"Where do we go now?" Ron asked as he surveyed the broken and bent Horcruxes.
"Weren't you listening to the plan at all?" Hermione huffed.
"We have to find Neville and any other members of the DA that will still help us," Harry said. "Then we search for something, anything, of Ravenclaw's." He walked back towards the Basilisk's mouth. "Each of us should take a fang. Be careful with them." He started ripping fangs from the gaping mouth.
At the entrance to the tunnel Harry paused. Ron stopped beside him. "How are we going to get out of here?"
"How did you do it last time?" Draco asked as he gazed up the long tube.
"Fawkes flew us up," Harry answered.
Draco stared at him. "You're telling me a bird showed up, blinded the Basilisk, dropped the Sorting hat with the Sword of Gryffindor right in front of you, AND flew you out of here?"
Harry shrugged. "He also stopped me from dying of Basilisk venom."
"You must have been the luckiest 12 year old ever."
Hermione pointed up the pipe. "I can levitate us up one at a time." She turned to Ron. "You first."
One by one they rose up the pipe, guided by Hermione's spell. Hermione rose out of the pipe last, her wand clutched tight in her hand, and settled gracefully to the floor.
Harry glanced at his watch. "It's late. Everyone should be in their dorms."
"I guess we're going to Gryffindor tower then," Ron said. Hermione stepped around him and slowly pulled open the door, glancing up and down the hall.
"It's clear," she said and slipped quietly out. The others followed quickly.
Silently they made their way up to Gryffindor tower, careful to stay in the shadows. They stopped at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was snoring loudly.
"How will we get in?" Ron whispered.
At his voice the Fat Lady stirred. "Password?" She mumbled sleepily.
"Its me, Harry Potter," Harry whispered. "Please, we need…" He stopped short as the portrait swung open and looked at Draco curiously."Was the password my name?"
Draco shrugged. "I guess the Gryffindors miss you."
They crawled through the portrait hole to find the common room empty. Harry gestured them forward silently as he climbed the stairs to the seventh year dorm.
The door swung open silently and the group piled in, shutting the door tightly behind them. Harry glanced towards Neville's bed.
"Harry," Ron's voice echoed. "It's empty."
Harry let his eyes rove around the room. Ron was right.
"Where are they?" Draco asked. "It's too late for them to be out of bed."
"Look here," Hermione said suddenly. She was standing at the end of Seamus' bed. "His trunk is empty. And Dean's isn't here at all." She looked up. "I don't think anyone has been here for a while."
"But where could they be?" Harry asked. Ron gave him a blank look.
"I'll check the girl's dorm," Hermione said. "Maybe Lavender or Parvati is there. Meet me in the common room." She scurried out.
"Lets check the other years," Harry said quietly. He walked down the stairs and gently pulled open the door to another dorm.
"I hear someone snoring," Draco muttered. "And someone else muttering." Harry eased the door shut and snuck quietly down the stairs.
Hermione was waiting in the common room with a worried expression on her face. "The girl's dorm was empty too."
"We checked the fifth-year boys," Harry said. "There were at least three of them in there."
"So where is all of our year?" Ron asked.
Suddenly there was a squeak, and the portrait door swung open. Harry jumped as Hermione pushed him back into the shadows, motioning for him to be quiet. She stood in front of him, shielding him from view with her body.
The person who had opened the door seemed not notice them. The shadowy figure crept silently through the common room towards the stairs leading to the girl's dorms.
There was sound as Ron bumped against a table, knocking it over. The figure on the stairs gasped and spun around, a look of terror spreading across her face. For a moment everyone was frozen.
"Lavender?" Ron called shakily. The girl on the stairs peered into the shadows.
"Ron?" she called softly back. "Hermione, is that you there?"
Hermione gave Harry a look and stepped out of the shadows. "Yeah, Lavender, it's us. Where is everyone?"
Lavender squealed in excitement. "Is Harry there? Have you all come back?"
"Quiet!" Ron said forcefully. "We can't get caught here!"
