It hurts when you're gone (Ron Weasley Fanfic)

Chapter 31- What a Steal

'You are not-'

'Yes we are' Ginny said firmly.

'But why? Please see some sense! It's extremely foolish and risky!' I pleaded with her.

'Listen. Don't you want to see the people around you happy? Don't you want to give them some simple pleasure in this horrible situation? Don't you think we are trying to raise others' spirits by doing this? We are doing it. And tonight' said Ginny.

Oh no she would not see sense. The more I pleaded, the more stubborn she became. I resorted to asking her whom she would steal the Sword with. Yes, the sword of Godric Gryffindor, from Snape's office no less.

'I, Luna and Neville. You, if you are willing.'

I looked up at her in dismay. 'Nothing I say will change your plan of action, you say?'

'Yes, nothing you say.'

'Ok, I'll be the lookout' I said, staring at her grimly. Ginny hugged me happily. 'I'll let the others know.'

'Where's Neville though?' I asked.

'Detention' she said, her smile fading.

'Oh dear..' I groaned.

Neville stepped into the Common Room, an hour later, looking like he had been through hell and back. 'What happened?' I asked, rushing towards him.

'Crucio. On me. Crabbe did it. But I wouldn't let him. Kept using Protego. He finally blew his top, made Alecto take away my wand. Then he did it on me. When I was defenceless' said Neville, in a dull, soul-less tone.

'Oh my..' Ginny looked first at Neville, then at me. 'Do you know now, why we need to do this?'

My thoughts had finally synced with theirs. 'Of course, it's time to show them we're made of sterner stuff' I said, strongly. 'You go girl' Ginny said, patting me on the back.

The night came swiftly, descending down upon us heavily. Luna, and us three; we met up at 12:25 in the night. I was nervous, yet excited at the same time. Every vein of my body throbbed with the same beat- 'Show 'em you rebel, show them.' I did not care about what would happen later. All I wanted was to get some good old-fashioned revenge.

'How do you know the password?' I asked Ginny incredulously, as the stone staircase to the Headmaster's office started moving up after she'd said the word 'Dumbledore.' Ginny smirked, beckoning us all forwards. 'Terry Boot went up here once, with Alecto. Heard her, told me.'

We reached the office, and I stood outside it. 'As much as I want to come in, this is teamwork, right? I'll tell you when-'

'Anybody comes, yes' said Luna, holding her coin tightly.

'As soon as possible.'

'Here we go' said Neville, using Alohomora on the door. It swung open, looking pitch-black and completely soul-less. The three of them trooped in, looking around the room with their wands lit up. There seemed to be no one, at which all of us dropped our guard and started talking in whispers.

'There it is!' Neville exclaimed softly, pointing to the sword that was put up right next to Dumbledore's portrait. 'How do we get it down then?' Ginny questioned him.

I whispered, 'What about Accio? Though it might be a tad too messy and noisy-' Scarcely had I finished my statement, when I heard the spell.

The glass case in which it was kept shattered, its splinters raining down on all of us. The sword fell into Neville's hands; his face was alive in a wild sort of way. Ginny hit him on the shoulder, and said that they had to get the hell outta there before anyone came. I supported her, saying, 'As it is, we have created a horrible noise, no doubt someone will come to investiga-'

'I have.' Someone's hand reached across to Neville through the darkness, pulling him by the collar.

I yelped, Ginny and Luna looked shocked.

Snape stood behind Neville, his face glinting oddly due to the moonbeams coming in unfiltered through the window. 'Thieving will never be tolerated here at Hogwarts' he said, maliciously. All of us began opposing him, and loudly.

'This isn't even Hogwarts anymore!'

'It's all because of you- you've ruined our school!'

'You're-'

'Silence!' Snape's voice rang through the room. 'Not one word against me, don't you dare!'

I stared at him, with as much hate as I could muster. This was the man who'd allowed Death-Eaters into the school, this was the man who'd practically ruined our school-life! He then called Filch, apparently we would be going down to Hagrid's.

'Punishment?' Ginny joked as Filch led us to Hagrid's cabin.

'It's no laughing matter, Ginny. The last time I came down here as a punishment, it was pretty scary- we had to go into the Forbidden Forest' said Neville, reminiscing a while.

Hagrid looked at us a little shocked as he waved Filch away and listened to us. 'Tha' was pretty courageous of ya' all' he said finally, after listening to our tale.

We looked at him a little proudly, at which he said, 'Calm down now- I did tell Snape I needed some help in the Forest.. Never imagined it would be you all. Come on then, we have work to do.'

Hagrid led us deep into the Forest. By the time we came to a clearing, we looked horrible- our robbes half-ripped, our hair tangled, our skin rough and sticky.

'Hagrid..' I said weakly. 'What are we going to do?'

'We need to shift out the remains of a great big..' he said, going even deeper into the forest.

'Remains of a what?' Neville asked, looking around, as though the animal might pounce on him just then.

I just crossed my fingers for luck and proceeded ahead. Hagrid would not let us come to harm. Ginny cringed as we all pushed and heaved a huge body out of the forest. 'Hagrid, what is this?' she asked him, her breaths short. Neville panted and Luna looked very tired. 'Shush, Ginny. We don't need to know!' I said, at which realization dawned upon her. Did it really matter? I did not want to know which great brute's body we were rolling across the forest. It would make the experience even more unpleasant. The forest was dimly lit, and we held our wands with our teeth- they illuminated the way forward. I almost cried when I looked at the time in my watch- 4:55.

There'd be no sleeping later. We tramped out of the forest half an hour later, looking dishevelled and tired, with twigs and leaves sticking out in odd places.

'Never again am I-' I began hotly.

'Yes, never again will we get to steal the Sword of Gryffindor' said Luna, smiling, to my intense astonishment.

'We will be the talk of the town now!' said Neville, happily.

'Great. Yeah, sure' Ginny said, at which I laughed.

Four sleep-deprived and tired beings set towards the castle, as sunlight streamed into it.

Did we know we were going to be toasted in every pub in Hogsmeade that night? Did we know that Potterwatch would mention us exclusively, calling us 'bravely crazy' (as Fred put it)?

No we did not. But we did know that we were the reason why people smiled in the following days.