"Living might mean taking chances, but they're worth taking."

-Lee Ann Womack (I Hope You Dance)

I paced around the room as more and more members of the Order of the Phoenix and the D.A. continued to arrive.

"Neville, stop pacing." Ginny grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop.

"Luna and Harry aren't back yet."

"It's only been about ten minutes. It'll take them at least that long to get there. I'm pretty sure Harry has his invisibility cloak with him. I mean, he's basically the most wanted person for miles. He can hardly go walking around the school."

"True," I said. "The cloak will hide them."

"Hasn't failed yet," Ginny said. I could tell she was trying to be cheery, but it was still difficult.

"Neville!" I turned around at the sound of my name and saw Lupin maneuvering through the crowd towards me. "What exactly is going on?"

"I've called everyone back. Harry's here with Ron and Hermione!"

"Yes, you said that in your message. You also said we're fighting?"

"Yeah, well, I think we are. Harry went off with Luna to look at a statue in Ravenclaw tower-,"

"Why would he…?"

"He needs to look for something that might help to destroy You-Know-Who. It might be the diadem of Ravenclaw and he needs to know what it looks like. Hermione and Ron went off about five minutes ago to the Chamber of Secrets. They said something about needing basilisk fangs to destroy whatever item Harry has to find."

"Okay," Lupin said slowly. "I don't see where the fighting part comes in, though."

"Yeah, I haven't either. Not yet, anyway. I'm kind of just going along with it."

"Don't you think you should have waited to call us back, then?" Lupin asked. "If you're not sure if we're fighting or not…people are going to get annoyed if you have to turn them all away."

"Hopefully I won't have to then. If there doesn't end up being a fight, then we'll find something for everyone to do."

"My point is that the Order is busy doing other things right now and we don't have time to-,"

"Look, I think you're going to just have to trust me on this one, okay? No disrespect, but," I took a breath, "I had to take a chance and call you all back. Just in case there was a fight. We need as many people on our side as we can get."

Lupin nodded but didn't get to say anything else because at that moment Harry and Luna skidded down the stairs. Harry looked taken aback by the significant growth of people in the room, while Luna, on the other hand, didn't look shocked at all. She serenely made her way to stand by my side. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me.

"Harry, what's going on?" Lupin asked.

"How did you all get here?" Harry responded, ignoring Lupin's question.

"Through the Hog's Head," Lupin answered. "We got Neville's message."

"I called everyone back," I said. "I had to. Just in case we were fighting. Are we?"

Harry hesitated. "You-Know Who is on his way here. McGonagall's barricading the school, but it will only hold up for so long. Everyone else is meeting in the Great Hall right now. Essentially, yes, that means we're fighting."

There was a deafening cheer that filled the room after Harry finished talking and everyone began to move at once towards the exit. I pulled Luna aside and cupped her face in my hands. Even though I had been prepared and almost aching to fight and to defeat Voldemort and his followers once and for all, the sudden reality of what we were doing had filled me with a sudden burst of fear.

"Neville, you look terrified," Luna said.

"I am," I answered.

"Don't give in to it. Don't listen to that voice inside your head. I know it's easier said than done, but you've done so well all year. We're almost done, Neville. We're almost there. We're almost at the end. Remember that."

I nodded, swallowing the lump of fear in my throat. "I love you," I managed to whisper. "Remember, you promised me a long time ago not to die." I managed a weak smile.

"I still promise," she said, leaning up to kiss me. "And the same goes for you. Stay out of the way of those killing curses."

I nodded, finding it difficult to speak, and kissed her again, praying that it wouldn't be the last time.

"Harry!" I yelled, running after the dark haired boy ahead of me. We were all just leaving the Great Hall and it seemed as if every hallway was mobbed with frantic students. Younger students were being evacuated and You-Know-Who was on his way. I had found it hard to even catch up to Harry once I had reassured Neville that I would be okay and insisting that I had to tell Harry something important. "Harry, wait! I'm trying to talk to you!"

