"I will never forget when we owned the night."-Lady Antebellum (We Owned the Night)
On the night the Death Eaters broke in, I was lying across my bed playing with my DA Galleon. I had been taking it out regularly just to look at it and half-hoping that it would grow warm like it used to when Harry was alerting us about D.A. meetings.
Suddenly, the fake coin grew warm in my hands. I almost couldn't believe it. I was actually so surprised that I almost dropped it. Instead, I calmed down enough to look at the message. It was from Hermione. Harry's gone off to help Dumbledore with something. He wants the D.A. to patrol the corridors. He suspects Draco Malfoy is going to lead Death Eaters into the castle. Meet in the entrance hall in five minutes.
Shoving the coin back into my pocket, where it had stayed almost every day since I had first received it, I grabbed my wand and headed out the door. I made a beeline for the entrance hall, feeling like my legs couldn't take me there fast enough. I was actually feeling a little excited. Not about the fact that Death Eaters could possibly be invading the castle, but because the D.A. was going to be able to actually do something for the second time in a year.
"I got here as fast as I could," I said as I skidded to a stop between Hermione and Neville. I looked around at Ron and Ginny, who were there as well. "Is this it?" I asked.
"Looks like it," Ron said. "I don't think anyone else is going to respond to the message."
"I didn't even think to ask Cho or Michael Corner if they were planning on coming. I expect they were in the common room, but I was in too much of a hurry to notice."
"Who needs them anyway?" Ginny shrugged.
"How are we going to ward off Death Eaters? There are five of us," Neville said.
"We did it last year, didn't we?" Ron answered. "We can do it again."
"Ron's right," Hermione said, wringing her hands nervously. "Okay, how about Neville, Ron and Ginny go up to the Room of Requirement. That's where Harry thinks Malfoy is. He thinks the Death Eaters will be smuggled in through there somehow."
"Does he really?" I asked. "That's an interesting theory."
"Yes, well, you should take the map," Hermione said, handing a map to Ron, who nodded. "Luna and I," Hermione continued, "will go down to Snape's office and stand guard in case he comes out."
"Snape?" I asked.
"Harry wants us to keep an eye on him," Ron said.
"Right, so if he comes out and sees us, I'll ask about my Defense Against the Dark Arts grade," Hermione said.
"What will I say?" I asked. "It would look odd that I went with you to ask for your grade."
"We'll say we ran into each other in the hallway and got to talking about the class and you were curious about your grade as well," Hermione answered quickly. "So does everyone understand the plan?"
We all nodded.
"Okay then," Hermione continued, "let's get going. I'm not sure how much time we have if Harry's right about Malfoy."
I turned towards Neville. "Good luck," I said with a smile.
"You too," he whispered, tracing a finger down my arm. I leaned up and gave him a kiss before turning away. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Wait." He kissed me again, this time harder than before. "Just in case," he said quietly.
I nodded, actually feeling too nervous to say anything else. Masking my nerves, I smiled and turned to follow Hermione as Neville hurried after Ron and Ginny in the opposite direction. I glanced over my shoulder once at Neville before forcing myself to keep going.
"Maybe nothing's going to happen," I said. Hermione and I had been waiting outside of Snape's office for quite some time and there had been no action. It was almost completely silent down here.
"Harry certainly seems to think so. You know, I wonder how we're going to know if the Death Eaters got in or not. We're all the way down here in the dungeons. It's not really the ideal place to find out information."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll know if there are Death Eaters in the castle," I said. "Plus, we have the Galleons. If someone from the D.A. sees or hears something, we can contact the others."
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."
No sooner had she finished talking than Professor Flitwick came around the corner. "Death Eaters in the castle!" he squeaked. "You two better get back to your dorms where it's safe. Hurry! I have to get Professor Snape!"
"But I have to ask him-," Hermione began.
"Miss Granger, this is hardly the time to be asking Professor Snape questions! There are Death Eaters in the castle!" With that, the Charms professor disappeared into Snape's office. Hermione and I looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Let's wait here and see what happens," Hermione said. "If Snape comes out, we follow him."
A moment later, Professor Snape came charging out of the room. When he saw us, he paused. "Ah, how convenient that you two should be here. Due to the current…excitement that's going on, Professor Flitwick has collapsed. Perhaps you two can take care of that while I see to more important matters."
"But Professor-,"
"Hurry up or I shall have to give you detention," Snape said quietly before hurrying away. Hermione and I shared a look before entering the room, Professor Flitwick was lying motionless on the floor.
