Don't You Know There's a War Going On?

by mew-tsubaki

M&MWP, Maydayverse, oneshot, light femslash. *Set during DH, "Zugzwang," "if you fall at midnight," & "A Life Well-Lived"* There was more than just one battle going on at the time, even if none of the eagles except Lisa and Su saw it. *Lisa-centric LisaSu*

Don't You Know There's a War Going On?

A HariPo oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. This pairing is a Mew and Mor's Weird Pairing, which you may find in the M&MWP forum (see my profile for details). Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy! *Note: This is partly concurrent with the stories "Zugzwang," "if you fall at midnight," and "A Life Well-Lived," but this can be read on its own; you might enjoy the other stories, though, especially if you enjoy eagle rarepairs and heartache. :') (Don't worry; I do have some happy endings for these kiddos. :P)

- ^-^3

Lisa dressed quietly in the wee hours, careful not to disturb her roommates. Even in mid-January, there was not much light coming in through the windows in Ravenclaw Tower, but every dorm level looked much the same as the last, so Lisa knew the placement of everything and knew when to avoid furniture. Even if the layout were different…

The blonde smiled grimly to herself as she brushed her hair out from underneath the collar of her House cloak. By now, she'd spent so many days getting up at the crack of dawn that her eyes had adjusted to this level of darkness. If ever full darkness fell over the tower—or over the entire castle—Lisa doubted she'd be scared…much. There were just certain places she had memorized by now.

She set aside those thoughts and checked her satchel, noting she had everything for the day's classes if she hadn't the time to return before the day began, which was likely. The last thing she grabbed was her wand, but that did not get stowed anywhere; these days it lived in the grip of her right hand, hidden not very well by her cloak's sleeve, specifically whenever she traversed the corridors.

Lisa picked her head up and met another pair of eyes at the foot of her four-poster. As expected.

She internally heaved a sigh, but there was no use fighting Su on this. Everything had changed after Michael's torture by the Carrows in November, and now rarely any of them went anywhere alone.

Still, that was perhaps only half of Su's reasoning for being up at this hour and sticking to Lisa's side as they slipped out of Ravenclaw Tower, careful not to wake Padma, Mandy, or Morag.

The pair exited the seventh-year girls' dorm and tiptoed downstairs into the bookcase-lined common room of Ravenclaw Tower. Lisa's heart pounded in her ears when a cobalt-hued tapestry rustled off to their left, and both she and Su froze. But nothing emerged. So, the Carrows had not strong-armed their way into the dorms tonight. It was therefore safe to leave.

Lisa took a shaky breath, which steadied with Su's hand on her back before they left and braced the cold to descend the outer staircase that wound around the tower. They weren't exposed to the elements for long, and the blast of chill was more welcoming than the empty halls and stairwells as they stole across the castle, minding every shadow and holding their breaths at every small sound.

The frightening journey was worth it, though, as it had been all these past weeks (save, of course, for the holiday break, when Lisa had been forced home in anything but a celebratory mood), when the doors to the Hospital Wing came into view. And, as Lisa knew they'd be, they were currently left unguarded.

The two witches scurried to the doors. Lisa slipped a scrap of parchment from her bag, cast the Color-Changing Charm to shift the beige hue to yellow and dark blue, and slid the parchment under the doors. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey cracked one door open for the girls to squeeze inside. After, the matron Sealed the doors shut.

"As always, I feel like a spy out of a Muggle novel, doing that," Lisa declared as she shed her bag and cloak and stowed them in Pomfrey's office.

"No trouble today, Miss Turpin?" Pomfrey inquired.

Lisa shook her head. "No. Just—" She swallowed the lump in her throat, thinking the Carrows might've been lying in wait in the common room. She forced a smile when Pomfrey stared at her with wide eyes and a concerned frown. "No, nothing. What's in today's cram lesson, Madam Pomfrey?"

Pomfrey pursed her lips. Her eyes darted briefly to Su, but Su, standing guard by the doors and out of Lisa's sight, must've given nothing away, because she caved and pressed no further. "Today's lesson is in poison work. Reversing it as well as speeding it up."

Lisa swallowed another lump in her throat. This time, she did allow herself to steal a peek over her shoulder at Su.

If Su had heard exactly what Pomfrey had said, she gave no indication whether she approved. All this time, each time, from the first instance Lisa had marched up here and demanded Pomfrey begin training Lisa as a Healer to every other time Lisa had woken early or had taken the odd lunch or managed to use her free period here or split her weekends between here and the library, Su had come along. No questions asked and no warnings heeded. Certainly no opinions given.

Lisa appreciated that, she decided as she turned to Pomfrey and tied back her hair to work. Su did, on certain occasions, have an opinion, but she was otherwise the most even-tempered of the five eagle girls in their year. Su was more the wait-and-see type, except when it came to—

"Pay attention to the way the dye travels through the celery stalk, Lisa," Pomfrey insisted, pointing to her edible demonstration on the metal tray on the nurse's desk before the seventh year. "Follow the way the dye moves. Poison moves much the same way in a body, and I can teach you a spell to reroute it, as long as you've been studying your circulatory diagrams."

Lisa nodded, humbled. "R-Right. Please, Madam Pomfrey. Show me."

They only had little more than two hours before breakfast, so Lisa stowed all other thoughts away in order to focus. With today's session, Lisa could now stop poison from spreading or make it pool in one limb, but she couldn't grasp the rerouting spell. Studying Pomfrey's technique didn't help; there was some force behind the elder witch's magic, and Lisa feared that perhaps having survived one war already gave her the strength to wield such dangerous magic…

Lisa didn't want that experience. And, if Harry's having been spotted over the Christmas break were any sign of luck, current events wouldn't blow up into an all-out war. (But, a tiny part of Lisa admitted as she loosed her hair and gathered her things, hadn't the war begun nearly two years ago with the taking of hostages? Though these were things a Healer-in-training ought not to dwell long on…)

Madam Pomfrey joined the girls at the door and looked them over, still pursing her lips. She frowned at Su. "You really mustn't increase your risk and join Miss Turpin every time, Miss Li," she chided. But it was a gentle reprimand. Pomfrey wrung her hands in her apron while she said it.

Su simply shook her head. She never offered Pomfrey an explanation, and Lisa had never bothered to explain that Su wasn't exactly her bodyguard. All they could do after Pomfrey's initial surprise after agreeing to train Lisa was amend the signal—no longer could Lisa slip a simple yellow-colored piece of parchment under the door to indicate fair-haired Lisa had arrived. Nowadays Lisa sent Pomfrey a two-colored signal to prepare her for the pair of them, so that Pomfrey could prep to hide two students…or to cover for them, no matter the situation.

Madam Pomfrey never let them stay during breakfast or dinner; that was too risky, whereas the occasional skipped lunch was expected from fifth years and up, given exams and coursework. But now Lisa and Su found themselves skulking about, wending their way back to the staircases to tuck themselves into a spot they'd found the Death Eaters never checked on the ground floor while the girls waited for more students to wake and head to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was better to blend into the throng of students than to arrive early and draw attention.

After they settled behind a brazier to listen for the heavy footfall of lions coming downstairs from Gryffindor Tower, Lisa turned to Su on her left. She raised her eyebrows. "Pomfrey has a point," she whispered. "Every time we set foot outside the dorms is a risk."

Su said nothing and kept her gaze forward on the back of the staircase that half hid them. Nevertheless, she frowned. Ah, yes. The taciturn girl's way of saying, "We've had this discussion before." As if to emphasize her point, she found Lisa's hand on the cold stone floor beside her. Easily, too—no need to grope blindly for it. Her pale tan fingers were a bronzed beige in the soft candlelight as they wrapped around Lisa's hand.

Lisa's face flushed with heat. It boggled her that this, of all things, would make her blush; after all, they'd kissed plenty of times before and even cuddled during these past two years. So they'd most certainly acknowledged their chemistry. They'd just…never named it.

Su's black eyes slid towards her, as though she knew what Lisa's silence meant. Her lips began to curve up slightly, the precursor to her smile.

At that moment, the stairs began to move. Voices echoed in the hall as students waited, and the din grew closer once stairs locked into place. With the possibility of an audience, Lisa yanked her hand away and stood, wiping barely any dust or dirt from her robes. "We should get going, join the others at breakfast," she rushed.

Su paused but eventually nodded. She didn't comment on Lisa's abruptness, but, Lisa noted as they lost themselves in the sea of students clamoring for the morning meal, Su stayed an extra half step ahead of her, her eyes peeled and aimed at the shadows, likely hoping for no more scares today.

- ^-^3

Breakfast that day was like many others the rest of the month. Given that Luna Lovegood had been kidnapped straight from the Hogwarts Express at the start of Christmas break and that Michael's torture was still fresh in many of their minds, January felt rather subdued.

"They think they've got us demoralized," Padma spat under her breath one morning with a furtive glance to Alecto and Amycus up at the faculty table. She kept stabbing her fried eggs but hadn't quite eaten anything, Lisa saw.

"Isn't that the case?" Morag prompted in a monotone. She leaned on the Ravenclaw table with her elbows and pushed a hand into her dark tresses. She gritted her teeth, looking ready to cry.

