LOST ↝ G. WEASLEY [1]

11 | New Rules

J,

Wish I could tell you that everything was alright here, but that too would be a lie. But for now all I can tell you is that we're safe. Everyone here says hi, by the way. 

Can't say I'm surprised that Snape's gone mad. We all knew it'd happen eventually. All joking aside, Death Eaters in the castle? Really? What's next, You-Know-Who himself walking around patrolling detentions?

We'll do what we can to assist you and the others but for now just hang tight and stick together. We'll be in touch soon.

Please be safe,

G.

Folding the letter shut and quickly shoving it into her bag, Joey looked up as the door to the Room of Requirement opened and Ginny, Arden, Rowan and Nicolette came inside, all four of them stalking angrily towards the rest of the group, who now watched them with curious expressions.

"What's got your wands in a knot?" Joey inquired as Rowan walked over towards the radio equipment to see if he could find a signal and the others came and sat near where she was with Luna and Montague working on a Herbology essay.

"Seems our headmaster decided to call in every current member of a Quidditch team for a meeting." Ginny said, nearly spitting the word headmaster. "He wanted to tell us all that there's no Quidditch this year."

"Which is complete bullshit!" Nicole exclaimed, standing back up and pacing back and forth around the room. "They've taken over the entire school and everything we call home. It's gone. This isn't even Hogwarts anymore."

"And it gets even worse." Arden said solemnly. "They've taken away all of our Hogsmeade visits, too. Rowan and I just had class with Carrow. She took it upon herself to let us all know that today during class."

"This is a prison," Monty insisted. "there's no way Azkaban can be any worse than this. We're stuck going from class to class and straight back to our rooms as soon as it's over. I swear, we'll all go insane."

"Hey," Joey said, looking around at everyone else and noticing that one was missing from the group. "where's Neville at?"

"Last I saw him he was in the common room." Ginny said. "He was doing homework with Tommy and Seamus when I left for the quidditch meeting."

"He's usually here," Joey insisted, standing up slowly and shoving her essay back into her bag next to where the letter from George sat. "I'm going to go see if he's in the common room, he's the only one who can figure this stuff out."

Leaving the Room of Requirement carefully and making sure that no one was around in the hall to notice, Joey headed up to Gryffindor Tower. When she reached the painting of the Fat Lady, the woman was wide awake, though she wasn't singing like she usually would be. Like every other painting in the old castle, she had lost her smile, and instead remained with a grim expression that slightly worsened with each passing day.

"Password?" she asked, all the life and cheer that once resided in her voice now gone.

"Lionheart," Joey said, and she slowly swung the door open.

She soon found Tommy and Seamus lounging on one of the couches, doing homework. Tommy seemed to be explaining something to Seamus, who was scribbling furiously onto his parchment. Tommy looked up as Joey approached, a smile crossing his features.

"Well look who it is," Tommy crooned.

"We never see you these days." Seamus said, eyeing his cousin suspiciously. "You're always off somewhere."

The girl shrugged. "Where's Neville? I need his help on an essay and Ginny said he was with you two."

"He left about an hour ago." Tommy explained. "I think he was headed towards the greenhouses."

"Thanks," she said, quickly bidding the two goodbye and heading down towards the front of the castle. 

After a bit Joey finally reached the entrance, the light from outside shining in in an almost dreary fashion. She walked through the grass down towards the greenhouses near the end of the hill, looking around to see the figures of the dementors that now patrolled the castle's grounds in the near distance. The last time they had been at the school, they were stationed there to make the students feel safe. Sirius had just broken out of Azkaban and was seen as a villain, and they were protecting everyone from the threats he seemed to pose.

Now it was just as if they were keeping everyone trapped inside.

As she neared the greenhouses, Joey could see Neville's figure through one of the windows. He was examining a very large plant and furiously scribbling his findings down on a piece of parchment. She slowly opened the door, peeking her head inside.

"Neville?" she asked, and the boy jumped, nearly dropping his quill and parchment. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Joey exclaimed, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh, Joey, it's just you," he said, gesturing for her to come join him. "Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would come down here."

"I was looking for you," she explained. "I was going to ask for your help on this essay, but I got worried when you didn't show up to the Room of Requirement so then I went to the common room to look for you. Tommy and Seamus said you'd be here."

"Here I am," he said with a solemn smile.

"It's nice down here," she said to ease the silence that had fallen over the pair, looking around at all the different plants and herbs. "I've never really been in here when it hasn't been noisy and crowded."

"It's actually quite peaceful," he said, a smile finally crossing his features. "I like to just come here and think."

"It's a great place to escape these days," Joey agreed, looking around a little more at their surroundings. "so, since I never really got the chance to ask you, how was your summer?"

"It was alright," he said. "my gran didn't want me to come back, not surprisingly. But I knew we had unfinished business here. And, it was required by the Ministry." he cracked a grin, trying to ease the situation.

Joey nodded. "Molly didn't want any of us to come back. But my dad would always tell her that it was important that we come back to fight and hold down the fort."

"I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am, Joey," Neville said then. "your father was an incredible man. He was a hero."

"Thank you," she said with a small smile. "and the same goes for your parents, too. They're heroes, Neville."

The story behind Neville's parents was one that not many knew. Joey wasn't even meant to find out. However, one day she had left a Dumbledore's Army meeting in her fifth year and realized a few minutes later that she had forgotten her messenger bag in the Room of Requirement. And her perfect timing skills resulted in her sneaking back in while Neville was telling the story to Harry, where Joey instantly promised to keep the secret to herself.

"Thank you," Neville said. "we're going to make them proud one day, Joey. I promise."