Neville had known that his last year at Hogwarts would not be an easy one, however after only a month under Snape's leadership he was contemplating a mass evacuation. To be fair to his tormentor of several years it was not Snape which had him calling for such drastic action but the Carrows; a monstrous pair of death eater who relished inflicting pain. His body was littered with new scars courtesy of them, and he wished he could say that he was the only one who found himself in that position. However not even the youngest first years were spared from them.
In spite of the harsh punishments, Dumbledore's Army was still going strong. Without realising at first, he had become the new leader of the group in Harry's absence. The choice of picking his deputies was easily made with Ginny and Luna stepping into the roles. Between the ever-growing numbers of DA members they'd been responsible for covering the school with posters supporting Harry. Graffiti promoting the DA littered the walls and the Carrows lessons were constantly interrupted with shouts mocking Voldemort. The Carrows did not take this new-found resistance lying down and began a merciless campaign of their own. As well as rounding up suspected DA members, all first and second years whose families were not noted as being loyal to Voldemort were also caught in the Carrows sights. As punishment they were used as guinea-pigs for the students who were loyal to practice the Cruciatus curse on. They had also left strict instructions that from that point on only students with a note signed by themselves or the headmaster would be allowed treatment from Madam Pomfrey. This, along with their willingness to cause pain to all who crossed their path had Neville calling a meeting of his most trusted DA members. Among them was Ginny, Luna, Seamus, Hannah and Lavender. The meeting took place at the edge of the dark forest while the sun rose in the distance.
"So, what's with the secret meeting, captain?" Seamus asked upon seeing Neville approach.
"We can't go on like this guys, I will not be responsible for the deaths of one of my people and that's where this is leading. With every one of our moves the Carrows push back twice as hard, it's not just us that they are going after, innocent children are being hurt because of us."
"So what are you saying? You want us to quit, to give up on Harry on Dumbledore?" Ginny spoke, with every word the anger in her voice rose.
"No, I'm saying that we need to be smart about what we do next, this goes beyond us. We have children to protect and until we can come up with an idea of how to protect them we need to keep DA plans to a minimum, I was hoping between the lot of us we could come up with a way to protect them and keep sending our message. Any ideas?" Nevil asked the group.
Several fruitless ideas down the line Neville was about to call an end to the meeting, when Luna whispered from the back of the group.
"We know the castle isn't safe anymore, they roam the corridors waiting to pick students off one by one."
"Yes, Luna we know that." Lavender stated bemused.
"But don't you see, the answer's been staring us in the face, the castle isn't safe, but what is the one room that's always on our side?" Luna asked in a dreamy voice.
One by one the faces of the group slowly morphed with understanding.
"The room of requirement." Hannah exclaimed.
"Luna you're a genius." Lavender congratulated her friend.
"It's perfect, I want each of you to spread the word. Every student who's loyal to us to have their things packed and ready to move into the room of requirement by tomorrow night. We may not be able to protect them all the time from the Carrows but by Merlin's beard we'll do our best. The room of requirement will become our new quarters, we can fortify and cover it with all manner of protection spells. We'll go to lessons and meals as normal apart from that we stay in the room, safe as a group and away from the Carrows. If we do this right they won't even know we're gone." Neville spoke with determination.
The students were abuzz with excitement throughout the day as word of the plan was passed in hushed whispers. There had been precious little uplifting news for what felt like a lifetime, so the promise of a safe hiding spot from the Carrows had noticeably lifted the mood.
It was breakfast time of the next day that it became most apparent that something had changed from the previous day. Where students would once sit in silence too afraid to look up: now muffled laughter could be heard and secretive smiles were exchanged. The rumbling of chatting children grew so loud that the Carrows had screech for silence firing un-aimed curses into the crowd. In the ruckus Neville had been slipped a list of names of all the students who were in on the move.
Lessons that day went past in a blur for Neville until he found himself packing away his things from his final lesson of transfiguration. He was all but done when McGonagall called him back.
"A word Mr Longbottom." Her voice was as stern as ever, betraying no emotion.
Neville and Seamus shared a panicked look, could it be they had been rumbled before they'd even begun?
