The Seventh Year

The Castle Helps... Again

Luna and Neville waited in the Gryffindor common room after classes had finished. Ginny hadn't been seen all day. The Carrows were eager for her return so they could give her a detention, but she never showed for Dark Arts lessons. 

"She set off after Malfoy and then disappears. I bet Malfoy's done something?" Neville asked impatiently. He hated when either Luna or Ginny was unaccounted for. Ever since Muggles started disappearing, he kept track of everyone he knew—Harry and Hermione being the only exceptions—because anyone could turn up dead after missing for ages. 

"I think she'll be back eventually," Luna said as she played with her fingers. "We'll go to Professor McGonagall if she doesn't turn up by dinner." Neville let out a long breath and nodded.

Half-past five felt like an eternity to wait. Neville sank into the couch cushions and rested his head on Luna's gaunt shoulder. He felt her relax under him, so he closed his eyes for a moment—he hadn't gotten a minute's rest since the year started. 

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He awoke with a start to Luna shaking him hard. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but all he remembered was he needed to go down to dinner to wait for Ginny. 

"Ginny," he muttered. His brain felt fuzzy. "We have to go wait for her." His eyes fluttered open. His vision was blurred, and he couldn't make out who was near him. Blinking hard, the room slowly came into focus. He looked around to find Ginny sitting in front of him. "What? When did you get here?" he asked, dazed. 

"Not long before dinner. Here, I brought you and Luna a few bits of garlic bread and some custard." She took two greasy bread slices out of her pocket and handed them to Neville. Luna took the custard and began eating silently. 

The fireplace was lit, warming the entire tower. A few younger years sat at one end of the common room doing homework. Aside from them, everyone else had left for their rooms in dire need of a break from the Carrows patrolling the now-empty corridors. 

"Oh," he said and turned to Luna. "Sorry about making you miss dinner. You could have woken me up. I wouldn't've minded." Luna gave a small shrug and smiled at him. 

"That's beside the point," Ginny said in a lower voice. "I need to tell you guys something. It's about Malfoy." She proceeded to whisper what had happened in the Slytherin common room that morning. She described how she lost her temper, but so did he. Luna gasped when she mentioned that he tried the Sectumsempra curse on her; Neville shook his head in disbelief. "So, yeah," she finished detailing the account, nervously waiting for her friends' reactions.

"That little git!" Neville yelled. Some group of younger years stared in their direction but quickly turned back to their work when Ginny glared at them. 

"It's fine, really! I just didn't think he would stoop so low and actually try that on me. Even after Harry cast it on him last year!" she said exasperated. "I mean, Harry described the curse slashing a person repeatedly. He's a slimy little—"

Luna began to laugh mid-sentence, interrupting Ginny's rant. She couldn't stop and began snorting when Neville and Ginny told her to knock it off. After a moment of confusion, all three began laughing uncontrollably. 

Ginny appreciated her friends for little moments like these. Unexpected laughs like this were what kept her from succumbing to the tempting hopelessness and fear that encircled them. 

When the moment had passed, Neville cleared his throat and was serious again. "I'm doing the graffiti that I mentioned yesterday. Is either of you planning on coming with?" Luna volunteered, but Ginny had to stay behind because she didn't finish her Dark Arts essay. She thought pissing off the Alecto would be stupid if it was over an essay. Neville agreed and reached for his forged Galleon and changed the message: If interested in more graffiti, meet tonight at 8.

They talked for the rest of the hour, cracking jokes and making the most of their evening. All three forgot about Malfoy by the time eight o'clock almost hit. 

"Better get going. Wouldn't want to be late for our own graffiti party!" he laughed. He stood and reached his hand out towards Luna to help her up, too. They said goodnight to Ginny and snuck out the portrait hole to the seventh floor. As they reached the empty corridor wall where the door would appear, the Carrows' voices could be heard around the corner. 

Neville acted quickly, grabbing Luna's hand and hiding with her inside a dark broom closet. He shut the door softly, assuming it wouldn't creak as it closed. They were trapped together in the dim closet; the only light source poured in through the crack under the door. 

"Lumos," he murmured. The tip of his wand glowed with a brilliant white light. He hoped the lanterns were bright enough to conceal his wand light, should it slip through any cracks in the door. 

The room had a few brooms and about a dozen shelves filled with extra potions ingredients. Neville couldn't see what was on the last two shelves, despite being one hundred and eighty-three centimeters tall. Slughorn must not have thought the ingredients were important enough to stash in his office. A pile of dusty, untouched books sat in the corner opposite of where the brooms sat. 

He turned back to Luna, who was staring up at him. Their faces were inches apart, and he could feel her hot breath on his neck. He gave her an awkward smile as he realized how uncomfortably close they were. Trying to shift, they ended up closer together, and she suppressed a giggle. Her dirty blonde hair was in her eyes, but she looked... pretty. Neville reached to move the strands of hair out of her face but accidentally knocked the pile of books over. 

The sound of hurried footsteps grew nearer to the closet door. Neville panicked and looked around for a way not to get caught. I need a way to get out of here without being seen by the Carrows. He repeated this phrase in his head until he noticed a small trapdoor under the scattered books appeared. 

He reached for the silver handle and lifted it to reveal a small tunnel. He motioned for Luna to jump down, and she reluctantly hopped into the hole in the floor. Neville joined her as soon as she moved out of sight. The door closed with a soft thud, and they waited in the dimly lit passage. 

They heard the Carrows burst into the closet. The flap vanished before their eyes, and the angry sounds above became muffled. The tunnel hardly stretched three hundred feet before another ladder revealed itself along with another door above them. 

Neville had a bad feeling about wherever they had been led, but Luna trusted the castle was assisting them. She reached up and pushed the wood frame open, revealing a crowd of people who Neville couldn't recognize at first.

"Bloody hell, Neville! How'd ye do that?" The voice overhead belonged to Seamus Finnigan. Neville sighed as relief washed over him. After he and Luna made it out of the passageway, he was still confounded. They stood in the Room of Requirement with a few other D.A. members.  

That's when everything clicked. Neville's lips curved upward as he tried not to get too excited over his realization. 

"The room helped us!" he said for the group to hear him. "It's like in our fifth year, Seamus, when we needed a place to practice when Harry was still here! Remember? The room appeared because we needed it!" He quickly briefed them on their narrow escape, and several people told them they were relieved they made it out. "Anyways," Neville continued, "don't you see? It created a passage for us because we needed it! Maybe that's how it'll help us this year." His excitement could barely be contained. 

The group took a moment to consider his theory, and most of them agreed it was the most logical explanation. After talking a while longer about the discovery, the room fell silent, waiting for Neville's instructions. 

"Let's get to vandalizing!" There were several whoops and cheers as they grabbed the containers of paint they'd stolen the month before. 

They were cautious when leaving, wanting to avoid another close run-in with the Carrows. That night was the happiest Neville had felt since the start of the term.