CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE:
( return to hogwarts )

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

SPENCER NEVER REALIZED HOW much she missed Neville Longbottom until she sees him face-to-face. Her lips part in surprise and before she can even utter a sound, the Gryffindor boy yells in delight and brings her in for a hug. Spencer barely gets her arm around his back before he pulls back and hugs Ricky. She swallows in surprise and gapes at him, noticing that he appears even worse than she described a few moments ago (Neville is quite good-looking but he seems as if they have beaten him up countless of times!). One of his eyes are swollen yellow and purple, there are gouge marks on his face— basically, he looks like if he has gone through the pits of hell and back.

Nevertheless, his battered visage shines with happiness as he lets go of Ricky and exclaims again, "I knew you'd come! Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"

Seamus Finnigan is there too then, Spencer takes a note to herself. She gives him a short smile not sure of how to act because holy shit, she's going to Hogwarts!

"Neville, what's happened to you?" Harry gasps, placing a hand on his shoulder in worry. Spencer cannot help but share the same concern— there is a burned mark across his cheek and it reminds her of her deadly sister. She feels a lump in her throat and she is not sure if she wants to cry or throw up... possibly both at the same time.

"What? This?" Neville dismisses his injuries with a shake of the head. "This is nothing. Seamus is worse, but we've been getting healed by our own 'healer'. You'll see. Shall we get going then? Oh," he turns to Aberforth, "Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."

Her eyes widen in surprise; more people will be arriving? How? How will they come with this curfew line in the works? How do they know— Spencer rubs her temples in confusion. Thankfully, she is not the only one puzzled by what is occurring right now. Which is good because she does not want to feel stupid.

"Couple more?" repeats Aberforth ominously. "What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"

"I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar," Neville explains vaguely. "Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."

Neville holds out his hand to Hermione and Spencer, helping them both climb up onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel. Ricky follows behind and as does Ron. At last, Neville stays behind them while Harry addresses Aberforth. "I don't know how to thank you. You've saved our lives twice."

"Look after 'em, then," Aberforth mumbles gruffly. "I might not be able to save 'em a third time."

Spencer takes short steps through the pathway. It appears as if it has been there for years. Rocky on the sides with brass lamps hanging from the walls. The floor is earthy and yet worn and smooth as if people have gone by this way thousands of times that they have made it lower. Noticing the darkness between them as the portrait slightly closes, Spencer takes out the wand and lights it up. Their shadows are visible through the walls and even with it, Spencer can see how much weight they have all lost for not eating like before.

"How long's this been here?" Ron asks as they set off. "It isn't on the Marauder's Map, is it, Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?"

Although she knows of the map that Remus, Sirius, and Harry's father created, she never took her time in trying to look at it. The only times it was when Harry was next to her and would tell her where Blaise was. She gazes at Neville curiously as he answers, "They sealed off all of those before the start of the year. There's no chance of getting through any of them now, not with curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and dementors waiting at the exits."

He starts walking backward, beaming, drinking them in. "Never mind that stuff... Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about it in the Great Hall at dinner!"

Spencer scrunches her nose in surprise. "That happened only a few hours ago," she points out in confusion. Neville nods at her words and explains, "Words travel fast when You-Know-Who is angered to the point where the Death Eaters are facing the consequences."

Harry frowns at his words before admitting, "Yes, that is true." Neville laughs gleefully. "What did you do with the dragon?"

"Released it into the wild," Ron tells him. "Hermione and Spencer were all for keeping it as a pet —"

"Don't exaggerate, Ron —"

Spencer rolls her eyes playfully, a light ghost of a smile on her face. She can feel the magic surrounding them... Hogwarts had become her first home. It is where she met Ricky and where she was able to escape her manor and pretend everything was fine. She would study, learn, laugh— everything that makes her who she is now is partially because of Hogwarts.

"But what have you been doing? People have been saying you've just been on the run, Harry, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something," Neville comments slyly, raising an eyebrow at the five of them. Spencer stays quiet despite wanting to admit that they have gone through hell all because they have been trying to find the Horcruxes.

"You're right," Harry agrees, "but tell us about Hogwarts, Neville, we haven't heard anything."

"It's been... well, it's not really like Hogwarts anymore," Neville sighs, the smile fading from his face as he speaks. "Do you know about the Carrows?"

Spencer nods immediately. "Those two Death Eaters who teach here?" Harry wonders, glancing at them to see if he was talking about the correct people.

"They do more than teach," Neville scoffs. "They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."

"Like Umbridge?" Harry brings up. Spencer smirks remembering the punch she gave that ugly toad back at the Ministry. Ricky sends her a small smile knowing she was reminiscing about that time. She had also obliviated her parents, but that was just nothing. They deserve worse.

"Nah, they make her look tame. The other teachers are all supposed to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. And your sister, Spence... she leads the punishments," Neville informs. Spencer stiffens slightly and looks right at him. He gives her a short smile and points to the cheek that confirms her suspicions. "When she doesn't use magic, she loves to burn others. All she does is watch with a genuine smile— bit insane, that one. No offense, you're obviously not like her."

Spencer feels her throat dry up before she asks, "How many has she tortured?"

Neville's short smile disappears and he gives her an apologetic glance. "Everyone who has gotten a detention. No matter what they did... she always got ahold of them," he clears his throat, turning away from her and with that, Spencer knows she does not want to know any more about what Morgana had caused. She shudders at the thought and instead raises up her hood, gazing down at the floor while staying quiet.

"We're supposed to practice the Cruciatus Curse on people who've earned detentions —" Neville continues, and everyone voices the same thing in surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah," Neville nods. "That's how I got this one," he points at a particularly deep gash in his cheek, "I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though; Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect. Alecto, Amycus's sister, teaches Muggle Studies, which is compulsory for everyone. We've all got to listen to her explain how Muggles are like animals, stupid and dirty, and how they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them, and how the natural order is being reestablished. I got this one," he indicates another slash to his face, "for asking her how much Muggle blood she and her brother have got."

