Heaven ♡ Luna Lovegood

06.

Chapter Six

When Saturday arrived, Annie woke with a mixture of excitement and nerves in her stomach, which resulted in large butterflies attacking her stomach. She'd jumped out of bed, and pulled on her clothes for the day - after she realised she'd attempted to put her head through her sleeves, that was.

"Are you okay?" Felicity asked later at breakfast. Annie had only eaten four bites of toast before she pushed her portion away.

Annie shrugged. "Just not hungry this morning."

More like the butterflies and food were not a very good combination, and left Annie feeling like she was about to be sick.

Felicity frowned, but fortunately didn't push the matter.

When Luna left, Annie decided it was a good time to leave the Hall too. After bidding goodbye to Felicity, Annie joined her friend outside, where they completed their homework under the shade of a large tree. The meeting wouldn't be until later on that night, just before dinner.

Their homework was horrible, but made more tolerable by being in the outdoors - and with each other. Luna made anything endurable, even Muggle Studies and Dark Arts, and Annie couldn't be more grateful to have the blonde as

Time ticked away, and finally it was time to meet. Annie and Luna made their way to the seventh floor - Luna led, since Annie didn't know where she was going.

Luna had already given her instructions on how to get into the Room of Requirement, so when they reached the seventh floor, Annie was able to get in without difficulty.

Neville and Ginny were already waiting. Annie smiled at them and looked over the rest of the room. It wasn't extraordinary, but it was practical, it was what they needed. The space was large, a blackboard stretched across one wall, and there was also a shelf of books on self-defence. Annie browsed the titles as everyone else filed in.

A large, decent amount of people had turned out. There were people there Annie both knew and didn't know; the room was now full of people in a mixture of red, blue, and yellow ties.

Neville stood at the front, Ginny and Luna behind him. All eyes were trained on the three, a heavy silence of the air.

Neville cleared his throat.

"I'm glad you all got the message and could make it," he began. He shifted uncertainly, obviously unused to having so much attention on him at once. "We've called this meeting because it's only been two weeks, yet the Carrows and Snape have such a strong hold on the school. We can't let them take over so easily. We need to show them we're still fighting!"

There was a great outbreak of applause at this. Neville grinned and straightened, encouraged, while Ginny and Luna beamed.

"Since this is our first meeting, we thought we'd start with something small," Neville continued. "Perhaps going out at night, leaving messages on the walls and ruining their classrooms. They're small actions, but their intentions make them mean a lot more."

There were murmurs of approval at this.

"What should we write?" a boy Annie didn't know asked.

"What about something along the lines of Dumbledore's Army: Still Recruiting?" Ginny suggested. "That'll let the Carrows know we're in business, and the other students too; we might just get more people involved!"

Everyone agreed, and soon everyone was organised: just before curfew, they'd sneak out and begin to vandalise the school.

"We'd best to go in small groups, we'll be less noticeable that way," Neville said, and the last minutes of the meeting were spent organising people into groups of no more than four.

Annie, Luna, Ginny, and Neville naturally gravitated together, and they agreed to meet by the Hufflepuff common room just before curfew. It was the knowledge they were about to rebel that Annie took with her to the Great Hall that night. She made eye contact often with Luna, Ginny, and Neville, and they had to work hard to suppress grins and focus on their dinners.

Finally curfew was approaching, and everyone began to head back to their dormitories. Ginny, Neville, and Luna followed their Houses at first to not raise suspicion, while Annie dawdled behind everyone else in her House. Soon she was waiting outside her common room, and with five minutes left before curfew her friends arrived, each other them wearing grim, determined smiles. Luna had pushed the sleeves of her robes back.

"Where should we do it?" Annie asked.

"Outside the Great Hall," Luna said. "All teachers and students go there every day. Our messages won't be missed."

No one argued, and the four of them hurried down to the Great Hall, peering behind every corner before they ran off.

No one was in front of the Great Hall when they arrived. Identical grins on everyone's faces, they grabbed their wands out and began inscribing messages on the walls. Soon, the walls were covered in thick graffiti of various bright colours, each promoting Dumbledore's Army.

They'd just stepped back to survey their handiwork when the shadow of an upcoming person became visible in the firelight. Everyone froze, watching it approach without moving.

"Someone's coming!" Ginny whispered, white as a sheet.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Annie cried in a strained voice, grabbing Luna's hand. "Run!"

Her words seemed to shock the others into action. Recovering from their moment of horror they sprinted away, feet flying over the floor. Annie's hand remained tightly grasped over Luna's as they ran together, through several secret passages, up stairs, across corridors until...

"I think we're far enough away from them now," Ginny wheezed, when the four of them were huddled in a secluded area behind a tapestry. They were all panting hard; Annie was bracing her hands on her knees. A horrible stitch was in her side.

"I hope so, or that was a whole lot if running for nothing," Neville choked out between gasps for breath.

The four of them made eye contact and then, all at once, they dissolved into fits of laughter as they realised what they had just done, and that the person who had been approaching them was now reading the messages they left behind, and that they were finally beginning their fight against the Carrows - and by Merlin it felt good.

They stayed hidden for a moment longer to regain their breath, before they carefully stepped outside and with hurried good nights made their way back to their dormitories.

Annie caught Luna's eye before they vanished from each other's sights. They smiled widely at each other, Luna's eyes sparkling in delight and a spring in her step as she hurried away, so carelessly she could've run into one of the Carrows and not have noticed.

Annie chuckled lowly.

Oh, Luna.

That girl really was extraordinary.