Resistance

Chapter 10 - Flight From the Burrow

Climbing onto the Hogwarts Express from Hogsmeade, Neville couldn't help feeling a twinge of apprehension. There was no reason to expect Ginny or anyone else would be taken. But all the same the students were vulnerable on the train, without the teachers and the thick stone walls and complex enchantments of Hogwarts to protect them. It was the perfect place to attack if you wanted to get hold of a Hogwarts student.

Ginny seemed to be thinking the same thing, as she was jumpy and irritable. They shared a compartment with Lavender, Parvati and Padma. Everyone was subdued, despite it being the start of the holidays.

Neville spent the journey reading up on Protean charms. A couple of the DA's coins had started to play up and they needed to try and fix them. Ginny's was one of those that wasn't working properly. At some time going through the Midlands, he admitted defeat and went to find Michael Corner. Michael examined the coin carefully along with Neville's, and tapped it several times with his wand. Eventually he turned back to his friend. 'I think I can fix it, but I need a bit of time to work on the spell. I don't want to just wipe it and start again, because it might affect all the others. Do you think Ginny would mind if I took it home over the holidays?'

'I suppose it would be OK,' said Neville with a shrug. 'There's not much point in her taking it home when it doesn't work.'

He spent a bit longer with the Ravenclaws, reflecting on the past term and discussing their NEWTs. It felt odd to think the next term would be their last at Hogwarts. None of them thought they would pass their 'Dark Arts' NEWT, and generally they didn't want to. On the other hand, for people like Neville who were only taking three subjects, it made future job prospects rather bleak. Still, Neville found he couldn't think much further than the next week, let alone the looming prospect of the future. War made everything close in, it made life intense and the moment all consuming.

When the train pulled into the station he felt a surge of relief at the sight of Gran's vulture hat in the crowd. There were fewer Ministry enforcers around, a sign that they'd perhaps realised that Harry wasn't suddenly going to be overcome by a desire for education. He levitated his and Ginny's trunks out of the train and onto the platform, then turned to his friend with a sense of finality. He had a sudden feeling of not wanting to leave her, to let her go.

'Well, have a good Easter then,' she said, with the usual amount of awkwardness. 'Good luck with your NEWT revision.'

'Yeah, thanks,' he said flatly, not looking forward to several weeks of practicing Charms and writing essays. 'You'll write, won't you? Especially if there's any news about our friends - remember the code we agreed?'

She laughed at his anxious face. 'Of course I remember, don't worry Nev, if anything happens I'll let you know. It's just a shame my coin is out of action. Still, Michael will have fixed it up ready for another term of making the Carrow's lives as hard as possible.' She saw his face. 'Come on Neville, cheer up. It's only the holiday. I don't know about you but I could do with a break... it's hard, all the constant fighting, never knowing what's going to happen next.'

'You're right.' He checked his pocket for Trevor and twitched his wand to lift his trunk again. Ginny turned to go, and got about two paces away, when she looked back over her shoulder. Impulsively, she ran back to him and flung her arms around him.

'You look after yourself, Neville,' she said, hugging him tightly. 'Stop worrying about everyone else for a change. We'll come back next term stronger and more determined than ever and we will beat them, you wait and see!' He saw the look in her steely blue eyes and knew that she meant it. Then she turned and was gone, weaving through the crowd towards her mother, who rushed to meet her.

As Neville moved in the opposite direction to find Gran, he couldn't help giving a backward glance. He still felt strangely reluctant to leave, but Ginny was swallowed up in the crowd and lost from view by the swirling steam. He thought of his last glance at Luna, and then tried to shake himself out of his misery. Stop being an idiot, Longbottom he told himself, negotiating his trunk through the melee on the platform. But he felt uneasy for the rest of the day.

*****

Over the Easter holidays Neville worked hard on defensive magic. He revised for Herbology quite happily; with Herbology it never felt like revision, he found the subject so interesting. It was the one thing he didn't struggle to remember. Aside from that, he spent hours practicing charms and defensive spells from his Dad's books. The hard work paid off; he doubled the number of silent spells he could perform and improved his spell casting stamina considerably. Even his Gran seemed impressed by his sudden ability to pour the kettle with only a small movement of his wand.

Ginny wrote on several occasions, mostly bemoaning the dullness of being at home without any of her brothers around. She had no news of Harry and reading between the lines Neville could feel her disappointment. He knew that Ginny still half believed that Harry would reappear at any moment, possibly to call her away to fight with him.

Halfway through the holiday Neville was in his room practicing Stinging hexes, when his Gran called him downstairs. She looked unusually excited and was fiddling with the wireless. She waved Neville into one of the kitchen chairs without speaking, and a moment later the radio crackled into life.

