Dear Father, I saw you in that forest. Don't try to deny that it isn't you because I finally saw you again. I went to the cabin you, mother and I used to live at. I don't know if you know this but there was an object that was hidden inside it. I won't explain any further because I don't want to risk anything happening to my friends. I want to see you again, and I know exactly who I should go to. I understand if you don't want to see me again but I have to know why you helped us. Why you let my friends and I escape. I could possibly help you but I have to know, but most importantly, I have to know what happened to my mom. Signed, your daughter.
You rolled the piece of parchment tightly and turned to watch your friends for a moment longer. You struggled whether to wake them up but you couldn't risk them asking what was in the parchment you were holding. There was a rubber band on the desk and you grabbed it. You secured the parchment with the rubber band. You walked to the entrance, putting a little pep in your step as you heard Ron snore loudly. You opened the door quietly and tried to find an owl anywhere. No hooting or any flapping wings were in the hall so you resulted in going back inside the wing.
"Y/n?" Hermione asked, half asleep.
You immediately placed the parchment on the desk and jogged towards Hermione. "Yes, Hermione?" You asked, a little out of breath from that journey. You looked anxiously at Hermione as she started to rub on her eyes.
"I heard the door open and I... I thought you were gone," she said, finishing her yawn at the middle of the sentence. Her eyes were droopy and her lips turned up into a smile. "I'm glad you are still here. Is it almost time for our nap to be over?" Hermione asked, her eyes still dropping.
You shook your head and answered, "Of course not. Continue to sleep. I have to go outside really quickly because I want to observe something." You took a few steps back before Hermione noticed why you were so fidgety.
"Y/n? Is everything alright?" Hermione asked, a little suspicion tickling on her voice.
You shook your head. "I'm all right," you lied.
"Oh, okay then. Go ahead, we'll stay here," Hermione said. Her eyelids shut and she let out a soft sigh as she fell into a doze again.
You exhaled deeply as if you were holding your breath the whole time. You pranced along the floor, making your way to the parchment you were intending to send to your father. You grabbed it and headed outside of the wing. You let the door creak as you closed it.
Heading towards Snape's office, you carefully made your way through the halls, making sure no one saw you there. The stairs were there, and you were able to travel easily without any interruptions. It was oddly empty, so you decided to take this to your advantage and went speedily to the Headmaster's office.
You opened the door that used to be Dumbledore's but you didn't have time to mourn as you heard footsteps behind you. You closed it with a loud thud making the person in front of you snap his head to look who closed it so loudly.
Snape's eyes widened with alarm and he made his way towards you in a hurry. "Y/n? What are you doing here?" He asked urgently, making his expression really worried as he saw you hold a scroll.
You straightened your back and looked directly into his black eyes. You mustered all of your strength and replied, "I want to send a letter to my father and I know you can send it to him."
"Are you crazy? I will not do that," he replied, walking back to his desk.
You went closer to his desk, not giving up on your proposition. "I need to know why my father did the things he did. Please, just send this to him," you said, handing the scroll of parchment to him.
He eyed the paper, his eyes showed the deep thought he was in. He looked back into your eyes and shook his head once.
You stood there with your hand extended, waiting for him to take it. You took your hand back and walked back to the door defeatedly. But, an anger rose inside of you and you couldn't leave without having him send it to your father. "Prof- Headmaster Snape, I understand if you don't want to risk whatever it is you don't want to risk. But, I need to send this to my father. I won't leave here until I know it will reach him."
Snape rose from his desk in an abrupt motion. His eyebrows furrowed and his nostrils flared. "Are you threatening me? I will not do such thing. If you want to send it to your father, I am not the person you should be using as your messenger," Snape said, walking towards you with an air full of anger.
You stood back, afraid of his utter fury. You clutched the parchment in your hands more tightly and stared at his eyes. You eased your nerves and said, after a deep exhale, "I'm sorry about upsetting you, sir. But, as I stated before, I really need to send this to my father. Can you send it to him please? Or tell me who I can ask to have this piece of parchment reach him?"
Snape walked to the right of his office, throwing some books and objects from the shelves to the hard floor. He threw them and you stood there, eyeing what he could possibly be doing. He let out an exhale, supporting himself by the shelf, looking down at his shoes. Without rising his head, he resulted, "Leave it there."
You wasted no time and headed to his desk. You set the parchment down next to his mess of papers and objects. You turned and headed to the door again, without looking at Snape. As you touched the doorknob, you saw in the corner of your eye, Snape turn to look at you.