Spencer whistles lowly, surprised by his total confidence in even daring to say those words. She cannot blame him, however. She would have done the same thing.

"Blimey, Neville," Ron murmurs impressively, "there's a time and a place for getting a smart mouth."

"You didn't hear her," Neville shakes his head. "You wouldn't have stood it either. I think we were all expecting for Spencer to suddenly mention some philosopher or researcher and basically destroy her."

Ricky grins at those words. "Oh, she definitely would have brought up something about 'how incredibly stupid they are to believe muggles stole their magic when they have inbred with each other's relatives' and then go on to mention about Albert Einstein or something," he supports whole-heartedly. Spencer narrows her eyes at him.

"Albert Einstein doesn't have anything to do with that, in fact, I'd mention how the greatest Slytherin, Merlin—" Spencer goes on to correct before noticing the amusement in their eyes. The five others start to chuckle at her tone and she pouts. "Oh, shut up."

Neville smiles softly at her before continuing, "The thing is, it helps when people stand up to them, it gives everyone hope. I used to notice that when you did it, Harry."

"But they've used you as a knife sharpener," Ron frowns, wincing slightly as they pass a lamp and Neville's injuries are thrown into even greater relief. Spencer clutches onto her aunt's wand and swallows deeply. No one has been safe in this war. Her friends out in the world have been hiding. The ones at Hogwarts have faced punishments. Every one in Harry's side have in some way lost a part of themselves. And yet... Neville sounds hopeful. As if Harry being there will ensure their protection. A greater magic coming to them out of the— oh... she has forgotten that Voldemort now possesses the Elder Wand. A wand more powerful than any other. She wonders what type of powers it could cause.

"We know Luna is alright because she managed to get a message to me," Neville explains, taking out a familiar golden coin that they had received in their fifth-year. Spencer leans forward to gaze at it before her mind repeats his words. We, she thinks to herself. Who is we?

"These have been great," Neville continues, beaming at Hermione. "The Carrows never rumbled how we were communicating, it drove them mad. We used to sneak out at night and put graffiti on the walls: Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting, stuff like that. Snape hated it."

"You used to?" Harry questions, who had noticed the past tense.

"Well, it got more difficult as time went on," Neville walks even further. "We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never came back after Easter, and the three of us were sort of the leaders. The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Michael Corner went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off."

"No kidding," Ron mutters, as the passage begins to slope upward.

"Yeah, well, I couldn't ask people to go through what Michael did, so we dropped those kinds of stunts. But we were still fighting, doing underground stuff, right up until a couple of weeks ago. That's when they decided there was only one way to stop me, I suppose, and they went for Gran," Neville informs them casually and Spencer gapes at him in shock. Ricky bumps into her making her realize she had stopped in order to get a grip of herself.

"They what?" The five of them question in unison and worry.

"Yeah," Neville nods, panting a little now, because the passage is climbing so steeply, "well, you can see their thinking. It had worked really well, kidnapping kids to force their relatives to behave, I s'pose it was only a matter of time before they did it the other way around. Thing was," he faces them, and Spencer is astonished to see that he was grinning, "they bit off a bit more than they could chew with Gran. Little old witch living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway," Neville laughs, "Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run. She sent me a letter," he claps a hand to the breast pocket of his robes, "telling me she was proud of me, that I'm my parents' son, and to keep it up."

Spencer raises her eyebrows impressively. "I want to have the same spirit as your grandma if I age like her," she comments with a hearty laugh. Ricky tucks in his hand on hers and is then she realizes that she said 'if' not 'when' but if. He seems to be the only person who had noticed because his face is scrunched up in worry. She feels guilt stirring up in her stomach for her words. Spencer has been fighting her demons since she came out of her mother's womb. Her aunt had specified that she wants her dead and Morgana? She is the only one who knows her better than anyone else. She knows her tricks, her manipulation, her power— Morgana is strong and spiteful, bloodthirsty even. She has caused destruction to those who do not deserve it and despite the fact that part of her still cares for her, Spencer is furious and knows the two girls will meet each other again.

This time it is not just a game or taunt. It is life or death and Spencer fears that one of them will have to be stopped until this all finishes or maybe... until one of them dies.

"Yeah," Neville agrees happily. "Only thing was, once they realized they had no hold over me, they decided Hogwarts could do without me after all. I don't know whether they were planning to kill me or send me to Azkaban; either way, I knew it was time to disappear."

"But," Ricky interrupts, looking thoroughly confused, "aren't — aren't we heading straight back into Hogwarts?"

"Of course," Neville nods. "You'll see. We're here."

Spencer narrows her eyes confusedly until they turn a corner and there ahead of them is the end of the passage. Another short flight of steps leads to a door just like the one hidden behind Ariana's portrait. Neville pushes it open and climbs through first. Spencer stays all the way behind feeling her chest heavy by the second. Once she enters that door, there is no going back. She will be inside Hogwarts and it is a wonder if she will come back out. Her eyes watches solemnly as Harry makes his way through and shouts of happiness are already heard. So there are more of them inside, Spencer thinks quietly. She closes her eyes and lets her hand travel to her forehead.

It is time, the familiar voice of hers speaks all over her mind. Spencer gulps and brings her cloak closer to her body, bringing the hood down to get a better look. Ron and Hermione have now gotten inside. Ricky is currently climbing up, but he stops midway and looks at her expectedly.