Mandy and her newfound Gryffindor pal, Jack Sloper, exchanged a look before Mandy leaned over and wrapped an arm around Morag, a sight that would've made Lisa smile any other day given that she and Mandy were tiny compared to Morag's tall, willowy presence. "Hey, come on, now. That's no way for a future Auror to talk."

"Maybe I don't want to be an Auror anymore," Morag hissed.

Mandy flinched. So did Lisa, and Su and Padma whipped their heads in her direction. Further up the table, Kevin and Stephen had stopped chatting and turned their attention the girls' way. Had Michael, Terry, and Anthony stayed instead of flying through breakfast and disappearing to Merlin-knew-where, Lisa imagined they would've also been listening in. Hell, Michael might've spoken up finally after the months of silence in the wake of his experience.

Morag glowered at each of the girls and even gave poor Jack a dose of her ire before shoving her plate away and sniffling. She grabbed her bag and hopped up from the bench, all in an attempt to storm out, but Lisa knew she heard a sob before Morag was all the way out of the Great Hall, and then Morag broke into a sprint as she rounded the entryway.

Mandy's face crumpled, and Jack reached across to pat her hand as Lisa said, "Hey, you know Morag's just lashing out. If anything, that's a good sign. We haven't seen that sharp tongue of hers in ages. It's a peek of her old self, Mandy."

"No, I shouldn't've said anything. I—"

But Lisa shook her head. She was exhausted herself. Between classes and Pomfrey's training, she had little time for extra study…but one thing Lisa had learned on her own and not from Pomfrey's Healer studies was how to take care of her friends as best she could. So, as Mandy was a hugger, Lisa leaned over and pulled Mandy in. It worked in a way that Mandy's for Morag hadn't, and the effect was doubled when Padma walked around to Mandy's other side and they made a Mandy sandwich.

Mandy hiccupped and laughed at them. "All right, all right, I concede," she said. When they pulled away and breakfast wound down, she added in undertones, "So, if things have changed for Morag…should I expect any other changes around here…?" Her eyes darted between Lisa and Padma prominently, but they flicked to Su, too.

Lisa shook her head. "I'm not skipping a single class, Mandy." Su nodded along with her.

They all glanced at Padma.

Padma shrugged. "They think they've got us demoralized," she repeated. "But we'll prove them wrong," she added cryptically.

Not that it was much of a secret to Lisa or to the others. Lisa had some of the same classes with Padma and other former members of Dumbledore's Army, and they'd been mysteriously not around throughout the year and occasionally skipped a class or two. Lisa and Su had come to the same conclusion that they'd most certainly reconstituted, but they didn't know what that meant, given that the Room of Requirement wasn't secret anymore…although no one had stumbled upon it since fifth year for sure.

"Does that mean you'll join, if it comes down to it?" Su asked Lisa as they took a rare walk outside the first weekend in February. They walked along the shore of the Black Lake, looking for white skipping stones an inch across—an assignment from Pomfrey, for a potion she'd next teach Lisa.

Lisa pursed her lips and brought her scarf up to hide most of her expression while she dwelled on her answer. "…Michael's not the only one who's been hurt," she reminded Su.

Su nodded.

"Padma. Mandy. Neville, Seamus, Parvati, Ginny, Luna… Countless other underclassmen." Lisa sighed. "Susan and Hannah have lost family, even. And we—who knows what's really going on out there, in the real world? What with our post being read and censored…" She knelt amongst the lake stones, her robes pooling around her, and finally her parents' paranoia began to make sense to her. She hoped they were still alive.

Su joined her and bumped her shoulder against Lisa's right one. Her blue–black hair fell over Lisa's arm as the Asian witch nodded for Lisa to continue thinking aloud.

"Mum and Dad didn't want me to return after break, you know. Same as Mandy's family. But mine are so terrified out of their minds, I've honestly been thinking this whole time that they're borderline paranoid…" Her words trailed off, and Lisa chewed her bottom lip. "Now, I'm not so sure."

Su frowned. Her face was barely an inch away, but the proximity didn't make Lisa's heart race. If anything, it was a comfort, more so when Su rested her forehead against Lisa's. "You want to leave," Su surmised.

Lisa hummed. "Mm, maybe. Maybe not. Join the D.A.? Dunno. But it's what I've told Pomfrey—if her hands are tied in Healing students under the Carrows' reign, then I'll do it in her stead."

"Terry…"

"I know he wants to be a Healer someday, too. I'm surprised bothering Pomfrey didn't occur to him first. But maybe he's got other worries. You've seen him: He and Anthony have been like guard dogs around Michael. But I wouldn't be surprised if Terry's worried for Anthony even more. First his best mate—his boyfriend could be next." Lisa shrugged. "Add in D.A. concerns and he really does have a full plate, so maybe this is something only I can do…"

Su furrowed her brow.

"Would you feel better if I managed to share the burden with Terry somehow?" Lisa asked, not entirely expecting an answer.

Su hesitated, the middle of her thin, bottom lip caught between her teeth for a few seconds. Then she said, "…perhaps. But I'm more concerned that your priorities are out of order, Lisa."

Just like that, Lisa's face fell. What had been—well, not a nice mood, but at least an all right one had gone in a flash, as if Su had pushed her into the lake's icy February waters. She rocked back on her heels and pulled away from her companion. "Excuse me?"

Su frowned at her. She reached for Lisa's cheek and cupped it in spite of the blonde trying to push her hand away. There, Su ran a thumb under Lisa's left eye. "You have such lovely, pale blue eyes, Lis. A wintry sky blue. I love them, I do. But the circles under your eyes… They're as dark as our cloaks. You've barely put yourself first these past few months, Lis."

Lisa knew that. It was one upside to dressing in the dark; if one dressed in the dark and didn't bother with the mirror, then one didn't have to see one's horrid reflection staring back, looking like a walking corpse. Last she'd checked, she'd even lost some of her rosiness, traded for a tired pallor. Pink-cheeked Lisa Turpin looked like Death warmed over these days.

It didn't hurt that Su had noticed this. It aggravated her that Su had an excellent point and had decided to bring it to Lisa's attention.

Lisa grimaced, or she tried, but her body ached with a lack of energy now that her tiredness had been brought up, as if her body had been reminded that, ah, yes, it was running on fumes. In the end, her grimace turned into a pout. She focused her eyes on the skin of Su's wrist. "How can I give a damn about myself with everything else going on?" she huffed.

Su sighed and patted Lisa's cheek. She lowered her hand then, catching some of Lisa's hair until she had the curled end wrapped softly around her fingers. She leaned forward and brought the lock to her lips, giving it a soft kiss. Then she gave Lisa a tiny, sad smile. Her eyes said it all: "If you won't give a damn, then you won't mind if I do, will you?"

Lisa thought back to that morning last month, when Su had taken her hand so easily, so simply. The color came flooding back to her cheeks, worse than if Su had kissed her outright. But she was at a loss for words again, flustered, so all Lisa could do was dumbly shake her head, that, no, she wouldn't mind.

That appeared to satisfy Su. She leaned forward again—be still Lisa's heart!—but she merely placed another of the white skipping stones in Lisa's lap. Then she stood, a mischievous little smile on her lips, and held out her hand to help her fellow Ravenclaw stand and finish their errand for Pomfrey.

- ^-^3

Despite that little butting of heads, Lisa and Su got along better throughout February. It were as though, since Lisa had relented, Su were allowed to be the one to care for Lisa since Lisa couldn't be bothered to care much for herself.

Should Lisa fall asleep in class, Su was right there to ensure Lisa had perfectly detailed notes, down to the precise way Lisa made outlines. Of course, this only worked when not dealing with Snape, Alecto, or Amycus, but the rest of the faculty had been turning a blind eye all too happily all year in order to protect students, both physically as well as mentally.

Should Lisa be too focused on revising her coursework during meals, Su was right there by her side not with unhealthy candy but something taken from the lunch or dinner table. Lisa began to wonder if Su had befriended a house-elf or two, as well…but then she'd push the thought aside and remind herself to list all the bones in the body, something on which Pomfrey regularly quizzed her.

Should Lisa barely stumble in and out of the shower at the end of a long day, Su was right there to towel the blonde's head mostly dry before casting a nonverbal Heating Charm. She even took to brushing Lisa's hair while the other girls chatted and got ready for bed, though Su had nothing to contribute and Lisa wasn't much of a conversationalist on such evenings. And, actually, those evenings she had no strength to crawl into her own bed, so Su hefted Lisa into hers instead. Lisa could rest easy those nights, snug as a bug in a fleece nightgown and buried under Su's duvet and half wrapped in Su's arms.

But, in the morning after a good night's rest such as that, Lisa would wake with clarity, and a pang of guilt would hit her. It always hit when she watched Su, still asleep. Lisa drew up her knees to her chest and frowned at her bedmate.

She was selfish, wasn't she? Yes, this month had been lovely, and she rather liked it when Su kissed her goodnight behind the curtains of the four-poster, but Lisa couldn't shake the feeling that this was not quite right, that this was not how things were supposed to work out.

Just because someone took care of your basic needs…that didn't mean it was love. Or rather, perhaps it was, on Su's part. But Lisa couldn't be certain that was the same for her. Hence her guilt.

Su sighed in her sleep and turned so she lay on her back. Her hair puddled around her face like spilled ink, a deep and entrancing color that made Lisa want to reach out and touch just to see if it could be bottled. Lisa snapped out of her reverie when Su sighed again and her hair moved, showing her neck and shoulder, so Lisa forced herself to relax and took the invitation, sliding back under the covers and tucking her head into the crook of Su's neck.

