It was the moment of truth. Breakfast would start in fifteen minutes- for students and teachers. The only way to get there was by walking right past the unmissable giant pink graffiti sign and through the big double doors.
Luna and I met in a corner of the common room (by now, all us Gryffindors had basically forgotten she hadn't been placed in this house) and waited for Neville to come out of the boys' dorms. We made nervous and jittery small talk, jumping a the slightest sound. Well, that was what I did. Luna looked, as usual, perfectly at ease and entirely unfazable.
When Neville finally came out of the dormitories, whistling and taking his time, Luna and I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him aside.
"WHAT?!" he yelled, annoyed. "I hardly got any sleep last night because I was up all night with you two and now first thing when I get up, who do I see but you two?"
Now, Neville is a very loud person, and some parts of that sentence sounded really wrong.
"No, no, that ... wasn't what it sounded like," I assured everyone as they stared and made repulsed faces. At my claim, everyone just rolled their eyes and muttered "sure" to their neighbors, then got back to what they were doing. I turned bright red, but Neville and Luna both burst out laughing.
Neville was hardly ever in a bad mood, and when he was you could tell it was hard for him to stay that way. Laughing at me put him in a good mood and for the sake of finally having a good, stress-free time, I let it go.
We were all on an adrenaline rush as we ran down the staircase, giggling (yes, that's including Neville- I know, Neville giggling, another unwanted mental picture). We got to the Great Hall just as breakfast started and the early risers trudged in, already abuzz with chatter about the sign. Neville, Luna, and I pretended to be shocked and talked innocently about the sign all the way in.
"Who would do that? They're gonna be in such big trouble with the Carrows!" I exclaimed, having trouble keeping from grinning.
"I know," replied Neville. "They must be really brave. Hey, Lavender! How about that sign?"
"I don't know what that's about," replied Lavender. Then she leaned towards where we were taking our seats and added, "But if anyone was thinking of restarting the Army, I sure know I would be interested." She giggled, a sound I had heard all too much. It had almost been a refreshing experience when she had been going out with Ron, which, er, kept her mouth busy.
"Right," replied Neville, grinning. Maybe not everyone found her giggle annoying... The minutes ticked by in slow-mo as we waited for everyone to come down to breakfast. All around me I could hear, "Did you see -?" and "I can't believe it!" and "Hahaha, this should be good!" The Great Hall may have been nearly empty, but it definitely couldn't be called nearly silent.
Gradually, more people started to come down. Everyone wanted to know who had done this, and all three of the people who had, including me, joined wholeheartedly in the speculation.
"I think it was a Slytherin. How much would they love to get us in trouble?" suggested Parvati Patil.
"She's right," agreed Hannah Abbott. "Draco Malfoy is this huge celebrity in the school ever since Harry left. I would not be at all surprised if he were behind this."
"Sure, that makes sense," Neville told her, smiling. I never knew my old friend was such the ladies' man! Go Neville!
"But guys," Dean interrupted, "what if it was one of the old Dumbledore's Army guys, who thought it was worth getting in trouble? That sounds just like something Harry would suggest." Then he frowned. "But Harry bailed on us," he moped.
I glared at him.
"No, I still say he's doing something important. Harry wasn't the type who would sit in Charms class at a time like this!" some random kid who I didn't know reminded the table. If I didn't know him, neither did Harry. This kid had no idea what he was talking about, but he was definitely on the verge of becoming my new favorite person.
"Guys. I think it's time to get serious. If someone from Dumbledore's Army is trying to get a group together, I say we help 'em out!" he continued.
"YEAH!" cheered the table, me included. I was so excited. These kids were thinking, they were interested, they had just needed a push to be brave enough to talk about the Carrows. This was just what we had wanted, and just what all these people had needed. I couldn't stop smiling as we continued the conversation.
The conversations became more and deep, less and less joking. I never knew that any force of nature could make such a large group of teenagers be serious for so long. But finally, the fact that there were reasons to be serious had gotten through all of their heads. It's not that we wanted to depress all these kids, we just wanted to give them a serious reality check. I mean, most of them thought more about dyeing their hair than dying. Honestly.
