Onwards Until Forever

Assembly, or Of the Ties that Bind

They trickled in, in groups of twos and threes, one by one. The low murmur of the furtive and expectant filled the air, and as the sun sank lower, silence fell. They looked one another over, sizing up, deducing, and wondering.

The Gryffindors, in a tight group- Mason leaning against the tree, Vin beside him with his hands in his pockets. Helly beside him with crossed arms and steady stance, and Kaitlyn on the edge, shoulders hunched, hands locked.

The Slytherins, nearby- Oz with his back to the tree and a casual stance, Iris sitting in the lowest branch, legs swinging with nervous energy and Rosalie, arms tightly folded beside her. One of their company had yet to appear.

The Hufflepuffs, a bit to the side- A silent, brooding Marcus oblivious to a nervous Raphael's attempts to make conversation, Sabrina and Riley chatting brightly.

The Ravenclaws- Leo cross-legged with his back against the trees and eyes closed, Abby and Own talking quietly next to him. They too, were missing one of their number.

The murmurs faded to silence as the sun's last rays fell to meet the horizon, and there they stayed, wondering, watching, waiting.

After what seemed a little infinity, they saw two figures making their way across the grounds- two slender black silhouettes approaching at what seemed both an impossibly fast and momentously slow pace.

The silence yet unbroken, the group would not meet each other's eyes, absorbed in their own thoughts. For reasons unknown to all of them, everyone was overwhelmed with a peculiar feeling of gravity, dark significance- as if they were on the brink of a chasm, and the winds of change were blowing.

The two figured were illuminated suddenly, their features becoming clear as the distance closed. The smaller of the two exhaled as she did a headcount. They came.

They all came.

They believed enough to show up.

She had to make them listen.

Feeling a bit lightheaded, she realized that everyone was waiting on her to speak, and Brianna took a deep breath. "Thanks for coming, everyone." She turned to Gianna expectantly, and the other girl shot her a look that said 'are you serious'.

Gianna nodded, her lips pursed in slight disdain. "Yes. Thank you."

Sighing internally, Brie looked around at the faces- some curious, some earnest and some guarded, and all dubious.

"So." drawled Oz Osborne with a raised eyebrow. "This is your army."

Someone (Iris, likely) let loose a nervous giggle, and then covered her mouth. But it broke the tension a bit, and then Mason Boyce spoke up, slouching against the tree. "Army... Isn't that like a glorified version of marching band but without flutes and with guns and swords? 'Cause that's what I'm here for, dunno 'bout you lot."

Gianna glared coldly at the grinning boy and the chuckling army around her, and Brie sent her a bit of a warning look, then stepped forward with a sheepish smile. "It's more of a figurative army than a literal one."

"Oh, you don't say?" said Helly incredulously

More nervous laughter, and some of the tension dissipated.

"I think you're forgetting something." came a deep voice from the edge of the group. All heads turned towards Marcus Blackwood, who levelled his gaze back at them. "Even figurative armies need something to fight for."

"Too right, Blackwood." said Vin Sloan genially, and then he turned solemn and faced the two girls. "What is it that we're fighting here?"

Gianna arched her back, and stared him down. "Darkness. Ignorance. Suffocation, oppression- the belief that this-" she spread her arms "is all there is."

Raphael piped up "An intangible opponent, then."

Owen spoke quietly, shaking his head "Just one big goddamn metaphor."

Brie opened her mouth, but was cut off by Oz Osborne, who was leaning casually against the tree with his arms crossed. "Actually, no. Despite the world's needless and seemingly boundless tolerance for figurative comparisons, this is not one of them. What we're fighting is very real indeed. A corrupt regime that somehow, the two of them seem to believe that you lot have the capacity to bring down." His eyes were filled with a dark seriousness.

Vin Sloan scoffed "You're one to talk about corrupt regimes, Slytherin."

Oz sighed deeply, dismissive on the surface but with eyes as hard as steel. "Aside from the fact that that phrase was probably the only thing you understood out of what I said, your eagerness to pick a fight shows a deep-down need for someone to fight, someone to best, a simple division between right and wrong, with you always on the 'right' side- or is it a need to show your manliness, your courage - shame you don't have any, not really."

Vin stiffened and reached for his wand "How dare you. How dare you stand there and-"

Almost exactly in unison, wands were out and everyone was on their feet, and chaos reigned. Suddenly a voice broke through the blur-

"Hey!" screamed Helly, and everything fell silent. She fixed both boys with a glare. "If you haven't noticed we appear to be on the same side so kindly stop trying to murder each other before we've even begun."

