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"Neville – what the – how – ?"

Neville yelled in delight, cutting off Harry's words and pulled the four of them into a hug. They were horrified though as they saw Neville's face. One of his eyes was swollen, there were gouge marks and bruises on his face, but despite how battered he looked, his happiness was shining through. "I knew you'd come! I told Seamus it was only a matter of time!"

"Neville, what's happened to you?"

"What? This?" Neville dismissed his injuries with a shake of the head. "This is nothing, Jemina is worse. You'll see."

"Jemina?" Deanna's eyes widened as she turned to her uncle who nodded in response. She frowned at that, knowing that Jemina must have gone through a lot. Neville already looked bad, how much worse would Jemina look? Hermione noticed how Deanna tensed up and immediately rubbed the Hufflepuff's back to calm her down. She knew that Jemina Nightingale was like a little sister to Deanna.

"Shall we get going then? Oh," Neville turned to Aberforth, "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."

"Couple more?" repeated Aberforth ominously. "What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"

"I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar," said Neville. "Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."

Neville helped Hermione and Ron climb up onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel before he went in with them.

Harry addressed Aberforth. "I don't know how to thank you. You've saved our lives twice."

"Look after 'em, then," said Aberforth gruffly. "I might not be able to save 'em a third time."

As Harry climbed up and went into the tunnel, Deanna gave her uncle who gazed at her softly a tight hug. "Uncle Ab... I love you."

The old man teared up at those words, not knowing if he'll be able to see her again after this. "I love you too, Deanna."

Deanna smiled at him and blinked back her tears before turning to Ariana. "Take care of Uncle Ab, Aunt Ari. I love you."

"Oh, Dee. I love you too." The woman in the portrait smiled at her sadly. Maybe, this was the last time, but at least, Deanna was going with the knowledge that many people loved her.

And so, Deanna too got up onto the mantelpiece and went through the hole behind Ariana's portrait. There were smooth stone steps inside the tunnel, and Deanna could smile as she recognized this passageway. They had been working on this back in 1942, but because she was put to sleep, they never finished it. It was a good thing Jemina found a way to connect it to Hogwarts.

"How long's this been here?" Ron asked as they set off. "It isn't on the Marauder's Map, is it Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?"

"They sealed off all of those before the start of the year," said Neville. "There's no chance of getting through any of them now, not with the curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and dementors waiting at the exits. Jemina and Aberforth made this happen."

Neville turned around and started walking backward, beaming, drinking them in. "Never mind that stuff... Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? We heard from Potterwatch. It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!"

"Yeah, it's true," said Harry.

Neville laughed gleefully. "What did you do with the dragon?"

"Released it into the wild," said Ron. "Hermione was all for keeping it as a pet."

"Don't exaggerate, Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"But you did want to keep it. Maybe, a little?" Deanna asked her in a teasing tone.

Hermione let out a sigh but nodded. "Yeah, a little."

"Favoritism." Ron mumbled under his breath, earning him a smack from Hermione and laughter from the three.

"But what have you been doing? People have been saying you've just been on the run, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something."

"Well, that isn't wrong," said Deanna, "but what's been going in Hogwarts, Nev? We haven't heard anything."

"It's been... Well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore," said Neville, the smile fading from his face as he spoke. "Do you know about the Carrows?"

"Those two Death Eaters who teach here?"

"They do more than teach," said Neville. "They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."

"Like Umbridge?"

"Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do."

"Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions – "

"What?" Deanna, Harry, Ron, and Hermione's united voices echoed up and down the passage.

"Yeah," said Neville. "That's how I got this one," he pointed at a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."

"Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drive wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being reestablished. I got this one," he indicated another slash to his face, "for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got."

"Blimey, Neville," said Ron, "there's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth."

"You didn't see her," said Neville. "You wouldn't have stood it either. The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you guys did it."

"But they've used you as a knife sharpener," said Ron, winding slightly as they passed a lamp and Neville's injuries were thrown into even greater relief.

Neville shrugged. "Doesn't matter. They don't want to spill too much pure blood, so they'll torture us a bit if we're mouthy but they won't actually kill us. Besides, what I've gone through doesn't compare to everything Jemina suffered. I mean... she's too brave, that woman."

