All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

Dead Ends

I can't even begin to tell you the look that came over Albus Dumbledore's face when Harry presented him with the Marauder's Map. He unrolled it right there in the middle of the Great Hall and stared at it incredulously. His eyes widened as they sped over the surface of the parchment, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. He dropped his hands and stared at Harry.

"This is the map that Barty Crouch, Jr. meant."

Harry nodded, his hands in his pockets. He looked like he was sure he was going to be in trouble.

"Where did you get this?"

"We made it."

The five of us turned to Remus and Sirius, who had sneaked up behind us while we had been talking to Dumbledore.

"We made it when we were students at Hogwarts," Remus repeated. "You see the names at the top? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. That was us."

"You gave this to Harry?" Dumbledore asked sternly.

"Indirectly, yes," Sirius replied.

"No, Sirius, I gave it to him directly."

"But I thought he got it from Fr-" Ginny started, causing Ron to elbow her in the ribs. "Ouch!"

"Be quiet," Ron hissed under his breath.

"At the end of Harry's third year, I gave this map to him. I had confiscated it earlier on and then gave it back." Remus looked sheepish. "Sorry, Albus. It's what James would have wanted me to do."

"Indeed," Albus said dryly, his eyes twinkling. "Why was it not brought to me before now?"

Harry shrugged. "I only realised now that it could be useful to you."

Dumbledore regarded Harry for a moment then nodded.

"It could be very useful. Thank you."

Harry opened his mouth to reply when a loud gasp at the open doors caused us to turn. Arthur had arrived, Molly, Fred and George on his heels. Behind them were many other people, who I assumed were the Aurors Harry had mentioned. Molly had her hands clapped over her mouth. Bill, carrying a small student, made his way over to his parents. Arthur listened to him for a moment before nodding. He made his way to us, the Aurors behind him. One of them, a large and bald black man with a silver hoop earring, nodded to us, his eyes resting briefly on me. He returned his attention to Dumbledore and Arthur.

"That's Kingsley Shacklebolt," Hermione whispered to me. "He's an Auror and…a good friend of Arthur's."

I nodded, trying unsuccessfully to hear what Arthur was saying to Dumbledore. I sighed when Sirius turned to the five of us, his eyes blazing. I really was getting tired of being treated like I was a teenager again.

"Why are the five of you not in your dormitory?" he demanded, his voice harsh. Even Remus looked at him in surprise.

"Padfoot, they are trying to help."

"Moony, they are compromising their safety. I know each of them is smart enough to realise that we might have people who aren't victims in here and I don't want any of them to be injured." He turned his gaze to me and lowered his voice so only we could hear. "I know, Jules. You are thirty years old. However, your knowledge of magic is minimal. That is why you are being treated like you are a teenager. You may be older than these four but they do know more about magic than you. Now, I do not want to see any of you until Albus tells you that it is absolutely safe. Do I make myself clear?"

The five of us nodded silently. Remus indicated we should follow him, so we turned and followed him out into the Entrance Hall. As we walked, I noticed Albus give his wand a wave, enlarging the map even more before attaching it to the wall of the Great Hall.

"I know the five of you wish to help," Remus was saying quietly. "So, if you would like, you may go to the library for your research. I will write you a note to give to Madam Pince so you may get the books that you desire from the Restricted Section."

I saw Hermione send a sidelong glance in Remus' direction.

"We were talking about that earlier, actually," she said softly. "We thought we should look through all the books in the Restricted Section."

"I know. I'll write a note that says I've assigned the five of you to read all the books in the Restricted Section and I will come up there to speak to Madam Pince. That should make her happy and then you basically have free reign. I also want to tell her to seal the doors to the library. There should be no other students roaming the castle, and the professors are all busy. That way I will be fairly certain that you are all safe. Madam Pince is also a capable witch so, should the need arise, you will have somebody who can help defend you."

I saw Ginny swallow hard before turning to Remus.

"Is that necessary?"

Remus stopped walking, turning to look directly at Ginny.

"I certainly hope not, Ginny."

