Chapter 26- Restless

"Dumbledore's Army, still recruiting"

They painted it on the wall, she and Neville did. Ginny had to force herself not to vomit, remembering the other time she had painted on Hogwarts walls, even though she didn't actually remember that at all. It hadn't really been her. But this was. She was Dumbledore's Army. She had even made the name. This was who she was. Her, and Neville, and others- anyone else who wanted to be. She would hold her head high, and not throw up on her shoes.

Hannah was able after some work to manage the same spell Hermione had with the coins. Ginny wished they could reuse the same ones. She had hoped that the three on the mission would see, that the twins would see. But she also knew that they couldn't, because they didn't know what happened to Marietta's, or Cho's, or who else might not be trustworthy. Ginny had never liked Zacharias Smith. But it was always a danger that they would recruit someone new who would prove to be just as bad or worse. And that couldn't stop them. And they couldn't exactly use veritaserum or legilimency against everyone- because they didn't have access to either. Well, no one had promised that being revolutionary would be safe or comfortable.

*****Draco*****

Draco found himself standing in the hospital wing. It was stupid to come there. It was surprisingly empty, for all that Draco knew that… that more people needed it. He had seen Crabbe, Goyle, and Badlock physically injuring other students with no repercussions. Probably others were doing it too when Draco tried not to see. Probably most using jinxes instead of fists, but it amounted to the same. It shouldn't be shocking, considering official policy was in favor of the Cruciatus Curse as punishment. That was far, far worse. He would never adjust to seeing a fourteen year old Ravenclaw positively cowering when Draco walked by... made him feel like he would lose his lunch. He didn't like going to meals in the Great Hall either, but he usually would. He had to make appearances.

The hospital wing should be busy, with the number of black eyes and broken lips he'd seen casually in the hallways, but it was empty. Were students not allowed to come for a healing?

"Mr. Malfoy?" the matron asked him. She looked tired and old. Maybe everyone did. "Are you injured?"

"No," Draco answered. Because he was Theodore Nott's friend, and Ginny's fiance. It was the first that protected him better, for now. Tentatively. With the fewer questions the better. He couldn't really answer ones like 'where were you this summer?'. No one important had asked, at least yet. They were happy in their prolonged victory over the school. But he couldn't know how long that would last. He had still been underage when the summer began. That would protect him somewhat. He could more believably be taken against his will. Maybe. He had some basics of Occlumency down- something he had very occasionally worked with Andromeda on, but he should have done more. It took too much out of both of them though.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Madame Pomfrey spoke again. Hospital Wing. He was in the hospital wing.

"I'm fine," he said. "I don't know why I'm here."

"You're welcome anytime," she said softly.

What was there to say? In a different life he might be spending time there in his last year not being a patient. It interested him more than any other profession had. He had never wanted to work for the Ministry even before this. Perhaps he could have worked out a formal apprenticeship. Maybe stayed at the school doing that for Ginny's last year together. They'd be married and have their own little quarters somewhere. Their first place together.

Draco just nodded at the matron and left.

*****Ginny*****

"There must be something we can do. Something more real," Ginny said, pacing in front of Neville and Luna. Neville was sitting on a bed, and Luna lying on the floor. They'd taken the abandoned seventh year girls room as their own sometimes. No one cared about houses anymore, or the rule against boys in the girls' side. The slide was easy to work around if you knew it existed. There were always a couple school brooms around in the common room now. People had teased Neville about his first flying lesson enough that Ginny knew what happened, but he'd learned well enough at some point.

"I mean… I'm all ears for any ideas. I don't have any besides training and protecting each other and younger students," Neville said. "We know that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are doing something important set by Dumbledore, but there haven't even been any sightings. We just have to hope that Dumbledore told them everything they needed before he died," Neville said firmly. "McGonagall didn't have any suggestions of anything we could do when I talked to her on Wednesday."

