Hey guys! It seems that fewer and fewer of you are reading and reviewing. I know the story is going through a sort of dry spell. My apologies. BUT IT WILL GET MORE EXCITING I PROMISE! Please please please keep reading. AND, if you review, it gives the story more exposure and that would be awesome. This is going to be one of those times when you realize that this is MY story so things are going to happen differently from the book. Please keep an open mind as you read. :) Hope you like it!

(Friday, January 23rd)

Neville was sitting in front of the portrait, trying to wrap his head around what had happened the day prior. He was a little upset to see that the young girl wasn't there at the moment; instead the portrait showed what looked like a never-ending hallway, because even though she never said anything to him, he still felt like someone was listening to his problems. This portrait that hung above the fireplace was so mysterious. Sometimes it showed the lady in a garden; sometimes it just showed a garden, and sometimes it was the hallway that he was seeing now. He never quite understood the purpose of the painting, but the Room of Requirement had put it there for a reason so he tried to not question it that much. As he stared at the nothingness of the hallway, the dispute from yesterday played in his mind like a movie reel. They were practicing their spells by dueling each other when Ginny called out Daphne in front of the entire Army.

"I pick Greengrass as my opponent."

"Ginny…please call me Daphne."

"We'll see…Greengrass."

Daphne nervously stepped in front of the red head. Ginny already had her wand pointed at her, obviously relishing the fact that she was about to hex the girl that she hated so much. Daphne took her own wand out of her robe pocket and gripped it firmly. She knew that the Gryffindor wasn't going to hold back and she needed to be ready for a frenzy of spells and hexes. Knowing it was customary to bow before dueling, Daphne bent over. Ginny, on the other hand, saw this as her time to make a move. She wasn't afraid of Daphne, quite the opposite really, and while she knew that the Slytherin was a strong witch, she still wanted to let her know that she was not welcome here. So, Ginny hexed her while she wasn't prepared.

"Stupefy!"

Daphne gasped as she shot backwards. Who does that! She coughed as the wind got knocked out of her. Ginny grinned; she wasn't done yet.

"GIN! What the Hell was that?"

"A lesson. Here's another one-"

"NO!"

Despite Neville's attempts to get her to play fair, the witch had other plans in mind.

"Levicorpus."

The Slytherin started hovering in the air. She nervously flailed her arms, scared shitless with the unknown of Ginny's intentions. Ginny let her concentration slip and soon the witch was falling onto the hard floor. She landed on her stomach, again gasping for air. Why did the red head have so much hate towards her anyway?

"Ginny, you stop right now!"

"Stay out of this Neville!"

Ginny waited for Daphne to stand up, wanting to see the scared look on her face when she hit her with the next hex. Daphne knew another spell was coming, however, and beat Ginny to it. Wheezing, she was able to get a curse out.

"Incarcerous."

The ropes shot out the tip of her wand and wrapped the witch up. She screamed out in fury, frustrated that the Slytherin had beaten her that time.

"Let me out."

"What? I thought I was allowed to fight back." Daphne hacked and coughed, her stomach still acting up to the harsh fall she had just experienced. She bent over and put her hands on her knees to try and find her normal breathing rate before looking up at the angry Gryffindor.

"What do have against me anyway? I never did anything to you personally."

"That's none of your business."

"I believe it is since it effects me just as much as it effects you."

"You're a bitch!"

"Ow. Never heard that before-"

"Shut it Greengrass. Nobody wants you here."

Daphne stood up straight and noticed that Aubrielle was standing next to her. The Ravenclaw looked from Ginny to Daphne.

"I want her here."

Neville stepped foreword, "I do too."

Emolly did the same, "I want her here and she bullied me for years! I was able to forgive her Ginny. Why can't you do the same? Suck up your damn pride for once-"

"Pride? PRIDE?" She was thrashing against the ropes now, wanting nothing more than to break free and hex the witch into next year. "You…you…you-"

"I, what? I never did anything to you Ginny!"

Daphne was done holding back. She wanted her past to stop deciding her future. She had admitted to herself that she had changed now. She was a different person. She knew what side she was fighting on. Ginny needed to realize that too. She never would though; she was too stubborn.

"Neville, get me out of these damn ropes!"

Neville just stood there, staring at his friend. If he let her go, she would surely hurt Daphne and he really didn't want two of his best female fighters in the hospital wing. He crossed his arms over his chest and Ginny's eyes widened.

"Neville, I said, get me out."

"As long as you promise not to hurt Daphne."

The witch stopped thrashing, thoroughly shocked. She knew that he was a forgiving person, but she always thought that he would have her back, even in situations like this.

"You…you're going to take her side?"

"I'm not taking a side Gin I just don't want anyone to get hur-"

"Bollocks! You lying, backstabbing, git!" She finally managed to break herself free from the ropes once she got her wand positioned correctly. She stood up and furiously flung the ropes off her body. She stomped over to Neville who had his wand raised and ready. He had no problem fighting Ginny to keep her from hurting someone. "Fine! I'm done, out of here. You can handle the damn Army all by yourself since I'm obviously always in the wrong!" With those words, she grabbed her trunk, stuffed everything inside of it, and raced back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Neville shook his head, trying to sort out everything. It was true; Ginny wasn't in the Army anymore. Well, she wasn't for the time being. Only time could tell if she would change her mind and calm down. He took a deep breath and exhaled. What in Merlin's name was he going to do? He couldn't do this on his own. He looked up to find the girl occupying the painting once more. He jumped a little; he hadn't seen her return.

