Legilimens

| Nineteen |

19 December, 1998

The lot of them woke up on the day the attack on Hogwarts was planned all feeling nervous.  Josephine nearly felt sick to her stomach, and hadn't been able to eat any bite of the enormous breakfast Andromeda had prepared for them. She had been sitting on the couch for the past hour, playing unconsciously with Draco's ring on her finger, not noticing the worried glances sent her way. Dromeda saw a bit of herself and her late daughter in the young witch, and couldn't help her motherly side from worrying for the witch. Josephine had lost quite a bit of weight from the stress, and Andromeda feared the scars from her recent stay at Malfoy Manor were still too raw and maybe deeper than Josephine had let on.

The others were worried about their friend, of course, but were also worried about finally revealing to the magical world Harry Potter was indeed well and alive.  No one knew what the outcome of the war would be, nor how Voldemort would react to such news. As the day of the attack approached, the less sleep they got. Harry was having nightmares night after night, accidently waking up Ginny in the process, who then tried to soothe him back to sleep unsuccessfully. Ron was tossing and turning all night, every night, while Hermione was spending most of her days reading every book she could find on fighting the dark art and try and find a way to kill Voldemort. As much as George wanted his sleep, he hadn't been able to sleep much since his twin's death, and now sleep was even harder to find. And as for Josephine, she was exhausted, but refused to close an eyelid. Instead, she stared at the inner side of her ring, out of fear she would miss a message from Draco. But he had said nothing.

After everyone picked at their breakfast, they all silently sat in the living room, waiting for the signal of the Order. Josephine was absentmindedly rocking little Teddy in her arms, softly humming a lullaby when the door of the house flew open. Kingsley Shacklebolt walked in swiftly, followed closely by members of the Order of the Phoenix. Amongst the faces, Josephine recognized the tired traits of Professor McGonagall, the pale hair of Xenophilius and Luna Lovegood and finally, in the distance behind many faces she recognized but couldn't put a name on, the vibrant hair of the Weasleys.

"It's time." Shacklebolt announced in that deep tone of his. "Everyone grab your Portkey and prepare to land. We all depart in precisely five minutes."

Turning around to face the group Harry was in charge of leading, he announced.

"You will land the Hog's Head. Your arrival will trigger the alarm, and you will have precisely four minutes to enter the passage and run to Hogwarts. From then on, you follow the plan. Any questions?"

When no one spoke, he turned on his heels and lead the Order back outside. Harry's group would arrive first in Hogsmeade, then the second group would make its way to the castle from the Forbidden Forest. The rest of the Order would raid Gringotts bank. More precisely, the Lestrange, Malfoy and Carrow's vaults. If anything of value of the Dark Lord was hidden within the banks' walls, it would be hidden in either of these vaults.

Josephine and the others soon followed, and turned around to face Harry, who was shuffling his feet, glancing nervously at their group.

'All right, everyone. We do as we planned, and if we ever get separated and get into trouble, you don't hesitate to get the hell out of there, right?" He asked, looking them all in the eyes.

He wanted it to be clear to them. Being brave was one thing, but being reckless was another, and Harry needed them all to fight with him in the war, and couldn't possibly imagine loosing anymore of his friends. They all nodded without a word, and placed their hands around his on the Portkey. Josie looked around her and locked eyes with Luna, who was holding onto the second Portkey near her father. The two girls exchanged a smile just as Josephine felt herself being pulled strongly by the navel. Shutting her eyes closed and keeping her mouth shut to prevent herself from screaming, she tried to prepare herself for landing but failed miserably and fell hard on the ground. Not a second had passed that a shrieking alarm resonated in the dusty room they had been sent to. She opened her eyes and found Harry offering his hand to help her up.

"Come on, we must hurry up." He told them all, while walking towards a vacant painting.

He swung it open and revealed a hidden passage, and they wasted no time climbing in after him. As soon as the portrait door was closed behind them, Josephine could not make out anything in the pitch black tunnel. She bent down to retrieve her wand from her right boot and cast the Lumos spell. Instantly, the tip of her wand lit up and they sped up their pace, the ringings of the alarm still resonating far behind them.

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Soooooo, it's been a while, huh? Life kinda got in the way, but I'm back, and the next chapter will even be up in two days, so yay!

Gabrielle xx