Nothing Boring About A War

A/N: This came to me a long time after I wrote 'Avoiding Boredom', and you can say that this is a sort of sequel. You won't be able to understand a bit if you haven't read the first, so I advise that you scoot over to my profile and read it. ) And please leave review while you're at it! Oh, and I'm not sure whether this is a One-Shot, or a two-part fic. If I feel like it, I might just write a second chapter, but right now, it's safe to say that this is a One-Shot. Please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here, except for Paul and Ned. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling. )

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There was a deafening crash, followed by screaming. Jimmy Peakes opened his eyes, and stared at the canopy of his four-poster. Something was wrong.

'Oy, Jimmy!' his dorm-mate, Paul Adams, was standing at the door, his face deathly white in the dark. There was an excited, fevered expression on his face. His wand was out, and he had his jacket on over his pyjamas. 'We've gotta get out of here ... something's wrong. McGonagall was here a while ago, she told all of us to stay put. But I think that we shouldn't. I heard something upstairs; I think they're breaking in. We can't stay here.'

'Who's breaking in?' Jimmy leaped out of bed, and grabbed his own jacket. The dorm was empty except for the two. But even before Paul answered, he knew the answer.

'You-Know-Who is here,' said Paul, and Jimmy noticed that his hands was shaking. 'And the Death Eaters. They're attacking the school.'

Jimmy's heart skipped a beat. He had always wanted to fight in the war. He had been practising defensive spells and basic jinxes with Paul and his other friends ever since the Ministry sent out the purple information leaflets, explaining about You-Know-Who's return. This was his chance. 'Where're everyone else?' said Jimmy, snatching his wand up from his bedside table.

Paul pushed his glasses up his nose, the half-excited, half-frightened expression never leaving his face. 'They're all in the Common Room. Everyone ran down when McGonagall came up. We couldn't get you to wake up.'

'Well, we should go down, then,' Jimmy ran past Paul, and thundered down the stairs. Paul sprinted along behind him.

The Common Room was crowded, even though most of the students hadn't returned to the school that year. It was probably due to the tense atmosphere. There was a feeling in the air. Not a nice feeling at all. Some of the Gryffindors wore frightened expressions on their faces. Others, mostly boys, were like Paul: excited, but still scared. Others were quite calm, but were rather pale. Jimmy and Paul joined the crowd.

'Jimmy!' his other dorm-mate, Ned, gave him a slap on the back. 'You sleep like the dead, you know? Couldn't wake you up.'

At the mention of the word 'dead', many people shushed him and a first-year let out a hysterical squeal. Ned, looking embarassed, bowed his head. 'Didn't mean anything by it.' Jimmy heard Ned mumble to himself.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from above. The entire House fell silent, and all eyes flew up to the ceiling. Jimmy's heart stopped. Paul's face was white as a ghost's. Ned stared up at the ceiling, his mouth wide open. Jimmy tore his eyes away from above, and his eyes met another one of his friend's, Demelza. Her mouth was open slightly, and slowly, she mouthed something at him. Jimmy couldn't tell what it was, though.

There was a second crash, louder, and more urgent. One of the third-years burst into tears, and her friends tried to comfort her. Suddenly, someone said, in a quivering voice, 'Shouldn't we run now?'

Everyone looked at the portrait hole at this. And, slowly, like a wave, everyone began moving towards it, pushing and shoving, trying to get at it first.

'Hang on!' a voice cried out, and everyone turned to see who it was. Jimmy, who had been moving along with the crowd, looked up at the figure of Neville Longbottom, who was standing on one of the couches. Now that all eyes were on him, he looked rather nervous. But he took a deep breath, and said, 'Why are we running away?'

'So we don't get killed,' said Euan Abercrombie matter-of-factly. Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement. Another crash was heard. Many glanced nervously at the portrait hole.

'But we're Gryffindors!' said Neville. 'Aren't we supposed to be brave?'

Many of the students looked uncomfortable, and a few had their eyebrows raised. Jimmy heard someone muttering, 'Look who's talking.' Ned, upon hearing this, turned to the speaker, a sixth-year who was much bigger than him.

'Let the man speak, will you?' said Ned angrily.

'He's a hypocrite! Talk about bravery ... he's not very brave himself, is he? We've never seen him in action before,' said the sixth year. There was an uncomfortable buzzing as people either agreed or disagreed with this. Jimmy noticed that Neville's round face looked flushed. Ned stood at full height, which wasn't saying much.

