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Chapter Nine: Unexpected Destination

We caught up as much as we could. I could tell they all had a lot on their mind. They were captured at Malfoy Manor. They hadn't been safe. They had been caught! Thankfully they had managed to escape. Simply listening to their stories made my heart race. What if they hadn't escaped? After spending a long period of time at Malfoy Manor I knew the consequences would be horrible if they lasted more than a day there. I continued to listen. Dobby had died at their arrival after defending them at Malfoy Manor. Harry had buried him. He had known Dobby since his second year. He still looked upset as he told me about it. They were also trying to get information out of Ollivander and Griphook at the moment.

I sat there in horror after listening to what Hermione had to say about her experience. They had been through so much. When they asked me where I had been, I didn't have the heart to tell them I had been staying in resorts, drinking fancy mixed drinks, and cruising on boats with Draco. "I was just staying hidden here and there from the Death Eaters," I answered with a shrug. Draco....I wondered how he was. I only hoped he was safe. The only person who knew about Draco and I was Ginny, and I planned to keep it that way for a bit. Then again, there was only one way to find out. "Um, who did you see at Malfoy Manor?" I asked them casually.

"Just the Malfoy's, Bellatrix, and the other usual Death Eaters," Hermione answered. 

"Did you see Snape?" I asked hoping to make it unclear that I was only interested in Draco. "Or Draco?" I added.

"Not Snape," Hermione said shaking her head. "Draco was there though. Harry stole his wand." 

So he had made it safely and was finally home. At least that was one less thing I had to worry about. "I'm so glad you're all safe," I said looking at Hermione and Luna. Ron was speaking with Bill downstairs and Harry was with Ollivander. "I didn't know how to even contact you guys..." I said shaking my head.

"It was hard for us to be away from everyone and not let them know that we were safe," Hermione said. "Plus we worried how everyone else was. Our radio was always on." I knew what she meant by that. It made me feel guilty that for a while, my radio wasn't always on.

That night during dinner Harry seemed as if his mind was racing. I knew he had a lot to worry about and could tell they didn't plan on staying here long. There was still so much left for them to do. After helping Fleur with the dishes I went to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were all sitting in the living room. I went to join them. "You guys probably aren't staying here long, right?" I asked getting right to the point as I sat on the edge of the couch. I could tell from Hermione's expression that I was right.

"We were about to go and talk to you," Harry began saying. "We're actually leaving tomorrow."

"Sooner than I thought, but I knew it was coming," I admitted. By the looks of it, they weren't completely sure with what they were doing. I knew Harry wanted to end this war more than anything. Acting too fast would be counterproductive. I hoped they at least had a plan.

"We're going to break into Gringotts," Ron stated. Hermione explained to me what had happened with Bellatrix back at Malfoy Manor, how Bellatrix reacted strongly when she thought they had been in her vault. Now the three felt they had to break into her vault because there might be something important in there. I agreed, if Bellatrix showed fear towards them being in their vault then clearly there was something important in there.

"We wish we could bring you with us," Hermione told me.

"We could use twice the clever minds," Ron added smiling over at Hermione who blushed. 

"It's just that we can barely fit under the cloak as it is. I'll be disguised and Ron will be disguised as my escort. It's going to be dangerous," she added and I nodded agreeing. Gringotts was enchanted with curses and jinxes, filled with dangerous creatures, they were going to have to be extremely careful.

"Be careful," I said to them. "Is there anything I can do back here? I feel very unhelpful."

"Well we were about to get to that," Harry answered. "We were talking to Bill the other day. The Order has tried to stay in contact with the students at Hogwarts, but it is getting even harder every day to keep in touch with them secretly. Would you ever want to, er, go back to Hogwarts?"

"Back to Hogwarts?" I blurted out confused. "How would that be possible? Unless I stayed somewhere hidden, but then I would have to find a way into the castle..."

"It's already figured out," Hermione told me. "If you and Luna go back to Hogwarts, there is a way for you to get into Hogwarts from Hogsmeade without being found. The two of you can stay in the room of requirement, where Neville and Ginny will visit you, giving you information." 

It sounded like a pretty good idea, and safe. But go back to Hogwarts already? It's much sooner than I thought, but at least I would be helping. It would be strange remaining in one room the entire time. I nodded though as I was glad to do something else beneficial. "Alright, I would love to do that," I answered. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"So soon. Well I'll get packing now," I said beginning to stand up.

