Possible broken ankle.  Has Poppy been found?" Severus asked.

Dumbledore shook his head.  "We're vacating the Common Rooms, since that's where most of the students will be, and then we'll take it floor by floor.  Right now, the only ones safe besides your students and us are the Weasly twins, Madam Hooch, and Hagrid.  Mr. Filch, help Young Mr. Malfoy out towards the lake."

Filch immediately pulled Draco's arm around his shoulders so he was supporting his weight and starting pulling him out of the castle. 

Once they were gone, Severus turned to Dumbledore.  "Headmaster, the castle's not safe anymore.  The ceiling caved in just as I got Draco out of the Common Room.  What was left of it anyway."

Dumbledore sighed.  "We won't be able to get everyone out alone.  Minerva, head to Hogsmeade and then apparate to Headquarters.  Have the Order come to help.  Also have someone inform the Ministry.  We need all the help we can get.  Hurry."

Minerva nodded and left the castle. 

Moments later, Madame Hooch flew down to them on her broom.  "Headmaster, we have a problem."

"Just one?" Severus asked sarcastically.

"The entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room is completely sealed off.  Where the portrait hole was, all there is is debris," Madam Hooch said.

Severus swore under his breath.  That meant the Gryffindors were trapped.  "Headmaster, if Gryffindor Tower is as unstable as the dungeons..."

"We have to get inside.  There must be a way," Dumbledore said.  He was unwilling to leave any of his students to fend for themselves.  They had to find a way to get them out.

Severus pondered for a moment.  "Perhaps a window."  They wouldn't be able to get the students out through the window, but maybe one of them could get in to at least assess the injuries to the students.

"Call for a broom and try.  If you can get in, do it.  If anyone's severely injured, you'll be the best one of us equipped to help them," Dumbledore told him.

Severus nodded and left.

Molly Weasley was in the kitchen of Headquarters cleaning up from dinner when Minerva apparated in.  Molly smiled at her.  "Minerva, how good to see you!  What brings you by at this hour though?"

"Who is here?" Minerva asked urgently. 

"Just me, Remus, and Sirius.  The others are all either working or other assignments for the Order.  Why?  What's wrong?" Molly asked.  She knew something was.  The look on Minerva's face screamed it.  Also she looked disheveled and was covered in dirt.

"Something's wrong?" Remus asked as he and Sirius entered the room.

"Is it Harry?  Is he alright?" Sirius asked in concern.

"I honestly do not know, Sirius.  Something has happened.  Hogwarts has come down," Minerva said gravely.  It was a literal fact.  There was barely anything left of what their school once was.

"What?" Remus asked in shock.

"What do you mean it has come down?" Molly asked equally stunned.

"Hogwarts has more wards on it than every other place in the Wizarding World combined.  How can it as you say ‘come down'?" Sirius asked.

Minerva shook her head sadly.  "No one anticipated this kind of thing happening.  It wasn't You Know Who or an attack at all.  It was the work of Mother Nature.  It was an earthquake and a powerful one at that.  It brought down Hogwarts and left quite a bit of damage to Hogsmeade as well."

"An earthquake?" Remus asked in disbelief.   With all the darkness around right now, it was hard to believe that after surviving for so long, something like an earthquake could bring Hogwarts to its knees so easily. 

"The children.  My children, how are they?" Molly asked in concern.  All she could think about was her precious children being crushed to death by this horrible, uncontrollable disaster. 

"The twins have been found.  Fred has a broken leg and George a bit of a concussion we think, but they'll both be fine.  Unfortunately, we haven't found any of your other children."

"What about Harry?" Sirius asked.

Minerva shook her head sadly.  "The only others we've evacuated so far are the Slytherins and that's because Severus rescued them himself."

"What can we do?" Remus asked anxious to help.

"We need bodies.  We need as many people as we can helping to rescue the students and staff.  Unfortunately the danger is not over.  The castle is still very unstable.  The ceiling caved in a bit in the dungeons right after Severus got his students to safety."

"Oh, Merlin!  I must let Arthur know.  I need to owl him," Molly said. 

"No, go in person and inform the first ministry worker you see there as well.  We need as much help as we can get.  Remus, if you would, come with me back to the castle?"

"Of course," Remus said immediately.

"I'm coming too," Sirius said.

"No!" they all exclaimed at once.

"Are you insane?  You'll be caught before you even make it inside the building?" Remus said.

"Then I'll wear a glamour.  I'm going to help Harry!" Sirius practically yelled.

"By what getting yourself caught and Kissed?  How exactly will that help Harry?  He'll still be in a possibly life threatening situation and you'll be as good as dead!" Remus yelled back.

"What do you want me to do?  Sit here and do nothing?" Sirius asked angrily.

"That's exactly what you'll do!  Because anything else will have Harry without his godfather whenever he's found," Remus said as he began to take his wand from his back pocket.  He had a feeling he was going to have to take drastic measures to ensure Sirius' compliance. 

"The hell with that!  I'm going to save my godson!" Sirius yelled.

"No, you're not," Remus said before raising his wand and putting his friend in a body bind, causing him to go rigid and fall to the ground with a thud.  "Let's go."

Minerva nodded and they all apparated out separately.

___________

Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean continued to search for their housemates.  They'd found a few, three first years and a couple of second years.  They were all fine aside from some minor injuries.  But most of their house was still missing, including Harry. 

"Bloody hell, where's a wand when you need one!  We could find everyone with the ‘Point Me' spell and we could've blasted the bloody door open by now," Ron said.

"Even if we had a wand, blasting the door wouldn't be a good idea.  We have no idea who might be injured on the other side of that door.  Also particles would fly all over the place, possibly hitting all of us," Hermione explained.

"Well, we can't stay in here the rest of our lives!" Ron yelled in frustration.

"Oi, guys, I think I found someone else!" Seamus called to them all 

They were all by his side within seconds helping him unbury the person.  After removing several pieces of debris, Ron saw that it was Ginny.  He immediately worked harder to get her out.  "Ginny!   Ginny, don't worry, you're almost free!"

