In the Glow

The storm was abating, as it slowly grew too cold for snow outside the great castle. Drifts climbed up the walls and bridges of stone, and swirling wind wailed against windowpanes that had been magically reinforced hundreds of years ago. The spells were worn in places, but on the west tower they were still strong. And the wind could not enter into the tower. And the glow from an ancient fireplace dispelled the gloom outside the seemingly fragile blown glass panes.

On the other side of the glass, the Gryffindor common room was a crowded, cozy place. All of the House was tucked in from the day. They filled the comfortably shabby, overstuffed chairs and sprawled across threadbare rugs in front of the roaring fire. The companionable hum of content conversation, glints of light from small spellwork and the scent of toasting marshmallows and brimstone from Exploding Snap filled the air.

"While you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts." Harry could still remember McGonagall's opening speech. Though, thankfully, Harry's housemates were nothing like the Dursleys. They were far more important.

From his prime spot on a tapestry and leather-patched armchair he could see almost everyone. Hermione was tucked in the corner of a sofa, lost in a book from home. Ron leaned against her knees, frowning at an article in his Quidditch Quarterly, Crookshanks sprawled across his lap. Seamus and Dean were dealing out another round of Snap in the corner, explaining the finer points of the game to the four first-years. Angela was planning out the next practice by the window. Parvati and Lavender giggled into a Witch Weekly, having just set aside their Advanced Divination essays. Neville was sitting on the stairs, practicing retrieval spells with his new wand, zipping the marshmallows out of the dish a few fourth years were snacking from. Ginny seemed to be writing to Charlie, as she had just asked Harry if he wanted to send a hello to Norbert. The second years were surrounded by a pile of pamphlets, trying to decide on their third year options. At the low table in the middle of the room, Colin was sorting photos into piles while Dennis vanished the discards.

One of the photos Harry could see was a house portrait Colin had snapped right before Fred and George had left last year. The twins were grinning mischievously at Katie Bell, whose blonde hair was turning a light shade of turquoise as Harry watched. There was a little shoving as everyone jockeyed for position, then obviously Colin had asked them to stand still for a second, Harry recalled that Colin had actually sounded a little less scattered and a bit more annoyed as he shouted. Everyone suddenly straightened, looked forward and smiled.

Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair. The House, the amused friendly over-crowding in the frame, recalled another, somewhat smaller magical group photo he'd seen last year.

Lupin, with no scars across his face, no grey in his hair. Sirius with a wolfish grin. His parents. Neville's mother and her sweet, shy smile. Once upon a time, they had all been at Hogwarts. They had all taken part in these common room gatherings and gone to classes and thought they'd live happily ever after.

"...we only ever found pieces of him...never found his body...they fought like heroes..." Moody's gruff voice seemed to whisper in his ear and Harry had to open his eyes to stop the memories. Looking for something else to focus on, he lit upon Neville, who was looking at his wand in one hand and a marshmallow in the other, with an odd expression on his face.

"All right, there, Neville?"

"Yeah." Neville sent the sweets back to their bowl with a flick of his wrist and followed them towards Harry. "It's just weird. How easy it is now."

"Good, though?"

"Definitely." Neville has his mother's smile. 'And I need to get a grip,' Harry thought to himself.

"DA Meeting tomorrow night, then?" Neville asked and Harry saw that most of the rest of the room was listening as well. Harry hadn't planned to continue the meetings, figured that with Professor Lupin back at Hogwarts, no one would want extra lessons. But Lupin had asked him to keep on, as he was playing catch-up with the second and third years who had suffered most under Umbridge's teaching style. Almost the whole group was back, with the addition of fourth years.

"Right." Seamus and Dean nodded to him from across the room and the rest of the Gryffindors went back to their tasks.

"Good." Neville was still making up for lost time, Harry reckoned. "G'night, then, Harry."

"'Night, Neville." He watched Neville climb the stairs to their dormitory tower. The eager look on Neville's face, the keenness of the other DA members. There would be no lack of Order members in a few years, no matter how hard it was to build the roster up now.

That thought brought him up short. In a few years. In a few years, would his housemates look like the group in the photo, still? Or would he have a list like Moody's? And in fifteen years, would there be fewer and fewer students at Hogwarts, if it still existed at all?

Harry looked around the room again and reminded himself of another conversation. Lupin telling Mrs. Weasley how it was different this time. How they were more prepared, and Voldemort less so. But that was before Sirius. And before Moody and Professor Trelawney and Mundungus last summer. And it was before Harry had found out what his fate in this whole thing was.

But he knew now.

He knew and the key was that he had to accept it.

And while the glow of the fire warmed the room, the wind still howled outside, trying to slip through the wards.