A Valentine’s Day Rebellion
Chapter One
Saturday, January 31st, 1998
“There will be no singing, parties, passing cards or any other form of celebrating Valentine’s Day this year. Those caught taking part in these activities will be severely punished.”
Thus read the note in the Gryffindor Common Room. The mood in the normally boisterous Tower was subdued, but then that wasn’t anything new as it had been so since early September.
“Like any of us feel like celebrating,” scoffed Neville as he sank down in one of the many armchairs. Ginny, sitting in the armchair across from him, leaned over to pat his arm. Neville had been growing more morose since Christmas and only seemed to be energised by the planning of the next stunt of the D.A. “Well, I guess Ron and Hermione will be happy at least…”
“Traipsing all over the country on their secret mission?” Ginny questioned. “Not likely they’ll even remember what day it is. Still, maybe we could make the day count after all.”
Neville’s head snapped up and his eyes bore into Ginny’s: “You’re not saying…”
Ginny nodded with a grin and a mischievous glint in her eyes. “The Room, after curfew. Too many ears here,” was all she whispered conspiringly before moving to one of the tables set aside for assignments and study.
***
That evening, Neville sneaked out of bed, rearranging his pillows and some clothes to make it look like someone was sleeping in the bed. Seamus, now the only other occupant of the dorm watched him warily: “You’re not planning another stunt, are you? You know what happened the last time…”
“Don’t worry, Seamus, we’ll be careful. No breaking into the Headmaster’s office this time,” Neville winked.
“You’ve changed, did you realise?” Seamus commented with a hint of awe in his voice. “Remember the Boggart in third year? If someone had told me then that you’d turn into the leader of a rebellion against Snape, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Neville laughed. “Those were the days. Nothing worse than Double Potions to survive. But times change, and so must we. Don’t get me wrong, Snape still scares the shit out of me. You never hear him coming; he’s so quiet. But bravery without fear is just plain recklessness. A little bit of healthy fear never killed anyone.”
“Professor Lupin would be proud,” Seamus smiled. “Now go do what you have to do; I know the drill if anyone should come to check.” “Thanks, Seamus,” Neville smiled before putting on the Camouflage Cloak Fred and George had managed to send him.
***
A blissfully uneventful journey through the quiet Castle later, Neville found himself in a Room of Requirement that had outdone itself once more. Now the size of the Great Hall, it was decked out with tables to eat, comfy love seats surrounding the fireplaces around the Room, a space to dance and even an old gramophone. “What the…” Neville gasped.
“You like? I guess I had Valentine’s Day on my mind already when I tried to enter. Amazing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Neville smiled. “Luna will love…” He stopped abruptly. He had only recently noticed he felt strongly about the blonde Ravenclaw and she wasn’t here to celebrate Valentine’s with him. She didn’t even know how he felt, come to that.
“I know…” Ginny sighed. “I miss Harry just as much, you know. But I think they’d love to know we were still fighting, still trying to keep our spirits up in spite of everything. We just have to ride it out, hang in there. We can’t let that bastard beat us, alright?”
“Do you reckon we could make it teacher-proof? So that all students can come in, from all Houses?”
“Including Slytherin? You can’t be serious?”
“They’re just human too, some have relationships with people in other houses and all,” Neville spoke. “It hardly seems fair to exclude them because of a few bad apples. Maybe with some sort of protective charm so no magic can be used inside, and a Secrecy charm so no one can spill the beans, even by accident.”
“Okay, fine!” Ginny relented. “But you’re researching the charms this time!”
“And what will you do? Look for a dress to wear?” Neville teased.
“Of course! I can’t let the side down, being one of the organisers and all!” Ginny joked back. “Nah, just messing. I’ll get working on the invitations. At Christmas, Fred and George told me Lupin helped them work out how the Marauders secured the Map, and the charm works well to hide any content from prying eyes. We used a similar charm two years ago when Umbridge forbade everyone to read Harry’s interview, remember? She was never any the wiser. Snape is smarter, I grant you, but put the Marauders’ charm and the twins’ wits together and I’ll bet we can figure out a way to get it done.”
“Okay, but remember, we only have two weeks,” Neville warned. “I think we better get back to the Tower now before anyone figures out we’re missing.”