"I'll wait outside for you." Seamus whispered before disappearing out of the classroom.
"Is there a problem Professor?" Neville tried to ask innocently.
"Nothing at all Neville, now please take a seat. We don't have long." She ushered him to a seat pulled up to her desk while she slipped into her usual seat opposite him.
"I have something here that I think will help you with your extracurricular activities." She gave him a poignant look that left Neville in no doubt that his head of house knew all too well what they were up to. She handed him a book of advance charms and transfiguration and another of defence spells. A wave of relief washed over him at the sight of the books. Over the past few months it was impossible to know who to trust with Death Eaters coming out of the woodwork at every turn. McGonagall seemed to be able to read him just as easily as the books she was gifting him. Because her stern expression melted away and her hands came out to grasp Neville's, giving him a supportive squeeze before returning to her side.
"Whatever you may think of me as a teacher know this, my loyalties a firmly to Albus Dumbledore, to the order and to all who stand up against you- know- who. Even in the darkest days that I fear are yet to come, remember that you have allies here in Hogwarts, you're not alone." This had Neville welling up, the lump in his throat making him unable to verbally respond. Before he could speak a knock at the door had Neville rushing to hide the books.
"That won't be necessary." McGonagall stopped him with a raised hand.
"Enter." She called to the person on the other side of the door.
Of all the people who could have walked into the room, Madam Pomfrey did not even cross his mind and yet there she stood.
"You are aware that Mr Finnigan is sulking around in the corridor?" She asked in place of a greeting.
"Yes ma'am." He found himself answering.
"Well I set him the task of being look out. Can't have those beastly Carrows barging in." Pomfrey responded matter-of-factly.
"Sorry, but what's going on?" Neville asked, completely lost at what was happening.
"Like I said Neville, you have more allies than you think, Madam Pomfrey here has come to offer her support."
With that Poppy reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny cardboard box, with a flick of her wand the box grew until it took over half of Minerva's desk.
"Now in this box I've packed a months' worth of medical supplies. It should cover every possible ailment, as well as that I've put in several books that should help guide you through the more advanced remedies. The Carrows may have put a ban on me being able to treat most students but by Merlin's beard I'm not sitting back while my students are in pain." Her voice was filled with fiery determination.
With a flick of McGonagall's wand, the supplies were shrunk down and hidden in Neville's bag. The owner of the bag left the room a smile from ear to ear, joined by a very confused Seamus Finnigan.
"What happened in there?" Seamus asked upon seeing his friend.
"I'll tell you everything, but let's wait until we get back to the common room."
Once the two boys made it to their common room they found Ginny waiting for them by the fire.
"Where is everyone? This place is deserted. Neville asked looking round the room.
"In the dorms packing," Ginny responded. "So, where've you guys been? I was starting to worry the Carrows had got you."
"You're not the only one with questions Gin, So Neville, what happened?" Seamus inquired.
It took Neville a whole 20 minutes to explain what had happened to him with his two friends constantly interrupting, after the threat of a silencing charm the pair quietened down enough for Neville to show them the supplies he'd been gifted.
"McGonagall must be our guardian angel." Ginny stated "These books are filled with protection spells, she's even highlighted useful spells and put notes in the margin for us." She passed the book to Neville to take a look at.
"Don't forget about Madam Pomfrey." Seamus added "I could kiss the woman, just look at all this." Seamus waved his hand madly at the giant pile of medical supplies. "She must have packed up half the infirmary, and right under the Carrow's noses too…" He finished by shaking his head in disbelief.
"It's true, we're in their debt, but if we have any hope of moving everyone in tonight then we best get on with adding these protection spells to the room of requirement." As quick as flicking a switch Neville was back into 'leader mode', as Seamus called it, directing the other two on what they would need to do for the first spell.
With McGonagall's guiding notes, the room of requirement was cloaked in several protection spells to keep prying eyes from discovering its whereabouts. The three Gryffindors then set about packing their belongings. They met back in the still empty common room.
"Here goes nothing." Neville called as he closed his eyes, concentrating on the familiar door that led to their salvation, his eyes flickered open upon hearing his friends excited gasps.
