Chapter 21, officially here! As you all know…things are getting a little heated so make sure to stay tuned and watch for updates!

Thanks so much to all you wonderful reviewers (and all you sneaky readers out there as well!) as you are making this impossibly easy for me to write. Keep up the good reviewing!

As always, read and enjoy

Days crept by slowly as Neville and I made our accommodations permanent in the Room of Requirement. I had snuck out the night Amycus and Alecto tried to imprison me in Azkaban to get my things. Draco Malfoy had fallen asleep in the common room- a rarity, considering nowadays he rarely leaves his Head Boy dorm unless class or meals presented themselves.

I didn't wake him.

I managed to get out of the common room and into the Room of Requirement in a record breaking amount of time for all the things I had to drag up seven flights of stairs. I was lucky that I wasn't caught, to be honest.

Neville and I spent our days tuning up on curses and jinxes, learning about magical artifacts, and practicing charms we thought would be useful after graduation in June. If we made it that far, that is. It wasn't really a talked about subject- the war, I mean. We usually found other things to distract ourselves with. And we didn't want to remind each other that while we were safe in the confines of the unplottable room, our friends and family were still stuck in the dangerous situation brewing just outside the four walls.

At night, we took turns sneaking from the room- getting fresh air, stealing from the potion ingredient's cupboard to keep up on our potions work, bringing next day's food with us from the kitchens. I felt like a ninja most nights and, when it was my turn, I spent the evenings doing barrel rolls across hallways, exploring dark passageways, and ducking between alcoves and statues whenever a threat presented itself. I needed to have my own fun somehow.

One thing that proved to be more useful than I ever thought possible was the picture of Ariana that appeared just a day after Neville initially moved into the Room of Requirement. We used that passageway more than we went into the castle.

Aberforth, the barman at the Hog's Head, provided us with food, fresh water, and news from the outside world in the form of the Daily Prophet. Not that the Daily Prophet was worth a lick these days, but it was nice to stay informed.

"Are you playing Exploding Snaps again?" I laughed at Neville from the bathroom (which had transformed into something a little more useful than a shack in the corner of the room, thank Merlin) as I washed my hands. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

I stuck my head through the doorway, giggling when I saw his soot covered face and half an eyebrow missing. The cards were scattered in pieces across the carpeted floor. Dust and ash was falling through the air, coating his lap in gray matter.

He grinned at me, flashing white teeth that clashed heavily against his sooty face. "I can't sit around and study all day, you know. Except, maybe Herbology. I'm still rubbish at these charms you know." He kicked the open Charms book aside as he stretched his legs from the crossed position on the floor.

"You're not rubbish," I corrected him, drying my hands on a crimson towel that hung from a silver towel rack. "You just need more practice that's all. And you've gotten loads better since we've been here and it's only been five days." I made my way across to my side of the room and stuck my feet into a pair of ratty sneakers.

"Are you going out again tonight?" he said slowly, pushing himself up off the floor with a low groan. He had been sitting on the floor for quite awhile. "You know that Aberforth said he would get us anything we needed so we didn't have to go back out in the castle. Remember last night?"

It had been a close call, I'll give him that. I disappeared behind a tapestry (plate of bacon in hand) just in time for Alecto and Amycus to saunter around the corner, talking gruffly amongst themselves about the missing students.

Amycus had stopped a few feet short of the tapestry, sniffing the air loudly. "Does it smell like bacon to you down this hallway?"

I mentally kicked myself for carrying around a plate of food with such a heavy aroma. But I had really wanted some bacon!

Alecto hit him the shoulder, pushing him past the tapestry and on down the hallway. "The elves are making breakfast, you oaf. Of course it's going to smell like bacon."

I breathed a sigh of relief as they turned down another hallway, disappearing from view.

"I'll be more careful tonight," I said with a casual shrug, zipping up a light jacket. Spring was slowly turning to summer, but the nights around the castle were still pretty chilly. "I can't stay cooped up here forever, Neville. I promise I'll be careful though."

His expression read worried, but he let me past with a casual shrug that mirrored my own. "Bring back something good from the kitchen while you're out there. I'm tired of goat cheese and crackers for today."

I chuckled softly as I made my way toward the door. "You got it boss."

The door to the Room of Requirement opened slowly as I stuck my head into the hallway, making sure it was empty. The room let us out at a different spot every time we left, proving for a sometimes difficult situation when we were trying to find our bearings in the castle.

I had learned the hard way to never ask a portrait for directions, as they usually had more time on their hands than we did and enjoyed sending a student down the wrong path. This time, though, it was clear that I was pretty close to the Great Hall.

