Christmas Eve Eve!

This will be the last update before Christmas so I hope you all have a great few days and get lots and lots of food that's very very bad for you :D

Weasley jumpers all around! C:

In which cookies get stolen, skin gets burnt and magazines get lobbed across the room.

I overslept rather spectacularly the next morning, so that when I actually found myself awake and dressed, I had completely missed Herbology. Already being five minutes late for Muggle Studies, I thought it would probably be better for my health not to go at all, and it was a very anxious Terry that found me lounging on the Stone Bridge as he came out the classroom an hour later.

"Where were you?" He asked, once he had made his way through the gathering crowds of students heading out of lessons, looking torn between being traditionally angry I had skipped a lesson, and half jealous that I had escaped an hour of Alecto Carrow.

"Oh, I was sleeping." I answered casually, too preoccupied with giving him a nonchalant glance to really notice where I was going. As a result, I stumbled forwards into someone; realising far too late just who it was.

Malfoy looked down at me, and for a second he looked just as surprised as I did. Then a sneer pulled at his mouth and he turned away, leaving me staring uselessly at the back of his head.

"Right." I muttered, my voice growing in pitch with each word I spoke, anger stabbing at me. "That's just fine. I didn't want to talk to you anyway."

"Meg, come on." Terry said quickly, seizing my arm and pulling me away, "I think it's time to go and find Antony."

"He won't even give me a chance to talk to him." I grated, ignoring Terry's grip on my arm and allowing him to lead me across the bridge, somewhat hastily.

"He's not angry with you," Terry said, then took in the furiously contradicting scowl I was giving him, "Well, he is. But I think he's just upset. And that's why he's angry."

"It's not like I'm pleased with myself right now." I mumbled, "I can't remember being less happy with myself to be honest."

Terry, although I'm sure he had heard me, didn't seem to have anything to say to that.

I grew bored easily in Transfiguration that afternoon, supplied with a raccoon I was supposed to be turning into a pillow. It was a little distracting when I was trying to concentrate on getting the incantation right to have a large pair of brown eyes blinking at me lazily, and as a result I hadn't gotten particularly far in succeeding.

Whilst my raccoon curled itself up on the silver and black striped pillow on Terry's desk, Seamus settled himself and his sleepy raccoon down onto the spare desk next to me; his eyes looking around carefully and alerting me instantly to the suspicion that I was about to hear something that was a secret.

"Hagrid said to go down to his cabin for eight o'clock tonight," Seamus muttered in my ear, directing his wand absent-mindedly towards his raccoon. I was distracted with suddenly fearing for its intactness.

"For the party?" Terry cut in, sounding astonished, "How is he still serious about that?"

"I think it's a great idea." Seamus grinned, sidetracked by Terry, and not seeming to notice as his raccoon slid from the desk; landing with a thump on the flagstones, "Barking mad, mind you. But it'll be fun, eh Meg?"

"Hm." I said by way of agreement, my eyes trailing almost of their own accord towards the Slytherins clustered over on the other side of the classroom. To tell the truth, I didn't particularly want to go, at least not with the sole intention of going to support Harry, who would not be the slightest bit aware of our efforts. And I had a nasty feeling it was going to end badly. But a little rebellion would certainly take my mind off a few things that right now, I wanted ignored.

"You can't seriously be thinking about going," Terry was saying to me, and I tuned back in, shooting him an 'I'm sorry' look before I spoke,

"I want to go. Lightning bolt cookies, remember?"

"And if you get caught? Amycus knows something is going on."

"I really doubt he knows anything." I replied, and Seamus snorted, then swore, as he noticed his raccoon's absence.

"Just be careful, Meg," Terry told me in an undertone as McGonagall deposited the raccoon back on Seamus' desk, and gave him lines. ('I am a wizard, and therefore know the difference between incantations and profane language.') "I don't want to see you get hurt."

I let my gaze drift back towards the Slytherins, my heart stumbling in surprise as I saw Malfoy was watching me, sitting at the edge of the cluster of students. He dropped his gaze hastily, his eyebrows puckering into a dark scowl. I quickly averted my gaze back to my table, my hands clenching tightly around the wand in my grip; my knuckles whitening.

It seemed, I decided, that where getting hurt was concerned, Terry's fears were a little too late.

Terry eventually dropped the subject of Hagrid's party, which was probably a good thing. He had that habit of spurting flawless logic that I couldn't quite contest with, much to my annoyance.

In fact, he only brought it up again when I finally shifted from the sofa by the fire in the common room at five past eight that evening, having just seen the time. I had a feeling that his not pointing out the time was not a coincidence.

