It can never be the same

Chapter 21

Warning: mentions of death, violence, torture

A/n Forgive me if there are any mistakes, I was just very excited to get this chapter out

There are moments in life that you look back on and wonder how something that was so blatantly obvious could have been so severely missed. The night that Dumbledore died was such a moment for Y/n. All the pieces had finally fallen into place; Dumbledore had never intended on carrying out her plan. He had successfully played her and Draco like the pawns that they were.

When she had stepped out of the Room of Requirement, the castle had been eerily silent; not even Filch and Mrs. Norris were out patrolling the halls. Her first thought was to go to Dumbledore's office but Dumbledore had informed her and Draco that he would be out of the castle for a bit with Harry. He had assured, though, that he would be back in time to deal with the death eaters.

"Besides," he had said, "the very capable Order members will be with you tonight, so there's nothing to fear."

Y/n scoffed at the thought. Where were those members now? They were supposed to have met up with them hours ago. Maybe she would have to chance going to Dumbledore's office in the hopes that he hadn't left yet.

But something compelled her to change directions. Instead, she decided to head to the Gryffindor common room to check if Harry was still there. Goosebumps formed on her arms as she walked, the hair on the back of her neck stood, her heart was pounding in her chest.

It was far too quiet and it was putting her on edge. Why hadn't she run into any Order members yet? Even if they hadn't gone to the Room of Requirement, why was there no one at least patrolling the halls since Dumbledore wouldn't be in the castle? She took a deep breath; sooner or later she was bound to run into someone. She just hoped that it happened before the death eaters arrived.

She checked the time on the watch on her wrist, revealing to her that there were ten minutes left. She picked up the pace and began to run; desperate to find someone. Just as she turned into another corridor, she was knocked off her feet, having collided with someone.

"Y/n?"

Her head snapped up; she recognised that voice.

"Luna?"

She was standing next to the person Y/n had collided with, who was rubbing their head as they groaned.

"Mione? What are you guys doing here?"

Hermione finally snapped her eyes to her in shock. Luna extended a hand to help her up and Y/n got up on her own, dusting herself off.

"What are we doing here? What are you doing here?" Hermione asked. "I thought you were supposed to be in the Room of Requirement with Malfoy."

Luna looked between the two of them, curiosity plain on her face as she mouthed 'Malfoy' to herself.

"I was but none of the Order members had arrived yet so I stepped out to find them," she explained. "Did Harry and Dumbledore leave already?"

"They did, but before he left, Harry left clear instructions for Ron and me to rally some DA members together and keep watch over Snape's office and the Room of Requirement."

"Snape's office? Why would you need to keep watch over Snape?"

"Harry was adamant that Snape knew what Malfoy was up to and was trying to help him out. He was also convinced that Malfoy would try something tonight since Dumbledore would be out of the castle," Hermione said, her speech fast. "I tried to say something but Harry left no room for argument."