A/N: We're in the endgame now friends *cries*
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Your plan to use the Hogsmeade passageway into the castle fell through as the six of you ducked into a small alleyway and out of sight, allowing your pursuers to run past you. Hermione ran to the end of the alleyway, but it was a dead end and you were trapped.
A door suddenly cracked open and an unfamiliar voice called quietly but urgently out to you, "in here, Potter!" You all exchanged a wary look, but you had no choice but to follow the voice as an older man beckoned you through his door and locked it behind you, but it was too dark to see him properly until you walked down the steps into a room with lanterns and candles lit.
"Bloody fools. What were you thinking, coming here? Have you any idea how dangerous it is?" The old man said gruffly to you all, and you were taken aback when you saw him, and judging by the looks on the others' faces, they were too. He was the old barman of the Hog's Head who you'd briefly seen from a distance before the first D.A. meeting, and seeing him properly now, you were shocked to see that he looked just like Dumbledore.
Harry stared at him appraisingly and pulled his shard of mirror out of a wrapped cloth in his pocket. "It's you I've been seeing in this mirror," he said as a statement rather than a question and the tall old man said nothing so Harry spoke again, "you sent Dobby."
The man nodded stiffly and walked away, lighting a few more lanterns, "thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"
Harry hesitated momentarily before replying, "he's dead. Bellatrix Lestrange killed him."
The old barman faltered slightly and stilled his wand next to the lantern he was lighting, but his wrinkled and bearded face showed no emotion as he responded, "I'm sorry to hear that. I liked that elf."
During their exchange you glanced around the room, realising you were in a back room of the dilapidated pub and your gaze fell on an oil painting on the wall of a beautiful young blonde girl.
"You're Aberforth," Harry said and the name caught your attention and drew you back into the conversation. Your thoughts raced as you recalled poring over one of Hermione's books with her, and she shared a bewildered look with you, showing that she was thinking the same thing. Aberforth neither confirmed nor denied Harry's words, so Harry pressed on and pointed to the mirror on the wall, the same as the one Harry had the shard of glass from, "how did you get this?"
Aberforth shrugged as he bent down to light a fire in the large stone fireplace, "bought it from Mundungus Fletcher about a year ago. Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you." The mention of your late Headmaster's name confirmed what you already suspected, the old man who had just saved you from the Death Eaters was the younger brother of Albus Dumbledore.
Ron's stomach gave a loud rumble of hunger from where he stood and he cringed in embarrassment, "er- yeah, I may be a bit hungry."
Aberforth nodded and crossed the room, "I have food. Stay here." Then he walked up a small set of rickety steps to what you assumed was the main part of the Hog's Head.
As soon as he left the room the twins sat down heavily at the small table in the corner. "Bloody hell," they both said in unison and they dropped their bags onto the floor next to them, but you stayed standing and studied the portrait with Hermione.
Aberforth came back down minutes later with a large tray of food, a large loaf of bread, some cheese and butter, and a large jug of mead and another one of water. As soon as he set it down on the table you all descended on it like a pack of hungry wolves, and he brought down another tray when that one had been polished clean as a result of the insatiable Weasley appetite multiplied by three, and the fact that you hadn't eaten since leaving Shell Cottage just that morning.
Once you had eaten your fill, you and Hermione slowly approached Aberforth who was stoking the fire. "That's your sister Ariana, isn't it?" Hermione asked timidly, gesturing towards the oil painting on the wall above the mantelpiece.
Aberforth nodded slowly and you took a chance by asking him further, "she died quite young, didn't she?"
The old man straightened up and looked at the painting, and then he nodded sadly once again, "yes, she was just fourteen. My brother sacrificed many things, including her."
He stared over your head at Harry, who looked like he wanted to argue with him, "anyway, we need to figure out the best way to get you all out of here-"
"We're not leaving," Harry said immediately, "we need to get into Hogwarts."
Aberforth scoffed, "don't be stupid, boy."
