Chapter One:
I was finishing my Charms homework when Zacharias told me.
He fell into the chair across the table from me. "Neville's gone."
"Gone?" I gave him a panicked look. "As in dead?" Without me telling him? I finished in my head.
"No, you prat. If he were dead I'd be sad. He ran off somewhere. Seamus told me. But he'll be in contact."
I nodded. "But he's still being leader-ish right?"
Zacharias laughed rudely, "I don't think he'll be able to stop taking all of Potter's power."
"You don't have to join him, you know." I said, glancing back down at my essay.
"I know." He chuckled and stood up, going to annoy someone else.
Luckily, the rest of my information was relayed by Ernie, who didn't scorn Neville. He told me that Neville was hiding out in the Room of Requirement, and if anyone wanted to join him, we could.
"I'll probably go the next time I'm beaten." He boasted, then waltzed off to find Susan, who was in the loo.
She arrived back a moment later, and raised her eyebrows at my far-off expression.
"Neville's in the Room of Requirement."
"Better than death." She smirked and settled back into her seat. A moment later, she glanced up to find me not working again and still staring at her.
"What?"
"We're allowed to join him."
She raised her eyebrows. "Why would we do that?"
"Because he's a hero." Still.
"Right." She thought for a moment. "Fine. I'll make a deal with you. If Lavender and Parvati go, then I'll go with you to see your lover boy."
I nodded, satisfied and finally turned and stuck my tongue out at her. "He's not my lover boy."
She shrugged, "same difference."
It took a couple of weeks for the news to sink in to the rest of the D.A., but sure enough, exactly seventeen days after Neville left, Seamus was gone, and then Ernie and Justin. I begged Susan to go with me, but she wouldn't budge even after Michael and Anthony left Ravenclaw.
"We made a deal." She said as we walked into the Great Hall. "I'll go if and only if that happens."
I shook my head and saw out of the corner of my eye, a tiny girl being dragged away by the Carrows. I grabbed Susan's arm, and she turned with me to run to get her.
I hit Alecto with a curse as we ran towards them and heard a vase behind me shatter as Amycus aimed at Susan. I started to wrestle the girl out of his beefy arms, and felt a lash on my cheek as he raised his wand and cursed a large cut on my face. Susan gasped and cursed him, but missed, I ducked a second curse he aimed at my nose, but it hit my foot and I felt the rubber melting away. I kicked him in the shin and pulled the girl away as Susan stupefied both of them.
The girl scampered into the Great Hall, but Susan and I both raced into the common room.
"They'll be after me." I gasped, out of breath.
"Me too." Susan said. "Fine. I changed my mind. Let's get the hell out of here and join your hero."