If it had been any other year, then the young brunette wouldn't have thought twice about creeping through the corridors of Hogwarts. Of course Filch, the caretaker and stalker of the stoned halls late at night, probably would've been lurking around somewhere, but she could've hid till he passed or just been quicker than his aged steps. But something worse than Argus Filchs' muted wrath and joy at seeing her put in detention would be what would greet her on this cold February night; the Carrow's were sure to be resting in the shadows just around the corners and they would love nothing more than to submit her to the same torture they'd given Neville and Seamus earlier today.
At the thought of the two dreaded sibling duo, she slows her walking, quiets her breathing, and pulls the cardigan she has draped over her school uniform tighter around her frame. Her light blue eyes trace the structures of the hall she's in, searching for the brother and sisters' cloaked figures. Paranoia is creeping up the back of her neck and starting to dig its fingers into her brain and, as its side effects lace themselves in her psyche, she's starting to picture every horrific scene that ends with her death. That's when she decides to hurry along to the Room of Requirement, skipping down the stones of the hallway with tripping feet that scuff the others heel.
Moments later and she's pacing quickly outside a blank wall. Her electric orbs are hidden from view by dark eye lashes that are resting against a pale colored cheek and her accented voice is clipping the words that are leaving her light pink lips in hushed whispers. The echoing of a door opening rushes through the quiet night, causing her to spin around and let out a breath of relief. She knew the others were probably already here; a big group of them were more than likely gathered around Neville and Seamus, demanding that both Gryffindor boys recount their story of discipline and she could practically see Neville's headshake of no while her Irish friend more than gladly jumped into his tale. Smirking at this, she quickens her steps and feels as arms of safety drive away the lingering fright when excited chatter reaches her ears.
"Addy!" Seamus throw's her a happy wave, but isn't able to escape over, as he's currently surrounded by a large mass of their classmates. The brown headed girl just smiles and shakes her head, throwing her hand up in hello.
Her pretty gem-like orbs search over the makeshift beds that line the floors and hang from the rafters above, looking for a brown headed boy who made her heart beat way too fast and her cheeks ache because she smiled too much when in his presence. But she doesn't spot him as easily as she had the Irish lad; maybe he'd slipped out to bring in more students to their widened circle of Dumbledore's Army or perhaps he'd gone through Ariana's pretty portrait to retrieve more of Aberforth's slightly off cooking. The possibilities are endless, especially given his admired status among them all now, but they all let her down because they signal his absence at the moment.
Scouting through everyone once more and coming up empty of her hazel eyed friend, she starts weaving in between all the persons who are littering the cold stones floors until she reaches Cho. She settles beside her and offers up a small smile when the Ravenclaw girl looks over at her.
"Hey, Adara," Cho says. "Didn't want to listen to Seamus' story?"
"I figure hearing it one less time won't hurt anything." Cho chuckles, leaning over onto Adara's shoulder, and glances over where the Irish Gryffindor is vibrantly telling his experience with the atrocious Carrow's.
They spend the next half hour or so talking about the latest gossip they'd heard about Harry and the other's, wondering when this all will end, and avoiding the dreaded question that was lingering on everyone's mind: were Ron, Hermione, and Harry even still alive? It's pleasant and Adara's glad for her friends company, but her mind wonders to Neville and stabs of worry continually poke at her chest with his continued absence. More than once Cho goes off about one topic or another and it takes her a minute or two to catch up with the talkative girl because she's looking around for her pal again. She's validated in her fretting, though; just last week Ernie MacMillan had gone off on his own and Padma had found him crumpled in a corridor corner, hexed by a passing Slytherin who'd caught him trying to sneak into the library after hours.
Her thoughts and Cho's chatter are interrupted when the stone walls of the room shudder out a violent shake that emit little pebbles into the air and onto the floor. Everyone stops, the noise dies down, and they all wait for whatever had just knocked the outside wall entrance to do so again. Orbs reeling over the occupants of the Room of the Requirement, her heart starts to beat as it had when she'd been on her way here and she's clutching at the front of her cardigan again, as if it was going to shield her form whatever was threatening them outside.
No one speaks, for they all know these drills. More than once they'd been sought out by other dark members who were allowed into the castle by their current headmaster, Severus Snape, but it had been a chase down the halls when they'd caught them out of bed or picking them out of class for a 'chat'; never had they found their place of meeting. Still, she keeps to the routine they've instilled: keep quiet, get ready, and watch out.
With her wand drawn out and prepared for a duel, she traces her gaze through the darkness that had been set in by whoever had extinguished the lit candles and bites down on her lower lip so to prevent her worry from seeping out as words. In this large amount of time in which she's wrapped up in her thoughts and getting herself ready, another big, hard shake rattles them all and even knocks a few off their feet. Lavender Brown squeaks out a cry of alarm as she topples into Justin Finch-Fletchley and then he grunts rather loudly while trying to sort her right again. There's lots of 'sshhh's' and 'be quiet's and eventually the two settle, but their spurts of noise have already been heard by whoever or whatever was resting just outside the thick stone walls.
There's no more big knocks that uproot them from their standing positions, though. In fact, it grows rather quiet and this makes Adara's paranoia return tenfold. When she glances around at the other members of Dumbledore's Army, she notices that she doesn't seem to be the only one who is now frightened. Many have started to back up towards the portrait hole that leads back to Aberforth's, obviously hoping for a quick escape.
A blast, one so large that pieces of rock fly out immediately and knock a few people unconscious, bangs through the large, expandable room only moments later and she's knocked onto her backside, her head slamming into the stone. Spurts of white explode in her eyes as a numbing pain vibrates through the back of her skull. Her bum and back immediately ache from where they've hit the hard bottom. She loses her grip on her wand and is unable to find the mind to blindly search for it.
Whatever had just knocked out the only thing separating them all from the school beyond had done an excellent job, because not only had it found their hideout, but it had also just eliminated half of the people who made of Dumbledore's Army and rendered the other part nearly oblivious.
Authors Note: Two other chapters to come before the end! How do you like it so far? ^.^