The two Gryffindor girls sprinted through the castle towards the dungeons, for Rem wasn't sure where else to look. She cursed herself for not hunting him down sooner, before all of this started, right after she'd decided that wearing his ring and protecting his family were the lesser of evils. After all, there were scores of witches and wizards fighting for the Order and the D.A., but who was fighting for the Malfoys? Sure, some would argue that they didn't deserve it; that they were vile and chose the wrong side. But it was too late. She'd agreed to marry Draco Malfoy and now she was more or less a part of their family, and God only knew the things she would do for Draco.

"Will he be in the dungeons?" Fay inquired as they descended a flight of stairs.

Rem's battered red sneakers barely touched the marble steps with their haste. "I hope so, I haven't any idea where else to-"

Banging and clamoring broke off their conversation as they reached the landing of whatever floor they were on, Remington hadn't really been paying attention to how many floors they'd come down. There were quite a few voices coming from down the hall, most of which she recognized immediately, and some figures were standing outside a classroom. Her and Fay shared a look before starting down the corridor to investigate.

"Piertotum – oh, for heaven's sake, Filch, not now-" It was Professor McGonagall, looking at the hobbling caretaker as he came from the hallway opposite the one Rem and Fay were approaching from.

"Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!" He shouted as he came closer.

"They're supposed to be you blithering idiot!" McGonagall yelled back at him. "Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!"

"P-Peeves?" Filch stammered, clearly taken aback at the request.

"Yes, Peeves, you fool, Peeves! Haven't you been complaining about him for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once." McGonagall reiterated. Though it was obvious that Filch was at a loss of what to make of this development, he turned and ran off, muttering under his breath. "And now – Piertotum Locomator!" Professor McGonagall called out.

A massive, overwhelming crash echoed through the entire castle, it seemed, as every statue and suit of armor jumped from their resting places and stood at attention. Fay and Remington froze in awe where they were, a few yards from Professor McGonagall, Harry, and Luna.

"Hogwarts is threatened!" McGonagall announced, "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"

With that, the clanking and yelling statues ran down the corridor, shaking the floor as they went, raising their swords, maces, and all manner of weaponry.

"Now, Potter," McGonagall began, "You and Miss Lovegood had better return to your friends and bring them to the Great Hall – I shall rouse the other Gryffindors." The trio started towards them, and only then did Minerva appear to notice that the two Gryffindor girls were there. She looked a bit surprised, but Rem thought it was still not as much surprise as perhaps it should have been. "Miss Dunbar, Miss Alvers, what are you-" But she stopped herself. "Nevermind that, make your way to the Great Hall, help students along the way if you can."

"That's where Malfoy will be," Fay said under her breath, looking at Remington.

She shook her head, "No," She said softly, "No, he won't." She knew him too well. If this was really happening, Draco would have his own plan, and she knew that going to the Great Hall to be evacuated was not a part of it.

Fay's forehead creased, "Where would he be, then?" She asked.

"I don't know." Rem said, biting back the disconcerting feeling of uncertainty that crept up her throat. She had to help the younger students to the Great Hall. Things hadn't really started yet, she could still find Draco before then. She needed to.

"It's alright, Rem." Fay said, at a loss for words. She wasn't really sure what she should say. She had no idea what Remington and Malfoy were going through, or just how badly Rem wanted to find him. "He'll turn up."

Rem nodded and they started to head to the stairs to go down to the Great Hall as the stairwells and corridors seemed to suddenly fill with students. When they reached the doors to the Great Hall, Fay went to go inside with the rest of the crowd, but Rem held back. She could see into the Hall well enough to tell that Draco wasn't in there, not that she expected him to be. When Fay realized she'd left the other brunette, she pushed through the inflow of students back out to where Rem was in the corridor.

"You can go inside-" Remington began to say.

"I'm not leaving you," Fay said almost sharply, "I told you that, Rem." They shared a momentous look before their eyes turned to look on the students filing hastily into the Great Hall.


The war had found them at last. Draco had been in the Slytherin common room when his Mark burned, signifying to him that Harry Potter must have gotten into the castle. And now, the Dark Lord was on his way. His stomach churned. Should he be happy about this? He wasn't exactly sure. He mostly just felt anxious, and couldn't decipher any emotions beyond that. He'd been ignoring his emotions almost entirely since Remington tried to give him back the engagement ring. The onslaught of emotion wrought after that incident was unlike anything he'd experienced before, and he wanted nothing more than to bury it deep and forget it.

She wasn't talking to him. She didn't acknowledge his presence most of the time, and Lord knows he wouldn't acknowledge hers. He wasn't sure if this was temporary, or final, but he wasn't about to be the first to cave in. But now the war was here, and it looked as though it were going to culminate here at Hogwarts, and very, very soon. And he might not get the chance to figure out what was going on between them.

"Whatever you're planning on doing, I can already tell it's stupid." A familiar, smooth voice drifted into his thoughts and brought him back to the common room. It was Blaise, who had moved to lean against the back of the sofa beside him while the entirety of the Slytherin house made its way out and up to the Great Hall, under Slughorn's orders. Draco looked away from him, but didn't say anything. "If you're considering doing anything other than leaving this place, it's a varying degree of stupid."

"Go share your unwanted wisdom with someone else, Zabini." He growled.

"You know what would be the least stupid of all of your non-evacuating ideas, Malfoy?" Blaise continued on, as if he hadn't heard anything the blonde had said.

"No, and I don't care-" Draco began to say.

"Finding Remington and sorting things out before you evacuate."

Draco's fists clenched where they were in his crossed arms. "I don't want anything to do with Alvers right-"

"Oh, shut up for once, Malfoy." Blaise snapped, a sharp edge in his voice that he hadn't heard before. Usually Blaise was the most even-toned of the Slytherins. "She loves you."

"Clearly not enough." Draco shot him a scathing look before heading towards the door. He needed to find Crabbe and Goyle.