HARRY ENTWINED HIS FINGERS WITH EDELYN'S as they walked down the hidden portrait passage, Ron and Hermione directly behind them and Neville Longbottom leading the way. Anxiety rose with every step they took closer to Hogwarts, and Harry felt a desperate urge to stop in his tracks; to plant his heels into the earth below, spin around, and walk back into the safety of the Hog's Head, for fear gripped his stomach and apprehension rattled his bones. But he knew that this was the time to be brave, and so he tightened his grip around her hand and continued onward.
A door was found at the end of the passage, and the Golden Quartet all exchanged a look before climbing through after Neville; as soon as they emerged into the room, they were greeted with screams and yells.
"Harry!"
"It's Potter! It's Potter and Black."
"Ron! Hermione!"
"Get the word out to Remus and the others that Harry is back," Edelyn heard Neville say before she and the others were engulfed into a swarm twenty-or-so people; they hugged them, pounded their backs, ruffled their hair, shook their hands.
After what felt like a good half-hour of greetings, Neville finally said, "Okay, okay, calm down everyone."
The crowd backed away and the Golden Quartet looked around. The room in which they now stood was large and filled with familiar faces. Multicoloured hammocks strung from the ceiling; the walls were covered in bright tapestry hangings that represented Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw House; bookcases and broomsticks were propped against the walls; a large wooden-cased wireless sat in one corner.
"Where are we?" Edelyn asked.
"Room of Requirement, of course!" Neville replied. "No one can get in here except for us. Now, Harry, tell us what you've been up to!"
But before Harry could respond, the portrait door reopened and Luna and Dean stumbled out; Seamus gave a great roar of delight and immediately ran to hug his best friend. They were followed by Lee Jordan and Cho Chang, the latter of which rushed to Harry,
squeezing him into a tight hug. Ron and Hermione both glanced awkwardly at Edelyn, but she was oblivious to Cho and Harry's exchange, for her eyes were set on the two people who came in behind them.
"Fred, George!" Her face illuminated into a bright smile and she ran over, flinging her arms around the twins whom she had not seen in weeks.
"So, what's the plan, Harry?" Neville asked.
Choosing his words carefully, Harry explained that they were looking for some relic of Ravenclaw: something small and easily concealed.
"Well, there's Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem," Luna suggested.
"Yeah, but the lost diadem—" Michael Corner rolled his eyes. "—is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."
"When was it lost?" Harry asked.
"Centuries ago, they say," Cho, who was now seated on the arm of a sofa, supplied. "If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry. Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."
Cho sent him a sweet smile, but it was not noticed by Harry, for his scar suddenly burned and he winced before turning to Ron, Hermione, and Edelyn. "He's on the move," he told them quietly. "I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know — the other one — safe."
They nodded and Harry turned back to face the room. His eyes met Cho's and she quickly lept to her feet, making to approach. Her demeanour was much too eager for Harry's liking, however, and he grasped Edelyn's hand, giving it a light tug and bringing her closer to him. "Uh, that's alright, Cho. Luna, you can take me, right?"
"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," Luna said happily, and Cho sat back down, looking rather disheartened, face falling into a disappointed frown as Harry then turned to Edelyn and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"See you in a bit," he said.
She smiled encouragingly up at him. "See you."
But 'a bit' felt much more like 'a long while'. Thirty minutes later, Edelyn absentmindedly tapped Cedric's wand against her twitching right leg as she paced about; Ron and Hermione had left for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom — they were going to go down to the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve Basilisk fangs which could then be used to destroy the remaining Horcruxes — and Harry and Luna were still yet to return.
"You're going to dig a hole in the floor, Lynster."
Edelyn looked up to see Fred and George standing before her, arms folded and backs leaned against a blue and bronze tapestry; she tugged at the sleeves of her shirt and wrung her wrists. "It shouldn't be taking this long," she muttered. "Ravenclaw Tower isn't that far from here."
George pushed himself off the wall and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're getting yourself all worked up, Lyn. He'll be back soon."
Just then, the portrait door opened for a third time that evening, and the three turned their heads to see a large group of people stumble in, including Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Bill and Fleur, Mr and Mrs Diggory, Mr and Mrs Weasley, their old Quidditch team, and Remus Lupin. Trailing the end was a girl with short blonde hair, and upon seeing the twins, she gave an enthusiastic wave.
