"We need to get going," Harry said grimly. He was right; they had to find the Horcrux, and fast. Ron nodded.

"What are we going to do then, Harry?" asked Seamus excitedly. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" repeated Harry, confused. Glancing around the room, Ron could see that everyone else was just as impatient as Seamus. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione and I –" he clarified, "- need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

Faces fell all around them; looks of determination were replaced by confusion and disappointment.

"What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?" asked Neville.

Harry sighed, rubbing his scar; it seemed to be taking him a lot of effort to remain still and patiently explain. "We haven't come back to stay. There's something important we need to do –"

"What is it?" someone interrupted.

"I – I can't tell you."

Disgruntled muttering broke out. Ron's spine prickled uneasily as he felt a growing sense of discomfort – they should have expected this, should have realised that they couldn't just swan back into Hogwarts without causing a stir...

Neville refused to back down. "Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

Harry nodded reluctantly. "Well, yeah –"

"Then we'll help you," Neville announced, looking around at his fellow students for confirmation: they nodded fervently.

Ron could tell Harry was getting more frustrated. "You don't understand. We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it – alone," he insisted.

Neville and the others immediately began to try and convince him that they were Dumbledore's Army, and they were ready to fight, to do whatever was needed. Ron heard a noise behind him; turning towards it, he saw Luna and Dean climbing through the portrait hole. "We got your message, Neville!" called Dean, holding up his DA galleon, before he was engulfed in a bear hug by an ecstatic Seamus.

"Hi, everyone! Oh, it's great to be back!" smiled Luna happily as she floated into the room.

"Luna, what are you doing here?" asked Harry, looking uncomfortable that more people were turning up. "How did you –"

"I sent for them," Neville said proudly, displaying his own fake galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

Ron's heart dropped to his feet like a stone. Neville had just confirmed what he had feared. Neville – all of them – were so convinced that it was true. Everyone expected them to lead some sort of rebellion – how could they get out to try and find the Horcrux now?

"Of course that's what it means," assured Luna confidently. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"

Ron could see the panic and desperation form on Harry's face as he interjected, "Listen. I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then –"

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" said Michael Corner angrily.

"No!" Ron butted in – he had to help somehow. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who –"

"Then let us help!" demanded Neville. "We want to be a part of it!"

Despairing, Ron raked a hand through his hair. Noticing that Harry was staring behind him at the door to the tunnel, he whipped round. His eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat as he saw a flash of familiar ginger hair; it was Ginny with Fred and George. His breath escaped out of his lungs as he found himself grinning uncontrollably. Inexplicably, he felt lighter, like a breath of fresh air after thick stifling fog. He hadn't realised, all this time, how it had weighed him down with unconscious worry relentlessly lurking in the back of his mind about his family. For a moment, merely seeing his brothers and sister again, all in one piece (well, almost, in George's case, but the missing ear at least was nothing new) caused a wave of relief to wash over him, cleansing away everything else. Even the elation he had felt after hearing their voices on the radio, like a little light in the darkness, was nothing compared to them actually standing there before him.

"Hey! You're – you're here!" he yelled out gruffly, then cleared his throat, embarrassed.

"How very observant of you, little brother," George smirked, raising one eyebrow at him. The indifferent expression quickly broke into a smile as he roughly pulled Ron into a bear hug. Out of the corner of his eye Ron could see Fred, usual mischievous grin in place, greeting everyone's excited cries as he high-fived Lee Jordan.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" said George, rubbing his hands together with gusto.

"There isn't one –" attempted Harry weakly, before he was cut off by Fred.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favourite kind."

Fred yelled in surprise as his younger brother attacked him with a hug, having sneaked up behind him.

"Alright Ron, I know you're pleased to see me – can't say I blame you – but you're cutting off my circulation here, mate."

Laughing, Ron released his brother, who massaged his neck melodramatically. Behind him, Ron could hear Harry hissing to Neville, "What did you call them all back for? This is insane!"

Overhearing, Dean demanded, "We're fighting, aren't we?"

Ron was struck by a flash of inspiration. They had to find this Horcrux, and fast. It would be much quicker if they had help – the three of them could spend hundreds of years searching the huge castle and still not find anything.

"Why can't they help?" he asked Harry. Harry's jaw dropped. "What?"

"They can help," Ron repeated seriously. He lowered his voice and Hermione leaned closer to both of them. "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."

A taut, expectant silence fell between them as they both looked towards Hermione.