Lavender took a deep breath and stepped towards them. "Sorry, it's just so exciting to see you! Oh, you must be so confused! There's no one left in the seventh year dorms! Just let me go grab what I came for and I'll show you where we all are." She glanced behind them. "Seriously though, is Harry here? We haven't heard anything about any of you for ages."
"Harry's here, and Draco too," Hermione whispered. "Please hurry, we have to find the others."
Lavender turned and darted quickly up the stairs. A minute later she was back, clutching something tightly in her hand. "Forgot my toothbrush," she whispered. She stared at Harry in awe. "I can't believe you're back."
Harry nodded impatiently. "Can you take us to the rest of the DA?"
"Right! This way." she led them out of the portrait hole and down a flight of stairs. "Neville's the one who started it, the rest of us showed up later. The Carrows, a couple of Death Eaters, have practically taken over the school. Amycus is in charge of Dark Arts, which is its own class now, and Alecto teaches Muggle Studies, where she tells us how awful Muggles are and why wizards are better. It all got to be too much for Neville, and he started breaking the rules. They were really angry, and he had to go into hiding" she paused in front of a familiar stretch of wall and Harry smiled. "He came here and asked for a room that the Carrows and their supporters couldn't get into. That was a couple of weeks ago. Now most of the DA is here, and some others too."She paced back and forth across the seventh floor hallway three times before a door appeared in the formerly blank wall. She reached for the doorknob.
"So that's where you've all disappeared to," a voice cackled out. Harry whipped around in astonishment as a figure stepped into view only a few feet away.
"But it looks like we've got something better than runaway students," the woman continued, an evil grin on her face. Her wand was pointed past Harry, straight at Lavender. "Potter, and Malfoy too. The Dark Lord's two most wanted." Her grin spread and she took a step forward. She was only a foot away from Draco now. "How are things without mummy and daddy to take care of you?"
"Alecto," Draco said stiffly. He took a shaky step back.
"Stupefy!" a voice rang out. Alecto flew away from Draco and into the wall. Harry smirked as he pulled his wand from his sleeve.
"Turns out I can hide my wand pretty well after all."
Draco chuckled as he leaned across the stunned witch. "Where should we put her?" He reached out his hand to take her wand.
A hand closed around Draco's wrist. He jerked away but Alecto held tight, grinning as she pressed her fingers against his Mark, still exposed from when he had rolled up his sleeve earlier. Draco's face contorted with fear and pain as he sank to his knees, screaming in agony as his Dark Mark burned.
Harry's hand went to his scar as it also began to burn. He experienced surprise and shock as he saw what he recognized as Malfoy Manor through Voldemort's eyes.
"Petrificus totalus! Brachiobindo!" Hermione shouted. Instantly Alecto was paralyzed and bound in magical ropes.
Get up Draco," Ron was saying. "We have to keep going."
Draco rose shakily to his feet, holding his left arm awkwardly in front of him. Lavender shuddered as she saw the mark burned into his skin.
"He's coming," Harry said, still clutching at his scar. "He's coming and he's bringing all the other Death Eaters. We don't have much time."
Lavender recovered from her shock. "Get in here quickly before Amycus or Snape show up!" She flung the door open and urged Harry inside.
Draco hesitated outside. "He might be able to track me," he murmured, "because it was my Mark."
Harry looked at Hermione, concerned. She shook her head. "I don't know. But even if he can, he can't apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds." She walked over to Alecto and waved her wand in a complex pattern before taping the woman on the head. Instantly she vanished. "Disillusionment Charm," Hermione whispered.
Draco stepped inside the room hesitantly, followed by Ron. Harry followed Lavender as she quickly stepped inside. Harry looked around in surprise; he had never seen the Room of Requirement take on a form like this before. It was large, and the walls were covered in colourful hammocks. They seemed to be organized into three groups; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, with a large house banner hanging over each. As Draco came into the room a new section appeared; a single hammock with the green and silver of Slytherin hanging above it. People lounged on the hammocks and milled about the empty spaces of the room.