"I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"You won't find anything where you're going! You're wasting your time!" I said, chasing Harry up a flight of stairs. I knew he was looking for that diadem and going back to Ravenclaw tower to examine the statue more, but that wouldn't do him any good.

"Look, we'll talk later, Luna, okay?"

"Harry!"

"Later!"

"Harry Potter! You listen to me right now!"

Harry froze where he was, a few steps ahead of me. He finally turned and looked at me, his mouth open and his eyes wide. It was one of the rare times where I had shouted. I hadn't wanted to, but I couldn't think of anything else to do to make him listen.

"Didn't you hear what Cho said about Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem?" I asked. "There's not a person alive who's seen it." When Harry just stared at me, I plowed on. "It's obvious, isn't it? We have to talk to someone who's dead."

"Dead?" Harry repeated.

"Yes," I answered.

"The Grey Lady?" Harry asked.

I nodded. "I can show you where she usually is."

Harry raced down the steps and grabbed my arm. "Let's go then," he said urgently.

"Alright, but slow down," I said as he pulled me down the rest of the steps. "It's as if there were Heliopaths after you."

"What about Death Eaters?" Harry asked.

"Yes, those work just as well." I continued to direct him down hallway after hallway until I finally told him to stop. "If you're to find her, you'll find her down there," I said, pointing.

"Aren't you coming?" Harry asked.

"No, I think it's best if you two talk alone. She's very shy."

"Okay, then. Well, thanks, Luna. I appreciate it, really."

I smiled and nodded before turning and heading back the way we had come. I had agreed to join the group of students going to the Astronomy tower as soon as I was finished helping Harry. Now all I had to do was find them before the Death Eaters got here.

"Let me get this straight, Professor, you're really giving us permission to do this?" I asked, trying to keep up with my Transfiguration professor. I never knew she could walk so fast. Seamus was right behind me, still looking bemused and shocked at the words that had just come out of Professor McGonagall's mouth.

"That is correct, Longbottom," she said, heading out the front doors and down the steps.

"Blow it up? Boom? I asked, following her.

"Boom!" she exclaimed.

"Wicked," I said breathlessly, "but how on earth are we going to do that?"

"Why don't you confer with Mr. Finnegan? As I recall, he has a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics."

"I can bring it down," Seamus said confidently.

"That's the spirit. Now, off you go." Professor McGonagall hastily shooed us away and the two of us didn't waste any time heading for the covered bridge.

"Got a plan?" I asked Seamus as we jogged towards our destination.

"Sort of," he said. "I'm going to head back inside and get some stuff I need. I want you to go stand on the bridge and be lookout."

"What if the Death Eaters get here before you can come back and get everything set up?"

Seamus shrugged. "Fight them off the best you can."

"Seamus, I can't fight off an army of Death Eaters on my own."

"You won't have to," he assured me. "It'll only take me a minute. I know exactly what I need to get and how to set it up. I'll recruit more people on the way. Just go keep watch."

"How do I let you know when they're coming if you're not back by then?"

"You don't," Seamus said, taking a sharp left. "See you in a few minutes!"

"Seamus!" He ignored me and kept running. I watched him go, feeling slightly panicked. Eventually, I turned and ran the rest of the way to the covered bridge. I made my way to the other end and paced back and forth across the width of the opening.

I began to wonder how Luna was doing. She had gone off after Harry the moment we were dismissed from the Great Hall. After she managed to talk to him, she was supposed to go with one of the groups Kingsley had put together. I had had half a mind to tell her to sit in the Room of Requirement, but I knew I couldn't stop her from fighting. It wouldn't be fair. So in the end, I had let her go.

I only waited for fifteen minutes on the covered bridge, but it seemed like an eternity. Seamus clearly understood that we were pressed for time because he didn't even come onto the covered bridge to tell me he was back. He just set straight to work. I only became aware that he had returned when I heard banging, thumps, and clanking coming from under me. Leaning over the edge, I saw Seamus and a bunch of other D.A. members, including Ginny, tying some sort of white, rock-like objects to the beams and wooden supports under the bridge.