"We have to, there isn't much time," Harry protested, "Dumbledore- I mean, your brother, he wanted-"
"My brother wanted a lot of things, Mr Potter. And a lot of people have gotten hurt during his grand schemes," Aberforth paused, looking at the painting of Ariana, "I suggest you leave and forget about him and his plans, unless you want to end up dead too."
The air of the room grew tense and you stood back slightly, both you and Hermione moving closer to the table with the Weasleys, all of you observing the exchange.
"He left me a job," Harry told him firmly.
"Oh, did he now? Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy?" Aberforth's sudden sarcastic tone made Fred choke loudly on his mouthful of mead and George had to smack him on the back while he cleared his throat, and you rolled your eyes at the pair of them.
Harry said nothing to that, so you spoke up, attempting to steer the conversation in a different direction "what about the Order? Have you heard from them much?"
Aberforth shook his head, "the Order's finished. You-Know-Who's won. Anyone who believes different's kidding themselves." He eyed each of you appraisingly, "you should all get out of the country while you still can, if you want to live."
"No, we have to finish this," Harry said in frustration, "I have to finish this. Your brother left me a job to do-"
"And you trust every word he told you, yes?" Aberforth demanded in annoyance, "He left you clear instructions that would keep you from getting killed?" Harry didn't respond so Aberforth continued, "did he ever even tell you about me? About Ariana?"
You all looked at each other awkwardly but Aberforth wasn't finished, "you know, he's the reason she's dead. She was attacked by three Muggle boys when she was only six years old, after they saw her using magic through our garden hedge. What they did to her...she never recovered from."
You all grimaced at his words while he pressed on, "she lost control of her magic after that. Our father was sent to Azkaban after attacking the boys that had hurt his little girl. Our mother was killed by Ariana's uncontrollable magic years later, and what did my brother do? He decided to finally come home from his trip around the world, playing the hero. But that just wasn't enough for him, so when he met that...that bastard, Grindelwald, he finally felt fulfilled and that he, at last, had someone he could connect with intellectually. We just weren't enough for him, me and Ariana. We were never enough."
Harry stared wide-eyed at the older man's ranting and Aberforth scowled at him, "he didn't tell you any of this, then, no? Did he tell you how his best friend used the Cruciatus Curse on me? All because I wouldn't let him take my sister with them when I had to go back to Hogwarts? And did he tell you how that night ended in a duel that got my little sister killed? No, Potter. I'm sure he wouldn't have told you any of that because it didn't fit in with his narrative of being the hero, and because he wanted you to trust him."
"I did trust him. I do," Harry said quietly and Aberforth shook his head in agitation, "then you're a fool, boy."
"He relived that night, shortly before he died, I'm sure of it," Harry told him and the old man's wrinkled eyes widened slightly as Harry explained, "when he was drinking the potion in the cave where we got the Slytherin locket, the Horcrux, it drove him out of his mind and he begged over and over, 'don't hurt them...hurt me instead.' He was being tortured by his own mind, and I think he was reliving what happened that night and was begging Grindelwald to spare you and Ariana, and take him instead."
You all stood in shocked silence as the weight of Harry's words sank in, you were all completely baffled since Harry had never shared the details of that night with Dumbledore before. Aberforth wrung his wrinkled hands together, "if that's the case, then why is he taking away your youth like he did with our sister?"
"This is the greater good we're talking about!" Harry said angrily, "this is a war!"
"And you were raised to be a child soldier, because that's what you are, a child," Aberforth replied.
"I'm seventeen! I'm of age! And I'm going to keep fighting even if you've given up!" Harry snapped and Aberforth narrowed his eyes at Harry, "who says I've given up?"
Harry's stubborn and sometimes snarky nature made him an equal match to the grumpy man in front of him, he tilted his chin up in defiance as he answered, "you said that the Order's finished, and that You-Know-Who's already won, and that anyone who thinks different is kidding themselves."
Aberforth scowled, "it's the truth."
Harry was giving in, "no, it isn't. Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge onto me. I'm going to keep going until I succeed or die trying. Don't think I haven't thought about how this might end for me."
