Not many chapters left now! Hope you'll all stick with me to the end.
Thank you for reading this far, thank you to anyone who has reviewed and a particular thanks to last chapter's reviewers - Someone aka Me, Madeline Cullen, h1001babo, Lunar Sunrise, vanillabean18, attyfan, gogguli, AbiCullen, ShadowMoonDancer, Boo81393, notwolf, cyiusblack, awaylaughingonafastcamel, Moromu, rose-by-another-name, Likewow5556, Jarka and carcar3.
Previously: They escaped from Malfoy Manor thanks to the aid of Draco and Dobby, but Dobby was killed in the escape and Draco was left behind. The Trio then left for a mysterious mission, whilst Luna, Eva and Dean remained at Bill and Fleur's cottage.
They had been practising spells again, as many jinxes and hexes as the three of them could remember when suddenly both Luna and Eva had broken off with a gasp. Dean looked at them, surprised.
"You alright?" he asked.
"My coin," Eva explained. This might not have made sense to most people, but Dean had been a member of Dumbledore's Army with the rest of them in fifth year.
"It's burned?" he said excitedly.
Luna held hers out and he crowded round to read the message.
"HP here. Time to fight. Apparate into Hog's Head." Luna said, in tones that suggested she was commenting on the weather. Dean didn't take it so calmly: he let out a whoop before beginning to run towards the cottage.
"Where are you going?" Eva called after him.
He did not even slow down as he replied. "Telling the Weasleys."
It took mere moments to get ready; Bill sent off a Patronus to contact Lupin and Tonks, Fleur grabbed her wand. The three teenagers waited impatiently for them to prepare themselves. Neither Luna nor Eva knew how to Apparate, having been taken from school before they began to learn how.
Bill threw them an uncertain glance. Knowing what he was about to suggest before he did so, Eva cut him off. "We're fighting. It's our lives too."
"And me and Luna are of age," Dean pointed out. "You can't stop us."
Luna didn't even bother to say anything, merely watching him with her imperturbable stare. Knowing when he was beaten before he started, Bill gave up.
"I'll Apparate with Eva then," he sighed. "Fleur, if you could take Luna. We'll have to Apparate right into the bar; there're Curfew Charms on Hogsmeade to stop anyone entering."
Minutes later, they were clambering through the portrait hole, following a long corridor down. The grumpy barman said very little, merely waving them along and remarking that he expected more would be along, so they better get a move on.
As they spilled out of another portrait on the far end, Eva recognised the Room of Requirement, though only barely. It had surpassed itself from the earlier DA meetings by far. On the other side of the room, Seamus gave a roar of delight at seeing Dean.
His shout drew attention, and other students were rushing to welcome them back. Colin hurried towards them. Meaning to greet him with the one-armed hug she had once given her brother, Eva was taken aback when he hugged her enthusiastically.
"How've you been? Are you alright?" He asked excitedly, his words tumbling over each other in their hurry to get out.
"Better than you, it seems," she remarked dryly. A cut ran down one side of his face and his arms showed bruises until they were covered by his robes.
He shrugged. "Carrows." Possibly more tactful than Eva, he didn't mention that she didn't look that much better, her face still pale from her long imprisonment, her blue eyes seeming over-large in a face that had lost too much weight.
"Well, I didn't expect it would have been the Tooth Fairy."
Colin laughed. "I started cheering when Terry Boot rushed in to tell us about Harry breaking into Gringotts. They took it badly. That's when I decided to come up here."
"Are you sleeping up here?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. Neville was first. He got in here just in time, when the Carrows tried to catch his Gran. Then they all started turning up. I've been staying out as long as I could. It's easier to keep in contact with people like that, but they started cracking down on anyone who wasn't a full pure-blood. Good thing they never realised I was Muggleborn, though it was only a matter of time."
"And then you would have been doomed," Eva agreed. "Hang on, did you say that the Carrows went after Neville's Gran? And that Harry broke into Gringotts?"
"Yeah! On a dragon, as well! As for Neville's Gran, they worked out with you and Luna that taking the kid makes the parent behave. So even the Carrows could figure that it would work the other way round, and Neville's being a bit of a pain to them."