Deanna became even more worried because of that. "How has she been, Neville? Is she alright?"

"She's been fighting, Deanna." Neville smiled reassuringly at her. "It's more of a bad thing, but they can't really quiet Jemina down because they don't have anything to hold against her anymore... You know, they killed her entire family over the summer – "

"WHAT?" The four exclaimed, making them all stop in their tracks as they stared at Neville, asking if they heard correctly.

Neville nodded with a sad smile. "They killed her family. It's one of the reasons why she decided to come back. To avenge them by fighting with all she could."

Deanna started feeling guilty at that. If she didn't agree to Jemina, she wouldn't be hurt and her family would be alive. This was all her –

"They would have killed her and her family anyways, Deanna." Neville held her hand reassuringly, having learned from Jemina that Deanna was the reason why she got into Hogwarts safely. "You don't know how many times you saved us with your plans. You saved her by doing something to let her come into Hogwarts safely. Please don't blame yourself, Dee. Jem wouldn't want that either."

Deanna smiled weakly and leaned into Hermione who wrapped an arm around her. She still felt bad, but it wasn't really the time to let her emotions take over. "S-So, she's safe?"

"Yeah." Neville replied as they continued walking. "The only people in real danger are the ones whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was getting a bit too outspoken in The Quibbler, so they dragged Luna off the train on the way back for Christmas."

"Neville, she's all right, we've seen her –"

"Yeah, I know, Hermione, she managed to get a message to me." From his pocket he pulled a golden coin, and Deanna recognized it as one of the fake Galleons that Dumbledore's Army had used to send one another messages.

"These have been great," said Neville, beaming at Hermione. "The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting, stuff like that. Snape hated it."

"You used to?" said Deanna, who had noticed the past tense.

"Well, it got more difficult as time went on," said Neville. "We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never came back after Easter. So, it was only me, Jemina and Noah – "

"Noah?" Harry asked loudly, blushing when he saw them all smile teasingly at him. "H-How has he been?"

"Like everyone, he's a little bruised and hurt, but he's fine, don't worry." Neville reassured them. "So, where was I? Yeah... The five of us were sort of the leaders, Nosebusters we called ourselves. The Carrows seemed to know we were behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on Jemina, Noah and me hard and..."

Neville paused a little to glance at Harry before continuing. "Noah went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly –"

"They did what?"

" – like they did to Jemina before we started." Neville finished with a nervous look at Harry who looked furious right now. "I don't know what to tell you, Harry, but he's doing well now. Don't worry."

"Calm down, Harry." Ron told the Boy Who Lived. "Let Neville continue, he seems too scared to continue because of you."

Harry started blushing at those words. He couldn't help himself, it was Noah they were talking about. So, he calmed down and nodded. "Sorry, Nev, please continue."

"Yeah, well, we couldn't ask people to go through what Noah did, so we dropped those kinds of stunts. But we were still fighting, doing underground stuff, right up until a couple of weeks ago. That's when they decided there was only one way to stop us, I suppose, go for our families. You know Jem's situation. Noah's parents were already hiding after the Easter break and they went for Gran."

"They what?" said Deanna, Harry, Ron, and Hermione together.

"Yeah," said Neville, panting a little now, "well, you can see their thinking. It had worked really well, kidnapping kids to force their relatives to behave. I s'pose it was only a matter of time before they did it the other way around."

"Thing was," he grinned, "they bit off a bit more than they could chew with Gran. Little old witch living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway, Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run."

"She sent me a letter," he clapped a hand to the breast pocket of his robes, "telling me she was proud of me, that I'm my parent's son, and to keep it up."

"Cool," said Ron.

"Yea," said Neville happily. "Only thing was, once they realized they had no hold over me, they decided Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don't know whether they were planning to kill me or send me to Azkaban, either way, I knew it was time to disappear."

"But," said Ron, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't – aren't we heading straight back for Hogwarts?"

"'Course," said Neville. "You'll see. We're here."

They turned a corner and there ahead of them was the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps led to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushed it open and climbed through.

