When the War Came to Hogwarts

Teddy received a letter the next morning from Harry, confirming that he and Aunt Ginny would be coming to Hogwarts, along with George and Angelina, and Ron and Hermione.

Kai was excited and nervous when he received a very brief letter from Cho, telling him that she would be attending as well.

“I'm pretty sure she went to the tenth anniversary,” Kai told his friends in the library that evening. “But she doesn't like to talk about it, and I think she usually avoids these events. Maybe she's coming to check up on me. She'll probably ask Professor Flitwick what I've been doing —”

“Yes, I'm sure it's all about you,” said Violet, her tone a bit more acerbic than usual.

Kai frowned at her. “What is your problem now, Vi? You've been moodier and snippier than usual ever since Easter break!”

“I don't have a problem,” Violet retorted, through her teeth. “Except that you've been whining all evening about your sister's visit. Horrors. Maybe she really is coming to remember the friends she lost, and not just to torment you, Little Owl.”

Teddy and Dewey both had to cover their mouths, to prevent snickers from escaping. They looked around nervously for Ms. Pince, but Kai was glaring at Violet.

“Right, well, if your parents were coming, which I'm sure they're not, you'd probably be nervous t —” Too late, Kai bit his tongue, as Violet's expression went stony and her eyes became cold. She slapped her book shut and stood up.

“Violet,” said Teddy, and she just shook her head at him and gave him a glare that clearly said, “Don't you dare follow me.” She walked out of the library without another word.

Dewey and Teddy both glared at Kai.

“Really, really badly done, mate,” said Dewey.

“Do you ever think about what's coming out of your mouth?” Teddy growled.

Kai was resting his forehead in his hands. “I know,” he mumbled. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded —”

“You should be apologizing to Violet, not us,” said Teddy. Kai did look so miserable and guilty that it took some of the edge off of Teddy's anger.

“I will, I will,” Kai sighed. “But you saw her face. She isn't going to listen to me right now.”

“No,” Teddy admitted. “Probably not.”

Violet walked towards the stairs, her expression calm but her thoughts stormy.

She knew Kai hadn't meant to hurt her — being a thoughtless prat just came naturally to him — and in the back of her mind she knew she would probably forgive him, eventually, but right now she was afraid she'd break his glasses all over again if she had to look at him for another second.

She was also somewhat aware that she was overreacting. Of course her parents weren't going to come to the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, even though they had both been there. That was just another story about which Violet had never gotten a straight answer. She knew they had been there, she knew that they hadn't been fighting on the right side, yet she was pretty sure they hadn't really been part of Voldemort's army either — else why weren't they in Azkaban like all the other surviving Death Eaters? So what exactly had happened? Kai's sister was a hero, Teddy's parents were among the honored dead, his godfather was the savior of the wizarding world, Dewey's brother was a martyr... and her parents were just survivors with a past they didn't talk about.

Since she was old enough to understand such things, she had been aware of her family's dark legacy, of secrets and grudges and mistakes and misdeeds that were only ever referred to obliquely. Among the adults of Violet's acquaintance, a meaningful word and a raised eyebrow spoke volumes. It was as if they all spoke a secret language, communicating names and incidents and accusations and denials, none of which anyone would voice aloud. Violet watched and listened, but was never quite able to figure out what messages were being passed over her head.

She wouldn't have been feeling so sorry for herself now, especially knowing that some other Slytherins knew unambiguously what their parents had been up to, but she was particularly sensitive on the topic of her mother, and the break over Easter. All that week, Pansy Parkinson had been relentless in her sniping and venting and fuming, cursing her father and warning Violet over and over to stay away from Teddy, stay away from Weasleys and Potters, stay away from Gryffindors, stay away from her father's friends or children of her father's friends, but also stay away from non-Slytherins... Violet didn't know exactly who her mother did approve of her socializing with. She threatened to take her daughter to France and enroll her in Beauxbatons, or even to Durmstrang, and then she wept and hugged Violet, saying she couldn't stand to think of her being so far away. An owl from Violet's father politely asking if she might come visit for a day or two sent Pansy into a shrieking tirade, ending with a vow that she would never, ever let Violet visit Malfoy Manor again. Pansy took her to Diagon Alley to go shopping and spoiled her horribly, and then took her home and shouted and cried and hugged her some more. And it only became worse when she drank, which was frequently.