"You're not gonna run off, are you?" He questions in suspicion. Spencer hums in thought before his words finally seem to make sense. She shakes her head and gives him a smile. His eyes only narrow even more before he continues to head up. Not even a second after he gets inside, she can hear the shouts of his name from many others. Spencer begins to head up before turning her head to where they came from.

She is not going to run off. Spencer would never do that to her friends who have become a family. She will fight alongside them, she will be there like how she promised Harry a long time ago. But that is not what Ricky meant and they both knew it. Ricky knows her better than anyone. He knows she would never run off and leave them even if the worst scenario happened. His question was not about that. It was about her heading off to meet Morgana.

Spencer wishes that she can try to ignore her like the times she spent doing so in school. However, she knows her sister would try and kill anyone going against her for two reasons. For one, the pleasure of killing and releasing her darkness. For the other? She will kill anyone in her path from stopping her to try and get to her. They are ending their story the same way they started; together, but completely apart.

When she hears questions about 'where is Spencer?', she shakes her head out of her thoughts and begins to climb further until her head pops up into the entrance and she emerges completely into the room beyond the passage. Her eyes squint at the amount of light passing through her eyelids and she raises her hand to focus around the unfamiliar room. Spencer only gets a glimpse of colored hanging and many faces before she hears their shouts of glee once more and her light weight being pulled into hugs by many people she has yet to actually see.

"Spencer!" Her name is echoed around the room. Spencer turns to one side and then the other, a smile barely reaching her lips. She has never really enjoyed being surrounded by piles of people— at least, not in the way they were currently doing so. Her head slightly spins at the many pats she is receiving until a low and familiar voice that can make her heart flip over to her right side speaks up and orders, "Give her some space."

Her mouth opens slightly and the crowd of students open up to the point where there is someone tall standing there, his eyes filled with every bit of emotions and most of all, relief. Spencer gazes at him for what feels like forever before she feels herself running through the pathway and quickly wraps her arms around his neck. She closes her eyes and tightens her hold on him; as if she is afraid that if she lets go then he will disappear from her sight. No words escape her lips despite the dozens that want to come out. In this moment, nothing in the world matters except the fact that Spencer Montague is in the arms of Blaise Zabini. His own arms are placed on her back and Spencer is sure she had been lifted a few inches up because her whole weight feels lighter than usual and her feet cannot touch the ground.

She never understood when in books characters would speak about seeing a loved one they have not seen in ages. Spencer always thought they were dramatic— perhaps she is the dramatic one. Her hands are gripping into his shirt and she feels like if she is safe from all the harm in the world. She used to describe being with him as Blaise being the one filled with coldness in his skin, but this time it is the opposite. He is the providing warmth while she is barely given the shelter of the cloak she is wearing. To her, he is the light that fills up the darkness and makes it overcome.

Despite not wanting to, she slowly begins to depart from his grip, but her hand reaches up his face and she gazes at him. Spencer forces herself not to kiss him at that moment and instead finds comfort in the fact that her hands are actually confirming how he is real in every way possible (if they kissed now, she feared they would not stop). She swallows deeply and then gazes away from him when she spots the same look on his eyes that had been in the night of the wedding. When he wanted to say something and yet never got the chance to finish. This time, when she turns to face everyone else, her hand is grasped with his and she knows that he would not be letting go until he has to.

Spencer glances around the room and finally notices that it is enormous. It almost looks like some tree house with multicolored hammocks being strung from the ceiling and from a balcony that runs around the dark wood-paneled and windowless walls. She spots the golf Gryffindor lion emblazoned on scarlet, the black badger of Hufflepuff set against yellow, the bronze eagle of Ravenclaw on blue, and lastly, the silver snake of Slytherin against green. Piles of books, broomsticks, about everything is sprawled among the room. Her eyes fall toward the people and she spots familiar and unfamiliar faces. All of them are from all the houses— even young Slytherins are visible, but the ones older are recognizable for it just being two.

Apart from Blaise, Spencer has noticed that beside them is Pansy Parkinson with her arms crossed in worry and slight relief. The two girls connect eyes and surprisingly, the short-haired girl offers her a kind smile and in return, Spencer nods her head in appreciation knowing that if they were here... then they must have angered the Carrows and her own sister.

"Where are we?" Spencer hears Harry question in amazement. She continues looking around and spots her own housemates raising up their thumbs at her in either acknowledgement or proudness. Spencer is not sure, but she gives them a short smile in response. With him being the most friendly, Anthony Goldstein walks toward her with a grin.

"Glad to see you again, Miss I-Somehow-Remember-Everything," Anthony teases, giving a nod in acknowledgement to Blaise but strictly keeping his eyes on her. Spencer chuckles lightly at his awfully long nickname and shakes her head. "You're never letting that name go, are you?"

"We're friends, of course not," Anthony swears. He takes a place beside her while they refocus their attention toward the others. Most specifically Neville who raises his arm to point around the room.

"Room of Requirement, of course!" Neville answers. "Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. have arrived."

"And the Carrows can't get in?" asks Harry, looking around for the door.

"No," Seamus Finnigan replies, whom Spencer had not recognized until he spoke: Seamus's face is bruised and puffy. Neville had been right— he does look worse. "It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really gets this room. You've got to ask it for exactly what you need — like, 'I don't want any Carrow supporters to be able to get in' — and it'll do it for you! You've just got to make sure you close the loopholes! Neville's the man!"

"It's quite straightforward, really," Neville tells them modestly. "I'd been in here about a day and a half, and getting really hungry, and wishing I could get something to eat, and that's when the passage to the Hog's Head opened up. I went through it and met Aberforth. He's been providing us with food, because for some reason, that's the one thing the room doesn't really do."

"Yeah, well, food's one of the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration," Ron murmurs to general astonishment. Spencer lets a smile reach her face knowing he remembered the words Hermione had spoken to him a few months ago.