The marble staircase was looming in front of me, looking oddly eerie in the moonlight. The Room of Requirement door shut with a loud snap, effectively disappearing into the wall as soon as the lock clicked into place.

I was on my own now.

I walked through the dark hallway, enjoying the light breeze that wafted in through the windows. Being stuck in the Room of Requirement all day left me dying for fresh air. The breeze blew back up hair, tickling the back of my neck.

"You moron! How could you do that to her?"

The voice was so loud and so close that it made me freeze out of fear. I crept closer to the racket, stepping into a shadowy alcove just outside of a dimly lit classroom. I was shocked to see an angry Seamus facing me, but unable to see me. His hands were balled into tight fists as he glared at the person standing opposite him.

Draco Malfoy.

"You think that I had something to do with her missing?" Malfoy drawled out, trying to appear bored with the conversation, but I could tell by his stance that he was fuming by the accusation. "Why would I turn her into the Carrows? You've obviously gone mental from all the junk you've made explode these past few years."

"I'm not mental," Seamus hissed more defensively than necessary. "I know you've got something to do with her disappearing. You had a fight one minute and the next minute she's gone. No trace."

Draco sighed as he leaned against the stone wall of the classroom. "Are you remembering the same fight that I am? Because she wasn't mad at me, she was mad at you. All her stuff is gone from the dormitories. Did you think that, maybe, she's gotten some sense in her head and abandoned you here?"

I let out a sharp breath at what Draco was saying. Leave it to him to wind up Seamus more than he needed to.

"She didn't abandon me here," Seamus retorted through gritted teeth. "I know something bad has happened to her. I know you had something to do with it."

Malfoy ignored the accusation, once again choosing to wind up Seamus rather than address the situation at hand. "Poor, half-blood Finnigan. Loony Lovegood leaves, Ginny Weasel ducks out, even coward Longbottom can't take the stress anymore. Everyone who was your friend has left you here without saying a word. Don't you think you should- don't you point your wand at me!"

Seamus had drawn his wand out of anger, pointing it shakily toward Draco, who had pushed himself off the wall. Malfoy had drawn his own wand and was now poiting it steadily back at Seamus with cool indifference.

"Lower your wand, Finnigan, or you're going to regret it."

My best friend laughed hollowly, the shakiness of his hand slowly evening out. "I'm going to regret it? If I find out that something has happened to Natalie and you're the cause of it…I'm going to come after you."

Malfoy let out a low growl. "You think that I would hurt her, do you, half-blood filth? That just because I have family that obeys the Dark Lord that means I automatically hurt everyone I come into contact with?"

Seamus crossed the room in record time, pushing Malfoy hard in the chest. Draco only staggered back a few steps before retorting with a punch aimed at Seamus' chin. Seamus ducked in time, leaving Draco to swing right over Seamus' head.

"Are you serious right now?" Malfoy shouted as he grabbed the scruff of my best friend's robes and pulled him to his feet. "You're going to try and fight like a muggle? Take out your wand and curse me like a real man." He let go of the robes, sending Seamus stumbling across the room. "Come on, Finnigan, stand up. You're the one who wanted his fight." He laughed humorlessly. "Now you've got on. Stand up."

Seamus used the nearest desk to pull himself to his feet. He quickly wiped away the blood dripping from his lower lip, not taking his eyes off of Draco. "Petrificus-"

"Protego!" Draco blocked easily with a simple wave of his wand. "Stupefy!"

Seamus hit the stone floor in order to avoid the curse flying at him, biting his lip roughly as he smacked his chin against the floor.

Enough was enough. I needed to step in, to put an end to this. They would both be incredibly upset that I didn't even leave a hint as to where I went, but I couldn't let each of them think that the other was responsible for my disappearance. I took a deep breath and was about to step out of the dark alcove when I heard another voice yell from down the hall. Loud footsteps stomped across the stone as the person drew closer to the classroom. I tucked deeper into the shadows when I realized who it was.

Amycus Carrow had happened upon the scene.

"Oi, what is this?" he questioned loudly, pushing Malfoy off to the side to get a full look at the scene before him. Seamus was hunched over, blood dripping off his lower lip and into a small puddle on the floor. "I said, what is this?"

Malfoy shrugged, leaning casually against the wall once again. He fell into silence as Amycus stormed across the room and pulled Seamus to his feet. Seamus placed a sleeve against his fat lip, trying to stop the bleeding from dripping onto the stone.

"Are you going to answer me, boy?" Amycus said, roughly shoving Seamus away from him.