"Y/n, I can not promise it will reach him. I would like to advise you that you are making a huge risk and potentially risking the life of your father, yourself and your friends. As much as I hate this, you need to be careful. Get out of Hogwarts before he figures out you are here," Snape warned.
You nodded. You knew exactly who he was referring to. Without looking at him, you opened the door onto the hall. You let it close behind you and you quickly ran towards the Hospital Wing. Fear burned into your skin as you thought they would know you were talking with Snape. You ran farther down the hall and you momentarily froze as you heard the sound of the bell.
"Oh no," you panted, running out of breath. You couldn't hide under anything, not even a portrait. So the best bet you did was to continue running. You ran, covering half of your face with your hand. You realized as you turned to the right to continue running, that you weren't wearing uniform. Your heart started to beat even faster as you saw some students leave from their classes, walking down the halls. You tried to walk even faster and as you heard some voices getting closer, you started to fear that they would know it was you. The Hospital Wing was right in front. Just a couple of more steps... There.
"Y/n? Where were you?" Hermione asked, fully standing and making her way towards you.
You exhaled, trying to hide the exhaustion from your face. Your hands were outstretched on the door right behind you. You looked at your friends shocked faces and tried to warm them with a smile. "I was taking a small walk through the halls... and um, I didn't realize that the bell was going to ring so early," you said, breathing loudly.
Harry was out of his cloak already and made his way towards you. "Are you alright? You seem like you just saw a ghost," he commented, pure concern over his face. He extended his arm towards you and you smiled, holding onto it.
You struggled to look into his eyes, and you couldn't believe that you weren't going to tell him. You hated being dishonest, it was one of your virtues in life, to always be honest, but you couldn't tell them. It would ruin everything and you thought they would see you as weak. You wanted to connect with your family again, just a little glimpse of it again. As you debated whether or not to tell him, you looked into his charming eyes again and replied, "I'm alright, like I said, just didn't know they would be out so fast."
Harry smiled and placed his other hand on top of yours. He looked towards Ron and Hermione again, and you watched how all of them had regained their red color on their cheeks again. You were glad they had rested well while you were frantically begging Snape to send the letter to your father. You sighed contently and mentioned, "Nice to know everyone got their good sleep."
Harry nodded and asked, "What do we do now?" He was looking at everyone now, not just you. All of you realized what he meant by that. You struggled to not suggest leaving as soon as possible. Hermione shrugged her shoulders and Ron kept on eyeing you. You tried to ignore it but somewhere deep inside, you feared he sensed your weird behavior.
"I think it is time to leave Hogwarts," you said, remembering how Snape ordered you to tell them. You made your way through the beds, after patting Harry's arm comfortingly. You couldn't see their faces and this sense of unfamiliarity nagged at you. You hated not telling them but you hated more their distrust to you. But, you felt you deserved it as you were keeping something from them.
"I think we should stay," Ron suggested loudly.
You turned to look at him and shook your head vigorously. "No! I mean, we can't stay here. What if You-Know-Who comes?" You urged, trying to seem as calm as possible.
Hermione raised an eyebrow and replied, "I'm pretty sure it will have to be this place where we would have to see him again. There's no other place for us to go and I am sure that You-Know-Who already knows we are here."
"Yeah, and I am tired of running. Besides, we already destroyed several horcruxes and Harry's scar hasn't hurt since... forever," Ron commented, gesturing with his hand towards Harry.
You realized how in the beginning of the quest, Harry's scar has caused troubles for him. He would yell in agony, he would be fearful for days and he would have horrible nightmares. You sometimes were there and were used as a comfort to him. You looked worriedly at Harry and asked with pure concern, "Harry? Has your scar hurt recently?"
He shook his head and a new shimmer glistened on his eyes. "No, and I am surprised. He already knows we are searching for Horcruxes, and I am sure he knows we are here. I don't know why my scar hasn't hurt me since a long time. It worries me but I am with Ron. We should stay here. It's only a matter of time and we would have better chances here," Harry said, nodding at Ron's relaxed face.
Hermione was still staring at you and you hoped she didn't see the utter fear in your eyes as they resulted in staying at Hogwarts. "So, it's settled then," you said. Defeated. That was how you felt. Your shoulders dropped, relieving the tension from your neck. You tried to think of something to convince them to leave but even you felt it was best to stay there.
"I'm glad. But, when do you think it is best to announce our arrival?" Hermione asked, hugging herself with her arms.
"As soon as possible," Harry said. His mind made up.