She…did like Su. She did care for Su. And she did find Su attractive.

But that all seemed like small nothings compared to the fact that, essentially, Lisa was using Su for self-care. And this was the one non-Healing topic Lisa allowed to preoccupy her mind….

- ^-^3

"Never did I think I'd be teaching anyone anything, let alone these kinds of things…," Pomfrey muttered under her breath as February melted into March.

Lisa had heard the elder witch say this on multiple occasions, but she never pointed it out. Instead, she preferred to ask, "Do they really leave such things out at St. Mungo's?"

Pomfrey paused handing Lisa Muggle science texts to fill the pocket of her bag (expanded with an Undetectable Expansion Charm cast by Madam Pomfrey herself) and removed her bonnet. She wiped a nervous bead of sweat from her brow, tidied her coif, and replaced the item. "You'd be surprised. I'm only as good as I am because I was taught by those 'on the fringe' of Healing, you know. But Wizardkind and Muggles—we have so much in common. Healers do themselves a disservice not to learn Muggle science, because there's so much biology that overlaps. Especially internal chemistry."

Lisa frowned. "But… We live far longer than they tend to…"

"True. And gestation in pregnant Wizardkind fluctuates and is highly dangerous because there's magic involved. But read these with an open mind, Miss Turpin. Go into this unknown holding no assumptions, and you might be stunned by what you learn."

Su knocked once on the inside of the door, drawing their attention. "Footfall. Heavy." She narrowed her eyes. "Alecto," she hissed.

Lisa tensed. Beside her, Madam Pomfrey swished her wand, flinging all evidence of their lessons into hiding, going so far as to Vanish some of it. Then she shoved Lisa into Su, who pulled her through the crack between the doors before Alecto rounded the corner and spied them.

The girls hastened to the fourth-floor corridor, not daring to peek behind them to see if they'd been spotted. No, that temptation was never a good idea. Keeping one's ears pricked was the best decision when traipsing through Hogwarts.

As it was a Sunday afternoon, they had plenty of cover in terms of other students being out and about, though few milled around in the corridors this school year. They slowed their pace once they reached the staircases, and they had to wait for a change to reach the third and second floors. But then they were home free to the first floor after, and Lisa and Su made for the ground floor and took audible breaths once they exited the Entrance Hall and took clumsy steps into the courtyard.

Su released a shuddering laugh, a huffy, shaky sigh-like noise that was so close to a sob that Lisa had to do a double-take. But, no, Su wasn't crying. Su followed Lisa with her eyes. Her smile was anything but relieved. Her black eyes were wide and frightened. Translation: "That was too close for comfort."

"You're telling me," Lisa quipped, as if Su had spoken aloud. She walked over to one of the few stone benches and dropped down. She didn't have to look up to know Su would join her. "I worry that I might not be able to keep this up. If there's anything Alecto sees—the slightest thing out of place that Madam Pomfrey missed—"

Su shook her head. "You can't fret about that." She covered Lisa's hand with her own; the blonde's hand stopped shaking in her lap as she began to take some of Su's warmth.

"I can't?" Lisa prodded. Her smile was gentle, easy.

Su shook her head. "You're our Healer. Who knows when Neville or Seamus might next be in need and they finally block Pomfrey from helping at all?" She placed a soft, lingering kiss on Lisa's forehead. "Let me handle the worrying," she finished.

Their worries over being caught by a Carrow actually seemed small when Lisa heard those words. Su's comment brought to mind her guilt, and she fidgeted in turn. Lisa flipped her hand over to lace her fingers with Su's. But when she tried to look at Su and open her mouth, suddenly addressing…whatever this was between them seemed like another monster hurdle in their seventh year.

Su cocked her head. Her hair fell over her shoulder like a curtain giving them privacy from prying eyes and ears. She raised her eyebrows, curious and patient.

Lisa bit her lip. Damn. What was it Pomfrey had said? It was best to rip the bandage off, wasn't it? So Lisa took a breath, trying to find the kindest words to describe how one-sided her and Su's relationship was…

But Su stopped her with a finger pressed to her lips. She exhaled slowly, her eyes half-lidded, her lips a rather straight line that, to anyone else, seemed to be expressionless, but Lisa could spot the imperceptible smile there. "If it's something hard to say, then don't say it," Su told her.

"But—"

"Let me handle the worrying," she repeated. "I can shoulder more than you think."

Lisa furrowed her brow. Su's words left her mystified, even as Su pulled her to her feet and they took up a calmer pace to head to lunch and spent the rest of the day and evening in the library. Lisa tried to broach the subject again as they sat reading near the Restricted Section, but again Su would hear none of it.

And still Su would hear none of it as the month persisted and Lisa seized every serious mood between them in an effort to set expectations. A tiny part of Lisa sat in Arithmancy beside the taciturn girl, fed up and nearly ready to give up and let Su have her way. Yet another part of her wondered if Su perhaps had realized things plain as day without Lisa having to explain them…

She stopped her musing (truly, fretting) long enough to prick up her ears when she thought she heard footfall outside the classroom. No…not the footfall of someone walking…someone running. Students running?

Su grimaced, and they both shared a look with Kevin as Professor Vector told the lot of them to quiet down. The three eagles shifted uneasily in their seats, though, as their schedules had landed them in this block with a handful of Slytherins: Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and Emma Runcorn. Kevin sat with the bespectacled and more reserved Emma, because she'd always been all right to Oliver Rivers, a former Arithmancy classmate of Lisa and Su's, though the mandatory Muggle Studies and Dark Arts lessons for everyone this year had screwed things up and kept him and fellow Hufflepuff Megan Jones out of the class. That said, Emma still made Lisa nervous because her father worked for the Ministry. As for her fellow snakes…that was self-explanatory.

Vector glared at the door as the din out in the halls grew. She placed her text down on her teaching desk and palmed her wand as she headed for the door. Each student turned in their seat to follow her with their eyes.

Kevin sprang up from his seat to join Lisa and Su. "You don't think—?"

"If it were something that big, we'd definitely hear it," Lisa whispered to him.

He frowned as he thought, and the smallest dimple formed on his left cheek as he did so. "…if it's not that trio, then…" He ran a hand over his reddish–brown curls—and blanched. "Oh, Merlin. Steve. And Tony and them." He locked eyes with both girls.

Su clenched her jaw. But she nodded.

Panic welled in Lisa's chest. "Let's—let's not get ahead of ourselves," she told Kevin. "Just because their study block turned into Muggle Studies with Alecto doesn't mean…" But she couldn't bring herself to finish her thought, especially not as the noise outside turned to shouts.

Vector, having checked on the situation, came back to her audience in a few hurried strides. She shuffled the things on her desk before she realized they were waiting for her guidance. The witch flicked her eyes to each of them. "Back to your dorms! Quickly, and with no detours."

Daphne gaped at her. "But, professor, there's a class left to go, and supper—"

"Not a top priority, Miss Greengrass, and supper will be arranged as needed. And I never permitted students to leave their seats, Mr. Entwhistle," she added with a pointed look to Kevin, though the fear in her tone made it less a reprimand and more a statement of fact. "Now off, the lot of you."

The Slytherin boys didn't need to be told twice, and it was their efforts that finally dragged Daphne from her studies, though Tracey pulled up the rear of their quartet, Emma following at a separate distance. Lisa, Su, and Kevin left after them, but they were in silent agreement not to head straight back to Ravenclaw Tower.

The shouts told them little else other than the Death Eaters skulking about the castle were mad. Rather, madder than usual. But…if that were the case…

Lisa picked up the pace, Su instinctively guessing her destination as they headed for the Hospital Wing, tiny Kevin scrambling to guess their route and struggling to keep up since he was left out of the girls' loop.

Outside the doors, the trio nearly crashed into Stephen and Professor McGonagall. Stephen caught Kevin by the arm to steady him, and McGonagall pressed a hand to her heart, seeing this convocation before her. "Turpin! Li! Entwhistle! What on—?!"

"Someone's hurt, aren't they?" Lisa burst. "Who is it? I can help. Honest. Just ask—"

McGonagall held up a hand, stopping her before she could incriminate Pomfrey. "That is precisely why I am here, Miss Turpin. Mr. Cornfoot knew Madam Pomfrey could use some assistance. But you four need to make yourselves scarce. Quickly, now." And, in a rare display of fear, McGonagall glanced over her shoulder. She ushered the four of them together and away from the Hospital Wing. "To your dorms—and keep your heads down."

The entire way there, Kevin pestered Stephen to impart some piece of what had transpired. But Stephen gritted his teeth as if waiting to snap at the smaller boy, though he never did.

They made it to Ravenclaw Tower without trouble. Lisa expected to find the Carrows waiting for them, considering the mystery surrounding the evening. Instead, a terrified Mandy met them in the common room. She seemed pale, as pasty as Morag, when she threw her arms around Lisa in a giant hug. Over Lisa's shoulder, Mandy said to Stephen, "Thank Merlin you left when you did!"

Lisa disentangled herself from the brunet witch and looked between her and Stephen. "What the hell happened?" She grunted when Su tugged on her sleeve.

