CHAPTER 11: PLAN B
"Wh-What?" O'Bannon swayed, overwhelmed by shock. Dumbledore? McGonagall? Not at Hogwarts? How the hell . . .
More stunned voices rose from the D.A.
"What do you mean they're not here?" Alicia Spinnet blurted.
"Where are they?" demanded Parvati Patil.
"Why would they leave?" Little Dennis Creevey sounded on the verge of panic.
"Quiet down!" Harry held up his arms, then turned back to Luna. "Luna, what do you mean Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall aren't at Hogwarts?"
Luna cocked her head. "I thought I said it clearly. Is something wrong with your hearing, Harry?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I mean, why are they gone? How did you find out?"
"Oh. Professor Umbridge told me. She said they were both summoned to London."
"What the bloody hell for?" Ron threw out his arms.
"The Minister of Magic wanted to personally evaluate how they have been running Hogwarts. At least, that's what Professor Umbridge said. Personally I think she's lying."
"What a surprise." The skin around Cho Chang's nose crinkled.
O'Bannon snorted. "Anyone who thinks this is a coincidence raise your hand."
"What do you mean?" Artimus inquired.
"Think about it. After we give those aurors the slip, that dumbass Cornelius Fudge decides now is the best time to bring in Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall for an 'evaluation.'" O'Bannon bent his fingers up and down to form quotation marks. "I ain't buying it."
"Well remember." Tonks looked to O'Bannon. "The Ministry is accusing you and your friends of being foreign mercenaries hired by Dumbledore to overthrow Fudge. It would make sense for them to remove him from Hogwarts."
"McGonagall, too? Why?" Rosa asked.
Hermione answered her. "Outside of Hagrid, Professor McGonagall is the one teacher more loyal to Dumbledore than anyone else at Hogwarts."
"Hang on." Ernie MacMillan raised his hand. "When you say 'remove,' do you mean permanently?"
Hermione frowned. "We know Umbridge and Fudge have been wanting to sack Professor Dumbledore for months. Jimmy's presence could give the excuse they needed."
O'Bannon hung his head and closed his eyes.
"Oh no, Jimmy!" Distress filled Hermione's voice. "I didn't mean it like I'm blaming you. I don't. Please don't think this is your fault."
Too late for that. He turned away, staring at the wall, not wanting to look any of his British friends in the eye. Not only couldn't he get one simple message to the Order of the Phoenix, now he may have cost Dumbledore his job. Dumbledore, the headmaster most of the students at Hogwarts adored. Dumbledore, who went out of his way to help set up the hockey game between the Triad and Slytherin last year. A game he said would help forge new, strong bonds between students from four different countries, bonds that would be needed if a second war with Voldemort ever started.
And how did he repay this man, one of the greatest wizards ever? By getting him fired, which would probably put Toadface in complete control of Hogwarts. His friends would just love that.
"Wait." Ginny Weasley looked around at the others. "You don't think the Ministry may have arrested Professor Dumbledore?"
"I'd like to see them try," Fred scoffed.
"Yeah." George's voice didn't hold a trace of worry. "Even if they sent every auror in the country after him, they still wouldn't be able to haul in Ol' Dumbledore."
"Whatever the case," Rosa said. "Dumbledore and McGonagall aren't here. So we have to go to Plan B."
"Plan B?" Ernie's brow furrowed.
"It's a Muggle expression Jimmy taught me." Rosa flashed a smile at him, though he was too miserable to return it.
She continued. "Basically, it means when the plan you have falls apart, you come up with an alternative. We just have to figure out who else we can trust with this information."
"Excuse me." Luna's dreamy voice floated over the D.A. and the Americans. "But it might be a good idea to come up with a plan back in our houses. Umbridge said all students have been confined to their dormitories while the aurors are searching the school. Oh, and she was also concerned that no one could find the other Fifth Year prefects from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
Startled gasps went up from the students. A look of sheer terror descended over Padma Patil. Both Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott turned to each other, the color draining from their faces. Ron Weasley's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
"What the hell's wrong with you!?" raged Zacharias Smith, who had recovered from Rosa's Body-Bind Curse. "Why didn't you tell us this when you first walked in, you loony idiot!?"