'Good day listeners, this is River. I would like to apologise for our temporary absence from the airwaves, which was due to a number of house calls in our area by those charming Death Eaters.' The voice was warm and humorous and instantly recognisable.

Neville's face lit up. 'Potterwatch!' he said. 'I haven't heard this for ages!'

But soon his face fell as the broadcast went on to report several deaths and that his old friend Dean Thomas was likely in great danger, after his travelling companions had been killed. 'Seamus is going to be gutted,' he said aloud to his Gran. Knowing that Dean may be among those killed weighed heavily on him as he sat through the silence. Even the assertion later in the programme that Harry Potter was almost certainly alive wasn't enough to shake the feeling of gloom. But he still felt a sense of loss when the broadcast ended; even when Potterwatch was giving bad news there was something comforting about it, knowing he was not the only person fighting the regime.

'They're a bit out of date,' commented Neville after Gran had switched off the radio. 'Hagrid was nearly caught at the end of term, a couple of weeks back.'

'Either that or they're protecting their source,' suggested Gran.

'Of course! Yes, they must have heard it from Ginny. Good thinking, Gran.'

'I don't know why they bother,' sniffed his grandmother. 'Everyone in the wizarding world with any sense knows it's those Weasley boys behind the broadcast. It's a miracle that family has escaped arrest, no matter that they're pure bloods. They won't be allowed to carry on much longer, that's for sure.'

*****

Ginny was sitting in the lounge writing a boring Charms essay. Although the house was quieter than it had ever been, she found it hard to concentrate. There was something unnerving about the silence. One of the hands on the big clock moved, catching her eye. It was her father's, he'd gone from 'work' to 'travelling'. She stared at the others for a moment. Bill's, Charlie's and Percy's were on 'work' - although all three had left home they still remained on the clock and it enabled them to keep an eye on even Percy despite the fact they hadn't spoken in more than a year.

Her mother's and her own hands were on 'home' - she could hear her Mum in the kitchen, bustling about cooking large amounts of food. Mrs Weasley hadn't managed to adjust her portion sizes for her severely reduced family and Ginny was sure she was putting on weight. Fred and George's hands pointed to 'out and about' - a suspiciously vague category that could have been invented just for them. And Ron's... the youngest of her brother's hand pointed to 'lost', just as it had ever since the ill-fated wedding.

The hand bearing Arthur's face clicked round to 'home', and a moment later she heard his key in the door. Her Mum called her, 'Ginny! It's Potterwatch on the radio, dear!' But Ginny stayed on the sofa. She couldn't bear to listen to another list of dead people and speculation. Besides, she'd seen Fred earlier that day and he'd already filled her in on the news - which wasn't much at all.

She forced her attention back to her essay, trying to make herself concentrate as she re-read the same paragraph for the third time. Snatches of Potterwatch reached her ears from the kitchen, but she tried not to listen. Then she heard her parents' voices again; the broadcast must have ended. She turned another page of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 and managed another sentence of essay. Then once again a movement from the clock made her look up.

For a second she didn't take it in, then she screamed. 'Mum! Dad! Quick!'

The clock hand bearing Ron's familiar freckled face had moved for the first time in months. It was pointing to 'Mortal Peril'.

*****

No one in the Burrow slept that night. Mrs Weasley alternated between sobbing and making large quantities of tea. Mr Weasley paced and jumped at every noise. Ginny remained on the couch, her forgotten essay still spread out in front of her, watching the clock. The worst thing was the sense of powerlessness. They knew Ron was in danger, but they didn't know where or from whom. Ginny wasn't sure what happened to the clock hand if someone died, if the hand disappeared or just remained stuck on the last category. She didn't feel this was the time to ask.

What felt like an eternity went past, with the clock hands remaining frozen in place. Mr Weasley fired off several patronuses to Order members to try and find out if anyone knew what was happening. Later they were joined by Lupin, though he didn't have any more news than they did. 'I've tried everyone,' said Arthur. 'Even Aberforth, who's practically given up on the Order. But no one can tell us anything about where Ron is or what's happening.'

It was growing light the next morning when Bill's tiger Patronus burst into the living room in a flash of blinding silver light. Everyone was so on edge they screamed. 'Ron is safe, his cover's blown, all family into hiding immediately,' it announced in Bill's deep voice, before dissolving. For a moment they all stood staring at each other, then Arthur moved even as Molly sagged with relief. Ginny looked back at the clock; Ron's hand had moved 'visiting'.

