Ch 48 Kindness, Wit, Courage...and Cunning

A/N: Nearly all of the dialogue in the first half of this chapters is taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.


'"Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust.."'

― Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet and Fire.

"I knew you'd come!I knew it, Harry! " Neville cried.

In one seamless movement, he jumped down from the tunnel and wrapped his friend in a ferocious hug. He felt buoyed, lighter then he'd felt in months.

When the boy who lived returns to his home...the battle between the light and the dark will commence ... Now they could fight – fight the Carrows and Snape out of Hogwarts.

"Neville – what the – how?"

But Neville was too focused on hugging Ron and Hermione to answer Harry's question.

"I knew you'd come!" Neville couldn't help but repeat. "Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"

In preparation for the fight which Neville was sure would now be coming, he reached into his pocket and activated his enchanted galleon, sending a message to Luna and Dean, to Cho and Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys, to all of Dumbledore's Army in fact, as he'd promised them he would, alerting them to the fact that this was the time to come together against the tyranny that had ruled their school for too long.

"Neville, what happened to you?" Harry asked, and Neville realised his friend must be talking about the two gashes across his face – the remnants of Amycus' Septemsempra – as well as his dishevelled attire.

"What? This?" Neville shook his head, attempting to minimise his injuries. "This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. Shall we get going then? Oh," he turned to Aberforth, remembering his galleon message, "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."

"Couple more?" and as Aberforth continued his mild objections – Neville was now used to his cantankerous nature – Neville helped the others up into the tunnel, and they said their farewells to their old headmaster's brother.

"Did you really break into Gringotts?" Neville asked as they started to walk down the passage.

There were so many more questions he had for them, but the conversation turned to Hogwarts and so he started explaining to them about the Carrows. When Harry compared the siblings to Umbridge, Neville realised how blissfully ignorant the three were about what Hogwarts had become.

"Nah, they make her look tame," and Neville continued to tell them about their Death Eater teachers, the punishments, and Dumbledore's Army's desperate attempts at resistance.

By the time they reached the end of the passageway, the three were still firing questions at him. Neville had hoped he would have a chance to ask them in an equally inquisitive vigour about what on earth they'd been up to for the last eight months, but no matter, he thought, they'd be time enough for that.

He pushed open the portrait, excited to see the others' faces as he revealed who he'd brought back with him from the Hog's Head.

"Look who it is? Didn't I tell you?" Neville cried as the four of them emerged from the tunnel.

It was as satisfying as Neville had anticipated: the Army's initial looks of bewilderment, followed by their cries of surprise, the cheering, the excitement. And hidden under it all, Neville also sensed a relief – that, now that Harry was here, they could do something. They could fight for the freedom that they had undoubtedly earned.

There was jostling and gentle shoving as the girls hurried to hug the three newcomers and the boys gave each other comradic slaps on the back. Neville's cheeks were beginning to hurt, he was grinning so hard. Lavender hastened towards the trio, and Neville expected her to embrace Ron, but she bypassed her ex-boyfriend and, instead, drew Hermione to her in a tight hug.

"I've missed you!" Lavender exclaimed. "The dorm hasn't been the same without you!"

Hermione frowned, clearly bemused, but reciprocated Lavender's affections with a stiff hug. "Er – it's good to see you too."

The trio seemed somewhat awed by the room, so the Army explained about it's magic and how it had morphed to their needs throughout the year. It was, Neville realised, a rather amazing room.

Then, after Harry seemed to have a bit of a turn – he must be exhausted after the whole Gringotts-dragon adventure, Neville surmised – Seamus finally asked the questions that the whole group were no doubt thinking.

"What are we going to do then, Harry? What's the plan?"

"Plan?" Harry replied, grimacing as if in pain. "Well, there's something we – Ron, Hermione and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

The buoyed feeling Neville had been experiencing since he'd first saw his three friends instantly deflated, replaced by an ominous, sinking one. The group fell silent.

"What do you mean, 'get out of here'?" Neville asked, confused.

"We haven't come back to stay," Harry rubbed his forehead agitatedly. "There's something important we need to do– "

"What is it?" Neville demanded.

"I – I can't tell you."

Neville couldn't understand what Harry was here to do if it wasn't to help them fight. After all they had gone through – and the prophecy – surely it was now time to reclaim the school that had been taken from them all year? Wasn't Harry here to help them do that?

"Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?" Neville insisted. If Harry wasn't here to help them fight, then maybe they could help Harry with whatever he was doing?

"You don't understand," Harry said, which aggrieved Nevile even more – if he explained himself, maybe they would understand. "We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it alone."

Irritation bubbled up in Neville. "Why?"

"Because…" Harry grimaced again, holding his hand to his forehead. No, it was his scar, Neville realised – Harry was holding his scar. "Dumbledore left the three of us a job. And we weren't supposed to tell – I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."