"Ron," Ginny mumbled as she started to wake.  She kept her eyes closed though.

"Yeah, it's me.  You're going to be okay," Ron said as he got her out and pulled her closer to him.

"What happened?" Ginny asked.  The last thing she remembered was feeling the room shake like crazy and things start to break.  She'd just entered the Common Room when it happened.

"I'll explain later.  Are you okay?  Are you hurt anywhere?" Ron asked.

Ginny rubbed the side of her head.  "My head feels like it was kicked by a hippogriff."

"You probably have a concussion," Hermione said.

Ginny finally opened her eyes and saw the disaster around her.  "Bloody hell!  It looks a bomb went off in here or something."

"Yeah, it's bad, really bad.  We haven't even found everyone yet," Dean said.

"Fred and George!  Were there in here?" Ginny asked in a panic.  She hadn't seen them in there, but she'd just walked in when everything went to hell.

"I don't think so.  If they were, we haven't found them yet," Ron said. He was worried about his brothers too.  He wasn't sure what the better option was to hope for.  For them to be in there with them or in another part of the castle.

"What about Harry?  I saw him with you when I came in?  Is he okay?" Ginny asked.

"We haven't found him yet," Hermione said sadly.

Ginny had just begun to take in that frightening piece of information when they heard a noise outside.  "What was that?"

They all turned towards the window and waited anxiously to see if it happened again.  It did.  The noises increased until they saw Snape climb in through the broken window.

"Professor Snape," Hermione said as she went to help the man.

"Bloody hell, I never thought I'd be happy see Snape," Seamus said quietly to Dean.

"I heard that, Mr. Finnegan," Severus said as he made through the window.  "Twenty points from Gryffindor whenever this place becomes a school again.  Now is anyone hurt seriously? 

"Neville might be.  He hasn't woken up yet, but we think he might have hurt his back," Hermione said.

Severus scanned the room for the boy and found him just a few feet away.  He kicked a few pieces of debris away so he could walk better.  That's when he noticed it.  A very small piece of a shoe was visible, telling him that a person was buried there.

Severus immediately bent down and started pushing wooden planks and metal checks away.  "You lot, get over here and help."

Everyone, except for Ginny, who was still holding her head in pain, went to help. 

Hermione pulled several pieces  of debris off revealing a head of black hair and a lightning bolt scar.  "It's Harry, it's Harry!"

They all started unburying him faster and faster.  When they finally had him free, Severus took at the boy's frail state and uttered just two words.  "Bloody hell."

Severus stared in horror at the severely broken boy in front of him.  Whatever he expected to find when he managed to find when he unburied Potter was this.  The boy's arms were bleeding heavily from the countless glass shards imbedded in them.  Some of them were quite large.  His right leg was also at such an angle that Severus knew it was severely broken and he had a large gash on his head.

The boy's arms were Severus' biggest concern though.  His right arm was so damaged that he wasn't sure they would be able to save it.  That was if they could save his life.  The blood loss was profound and it didn't seem like it would be stopping anytime soon.  A glass shard had likely nicked a vain, causing it to bleed more than it normally would, not that that wouldn't have been bad enough. 

"Oh, Harry," Hermione cried. 

Severus contemplated what to do for a moment.  Normally it would be obvious.  Take the glass shards out and wrap the arms up to try to stop the bleeding.  Unfortunately, Potter was bleeding at an alarming rate.  Taking those shards out would cause him to bleed even further.  On the other hand though, wrapping Potter's arms up around the shards could push them in further, causing even further damage.

Making a split second decision, Severus took off his robe and used the cutting curse to cut it into strips.  "Granger, Finnegan to my right."

Both children obeyed with seconds.  "Granger, you're going to start pulling the glass shards out of that arm while I do the rest.  Finnegan and Thomas, the two of you are going to start wrapping these scraps around his arms as we finish with an area.  Work quickly, do not dawdle.  There is no time to waste!  Weasley, you can't help due to your injured wrist, but make yourself useful and search for anyone else.  That goes for the rest of you as well," he said glancing at the first and second years who were off to the side looking scared.  There was no time to coddle the younger years.  Lives hung in the balance.

"Yes, Professor," Ron said before getting up to do as he was told. 

Hermione and Severus quickly began taking out glass shards while Dean and Seamus wrapped Severus' robes around Harry's arms as they finished with each section.

"Professor, this one is big," Hermione said. 

Severus looked to see a very large piece of glass imbedded in Potter's arm.  If it was taken out, the blood loss would be most severe.  "Leave it in.  Wrap around it."

They all heard a small groan from nearby.  It was from Neville. 

Ron, who had just finished liberating too third years, was by his side within seconds.  "Hey, man.  You okay?"

"My back, it kills," Neville groaned.

"Do not let him move, Weasley!" Severus called without turning away from his task.  He couldn't stop what he was doing, but he wanted to make sure Longbottom wasn't moved.  He already appeared to be at risk for a spinal injury.  The last thing they needed was to increase those odds.

"Should one of us go help him, Professor?" Dean asked.

"No one moves from their task, Thomas.  Longbottom will live, Potter may not," Severus said seriously as he continued to pull out glass shards.  It was amazing how many there actually were.  Potter had to have been right next to the window for this to happen.

"Professor, how are going to get out of her after we're done here?" Hermione asked.

Severus didn't answer.  He didn't answer.  He supposed he could summon brooms and get most of them out, but it wouldn't be that simple for Potter and Longbottom.  Both had injuries that required them to be moved very delicately.

Meanwhile, Ron sat by Neville's side.  "Hang in there, mate.  It's gonna be okay."  He wasn't sure how true that actually was.  Right now it all seemed pretty hopeless.  They were trapped in the Common Room with no way out and at least one life was serious danger.

