The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 82: Regulus Arcturus Black

*CW: Violence*

I appeared in London with Ron, Hermione, and Harry at my side. The four of us were given a second to regroup as a bus headed for our direction. Ron and Harry quickly pulled Hermione and I off to the pavement, preventing us from getting hit. There, the four of us took a moment to catch our breath, and take in our surroundings.

"What... the... fuck..." I whispered harshly through my pants, "'Mione, I have... to go... back... Remus..."

"I think the correct thing to say is you're welcome," Hermione spat, wiping the sweat from her forehead, "You'd all be dead if it weren't for me."

"Actually, we'd all be dead if it weren't for Ron and I," Harry corrected rudely as the polyjuice potion began to wear off and his looks returned to normal, "A bus almost ran us over, thanks to you."

"Piss off, Harry," Hermione seethed.

"I wanted to fight!" Harry retorted, "I needed to help them! Ginny's there... I..."

"And I needed to tell Remus something important!" I protested as Harry's sentence trailed off, "You couldn't have waited a moment before we apparated?"

I was livid with Hermione for apparating at the moment she did. Not only did she just earn a death wish by being alone with me because I had to kill her and Ron, but she also killed off the rest of the order before I could've given at least a warning. If Voldemort had truly taken over the Ministry of Magic, like the patronus said, the order was in danger.

I knew Voldemort's plan, and wanted to tell Remus about the horcruxes. I wasn't sure how many there were, but I knew that I was one, and two had already been destroyed. If the order, somehow, took out most of Voldemort's forces, and the rest of the horcruxes were destroyed, that only kept me left. We wouldn't be able to kill Voldemort, but he'd be too weak to do anymore damage; kinda like Grindelwald. Though, the odds of this happening were pretty low.

I was still on the side of the order, despite taking Voldemort's orders into consideration. I needed to keep Neville, Remus, and Tonks safe, that was where my priorities lied, but I also couldn't bear to betray Harry, Hermione, and Ron. It was all very confusing.

"If I waited any more moments, Dawn, we would have been dead!" Hermione scoffed, "Even Remus was telling us to leave."

"Could you three stop bickering!" Ron seethed, halting the argument, "Where the bloody hell are we?"

"Somewhere in London-" Hermione began before Harry cut her off.

"No shit..." Harry said coldly, "Where in London are we, 'Mione?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry before continuing, "As I was saying, we're in London. When I was younger, my parents and I would visit the theater a couple blocks from here... After the show, we'd grab dessert at a cafe... that one right there."

Hermione gestured to the building right behind us: Luchino Caffe. It was a small shop decorated with light blue walls and dainty seating. I didn't know what time it was, but the shop seemed creepily empty for the amount of muggles walking the street.

I released my hands from my knees as I headed towards the shop, but was quickly stopped when Hermione grabbed my hand. I faced as she gave me a concerned look.

"Are you crazy?" Hermione spat, "We can't go in there looking like this! C'mon, all of you!"

Hermione gestured us into a nearby alley. Ron, Harry, and I followed after her as she dug around in her bag. Suddenly, a blaring alarm went off as we neared the alley. The four of us cowered and covered our ears in agony as the alarm roared through the streets.