When neither boy wavered, another voice was raised. "It is things like this that divide us, that have always divided us- and until we can learn to work with one another, all of this-"she gestured all around her, her voice growing stronger. "will be for naught."

Brie stepped in between the two wands, facing her old friend. "Vin, please."

Softly, she added "Sometimes courage is walking away from a fight."

Vin met her eyes, and lowered his wand. "You know nothing, Osborne. You may think you know everything, but you don't know anything about me."

Oz let his wand fall to his side, his face contorted into a dark scowl that was hidden quickly in the hard set of his jaw and an added layer of steel behind his eyes.

Brie spoke again, to the entire group. "There will be no fighting, no provocation, and no hostility. You have issues, take care of them anywhere but here. And leave all the house rivalries muck at the door. Understood?"

When a weak affirmation was mumbled, Gianna fixed them all with a cold stare. "Is it understood or isn't it? If you can't process this, the simplest of things, then perhaps your capacity has been severely overestimated. It wouldn't surprise me."

Now they were paying attention- standing tall, jaws set- the jab at their capability had hit right in the heart- and now, looking at Gianna, Brie saw that it had been carefully aimed. The smallest hint of a smug smile on the other girl's face confirmed what Brie already knew- that she was shrewder and more cunning than anyone gave her credit for- all of her actions calculated- a powerful ally who could turn to a terrible adversary in the blink of an eye. But for now, she had their attention, and their allegiance- whether they knew it or not.

The collective pride had kicked in, and Mason voiced it. "Look- I'm speaking for all of us when I say that we can do this- whatever this is. But the question is, do we want to?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes "Why don't you shut up so we can find out?"

Brie snorted. "Thanks, Rosalie. Anyways, essentially, Osborne was correct. It has come to our attention-" she shot a glance at Gianna "been brought to my attention- that things aren't the way they're supposed to be. Magic isn't the way it's supposed to be, and the ministry either ignores it, condones it, or is unaware of it."

"And it's not possible that they're unaware." stated Gianna, her eyes cold and sure.

"We're not fighting anyone or anything yet. And we're not going to force any of you to do anything you don't want to do. But regardless of anyone's decision here tonight, I, and others, will go on. Right now we're just trying to figure out what's going on- and who may be willing to join us."

Raph spoke up for the first time, his voice slightly shaky. "You mean the ministry. Not just rules- laws, some centuries old. This is crazy, Brie- you're talking about the minister of magic-"

"I'm talking about the reason that no one has power anymore. And if that reason is the ministry, well… so be it." she said, her jaw set.

"What is this, some 'fight the man', Woodstock-esque, power-to-the-people crap? News flash, we're 'just kids'. We've never had power, and we never will." said Owen sarcastically.

"What about magic?" she said simply.

Silence.

"We all have that." Brie turned her head, raising her eyebrows. "Right?"

The silence grew louder, and her gaze hardened.

"Or wrong?"

"Because through every lesson we learn, every spell we cast- the simplest of magic that we practice successfully shocks the teachers- they avert their eyes and walk away. Why?"

"Because the others can't. And no one expects them to."

Everyone turned to Kaitlin, whose cheeks flushed, but her eyes dared anyone to correct her. Brie nodded at her.

"Exactly. Doesn't that seem a little bit wrong to you? That in a school for magic, the practice of magic is so rare it is shunned when it happens?"

Mason shook his head. "Wait, wait. This is how it's always been."

Helly raised an eyebrow. "Is it though? What about the old days, when our parents were students- their parents?"

Vin shrugged. "Maybe time have changed."

"And what would we know of them if they had?" Owen gestured around him incredulously. "Who are we to question the ministry, or the teachers even?"

"No one."

Eyes turned to Brie, who spread her arms wide.

"Just a bunch of oddball, egotistical kids with god knows what in common."

She turned around, facing each one of them in turn, and a half-smile spread across her face.

"But then, what were the founders?"

"What was anyone?"

There was a silence as her words sunk in, and almost despite themselves they all felt a flicker of warmth inside of them, and listened now with the ears of those who long for something to fight for- a way to prove themselves.

And so they stayed, and they listened and they dared to hope.

Young Volcanoes by Fall Out Boy

Nobody's going to fix the world for us, but working together, making use of technological innovations and human communities alike, we might just be able to fix it ourselves.

Jamais Cascio

Thanks for reading.

Love, Leviosa