"And you're sure this is a good idea?" He said in a tone that told me he evidently didn't think it was.

"Of course." I replied, brushing down my jumper, "I take it you're not joining me?"

Terry let out a long sigh, looking over towards Antony for support. Unfortunately for him, Antony was busy talking to Padma; the look in his eyes making it plain that he couldn't be surfaced for anything.

"No." He eventually replied, flicking his gaze back to me, "It's far too risky. I don't want to let you go alone though-"

"Terry, no offence, but I am far better at sneaking around Hogwarts than you are," I snorted, a grin wriggling onto my face. I could handle getting myself into trouble, but there was no way I was dragging Terry into this. He was the wise one after all, and therefore needed to stay here, which was by far the most logical place to remain. "But hey, I'll bring you back a cookie."

"I bet ten galleons there will be no cookies." Terry smiled weakly, still looking a little unsure.

"We'll see, genius." I replied, beginning to move towards the door, "I'll see you later."

The eagle didn't bother addressing my leaving the common room after hours, and I was beginning to nurse the sneaking suspicion that this was his contribution towards protesting against the Carrows. Whatever the reason, I was glad to be spared a sarcastic comment.

The castle was its normal, deserted and quiet self in the face of the end of the day; the walls stained dusky navy with the night flooding in through the windows. I found myself missing the days when the most worrying thing on my mind when I trod through the sleeping corridors was running into Filch or Mrs Norris. I remembered the time Malfoy and I had run through the school from the lamp like eyes of the scrawny tabby cat and smiled fondly. It was odd how times I really thought nothing of back then were moments I now wanted to replay forever.

Despite accidentally knocking into a suit of armour on the third floor, and re-enacting the sound of a marching band, I managed to get out of the castle without incident, or, more importantly, being detected. In fact, I was feeling rather smug as I headed over the already frozen grass towards Hagrid's Hut, my breath steaming in the cold night air.

The lights in his cabin windows were lit, but as far as I could tell, there didn't seem to be any noise, beside the soft call of an owl, or the rustling of trees from the Forbidden Forest.

Unsure if this was some kind of extravagant cover, I hammered on the door with a series of flamboyant knocks that I thought best suited a secret get together.

The door was flung open after a few minutes, and Ginny stood before me, looking unimpressed.

"Honestly, Meg." She sighed, stepping aside to let me in, "One knock would really have done."

I was a little taken aback by the sight before me to really reply to that comment; distracted by the balloons scattering the ceiling; so plentiful that the roof seemed to be made of them. The small hut was so full of people that the floor seemed to be shaking slightly as they moved.

"It's pretty good, isn't it?" Ginny said brightly, "We put a Silencing Charm on the windows, you know to stop any noise getting out."

I followed her through the crowd of people, a little conscious of the fact that I didn't instantly recognise anyone. It seemed we had finally stretched past just the usual DA members, and I found myself feeling rather superior.

"Where did all the people come from?" I asked Ginny over the talking and chattering. Somewhere, it sounded like someone was trying to tune in a radio.

"From everywhere!" Ginny shouted back over the wavering sounds of stations being flicked through, "The idea seemed really popular."

"Where were they in our fifth year, hmm?" I asked Fang, who was cowering under a massive table that was laden with plates of food. I could only assume Hagrid had done the baking. I doubted I'd find rock cakes that looked quite so menacing anywhere else.

"No way," I snorted, seizing one of the lumps of biscuit and holding it up to the candlelight. Sure enough, it was a rather rudimentary take on a lightning bolt. I shoved it in my pocket for hard evidence for Terry later, shaking my head in amusement. "Well, my evening just got a lot better."

"Alrigh' yeh lot! Listen up for a minute!"

Hagrid's voice travelled easily over the room, and, aside from the noise of the radio, everyone fell quiet. I leant back against the table, Fang whining by my feet as Hagrid got to his feet; his head barely a few inches from the ceiling. I assumed he had just been sitting down, at least, as there was no way I would have missed him before had he been standing up.

"Now we're all here for the same reason." Hagrid continued, beaming as he looked round the cabin. Fang, recognising his voice, clambered to his feet and disappeared into the crowd, his paws padding on the wooden floorboards.

"The biscuits, right?" I muttered to the nearest person, who happened to be a rather nervous looking third year. She looked at me in horror.

"We're here ter support Harry Potter!" Hagrid said in a raised voice, "The Boy Who Lived!"