"I don't think he passed out," Hermione said with a small gasp. She looked as if she had realized a stupid mistake.
"You think Snape did something to him?" I asked.
"Harry has been suspicious of him lately," Hermione said. "He said Snape's been offering to help Malfoy in whatever he's doing…" She trailed off and knelt down beside Flitwick. "He's been Stunned," she said. "I'm almost sure of it. Victims of Stunning spells look different than people who have simply passed out."
"Yes, I agree," I said. "My father says-,"
"Luna, this really isn't the time," Hermione interrupted, standing up so quickly, I could have blinked and missed the movement. "We have to go help the others. If Death Eaters are really in the castle, Snape might have gone to help them!"
"How can we be sure?" I asked as we ran up flights and flights of stairs.
"I'm going by what Harry told us. He's been right about a lot of stuff that's happened tonight, so I'm going to believe him about Snape too."
I nodded as we suddenly heard an explosion from the floor above. "I hope Ginny, Ron and Neville are alright," I said.
"So do I," Hermione panted. "I really wish more members of the DA could have responded to the message. We need all the help we can get."
"It didn't mean much to them, I guess," I shrugged, "but it looks like the Order's here, so we have backup."
Members of the Order of the Phoenix were dashing through the front doors and heading upstairs, prepared to shoot spells at the first Death Eater they saw.
"Come on," Hermione said, "let's head towards the Room of Requirement. Hopefully we'll find the others up there."
We began to run for the Room of Requirement. I was keeping an eye out for any of my friends, but specifically for Neville. Death Eaters were all over the place fighting Order members. Surely Ron, Ginny and Neville would try to take on any Death Eaters they ran into as well.
"Ginny!" Hermione gasped, reaching out and grabbing the arm of the redhead as she ran by.
"Hold on." Ginny shot a spell over her shoulder at a Death Eater chasing her. He fell to the floor unconscious and Ginny turned back towards us. "I'm so glad you two are alright. What happened downstairs where you were?"
"Hide back here," Hermione said quickly, dragging Ginny and I behind a statue so that we could talk in peace for a moment. Hermione then gave a quick explanation about Snape and Flitwick as Ginny nodded.
"Where's Neville?" I asked.
"And Ron?" Hermione added. "Are they alright?"
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. Malfoy came out of the Room of Requirement not too long ago, actually, with his Hand of Glory. You know, that thing that only gives light to the beholder. He must have been checking to see if the coast was clear because when he saw me, Ron and Neville, he set off Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. It's from Fred and George's shop. Anyway, everything went black, but we found our way to a lighted hallway, except the Death Eaters were gone. We ran into Tonks and Lupin, though and told them what had happened. That's around the time fighting started breaking out and here we are now."
"So around what time did you lose Neville and Ron?" Hermione asked.
"After we ran into Lupin and Tonks," Ginny said. "We all kind of started fighting and ran in separate directions. I have no idea where either of them are."
"Should we separate again now, do you think?" I asked.
"As much as I don't want to, I think we should," Hermione nodded. "We have to try to take down as many Death Eaters as we can."
"Bellatrix Lestrange is with them," Ginny said quietly. "I heard her laughing even though it was dark. I would recognize that laugh anywhere. It makes my hair stand on end."
That actually made my stomach drop. I wondered if Neville would try and fight Bellatrix. I knew she scared the living daylights out of him, but I also knew he hated her more than he hated anybody or anything.
"Let's go," Hermione said quietly after a short pause.
The second we stepped out from behind a statue, we separated. I immediately started searching for Neville while avoiding curses flying left and right. I had to find him and make sure he was alright. As I turned a corner, I ran into Ernie Macmillan and a few other Hufflepuff students. "Oh, hello, did you get the message on the D.A. Galleon? Are you going to help us fight?"
"Uh," Ernie said, "we're actually looking for Harry. We heard Death Eaters broke into the castle and one of them set off the Dark Mark above the Astronomy tower."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Anyway, I don't know where Harry is, but I have to go. I'm looking for Neville."
"He ran past us not too long ago. He was chasing after Bellatrix Lestrange!" Hannah Abbott spoke with wide, frightened eyes. "I never knew Neville was that brave to chase after her like that!"
I smiled. "He is quite brave, isn't he?" With a wave, I took off in the direction Hannah had indicated. It looked as if my suspicions had been confirmed about Neville. He was off chasing Bellatrix Lestrange around. I felt oddly proud of him for being able to do that when he was terribly afraid of her. Everyone was afraid of her of course, but Neville had a reason to be afraid. He also had a reason to hate her as much as he did.
