Chapter Twenty

Ok, I've made my decision! But I'm not telling you what it is.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Harry Potter universe but Lana is all mine along with some little areas of the plot.

Lana was thrilled that Draco left the attic the day after he'd locked himself up there. She highly suspected Hermione had had something to do with it, given the annoyed glances that Draco kept throwing the young Gryffindor. This only made her smirk. He even went so far as to stay out for Harry's birthday although the morbid news that Remus brought did nothing for his pale complexion. After that, the party air was slightly ruined but Lana took some pleasure in handing over one of her gifts to her nephew. When he opened the wrapping paper and two books fell out, the look of horror on his face almost made Lana giggle.

"They're your parents' diaries from the year you were born," she told him and his expression morphed to soft happiness.

"Thank you," he whispered and hugged her tightly. The night continued after a tense visit from the Minister for Magic until everyone dispersed for either home or their rooms at the Burrow. Lana waited patiently for the tell tale sound of Hermione sneaking up to see them and she wasn't disappointed. She snuck up the extra level to Ron's room that he was sharing with Harry and almost cursed herself when she stepped on a creaky stair.

"Probably just Charlie, now mum's asleep, sneaking off to regrow his hair," she heard Ron say and Lana smirked before waltzing into the room. The three occupants had all attempted to either hide or feign sleep but even the most dense three year old could have figured out that it hadn't worked.

"Guess again, Ronald," Lana said as she sat on the floor next to Hermione. "Relax, I come bearing gifts," she told them and presented the small bag to them all. Only the witch on her left seemed to understand as Ron and Harry's expressions remained blank. Lana stretched her arm out quickly to pick the bag back up and winced as pain shot through her wounds. The three teenagers looked at her worriedly but she shrugged them off. It was her fault that the wounds hurt; she had used a cursed knife after all. And the pain served as a much needed reminder that she was meant to be there, helping them instead of watching from very, very far away. She reached her hand into the bag and pulled out the first wrapped item.

"Why are they wrapped?" Ron asked and she smirked.

"I just couldn't resist. And it's for Harry anyway. I just couldn't give it to him in front of Molly," she said with a shrug. Harry took the gift and unwrapped it as noiselessly as possible. "Oh please, you did cast Muffliato on the door, right?"

"Then how did you hear us?"

"I went to school with Severus. Trust me, I can counter that charm." Hermione looked slightly worried but turned her attention back to Harry who was looking very confused.

"Um, Aunt Lana, what is this?" he asked, holding up the thick red book.

"That, my dear nephew, is a detailed account of what it is like to live on the run. In there, you will find information on protective enchantments that Hermione may not know although it's unlikely, food you can procure from forests that won't kill you, remote locations where you're likely not to be found yet are safe to be, ways to get what you need without risking your life and what to do when you need information. After Voldemort's followers tried to kill me, I had to go on the run for a long while before settling down once more. That right there is everything that happened to me. I also took the liberty of adding a contents page so Hermione wouldn't do her nut," she answered. Harry gaped at her, Hermione looked thrilled and Ron looked gobsmacked.

"Thank you so much," her nephew said and gave her a hug larger than before. She grinned and pulled away feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"There's more. Feel free to look," she offered, gesturing to the velvet bag in front of them. Hermione reacted the fastest and pulled out another bag from within it. It was larger than the one it had been in (amazing Harry and Ron) and was made of sturdy looking leather.

"What is it?"

"You lot have no sense of investigation. Merlin knows what you'll do without me on this journey. Open it, Hermione." Lana rolled her eyes exasperatedly as Hermione pulled the top of the bag open and gasped.

"This is-."

"Emergency supplies. These are not to be used unless you are in dire need of them," Lana warned and they nodded.

"What's in there, Hermione?" Ron asked quickly as Hermione rifled through the contents.

"There are healing solutions for broken bones, internal bleeding, torn ligaments, blunt weapon injuries and headaches. There's also sleeping droughts, large quantities of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, Polyjuice Potion and . . . spells for hairdressing?" Hermione looked at Lana questioningly.

"You know what Harry and Ron's hair is like!" she cried defensively. Hermione shrugged and placed the bag down.

"Thank you so much, Lana. This means a lot," she said honestly.

"Yes, just make me proud out there. And don't die." They all nodded and Lana rose. When she was at the door, she turned around once more. "This is the last thing." She withdrew the final item from the bag and threw it in front of the teenagers. Ron got there first that time and let out a loud noise of shock when he saw the contents.

"How much money is in here?" he asked in a squeaky voice. Harry swiped the money and his eyes boggled.

"Why?"

"It's too dangerous for you to visit Gringotts now. So I withdrew that from my vault. Use it wisely," she warned then left.

XXX

Lana adjusted her dress with a frown. Fleur had begged and pleaded for her to wear red but Lana downright refused. Instead, she'd chosen a silvery blue dress with an extremely thin halter neck that sort of fell across her chest and clung to her torso. It barely flared out and reached the floor. The entire thing was made of slightly shiny/sparkling material and it wasn't until it had fully been put on her did she realise that it resembled Sirius' eyes. After an argument with Harry, Hermione, Mrs Weasley, a furious Fleur and a desperate Ginny, she'd conceded to wearing it and not running out to buy another one. She had pale blue sparkly heels on her feet and a matching clutch bag that held her wand and perfume. Her black hair was piled elegantly on top of her head with a few curly tendrils around her face and over her neck. Silvery eye shadow with a thin line of black eyeliner over the top highlighted her eyes and she had pale pink lipstick on (blankly refusing red again). Sighing grudgingly, she left the room and walked straight into a dashing looking Draco. He gestured for her to go first.

