I'm sure there are a lot of fanfictions out there with this same premise, but I really wanted to write one. Please tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

Neville

The platform was the same as it had always been. The red engine, the chattering crowd, the clouds of smoke-all of it the same as when I first stepped onto Platform 9 and ¾ exactly six years ago.

But everything was different now.

My grandmother's voice snapped me out of my moment of nostalgia. "Have everything, Neville?"

I nodded. Then Gran did something that she hadn't done at all the first 14 years of my life, but lately seemed to be doing quite a bit: pulled me into a tight hug. "Take care of yourself," she said.

Everyone knew who our new headmaster was: Severus Snape, the man who we had all trusted and who had betrayed us. The man who had murdered Albus Dumbledore. Everyone knew that we had two Death Eaters as teachers. I was going right into the lion's den.

Gran patted me on the shoulder. "You look like your father, Neville. You have all his courage, too. I must say, I wasn't sure you belonged in Gryffindor at first, but now I know you do. You'd make them both proud."

"I try."

"I know you do."

The whistle blew. Gran turned and walked back toward the barrier.

I climbed onto the train and was just beginning to load my things into an empty compartment when I noticed a flash of red hair out of the corner of my eye. "Hi, Ginny," I greeted my friend.

"Hey, Neville," Ginny said morosely.

I glanced over at her. "What's wrong? Where are Ron and Harry?"

"Ron has spattergroit," she said casually. "I don't know where Harry is."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really..."

She glanced around, pulled me into the compartment, and shut the door. "Bill and Fleur's wedding was attacked by Death Eaters last month. No one's seen Harry, Ron, or Hermione since," she said in a low, fast voice.

I stared at her in shock. "Are they okay?"

Ginny shrugged. "I think so... no one tells me anything, but it seems like they were making preparations beforehand. I think they planned to leave."

I nodded. "It makes sense, especially Harry. He can't possibly come back to Hogwarts now that he's a wanted man."

The compartment door slid open. Ginny and I both looked up at the girl with long blonde hair, earrings shaped like carrots, the latest issue of The Quibbler under her arm, and her wand stuck behind her ear.

"Hi, Luna," Ginny said.

"Hello," she said dreamily.

The train lurched forward. Luna quickly sank down into the seat next to Ginny.

The three of us spent the entire ride up to Hogwarts speculating about the whereabouts of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, discussing Voldemort's takeover, and wondering about what lay in store for us at Hogwarts.

"It's going to be like Umbridge all over again," I said, shaking my head. "Only worse. At least Umbridge wasn't a Death Eater."

"Well, we're not just going to take this lying down!" Ginny got to her feet, pacing the carriage. "We have to fight it! Remember Dumbledore's Army? Remember the battle last year? We have to fight for our home!"

I shook my head. "Ginny, wait. We'd have no chance. They'd stomp us out in an instant."

"Do you think we should just let them destroy everything we care about?"

"We don't even know that's what they plan on doing!"

"They're Death Eaters! It's what they do!"

"We'd be killed!"

Suddenly, Luna spoke. "What if we just...wait?"

Ginny and I both looked at her. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Don't say anything, don't mark yourself as a target. Let's just keep our heads down, at least for a few weeks."

Ginny and I looked at each other. "Okay," we said in unison. It was a smart plan. There was a reason Luna was a Ravenclaw.

The door to the compartment slid open, and a familiar sandy-haired head poked through the opening. Seamus Finnigan was already wearing his Hogwarts robes. "You three had better hurry up and get dressed, we're almost there."

"Seamus!" Ginny smiled. "How are you? How was your summer?"

Seamus smiled grimly. "Not the best I've had. But I imagine yours wasn't much better." He glanced around, shutting the door behind him. "Dean's on the run."

"Why?" I asked.

"Muggle-born, remember?. I imagine Hogwarts will be a little short this year. Even some of the wizarding families are choosing to keep their kids at home."

The four of us rode a thestral-pulled carriage together, not saying much.

I peered out the window up at the castle. It looked the same as always-until I saw a dark shape swoop in front of the lighted windows of Hogwarts.

I sucked in my breath and instinctively reached for my wand.

