Elizabeth Kane and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter 23

𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝖆𝖑𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖞 said my good-byes to the kids and to Severus. Severus was sitting in the headmasters' office, waiting for the Dark Lords' notice. Trang had come into the room, telling me that Neville had left to get Harry. And then she disappeared into the room to be with the kids. So I had kissed Severus one last time, and had left without looking back. 

Now, I was entering the Room of Requirement. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville were back and all of the students were standing around them, chattering excitedly. 

I could not bring myself to muster up such excitement. 

"Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?" Neville was asking as I silently took a spot near Susan and Ernie. 

"Well, yeah-" Harry was saying. 

"Then we'll help you." 

"You don't understand. We- we can't tell you. We've got to do it- alone." 

"Why?" 

"Because Dumbledore left the three of us a job and we weren't supposed to tell- I mean he wanted us to do it, just the three of us." 

"We're his army. Dumbledore's army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own-" 

"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate." Ron interrupted. 

"I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore- loyal to you." 

I wanted to interject, to tell Harry to give up his stubborn pride. But I would not alter a minute here, a single frame of my vision. I couldn't afford it. If we were off by a single minute. . . then perhaps I wouldn't be able to save their lives. 

"Look," Harry started, but the portrait behind him opened. 

"We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I thought you must be here!" It was Luna and Dean naturally, as expected. "Hi everyone! Oh, it's great to be back!" 

"Luna, what are you doing here? How did you-" 

"I sent for her. I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows." 

Harry met my eyes. I wondered what he saw there, what he was thinking about. 

"Of course that's what it means, isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?" 

"Listen. I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then-" 

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" Michael demanded. 

"No!" Ron interjected once more. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who-" 

"Then let us help! We want to be a part of it!" 

The portrait opened once more and my heart fell down through my stomach as Fred came through the portal with George, Ginny, and Lee. And down in my stomach, my heart started to pound erratically. My hand reached into my pocket, gently squeezing, fingers counting the vials of liquid luck I had. Four. Fred, Dad, Tonks, Severus. 

Dad and Severus came first but I'd be damned if I didn't try and help Fred and Tonks too. 

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed. He wants a kip and his bar's turned into a railway station." Fred said.