Begin to Hope

Maverick's reply showed up only a few hours before he did. I had told him we were on the outskirts of London, to meet us there as soon as he could, and he showed up a few days later, with nearly no plan to go on. Not only that, but he had brought along everyone from Beauxbatons, a whole mess of people that were cranky and irritated and demanding food.

"Maverick!" I ranted, pacing back and forth in a clearing a little while away from where everyone else was waiting for a decision. I wanted to speak with him a moment, to find out what we were going to do. "What did you bring all of them for? You couldn't have let them wait in France until we were ready?"

"Kerry, you don't know what it was like! They were acting crazy! They are so eager and ready to fight--they were ready to kill me! I swear, the moment they spot a Death Eater they will be after him like stink on a monkey."

I rolled my eyes. "But Klaus still hasn't replied to any of our owls...and I don't think we can bring everyone back to storm Voldemort's lair without his permission, can we? We might ruin any plans he has. We have to be realistic!"

"But what if Klaus is locked up and he needs help? We have to go!"

I thought about it methodically for a second before sighing. "Alright, let's bring them all. We'll have to attack the castle, of course, whether Klaus has the necklace or not." The necklace! With it, we had a chance. A slim, imperfect chance, but there it was. But without it, maybe we could put a dent in his army, but--

Maverick and I made our way back to the camp. Standing on a tree stump, he addressed the entire crowd.

"We've decided it... we're going to fight!" The crowd of almost three hundred people gave a loud cry, damning Voldemort and cheering for Maverick, for rebellion, for... us.

"We have to move now, and quickly. Take only what you need. You can leave the rest here. But--you have to remember that he's powerful. He has more supporters there than one could imagine. I know... I was there." Amidst gasps from the crowd, I managed to spot Annabelle and the other kids standing in a circle speaking in low tones. I made my way over to them while Maverick continued his rousing speech.

I laid a hand on Annabelle's shoulder and she jumped, turning around. "Oh, hey, it's only you."

"Guys," I said, facing them, "I really don't know how to say--well, I don't want you six to fight. I want you to stay here." And as I imagined, they immediately started to protest. "You don't understand the danger, I'm just looking out for you guys!"

"Kerry, we are not staying here alone. All we have been doing is waiting, for the rest six months. I'm tired of waiting. If I can do something to help defeat Voldemort, I want to do it! I don't want to contribute nothing to the cause." Kimberly said.

"Yeah!" Princeton piped up. "I want to--I want to kill them. For--for Greg's sake." The look on Princeton's proud, determined face was enough to make me cry.

"--and Farley!" Annabelle chimed in. "Kerry, we are as much a part of this as you are. We can't just sit here for your return. Or for... if you don't return..."

I swallowed hard before turning to Tally and Humphrey. "What do you two think?"

"I want to fight! I'm ready!" Humphrey said. Humphrey, my beautiful little brother, stood there so strong, ready for anything. I gave him a weak smile.

Tally shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm scared, Kerry." she whispered.

"I know, Tally. We're all scared. But we have to do this. Do you think you can follow us into battle?"

She hesitated before nodding, but I knew she'd be alright.

I nodded to all of them before turning my attention back to Maverick.

He was peering out at the crowd, one fist in the air, the other clutching his wand. "And tonight... he will regret ever becoming Lord Voldemort." The people erupted into loud cheers, giving off a feeling of ignition and hope. He jumped off the tree stump and gave running over to me. "Ready to go?"

I nodded, and he motioned for everyone to follow him. "Let's move!"

It took almost two days' time for us to arrive back at the castle. It wasn't just humans joining in the fight against Voldemort--there were also three giants, two trolls, several goblins, numerous house elves, and dozens of other creatures that I couldn't name, with sharp hooves and bows and arrows, along for the ride as well, and that made is rather slow-going.

As we arrived about a mile from the castle, Maverick stayed with the group while I ventured back to the castle to see if I could find Klaus before we attacked.

"If I'm not back in an hour, go ahead and begin the attack." I told Maverick, and he nodded, starting his watch.

I ran through the forest to the castle, and I managed to sneak in one of the hidden entrances without being seen.