After taking a few more turns, I saw Bellatrix but she wasn't dueling Neville. Instead, she was skipping down the hallway causing the lamps on the wall to explode as she went. I sent a Stunning spell her way, but missed. She saw the jet of light and turned around, cackling when she saw me.
"I remember you! What a coincidence that you should turn up now. I just saw your boyfriend!"
"Where's Neville?" I asked, holding my wand higher.
Bellatrix simply cackled, but I hadn't missed the way her eyes had flickered to the next hallway. Immediately, I turned to run. I didn't even want to fight her. I was more interested in finding Neville and helping him.
Bellatrix started causing lamps and pieces of the wall to explode again. I tried to avoid the debris, but when a lamp right above my head exploded, pieces of stone and glass flew at me. I turned my face and squeezed my eyes shut, but they still scratched against my cheek. I kept running despite the stinging. Having a scratched up cheek was a lot better than having the glass go in my eye.
Turning the corner, I scanned the people occupying it for Neville. Finally, I saw him kneeling on the ground by the wall and clutching his stomach. At least he was alive. I reached him within seconds and knelt down beside him, placing one hand on his back. "Neville," I whispered.
"Luna, you're alright," he said, almost laughing with joy.
"I'm fine, but what about you?"
"Bellatrix used Sectumsempra. She got my stomach and my leg."
"Let me see," I said gently, tugging on his shoulder. I could already see that his leg was bleeding terribly, but I wanted to check the damage of his stomach. I didn't even care that there was a battle going on all around us.
"I'll need to go to the hospital wing," he whispered, "but I'll be alright." He pulled his arm away. His whole hand was covered in blood from where it had soaked through his shirt.
"It's alright," I whispered calmly, actually trying to calm myself down as well. "It could have been a lot worse and you were so brave. Hannah Abbott said she saw you chasing after Bellatrix."
"I did," Neville said with a small laugh. "I couldn't help it. I kind of forgot how scared I am of her."
Before I could answer, Malfoy and a group of Death Eaters that included Bellatrix ran past us and through the door to the Astronomy tower. Lupin and Tonks were right behind them, but they didn't make it in time. The last Death Eater through the door cast a curse over his shoulder, blocking the door with some kind of barrier.
"What is that?" I asked.
Standing up determinedly and despite his injuries, Neville ran at the barrier, but when he reached it, it through him up into the air.
"Wingardium Leviosa," I said, pointing my wand at the airborne Neville. He floated in the air for a second before I gently lowered him to the ground.
"Thanks," he said breathlessly.
"What's going on?" Ron asked, running up to us with Ginny and Hermione. "We saw Malfoy running this way."
"He went up to the Astronomy tower with a bunch of Death Eaters," Lupin said.
"Ernie MacMillan said someone had set off the Dark Mark over the Astronomy tower," I said.
Everyone looked surprised. "Why, who's dead?" Ron asked.
"No one that we know of," Tonks said.
"Yet," Lupin whispered, looking past the magical barrier and up the stairs.
Just then Snape hurried past, not even noticing us huddled at the bottom of the staircase. He walked right through the barrier as if it wasn't even there. With a frown, Lupin tried to follow him, but he was thrown up into the air just as Neville had. I used Wingardium Leviosa to safely lower him to the ground.
"How did he do that?" Ron asked angrily.
"He is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Ron," Hermione said.
"Snape knows a lot of things we don't," Lupin added darkly. "Anyway, I don't think there's anything we can do until they come back. I'm sure Snape went up there to chase after those Death Eaters."
"Harry thinks he's up to something," Hermione said.
"Harry always thinks Snape's up to something," Lupin said with a shake of his head.
"He Stunned Professor Flitwick," I said.
"How can you be sure?" Tonks asked.
"Luna and I were-," Hermione began, but she didn't get the opportunity to finish because Snape and Malfoy came running down the stairs followed by the Death Eaters.
Lupin and Tonks started firing spells at the Death Eaters so Neville, Ron, Hermione Ginny and I started doing the same. There was another explosion above my head and I heard Bellatrix's cackle as stone and debris fell down on my head. I wasn't hurt, though and I managed to see Neville send a very good Stunner at Bellatrix although he did miss.
"Well done, Neville," I said, taking his hand. He didn't answer me. Instead, he slowed down and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily and clutching his side.
"It hurts too much," he said quietly.
