❝𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐄❞
aspen andrews was a worrier, an affectionate older sister, a hard-worker and the proudest hufflepuff you'd ever meet. but up until nine...
HOW'M I SUPPOSED TO DIE WHEN THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO LIVE? CIVIL TWILIGHT, HOW'M I SUPPOSED TO DIE?
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HEAT SPILLED through Aspen's chest like the first sip of a warm mug of tea, but there was no comfort. Stars littered the enchanted ceiling above them, imperfect patterns of silver pinpricks against a sheet of immaculate indigo. Students of all houses, clad still in thick socks and pyjamas, were stationed around the four long tables, but there was little time for fatigue. Every set of eyes in the room was trained to Professor McGonagall, who was speaking, stone-faced, at the top of the Great Hall, backed by the remaining teachers and members of the Order. Aspen, who had slid into place mid-speech at the Gryffindor table for the first time in her short life, was trembling openly now, unable to hide the rigid fear that had paralysed her since she'd stepped foot inside the castle.
"If you are of age, you may stay," said Professor McGonagall, a statement which seemed to be a recurring theme of the evening.
"What about our things?" called a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Our trunks, our owls?"
"We have no time to collect possessions," said Professor McGonagall. "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."
"Where's Professor Snape?" shouted a girl from the Slytherin table.
"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," replied Professor McGonagall, to which an explosion of cheer erupted from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws. Aspen could almost feel the delight radiating from the open-lipped grins of Fred, George and Alessia at the Professor's use of the phrase.
"We have already placed protection around the castle," Professor McGonagall said, "but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask you, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as your prefects—"
But her commands shrunk into the void as a new voice swung violently through the hall, raw and rasping. Aspen folded in on herself, eyes darting around the room maniacally to find the source, but it seemed there was not one. In fact, the voice appeared to emanate from the walls that cornered them inside, stuck inside there between the ancient pipes and carved stone.
"I know that you are preparing to fight." Screams circled the room like a dull jolt to the head, throbbing through Aspen's skull as she reached out and snatched Alessia's hand into her own. Behind her, Fred's fingers had grasped her shoulders protectively. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."
An overwhelming silence settled into the room now, rotting slowly like a water-bloated corpse just hauled up from the depths.
"Give me Harry Potter," said the voice, "and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
A wild chill slithered along the length of Aspen's spine, as silent and grotesque as the quiet that had swallowed the room. Everyone, whether maliciously or not, had turned to find Harry, seeking him out like a prize amidst a crowd of mundane oddities. It seemed only one person was brave enough to intervene, however, as a smug-faced brunette rose from the Slytherin crowd, pointing venomously at the Boy-Who-Lived.