Ron shuddered at his last thought.  His best friend was just a few feet away fighting for his life and there was absolutely nothing he could do to help him.  It wasn't the first time Harry's life had been in danger, but it was the first he was so gravely injured and it was the first time Ron had a front row seat with no way to help his friend. 

"Did I hear somebody say Harry's name.  Is he okay?" Neville asked weakly. 

Ron looked back to where Snape and his housemates were still working to save is friend's life.  "I don't know.  He's hurt bad."

"How many others are hurt?" Neville asked.

"We haven't found everyone yet," Ron said.  Honestly, he didn't think they would find everyone.  There were probably quite a few who had made it into the dorms before the earthquake.  There was no getting them out.  They were completely caved in.  They probably had not survived. 

"Well, go look.  There's nothing you can do for me.  Go help the others," Neville told him. 

"Okay, just don't move, alright?  You could hurt yourself worse," Ron said.

Neville nodded.

Ron got up and went back to the task of moving debris around to try to find more victims.

Back with Harry, Severus had just finished taking the last glass shard out and Seamus quickly wrapped it up. 

Hermione finished as well.  "What now, Professor?" Hermione asked. 

"Go help the others.  I'll stay with Potter," Severus told them.

They all got up and walked away, Hermione very reluctantly. 

Severus looked down at the Potter boy.  The child looked so weak and frail.  It was a far cry from the boy he was used to.  He was used to a James Potter clone strutting around the castle like he owned it.  But right now he couldn't seem to see that boy.  He didn't see James Potter when he looked at the boy.  He didn't even see Lily.  All he saw now was a child that was inches away from death.  A child who would more than likely die unless help arrived soon.

Minerva and Remus arrived at Hogwarts just in time to see a group of Hufflepuffs being escorted out of the building.

Remus gasped when he got his first look at Hogwarts.  It was pretty much in ruins.  It was still standing of course, but there were pieces of it missing and other parts that appeared to be caved in.  It was unbelievable.  He never thought that anything could cause Hogwarts come down like this.  It had more protection charms than all of Magical Britain combined.  How could it not be prepared for something like this?

"Remus, are you coming?" Minerva asked.

"Yes, of course," Remus said pulling out of his thoughts.  He followed Minerva up the path to the school and they walked in the gaping hole that used to be the door to the entrance hall.

If Remus thought the outside of the building was bad, the inside was a downright disaster.  There was debris everywhere.  He could barely even tell that he was in Hogwarts.  It looked nothing like it had before.  It looked like a condemned muggle building. 

Soon Dumbledore walked over to them.  "Hello, Remus, thank you for coming."

"The others will be here soon.  Molly went to the Ministry to inform Arthur and the Ministry.  Then she will find the other order members.  How many others have we gotten out?" Minerva asked.

"We're in the process of evacuating the Hufflepuffs.  They're the easiest to get out since they're not upstairs.  Then we shall move on to the Ravenclaws," Dumbledore said.

"What about my lions.  Have they been evacuated already?" Minerva asked.

Dumbledore took a deep breath.  He knew that Minerva was not going to react well to what he had to say.  She was very protective of the students.  "There is an issue with getting into Gryffindor Tower."

"What kind of issue?" Remus asked with concern in his voice.

"The entrance to Gryffindor Tower has caved in," Dumbledore said sadly. 

"Caved in?  Are you saying my students are trapped?  We can't just leave them trapped," Minerva said.  Her concern for her students was quite evident.

"I have no intention of it, Minerva.  I've sent Severus to see if he can find some way in," Dumbledore told her. 

"Did he?" Remus asked.

"Well, it was an hour ago and I haven't heard from him since, so if I'm assuming he did," Dumbledore said.  Honestly, his lack of contact with Severus worried him though.  If all was well with the students, Severus would've sent a message via patronus.  The fact that he didn't made Dumbledore worried that the students were gravely injured and could not stop to send word.

"But wouldn't he have let us know if he had?" Minerva asked. 

"Not if he was too busy to stop and do so," Remus said gravely.

"We have to get in there, or at least find out how injured the students are," Minerva said.

"I agree, but I can't see how to do so.  We can't afford to send anyone else.  Sending Severus has left us with one body short.  We need everyone we can to get the students out," Dumbledore said.

"What about finding a ghost.  Surely they would be able to get in or out without any difficulty," Remus said.  Ghost could do what they couldn't.  They could pass through any surface without having to worry about doors or rubble.  They could tell them how the students were fairing and even if there was a way to get them out. 

Dumbledore felt like slapping himself.  He should've thought about that ages ago.  The ghosts could help and not just the Gryffindors.  They could locate almost everyone because they could pass through every room in the castle.  It was amazing how when a crisis hit, the most obvious solution slipped through your fingers.  "Remus, if you can, find the ghosts.  Have them search the castle for people, Gryffindor being the first priority."

Remus nodded and started wading through the debris to search.

Just then several ministry officials walked in, including Arthur, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Amelia Bones, Umbridge, and the minister himself.

"Oh, Merlin," Tonks said as took in the massive wreckage that used to be Hogwarts.

"How did this happen, Dumbledore," Fudge demanded to know. 

"What part of ‘earthquake' was hard for you to understand, Minister?" Amelia asked.  She thought it was self-evident what had happened. 

"I'm aware of that, but how could this happen?  This is Hogwarts for Merlin's sake.  It's supposed to be protected from everything.  How could something like this bring it down?" Fudge asked. 

"Cornelius, the protection on Hogwarts was put on by the Founders.  They couldn't have possibly foreseen something like this.  No one could've," Dumbledore said.  He certainly hadn't foreseen this.  Out of all the dangers that the school could face, this was the last one to come to mind. 

"Look, what matters now is getting everyone out," Amelia said before looking at Dumbledore.  "Headmaster, I need to know, did my niece make it out?"

"Amelia, I don't know.  The Hufflepuffs we could find were evacuated, but, unfortunately, I didn't have the time to try to put names to faces.  It has been utter chaos," Dumbledore said. 