In a different world, would she have been with them? If she hadn't been engaged to Draco? If she had maybe even been dating Harry? Probably not. Harry did his best to push everyone else away during danger. Hermione and Ron had lots of practice ignoring that. And Ron wouldn't want her there either. And she still had the Trace on her, so she could be caught if she did magic outside of a residence of a registered adult wizard. At least allegedly. She didn't know how it truly worked. Also, she didn't actually want to date Harry. Certainly didn't want to marry him. Things were good with Draco. Even when… nothing was right around them. Even when sometimes they didn't know what to say and just clung together or made out in the moments they had alone.

Draco knew that Dumbledore's Army was open again, that they met- and that it started with the rest of their study group from the year before, though more were quickly added. He hadn't wanted to make an appearance. Partially in case there was a traitor amongst them. It could happen. They could be training someone who could turn wand against them. But none but Luna and Neville were usually part of the highest level planning- though Hannah was invited- and as much as they trusted so many of the others. It was good. Ginny just wanted to be doing more. Maybe she didn't even want to be on their quest- but she wanted to do something.

And she was genuinely worried that Dumbledore hadn't given Harry everything he needed. He couldn't have known when Nott was going to kill him. He…

"Dumbledore left them things in his will," Ginny mumbled. "Weird things," she added. It had been a busy time, worried about Bill's wedding, and too many other things. If he hadn't had time to tell them everything in the mysterious, Dumbledore-way he had about him... but he'd left clues in his will. Though Hermione was probably better at deciphering the meaning than they would be.

"Yeah?" Neville prodded. Ginny was trying to remember what they were.

"Yeah. I saw Hermione's. She was staying in my room," Ginny said, still thinking. "It was a book. Tales of Beedle the Bard, in runes. I could read some of it. The stories looked normal," she said. "Ron.. I don't know what he got. Harry got two things, the snitch from his first game… I don't know if that was sentimental or more... and… they wouldn't give him the sword of Gryffindor, because it wasn't Dumbledore's to give," Ginny told them.

"Okay," so… the sword is the most obvious… something, but how about we start with the book?" Neville pressed.

"It was in runes, a first edition. I looked at it some. I mean, it seems like the same stories I'm sure you heard as kids. I read the ending of The Warlock's Hairy Heart, because I always hated the end of that one and hoped it was different," she admitted.

"Many of those stories are true- most of them- at least in some ways. But maybe not that one. Some of them in all ways, even ones we don't always understand. I can see if the library has a complete collection. Perhaps decipher what the Headmaster wished Hermione to learn. It's well suited to her, don't you think?" Luna asked, smiling dreamily.

"Because it's a book?" Neville guessed.

"Because a book for children is not where she expects to find wisdom. And it's a piece of her world that she hasn't likely explored," she said. 'Her' world, not 'our' world, to make it clear that Hermione belonged.

Ginny thought that Luna was quieter this year, and her words were wiser. But Ginny rather missed hearing about snarglepuffs or gutter snipes, or whatever.

"Okay… so, what makes a snitch special?" Neville asked next, looking at Ginny. "Do we think it's just that- a reminder of an early victory? I mean… it was over Slytherin, which… Dumbledore might have… taken too seriously?"

"Well, a snitch flies quickly and hides itself while not going too far. But that's over for a regulation snitch after it's been caught. There's not much magic left in it after that. It will react to the hand that caught it, to prove who caught it in a dispute, but that's about it."

"Harry nearly swallowed that snitch. Right after his broom had been hexed, trying to knock him off. The Slytherins were so mad. It was pretty cool."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Quirrell cursed it, then?" Ginny asked. Because, Ginny had heard the story from other students, but not from someone who might really know.

Neville smiled, "Hermione told me the story in third year- after my boggart," he said, which seemed pretty disconnected. "He started thrashing uncontrollably, barely holding on, yeah? Well, brilliant first year Hermione knew that that was a strong piece of magic. And, as respectful of authority as she was, she still looked at the teachers first. Some of the commentary is just mine, of course," he added. "She saw Snape keeping eye contact and moving his mouth, so eleven- I guess twelve actually- year-old Hermione Granger runs over and sets his robes on fire. And, the jinx stopped, and Harry miraculously caught the snitch before we even really knew what had happened. It was crazy."

