Chocolate ♕ Ginny Weasley

twenty five

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I'm bored."

Patricia huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. Beside her, Neville rolled his eyes.

"Would you rather be bored, or pursued by the Carrows?" he asked.

Patricia shrugged. "I'd have action that way. The other night I was seriously considering sneaking into Abberforth's bar and setting of the Catterwauling Charm, then rushing straight back here. That would have been a source of excitement, not just endless games of wizard's chess and gobstones or reading another book."

"Honestly, Patricia," Neville sighed, though he was grinning.

Patricia gazed idly around the Room of Requirement. It was large – larger than it had been even for DA meetings. Whenever she saw it, Patricia was vaguely reminded of treehouses or a children's playhouse, with the multi-coloured hammock that were strung from the ceiling and the walls covered in tapestries from all four Houses. Patricia smiled as her eyes rested on the Slytherin banner. Slytherin, and proud. She wasn't ashamed to wear her House colours. Her House didn't define her, her actions had: and to be driven to the Room of Requirement to hide from the Carrows because of everything she'd done had spoken volumes. She wasn't the only one, either: several other people from her House were amongst the throng of people who had sought shelter from the wrath of the Carrows. Those people more than anyone in the room were her family.

She only wished it could be complete, that Ginny could be there as well. Patricia sighed and closed her eyes. Ginny hadn't come back after Easter. No matter how much she'd begged, her parents had made her return home for the Easter holidays, since they were constantly anxious about her well-being. The news that the Weasleys had to go into hiding and Ginny wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts had gutted Patricia.

She missed Ginny, every day. It felt like a constant ache in her side. Hell, she'd do anything just for a hug, or something as simple as a sight of Ginny's dazzling smile. She had one photo of her girlfriend that she kept tucked in her pocket at all times, and was creased from the number of times Patricia had pulled it out to gaze upon Ginny's laughing face.

Hogwarts had changed. It was emptier, lonelier. But being in the Room of Requirement, with the DA... Patricia smiled when she spotted Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown talking in the corner, Seamus Finnagin and Ernie Macmillan bent over the wireless. She even felt a rush of affection when she spotted Michael Corner resting on his hammock, reading a book.

They'd defied the Carrows. They were more than a team now after constantly putting themselves in that much danger. They were family in all but blood.

Patricia rolled on to her side to look at Neville, but her attention was caught by the portrait of Arianna over the mantelpiece. She shot up, eyes wide. Arianna never approached them. And if she had –

"Neville." She nudged him in the side and pointed. "Do you think this means what I think it does?"

Neville looked and his face broke into a grin. "That has to be Harry."

Patricia nodded – that was what she guessed, too. They stood, and Neville told the others they were going to Aberforth's to get food before they clambered into a tunnel and raced down it as fast as they dared. It was difficult to believe this path had only come into existence days ago. It looked like it had been there for years: there were smooth stone steps, and lamps on the walls that shone firelight on the to smooth, earthy floor.

When they reached the door leading into the Hog's Head, Patricia's heart was hammering in her chest. Please, let this be Harry, she thought, and pushed the door open.