A/N-

Sorry for the incredibly long wait! A-levels are taking up so much of my time at the moment, but I still try and write when I have a spare moment!

Also, this chapter was inspired by an episode of the BBC Doctor Who spin-off called Class, which is written by Patrick Ness. I would recommend the series, it's really good!

Chapter 27 (Ava)

When I woke up in my hammock, I was surprised to find the Room of Requirement was empty. It had been two days since we'd broken into the potions cabinet and the five of us had spent most of our time together brewing potions. Everyone had been there when I'd fallen asleep, but they must have gone down to breakfast. I shivered, hoping they wouldn't get into any trouble.

To distract myself I moved over to the cauldrons we had by the fire where we were brewing various healing potions. I glanced in the potions textbook that we'd been using and checked the stage that each potion was at. Thankfully, two of them were complete. I retrieved some glass bottles from the cabinet and poured the dark red potion into separate bottles, labelling them with a quill before stacking them on the shelf. Just as I started to add more ingredients to some of the other potions, I heard the doors open. I turned my head sharply, but relaxed when Dean, Ginny, Seamus and Neville tumbled into the room with armfuls of food.

"Ava Potter!" Seamus shouted as he threw himself down onto the pile of cushions, "Get away from that cauldron! No more work until we've all eaten breakfast together!"

I started to protest, but a moment later he was behind me, dragging me backwards across the floor. The others started laughing, and I pulled my wand out and waved it threateningly at Seamus. He raised his hands in surrender as he sat back down again, and I threw myself down onto the cushions beside him.

"Just how did you smuggle all this food from the Great Hall without being noticed?" I asked with a stare at the piles of food and the jugs of pumpkin juice that were laid out in the middle of our small circle.

"No idea," Dean murmured, "I didn't even see the Carrows when we walked into the Great Hall..."

"I did," Ginny frowned, "They were walking away from the Gryffindor table with a smug look on their faces. Alecto was holding a bottle of some sort, but I couldn't tell what was in it, if anything."

"Then they walked out," Neville told me, "So we grabbed the pumpkin juice jugs from the table and Seamus nicked a whole pile of toast and bacon."

I beamed as I reached for a cup and poured myself some pumpkin juice, "You guys do treat me to the best meals, I have to say. I don't even miss Mrs. Weasley's cooking at this point."

Mentioning Mrs. Weasley made me think of Fred, and my throat tightened. I did miss him. More than anything.

"So," Neville distracted me from my thoughts, "Which potions are finished?"

"Blood replenishing, thankfully," I told them, "The others are on their way there. If we're lucky, we might be able to get the next batch of potions on the go by tomorrow."

"That will be if you slave over them for the next few hours, Ava," Seamus looked at me pointedly, "And we're not going to let you do that."

"It's not like I have anything better to do," I pointed out, "I'm trapped in here all day every day. I like to keep myself busy."

Seamus rolled his eyes but decided against saying anything else. I gave him a smile and he suddenly glanced up at me.

"I didn't trust you when you first came here. It was a bit suspicious that you'd managed to get in here without getting caught. I wondered if you'd had inside help from the Death Eaters."

"What the hell?" I frowned, staring at Seamus with a shocked expression. I could feel my cheeks burning- with anger or embarrassment, I wasn't sure.

"Why wouldn't you trust me?" I eventually managed, taking another sip of pumpkin juice.

"Because you're a Slytherin," Seamus blurted, "And you hardly spoke to Harry all of last year, did you? It was only at the end of the year when Dumbledore died that you went back to your family. I always thought it was weird. And then you disappeared off the face of the Earth for a few months- that was suspicious as well."

"Seamus!" Ginny shouted, finally finding her voice. We were all shocked at what we were hearing from Seamus. He'd been so nice to me all this time- why was he suddenly telling me this?

"I still have feelings for you, Ginny."

We all turned and looked at Dean, our mouths falling open.

"What?" Ginny whispered, and he smiled dreamily.

"I really thought you were the one... you know? I know we argued a lot but I loved you. And then you went off with Harry instead. You broke my heart, Ginny." He murmured softly.

