Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2
The battle is coming- the moment Azalea had been waiting for for a lifetime and she was ready, ready to do whatever it took for the new family she had met in the meantime. She was ready to defy all odds fo...
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Neville Longbottom whistled where he sat in his chair in the early hours of the morning, eyes scanning over a Herbology textbook. However, from the corner of his eyes, he caught a flicker of movement despite the fact that all those around them slept. In the entrance to the tunnel to the Hogshead, stood a photo frame and he stared at it as Ariana Dumbledore appeared, a small smile on her face as she proceeded to beckon him to follow her.
Glancing around at those sleeping soundly, Neville slowly placed down the thick book in his hands and proceeded forward, ignoring the limp in his legs as he hobbled along to the wall. The ladder creaked under his weight as he stepped up it and into the tunnel, smiling softly at Ariana as he did so. The tunnel was long and dark, constantly turning and sloping down deeply and then back up again but shortly later, he managed to find the end. The portrait opened up and he held his wand high before grinning in excitement.
"Neville." Harry seemed shocked yet pleased to see him and that made the boy smile as he hopped down. "You look-"
"-Like hell, I reckon" he chuckled and stepped down to great them all. "This is nothing, Seamus is worse. Reckon the only reason he's still standing is because of Padma, she wraps him up in bandages like a mummy" he chuckled and those looking up at him were visibly shocked. "Hey Ab" he called when he saw the aged gentleman in the background. "We've got a few more coming through, you can thank Zee for that one later," Neville smirked and the old man sighed. Harry's eyes lit up at the mention of her and he knew he was only moments from seeing her again.
"Don't remember this being on the marauder's map," Ron stated quietly as they all made their way back along the tunnel, lit only by Neville's wand tip.
"That's because it never existed before now." Neville swallowed, and they could all clearly see how his confidence had grown since they'd seen him last. "The seven secret passages were sealed off before the start of the year, this is the only way to get in or out now. Without going through the front door." he huffed. "Azalea said it's something to do with the food, I don't know. Apparently, the Room of Requirement can't make food so it gave us this passage to get it.... The grounds are crawling with Death Eaters and Dementors."
"How hard is it having Snape as Head Master?" Hermione questioned.
"Hardly ever see him," Neville scoffed. "It's the Carrows you've got to watch out for. Brother and Sister, in charge of discipline. And don't we love getting in trouble." he gestured to his face. "They like punishment, the Carrows." he chuckled and made his way through the final archway, approaching the other portrait.
"They did that to your face?" Hermione frowned. "Why?"
"All sorts of reasons. Most recently because we hexed them with jelly legs." he laughed and they stared at him as if he had gone mad. "Third year Dark Arts lesson, they had them trying out the Cruciatus curse on first years. Of course, half of them completely refused to do it. So we gave them the good old jelly legs to let the kids get away," he smirked. "Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?" he laughed and pushed open the portrait.
"Hey!" he called down to all the kids crowded around the room, now awake from where they'd previously been having a lie in. "Listen up you lot, I've brought you a surprise."
"No more of Aberforth's cooking, I hope... I'd be surprised if we could digest it." Seamus sighed, Padma hitting him in the chest from where she was sat on his lap and Neville hopped down, limping slightly to reveal the form of Harry Potter. At the sight of him, they all instantly started cheering, Cormac McLaggen lifting Andrew victoriously onto his shoulder in their jubilation. That was when they swarmed him, Dean Thomas- who had recently joined them through the Hogshead tunnel- was the first to get to Harry.
The Potter boy, amidst hugging everyone and experiencing their joy, had his heart set on finding one particular girl and the thought of her had his head thumping erratically in his chest but so far, she was out of sight. The room was larger than they had ever seen it, multicoloured hammocks and banners strew around the place, a random Christmas tree stood in the corner- even during May and one wall was completely covered with pieces of parchment and photographs.
"Get the word out to Remus and the others that Harry's back" Neville encouraged Colin and he nodded excitably, running off. Luna, who had returned with Dean was floating around the outskirts of the group, searching for her friend.
"Where's Azalea?" she asked in an airy voice and they all turned their heads left and right in search of her.
"She went off with Cho... Something about Myrtle?"
"Ah, yeah" Seamus grinned happily. "Carrow's will love that one." he chuckled loudly and reached up to pull a piece of parchment from the wall, tossing it into a nearby rubbish bin.
"Cormac, can you go get them?" Neville ushered, seeing the pure excitement on Harry's face. The blond boy froze before a moment before beaming and nodding, turning to run off in search of the girls in question.