"How many actually made it out?  Were Ron and Ginny found, do you know?" Arthur asked.  He knew the headmaster just said that it was too chaotic for him to recognize all the students, but he was hoping the man would've recognized his children since he was around them more.

"No, they haven't.  As far as I know, they are in Gryffindor Tower and that area is unreachable at this point.  But the twins were located," Dumbledore told him.  He hoped that knowing two of his children were safe would be of some comfort to the man.

"Yes, we past them on the way up here.  They're being taken to St. Mungo's.  I had Molly go with them with the promise that I would let her know the status of Ron and Ginny," Arthur said.

"What do you mean that Gryffindor Tower is unreachable?" Tonks asked.

"Well, it's not completely unreachable.  Severus was able to get in, but we can't get them out.  The entrance caved in," Minerva explained.

Tonks' eyes nearly bugged out of her head.  "Caved in?  Does that mean all of Gryffindor has caved in?"  That was a very scary thought.  That would mean that nearly all of those student's lives had become forfeit. 

Minerva shuddered at the thought.  "Let us hope the answer to that is ‘no'."

Dumbledore shook his head.  "No, if that were the case, Severus would've come back straight away."

"Unless he was hurt trying to get in," Arthur said. 

"Arthur's right.  We don't even know if Snape managed to get to any of the students.  Even if he got in, he could've just become a casualty," Kingsley said.

"Well, we will soon find out.  I've sent Remus out to find the ghosts and have them search.  Gryffindor will be the top priority.  We will soon now one way or another how badly everyone is injured.  In the meantime, we should keep searching.  We have a lot of ground to cover," Dumbledore said. 

They all nodded and went off separately to search for survivors.

Once he was sure there was nothing more he could do for Potter, Severus went over to assess the damage to the Longbottom boy.  "Longbottom, exactly where is the pain?"

"M...my back, sir," Neville said groaning. 

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but what part of your back.  Is it your lower back, upper back, or both?" Severus said.

"Um, I don't know.  Both, I guess," Neville said.  He probably should know exactly which part of his back hurt, but the pain was so intense that it made it difficult to pinpoint the exact location. 

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Severus asked. 

"If I am, I can't feel it above this pain," Neville said.

"Alright, I'm going to touch your back.  Let me know when it begins to hurt," Severus said before softly placing his hand on the boy's lower back.

Neville let out a bloodcurdling scream the moment his professor touched him. 

Severus immediately retracted his hand.  "Well, I would definitely say your back is broken.  How badly remains to be determined."

"A...am I going to be paralyzed?" Neville asked fearfully.  He wasn't completely stupid.  He knew what a back injury could end up meaning for him and it scared him.  He didn't want to be paralyzed.

"It's a possibility," Severus told him.  He wouldn't lie.  He'd never lied to make anyone feel better and he wasn't about to start now.  It wouldn't do Longbottom any good for him to lie anyway.  Though he supposed giving him some hope wouldn't be a bad thing.  "However, you can limit the risks of that by remaining still.  Try not to move around too much.  If you do have a spinal injury, it'll only make things worse."

"Y...yes, Professor," Neville said.

Severus got up and went to check on other victims.  He noticed Ginny Weasley on the ground on the other side of the room.  She hadn't moved since he got there.  He immediately made his way over.  "Ms. Weasley, are you alright?"

"My head hurts and I feel dizzy.  And I'm really tired," Ginny said.

Severus sucked in a breath.  He knew enough to know that those were the symptoms of a major concussion.  "You have a concussion, which means you must try to stay awake."

"I'll try, sir, but I'm really tired," Ginny said quietly.

"Professor!" someone called.

Severus turned to see Finnegan and Thomas leaned over an injured third year.  He immediately went over.  "Weasley, get over there and keep your sister awake," he said without even turning to see if he was listened to.

Severus leaned down in front of the injured boy.  The child had a large gash on his head and he was very pale.  Severus brought two fingers down to feel for a pulse.  After a minute, he pulled them away and sighed sadly.  The boy was gone. 

"Professor?" Seamus asked.

Severus shook his head in answer.

"Professor Snape!"

Severus turned to see Granger huddled by Potter.  He immediately rushed over to them. 

"He's really pale, Professor and he's bleeding a lot," Hermione said worriedly.

Severus sighed.  She was right.  The makeshift bandages that were wrapped around the boy's arms were soaked almost all the way through.  If he didn't get help soon, he wasn't going to make it.  "There's nothing we can do right now."

Severus than noticed something on Potter's right hand.  He turned it over to see that something was carved into his hands.  It was the words ‘I must not tell lies'.  "Miss Granger, would you happen to know where this came from?"

Hermione followed his gaze to Harry's hand and cringed.  "It was Professor Umbridge.  She makes him use a blood quill during detention."

Severus swore under his breath.  "And you didn't think to tell anyone before now."

"Harry didn't want us to.  He said Dumbledore couldn't really do anything anyway since Umbridge was brought in by the Ministry," Hermione said.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  A blood quill is an illegal object.  Using it on anyone, let alone a student, could get someone a lengthy term in Azkaban, Ministry employee or not.  Potter should've told someone, and if he didn't, you should've," Severus said harshly.

Just then the transparent form of Nearly Headless Nick came into view.  "Oh, Merlin's Beard!"

"Sir Nickolas," Hermione said.

"I assume you're here on the headmaster's request," Severus said.

"Actually, former Professor Lupin asked, but it was on the headmaster's orders.  They want to know the status of everyone, especially Gryffindor," Nick said.

"The status is very bad," Severus said.

"I can see that," Nick said as he glanced down at Harry.

"You need to tell the headmaster that he needs to get us out of here," Severus said seriously.

"He's going to want somewhat of an account of injuries," Nick said. 

"Potter and Longbottom are the worst off.  Longbottom has a broken back, possibly a spinal injury and Potter...  Well, I think Potter is self-explanatory.  Also, Ginny Weasley has a concussion.  You can mention that too," Severus said.

"Any casualties?" Nick asked.