The hallways were nearly deserted, and for that I was thankful. I didn't know what Klaus had told people about Maverick and me. We had been gone for the past month--how did he explain our sudden disappearance? And if I saw anyone I knew, how would I explain my reappearance?

I went first to our dormitory, which was completely empty. I stood in the door for a full minute, shocked into silence. Not even Klaus's belongings remained there, which meant...

I ran down to the library, hoping against hope he was there. Not very likely, I know, but where else was I to look?

He wasn't there. Not even the crazy librarian we had first met was there. The place was completely deserted.

What is going on? I thought as I wandered the halls.

Spotting a young boy, who looked no more than ten years old, I grabbed him by the collar and demanded to know what was going on.

"The raid, ma'am!" he cried, frightened. "The Dark Lord took everyone to France to see about some renegades!"

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. So we couldn't fight, at least for now...not with everyone out of the castle! We had some peace, at least until they returned.

"When will they be back? How many left with him?"

"Depends, ma'am, on how long it takes. Not more than fifty people are left here, so, however many that is... May I go now?"

"Oh, yes, sorry." I released his collar and he began to walk away, watching me over his shoulder.

Well, if we could capture those fifty, that'd be fifty less to worry about when Voldemort got back.

"Hey, wait! One last question! What's in charge while he's gone?"

"Will is, ma'am. Will Truth."

Silently praising Klaus for being the smartest, cleverest, most wonderful guy in the entire world, I started off for the dungeons, where I knew he would most likely be having a meeting of some sort.

Estimating about half an hour left, I arrived in front of the first door way and listened carefully. There was a meeting going on, and a loud, angry one by the sounds of it. People were screaming, and I most certainly recognize Klaus's voice among the loud ones.

I stood in a corner, in the darkness, waiting impatiently for the meeting to be over. I wanted to speak with Klaus before Maverick stormed the castle, yet if this meeting took any longer...

They finally came out a few minutes before an hour was up and I stood, holding my breath, until they passed. Klaus and Kristy were the last two to come out of the room. She was hanging on his arm, like a leech, talking in undertones and laughing maniacally every few seconds. Stepping out of the shadows to face them, Kristy gasped and pointed at me, ready to begin screaming, and I moved forward, ready to punch her lights out, but Klaus got to it before I did.

We looked down at her unconscious body, a bruise already forming on her forehead, and Klaus looked up at me.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Where have I been? Where have you been? You never answered any of our letters, we thought you were dead!"

"Letters?" he looked at me confusedly. "Wait, let's go upstairs and talk--" Looking around carefully, he dragged Kristy's body back into the meeting room and left her sitting upright in a chair. Locking the door behind him with his wand, he said, "She's been getting on my nerves lately. I wanted to get rid of her anyway."

My heart gave a wild leap, for some reason, and we smiled at each other before moving upstairs. "What did you say about letters?" he asked, looking about for any signs of other people approaching.

"Maverick and I--we sent you half a dozen letters. You never responded to any of them!"

"I never got any letters. What are you doing here? Do you have a plan?"

"Did you get the necklace? Maverick is outside with three hundred people, ready to fight, on your command. Are you ready?"

Glancing around, he hesitated before responding, "No, I didn't get the necklace. But I can't think of a better time to begin the fight than right now, while there are only a few Death Eaters here. If we can get control of the castle--"

"Exactly my thought."

We were interrupted by a large crash on the far side of the castle, followed by booming noises and the sounds of the castle being intruded.

"That would be Maverick and gang," I said, excited. "Time to begin!" I made a move to go off, but Klaus grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Wait, Kerry. I--" he paused before bringing something out of his pocket and getting down on one knee. "I'm scared I won't--I don't know what to--will you marry me?" He held it out to me--a crude, twisted piece of metal with a blue crystal of some sort on the top...but not just that. It was...a ring.

I was overwhelmed. I was speechless. I was entirely flabbergasted.

"Oh, Klaus, I--" I bit my lower lip and looked into his face. He looked anxious, waiting to see my response, but I just didn't know what to say. We were about to go to war, and he pulls this on me?