"Don't call her that!" Harry snapped.
"Watch your mouth, Smith!" O'Bannon followed up a split-second before Harry finished his sentence.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Smith thrust a finger at O'Bannon. "This is all your fault. You brought this down on us! Why didn't you just stay in your own damn country and leave us alone, you stupid Yank!?"
"SHUT UP!!" Rosa bared her teeth and pointed her wand at Smith. The jagoff clamped his mouth shut and backed away.
"Look." Harry rotated his body, scanning all the D.A. members. "We'd better head back to our houses now."
"There's no way we're all going to avoid those aurors," Michael Corner blurted. "And they're going to be really suspicious of any of us who were on the Triad."
"Michael's right." Anthony Goldstein nodded. "What are we supposed to tell the aurors if they catch us?"
"Tell them you were making out," Rosa simply stated.
"Making what?" Anthony raised an eyebrow.
Rosa sighed. "Oh jeez. What do you guys call it here? Oh yeah. Snogging."
Michael and Anthony turned to one another, sharing a disgusted look.
"There's no way I'm going to say I was snogging him." Michael pointed to Anthony.
"Same here."
Rosa let out a frustrated breath. "I didn't mean with each other, you morons. I meant your excuse can be you were all at a make out party."
"What's a make out party?" Angelina gave Rosa a puzzled look.
"Merlin's beard!" Rosa gaped and shot the other girls in the D.A. disbelieving looks. Most of them looked as equally baffled as Angelina. With an exasperated sigh, she continued. "It's where a bunch of guys and girls get together. You sit in a circle and play games like Whirly Lips or the Muggle one, Spin the Bottle, to find out who you kiss. I put a few of them together back at Salem."
"What!?" Jared's eyes bulged. "You did that?"
"Yeah."
"And there were hot girls at these make out parties?"
"Yes." Rosa drew out the word, sounding a bit annoyed.
"And you didn't invite me? Or Jimmy or Art?"
"I wasn't going to be part of a game where I might wind up kissing my cousin or my two best friends."
"Excuse me," Hermione said forcefully. "But I think we'd best leave. Now."
"It'd probably be a good idea if you pair up with someone," Rosa suggested. "To make the make out party story more convincing."
"Or if you really want to make it convincing," Fred waggled his eyebrows, "you might want to leave a little evidence. Some lipstick marks on the cheek. Or a love bite on the neck. Any ladies that would like to volunteer, please step forward."
Fred grinned and leaned forward, sticking out his left cheek. George looked like he was about to do the same, then glanced at Rosa and held his ground.
Both Hermione and Alicia rolled their eyes. Ginny mimicked throwing up. Parvati and Lavender giggled.
Angelina, however, sauntered over to Fred, putting a little sway in her hips. O'Bannon's eyes widened. He'd always sensed an underlying sexual tension between those two his entire year at Hogwarts. But for whatever reason, they never moved beyond being just friends.
Angelina drew closer to Fred, a seductive smile on her lips. Katie Bell and Lee Jordan both gaped at her. The tall dark-skinned girl bent forward, her lips aimed at Fred's cheek.
At the last second, she reached out, grabbed Fred's ear and twisted it.
"OWW!! YEARGH!! T'HELL?"
"Stop messing around and let's go, you git!"
The entire room erupted in laughter as Angelina dragged Fred by the ear to the door. Even O'Bannon managed to forget his doldrums and laugh along with everyone else.