Severus glanced over at the third year he'd just seen.  "At least one, probably more.  The dorms are caved in.  It's likely that anyone inside were killed."

"I shall check," Nick said before gliding towards where the doors used to be and disappearing.  He returned seconds later with a grim look on his face.  If a ghost were capable, he would probably be sick right now. 

"Well?" Severus asked. 

"There's nothing left of it.  The Ceiling almost completely caved in and so are most of the walls.  I didn't need to check.  No one can survive that," Nick said.

Severus was quiet for a minute as he thought about all the young lives lost.  He forced it to the back of his mind though.  He couldn't do anything about those children.  He had to focus on the ones that could still be saved.  "Get to the headmaster.  Tell him that he needs to get in here soon.  If he doesn't..."  He glanced down at the Potter boy.  "Let's just say that another name will be added to the casualty list.

Nick nodded and glided through the walls.

"Professor, do you think we'll get in time?" Hermione asked. 

Severus looked down at the severely injured boy. He took a good look at the boy's current state and how quickly he was deteriorating.   Again, he felt the need to be brutally honest.  "It's doubtful."

Dumbledore was by the entrance leading a few more students that had been located out of the building when Remus and Tonks came over.  They both looked sad and particularly haunted.  "What is it?  What happened?"

"We found two more.  Both dead," Remus said sadly.

Dumbledore sighed sadly.  There was no sign of the twinkle his eyes held just a few hours ago.  He of course knew that not everyone would make it, but hearing about dead children was still debilitating, even if it was expected.  "Do you know who they were?"

"I recognized one of them.  McLaggen, I believe his name was.  The other was a first or second year.  I wouldn't know," Remus said.

"Out of the way!" Someone yelled.

They all moved aside to see Amelia Bones and Kinsley coming through with a levitated Dennis Creevey.  The boy had a large gash on his head and was unconscious.

"How bad is he?" Dumbledore asked.

"His pulse is weak.  We have to get to St. Mungo's," Amelia said before taking the boy out of the castle.

Arthur soon joined Dumbledore, Remus, and Tonks.  "Is there any news about the Gryffindor students?"

Dumbledore was about to answer in the negative when Sir Nickolas appeared.  "Sir Nickolas, do you have any news for us."

"Yes, but nothing good, Headmaster.  It is imperative that you get into Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw for that matter," Nick said.  He'd done a swift check of Ravenclaw after leaving Gryffindor.  They weren't fairing much better. 

Dumbledore mentally prepared himself for what he was about to here.  "Tell us."

"Gryffindor is in bad shape.  So far only ten to twelve have been rescued," Nick said.

"Ron?  Ginny?" Arthur asked hopefully. 

"Both.  They seem okay.  Though Young Ginny appears to have a concussion," Nick said.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.  While a concussion did concern him a bit, it could've easily been a lot worse.

"What about Harry?" Remus asked.  His best friend's son had been weighing heavily on his heart since he'd learned of this disaster.  He'd tried not to think the worst, but his mind couldn't help but wander, especially after finding those two unfortunate students. 

"He is among those found," Nick said carefully.

Remus didn't like the ghost's tone.  It left him feeling very worried about his young cub.  "Is he alive?"

"He is, but he's in trouble," Nick said.

"What kind of trouble?" Dumbledore asked worriedly. 

"The kind that would have him joining me should he not get help soon.  His arms are bleeding badly and he's extremely pale.  Professor Snape told me to tell you that if we don't get them out of there soon, Harry will not survive," Nick relayed.

"Oh Merlin.  This can't be happening.  Not Harry," Remus said quietly.  He couldn't lose Harry and neither could Sirius.  Neither of them would survive that.

"Neville Longbottom is also in need of serious medical attention.  He's hurt his back badly," Nick said. 

"Are there any casualties?" Dumbledore asked. 

"Too many to count.  The dorms were completely destroyed.  Whoever was in there was certainly killed," Nick said sadly.

Dumbledore took a moment to mourn those students before speaking again.  "You said Ravenclaw wasn't much better."

"There's a bit trapped too, not as bad as Gryffindor though.  There are some seriously injured... and some dead," Nick said glumly.

"How many?" Dumbledore asked.

"At least five."

Dumbledore sighed.  "Alright, we must get in to both houses.  Let's round up everyone.  Half will work to free Ravenclaw and the other half will do the same for Gryffindor."

"I get everyone for you, Headmaster," Nick said before gliding away. 

___________

Ten minutes later, Dumbledore, Minerva, Remus, and Arthur were outside Gryffindor tower.  The others were trying to free the Ravenclaw students. 

"What should we do, Albus?  Do we use a blasting curse?" Arthur asked

Dumbledore shook his head.  "No, the building is unstable enough as it is.  The dungeons have already fallen.  The last thing we need is for Gryffindor tower to collapse because we performed such a destructive spell."

"So what do we do?" Minerva asked. 

"We dig them out the muggle way," Dumbledore said.  It wasn't exactly the fasted option, but it was the safest one they had.  He couldn't rest the lives inside that tower by trying to force their way in there. 

"Albus, that could take hours," Minerva said.

"Yeah, what if Harry can't make it that long?" Remus asked.  By Sir Nicholas' own words, Harry was in grave danger.  The longer they waited, the less likely he was to survive."

Dumbledore sighed.  Harry's fate did weigh heavily on him.  He would never admit to anyone, but Harry was one of his favorites.  The thought of him not surviving wasn't something he wanted to think about.  But forcing their way in there and possibly bringing the ceiling down wouldn't help Harry anymore than the rest of his housemates. "We're just going to have to pray that he can."

___________

 Everything was mostly quiet inside Gryffindor.  All the students found were seated on varies parts of the floor.  They'd given up searched about twenty minutes earlier.  They weren't finding anything but bodies now.  It was decided that they'd rescued everyone they could.

Severus remained by Harry's side, keeping vigilant watch over him condition, which was deteriorating fast.  The boy grew paler by the second and his breathing was very labored.  The bleeding of his arms had not subsided either.