"So, are you looking forward to this?" she asked teasingly over her shoulder.

"No," he told her grumpily. Lana rolled her eyes at the young man and continued walking until they reached the yard. She reached the enormous white marquee as Remus and Tonks got there and Harry came out looking like the average Weasley.

"I cannot thank you enough for getting me bigger dress robes," her nephew told her and she grinned.

"You're welcome Harry. Now, where's your gorgeous girlfriend?" she asked jokingly and had the glee of seeing her nephew blush.

"Ginny's with Fleur." Lana decided to tease a little more and shared a raised eyebrow with Remus.

"Ginny? No, I was talking about Hermione," she said airily. This was met with strange choking noises from Harry, Ron and, surprisingly, Draco. She made a noise of amusement.

"W-w-well, t-that's n-not-."

"Harry, relax, I was joking. Although, now that I notice it: you just said Ginny was your girlfriend." This caused Harry to blush so deeply that Lana almost believed him to be a genuine Weasley. "Alright, I'll stop now. Go and give this pair a seat whilst Ronald finds me and Draco ours." And Harry led Remus (who was miserable looking) and Tonks into the tent. Ron gestured for the pair to follow.

"Here you are," he said and a cheerful Lana noted that they were in the second row.

"Ah, very nice. Oh dear, it looks like your Aunt Muriel just arrived. Bloody hell, is that Hermione?" Lana asked, eyeing the approaching girl with raised eyebrows. Her hair had been ladled with Sleakeasy's and her dress was a soft lilac colour and reached her knees. Surprisingly, she was wearing heels. Ron's jaw fell open.

"Wow," he breathed. Draco let out a scoffing noise that both ignored.

"Go over there Ronald and give her a compliment. She's just spoken to your Aunt Muriel - Merlin knows she'll need it."

"She'll need the firewhiskey after speaking to Muriel," Fred commented as he walked past. Ron followed his brother, leaving Lana and Draco alone.

"Ok, what gives?" she finally asked. Draco looked up in surprise.

"What are you on about now?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Do you fancy Hermione?" Lana came right out and asked. Draco looked beyond shocked.

"Of course not!" he cried in an offended tone. "She's just a filthy-."

"Do not, under any circumstances, finish that sentence Draco Malfoy," she warned threateningly and he gulped.

"No, I don't fancy Granger."

"Is there someone else?"

"No, Lana."

"Someone as dashing as you has to have someone. Even Harry has a sort-of girlfriend at this point and my nephew isn't the most socially adept person." Lana was enjoying herself thoroughly. She hadn't really had the chance to talk to Draco much and the banter was making her relax.

"No." His blunt answers were the key, Lana reasoned.

"You do fancy her."

"No, I don't."

"Draco, don't lie to me. You fancy Hermione."

"Lana, this is ridiculous."

"No, it's not. It's ok if you do fancy her, you know that right? It's not wrong to like her. Harry and Ron might kill you, especially because of Ron's little crush but I'm sure that will blow over. Anyhow-."

"She's not bad, alright?" Draco finally interrupted and Lana smirked.

"Well, it looks like we're getting somewhere." With that, Lana turned around, ready for the ceremony.

XXX

Lana had finished dancing with a perverted cousin of Fleur's and was crossing to the bar to get a refill when the elegant lynx appeared in the middle of the dance floor. Kingsley's normally reassuring voice was the one that came out of the mouth.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

"Shit," Lana hissed before whipping out her wand, dropping her clutch and threw herself into the panicking crowd. She spotted Hermione and Harry frantically searching for Ron who was nearby fighting a Death Eater. She grabbed Ron and pushed him in the direction of her nephew before taking over his fight.

"Potter," the masked figure snarled.

"Hello," she greeted before stunning him and turning to a more exciting opponent. Remus was nearby and struggling slightly. She hexed the Death Eater before throwing herself out of the way of the Killing Curse. "Are you happy I'm not joining you!?" she yelled at the sky and stunned another Death Eater.

"LANA!" a petrified voice cried and she whirled to see Draco being dragged away.

"NO!" she shrieked like it was Harry. She ran after them, hiking her dress up with one hand as she ran but they disapparated and she swore before preparing to follow.

"Lana, you can't!" Remus told her breathlessly. She got ready to yell. "He's gone, Lana. We need you here." Her attention turned to the fight and she nodded, returning with full force.

"Sectumsempra!" she heard Snape's voice yell. She watched in horror as the spell collided with the side of George's ear and blood immediately began pouring out. Instantly, she threw hex after jinx after curse at her old classmate who countered but not easily. He looked horror struck as Lana fired everything she knew at him in pure rage. Eventually, he apparated, leaving a fuming Lana behind. Turning, she saw that the Death Eaters had dispersed and sprinted over to George. Mrs Weasley was already there and Lana helped by levitating him into the house, praying to God that her nephew was alive and ok.

I don't know if you can guess by this chapter who I chose but oh well. There's not going to be a huge build up or anything but it'll become obvious in about 2 chapters. Love Bianca :) x