Immediately, Ginny, Luna, and Seamus drew their wands as well. "What is it? What's wrong?"

I pointed up at the castle. "Dementors."

"In Hogwarts?" Seamus asked incredulously.

"Makes sense," said Ginny bitterly. "They can't have us getting too happy."

The carriages pulled up to the doors of the castle and we all got out. Some people-mostly Slytherins, I noticed-didn't seem to be bothered by the unusual mist or the Dementors swooping around. But everyone else was guarded and uncomfortable. I noticed more than one drawn wand.

As we walked toward the door, I noticed the Dementors coming closer and closer. As they did, the students of Hogwarts began to huddle close together. Some of the younger students looked terrified. I was glad that the first years were with Hagrid in the boat.

Seamus raised his voice. "Everyone, hurry up!" he shouted over the frightened chatter. "You'll be okay once you're in the castle!"

Suddenly, three of the Dementors swooped in toward our group. Several people screamed. At the same time, I heard two familiar voices shout, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Two silver animals-a dolphin and a golden retriever-soared over our heads and ran at the Dementor. I smiled, recognizing the Patronuses of Padma and Parvati Patil.

Now, shouts of "Expecto Patronum" were echoing all around. I recognized several of them-Ernie Macmillan's boar, Colin Creevey's squirrel, Lavender Brown's sea turtle, and others.

The Dementors were beaten back by about ten Patronuses hovering in the air. Meanwhile, everyone ran for the doors.

Just as the doors swung closed behind us, several teachers appeared, including Flitwick and Sprout.

"About time you got here!" snapped Seamus. "It's bad enough having Dementors swooping around without them trying to attack us!"

Flitwick looked uncomfortable. "Terribly sorry, terribly sorry. You weren't in any danger, we were on our way! Please, come on into the Great Hall."

I looked around at the mass of students. We had all huddled together when the Dementors came, regardless of houses, years, or anything else. Now, we were starting to split apart again. Gradually, the familiar chatter came back, but much more subdued than ever before.

We took our seats in the Great Hall. I looked up at Snape, sitting in Dumbledore's chair, and hatred filled my heart. Looking over at Ginny and Seamus (Luna had already gone to sit with the Ravenclaws), I could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

The first years filed in from a side door. They looked nervous, even more nervous than I remember being at my Sorting.

Professor McGonagall carried in the Sorting Hat and set it on the stool. I studied Professor McGonagall's face. She looked drawn and worried, far more so than I ever remembered her being.

She glanced over at Ginny, Seamus, and I. I tried to smile. She just shook her head slightly and looked away.

As I was pondering what this meant, the Sorting Hat opened the rip near its brim and began to speak.

"In the darkest of times

The Houses must-"

"Silencio!"

The Hat continued to speak for a moment, but no sound was coming out. After a moment, it stopped.

"I don't believe the poem will be necessary," said Snape coldly, his wand still pointed at the Hat. "Proceed with the Sorting."

Professor McGonagall, scowling at Snape, began to call out the names of students. There were much fewer than in other years, and a disproportionate number of Slytherins. I supposed that the letter hadn't even gone out the the muggle-borns, and that some parents of half-bloods had chosen to hide their children rather than send them to Death-Eater controlled Hogwarts.

When the Sorting was over, Snape stood up. He looked out over all of us. "As you have probably noticed, there have been some changes in staff this year. Alecto Carrow will be teaching Muggle Studies, which everyone is required to take," he said, gesturing to the dark-haired woman sitting on his left. "And Amycus Carrow will teaching the class that was formerly known as Defense Against the Dark Arts, and is now called Dark Arts."

The Great Hall erupted into commotion.

I stared at Ginny. "Dark Arts? They're going to make us-"

"SILENCIO!" Snape bellowed.

The words froze in my mouth. The entire hall went silent as everyone looked back up at Snape.

"Alecto and Amycus will also be in charge of defense. Please remember that anything they say, goes. Any curse they choose to use, any punishment they wish to enact, anything they want to do is at their discretion. Treat any order from their mouth as if it was from mine. Help them in any way they ask, whatever that involves. One of the new things we're going to try is having 6th and 7th year students practicing curses on people who-"

"And what if we refuse?"