Severus stared at the boy and sighed.  He knew that this was it.  Potter's life was slipping away from him by the second, and it was almost over.  They had maybe minutes left before the world's hero would be taken from them, not by the Dark Lord, but by something as unpredictable as a natural disaster.  Minutes before a young boy, who had his whole life ahead of him, had that life tragically taken from him, just as so many others had on this night.

Severus found himself thinking back to that fateful Halloween night when he'd walked into Godric's Hollow to find his precious Lily dead on the ground.  It was by far the most memory he had.  But it wouldn't be for long.  As agonizing as that memory was, watching her son die would be much worse.  Not because the boy meant more to him, but because it meant he broke his promise.  After Lily had died, he promised to protect her son, to keep him alive.  His promise would be broken the second Potter took his last breath, which could literally be any minute.

He shook his head.  No, he couldn't let that happen.  He'd failed Lily, but he could not and would not fail her son.  Potter still had a chance.  All Severus had to do was find some way to get him out.

Severus looked to the door.  It was of course no more accessible than before.  He could get it accessible though.  He could use magic to blast the debris away and clear a path.  However, it was a very big risk.  The castle was very unstable.  If he cast such a spell, it could make it even worse.  But if he didn't, Potter would die.  That wasn't something he could allow to happen.  Yes, others could be killed by him doing this, but if he didn't Potter would be killed.  There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Severus stood up and  saw Finnegan, Thomas, and three first years close to the doorway.  "You lot, get away from there."

They immediately scurried to the other side of the room as fast as they could. 

"What are you going to do, Professor?" Hermione asked.  She was on the other side of Harry. 

"What I must," Severus said simply before pointed his wand at the entrance and shot off a Reducto at it, all the while praying that he wasn't making a terrible mistake.

Dumbledore, McGonagall, Remus, and Arthur were all carefully removing debris from what was left of the Gryffindor entrance when they heard a loud blast.  They were able to get out of the way just in time for debris to be thrown everywhere.  When they looked over again, there was a gaping hole where the pile of debris had been.

Seconds later, Severus came out carrying a very wounded Harry Potter.  Then Ron came with Ginny.  He was supporting her with his good arm.  Hermione came out next levitating Neville.  Many others came out afterwards. 

It was seconds after they got out that they heard a loud crash.  Dumbledore looked into the tower to see that it had caved in, probably from the effects of the blasting curse.  He looked up to see if the area above them was in danger of collapsing.  Thankfully, they appeared safe for now. 

Arthur immediately went to Ron and Ginny and took them into his arms.  "Are you too alright?"

"My head hurts," Ginny mumbled into her father's arms. 

Ron pulled out of his father's embrace.  "The professor thinks she might have a concussion."

"And you, son?  How are you?" Arthur asked.

"Just a broken wrist. I'm fine.  I'm more worried about Harry than anything else," Ron said.

Meanwhile, Severus placed Harry on the ground carefully.

Remus immediately went over to him and knelt down.  "Oh, Harry.  What's happened to you?"

"Albus, where's Poppy?  Have you located her yet?" Severus asked.

Dumbledore shook his head sadly.  "Not yet.  We had to prioritize.  The students had to come first."

"Then we need to get Potter and Longbottom to St. Mungos.  Potter won't survive much longer without a healer," Severus said. 

"Go down to the landing where the stairs once were and call for a broom.  There are aurors outside with portkeys directly to St. Mungos.  Minerva, you go as well with Mr. Longbottom, but come back immediately.  We need as much help as we can get," Dumbledore told her. 

"I'm going a well," Remus said.  He wanted to be there for Harry.

"Remus, I know you want to be there for Harry, but we need you here.  We already don't have enough bodies.  We can't lose anyone else.  Severus will stay with Harry," Dumbledore assured him.

Arthur came over with his children.  "I want Ron and Ginny to go as well to see a healer."

Dumbledore nodded and turned to the children.  All of you will go to be checked out.  From there, your parents will be notified.  Go on with Professor Snape and McGonagall."

"Miss Granger, my wand if you please.  He'd given her his wand to levitate Longbottom.  He hadn't relished the idea of handing his wand over to a Gryffindor, but he couldn't carry Potter out and levitate Longbottom.

Hermione immediately handed her professor his wand.

Severus picked Harry back up and headed towards the area where the stairway used to be.  The others followed him.

___________

Ron walked out of his hospital room and found Hermione sitting in one of the chairs outside of it.  "Hey," he said as he sat next to her.  "Any word on the others?"

"Seamus and Dean are waiting in the waiting room for their parents to show up.  Your mum is with Ginny.  She said she'd be by to check on you soon," Hermione said.

"What about Harry and Neville?" Ron asked.  It was Harry he was most concerned about.  His friend had been in very bad shape the last they saw him.  It wasn't clear if he was going to survive.

Hermione shook her head.  "Neville's grandmother showed up, so she's with him, and Professor Snape went with Harry.  But there's still no news on their conditions."

Ron was quiet for a few moments.  Then he asked, "What time is it?"

"Just after three in the morning,"  Hermione answered.

"Six hours?  It's only been six hours?" Ron asked.  It felt like it had been so much longer than that.  It felt like it had to be at least double that time.

"Apparently," Hermione said quietly.  She too had been surprised at how little time had actually passed.  If she hadn't known any better, she would've said that they had been trapped in that room for days. 

"Six hours.  In six hours, our entire world fell apart.  Six hours and half our housemates lost their lives," Ron said.  It was just starting to hit him.  People he knew, people he shared a dormitory with, were dead.  It hadn't sunk in before.  They had all been too busy trying to save their own lives and lives of the people who were still in danger to think about it.  Now they were out though.  Now it was real.

"Ron, don't," Hermione said.  She didn't want to think about that just yet.  It was too horrible.  She didn't want to think about all the people who died tonight.  She didn't want to think about Harry possibly dying or Neville maybe being paralyzed.  She just didn't want to think about any of it.