Didn't Harry trust them? Or didn't he think they were good enough to help him?

"We're his Army," Neville objected. "Dumbledore's Army. We're all in it together, we've been keeping it together while you've been off on your own– "

"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," Ron retorted, although his tone was gentle.

"I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore – loyal to you."

But the escalating tension was interrupted by the portrait 'door' opening behind them. Neville's heart surged once more as he saw Dean and Luna emerge from it.

Seamus gave a roar of delight and launched himself at Dean in a fierce hug. Then the group were distracted by the arrival of more DA members: Fred, George, Lee, Cho. As the group greeted and embraced each other, Neville explained to Harry that he'd called all members of the Army together again. But Harry seemed to forget that Neville – and the whole room, in fact – existed as Ginny clambered down into the room and gave Harry a blazing smile.

Then Fred and Dean started firing similar questions at Harry – about when they were going to 'start fighting'. This was followed by Ron, Harry and Hermione having a furtive conversation amongst themselves; Neville was only able to catch Hermione saying earnestly to Harry, "...you don't have to do everything alone". Finally, Harry conceded to having the Army help him.

The group listened intently as Harry explained the need to find a precious lost heirloom of Rowena Ravenclaw's – something like a tiara. It was finally decided that Luna would take Harry to her common room so he could see what the object might look like from the statue of House's founder that stood in an alcove of the room.

Neville led Luna and Harry to the exit of the room and watched them disappear down the corridor, wishing he could go with them but knowing it was safer, more sensible, for just the two of them to go. He consoled himself by sitting down with Ginny and Dean and devouring every word of Dean's tales of being on the run, and Ginny's of being in hiding.

A short while after Harry and Luna had left, Ron and Hemrione, who'd been whispering amongst themselves, garbled something about a bathroom and also hurried out of the room. Neville felt a rise of irritation at how none of the trio seemed to be explaining things properly but, before he could dwell on it, Fred Weasely approached him.

"Neville, you seem to be in charge round here," – did he? – "We think we should alert the Order as well. Can't expect them to miss the fun, can we?"

Neville agreed and the remains of his chagrin was forgotten as, about twenty minutes later, members of the Order of the Phoenix entered the room: Remus Lupin, Kinglsey Shacklebolt, Ginny's parents...

Then, about an hour after that, Harry and Luna finally came tumbling back into the room. Harry looked around at the new occupants in surprise.

"Harry, what's happening?" Lupin came forward, speaking with an authority Neville had always respected in him.

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school – Snape's run for it," Neville's heart lurched to somewhere near his throat at Harry's words. "What are you doing here? How did you know?"

After Fred hurriedly explained the presence of the Order members, Neville finally heard the words he'd been expecting – hoping – to hear from Harry's lips since he'd first seen him in the cellar of the Hog's Head: "They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organised.

"We're fighting."


The Great Hall was buzzing with an edgy anticipation and a frenetic nervousness Neville had never felt in the ancient room before. It was filled with an odd assortment of people: older students in school uniform, alert and attentive, talking animatedly to Order members, younger students in dressing gowns, looking anxious and preoccupied and being comforted by teachers. The older Slytherins sat apart from the rest, in a group of their own. The atmosphere about them was different to that of the rest of the hall – their demeanours were still, their expressions quietly watchful.

Neville felt buoyed once more. Because Snape had been ousted. And the Carrows rendered unconscious. Finally, finally , they could – hopefully – get the school back. They listened as McGonagall instructed that the younger students were to be evacuated from the school and seemingly reluctantly conceded that those that were 'of age' could stay and fight. No doubt she knew that if she refused them permission, they would try and stay anyway, without the adults knowing, which would mean they would be in greater danger.

"We have already placed protection around the castle," she was saying. "But it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects–"

But McGonagall was interrupted by an excruciatingly high pitched noise cutting through the air. Students cried out in alarm and terror, grimacing and holding their hands over their ears, as a disembodied voice started to speak, a voice that chilled Neville to his core.

"I know that you are preparing to fight," the voice echoed eerily off the walls of the hall. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

The voice paused and the hall was momentarily filled with a deep, impenetrable silence. Neville knew now that the voice was Voldemort's.

"Give me Harry Potter, 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."

Neville's eyes, along with every other pair in the hall, found Harry, who was stood between the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables, his expression a mixture of defiance and uncertainty.

Then a girl's shout cut through the silence, accusatory and threatening, "But he's there! Potter's there ! Someone grab him!"

Neville's head snapped towards the cry. Pansy Parkinson stood with her arm outstretched and pointing at Harry, her face cold but her eyes blazing.