"So we've been hiding out here for nearly two weeks," Seamus murmurs, "and it just makes more hammocks every time we need them, and it even sprouted a pretty good bathroom once girls started turning up —"

"— and thought they'd quite like to wash, yes," Lavender Brown supplies. She is standing by the side surrounded by a couple of more familiar faces. Now that she looks around properly, she recognizes many familiar faces. Both Patil twins are there, as is Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, and Michael Corner. Of course, Anthony is right beside her.

"Tell us what you've been up to, though," Ernie, her old Hufflepuff friend requests. "There've been so many rumors, we've been trying to keep up with you on Potterwatch." He points at the wireless. "You didn't break into Gringotts?"

Blaise turns to her as if he wants to ask something else, but he decides not to and simply stares at her like if he has found a new reason to live.

"They did!" Neville exclaims for them. "And the dragon's true too!"

There is a smattering of applause and a few whoops; Ron takes a dramatic bow while repeating that Spencer and Hermione wanted to keep the dragon and train it that it reminded him of his brother (all of which is a lie because they never said they wanted to train the dragon).

"What were you after?" Seamus asks eagerly. Before any of them could parry the question with one of their own, Spencer keeps her eyes on Harry, noticing the way he grabs his forehead in pain. She frowns visibly and makes Blaise follow her as she heads to her friend. Ron is already holding him up while Ricky is waving his hand to cool the boy down. Spencer reaches Harry's side and parts his hair to the side in order to see his scar— as she figured, it is burning red.

"What's happening to him?" Spencer freezes for a couple of seconds upon hearing Blaise's voice. It is obvious that he has grown. His voice sounds lower and slightly haughty but without the aggressiveness to it. He is quiet to the point where the question manages to only reach her own hearing. She completely missed him during her time out hunting Horcruxes. The times where she craved to just see him and hear his voice but all she would do is sense him. Nothing more, but somehow enough. And then Mordra took her necklace— she snaps out of her thoughts when he places his hand on her arm in concern.

Realizing she has not answered his question, Spencer clears her throat and answers quietly, "He's fine. He... gets like this sometimes." More like all the times, but whatever.

Blaise glances at her curiously before nodding. Spencer turns to Ricky and they share a knowing look: Voldemort found out about the locket. All of them wait impatiently for Harry to wake up and after what seems like ages, Harry finally opens his eyes again.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Neville is saying. "Want to sit down? I expect you're tired, aren't — ?"

"No," Harry denies firmly. He stares at Spencer, and then at Ricky, Ron and Hermione, trying to tell them without words that Voldemort had just discovered the loss of one of the other Horcruxes. Time is running out fast: If Voldemort chooses to visit Hogwarts next, they will miss their chance.

Spencer forces down the lump in her throat and makes sure her voice does not waver as she asks him, "He knows, doesn't he?" Everyone else looks at them in confusion while Harry nods sharply.

"We need to get going," he announces, and Spencer bites the inside of her cheek as she nods. "Okay," she murmurs softly.

Blaise snaps his head toward her. "You're leaving again?" His voice sounds like a young child this time. Panic and fear is written on his face as he gazes down at her. Spencer feels her chest tighten in guilt and she grasps his hand on hers.

"I have to... you understand, right?" Every bone in her body is telling her to stay with him and hide between the walls of the Room of Requirement, but her heart is even stronger. She will not stop fighting midway and they need to find that Horcrux in order to finish things for all. Spencer spots the tad of anger rise up in his eyes for a few seconds (and she remembers all the times he had gotten angry at her for putting herself in harm's way) before it fades away and he looks at her defeatedly.

"I do," Blaise swallows deeply and their eyes connect to the point where they do not want to look away. "It doesn't mean I like it, though."

Spencer sends him a small reassuring smile before her attention returns to Seamus who bravely questions, "What are we going to do, then, Harry? What's the plan?"

Harry blinks at him and repeats, "Plan?" The Chosen One closes his eyes for a few seconds before continuing, "Well, there's something we — Spencer, Ricky, Ron, Hermione, and I — need to do, and then we'll get out of here."

Nobody is laughing or whooping anymore. Neville looks confused. "What d'you mean, 'get out of here'?"

"We haven't come back to stay," Harry tells them, rubbing his scar, trying to soothe the pain. "There's something important we need to do —"

"What is it?"

"I — I can't tell you."

There is a ripple of muttering at this: Neville's brows contracts. "Why can't you tell us? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

"Well, yeah —"

"Then we'll help you."

The other members of Dumbledore's Army are nodding, some enthusiastically, others solemnly. A couple of them raises from their chairs to demonstrate their willingness for immediate action. Spencer chuckles bitterly and stares at them warmly. Now this is her family as well. People who will work with each other amongst the darkest of days.

"You don't understand." Harry seems to have said that a lot in the last few hours. "We — we can't tell you. We've got to do it — alone."

"Why?" Neville asks.

Now that is a wonderful question that Spencer truthfully does not know the answer to. Why can't they tell them again? She wonders to herself before deciding it is not her job to say anything about the Horcruxes but Harry himself.

"Because..." and it seems like he does not have a good reason. Idiot, Spencer rolls her eyes. "Dumbledore left the three of us a job," he starts carefully, "and we weren't supposed to tell — I mean, he wanted us to do it, just the three of us."

"We're his army," Neville argues defensively. "Dumbledore's Army. We were all in it together, we've been keeping it going while you three have been off on your own —"

"It hasn't exactly been a picnic, mate," Ron scoffs. Spencer clenches her own jaw remembering those nights where she barely even slept. Where nightmares haunted her dreams and every inch of her body was aching in pain. When they fought each other and argued— those nights where she just cried or stayed emotionless under the tent.

