A/N-
Hello! Sorry for the delay in updates (again) but I have been really busy with schoolwork recently. I hope to update more frequently, but you know how I am.
Also, a sidenote- I have started to upload an X-Men fanfiction in the past few weeks which is a Charles Xavier love story set in the twentieth century. If you like Marvel or X-Men, feel free to check it out! It's called Flickers.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, and hopefully I'll update again soon!
Chapter 24 (Ava)
It had only been a few days since I'd arrived at Hogwarts when Ginny arrived, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide with panic.
"Where is Luna?" She asked as she strode through the doors of the Room of Requirement, her eyes sweeping the faces of the students, "I couldn't find her on the train on the way home and she wasn't there on the way back either... does anyone know?"
I exchanged a glance with Neville before he stepped forwards and wrapped his hand around hers, pulling her towards where I was sitting on the hammock. As he walked with her, he explained what had happened to Luna. With each word that he spoke, more blood drained from Ginny's face. Her eyes shone with tears, and her fists were clenched angrily.
"How can they just take her? How is that fair?"
I reached out and squeezed Ginny's hand, "Hey- if I could survive what they did to me, I'm sure she can too. Luna is tough, just like you. She will be fine, I'm sure of it."
Ginny nodded slowly, her gaze meeting mine as she did. She understood that I was the only one with experience in captivity of Death Eaters, and she was willing to believe what I said. She blinked, and the tears in her eyes disappeared. After a moment, she reached out and hugged Neville to her. He smiled, and asked her how her Christmas holidays had been, clearly deciding that he needed to change the subject. As she pulled back and started to murmur quietly to him, she pulled a slip of parchment out of her pocket and handed it to me silently.
I glanced down at it and recognised the writing on it instantly. My heart twisted painfully, and I sank down onto the hammock as I opened it slowly.
Ava,
I thought it was worth making contact with you while I could- I understand that now Ginny is back at Hogwarts, it will be almost impossible to get a message to you.
The house has felt incredibly lonely without you there, and it's only been a few days. Merlin, I miss you more than you can imagine.
I hope you've settled in well- it must be odd to be back at Hogwarts but not be able to roam the corridors like before. I'm sure Neville has been the perfect host, so I trust that everything will be fine.
I'm proud of you for doing this- you inspire me in so many ways, Ava. I can't wait to see you again and show you just how much you mean to me.
I don't think I've ever written such a sappy letter, but I'm just going to ask Ginny to pass it on to you anyway. Be safe.
Love,
Fred
I smiled as I re-read the words for the second and then the third time. I'd certainly been missing Fred a lot over the past few days, and this letter somehow helped with that. I folded it up and slipped it into my pocket as Neville and Ginny settled down on either side of me.
"He made me promise not to read it," Ginny smirked, "He was terribly embarrassed about all the lovey dovey things he wrote in there. To be honest, I didn't want to read it. I think I would have thrown up if I had."
"Oh, shut up!" I threw a pillow at her face as Neville burst out laughing. I turned to him, "Neville, you are not allowed to laugh at Ginny's jokes."
"That's so not fair!" He pouted, "She's funny!"
A laugh escaped my mouth, and I hit Neville with a pillow, "So are you, you idiot. Anyway, have you been writing anything lovey dovey for Hannah Abbott while you've been here?"
His cheeks flamed red and he shushed me, "Ava! It's supposed to be a secret!"
Ginny snorted, " You're hardly very secretive, Longbottom. While you're making speeches to the DA your gaze always falls on Hannah. It's revolting."
"As if you and Harry didn't used to snog in the Gryffindor common room," Neville shot back, and Ginny laughed, "We did it to piss Ron off, most of the time. Anything more exciting was likely to happen behind closed doors."
"Enough!" I shouted, "That's my brother you're talking about!"
"That's my brother you slept with in the room above mine!" Ginny smirked, and I felt a blush creep up my neck.
"I am never telling you anything again, Ginny Weasley."
"You didn't even tell me!" She managed in between laughs, "George is the one that told me in fits of hysteria after he'd found you in bed together the next morning-"
She was cut off as the doors to the Room flew open and two students stumbled in with a figure draped over their shoulders. I was on my feet at once, alongside Neville and Ginny, as the two students laid the figure on one of the rugs in the corner of the room. My eyes fell on his face, and I instantly recognised Colin Creevey. My heart stopped when my gaze glazed down his body and I caught sight of the blood seeping through his white shirt. Several students were standing around him with panicked expressions on their faces. I lunged forwards and crouched down beside him, my wand already in my hand.
"Ginny? Neville?" I called over my shoulder, and they were crouching down opposite me a moment later.
"We need to get his shirt off for a start to see how deep the wounds are," I murmured to them. Neville nodded quickly and began to cut away at the fabric with a spell. Ginny shouted over her shoulder, "Seamus! Get the potions from the cupboard!"