He led the way up to the door, only hesitating for the briefest of seconds when the handle was in his grasp. Pushing the door open he found that the room had certainly adapted to their needs. He was now stood in what looked like an entrance hall. The walls were lined with coat hooks, and above each one carved into the rock of the wall were names that he recognised from the register he had in his hand. Across the base of the wall cubbyholes for shoes to be slipped into were ready for the onslaught of new residents.
Filling the gaps around the coat hooks hung on the walls were all manner of pictures, both moving wizard photos and muggle ones. Smiling faces of people they held dear but were separated from were a reminder of who they were fighting for. A few stood out to him as he found his own hook; a young harry laughing in Gryffindor quidditch kit, the Weasley twins and Oliver Wood stood next to him with brooms in hand. A waving picture of Professor Lupin at the end of his last Defence lesson, he was surrounded by his pupils, one of which Neville recognised to be himself. What he would give to have Lupin back as defence against the dark arts teacher right then. A sterner picture of the four competitors of the Triwizard tournament that must have been taken just after the champions had been announced, from the look of shock on Harry's face. The final picture to catch Neville's eye was a familiar one of the original order of the phoenix, locking eyes with his parents he was filled with all the motivation he needed to carry on fighting the good fight.
Neville wasn't the only one admiring the memories hung on the wall as he was brought back to reality by Seamus grabbing him by the shoulder to point at a picture of himself, Neville, Harry, Dean and Ron eating Bertie Botts every flavour beans in their dorm.
"Collin's going to love this place" Seamus joked, releasing Neville's shoulder.
With jackets hung and shoes safely stowed the three moved further into the hallway to explore what the room of requirement had in store for them.
Behind the first door they came to they found their common room. It was housed in a circular space that reminded Neville of the Gryffindor common room, in fact there seemed to be elements from all four houses. Book cases filled with all manner of books dotted the room, comfy sofas for friends to huddle around one of the four fire places at each corner of the room. Individual tables for students to study were dispersed between the bookcases making quiet alcoves. Rugs of all colours covered the floor and from the ceiling banners hung. However it was not the house banners he'd been expecting, looking up he spotted three different banners, the first he recognised as the crest of Hogwarts, another had the order of the phoenix emblazoned across it, surrounded by phoenix feathers. The last had the letters DA in sparkling gold thread. The only portrait in the room, if it could be considered that, as it had no human subject in it at the moment, was of a dimly lit passage. Neville raised an eyebrow in response to the room of requirements choice of décor on this particular point but shook his head before saying anything. Having faith in the room to divulge the empty portraits secrets when the time came.
Neville walked over to a table tucked away behind two large bookcases. Unlike the other empty tables this one had an object on it. He shouted to his friends to take a look, unsure what to make of it.
A happy sort of realisation seemed to cross Ginny's face as she scanned the object.
"It looks like a muggle radio of sorts, Dad has one back home, spends hours tinkering with it, drives mum mad."
"You mean we can use this thing to communicate with, no more risking owls with coded messages?" Seamus asked excitedly.
"You think you can work this thing, Gin?" Neville asked before getting his hopes up.
"You bet." she responded confidently.
"I'll leave it to you to put a team together then, I want this thing manned at all times."
"Yes sir." Ginny responded with a mock salute causing her friends to chuckle.
Though an adjoining door the group found the sleeping quarters. The room was vast and filled with beds not unfamiliar to the ones they had just moved from, however in this room beds were not the only option to sleep in, hammocks were also strung up. Neville could almost hear the arguments that would come from the younger years about who got to sleep in them. Although the room was larger than he was used to it did not lose its cosiness, thanks in part to the excessive amounts of soft furnishings. Oversized cushions covered the beds and spilled onto the floor and thick tartan blankets folded over bed posts. By each bed sat a cupboard for precious possessions and at the foot of the beds bellow a layer of blankets a wooden chest could be seen for storing clothes. Looking up the celling was enchanted like in the great hall to mirror the nights sky, this had an immediate calming effect that would have any student drifting off in no time.
