"You're not alone, together we stand. I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand." -Avril Lavigne (Keep Holding On)
The next morning after the Carrows let us go, Neville, Ginny and I had just enough time to run back to our dorms and get our stuff before heading to our classes. We hadn't been released in time to get breakfast.
"Hey, long time, no see," Ginny said, sliding into a seat next to me when we got to Muggle Studies. She smiled grimly.
"Yeah, the last time I saw you, we were swinging in the dungeon," I said back.
Ginny smiled for real that time and so did I. Alecto walked into the room just then and we hid our smiles. We didn't want to get in trouble for actually being happy or something just as ridiculous.
I thought about Neville. He was in Defense Against the Dark Arts right now. We had agreed to try and stay out of trouble at least for today so that when we stole the sword, we wouldn't have already put the Carrows and Snape in a bad mood. Even though we had agreed to that, though, I knew that Neville would refuse harming any of the people who had earned detention. That was what we were expected to do nearly every Defense class now: hurt people. Nearly everyone had been refusing except for the Slytherins. They absolutely loved it.
After class, there was a commotion over in the next hallway. Nobody could get by, it was so crowded. "Let's go to the front and see what's going on," Ginny said, craning her neck.
I nodded and approached the back of the crowd. "Excuse me," I said politely. Nobody moved an inch. I cleared my throat. "Excuse me," I said a little louder.
"Push them out of the way if you have to," Ginny said.
I stared at her. I wasn't one for pushing. Apparently Ginny was, though because she stepped around me, grabbed my arm and started elbowing her way through the crowd. "Move it, let us through. Come on, move!"
We finally saw what everyone was looking at and I couldn't help but burst into a grin. "Oh, it's wonderful!" I said.
It seemed that the other members of the D.A. really meant it when they said they wanted to rejoin. Someone had left another message on the wall. It said Dumbledore's Army doesn't give up.
"Well," Ginny said, looking pleased.
"It's great, isn't it?" Neville asked, all of a sudden appearing beside us.
"Who did it?" I asked.
Neville shrugged. "I don't know, but it actually makes me happy. And the best part is, I don't think we'll get in trouble. They know there's a large group of us and they can't keep calling us all to Snape's office every time we do something."
"That's true," I said, "but can't they give us all detention?"
Neville shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't think they will."
"So when are we going to-," Ginny began, but Neville shushed her.
"Not here," he said. He grabbed my arm with one hand and Ginny's with the other and dragged us down the hallway. He dragged us all the way to the greenhouses. "Nobody will hear us out here."
"This is awfully far away from everyone else, though, don't you think?" I asked. "Not that I mind, but…" I trailed off and shrugged.
"I don't want to risk being overheard," Neville said. "There are always people walking around the school. Out here, not so much."
"Okay, so when are we going to steal the sword?" Ginny asked.
"When do you think we should?" Neville asked, leaning against a table and crossing his arms, curiously waiting for her answer.
Ginny paused. "As soon as possible. I mean, we're going to need time to plan this, aren't we? Otherwise, I'd say we do it tonight."
"We can do it tonight," Neville said with a shrug.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?"
"You wanted to do this as soon as possible, didn't you?"
"Yes, but don't you think we need to plan something out?"
"We can't plan everything," I said. "I mean, we can, but a lot of stuff could happen that we didn't plan for. And what we're doing is simple, really. We know where the sword is. All we have to do is go in and take it and hope we don't get caught. Getting caught is the biggest issue and that we can't plan for or control."
Neville smiled and looked at Ginny. "She's great, isn't she?"
"Come on, Nev, this isn't the time to get all lovey dovey," Ginny said. She smiled, but I could tell she was missing Harry more than ever right now.
Neville must have sensed it as well because he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sorry. Anyway, I agree with Luna. I mean, I think the only thing we really have to think about is the time. What's the best time to go?"
"During dinner?" Ginny asked. "Snape won't be in there during that time."
"Do you think they'll notice we're gone, though?" I asked.
"Hopefully not," Neville answered. "Hopefully we'll be able to get the sword, get out, hide the sword and get back to dinner quickly."
"What if we do get caught?" I asked.
"We get detention. There's nothing we can do about it," Neville answered, looking at me sadly.
We all looked at each other, knowing perfectly well what kinds of risks we were taking and what the consequences were. It wasn't going to stop us, though. What we were doing would be worth it in the end. It would be worth the punishments. Just as long as we all made it out alive.
"We're a bunch of idiots," Neville said.
"I knew we should have planned this out more," Ginny answered, pointing a finger at him.
"Well, you didn't bring up this issue earlier," Neville replied.
"It's not up to me to think of everything," Ginny sniffed.
"Well, arguing isn't going to help us figure out the password to get into the office," Neville sighed.
"No, you're right," I said. "It won't help at all."
"Do you think Snape kept the same password that Dumbledore last had?" Ginny asked.
"No, I think he would have changed it to something that's more personal to him. You know, since he has the power here now. Not Dumbledore," I said.
"So, how are we going to get in?" Ginny asked. She tapped the stone gargoyle in front of the office on the head. "I've heard this thing talks. Does it?"
"Yes, it does, I'm pretty sure," I said. I stepped forward and looked at the gargoyle calmly. "Hello, can you let us in?"
"You need a password," the gargoyle said in a bored tone.
"Yeah, as you might have heard, we don't know it," Neville said.
"We need to get into the headmaster's office," I said, "to steal the sword of Gryffindor."