It was all very confusing. Her mother had always been difficult, but now she was almost unbearable.

Violet was beginning to realize that her mother might not be entirely sane.

“Hey! Violet!” Someone was calling to her as she descended the stairs. At first she thought Teddy — or worse, Kai — had foolishly decided to follow her after all, but she realized even before turning around that it was neither of them. She was surprised to see Guy Blake running after her.

“Hi there, Violet,” he said affably, as he caught up to her.

She looked up at the older Ravenclaw, her expression guarded. When she didn't reply immediately, he went on. “I was just wondering... that bicycle you brought to the last D.A. meeting. Is it still in the Room of Requirement?”

“You should lower your voice,” she said quietly. “And yes, it is.”

Guy looked around, and spoke in a quieter tone. “I was wondering if I could borrow it.”

Violet blinked in surprise. “Borrow it?”

“I want to try out a few spells,” he whispered. “For practice, with enchanting Muggle artifacts. I think making it fly would really be a pretty simple matter, actually, and I have an idea for a Balancing and Steering Charm, and...”

“Do whatever you like with it,” Violet said. “But I don't want to know anything about it.”

Guy grinned, and nodded. “Gotcha! Thanks, Violet. You know, Kai's right, you really are pretty keen, for a Slytherin.” And he actually put his hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair, before turning and hurrying back up the stairs. Thus he missed her shocked expression, as her mouth fell open, followed by a glare so baleful that it might have dropped the Ravenclaw dead in his tracks had she been holding her wand.

She might forgive Kai eventually, she thought, as she continued downstairs. But it was going to be a very, very long time.

By the second of May, she hadn't forgiven him yet. Kai had made several attempts to apologize, but Violet merely gave him a cold look and the silent treatment.

“Is he going to have to come down to knock on your common room door every night for a week?” Teddy asked her, immediately after breakfast that day. There were no classes, and everyone was hurrying back to their houses to put on their formal robes for the memorial ceremony.

Violet snorted. “Let him do that for two weeks, and I'll consider forgiving him.”

“Come on, Violet. It was one stupid, thoughtless comment. Aren't you overreacting, just a little?”

Violet turned to look at him in frustration. “He's always making stupid, thoughtless comments!”

“And you're always being moody and snippy, but we love you anyway!” Teddy grinned at her, only faltering when he saw her eyes go wide.

“Aw, come on, I'm joking, you're not that moody —” Then he realized what else he had blurted out. His face went red, but he forced himself to meet her gaze.

“It's true,” he said stubbornly. “We're friends, Violet.”

“I have to go change into my robes,” she said quietly, and hurried away. Teddy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Well, he hadn't meant love-love! Surely she knew that? Then he shook his head and went to change into his own robes. He hoped he'd be able to talk to Harry before the ceremony, but he knew the adults were all meeting elsewhere and he probably wouldn't get to talk to his godfather until afterwards.

In fact, Harry and Ginny were busy meeting many friends they hadn't seen in a long time. Most had been at the memorial service two years earlier, but there were a few, like Dennis Creevey and Katie Bell, whom they had not seen in nearly twelve years. Neville's wife Hannah rarely came to Hogwarts, but for this occasion he had brought her along, and she was chatting happily with Neville and Ernie Macmillan and Luna Lovegood-Scamander, who looked serene and radiant, and even more pregnant than George's wife Angelina.

Hagrid was towering over them all, beneath the tent that had been erected outside, near Dumbledore's Tomb, and Ron and Hermione were trying to keep him from turning into an emotional wreck, as he had a habit of doing every year.

