'cause i'll know my weakness, know my voice
and i'll believe in grace and choice
and i know perhaps my heart is fast
but i'll be born without a mask

babel - mumford & sons

The last few days of the Christmas holidays went by in a daze of board games, picking on Simon and Maggie whenever they were caught sneaking away together, half-hearted investigations and breakfasts huddled together at the Hufflepuff table until the rest of their classmates came back to school. It felt a little strange to go back to not being able to hang out together all the time, but all fourteen of them knew that they were ought to focus on their mission — they would have plenty of time to be together when they got back, and in the meantime they would simply have to cherish what little time they could spare between their schoolwork and keeping up with their ongoing investigation.

However, nearly a month went by until they got any news — the reason being that the leaders of the captation network had supposedly left the school temporarily at Lord Voldemort's strict command, thus making Calvin and Niko unable to gather any new information on them or how the network worked. The two boys felt increasingly frustrated by their 'lack of success', as Niko put it, even though their friends tried to cheer them up whenever they exteriorized said frustration. They had successfully noted down a number of names and profiles for a few members, but that was about it.

"But what if we don't gather enough information in time?" Niko asked, his leg bouncing up and down nervously. It was quite cold, even for a late February night in the Highlands, but the amount of anxiety that pumped through his body was more than enough to keep him warm, even when he was sitting on a leather couch in a dungeon under the lake.

Bobby, who was sitting next to him and had wrapped a quilt around himself, patted his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Nik. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out. Besides, the rest of us are here to help you if you need anything. Lena and I can try and join the group too, right?"

"That's too risky," Calvin said, shaking his head. "Lena's a Muggle-born — they usually ask really specific details about your bloodline, and even though we've got all those fake birth certificates I certainly wouldn't risk it." The boy glanced around just to make sure that no-one had heard that last bit, then leaned back against the coffee table.

Lena, whose lap was covered by a tartan quilt that her mother had made her before leaving for Hogwarts for the first time, seemed to agree — albeit reluctantly — with her best friend's words. You and I should just keep a low profile, Bob, she signaled. We'll help them as much as we can, but we really shouldn't play with fire.

"Now that's a poetic way to put it," Calvin snorted. The boy ran a hand through his hair before adding, "The thing is, we're all beginning to worry about the whole thing a little too much. Luna Lovegood never came back from the holidays, and a few of our classmates are nowhere to be found either. What are we going to do if this keeps going until the Battle? We may never find out in time."

"We will," Bobby assured them. "We'll find out, we'll get the job done, and then we'll go home before the fighting begins. That's the plan, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Niko said softly, almost pensively. "But we can't always just follow a plan, Bob. This is the real life, not one of Celine's carefully planned-out strategies. It's — it's like Quidditch, sort of. You plan out a strategy, but sometimes it simply doesn't work."

"It will work this time," Bobby insisted. "And it'll earn us a victory and catching the Snitch before the rival team does. We do have one hell of a Seeker here, don't we?" He clapped Calvin's back in a friendly way, which made his friend chuckle. "Don't tell Jimmy I said that."

The four of them erupted into a fit of giggles and chuckles, thus leaving the subject behind for once. A group of Fifth Years eyed them disdainfully from one of the tables, but they chose to ignore them, and kept jokingly poking fun at each other — until a blonde-haired girl emerged through the door and waved with a broad smile at Lena, who immediately rose to her feet and greeted her with a warm hug.

"Hey!" The girl said — the three boys immediately recognized her as Catherine Kenley, the girl that had become one of Lena's closest friends over the last few months. She directed her bright blue eyes towards Lena, who suddenly seemed a lot more self-conscious. "May I steal little Lena here away from you for a few minutes?"

"Sure thing," Bobby nodded, his expression rather curious. He knew that Lena fancied Catherine, but she hadn't quite figured out yet what the girl's sexual orientation was — or if she had any romantic interest in her, for that matter. "Just make sure to have her in bed by ten o'clock, all right?" He added jokingly.

"Sure thing," Catherine replied, giggling a little. She then turned around and squeezed Lena's hand gently. "Let's go to our dormitory, shall we?"

Lena nodded breathlessly and, with that, the two of them were off. Bobby couldn't help but snort a little. "Those two are so going to end up together. It'll be harder for her to go back if they do, though."

"Lena's a very intelligent person and an exceptionally gifted witch," Calvin said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "She'll know what's best for her and her . . . friend."

"Whoa, Cal, no need to be so protective," chuckled Niko. "Let's just let her have fun for a bit, shouldn't we? Those of us who haven't managed to get ourselves a lady like Catherine should just focus on our mission for now."