I could hear Seamus give a shout of appreciation, but Hagrid carried on before anyone else could join in,

"Now we don't know where Harry is," He said, "But we can be sure that's he's fightin' for us, right now. And we're-"

At first, I wasn't sure why he had stopped talking. But then I heard it too.

There was someone shouting outside; just audible through the glass window and collective hush of the assembled party. A plunge of dread hit my stomach before it really sunk in that we were in trouble.

I knew that voice could only belong to two people; and I didn't particularly want either of them to find us here right now.

"Righ'," Hagrid began to say in a hushed voice, as faces turned to the source of the noise, "Everyone needs ter get out the back do-"

The door to the cabin exploded in a shower of splinters and fire.

Someone, and I had a very good idea who, had sent a curse at the door; and we all stood paralysed for a split second, watching as the object barring us from the Carrows disintegrated before our eyes. The radio cut off abruptly; a few balloons popping; the bangs falling on silence.

The first person to start screaming was the little third year beside me, and with a sigh, I seized her robes and pulled her backwards from the door, sending her to my left and towards the window that was facing the opposite side of the hut.

People all around us were rushing past us; bruising me in their attempt to get out of the hut first. Over the sounds of panic and shouting, I could hear someone laughing.

"Get out!" I shouted at the girl, the window banging open at a frantic wave of my wand. Her robes had barely whipped out of sight when six other people dived at the window, each shoving each other aside in their desperation to get out first,

"Meg!"

The voice yelled my name, a hand grabbing mine and shoving me away from my proximity to the front door.

"We're in the DA!" The voice continued, and I caught a flash of Seamus' sandy hair as he hauled me along, "We need to get out of here!"

"What about Hagrid?" I shouted, my words lost as the framing on the right side of the hut caught fire; the sudden blast of heat stinging my skin. Seamus shoved us forwards, racing towards the back door as the crackling sound of flames seemed to grow.

"Oh my-"

I cut myself off as the roof of the hut was lifted up. I didn't really know what else to say as I saw a giant looking back at me; the remains of the roof in his hands, eclipsing it so much it looked like part of a dollhouse.

"No Grawpy!" I heard Hagrid bellow, "Get out of here!"

But 'Grawpy' didn't appear to want to go. I saw a Stunning spell shoot over my head; hitting the giant in the chest. He didn't even blink.

"Alecto!"

The cry galvanised my legs into movement again, but as I began to sprint towards the back door a spell hit me in the back, sending me reeling forwards and sprawling across the floor. My hands slammed down onto the charred floor; burning and searing as they made contact with rubble that had been alight only seconds before. I let out a yell of pain, clambering to my feet before I could be hexed again. Seamus was gone from my side; and the air was heavy with smoke.

I stumbled forwards, no longer looking out for anyone else as I ran towards the patches of light that could only be the door. I only knew I'd made it outside when I tripped and fell face down onto wet, cold grass; my singed palms delighting in the feel.

A yell sounded behind me, deep and making the ground shake. I could hear Hagrid's voice, and the sound of spells impacting upon flesh. But there was little I could do.

I scrambled to my feet as I saw a figure illuminated in the smoke, and began to run as fast as I could up the hill, towards the castle; my feet growing soaked, my skin stinging from the smoke and heat.

The stone circle blurred past me as my breathing rasped in my throat, my feet slipping and my hands curled into fists. Up ahead, I could see students running, in the same frantic disarray from the cabin. I gritted my teeth in annoyance as someone screamed.

"This is really not making sneaking away easier." I grated, taking a right turn in an attempt to get away from the noisy students, only to be met with more running people trying to get past me.

"Not that way!" Someone yelled as they scrambled to get around me, "Amycus is there!"

I stumbled in my haste to turn around, my mind recoiling with the mental image of him finding me. I never would have thought I would have missed Filch.

I dived towards a corridor less people were trying to get up; dashing up through a shortcut and batting aside the tapestry that lay at the end, the clouds of dust making my tired lungs choke.

I could still hear the running footsteps, and I carried on sprinting, knowing that right now, I was a mouse in a trap. Sure, it was a very large one, but it was a trap all the same. And I was eventually going to get caught, no matter how fast I ran.

I had to stop as I forced my legs up the third flight of stairs along the second corridor, the stitch at my side burning, and my throat sore. I blamed the lack of Quidditch this year for my unfit state.

And you're sure this is a good idea? Terry's words made my lips twist bitterly as I pressed my fingers into the crevasses in the wall, trying to reel some energy into my body and stay upright at the same time.

Not that far away, I heard someone scream, the sound of a curse hitting the wall resounding through the corridor. With no time to berate my lack of willpower, I began to run again, leaping up the last few stairs and along another hallway, my skin tingling with the fear that someone had seen me and was giving chase.

