February of 1996

72

Things around Irena were changing more drastically. After the Easter Holiday, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't allow Ginny to return back to Hogwarts; it wasn't safe anymore. Molly didn't want her youngest daughter to get hurt by those death eaters.

Irena would have done the same if Alek was also in Hogwarts.

Fred, George, and their friend Lee Jordan let people know what Harry Potter was up to with the PotterWatch.

And they were no longer staying at the Burrow; they had been staying a few weeks already with Freds aunt Muriel.

Irena was watching her son as he was running toward her; she kneeled and hugged him as he crashed with her. She picked him up and gave him a lot of kisses when Fred came up to her with a facial expression that made her worry. "What is it," she asked him; she felt like she was holding her breath, waiting for him to answer her. "Harry is back, George, Lee, and I are going to Hogwarts to fight," he told her as he held a gold coin in his hand. She looked at Alek, who had a smile on his face, and kissed his cheek "lets go," Irena said, looking back at Fred. "You're not going, Rena," he said, holding her arm.

"You expect for me to stay here knowing that my husband is out there fighting," she told him, raising her voice. "Irena, its not safe. Stay here with Alek; he needs you," he said pleading, hoping that she would change her mind but knowing her, Fred knew she wouldn't.

"Alek needs both of us," she said, tears forming in her eyes as she looked at her son. "I'm going with you. I want a better future for Alek," Irena said, looking at Fred.

He cleaned a tear that was on her cheek with his thumb. He didn't want her to go, he wanted her to be safe to be with Alek, but he knew if he was in Irena's shoes, he would want to go.

Irena gave Alek a tight hug and kissed his forehead, "I love you so much, Alek, never forget that," she told her son, tears running down her face. He placed his small chubby hands on her cheeks "mama sad," he said, tilting his head a little to the side, "no, Im not sad," she told him, taking a deep breath.

Alek didnt know what was going on or why his mother was crying; he hugged her, placing his head on her chest, "love you mama."

She tried not to cry more as Fred got ahold of Alek "mama and I are going to Hogwarts for a little while be a good boy," Fred said, kissing Aleks forehead "w-we will be back soon; I love you, Alek," Fred said bringing Alek closer to him in a hug. "Love you, dada," Alek said.

It wasnt new for him to say I love you to his parents, but for some reason, this time, it felt different.

Fred and Irena left Alek with aunt Muriel. Irena cleaned her tears as she saw Alek playing with his toys and the train that Bill got him for his first birthday near him.

Fred and Irena apparated outside of Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade shortly after, so did George and Rue with Ginny, and not too behind was Lee Jordan a friend of Fred and George. Once the group was inside the Inn, they saw a man with long gray hair and a long beard.

Since many of the passages at Hogwarts had curses over the entrances and either Death Eaters or dementors were waiting at the exits theres no chance of getting through any of them. The only one that was safe to use was with the man of the Hog's Head Inn Abeforth, who Irena found out is Dumbledore's brother.

Abeforth looked a bit annoyed as he told the group where the passage to Hogwarts was. Clambered up onto the mantelpiece and through the hold behind Arianas portrait. There were smooth stone steps on the outside: It looked as though the passageway had been there for ages.

Brass lights dangled from the walls, and the earthy ground was worn and smooth. They turned a corner, and there ahead of them was the end of the hall. Another short of steps led to a doorway exactly like the one hidden behind Arianas picture. Fred, Irena, George, Rue, Ginny, and Lee Jordan entered the room of the requirements. Irena noticed several things as she looked around. The place was gigantic and rather resembled the inside of a particularly beautiful treehouse.

Colorful hammocks were strung from the roof and from a balcony that went around the dark wood-paneled and windowless walls, which were covered in light fabric hangings the gold Gryffindor lion, emblazoned on scarlet; the black badger of Hufflepuff, set against yellow; and the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw, on blue. There were bulging bookshelves, a few broomsticks against the walls.

"Aberforths getting a bit annoyed," said Fred, letting go of Irena's hand and raising his hand in answer to several shouts of greeting. "He wants a kip, and his bars turned into a railway service." "So whats the plan, Harry?" said George. Rue was standing next to her boyfriend. "There isn't one," said Harry, still disoriented by the unexpected arrival of all these people, unable to take everything in while his scar was still hurting so terribly. Irena looked at Harry, who seemed to be in pain.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind," said Fred, bumping Irena's shoulder with a small smile on his face as he saw her. 

"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane—" "Were fighting arent we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon from his pocket; it was the same as Fred had. A fake Galleon that Dumbledores Army had used to send messages to the other members. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight!"

Harry looked between Ron and Hermione and lowered his voice so only they could hear him. Irena watched them as Fred and George went to talk to a group of younger students who shortly after let out a couple of laughs.

After they were done talking, he said, "Okay," he called to the room at large, and all noise stopped. Fred and George, who had been cracking jokes, fell silent, and all of them looked alert, excited. Fred walked up to Irena, intertwining their hands together.

"Theres something we need to find," Harry said. "Something thatll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. Its here at Hogwarts, but we dont know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?" A few Ravenclaws shook their heads. Luna mentioned the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but," she appealed to her fellow Ravenclaws. "Nobodys ever found a trace of it, have they?" They all shook their heads.

Harry and Luna left to look for the diadem leaving the rest of his friends behind. They stayed in the room of requirements waiting for Harry to come back. Fred sent a message to the members of the Dumbledors army and a few others if they wanted to win; they needed as much help as they could get. Irena hoped they would get there on time.

Shortly after, Kingsley, Lupin, Bill, Fleur, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley arrived. As well as other students like Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Cho Chang.