Back in the living room the Gryffindor's opened the next adjoining door. This led to the first set of bathrooms. Thankfully the room had ensured plenty of cubicles for the army of students about to descend. The bath, if you could call it that was far bigger than any Neville had seen before. A better fitting name to call it would be a pool as one could easily do a couple of lengths in there.
The final adjoining room that led off from the living room housed the dining room. Instead of four house tables to sit at the room housed only one long table that zigzagged down the length of the room. The meaning behind this was not lost on the three friends, in this room petty squabbles between houses did not matter; they would live united as the resistance because they had far bigger evils to fight just on their doorstep.
It was only when they made it back to the entrance corridor that the group noticed the three other doors leading off from it.
"What could the room possibly think we need now, it's thought of everything." Exclaimed Ginny in awe.
"Well this is a sight for sore eyes," Seamus remarked after looking into the first door. "It hasn't changed at all, our old DA meeting room just as we left it before toad face invaded."
"Looks like this is the rooms' way of telling us to keep up what we started in here." Neville guessed.
"Perfect for training everyone up, too." Ginny added.
"We'll have an army of children before we know it." Joked Finnigan.
"Not that we want that." Neville stated sternly. "We'll train them all up in defence and give them the option if they want to pursue more offensive lessons. I'm not going to press them into joining the cause, there's a big difference between annoying the bullying Carrows and taking on you know who, that's not even getting started on how young some of them are." Neville trailed off, seeming to have the argument continue in his head. It went against his every instinct to involve the children he considered in his care. Unlike most Gryffindor's his reckless streak was rather narrow, in times like this he wished he took after Harry more, taking off on a secret mission sounded pretty appealing right now but while his onetime idol was away Neville was left to hold down the fort as leader of the resistance. He had no problem laying down his own life for the greater good but asking others to do the same made his stomach churn. He was brought back to the present by Ginny squeezing his arm reassuringly.
The next room they had to explore off of the corridor received muted approval.
"A classroom." Seamus exclaimed. "Of all the things it could of given us a classroom wasn't top of my list, one thing we're not lacking in a SCHOOL is classrooms."
"Don't be a duff Seamus. Our very own classroom is exactly what we need, we're not learning anything out there." Ginny gestured in the general direction of the door to the outside world. "That you-know- who doesn't want us to know, in here we can all learn in peace, you're just miffed because you never could handle learning from behind a desk, to busy setting fire to things."
Seamus grabbed his chest and exhaled dramatically. "You wound me, Gin". This show had both his friends rolling their eyes whilst trying to stifle laughter.
The final room they had left to enter perked Seamus up immediately.
"Now we're talking, quick someone pinch me to make sure it's real, ouch guys not funny." Seamus snapped, nursing two new pinch marks.
The room was far bigger than any of the others with the celling a mere blur to the naked eye. In it housed everything needed to practice quidditch. Bleachers for spectators ran the length of the room sitting on a grass covered floor. Quidditch equipment could be seen laid out on the grass ready for the first game.
The brooms had drawn Ginny and Seamus to them as quickly as if a sticking charm had been placed on them, they cooed over them for several minutes. Neville stood back smiling at his friends' enthusiasm. He liked quidditch as much as the next wizard, his friends however were quidditch mad and could rabbit on about the subject for hours.
While they discussed the possibility of hosting their own tournaments, Neville thought he'd worked out why the room had given them this particular décor. As well as improving moral, (as evidenced by the two giddy Gryffindors) it gave them the ability to train to take the fight to the air, something he hadn't even considered until now. This could give them the edge in the battles yet to come as well as being a fun way to pass the time. Leave it to the room to come up with something completely unexpected.
"Thank you" Neville whispered under his breath as he reached an arm out to pat the wall.
The lights in the room shone brighter in response.
"What was that." Ginny asked noticing the sudden brightness catching Neville's eye.
"Nothing." He reassured her. "Come on, let's get down to business."
After moving their things into the room, the three prepared to get the rest of their people in. They stuck to the plan they had made: Neville and Ginny stood by the door each clutching the list of names of people they were picking up, ready to tick them off as they walked in. Seamus was waiting at the end of the corridor to usher people into the living area and help them get settled in, to be supported by the other DA members upon their arrival.