"You don't have to answer now." He stood up and grabbed my hand and dropped the ring into my palm. "Just take it. We'll talk later." We heard more crashes coming from the level upstairs. "I have to go see what Maverick's getting into. 'Bye." He looked over his shoulder as he ran towards the next hall, smiling silently, like he couldn't wait to talk to me later.

I looked down at my hand, where the ring was sitting. I realized my hand was shaking and I picked up the ring and examined it. Klaus? Could it really be? My heart was pounding hard and my breath was coming out in short ragged gasps. Was he being serious? Or was he just bullshitting me? It couldn't be a joke, could it? I shook my head and tucked the ring into my pocket. I turned, ready to follow him upstairs, when I heard a voice call me.

"Stop right there, Ria Truth! Or, should I say, Kerry?"

I turned slowly and found Marcie and Aiden Blakeney walking slowly down the stairs towards me, suspicious expressions on their faces.

Encircling me, Aiden asked coolly, "So who are you really?"

I slowly reached into my pocket and felt for my wand. "My name is Kerry Creevy. My parents were Luna and Colin Creevy. For the first half of my life I lived under Hermione Granger's instruction. I was sent here under the direction of killing Voldemort and as many of the people here as I could. I--we've just launched a full scale attack on them. You can hear for yourself." I waved an arm in the direction of the stairs, where the sounds of fighting could be heard easily. "Anything else?"

Marcie stepped closer, inches away from my face. "How dare you," she spat, taking out her wand and waving it in front of my face. She paused for a moment, then her face broke out into a huge grin. "Give me a hug!"

She and Aiden embraced me, both nearly crying with happiness.

"What? I thought you were going to--what are you doing?"

"Oh, Kerry! We're from Beauxbatons! We had the same idea you had!"

"Wait, really?" A look of dawning comprehension crossed my face. "You can't be serious?"

"Of course! And thank goodness you guys made a move, because we were afraid that our group would back out. The three of us have been planning this for so long--and our group wouldn't do anything!"

"Wait, the three of you? There's just two of you--who else?"

Marcie looked solemnly down at the ground. "Well--there was three of us. Aiden, Jeremy, and I."

"Jeremy? He was part of your group, too? Where is he?"

Aiden spoke softly. "We think that he realized that you were on our side, and he--well, when he pushed you out of the way of the troll a month ago... he got hurt, really badly. He died, from his injuries. Before we got to talk to him."

I opened my mouth and closed it again, and I found that my eyes were wet. "When did he die?"

"Three weeks ago."

"Oh, Marcie, I'm so sorry!" I hugged her again and we stood there for a moment in each other's arms. "Was he--well, was he related to you?"

She nodded. "He was actually our older brother."

My mouth fell open. "But how did he... he told me that he's been here since he was a young boy! How did he pull that off?"

"Well, actually, he hadn't. We actually made some Polyjuice Potion, and he took on the appearance and mannerisms of a man named Jeremy that lived here. He wasn't actually named Jeremy, nor did he look like that. It was all a facade. And it ended badly..."

"I'm sorry, Marcie, I really am. And I hope that he knows, wherever he is, that I fully appreciate what he did for me." I smiled at her.

Marcie nodded and sniffed, wiping her face on her sleep.

"Come on," Aiden urged, "let's go find everyone else. We're going to miss the entire fight."

We began to hurry up the stairs and through the hallway and we began to question each other on what we had been doing.

"Prosper-- well, that is, Maverick--went to France and found your group apparently, and brought them all here to fight. And I brought my group with me. My group--there aren't many of us. There's only six of them, and five are younger than me."

Aiden and Marcie exchanged glances. "That really isn't that much reinforcement. We were hoping you had more people."

I shook my head. "We did, at one point, have about forty, maybe almost fifty people. But Voldemort attacked us last spring, and--it's just been us since then."

This time Aiden looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry for your losses, as well."

"We've both got things to mourn over, but we can't let that stop us. We must carry on, no matter what." We all nodded and turned a corner, just in time to see a large black cloud of Death Eaters--the ones returning from their wild goose chase to France--hovering over the castle, ready to land.