"I never said it had, but I don't see why you can't trust us. Everyone in this room's been fighting and they've been driven in here because the Carrows were hunting them down. Everyone in here's proven they're loyal to Dumbledore — loyal to you," Neville informs them determinedly. That brings her to a question she has for Blaise... why is he with them? Should he not be out in the open with the rest of the students?

"Look," Harry begins, but he does not have the time to finish because the tunnel door opened right behind him. Spencer tiptoes slightly and her eyes widen in surprise when she spots Luna and Dean coming inside.

"We got your message, Neville! Hello you five, I thought you must be here!" Dean exclaims, his familiar spirit from long before back onto his face. Though, Spencer can see it reappears because of his eyes right at Seamus. She smiles weakly when Seamus gives a roar of delight and runs straight to his arms. They've definitely been dating for awhile now— or will be, Spencer remarks softly.

"Hi, everyone!" Luna chirps happily. "Oh, it's great to be back!"

"Luna," Harry mumbles distractedly, "what are you doing here? How did you — ?"

"I sent for her," Neville responds, holding up the fake Galleon. "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

"Of course that's what it means," Luna exclaims brightly. "Isn't it, Harry? We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"

"Listen," Harry snaps with a rising sense of panic, "I'm sorry, but that's not what we came back for. There's something we've got to do, and then —"

"You're going to leave us in this mess?" Michael Corner demands. Blaise glares at him knowing his question is meant to be accused at Spencer as well. "Listen here—" her boyfriend goes on to say before he stops talking when she tightens her hold on his hand.

"No!" Ron defends all of them. "What we're doing will benefit everyone in the end, it's all about trying to get rid of You-Know-Who —"

"Then let us help!" Neville demands angrily. "We want to be a part of it!"

There is another noise behind them, and Spencer feels her smile widen immediately. Ginny is now climbing through the hole in the wall, closely followed by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. Her eyes warm upon noticing the Weasleys and the twins are first to spot her, giving her their same charming smile as always while they make their way through to Ron. They mess up his hair lovingly before then turning toward her. George reaches her side first and holds out his arm waiting for her to wrap him in a hug. Spencer does as she is asked to do and lets herself take in the fact that it has been ages since she last saw the other Weasleys whom she sees as brothers. Fred gives her a grin and wraps his arm around her and Blaise. Ginny smiles radiantly at her, but her attention diverts to Harry lovingly.

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," Fred tells them, raising his hand in answer to several cries of greeting. Blaise shifts uncomfortably under his arms, but does not say anything against it. "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."

Spencer raises an eyebrow in confusion before noticing that behind Lee Jordan comes Harry's ex-girlfriend and her former housemate, Cho Chang. "I got the message," she states, holding up her own fake Galleon, and she walks over to sit beside Michael Corner.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" George questions, arching an eyebrow curiously as he leans to his side.

"There isn't one," Harry barely sounds audible having been surprised by the sudden appearance of all of them.

"Just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind," Fred jokes around, grinning wondrously. Spencer truly hopes his smile and George's never fade away or maybe hope will truly be all lost.

"You've got to stop this!" Harry glares at Neville. "What did you call them all back for? This is insane —"

Spencer, with a sudden energy upon seeing all of them again after the longest time, steps forward to Harry. "They can help, Harry," she defends the rest of the students. They all turn to look at her and suddenly she feels insecure knowing how horrible she looks compared to the old her. She brings her cloak tighter against her frame upon the attention.

"But..."

"Harry, if it is just the five of us we'll take even longer. My mind is broken," Spencer starts off firmly. Beside her, Harry shakes his head and defends her from her own words, "It's not broken—"

"That's not my point," she gives him a short smile. "You ever heard of the saying—" Spencer already spots the amusement growing on some of her friend's eyes and so she stops herself from going in that direction, "We're not getting out of this without fighting and I reckon it is better to fight with an army instead of us five."

"Yeah, she's right, mate," Ron nods in agreement. "Why can't they help?"

"What?"

"They can help." Ron brings Spencer out of the twin's way to where Ricky, Hermione, and Harry are. He drops his voice and whispers, "We don't know where it is. We've got to find it fast. We don't have to tell them it's a Horcrux."

Harry looks from Ricky to Hermione who murmurs, "I think Ron's right. We don't even know what we're looking for, we need them." And when Harry looks unconvinced, "You don't have to do everything alone, Harry."

After what seems like ages, he slowly nods. "All right," he murmurs quietly to the four of them. "Okay," he calls to the room at large, and all noise ceases: Fred and George, who had been cracking jokes for the benefit of those nearest, falls silent, and all of them look alert, excited.

"There's something we need to find," Harry starts. "Something — something that'll help us overthrow You-Know-Who. It's here at Hogwarts, but we don't know where. It might have belonged to Ravenclaw. Has anyone heard of an object like that? Has anyone ever come across something with her eagle on it, for instance?"

Spencer makes a face in surprise and turns to him. "You didn't tell Ricky and I, you airheaded wizard," she smacks his arm in surprise. Harry gapes his mouth as if he suddenly remembered what house they belonged in and Ricky slaps his own hand on his face. Dumbasses, Spencer thinks to herself. He definitely forgot Ricky and her belong to Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor.

"You're an idiot," Ricky rolls his eyes. His eyes meet Spencer's and he narrows his eyes thoughtfully. "Well... there is her lost diadem, right, Luna?"

Ricky turns to Luna, who is sitting on the arm of Ginny's chair. Spencer makes a slight face of agreement remembering the story herself. It has been lost for centuries, but it may be possible that Tom Riddle could have found it... couldn't it? For some reason, the students all glance at her instead and she motions for them to pay attention to Luna. Apart from the cup and the one they are looking for at Hogwarts, there is still another Horcrux. She closes her eyes while feeling her own mind trying to tell her something. Ever since after the Malfoy Manor where she almost gave up, it has become some sort of guidance (which is odd considering it is technically her). Before she can wonder what it is trying to say, a picture of a snake appears. And then comes the memory of when she almost killed it and yet— nothing.

