Hi again! Read on and enjoy.

000000000000

I could barely sleep at all that night. Every time the urge to doze off came upon me, thoughts of Alastor entered my mind. The only way to help myself get any rest was to think about how he and Arabella were finally reunited. It was an equally sad notion for both of them to be gone, but for the moment, I was able to sleep. The fact that I was going to Neville's the next morning didn't hurt either.

Once the sun was up, I got my things together and made sure Belle was ready. Mum and Dad decided to stay behind for Fleur and Bill's wedding. I would've done the same, but both Neville and I wanted to get a move-on with Dumbledore's Army before school started.

"Be careful," Dad told me. "You sure you don't want one of us to take you there?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"All right. We'll see you after the wedding."

After giving him and Mum one last hug, I went over to say goodbye to everyone else. I knew Harry, Ron, and Hermione had something planned in place of going back to Hogwarts, and while the specifics of it were unknown to me, I trusted in it.

"Bye, Lacey," said Harry.

"Whatever it is you're thinking of doing, just stay safe. All of you."

They nodded. Once done with my farewells, Belle and I were off.

It didn't take all that long to get to the Longbottom residence, but having some private time in the sky was oddly comforting. I could feel the wind blowing past me at every moment. The ride practically flew right by, and before I knew what was happening, I'd landed a few feet from Neville's front porch.

"Lacey!"

I stepped off my broom just in time to return my friend's embrace. Being with him was almost enough to make me forget about all that was wrong.

"Come on inside."

After going through the door, I watched Belle scamper off somewhere and glanced back at Neville.

"Oh, is your grandma out?"

"Yeah, she had to get some bread and eggs. Here, I'll take that."

Like a true gentleman, he took one handle of my trunk and helped me carry it to the spare bedroom. We placed it at the foot of the bed before plopping down next to each other.

"So how are you?" he asked. "You said you were going to the Weasleys for a while."

"Yes, I did." I suddenly felt my sadness return. "Some Order members were there, and they actually brought Harry."

"Oh, is he all right?"

I nodded, looking down.

"But Mad-Eye was killed, along with Harry's owl."

Neville seemed nearly as distressed as I was upon hearing this.

"I'm sorry, Lace."

"Thanks. But at least everyone else was safe."

He nodded, fumbling with his fingers.

"Do you know what Harry's up to?"

"No, but he's planning to do something. I think Ron and Hermione are going with him."

Things were quiet for a little bit. It was too sorrowful for me to think of anything else to say in the matter, and Neville obviously couldn't add to the conversation either. So he changed it.

"Well, I'm really happy you're here."

"So am I."

Just seeing him smile made my heart feel warm again.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Surprisingly, the next few days passed fairly quickly. It was nice to be in my friend's company after not seeing him for so long. Augusta was as gracious of a host as ever, if not a bit stern. Then again, that was normal for her. Though we felt it to be too risky to go outside, Neville and I still had plenty to do. We played with Belle, helped around the house, and listened to the radio. But most of the time, we just talked. We'd discuss any random thing that popped up in our heads. At one point, part of me was tempted to voice how I felt about him, but my fear always got the best of me.

What if he doesn't feel the same way back? After all that's happened, I don't know if I could bear it…

Then, while lying in bed one night, I had a horrid feeling more than strong enough to shatter my temporary warmth. I couldn't explain it at the time, but Arabella's locket almost seemed to be vibrating a tiny bit. Needless to say, sleep didn't come to me. My dormant fears were realized at the breakfast table the next morning when Augusta told us of Voldemort's takeover of the Ministry.

"You're sure?" I asked.

"It's what they're saying. Bloody awful, it is."

I hadn't even taken three bites of toast, but I couldn't finish it. We didn't have all the information yet, but every sliver of it that the older woman gave us was worse than the last one. The new decrees stated that attendance at Hogwarts was absolutely mandatory, whether we wanted to go or not. However, we had to prove our blood statuses; Muggle-born students were no longer allowed to go. Since Neville was a pure-blood and my mother was a widely known half-blood, both of us had no choice but to go back to school.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I dunno," Neville said as we sat upon the living room couch later in the day. "We can't very well skip, or we'll go to Azkaban."

