Bitten

In which Battles are Begun and Friends are Remembered

The enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall was dark and scattered with stars, and below it the four long House Tables were lined with dishelved students, some in traveling cloaks, others in dressing gowns. Here and there shone pearly white figures of the school ghosts. Every eye, living and dead, was fixed upon Professor McGonagall, who was speaking from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. Behind her stood the remaining teachers and the members of the Order of the Phoenix who had arrived to fight. Many of the students looked petrified. However, as Harry scanned for Ron, Hermoine, and Stephanie, Erin Macmillan stood up at the Hufflepuff table and shouted, "What if we want to stay and fight?" There was a smattering of applause.

"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall. The Slytherins all filed out first, none of the elder vipers staying behind. They were followed by the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor houses. A number of students from Ravenclaw stayed; even more Hufflepuffs and half of the Gryffindor students remained in their seats. After all the students had been put in groups, McGonagall hurried over to Harry who had found Stephanie in the crowd.

"Aren't you supposed to be looking for something?" The new Headmaster hissed at the two.

"What? Oh," said Harry, "oh yeah!"

He had almost forgotten about the Horcux, almost forgotten that the battle was being fought so that he could search for it. A tug on his arm brought him back to the present.

"Let's go," Stephanie said, a bit of worry in her voice. Her eyes looked up at him and he noticed she was biting her lip slightly. He stared at her for a moment before reaching up. His hand cupped her face and he ran his thumb lightly over her bottom lip. He felt her lip tremble beneath his gentle touch. She leaned her face in to his hand.

"Can we not do this now?" She whispered.

He was silent another moment before letting his hand fall back to his side," Right—yeah –" he murmured.

They hurried to where they would find the ghost of Ravenclaw. They talked with the Gray Lady; she revealed that she had stolen the diadem from her mother. Stephanie frowned.

"Where would it be? We don't have time for this!" She said with an exasperated breath.

"He must have hidden it when he asked Dumbledore for a job!" Harry exclaimed, "He had to have hidden it somewhere between Dumbledore's office and the next floor, but where?"

"What about the Room of Requirement?" Stephanie suggested. Harry looked at her and smiled.

"Have I ever told you how smart and amazing you are?"

She blushed, looking down, "You may have mentioned it a few times," she mumbled. The ring on her finger glinted in the dim lighting. He moved his hand slightly and took her smaller hand in to his.

The walk to the Room of Requirement seemed longer than it usually was. People were running all around them, some trying to get to their stations and others trying to get some of their things and evacuate the school building. When they made it to the Room, Ron and Hermoine were already there.

"What took you two so bloody long?" Ron hissed.

"Well, sorry. I tried to find you, but you were nowhere to be found!" Harry retorted quickly. Hermoine sighed and shook her head.

"Can we just find the horcrux and destroy it?" She said a bit irritably.

Stephanie nodded, "We don't have time to waste."

They all agreed on this and quickly opened the Room. Piles upon piles of stuff and things were stacked up all over the room. The towers of things carried on for what seemed like acres of space.