Title: Those Left Behind
Author: Karen U
Characters: Neville, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and characters are the property of JK Rowling
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: Only four Gryffindors returned for their seventh year.
Spoilers: set during HP and the Deathly Hallows
Warnings: nothing, really

They made their way up the spiral staircase to the door that was at the very top. The two boys stopped just outside the door, neither of them looking particularly like they wanted to enter the room, but after a long moment, the taller of the two reached out, shoving the door open, the two of them stepping inside their dormitory. Without speaking, they moved further into the room, heading without thought or question toward the beds that they had first claimed when they were first years. There was no thought to going to any of the other beds, even though some of them had better spots in the room than the ones they headed toward. Those beds weren't theirs. They never had been before; they wouldn't be now.

Instead, those beds would remain empty.

"Dean is on the run," Seamus Finnigan said, his voice low, the Irish boy glancing around as though he expected to find someone listening in on them. Not that he could be blamed for thinking that way. After he finished searching the room with his gaze, he continued speaking. "He got a head start, I think. Left halfway through the summer, told his parents to take his sisters and go into hiding. With them being Muggles and all..."

"And your Mum and Dad?" Neville Longbottom questioned, the taller boy well aware that Seamus was only a half-blood: while his mother was a pureblooded witch and would be safe enough, his father was a Muggle.

"Da's in America. He goes sometimes, you know. For business. His job and all. My mam told him to stay there until she calls him back. He knows that she's safer without him around. He hates it, though. Mam thought they were less likely to go after him specifically if he was alone and seemed like any other Muggle than if he'd been with her. They'd have known he was married to a witch, and they wouldn'ta liked that."

Neville nodded slightly. "I asked Gram if she thought she should go into hiding, since her beliefs are well-known and all, but she said she can take care of herself. I suppose she's right." He turned to look at the beds left vacant in the room. Beds that had been occupied by Dean Thomas, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter in previous years. "I'm glad Dean ran. From what I've heard..."

"They've been breaking their wands and shipping them off to Azkaban is what I heard," Seamus said, shaking his head, then glancing at the beds that had been Ron and Harry's. "I heard a rumor that Ron's got spattergroit. How big a lie do ya think that is?"

"Probably a pretty massive one. I imagine that Fred and George helped figure something out so that the lie is still believable if someone goes to check." Neville fell silent for a moment. "The way I see it... He's off somewhere with Harry."

"And Harry's on the run."

"I'm not so sure about that. I mean... I know he's in hiding. He has to be, until the right time. I've seen the Prophet; I'm sure you have."

"Undesirable number one," Seamus muttered, making a face as he said the words. "And they've got Hermione's face with that word stamped across it. Do you think she's with them? With Ron and Harry?"

"I would suspect. I talked to Luna Lovegood on the train. She told me... They were all at Bill Weasley's wedding this summer. He married that girl that was the champion for Beauxbaton's a few years back. Harry was there, in disguise according to her, and she said Hermione was there as well. It was the night that the ministry fell. Death Eaters showed at the wedding, but as best as could be told, they all got out okay. Ron, Harry, and Hermione left together. Luna says she saw them disapparate just before she and her father did." He looked over at Seamus. "She wouldn't lie about that."

"I know she wouldn't," the Irish boy replied, his expression serious and somewhat relieved. It was good to know that it seemed someone had seen those three sometime in recent weeks... Even if it still meant that it had been about a month since they'd been seen. They had a better chance of surviving if they were together, and if Harry Potter had been captured, the Death Eaters would have been tossing that news about every chance they got. No news, it seemed, was good news.

"Those three are up to something," Neville said abruptly, and Seamus frowned.

"What do you mean? They're just on the run. What with Harry being on the top of You-Know-Who's wish list of people to kill and Hermione being a Muggle-born, of course they're on the run-"

"It's not just that, though. Harry was out of the dorms at night last year. More than usual. And I'm sure you've heard the rumors that Harry was with Professor Dumbledore when he died." Neville paused. "I know he was. I... I was with Ron and Ginny when Malfoy let the Death Eaters in, and Hermione and Luna were near the dungeons. That leaves Harry. He was with Dumbledore. Whatever they're doing... There's a reason for everything they do. And when he's got it figured out, how to finish this, he'll be back."

"Neville-"

"We've got to have faith in him. In them," the taller of the boys said. "When has Harry ever not done everything he could? When has he just run? He hasn't. He stopped You-Know-Who from taking the sorcerer's stone. He saved Ginny Weasley from the creature in the chamber of secrets. He brought Cedric's body back to the school the night that You-Know-Who came back. He faced You-Know-Who that night. And he's the one that led the group to the Ministry in fifth year. Harry Potter is not running and hiding. He's doing something, and he'll be back."

"Wish I had your faith," Seamus said, but before Neville could reply to that, there was a sharp knock on the door to their dorm room... The door then opening, both boys going into defensive stances until they saw who had entered.

"Lavender? Parvati? What are you doing in here? This is the boys' dorm," Neville sputtered, his eyes wide as he watched the two girls, and Parvati sighed.

"We know it is. We also know that there's a spell that keeps the boys from coming to the girls' dorms, so we knew that we had to be the ones to come here," the young woman said, glancing around the room... Her gaze lingering on the three empty beds. "Seems lonely, doesn't it? Without the rest of them."

Lavender wrapped her arms around herself, almost like she was trying to hug herself for comfort or warmth. "Half the seventh-year Gryffindors didn't return," the blonde girl said, and that much was true. Their class had always been the smallest in Gryffindor, their year the smallest class in just about every house. It made a sort of sense, of course, fewer witches and wizards were starting or continuing their families at that time, considering that You-Know-Who had been at the height of his power around the time of their births... In truth, the year directly below them wasn't all that large, either, due to the same reasons. Parents couldn't have really known what kind of world their children would be born in. Fifth year and below had many more students than their year or even the sixth years did. And now... Eight had become four. With Dean on the run and Harry, Ron, and Hermione off who-knows-where, the only seventh year Gryffindors at Hogwarts were the four of them: Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan, and Parvati Patil.

