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Previously: The DA reformed, and Seamus had an idea to tell the whole school that they were back
It took over a week to organise. Not a single student could be left out, so someone had to talk to each year, work out how many missing students there were and what their names were.
Each member of the DA took a different year group from their house, Colin taking Gryffindor first years, Ginny taking the second years whilst Luna took Ravenclaw second years. Nobody bothered to contact Slytherins – without any Muggleborns in their House, why would anyone be missing?
Eva had to admit that it was a fantastic idea. When Snape and the Carrows woke up the next morning, seeing the names of every missing student engraved on the walls of the school....it would be such a bonus in morale, for everyone.
The sixteen of them divided into pairs. They were given an area of the school and a list of names, then let loose. Thanks to her skill in Charms, especially Disillusionment Charms, Eva was one of the chosen few.
They all gathered in the Room before curfew, then waited until midnight.
Neville checked they all knew what to do. "If you're discovered, send a message through the coins, and everyone else needs to get back to their Common Rooms. Does anyone not know the incantation for writing the names? And don't forget the colours." They had decided, to make the names stand out further, that they would enchant each name to shine with their house colours.
"Everyone know where they're going?"
A general nod.
"Right. Once Eva, Terry or Anthony has cast a Disillusionment Charm on you, go."
Eva cast the charm on Ginny and Colin as they headed for the Transfiguration classroom, then Parvati and Padma as they descended to the dungeons for the Potions room. They'd been given one of the hardest jobs, seeing as how it was so far to escape from the dungeons and there was the danger of waking the Slytherins or Snape. But as twins, they worked so well together that they would be able to cope.
Once only the three charm-casters and Neville were left, they performed the Charm on themselves and split into their own pairs, the two Ravenclaws and the two Gryffindors went their separate ways. They'd split into pairs within their own House, wherever possible, since it made escape easier.
Neville had saved the best room for himself and Eva - the Great Hall, of course. So whilst Neville started carving the names inside the Hall, Eva began the inscription above the doors.
They did it all in silence, knowing that any whisper could attract Filch. It was tense work. Every time that Eva thought she heard a footfall behind her (which was often), she extinguished her Lumos and froze. But it never turned out to be anything, and neither did the thousand times that she checked her coin, certain she had felt it burning.
They couldn't have finished soon enough for her, but in the end she was done. She cast the Permanence Charm on and went in to see how Neville was doing. Frowning in concentration, he was etching the last letter into the stone.
When he had finished, he turned and saw Eva. They still didn't speak, but through nods of communication, they agreed to return to the Common Room. The embers of the fire still glowed, illuminating empty chairs and tables. At last they broke the oppressive silence that had weighed in on them throughout the hour or so while they had been out there.
"Are we the first ones back?" Eva asked.
"Dunno. I told everyone to go to bed when they finished, so that if some of us were caught, we wouldn't be waiting up like sitting ducks."
"I suppose we should go to our rooms then."
Neville nodded. Both seemed reluctant to go, frightened of finding out if the others were there. They had been the last to leave. They shouldn't be the first ones to return.
At last Eva, unable to bear the suspense, went to check her room. But it was empty. Ginny's bed was unwrinkled. Knowing that she shouldn't, Eva went to the seventh year girl's dorm. One of the four beds was occupied, but, alongside Hermione's vacant corner, Lavender's and Parvati's lay empty.
Worried now, Eva went down to change into her nightclothes. "I know I should go to sleep now, but how?" She lay on her bed, but sleep eluded her.
After what felt like hours, but was in reality only a few minutes, she got up again. Pulling a cloak over her nightclothes, she crept to the top of the stairs. That way she would be able to see if someone came back, and would be able to escape if the Carrows turned up.
A dark figure moved down by the fire. Every muscle froze. She didn't dare breathe. The figure continued to move, searching for something. Her mind screaming in fright, she sat motionless. Then the figure bumped into a chair and let out an 'Ow!'
"I recognise that voice," she realised.
"Neville?" she hissed.
Neville jumped. "Eva!" He whispered back. "You should have gone to bed!"
"And you shouldn't?"
There was a long moment of silence. Then Neville reluctantly spoke "Seamus isn't back yet."
"Neither is Ginny. Or Parvati and Lavender." Eva paused. "What about Colin?"
"I didn't check. But if Ginny's still gone, then he will be too. They were paired together."