We all sat in silence for a moment, processing what he'd just said. I glanced down into my dark pumpkin juice and sighed. Suddenly, as if something around my mouth had loosened, words started to tumble out.

"I had feelings for Draco Malfoy. He helped me when I was locked up in Malfoy Manor. He loved me and although I don't love him, I think I could have grown to love him. If I'd been at Malfoy Manor for much longer, my feelings might have changed."

I clamped my hand over my mouth and swore.

"I think there's Veritaserum in the pumpkin juice," Ginny dropped her cup in shock, "Don't drink anymore!"

My cup slipped out of my fingers and landed on the cushion, causing dark liquid to spread across the fabric.

"I wish my Gran would stop comparing me to my parents," Neville muttered, staring straight ahead, "I don't think I'll ever be anything like them. They seem like they were afraid of nothing, and I'm not like that in the slightest. I wish I could be braver, but I'm not."

"Neville," I started to say, still struggling to keep a grip on my tongue, "You're one of the bravest people I know. You can't say that, it's simply not true."

"Harry's the bravest person I know," Ginny murmured quietly, "Every day I worry that something dreadful is happening to him. I love him and... I just want to be with him. I want to know that he's okay."

I nodded slowly, "I miss Fred. I miss his touch more than anything. We slept together at his Aunt Muriel's, you know."

I stood up with a gasp, my cheeks reddening.

"Water. Water!"

A jug of water appeared on the shelf above my head and I grabbed it, quickly pouring everyone a drink. I passed them to everyone as quickly as I could.

"Don't worry, Seamus, it's not poison," I muttered bitterly as I gave it to him, and he shook his head quickly, the cup frozen just below his lips.

"Ava, I'm not afraid of you anymore. You're one of the people I trust the most. I've seen your scars and I've seen how brave you are and how ready you are to put your life on the line for one of us. I trust you."

I found myself smiling as I raised the cup of water to my lips and began to drink quickly. He did the same.

Neville started to say something, but I cast a silencing charm on him with my wand.

"We've already said things we'll regret. Let's not say anything else."

Silence settled over the room as the Veritaserum stopped working. Ginny gulped, "So when we saw the Carrows walking away from the Gryffindor table, they'd just put Veritaserum in the Pumpkin Juice. We're lucky we took every pitcher of juice, otherwise... the other students might have revealed any secrets that the Carrows had asked them about."

There was another moment of silence. Neville glanced up at me, "Did you mean what you said? About Malfoy?"

I sighed, "Yes, but he... he can't be changed. I realised that long ago. He will follow his family, whatever that means. And I would never follow him in that direction."

There was another moment of silence, and Ginny glanced up at Dean, "Come on."

The two of them got up and walked over to the crackling fire, sitting awkwardly on the cushions as they began to talk.

I turned away from them, not wanting to watch their discussion. Neville and Seamus did the same.

"I'd rather that we'd have drunk it than the students in the Great Hall," I murmured, "If they'd exposed the re-emergence of the DA, or me hiding out here..."

Neville squeezed my hand, "Well, we're lucky they didn't."

"The Carrows won't back down now," Seamus gulped, "They won't stop until they get what they want."

"No," I hesitated, "But we won't let them win, will we?"

A moment later, Ginny got up and walked back towards us. Wordlessly, Seamus made his way over to Dean and sat down across from him.

"You okay?" I asked Ginny, and she nodded sheepishly.

"More than anything, he's scared about losing us all in the war. He's feeling impulsive- he doesn't want to be alone in these months before we might die."

I raised my eyebrows, surprised by the morbidity of Dean's reasoning.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Ginny asked, glancing at him, and I reached out and squeezed her hand.

"Definitely. He's not alone, not really. He has Seamus." I looked at the two boys murmuring to each other, "Even if he doesn't realise it."

There was a pause.

"We'll be alright, won't we?" Neville asked nervously.

"Of course," I replied, my voice wavering slightly, "We have each other. We'll always be alright."

I didn't know if my words were true, but we had to be positive. We couldn't carry on this war without positivity.