Luna didn't need to say more than that. I leaped out of bed into a pair of shoes that may or may not have matched and tore downstairs. Bill and Fleur had already left to alert everyone at the Burrow. Dean and I stood in the living room while Luna directed us.
“We're going to Floo to the Hog's Head. Dumbledore's brother Aberforth will meet us there,” she said.
“Dumbledore's got a brother?” I blanched.
“Oh, yes,” said Luna in a bored voice, as if everybody knew that already. “He owns the Hog's Head, he's the bartender.”
Dean and I exchanged a look and then quickly averted our eyes.
We reached the Hog's Head quickly. I barely recognized it, although it was dark enough that that wasn't surprising. I smelled something I couldn't identify and wrinkled my nose. We stood in the middle of the bar for a moment, and finally I said, “Where is he? Shouldn't there be someone here?”
We all lit our wands, but the only things we saw were dirty mugs and dusty old tables. So, when I scraggly man at the foot of the stairs grunted to us, I jumped high enough to count each geological layer of dust in the rafters, starting with the dinosaurs. “Who the ruddy hell are you?” he said bluntly.
“We're friends of Neville's,” croaked Dean (he jumped too, but a table got in his way and temporarily winded him). “Are you Aberforth?”
“Maybe,” he replied. He led us up the rickety stairs to a dingy living area. The odor intensified, and I recognized it as the stench of goats. Not that I had ever smelled a goat before; there were at least three sleeping on a pile of cushions near the landing. I made a face, and then saw Aberforth looking at me. I blushed.
Aberforth stopped in front of a portrait of a young girl in a pretty dress with long blonde hair. She smiled at us pleasantly. Aberforth smiled back at her before turning to us. “This is Ariana's portrait. It leads to Neville's little hideout. I've been smuggling food to him through this all term.”
Dean looked up at it and whistled, impressed. “How does it work?” I asked.
Aberforth looked at me as if I were very dense. “You walk through it, of course.” Luna nodded, as if this made sense. Dean and I gave him a blank stare.
Luna took our hands. “Come on, it'll be easy,” she said. “Goodbye, Aberforth!” she added over her shoulder. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
We crawled into the portrait, and Luna led us down the long tunnel. After a ten minute walk, we were there.
“We got your message, Neville! Hello, you three, I thought you'd be here!”* called Luna as we entered. Dean and Seamus ran to hug each other, and Luna was hailed by a group of Ravenclaws. Meanwhile, I searched the room, scanning for a couple of familiar faces-
“ROSIE!” screamed Sammy, Tyler, Valentine, and Simon. I grinned and hurried to them, and was engulfed on every side by huge hugs. Sammy's eyes were brimming. Simon nearly strangled me. I felt my heart swell, feeling particularly fond of them all. We heard more noise, and Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley emerged from the portriat, accompanied by Lee Jordan. Behind them was Cho Chang. I waved to Ginny, who ran over to me. “We were all so worried!” Ginny and Valentine exclaimed at the same time.
“We couldn't believe they kidnapped you!” chorused Sammy and Tyler.
I heard faintly that Harry, Ron, and Hermione needed to find something called a diadem, but I ignored it. I wanted to hear everything that had happened in my absence. I explained to them quickly about Malfoy Manor, Shell Cottage, and most painfully, Dobby, before badgering them for details.
“Where's Sally?” I asked Simon instantly. I felt a sort of bond to the little girl from Defense Against the Dark Arts class at the beginning of the year. It seemed like a million years ago.
“Mum and Dad wouldn't let her come back after Christmas. Lots of kids didn't. Ginny left after Easter, and things got really difficult without her and Luna, but Neville was great. We carried on with the D.A., but then Neville had to go into hiding, and we all just sort of accumulated. We've been here most of the term,” Simon explained.
I saw Luna and Harry leave, looking for something in Ravenclaw Tower. A little while later, Ron and Hermione said something about a bathroom and left. Meanwhile, members of the D.A. that had already graduated, as well as Order members came flowing through the portrait steadily. We all tried to get organized. I saw Lupin and gave him a hearty wave, and he smiled rather weakly in return.
Harry came out of nowhere forty-five minutes later and said that we were going to fight. While everyone else stampeded to the Great Hall, a few of us had to stay behind. Sammy and Tyler had to have a pre-battle of their own to determine whether Tyler would even be staying or not.
“You can't come,” Sammy said firmly. “You are twelve-”
“Thirteen,” corrected Tyler stubbornly.
“That's not of age!” said Sammy, exasperated.
Ginny was having a similar argument with her parents.
