It didn't take Ravenclaw House long to get over its defeat in favour of preparing for O.W.L.s, N.E.W.T.s and end-of-year examinations. So when the exams did arrive, there was no space left in my brain for moping about Quidditch scores. And when those were over, there wasn't really room for anything at all.
The exams went rather well. I'd never been tested so formally before, but once I got over the fact that these were Ministry examiners, I was able to focus on my own performance on the tests, and sauntered out of the last exam feeling extraordinarily accomplished evan as I bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry Ginny!" I apologised. "Say, I wanted to congratulate you on the match. You might not be Harry, but you can certainly hold your own."
"Thanks, Sam! Yeah, that was quite a twist, wasn't it? I'm still in shock!"
I nodded. "Next time you won't be so lucky, though," I said with a mischievous grin.
Ginny laughed. "I better start training more over the summer, then."
We chatted a bit more before Ginny was summoned hurriedly by a worried-looking Hermione. I waved at her, but she didn't seem to notice me.
I took my time making my way back to Ravenclaw common room. I figured I'd spend some time out on the lawn with my guitar, seeing as summer was arriving nicely at Hogwarts. But just as I was making my way back downstairs from the fifth floor, a voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Evans!"
"Dr—Malfoy?" I replied, surprised that he was talking to me, here, in the middle of the corridor.
When Draco caught up to me, he glanced around to make sure no one could hear him as he said, "Can you go get Severus for me and ask him to come to Umbridge's office?"
"Um, sure. Why?"
"Sorry, I have to get back. I can't miss this!" he said excitedly, dashing back in the direction he came from. So with a shrug, I set off for the dungeons, guitar on my back and a song on my lips.
I sang quietly to myself as I descended familiar stairs into the darkened corridors of Slytherin territory. I skipped over to Snape's office, my thoughts on where I would settle down to practice outside, when the Potions master's door flung open and I nearly skipped straight into the man.
"Oh, sorry!" I called, taking a hasty step backward from Snape.
"Can I help you, Miss Evans?" Snape said, voice cold as he frowned at me.
"Er, yeah," I said, suddenly focusing very hard on not tripping over my words. "Draco Malfoy, sir. He asks that you come to the headmistress' office immediately."
"Very well." And Snape brushed past me without further word.
"You're welcome," I said to the empty corridor as he disappeared. Then, following his path, I made my way back upstairs and out onto the front lawn of the castle.
I decided not to stray too far, as the sun was already showing signs of setting over the lake. I settled down in the grass and began to strum. Some students lifted their heads when they heard, but mercifully remained where they were with friends. I wasn't quite in the mood to socialise after exams.
The sun continued to sink, the orange light reflecting off the lake as I played through some older pieces I had written. The breeze ruffled my hair, easing my thoughts out of their study-driven state in preparation for the soon-to-come summer months. I wondered vaguely where I would go for the holidays. I certainly wasn't going back to Mother. And I was certain Harry's aunt and uncle weren't very keen on seeing me again.
I was sixteen now, but that still made me underage. I wouldn't be able to stay on my own long, and I couldn't afford renting a room in the Leaky Cauldron for that long. I sighed. I could ask Luna, whose father would be more than happy to let me stay with them for the summer. But Luna had been drifting this past year, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend those months with someone I wasn't getting along with terribly well.
I considered Stewart or Terence, but I didn't know their families at all. I sighed again, still strumming as I weighed my options.
I briefly considered going back to the Order of the Phoenix and asking to stay, but I figured I had used up my quota of free time from them, considering they hadn't initially wanted me to stay. I wasn't part of the Order, after all, or even directly related to any of the members.
My thoughts were interrupted as I spotted Harry, Hermione, and of all people, Umbridge hurrying out of the school and walking briskly toward the Forbidden Forest, Hermione in the lead.
I frowned, my strumming slowing to a stop. They didn't look like people that wanted to be followed. And with the circles of students thoroughly enraptured by being free of exams, they weren't about to be.
It was this thought that made me stand up and creep over to the closest group of students. I handed my guitar to a third-year Ravenclaw I recognised and asked her to hold onto it for me. She nodded, then turned back to the game of Exploding Snaps they were playing, the guitar lying safely beside her.
And with that, I turned and headed to where the odd trio had disappeared into the trees and made to pursue.
I had never been in the forest before. As soon as I stepped into the trees, everything darkened. The treetops blocked out the little sunlight left in the day, and thick trunks immediately hid the castle from view.
Listening hard, I heard the girlish voice of Umbridge speaking indecipherably in the distance. As quietly as I could, I followed the sound of that wretched voice.
"We're almost there," I heard Hermione saying as I closed the gap between us. "Just a little further."
The sound of their footsteps stopped abruptly, accompanied by a loud shriek. I stopped, listening hard, heart beating madly.
"Who are you?" came a deep voice that didn't belong to any of the three. Concerned, I stepped closer as quietly as I could.
The voices grew louder as I spotted a clearing ahead. I moved nearer, spotting Harry, Hermione, and Umbridge in the middle of the clearing surrounded by fifty or so centaurs with bows pointed in at the trio. I held in a gasp as I watched Umbridge argue with the apparent leader.
It was clearly a battle for superiority, which Umbridge was losing. Hermione, however, looked pleased with the situation, which kept me rooted to my spot as I tried to decipher the situation.
The moon was shining into the clearing, full and bright as the last remnants of sunlight disappeared. The lights made the ropes that shot out of Umbridge's wand shimmer as she cast the spell on the head centaur. They all charged.