But Su tipped her head to the underclassmen still in the common room. Too many cast curious eyes and ears their way.

"…right." Lisa raised her eyebrows at the boys. "Upstairs. Now."

Lisa had never had any reason to enter the boys' dorm before. She was delighted to find it rather tidy—to an extent, tidier than the girls', she realized as she thought of her reference materials piling up, Mandy's fashion strewn about, and Morag's disaster known as a trunk.

Stephen spoke first, looking to Mandy. "Was it bad?"

Mandy shook her head. "Not terribly. It was just Seamus and me left, and that boy had the best idea: Run like hell." She grimaced and drummed her fingers along her arms. "…if Amycus punishes the entire class, at least I'll know what to expect."

Lisa's temper flared. "They've used the Cruciatus on you, Mandy. That's not something to sit back and take." She didn't even mention Amycus using Imperius on her…no, that would be taking it too far.

But Mandy shook her head and covered her mouth with her hand. She choked back a sob. "Lisa—you didn't see. What she did to Neville…" She went to the nearest bed—Terry's, judging by the embroidered "T.S.B." on the underside of his scarf atop the covers—and dropped there, leaning her elbows on her knees while she processed things.

Lisa turned to Stephen. Su and Kevin also presented him with equally frustrated and confused expressions.

"Alecto… Neville got mouthy with her. Again. And she changed the bones in his left arm to glass."

"Glass?" Kevin echoed. "How the hell is that even possible?"

But Lisa and Su exchanged the smallest of grim looks. There was much Pomfrey had been passing along to Lisa. Some things she'd taught Lisa directly; others Lisa had guessed were possible and even probable. Some magic was more possible than Kevin could dream, they knew.

Stephen shook his head; his normally slicked-back style hung loose, his hair now partially in his eyes. "That's not the worst part. She broke his arm after that."

Lisa's hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped. "No!" She pulled her hands away. "Just the one break or…?"

"If she'd been hoping to shatter it entirely, then Anthony distracted her from doing so," he replied. He mustered a dark grin. "And Terry made sure she couldn't. Full-Body Bind," he hastily added when Kevin frowned at him.

Despite the clarification, Lisa felt the bottom of her stomach drop out, and Su steadied her as the blonde wobbled. "Revered Rowena…," Lisa rasped, staring at the carpet. "They—they attacked a teacher?"

She sensed rather than saw Stephen stiffen. "She's no teacher, Lisa."

She nodded automatically, but it was still a lot to take in. All these years, being in a class with the likes of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and even Ron Weasley seemed to have finally rubbed off on them. That, or… Perhaps it was time for the most drastic of measures. Nearly.

Lisa felt Su's hair brush against her head and shoulder as the taller girl looked around the dorm. "Speaking of the others…," she began, offering the rare word to someone outside the girls' dorm.

Stephen sighed and Mandy sniffled, drawing their attention back to her. "I don't think they're coming back," she said.

"What?" Lisa asked. "But they've—"

"Padma said the You-Know-What is home now," Mandy stated, raising her eyebrows and hoping they'd catch on just in case the walls had ears. Stephen nodded to confirm that he'd heard the same.

The other three shared a minute of silence. So. The Room of Requirement was not only back in action but actively shelter now. Perfect.

Kevin stared up at Stephen for a while. "…what's the final tally then?"

Stephen's shoulders, straight as they'd been since their walk from the Hospital Wing, slackened. "Ernie left to find Hannah, tell her about Neville's condition. And you heard Mandy—she and Seamus ran. So I don't know if Ernie and Seamus will go into hiding yet, but…" He paused. "Terry, Anthony, Michael, Padma, and Morag aren't coming back to Ravenclaw Tower."

This time, the silence stretched on for what felt like forever. Mandy pulled her legs up under her, trying to make herself into a tiny ball of anxiety at the foot of Terry's bed. Lisa remained standing only with the support of Su at her side. Even Stephen fidgeted where he stood by his bed near the door.

The silence only broke when Kevin slipped off his bag and marched to the far side of the room and began rummaging through a trunk and setting something up against the wall. Stephen furrowed his brow while Kevin had his back turned. "Kev, what…?"

"They're insane," Kevin declared to the room.

Stephen gave the girls an apologetic look and held up a hand to let him handle this. "Your point?"

"They're insane, but they probably saved Neville's life and will probably save others'." He pulled out bottle after bottle after phial and piled them high in his arms, careful not to drop them until he could set them down on a swath of velvet.

Stephen froze. "You're not thinking of joining them?"

Kevin shook his head, making his curls bounce. "No. But they're going to need all kinds of potions to weather these next few months." He tapped his wand on his materials, and the potion-making setup assembled itself as he turned around. He caught Stephen's eye and dragged his gaze away to meet Lisa's eyes. "If there's anything you can share from Pomfrey's lessons, let me know. Otherwise I'll be visiting Pince to get ideas." He chewed on his bottom lip, thinking aloud, "…I wonder if Hagrid might spare some supplies…and how well the greenhouses are guarded right now…"

Lisa nodded, and Stephen took another minute before he sighed and gritted his teeth. The next thing they knew, he said, "…you won't be going to Pince on your own, at least. There have to be spells in the Restricted Section they could use."

Mandy looked around the room at each of them. Her cheeks were blotchy and her pale brown eyes were still round and terrified. "You're all bloody serious, aren't you? Even though you have no idea how you'll even get these things and this information to them?"

Su gave her a soft smile. "We're Ravenclaws, Mandy. We'll solve that riddle simply enough."

Mandy bit her lip, likely biting back a retort, as well. But she nodded, and these five eagles who were not in Dumbledore's Army began work to support them regardless.

- ^-^3

Before March even ended, meals at the Great Hall seemed smaller and simpler. Likely due to the fact that the tables began to empty. Ernie, Hannah, and Susan moved into the Room of Requirement next. Lavender, Parvati, and surprisingly Seamus held on a little longer before they, too, went into hiding. This didn't mean that the "missing" seventh years stopped going to all classes, but they did so sporadically and without notice, and there were not enough Death Eaters the other side was willing to spare at Hogwarts to leave to patrol each and every class in order to catch truants. Alecto mended just fine, unfortunately, but rumor had it that Amycus advised her to delay resuming the class for now, not only to avoid another surprise attack but also to make the students wary of what the sibling Death Eaters might have in mind for a punishment….

April kept Lisa and the rest too busy to worry what things the Carrows' tiny brains planned for them. She hadn't been back to the boys' dorm since weeks ago after Neville's attack, but she rarely saw Kevin these days outside of class and meals, so she deduced he'd built up his makeshift potions lab and had a decent inventory building up. With Stephen, she surmised he'd concluded correctly about Pince helping them; it didn't hurt that Pince was a former Ravenclaw herself, but Lisa was curious if Pince had set aside her OCD in following checkout rules to help Stephen spirit away certain Restricted books since this year one needed the approval of Snape or of one of the Carrows to do so.

Mandy eventually came up with her own way to fight back and help. That took the form of spiriting extra food from the Great Hall when she thought Jack and the others weren't looking, though Lisa wondered if Mandy didn't give the poor sixth-year Gryffindor boy enough credit. Mandy didn't even keep her plan secret long when she passed along a note from Terry to Lisa and Su one evening at bedtime.

"He wants us to what?" Lisa grumbled. She showed Su the note.

"Practice conjuring birds," Mandy said. "Just as the note says. I mean, the incantation doesn't get much simpler—" Mandy pointed her wand, though she didn't bother muttering the word "Avis" as a bird emerged from the blue light her wand produced. "Terry says it's a D.A. signal system. Like a Patronus, the spell produces a bird unique to the caster, and they've organized a color-coordination system to warn of different issues, usually with string tied around the bird's leg."

Su stroked the bird's head while Lisa read over the table Terry had scribbled down. "And no one thought birds flying around the castle might be, I don't know, noticed?"

Mandy shrugged. "Most of the birds are small. They've taken turns up on the seventh floor, guarding whereabouts the entrance is, so I couldn't chat with Terry for long. But he said his great blue heron is an exception. Most of the birds are nothing bigger than what we typically find around here, and they all fly, so there've been no issues so far."

Lisa frowned and eyed Mandy's goshawk. Then she read over Terry's note again. "This is sixth-year work."

"Yep. That's why I picked it up so fast."

"Do we have to?"

Mandy terminated the spell, and the bird disappeared in a flurry of pale gray feathers. "It's an added layer of security. I showed Kevin earlier, and he memorized it and said he'd tell Stephen, so you two can do the same and burn that when you're done."

Su nodded, and the girls tucked in not long after, though Lisa's mind was full of Pomfrey's lessons, birds, and fears that they might not see the end of the year…

Despite her complaints, Lisa practiced the spell along with Su over the next few days, even when with Pomfrey. Su managed to conjure a bird first, a little egret, which gave the matron a right fright until Su terminated the magic, and thankfully Pomfrey didn't ask why the girls were bothering to master the spell.

The Easter holiday came and went. Most students stayed, though rumors circulated that Ginny Weasley had gone home and not returned to Hogwarts. That only made sense since, after all this time, Ron actually had been spotted helping Harry on the run. Lisa hadn't believed that spattergroit story about Ron anyway…and she wished them the best of luck in whatever endeavors they sought in lieu of a hellish seventh year.