“I can't go home! My whole family's out here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and-”* She broke off.
“I won't leave,” Tyler said stubbornly.
“Fine!” said Sammy exasperatedly. “You'll stay in this room, and- who's going to keep an eye on him?”
“I'll do it,” Valentine offered timidly. I knew what she was thinking- a Slytherin fighting for our side would not be well received.
“Alright, then,” said Sammy, and she gave Tyler a last hug. Simon and I headed down to the Great Hall together, deciding it best to let Sammy have a few minutes with Tyler.
~ * ~
We arrived in the Great Hall and stood off to the side, as McGonagall had already started to talk. Someone asked, “Where's Professor Snape?”*
“He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk,”* said McGonagall. Everyone erupted into cheers, but Simon looked automatically at me.
“Don't worry about it,” said Simon quietly. I closed my eyes and nodded.
Then, out of nowhere, I heard Voldemort's high, cold voice, disembodied, resounding in the Hall. I squealed and grabbed Simon's arm without thinking, holding it in a vice-like grip as the words echoed off the walls.
“I know you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.”*
Too late for that, I thought bitterly.
“Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight.”*
Obviously there was no way we were giving Harry over to Voldemort just because he asked nicely, even if Millicent Bulstrode felt we ought to. Once we sorted out the Slytherins, the younger kids were evacuated, and the fighters were getting organized. “That's only thirty minutes,” murmured Simon, checking his watch. “By the way, I can't feel my arm.”
“Right,” I said apologetically, releasing his wrist. He smiled.
“Come on, let's go see what we can do,” said Simon. I nodded and we hurried over to where members of the Order and people from the D.A. were splitting into groups. Harry was nowhere to be seen.
“Right, you two!” called Lupin to us. “With me, please!”
We hurried over to Lupin's group. I saw Neville, Lavender Brown, the Patil twins, and Aberforth. Lupin explained, “We are going out to the grounds, with Kingsley,” he gestured to the tall, black man with one earring in, “and Arthur,” he pointed to a balding man with red and gray hair. “Other groups will be in the towers, fighting from above. As soon as we hear the stroke of midnight, we attack, alright?” We all nodded nervously.
The three groups headed tensely to the entrance hall and waited. I saw Fred and George leading groups to separate secret passageways. They seemed excited, waving as we passed.
“Five minutes,” Simon breathed. I wordlessly held out my free hand, and he took it.
The castle began to shake. We heard loud booms, as if something huge was using the ground for a drum. I closed my eyes and whispered a silently prayer that I would not be totally vaporized.
~ * ~
Simon's watch beeped.
“NOW!” cried Lupin, and we charged. I was amazed by the awful things that had begun to swarm out of the forest. Two huge giants were stomping forward, which I gathered was the cause of the castle's shaking. Masked Death Eaters seemed to be everywhere. I saw Bellatrix already locked in combat with Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnegan.
Simon was dodging Dolohov's curses, aiming Stunning Spells that kept missing. Another Death Eater was sneaking up on Simon from behind, and I hit him with a bodybind curse that nailed him in the forehead, before joining Simon in his duel. We kept barely missing, though we got other Death Eaters inadvertently as our curses slipped past Dolohov. Dolohov began to form the words of the Killing Curse, but Lupin jumped in from nowhere and yelled, “Stupefy!”
Lupin continued dueling, and we ran to find Dean and Seamus pulling an unconscious Lavender off to the side. Then Aberforth appeared, with students behind him, heading up to aid one of the towers. He cast a spell that went right over my head and hit a Death Eater that was behind me. “Watch yourself!” he called, and I turned to find myself facing the crumpled figure of Alecto Carrow. I jumped over her and began dueling her brother, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
“Crucio! Crucio!” he yelled gleefully, but I dodged his curses and flung a stunner at him that barely missed. He nearly got me a couple of times, but then I flung a tripping jinx at him and he slammed into a nearby Death Eater, both of them toppling to the ground. I darted away before either of them could get to their feet.
I heard screaming- not the pained screams of the injured, but real screams of panic and fear. I turned to see what the fuss was about and saw a pack of over sized spiders come out of the forest. Their long, hairy legs were as long as two basketball players standing one on top of the other. I didn't pay much attention to the legs for long though. My eyes had zeroed in on the pinchers.
They were huge, and made an obnoxious clicking noise.
Like a sick tap dancer.
I didn't even bother to scream. I ran for my life, and I don't think I have ever run that fast since. I hate spiders when they're normal size, so these were pretty off putting, to say the least. One of the giants managed to smash a wall. Ducking, I dived behind a large chunk of wall to catch my breath.