'Looks like our luck's run out,' Arthur was saying. 'Molly, quickly, grab some things, we've got to go. Ginny, get your wand and bag, we need to leave right now.'

Spurred into action by the urgency in her father's voice, Ginny ran to the stairs. She already had her wand in her pocket; she carried it with her at all times now even though she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school. If it came to a life or death situation she'd rather break the law. She reached her bedroom and grabbed the bag she'd pack for this eventuality. Everyone in the family knew the evacuation plan and was ready.

She was back on the stairs in moments, but stopped short teetering on the edge of the top step when she heard the front door crash open. 'Freeze! Ministry raid, nobody move!' yelled a rough voice from downstairs. A moment later was a bang and a yell, and she guessed that someone was duelling, but who was coming off better it was impossible to know. Her first instinct was to run down and fight but she heard the noise of more people arriving and knew they were outnumbered.

'Go, go!' she heard Lupin shouting, and her mother wail, 'Ginny!' There were feet on the stairs now, and Ginny jumped back out of the way. She needed a way out. There had to be something... her instinct took her towards the twins' room before her brain kicked in with the reason. She raced inside, pushing shut the door and sealing it with a spell.

A quick glance out of the window showed Ministry men below, but they were all focussed on getting into the house on the ground floor and none were looking up. It was a long way down, but Ginny knew she didn't have much option. She could hear doors being barged open on the floor below her, each accompanied by a shout of, 'Freeze! Ministry raid!'

Her heart was thumping. How would her parents and Lupin get out if they were still downstairs? The numbers of Ministry people were surely too great. 'I wish I had your Invisibility Cloak right now, Harry,' she whispered, as she carefully opened the window. She clambered onto the ledge and turned, gripping the windowsill with both hands while her legs stretched until her feet found the drainpipe. Fortunately, years of escapes when grounded had given Ginny pretty good drainpipe-climbing skills, and she began to climb down as fast as she dared.

She heard someone downstairs shout, 'Protego!' accompanied by a flash of red light. From the noises it sounded like they'd barricaded themselves in. She was at the most risky point now, almost at the ground. Just as her feet hit the springy grass, someone yelled, 'Hey!' and before she could react a spell was whizzing towards her, missing by inches. She spun round, shouting, 'Expelliarmus!' as she moved, but she was too late. A trip jinx hit her square on and she landed flat on the floor, somehow keeping hold of her wand.

Before she could move again, another voice shouted, 'Stupefy!' and as she risked a look up, ready to fire off another spell, she saw Bill running towards her. 'Go, Ginny, get out,' he panted, approaching the house.

'You must be joking,' she replied, following her brother. They took refuge behind the chicken coop. It provided scanty cover but it was the only structure in a suitable place. Through the kitchen window she could see the Death Eaters closing in on her parents and Lupin. 'Ready?' asked Bill tersely, and she nodded.

Bill cast a powerful spell which shattered the glass in the kitchen window. The raiders whirled round, and three were caught by Stunning spells before they'd realised what was happening. The cornered Order members took the opportunity to knock out the rest of their attackers. Soon all were Stunned, although a couple were already stirring. Arthur, Molly and Lupin stepped over their fallen opponents and raced out of the kitchen towards Bill and Ginny.

'Come on, let's get out of here before the back-up arrives,' yelled Arthur, leading his family to the edge of the property. 'That was just the advance guard, they must have known we'd run, thank goodness they were ill prepared.' As they pulled themselves over the fence, more Death Eaters apparated nearby. Ginny half turned, wand ready, but was grabbed from behind. She began to struggle, but the grip was tight and the next moment her captor disapparated. She felt herself swirling in space, and resisted struggling in case she splinched herself.

Then she was landing in a musty hallway and as she turned on whoever had grabbed her, she realised it was Bill. 'I surrender!' he gasped, as with another loud pop Lupin appeared nearby, reeling from the force. Ten panicked seconds later, Arthur and Molly arrived. 'We just made it,' gasped Arthur. 'Had to do a couple of defensive spells before we could disapparate.' He looked around. 'Is everyone OK?'

'Arthur, Molly, to what do I owe this... unexpected pleasure?' Great Auntie Muriel was standing in a doorway, wearing lime green carpet slippers, a dressing gown, and with her hair in curlers.

Arthur straightened up and smiled at his Aunt. 'Hello, Muriel. We've come to stay for a bit.'

*****

Muriel's kitchen had run out of chairs. It was going to be a very snug fit staying there, that was for sure. Ginny's eyes ached from lack of sleep but there was still too much adrenaline in her system to go to bed. 'Are you sure Bill didn't say why the Death Eaters knew Ron was with Harry?' she asked again.