"What are those?" I yelled down to him.

"I don't know," he yelled back. "All I know is I accidentally mistook them for a Potion ingredient back in first year. Turns out that these are highly explosive. I found out the hard way."

"I know. I was there. I sat next to you, remember? You set my sleeve on fire. I tried to avoid sitting next to you ever again."

"I know. And I tried to avoid sitting next to you after you melted your Cauldron."

I laughed. "So how do we get these to go off?"

"We're going to have to wait here for the Death Eaters to come. When they do, all we have to do is use our wands. It's simple, really. If I'm doing this right, they'll go off in sort of a domino effect. One right after the other so that we'll only have to use our wands once."

I nodded and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. It was then that I heard a tremendous amount of yelling from the trees. I turned to see a large group of people running towards the school and the bridge. I recognized Greyback and Scabior at the front of the group. Luna had told me they had been at Malfoy Manor. I could tell from her voice that although they hadn't tortured her, they had never been nice and it made me angry. I couldn't stand the thought that they had been rude to her and I hated that they were running towards the castle now to attack us and kill as many of us as possible.

I held up my wand, preparing to do something, anything when the group came closer. What I was planning to do, exactly, I had no idea. There were so many of them, I couldn't possibly stand a chance. Three members of the group pulled ahead of the others and ran through the protective barrier around the school. There was a sizzling noise before they seemed to vanish, disintegrate, even, before my very eyes.

"Hurry up with those explosives, Seamus," I hissed. "I don't know how much time we have left before they manage to get through the protective charms."

"I'm trying," he said through gritted teeth. I could hear his voice shake slightly.

"Well, try harder," I squeaked, looking up to find Scabior and Greyback sneering at me through the protective charms as they paced back and forth looking for even the smallest crack or weak spot in the barrier.

"Okay, I'm finished," Seamus said, his voice still shaky, but proud. "We'll meet you up on the bridge."

I nodded and prayed he'd hurry up. Even with the backup he had gotten, we still most likely wouldn't be able to take down the group standing across from me, but at least we'd have a better chance. We also had the explosives on our side now as well.

I was still waiting for Seamus and the others when I saw it. The protective shield was cracking and breaking away. Realizing what was going on, Scabior smirked and took one slow step towards me. Nothing happened. I stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds, unable to move. It wasn't until he and every member of the large group behind him started running for me that my brain finally seemed to register that I needed to move. I turned and made a mad dash for the other end of the bridge.

Spells were being shot at me left and right and I was finding it so hard to think straight that I almost forgotten the reason why I was on the bridge in the first place. With a spell that was oddly well aimed considering I was terrified and running, I set off the explosives that Seamus had set up. They went off successfully, adding to the multiple flashes going off all around me.

I couldn't see much, but I could hear the bridge collapsing and the Snatchers still running and screaming behind me. All I kept chanting in my head was that I only had a little ways left until I was safe. I could see the other end of the bridge now. Seamus and Ginny were standing just beyond the edge of the wooden structure with the other students Seamus had recruited to help. A few feet from the end, I took a flying leap and just made it onto the grass before the bridge fully collapsed, bringing the group of Snatchers with it.

"Neville, are you okay?" Ginny asked, helping me up.

I rested my hands on my knees and looked up at her and a very pale Seamus. "Fine," I breathed out. Finally, I broke into a grin. "I'm perfectly fine."

Jogging back up to the castle after a victory, even if it was small, felt incredible, but it had also made me realize how dangerous this was going to be for all of us. I had been a few seconds from falling to my death right along with Scabior and the other Snatchers, but I had gotten so incredibly lucky.

I started running through the castle, knowing I had to find Luna. I had something important to say to her and I wanted to do it now before I possibly lost the opportunity forever. I ran up a staircase with Ginny at my side, and ran into Harry.

"Neville! Ginny!" Harry yelled, grabbing Ginny's arm. "Are you all right?"

"Never better! I feel like I could spit fire! Have you seen Luna anywhere?"