When students began marching out onto the grounds next to the lake, wearing their formal dress robes, the first thing everyone noticed was how each house walked together, and how the Slytherins seemed to be walking more slowly than the others.

“Here comes the House That Ran,” muttered Lee Jordan darkly.

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Jordan!” said Professor Slughorn, his cheeks coloring. Harry frowned at Lee. He knew that was what some of his peers called Slytherin House, but he wasn't happy about Lee saying it aloud, especially here. Were they doomed to rehash old grudges every year?

Behind them, Hagrid rumbled, “S'true. No offense, Professor, I know you stayed to fight, but all the others — ”

“All the others survived,” said Slughorn, with ice in his tone, “I sent my students to the only place they would be safe if Hogwarts fell, while the other houses allowed children to fight. You may take pride in the number of Gryffindors whose names will be read today. I take pride in the number of Slytherins who are still alive.” Stiffly, he turned his back on the huge groundskeeper, and an uncomfortable silence fell among the teachers and former students.

Ginny grabbed Harry's arm, and pointed, as they saw Teddy among the Gryffindor first-years, and Harry nodded and smiled. Then he found his eyes wandering to the Slytherins filing into their designated seating area, and he finally picked out Teddy's tiny dark-haired cousin.

It was understandable, and probably for the best, that her parents weren't here, but Harry wondered what this memorial service meant to Violet Parkinson, and to her housemates, none of whom had family attending.

“Wasn't too bad,” muttered Kai to Teddy, after the ceremony, as they made their way to the crowd of waiting adults. “Thought it might be really long and weepy. You all right, mate?” He looked at Teddy, who had remained expressionless as the names of the fallen were read. Kai was making a real effort to be more “sensitive,” in his own brash way.

“Yeah,” Teddy said. “It's not like this was anything new.” He was actually surprised at how little he was affected. He had felt a little chill when the names “Remus John Lupin” and “Nymphadora Tonks” were read, but he had not, as he had feared, felt anything more than that.

“Teddy!” exclaimed Ginny, and she gave him a hug, while Harry nodded to Kai.

“I see the scar has almost faded,” he said to the young Ravenclaw. Kai nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Kai!” Kai suddenly stiffened, as his sister found him. “There you are.” She put a hand on his shoulder, and ruffled his hair affectionately, making him grimace. “You're not pestering Harry, are you?”

“Of course not,” Harry assured her. “I'm always happy to talk to Teddy's friends. Speaking of which, where are Dewey and Violet?”

“Dewey's with the other Hufflepuffs, and Violet's, er, with the other Slytherins, I reckon,” Kai mumbled.

“Oh look, there's Professor Flitwick,” said Cho. “Come on, Kai.” She glanced at Harry and Ginny. “See you guys in the RoR later?” The Potters nodded, and Cho dragged Kai off, as he gave Teddy a look that said, “See?” and Teddy snickered.

Kai was relieved that Professor Flitwick was judicious and generally complimentary in his comments about him. Mostly the diminutive Charms professor delighted in speaking to his former student, and they spent a great deal of time chatting about Cho's career and other notable Ravenclaws, leaving Kai feeling a bit ignored as he fidgeted restlessly. It was hard, listening to the two people whose opinions meant more to him even than those of his parents, talking as if he weren't there.

Eventually, they saw some of the other former D.A. members making their way upstairs, and Professor Flitwick told Cho that it was time for Kai to go down to eat dinner with the other students.

“I suppose you'll want to catch up with your friends, my dear,” he said, winking at her, and walked off down the hallway, waving cheerfully to Professor Longbottom and his wife.

“Well, Professor Flitwick said you're doing reasonably well in Charms,” said Cho, looking down at her younger brother.

“Actually, he said I was better than you were as a first-year,” said Kai.

Cho's lips twitched. “And your other teachers said you're bright and studious, and also impulsive and rude. Neville even said he wonders if you shouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor.”

