Courage

-24-

Hermione gasped, having spotted the writing on the wall.

"Look!"

Slowly, the three of them approached the scene that had so recently been created.

"What's that thing — hanging underneath?" asked Ron, his voice quivering slightly.

The moved closer to Mrs Norris, before jumping back, recognising the caretaker's cat.

"Let's get out of here," said Ron.

"Shouldn't we try and help—" Harry began awkwardly.

"Trust me," said Ron, "we don't want to be found here."

It appeared to be too late, as the rushing footsteps of students could be heard approaching, the second floor being the best spot to reach most other parts of the castle. Soon, students started to flood the corridor from both ends, cornering Harry, Ron, and Hermione in front of the crime scene. The students seemed to notice the hanging cat and blood-written message all at once and silence fell over the cried.

Then, someone shouted through the quiet. Layla recognised the voice as Draco's.

"Enemies of the heir, beware? You'll be next, mudbloods!"

Suddenly, Layla felt as though she was being pulled out of the scene that had been playing out before her. The window she had fallen through began to grow smaller until all Layla could see was the diary pages, which began to blow again. It landed on the date of the first Quidditch match, and Layla had the strong feeling of what was about to happen.

The square holding the date became another moving image that began to grow before swallowing Layla just as the previous had done.

This time, she was right where the petrified body of Colin Creevey had been found.

Colin, himself, was sneaking along the corridor holding his camera and a bunch of grapes. Just as he was about to mount the staircase, the other Layla came down the corridor, her footsteps echoing on the stone. Colin froze, before relaxing when he saw her and grinning widely.

"Layla Lupin! Nice to see you again. Is Harry still in the Hospital Wing?"

The other Layla only stood, staring at him unblinkingly. Then, just behind her, came what could only be best described as a ghost, only far more transparent.

The ghost was that of a sixteen-year-old boy. Paula had never seen him before, although he did seem oddly familiar.

"Layla? Layla Lupin?" Colin stepped towards the other Layla, confused by her stiffness.

Together, as if one was an echo of the other, the other Layla and the ghost boy spoke Parseltongue in unison, their voices overlapping each other and harmonizing in the most eerie of ways.

There was a loud hiss as the large serpent presented itself.

Before the creature could turn and make eye contact with Colin, he lifted his camera, almost as a reflex by now. Just as the camera flash went off, the creature had fully turned to face Colin and the boy came stiff as a statue before falling to the ground, his frozen hands still clutching onto the camera that was held up to his eye.