Typical Disclaimers Apply
Typical Disclaimers Apply
A/N: The end of this chapter is inspired by a song! Can you guess which one?
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"It's changed a bit since you left, of course. It seems you've been sort of a rallying point, though I haven't really talked to anyone…" Sirius trailed off excitedly, has hand resting on the door to the Room of Requirement. The grey of his eyes, which had been so cloudy when she left, was shining like silver. He smiled, and his whole face lit up like a child's. "Everyone's going to be shocked; we though—"
"Severus told me," Esme said softly. "I know what Pomfrey told you."
Sirius nodded solemnly. Then his face lit up again. "Let's go in!" he nearly squealed, opening the door.
Four dozen grave faces greeted them once they stepped inside. It took Esme a second to realize that she was completely obstructed by Sirius. They'd only seen him walk into the room, alone.
"What did he want?" a girl with bright brown eyes finally whispered. It was then when Esme finally stepped out from behind her husband.
"Hey, everybody," she said softly. The effect was instant. The girl with the brown eyes fell out of her hammock. Neville Longbottom gripped onto the Gryffindor tapestry (that was new…) and looked as though he may faint. Other students gasped and pointed. But someone was missing. The full forty-eight wasn't there. Then it hit her.
"Ginny," she said. One word and the room fell silent.
"She's still alive, Esme," Neville whispered. He gestured to the wireless, "Everyone's still safe."
"Safety," she said, with a hoarse little laugh. "I guess that's all that matters now, isn't it?"
"It's not all that matters," Sirius looked at her, hard, "but it's all we can offer."
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Esme hadn't been back in the comfort of the Room of Requirement for a week before the trouble started. It was late in the evening; the younger children had already fallen asleep. The older ones stayed up, the sense of trepidation high among them. Earlier in the afternoon they'd been listening to Potterwatch, which, Esme had learned, was a station devoted to Harry. They'd heard that there'd been an item had been taken from Gringotts by a few Death Eaters. It had later been revealed that said "Death Eaters" were truly Harry, Ron, and Hermione in disguise.
At about ten, a horrible, piercing scream rang through night. Esme, who had been sitting quietly by the fire, bolted up yelling, "What the bloody hell was that?!"
"The Caterwauling Charm," Neville said, sounding a bit uneasy. "It sounds every time somebody breaks curfew."
"It was probably just a stray cat," Sirius looked from Esme to Neville and back to Esme. It was obvious they were all thinking the same thing. Neville got up and padded over to the window. They were lucky that the room had a window that could give them a good view of the school's foregrounds, not that anyone went outside anymore. He stood up on her toes and peered through the glass. A burst of silver was flying in the dark city. It began to gallop towards the school.
"Esme, Sirius, come here. Does that look like a…?"
"Stag," they all said at once, their tones hushed.
"What's going on?" Terry Boot inquired. Several students were rising from their hammocks and were looking curiously at the three people gathered by the window.
"Well, we can look at the situation one of two ways," Esme said, her voice shaking. "On the positive side: it looks like our savior has arrived. On the down side: he's probably going to be accompanied by every Death Eater on the face of the earth."
"Oh," he said. "What do we do?"
"I don't know."
"I do," Neville said firmly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Galleon. He'd been carrying it ever since Voldemort took power.
"Neville, there are some situations you just can't buy yourself out of."
"No!" he laughed and pressed the coin with his fingertips a few times. It glowed brightly in his palm. "We used these to summon each other when Dumbledore's Army was still standing."
"Do you think people kept them?" Hannah Abbot asked from her bunk.
"I know people kept them," Neville said with a knowing smirk. At that point, a small girl appeared in the blank portrait covering the hole they'd been using to get food.
"Who is she?" Esme, the first one to notice, gestured towards the girl.
"I'm Ariana, Albus's sister." Esme's eyes widened and her left eyebrow went quite high.
"All right then."
"Harry, Ron, and Hermione have arrived in Hogsmeade. They need to get into the castle."
"Are you out of your mind?" Sirius gasped.
"I volunteer to get them!" Neville stepped up and over to the frame.
"Excellent," Ariana said. The frame swung open and Neville climbed into the passageway. They both turned and walked away, slowly fading from view.
"This is insane. Absolutely insane," Sirius muttered running his hands through his hair.
"Don't you have any faith in your godson?" Esme snapped. The whole room cringed; they'd been hoping that a near-death experience would keep the two from fighting.
"Of course I have faith!" he yelled back. His eyes clouded over. "I have faith that he's going to bring a horde of murderers along with him, and the people of this room are going to be their main targets!"
"Will both of you just shut up!" Hannah cried angrily. The two stopped and stared at her for a few moments, and then returned to their arguing. They didn't even notice when the portrait swung open and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all climbed out.
"Look everyone Harry's—oh gods, are they fighting again?"
"Harry!" Esme and Sirius broke their fight and ran over to him. Esme, being smaller and quicker, reached him first and wrapped him in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"
"We're not here to stay," Harry said quickly. "We've just got to find a certain…item."
"The diadem of Ravenclaw," Hermione added.
"You're not here to stay?" Neville said, aghast. "So you're just going to leave us for the Death Eaters?"
"The Death Eaters aren't coming," Ron said, trying hard to sound comforting. "Aberforth set them off the trail."
"That doesn't mean they won't come," Esme snapped. "If Alecto or Amycus catches sight of you; this whole school will be doomed."
