Dumbledore's Army

Chapter 1: Not Hogwarts Anymore

There was fear in Molly Weasley's eyes as the mother kissed her daughter on the forehead and waved her off onto the train, but Ginny Weasley tried to ignore it. She blew her mother a kiss and climbed into the train.

Inside, a death eater stood in the hallways. She shuddered.

"Hm, we've got a pretty little blood traitor here, don't we?" He leered at her, and she turned away. It took all her willpower to not hex him right there. She kept walking - suddenly, she heard Neville Longbottom's voice coming from one of the compartments.

"Ginny! In here!" He called, and she stepped into the compartment.

Once inside, she took in who was already there. Neville was sitting by the window. On the other side was Luna, smiling, with a faraway look in her eyes. Dean and Seamus sat in the corner on the right, nearer to the door. She forced a smile and sat down next to Neville.

Dean looked nervous. "Did you see? There's a death eater out there."

"Yeah." Ginny spoke in a hushed tone. "I thought this might happen. You-know-who is in charge of the ministry now - hopefully McGonagall is headmistress."

Seamus and Dean nodded. "I was going to go into hiding. But the ministry fell before I could ask for help - I was hoping Hogwarts would be safe, but it doesn't look like it." Dean sighed.

"You'll just have to be careful." Ginny said grimly.

"We'll protect you." Seamus patted Dean on the back. "Don't worry."

Dean nodded, brow furrowed.

Ginny expected that the candy trolley would not be making its rounds.

The ride was long and fairly silent. With the death eater right outside, they were afraid to discuss any of the more serious matters about what was going on- and they didn't dare talk about the war.

"Bill and Fleur were married, right?" Neville asked after a while of silence.

"I would have invited you. It was fairly small. Just family friends - we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves."

"It was beautiful." Luna agreed. Ginny frowned. Sometimes, Luna was a bit tactless - Ginny didn't want Neville to get jealous that he wasn't invited. Luckily, he didn't.

"We should put our robes on." Dean said, peering out the window.

"You're right." Ginny agreed, and left the compartment.

She felt the eyes of the death eater on her as she looked for an empty compartment. Finally, Luna, a few steps ahead of her, discovered one and they quickly changed out of their muggle clothing. They returned to the compartment to find the boys in their school uniforms.

"Do you know who the Head Boy and Girl are?" Ginny asked, interested.

"Probably depends. If McGonagall is in charge, they might be decent. If it's the death eaters, then it's probably Malfoy or something."

"Talking about us?" A boy with a smirk on his face sauntered into the compartment, a girl right behind him. They boy and girl were very good looking, but their cruel facial expressions soured their faces. Ginny faintly recognized them to be Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Her heart sunk as she saw the gleaming Head's badges on their chests.

"Don't flatter yourself, Zabini." Ginny snarled at the two Slytherins.

Neville put a hand on Ginny's. Not romantically- just to calm her. "We don't want any trouble." He said.

"Seems like you do." Pansy smirked at us, twirling her wand in her hand.

"No, we really don't. Please leave."

"Let's count the worthless people in this compartment. Three blood traitors..." He pointed to Ginny, Luna, and Neville. "A halfblood with a little bit too much muggle in him..." he glanced at Seamus. "And... a mudblood. Oh, that's hot." He smirked at Dean. "I think you're just asking for trouble, Longbottom. I mean, you've got a mudblood in your compartment. I think we deserve a little fun, don't you, Pansy?" He turned to the girl.

"Oh, yes."

"Don't you touch him." Seamus stood up, wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"Fine." Pansy said cooly. "Crucio." 

Seamus fell to the ground, moaning.

Ginny stood up. "Stop!" She shot a curse at the grinning girl.

She slashed it out of the way with a quick shield charm and sent back a curse of her own. "Sectumsempra!"

The spell narrowly missed the freckled girl. "Damnit. Stupefy! Tarantellegra!" Neville cast a shield charm to prevent her getting hit by a curse flying her way. It was an all-out duel.

Luna sent a jelly-legs jinx at one of the Slytherins. Four more had joined the duel.

Hexes and curses flew this way and that - from the Slytherin side, more evil. From the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's, less so. But Ginny and the others were outnumbered.

"Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" Ginny knocked out Theodore Nott. Dean forced Pansy Parkinson to sing "God Save the Queen" at the top of her lungs while holding her hands as if she was in a choir.

Suddenly, the Death Eater walked in. "Now, now, kids. That's alright." He fixed up Parkinson and Nott and told them all to leave. Then he turned on Ginny, Neville, Luna, Dean, and Seamus.

"So... starting fights, and you aren't even in the castle yet." The man tutted and shook his head. "Just to introduce myself, I'm Amycus Carrow... in charge of punishment." He said the last part with a wicked grin. "And this unruly behavior requires some punishment, I'd say. Now, who started the fight?"

Ginny assessed the scene. Amycus seemed like he was going to focus on one person. Seamus was in no state to take punishment. Dean... Dean would get the worst of it, being muggle-born. She couldn't let harm come to Neville or Luna, either. There was nothing for it. "It was-"

"It was me, Professor Carrow." Neville cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Mmmm, a Longbottom. How are your parents doing?" He smirked.

"Shut up." Neville snapped.

Ginny knew about his parents -  she was one of the few who did.

"Hm. I think we're almost at the castle... I'd better hurry up and give you your punishment. Crucio!"

Neville shouted out, and then bit his lip.

"Stop it!" Ginny growled. "Stop!"

Amycus laughed, pocketed his wand, and walked off. Ginny dropped to the ground next to Neville.

"Come on, get up. You alright?" She acted strong, but there was a quiver in her voice. Neville took her outstretched hand gratefully and wobbled to his feet.

"I'm alright." He nodded. "Just... didn't expect that."

Dean smiled weakly. "Thanks for backing me up, guys."

"We'll always have your back." Ginny said, and bit her lip.

This wasn't Hogwarts anymore. She could feel it; it wasn't her home.

A/N

And chapter one is up! This story is going to be about the year when Harry didn't go to Hogwarts. Read on! (Sorry I suck at writing and plot)

-Rose