If Ron heard her, he didn't show it.  "And it's not even over yet.  There are still people trapped in that school.  Who knows how many of them will make it out of there alive."

"Ron, please..."

"And then there's Harry.  He could die too," Ron said sadly.

"Ron, stop!" Hermione yelled through tears before crossing the room.

Ron got up and followed her.  "I...I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to upset you.  It's just...  I can't believe this is actually happening.  I can't believe people we knew are gone because of some bloody earthquake."  It made him so angry that he would never see those people again.  It made him even angrier to know that he couldn't lash out at someone for it.  This hadn't happened because of something someone else did.  It was just some random, catastrophic event that couldn't be prevented.  There was no one to be mad at and that just made it worse. 

Hermione turned around and wrapped her arms around him crying.

Ron hugged her back.  He wanted to tell her it would be okay, but he couldn't.  He honestly wasn't sure it would ever be okay again. 

Severus sat in the waiting room with Augusta Longbottom, Nott Senior, and many other parents.  Theodore Nott had taken a turn for the worst despite the fact that he initially appeared to be alright.  Apparently he had a head injury that worsened.  He passed out not long after making it out of the school. 

"How could something like this happen?  That blasted school was supposed to be protected," Nott grumbled as he paced the floor. 

"The founders could not have anticipated an earthquake when they started the school," Severus said through gritted teeth.  He never liked Nott.  The man grated on his last nerve. 

"Well, how about Dumbledore?  That senile old man should've done something in case of something like this," Nott said.

"For once, I agree with Nott.  We should be able to send our children off to school without worrying about them being killed by something like this," the mother of the Patil twins said.

"Our house certainly has protections for possible natural disasters," her husband added.

Severus eyed them sadly.  Unlike many others, they weren't there to hear about the condition of their children, as they hadn't made it to the hospital yet.  Severus didn't have it in them to tell them that at least one of their daughters wouldn't be rescued at all.  Pavarti Patil was not amongst the students to make it out of Gryffindor.  That meant that when the dorms or the tower itself went down, she probably did too.  He hoped for his own soul that it was the dorms and not caused by the spell he'd used to save Potter.

Just then a healer came over to them.  "Mr. Nott."

Nott immediately went over to him.  "How is my son?"

"Perhaps we should speak privately," the healer said.

Severus closed his eyes sadly.  The only time healers asked to speak privately was when they had bad news to give.  It was clear what the bad news was this time.  Theodore Nott didn't make it. 

The healer sighed.  "I'm sorry."

"W...what?  No!  He's not dead.  He was fine.  He was alert.  They said he walked out of that castle on his own.  And now you're telling me that my son is..."  He couldn't say the rest.  He couldn't even think it.  It was too terrible. 

"I know.  Sometimes it happens that way.  Sometimes people seem alright when they're not.  Sometimes we just don't know until it's too late," the healer said as gently as possible. 

"No.  No, it's someone else.  You're talking about someone else," Nott said while shaking his head.

"Mr. Nott..."

"Not my son!" Nott yelled in a begging tone.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't know for a fact.  Your son suffered a massive bleed in his brain.  We tried to repair it, but it was too extensive," the healer explained.

"My boy's dead?" Nott asked in a shaky voice. 

"Yes, sir.  I'm sorry."

Nott took several deep breaths and then glared at Severus.  "You tell that old man that I'm coming for him.  My son is dead because of him.  He's going to pay," he said in a cracked voice before walking away.

Severus didn't even attempt to speak.  Nott might be a despicable human being and he might have done terrible things, but he'd just lost his son.  He was entitled to some allowances. 

Theodore Nott's death hit heavily on Severus hard as well.  He was that boy's head of house.  He watched him grow up for five years.  Now he was gone.  In one terrible, random disaster, a fifteen-year-old boy had lost his life.  What was worse was that he wasn't the first nor would he the last to die on this night.

Severus forced all thought on the Nott boy's demise away and turned to the healer.  There would be plenty of time later to deal with the massive loss of life that had occurred tonight.  Right now he needed to focus on those who still had a chance of making it, like Potter.  "Do you have news on anyone else?  Potter perhaps?"

The healer shook his head.  "Sorry, he wasn't my patient."

"What about my grandson, Neville?" Augusta asked.

"Uh, I examined him for possible fatal injuries and determined he had none.  A more thorough examination will be conducted later," the healer said.

"What do you mean ‘later'?  He came in her with a broken back.  He needs to be looked at now," Augusta said irritably. 

"We've stabilized his back as best we can.  We don't have time to anything else.  There are children in serious trouble," the healer said.

"My grandson is in serious trouble!" Augusta yelled. 

"Would you shut up, Woman?!" Severus yelled back.  He was getting sick of listening to her badger the healer.  In the time she yelled at him, he could be saving the lives of more students.  Too many had already been sacrificed because of this tragedy.

Augusta glared at Severus.  "Shut up, Snape!  This has nothing to do with you!"

"Did you not see what just happened here?  Nott was just told that his son was dead.  Dead!  You won't be getting that news.  Whatever happens to your grandson as a result of this tragedy, he's going to live.  Take comfort in that and let this man get back to his job so that he can prevent others from hearing the news of their children's demise," Severus said.

"Who are you to lecture me?" Augusta asked angrily. 

Severus stood up from his seat and glared.  "Who am I?  I am the one who sat in that nearly completely destroyed room with your grandson and several other students waiting for a way out.  I'm the one that watched as young children uncovered the bodies of their classmates and were forced to look at them because there was no way out."

There was a collective gasp from the surrounding parents, all wondering if one of those bodies had been of their child.

Severus cringed when he realized the fear and horror he probably caused, but he kept his gaze on Augusta Longbottom.  "Gain some prospective.  The idea of your grandson being paralyzed is terrible, but not even close to as terrible as the loss of life that occurred tonight and will probably keep occurring," he said before walking towards the opposite end of the waiting room to get away from the woman.

