~destroy what destroys you~
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There was barely any sound as the monster walked through the halls, the sound of its feet tapping onto the ground like a whisper, it seemed like darkness floated through Hogwarts castle. The only sound echoing through the corridors was the tapping of a cane onto the ground and the quiet crackle of a mad woman.
The three shades of darkness were coming closer and closer, a big snake slithering behind them.
Tap, tap, tap.
Taleas eyes snapped open, her breathing ragged. Her eyes needed a second to adjust to the darkness in the room. As she looked down onto herself, she saw ropes tying her to a wooden chair. Her chest was bound to the top of the chair while her hands and feet were tied together with an extra rope, her hands felt limp behind her back.
She tried to wiggle herself out of them but it was useless, she couldn't get out without a wand. Talea's eyes travelled through the room, searching for something useful but it was too dark in there, she wasn't even able to make out her own feet.
Tap, tap, tap.
The girl slowly started to panic, there was nothing she could do to free herself and where are the others?
A groan snapped her out of her thoughts, her head turning upwards. Talea was sure that it came from the other side of the room. She was not alone.
"Who is there?" she whispered into the dark.
"Talea?" breathed a confused voice. Her heart started to beat faster when she noticed that it belonged to Sirius.
"Sirius? Is that you, are you safe or did they hurt you?" she tried to keep her voice low, too afraid to be loud enough for anyone else to hear.
"Shh, calm down. I'm not hurt but I am tied to a chair- fuck why is it so dark in here?!" he whisper-yelled.
"Guys, is that you?" another voice could be heard, somewhere to her right. Peter.
Tap, tap, tap
There was a rustling sound and Taleas head snapped to her left, before she could answer Peter a voice interrupted "Who the fuck tied me to a chair?!" James.
"No swear words in the presence of younglings" Remus muttered in a monotone voice.
"Who are you trying to call a youngling?" Regulus.
"You."
A rustling sound could be heard from where Regulus was "Just wait until I'm out of these you moon child."
Sirius let out a quiet chuckle "That the nickname I wanted to give him, great minds think alike brother:"
"What a shame that you are thinking that your mind is nearly as great as mine-"
They were interrupted by another sound. But it wasn't caused by any of them. Before Talea could prepare herself of what was about to come, the door creaked open and for a moment, she was blinded by the amount of light that beamed into the room.
She tried to blink away the white spots that had formed, trying to make out the blurred figure that had stepped into the room. She furrowed her brows and looked up at the person, she wished she could shield her eyes from the incoming light but they were bound together behind her back.
Was that? No, it couldn't be. She had expected someone else but it seemed like she was wrong. It was a person she hadn't seen for a long time but they still looked the same. But Talea couldn't say that she was happy to be in their presence, quite the opposite actually.
Because right in front of them stood none other than their old friend, Severus Snape.
"Well, well, well, if these aren't the infamous marauders and their newest member that has seemed to come back from the death."
"Nice to see you too Snivellus" hissed James.
The greasy haired Slytherin tilted his head "I don't think you're in the position to mock me Potter, right now it is in my hands whether you survive this friendly meeting or not."
It seemed like this caused James to shut his mouth. Severus head turned towards Talea "And there she is, the girl that is supposed to be Voldemorts end."
She didn't reply, she only leaned back in the chair and watched him with a tilted head, sometimes silence said more than any words.
"What do you want?" asked Regulus.
"What do I want?" mocked Snape "You're not here because of me, you're here because of the dark Lord."
Tap, tap, tap.
"Oh, look at you the dark Lord" repeated Sirius mockingly "Have you found another useless person to trail after like an annoying fly?"
Snape's fists clenched, Talea wasn't able to see his face as he had his back turned towards her but she imagined that his expression had turned into anger.
"You won't be laughing when you're rotting in hell you bastard!" he hissed in frustration.
Talea stopped focusing on their conversation and turned her attention back to getting out of the ropes but it was no use. No matter how she turned her hands or wiggled her wrists, they were bound tight to her body, maybe even fixed with a spell.
She was growing more and more nervous as the seconds past, she knew they didn't had much time left before- well, before everything was going down.
They needed more time, they needed to find a way out. Talea's feelings were all over the place, she didn't know whether the stressful situation was causing it or if it was supposed to be a sign.
Her body slumped back against the chair, watching how Snape got caught up in the Marauders teasing as if nothing had happened, as if no time had passed.
She always had a plan, something to rely on. There was always something, she always had some trick up her sleeve, something to surprise everyone with, something to save them all.
But right now? She had none.
Not a single thought crossed her mind.
Was this their end?
Would this be the way how they would find their ends? Without a fight? Without any last rebellion?
What were you supposed to do if you couldn't even rely on yourself?
Have faith in others.
The door slammed open, banging against the wall. Snape whirled around, his wand raised but he was too late, his eyes widened as his body took off the ground and slammed into the next wall. Within a second his eyes rolled back and his head fall to the side, slumping against his shoulder.