Neville looked at the first name on the list: Lavender Brown, closing his eyes to concentrate before opening the outside door. Sure enough the room they now saw was the Gryffindor's girls dormitory, with Lavender sat patiently waiting on her bed, two suitcases stacked neatly next to her.
She jumped up upon seeing her friends peeking out from behind the newly appeared door.
"It worked!" she squealed, catching each person in a bone crunching hug before running back to her dorm to grab her bags. With the test run successfully completed and the first name on the list ticked off, the now four Gryffindor's started making their way down the list.
The Gryffindor tower was left practically empty after extracting those loyal to the DA. Next, they moved onto the Ravenclaw part of the list. This too, went smoothly. With each student prepared and waiting eagerly for their arrival. Luna joined Seamus in the living room, helping to oversee the other students who flocked towards her, filled with excited greetings.
Remembering only a few years ago the names and pranks the blonde Ravenclaw had to put up with to the sight before Neville now had him smiling. It was not that Luna had changed, as a matter of fact in these crazy times she seemed to be the only person not affected, but the people around her, finally seeing her for the amazing person she was. It would seem that she had filled the role of older sister to a lot of the younger students who were now dragging her into the living room. Neville didn't mind, they would have time later to catch up after his job was done.
It took a little longer than expected to complete the Hufflepuff contingent. Hannah had done her best to prepare the group, but a few third and fourth years didn't seem to get the message about a speedy extraction.
"I'm so sorry." Hannah started after the seventh late Hufflepuff student was finally helped into the room after hurriedly finishing packing. "I told them all 7 o'clock sharp, they promised they would be ready."
"Hannah, Hannah," Neville called trying to get her attention before she spiralled "its fine, the important thing is they're safe, we'll have a word with them later about keeping track of time."
"Thanks, Nev." After a quick hug she disappeared into the living room with the others.
Half a page of stops later Ginny and Neville were left with just one name on the Hufflepuff side to tick off: Hazel Lewis. Not a familiar name to either of them, they guessed she must be a first year.
Pushing the door open Neville spotted a small brown-haired girl sat crossed legged on her dormitory floor, she barely looked old enough to attend Hogwarts. Neville stepped out to greet her.
"Hey, sweetie are you Hazel?" He asked in a soft voice crouching down to be eye level with her, trying not to scare the small child. She nodded in response.
"I'm Neville, I'm with the DA, we've come to take you away." Before he could say anymore Hazel had sprung to her feet and dived on Neville knocking him over in an unexpected hug. "Thank you." She whispered in his ear. After the shock had worn off Neville hugged the girl back, not sure what to say he whispered the same words that brought comfort to him, "You're not alone, not anymore, come shall we join the others." With that he clumsily got to his feet. Picking Hazel's suitcase up, he extended his hand for the girl to take who grasped it in both her tiny hands.
To see the impact of this new wicked world order on someone so young filled Neville with a steely resolve to keep his promise to himself: to protect his family at all cost. Neville guided the young girl through the door where Ginny was waiting.
"Hi there, I'm Ginny" She smiled down at the child who hid behind Neville burying her head in Neville's side.
"It's okay this is Ginny, she's part of the DA too, I promise no one in here is going to hurt you, do you want to go with Gin to meet the others in the living room?" He offered.
She shook her head and her grip on his hand became vicelike. How about you stay with me then while we pick up the last of our friends.
"Yes please." she whispered, stepping out from behind Neville just enough for Ginny to get a proper look at her. Neville reached into his pocket with his free hand to pass Hazel a chocolate frog he'd been hiding from Seamus.
"Here." From her puzzled expression he gathered she was a half-blood so he explained "Its chocolate, eat it, it will make you feel better." He encouraged.
"And you can collect the cards in them too." Ginny added trying to befriend the girl.
She opened the gift with little hesitation "I got Dumbledore." She said while looking it over, Ginny and Neville shared a sad smile at that. "Thank you, Neville."