No. No . Ginny stepped forward, in between Harry and the group of older Slytherin's, where Pansy Parkinson was sat and Neville instinctively mirrored her movements, as around him more students rose from their seats, forming a protective shield of humanity around Harry Potter, their backs to him and their wands pointing outwards.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," McGonagall said calmly. "You shall leave the hall first, with Mr Filch. If the rest of your house could follow."

The Slytherins, as quiet and composed ever, their expressions mostly unreadable, trooped out of the hall, followed by the students that were too young to fight. It was half an hour until midnight and as Kingsley started to give orders, Neville pushed his way through the crowd to get to Hannah.


Theo knew what McGonagall had been doing when she'd ordered that the Slytherins be taken from the hall. She had not just assumed that the whole of Slytherin house were Death Eater supporters. Theo knew her intentions were far more complex.

There were Slytherins that, if they had the chance, would hinder the Light's efforts to protect the school and cross over to the other side to fight, it was true. But then there were the ones that would not want to fight at all, that just wanted to get home, to safety. Theo could see this in the haunted quietness of the younger years as they were marched down the corridors. And then there were the ones that did not want to fight alongside their parents or Voldemort, but that, if it were known that they'd been left to their own devices, would be obliged to, that would have to. The ones like him.

So, in apparently taking that choice away from them and rendering them unable to fight at all, Minerva McGonagall had done the kindest thing that she could possibly do to the ones like Theo.

But despite all that, Theo was going to fight regardless. During the last few weeks, ever since that Merlin-awful fracas in Muggle Studies, after which Longbottom had disappeared, the Carrows had retaliated with unprecedented malice and cruelty. It had been painful to watch the plight of Michael Corner and the rest of Potter's fan-club. So, when Parvati had disappeared along with so many of them, probably into the room they'd used in fifth year, Theo supposed, it had actually been a relief. At least she was likely to be safer there than in the school. And it had all helped Theo finally decided what stand he was going to make; what side he was on.

So When Draco grabbed Crabbe and Goyle and hung back from the crowd, letting the other Slytherins and younger students troop past them, Theo did the same, noting disconcertingly that Daphne joined them.

"Draco mate, what are you doing?" Theo hissed.

Draco eyed Theo with a now familiar, tortured expression. "What I have to do, Theo. Get Potter. For my parents – he'll spare their lives if I bring him Potter."

Theo knew the Malfoy's loyalty and love for each other was powerful and unbreakable. But he also knew that, in order to remain loyal to his parents, Draco would be denying essential parts of himself.

"Draco, you don't have to do this – there are other ways."

"I don't have a fucking choice, Theo."

"Yes. Yes, you do."

Draco shook his head and, with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him, turned and ran up the corridor that was starting to fill with frantically rushing students and adults who were preparing the school for attack.

Theo felt a soft hand in his, squeezing gently.

"There's nothing you can do for him now," Daphne said quietly. Looking into her calm face made Theo's anxiety diminish slightly. "Shall we go and find our twins?"

Theo nodded, and he and Daphne turned and walked into the frey, both of them undoing and discarding their ties, knowing the green and silver stripes were nothing but incriminating now.


Neville pulled Hannah away from a group of Hufflepuffs, grabbed her tightly on each arm and looked down at her intently.

"You're going to stay? To fight?" he asked, trying not to imagine her in the midst of battle, dodging curses and shielding hexes, constantly in danger.

Hannah frowned, as if confused. "Of course. Of course I am."

Neville realised what a silly question that had been. Of course she was going to fight. Looking at Hannah's indignant face, Neville understood what it was to be a Hufflepuff. Hannah was kind and true and brimmed with so much compassion it spilled out of her with every smile, but her burning desire to do what was right also made her as brave as any Gryffindor.

"Right. Okay." Neville said, trying to process what this might mean, and the pain it wrought him. "Just – don't get fucking hurt. We'll stay together okay?"

He needed her to stay with him because he didn't know if he'd function knowing Hannah was fighting but not knowing how or where she was, if she was injured or–

"Okay," Hannah agreed, her eyes an intense calmness that made his heart slow to a tolerable rate.

Neville leant forward and crashed his lips to hers, pushing away thoughts of how this might be one of the last times he'd be able to do so.

"Longbottom!" A stern voice called out. "There's no time for that – come with me! We're finally going to put that harvest of mandrakes I've been growing all year to good use!"

Neville abruptly pulled away from the kiss to see Professor Sprout looking at him expectantly. "You can come too, Miss Abbott. We'll need as many wands as possible to move the Devil's Snare to an optimal position…"


Theo and Daphne searched frantically for the Patil twins, asking nearly everyone they came across if they knew their whereabouts. Those that didn't know who they were, that didn't recognise them as Slytherins, shrugged at them helplessly. Those that did eyed them suspiciously. They almost jinxed Terry Boot because he was about to hex them, but the Ravenclaw got distracted by the arrival of Michael Corner. Boot got so engrossed in telling his friend he shouldn't fight because he 'wasn't strong enough and hadn't recovered enough from the Carrows' torture', that he seemed to forget Theo and Daphne completely.