"Hey, everyone, look who's here!" Lavender called. All eyes turned to her and a gasp rose through the room.
"It's Harry!"
"Harry Potter!"
"Harry's back!"
"I told you he'd come back!"
The crowd of students surged towards Harry. Before anyone else could reach him Neville was a this side, grinning widely. "Harry! You're all right!"
"Yeah," Harry answered. "Yeah, we all are." He gestured towards Draco, Ron and Hermione standing behind him. "Listen, we haven't got much time. You-Know-Who is on his way here, and there's something we have to do."
Neville jumped and turned as there was a noise behind them. He pulled his wand out as the door slid open.
Professor McGonagall walked through the open door, still wearing her tartan dressing-gown. The room went silent and Neville stared in amazement as the woman walked in.
"Professor Snape has called all students to the Great Hall," McGonagall's voice boomed into the silence. "The Order has been alerted and is on their way here through Hogsmeade. They were already assembled and waiting for news." Her eyes slid over to Harry. "I assume that that was due to you. It's good to see you Potter." She looked behind Harry. "You as well, Weasley, Granger, Malfoy."
"How did you know where we are?" Neville blurted out, sounding shocked.
McGonagall gave him a small smile. "You don't think I would allow my students to disappear without knowing where they've gone, do you? You are not the first to discover the Room of Requirement, Mr. Longbottom."
"Professor, we came here…" Harry was interrupted by the sound of something scraping. He turned and noticed a portrait above a large fireplace. As he watched it swung open and people began to emerge from it.
"Where are they coming from?" Ron asked in amazement as first his mother, then his father appeared. They seemed not to notice him as they turned and helped an elderly lady who Harry recognized as Neville's grandmother out.
"The Hog's Head pub," Neville explained. "Turns out that the bartender is Dumbledore's brother Aberforth. I'd been living in here about a day when I started to get really hungry. I guess the room doesn't do food. All of a sudden a passage appeared that led straight to the pub. Aberforth's been feeding all of us ever since."
A stream of people continued to emerge through the tunnel. After Neville's grandmother came Kingsley Shacklebolt, followed closely by Bill and Fleur Weasley. Next came Lupin and Tonks, who was clearly joking with Fred and George behind her. Luna emerged, followed by Dean and, surprisingly, a Gringotts goblin. Charlie Weasley and Ted Tonks followed them, chatting with a man who had the same long beard and blue eyes as Dumbledore. But it was the last person through the tunnel that Harry was most excited to see.
"Ginny!" Harry called. He saw her eyes search for him for a moment before she launched herself in his direction.
"Harry!" she called, drawing all eyes to them. A cheer went up from all those who had just emerged from the passage. The Weasleys began to push their way towards Ron.
"Wait!" Harry held up his hands. "We don't have time. You-Know-Who is on his way here with an army of Death Eaters right now." A gasp rose around the room.
"We came here to find something," Harry called. "To finish a task Dumbledore left for us. But it's going to take time."
McGonagall stepped forward. "We can give you time," she declared, "while we defend the castle." A shout of agreement rose up at her words.
"What are you looking for?" Luna's voice cut into the din. "Maybe we can help you."
Harry hesitated. "Well," he glanced at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging nod. "We're not quite sure. It'll be something small, and it probably belonged to Ravenclaw."
Blank faces stared at Harry. "Is that all you've got to go on?" Seamus called. "That's nothing."
Harry nodded. "I know, but it's all we've got. And it's incredibly important." He unconsciously raised his hand to his head as his scar began to ache again.
At this movement McGonagall stirred into action. "Everyone with a robe to the Great Hall," she commanded. "We'll need help with defenses and evacuation. If anyone has an extra robe you will share with the younger members of the Order." She lowered her voice and turned to Harry. "The four of you may wish to join us with the Order. I'm sure there are many students who would be pleased to see you. But whatever task Dumbledore left you takes precedence. Use your time wisely."