"No trouble, now mind if we do the last of the pick-ups then we can go and explore your new home and meet the rest of the family." Although the child looked nervous, after a moment of contemplation she nodded her approval and began munching on the chocolate frog.
The last page of the register held the names of those loyal to the DA in Slytherin house. Admittedly the list was short and unlike the other houses where the pick-ups went from dorm to dorm, with such few students to welcome into the fold they had been told to all gather in the same dorm to lower the risk of detection. So, when they opened the door for the final time ten pairs of eyes stared back at them.
"Ready?" Neville asked.
"You bet." One of the older boys replied, walking forward to shake Neville and Ginny's hands.
"Thanks again for joining us Tommy." Neville stated light-heartedly if one good thing had come out of this school year it was the unlikely friendship between the pair. Neville was ashamed to admit it but up until this year he'd never really noticed the lad, even if it turned out they shared charms and transfigurations classes. However, after striking up a conversation on the Hogwarts express in which they discovered a commonality that they were both raised by single grandmothers the two had become fast friends, now Tommy was a trusted member of the DA. Being the unofficial Slytherin lieutenant. With his help Dumbledore's Army had manage to spread where no one thought possible, and now the other ten Slytherin DA sympathisers were being welcomed inside.
"It's nothing, I should be thanking you for letting us prove that not all Slytherins blindly follow a mass murder, and who do we have here?" Tommy asked noticing a now chocolate covered first year hiding behind his friend.
"This is Hazel, she's a little shy." Neville answered for the child he was growing quite fond of.
"Hello Hazel, I'm Thomas Jones but you can call me Tommy, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." This had the desired effect of making the girl smile brightly again, stepping out from Neville's shadow and loosening her grip on his hand.
"I see you like chocolate frogs." Tommy continued eyeing the card in her hand "Say, next time you have the urge for chocolate come find me, I've packed enough to keep us all going for the next three years."
"Really?" Hazel asked having been coxed out of her shell.
"You bet kid." Tommy confirmed. While this interaction was going on the rest of the new arrivals were finding their coat pegs and hanging their jackets up before being ushered into the living room by Hannah and Seamus.
"Well, I best catch up with the others, you guys coming?" Tommy asked.
"Just give us a min" Gin continued "I've ticked everyone off of my list, how about you? Don't want to forget anyone."
"Same here everyone's accounted for, we're good to go." Neville confirmed.
After placing one last locking spell on the door Neville turned to Hazel who was still grasping onto his hand.
"Ready Hazel?" he asked.
She took a deep breath before responding in a steady voice. "Yes."
The three made their way into the living room, even with the mass of people that were now spread around the room it did not seem crowded. The joy filled chatter of excited children brought a welcome hum to the room which hushed as Neville entered. Lavender, Luna, Hannah, and Seamus all came up to him to chat. Ginny excused herself and went off to find Nigel Wolpert to assist with manning the radio.
Neville could feel the occupants of the room watching him expectantly. Time to go into leader mode, he thought to himself. He stood tall, smiled down to Hazel who still claimed one of his hands before addressing the crowed.
"If I could have everyone's attention." The room fell silent immediately.
"First of all, I want to thank you all for keeping our new home secret, I know the last few months have been hard for all of us but I want to take this opportunity to make a promise to each of you that Dumbledore's Army will do everything in its power to protect you from the Carrows, Snape and any other evil that enters these walls. But we can't be everywhere at once and with that in mind we intend to deliver defence lessons in our own classroom across the hall. These lessons are mandatory, we want you all to be able to protect yourselves, we will also be delivering more offensive lessons for those of you who wish to fight back, however these lessons are not mandatory so feel no obligation to sign up for them. I will leave the signup sheet here for you. Let it be known that whatever horrors are going on in the world beyond those doors, we are family now, we look after our own and have each other's backs because no one else will. I hope we can all be happy in our new home, now I'll let you all go and explore the rest of what this place has to offer."
Cheers and applause echoed from around the room as spirits soared, memories were made, and friendships forged. It was only later when most of the students had gone to bed that Neville had time to think over what had happened over the last few days.