"I can imagine," Eva laughed.
More and more people were entering now. With a leap in her heart, Eva saw Ginny arrive, followed by most of her family. She wanted to go over, but saw that the group of them were involved in what looked to be a deeply important conversation with Harry.
She felt a strange impulse to stay exactly where she was – and she did so. She caught up with Colin on all the little things, things that couldn't have been said through a coin. And didn't notice Harry and Luna, then Ron and Hermione leave. Nor did she notice when more and more people began to arrive, crowding into the Room, although it never got too cramped. She only finally noticed when Harry returned and she caught two important words – 'we're fighting!'
'Well of course we are,' she thought, mentally rolling her eyes. 'You wouldn't have been able to stop us.'
Colin, it seemed, thought the same. Grabbing her hand, he towed he down to the Great Hall, following Dean and Luna.
Along the way, other students joined them and by the time they reached the Hall, it was nearly full. The adults seemed to have scattered fairly equally between the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables – although it may not have been as random as it looked. As far as an amused Eva could tell, they had all gone to sit at the table of their original House.
Eva scanned the Slytherin table, looking for one blond head in particular, but couldn't see him. She felt a rush of dread in her stomach. "What if You-Know-Who punished him so badly for our escape that he can't come back because he's too injured?" she worried.
Harry was the last to enter the Hall. She watched him walk along the tables, clearly looking for something, or someone. McGonagall began her speech.
"The time has come. It has been a dark year for us all, but now the Final Battle approaches. You-Know-Who is coming to the school, and we are planning the evacuation now. It will be overseen by Mr Filch and Madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give the word, you will organise your house and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point.
Suddenly her voice was cut off. A high-pitched voice, cold as ice spoke. It was horrible familiar to Eva, though it was recognisable even if it hadn't have been. Who else would have a voice which resonated with so much evil?
"Give me Harry Potter," Voldemort's voice commanded, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight." The spine-chilling tones faded away.
Eva rolled her eyes. "Idiot. Does he really think we'd give him up?" She sneered contemptuously.
But not everyone, it turned out, shared her sentiments. A figure stood up from, of course, the Slytherin table. "But he's there! Potter's there!" It was Pansy Parkinson, and Eva had never felt more dislike for her pug-like face. The knowledge Draco had confided in her, that he also detested the vapid, cruel girl, gave her immense satisfaction. "Somebody grab him!"
For once, Eva didn't think as a Malfoy. Instead she thought as a Gryffindor and, with the rest of Housemates, got to her feet. Standing between Pansy and Harry, they faced her coldly. Merely moments behind them were the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.
The same victory that Eva felt showing in her tone, McGonagall spoke. "Thank you, Miss Parkinson. You will leave the Hall first with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."
The tables slowly cleared out. Several of the older Ravenclaws stayed, Luna, Terry and Michael among them.
Even more Hufflepuffs remained. Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan, all of the Hufflepuff DA who were of age. It was only with reluctance that the under-17's left.
When the time came for Gryffindor to evacuate, Eva stayed stubbornly in her place. She wasn't the only one. All of her year did. Even a few fifth-years remained standing. But McGonagall quickly realised this and came to chivvy them out. The fifth-years were sent away without further delay. The lucky, or unlucky, depending on your opinions, members of her year who had already had their birthdays would not be sent away.
McGonagall had reached Eva, who looked at her implacably. "I was born in 1978, Professor. Same year as the Weasley twins. That makes me of age, technically."
There were a thousand arguments against it – like the fact that she was only a second year in terms of education, like the fact that her father might specifically target her. But McGonagall let them pass. She moved on and Eva let out the breath of relief she hadn't realised she had been holding. Quickly she scribbled something on a piece of parchment.
Professor McGonagall was next to her, firmly sending Colin and another classmate of theirs, Jimmy Peakes, away. As Colin left, Eva grabbed hold of him.
"See you," she said, hugging him tightly – an uncharacteristic move, for her.
He looked at her curiously but didn't speak. Then, he did something that she hadn't expected. Just as she was letting go, he hugged her, even closer than she had him. Then he nodded and left the Hall.
The battle is coming!
I can't wait to write it!
Please review and encourage me to do so.
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