Our search of the library proved to be as fruitless as it had been before. When Remus came back for us, each of us had checked several books out, and we piled even more into Remus' arms. We didn't speak much as we walked back to the Gryffindor dormitory.

"Classes for the rest of the day will be cancelled," Remus told us as we walked. He looked sad and was reluctant to look anybody in the eye. I found this behaviour odd for Remus. "We have to get in touch with parents, and there's still the Ministry and the Daily Prophet to deal with. They want to interview survivors, but Dumbledore has told them no."

"Why wouldn't Dad say anything?" Ginny asked. "Tell them to back off."

"He has. Both the Ministry and the newspaper, but neither have listened. When I left, he was threatening to close Hogwarts to both media and the Ministry. Except the Aurors and those who need to be here, of course."

Remus sighed, staring straight ahead. Finally Harry asked the question we'd all wanted to know the answer to, but had dreaded to ask.

"Did you find Gabrielle?"

Remus closed his eyes briefly before shaking his head.

"We looked through everyone and didn't find her. However, there have been Ministry Officials at Beauxbatons, searching for more survivors, and they have not seen her either. So there is still hope, however small."

Ron gritted his teeth. "How is Fleur?"

"Not well," Remus answered truthfully. "She is helping us with the Healing, and is holding it together for the students, but I think she's pretty close to breaking point."

We had reached the portrait hole. Harry gave the password and we all moved inside. Instead of stopping in the common room, where everyone had suddenly gone silent, we moved straight up the stairs to Harry and Ron's dormitory.

"I meant to say earlier, Harry, that your idea for the house elves was an excellent one. They are efficient Healers and they did wonderfully at calming down students and cleaning them up. I also think the food and the drink helped."

Harry nodded, dropping his books on his bed. "I thought they might. And I knew they could at least help with cleaning students up, so you could tell who was who. I'm glad we thought of them. That should make them happy."

Remus dropped the books he carried on Harry's bed as well. We did the same and followed Remus back down to the common room. Gryffindor students crowded around him at the foot of the stairs.

"Today's classes are cancelled. There is too much confusion. They will resume tomorrow morning, so I suggest you use today to catch up on homework or to study for exams."

"Professor, was it You-Know-Who?"

"It would appear to be so, Colin. If you will excuse me, I must be getting back to the Great Hall. Please remain in the common room. We will provide lunch and dinner in here."

Remus made his way to the portrait hole, repeatedly telling students that he didn't have any more answers at this time.

Harry sighed as he turned to the rest of us. Without saying a word, we turned and headed back up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"Do you think Gabrielle is dead?" Ginny asked quietly. Harry, who had been in the process of picking up a book, looked up at her. His eyes blazed momentarily.

"Yes." He sat down on his bed. "I think she is dead."

"But why would they go after Beauxbatons?"

"Because Madame Maxime and Dumbledore were…are…friends. And they are our closest ally."

Hermione dropped on to Harry's bed, picking up a book. She flipped it open to a random page and started to read while we continued to talk. Soon, all of us were sitting on the beds, a book open in our laps, searching desperately for an answer.

I don't know how long we read for. I read two books and had started my third when the need to stand and stretch became too great. I noticed that night had fallen as I made my way over to the water jug. The door to the dormitory opened once more, causing me to turn and watch as Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan entered, followed closely by another boy around their age who I had never seen before. He dragged a trunk in behind him, letting it fall to the floor. His robes were slightly dishevelled, as was his hair. He had chubby, rosy cheeks and a friendly face, yet his eyes were the first thing I noticed. His eyes held the same fire, the same hatred, but the same deadened sadness, that Hermione's eyes held. The others all looked up from their books to stare.

Harry got over his shock first, jumping to his feet and moving toward the boy.

"Neville," he said quietly, shaking the boy's hand as he bent to pick up the trunk. He dragged it over to one of the other beds. "I'm surprised to see you. How are you doing?"

The boy named Neville said nothing, merely looked around the room at us all. His eyes came to rest on me, suspicion flaring in their depths.

