~
"Harry, what's happening?" said Lupin, meeting him at the foot of the stairs.
"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school—Snape's run for it—What are you doing here? How did you know?"
"Messages from Dumbledore's Army spread around by El," Fred explained. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."
"What first, Harry?" called George. "What's going on?"
"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry said. "We're fighting."
There was a great roar and a surge toward the foot of the stairs as mingled members of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army, all with their wands drawn, headed up into the main castle. "Come on, Luna," Dean called as he passed, holding out his free hand; she took it and followed him back up the stairs. The crowd was thinning: Only a little knot of people remained below in the Room of Requirement.
Mrs. Weasley was struggling with Ginny. Around them stood Lupin, Fred, George, Bill, and Eleanora. Eleanora's eyes had flitted to Bill's the second Harry mentioned the younger children. She was on-edge; anxious to get to Daisy. "You're underage!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at her daughter. "I won't permit it! They boys, yes, but you, you've got to get home!"
"I won't!" Ginny's hair flew as she pulled her arm out of her mother's grip. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army— "
"A teenagers' gang!"
"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" said Fred.
"She's sixteen!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you— " Fred and George looked slightly ashamed of themselves. They'd insisted on getting Ginny before heading to Hogwarts, leaving Bill and Eleanora to travel there by themselves.
"Mum's right, Ginny," said Bill gently. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."
"I can't go home!" Ginny shouted, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and— " Just then, her eyes met Harry's and something in her expression changed. "Fine," she said, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say good-bye now, then, and— "
There was a scuffling and a great thump: Someone else had clambered out of the tunnel, overbalanced slightly, and fallen. He pulled himself up on the nearest chair, looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses, and said, "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I–I— " Percy spluttered into silence. Evidently he had not expected to run into most of his family.
There was a long moment of astonishment, broken by Eleanora turning to Lupin and saying, in a wildly transparent attempt to break the tension, "So— how's Teddy?" Lupin blinked at her, startled. The silence between the Weasleys seemed to be solidifying, like ice. Eleanora widened her eyes pointedly at Lupin. She didn't want the reappearance of Percy to shake up the family too badly just before the battle started.
"I— oh yes—he's fine!" Lupin said loudly. "Yes, Tonks is with him— at her mother's— " Percy and the other Weasleys were still staring at one another, frozen. "Here, I've got a picture!" Lupin shouted, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to Eleanora and Harry, who was looking just as awkward as Lupin and Eleanora felt.
"I was a fool!" Percy roared, so loudly that Lupin nearly dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a— a— "
"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred.
Percy swallowed. "Yes, I was!"
"Well, you can't say fairer that that," said Fred, holding out his hand to Percy. Mrs. Weasley burst into tears. She ran forward, pushed Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug, while he patted her on the back, his eyes on his father.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Percy said. Mr. Weasley blinked rather rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son. Eleanora reached out a hand to steady Fred, momentarily distracted from her desire to find her sister by Percy's sudden outburst.
"What made you see sense, Perce?" inquired George.
"It's been coming on for a while," said Percy, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his traveling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight for it, so here I am."
"Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said George in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken." The crowd dispersed a bit and Percy immediately turned to Eleanora, catching her off guard a bit.
"So, you're my sister-in-law now?" he said, shaking her hand pompously.
"For almost a year now," Eleanora said with a hint of sarcasm. Percy looked apprehensive, but then Eleanora's face split into a smile and she pulled Percy into a short hug. "Glad you're back on our side, Weatherby."
Then, Eleanora noticed Bill at her shoulder. "What's the plan?" he asked her, staring into her eyes intensely.
Eleanora took a deep breath. "I need to find Daisy myself," she said bravely. "They need as many people as they can get to fight, and me hiding my sister isn't directly contributing-"
"Don't be stupid," Bill said, "I'm not leaving you."
"No, shut up." Eleanora took both of Bill's hands in hers. "I'm going to hide Daisy in one of the secret passageways. The one only Fred and George and I know about under the cabinet on the fourth floor. Once she's safe, I'll find you, okay?"
Bill hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was let Eleanora out of his sight, but at the same time he understood her reasoning. He shifted for a second, but then Fred came up behind Eleanora. "I know where the passage is, Bill," he said seriously. "I can go with Eleanora and then we'll all find each other."
Bill nodded slowly. "Alright, yeah." Then, he leaned down and kissed Eleanora. "I love you," he said softly. "Be careful, please."
"You too," said Eleanora, running her fingers gently over his scarred face. "Don't do anything stupid until I get there."
With that, Fred and Eleanora drew their wands and hurried up the stairs to the rest of the castle. The second they reached the corridor outside the room of the requirement, they paused and exchanged a dark look. The place was a madhouse, crawling with students and staff and Order members. The place was alive with a sort of 'calm before the storm' feeling that put everyone on edge. "Come on," Fred said after a moment, taking Eleanora's arm and pulling her down the hallway in the direction of Gryffindor tower.