"Bill will take the two of you tomorrow afternoon, after we leave with Griphook," Ron said and I nodded once standing up.

"Alright, see you in the morning then," I said to them with a smile.

"Good night," they responded.

The next morning the sunlight poured into the room waking me up at an early hour, or so I thought. As I looked around I noticed Hermione's bed was empty as Luna was sound asleep. I hoped I didn't miss them leaving, I really wanted to say goodbye once more. Jumping up and quickly dressing I ran down the stairs and looked around. Maybe they were outside? Turning the corner, I came face to face with one of the most terrible people on earth. I screamed, raising my wand...surprisingly causing her to scream. "Caoimhe, no it's me!" Bellatrix said in a nervous tone I never heard before. "It's Hermione, I used Polyjuice Potion!"

I stared at her. The horrifying appearance of Bellatrix was facing me, but the way she spoke and acted towards me, just had to be Hermione. "Hermione?" I repeated. Then I remembered she said she would be disguised.

"Yes it's me," she answered. "I look horrible don't I...I can't say I like this plan much," she admitted. I heard about what Bellatrix did to her back at Malfoy Manor, saw the scare carved into her arm that read 'Mudblood'. 

"At least most people you encounter will be afraid of you," I added and she smiled  with a shrug. From there I said goodbye to the three. Luna came down as well. Once they left along with Griphook I went upstairs to grab my things.

Bill met us downstairs once we had our stuff together even though it wasn't much. All I had was a small backpack. This all had to be done quickly. Apparently you couldn't apparate to Hogsmeade, without an alert going to the Death Eaters, so we had to use the Floo Network to connect with the Hogs Head. Bill had his Floo network shut off in case of unwanted visitors. He unlocked it for the five minutes we used it and Fleur was going to remain here to seal it. Once we arrived at the Hogs Head, it was completely empty. Even more so than before. An old man named Aberforth met us. "Well you're in good hands now," Bill said motioning to the old man. "Better get back before Fleur closes the Floo Network on me," he joked smiling. "I'll see you both soon, bye Aberforth." 

Bill assured us that someone from the Order would be checking up soon. He said it would likely be Cathal or himself. I haven't seen Cathal since the wedding. I wanted to thank him for defending us and make sure he was alright. I'm sure he was handling himself well, but I couldn't help worrying about him just as I worried about everyone else.

The man nodded and then led us through a back door. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn't think of who that was. "In order to get to Hogwarts, you have to go through here," he said motioning towards a painting. "We should be on time." He began talking to the girl in the painting and then she walked away. About three minutes later she came back with a nod and the painting swung open. "They're there waiting, go on now."

"Thank you," Luna and I said to him. The quiet man nodded as we stepped into the portal. 

The walk took forever, it literally had to be over a mile long. Luna and I were in such poor shape, the two of us were walking slow by the end. There were no lights so we had to feel around, too afraid to use magic so close to Hogwarts. When we finally reached the end of the dirt tunnel, I felt around for the doorknob and then swung the door open. Standing there was Ginny and Neville. "Finally," Ginny said with a large smile. "I was about to send Neville in there to look for you." She hugged the two of us tightly. "Luna I'm so glad you're alright," she said stepping back and I realized the last time she saw her was on the train.

"Yeah Luna I was worried sick about it," Neville said and then turned to me. "How have you been Caoimhe? We all missed you this year when you didn't come back."

"I've been fine," I said nodding and then looking around the castle. "It's weird being back here...sad almost. Knowing it's not the same." They all nodded in agreement. I only wished I could run back to my common room, go to the library, just like things were before. 

"Well you've got that right, it's definitely not the same," Neville muttered with a hint of darkness in his voice. "Well Ginny and I have to get to class, before we're late. The punishments are extremely severe this year," he added with a dark glance in his eyes. I couldn't even begin to image. Neville looked as if he had been physically beaten up but I didn't want to say anything.

"Yeah don't want that," Ginny added. "You two can settle in. In two hours we'll be back with the rest of the group, they're dying to hear everything you have to say."

"See you then," I said as I settled into on the bunks off to the side. This definitely was not the Hogwarts I knew.