Holy shit, Spencer opens her eyes. She grasps onto Harry's arms and tugs it. Harry turns to her quickly in concern. "The snake... that's one of it too, isn't it?"

Harry pales at her words. "What do you—"

"It was supposed to die when I injured it, Harry. And it didn't which means he—"

"Fuck," Harry cuts her off in realization. Despite not wanting him to find them, they knew that they will have to face him at last in order to destroy (what they hope) is the last Horcrux. No one else apart from the people they traveled with seem to get her words.

Cho looks around awkwardly before offering, "If you'd like to see what the diadem's supposed to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry? Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."

Instead of answering her, Harry leans closer to the other four.  "He's on the move," he mutters quietly to them. He glances at Cho and then back at them. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know — the other one — safe."

Spencer gives him a sharp nod. Cho gets to her feet, but Ginny says rather fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"

"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," Luna exclaims happily, and Cho sits down again, looking disappointed.

"How do we get out?" Harry asks Neville. The Gryffindor boy points to a corner and motions for them to follow. Before Harry can get any further, Spencer grabs his hand and Luna's. The two of them look at her curiously.

"Be careful," she lets out, her eyes swarming with worry. Luna offers her a bright smile while Harry places a small kiss on her forehead. "You too," he murmurs, before they back away in order to leave. Spencer watches them with a solemn look before returning back to the rest.

Her eyes meet Ron's and he gives her a short nod knowing she was wondering about the Hufflepuff cup. And then, his own eyes widen in surprise and he pulls them forward before they can reunite to everyone else.

"What is it?" Ricky questions, knowing the redhead must have thought about something else.

"Harry's looking for the diadem, I reckon it will help him if we destroy the cup now," Ron reveals, pointing toward Hermione's bag. Spencer furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "But we need the sword—"

"— or basilisk fang," Ron points out quick enough. Her mouth opens in realization. "Hermione and I will go check it out, alright? You and Ricky stay with the rest— by the looks of it, more people will continue coming, understand?"

Spencer and Ricky nod in agreement. "We'll meet again," the young Montague warns them, biting her lips nervously when they announce to everyone else that they will be heading to the bathroom. Fred and George snicker to themselves and head toward the Ravenclaws.

"Are they going to go snog?" Fred questions, a glimmer of sarcasm and playfulness written on his face.

George shakes his head and corrects, "I bet they're going to make little Rons and Hermiones." Spencer gasps in surprise and smacks his arm.

"You two are intolerable!" She exclaims, although, a smile is resting on her face. George gives her a smirk. "Maybe," he agrees, "but you love and missed us, didn't you, our dearest Spence?"

Spencer softens her gaze as she stares at them. "Of course I did," she answers seriously, "you two are my family."

Fred and George stare at her without a joke left for them to use. Instead, they smile at her encouragingly. "And you are part of ours. Never forget," the two of them murmur in unison. They step to the side when a presence is right behind them. The twins give a gentle pat at Blaise's back before returning to their place back with Lee. She lets her eyes follow their steps before they meet Blaise's dark brown ones.

This time, she can see the fear in his eyes. Her eyebrows furrow and she places her hand on his cheek. "Are you okay?" Spencer questions, bringing him to the side while giving Ricky a look. Her best friend nods in acceptance and moves elsewhere to his classmates. Blaise closes his eyes and brings her close to him to the point where she is touching his chest.

"I felt you," he sounds incredibly broken as if someone ran him over with the heaviest object on Earth. Spencer stares at him in confusion, looking at his eyes for an answer. Little by little, she starts to realize what he means when she glances down at his chest where two familiar necklaces are on him. Spencer pales at the reminder and touches the small stone of the one that belongs to her. Immediately, his own starts to glow. "I-I thought you were dead," Blaise covers his mouth and bends down to lay his head on her shoulder. To cover himself up when she can feel his hot tears.

"I'm okay, Blaise," Spencer whispers into his ear, holding him close. "I'm okay," she repeats the words knowing right now they are true, but she does not know if she will continue to be so. Her mind takes to back to Dumbledore's funeral— the words she had spoken to him that day which still stands true to her.

Spencer lifts Blaise's chin down and gazes right at him. "Last year... I told you that I would make sure that we would find our way back to each other," she starts off slowly, caressing his cheek with her left hand. "You were there for me every single night," Spencer starts choking up in her words, "even in the days where I felt completely broken, you made sure to assure me that you were there. I once told you that my heart belongs to you, Blaise. That is still completely and utterly true."

Blaise takes in her words and rests his head on hers. "I lashed out when I felt you wanting to..." he does not say the words, but she knows what it is either way, "I told my mum and Theodore to cast the Fidelius Charm."

She widens her eyes in surprise. "W-what?"

"And then I returned to Hogwarts and Draco— Malfoy showed me your necklace and he told me what happened— what she did to you and so I snapped," Blaise stammers, taking off her necklace from his neck and holding it on his hand which he makes her hold on to as well. "I was helping some of the younger students beforehand in secret, but when you got... I attacked Morgana— Pansy managed to help some of the younger students we noticed wanted to join or were scared endlessly and we found ourselves here."

Spencer blinks absolutely puzzled. "You... you did that for me?" Her voice completely lowered down to the point where he barely hears her. Blaise stares at her in confusion.

"Spencer," Blaise says her name passionately. "I would bring wrath to all of the skies if it meant you would be safe."