As they followed, they heard Neville call out for unseen people: "Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"

As they emerged into the room behind the passage, there were several screams and yells:

"HARRY!"

"DEANNA!"

"Deanna Dumbledore is back!"

"It's Potter, it's POTTER!"

"Ron!"

"Hermione!"

The four of them were confused seeing the colored hangings, lamps and many faces. The next moment, Deanna, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were engulfed, hugged, pounded on the back, their hair ruffled, their hands shaken, by what seemed to be more than twenty people.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Neville called, and as the crowd backed away, they were able to take in their surroundings. They did not recognize the place at all. It was enormous. Multicolored hammocks were strung from the ceiling and from the balcony that ran around the windowless walls. Tapestries of the four houses were hung on the walls. There were bulging bookcases, a few broomsticks and in the corner, a large wood-cased wireless.

"Where are we?" asked Deanna.

"Room of Requirement, of course!" said Neville. "Surpassed itself, hasn't it? This has been our headquarters for the past few months. It turned into the perfect hiding place as we arrived. It was a load smaller, there were only three hammocks. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived."

"And the Carrows can't get in?" asked Harry, looking around for the door.

"No," said a man. They turned around to see a bruised Noah with a smile on his face. "It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open."

"Noah." Harry whispered out, his heart fluttering as he saw his lover... former lover again after suddenly breaking up with him. And months of longing and worrying for him took over Harry and he ran through the path that opened for him, hugging the younger boy tight. Noah felt tears come into his eyes as he hugged him back, just as tight. They and everyone in the room could feel the love they had for each other in that hug.

On the other hand, Deanna finally met eyes with the scarred and bruised girl who was staring right at her with teary eyes and a smile on her face. The one who suffered so much because of a promise she made to Deanna. The Dumbledore didn't hold herself back anymore and walked towards Jemina, pulling her into her arms. "Oh, Jem... I-I'm so sorry."

"Deanna." Jemina could only whisper out and hug her back just as tight, letting her tears fall as well. "You don't have to say sorry, Dee. You did nothing wrong."

Hermione and everyone else in the room sent a smile at the two pairs hugging each other tight. They all missed each other a lot, and they needed the time to talk with each other. They've been running tirelessly. Surely, they could spare a few minutes for each other.

Deanna pulled back to look at Jemina's face, her tears falling when she saw how Jemina looked. She looked so fragile yet strong with scars all over her face. "You've suffered so much. You've done so well, all of you."

"You're one to talk." Jemina lowered her voice to a whisper, sending a message through her eyes. And it was received by Deanna whose eyes widened. I know, that was what Jemina was trying to say. I know about what is going to happen. "Hey, Deanna. We'll be there until the end. You know that, right? You are loved by so many people. No matter what happens, we will be there."

Deanna wiped away her tears and shakily smiled at the younger badger. "I know, Jem. Thank you." Trying to take her mind off what was to come, she let go of her friend and looked around at the place, clearing her throat. "So, how did you guys get the place to become like this?"

"It's all down to Neville, Jemina and Noah!" Seamus answered with pride in his voice for the three. "They really get this room. You've got to ask for exactly what you need – like, "I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in' – and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes. Those three are amazing!"

"It's quite straightforward, really," said Neville modestly. "And like I said, Jemina and Aberforth creating the passage really saved us. Of course, Pansy, Theo, Daphne, Blaise and the other Slytherins were big help too. Sometimes, they leave food at the doors and do everything to divert the Carrows' attention from the Room of Requirement. Most of the time though, we get food from Aberforth. For some reason, it's the only thing the room can't give."

"Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," said Ron to general astonishment.

"So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks," said Seamus, "and it just makes more hammocks every time we need room, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up – "

"—and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes," supplied Lavender Brown. Deanna grinned widely and waved at Ernie, Hannah, Susan and Justin who waved back at her.

"Tell us what you've been up to, though," said Ernie. "There've been so many rumors, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He pointed at the wireless. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"

"They did!" said Neville. "And the dragon's true too!"

There was a smattering of applause and a few whoops; Ron took a bow.

"What were you after?" asked Seamus eagerly.