You felt your mouth drop open at Harry's words. Of course it was something you'd thought of yourself but you'd never heard those words being spoken aloud, and you hated hearing them. Hermione's eyes were wide and Ron looked pale, the twins looked slightly dazed, and Aberforth just stared at Harry without saying a word.
Harry spoke again, "we've been hunting Horcruxes, and we think the last one is inside the castle. So we need to get into Hogwarts. If you can't help us, we'll wait until daybreak, leave you in peace and try to find a way in ourselves. If you can help us, now would be a great time to tell us."
Aberforth studied Harry and gave a single nod, then he walked over to Ariana's portrait and looked up at her. "You know what to do," he said, and the blonde girl smiled and nodded, then turned and walked away, disappearing into the horizon of the painting.
"She might be a while, make yourselves comfortable while you wait, you've got a tough road ahead of you," Aberforth said and then he brusquely left the room.
"What the bloody hell-" Fred said, rubbing his eyes in a bit of a daze while George slumped down into a chair beside him and narrowed his eyes curiously at the now-empty painting.
You walked over to them and stood behind Fred's chair, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head before speaking, "that has to be the longest either of you have kept your mouths shut while being conscious."
They both laughed at that and you looked around at the others who were quiet. Ron and Hermione had just sat down in the other two chairs at the table, while Harry paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, glancing at the portrait every so often.
Fred pulled you down onto his lap and hugged you close to his chest, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek, "you alright, Fred?"
He smiled softly and kissed your lips gently, "I'm alright. You know, aside from the feeling of impending doom and disaster." You chuckled at his attempt at humour, though you knew it had an element of truth to it. He rested his chin on your shoulder and you fiddled with the sleeve of his dark green jacket, you glanced over at George who was staring into nothingness at the table in front of him.
"Alright, Georgie?" You asked him and he nodded and smiled at you and Fred, "I'm good, just keeping an ear out for any visitors. Get it?" He pointed to the left side of his head where his left ear used to be and Fred groaned against your shoulder in exasperation at his brother, "blimey, George. Are you sure that curse didn't take a bit of your brain as well? Pathetic, honestly."
George just gave you both a shit-eating grin and folded his hands behind his head as he leaned back, but Hermione standing suddenly from her chair and making it scrape across the stone floor startled you all.
"She's coming back!" she said, pointing at the portrait, and sure enough you could see the blonde girl coming back in the distance of the painting.
You all joined Harry in front of the painting and the twins peered at it from over your heads, you squinted at the painting, "who's that with her?" No one answered as you all watched the portrait swing open, and Aberforth walked back into the room just as it revealed a passageway behind it with someone walking through.
"Neville!?" Harry exclaimed in awe and you all stared as the tall boy grinned at you all, hopping down from the mantelpiece.
"Wow, you look..." you started and Neville smirked, "like hell, I reckon! This is nothing, Seamus is worse!" He did, in fact, look like hell. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, and his clothes were slightly scuffed and torn, but he grinned excitedly at you all, taking each of you in, "I knew it! I knew you'd come!" You and Hermione both hugged him, while the boys clapped him warmly on the back in greeting.
"Always full of surprises, Longbottom," Fred said with a grin and Neville returned the smile, "Fred, George, it's been a while!"
"What happened to you Neville?" Harry asked and Neville shrugged, "you'll see, let's get going then shall we? Oh!" He turned to Aberforth, "hey, Ab, we'll have a couple more coming through soon enough."
"What d'you mean a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village! It's how these six almost got killed less than two hours ago!"
"I know, that's while they'll be Apparating straight into the bar when we give them the signal. Just send them straight through to us! Thank you!" Neville said in a rush, clearly trying to get the words out before his confidence dwindled, and then he nodded up to the passageway over the mantelpiece, hauling himself back up and pulling you and Hermione up after him, Harry and Fred followed after, and then George and Ron.
You glanced back at Aberforth and thanked him, he nodded, "I'll hide your bags away, come back to get them if you survive."