"Let's get you up to the hospital wing," I said.
Neville nodded and I grabbed his arm, helping him down the hallway. "Sorry," he whispered.
"For what?" I asked.
"I tried to get Bellatrix. She almost hurt you. Did she do this?" He reached up and gently touched my cheek. I had forgotten about the scratches from earlier. .
"Yes, but they don't hurt as much anymore. They can be fixed very quickly. Right now, I think we need to worry about you. By the way, you were brilliant."
Neville actually grinned. "I think the D.A. really helped."
"I think so, too," I answered. "I mean, I was really sad that it was over, but we all still have each other, don't we? Me, you, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione."
"Nobody else came to help," Neville said, sounding hurt.
"No, but maybe they don't really matter," I said. "It shows how cowardly they are." We finally reached the hospital wing without running into any more Death Eaters. I hoped that they had all been driven out of the castle.
"What happened to you?" Madam Pomfrey asked, running over at once.
"Sectumsempra on his leg and stomach," I reported.
Madam Pomfrey immediately grabbed Neville's other arm and sat him down on the closest bed. "Sit here," she said, "while I get what I need to fix this."
I sat next to Neville on the end of the bed. I noticed only one other bed occupied about halfway across the room.
"I'm surprised but thankful that more people weren't hurt," Madam Pomfrey said when she returned with some bandages, cleaning potion and her wand.
"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to the other bed. The person looked terribly injured. His face was bloody and scratched. I could make out red hair, which caused me to suspect it was one of Ron's brothers but I didn't recognize him.
"Bill Weasley," Madam Pomfrey said sadly. She started with Neville's leg and began cleaning the blood off. He hissed in pain as it stung his skin.
"He's not-?" Neville began, looking at Madam Pomfrey.
"No, he's alive, but he's very lucky. He was attacked by Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf."
Neville paled and I blinked a few times. "Did you try cleaning his cuts with garlic and water?"
"Garlic? Isn't that for vampires?" Neville asked.
"Oh, no it can be used for werewolf bites too. It-,"
"I cleaned them with regular cleaning potion," the nurse answered. "There is no cure for werewolf bites. I would most certainly know about it if there was one."
I didn't say anything more until I asked a question that was bound to come up sooner or later. "Is he going to be a werewolf now?"
"No," Madam Pomfrey said. "He'll have some werewolf tendencies, but tonight isn't a full moon, so he'll be alright."
"Does his family know?" I asked, as Madam Pomfrey finished cleaning and bandaging Neville's leg and moved on to cleaning his stomach.
"His parents are on their way. Nymphadora Tonks knows and she's alerting the rest of the Weasley children. The ones that are here, anyway."
I nodded as I made my way over to the windowsill, where a flowerpot was sitting containing a bright yellow tulip. I picked it up and carried it to Bill's bedside table, where I set it down. "There," I said. "Now when he wakes up, he'll see something cheerful."
Madam Pomfrey and Neville both gave me a smile. The nurse finished bandaging Neville up and instructed him to lay down before she hurried over to me. "Let's just fix up these scratches, dear."
Within a matter of seconds, my cheek was fine again. I sat down on Neville's bed and held his hand. "You look tired."
"I am," he said quietly.
"Go to sleep," I said.
He looked back up at me and didn't say a word, but I could tell he was being stubborn.
"Sleep," I said again. "The battle's over now. Everything's fine. There's nobody for you to hex." I smiled down at him and used my free hand to rub his forehead. "You really are so brave, Neville," I whispered.
"I love you, Luna," he said sleepily.
I smiled. "I love you too, Neville."
Just after Neville fell asleep, the doors were flung open and a bunch of people ran in at once: Professor McGonagall, Lupin, Tonks, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Hermione. Ginny let out a small cry when she saw Bill and lead the way to his bed. Making sure he was still sleeping, I dropped Neville's hand and joined everyone around Bill.
"Your parents are on their way," Madam Pomfrey said to Ginny.
I looked around. Ron, Fred and George were all silent and pale. Hermione looked scared and Ginny was still sniffling. Madam Pomfrey explained to them what she had explained to Neville and me: Bill wouldn't be a full werewolf, but he would have some tendencies.
The doors opened once more and everyone turned, expecting to see Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but it was Harry, looking extremely pale.
"Harry!" Hermione gasped, running to give her best friend a hug; a hug that he returned half heartedly.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Lupin asked, stepping forward.
"Dumbledore's dead," Harry answered. "Snape killed him."