"Luna? No," Harry answered.

"I have to tell her something," I answered, jogging backwards and heading for another staircase. "I might as well tell her now since we'll probably both be dead by dawn."

Without waiting for an answer, I turned and ran up another staircase, frantically searching for Luna left and right. I needed to find her before something happened to either one of us. I nervously reached into my pocket and fiddled with what was supposed to be her birthday gift. I had planned to go home for the Christmas holiday, get the gift, and give it to Luna in February, but then she had been taken off the train. After discussing it with my Gran, I had managed to get the gift anyway. I had hoped Luna would be back by her birthday, but when she wasn't I began to wonder when I would be able to give her the gift. As time passed, I began to rethink the whole thing. It had been a stupid idea and too rushed. I had eventually decided to wait until another birthday or holiday, possibly years down the road, but now actually seemed like a perfect time. If we were going to die, I wasn't going to go until I had given her gift to her.

"Have you seen Luna?" I asked Cho Chang, grabbing her arm as she ran past me. I knew she had been part of the Astronomy tower group.

"The last time I saw her, she was a couple of hallways over!" Cho answered before running off again.

The castle was shaking with explosions and dust was falling from the ceiling. That could only mean that the Death Eaters were entering the castle. It wouldn't be long until we were in a full-fledged battle.

I skidded around a few more corners before I finally saw Luna standing in a small alcove of windows, looking outside. She wasn't running and she didn't look panicked. Instead, she looked oddly calm as she stared out at the grounds.

"Luna!" I said, my voice sounding loud in the hallway.

She turned and broke into a grin. "Neville!"

I reached her and grabbed her in my arms. "I'm glad you're okay." Suddenly something dawned on me. "Weren't you supposed to be on the Astronomy tower? I saw Cho running the other way as well."

"Oh, yes, we were up there, but the Death Eaters are entering the castle. We can't really aim spells at them anymore if they aren't outside."

"So you came here?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," she said. "I haven't been here very long. I just wanted to take a look."

"What's happening?" I asked, peering through the glass.

"Giants," Luna said, "and practically all of the spiders from the forest."

"I wonder if the thestrals are all right," I said quietly.

"I've been wondering the same thing," Luna said in a whisper.

"Look at us," I said, my voice equally as low. I turned back to her and rubbed a thumb over her cheek. "In the middle of a battle and worrying about thestrals."

"I was more worried about you," Luna said. "Until you got here of course. Did you blow up the bridge?"

The castle shook again and I instinctively pulled Luna close to me, shielding her from any falling debris. When she pulled away, I answered her question. "Yeah, it's gone and it took a bunch of Snatchers with it. Scabior and Greyback included."

Luna smiled. "Well done, Neville." She squeezed my hand. "I'm glad I got to see you before we start fighting."

"Luna," I said, my throat constricting. I swallowed and took both of her hands. "There's something I have to tell you. Well, ask you, really. I have something for you. I was planning on giving it to you on your birthday, but you were taken off the train and I never got the chance. Then I rethought the whole thing and was going to wait a while longer, but now that we're fighting, I don't think I should wait."

"Neville, you really don't have to-,"

"No, I do. If I die tonight, I want to have given it to you."

"You're not going to die, Neville." She said it calmly, but I could detect the slight fierceness in her tone.

"We don't know that," I said shakily.

"Neville," she protested, but I put a finger to her lips.

"I need to do this, okay?" She fell silent and nodded, so I took the opportunity to drop one of her hands and reach into my pocket. "If I don't make it through tonight, I want to go with the satisfaction of having asked you a question that for a long time I've known I was going to eventually ask you. I don't know if we're going to make it out alive, but if we do…." I trailed off as my hand closed around the small box. I pulled it out, opening it and dropping to one knee as I did so. "Luna, if we do make it out alive, will you marry me?"

A/N: I debated about the ending of this chapter for ages. I didn't know whether or not I should do it, or how to do it if I decided to put it in. I'm actually quite happy with it and I hope everyone else is too.

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