"She's right Harry," Sirius said, his voice causing the chattering students around Harry to fall silent. "I don't approve of you being here, but now that you are, you need to stay. You're the only one who can free us."
The portrait swung open again, smacking Harry in the back of the head. Fred, George, Ginny, Lee Jordan, Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang all climbed out, the last of the seven murmuring an apology to Harry. All three Weasleys froze, eyes wide like a dear in the headlights.
George was the first to react, "Prove yourself!" he growled, attempting to sound menacing. Fred and Ginny stared, awestruck.
"What the hell are talking about?" Esme said, irritated.
"If you're my sister," George snarled, "and not some cruel apparatus, a Death Eater in disguise—"
"Oh George, give it up," Esme snapped. She picked up the hem of her robes, yanking it to about waist height, giving them full view of her pink knickers. Gesturing to the tattoo on the inside of her thigh, she said, "Is this what you wanted to see, my little earless brother?"
George looked like he might vomit, his skin turning a horrible greenish color, but Ginny rushed forward. "It is you!"
"Yep!"
"What's the plan?" George choked out, attempting to change the subject.
"There isn't any," Harry said. His skin was also a sickly green.
"Wicked."
"I mean you can't come along." Suddenly a shiver went down his spine. Esme had clamped her hand down on his shoulder and was breathing in his ear.
"Harry," her voice was low and commanding, "they're going to help."
"O-o-okay. I need someone to help me get into the Ravenclaw common room."
"Wonderful!" Cho giggled. "I can—"
"Luna volunteers!" Ginny's voice completely covered Cho's.
"Good," Esme said. "Now, older students, divide yourselves up into small groups."
"I'll go with you," Ginny reached out and took her sister's arm.
"No. I'm going alone." Seeing the looks of worry and fear on everyone's faces, she added, "Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy will be looking for me. If they find me, I'm not taking anyone down with me." She turned and walked towards the door. Sirius ran after her, grabbed her arm, and pulled her towards him.
"I'm going with you."
"No, you're not. You need to be here to protect the younger kids."
"I'm not letting you go out there alone! I'm not going to let what happened before happen again. If the kids need protection, then you stay here."
"No!" she snapped. Then she lowered her voice to a gently murmur, "It's going to take at least a dozen Death Eaters to get in here, and I'll be damned if they don't try. When it happens, I won't be able to hold them off."
"And you think I will?"
"Better than I." They glared at each other. "Let me go." His grip loosened and she yanked her arm away and left. This time she remembered her wand.
When Esme got into the hall, her eyes immediately focused in on the blood stains on the floor. Shaking her head to clear her mind of the memories of what happened last time she ran out into a corridor on her own, she began to run.
'The diadem of Ravenclaw is an ancient tiara, believed to have magical powers that give its wearer enhanced wisdom. The diadem has been lost for centuries, believed to have disappeared with Rowena Ravenclaw herself.'
'Centuries old? So you must have seen it with your own eyes!'
An old History of Magic lecture echoed in her mind. If it enhances wisdom, she thought, perhaps the first place to look would be a classroom. She began running with aim. Professor Flitwick's classroom!
The room was pitch-black when she arrived. She waved her wand about, and suddenly hundreds of tiny white candles gave the room a warm, cheery glow. Those candles hadn't been there before; it was almost like they'd been set up just for her. She began ripping open cupboards, throwing everything in them onto the floor. It didn't matter what broke; the same thing would have happened if the Death Eaters reached the room before her.
"I see you've gone from taking the Ministry down from the inside to petty vandalism and theft." She nearly jumped a mile when she heard that voice from behind.
"Sev!" He cringed at the familiar name, but regained his composure.
"What are you doing?" He looked around at the piles of books, rocks, and other junk on the floor.
"Looking for something. Drugs."
"Drugs?" somehow, she got the feeling he didn't believe her.
"Yes."
"Is Flitwick a big drug lord or something?"
"…Yes."
"Esme, it's the middle of the night, and you're not exactly being quiet. Now really, there has to be a reason why you're risking your life."
"There wasn't last time."
"I was hoping you'd learned from your—" Suddenly, his eyes went very wide and his face went very white. He gripped his left arm.
"What is it? Are you having a heart attack?" she asked excitedly.
"No," he said faintly.
"Damn it! I'll never get to use my CPR training!"
"Esme," he grabbed her hand, "you have to get out of here."
"What? I can't, I have to—"
"They're coming." There was panic in his eyes and he looked as though he may faint. He definitely wasn't in the shape Esme wanted to leave him in before she left.
"I'm not leaving you alone," she said firmly.
"Esme, no," he said, just as firm. "Look, there's something I haven't told you. Alecto attacked you."
"Yes I realize that," she said sarcastically.
"She did more damage then you think! If Bellatrix or Lucius was to use the same curses, either the Cruciatus or Sectumsempra, it'll kill you at least twice as quickly at it would have before. And you're not as strong as you were! Even just running…Pomfrey said you'd have no chance in war."
"Severus," Esme said, clearly not hearing any of this, "you know I'll be fine." She looked out the window, into the setting sun, "As a token of good faith, I'll give you this." She reached behind her neck and unhooked her necklace. Now, you save this for me, and at sunrise, I'll come and get it back."
Snape looked at the shimmering heart. "Esme…"
"I promise you."
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A/N: Guess the song for major House points!
Sirius: House points? Is that really all you have to offer?
Snape: Be careful, Black. It's getting near the end of the story, she could kill you off!
Esme: Well, that seems horrifically ominous.