Before any of them could answer, Deanna felt the terrible pain in her head and closed her eyes. The Room of Requirement vanished and led her into a familiar stone shack where rotting floorboards ripped apart and a golden box lay open and empty beside the hole. Voldemort's scream of fury vibrated inside her head.

Deanna brought herself back to Hogwarts where she saw Jemina and Hermione at her side, looking at her with worry. Everyone was looking back and forth between Deanna who didn't realize Hermione and Jemina were holding her and Harry who was being held up by Noah and Ron. Deanna and Harry's eyes met, remembering they needed to act now.

"Deanna? Are you okay?" Hermione asked her worriedly, gently wiping the sweat on her face with her hand.

"Are you all right, Harry, Deanna?" Neville was saying. "Want to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't –"

"I'm fine." Deanna held Hermione's hand and stared at her straight in the eyes, trying to tell her without words that Voldemort discovered the loss of the Horcruxes. "We need to get going."

When Hermione's eyes showed her she understood, she glanced at Harry and Ron and saw them looking the same. Deanna stood up with Hermione's help and went over to the two.

"What are we going to do then?" Jemina asked them right away. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" repeated Harry. Deanna patted his shoulder to calm him down, knowing his scar was still burning just as her head was still hurting. He took in a deep breath before answering. "Well, there's something we – Deanna, Ron, Hermione, and I – need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

Nobody was laughing or whooping anymore. Neville looked confused. "What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"

"We haven't come back to stay," said Harry, rubbing his scar. "There's something important we need to do – "

"What is it?"

"I – I can't tell you."

There was a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracted. Noah frowned, and Jemina had a blank look on her face.

"Why can't you tell us?" Noah asked Harry. "It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

"W-Well, yeah – "

"Then we'll help you."

The other members of Dumbledore's Army were nodding. A couple of them rose from their chairs to demonstrate their willingness for immediate action.

"You don't understand," Harry tried to explain. "We – we can't tell you. We've got to do it – alone."

"Why?" asked Neville.

"Pops left us a job that he wanted us to do, the four of us." Deanna took over in explaining through her headache.

"We're his army," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you four have been off on your own –"

"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," said Ron.

"He didn't say it was." Jemina spoke up, surprising the four of them since they weren't really used to Jemina speaking in a loud voice. Her eyes burnt with determination as she looked at the four of them. "We knew you were fighting out there so we decided to continue the fight here. Everyone in this room has been fighting, has suffered and has hidden here from the Carrows because we all wanted to bring hope even if everything seemed hopeless. We knew you guys would do the same thing so you can't push us away. We're all loyal to Dumbledore, to you guys so like it or not, we are going to fight with you."

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement with what Jemina said. Harry, Deanna, Hermione and Ron exchanged glances, not knowing what they could say or do after that. They did have a point. They fought so well and hard despite the difficulties, but it was too dangerous if they knew. However, before anyone could say a word, the tunnel door opened just behind them.

"We got your message, Neville! Lightning has struck and fire has raged. Hello you four, I thought you must be here!"

It was Luna, Eleanor and Dean. Seamus gave a great roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend.

Eleanor smiled widely at Ron and hugged him tight. "I missed you, Ronald."

"I missed you too, Eleanor."

"El, Luna!" Noah, Jemina and Neville rushed forward to hug the two tightly, happy to see their familiar faces. Once they separated, Luna smiled at the others.

"Hi, everyone!" said Luna happily. "Oh, it's great to be back!"

"Luna," said Hermione, "what are you doing here? How did you – "

"I sent for her," said Neville, holding up the fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up, I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

"Of course that's what it means," said Luna brightly. "Isn't it? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"

"Listen," said Harry with a rising sense of panic, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then –"

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" demanded Michael Corner.

"No!" said Ron. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who – "

"Then let us help!" said Neville angrily. "We want to be a part of it!"

There was another noise behind them, and everyone turned to see Ginny, Fred, George, Lee and Cho Chang there. Everyone greeted the four, but Ginny didn't pay attention to anyone else, only smiling at a certain Hufflepuff who grinned back in response. The redhead slowly made her way to her and gave her a tight hug, surprising Deanna, Harry, Hermione and Ron for the nth time that day.