I looked out the window while patting Belle. She was sound asleep in my lap for the moment, but something told me she knew what was going on. After a few seconds, my friend gently laid his hand upon my free arm.

"Listen, we could still keep the Army alive. That's something, right?"

I shrugged, trying to appreciate his optimistic mindset. Just then, we were both distracted by Augusta entering the room.

"Lacey, you have some visitors."

"Hmm?"

I was confused for a second, but upon seeing Mum and Dad enter the room, I immediately sat up and ran over to them. If she hadn't woken up just in time, poor Belle might've been thrown off of me.

"Are you all right? What happened?"

"We're fine, love. But you need to sit down. We can't stay long."

All of us gathered in the room and started talking about what happened. My parents already knew about the takeover. Apparently, Kingsley had sent a Patronus to the wedding and informed everyone. My heart started pounding when they mentioned Death Eaters showing up there, but Dad quickly spoke up.

"It's all right. Everyone's alive, and Harry got away with the others. Your mother and I Disapparated just in time as well."

"We didn't really want to," Mum added. "But Arthur insisted that we get as far away as possible."

"Why?"

"Lacey, You-Know-Who is rounding up all the Muggle-borns he can get his hands on. We're not sure if he's killing them, but whatever he's doing, it isn't good."

My breath felt like it was stuck in my throat.

Dad's Muggle-Born. Does that mean…?

"What'll happen to you?"

"Nothing, if we can help it. Abby and I are going to lay low for a while."

"But where?"

"We can't tell you, sweetheart," Mum told me, the sadness evident in her eyes. "If the Death Eaters try to question you…"

"How will I contact you?"

"That's not going to be an option, love."

I could feel the tears coming like the fastest train. Unable to stop myself, I went across the room and threw my arms around both my parents. They immediately returned the embrace.

"They won't find us, Lacey," Dad whispered, stroking my hair. "We just can't risk them getting wind of where we are."

"You're not going back home?"

"No, and neither can you. We went back and got the rest of your school things, but that's all we had time for. It's in a trunk by the door."

"I don't care about my school things. I won't go back."

"Don't say that."

"I won't!"

"It's not going to be forever, Lace. But we need to wait until we're all strong enough to fight them." Mum took my face in her hands as she spoke. "And just remember that if you don't hear any news about us, it means we're safe."

I could barely process any of this. The thought of not being able to talk to either of them, not knowing whether or not they were safe…it was too much. The sight of Dad standing up only made things worse.

"We need to go now. Augusta, Neville, thank you both so much."

He pulled me close, as did Mum. After a few agonizing seconds, I felt them loosen their hold. Despite my attempts to stay near them, Neville's hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"We love you so much, Lacey. Please stay safe."

Mum had started crying by this point, as had I. She squeezed my hand one final time, and the second our fingers separated, they were both gone. Neville did his best to soothe me with a warm hug, but my grief was too strong. I barely noticed Augusta leave the room as my friend led me back to the sofa and put his arms around me again.

"Shh, it's okay."

But what if it's not? I trust them, but…what if I just saw my family for the last time?

It was deathly quiet for the next few minutes. My weeping had softened, but there was no stopping my tears. I tried distracting myself by focusing on how warm Neville's embrace was, to no avail. He was silent for a little while before carefully speaking.

"They're really strong, Lace. He won't find them."

As hard as it was, I tried to latch onto his encouragement.

"At least there's a bright side," I muttered, sitting up to wipe my tears. "Not much more can go wrong, huh?"

Augusta suddenly came back into the room a couple of seconds later with the latest Daily Prophet.

"This just came," she told us grimly.

"What's wrong, Gran?"

"You kids have your new Headmaster."

The woman handed her grandson the paper, and the moment I saw Snape on the front page, my insides boiled with shock, fear, and fury.

Well, I guess plenty more has yet to go wrong.

000000000000000

Let me know what you think.