"Hermione's bed is still there," Parvati said quietly. "We weren't sure it would be. I'm glad they left it. It would be worse, somehow, if it had been gone. Now... It just seems like it's waiting for her." The girl cleared her throat. "It seemed so empty, though... I put my copy of Hogwarts, a History, on the little dresser beside her bed."

Seamus frowned. "You have a copy of Hogwarts, a History? I thought Hermione was the only person that had ever read that-"

"I never said I read it. My sister - Padma, you know, in Ravenclaw - she's the one that gave it to me. She's read it herself and thought I needed a copy. It just seems right to have it where Hermione's things should be." The girl paused. "We were never really close... But it just seems so awful not to have her here. Not to have the rest of them. I knew she wasn't coming back this year, though. We knew it as soon as Padma got the head girl badge. Since first year, everyone just knew that Hermione would get it, but now..."

"Padma's head girl?" Neville questioned, his tone surprised. "Good for her. But... I thought that would go to a Slytherin, what with Snape being named headmaster and all," the young man said, unable to keep the distaste off his face when he mentioned the man... A man that they all knew had been the one to murder Dumbledore.

"Maybe the other heads of house were able to vote him down or something, I don't know," Parvati said, shrugging her shoulders. "But Padma is head girl. And from what she said on the train... Ernie Macmillan is the head boy."

"Well, aside from the fact that Padma and Ernie aren't bigots or evil, they would fit what the Death Eaters would want to promote," Neville said, his tone reasonable. "Both purebloods, and I know Ernie does well in school. I'm sure Padma does, too. Pretty much everyone in Ravenclaw does. Smart purebloods that are generally well-liked by their peers. Looks good for their cause, doesn't it?"

"Padma would never-"

"I'm not saying she would, and I know they'll both be good at being the heads of the school. I'm just saying that Snape probably let the other teachers choose them just because of their blood-status... And maybe because all the Slytherin candidates will be too busy being junior Death Eaters to be head boy and head girl."

"Junior Death Eaters?" Seamus echoed. "Like the Hitler Youth." He shrugged at their blank looks. "Muggle world history. Not a good time. Hitler was a nasty piece of work. I'd say You-Know-Who would have probably admired him, if he hadn't been a Muggle. Probably two of the most evil people to ever live, they are."

"What are we going to do?" Lavender said quietly, drawing the attention back to herself. The normally vivacious blonde girl seemed somehow smaller than usual, as if she had shrunk in on herself. "You saw the new teachers. The new classes. Dark Arts, taught by a Death Eater. And now we all have to take Muggle Studies, but it's not really going to be Muggle Studies. It's taught by another Death Eater, and we all know that it will be filled with nothing but lies about how awful Muggles are."

"And we know it's lies. All of us do. Hermione Granger is a Muggleborn, and I bet her parents are wonderful people. And she is the smartest in our year. We know that. Nothing the Death Eaters say about Muggleborns or Muggles can change what we know," Neville said. "I sat with Ginny and Luna on the train."

"How is Ginny? I mean, she's so close to them all," Parvati said, and Neville sighed.

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. She has Luna, at least. Those two are pretty close. We talked about Dumbledore's Army."

"Dumbledore's gone," Lavender said, her voice cracking a bit on their late headmaster's name.

"Maybe so... But we haven't forgotten him. His murderer is sitting up there at his desk, taking over his school. Ginny, Luna, and I... We're not going to make it easy for him. The three of us still have our coins, the one that Hermione charmed-"

"Mine's in my jewelry box," Parvati said, and Lavender shrugged.

"I've got mine, too. Hidden in a pair of gloves."

"Mine's in my trunk," Seamus put in.

"We can get messages to each other. Luna knows how to do the charm to change them, and she said she'd teach anyone that wanted to know. I'm not saying we lead a revolt; I'm just saying we do what we can."

"You and Ginny and Luna, huh?" Seamus questioned, and when Neville shrugged, the other boy continued. "Seems fitting, doesn't it? There were six of you that went to the Ministry fifth year. Three of them are off on some mission; it's fitting that you and Ginny and Luna take over for them."

"It's not taking over-"

"You're stepping in when they can't," Seamus said, and Parvati nodded slightly.

"People know what you've done, Neville. You've been there with Harry and the others. I think they'll listen to you. To the three of you. Or at least you and Ginny."

"Luna's so much more than anyone thinks," Neville said, then sighed. "I'm no leader."

"You're more of one than you think. And you're right, Neville. We can't make it easy for Snape or the Death Eaters. Even if we can't do much. We have to try," Lavender said. "I mean, we are Gryffindors, aren't we? We're supposed to be the brave... Even if right now, we're mostly just feeling scared."

"And a little helpless," Parvati whispered. "We're just kids. What can we really do against Death Eaters?"

"Maybe more than you think. Eventually, anyway. But for now... We just look after the younger kids, try to keep them out of trouble. And we take care of each other," Neville said putting out a hand. "For Dumbledore."

Seamus put his hand on top of Neville's. "And for Harry."

Lavender put her hand on top of the pile. "For Ron," she said, her voice faltering slightly as she said her ex-boyfriend's name.

Parvati put her hand in as well. "And we can't forget Hermione."

Neville looked down at their hands. "We do everything we can to keep Gryffindor together. To work with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. To keep this school going. To keep it ours. Dumbledore's Army," he said, and the others nodded, looking down at all of their joined hands as well, then speaking almost as one.

"Dumbledore's Army."

The End