Calvin couldn't help but roll his eyes at how painstakingly oblivious Niko was to the fact that he had never even remotely shown any interest in ladies like Catherine, as his friend had put it only a moment earlier. "All right, yes. Let's focus on what we've got so far." He reached for his schoolbag and scrambled for the piece of parchment where he had listed the names of the members of the network that they had managed to gather so far — there were over a dozen of them, ranging from boys to girls and from Third Years to Seventh Years, and even though most of them were Slytherins, a few Ravenclaws and a handful of Hufflepuffs were involved in it too. Caroline had told them to follow Draco Malfoy and his friends closely, but they were surprised to find out that none of them were involved in the clandestine group's activities — perhaps due to the fact that Malfoy had already attended several of Voldemort's official meetings himself, thus earning himself a certain respect from the Dark Lord and avoiding getting his hands dirty with mere recruitment work. The only one of his friends who was known to be a member of it was a chubby boy by the name of Vincent Crabbe — whose name happened to be at the very top of Calvin's list.

"I bet this Crabbe fellow has been in touch with the kids who are in charge of the network," Niko said. "He's not the lightest bulb in the chandelier, but we might be able to get some information from him."

"Should we question him, then?" Bobby asked cautiously. "I could do it. You two still need to look trustworthy to him and the network, after all."

"But what's the point in you interrogating him?" Calvin quipped. "We need to interrogate him, precisely because he knows us. We'll just erase his memory afterwards — like Niko said, he isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, so it shouldn't be too difficult to do it."

"All right then," Bobby said, sighing a little. "You two do it."

"We'll try and find him tomorrow," Niko said, nodding his head. "He spends most of his spare time loitering around the kitchens with his friend Goyle or following Malfoy around, so it shouldn't be too difficult. We'll just ask him if he's got any news from the rest of the group, and then stupefy him or something and bring him over to our dormitory. Bobby, you'll guard the door in case one of those twats happens to want to come in during the questioning, right?" The two of them had taken a liking to calling their two roommates, who were a couple of snobbish twins from Exeter, all sorts of mean names. Calvin didn't exactly approve of it, but he didn't think he could object to it either.

"I most definitely will," Bobby replied, a half-crooked grin on his face. It felt somewhat reassuring to have a task assigned to him, even if it was a more collateral one.

"So that settles it," Calvin said calmly. "We'll question him tomorrow and we'll try and get some answers from him. Then we'll let the others know. Shouldn't Lena be aware of it beforehand, though?"

"I think she's too busy sucking faces with that Catherine girl as of right now," chuckled Bobby, shaking his head. "We'll just tell her later, Cal. D'you wanna play Exploding Snap? I think I've my deck somewhere in here." The boy rummaged inside his schoolbag and grinned when he managed to pull out an intact deck of Exploding Snap that he had brought all the way from 2018. "C'mon! I know I'm an intimidating opponent, but I promise not to be too mean."

"Aha, we'll see," Niko said playfully. He then elbowed Calvin, who seemed to be lost in thought. "You wanna play too, mate?"

"What?" Calvin asked absentmindedly. A moment later, he shook his head a little. "Oh, no. You two play. I'll just read for a bit."

"Aight then."

And with that, the three of them fell into a comfortable silence, in which Calvin couldn't help but wonder if their plan for the following day would succeed after all.

Jimmy couldn't help but think of how much he missed the way Neville, Ginny and Luna had welcomed them into their group before the holidays. It wasn't like they acted any colder around them now — they had become, in fact, their closest friends aside from the rest of their group — but it just wasn't the same without Luna. Neville's expression was glum and pessimistic most of the time, and Ginny had to fight tears back when they had first asked about the Ravenclaw girl's absence.

"We received an unsigned letter from her," Neville had explained softly. "I mean, it was very easy to recognize her handwriting. She said she was fine — Harry, Hermione and Ron had rescued her and Dean from the Malfoy Manor, and she was staying 'somewhere safe' for the time being, because her Dad has been sent to Azkaban. It's bollocks, right? To send an innocent man to Azkaban when You-Know-Who's allies are all out there, terrorizing Muggles and wizards and witches alike."

The two of them still hung out with the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors most of the time, though. Celine and Thea had taken a liking to joining them on their weekly hang outs by the lake, and when the weather improved as March broke in they found themselves spending an increasing amount of time there, Neville studying the lake with a disheartening glumness in his eyes and Ginny constantly complaining about the Carrows' negligent use of magic on eleven-year-olds.

That day, however, Jimmy carried a secret under his sleeve that would definitely cheer them both up.

"Hey, Neville," the boy said casually as he jogged up to his friend, who didn't usually take a seat with the rest of the group and instead paced around the lake in a distracted manner. It wasn't that he didn't like them, but Jimmy knew that he still hadn't quite grown used to the idea that Luna wasn't there to brighten their everyday lives anymore. "I — I've got useful information, I think."

Neville's eyebrows rose. "Really? What is it?"

"Well . . . I don't know where to begin, really, but the thing is that Maggie and I heard something in the corridor the other day," he had made the whole story up the previous night, in an attempt to sound more convincing when he told his friend all the half-truths that their mission had consisted of so far. "We didn't want to tell you because well, we've all got a lot on our plates right now, but the thing is that we believe that there might be a sort of captation network puppeteered by You-Know-Who himself here."

"Here? You mean here at school?" Neville asked, frowning a little. "I know Malfoy's pretty much become a Death Eater by now, and so have a few of his cronies, but I never thought that You-Know-Who would bother recruiting . . . well, children."