Everything went so fast that they didn't even had time to look at the door and when they did, they let out a breath of relief. This was no one dangerous, not Voldemort, not Bellatrix, not a death eater.
In the door frame, with a raised wand stood none other than Eira Snow.
The clever Ravenclaw who had a love for riddles. The quiet girl that listened when no one else did, that opened her eyes when everyone else was blinded by prejudices.
The girl that was so confused when Talea pressed a letter in her hand, not even daring to look into her eyes. The strong girl that started to cry after she solved the last riddle Regulus Black had given to her.
The muggleborn Ravenclaw that motivated Regulus to change his beliefs.
There she stood, her straight black hair falling onto her shoulders, one hand held her wand that was raised at where Snape had stood just seconds before.
The Marauders Map in the other.
Eyes wide open as she stared at Regulus with a surprised look adorning her face.
"Regulus?"
Whatever doubt she had in one second was gone in the other as she rushed to the youngest Black brother. She let the Map fall onto the ground and hurried to untie the robes on his hand and shrugged them off his body.
Eira took a step back and watched Regulus stand up, when he was standing, he was towering her just a little bit but his eyes never left hers.
He carefully pulled her into an embrace, his hands shaking as he pressed her head against his chest. And it seemed like he was finally able to breathe again.
Eira pulled him closer, her fists gripping his shirt tight while he slowly closed his eyes and placed a kiss on her head, as if savouring her touch.
Talea looked over to Sirius, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly, he watched his brother with a small smile on his lips and for a moment their eyes locked, Talea gave him a smile as he grinned at her. For a moment they forgot what was going on.
But only for a moment.
Peter coughed quietly, looking very uncomfortable "I hate to break this lovely moment but we're kind of in a tricky situation right now."
Eira and Regulus pulled apart, her eyes still fixed on his face as if she still couldn't believe that he was real. "You fucking bastard" she whispered into the silent room.
Regulus raised a brow while Talea watched as the others turned their heads towards the ground, trying to hide their chuckles.
Eira huffed and walked back to the door, only to turn her head around one last time, raising a brow, just like Regulus seconds before "You were supposed to follow me you bloody idiots."
They were quick to follow the girl out of the door. Talea watched every step Eira took, she couldn't imagine what life at Hogwarts was currently like. She knew that the Ravenclaw was in the same year as Regulus, one year after them. As she looked around the corridors, she couldn't decide whether it was a good or a bad thing that Regulus had left Hogwarts.
He had put himself in great danger and it was fair to say that Talea regretted this deeply but then again, how would he had turned out if she would have left him here.
Would he be dead by now?
Would he still follow Voldemort's orders?
She would never know the answer to these questions but maybe it was the best this way. Talea was still curious about how Eira had found the Marauders Map, let alone figure out how it works.
At some point they had reached the seventh floor and finally the Room of Requirement. The doors opened and she stepped in, the room reminded her of Gryffindors common room, just in a very Ravenclaw style.
As they took place on the couches Talea couldn't help but be amused by the situation, she was running from the darkest wizard of all times but still was able to take a small break to sit in front of a crackling fire?
Talea watched the others settle down and listened to Eira's story. She had guessed that the girl was devastated when she had found out about Regulus "death" but what could she have done. But it seemed like she had underestimated not only Eira but also Regulus.
"Well, at some point I had started to get suspicious of the crow showing up wherever I went and as it started to bring me leaves of my favourite flowers I remembered how unusually often Regulus had mentioned crows in our conversations."
Turns out the girl really does love riddles, she's obsessed with it even. It wasn't hard for her to figure out that there was something wrong with the crow or well that it wasn't a normal one.
Talea felt a proud smile creep on her face when Regulus told them that when they were making their way through the tunnel, he had sneaked the Marauders Map out of Filch's office and brought it to Eira.
She had totally forgot how they Filch had token it from them but they never tried to get the Map back, they had left it for other mischievous students, hoping that they would find it. It was pure luck that Regulus had caught a glimpse of the Map when Sirius and Talea had snug him back into his common room late at night.
She felt unusually calm, while everyone else seemed to be at least a little bit tensed, she felt like floating.
But she wasn't able to figure out why, she should feel anger, rage at least a little bit scared. It would be normal, completely normal.
Talea always was the funny, loving person with a perfect mix between "I'll bake you cookies if you feel bad" and "If you say one more thing you'll be leaving the world of the living" but with the past few months she felt as if she had changed.
Of course, there was still a part of her old self but there was something slightly different. Her mind felt more mature, not in a way as if she had just grown older, in some way she had been forced.
The war and all of the responsibility had changed her, it had forced her to leave a part of her old self behind.
It was as if she was stuck in an endless winter, snow settling in her veins, she was waiting for spring, she was waiting for the flowers to bloom again. She was waiting for the warm breezes to come and swish the cold off her heart, she was waiting for spring to bring brand new leaves.
The unsettling thing was that she knew, spring would never be in her heart again.
Tap, tap, tap