Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

[seek_to_end]

A pregnant hush lay over the grounds of Hogwarts, the eerie quiet of early, dark morning when all good children and creatures should be fast asleep. But no one slept that night. Students, teachers, Order members, Death Eaters, house-elves and creatures of the forest alike moved with silent, purposeful tread, some in fear and some in anticipation

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-In the Castle

[seek_to_end]

The hour drew nearer to a close, but those taking shelter in the ancient halls of Hogwarts did not rush to greet it. Too much was unknown and too much had come to pass for them to move forward. Their leader lost, for the moment it seemed, they huddled together in the Great Hall, some planning, some steeling themselves, some mourning and some simply, desperately wishing this would all go away.

No one seemed to notice that a few among them were just waking up, leaning against walls or huddled up into corners. The night had been long and no one begrudged those who could sleep the chance. The night was far from over yet, and most were too wrapped up in their own thoughts and feelings to trouble others.

[red_ponytail]

Bill woke with a start and discovered just how deeply ingrained some things were when he saw he was at Hogwarts and immediately went for his wand. He had it, thankfully, and after a quick test using Lumos was relieved to see it now worked. But then, he'd known that it would immediately. He could feel that his magic was back, a five year absence making its return that much more pronounced.

He knew what this was. It had happened to him once before, waking up in Alphabet City in Roger and Mark's apartment. Now he just had to figure out who was here from the island, and which of the people who called this world home remembered. Wand at the ready, he set off down the hall. It had been a long time, but Bill still knew this place inside and out.

[feel free to find him in any of the public areas of the castle]

Re: -In the Castle

[honestlyrubbish]

It was a nightmare

[of_badfaith]

When he approached her, it was with caution, walking along the stone walls, half at a crouch, his empty palms held out where she could see.

They weren't friends. They'd likely never be friends. But he'd woken covered in soot, his mark burning on his arm, and it hadn't even occurred to him to join his fellow Death Eaters in battle. It hadn't occurred to him to take his place as an enemy of The Order.

The thought that had consumed him most, when he'd opened his eyes, had been finding Luna. It frightened him how little that thought had faded.

"Granger," he hissed, "Before you hex me, I'd appreciate if you'd take note that I am unarmed."

[honestlyrubbish]

It was a mercy that Draco had approached Hermione carefully, and from where she could see. The very moment that she heard his voice, her hand had tightened further still around her wand, to the point that she wouldn't have been surprised had it snapped from the force. The thing about quiet, though, was that no one wanted to be the first one to break it. Everywhere around them were whimpers, some shrill and terrified, otherwise low with futility, but there was no sound of shattering glass, no spells immediately whizzing by, and so everyone seemed to speak in hushed tones. What otherwise might have been an initial impulse to hex the living wits out of Draco simmered low instead, until it was no more than suspicion

[of_badfaith]

"They're not my allies at the moment," he drawled, arching a brow, his hands still well within view, "If you'd like to hit me while I'm down, be my guest."

He knew she wouldn't. Was counting on that fact. The Order, for the most part, were noble and good enough to trigger his gag reflex.

"Honestly, I don't care what you do. I'm looking for Luna. Have you seen her?"

[honestlyrubbish]

"As tempting as the offer is," Hermione muttered, gradually lowering her wand, although her gaze lost none of its suspicion. Even if she had never believed Malfoy evil in the way that she would have described some of Voldemort's followers, she certainly didn't believe that she could count on him as a reliable ally in that battle. He had a tendency only to offer what served him in turn.

But the little fears were easily washed out as Hermione took a deep breath, somehow managing to keep it from shaking too much.

"No, I haven't seen Luna, I haven't found much of anyone in all of this chaos. Have you seen- have you seen Harry or Ron? I don't know where are, and..." She shook her head, running her free hand through her hair, dragging her fingers until the strands rested by her cheeks, having pulled out of her hairtie.

If there was one thing she supposed she could empathize with Draco over, it was fear.

[of_badfaith]

"No," he said, biting his tongue against the inevitable remark about being glad for it. He wasn't a fool. Picking a fight with her, here of all places, would be idiotic at best.

"He's here. You know that, don't you?" he said, knowing he didn't need to clarify. Voldemort was near, the world was coming apart around them, and he didn't even have a bloody wand.

[honestlyrubbish]

"Oh, of course I know," Hermione sighed, practically spat in her frustration, still fussing with her hair. "What else would have the castle so silent right now? What else would cause such fear in a place where, where everyone's always been braver than anyone should be expected to be?" She closed her eyes with the rest of the thoughts that passed through her mind, that even if she wasn't Harry and didn't have that connection with Voldemort, that the sense of him was still palpable in the air.