"Who is she?" he asked quietly. Harry turned back to us, looking from Neville to me.

"A transfer student," Hermione answered softly. "From Canada. She's okay, Neville."

Neville's eyes slid sideways to look at Hermione. He slowly turned his head to face her, his eyes flashing again. I wrapped my arms around myself, fighting the urge to shiver. I knew who he was. He was the boy whose parents had died in the hospital blast.

I would probably never know the boy he had been, but the man he had become was full of hatred and rage. I was frightened of him.

"It's nice to see you back, Neville," Ginny whispered, moving forward to hug him. He accepted the hug but did not reciprocate. "How is your Gran?"

"Fine."

Ginny swallowed, glancing at Ron nervously. Neville's answer had been clipped and indicated that he wasn't interested in talking.

Ron clapped Neville on the shoulder but said nothing. Neville nodded curtly, spinning on his heel and marching out of the dormitory.

"Has he always been that intense?" I asked softly.

Seamus shook his head.

"Never," Dean answered. "He was always clumsy; accident prone. Could barely get his wand to work. I would never have believed he could become…that."

"Become what?" Hermione demanded, closing her book with a snap and jumping to her feet. She glared at Dean. "Become what?"

"So angry," Dean replied. "So full of hate. There was murder in his eyes."

"And also in his heart," Hermione spat. "Do you blame him? Could you feel any different? His mum and dad were murdered by Voldemort! You can't sit there and judge him, Dean! You don't know what he's gone through; what he's going through this very moment. You don't know what absolute courage it took for him to return to school. To Malfoy's taunting and Snape's sneer. Don't you dare judge him for it!"

Harry's hand closed on Hermione's shoulder. I couldn't help but stare at her. I hadn't seen her rage so close to the surface for ages.

"He wasn't judging, Hermione," Harry said quietly. "He was answering a question. He was merely observing that Neville has changed dramatically from the Neville we knew."

Harry glanced over at Ron. "Someone should check the Marauder's Map, make sure it is him."

"I'll go," Ginny offered, removing her wand from her pocket and holding it ready. "I wonder if he went and told Dumbledore he was back."

Harry shrugged, his hand still on Hermione's shoulder. I could see her trying to get her anger back under control.

"He didn't seem to like you much," Seamus said helpfully, grinning at me. I laughed.

"He's suspicious of her because she's new. He doesn't dislike her, he just doesn't trust her," Ron said, his eyes on Hermione's face. The anger had drained and the sadness had returned. She moved back to Harry's bed.

Ginny returned not long after, reporting that the angry young man was, in fact, the real Neville Longbottom. She bounced down on the bed beside Hermione.

"What's all this?" Seamus asked, picking up one of the books. "Advanced Offensive Dark Charms? What are you reading?"

"It's homework," Harry explained quickly, holding up the parchment he'd been making notes on.

"Homework? How come we weren't assigned it?"

"It's Hermione's fault," Ron said, glowering at Hermione. She looked up at him, her eyebrows raised. "She started bragging to Re…Professor Lupin that she'd read practically every book in the library. So he assigned us the Restricted Section."

Dean sat at the end of Harry's bed, looking incredulous.

"Assigned you the Restricted Section?"

"We are to read every book in the Restricted Section by the end of the year. If we have completed this, we get extra credit," Hermione answered dully.

I couldn't help but smile at the surprise etched into Dean's and Seamus' features. It was all just a story, of course, but we could not tell them that.

"Sounds like fun," Seamus said sardonically.

"Not particularly," Hermione responded, making a few notes on her parchment. "That's why we're up here studying instead of sitting down there telling stories with everyone else."

Dean shook his head as he stood and made his way to the door.

"We'll leave you alone then. Let you get back to your work." He made a face as he thought about the work we had to do. Seamus followed Dean quickly.

"Why is it always me who gets blamed for extra homework?" Hermione demanded, throwing Harry's pillow at Ron. He was too slow and it hit him square in the face.

