[4] UNREQUITED ENEMIES ━ Draco Malfoy

05. Small Joys

FIVE SMALL JOYS

     "I'm off, who all is comin' with me?" Neville's voice interrupted the small defense charm lesson Xander was giving to a couple of second years in the Room of Requirement. He had stayed there since he found it, a hammock magically appearing in the Hufflepuff corner as he began to recognize this place as his new home.

"Off to where? Surely you're not going back into the castle, it's dangerous," Xander asked, his voice thick with concern as he patted the second years on the back before pocketing his wand and walking over to the boy. Neville had grown much taller since they were younger and he now towered over by just a few inches. It was odd, to realize that everyone else's lives were changing around him. Often times, Xander found himself so stuck in his own head that he forgot other people had their own lives as well. His mind drifted to Diana, wherever she was. His heart dropped.

Neville shook his head, "Only slightly less dangerous, actually, we're going to Hogsmeade for a supply run. We're getting low on food and I reckon we don't really have a choice. No matter, Aberforth will help us through. You coming?"

"I'm coming," Dean Thomas stood up and pulled on his coat, "You should come, Xander. It helps me from going stir crazy, might help you, too."

Xander was a bit lost, wondering how the hell they were going to get to Hogsmeade with the way the castle is right now and also wondering who Aberforth was. It was an odd name, so Xander was sure he would know if he had heard it before -- but he had never heard that name in his life. Still, it wasn't like he had anything important going on here. Grabbing his coat, he watched as Dean kissed Seamus goodbye. His heart ached as he knew he would never get something like that with Draco. Sighing, he followed Neville over to a portrait as it swung open, revealing a long tunnel behind it.

"Has this been here the whole time?" Xander asked as he crawled in behind Neville and Dean. They all lit their wands with a quiet lumos and began to walk. The walls were moist with age and rot and it smelled like a swamp, but that didn't seem to bother Neville or Dean.

"Yeah, well, food is the one thing the room can't provide so we've got to get it somehow," Neville began to explain, "We had no idea how we were going to get down to the kitchens without the Carrows realizing something was up, when Ariana came and showed us the way."

"Ariana?" he questioned, looking around at the walls as they walked. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever as the bitter cold stung him below his coat.

"Dumbledore's sister," Dean answered matter-of-factly, "She's the subject of the portrait. Well, her home portrait is at the other end of the tunnel, but she traveled down the path and let us know there was a way out. Her n' Aberforth, that's Dumbledore's brother, last surviving Dumbledore ya' hear, have helped us keep everyone fed. Reckon we would have starved without them."