Lisa multitasked on occasion, reading one of Pomfrey's personal magiomedical references as she and Su sat in the Stone Circle and practicing the Bird-Conjuring Charm at the same time. Su would only huff to indicate she didn't approve of Lisa trying to split her attention, but she'd go silent once Lisa lost enough light to read by. Lisa internally groused that Su had won this one, because finally the spell had Lisa's full attention, and she produced an armful of feathers, a cuddly sora that reminded her of a duck and a chicken all at once.

Su tittered as they headed up the hillside for dinner and the sora waddled behind them, its bright yellow beak like a beacon set against the blue feathers on its face. "It's cute," she remarked.

"At least it's compact," Lisa retorted with a dry look at Su. But she felt the heat in her cheeks, so she wasn't surprised when Su laughed.

At the Ravenclaw table, Su sat across from her, and Lisa sat beside Mandy, both of them continuing to pretend not to know that Mandy was hiding food like rolls and crackers in her napkin-lined, magically expanded pockets. It was hard not to notice, with how much food disappeared around her, but Lisa figured it best not to make a deal of it so long as—

"Amanda."

Lisa stopped midsentence reminding Su that tomorrow morning would be an early one. She turned to gawk at Jack on Mandy's other side and, surprisingly, Su gaped at him, too. No one, literally no one, called Mandy by her full given name.

Mandy stared at him, but Jack pushed on with a brave calm Lisa admired. "I know what you're doing."

Mandy bristled, her face flushed bright red. "How dare you call me that! I told you months ago that—"

"Don't keep doing it," he interrupted with an even tone.

She closed her mouth, possibly at a loss for words.

"Please, don't." Jack shook his head, a sigh caught somewhere in his motions as he plucked the roll from her hand and discreetly returned it to the dinner table. To keep her from continuing in her mission, he held her hand and laced their fingers together, keeping Mandy's hand occupied.

Mandy ducked her head afterwards and ate silently for the rest of dinner, and Lisa and Su couldn't bear to watch anymore. Yes, Mandy didn't pocket anything else that night for the D.A., but it was painful to watch her snatch her hand away from Jack when supper ended. She darted out of the Great Hall ahead of the rest of them.

Jack stood awkwardly with Lisa and Su. "…sorry for ruining supper," he apologized to them.

Lisa frowned. "You didn't, Jack. I bet Mandy understands, actually. And you're not wrong for feeling the way you feel. You're allowed to love her."

Jack's cheeks pinked, complementing his green eyes, and he nodded slowly. "Even if it makes her mad?"

Lisa nodded. "That frustration of hers and your caring—they're two sides of the same Galleon, really." She smiled then, feeling the truth in her words. "Just give her a little bit. I'll talk to her, too. Have a good night, Jack."

He nodded again, to the both of them, and they left ahead of the Gryffindor boy.

Their walk back to the dorms was a quiet one. Lisa wondered if Su's mind were on Mandy and Jack, as well. She snuck a few glances to the dark-haired girl, finding a small smile toying with Su's lips, but Su said nothing and probably wouldn't even if Lisa prodded.

Up in Ravenclaw Tower, they found Mandy crying on her bed. Lisa sighed, Su shook her head and went to her own four-poster to change, and Lisa went to their friend to remedy the situation. She didn't know how Mandy and Jack had befriended each other, but inter-House bonds were cropping up often this year, and they'd grown so close, and Lisa hated to see her friend troubled and maybe even at risk of losing one of the few good things she had right now.

"Don't be mad at him," she offered, leaning against the far post of Mandy's bed.

Mandy didn't roll over. She kept her face buried in her arms atop her pillow, but her shoulders shook with another sob.

Lisa bit the inside of her cheek. Had she been too bold, promising Jack she'd speak with Mandy? Surely he hadn't inferred Lisa would help smooth things between them… Either way, she tried again, an echo of what she'd told Jack: "He cares for you. A lot. He doesn't want to see you hurt or in any sort of danger." She stopped short of adding the obvious, that the Carrows were bound to catch Mandy at some point, simply because that seemed to be how the stars had aligned against the D.A. and its supporters.

Mandy shook her head in answer to Lisa's words. She wouldn't hear any of it. She also didn't budge even when Lisa drew closer to rub soothing circles on her back, but eventually she cried herself to sleep.

Lisa drew Mandy's curtains closed and kneaded her palms before prepping for bed—who knew comforting someone could make you ache? She shook her head on the way to her bedside, knowing a pair of black eyes followed her. "I know, I know, I need to get to sleep if I'm to see Pomfrey in the morning. I'm on it," she said to Su.

"That wasn't what was on my mind," Su corrected.

Lisa glanced at her. "It wasn't?" she asked, and she hung up her bag and cloak.

Su drew her right leg up and rested her cheek against her knee. Her eyes closed partway, content, catlike. That smile was back on her lips. "…if I say it, you'll only be upset with me."

"Now you've got me intrigued."

Su rolled her head, a lazy gesture meant to point in Mandy's direction. "Your advice to her and to Jack. It was kindhearted."

Lisa flushed with pride and ducked behind her curtains to slip her nightgown over her head and shove the rest of her uniform, ready to be grabbed at first light, into a ball in front of her stack of references. Not that she needed anyone's praise, but from Su—

"It was also extremely hypocritical."

The blonde yanked her curtains open and threw a glare at Su, who shrugged. "Excuse me?!" she hissed. She calmed only when Mandy tossed in her sleep, but at least Mandy was exhausted enough not to wake and play audience to their spat.

"Just go over what you said to them, Lisa. It doesn't sound at all a little familiar?"

Lisa furrowed her brow, replaying tonight's meal in her head. "No…it doesn't."

Su got to her feet and closed the distance between them. She held Lisa's face in her hands and tilted the smaller girl's head up. "Someone who can do nothing but care on the sidelines. Someone who grows frustrated with that caring. And you said their feelings are the same."

Lisa pursed her lips so tightly that Su would've had to pry them apart. But she absolutely refused to draw the same connections Su saw in Lisa's advice. Instead, she said, "You've done anything but be on the sidelines."

"Perhaps," Su conceded. Her long fingers moved over Lisa's face, past her ears, behind her head. That was always her move before she kissed Lisa, though she kept herself in check tonight. No, tonight she brushed her nose with Lisa's and laughed darkly. "Rather, I'm actively on the sidelines. …but only because you've let me."

Lisa struggled to find the right words—sweet Merlin, how was it that Su Li of so few syllables always made Lisa feel like the mute?!—but Su dropped the topic, just as she dropped her hands from Lisa's hair. Her hand fell to Lisa's side, though, and she gave Lisa's hand a squeeze before returning to her own four-poster and pulling the curtains shut.

- ^-^3

Even if Lisa were a hypocrite and truly felt like one every time they saw Mandy and Jack and Su would send her a knowing little look complete with quirked eyebrow, these thoughts took second place in Lisa's mind. They had to as April wound down and Kevin began to hide in the dorm to make potions nearly 'round the clock and Stephen missed more and more meals to free specific books from the Restricted Section and Lisa spirited herself in and out of the Hospital Wing best she could when Alecto and Amycus weren't prowling in order not only to learn from Pomfrey but to do some proper Healing as the Carrows' tempers flared more often towards underclassmen. And, on days when the Carrows did have the way blocked, Lisa detoured and made for the seventh floor and sent her sora out to signal Terry and meet with him, that way he could start his informal training somewhere and so the Room of Requirement wouldn't be without some type of Healer, trainee or not.

Yet everything changed the last week of April.

Perhaps they'd gotten lazy. Perhaps they'd gotten overconfident. Perhaps Jack's change of heart after making right with Mandy was wrong, and his helping slip her provisions for the D.A. had become too much a game to the pair.

Lisa and Su didn't even realize something took place until Alecto already was upon Mandy at the end of supper. Lisa thought she heard Alecto call Mandy "Porky" again, same as earlier in the year—a dumb thing for a lump of flesh like Alecto to call curvy Mandy.

"No, Professor Carrow," Mandy said to Alecto.

"Your pockets," Alecto hissed. "Empty them."

Jack stood behind Mandy, the two primed to leave like most of the students. His eyes widened with fright as Mandy replied, "No."

"What?!"

Mandy fixed her posture until it was ramrod straight. "I said, no."

"Did you just say 'no' to me?" Alecto's voice was so shrill that the few around them who hadn't been paying attention to the spectacle now stopped in their tracks. It made Lisa push off the table, but Su grabbed her wrist before she could get to her feet.

"Yes," Mandy said. "I told you 'no.'"

"I order you to empty out your pockets!" Alecto screamed into her face, spittle flying. "You're taking food to traitors!"

"And I won't empty my pockets," Mandy replied as simply as pointing out nice weather. Su's grip on Lisa's wrist tightened painfully.

Alecto's growl was the only warning they had before she pointed her wand at Mandy and used the Cruciatus on her. Mandy's shrieks filled the Great Hall and echoed, rebounding every which way and reminding Lisa of the Caterwauling Charm in Hogsmeade that could be heard all the way to the school.

Lisa wanted to vomit. A Healer's duty was to Heal the sick and the wounded. Not be on standby. Not sit and twiddle her thumbs. But, between Mandy's screams of pain and Jack's sobs and begging Alecto to stop, Lisa finally realized that Su stopping her was keeping Lisa alive—and keeping her around to do the work she craved another day.