I darted round the next corner, my brain racing with panic. They weren't too close, but if they walked up here, all they had to do was use their eyes and the mousetrap would close. I really, really needed a miracle.

And then he was there, standing in the centre of the corridor, his hands by his sides, in the act of walking slowly in my direction. Malfoy's pale eyes met mine, and we both ground to a halt; frozen in place.

"I..." I began, and a shout cut across me, sounding barely a few corridors away.

"Sister! I've seen one! You keep lookin'!"

I flicked a frantic glance over my shoulder, my muscles screaming at me to run. But Malfoy was in front of me; stealing my attention like a bright light in a dark room. I couldn't seem to move.

"What's going on, Meg?" He asked in a quiet voice, looking over my shoulder towards the area of the castle where the shouting was issuing.

"I need to get out of here," I muttered, moving forwards to cut past him. I drew level with him and his hand snaked out and grabbed my arm; his fingers biting slightly into my skin as he looked down at me; his expression blank.

"What are you doing?" I asked hoarsely, unable to think of anything else to say. There was an irrational fear rising inside of me, as I listened to the growing racket, my gaze fixed on Malfoy's eyes. Why was it so impossible to know what he was thinking?

"Let go of my arm," I finally stammered, trying a weak pull in the hope he would come to his senses. I could hear footsteps, "Malfoy, let go of me."

There was a loud bang; the sound of a wand firing a spell. Somewhere, at least a corridor away, someone let out a shriek.

The noise seemed to reawaken Malfoy from the odd trance he had fallen into, and he wrenched his gaze from my eyes, looking over towards the end of the hallway. His grip slackened.

I shoved him backwards, jerking my arm free and he whipped his head back towards me, looking from my arm to his hand; his eyebrows knotted in confusion.

"You need to get out of here." He said, frowning as he looked at me, a touch of iciness in his tones.

"But they'll find you." I felt myself whisper, backing slightly down the corridor, my eyes trained on his.

"And you know full well who I'm apparently friends with, Forester." He said in the same cold, snappish voice, although there was something in his eyes that was bothering me. "I'll be fine."

"Thank you," I said in a quiet voice, the words sticking in my throat slightly. Malfoy blinked, the frown disappearing as he seemed to take me in once again, a flicker of some expression I couldn't read passing over his pale features as if he had just understood the fear in my tones.

"As if I'd let them find you, Forester." He finally said, his voice quiet and slightly hesitant. I would have thought he was annoyed, but there was a softer look in his eyes; that same soft look that for some reason tugged irksomely at my mind, pulling me towards him.

The only thing that made me move was the sound of an unwelcome voice, and footsteps that were so clear they could only have been a metre from coming round the corner.

"Come out, little students. Come out, come out wherever you are."

My feet were moving over the flagstones once again, no comments spared for Amycus' questionable sense of humour. My heart was racing in my mouth, and for the first time that evening, I wasn't entirely sure what from. Malfoy's eyes had disarmed slightly, in a way that I'd forgotten could be quite so powerful. I wanted to hang back and hide, unbelieving that I'd left him back there in that mess and hating myself for it. But I couldn't quite see how I could make his situation easier.

My legs were soon flying up the stairs to the fourth floor; the fatigue weighing me down not stopping me. Right now there was only one safe place. And that lay behind a rather sarcastic bronze door knocker.

Much to my surprise, once I'd jogged wearily up the last set of stairs to find myself at the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, I saw the door was open, Antony leaning against it, apparently conversing with the eagle.

"-and I don't think anyone wants your opinion anyway," I caught Antony saying, before he looked up and saw me.

"Meg!" He shouted, running forwards to meet me, "What the hell happened? Some hysterical girl came back here and said that the Carrows destroyed Hagrid's house! And that they sent a giant after you all!"

I made to reply, and saw that the door was swinging shut. Really not in the mood to exchange quips and riddles, I dashed forwards, catching the door just before it clicked shut.

"Oh thank heavens," The eagle yawned, "I did not want to talk to you tonight. Your friends were saying you might have been killed. What a pity."

"I didn't say that." Antony scowled. I gave the eagle a grin and patted its beak. It squawked in protest.

"There's always another time, eh?"

"Especially if I remain closed forever." It muttered as we retreated back into the common room, Antony's hands on my shoulders.

"What happened, Meg? Was there really a giant?"