Her eyes begin to water even more and she fears if he continues to speak to her as if she was the universe to him, that she would simply collapse onto his arms and melt. Blaise brings her even closer to him. "You scare me, Spencer. I didn't think it was possible for me to care so deeply about someone. Merlin, you wanted to break up with me back at the wedding but these past few months? You were the only thing that was always on my mind."

She stares at him wide-eyed and noticing the expression on her face, he lets his own wander around her face completely. Spencer gulps nervously knowing how horrible she looks: the heavy bags on her eyes for having missed too much sleep, the scars she has around her face and body, her hair no longer silky and smooth, the dirt all over her. And yet, it is like he does not even notice any of that because of how his eyes are glimmering with—

"Haven't you realized?" Blaise questions, tilting her chin up so their eyes can meet. Spencer feels her breathing momentarily stop. It is like their chests are connecting and she wants nothing more than to run away with him to a place where all the people she loves are in together. "I'm completely and utterly in love with you," he finally reveals.

And those words shatter her.

Her throat runs dry and she can feel her own tears falling down her cheeks. Blaise stares at her in confusion, not knowing if the tears are good or not, but Spencer does not care. She places both her hands on his cheek and immediately connects their lips together. This kiss is nothing like she has ever felt before. Once their lips met— Blaise pulled her closer to him and they practically cling to other like if it was the last time they would ever do it. Passion runs through both their veins and Spencer feels like she is at the top of the world and living once more. And as she kisses him, she knows down in the bottom of her heart that she will be facing Morgana in hopes that she can never harm anyone like him or innocent person ever again.

So, yes, his words shatter her because she does not know if she will make it out alive.

The two of them only part from each other when they hear the tunnel door open once more. Spencer feels the three words right against the tip of her tongue, but before she can say them out loud, her attention diverts to a familiar looking boy entering with possibly one of the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. Her mouth opens in shock, and right away, she knows her eyes are not deceiving her when she hears her best friend shout, "Theodore!"

Ricky Adams practically sprints his way toward the entrance and indulges the former Slytherin in a hug that only lasts for a few seconds before he pulls away and brings him in for a kiss. Theodore Nott stumbles back in surprise before his hand reaches up to Ricky's shoulders and he kisses him back with the same force. The woman beside them raises an eyebrow amusingly and then smiles when Ricky lets go of Theodore, his face completely flustered red.

"I— sorry," Ricky apologizes, looking breathless already just by whatever just happened. Spencer smiles softly and it only increases when Theodore looks around the room and his eyes connect to hers. He closes his eyes in what seems like relief before heading toward her anxiously. She does the same as he does and once they are merely facing each other, Theodore gazes at her in wonder before his arms are suddenly wrapping her in a hug.

Spencer squeezes her own around him and then presses a kiss on his cheek afterwards. "You beautiful kid... I missed you," she tells him honestly.

Theodore gives her a grin. "I love you too." The woman he arrived with steps forward (after having greet Ricky with a charming smile) and stares at her with wonders and curiosity.

"You must be the infamous Spencer Montague that my son and his friend always talk about," the beautiful woman claims, holding out her hand elegantly. Spencer widens her eyes in surprise before remembering her manners and shaking her hand respectfully.

"Ma'am, it is wonderful to meet you," she praises, bowing her head slightly in respect. Esmeralda Zabini raises an eyebrow and smiles once more.

"Please, darling, it is my own pleasure to finally meet the girl my son is dating. Always talked about you at any chance he gets," Blaise's mother reveals, smirking slightly when suddenly Blaise reappears by Spencer's side, his own eyes widened in surprise.

"Mum, Theo... what are you two doing here?" He questions in absurd, shaking Theodore's hand respectfully while letting his mother kiss him on his cheek— which are still painted red with blush.

His mother and Theodore stare at him like if he is insane. Esmeralda crosses her arms and glares at her son. "You think I was about to let my son and his friend fight this war by themselves? Oh, no, baby. No one will be messing with my sons and their significant others unless I have a say on it," she scoffs out with determination.

Theodore arches an eyebrow. "As if I was about to let Spencer and Ricky— and maybe even you do this alone, man," he insists.

"How did you even know?" Spencer questions, still in shock more than anything. She understands everyone else because they had a coin from Dumbledore's Army, but them? And then, as if the universe was waiting for her to ask that question, another head starts popping up from the tunnel door.

Her old Slytherin friend smiles warmly. "Him," he murmurs right as Daniel Montague enters the Room of Requirement and around him are both unknown and familiar figures doing the same thing. Her brother glances around worriedly before he spots Ricky and then his eyes fall upon hers. He lets out a slight smile and right away pulls her into a hug.

"You're okay," he sighs in relief. Spencer nods at him assuringly and then grins when she spots Kingsley, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Oliver Wood, Amarantha Hale, Fallon Winters, Aaron Cresswell, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and — Remus? Her eyes widen in disbelief wondering why he is even there in the first place when he should be taking care of his newborn son! However, her thoughts do not stay focus much on that when Daniel separates himself from her and she notices the few unknown figures looking older than her brother and yet with the same authoritative expression.

Spencer can tell right away those are his coworkers, Daniel pulls her along and she introduces herself quietly while the rest politely do the same. After them, she makes her way to the Order members and nod their head appreciatively, giving each one of them a hug. Her eyes meet the students that have long graduated and nods at them politely.

The young Montague stands by herself, tapping her fingers on her chin with a thoughtful expression. Her eyes wander to each of the students and adult in the Room of Requirement before an idea crosses her mind. The younger students should not be able to fight, for they are too young to risk their lives, but there are others at Hogwarts who are down at the Great Hall or sleeping— some who might want to fight as well...

Ricky goes beside her, and Theodore, Blaise, Daniel— everyone practically surround the area where she is at. Her best friend raises his eyebrows and when he notices her confusion, he tells her, "You always tap your chin when you have an idea."