'I've told you all I know,' replied her father. 'He was in a hurry, he said he had a couple of injured people to look after. They tipped him off that the Death Eaters may have realised Ron was with Harry, and that we should get into hiding.'

'Do you think they've caught them?' Ginny could hardly bear to ask the question.

'No, Bill said these wizards had seen Harry and the others in a fight, the same one they got injured in, but that they all got away. I don't think he really knew any more than that.'

'Bill's been very secretive since he married that Fleur,' sniffed Mrs Weasley. 'At least we know that Ron and the others got away, and thank goodness Bill warned us when he did.'

'But it means we're prisoners now, doesn't it?' said Ginny, glumly.

'I'm afraid so, especially you. You've still got the trace on you, it's far too dangerous for you to leave the house.' Fred grinned at her. 'Cheer up little sis, at least you don't have to see any more of Snape and the Carrows.'

'No, but it means I'm abandoning Neville completely! He's lost everyone close to him now - how'll he run the DA?' She slumped despondently on the tiles.

'Come on, there's more people than that in the DA, and he's still got that Irish lad - Seamus, isn't it?'

The thought of Seamus being the only support left to Neville depressed Ginny even more, and she felt a flash of jealousy. 'He's useless,' she muttered.

'There's nothing we can do, Ginny love. You know we'll be a target the minute we step outside. Let's all just be happy that Harry, Ron and Hermione are safe.'

'Of course I'm happy,' she snapped. 'But it doesn't mean much, does it? We still don't know where they are, or what they're doing, and we still can't do a thing to help them. And they're only safe until they reach the next danger.' She took a deep breath. 'Am I allowed to write to Neville, at least, to let him know I'm all right?'

Her parents hesitated, then her father nodded. 'You can owl him to say you're alive, but don't say where we are - not even that we're under a Fidelius or still in the country. Don't mention Harry or the others. Don't say...'

'All right!' Ginny interrupted him. 'I'm not stupid. I won't say anything that could possibly be used by the Death Eaters to find us, or anyone else. But since I'm leaving him at Hogwarts with only Seamus for support, the least I can do is let him know I'm not dead.'

*****

'Come.' Severus Snape didn't glance up from his desk as the door to his office opened. He already knew who it was.

'Ello Snape... I mean, Professor Snape.' Faced with a Headmaster's desk, Gorgonius Goyle instinctively looked guilty and tried to make himself small - no mean feat for such a hulking man.

'You have an intercepted owl for me?' asked Snape, still not looking up at the rank-and-file Death Eater.

'Yessir. Sent to the Longbottom boy.' He held over an envelope, which Snape took without looking up and sliced with a silver letter opener decorated with skulls.

The letter inside was short and written in a handwriting he recognised from five years' of essays. Dear Neville, This is to let you know I am safe, and not hurt, but I can't come back to school. All the time we think of each other, we will never be apart. Love, Ginny.'

'How very touching,' said Snape. He glanced up at Goyle as though surprised he was still there. 'You can go now.'

Goyle bowed his head slightly, and left the room looking relieved. Snape turned his attention back to the letter and glanced up at the frame where Dumbledore's portrait hung. Satisfied that the canvas was unoccupied, he very slowly crumpled the letter and threw it onto the flames. As the parchment flared and burned, he allowed himself a smile.

*****

Neville waited on Platform Nine and Three Quarters until the guard blew his whistle for the third time and yelled, 'The train is leaving in one minute!' with a meaningful glare at the last remaining students. His Gran had already left, she didn't hold with protracted goodbyes. He searched the platform one last time, before reluctantly jumping on the train and swinging the door shut as it started to pull out. He kept his eyes on the barrier, hoping, praying that a small flame-haired figure would burst through it, running towards the Hogwarts Express.

But all he saw were worn-down parents grimly filing out, and then the station was gone from view. He realised his hands were shaking slightly, and he stuck them in his pockets. Moving on autopilot, he stowed his trunk in a spare compartment - once upon a time there'd never been such a thing but now so many students were gone the train seemed half empty.

He walked the length of the train, peering into every compartment. He saw Draco Malfoy, who looked like he'd been in a fight - his face was covered in partly healed cuts and there was a painful looking welt across his cheek. He still managed a half-hearted sneer at Neville, and yelled out, 'What are you looking at, Longbottom? Lost your toad again? If I see it I'll stamp its brains out!'

Eventually Neville returned to his carriage and sat down. He took a very deep breath and let it out slowly. Ginny was gone. She wasn't coming back. He was alone.