"Oh yeah, there was." I said in a casual tone, flopping onto an armchair by the fire, "It was with Hagrid though." Saying his name made me drop my offhand attitude, "Do you know if he got out of it? The Carrows were there, but then they were more preoccupied with catching students-"

"I don't know." Antony said anxiously, his voice fading as footsteps met our ears. Terry came hurtling down the stairs, a copy of the Quibbler in his hands and a look I didn't recognise on his face,

"Hi Terry," I grinned, drawing my knees up to my chest, "I'm still alive. And I brought you a cook-"

"You total idiot Meg!" Terry exclaimed, chucking the magazine across the room so it landed in a forlorn heap on the rug by the grate. Antony looked like he was trying very hard not to giggle, "You could have been caught! And then what? Cursed, probably. And don't think they would have let you off-"

"Terry," I said with alarm, completely taken aback by this outburst, "I'm fine, and very much not caught! Calm down."

"'Calm down'?" Terry repeated looking incredulous, before releasing a heavy dose of sarcasm, "Of course, it wasn't like the Carrows burnt down Hagrid's hut or something. I mean, it wasn't as if you were nearly caught openly supporting Harry Potter and everything he stands for."

"Do I actually have to hex you to shut you up?" I grinned, looking across at Antony as he began to snigger, "Come on Terry, I'm sorry, ok? Next time I'll be more careful-"

"No, Meg, you don't get it." Terry groaned, walking over to pick up the Quibbler and settling himself onto the settee with a sigh, "I don't think we should be involved in anything like this at all. It's too dangerous. You were there tonight, it was way too close."

"You can't expect me to agree to that." I muttered, my good humour flickering slightly. Terry's words were so like my mum's (and I mentally set aside the brief time to hope she never found out about this) and at the same time they were the exact opposite of the accusations I had thrown at Malfoy. Me, reckless and stupid, had told him to fight, to not rest until he had done everything he possibly could to get others out of danger. Yet here sat Terry, clever and logical, telling me to keep my head down and stay safe.

The sinking, plunging feeling in suddenly in my chest was not a happy emotion.

"I wish you would." Terry was saying. I heard the rustle of movement as he turned to look at Antony. "What do you think?"

"Given that I just spent the last half hour holding open a door and trying to convince a door knocker that Meg wasn't dead, I think I would prefer it if she behaved herself." Antony replied. A smile made its way weakly onto my lips.

"What's in there, Terry?" I asked quietly, gesturing at the magazine still rolled up in his hands,

"Oh, it's a rather interesting new angle on the fight for freedom," Terry answered, sounding bitter as he threw it to me. Catching it clumsily, and spreading open the front page, I was greeted with a picture of Harry's face, the caption 'Undesirable Number One' flashing at me.

"Ah." I said.

"Yeah," Terry agreed, "It's obvious why Xenophilius has done it of course. If the Death Eaters have Luna, it's the perfect way to ensure he writes what they want him to write."

"And also ensures they'll keep her safe." Antony added, sending me a meaningful look. I took his reassurance as earnestly as he had offered it, and tried not to think of Luna at the Malfoy's house.

"I'm going to bed." I announced, getting to my feet and setting the Quibbler on the abandoned armchair, "And thank you very much for worrying about me you two."

"Hey," Antony grinned, seizing Terry's arm and pulling him off the sofa, "What are friends for?"

I answered by swooping both of them into a ungainly hug, surprisingly high in spirits considering I had burnt hands, tired limbs and my heart still hadn't quite returned to its normal beat.

Getting into bed felt like an action that had been made in heaven. I sighed heavily as I stretched my legs out, pressing my hands under the cool pillow to try and calm the stinging, hot skin down.

Temporarily forgotten, as if it had been waiting for me to relax before reappearing, the image of Malfoy in that corridor crept into my mind; tugging at my senses and making my toes curl as I recalled his hand gripping my arm. That look in his eyes that had bothered me.

And lying there, I fancied I knew what it was. It was that look from last year; the look that was sometimes in his eyes when he was looking at me, when he was leaning towards me; his breath touching my face and making my own catch in my throat.

"Oh no." I muttered.

He might never be able to forgive me for what I had done; when the truth was I didn't think I had ever held him fully accountable for the mistakes of his life. Always, he had had a factor that had driven him to make his errors, and perhaps, he really didn't have any choice in what he did.

But right now, I was fully answerable for what I had done, and that knowledge felt like a knife in my chest as I lay there, my hands painful and my eyelids heavy.

Because I missed him with every fibre of my being. It hurt my chest, like some constant ache that made me want to curl up into a tight ball. And the worst thing was, I knew it was my fault. And I didn't know how to set it right.