From the look of Corner, Theo was inclined to agree with Boot, but he was in no position to join the Ravenclaws' debate. Daphne pulled him along towards the Entrance Hall and relief soared in Theo when he spied Lavender Brown on the first floor landing - wherever she was, Parvati was sure to be near. She was with Professor Trelawney, unloading boxes of crystal balls from a nearby cupboard.

"I knew these would come in handy here!" the Divination teacher was saying. "I saw it, you see!"

"Brown!" Theo called, halting mid-run.

Lavender turned and looked in surprise at Theo and Daphne. She raised her wand at them, her face stern, but otherwise didn't move. Theo put his arms out in a mock-surrender gesture.

"We're looking for Parvati and Padma. We're on your side. You know that, right?"

Lavender slowly lowered her wand, her expression softening. She nodded to a hallway off the landing. "They're guarding the windows, just a few feet that way."

Theo and Daphne sped down the hall. As she spied Padma, Daphne ran to her, leaving Theo to grab hold of Parvati's arm. She turned to him, her eyes widening in alarm as she saw him.

"Theo? What the hell? Why haven't you left the castle?" she asked accusingly.

"I can't leave you here to fight. I'm staying with you," Theo stated definitively.

Parvati shook her head rapidly, as if trying to shake off his words. "No. Your father, Theo. He'll be here, won't he? Fighting for the other side, in a mask , what if you fight him without knowing it's him? The Vow, Theo – you'll – you'll die !"

Tears of agitation brimmed in Parvati's eyes, and it pained Theo to know he was the cause of them.

"He – he won't hurt me." But even as he said them, Theo doubted the truth of his own words.

"It's not as simple as that! He might if he can't see it's you! Battle's are messy and chaotic, Theo–"

"Then I'll recognise him. Even with his mask on. I know him from the way he moves, from the stoop of his shoulders. I won't give him a reason to attack me, I'll stay away from him."

"How can you control that? It will mean you can't defend yourself! Please, Theo – please don't fight – go to the Room of Requirement, wait for me there. Please, do this for me!"

Theo reached out and cupped Parvati's jaw, stilling her shaking head, and tilting it so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

"I can't not fight, Par," he said earnestly. "Don't ask me to do that. For years I've been hiding, pushing away parts of my very self, pretending to be something I'm not. Now, I can make up for all that."

There was a pause as Parvati looked at him, her eyes beseeching.

"Par, I don't want you to fight just as much as you don't want me to," Theo said quietly. "But I know I'd be asking you to go against your very nature if I asked you not to. Which is why I'm not doing that."

Parvati reached up and impatiently brushed at her damp cheeks, nodding shortly.

"Okay. Okay, Theo. But we'll stay together, right?"

Relieved, Theo nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course."

He closed his eyes because he hated to see the tears on her face, and leant forward so his forehead rested against hers, inhaling in deep gulps of air the beautiful scent of jasmine, lavender and something sweet like pumpkin juice.


It was eerily quiet on the battlements of Gryffindor Tower. Neville was positioned above the main entrance to the castle, with Hannah and Sprout a few feet on either side of him, and an ample amount of mandrakes at his feet.

The muffled sounds of tens – possibly hundreds – of people below travelled to him on the warm breeze of the summer night. The sounds came from both sides of the huge, ethereal, shield that had been cast around the school. The voices were muted, as if they belonged to ghosts, but Neville reminded himself that that was far from the truth. They were all real, living people, able to maim and to kill, able to bleed and to break.

It was surreal, really, how staggeringly beautiful it looked as the army of Death Eaters fired curse after curse down on the twinkling wall of protective spells that encased the castle. Their attacks caused relentless sparks of white light to rebound off the shield, much like a fantastical fireworks display.

After some time, the glittering sheet of the protective wards started to shimmer precariously and, when cracks started to form in it, Hannah's hand found his and squeezed it so tightly it hurt. They both stood, silently gazing ahead of them as the night sky was set ablaze.

He felt Hannah tense as the first curse broke though the shield – a flash of green light that faded futilely into the air above their heads. But it had broken through nonetheless. It was followed by further cracks in the enchanted wall, which formed crevices that gradually opened up into gaping holes.

The shield was failing.

When the protections are broken and the bloodshed starts, those with kindness, wit and courage will be set apart...

Neville reluctantly relinquished Hannah's hand so he could reach down and grab a mandrake with it instead.

As he straightened up, he heard an intimidating roar of anger – a battle cry – as a river of terrifying humanity, cloaked in black and masked in silver, rushed towards the school, their wands drawn.

The battle had begun.


A/N: Your kudos and comments are cherished and treasured.

Huge thanks to Rachael and IKEAwhatyoudidthere.