Kai wasn't sure why that pleased him so much, but he tried to hide it as Cho frowned at him.

“Do you know how worried Dad and I were, when we received that owl about you and Teddy Lupin? And then you go and get detention, after you'd already been in a fight...”

“You know what, Cho? You're not my mother!” Kai glared at her, although his heart was in his throat. He had never back-talked his sister like that before. Cho glared back at him for a moment, then her expression softened.

“We're just worried about you, Little Owl,” she said softly. She ran a fingertip along the side of his face, gently tracing the still-visible red scar. “You could have been killed, and I'm afraid you'd do the same thing again. And I'm not impressed by your mockery of the D.A.”

“We're not mocking anything!” Kai said heatedly, slapping her hand away. He shook his head. “I don't understand any of you! You and Mr. Potter and Professor Longbottom and all the others who did all these brave, heroic things, and had all these brilliant adventures, and now all you can say to us is 'Be good, study hard, don't get into trouble'!” Now his tone was mocking, but he immediately fell silent at Cho's expression, as she turned pale.

“Adventures?” she repeated. “Adventures? Is that what you think we were doing? Having a bloody good time fighting Voldemort and his followers? Do you think it was an adventure knowing my mother was working for the Ministry and could be arrested at any time? Do you think it was an adventure fighting for our lives? Do you think Harry and Cedric Diggory went on an adventure, when... when Cedric came back dead?” Her voice choked up for a moment. “Do you think we're all getting together tonight to talk about how much fun we had?”

She wiped at her cheek, while Kai stood there mutely.

“I don't want you to be a hero, Kai,” she said. “I want you to grow up.”

Kai didn't answer, but he was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the night. At dinner, Violet still wouldn't even look in his direction, so afterwards he retired to Ravenclaw Tower. There he found Guy Blake sitting on the floor of their common room, scratching his head as he puzzled over a Muggle instruction manual, surrounded by disassembled bicycle parts.

Meanwhile, Teddy had spent most of the afternoon with Harry and Ginny, but they parted at dinnertime. He saw Kai disappear upstairs immediately afterwards, and Dewey likewise returned to the Hufflepuff common room with Mercy. The Slytherins were looking sullen even for Slytherins.

Teddy didn't feel like returning to Gryffindor Tower. He waited until the Great Hall had emptied out, and then, beneath the lights of the candles still hovering overhead, he spread the Marauder's Map out on the table and activated it. He watched dots representing all the members of the original D.A. disappearing on the seventh floor, winking out right where he knew the entrance to the Room of Requirement was located.

He continued watching students and staff moving about the castle. He saw Kai in the Ravenclaw common room with Guy Blake and Gilbert Zirkle and some other Ravenclaws, and Dewey and Mercy and Sung-Hee in the Hufflepuff common room. Filch was on the seventh floor, and Teddy snorted at the thought of the caretaker trying to chase after former students. Probably he thought they'd returned just to torment him. Professor Llewellyn was in her office, apparently meeting with Flitwick, Rai, and Slughorn. It was amazing how much you could learn about the habits of students and staff by studying the map for a while — for example, he watched as Mortimer Thickwaite and Clarice Darcy, denied their usual rendezvous in the Room of Requirement, ventured down a corridor on the sixth floor, into an unused wing of the castle that was currently off-limits to students.

“Idiots,” he thought, as he instinctively looked around the vicinity of the Slytherin couple, but there was no sign of Slipfang or any other intruders.

Then he blinked in surprise as he saw a dot labeled “Violet Parkinson” making its way up the stairs. He turned around, and was waiting when Violet walked through the entrance into the Great Hall.

“Wotcha, Violet?” he grinned at her. “How'd you know I was here?”

“I saw you staying at your table, while everyone was leaving,” said Violet. She shrugged. “I just thought maybe you didn't feel like returning to your common room just yet.” She walked over and sat down across the table from him, and looked at the Marauder's Map. “Doing some snooping?” she asked casually.

