Living Death

- chapter thirty eight

"Hey listen up you lot! I've brought you a surprise" Neville's unmistakable voice broke through the otherwise fairly quiet room and everyone turned their heads to look in the general direction of the portrait hole to see him beaming back at them, his chirpy tone a stark contrast to their wearied expressions.

Seamus Finnigan glanced up momentarily from his deck of cards, he spent most of the time occupying himself with Exploding Snap and was currently playing it with his close friend Dean Thomas. He raised his brow at Neville's rather optimistic tone, "Not more of Aberforth's cooking I hope, be a surprise if we could digest it"

Small laughter left Dean's lips and he shook his head a little, looking from Seamus up to Neville with his head tilted in slight curiosity, wondering what Neville had in store for them.

Neville simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders once as though it was nothing, stepping aside to reveal none other than Harry Potter who stood with a rather bemused expression as he took in the sight of a hundred eyes before him.

The once derelict Room of Requirement was no longer full to the rafters with clutter, but packed with the eager faces of students from various houses, most of them members of Dumbledore's Army, all applauding and standing instinctively as they saw him.

"Blimey!" Seamus stood, his cards falling onto the floor around him as his eyes widened in amazement. There had been murmurs of Harry's whereabouts, Dean and Luna arriving had further demonstrated there was truth to the rumours that he was close, but no one had anticipated seeing Harry as soon as this and in such casual circumstances.

A round of applause ripped through the crowd suddenly, everyone standing up and focusing their attention on the boy who lived above them in the portrait hole, as though he was some sort of portrait to behold himself.

The shadows obscured their view of you as you moved into the crevasse beside him, watching your classmates hopeful smiles as they clapped until their hands were sore.

As Harry climbed down from the dingy portrait hole, the students seemed to cheer even louder and moved closer, desperate for the chance to see him up close once again and share their support for him. You were able to successfully climb down with Neville's help as everyone else clambered to get closer to Harry, cheers and the sound of applause ringing through the room and your ears as you finally got to your footing without attracting much attention.

The last time you were in this now unrecognisable room it had been when Draco had confessed his feelings for you when he'd found out you were alive. It appeared differently now though, the other students had clearly required some sort of hideaway, some safe place and that's what the room had presented to them.

You stood still and behind Neville's taller stature, your heart beginning to pound as the overwhelming crowd heightened your nerves. You weren't quite sure how they'd react to you, how much they knew, and even worse, how much they didn't.

To most of them, you were Draco's best friend, nothing more and nothing less. Another Slytherin. Even when the army was at its peak back in fifth year, you'd been shown the cold shoulder by some of the other members despite the fact you were an active member. You had only just started to warm to them when the entire operation was discovered by Umbridge, and it didn't take a genius to work out some of them thought you were the one to rat them out.

"It's alright just stick by me Y/N, everyone's focused on Harry anyway" Neville whispered in your ear and brought you back to reality, the sound of your heart in your eardrums slowly diminishing at his reassuring tone. You noticed his arms were folded and he clutched his wand tightly in hand, standing like a bodyguard almost, a rather thoughtful attempt to comfort you.