Thirteen bodies gathered in a room. Six girls, seven boys. Enough to field nearly two full quidditch teams were they in a better, less somber mood.

Neville Longbottom had entered the room first, unlocking the door after several failed attempts—the mechanism was rusted, it seemed—and being followed in by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. They'd come as a group and huddled towards the back of the room silently as they waited for the rest to arrive. A short time later Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson came in. They made their way to the back of the room but remained silent as well. Oliver Wood apparated near the door less than a minute later, and moved to talk with them, to see how they were doing.

The Weasleys, as usual, arrived as a group. George split off to kiss Angelina, Percy split off to a corner, and Ginny went for the majority of the other Quidditch players. Draco Malfoy slipped in immediately after them, slouched against the wall and making as much effort as Percy in making conversation.

Luna entered last, but even she arrived nearly a quarter of an hour before Harry had asked them to.

Thirteen witches and wizards. Thirteen fighters. Thirteen celebrities. Thirteen people who would never be seen again.

Less than a year after the killing of Voldemort Harry had realized that the deathly hallows may have had more of a hold on him then he'd ever wanted to believe. It took an additional twelve months before he realized (and accepted) what, exactly, he would have to do, and even then it had taken being slapped over the head, repeatedly, before he bowed to reality.

He'd told Ron and Hermione.

They'd refused to let him go alone.

Ron had slipped up and told Ginny, Percy, and George, who had similarly invited themselves along. George brought along his girlfriend, who brought along the rest of Harry's first year Quidditch team in the process. Luna, who had invited herself along before anyone else even knew it was an option, had invited Neville and Draco along herself. Harry had drawn the limit there—he hadn't really wanted to drag anyone else with him, so an additional twelve was plenty.

"I don't..." Harry started. There was this idea, this misconception, that because he was the 'chosen one' he was good at speeches, and he'd never quite figured out why people persisted in believing it was true. "I don't know where we're going. I know we'll all end up in the same place eventually, but that's it. If you want to back out now, no one would blame you and I'd honestly be relieved." He waited. No one moved. "Alright, I guess this is it."

He paused, trying to think what to do next, then finally allowed the feeling that had been bubbling inside him for years to be released.

Thirteen veterans.

Vanished.

Notes:

-In this story the Second Voldemort War was much longer and much more deadly

-In this story Peeta was killed by Cato and, while Katniss went on to be Victor, she too was killed during the 3rd Quarter Quell, meaning that the revolt never quite got started and what little uprisings did occur were quickly snuffed out by her death.