Through All the Pain // N. Longbottom

Third Year // Chapter 8

"Secure the castle, Mr. Filch," Dumbledore said looking at Filch. "The rest of you ... to the Great Hall. Now!" I looked up at Fred and  George and they just grabbed my hands as we headed down the stairs. Once we got to the Great Hall, I split off from them and found Neville, Dean, and Seamus.

"There you are!" Dean said. "We thought you ditched us to sit with Ron." 

"No! Why would I do that?" I sat down next to them as McGonagall came in.

"Alright, students! We will be moving all the houses here for the night, so please gather your things off the tables and benches for they will disappear here in a few moments." Dean quickly gathered the bags and set them on the floor. Just in time too for the table and the bench disappeared in seconds. 

"Now, please come over here in an orderly fashion and grab a sleeping bag." We all got our bags and laid them all in a straight line. It went Dean, Seamus, Me, then Neville. 

"You really think, Black's in the castle?" Neville said looking up at the star-filled ceiling. "W-what I mean is -"

"I doubt he is still in the castle Nevy," I said shoving his shoulder. "He sounds like he may be stupid, but he is not THAT stupid."

"She is right, Neville. I mean, who would want to face Dumbledore, McGonagall, AND Snape all at once?" Seamus joked. I heard what sounded like a slap and Seamus moaning, so I could only assume Dean smacked him. 

"Yeah, but-" Neville rolled over and faced us. "How did he get in this castle, to begin with? Like you can't apparate into the castle! Did someone let him in? Did he just walk right in? Was it even Black, or was the Fat Lady playing an awful joke on all of us?"

"I doubt the Fat Lady has the smarts to pull such a joke. Look at her! She is still trying to sing WHEN SHE CAN'T!" Seamus spoke. Once again there was another slap.

"Quit yelling, you ninny! The last thing we need is Snape telling us to go to sleep." Dean whispered to us. I chuckled and turned onto my stomach. 

"Night boys," I said as I buried my head into the pillow. 

"Night Weaslette." Dean and Seamus said doing the same. 

"Night Lori," Neville said. I peeked over my pillow and saw he was smiling at me. I moved the pillow and smiled back. Then turned my head and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

***

It has been a few days since Sirius Black got into the school and we were now back in Gryffindor tower. However, The Fat Lady was no longer in our portrait. Now we had Sir Cadogan, a tiny knight in shining armor. 

"Who dares challenge Sir Codagan! Back, you scurvy braggarts! You rogues!" He shouted waving his tiny sword in the air.

"He's barking mad!" Seamus yelled as we walked out of the Common Room.

"What d'you expect? After what happened to the Fat Lady, none of the other portraits would take the job." Dean said.

"But he keeps changing the password," Neville complained. "Twice just this morning! I've taken to keeping a list." He pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket. I couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"Farewell, comrades! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!" He spoke as Ron, Harry, and Hermione walked past him.

"Yeah, we'll call you  ... if we ever need someone mental." Ron scoffed as we all headed off to DADA. As we walked down Harry and I discussed the news we got during Quidditch practice yesterday.

"You could pull the same thing Malfoy is, Lori." He said. "Since you got knocked out. You could say you experience fainting spells." 

"Harry! I'm not fore fitting a Quidditch match!" I quickly tied my hair up into a ponytail. "Besides, it will be my first time playing against Cedric." Harry sighed.

"I thought Angelina and Alicia were going to murder you when they found out you were dating Diggory," Harry said. "They only kept swooning over him for twenty bloody minutes. I mean it was like there were no other guys in this school they found attractive." 

"Well, he is quite hot, Harry," I said as we walked into the classroom. "And I should know," I said with a smirk. He scrunched his nose up at me as he sat down in front of the projector. I went and sat next to Neville while Dean and Seamus sat behind us. I scanned and saw Ron was sitting next to Lavender. 

"Say didn't Hermione leave the Common Room with us?" I asked Neville. "I can't find her." 

"She said she had to go talk to Professor Vector about something in her homework," Neville said scribbling away on his last question on the homework Lupin assigned. 

"Oh!" I said nodded my head. I forgot about her special item that let her get to all of her classes. I smiled as I pulled out my book and began to read on today's lesson. "We'll be doing Redcaps and Hinkypunks today, Nevy." 

"Cool! Um - should I know what those are?" He half-smiled up at me. I rolled my eyes and messed up his hair. 

"Oh quit playing, you ninny!" He laughed as we started reading together. I turned to face Seamus and Dean and began to talk to them about our lessons when the door flung open with a bang. We all turned to see someone we all hated walking through the classroom shutting all the blinds and shutters with his wand.

"This is gonna be one great lesson," I said banging my head on the desk.