He flushed a little. “Just... bored.” He studied his cousin. She stared at the map for a while, then finally looked up at him.

“Until I met you lot, I'd never had friends before,” she said quietly.

Teddy's eyebrows went up. He wasn't sure what to say to that, so he said nothing.

Violet's expression was unreadable. She was silent a while longer, then asked, “Do you really think I'm being too hard on Kai?”

“Yeah,” said Teddy. Then he grinned. “But it is kind of fun, watching him squirm.”

Violet smiled slowly. “Yes,” she said. “It is.”

“And he really shouldn't have said —” He fell silent, as a shadow passed over her face.

“They aren't all staying in the room,” Violet observed. She pointed at the Marauder's Map. Teddy looked down, and saw that Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood-Scamander were in the corridor, and Harry, Ginny, George, Angelina, and Lee Jordan had formed their own little group congregating in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“Maybe some of 'em wanted to chat privately,” Teddy said.

Violet saw a familiar gleam in his eye. “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. Teddy grinned at her, as he picked up the map. “Mischief managed.”

“Hardly. You're going to eavesdrop,” she said disapprovingly.

“Coming?” he asked, as he rose from the table.

She gave her cousin an exasperated look, and then followed.

Teddy soon regretted not keeping the map out. As he and Violet were about to ascend a flight of stairs from the fifth floor up to the seventh, they heard a voice snarling, “Hold it right there!”

Filch came shuffling up the corridor. “What are you two doing sneaking around the castle, past curfew? Oh, you're in trouble now!” He sounded gleeful.

Violet sighed, and turned around.

“Hah. Miss Parkinson, isn't it? And that would make your little friend —” Filch was leering malevolently, but then his expression changed. “Er, Professor Flitwick?”

Violet barely concealed her surprise.

“Is there a problem, Argus?” asked Teddy, as he turned around, looking and sounding just like Professor Flitwick.

“I... what are you doing with Miss Parkinson on the fifth floor?” Filch blurted out. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. Teddy started sweating. By now most of the school knew he was a metamorphmagus. He wasn't sure whether anyone had told Filch.

“I caught her wandering around after curfew,” he said. “She's a very naughty child. I'm going to find Professor Slughorn and tell him she ought to be put on wand restriction, and given a spanking!”

“A what?” Violet and Filch exclaimed at the same time.

“I assure you, she's going to be punished very, very severely,” Teddy said, in his most serious Flitwick-like voice.

Filch blinked uncertainly. “Well... good.” He was still staring at them oddly, as Teddy said, “Come along, Miss Parkinson,” and quickly turned and led her down the stairs, as if they were going to the dungeons. They waited until Filch had retreated back down the corridor, and then headed back up.

“A what?” she hissed, after Filch was out of sight.

Teddy, still looking like Professor Flitwick, giggled.

“It's a good thing for you Filch is so thick!” she said.

Teddy grinned. They reached the seventh floor, took a corridor that intersected with the main one leading from Gryffindor Tower and past the the Room of Requirement, and drew to a halt only when they heard voices.

“... sort of reconciliation,” Harry was saying.

“We're not preventing them,” Ginny said sharply.

Teddy and Violet shrank back into an alcove, and listened.

“I say, Slytherin needs to clean its own house!” said Teddy's Aunt Angelina.

“What do you think Professor Slughorn has been doing for the past twelve years?” asked Harry. “Why do you think he's still here?”

“There are still Death Eaters' kids at Hogwarts, aren't there?” Violet recognized Mr. Jordan's voice.

“Yes, Lee. What do you want to do, send their entire families into exile?” Harry was trying to be patient, but he sounded a little exasperated.

“From what I hear, Durmstrang welcomes those who have an interest in the Dark Arts.” Now it was Teddy's Uncle George speaking.

“Which is why Hogwarts should welcome those who don't,” said Harry.

There was a pause in the conversation. All the adults were silent. Teddy fidgeted, annoying Violet, who was quite capable of sitting quiet and motionless.