Feeling her breath grow a bit more shallow, Hermione bit down furiously on her lip, then turned around on her heel, expecting for Draco to follow along. "That's why I'm going to look for them. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna... all of them, I can't just leave all of them, I have to do something. You're coming along, aren't you?"

[of_badfaith]

"My apologies," he muttered with a sarcastic curl of his lips, pushing up his sleeve just long enough to give her a flash of the mark seared into his forearm. "I wasn't aware your knowledge would be quite as immediate as mine."

It was a risk, reminding her of his allegiance to The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, but he saw no point in hiding something she clearly already knew.

Heaving out a sigh, his hands itching for a wand, he said, "I suppose I am. Besides, I haven't got anything better to do." A joke, whether she chose to take it that way or not.

[honestlyrubbish]

She didn't shy from the slight outline of black that slipped out from under Draco's sleeve. And, if Draco had ever come to know half of who Hermione was over the years, she knew that he probably didn't expect her to. All that the sight of it managed to solidify, in her mind, was how pressing the matter was, finding her friends and her peers, pulling together the strength that all of them only ever had when together as a group. An army.

Dumbledore's.

But what struck her a few seconds afterward was the fact that Draco was walking without a wand gripped in his hand- months on the island had made Hermione accustomed to the lack thereof, to the point where she hadn't even noticed right away. She looked directly up at him, brows knit. "You don't have a wand." A second later, she shook her head. "Malfoy, you don't have a wand, if anything happens out there, you won't stand a chance. Shouldn't you be looking for some place to hide?"

[of_badfaith]

"I have to find her," he said, shaking his head, unconcerned by how it might make him sound, "I know her. She'll run headlong into a pack of Death Eaters, looking for me, if I don't find her first. I'll... disarm someone and take their wand, if I have to."

He had no problem with that. The hard part would be finding someone suitable. A wand chooses the wizard and whatever he found would never feel as right in his hands as the one that had once belonged to him.

[honestlyrubbish]

It was surprising, how much Draco's words sounded like something Hermione expected to hear from Harry or Ron. Threw into perspective what she had suspected for so many years, yet couldn't truly confirm without seeing it in front of her eyes- that at the end of the all, Draco was acting in the interest of those he cared for. It didn't justify the means he'd used to achieve his ends, not by a long shot, but it was all that Hermione felt necessary for bridges to eventually be rebuilt after the war.

And optimism was something she snatched at those days, held close to her chest, used it to help her get by.

"Disarm someone?" Hermione asked incredulously, her eyes wide, brows raised. "Malfoy, even if Luna would take great risks to get to you- not something I'm in a mind to protest- how is it going to help matters if you end up getting hurt, leaping into the fray when you're in over your head? Merlin, just... if you must follow along, follow at a distance and try to remain unseen. Until I can find you a wand." Hermione whirled around then,

[sixthhandlion]

Ron had taken out his wand as soon as it was apparent that he wasn't on the island anymore. He was glad that even after a few months on the island, he still kept it on him most of the time, no matter how many times both Hermione and Harry had reminded him that magic didn't work there at all.

But this was different. It only took Ron a moment to realize he was back at Hogwarts, and a moment after that for him to set his wand alight with the word lumos and realize that his magic worked again. However, if he was at Hogwarts, the very first thing he needed to do was find a safe place to apparate and get out of there. It wasn't safe anywhere anymore, especially not at Hogwarts, with Snape as headmaster. He needed to get somewhere safe. That was, after he found both Harry and Hermione. If they were even there

[honestlyrubbish]

There were some people who fed on the doubt of others, worked their way into minds and took root there. It was how Polyjuice Potion had been so effective, why the Imperius Curse had led so many astray- in times of war, it was hard to find that shred of sincerity under all of the tension, and anything could be justified one way or another. Stress, duress, trauma, everything in the name of defense. When the Order had ordered all of its members to test and question one another upon meeting, Hermione had gone along with the protocol, knowing full well that trust was a sentiment easily shredded and released into the wind

Re: -In the Castle

[dreamily_luna]

Luna is curled up on the floor, and when she sits up, the first thing she notices is that her hand is grasping her wand. Her own, dear wand that may or may not work, but is back with her.

She doesn't know where she is, for a moment, and then she realizes the cold floor beneath her belongs to Hogwarts, and is doubly cold for her school uniform, which she hasn't worn in years. Slowly, Luna climbs to her feet, swaying a little bit with the grogginess.

Wide, silvery eyes scan the Hall, and when she cannot find Draco, she ignores the cries of the others as she begins to run, sprinting towards the hallways that will take her to the dungeons.