'Only a coward would -' but another crash drowned Ned's words. The next thing they knew, Ned had thrown himself at the boy, arms outstretched. There was a lot of noise then. Ned, being a lot shorter than the older boy had tackled him in the stomach, pushing him into the wall. The boy, now enraged, aimed a punch at Ned's face. The moment his fist made contact with Ned's nose, Jimmy and Paul let out identical roars of fury, and whipped out their wands.

There was another crash, and another sound: the sound of heavy objects falling onto the ground.

Everyone froze. Ned, his nose bleeding, looked up. His dark eyes widened.

'They've broken in,' he said, voice cracking.

There was screaming, and everyone once again ran for the portrait hole.This time, Neville didn't do anything to stop them. Jimmy ran over to Ned and helped him up. The three of them - Jimmy, Paul and Ned - made towards the portrait hole, Ned dripping blood onto his t-shirt. But just as they were about to climb out, Jimmy turned around. He was surprised to see Neville still standing in the middle of the Common Room, staring up the stairs, wand at the ready.

Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Colin and Dennis Creevey, and Parvati Patil were with him. Parvati's best friend, Lavender Brown, kept looking back at her while climbing out of the hole. There were a few others, a small, frightened yet determined looking second year, a couple of third years, Jimmy's Beater partner, Cootes, and, to Jimmy's surprise, the sixth year who had taunted Neville.

Jimmy stopped his two friends. 'We should stay,' he said quietly, as the sound of adult voices echoed down the staircase. Paul pushed his glasses up his nose, pursed his lips and nodded. Ned, nose dripping, grinned and said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt, 'Why not?'

They turned around, and marched towards the small group. Just then, a hand touched Jimmy's shoulder. He jumped, and turned around. Demelza stood in front of him, looking determined. 'Jimmy,' she said softly.

Paul and Ned exchanged glances; Paul looked faintly amused, while Ned was grinning. They walked on.

Jimmy shook his head. 'What are you doing here?' he asked quietly, as the sound of far away footsteps grew louder.

'It's an adventure,' she whispered. 'And you promised that you would take me along. And I'm here to stay.'

'Aren't you afraid of dying?' said Jimmy, trying not to think of her lying dead, eyes wide open and glassy on the carpet.

She smiled softly, and gave a small laugh. 'That's exactly what I said before. During Christmas break, remember? And you said that it would be cool, to fight in a war. And that we'll be helping the wizarding world. You promised, Jimmy. And I won't turn away.' She took out her wand, her face set. 'I'm ready.'

Jimmy felt a prickling behind his eyelids. It frightened him. He was about to cry. That wasn't right. He smiled nervously. 'All right,' he said, as the voices and footsteps came nearer. He touched her chin with his thumb, and tilted it upwards, gently. His heart beat wildly against his ribcage as he lowered his head and touched her lips with his. It was a short kiss, and as they pulled apart, the first of the Death Eaters leaped into the Common Room.

They turned around, both with their wands ready. Jimmy felt different, somehow. He remembered how he was just months ago. Bored, and eager to fight. But he felt different now. He was eager to fight. But it wasn't as fun as he thought it was.

They were outnumbered, and they knew it. Jimmy used every single spell he had learned, a Jelly-Legs here, a Stunner there. He had to be constantly on guard, and he was thankful for his Quidditch training. He was rather rusty at shooting spells, but he was good at dodging them. He had no time to think of anything else. He barely noticed Paul getting blasted onto the wall, or Ned and the Creeveys beating up a short, squat Death Eater with their bare fists. He didn't even notice Dean and Seamus standing at the hole, trying to block them from going any further, or Demelza and Parvati duelling with the same Death Eater. He didn't notice Neville, throwing curses around as quick as lightning, the same as Ginny.

But Jimmy did notice when something hit him square in the chest; he fell backwards, his vision swimming before him. And he noticed Seamus and Dean jumping aside as another group of adults ran in: teachers, and people that Jimmy didn't recognise. Among them were the famous Weasley twins, and the past Gryffindor team Chasers.

And as Jimmy closed his eyes, he knew that they stood a chance. There were reinforcements, and they could be saved. But one thing was for sure. There's nothing boring about a war.

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End A/N: Loved it? Hated it? Neutral? Drop me a review and tell me what you think! Very much appreciated. )