They ran through the halls side by side, not needing to say anything to know where they were headed. They wordlessly took the best secret passageways and shortcuts they knew, both of them reverting back to their Hogwarts days, going into running-from-Filch mode on instinct. At last, they reached the large staircase going up to Gryffindor tower, which was flooded with students. Eleanora grabbed Fred's arm so as not to lose him in the crowd, and then stood on tiptoe to look for her sister's blonde head.
"There!" Fred shouted, pulling Eleanora towards the corner of the stairwell. She fought her way through the crowd, to where Daisy was standing with a small group of second year students. The second she saw Fred and Eleanora, she ran to them and threw her arms around Eleanora's waist.
"You're here!" she said excitedly, letting Eleanora go and hugging Fred. "Are you here to fight? Oh, isn't this exciting! A real battle at Hogwarts!"
Eleanora and Fred exchanged another dark look. Eleanora knelt down so she was eye-to-eye with Daisy. "Listen, I know it's exciting, but we have to go. Now."
"Go where?"
Eleanora looked bewildered. "Fred and I are going to hide you. You can't be running around in the middle of battle."
"No, no, no," Daisy said quickly, brandishing her wand. "I'm going to fight!"
Fred let out a humorless laugh. "You most certainly are not, Dais."
"Yeah, come on, love. We really have to hurry." Eleanora cast a nervous glance over her shoulder.
Daisy stared defiantly at them, not budging. "I'm staying to fight," she said solemnly. "All of my friends are, and I am too. I'm not leaving you to-" she trailed off, her eyes flicking to the side distractedly. "Last time you wouldn't let me fight... Moody-"
Eleanora drew in a breath and looked up at Fred, whose expression was equally worried. "Daisy," Eleanora said, fighting to keep her voice kind and gentle as the crowd continued to stream around them, the majority of the students evacuating, "Nothing's going to happen to us, okay? And having you in battle would only make things worse. We'd all be worried about you and wouldn't fight as well. Come on, just-"
"I'm not going!" Daisy shouted suddenly, tears pricking her eyes. "I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going! I'm not leaving you!"
Eleanora stood up and looked over at Fred, communicating with her eyes. Fred glanced down at Daisy, then nodded his head, bending down to pick her up and toss her over one shoulder. "Come on, Daisy-flower. It's non-negotiable."
Daisy kicked and punched Fred the entire way to the secret-passage on the fourth floor, struggling out of his grasp with no success. Fred tried to make jokes the whole way to calm her down, but even he was having trouble putting on a brave face as they faced the turmoil in the castle. When they finally reached the little trapdoor under the cabinet and Eleanora unlatched it, Daisy had calmed down enough for Fred to set her down. She wiped at her eyes and sniffled, staring at Fred and Eleanora reproachfully. Fred climbed down the passageway first, then helped Daisy down after him. Eleanora was the last, and she closed the door to the passage behind them, lighting her wand. "I can't stay down here," Daisy whispered, looking frightened. "It's too dark." She looked up at Fred with pleading eyes. "Come on, Freddie, I don't want to stay down here."
Eleanora took her sister's hand and led her deeper into the passageway, then knelt on the ground next to her. "You won't be awake for most of it," she said, pulling a small vial from her pocket. "I knicked this before I left. It'll keep you asleep for a few hours. You won't even know what's happening." She handed Daisy the vial, which Daisy stared at bleakly. Eleanora didn't like the idea herself, but she wasn't sure what choice she had. She needed to keep her sister safe.
She pulled Daisy into one last hug, and felt her throat tighten up. "Please be careful," Daisy said in a strained voice. When Eleanora drew back, she saw that Daisy's lower lip was trembling the way it did when she was going to really cry. The way small children cry, her big blue eyes filling up with tears and her face beginning to crumple. The fear on her face was so evident, and Eleanora was struck by how scared she really must be.
"I'm going to be okay," she whispered comfortingly. "I'm going to be okay, and so will Bill, and Daddy, and Fred, and George, and- and everyone. Okay? And- and I'm so proud of you, Dais. Really, I am. And so is Dad, and so was Mum. Even if- even if I don't come back... you're going to be okay. Promise. You'll always have people to take care of you now. You'll be alright. I love you." She was struggling to speak through repressed sobs now, her own lips trembling dangerously.
Daisy was crying too hard to say anything. Eleanora felt a hand on her shoulder as Fred knelt down next to her, his own eyes filled with tears. "We'll see you in a few hours, Dais. Then it'll all be over. And I'll show you how to actually fight, alright? I promise."
"O-okay," Daisy said, her voice shaking. She clasped the vial tightly in both fists, then slowly unscrewed the top. "I'll see you after."
Then, Daisy drank the entire potion. Fred and Eleanora watched in silence as Daisy quickly fell asleep on the floor of the passage, both of them trembling slightly. When Eleanora was certain Daisy was asleep, she pulled off her jacket and laid it over her, then stood up, helping Fred after her.
"Well," she said, squaring her shoulders and swallowing hard, "I suppose it's time for battle then."