“Is it true Teddy's actually made friends with Pansy's daughter?” Jordan asked at last.

Teddy started, and Violet sat up straight.

“Yes. They're second cousins, you know,” Harry replied.

“They'd be quite a couple, wouldn't they?” There was chuckling from the adults, as Teddy and Violet both felt their faces getting hot.

“We had her over to Mum and Dad's for Christmas,” said George. “She's a very well-mannered little girl. Quiet, but perfectly pleasant.”

“Nothing like her mother, then!” snorted Jordan.

Violet frowned, in the shadows.

“No, she isn't much like her mother,” agreed Harry.

“That's for certain,” Ginny said emphatically. “Violet is actually likable, unlike that treacherous, hate-filled harpy —”

“Ginny —”

Teddy was cringing. He really, really wished he could see Violet's face right now, though he suspected it would be as unreadable as usual.

“She and Draco should both have gone to Azkaban,” said Ginny. “Draco tried to kill you, and Pansy got up in the middle of the Great Hall and wanted us to hand you over to Voldemort!”

“You know, my memory is just fine,” said Harry, sounding annoyed now. “I don't need to be reminded what Draco and Pansy did.”

There was another awkward pause, during which Violet felt her entire body going cold, and her heart seemed to stop beating. She was shaking, and very glad that Teddy couldn't see her right now.

Then Angelina changed the subject, commenting on the Gryffindor Quidditch team's haphazard performance this year, and the other adults gratefully seized the opportunity to talk about more pleasant memories. Teddy had never been less interested in hearing about Quidditch.

“I'd better get back downstairs,” Violet mumbled, and rose from where she was sitting.

“Violet,” Teddy whispered. He got up to follow her. “I'll come with you.”

“That's not necessary,” Violet said, and then almost bumped into a woman who had come up silently behind them.

“Oh, hello there,” said the woman, startling both of them. “You were eavesdropping, weren't you?” She had long blonde hair and protuberant eyes, but what was most noticeable about her was her enormously pregnant belly.

Teddy gulped, and Violet looked down. Teddy hadn't really met Mrs. Lovegood-Scamander, but he recognized her, knowing her to be a close friend of Harry and Ron and Hermione. He heard them talking about her now and then, off traveling the world with her husband, looking for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or Giant Raving Moonbats (though he thought Uncle Ron had made those up).

She tilted her head, studying Violet. “You're Pansy Parkinson's daughter, aren't you?” she murmured. Her voice had a dreamy, lilting quality.

“Yes, ma'am,” Violet mumbled.

“My name is Luna,” the woman said. She smiled, and looked at Teddy. “I'd like to have a chat with... Violet, isn't it?” Violet nodded mutely. “If you don't mind, Teddy?”

Teddy didn't even think to wonder how she knew it was him — she had addressed him as if she hadn't even noticed that he still looked like Professor Flitwick. “Yes, ma'am,” he croaked, in Flitwick's voice. He really couldn't go anywhere, with Harry, Ginny, George, Angelina, and Lee Jordan still blocking the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, so he sat back down in the alcove and watched as Mrs. Lovegood-Scamander walked slowly away with Violet at her side.

“I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your eavesdropping,” Luna said apologetically to Violet.

Violet cleared her throat. “That's all right,” she mumbled, not sure what else to say.

“I had to go to the bathroom. Being pregnant means you have to pee rather a lot,” she sighed.

Violet nodded again. As conversations went, this was starting out as an odd one.

“I knew your parents, you know. I went to school with them.” Her tone suddenly changed.

Violet nodded once again. She thought that was rather obvious.

“I didn't like your mother very much. She was quite mean to me. She was mean to most everyone, actually.”

Violet frowned. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to that.

“But Draco wasn't so bad. Especially when I was being held prisoner in his parents' cellar. He was much kinder than everyone else. He didn't torture me, or threaten to do nasty things to me.”

Violet swallowed hard. Could this conversation get any more uncomfortable?