The rest of us started to laugh at the indignant look that spread over Ron's face. He threw the pillow back at Hermione, who ducked. It looked as though a pillow war would break out when Harry called a halt to it and made us get back to work.

"I think it's time to eat," Ron groaned hours later, setting his book down and stretching his back. "I'm starved."

"Me too," Hermione agreed, marking her place in her book before standing up. "Let's go down."

We moved down the stairs to the common room and weren't too surprised to find a table set up in front of the fire. It was laden with food and drink.

"Professor McGonagall told us to stay here," Colin Creevey explained, indicating the table. "They're still working on the Beauxbatons students in the Great Hall. She said they are bringing more survivors soon. Though that was at least an hour ago, so they might have the new survivors by now. She also said that our classes will resume tomorrow morning."

"I hope they find Gabrielle in that group," Ron said quietly, filling a plate and moving over to the squashy chairs by the fire. We murmured our agreement as we joined him.

We sat and listened to the many conversations around us. People were still wondering why it had been Beauxbatons. Harry glanced at his watch as we listened.

"It's already after eleven!" he exclaimed. "We have been reading all day!"

Hermione frowned, glancing at her own watch.

"The students should be going to bed. We do have classes tomorrow."

She stood and made her way over to a group of first year students. They tried to argue with her but she stood firm and soon they were moving up the stairs to their dormitories. The common room slowly emptied.

"Thanks for your help, Harry," she snapped as she sat back down. He grinned sheepishly at her.

"Sorry, but if Percy had told me I had to go to bed, I would have probably used the Full Body Bind on him."

Harry's eyes widened when he realised what he said. I saw him glance at Ron and Ginny, the apology already forming on his tongue. Both of them were laughing.

"I would have liked to see that," Ron laughed. Ginny agreed while Hermione huffed at them.

Finally Lavender and Parvati went up to bed, leaving the five of us alone in the common room. Hermione had returned to get the books already. We spread our notes over two tables. Harry walked around, studying them. He shook his head in frustration.

"That's been done already," he said at one point. He sighed and flopped down into a chair, running his hands through his hair. "What are we missing?"
"What are you looking for?"

We all jumped, spinning to see who had spoken. There stood Neville, his eyes curious.

"A way to defeat Voldemort."

Neville nodded. "I figured as much."

"We've gotten no where."

Neville shrugged. "Maybe we're not meant to defeat him. Maybe he is to be the end of the wizarding world."

We all stared at Neville, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.

"You don't really believe that, Neville," Ron protested. Neville turned to Ron.

"Don't I?" he asked, his eyes narrowed. "My family is gone so why should I care if the entire wizarding world dies too?"

Ginny stood, her eyes blazing angrily. "We lost our brother in that hospital, Neville, and we don't believe that! We're not giving up!"

"Be quiet, Ginny. You don't know what you're talking about."

Ron stood too, his ears red.

"Don't talk to her like that!"

"Calm down, all of you," Hermione barked angrily. All three of them glared in her direction.

"I am merely stating my opinion," Neville said softly. "It is their choice if they wish to take offence to it."

"I can't believe that you would be so…blasé…about it, Neville," Harry said quietly. "I can't believe you don't want justice."
"Oh, I do want justice, Harry. But I am not going to sit and pore through a million books to find it."

Before Harry could respond, Neville turned and walked away.

"I can't believe him," Ron burst out angrily. "He-"

"Be quiet, Ron," Hermione snapped. "He lost his parents for goodness sake! He's bound to be angry. None of you even have a clue as to what he's going through!"

I couldn't help but look over at Harry. He looked back at me and we both turned to Hermione, unable to speak. Ron and Ginny were staring at her as well. Finally Harry stood, his body trembling with suppressed anger.

"Jules doesn't know what he's going through?" Harry repeated. "I don't know what he's going through? We both lost our parents at Voldemort's hand, Hermione. All five of us have suffered because of Voldemort. Each one of us has a clue, Hermione, a very big clue as to what Neville is going through because each one of us has been there."