"Help."

Hearing him, the girl nodded her head and disappeared. Neville quickly stood up, unsure of what was happening.

"Wait, what? Where are you going? What is going on?"

She didn't answer him and instead turned around without saying a word. He quickly shot his hands to his head and gripped is hair. What the Hell? She had never responded to him, at all. She might have blinked a couple of times but that was it. The second he asks for help she does something? Well, he was about to find out the purpose of this damn portrait. He paced in front of the fireplace, knowing it was the only thing that he could really do at the time. He looked up to see the girl in the distance, walking back to her spot, only this time…was someone with her? The wizard squinted, trying to make out the large figure. It seemed to be a man with a very long beard. He kind of looked like…Dumbledore. Neville shook his head, no, that could not be. Dumbledore was dead and buried in the ground. Than who was that? Much to his surprise, the large portrait slowly swung open. Neville, on instinct, quickly whipped his wand out of his pocket, ready to defend himself if that be the case. Neville raised his eyebrows when he saw the elder man standing in the threshold. It looked as if there was a long passage behind him. Like the one the Gryffindor had seen in the portrait so many times? The old man waved his wand and the stones of the wall popped out so he could step down from the hole. Neville just stood there the entire time with his mouth agape.

"Shut your mouth boy, I'm not the Dark Lord or anything."

The wizard was finally on the ground and standing in front of the seventh year. He sized him up mentally, wondering if he could take him or not.

"Who…who are you, exactly?"

"Aberforth Dumbledore."

"Dum-"

"Yes Dumbledore. Albus was my brother."

"You're Dumbledore's brother?" Neville didn't even know that the old headmaster had a brother.

"I just said that, didn't I? What's your name boy?"

"Neville, sir. Neville Longbottom."

"Oh." There was a slight pause before Aberforth continued. "I'm sorry about your parents. Good people they were."

"Thank you but, you know my parents?"

"Oh yes, wonderful couple. It's a tragedy what they went through."

"Yeah…it was… I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?"

The wizard went and sat on the nearest cot and put his hands in his lap.

"Well, you asked for help. I'm here."

"Wait…" Neville turned to look at the girl in the portrait. She had the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. "You mean to tell me, that if I would have said 'help me' at the beginning of the school year, you would have come?"

"Yes."

"Are you part of the Order?"

"It's, eh, complicated."

Neville went and sat down next to Aberforth on the cot. This whole time, when they had all assumed the portrait was simply a girl standing in a garden, there was really someone on the other side to help them. Even more, there was a secret passageway that could possibly lead out of the castle. This was all too surreal for Neville to handle. Aberforth looked around the Room and surveyed the cots, hammocks, trunks, and school supplies that were strewn about. The Room was quite unkempt.

"What kind of operation do you have going here anyway? Ariana says that you duel each other and-"

"Sorry, who?"

"Ariana. The girl you've been seeing all the time. That's my sister."

"Dumbledore had a sister too?"

"Yes! Now will you keep up? She says that there are many fights that happen in here. She told me there was a big blowout just yesterday-"

"Oh yes. That. That's why I need help. I just don't know what to do. How can I possibly keep everyone happy?"

"You can't."

"I know. Anyway, this is Dumbledore's Army. We created it, well, by 'we' I mean Harry, Ron, and Hermione, back in fifth year when Umbridge was controlling the school. Now the trio is gone but the evil is still here. So, Ginny, Luna, and myself got it started again. We're teaching students how to properly fight against the Dark Arts so that when this war hits, they'll have a better chance of making it out alive."

"I figured it was something along those lines. What's it like having Snape as Headmaster?"

"Rough. It's not him that everyone is afraid of though; it's the Carrows. They're bloody brutal."

Aberforth glanced at Neville. He was a big kid, not fat though, just…big. He obviously had some muscle to him and was sculpted like a well-bred teenager. He had small bruises and cuts on his face and arms, from what, the wizard had no clue. He seemed intelligent enough and if he was tackling this whole Army thing by himself, well that was a damn good leader as any. The boy turned to look at him and Aberforth could see the appreciation in his eyes. It was obvious that this boy was a good, genuine Gryffindor through and through.

"You know, Neville, that passage that I came through connects to Hogsmeade. You can use it to get food and other necessities so you can keep your Army members healthy."

"Really?" The glow in the wizard's eyes was the brightest it had been in a while.

"Really. Just talk to Ariana. She can come get me. Likewise, if I need you for something, she will summon you."

"Thank you so much Mr. Dumbledore. This is…is…incredible!"

The old wizard stood and started walking back up the exposed stones towards the portrait. Ariana swung it open and soon the man was standing back at the entrance of the tunnel. Neville stood up and walked towards the fireplace.