After sitting down, Severus sighed and checked his watch.  It was five in the morning.  Technically, the night of hell had come to an end.  The tragedy, however, was far from over.  Hell, he wondered if it would ever be over.  He doubted it.  Too much had happened.  He had a feeling that they would all be dealing with the effects of this tragedy until the day died.

Ron made his way into his twin brothers’ room.   He’d asked a healer where they were so he could check on them.  Fred was lying in bed  with his leg in a raised sling and George was in another bed a few feet away sleeping.

“Hey, Ronnie,” Fred said, using a name he hadn’t used without teasing since his brother was little. 

“Hey,” Ron said as he walked further into the room.

“How are you doing?  You okay?” Fred asked.

Ron raised his broken wrist a bit.  “Yeah, just a broken wrist.”

“They heal it?” Fred asked. 

“No, too many worse off patients.  They wrapped it though.  Same with you, I guess.  How’s George?” Ron asked as motioned towards his older brother. 

“Oh, he’s fine.  Just knocked out from a concussion.  Being a bit lazy if you ask me,” Fred joked halfheartedly.  This was one of the very few times in his life that he didn’t find humor in a situation.  Still, he had to try.  It was who he was.  “How are the others?  Harry and Hermione alright?”

“Hermione’s fine.  She passed out for a bit when it first happened, but she doesn’t have so much as a concussion,” Ron said.

“What about Harry?  Is he alright?” Fred asked.  The way his brother skipped over Harry had not gone unnoticed by him.

Ron sat in the chair next to his brother and looked down at his lap.  “I don’t know.  He’s bad, Fred, real bad.  We couldn’t even find him for a long time.  He was buried under piles of rubble.  When we did find him he was so bad.  H…his arms were both riddled with glass.  He was bleeding so bad.”  His voice was cracking by now.  It was all hitting him so hard now.  He could’ve lost his best friend tonight.  Hell, he still could.  And even if Harry did make it, he still lost friends tonight.  People he hung around with were dead.  They were never coming back.

“How bad?” Fred asked in concern.  He considered Harry like another little brother.  He couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him. 

“Bad.  We didn’t even think he was going to make it out of the Tower,” Ron said.  He still remembered Snape saying that.  He’d said he doubted they would got out of Gryffindor Tower before Harry bled to death.  “He did, but it’s still really bad.  Professor Snape had to use Reducto to get us out of Gryffindor Tower .  It put us all at risk because the Tower could collapse, which it did.  But Snape had to do or Harry would’ve died.

“Did everyone make it out before it collapsed?” Fred asked.

“Everyone accounted for,” Ron said.

“What’s that mean?” Fred asked with dread in his voice. 

Ron looked his brother in the eye.  “It means we stopped looking for people after the fifth body.”

There was a moment of silence between the two brothers as they both thought about the meaning of Ron’s words.

“How many?  How many made it out?” Fred finally asked.  He figured that would the easier question to answer.  He had the feeling less survived than didn’t.

“A handful of us.  There were probably a few stragglers that didn’t make it in before curfew, but I’d say that most were either in the Common Room or the dorms.  The dorms were gone as soon as the Earthquake hit.  Sir Nickolas checked and said there was barely anything left.  The  whole thing was just a pile of rubble.  No one could’ve survived that,” Ron said sadly.

Fred shuddered.  “And that’s just one house.”

“Yeah.  Slytherin got it just as bad, I here.  Many of them are gone too,” Ron said.  That upset him too, more than one would’ve thought.   He didn’t like the Slytherins, but he didn’t wish any of them dead.  

“Bloody hell.  And we were all worried about the damage You Know Who could do,” Fred said. 

“Not even he could create the amount of damage that was caused in such a short amount of time.  Fred, it was so bad.  The castle’s basically destroyed and it took so many of us down with it,” Ron said as he finally lost and broke down crying. 

Fred put a hand on his brother’s arm in an attempt to comfort him. 

Ron immediately wrapped his arms around his brother and cried even harder.

___________

Nearly an hour later, Severus was still waiting for news on Potter’s condition.  He was getting quite impatient actually.  There should be some kind of answer by now at least, even if it wasn’t good.  It wasn’t the same as with Longbottom.  Potter was gravely injured.  He would’ve gotten top priority. 

“Harry Potter?”

Severus turned to see a female healer waiting for someone to inform to.  Severus immediately went over to her.  “How is he?”

“He’s stable for now.  It was touch and go for a while.  He lost a lot of blood and we were having a hard time replenishing it enough to save his life,” the healer said.

“But you did?” Severus asked. 

She nodded.  “We finally managed to stop the bleeding and get enough potion in him to sustain him.  His right arm was the most injured.  Miraculously, we were able save it.”

Severus sighed in relief.  He had been worried about that.  That arm was so messed up that he was afraid Potter would lose it.  “So than he’ll be alright?”

“Well, there was another complication.  Mr. Potter suffered a depressed skull fracture due to a blow to the head,” the healer said.

Severus swore under his breath.  That wasn’t good.  A skull fracture was considered a severe head injury.  All he could think about was the Nott boy who was walking and talking a few hours ago and was now dead because of the unpredictability of a head injury.

“We managed to repair the damage and I think there is minimal risk of any long term affects, but as I’m sure you’re aware, head injuries can be unpredictable.”

Severus nodded.  “Again, Theodore Nott’s face popped into his head as an example of an unpredictable head injury.  “Anything else?”

“He has a broken leg, but compared with his other injuries, I think that’s pretty minor.  You ought to know that you undoubtedly saved this boy’s life by getting him here when you did.  Even one more moment and I don’t think he would’ve made it,” the healer said seriously.

“May I see the boy?” Severus asked.  He wasn’t sure what drove him to ask such a question.  He didn’t care about Potter other than making sure he’d live, right?  So why was he intent on seeing the child?

“Of course.  Follow me,” the healer said before leading the way towards Harry’s room.