All heads in the room swiveled in our direction. Seamus Finnigan had jumped up on the bench, his face red as he shouted at Snape.

"Sit down, Mr. Finnigan," Snape said, his voice colder than ice.

"No! I won't sit down! Not as long as you are planning to hurt the students of Hogwarts!"

"I said, sit down!"

"NEVER!"

"STUPEFY!" A jet of red light shot from the end of Amycus Carrow's wand and hit Seamus in the center of his chest. Seamus was blasted backward off the bench, flew through the air, and lay crumpled in the middle of the stone floor.

Parvati Patil was the first to move. Her silky black hair streaming behind her, she ran to Seamus's side and dropped to her knees beside him. "He's still alive!" she cried, her voice full of relief.

Amycus Carrow was laughing, a low, maniacal sound. Back at the head table, McGonagall and Snape were having a furious, if muffled, argument.

Ginny and I jumped up and ran over to Seamus and Parvati, joining the circle that several other students were forming a circle around them. I noticed Lavender Brown, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, and others. Hannah Abbott caught my gaze from across the circle. Her beautiful blue eyes were huge and frightened, but her fists were clenched in determination.

A murmur of conversation was arising in our little circle-a mix of concern for Seamus and hatred for Snape and the Carrows.

An idea sparked in the back of my mind. Maybe...just maybe...

"ENOUGH!" Snape yelled. "Hagrid, take Mr. Finnigan down to Madam Pomfrey at the hospital wing. The rest of you, return to your seats."

None of us moved until Hagrid had lifted Seamus in his strong arms. "Don' worry about Seamus. I'll see he gets safe to Madam Pomfrey."

I nodded. "Thanks, Hagrid."

Slowly, we trickled back to our seats. Snape continued to talk, laying down rule after rule. No talking in the corridors. No being outside your dormitory after 7. There were more, but I wasn't really paying attention. Then, the food appeared.

I barely ate anything. A few seats away, Parvati was crying, her head buried in her hands. Lavender had an arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. For once, Colin Creevey wasn't taking pictures or chattering, but just sitting, quietly. Next to me, Ginny was picking at her food, looking lost in thought.

I looked over at the Hufflepuff table. Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, and Susan Bones had their heads close together, talking and occasionally shooting guilty glances around the hall, as if they were doing something wrong. At the Ravenclaw table, Terry Boot seemed to be emphatically talking to Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil about something. Meanwhile, Michael Corner was studying Snape and the Carrows as they talked at the head table. Luna was staring off into space, not really paying attention to any of them.

The idea in my head continued to grow, and grow.

I walked back up to the dormitory with Colin, Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender. None of us said much. The absence of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, and Dean was pronounced among us.

The five of us stood just inside the door of the common room for a few minutes, in the middle of the stream of students going up to their dormitories.

"Try to keep your heads down." Ginny said. "That's the only way we're going to get through this. Don't do anything too...outspoken. We don't want any repeats of what happened to Seamus. Try to help the younger students, too. Just...have faith. We're going to be okay."

All of us nodded in agreement.

"See you tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow," we echoed, and split off toward our respective dormitories.

I stood in the center of my dormitory and looked around at the four empty bunks. Seamus: lying injured in the hospital wing. Dean: on the run. Harry: a wanted outlaw. Ron: missing in action. I was the last one left.

I sank down on my bed, head in my hands. Images kept flashing through my mind: Seamus lying crumpled on the floor, Snape sitting in Dumbledore's chair, dementors attacking a huddle of frightened students, Amycus laughing maniacally. Hogwarts was lost. Everything was lost.

But then other images came into my mind: Seamus yelling at Snape, Patronuses chasing the dementors away, Parvati kneeling beside Seamus, McGonagall fighting with Snape, Ginny telling everyone to hang together.

I stood. We weren't beaten. We weren't beaten by a long shot. After all, Snape had forgotten one crucial detail, one enemy that he hadn't taken care of: us.

"I'm going to do it," I said aloud.

"I'm going to restart Dumbledore's Army."