"Don't mention it. Best tell the rest of the students though so they understand what's going on."

"Of course. Will you be around tomorrow night? Say, eight?"

"Just ask Ariana."

Aberforth winked at the seventh year before turning around and disappearing behind the closing painting. Neville couldn't wipe the smile off of his face.

(Saturday, January 24th)

Aubrielle had absolutely no idea what was going on. All she knew was that Neville called an emergency meeting at eight o'clock and he even had begged Ginny to come back to the Room, even if it was just for that meeting. The Ravenclaw wasn't sure if it was some kind of hoax to get the sixth year back permanently, or if there was really something important that Neville had discovered. Either way, all the Army members were buzzing with anticipation. Aubrielle was towards the back of the group, standing on a cot to see over their heads, with Emolly and Daphne. The two Slytherins were just as perplexed as everyone else, only Daphne had a concerned look on her face. Obviously she had a fear of being attacked by Ginny again and while she felt the Gryffindor was an enormous asset to the Army, she was still a hazard in the witch's eyes. She clung to Emolly and Aubrielle for protection and, she had to admit, for friendship. The two girls had welcomed her with open arms and they were really starting to create a strong bond. Daphne had to admit, they were already better friends towards her than Pansy ever was.

Neville was at the head of the group, facing away from the students. He looked up at the portrait, which was occupied by the young woman, and nodded his head. She acknowledged the gesture and turned to leave. Aubrielle's jaw dropped as she watched the girl walk down the garden path before disappearing out of sight. The Room was instantly filled with the tone of surprise. Neville cleared his throat.

"Hello all, I know you are wondering what is happening with the portrait, but just be patient. You are about to find out."

Now the girl was coming back, but Aubrielle could make out another figure walking next to her. As they got closer, the painting began to swing open. There was a collective gasp as a passage way was revealed and an older looking man stepped into view. He had a long gray beard and beady eyes. The seventh year couldn't help but think about the resemblance that he had to their late Headmaster. The old man stepped onto the jutted stones and made his way down to ground level. Everyone watched, completely shell shocked, as he came and stood next to Neville.

"This, everyone, is Aberforth Dumbledore. He is Headmaster Dumbledore's brother. Now, I understand that you all want answers. I will give them to you, in due time. For right now, just listen."

The students grew silent, unsure of what to expect. Aubrielle just found herself wondering two things. One, when had Neville met this man, and two, why hadn't he told her as soon as he had?

"I know that all of you have been puzzled by the portrait that has been hanging on this wall. Sometimes you see a girl in a garden, sometimes just the garden itself, and sometimes a vast hallway that looks to have no end. Well, yesterday, while mulling over the events that had happened between two specific witches…"

Daphne turned a deep red and she could see Ginny clench her fists.

"I asked for help. Much to my surprise, the young woman disappeared and brought back this man right here. I'm sure you could all imagine my shock and confusion. It turns out, that behind this portrait, there is a tunnel that leads to Hogsmeade."

The volume skyrocketed as the students began debating about the passage. It could be used as a hiding place if the war were to come here, or an escape route. They could smuggle friends into the castle or family members if need be. They could get out of this Hellhole and run away. It seemed to the members that the possibilities were endless.

"Please stay quiet! Now, Aberforth here is on our side. He's fighting for the same cause that we are and he is willing to help. Through the use of this secret passage, he will be able to acquire food, medical supplies, and other materials for us. With this comes rules though."

There was a collective moan from the crowd.

"I am the only one allowed to actually go through the tunnel unless I say otherwise. This is very important. I understand that you all want to explore or go back into the 'real word' but that is way too risky. It is imperative that we keep this a secret, especially from any and all death eaters that are stationed in Hogsmeade. Also, if you need something, and it has to be a necessity, you come to me and I will write it down if I feel it is important enough. Do not simply go up to the portrait and ask for it. I cannot stress this enough, we cannot take advantage of this situation. We have to keep this well hidden at all costs. Do you all understand?"

Everyone nodded their heads, understanding the type of advantage that they had just gained. This was huge. This was the only hidden passage that led out of the school and it was up to them to keep it a secret. In a way, Aubrielle felt like a secret agent. It made her feel like a badass, to be blunt.

After Neville was done explaining the passage, Aberforth was able to talk to the students and introduce himself. He seemed like a kind man who genuinely wanted to help. After the wizard had gone back through the portrait, the students dispersed and began gossiping on Neville's latest find. It was the biggest news that they had heard all term. The Gryffindor walked over to Aubrielle, who was now sitting on her cot instead of standing, and placed a gently hand on her knee. She looked up at him and connected with his eyes. It was a silent conversation, a mutual understanding, and Neville cupped his girlfriends face before bringing her towards him in a heated kiss. There was so much fire, so much energy, that the witch's hair stood on end. This was all too real, with the severity of the wizarding world's current situation, and the discovery of the passage made it even more intense. No one could find out, no one, and everyone knew why. If the information got into the hands of the wrong person, death eaters, and Voldemort himself, could easily flood into the castle. This war was coming, that was painfully obvious, and the couple knew that moments like these would be rare and far between.

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