invisible string! → ron weasley

ix. the first battle

"I can't believe the term's almost over," sighed Kates as she and Neville wandered through the corridors after lunch one day. One thing they had in common was their love for the castle, so they frequently enjoyed walks around it in their spare time.

"Where are you staying this summer?" he asked her quietly, and her gaze fell to the floor as she shrugged.

"Not sure yet," she murmured, then she drew herself up and looked up again, suddenly more confident. "I thought about going back to Kinley Manor, pretending to do as they say but retrieving whatever information I can."

"That's dangerous," said Neville with wide eyes. "We're still in school, Kates—"

"And? We've been preparing for a war all year. I want to help—I can help." He opened his mouth to protest, but at that moment something caught their attention, causing them to stop in their tracks. It was a scuffle of some sort, that much could be heard from the shuffling of feet. Then:

"We haven't done anything wrong," said the unmistakable dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood.

"Tell that to the Headmistress," snapped a cruel voice Kates recognized as belonging to Ares Carrow. Her eyes narrowed on instinct. She and Neville looked to each other, nodded, then jogged around the corner.

"What's going on here?" said Neville, his voice louder and more confident than anyone had ever heard it. He was learning. Ginny was there too, trying to break free from the grip of an imposing Slytherin girl.

"Katherine," said Carrow with an air of surprise, but he soon narrowed his own eyes and turned back to Neville.
"Longbottom. You two are part of this too, I see. I shouldn't be surprised."

"They haven't done anything wrong!" said Kates. "Let them go." She stepped in and tried to push Luna free of his grip, but it didn't go the way she had intended. Carrow shoved Luna toward Wesley (who she just noticed was also present) and grabbed Kates' hair, pulling her head back. She yelped in surprise and Neville shouted something and lunged for them, but he too was grabbed by another member of the Inquisitorial Squad. Kates saw her brother flinch, but he didn't move or say anything. At least he was human enough to realize this wasn't right. Her suspicions about him were proving to be correct; she just hoped he could—or would—get out in time.

"I didn't want you to be involved in this mess," said her captor, his voice a forced calm, "but here we are. I won't hold it against you, you just need to be taught what side you should really be on."

"I'm not the one on the wrong side," said Kates through gritted teeth, and without another word she was released, only to be taken by the arm and led to Umbridge's office with the others.

Once they arrived, it was clear that whatever Ginny and Luna had been doing, it was to help Harry. Whilst Kates would eventually like to know why, she didn't really require more of an explanation than that. Ron caught her gaze the moment they entered, and she watched as his eyes went wide and he struggled against his own human restraint, but to no avail.

The woman was rotten, that much Kates knew already,  but she had never expected her to be so truly vile as to, say, use the Cruciatus Curse on a student. It was only due to Hermione's intervention that she didn't go through with it, and soon Hermione and Harry were leading Umbridge toward the Forbidden Forest. The secret weapon thing was rubbish, obviously, but it would only help them for so long. They needed to escape before they no longer had a chance.