"But… the broom?" Ginny prompted. There was no way."

"They thought that was the whole story until the end of the year, when Harry and Quirrell squared off, and Quirrell mentioned that he might have been able to kill Harry months ago with his jinx is Snape hadn't been stopping him. Honestly, Snape must have been pretty frantic to be moving his mouth at all. He's usually a silent caster on just about anything I think when it isn't needed for teaching students. If he had planned it, no one would have known it was him. Quirrell was distracted by the robes on fire, so really Hermione stopped him at the same time as Snape- which was a good thing for Harry."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Ginny said. She… wouldn't like the man, but… he hadn't let Harry die, and more recently, he hadn't betrayed Draco either, and that had to mean something.

"I mean, I'm not going to start the Severus Snape fan club here. It was a different world then. He might have thought that You Know Who was dead. He definitely had a safe job at Hogwarts under Dumbledore's watch, and this could have just been a way to further solidify his standing there. I just… can't hate him as much as the Carrows, you know? And this is from me- I know he hates me. My boggart was him for a reason, back then. I don't know what it would be now. Okay, so- not sure about the snitch. It's imprinted on the person who touches it. Maybe he could alter it to do something in response to Harry?" he said.

"Maybe. Hopefully something straight forward for him," she said. I don't think we know anything more about that one though, without seeing it. And since I don't know what Ron got, that just leaves the sword," she said, gathering her thoughts. "Which is maybe the most important since they don't actually have it. I've heard it was in the Headmaster's office when Dumbledore was in it," Ginny said. "Have either of you been in there?" Ginny asked. It wasn't like most students had personal, or even semi-personal meetings with Albus Dumbledore. Ginny had hardly seen the man outside of the Great Hall and occasionally at Headquarters. Except when she was a first year.

"No," Neville said. Luna shook her head. Ginny wanted her to say something fanciful, but she didn't.

"It… could be symbolic, or actually useful. Harry's used it before, when he was twelve. He slew the basilisk that was petrifying people with it. And saved my life," she recounted. They'd know the basics of the story- Ginny Weasley was kidnapped into the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter saved her and removed the threat to the castle- everyone did, but maybe not the particulars. Ginny didn't talk about it. Avoided all conversation of it, but she didn't think she had heard the word basilisk floating around.

"Thank you for telling us, Ginny. Is there… anything more you can tell us that might help?" Luna asked gently. Neville was hovering.

"I was unconscious for most of it, but knew some of it, and Harry told some people right afterwards. There had been… this diary," she said. She wouldn't say the name Malfoy right now. "It had been You-Know-Who's, when he was young. He- put his memory, and maybe more than memory into it. I didn't know. He- made me do things…" she said. She didn't want to say more. "I- think he was getting a body back, and killing me to do it. I saw him leave the book, and then I lost consciousness, but he wasn't there when I woke up. Just Harry was. And the huge, dead basilisk. There was blood everywhere," she remembered. There was the destroyed diary- I think Harry shoved a basilisk fang through it, and the sword, and- the sorting hat of all things. He said Fawkes brought him the sorting hat, and the sword fell out of it, right onto his head. And then Fawkes carried us back up. It's um, underground. The entrance is… in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," she said. "I don't know how to get in," she added.

"Okay, so really glad you're okay, Ginny," Neville said, looking at her with concern. Like he wanted to hug her but wouldn't. Betrothal contract, yes. No one wants to test the boundaries on that physical contact. Neville was a sweetheart. He'd make someone very happy. "So- possibly a symbolic thing again? I mean, what would he need a sword for now that he can really use a wand? He's not twelve anymore."

"Wands can't do everything," Luna intoned sagely. "Perhaps we can learn more about the sword itself in the library."