"Yeah, we thought the same thing," Jimmy was quick to reply, mainly because his friend seemed to share the same hesitations that most of the group had held on the early days of their mission. "But then we thought . . . well, he wouldn't want to take things for granted like he did the last time, would he? I feel like having a small group of accolades here would be helpful if something were to happen within the castle's walls." He pursed his lips, because he didn't know how to phrase his thoughts without letting Neville know about the impending Battle of Hogwarts.

Neville seemed to consider his words for a few moments. "That does make sense. The Order does have allies in here, after all — I suppose you heard about us back when Umbridge was around, but Dumbledore's Army is still going fairly strong. We're ready to fight when the right time comes, and it's only logical that You-Know-Who would want to keep his arse covered if something were to happen here, yes." Neville's expression was firm and somewhat worried, but he then placed a gentle hand on Jimmy's shoulder and squeezed it ever so lightly. "Thank you so much for the information, Jim. The lot of you are — well, you're the closest thing to a group of friends that Ginny and I have as of right now, with most of them either in hiding or . . . " The boy gulped and remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Anyway, I wanted to trust you and the rest of the group with something, but I didn't have enough coins with me, so I reckon you'll have to inform them when the time comes."

Jimmy frowned a little as Neville rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a golden Gallon. "This is one of the Army's charmed Gallons. I didn't know how to cast a spell on a new one, so I had to ask Ginny to do it, but . . . well, it'll let you know whenever one of us is in danger or we've decided to go into hiding or something like that. I've been thinking about staying in the Room of Requirement myself for a few days to test it out as a hiding place, but I'm not entirely sure yet." The boy pressed the coin onto Jimmy's hand with a sad smile. "Try and carry it wherever you go, will you? It'll warm up in your pocket if you're ever being called. You can also use it to communicate with me or Ginny, or any of the members of the Army. Take good care of it, please."

"I will." Jimmy said incredulously, grasping the coin tightly in his hand. He had never thought they would get to join the Army's activities, and yet Neville had just hinted at the possibility of him and his friends joining them in the eventuality of a conflict breaking out in the castle. "I'll let the others know, don't worry. The thing is — should I tell my Hufflepuff and Slytherin friends too?"

Neville pursed his lips a little. "Definitely not the Slytherins. Look, I'm sure they're great people, but the rest of the Army may not feel safe around them. And I think we've more than enough reasons not to trust the Slytherins at this point." There was a stern look on the boy's face as he spoke. "And as for the rest of your friends — I know you'd like to bring them over, but I don't know. I don't want the rumour to spread, or the Carrows to become too suspicious if we ever do go into hiding. I'm sorry."

"All right." Jimmy sighed, but nodded nevertheless. "I'll tell Maggie, Simon, Elodie, Brooklyn, Celine, and Thea then. Is that all right?"

"Yes, that's right." Neville offered him a small, sad smile, and patted his back gently. "Don't worry. Hopefully we won't even need to hide — I'm sure Harry will take care of You-Know-Who before it gets to that point."

"Tout cela aussi passera," Maggie said as she flung an arm around each boy's shoulders and clung herself to them a little. "Why are you two so upset all the time. C'mon, cheer up a little."

"That's easy to say when you're all smitten with your new boyfriend, isn't it?" Jimmy teased. When Maggie swatted his arm, the boy laughed heartily and ruffled her hair. "Come on, Mags, you know I'm happy for you."

"I do. But that doesn't make you any less of a prick when you tease me about it, you know." However, she ended up laughing too. "No, but seriously . . . I know that Jimmy simply needs to get laid, but you, Neville — I don't want you to be all upset about Luna's absence, all right? I know she's very important to you, but I'm sure she's fine, and you'll get to see her again. Perhaps over the Easter holidays? But for now . . . well, there's us, and there's a lot to fight for. So try and look on the bright side of things, all right?"

"Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion." Simon said behind them, a second before wrapping his arms around Maggie and resting his chin on top of the girl's head, a small smile on his face as he glanced towards Neville. "We'll get out of this, Neville. We've got to hold on for a little longer, but it'll be over in a heartbeat, I promise."

"Why are you all so huddled together all of a sudden?" Elodie questioned, perching herself onto Jimmy's shoulder.

"A group hug, maybe?" Ginny teased, wrapping an arm around Neville's shoulder in a comforting way.

"Oh, a group hug," Brooklyn said, a smile on her face. "Yes, please!"

"I wanna join in too!" Thea chimed in as she goofily wrapped her arms around both Maggie and Simon, who were sent into a fit of giggles by the girl's gesture.

"Ugh, why must you all be so sappy all the time," Celine half-complained, rolling her eyes. However, she ended up smiling ever so faintly when Elodie pulled her in for a hug. "I'm seriously about to vomit, you know."

"Oh, do shut up, Cissy." Elodie giggled.

And before anyone else could say otherwise, the nine of them had blended into the most heartfelt of hugs.

Well — I don't have much to say tbh, but I hope you enjoyed this one. I know I keep saying this, but shit's really about to go down, so stay tuned!