Theodore nods in agreement. "So, what is it?"

"We need to protect Harry," Spencer starts off. "In order to do that, we need majority of the students downstairs blended with the others. The Carrows, Snape, Morgana... they're still here— we need to get them out to give him more time for no complications."

She notices that everyone in the room is paying attention to her. "Once we get them out, we most likely have some time left to put barriers around the school and start preparing for everything. Are you in?"

All of them have a serious look on their face as they slowly nod to her words, but it is a different one that announces clearly, "I'm in." Spencer glances past all the people and notices another redheaded male she has only ever met one time (properly, she remembers seeing him in her first few years at Hogwarts). He appears older and he has an awkward look to his face as he stares at her and then at his own family who stare at him completely in shock. Spencer only finds herself surprise when she spots him glancing back at her former housemate, Aaron.  "Or am I too late? I just found out..."

Spencer gives him a nod of agreement and motions for him to get closer with the crowd. "Alright then, you don't have to join the ones that are coming. But if you are, start dressing up on your robes. All of those that were out of school already, or have run away, or an Order member, Wizard profiler— we'll enter a different way," she orders, for the first time in ages taking control.

No one dares to go against her words.

Within a few seconds of that announcement, Harry and Luna barge in and their eyes widen in surprise. "Wh—?" The Chosen One stares at all of them in confusion, noticing some are putting on their robes and the newcomers. He then shakes his head and questions, "Where's Ron and Hermione?"

Spencer glances at him. "They went to a certain bathroom downstairs," she answers secretively. It takes a while before he nods in understanding.

"What are they all doing?"

Spencer's eyes widen before pulling him over. "Protecting you. Put on some Gryffindor robes and blend in with the students— we need more people on our side—"

"— I don't want to bring more people on this mess—"

"— Harry, I love you, but in order to finish him already we need to kill that snake as well. We're offering people to join, not forcing them," Spencer interrupts firmly. He does not object and slowly nods.

Their attention heads to Ginny who is arguing with her parents about her joining in the plan. "You're underage!" Mrs. Weasley shouts at her daughter as Harry approaches. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

"I won't!" Ginny's hair flies as she pulls her arm out of her mother's grip. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army —"

"A teenagers' gang!"

"A teenagers' gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" Fred defends her.

"She's sixteen!" shouts Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What you two were thinking, bringing her with you —" Fred and George looks slightly ashamed of themselves.

"Mum's right, Ginny," Bill murmurs gently. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."

"I can't go home!" Ginny shouts, angry tears sparkling in her eyes. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and —" Her eyes meet Harry's. She looks at him beseechingly, but he shakes his head and she turns away bitterly.
"Fine," she huffs, staring at the entrance to the tunnel back to the Hog's Head. "I'll say good-bye now, then."

Spencer stares at Ginny with a slight frown knowing her friend's temper is just as fiery as her hair. Instead of focusing on that, she heads toward Remus still a little shock he is there. At the same time, so does Harry and Fleur.

"So — 'ow eez leetle Teddy?" Fleur questions excitedly, looking at him wondrously obviously intrigued by the baby. Spencer nods in agreement while Remus blinks at them, startled.

"I — oh yes — he's fine!" Remus ensures loudly. "Yes, Tonks is with him — at her mother's. Here, I've got a picture!" Remus shouts, pulling a photograph from inside his jacket and showing it to the three of them, who see a tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair, waving fat fists at the camera. Spencer makes a face of awe and smiles brightly.

"He's so adorable!" She squeals, making her forget for those seconds that a battle is about to start. While they start talking, Percy and the rest of the Weasleys reunited and so when Percy roars, "I was a fool!" He had said it so loudly that Remus nearly dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a — a —"

"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," Fred and George add in together with a mischievous grin.

"Yes, I was!"

"Well, you can't say fairer than that," Fred hums, holding out his hand to Percy. Mrs. Weasley bursts into tears. She runs forward, pushes Fred aside, and pulls Percy into a strangling hug, while he pats her on the back, his eyes on his father. "I'm sorry, Dad," Percy adds in.

Mr. Weasley blinks rather rapidly, then he too hurries to hug his son. "What made you see sense, Perce?" inquires George.

"It's been coming on for a while. Especially after Oliver told Amara about what I did and she told Aaron of it so he screamed my ear off," Percy informs, mopping his eyes under his glasses with a corner of his traveling cloak. "But I had to find a way out and it's not so easy at the Ministry, they're imprisoning traitors all the time. I managed to make contact with Aberforth and he tipped me off ten minutes ago that Hogwarts was going to make a fight of it, so here I am."

"Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," George mutters in a good imitation of Percy's most pompous manner. "Now let's get upstairs and get ready to fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken by the time we get there.

"Ginny!" barks Mrs. Weasley, noticing that her daughter is trying to blend in with the students and is wearing her Gryffindor robes. Spencer turns around the room and notices that majority of them are dressed up, some have left already to not make a scene. Her eyes land on Blaise and Pansy who are wearing their Slytherin robes. Her eyes connect with Blaise, and she gives him a short smile. He gives her a nod in return, and he grabs Pansy's hand before he leaves the room.

Spencer looks over at the entrance to the school and when a shudder of fear passes through her body once more, she knows they have to start already. Many of the students have now gone to blend in while the younger ones are still in there with a fearful expression on their face— some trying to get past the doors but a few wizard profilers stopping them midway. She turns to the rest of them who have just arrived and when she realizes Harry is no longer with them, obviously having left with a group of Gryffindors, she announces, "It's time."

And then, they begin to march their way to the Great Hall, their wands all ready to start the fight if necessary— and all their minds focused on doing this for their loved ones.

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
the battle starts in 3, 2, 1...