"Ver!" George exclaimed, and with a ruffle of Edelyn's hair, he strolled away.
Edelyn smiled softly as she watched George wrap Verity in a hug, lifting her slightly off the floor and twirling her in the air.
"They're actually disgusting, you know?"
The corners of Edelyn's mouth twitched. "Not jealous, are you?"
"Of George?" Fred made an obnoxious hair flick. "Nah, he looks weird," he said, and grinned as he successfully weaned a laugh from Edelyn.
"You're twins. You look the same," she said, shaking her head in amusement.
"I do not!" Fred scoffed in mock offence. "I am so much better-looking."
Edelyn playfully rolled her eyes. "And so so much more modest."
Fred smirked. "Yes, indeed, Lynster."
Edelyn chuckled. "You're such a goofball, Fred."
"An adorable goofball?" he asked, batting his eyelashes.
"Mmm." She hummed thoughtfully, then tapped his nose. "Nope, just a goofball." But the anxiety that had been momentarily kept at bay came crashing back as someone asked loudly, "Where's Potter? I thought Potter was here."
"Hey," Fred said, resting a hand on her arm as he saw how her shoulders slumped forward and fingers reached to tug at her sleeves. "Harry's going to be alright."
"I know." Edelyn sighed softly. "It's just that I'm — I'm—" She cut herself short to gnaw at her bottom lip and flickered her gaze away, right fingers tightening around the twig of ash held tightly in her hand.
Fred frowned, then pressed his thumb against her chin; her lip slipped past her teeth and her eyes reached up to meet his. "I'm scared too," he said.
She blinked at him and felt an odd tension form between them; was it her imagination, or was he gravitating closer and closer towards her? But just then, a creak was heard as the door to the Room of Requirement opened, announcing the return of Harry and Luna.
Fred's fingers fell from Edelyn's chin and he instantly stepped away, hands finding his pockets as heat rose up in his cheeks.
"Harry, what's happening?" Remus asked.
"Voldemort's on his way; they're barricading the school; Snape's run for it," Harry said, eyes flickering across the room to find Edelyn's as he spoke. Then, looking back up at Remus, he knitted his brow and asked, "Wait, what are you doing here? How did you know?"
"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained, shrugging casually as he tried to subside the odd discomfort he felt in his stomach. "And the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, then it all kind of snowballed."
"So, what first, Harry?" George asked, one arm wrapped around Verity's waist. "What's going on?"
"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry replied. "We're — Well, we're fighting."
A great roar sounded and the members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and plenty others, surged toward the door and walked past him, their wands drawn, heading into the main castle. Harry, meanwhile, stepped to Edelyn's side.
"Did you find it?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, but I think..."
His voice trailed off as they suddenly heard a scuffling and a great thump: someone else had clambered out of the tunnel and fallen over. He pulled himself up and looked around through lopsided horn-rimmed glasses.
"Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I — I—"
Edelyn stiffened and her eyes narrowed slightly as Percy Weasley glanced at his family, who all fixed him with icy stares.
"I — I was a fool!" Percy spoke loudly. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a — a—"
"A Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," Fred spoke dryly.
Percy swallowed thickly. "Yes, yes I was."
"Well, you can't say fairer than that." Then, to everyone's surprise, Fred stretched out his hand to Percy, and Mrs Weasley burst into tears. She ran forward, pushing Fred aside, and pulled Percy into a strangling hug; Percy patted her on the back, eyes glued to his father.
"I'm sorry, dad." His voice croaked.
Mr Weasley blinked rapidly, then he too hurried to hug his son.
"What made you see sense?" George inquired.
"It's been coming on for a while, 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 fight, so here I am."
"Well, we do look to our Prefects to take a lead at times such as these," Fred said in a perfect imitation of Percy's most pompous manner.
Edelyn snorted a snigger and Percy's gaze landed on her.
"Lyn, I'm so, so sorry for what I said last year. I—"
"Oh, shut up, Weatherby," Edelyn said, playfully rolling her eyes, then sending him a small smile.
Percy beamed.
"Now." George clapped his hands together. "Let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."
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❛ One-sixty. ❜
PUBLISHED, 07. 23. 2018
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hugs, aelizia☽