A hand covered my mouth, and I knew it was over.
~ * ~
“Don't scream,” said the voice of Severus Snape. The blood in my veins had turned to ice. What was he doing here?
I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he had come to turn me in. I was as good as dead. He had told Voldemort all about who I was. Now he was taking me to be tortured. I pictured Malfoy Manor- but that would be like baking cookies compared to paying the Dark Lord a personal visit.
I felt a strange, tingling sensation, and recognized the symptoms of the Disillusionment Charm. “Wand,” Snape said quietly, his own jabbing into my back. I handed it over. “Be quiet and come with me. I can see you perfectly well even if they can't.” He gestured around at my friends, all dueling madly, or trying to avoid the enormous spiders.
“It seems I have no choice,” I growled, and I made a point to stamp hard on Snape's toes before we set off. I relished the pained look on his face as we walked away from the battle scene, and then Apparated.
~ * ~
It was so dark that for a moment I didn't realize we had reached our destination until Snape began to walk. We entered the Shrieking Shack from an apparently boarded-up side entrance. Snape walked down the stairs and we came to a door. He shoved me into it; it was a closet. He locked me in. I couldn't believe this. He locked me, wandless and invisible, into a closet? That's it? It was certainly looking anti-climatic, until Snape said, “My Lord?”
Terrified, I knelt and peered through the keyhole. I could see a strange blueish glow, and then Snape and Voldemort descended the stairs. I knew in an instant that it was Voldemort, though I had never seen him. He was so terrifying, with red, slanted eyes and slits for nostrils, that I knew instantly it was him. Nobody else in the world could put such horror in the heart of the onlooker. The blue light was issuing from a horrible snake that was encased in a strange, floating spherical cage.
Snape and Voldemort began talking. It was something about a wand, but I wasn't paying attention- or maybe I was busy coping with the heart attack I had just suffered. But I had begun to understand the Snape hadn't brought me here to torture me. He wanted me to understand something. And I, having always been a very visual person, clearly needed to see he was innocent to believe it.
Voldemort said, “The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine.”*
“My Lord!”*
“It cannot be any other way. I must master the wand, Severus. Master the wand, and I master Potter at last.”*
There was a terrible hissing noise, and I'm not sure whether it came from Voldemort or the snake. The snake made for Sev, and I squeezed my eyes shut, tears pouring out of them as I fought the scream that was slowly rising to my mouth. Voldemort stalked out of the room, and I cautiously opened one eye. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had come out from behind a crate, and were kneeling by Sev. Hermione had tears in her eyes, and Ron looked sick. Harry, however, looked quietly accepting. He seemed to have understood something, like I had: Sev was on our side all along.
I was on the point of calling for them to let me out, when I heard Voldemort's terrible voice yet again.
“You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value true bravery.”*
I felt sick with rage.
“Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.”*
Is it really? You don't seem to have any problem killing off the people I care about.
“Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.”*
I felt cold fear as I wondered just how many of my friends were in that category besides Sev.
“I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you.”* Harry's head snapped up, his eyes wide with determination. “You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour.”*
And silence fell.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione conversed among themselves and got up to leave. Hermione and Ron hurried from the room without a second glance, but Harry lagged behind. Now was my only chance.
“Harry!” I called desperately. “Harry, it's Rose! Snape locked me in this closet, let me out!”
Harry turned incredulously and opened the door with his wand. “Rose?” he said, seeing me, tear stained and shaking. The Disillusionment Charm had lifted, I suppose now, with Sev's death. “What are you doing here?”
“I'll explain some other time,” I said. “You need to get out of here.” Harry glanced at Sev's body, but I said, “I'll handle it, just go!”
Harry went.
I knelt down by Sev. I had never felt so upset, so angry, so confused in my entire life. Voldemort had taken away my parents, kept me away from my brother, and now he had killed the closest thing to a parent that I had ever had without even giving him a chance to explain himself. I
“This wasn't supposed to happen! You aren't supposed to die! Dobby died, and Moody died, and Dumbledore! But you-”
I broke down entirely.
He was truly the noblest Roman of them all.
The Other Potter by georgeisholey
Chapter Notes: Hello, everyone! I don't own Harry Potter or Julius Caesar, and I'm keeping it short because this is a good chapter!
Chapter Endnotes: *Quotes taken from the American Version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Well? What do you think? There was originally some Fight Club related comic relief, until it was pointed out that the movie wasn't made until 1999. Whoops. :) Ah, well, I like it anyway, with or without the Space Monkey.