"You wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it. You know you can if you get the chance."-Jordin Sparks (One Step at a Time)
I almost fell over as we roughly appeared back at my house, but Neville steadied me.
"Sorry for the rough landing," my dad said as I sat down on the front steps. "I was trying to get out of there as fast as I could."
"No one's blaming you for that," Neville said, sitting down beside me. My dad looked around before searching through the skies as if looking for anything dangerous. Then, he went back inside, apparently deciding nobody had followed us.
Neville and I sat in silence on the front steps, both staring absentmindedly off in the distance.
"We're not going to make it through the war," Neville suddenly said, looking terrified.
"Neville, relax," I said. "We made it out of that, didn't we?" I gestured with my head in the direction of the Burrow.
"Yeah, but it was close," Neville said.
"I imagine there will be a lot of close calls, but as long as we don't actually die, I'm glad," I said.
"Me too," Neville said, grabbing my hand. The simple action seemed to comfort him because his breathing returned to normal and he calmed down.
"So, the Minister's dead," I said after a few minutes.
"You-Know-Who's taken over the Ministry," Neville muttered. "This is where it gets really bad. He's going to take over everything, now, including Hogwarts."
"Do you still want to keep the D.A. going?"
"Yes," Neville said, nodding fiercely.
"I thought you would say that."
"Dumbledore's Army is supposed to be about doing something real," Neville said. "It's supposed to be about fighting off You-Know-Who whenever the time comes."
"And the time is now," I finished, nodding.
"Exactly," Neville said. "With Harry, Ron and Hermione gone, and if no one else will come help us-,"
"It's just you, me and Ginny," I said. "We talked about this at Dumbledore's funeral. The three of us will stick together."
Neville nodded and we sat in silence for a little while more. I slid closer and wrapped both of my arms around one of his, resting my head on his shoulder. "Are you scared?"
He looked down at me and smiled a small smile. "Very. Are you?"
"Yes," I answered quietly.
He shifted even closer to me and kissed my temple. We fell into a comfortable silence and stayed like that for a while wondering if the amount of times we'd get to do this, or even be together, were numbered.
The train ride back to Hogwarts started off just like any other. I sat with Neville and Ginny, of course. We played Exploding Snap and just talked. Mostly, we talked about what was coming at Hogwarts. We had recently heard the news that Snape had been made headmaster. Even before that, we all had known it would be different, but we weren't exactly sure how different.
Ginny had come up with the idea for she and I to start learning how to Apparate. She had actually thought of it about a month ago, just after the wedding. She made the very good point that Voldemort had taken over the Ministry so they most likely weren't concerned about underage people Apparating anymore. When she asked her parents for lessons, her mother said no. She said it was too risky, especially now that they were being tracked ever since Harry had left the wedding. So, instead, Ginny had come over to my house nearly every day, where the two of us learned how to Apparate under the instruction of my dad and sometimes Neville.
So now I knew how to Apparate, but I hadn't officially passed my test. I didn't think I'd be able to take it in February, when I turned seventeen, at the rate things were going, but I hoped I'd be able to take it after the war ended and things were better again. If that happened, of course. I wanted to stay positive, but I was now having moments where my positivity was faltering and I didn't like it one bit.
Neville tapped the deck of cards against the table a few times as he looked out the window.
"Are you going to shuffle them, or what?" Ginny asked.
"I was just wondering what Harry might be doing right about now," Neville said.
"Yeah, I've been wondering that a lot," Ginny said. "We know they got away from the wedding, but we don't know where they went. My family's being tracked. They're watching our every move. It's like living in a fish bowl."
"That must be awful," I said. "And as for Harry, I'd like to think he's sitting somewhere nice and warm with plenty of food. If I think of it that way, it keeps me from worrying too much."
"It's weird, not having them here," Neville said, still staring out the window.
"Yeah," Ginny sighed. "But hey, we're the leaders now. We're the leaders of the D.A."
"Leaders," I said, "what a nice title."
"I've never really been a leader," Neville said, finally looking away from the window.
"Well, you are one now. We all are," Ginny said. "So let's show everyone that we're great leaders." She had that typical determined look in her eyes and it made me smile.
"For Harry," I said, "and for Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore's Army," Neville said, smiling.
"Dumbledore's Army," Ginny and I repeated. We smiled at each other before the train came to a sudden stop.
"We can't be there yet," Ginny said, looking out the window. "No, we're definitely not there."
About a minute later, the door to our section of the train slid open and we all froze. A Death Eater was standing in the doorway, two others standing slightly behind him. All of them had their wands slightly raised as they started down the train.
"Hey, losers," Neville said, standing up. He looked them dead in the eye, his expression unwavering and slightly angry. "He's not here."
"How do you know who we're looking for?" one of the Death Eaters said.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. We're all friends of his and we're all standing behind him."
"If that's the case, then how do we know you aren't covering up for him now? How do we know you aren't hiding him somewhere in this train?"
"Search the train, then, but you'll be wasting your time," Ginny said.
"Ah, the Weasley girl. First you say he's not hiding in your house, and now you say he's not hiding here on the train."
"It's true. I'm not covering for him, but I would in a heartbeat."
"Silence," the Death Eater snapped.
"Hey," Neville began. He was still standing and looking at the Death Eaters, who were raising their eyebrows at him, prodding him to go on.
"What Neville wants to say," I chimed in, "is that we'd all appreciate it if you left. We're trying to enjoy our train ride."
"Yeah, before we reach living hell," Neville muttered, sitting back down.
The Death Eaters took one last searching look of the area before turning and walking back the way they had come. A moment later, the train started moving once more.
"Wow, Neville," Ginny said. "You really stood up to them."
"Not really," Neville said. "I just think it's ridiculous. I mean, did they honestly expect Harry to be sitting here on the train, eating Chocolate Frogs and playing Exploding Snap while the entire wizarding world falls apart?"
"I guess they figure they have to check everywhere," Ginny sighed. She looked out the window.
"I'm sure they're okay," I said. "Harry, Ron and Hermione, I mean. If they had been caught, we'd have heard."
"Luna's right," Neville said. "That's one good thing. If they're caught, we'll know."
"No news is good news," I added, smiling.
Ginny looked back at us and half smiled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. No news is good news."