"No!" I breathed, watching as Harry pulled Hermione to the ground as the centaurs galloped about them, carrying Umbridge away. I had to get them out of there, or they would be killed for sure.
I crept around the edge of the clearing, searching for a clean shot. Then, while the centaurs were busy dealing with Umbridge, I cast a levitation spell on the two and pulled them hurriedly into the trees.
I grabbed them by the robes and pulled them down behind a large tree, mouthing for them to be quiet.
"How did you know where we were?" Hermione asked once the centaurs had all disappeared deeper into the forest.
"I spotted you from the lawn. What's going on? Where are your wands?"
"Right here," came a voice.
I whirled, wand pointed out into the darkness, which I quickly lowered as Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna appeared in the light of the clearing. Ron handed Harry and Hermione their wands.
"How did you get away?" Hermione asked in amazement.
"Wait, what's going on?" I interrupted.
"Sirius is in trouble, that's what's going on," said Harry irritably. "And I need to get to the Ministry of Magic now."
"How do you know Sirius is in trouble?" I asked.
"Look, I don't have time to explain," Harry snapped. "But he needs help, and I don't know how to get to the Department of Mysteries."
"Well, we'll have to fly, won't we?" Luna said matter-of-factly.
We all stared at her for a long moment before the banter began. I stared at Luna, trying to figure out what she meant.
"Oh!" I exclaimed, effectively silencing everyone. "They live out here, don't they? Brilliant!"
"What?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Thestrals!"
"Those mad horse things?" Ron asked, staring around. And sure enough, several thestrals had appeared in the clearing. "But we can't see them!"
"Some of us can," Harry said quietly, patting the nearest one affectionately. "All right, I'm going." He mounted the thestral.
"Wait for us!" Ginny said, staring blindly at the growing horde of thestrals. "We'll need help!"
"You're not all coming!" Harry said indignantly.
"Don't be stupid. Isn't this what the DA was all about?" Ginny said impatiently.
"DA?" I asked, but no one responded.
"Here, I'll help you," Luna said, guiding Ginny over to a thestral and helping her onto it.
Neville and I helped Hermione and Ron before hopping on our own and preparing for take-off. Harry, looking angry about the whole thing, spoke softly to his thestral and, moments later, we lurched dangerously off the ground and shot straight up out of the clearing.
I clung to my thestral desperately, its enormous wings flapping beside me as I held the creature close. The trip to London took less time than the Hogwarts Express, but probably because we were hurtling through the air faster than any train ever could.
I wanted so badly to ask someone what was going on, what the DA was, and why Sirius was in trouble, but I was terrified of even lifting my head to see where we were flying, let alone converse with anyone. So I busied myself with memorising the trails of skin on the thestral's neck.
We finally found the ground again, dismounting quickly from the strange creatures and rushing over to the guest entrance of the Ministry of Magic. The seven of us squashed into the pretend phone box, which lowered us down into the depths of the Ministry.
"Harry, can you at least tell me what we're about to face?" I said quietly, not wanting to anger my clearly-irritated cousin.
"Voldemort," he said firmly.
"Right," I said shortly, wondering wildly how much I had missed out on this past term if Harry and the others were all on board with this crazy plan. "Do you know where in the Department of Mysteries?"
Harry craned his neck, eyes wide. "Your mum works in the Department of Mysteries!" he exclaimed.
I nodded. "I know. Now where are we going?"
"It's a huge room with arching ceilings and rows and rows of dusty orbs," Harry described quickly as the phone box deposited us at the entry to the Ministry.
I nodded again. "The Hall of Prophecies."
"Whatever. Can you get us there?" Harry asked hurriedly.
"I think so," I said, thinking back to when I had flipped through maps of the department when I had been stuck in Mother's office.
"Brilliant. Let's go!" And we took off at a run toward the lifts.
The entrance to the department was the same black door I had seen during my visits, looking just as foreboding as ever. The others hesitated, and so I walked inside first.
"Don't shut the door," I said as we piled inside. "This is where it gets tricky."
"There are so many doors!" Ron exclaimed.
"Yes, and if we're not careful, we could get very, very lost in here," I said seriously. "Now let me think."
The doors were on a cycle known only to department workers, and I had never told Mother that I had memorised the charts in her office during my spare time. I shut my eyes, thinking hard.
"The fourth door from the left," I said, voice steady as to not worry the others. "Cast 'Flagrate' on it."
Hermione hurried forward, lifting her wand to perform the spell. A fiery red "x" appeared on the door. She then tried to open the door.
"It's locked," she said.
"And it'll stay that way until we shut this one," I said. "Go on, Neville."
Neville shut the door, and the walls began to spin.
"Whoa," Ron breathed when the doors settled back down. "It moved!"
Indeed, the door with the red "x" now stood to our right. "Open it."
Harry rushed forward this time, flinging the door open. "This is it!" he cried, dashing into the glowing room. He didn't pause to look at anything as he hurried through the next door, and the next, and the group finally spilled into the Hall of Prophecies.
"You said it was row ninety-seven," Hermione whispered as the group stared around at the endless rows of dusty orbs.
"Yeah," Harry said, hurrying forward.
I glanced around cautiously, remembering how this place had affected me in my youth. It was so grand, and yet so terrifying. I let the group drift in front of me as I relived childhood memories of hiding from Mother in here and exploring the names on the orbs. So many old, brilliant names.
The voices of the group grew distant, but I knew I'd find them again. I ran my fingers across the shelves, the dust peeling itself away from its home and clinging to my fingertips.
It wasn't until a familiar voice sounded that I realised how much danger we were in:
"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me," drawled Lucius Malfoy.