Between Fine Lines

Twenty-eight

After the room of requirement had been cleared out, under disillusion spells and the few of them that could fit under Harry's invisibility cloak, they waited until Neville emerged cautiously with Cho and Lavender, the girls separating from him and taking off to find Minerva as the plan required. Neville took off in the other direction, walking past the group hidden waiting to watch him pass.

"Alright, let's go," Harry whispered. He, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Dean and Seamus made their way quickly back in front of the empty wall. "What do you think we need to ask the room? To get the right setting?" Ron questioned as Dean and Seamus kept an eye out.

"I already know the answer to that," Ginny insisted, pacing back and forth three times, silently asking the room to provide them a place to search for hidden things. The doors formed once more and they quickly got themselves inside, unaware that two pairs of eyes maliciously watched them from down the corridor.

"Alright," Harry pulled the cloak off, the rest of the group letting go of their disillusion spells. "We know what we're looking for, everybody split off into pairs and start searching. The sooner we find the diadem, the better."

Harry and Ron, Luna and Ginny, Seamus and Dean all took off in different directions, digging through the endless items in the room of hidden things. Some of them began resorting to casting spells, trying to get the diadem to reveal themselves.

"Accio horcrux!" Ron called out, pointing his wand up into the air. He waited, hoping to hear something flying through the air, but nothing came and Ginny snickered. "Good job bro," she teased as she and Luna worked to unlock a cabinet to peer inside.

"Hey, I found where you hid my potions book!" Harry called out, waving the copy of Snape's written in potion book over his head.

"Put it back!" Ginny insisted and Harry sighed, chucking the book in a pile. He began looking around, squinting to see in some of the higher piles of items. A soft glittering caught his attention from across the room and Harry tugged on Ron's shirt, pointing at the pile as he started to walk toward it.

"Guys... I think I found it," Harry called out, moving his hand up to press against his scar the closer he got. "Forehead burning? Sounds like you're in the right direction, Harry," Dean noted, watching Harry rub at his forehead.

"And look what we found..."

Alecto and Amycus Carrow stood with malicious smiles upon their faces at the end of the row, wands positioned for attack.

"Oh... shit. Run!" Seamus called out, and a flurry of hexes began to fly through the air.

"Flipendo!" Luna called out, the spell whizzing right past Amycus' ear. He smirked, raising his wand toward Luna.

"Avada Kedavra!" he called out and Ginny screamed as Seamus tackled Luna to the floor, the killing curse narrowly avoiding both of them.

"Bombarda!" Ron called out, pointing his wand at the stack of objects near the two death eaters, as they continued to scatter amongst the room of hidden things, briefly watching it explode, the two adults throwing themselves out of the way.

The teens darted and weaved through the never ending room, hexes and curses flying in all directions as the Carrow twins tried to corner them.

"We have to get to the diadem," Harry whispered as he and Ginny ducked behind an old table. Ginny nodded, "I'll cause a distraction, you go for the diadem."

Harry was about to ask Ginny what she had in mind, but paused as he watched her cast a disillusionment charm on herself. She carefully crept out and Harry watched her hidden figure as long as he could without losing her before she disappeared behind some furniture.