DOORWAYS || MARAUDERS ERA

ϟ45: IMPERSONATORSϟ

"Come on, Nev, we've got to go!"

Ginny, Luna and Neville walked swiftly down the seventh floor corridor, carefully looking around for Alecto Carrow and Amycus Carrow, who were known to be extremely violent and ruthless.

"Good thinking, coming here on Halloween," Luna said conversationally. "They're all probably enjoying the feast."

"Enjoying? I doubt it." Ginny said grimly, once again looking around wearily. "Anthony, Padma and Lisa assured us they would distract the Carrows..."

"If they get caught, I hope they aren't subjected to the Cruciatus curse," Neville said, concerned. "I mean, we don't want them to get tortured..."

"Don't worry," Luna assured him. "They're smart. After all, they're Rhea's friends... they'll weave their way out... like her..." she trailed off, looking sad and wistful.

"She's right," Ginny said bracingly as they walked to the Headmaster's office. "We've got other matters at hand."

Neville nodded boldly. "Time to get the sword, then."

"Do it, Nev," Luna urged once they reached the gargoyle. They didn't know the password to Snape's office, so they had to think of alternatives.

Before Neville could do anything, there was a faint blast from several floors below them, indicating that Anthony, Lisa and Padma had started their distraction. The Carrows wouldn't come to the seventh floor for at least half an hour.

"Do it!" Ginny said hastily. She took her wand and cast a 'muffliato' spell around them, something Harry had thought her.

Neville raised his wand. "Bombarda!"

The gargoyle exploded with a bang, and Ginny and Luna were thankful for Anthony's little firework show that would surely have dimmed the sound of the gargoyle bursting.

"Get in!" Neville grunted, and the three of them ran into the office, knowing they would have to find the sword, and fast.

"There," Luna said quietly, pointing at a glass case next to the Sorting Hat. It stood there, in all its glory. A Gryffindor heirloom. Ginny and Neville looked at it in awe.

What they didn't know was that it was fake.

Luna pointed her wand at the glass case and levitated it towards them. Ginny seized the glass case instantly, hugging it close to her chest. For the first time in months, she felt hopeful. Hopeful that once she sent this sword to her brother, Harry, Hermione and Rhea, all this chaos would be over.

"Let's go," Neville whispered, looking wearily at the door, and they ran from there, eager to get out of there undetected.

As they passed the ruins of the Gargoyle, Ginny muttered a hasty mending charm. The gargoyle magically fixed itself, and Ginny swore she saw the gargoyle's eyes twinkle at her.

"And what do you think you're doing, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood and Mr Longbottom?"

Severus Snape stood behind them, his robes billowing in a bat-like way. His hair curtained his sallow face, and his black eyes were expressionless.

"Professor Snape," Luna said jovially, as though she was in a park and had happened to meet a long lost friend. "How are you this evening?"

Snape ignored her, and he turned his gaze to the glass case Ginny was so desperately trying to hide.

"Detention," he said quietly, his face flashing with an emotion no one could decipher. "Forbidden Forest, with Hagrid. Much like Potter, Weasley and Granger, you three seem to have an affinity for rule-breaking. Longbottom, misbehaving again? It's time you learned some manners."