"How dare you even suggest that my pain over losing Percy is any less significant than Neville's pain just because it wasn't my parent who died!" Ginny cried angrily. "You were there when we lost him; you know what we went through. How dare you even suggest it wasn't just as hard for us?"

"Neville lost his parents years ago, Hermione," Ron said quietly. "It's just that now he has to accept that they won't be coming back."

I could tell by the tears that were slipping down Hermione's cheeks that she hadn't meant to say what she'd said, but that did not stop me from being more than a little angry at her. However, it made me even angrier that Harry and Ginny, especially, were ganging up on her and making her feel even worse.

"Okay, you guys, that's enough," I spoke up. "Let her be, she didn't mean it to come out the way it did."

"That's rubbish!" Harry yelled, turning to me. "She just said-"

"I said that's enough!" I snarled. "I was here, I heard what she said, and you don't have to repeat it for me. What you could do is take a good look at that girl sitting there. If you did that, you would see how bad she feels for what she said. Leave her alone."

Harry opened his mouth to argue with me some more. I glared at him.

"Leave her alone, Harry. I mean it."

"I think we're all tired," Ron spoke up. "Maybe we should call it a night."

Harry glared at both Ron and I before snapping his book up and moving toward the stairs. Hermione lifted her chin as he passed.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't mean that you-"

"Forget it, Hermione. It's fine. Good night."

Hermione recoiled as though Harry had struck at her. She stared at him a moment before nodding.

"Good night."

I stayed in the common room while the rest of them collected their things and made for the dormitories. Hermione was the last to leave.

"Thank you for standing up for me, Jules," she whispered. "I don't even know why I said it. It just came out and it was like I couldn't stop it."

"I'm not going to tell you that it's fine that you said it, Hermione, because it made me very angry, but I know that you didn't mean it, and I will get over it. People say things they don't mean sometimes. Don't worry about it. Ron's right. We are all very tired. It's been a tough day."

Hermione nodded. "Are you going to bed?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm going to stay up and read for a while. See you in the morning."

Hermione gave me a swift hug before moving up the stairs to the dormitory. I smiled to myself as I collected the book I had been reading and made for the portrait hole.

I glanced around as I exited, feeling very exposed. I found myself wishing that I owned an Invisibility Cloak like Harry's, but that couldn't be helped. Besides, I wasn't going far.

I held my breath the whole way down the stairs. I slipped behind a tapestry as a couple of the ghosts drifted by, discussing the chaos in the Great Hall. When I was sure they had gone, I sneaked out from behind the tapestry and hurried down the corridor.

I didn't meet anybody on my way and I breathed a sigh of relief as the door to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom came into sight. I could hear voices echoing from the bottom of the staircase so I broke into a run, opening the door to the classroom just as Professor Snape and Mr Filch came around the corner. I dove into the room, hoping that they hadn't seen me.

"Jules?"

I looked up as Sirius came out of the office, a bottle of Butterbeer clenched in his hand. He looked a little bleary eyed.

"Sirius, hide me!" I gasped, running across the classroom. I ducked into the office as the door opened into the classroom behind me. I leaned against the wall, my eyes wide. Remus sat on the couch and stared at me, shock evident on his face.

"What do you want, Severus?" Sirius demanded calmly, moving farther into the classroom.

"I want to know what student just came in here."

I bit my lip, trying to breathe as quietly as possible. Remus set his bottle of Butterbeer down on the table and moved toward the wardrobe opposite me.

"A student came in here?" Sirius asked as Remus reached into the wardrobe and withdrew a silvery Cloak. The other Invisibility Cloak.

"I saw a female student enter this classroom just as Filch and I came up the stairs. I didn't see who it was, but I'm certain it was a Gryffindor. And probably one of Potter's group. They don't put much stock in rules." I could picture the sneer on the Professor's sallow face. "They seem to think the rules are below them."

Remus rolled his eyes as he hurried toward me.

"There is no student in here, Snivellus," Sirius said softly, his voice suddenly angry. "I suggest you get going to where ever it was you were going."

Remus finally reached me and wrapped the Cloak securely around my shoulders. He planted a kiss on my invisible mouth before moving away again.

"I don't believe you," Snape said lazily. "I know a student entered. Didn't you see her, Filch?"

"I did."

"See? Where is she?"

"What are you two going on about?" Remus asked, entering the classroom. "There is no female of any sort here, student or otherwise. Search the classroom and the office if you please. I assure you, you will not find anybody."

I carefully moved so I could see around the corner, making sure the Cloak stayed over my head. Snape was halfway across the classroom, an ugly scowl marring his face. Filch looked almost bored, which I found strange, as Filch seemed to enjoy nothing more than getting a student in trouble.

"I can't believe that on a day like we've just had you would even care about a student being out of bed. Of course students are out of bed. They're concerned about what is going on," Remus spat venomously. I stared at the back of his head, surprised by his angry response.

Apparently Snape was too. He stared at Remus for a moment before nodding and retreating to the door.

"Of course. I am sure that both of you will send the student back to her bed. My apologies."

The door closed behind him. Sirius and Remus both stared at each other.

"What the hell-?" Sirius started.

"He apologised and then he left?" Remus said at the same time. "He must be ill!"

I giggled which caused both of them to turn in my direction. Both of their eyes were flaming, though the flame in Sirius' eyes was anger and the flame in Remus' eyes was something I hadn't seen for a while. Had not been allowed to see. It made me ache to see the longing in his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Jules? You could be expelled."

I took the hood of the Cloak off my head as Sirius moved to the door and sealed it.

"I wanted to see how everyone was doing and I wanted to see if you found that girl," I explained quickly. "I also needed to get away from teenagers for a minute and I wanted to see Remus."

"Get away from teenagers?" Remus repeated, moving back into his office. He pulled out another bottle of Butterbeer and handed it to me. "Why is that?"
"Oh…just some arguing going on. Neville Longbottom returned today."
Neither men said anything, they merely nodded. So they did know.

"Neville was doing the fighting?"

"Not really. It was just tense and tempers flared is all. I just wanted to be around people who are closer to my age." I grinned wickedly. "I wanted to be the youngest for once."

Sirius made a silly face at me and Remus chuckled. I couldn't help but laugh as well. Remus pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling the back of my neck.

"Mmm, I've missed you," he whispered, lacing his fingers through mine. I leaned back against him.

"I missed you too," I whispered back. "How are you guys doing?"

They didn't need to ask me what I meant. Both knew.

"If I never have to do it again, I won't complain," Sirius said quietly. Remus nodded his agreement.

"We haven't found Gabrielle at all yet," Remus added. "It's harder not knowing than it would be if she were dead."

"I know." I sighed. "How is her sister doing? Fleur?"

"She was amazing all day. She helped as much as she could and she was calm and cool and supportive. It wasn't until we had everyone sorted into hospital beds that she finally broke down. Bill helped her back to the Burrow and I think he will make up a Calming Draught for her." Remus sighed, resting his head against my shoulder. "He's had enough practice at it, he should be able to brew up a Calming Draught in his sleep."

I nodded, leaning back against Remus again. His arms wrapped even tighter around me. I could feel the tension that had built up in his muscles from the stressful day.

"I hope her sister is found alive," I said quietly.

"I hope she is found at all," Sirius sighed. "Even if she is not alive, I hope we find her. It's so hard not knowing whether or not she's alive."

"I know. I hope she's found too, but I also hope she's alive."

Remus sighed but didn't speak.

"At this point," Sirius said reluctantly, "we will be lucky to find anymore survivors. They're searching the remains of the castle, but so far…"

He didn't need to add that they hadn't found anything in the castle so far. It was a dead end.

Just like everything else had been.

Hey everyone. Thanks for the reviews, sorry about the time to update (it's hockey playoff season, so that's where much of my time has been spent for the last little while!) I can't get Neville right (I'm still working on him, the way he is now is kind of annoying me). I've started on the next chapter though, and hopefully it will be up soon. As usual, let me know what you think.