"Even if we were to steal the sword, I'm not sure how we would get it to Harry. Just getting it out of the Headmaster's office would be difficult enough, if it's even still there. It probably isn't good form for a Slytherin headmaster to display Gryffindor's sword. But, if we could find it and if we could get it out, there would still be getting it to Harry," she sighed.

"Still more ideas than we had an hour ago," Neville pointed out.

"Yeah," Ginny said.

*****Draco*****

He missed the others. Longbottom, Lovegood, the Creevey boys, the Hufflepuff girls. Okay, he could use their names in his head- Colin and Dennis Creevey, and Bones and Abbott.

Ginny, he had socially understandable reasons to associate with. The others? None of them were acceptable. Abbott perhaps slightly more so, but not much. Her family was old, and she was nearly pure enough to be called a pureblood if she wished without anyone protesting in some circles. Not pure by other standards, but her future children would be by most. One muggle grandparent. Whose name Draco knew as 'PopPop' and who liked watching football. He listened, even when he didn't comment.

Longbottom was quickly making himself a target for the invaders and detrimental elements of their school. His blood purity meant little when he would stand so defiantly.

Luna's- Lovegood's- father published too much truth in that rag of his that usually spoke of conspiracies, but now had far more value than the Prophet. Not that it was a high bar to pass. Undesirable Number One. For the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Dragonshite. Every Slytherin knew that Nott did it. He bragged enough. Surely the rest of the school knew too. And if every student at Hogwarts knew it, every member of the magical community did, unless they were wilfully ignorant or just that stupid.

The Creevey boys hadn't returned, like no other muggleborns had either. He didn't know if they were hiding, or attempting to live the muggle lives they would have had without Hogwarts. He didn't know if anyone had visited and confiscated wands. They were so… innocent, especially Dennis. Except they weren't really, and would be less so now.

Bones couldn't come. Riddle had personally murdered her entire family. Draco didn't know where she was either, but he was pretty sure that Abbott did. Draco wouldn't know what to say to her, but he wished she was around.

He couldn't talk to the ones who were around any more than the ones who weren't. And yet, when he encountered Longbottom looking like he'd lost a fight with a troll, he pulled him into an empty classroom. Why were there so many empty classrooms?

"What happened? I mean- why didn't you go to the hospital wing?" he said. Because at this point, the second question was more important.

"Not allowed," Longbottom shrugged. "And it wasn't all at once. Few punches, cutting spell, a simple trip jinx and the floor did a bunch of it." Unconcerned.

"I've read up on healing spells," Draco said. "You should consider it. I- don't have practical experience but…" he trailed off, wand twitching in his fingers.

Neville's wide smile showed a widely crooked upper tooth, and the others not overly straight, but it wasn't disfiguring. But there was a simple fix that most wizards would have had done years ago. "I appreciate the offer, but probably wouldn't go well for me next time I'm in trouble- which will be shortly. Besides, I've been told that if anything scars, it will just add to my ruggedly good looks."

"Spending much time with Abbott then?" Draco asked back. Almost teasing.

"What? We're not- how did you know it was Hannah?" the other boy asked, actually surprised. Dense boy.

"Because it didn't sound like a Lovegood compliment," Draco remarked.

"What?" Longbottom shot back.

"Just try to keep your face in one piece. No one wants to be a Mad-Eye Moody." The boy had an eye-catching quality to him these days. Goodness and bravery. Maybe it would give the other boy something to think about that wasn't so depressing. Strange to think that this was the round-faced boy who sat on that stool with the sorting hat for so long that Draco actually wondered if he could get sent home without a sorting. Granger had taken a while too. All of it wouldn't have been so bothersome if he hadn't been nervous over his own sorting. Draco wasn't sure which of them had changed more in the last six years. Probably Draco.

"I would be pretty proud to grow up to be Alastor Moody," Neville said, after too long of silence. The man had died that summer. Draco had never met the real man, he reminded himself. Neville wouldn't have either. But he'd been important to Dora.

"Yeah, well, Abbott or Lovegood might want you to do it with your nose and limbs intact, if possible."

Yeah, he could still make an exit.

A/N: Encouragement please?