"Nine months she hasn't seen me and it's like I'm a frankie first-year. I'm her brother." Ron grumbled loudly.

"She's got lots of them, but's she only got one Jemina." Seamus snickered from the side.

"Shut up, Seamus." Ron glared at him.

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," said Fred, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."

"I got the message," Cho said, holding up her own fake Galleon before sitting beside Michael Corner.

"So what's the plan?" said George.

"There isn't one," said Harry in a firm voice.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind," said Fred.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry told Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane – "

"We're fighting, aren't we?" said Dean, taking out his fake Galleon. "The message said Harry was back, and we were going to fight! I'll have to get a wand, though –"

"You haven't got a wand –?" began Seamus.

Ron turned suddenly to them and lowered his voice to a whisper so only the four of them could hear. "Why can't they help?"

"What?"

"They can help." Ron explained. "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."

Hermione nodded in response, "I think Ron's right. We don't even know what we're looking for, we need them." She saw Harry and Deanna still looking unconvinced and sighed. "You two... You don't have to do everything alone."

Deanna stared at Hermione for a moment, her heart suddenly aching with her head with what Hermione said. She did though. She did have to do everything alone. But she found herself gulping and nodding with a hopefully convincing smile on her face. She heard Harry sigh beside her and speak. "All right."

They turned to the others and Harry spoke in a loud voice to catch their attention. "Okay."

All noise ceased as they all listened to Harry. "There's something we need to find. Something – something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

Luna who was with her fellow Nosebusters answered. "Well, there's her lost diadem. I told you about it, remember? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."

"Yeah, but the lost diadem," said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is lost, Luna. That's sort of the point."

"When was it lost?" asked Harry.

"Centuries ago, they say," said Cho. "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobody's ever found a trace of it, have they?"

They all shook their heads.

"Sorry, but what is a diadem?" asked Ron.

"It's a kind of crown," said Terry Boot. "Ravenclaw's was supposed to have magical properties, enhance the wisdom of the wearer."

"Yes, Daddy's Wrackspurt siphons – "

But Harry cut across Luna. "And none of you have ever seen anything that looks like it?"

They all shook their heads again. That made the four of them look at each other with disappointment. A long lost object. How could they even find that?

Cho spoke again, breaking the silence. "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."

Deanna felt like someone was breaking her head and she briefly saw Voldemort flying with the earth soaring beneath him and Nagini wrapped around his shoulders. They were running out of time.

"He's on the move," Harry said quietly to them. He glanced at Cho and then back at them. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go 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."

Cho had got to her feet, but Noah said rather fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"

"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," said Luna happily, as Cho sat down again, looking disappointed.

"How do we get out?" Harry asked Neville, trying to keep the smile on his face from spreading. Before Neville could answer though, someone entered the Room of Requirement, a first year Gryffindor panting and looking frantic once his eyes were set on Deanna and Harry.

"Andrew? What happened?" Jemina stood up from where she was sitting and looked at the first year with worry.

"Snape knows... He knows Deanna and Harry were spotted in Hogsmeade. He's summoning everyone to the Great Hall now. I don't think we can get out of this. He's got the other students in the Great Hall already. What if something happens to them?" Andrew reported in a grave tone. Everyone fell silent at that, not knowing what to do. They all turned to the four at the front, hoping for them to make the decision.

Deanna then turned to Harry with a mischievous smile on her face, her head having thought of something already. "Hey, Harry, don't you think it's time to give Severus Snape the dismissal he deserves?"

And when Harry smiled back and grinned at her, Deanna turned to Dumbledore's army with a smile on her face. "Thank you. For fighting so bravely after everything that's happened. I'm sorry for what we've said a while ago. We trust you all and you have all gone through a lot these past months. With this said, can I trust you guys? Can you help us?"

Cheers and agreements rose around the room at what Deanna said, everyone's spirit was united in wanting to take back Hogwarts and fight for their freedom. Deanna smiled at Hermione who smiled back at her, wrapping an arm around Deanna. The Dumbledore glanced at Harry and Ron who grinned at her, knowing whatever Deanna had planned was going to be magnificent.

It was time to reclaim Hogwarts, their home.

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