Alecto stopped, only to haul Mandy up by her hair and use the curse again, and Lisa flinched and looked away. Mandy screamed again until she couldn't anymore, and only then did her friends risk another look.

But when Mandy stopped screaming, Alecto released her of the curse. And Mandy had enough energy left to break free of her then.

These last few minutes were nothing to the next few seconds. Mandy met Lisa's and Su's eyes and gave them a nod by way of goodbye. She turned to Jack last, and then she bellowed into the room, "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" And then she ran.

The students had been filing out after dinner and paused only for fear of punishment during this altercation, and they parted to let Mandy pass and closed the gap after her to impede Alecto. It was the strongest showing of school unity since Dumbledore's funeral nearly a year ago—

—and it would not be the last.

Lisa and Su skulked about the fourth floor the next morning, having barely slept last night after Mandy left for the Room of Requirement and on edge now as a Death Eater patrolled the entrance to the Hospital Wing. There would be no secret lessons today, so the girls made their way to breakfast and ate silently and by themselves, as Kevin and Stephen had forgone the meal and the Great Hall seemed far emptier than usual, even compared to these last few weeks.

They went to half their classes, and again Lisa felt her friends' absence in spite of the mandatory attendance order every student had been made acutely aware of at the start of each term. But, after lunch, Su followed an angry Lisa back to Ravenclaw Tower.

"How can the teachers go about the day as if everything's the same?!" she hissed into the emptiness of their dorm. She threw her bag on the floor, knocking her books and Pomfrey's over and sending parchment flying.

Su exhaled and didn't offer any platitudes.

Lisa pushed her hands up into her hair, fighting back angry tears, at last understanding, perhaps, Morag's frustration. The only difference was that Lisa's frustration bolstered her to chase her dream, not throw it away. And, with a huff, Lisa sat on the floor and scrabbled together her materials, attempting to compile another list of magicks to pass along to the D.A.

By evening, there was a knock on their door. Su answered it, and a note from Stephen flew in:

Meeting with us in ten. Join? —SC

"Coming for potions, maybe," Su suggested by way of explanation.

It turned out Su was right. They joined Stephen and Kevin in the seventh-year boys' dorm, and Anthony met them along with, stunningly, Ginny and Susan. Lisa's heart nearly burst, seeing these old faces, and she gave Anthony's an arm a squeeze, half to convince herself the blond wizard was real.

Anthony beamed at his fellow eagles. "Good to see you lot well. Almost makes me wish I'd taken that bet with Michael over which of us had the best temperaments—considering how you four have held up, I knew it was an easy win."

"Trust me," Ginny interjected with a shake of her head, "no one wins in a bet with Michael Corner."

"Are you all right?" Lisa asked the youngest Weasley. "We'd heard—your family—"

But that renowned fire in her made Ginny smile. "My family's doing what they need to be doing. Harry's doing what he needs to be doing. I'm here where I'm needed."

At that, Kevin began passing out bottles of potions to her, Anthony, and Susan. "That's all I need to hear. The more arms, the better. Unless—Expanded pockets?"

Susan shook her head. "Haven't had the time to charm much. Do you have a bag you could loan us?"

The curly-haired boy frowned. "No, just mine, and I've already put a Cushioning Charm and an Anti-Shatter Charm on it…" He didn't say why, but it didn't have to be said: Kevin was prepping for the eventuality that he and Stephen would leave the safety of the dorms.

Lisa broke the awkward silence by clearing her throat. She unfurled a foot of parchment and held it out to Ginny and Susan. "Look, I've a list of spells here, and I thought I might try teaching you two so you're not relying on Terry only," she said.

Anthony and Stephen shared a look, and the latter passed Anthony a crumpled note. "My research probably isn't as detailed, but if you want to go over the pronunciations…" He shrugged.

"Might as well give it a go," Ginny said to Susan. Their shoulders fell. "Seamus is laid up again, and Nev's practically another person, his face is that bad," she explained after an odd beat.

Lisa nodded to the boys, thankful they didn't mind her prolonging the meeting, and then got to work with the lioness and the badger. That said, even after Ginny and Susan set aside Kevin's potions and devoted their attention to Lisa, this was not an easy task. Lisa fretted that Pomfrey maybe made teaching look easy, and she was grateful when Su assisted her in correcting the redheads' wandwork.

But the better part of an hour passed without luck. Ginny turned red in the face, not unlike Ron when mad on the Quidditch pitch. Susan furrowed her brow angrily, but her eyes were glassy, as if she cried easily like her friend, Hannah.

"Ahem," Anthony interrupted, coughing politely. He gave them all a tight grin and faced Lisa. "Might I try, Healer Turpin?"

Lisa settled him with a dry look but nevertheless next tried to teach Anthony. She hoped he might've picked something up, being Terry's boyfriend. Alas, he wasn't much better than either Ginny or Susan.

"That's it," she groused, snatching her notes off Stephen's bed and rolling the parchment back up to tuck into her cloak. The sharpness of her tone made the others jolt—well, except Su.

"Lisa," Anthony began, "you can't blame us… We're brand-new to this. You've been at Madam Pomfrey's side for months. That's—"

Susan glanced at her wristwatch and squeaked. "Ginny, Anthony. Oh, holy Helga. We've been here more than two hours! We've got to go."

"And I'm coming with you," Lisa declared.

Six pairs of eyes flew to her. Anthony gaped at her. "…you're certain?"

"As certain as rain in England."

Ginny snickered at that and raised her eyebrows at Anthony. Then she settled Lisa with a more serious stare. "Are you ready as-is? We can spare one minute more, and even then that's…"

Lisa didn't need to hear more. She left Su with them and ducked to the girls' dorm, cramming all of Pomfrey's things into her bag's Expanded pocket and fitting what else she might need until—shock of all things—her bag actually couldn't fit anything else. Lisa reluctantly set aside a book on counter-curses, hoping instead that Stephen had done enough reading and passed enough knowledge along to the others to cover what Lisa couldn't bring. She returned to them a minute later and left with them in seconds, leaving Stephen and Kevin behind, spying a scared hug between the two boys as the door closed behind the group.

It was no surprise that five, not four, of them sped across the castle to the seventh floor and entered the Room of Requirement that evening. But it seemed deafening after the quiet of the castle to be greeted by the noise inside the hideout, and they were rushed by the likes of Terry, Michael, and Parvati—Dean and Justin, as well, had made it back to the castle, even though Justin was a Muggle-born and everyone in their year had heard the rumor behind Dean's family that had led to him being on the lam.

"What's going on?" Terry asked Anthony, since Lisa and Su were at the back of the group.

"You didn't run into any more trouble, did you?" Dean asked. But he was the tallest in their year and spied the new additions before they had the chance to catch up, and relief flooded his features in the form of a bright smile.

Ginny shook her head at the gaggle. "No, it's—" She gestured exasperatedly and glanced to Lisa. "Well, Lisa, you can explain," she offered, stepping aside for the blonde to take the floor.

Lisa ignored the surprise evident on Terry's and Michael's faces. "I decided," she began, "it was high time for me to join you lot down here." She squared her shoulders. "At first, I was just adding to Stephen's list of helpful spells for everyone, but, when Ginny and Susan told us about Seamus and Neville, I couldn't sit still any longer. So, I'm here."

Her audience nodded and/or whistled appreciatively, and Justin's friendly smile was just as welcome as Dean's. Michael, however, eyed Terry and snickered. "Nice to know we've a competent Healer now," the shaggy-haired eagle teased. Some color dusted Terry's cheeks at the ribbing.

Lisa grimaced. "Joking aside, I'm here, so let me put to use the skills Madam Pomfrey has risked her life teaching me in secret this year," she huffed, not partaking in Michael's teasing and saving her remarks about Terry's skills (or lack thereof) for later. She spied Seamus resting in one of the far hammocks then, and she cut across the room with Su on her heels and the others' eyes on her back, no doubt wondering where the formerly polite and sweet Lisa Turpin had gone in the tumult called their seventh year.

Lavender stepped aside when they reached Seamus. "Oh, he's—" she began.

Lisa shook her head. "Asleep or not—doesn't matter."

Lavender made a face. "No need to be rude. I was going to tell you what happened."

"I don't necessarily need that yet," Lisa added. She was vaguely aware of the impressed look Su gave her when Lavender scowled, but Lisa had to concentrate. One of Pomfrey's first lessons was to teach Lisa the Scanning Spells, and Lisa went through them one by one, from outer layer to inner. And these were not yet things she had mastered nonverbally… "Dermispecto," she muttered under her breath.

Seamus had some minor cuts and old bruises which the spell allowed her to pinpoint beneath his filthy uniform and under makeshift bandages. Those were easy enough to fix, and the next Scanning Spell showed her no broken bones, just old breaks that had mended all right after being set correctly. Another scan—no vessel issues or blockages. Another scan—ah. No bleeding, but had Death Eaters stopped wielding magic and begun kicking students while they were down on the floor?

"…oh," Lisa said quietly. She lowered her wand and met Lavender's stare.

"Yeah, 'oh.' Not all of the Death Eaters know the Carrows' tricks, Turpin. Some of them are plenty content to beat the shit out of us the good, ol' Muggle way." Angry though she was, Lavender's eyes were puffy, and she leaned, tired, against the edge of Seamus' hammock.