"Do you know how upset the headmaster will be with me if I just willingly let you three up there to steal a sword? However, if you had the password, that would be a different story."
"But we don't have it," Ginny said, throwing her hands up in frustration.
"Oh dear," the gargoyle said. I tilted my head to one side and stared at him.
"Yes, it's quite a problem," I said slowly.
"Yes, I'm sure it is, dear," the gargoyle said.
"Why is he calling you 'dear'?" Neville whispered to me.
I smiled. "Is that the password?"
"Luna, why would Snape be using pet names as the password to his office?" Ginny asked. She actually laughed a little.
"It doesn't have to be a pet name. It could be deer, as in the animal."
"You're getting warmer," the gargoyle said, looking up at the ceiling.
"Doe," I said at once.
"Correct," the gargoyle said, moving aside. "Good luck and I hope you get that sword out safely."
"How did you do that?" Neville hissed as we hurried up the staircase. Even though it moved, we raced up the steps in order to get to the office faster.
"You're brilliant, Luna," Ginny said happily.
"I told you she was," Neville said.
Ginny scoffed. "You didn't have to tell me anything. I've been friends with Luna for quite some time. I always knew she was brilliant."
"Seriously, you caught on to his hint so fast. How did you do it, Luna?" Neville asked as we approached the office door.
"He was emphasizing the word." I shrugged. "Usually when people do that, it's important. And then when he did it again, I knew."
"Merlin, you're just amazing," Neville breathed, shaking his head as he reached for the door handle. He slowly pushed it open. Even though we knew Snape wasn't there, we simultaneously let out a breath when we saw the empty room.
"There it is," Ginny whispered as we all stared at the case where the sword was displayed.
"Professor Snape isn't here right now."
We all jumped. I had forgotten about the talking portraits. Ginny and Neville had apparently forgotten too and I knew they were wishing we had put more thought into this, but really, what could we have done about the portraits? Nothing.
"We know, but we just came to get something for him. We have to bring it to him."
"What would that be?" one of the portraits asked.
"The sword of Gryffindor," Ginny said honestly. She darted forward and took the sword out of the case. She seemed slightly surprised at how easy it was. Maybe we all had expected heavier security around it.
"You can't do that!" a portrait said. "I don't think Professor Snape needs that sword! You're stealing it!"
"Perhaps he was given a dull knife at dinner and needs something stronger to cut his food with," I said, smiling. I doubted the portraits would buy it, but it was worth a try.
"Or maybe I would like to use it to threaten you into telling me why you are in my office."
Ginny, Neville and I whirled around. Snape was standing at the doorway, staring at us expectantly.
Ginny held out the sword as if she were actually going to use it on Snape. "We needed this."
"What for? Snape asked. He smirked. "Let me guess. Dull knives?" He sneered even more.
"It doesn't belong here," Neville said.
"Ah, I see, and where do you think it belongs, Mr. Longbottom?" Snape turned his gaze onto Neville and I saw him swallow before taking a breath.
"Not here," he said vaguely.
"Well, you may not think the sword belongs here, but I can tell you that you three belong in detention with the Carrows for this stunt." He moved to his desk, but the portrait on the wall behind it spoke.
"Severus." It was Dumbledore's portrait. Dumbledore hadn't said a word up until now and I was actually a little surprised. Maybe he had found it amusing that we were stealing the sword. Maybe his silence meant that he didn't mind.
"Yes, Dumbledore?" Snape sighed.
"I think a detention with Hagrid will be perfectly fine. The Carrows have been busy enough from what I've heard."
Snape didn't answer right away. "Very well, then." He turned to us. "You three will be serving a detention tomorrow night at eight with Hagrid in the forest." He didn't look happy about the detention assignment, but I was relieved, actually.
Snape turned his dark eyes on Ginny. "The sword stays here, Miss Weasley."
Ginny didn't answer, but she didn't move to set the sword down either.
"Miss Weasley," Snape said sharply. "You will put down that sword unless you would like two weeks' worth of detention with the Carrows in addition to your detention with Hagrid."
Ginny roughly set the sword down on the desk and turned for the door. "That sword doesn't belong in the same room as someone like you," she called over her shoulder.
I could see Snape's hand twitch towards his wand, but he seemed to think better of it and stopped. "You may go," he said to me and Neville through gritted teeth.
"We got off kind of easy," Neville whispered as we caught up to Ginny at the bottom of the stairs. "Do you think there's some kind of catch?"
"No, I think Dumbledore just hates what's going on as much as we do. He thought a detention with Hagrid would be better," I said. "Obviously, Snape listens to him even if he doesn't want to."
"Then why is the school like this?" Neville asked. "If Dumbledore's portrait can talk and Snape listens to him, then why doesn't Dumbledore just fix this mess?"
"Because overall this has to do with You-Know-Who," Ginny said. "One detention won't affect anything, but Dumbledore can't start giving orders out for the school from a portrait. He's technically not even headmaster now and You-Know-Who's taking over everything."
"I don't think this detention will be so bad," I said, taking Neville's hand. "We'll get to see the thestrals and we'll be together."
"Almost like old times," Neville smirked.
"Almost," I said, kissing his cheek. "When this is all over, we won't need a detention as an excuse to see them."
"When this is over," Ginny sighed. "I like the sound of that."
"So do I," Neville said. "I like the sound of it very much."
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I had the worst case of writers block ever. I would go to work on this chapter and just stare at my computer blankly. Anyway, it's finished now and I hope everyone likes it. Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review!