You and Hermione brought your enchanted bags with you since they carried the necessary things you might need for whatever lay ahead, and you felt a chill when you remembered that the small cup from Gringotts was still hidden in your bag. The portrait shut behind you all and you took out your wands to light the way through the pitch black passageway.
"This wasn't on the Marauder's Map," Fred observed loudly and George agreed, "yeah, and we know it like the back of our hands!"
"That's because it never existed till now," Neville explained, "all the secret passageways were sealed off before the start of the year. This is the only way in or out now."
"Those pricks," Fred hissed, thinking of all the passageways being destroyed after how well they served the three of you throughout the years.
"I know," Neville said solemnly, "the grounds are crawling with Death Eaters and Dementors now."
"How bad is it with Snape as Headmaster?" Hermione asked him as you walked and he shrugged nonchalantly, "we hardly ever see him, it's the Carrows you need to watch out for."
"They were there the night Dumbledore died," you said in recognition and Neville nodded. The others looked at you in the dim light with confusion written on their faces so you explained, "I fought them off with McGonagall. It was after Bill got hurt."
Neville nodded in recognition and then he silently pointed out to the twins that the ceiling was getting lower, so the three of them had to duck slightly so they didn't hit their heads. He resumed his explanation to the others then, "they're brother and sister, and in charge of discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows," he pointed to his black eye.
"They did that to you?" Hermione asked and Neville nodded brightly, unfazed, and you could see how much his courage had grown over the last couple of years.
"Why?" Ron asked and Neville paused his walking and turned around to face you all, "in last week's Dark Arts lesson, we were told to practice the Cruciatus Curse on first-years." You and Hermione gasped in horror and the others grimaced at the thought, then Neville continued leading you through the tunnel, "I got this because I refused. Hogwarts has changed."
"Amycus Carrow is the Dark Arts teacher, but his sister, Alecto, teaches Muggle studies. She spends the whole time talking about how 'disgusting' and 'dirty' Muggles are, so I stood up to her and that's how I got this one," he pointed to the healing gash on his cheek.
"Neville, mate, there's a time and place for having a smart mouth, believe me," Fred told the younger boy and Neville shrugged, "you didn't hear her, you would've done the same. It's like when you beat the blond out of Malfoy after what he said to Y/N, remember? Only Carrow was a lot more graphic and descriptive."
"You heard about that?" you asked Neville and he grinned at you, "everyone heard about that. Pretty sure no one would've dared to say another word to you after Fred broke Malfoy's nose."
You shivered in discomfort but Fred smirked and took hold of your hand, "and I'd do it again." He looked over his shoulder at George, "how many hours of detention d'you think we would've gotten this year, Georgie?"
"We'd have been better off just taking it as an extra class, to be honest, Fred," George shot back with a grin.
"Detentions now consist of getting tortured, so maybe not," Neville said casually, as if he was talking about what he'd eaten for breakfast, and you were concerned by how matter-of-fact he was being about everything.
"Oh, Neville. Luna is alright, she-" you began but Neville cut you off, "I know, she sent me a message." He pulled out his old D.A. coin, "she turned hers into a necklace, and she enchanted it so we could send each other messages."
He smiled fondly and traced his thumb across the top of the coin, and then he saw you looking and he flushed slightly, "Luna- she was snatched right off the Hogwarts Express on the way back for Christmas. I'm just glad Ginny stayed out of school after Easter, that's when things got really bad." Bill had gotten a message from Arthur while you were at Shell Cottage, saying that they'd kept Ginny from school to keep her safe, but that they were all fine.
"So anyway, things got bad and a bunch of us figured it was time to disappear," Neville said and Harry sidled up beside Neville and looked at him in question, "I thought we were heading back to the castle?"
"We are!" Neville grinned at him, "so let's have a bit of fun, shall we?"
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A/N: We're getting close to the end now, but don't worry! You can join me on another adventure with the twins in my latest story: Roses & Riots :)