The brown haired boy just shook his head, not removing his sleeve from the still-bleeding lip. Amycus glared between the two of them before making his way toward the doorway, pushing Malfoy through it.

"Just know," Amycus said slowly as he drew his wand from his pocket, "That the only way to win a duel is by doing this…" He spun around, pointing his wand directly at Seamus before yelling, "Crucio!"

The curse hit Seamus so fast that he didn't even have time to prepare himself for it. He screamed out in pain, falling to his knees as he doubled over. Every muscle in his body seemed to be twitching in all sorts of directions, begging for the pain to end. Malfoy appeared stunned for a moment, before grabbing Amycus' arm and forcing it away from Seamus.

"He's the only one that we know of that's left," Draco said quietly, leading Amycus away from the door, "We can't torture him. We need him alive to find the others."

Amycus must have agreed, because he went with Malfoy, no complaints. I waited until they were safely around the corner before sprinting into the classroom, falling on top of the groaning Seamus with gusto. I patted his cheek, trying to get him to open his eyes.

"Come on, Seamus. It's me. It's me. Open your eyes," I mumbled as I pulled on his arms to get him in a seated position.

Seamus scrunched his eyebrows and blinked a few times before opening his eyes all the way. He stared back at me with a blank expression that made me think the world was spinning around him. "Natalie?" he said softly, questioning whether he was awake or not.

"You're not dreaming," I assured him, flicking him in the upper lip. He groaned in pain, covering his lip with his hand and trying to push my fingers away.

"You would hit me in a spot that's already sore."

I grinned at him, glad that he was finally tuning into the real world. "It was more a flick than a hit," I corrected him before flinging my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight embrace. "Oh Merlin, Seamus I've really missed you."

Seamus pulled away from me, staring back at me with concerned eyes. "Where did you go, Natalie? You had us all worried sick!"

I sat back on my heels, pulling a guilty expression onto my face. "I'm sorry. The Carrows cornered me after our fight. They tried sending me to Azkaban! Anyways-" I cut him off as he started to open his mouth, his eyes widening in disbelief, "Neville saved me from that and we've been hiding in the Room of Requirement." I rocked back onto my heels, standing slowly from my kneeled position on the floor. "Are you okay to stand?"

Seamus nodded, using both me and the desk nearest us to pull himself up to his feet. He staggered for a moment, hanging off my neck before he could regain his balance. He nearly pulled both of us back down to the stone floor.

"What about Padma? Is she okay?" I asked as we made our way across the room and into the dark corridor. "How did you and Draco start fighting again? What the hell is going on around here?"

Seamus sucked in sharply as he put more weight onto his left ankle. His limp was prevalent and I knew it would take us awhile to get up to the seventh floor. I silently prayed that we would get up there without being noticed.

"Amycus and Alecto…" He stopped to hiss through gritted teeth at the pain pumping through his body as we ascended a set of stairs. "They cornered Padma during a Muggle Studies class, asking where you had gone. She got away, but she disappeared two days ago. No one has seen or heard from her."

A tinge of worry spread through my body like wildfire. My best friend since first year, the one person who had stood by my side through everything was missing.

"I'm the only one left," he went on as we made our way slowly up another set of stairs. Portraits whispered their disapproval as we passed, but didn't say anything too loudly. Evidently that was the only way they could show their rebellion against this new regime. "The rest of the DA members…Anthony, Michael, Ernie…they've all gone missing too. Hiding in empty classrooms by the sounds of it."

We hit the fifth floor landing when Seamus needed to take a break. He plopped down on the stone, rubbing his ankle roughly while grunting in pain.

"And the fight?" I pressed on, taking a seat next to him on the cool floor.

Seamus looked over at me, throwing his face into a sharp relief by the dim lighting of the hallway. A bruise was coloring just above his left eyebrow; his lip had swollen to the point of obstructing his top lip. A gash on his cheek was set deep into the flesh. That one must have been a few days old.

"I was so sure he did something to you," he muttered, still rubbing his ankle, "I was so sure that you pissed him off when you stood up to him."

I shook my head, taking his hand into mine and clenching it tightly onto my lap. "He wouldn't do anything to me. But he doesn't know where I am either." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I want you to come to the Room of Requirement with us. Stay there awhile, lay low. It's dangerous now that they know you're the only one left."

Seamus started to shake his head, but I stood up quickly, pulling one of his arms up with me. "Nope, you don't have a choice. Come on, boy." I started to whistle, jokingly patting my lap as if he were a dog.

He laughed easily, using the railing to pull himself up once again.

"Alright, I'm in, but only if we can get the word out. I want everyone from the DA safe in the room with us."