"Looks like Hazel's taken a real liking to you." Hannah noted as she joined her friend on a couch pulled up round the fireplace.
Neville smiled in greeting looking down at the child that slept soundly, head in his lap.
"She's a sweet child, her father's a muggle you know, hardly knew a thing about our world and suddenly she's thrown into this mess. The Carrows took one look at the little thing and have made her life a living hell. You'll keep your eye on her, won't you?" Hannah asked concerned.
"You don't even have to ask Hannah." Neville replied honestly, tucking a stray strand of hair out of the girls face.
They were soon joined around the fire by Luna, Seamus, Lavender, Tommy and Ginny.
"Bloody brilliant idea Luna, think with this little haven you guys may have flipped this year from being torturous to downright cheerful…00 well most of the time that is." Tommy stopped mid-flow, thinking back to his last DADA lesson which still had his skin crawling, maybe, he thought, he could put up with the horrors the death eaters were throwing at them now that they were united by love against hate.
"Oh before I forget here's the signup sheet." Lavender passed Neville the page, on it he was expecting to see a handful of names of those eager to learn offensive spells, what he didn't expect was to see the page filled from top to bottom in names, even the margin was used to squeeze in extra names. The title had been crossed out and instead the words Neville's Army sat across the first line in bold black ink.
Nevil choked up almost immediately, moved by the gesture. Scanning the list of names, it would seem that every student in his care had signed up, including Hazel. This caught him as being odd as he could have sworn the girl never left his side all night, and yet somehow he'd missed her sneaking off to sign this.
"Told you." Ginny stated "You had nothing to worry about, yes they're young but they're in danger just as much as we are, and they know it. Just by being here they've picked a side and its by you."
"But why? I'm no Harry Potter or Albus Dumbledore" Neville whispered, confused.
"They don't want you to be someone you're not, look around you Neville; you're surrounded by friends from every house in Hogwarts. You unified the school without even trying, you instil loyalty from everyone you meet by being kind and showing that you care. That's the kind of leader they signed up to follow. Not some long prophesied hero, just a boy writing his own destiny trying to do what's right." Hannah tried to explain from her perch next to Neville.
He looked up to meet each of his friend's eyes before speaking. "I sincerely thank each of you, without you the DA would have died a long time ago. I promise to do you and the people on this list proud."
"We have no doubt you will." Luna reassured him.
In the weeks that passed the students settled into a routine. Most rose early eager to fill their day with as much time spent with friends before being dropped off one by one to their dorms in time for breakfast in the great hall. Ginny and Neville were always the ones stood by the door as the children left, checking they had their books and coats, wishing them a good day at school and generally falling into parental roles. At breakfast the students sat at their house tables keeping to themselves, unwilling to let their enemy know about their new friendships. The rest of the days carried on like that until after dinner when pick up happened. By now they had got it down to an artform and could have everyone safely back home in fewer than 20 minutes. For the next hour the students were free until their private lessons started. Neville and the others were as shocked as anyone when Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Madam Pomphrey and Hooch knocked on their door. They were greeted by seven weary students with wands raised.
"Sorry Professors we weren't exactly expecting company." Neville explained.
After a rather awkward conversation in which all seven students apologised for holding their teachers at wand point multiple times. The two groups came to an agreement the teachers would teach the students everything outlawed by the death eater administration and the students would use their radio to keep in contact with the rest of the order. So, from that day on a DA timetable of extra lessons was drawn up for each student to fill their afternoons. After lessons, most students either hung out in the living room or headed to the bedroom for an early night, pockets of students would sometimes stay behind to propose new plans they could carry out to spread the DA's name, only those plans Neville deemed as worth the risk made it past this stage. Even with this precaution as a result of the influx of new members DA activity was up tenfold. The positive impact could be seen on every student that now called the room of requirement home. No more so than in the case of Hazel who was now a bubbly and very happy first year thanks to Neville's guidance and a hell of a lot of chocolate frogs courtesy of Tommy. The group all knew that the storm clouds of war were approaching but for now they treasured the little bit of normality they had carved out in their DA family before they would have to put their knew knowledge to the test.