“When were you born, Violet?”

“October 31, 1998,” Violet murmured.

“October. That makes you a Scorpio,” Luna nodded, as if that confirmed something. “I was abducted after Christmas. I don't think Draco returned to school after the holidays either, but he must have visited Pansy. At least once, anyway.” She smiled oddly.

Violet remained silent. This conversation was just getting stranger and stranger. They had turned a corner, and were now wandering down another seventh floor corridor. Violet wasn't even sure where they were going, but at least they were still in an area where the house-elves had kept the lamps lit. She thought perhaps Luna was walking them aimlessly in circles. Much like her conversation.

“But after that, Pansy was left alone at Hogwarts.” Luna glanced sideways at Violet, who was looking straight ahead.

“Being the meanest girl in school,” Luna continued, “she probably had a lot of enemies. And with Draco's family no longer in favor with the Dark Lord, and Draco gone, she probably didn't have many friends.”

“She still doesn't,” Violet thought.

“So, for four months, she was alone, with no one to protect her,” Luna went on. “She would have known she was pregnant, of course, and that she could only hide that for so long. Especially being surrounded by Slytherins. They're very observant, aren't they, Violet?”

Violet nodded to that.

“The school was being run by Death Eaters. They used the Cruciatus Curse, you know. To punish students. Do you know what that is?”

“I've heard of it,” Violet whispered.

“Slytherins weren't immune to punishment. I imagine it didn't go well for any Slytherin who wasn't enthusiastic enough about supporting Voldemort.” Luna rubbed a hand slowly over her swollen belly. “I don't know what would happen if a pregnant woman were subjected to the Cruciatus Curse,” she said, in a very soft voice, “but the very idea terrifies me. I'm sure it terrified Pansy too.”

Violet gulped, and felt a shiver go through her.

“So,” Luna continued, “she spent months surrounded by Death Eaters and would-be Death Eaters, with a baby growing inside her. She probably had no idea what she was going to do. She was probably scared out of her mind that entire time.” The woman's voice was sympathetic now, and Violet listened with her mouth dry and her heart pounding.

“Then Voldemort came to Hogwarts,” Luna said softly. “With his army. Everyone was going to die, unless they turned Harry over to him. It must have been like all her nightmares coming true. And she certainly had no reason to expect that Harry was going to help her. So, she must have wondered, why should she and her baby die to protect him?”

They turned another corner, and Violet saw that they had indeed walked around in a circle, but she was hardly even paying attention any more. She tried to imagine the scene, and being her mother in that situation, and she couldn't. It was just too much, almost beyond her comprehension.

“I'll bet Pansy is very protective of you, isn't she?” Luna asked gently.

Violet thought about her mother's clinginess, her smothering, erratic displays of affection, her obsession with keeping Violet away from “the wrong sort of people,” which lately seemed to be almost everyone, her fear of dangers at Hogwarts, her hatred of nearly everyone she'd known at school, her suffocating paranoia.

“Yes,” Violet whispered.

Luna nodded. “And after all that, Draco never did marry her.”

There was a lump in Violet's throat, and she blinked rapidly.

“I used to dislike Pansy quite a lot,” Luna said. “But when I found out that she was carrying a baby when the war came to Hogwarts, I didn't dislike her any more. I think I feel sorry for her now. But please don't tell her that, I'm sure it would only make her angry.” She shuffled to a halt. “Oh, look, we're back where we started. And I have to pee again.” She sighed. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Violet. I'd tell you to say hello to your mother for me, but I don't think she'd like that.”

“No,” said Violet quietly. “I don't think she would.”

Luna smiled. “You really shouldn't eavesdrop, you know. People who listen in on other people's conversations often don't like what they hear.” With that, she pushed open the door to the girls' lavatory and went inside. Violet looked down the corridor, and saw that Teddy was gone. So she crept back to the dungeons, her thoughts in such turmoil that she didn't even think about being caught by Filch or running into goblins.

