Begin Again (George Weasley/Draco Malfoy)

Thirty-Nine.

Things were actually calm at Muriel's. Luna and Dean told us all about how they were kidnapped and thrown in the cellar at Malfoy Manor. Luna since Christmas and Dean has been there since early March time. They said it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione that saved them. But it was Dobby the House Elf that took them to Shell Cottage where Bill and Fleur live.
   
I would love to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione. It certainly would be nice to see them. At least we know they're still alive. My dad always said he was certain he was still alive because if he had been killed the Death Eaters would flaunt his body around and make sure we knew they killed him.
   
They told us how they heard Hermione getting tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, how when he was home Draco was put in charge of bringing them food, and how sorry he looked every time he came downstairs. The Draco I knew was still in there, he was just buried by what his family has forced him to become.
   
It was just sad, honestly. He had such potential to be a good person, if only his family wasn't so crazy he would have had a chance to be the person I knew. Every time I started to feel bad for him though, I reminded myself he tried to kill Dumbledore and then I got over it.
   
My 18th birthday was at the end of April, and it was a quiet day. My dad came to visit for a little bit, and that was about it. It was nice to be able to spend my birthday with George like I got to spend his with him this year.
  
About a week later, after everyone had gone to bed, Ginny came running into the bedroom George and I shared saying we needed to leave, and quickly. That Harry was back at Hogwarts and that meant a fight was going to happen.
   
The Room of Requirement, it looked much larger than it did when we had D.A. meetings here. Multicolored hammocks were strung from the ceiling from a balcony that ran the dark wood-paneled and windowless walls, which were covered in bright tapestry hangings: I saw the gold Gryffindor lion emblazoned on scarlet, the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw on royal blue, and finally I saw my house with the black badger of Hufflepuff on yellow. We were all greeted by cheers and hellos.
   
“Yeah,” says Neville as we reach the room, “I told her I’d send for her if you came back. I figured if you did come back it would mean revolution.”
   
“Did someone say Revolution?” Two nearly identical voices singsong together.
   
“Adelaide!” I heard someone call my name, I looked at where the voice came from and I ran over to them.
   
“Jude!” I yelled back.
   
We hugged so tight as we reached each other. I didn’t even realize how much I missed her until I saw her. I hug all of my Hufflepuff friends then one by one. It was so nice to see them all again. To know that they’re alive and safe here. I joined the others in the front of the room when I finished my hugs with my friends where Harry was talking to Neville, telling him he needed to find something.
   
That’s when Harry takes control again as everyone gathers around us.
   
“Guys, you’ve got it all wrong. We’re not here to fight. We’re here to find something. Something very important. But, we don’t know what it is, just that it belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. Does anyone know what that could be?”
   
“Is what you’re looking for going to help overthrow You-Know-Who?” Asked Fred, curiously.
   
“Yes,” Says Harry, but that’s all that he would tell them. “Does anyone know anything that was of importance to Rowena Ravenclaw?”
   
“There’s the lost Diadem,” says Luna, dreamily. “But no one in living memory has ever seen it.”
   
“What the bloody hell is a Diadem?” Asks Ron from behind Harry.
   
“It’s like a crown,” says Hermione. “Or a tiara.”
   
“If you’d like to see what it looks like, Harry, I could take you up to our common room and show you. Ravenclaw’s wearing it in her statue,” says Cho Chang, Harry’s ex-girlfriend from fifth year.
   
“Luna can take him, won’t you, Luna,” pipes up Ginny, also Harry’s ex-girlfriend.
   
“I’d love to,” says Luna, happily.
   
“It’s the best shot we got,” says Harry, shrugging. He and Luna put the cloak on and he and Luna leave the room together. A few moments later, Ron and Hermione leave for the Chamber of Secrets as well, saying they need to get Basilisk fangs.
   
“George, I was so happy when Adelaide told me you two were back together.” says Jude as she approaches George and I, who was standing with his arm around me again.
   
“Yeah,” says George, "I'm happy too. It's been great."
   
“Good,” she smiles back and then looks at me, “You know I always wanted you with George. Anyways, where in the bloody hell have you been? We’ve all been worried sick!”
   
“You really thought you could sneak out of the house like that?" says my mum, curtly, folding her arms over her chest. She had just walked in through the tunnel with the rest of the Weasley family and the entire Order of the Phoenix.
   
“I can help you,” I say, firmly. “But, it’s almost over. After Harry finds whatever it is from Ravenclaw they need.”
   
“Adelaide,” says George, “Shouldn’t you have gone with Harry? You know what they're looking for. If what he needs is so important you should help him.”
   
“We wouldn’t have all fit under the cloak,” I say, “We would have been seen. I’m surprised Ron and Hermione left when they did. They’re in so much trouble if they’re caught.”
   