The others began filing out of the Room of Requirement in pairs, saying their good-byes to O'Bannon and his friends. Ginny and Michael left holding hands. So did Ernie and Hannah. O'Bannon wondered if it was just for appearance sake, or if they had really, finally gotten together. Like Fred and Angelina, the two Hufflepuff prefects couldn't make up their minds if they wanted to be just friends or boyfriend and girlfriend.
Harry and Cho were among the last of the D.A. to leave. O'Bannon cranked an eyebrow when he saw neither of them smiling, or holding hands. In fact, a significant amount of space separated the two.
Trouble in paradise? If so, he hoped Harry straightened it out. For crying out loud, Cho Chang was hotter than the surface of the sun.
"Hey! What about us?" Jared held his hands out to his sides. "We can't exactly stroll all over this place?"
"You'll have to stay in here," Hermione said from the doorway, where Ron also stood.
Jared curled his lips and gazed around the room. "Lucky us. This looks like a comfy place to crash."
"Don't worry. It will be." Hermione paused. "Or at least it will be acceptable."
She and Ron bade them good night and closed the door.
"Say," Artimus spoke up. "What did she mean by -"
A series of loud pops echoed through the room. Everyone jumped. O'Bannon's head whipped around. He froze when he noticed the room had changed.
"What the hell?" Artimus said breathlessly.
O'Bannon blinked when he saw a series of brick dividers with privacy curtains over the front. He walked over to one, drew back the curtain and poked his head inside.
"Whoa." He scanned the little bedroom, with its simple cot, chair and nightstand with an old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock. To the left was a small private bathroom. It all looked rather Spartan, but what the hell. They had a place to sleep and freshen up.
"I can't believe that Hermione girl wants us to get some sleep." Artimus grimaced as he hobbled over to another of the newly materialized bedrooms. "How the heck can anyone sleep with all those Death Eaters and dark creatures ready to invade England?"
"Yeah." Jared nodded. "We should figure out another way to contact the Order."
"I think Hermione has the right idea."
O'Bannon's head jerked back in surprise. He never expected Tonks to recommend getting some shut eye while You-Know-Who's followers in the States threatened to invade her country.
She scanned O'Bannon and his friends, all of them wearing looks of astonishment. "We've all been through a lot today. And you lot spent half-a-day on an airplane coming over here. Who knows what we're going to have to face over the next day or so. But whatever it is, I don't want us facing it tired. I recommend we all get four hours sleep, then we can tackle this problem with clearer minds. Now turn in."
Tonks folded her arms and gave them all a stern gaze. Her tone and posture suggested she wouldn't tolerate any argument. Remembering the time he spent with her at Salem, O'Bannon knew Tonks was not a woman you wanted to cross.
"Tonks is right," he said. "We could all do with some rest."
Rosa, Jared and Artimus nodded. They each picked a bedroom and went inside.
"Good night, Jimmy," Tonks said to him as he grabbed hold of the curtain to his room.
"Night, Tonks. And thanks again for saving our asses."
Tonks smiled wide. "That's what friends do."
A weightless sensation swept through O'Bannon's insides. He, too, smiled wide. We're really friends.
He didn't know why that surprised him. They had been through quite a bit between the Projection Potion incident at Salem and their battles with the aurors today. She'd given him so much good advice. More importantly, he felt she treated him as an equal, not some punk kid with delusions of being a hero. After all that, why shouldn't they be friends?
Maybe I just had to hear it from her to really believe it.
With one last glance at Tonks, O'Bannon slipped through the curtain. He kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his sweatshirt before lying down on his cot. He had no idea how the hell he was going to get any sleep. All sorts of worries swirled through his mind. The Longathian Tunnel. Warning the Order. Artimus' injured knee. Dumbledore and McGonagall possibly fired, or worse, arrested. His Hogwarts friends being scrutinized by Umbridge and these aurors.
What do I do? What do I do? He struggled to come up with solutions.
Fatigue soon overwhelmed him. Jimmy O'Bannon's worries vanished as he fell into a deep sleep.
TO BE CONTINUED