The following Friday evening, the D.A. planned another meeting, but Teddy, Kai, and Gilbert were headed to the Room of Requirement on Friday morning. Kai and Gilbert were maneuvering Violet's bicycle out of Ravenclaw Tower, and Teddy was using the Marauder's Map to ensure a clear path to the seventh floor, while the rest of the school was down in the Great Hall eating breakfast.

Guy Blake wanted to show what he'd done with the bike at the meeting that evening, but they'd decided that getting it there after class unseen would be too difficult, so the two Ravenclaw first-years had volunteered to take care of it, and then enlisted Teddy's help.

Teddy had mixed feelings about this. He didn't see how a flying bicycle was going to help their cause. Guy Blake, however, had also promised a “plan of action” for presenting a reasonable proposal to the Headmistress concerning possession and use of Muggle items at school. The Slytherins weren't terribly enthusiastic about this. They wanted to resume protesting on behalf of the students who had been expelled — particularly Slytherin students. Teddy had a feeling that this evening's meeting was going to be what he'd been afraid of: older kids dominating the conversation, and different agendas between houses threatening to tear apart the D.A.

But there he was on the seventh floor, walking alongside Kai and Gilbert as the bicycle made a click-click-clicking sound as it rolled down the hallway. Kai was guiding it with his wand; Guy had showed him how.

“It's clever, I suppose,” said Teddy. “But why would you want to fly on a bicycle when you can fly on a broom?”

“Muggles won't think someone on a flying bicycle is as strange as someone on a flying broom,” Kai replied.

Gilbert coughed. “Umm, that's not true. But you can take a bicycle with you into town — as long as it's on the ground — and Muggles won't think it's strange. If you carry a broom around over your shoulder, people are going to give you funny looks unless you're a janitor.”

“So who do you like for the game?” Kai asked Teddy.

The Hufflepuff-Slytherin game was the next day. Slytherin was generally favored to win, and both teams were optimistic, but neither felt certain of victory. The Slytherins definitely didn't want to lose. Even now, the Slytherin team was out at the Quidditch pitch practicing before class, as they had every morning that week.

“Well,” said Teddy, “I reckon Violet doesn't care that much about Quidditch, while Dewey does, so I hope Hufflepuff wins.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?” Kai demanded. “You don't pick who you want to win because of what your friends think!”

“So, you're cheering for Slytherin why?” Teddy asked. “If they lose, Ravenclaw might actually finish the season ahead of them. It's got nothing to do with getting back into Violet's good graces?”

Violet was still not exactly being friendly to Kai, but she'd deigned to exchange polite pleasantries with him, and was giving him one-word answers when he spoke to her.

Kai opened his mouth, and then a rumble shook the castle.

“What was that?” Kai asked, looking around.

“An earthquake?” Gilbert suggested, startled. “Never felt one before, but...”

There was another rumble. Magical alarms began wailing. Somewhere downstairs, they heard Peeves shrieking with excitement.

“I don't think that was an earthquake,” Teddy muttered. He opened up the Marauder's Map, not sure what he thought it would show him, but what it did show him caused his jaw to drop open. All the blood drained out of his face, as his hair stood straight up and turned red, yellow, and orange.

“What is it?” Kai asked, as he and Gilbert stared at Teddy.

“Goblins!” Teddy gasped. He looked up at them, his eyes wide in alarm. “Hogwarts is under attack!”

The other boys' eyes fell on the parchment, and they saw several masses of green dots packed together so tightly that they looked like a solid green tide sweeping across the map. The largest group was down in the dungeons, and now surging up the stairs, but more were coming in through three of the supposedly blocked and warded secret tunnels into the castle. Here and there at the leading edges of the invading horde, one could make out individual names like “Grikgraff,” “Morskulk,” “Klewscour,” and “Tyrus the Foul.” It was an army of goblins, pouring into Hogwarts from four directions. And there in the Great Hall, where the students and staff were all eating breakfast, was a dot labeled “Slipfang.”