Chapter Eight
If there was a place to study, it would have to be the Ravenclaw common room.
Numerous tables were dotted around the room, and it was often to see all these tables filled by students intent on studying, pieces of parchment on piles and almost overflowing the bench surface.
It was almost always comfortably quiet, too, since people preferred to talk quietly so as not to disturb those who were studying. It was Annie's first time in the common room; she'd been invited up there by Luna to help each other through their Transfiguration homework. Transfiguration was Annie's worst subject, and Luna had been more than happy to help.
Transfiguration was bearable with Luna - she was very patient and while she didn't give all the answers, she phrased questions in a way that got Annie thinking, and she was almost always able to answer the questions.
After two and a half hours, they finished going through the set homework. Annie pushed her parchment away in relief and sighed, resting her head on her arms. She snuck a look up at Luna (she had a pencil holding her hair in a messy bun while another one was behind her ear, and she was wearing her Butterbeer cork necklace), and her heart skipped a beat.
With nothing else to do, they began to converse quietly to wind down - it was late at night and they had been working hard for a while. After a while, Luna asked Annie why she had been homeschooled.
Annie shrugged as best she could while lying down. "It was my mother. She's French, and was taught at Beauxbatons," she explained. "She travelled the world after she finished school, and met my father and fell deeply in love with him. She wanted to move back to France with him, but she didn't know the language and besides, he had a job here that was warming him a considerable amount of money -" She paused here yawn. "In the end, Mum decided to stay in England. When I was born, she decided she didn't want to send me to Hogwarts - she didn't trust the school, you see. She'd have sent me to Beauxbatons but she didn't feel -" another yawn "- comfortable sending me abroad alone. So, I was homeschooled under her watchful eye."
Luna tilted her head to the side. "That's interesting."
"I guess." Annie yawned hugely and her eyes began to flutter closed. "Merlin, I'm shattered."
"Sleep, then," Luna said gently.
"Have - to get back - to Hufflepuff..." Annie murmured, words slurred and drowsy and her eyes continuing to close.
But the next second Annie had passed out, her red hair sprayed around her head.
When Annie next woke up, she had no idea where she was. She wasn't home, nor was she in the Hufflepuff dormitory. The roof, for one, was coloured blue - and so were the walls.
Annie propped herself up on one arm, and blinked, realising where she was.
"Why am I till in Ravenclaw tower?" she mumbled to herself.
"You fell asleep. I didn't want to wake you."
Annie looked in the direction of the voice. Luna was sitting by the dying fire. Her hair was exceptionally messy and tangled
"Oh. Thanks, Luna," Annie murmured, smiling softly. "Why did you sleep down here then?"
"I didn't want you to wake up feeling alone."
Warmth spread throughout Annie's body. Not only was Luna beautiful, but she had the most beautiful soul Annie knew.
Luna stood up, stretched, and tapped her hair - it brushed itself out. The firelight caught her eyes, making them stand out. She was beautiful.
"Anyway, Ginny and Neville want to meet us - they said they have a really big plan."
Annie shook her head. They'd been performing DA stunts regularly since their first one, the others getting behind them often. The Carrows were furious, trying to figure out how they communicated; no one had yet thought to check the seemingly innocent Galleons lying in everyone's pockets. It was fun, sneaking out every night, to see the reaction on the faces of the Carrows the next morning.
"Sounds dangerous," Annie said dryly, standing up. "I'm in."
Though Annie started to doubt herself when they met the two Gryffindors after breakfast and, upon questioning them what their big plans were, they exchanged devilish smiles.
"We're going to steal Gryffindor's sword," Neville declared, while Ginny grinned wickedly.
Annie's heart faltered.
Oh, we're going to get kicked out of Hogwarts for sure.
+++
Out of all of their DA stunts, this was by far the biggest, most dangerous task they'd undertaken.
"It's Gryffindor's sword, not Slytherin's," Ginny had said, business-like. "It doesn't belong in Snape's office."
It was hard to argue with this, so the two Gryffindors, the Ravenclaw, and the Hufflepuff grouped together to begin planning.
They didn't dare plan in the library or anywhere the Carrows could overhear - they kept that to the Gryffindor common room. They decided not to involve anyone else since it was a dangerous operation, and they couldn't ask anyone to risk everything they were.
After a week of whispered discussions, lurking nearby the Headmaster's office to hear the password (which, to all their surprise, was Dumbledore), and going over plans three times, they were ready.
Annie was incredibly nervous all day. Their other DA stunts were nothing compared to this. She was almost one hundred percent certain that she was spending a last day at Hogwarts and would be on the way home the next day, expelled and her wand snapped in two.
The time to carry out their plan came all too quickly - Annie didn't feel ready as she pushed back her chair and joined the others as they made their way to Snape's office. Fortunately they encountered no teachers or students on their way there, and soon found themselves standing in front of the stone gargoyle.
"Any idea what the password might be?" Ginny asked.
Annie shrugged. Together, they tried different words, but nothing worked. Annie felt like this might not work after all, when Luna looked up, the answer ready on her lips.
"Dumbledore," Luna said to the stone gargoyle, and it allowed them to pass. Glancing over their shoulders the four dashed upstairs, going as fast as their legs could take them.
It didn't take long to locate the sword in the office despotic the numerous other objects crammed inside - it was hanging behind the Headmaster's desk. Neville pointed his wand at the glass case surrounding it.
"Diffindo!" The class broke away, and Neville grasped the sword, smiling triumphantly back at the rest of them.
That turned and began to scarper toward the door - that was, until it opened, and they all froze in their tracks.
Snape had walked inside.
"Longbottom, Weasley, Lovegood, Wilkinson, what are you doing here?" Snape demanded in a silky voice asked.
Annie's blood turned to ice. This is the end. We're going to be expelled for sure. She glanced around at the others, trying to get an idea of what to do, but they all looked as horrified as Annie felt. Neville had indiscreetly attempted to hide the sword behind his back.
"We - we were just," Ginny stammered, but Snape had spotted the sword. His lip curled.
"Hand it over, Longbottom," he said lowly, and it was with great reluctance Neville passed the sword to Snape. The sword now in his hands, the Headmaster surveyed the four coolly. "Let's see - fifty points from Gryffindor, and twenty from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. On top of that, you will all serve a detention. Hurry off, and I'd better not catch you sneaking around in my office again or the consequences will be... severe."
They didn't need any other warning; Annie joined the others as they scurried down the stairs as quickly as possible before Snape could decide he had been too lenient with them.
"Did we just get away with that?" Ginny exclaimed when they were out of the staircase. "I thought I was hearing things, that's so unlike Snape... I was almost sure we were going to expelled."
"Don't question it, we were lucky," Annie said shakily. "Though detention might be a problem... if we're given to the Carrows..."
The others looked quite a bit paler at this reminder.
"Don't think about it," Neville said. "We're still at Hogwarts... that's more than any of us hoped for."
Annie nodded. She glanced over at Luna, and the two exchanged secret, relieved smiles. Annie didn't care she was still at Hogwarts - all she cared was that she'd still be able to see Luna each day.
Really, at the end of the day, that was all she truly cared about.