Lisa shared a look with Su, who nodded. Then she looked back to Lavender. "Look, he'll be all right. But take one of Kevin's potions, for the internal bruising, and Seamus will be back on his feet in no time."

Lavender pouted at her and squinted her eyes, as though trying to decide whether to snap at Lisa again or to drop the subject. "…thanks," she said after an odd beat.

They left her to tend to Seamus then, and Lisa knew she still had Neville on her list. But they saw his face and Lisa realized working on him would sap her energy, so she made a detour when she and Su caught sight of Mandy and Jack by one of the windows.

Mandy almost squeezed the life out of her. "It's so good to see you again!"

Lisa hugged her back, lingering. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed the others, even if they'd only been separated from Mandy for barely twenty-four hours. When Mandy pulled away, Lisa gave her a smile. "I can't just keep passing on my knowledge to Terry," she said. She thought back on Michael's teasing and realized that there probably was an ounce of truth in them. "Someone who knows what she's doing had to come down here and heal victims when needed."

Mandy grinned at her uncharacteristic cheekiness, and even Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.

But that was all Lisa could spare herself a break. Afterwards, she and Su took up post by Neville, who faded in and out of sleep while Lisa worked her spells and rationed some of Kevin's potions to try and make the D.A.'s de facto leader recognizable again. By the time Neville had just a black eye and a dozen cuts across his face (there was nothing she could do about a missing tooth), Lisa collapsed against Su's chest and fell asleep late that morning the first day of May.

- ^-^3

"How did we get to May like this?" Lisa mused as she and Su made the rounds in the Room of Requirement and checked on the inhabitants later in the day. Mandy, Lisa had glimpsed last night, did a headcount before she calmed down; Lisa preferred to check in with every student and ask if anything hurt and Healed them as needed and called Terry over if there were anything she weren't certain he knew.

Su slid a supportive arm around Lisa's waist and tucked the blonde's head against her shoulder. "Surviving is all that matters right now," she said.

Lisa sighed and nodded. It was a good reminder, and it was a nice one to hear in Su's husky voice. Even with the room full and still some underclassmen trickling in, Lisa knew she could pick this voice out of a crowd. It was a comfort, a rare sane thing in this insanity.

Speaking of insanity—Neville and some of the others seemed to be in…well, not in top shape but at least in a good mood today. Neville kept going on about something good happening today, though none of them had the foggiest what that might be, especially since Mandy could no longer spirit them extra food and they had to rely solely on Aberforth's unique cuisine again.

But perhaps Fate rewarded the hopeful. After all, later that night, Harry, Hermione, and Ron returned to the castle via the Room of Requirement—that very portrait passageway bringing them mildly edible rations brought them a fighting chance.

No sooner did the trio return than was there a clamor in the school and a closer commotion directly outside the Room of Requirement. But, much to the seventh-year Ravenclaws' delight, that was Anthony and Terry on watch and letting Stephen and Kevin inside. Stephen and Kevin had not sent an avian signal this time; instead, Stephen had conjured his red-winged blackbird and the pair had followed the bird to the Room of Requirement.

"About time you blokes showed up!" Terry said when he and Michael closed the door behind the newest arrivals. "You had us worried there, wondering if you'd be trapped up there in the dorm or trapped in the Great Hall with Snape."

"Is it true, that Harry's back?" Stephen asked. Beside him, Kevin took in not only the expanse of the Room of Requirement but just how many people it had come to protect.

"Yes," Neville answered him, and he motioned to others as he spoke. "And he's got a job to do, so let's do ours."

Lisa initially missed what the Golden Trio's objective was—she thought someone mentioned Ravenclaw's diadem—but Su caught her up after Lisa looked Kevin and Stephen over briefly to ensure for her own peace of mind that, yes, both were unharmed. No sooner had Harry, Hermione, and Ron left than did Ginny, Neville, and Luna on their own mission (or missions), and Seamus, Parvati, and Dean went about organizing the remnants of the D.A. and the older students who could fight. It was a boon that some of Gryffindor's former Quidditch players had returned to join the fight.

But whatever plans Seamus and the rest had, Michael felt the need to pull aside his Housemates. His raised his eyebrows at the nine others. "Anyone have any suggestions?"

Stephen frowned and looked around their little circle. "The spells I sent—has anyone practiced them?"

Padma frowned, and Lisa shared in Stephen's grimace, that their classmates had not quite been up to the task… "A few have," the Indian witch admitted. "Just the wording. I wish we'd had time with a real teacher to teach them…"

Lisa quashed an urge to yell at them; she was already fed up enough from yesterday, trying to teach Anthony, Ginny, and Susan. (She also tucked away a mental note to work on her bedside manner, whether showing someone else the ropes or working on a patient.)

"I've at least got potions," Kevin piped up. He opened his satchel and rummaged around, pulling out two in each hand. "In general, blue is poison and/or acts like an acid, green will explode, purple will cause side-effects, and red will make the pain go away."

"That's brilliant, Kevin!" Mandy chirped. She took one of the red phials and looked expectantly at him. "Got any more for healing?"

He nodded. "Orange—a few." He glanced at Michael. "If we're splitting up into teams, I'd suggest one of the orange ones per team, though each is about only two servings."

Terry gawked at Kevin's inventory. "Merlin! And to think I've had Lisa helping me with Healer spells!"

All right, now that was just a low blow. Lisa raised a disapproving eyebrow at Terry and cleared her throat. Was he or was he not dedicated to becoming a Healer?!

All the praise went right to Kevin's head, and his cheeks were rosy as he smiled at the lot of them. It was rather infectious. "It's all right. Steve helped."

Not even Su could help herself when all eyes landed on Stephen, whose face flushed with brief color. But then Stephen cleared his throat. "I guess we're not all going to be on one team, yeah?"

The question was a sobering one. There were several averted gazes in the group, and the tension didn't break even when Anthony spoke. "Safer…," he said, "…that way, for some." There was no missing the look he gave Terry.

Despite that and a bad joke about a double civil ceremony after from Morag, poking at both pairs, the Ravenclaws got back on track, with only Michael pausing to converse with some of the other D.A. members. With the extra input, they split up, mostly into groups of four.

"You can't seriously think everyone's got to be on the frontline?" Lisa asked Padma and Michael before they left with Ernie and Leanne to defend Ravenclaw Tower. "I'm not a soldier—"

Michael pried her hand from Padma's arm, though. "Tonight, we are whatever we have to be, Lisa."

Padma frowned at him and patted Lisa's hand sadly. "We'll see you on the other side of all this. Promise." Her smile was big…and brittle.

That was the last Lisa could dawdle. Su tugged her back to their group, the sole Ravenclaw-only one with Stephen and Kevin, and Lisa realized her luck as the quartet headed to the kitchens to alert the house-elves as the battle began around them. She was lucky, because she was not scared out of her wits like Kevin, who looked ready to cry as they ran in the corridors, and because, even though she'd had to set aside her Healer duties to fight, Su was by her side without Lisa even asking, without it even occurring to Lisa to consider all the ramifications of them being in the same squad.

Another stroke of luck: The house-elves already knew what was going on. Laughter bubbled up in the back of Lisa's throat, seeing the creatures fight Death Eaters with their own magic and with anything edible on hand, though she swallowed her laughter as she and her friends made a detour.

They changed course, heading back upstairs to make better use of themselves. "Stick together!" Stephen shouted from the head of their group.

Though the battle had just been beginning on their way down, it was in full swing as they emerged upstairs. They encountered three Death Eaters who were not interested in chasing underage students fearful of fighting back. No—these Death Eaters wanted to play with their food.

Stephen froze. Kevin was useless at his side. Su possessed an odd sort of calm that flowed into Lisa when the girls' arms brushed.

In the blink of an eye, their opponents began casting magic, all of it nonverbal, giving them the element of surprise. That made this challenge reek of impossibility, but Lisa and Su met them head on, and Stephen and Kevin fought back once they gathered themselves.

The thing was, Lisa and Su also knew their share of nonverbal magic. Their House was well-known for producing students who could do it by sixth and seventh year, even if they couldn't master it for every little spell. Additionally, Madam Pomfrey had insisted that so many of her spells Lisa learn nonverbally, so Lisa had had extra practice. Su—well, Su was a natural, Lisa observed.

The witches took on two of the three Death Eaters, one each, and Lisa felt surprisingly calm as if she were Healing. She and Su fought, backs together, and they held their own, no matter how fast the curses and hexes and jinxes came at them. Lisa deflected and rarely ducked, but she literally felt Su's movements with their backs flush and knew that, no matter how she moved, they wouldn't make a mistake and be caught by each other's opponent.

A crash sounded, and one of the Death Eaters shrieked. Kevin jumped for joy, one of his experimental potions having done wonders on his and Stephen's foe. But that caught the attention of the burly Death Eater facing Su, and he stalked after the boys.

There was a break in their fight now, with two against one. However, the remaining Death Eater realized the circumstances and began a fresh attack. Each spell came faster and did more damage, raining pieces of the castle around them in the process…though he could not be solely to blame, Lisa acknowledged as she rubbed a knot of dread in her chest and opened her ears to the explosions happening all around them now. Near, not far.

