We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 3 - Miracles

Regardless, the noise had woken Albus and Lily. They'd come in, asking what was the matter, and it didn't taken long to realize I was noticeably absent. At that point, it was a bit useless to lie or send them all back to sleep, so Mr. Potter had suggested they all camp out and wait for me. Apparently, according to Albus, this was something they used to do a lot, when they were younger. Any time Mr. Potter was gone on an auror mission and supposed to get home that night, all the Potter kids slept in their parents' room so they'd all be there to greet him when he got home. This had expanded to include waiting for Mrs. Potter when her job kept her out late, and any other family member who happened to be gone late into the night.

"You're family, too," Albus said, smiling, "so we waited up for you." I blinked, trying my hardest not to show how much that meant.

Despite the fact that they'd heard everything ("The mirror worked like a charm, Wren!" from Mr. Potter was followed by weird looks from his wife and children; after all, it was a charm), Mr. Potter asked me to recount it myself, and try to include what everyone was doing, what their expressions looked like, if I thought their faces said something different than their words. I wasn't entirely sure about everyone, but the one person who mattered was convinced: my uncle. As long as Stillens believed me, it didn't matter what anyone else thought.

Except for Zaria Hempsey. Because, while most of the people in that room were older, long-time associates of my uncle's who understood that personal rivalries and power grabs were not the way to the top, Zaria was young. Zaria was impulsive. And Zaria had a personal reason to hate me. While I doubted anyone else would go behind my uncle's back, doubt his legilimency, and try to prove me wrong, Zaria would. And I was afraid she would do it very, very well.

I went through everything in detail, skimming over the incident with Zaria in the hallway. Mr. and Mrs. Potter didn't press me about it, and though Albus and Lily exchanged a confused glance, they didn't say anything either. Apparently, James hadn't actually heard that part.

Then we started speculating. I didn't really know what my uncle meant by "more responsibility." That is to say, I had some very terrible ideas, but chose not to share them. Memories of things I'd been forced to do, things I'd never forgive myself for, flashed through my mind before I could subdue them. Memories of hurting people. I prayed I wouldn't have to do that again.

James was most interested in who the new spy might be. "Do you think it's a professor?"

Mr. Potter shook his head. "None of the current ones have any ties to Stillens. We've checked. And it didn't sound like he planned to put anyone under the Imperius Curse."

"What about the person who's replacing Professor Patil?" Albus asked.

"Stillens referred to this spy as a he," Mr. Potter said. "Parvati's replacement is a girl. Priscilla Edwards."

James frowned. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

I didn't recognize the name at all, so I had no idea. Mr. Potter, though, nodded. "She graduated with Victoire, actually. Also a Gryffindor."

"Isn't she a little young?" Mrs. Potter asked.

"I suppose so." Mr. Potter shrugged. "I wasn't any older when I started teaching."

I shook my head. This was not important. "She could still be the spy, couldn't she?"

"Possibly," Mr. Potter admitted. "We'll definitely be watching her. However, I think it's more likely that it'll be a student."

"Who?" Lily asked.

They were all looking at me, as if I was supposed to know. I shrugged, feeling a bit useless. "I... I guess I'll know soon..."