“Oh no,” says Mrs. Weasley, clutching onto her husband.
   
“They’ll be alright though,” I say, “I’ve watched both of them fight. They’ve both improved so much. They’ll be fine. I just don’t want them to be caught is all.”
   
More people start to enter through the tunnel then. Harry’s old Quidditch Captain’s Oliver Wood and Angelina Johnson (Who Fred runs over to straight away) enter first, followed by Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet, and many more members of the D.A. that have since left Hogwarts all come to our aid. It was so nice of them, but it was certainly not what we needed from them. I was glad to see them show up for us though.
   
That’s when the heads of house of Professor Sprout, Flitwick, and McGonagall all enter the room with Harry and Luna yelling about how we needed to get to the Great Hall now to evacuate because Hogwarts is under attack and the Professors are going to put some protection charms over the school but it will only hold them off temporarily. My friends all take off, Jude rushing to get to her younger siblings first, but I stay behind with the Weasley’s and the Order. “Come on, Luna,” Dean calls to her and takes her hand and runs off with her to the Great Hall.
   
Mrs. Weasley starts on Ginny, telling her to go home, and Ginny is not having it, saying she wants to fight. Then she rounds in on the twins, saying that they shouldn’t have let her come. Eventually, Mrs. Weasley said she could stay in the Room of Requirement, but that she was not allowed to leave it under any circumstances whatsoever, Ginny agreed to this because at least she’d still be allowed to be here.
   
That’s when another surprise exited the tunnel, Percy Weasley. “I’m sorry I’m late,” he says with a smile on his face. “I only just found out, so I – I – ”
   
There was a deafening silence in the room as we all looked at him. It wasn’t until Fleur broke it, saying, “So, how is little Teddy,” to my dad.
   
“Oh, yeah, he’s fine,” he says, sounding proud. “Tonks is staying with him tonight. Here, I’ve got a picture now.” He pulls the photo out of his jacket pocket, and I rush over to him to see it. He was so cute, he looked like my dad. I couldn’t wait to meet him.
   
“I was a fool!” Roared Percy, getting the attention again. “I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a – a –”
   
“A Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,” says Fred.
   
“Exactly,” says Percy, nodding. “I was.”
   
“Well, you can’t say any fairer than that,” says George, holding out his hand to him and the brother’s shake. Mrs. Weasley burst into tears and hugged her son, while he patted her on the back and eyed his father.
   
“I’m sorry, dad,” he says. Mr. Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son.
   
We leave Ginny safe in the room then and head to the Great Hall. Everyone was sitting at their respective house tables. My dad and Kingsley took to the stage with Professor McGonagall, standing behind her. I sat with my mum and my friends at the Hufflepuff table, keeping an eye on the Weasley family at the table next to ours. I didn’t like being away from George. I didn’t like it at all.
   
A girl at the Slytherin table asked where Professor Snape went, and Professor McGonagall said he has been sacked and the entire tables of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw erupted in cheers at the sound of it, but the Slytherin table stayed silent.
   
“We have already placed protection around the castle,” said Professor McGonagall, “But it’s unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your Prefects – ”
   
Her last words were drawn out by a different voice. It was cold, high-pitched, and clear. There was no telling where it came from; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves. Like the monster it commanded, it might have lain dormant for centuries.
   
“I know you are preparing to fight,” the voice said, “Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until Midnight.”
   
Silence fell in the hall. Every eye in the place was now on Harry at the Gryffindor table. Then a figure rose from the Slytherin table, and the voice of Pansy Parkinson shouted, “He’s there! Right there! Someone grab him!”
   
I shot up out of my seat, pointing my wand and shouted, "Stupefy!" at her and she blasted backwards. All the eyes were on me now, so I take full advantage of it. “If anyone wants to get to Harry they go through me first! You got that?” my eyes are on Draco at the table now as I decide to finally tell everyone the truth, “I dated Draco Malfoy for a year. You Slytherins do not scare me!”
   
“Adelaide,” my mum hisses at me, tugging on my arm to get me to sit down, I don’t. George looks at me with a big, proud smile on his face.
   
“They go through me, too!” Says Neville standing up now too.
   
“Thank you very much, Miss Fawley and Mr. Longbottom, but that won’t be necessary.” Says Professor McGonagall, calmly. “Filch, take the Slytherins first. Anyone who is of age may stay and fight either with us or against us, it’s your call to make, and I suggest you make it quick.”
   
“And she is your girlfriend, Georgie?” Asks Percy, sounding thoroughly impressed as I sat back down next to my mum.
   
“Yeah, she’s awesome isn’t she?” Retorts George, a smile evident in his tone.

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Here's part 39!

There will only be two more chapters left.

The next one is going to be sad.

-Emily Winchester.