"What were you looking for?"
Eva could hear Neville's embarrassment as he replied. "My cloak. I was going to wear it over my pyjamas so I could make a quick getaway if the Carrows came."
"Same as what I'm doing." There was a noise by the portrait hole and their conversation abruptly broke off.
The portrait opened then closed, without anyone seeming to have come in. Then there were twin mutters of "Finite Incantatum" and a pair of people slowly took shape. Eva saw the flash of red hair first, and her heart leapt. But then she realised that the hair in question was short and more sandy-coloured than Ginny's fire. And that the brunette was female, not male.
"Seamus! Lavender!" Neville whispered.
Both of them looked up. "Neville, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What're you doing over there?" Seamus asked, his breathing audible in the nearly empty room.
"Waiting for you."
"Didn't you say not to do that?" There was amusement in Seamus' tone.
But Lavender had other things on her mind. "Does that mean we're the only four back?"
Eva nodded then, realising they could not see her, spoke. "Yes. Parvati, Ginny and Colin are still out there. There's been nothing on the coins though."
"But if they were caught, they might have not had time to send a message," Lavender fretted.
Thankfully, her fears were cut off by the opening of the portrait hole once more. Her charm already removed, Parvati stepped through.
Lavender's face was a picture of relief. "It went okay then?" she whispered.
Parvati looked up. "Yeah. Didn't run into anyone, not even Filch. They must think we're all too scared to do anything."
"Not even bothering to patrol," Neville agreed. "It seems to have gone without a hitch."
But Ginny and Colin still weren't back. Lavender and Parvati followed Neville's instructions to go to bed. Seamus frowned at him.
"And are you not having to obey your own rules?" His tone was light, but it seemed unhappy. "You won't be able to help them by waiting here."
Neville sighed and stretched. "I guess not." He looked at Eva. "You shouldn't wait up either." But he said it in a way that told Eva he didn't expect her to listen. And she didn't.
She sat there for another half hour, spinning the coin over and over in her fingers. She had to resist the temptation to send them a message, knowing that it would cause everyone's Galleons to burn, terrifying the other anxious DA members. When the clock struck three, she finally stood up. Then promptly sat back down again.
"Just another hour," she rationalised to herself. The more sensible part of her wasn't impressed. It reminded her that it was a Monday tomorrow, that she had both Muggle Studies and Dark Arts and that she had to be able to concentrate. But the arguments were futile against the millions of scenarios that her mind conjured up, courtesy of unpleasant memories of what the Carrows were capable of and her fertile imagination.
"Was that a noise!" She leaned forward. It wasn't the first time she had done so, far from it. The crackling of the fire, the creaking of the old castle, even the portraits moving around in the wind all became the footfalls of her friends, or their captors, approaching the Common Room. But this time it was real. The portrait hole swung open, the Fat Lady's complaints audible for a brief second.
Then two figures, stood in the room. They were only visible in places, where the Disillusionment Charm was beginning to wear off. Yet it was unmistakeably Colin and Ginny.
If Eva had been brought up religious, she would have offered a prayer of thanksgiving. As it was, she collapsed on her knees, relief flooding her every pore. Silently she began to creep back to her room. "You don't want them to know that you waited up this late- or early."
But her legs had gone numb from being sat down so long, and she stumbled on the steps.
"Who's there!" Ginny called, her voice unreadable.
"Just me," Eva replied softly.
"You waited up for us?" Colin exclaimed. "After Neville said-"
"I know, but you've been so long. You left first. You should have been back long before now."
The Common Room was light enough now for her to just about see their faces. They looked unbelievably tired and stressed. "Filch was hanging around and he thought he heard something," Ginny explained. "We had to sit in a cupboard, waiting for nearly an hour, until he gave up."
"Is everyone else back?" Colin asked.
"Yeah." Now that she was no longer frightened for what had happened, Eva felt exhaustion taking over her. "At least, all the Gryffindors are. And there's been nothing on the coins, so I expect the others are safe."
After the long, long night, her bed had never felt so blissful, not even on the first night she had slept at Hogwarts.
Did you like the idea?
If you did, I can't claim full credit. A large part of the inspiration came from the fanfiction story: Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness, by Thanfiction. Go read it, it's long (longer than DH) and really, really good. It's the seventh year from Neville's point of view.
Anyway, review this too though! And don't leave me when you've found his amazing work.
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