Lisa and Su tried to find Stephen and Kevin, but they'd lost sight of them, and their own duel turned desperate. Su snatched Lisa's right upper arm in time for them to dodge a bolt of neon red light. Then, with her eyes on their opponent, Su licked her lips and said, "Hear me out, Lisa."

Lisa did a double-take and ducked as another spell flew overhead. She glared at Su for trying to converse now of all times. "What? No! Just duel, you fool!" When they could, they broke into a sprint and crossed the corridor, where more of the wall remained and provided better cover.

"Lisa. Please."

Another double-take. But now Lisa furrowed her brow, frightened not only by the plea in Su's voice but by the girl's horrendous timing. Lisa opened her mouth to protest, but they both held a Shield Charm in place for a moment as dozens of spells pelted them.

When there was an opening, Su pushed Lisa down behind a broken column—no, not a column but a broken doorframe to an empty classroom. "I know we're barely adults," she said while they caught their breaths. "But hear me out: I love you, Lisa Turpin. I've been gobsmacked since I first met this angel-haired roommate of mine, to the point where I've been almost mute these last seven years."

Lisa stared at her as though Su had two heads. She was panting—why wasn't Su? And, really, saying all that all at once—how did Su have any breath left? Something else clicked, too, and Lisa blushed furiously, embarrassed that she realized this last. "Wait—you mean you normally talk as much as the rest of us?!"

That damnable small smile of hers graced Su's lips. "I'm a little chattier around Morag," she confessed, "because she had some expertise in picking up on my feelings for you."

Oh. Oh, Merlin. Lisa felt a headache coming on. Too much heat was flooding her cheeks as she grasped that likelihood because they all knew Morag was, at least to their dorm, an out and proud lesbian. Lisa shook her head and kept herself from sighing or snarling. "Why bring all this up now?" she asked, almost too softly given their current setting. "It's not the time for doom talk, Su." As if to help prove her point, the Death Eater's latest hex sent a shower of stone pebbles over Lisa's back.

But Su only pulled Lisa closer, further from danger. "Because," she said when Lisa looked up at her, "I simply want a promise."

Lisa swallowed a lump in her throat. Promises were never a good idea in wartime.

"Not for a return of affections," Su assured her. She rested her forehead against Lisa's and closed her eyes briefly. "Not for a rejection. Just for an answer. I've read that, for some, 'love' is a heavy word. It doesn't mean the same thing to everyone." She met Lisa's eyes. "So, after all this is over, a little down the road, I want to meet with you again, and I hope you'll have weighed what you do and don't feel so that you can give me an answer: Do you love me back?"

"Su, I—"

But the bombardment of spells interrupted them. It was too much, too rapid-fire, and their cover would bury them if Lisa and Su didn't come out of hiding. It was also the first time Lisa had ever seen Su irate: The peaceful witch literally growled as she stepped out from behind the crumbling doorframe, returning fire with hexes of her own and attempting to advance on him with each spell. One of Su's spells managed to connect with one of the Death Eater's, and the remnants of the corridor flashed with bright light.

Lisa whipped her arms up to cover her eyes. The connection broke, and Lisa and Su noticed that half a beat after the Death Eater did. And that half a beat allowed him to react faster than either witch.

He aimed his wand at Su, and again there was bright light, but it was blinding white this time, and Lisa had not been quick enough to shield her eyes. She kept blinking, trying to regain her sight, but all she saw were stars and stars and stars and stars…

…the stars faded.

Lisa's stomach dropped.

Su was nowhere to be seen.

No body. No blood. Nothing.

Lisa's mind worked overtime, flipping through a mental card catalogue of information, thinking that perhaps the spell had been nastier than she could've imagined. A part of her froze with fear, recalling Pomfrey explaining the different types of matter to her, explaining a little bit of Muggle science because who knew when you might need it when Healing out there in the real world? And all Lisa's mind could do was circle back to the different states of matter and come back to vapors and even dismiss herself because what if she were recalling incorrectly that vapors weren't a type of matter…but, no, vapors…vapors counted, vapors were gas, and people could be vaporized since people were mostly water…and, therefore, in conclusion, she had reason to fear the existence of a spell that could've literally vaporized Su Li from existence. (Never mind that there ought to be some sort of evidence—no, that part of Lisa's rationale would not be heard right now.)

Her brain processed this in mere seconds. And those seconds were all the Death Eater needed to gather himself and turn his attention on Lisa. The screech of stone on stone as he shuffled through rubble and took a step towards her was all the warning she'd get.

And it was enough to snap Lisa out of her daze, assess her chances, and choose to run for her life, forgetting any hopes she might've had of surviving this war….

- ^-^3

It was humid for the middle of summer. But, standing here, outside of Dumbledore's old office, the weather wasn't much of a concern.

McGonagall and Flitwick turned when they heard his footsteps coming up the stairs on the right. Both of them tipped their heads to Harry in greeting, and he did the same, though he and McGonagall shared a brief embrace, as well, making Flitwick smile. Then the three of them stared at the spiral staircase.

"New year soon," Harry prompted.

McGonagall sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. "It still feels too soon…," she remarked.

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he glanced down at Flitwick. "Is there something the matter? Hogwarts has always, um, run in spite of everything." He scratched the back of his head, making his hair more of a mess. He winced. "…I figured you were done with Ministry involvement. But if you think Kingsley has the sway, I'm sure he'd push the term back for you if asked."

She shook her head. "No. Nothing of the sort, Potter. We're restructuring the faculty list—there are still kinks to work out. We can't even have all the classes anymore and this—" She stopped, gesturing to Dumbledore's office. But she lost steam and dropped her hand. "…I may be headmistress now, but…I can't find it in myself to move in here yet." McGonagall frowned and shook her head again, passing by the two wizards. "Excuse me."

They watched her leave, but Harry and Flitwick remained there awhile longer. When Flitwick felt the timing was right, he turned his more cheerful countenance on his former student. "And how go things, Mr. Potter, out there?" he asked, tilting his head up.

Harry smiled wanly and stuck his hands in his denims pockets. "Professor Flitwick…"

"Hmm?"

"Have you done any more searching on the grounds? Or in the surrounding areas?"

Ah, yes. Not an unexpected question. Flitwick shook his head and clasped his hands in front of him. He dropped his gaze. "…no, Harry. Minerva called off the searches. We had to, in order to focus efforts on finishing castle repairs for the incoming school year." He clenched his jaw. "All we've done is to presume Stephen Cornfoot dead, but—" Flitwick squeezed his hands until his fingers hurt. This was not supposed to be a part of teaching.

"Professor." Harry waited until he had Flitwick's attention and then he offered the Charms professor a compassionate look. "I'll personally keep feelers out regarding Morag, Lisa, and Su. Unlike with Stephen, there's no evidence to rob us of hope, so—" Harry nodded, believing in his own promise. "Professor, until every person…or until every body…makes it home, we don't have to give up. We won't."

All this from the Boy-Who-Lived…now the Boy-Who-Won. So, of course, Flitwick nodded, wanting to believe him—though the stark reality of months of dead ends left the Head of Ravenclaw House sad and unconvinced and wishing to stop wondering what had happened to his students.

- ^-^3

B) Following that epilogue, I'm ready for the feels, *LOL*. Looking over old art from 2013 and working on a timeline for the Maydayverse (my overall HariPo headcanon) helped me to flesh out this idea, which had v loose bones from yrs ago. Even tho its sister stories "Zugzwang," "if you fall at midnight," and "A Life Well-Lived" have been complete for ages, getting the record straight about LisaSu has been a challenge for me, esp when rereading "No-Fly Zone" lead me to the discovery that (tho it has great inspiration) that LisaSu story is not, in fact, MDV. There are just too many inconsistencies. So fast-forward to 2020 and I write "yours, mine, & ours" (after some other MDV Morildas) and FINALLY write "the broken ones" and LisaSu clicks into place for me (esp regarding Healer stuff and the world-building that goes hand-in-hand with that, magic and whatnot). Now, if you have read my grown eagle fics, you know not to despair here for LisaSu; if not, then please go read "A Fuller Nest" and await the forthcoming "fire in the water," set some time after this. I honestly never thought I'd write so much about the eagles in Harry's year, but…here we are. *LOL* ALL that aside, my only LisaSu commentary is that theirs is a shown love more than a talked-about love, until Su professes, which felt like a nice change compared to some of my other fics. If you're wondering about Mandy & Jack Sloper, then go read "Zugzwang." If you're wondering about Stephen & Kevin, then go read "if you fall at midnight." If you're wondering about Terry (and Anthony), then go read "A Life Well-Lived." P much everyone named in this fic is not an OC, until we count Emma Runcorn, who I consider to be the bespectacled Slytherin girl in the Golden Trio's year (since I gave her a name, I sorta treat her as an OC—oof, so messy, ah, well). About classes: It makes sense to me that Oliver Rivers & Megan Jones would be forced out of a class they might want/need, given that the Death Eaters prolly would've given preference to Slytherins first and then perhaps Ravenclaws and then Hufflepuffs if absolutely necessary; obvo no accommodations would be made for Gryffindors if they could help it. :O (Or at least that's how my headcanon works for classes this year. XD) And an interesting note: The song "Zero" by Bump of Chicken played while I was working on this; and BOY that Final Fantasy Type-0 theme song is way too apt for a wartime fic, *LOL*.

Thanks so much for reading, and please review!

-mew-tsubaki c,: