06. After Hours
Beyond the door, they watched as a new step was hewn from each one before it. Down one level after another, the castle's browning stone slid into place with a chalky noise, and the ceiling similarly melted back as it formed downwards. Ginny wondered exactly what kind of security Neville was asking for. She and Luna crossed the threshold to the first stair and climbed further down than ever to the Room of Requirement.
Inside, the walls were plastered and painted calming blue. The ceiling soared two stories high, smoothly domed, and the entire floor sank comfortably under their feet. None of the equipment from the last DA was there, but a gaggle of girls were passing around toys and strange gizmos in a circle.
"I used to have one of these," a sixth year Hufflepuff sighed as she curled a ribbon around her hands. The Mood Rainbow fluttered and sank from curious yellow to orange content, a couple boys glancing around her elbow.
Neville paced a far wall alone. Another group of students gathered at a corner, where the plaster of the wall morphed into a series of images. Van Gogh's Starry Night was replaced by an obscene carving that sent the group falling over each other with laughter. This, too, was erased and a girl asked "what next?"
Macmillan, still wheezing, caught sight of Ginny and Luna and straightened up. "O-okay, just make sure the wall's still fireproof when you're through," he loudly told his peers. He made a beeline for Ginny. Before she asked, he announced his report. "No defences. The Room wasn't trapped."
"Of course it wasn't, what about outside?" Ginny demanded.
"Nothing," Ernie said, and continued to her disbelief. "Been in here for hours, nothing. I was on watch, but no one showed. You didn't see a soul either, did you?"
Neville kept marching, back, then forth. Ginny watched him over Ernie's shoulder, feeling more paranoid by the second. He and everyone else there had an otherworldly quality to them. Snape would never let them stay in this place, but trying to keep that in mind felt eerily like hanging onto your personal logic from inside a dream. It was like reality was bending around whoever entered the Room
"Snape's just waiting to trap us all at once," Ginny insisted in spite of this.
"How? He doesn't know where we'll leave."
"I know," she said, vehemently. They could make their own doors. . .could keep him out, easily. . .and any magic someone else tried to leave inside the Room wouldn't apply to them, if safety was a requirement. Could Snape modify the Room's magic? Even he couldn't, right?
Macmillan happily waved at a candy box in the middle of the floor gathering. "Mrs. Longbottom sent a present. Neville's sharing."
Ginny was still grasping at any straw imaginable for why anyone would leave the Room up for grabs. "Oh, Ernie," said Luna dolefully, "someone can have mine. My dad sent me chocolate too."
"For pulling the prank of a lifetime?" Ernie asked.
Prank? Ginny, caught off guard, shared a look with Luna, but she didn't seem to understand either. "Well, it makes a nice story, doesn't it?" Ernie continued, smiling at Luna. "Shame you couldn't get the sword all the way out, but I wish I'd been there! Alecto goggling at you with her wand spinning in the air. . ."
Ernie chuckled. Ginny was floored. Who'd fight Death Eaters head on for a prank?
"Uh. I mean, I wish we'd done better," she admitted without contradicting him. "It really could've gone differently."
"You are all feeling better, though? Neville said-" Ernie gestured back, but as soon as he did Neville turned to approach, greeting them pleasantly despite his drawn expression.
"Hi, Luna, Ginny," Neville projected, "can't even imagine how we'd test if we're detectable-but I keep asking DA only, DA only today or in this room ever and nothing changes, so either it's as good as it's getting or the magic's done listening to me," Neville huffed. He stopped between Luna and Ernie. "Still don't know how Peeves got in."
"He's not really a person," said Ernie as Luna said, "I invited him to the meeting."
The conversation ground to a halt. Luna, scrutinising them all from a desk chair that had come out of nowhere, peered between the group in a manner academic.
"Did you invite Sir Nicholas?" Luna asked carefully, as if this were so very obvious.
"Alright, we'll talk to him, them. Later," said Neville, and changed the topic. "What were you all talking about?"
"Mistakes," said Luna out of the blue. The chair she sat in was bright underneath. Ginny had the rude realisation that the room had no lights, that everyone was being lit from every possible direction all at once, casting no shadows.
"Oh, Nott and his knee?" said Neville. "Everyone said he was fine by the time he came back to the hall, I thought Padma told you."
Conflict stretched Luna's face. "I don't know why I did that."
Ginny was as surprised by Luna as anyone, in general, but also when she was breaking someone's knees. Now Luna sounded stunned by herself. Neville only furrowed his brows at her. "You were in a hurry."
Ginny had to take a moment to contain her laugh. "It was smart," she said evenly.
Ernie added, "You did something that took someone down and distracted the other two with one spell. Nott got healed up."
"You knew what you were doing."
"He was about to help Malfoy and Snape capture us!" said Neville.
"We understand," Ernie said.
Their reassurances bounced off Luna, but she really didn't have a reason to feel bad about protecting people, or the Order. Ginny tried to restart her argument. "I don't think we should stick around in here. It's too much of a risk to use the Room regularly when we got found out here last time."
"Where else are we supposed to do the big lessons?" Ernie demanded loudly. "It's safer than a classroom."
"Until Snape shows up."
"Also a risk with a classroom."
"Would Snape even know? About the Room," suggested a girl near to them from the floor.
"The Carrows got into the castle through the Room of Requirement last year," Luna pointed out, troubled further. "Malfoy brought them through here, or his own version."
Ernie was taken aback. "Did he?"
Ginny was also still mystified by this. Then again, maybe Malfoy didn't explain the whole situation of the Room's magic to them. "The Room is a lot deeper than a Vanishing Cabinet and some piles of junk," she pointed out. "He'll, I mean Malfoy, he'll tell them everything eventually. Still, you realise it's not even a good idea for everyone to know who's in the DA?"
Many Hufflepuff's seemed confused, but Susan Bones tilted her head uncaringly. "We can reorganise things later. For now, I'd rather not have everyone hexing each other in the middle of the common room."
With more people paying attention, Neville dove into the material for the actual meeting. "Actually, we were thinking we should limit information, so only essential people know about any given, uh, mission. So we can't all incriminate what someone's doing, the day of. Some wizards can take information out of people's minds, I found an article saying it was one of the topics Dumbledore banned after the war."
The mood turned appropriately ominous. So began more explanations about Snape, Legilimency and Occlumency. Ginny wasn't looking forward to doing it again with the Ravenclaws, but she wasn't sure even she could handle three houses at once.
/
It was finally Thursday night and there were probably Death Eaters within half a mile of the castle doors, but it was hard to hold on to the doom and gloom when the Carrows' punishment was over and they were headed to spend a night talking to Hagrid. Ginny wanted to laugh at something and get the mood going for Hagrid; his hut was surrounded by dementors, so his need for company was greater than theirs for misery, surely.
"So," Ginny asked Neville, waving the latest Prophet in her hand, "how does it feel to be a violent cultist?"
"STUDENT AND HEADMASTER BRUTALLY ASSAULTED AT HOGWARTS SCHOOL" made a bold headline, and Neville was old enough to get named in print. In contrast, the picture showed Snape at his desk giving a dismissive wave to the camera. Ginny's "disruption of class activity" and the proximity to the headmaster's office were mere asides, but at least the article made it sound like both accomplices had managed to injure the sad but dignified victims of Harry Potter's disciples.
"That was fast," Neville frowned over the article. "You'd think they wouldn't want to tell people I stabbed Snape. Seamus tells everyone."
Ginny scoffed, "Yeah, I noticed he has a crush on you," searching for the bit where they attributed the epic destruction caused by Voldemort at the Ministry to Harry's teen cult.
"Wha-?" Neville sputtered, then made an exasperated noise.
"Oh, good for you, Neville." Ginny and Neville startled in unison as Luna called to them. Ginny hid her copy of the Prophet away. Business rivalries and all that.
"Oh, are you picking on Neville? He seems unhappy," Luna bluntly inquired. It was amazing what she could say without any edge to it.
"Yes, and she's not being funny," Neville insisted darkly.
Ginny sighed. "Oh, I just don't have time to date myself. I've gotten to making eye contact with Millicent Bulstrode until she realises she wants to betray her house for me, but she deserves more than I can give her-"
"Just because she couldn't do the Curse doesn't mean she wants you," Neville said to be a wet blanket as he started heaving against the castle's great door. Ginny took pity and shoved with him.
Outside, at the edge of Ginny's vision, the sky shifted with what could be the bending of shadows around moving clouds. Or else the obvious. Their aura was already prickling around the three of them.
"So how's Ravenclaw Tower?" Ginny asked Luna.
"Busy, I think. Everyone wants to work on their own ideas," Luna answered her, leaving out that which went unsaid. Instead Luna told them of the ghosts' recent activities and Ginny and Neville listened closely. They seemed to be alone, but without sunlight, it was hard to tell the clouds over the moon from the Dementors. Ginny meant to ask which ghosts actually got on with Luna, but then the chill broke unpleasantly on her back.
Ginny's shoulders cooled from within, forcing her to squirm. A familiar voice spoke in snake song, but as the sound loudened it became clear it was her old, own little girl voice preserved inside a memory. Ginny walked faster. Neville looked behind them.
"Just go, we're almost there," Ginny said, pointing to Hagrid's hut. A good field length away. Neville and Luna had their wands out but tried to run with her, Ginny jogging to stay at their pace.
Chill sank in the air, finally reaching their fingers. Ginny raised her own wand. Whatever horror Luna or Neville met, Ginny's own could be flattened to a whisper, now. "Expecto-" Ginny turned around. Tried to remember what she had used to cast a Patronus for practice. Drew a blank.
It was over them, unnaturally close for how purposefully it seemed to move. It raised its hands from behind it. Where its sleeves slipped back, the nails were long and brittle, weak enough to break at the wrong angle, but it reached freely for them as it came down.
"FLY OFF, YEH BUGGER!" A tea kettle flew across the stars and hit the dementor's cloak. "HANDS OFF HOGWARTS STUDENTS!"
The dementor twisted backwards.
Hagrid had arrived quickly, his great coat flapping at its ends. "KNOW YOUR JOB, OR I'LL BE KNOWING IT," Hagrid shouted, "AND MAKE SURE MINERVA McGONAGALL DOES TOO!"
It cowered away, then made for the skies again. Ginny could swear it was watching them as it left. "I'm glad yeh're all in one piece," she heard Hagrid say as he came over next to them.
"Oh, hello Professor," Luna greeted him politely. "Um, I'm sorry we didn't get enough people for your NEWT course. Colin seemed very excited."
"Ah, it's fine," Hagrid said immediately. "Wouldn'ta been safe bringing dragons in with only three of ya. I really 'preciate you all tried. Means a lot." He took both girls by the shoulder and beamed at them. Ginny wasn't convinced Luna actually liked Hagrid, but they had equally little fear of getting eaten.
Letting go and straightening his coat, Hagrid regarded Neville. "So, Longbottom? Long time no see. Still got that toad you used 'ta carry round under all your hats?"
"Trevor lives in the dorms now," Neville declared in embarrassment.
"For the better, aye? Thing kept tryna hit the woods like it didn't know everything in there would eat it." Hagrid shook his head and bade them all to follow.
Luna asked, "What sort of plan do you have for tonight?"
"Jus' a delivery. Bit too much for me to carry on me own, that's all," Hagrid said, and began pulling several burlap bags with dirt crusting their bottoms off the ground. Ginny was expecting fertiliser, but her first bag was light. Where the seal came loose her senses were knocked back by the scent of fruit and mint.
Ginny found herself piled with three more bags, one dizzyingly lemon. Neville asked, "Is that Citronella? You have a cat problem?"
"Nah, there's never been a wild cat in these parts. Jus' spiders. Only problem is we need buckets o' all this and the centaurs wan' it charmed to stay fresher. Finally lowered 'emselves to gettin' human help."
Hagrid took seven bags under his arms and into his left hand, trusty lantern swinging from his right, and lead the way into the woods. "The great git came down and told me it takes 'time' for lessons to stick, so I should get ye as many nights o' menial labour as would be necessary," he groused. The brush was a little muddy, but Hagrid took great purposeful steps in his sturdy boots and always had to do so slowly for Ginny to keep pace. "But this was the only big job I had for a while. I'm happy to let you off after tonight, Snape be damned."
"We'd love to come down again," Luna offered.
"Yeah!" Ginny exclaimed. It had been weeks since she had been out this far. Between so many events she hadn't made it out for tea yet.
"Alright, whenever you'd like, though. If ya need an official reason I suppose I can go up to the castle and tell everybody one," he offered, and Ginny remembered that she might not even have been allowed out if she'd tried to leave the castle on her own.
Ginny stayed as close to the light of Hagrid's lantern as she could, summarising student affairs while Hagrid shared teaching ones. This kept her from tripping in the brush as Neville did, though she did drop one of her bags in the dirt and had to wipe her face of the grime it subsequently shed on her. Neville and Luna trailed behind, audibly lost in their own world.
"I was thinking about releasing Trevor into the black lake," Neville told Luna. "Just, you know, in case no one's around to feed him some days."
"He might enjoy the time with his own kind," Luna said sagely. "I don't know if Trevor loves you the way you love him."
Neville gulped. He wiggled his grip over his bags a bit when he saw Ginny glancing back. "I don't think Trevor ever actually wanted to be a pet," he finally admitted.
"Sometimes loving someone means letting them go."
"Thanks, Luna."
Hagrid trailed off his own anecdote about Snape's behaviour in staff meetings to listen. He looked at Ginny sentimentally. "Ah, you got your own gang now," he said loudly. "I remember, you were so convinced you wouldn't get those Gryffindor girls to pay attention to ya. And you went and made your own crowd. Good on you."
Ginny became very embarrassed and focused very firmly on the fact this was a compliment. "Yeah, I kinda flipped to new people every year for a while."
Hagrid nodded. "Not easy to put yourself out there with different people all the time. Wish more people would be that tough for themselves." He sighed. "Sad days, seeing the war come for the school like this. You should all be worryin' about growin' up, not straight evil."
"We're pretty much grown up," Neville pointed out with such a level tone Ginny decided he had to be feigning politeness.
"Hah! That's what everyone thinks before twenty. And they're always wrong." He laughed some more, and then grunted to himself. "Well, some ways all this's easier for me than before. We know we're all in danger now. Spend enough time tryin ta survive, you forget there's anything else when the fight's gone. Spend too much time relaxin and my head starts sayin' something should be wrong, and every little thing off is a sign of it."
"That's awful," Ginny said fervently.
"Aye, it's the damage fight does to people." He looked sadly at her. "I was outta school for the last war and I still got Valerian in my tea jus' so I don't hit the bottom of a bottle too often. Las' time the school was ours, right? Albus Dumbledore woulda never let any Death Eater take Hogwarts, not while he had somethin' ter say about it." He shook his head. "Straight evil."
Ginny had a harder time seeing ahead of them all in the dark of the woods. At night the leaves themselves became the sky. When something scrabbled its way up a tree she tried to remind herself it belonged here, and that it wouldn't have been welcome long if it had a habit of dropping down onto people's heads.
The voyage didn't take them too far before Hagrid stopped out of the blue. Ginny asked him "What is it?" He simply peered ahead, lantern aloft.
When she looked forward again, the centaurs were already there. Silent as hares, they came one step further and stopped several metres away.
"Heya, Clove," Hagrid greeted one.
"Have you brought foals before us to win sympathy?" Clove immediately said with distaste. "The young of your kind no longer seem so innocuous to us, even with dirt on their noses."
Nearest to the lantern, realisation dawned on Ginny. She tried to reach her nose while maintaining a hold on her luggage and feeling awkward.
"They're jus' here to help me carry it all, that's it,'' Hagrid said brightly. Ginny dropped a bag in her struggling. She wiped her face up her shoulder instead and Neville giggled in spite of the atmosphere.
The centaurs maintained their distance, and urgently, Hagrid began hefting his delivery to Clove. He came back over to Ginny, still uncertain of her role in this handover, and seized those bags as well. Freed, Ginny swaggered over to Neville and shoved his shoulder. He giggled again as she did.
They quieted themselves as the centaurs spoke their business. "We remember what began this invasion of all our territories, Hagrid-"
Hagrid irked. "And that none ah this is what Dumbledore wanted, ya know that, Titus."
"We knew Dumbledore well," Titus said, impassive. He hesitated before accepting Hagrid's gift. Hagrid relieved Neville and Luna of their bags at the same time.
Clove cleared his throat. "We knew the dark wizards would become Hogwarts' problem. We asked Dumbledore that the humans not become ours." How this was Hagrid's problem, either, Ginny couldn't fathom. Except who else would the centaurs negotiate with? They had relied on Dumbledore, too.
Hagrid attempted to ply both Titus and the third one with the remaining packages at once, and the third centaur bent forward to save a package from slipping off Hagrid's elbow. Hagrid stepped back and grunted.
"I know yah saw this comin'! And I'm not sure what else yeh're hoping for."
The third of the centaurs, tawny, spoke up. "These times make us weary, Hagrid."
"And what 'bout Firenze?" Hagrid asked harshly.
"Firenze's path is his own."
"So whatever happens, happens? Couldn't jus' bring him home?"
"We have offered amends," Clove informed Hagrid. "He sees no interest."
Hagrid glared. "Aye, trust's easier to lose than earn."
"Enough of this, Hagrid," Clove demanded, and turned, bidding his clansmen to follow. "We will provide no wizard our council. May you bring each other to your lowest of your own devising."
They vanished into the forest, travelling quiet and easily in the dark. Hagrid sighed. "Sorry ya had to see that. Gotta keep the neighbours happy." He brought his lantern around and led them back through the forest.