A moment later, Seamus appeared next to me with a handful of different coloured potions in glass vials. He placed them down on the floor beside Colin's head and pulled off the remaining fabric that was stuck to Colin's chest. I was trying to ignore the fact that blood had started to pool around Colin's body and the fact that his face was deathly pale, and instead spoke to him.
"Colin? Can you hear me?" I murmured quietly.
He let out a very weak groan, and then his eyes rolled back in his head. Nearby, someone whimpered.
"Right, if you're not helping, could you go and sit in a corner?" Ginny shouted, "It's difficult enough without you lot goggling."
The crowds dissipated, and I bent down closer to look at the depth of the red gashes across Colin's chest. They reminded me very much of the incident that had taken place in the girls' bathroom last year with Harry and Draco, but I couldn't be sure if it was the same spell. I shook my thoughts away and pressed my wand to one of the cuts. I silently cast a spell, and a moment later the skin began to knit back together. I continued to do the same for the other wounds on his chest, ignoring the fact that the scars across Colin's skin were still very prominent.
"Is there a blood-replenishing potion there, Seamus?" I asked, and a moment later he was uncapping the bottle and holding it to Colin's lips. We all watched in apprehension, and sagged with relief as some colour began to return to his cheeks. After a few minutes, his eyes flickered open and he glanced at all of us. He tried to sit up and swore loudly.
"Whoa!" I pushed him back down, "We still need you to take a healing potion- the wounds ran quite deep."
"Yeah," Colin muttered darkly, "I can feel that."
Ginny snorted, "Alright, Creevey, no need to play the martyr."
"Shut up, Weasley," He shot back.
"What happened?" Neville asked quietly after Seamus had given Colin a healing potion.
"I was travelling back from Hogsmeade station when the Carrows cornered me and asked me what was in my bag," He paused, "I think they just wanted a reason to have a go at me... but anyway... I told them it was none of their business and that if I was smuggling Harry Potter in, I'd be a bit more discreet than that. Then they pulled me away from the other students and laid into me..."
"What is it with us Gryffindors and always saying the wrong thing?" Seamus muttered, and I laughed quietly. After a pause, Colin sat up.
"Hang on... Why are you here? Ava Potter?" His eyes looked like saucers, and I couldn't help but chuckle lightly.
"Thought I'd continue my studies, you know... my education has been a bit patchy..." I muttered, and his lips twitched into a smile.
"No, really... Why are you here? Death Eaters everywhere are searching for you. It was in the Prophet."
I sighed, "I'm on the run from Death Eaters and I wanted to help our cause in some way. So I decided to come here and help the DA. I'm not leaving the Room of Requirement, though- I doubt that would go down well."
"That's really cool," Colin beamed, "What do you do when we're all in lessons? It must be boring!"
"I read books about healing," I replied, "Pretty useful, I'd say."
"Really useful!" He smiled as he pushed himself up onto his elbows.
His brother, Dennis, came over to speak to Colin and see if he was alright, so the rest of us decided to give him some space.
"You did a good job, Ava," Neville remarked, and I smiled.
"Thanks, Neville! You guys helped though. I couldn't have done it without Seamus' vast knowledge of potions."
"I can teach you which ones are which, if you like." Seamus settled down on the hammock beside me, "I had to learn fast before Christmas because we never had enough people in here to heal students, and we decided that a few of us would need to learn what each potion did. Dean and Lavender taught themselves as well, but they always tell me that I know them the best."
Ginny and Neville nodded, "Could you teach us as well, Seamus? Ava will always be in here to help any students that need it, but it would be useful for us to know as well if she's busy with other students."
"Sure," Seamus yawned, "I'll show you tomorrow- I borrowed a book on potions from the library and it's in my dorm room."
A few minutes later, Dean walked into the room carrying a pot of hot chocolate. He placed the pot on the floor by my feet and summoned some mugs from the shelf over to us.
"Any explanation for this, Dean?" Seamus smirked as he poured himself a cup, "Are we celebrating something?"
"Nah," Dean murmured as he sank down on another hammock, "But I thought we might try and get one final night of so-called 'luxury' in before we have to return to lessons."
Neville and Ginny both exhaled deeply after one sip of hot chocolate, and Ginny smirked, "I suggest we keep drinking hot chocolate even on the nights that we do have lessons. Plus we can't be leaving Ava on her own in here every night."
A warm feeling spread through my chest, and I laughed, "Oh, it's not so bad in here. This is luxury compared to what I've seen in the past six months."
"Now, now," Neville murmured, tapping his foot against my shoulder lightly, "Let's not overuse the word 'luxury'- we'll soon forget what it really means."
"Anything that's not a reminder of this bloody war is luxury to me," Dean muttered bitterly, and I nodded in agreement.
"Wise words spoken by Mr. Thomas," Seamus wrapped his fingers around his mug tightly, "Although I see luxury as a fortnight away in a hot country..."
The five of us fell about laughing, and in that moment I decided that 'luxury' was simply spending time with my friends. For now, that was enough.