【 STAR CROSSED 】
*ೃ༄『 chapter v 』.ೃ࿐
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⋆·˚ ༘ * ⸻ act one ੈ✩‧₊˚
- ̥۪͙۪˚┊❛ part one - the girl who was never suppose to live ❜┊˚ ̥۪͙۪◌
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➶-͙˚ ༘✶ ❝ pathetic girl ❞ ✧ ೃ༄
〚 june 2nd, 1992 〛
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WE SAT IN THE COMMON ROOM AFTER DETENTION WAS OVER. Ron and I sat on a couch while Hermione sat in a chair next to us. Harry paced back and forth in front of the fire, explaining the events which transpired in the Forest only half an hour before.
"You mean You-Know-Who's out there right now in the Forest?" Hermione asked, traces of fear in her voice.
"But he's weak. He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong. Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants the Stone for Voldemort. With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again. He'll..." Harry trailed off, "he'll come back."
I took a sharp breath. Even though I never gave much thought to my biological parents, knowing that their murderer wasn't that far away and could strike at any time did make me uneasy. My mind wandered back to Mirror of Erised; had what I'd seen really been my deepest desire or was it just sheer curiosity?
"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to kill you, do you?" Ron asked with worry.
"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill me tonight." I shuttered at Harry's words and felt a chill go down my spine.
Ron gulped, "And to think, I've been worrying about my Potions final."
"Hang on a minute." We turned to Hermione, "We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared? Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore is around, Harry, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore is around, you can't be touched." Hermione gave him a reassuring smile and he nodded in appreciation.
"Well, we do have final exams tomorrow. I'm going to bed." Ron stood up and yawned. He and Hermione began walking up towards the dormitories. "Aren't you two coming?" He turned back around to look at us.
"Yeah, well be up in a second." Harry called. Ron shrugged and the two of them walked up the stairs. "Are you okay?" Harry sat down next to me, "You've been awfully quiet."
I looked up at him, "Am I okay? You just got attacked by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and you ask if I'm okay?" I smiled and shook my head.
"Well, I guess I am." He laughed but quickly became serious again. "But all jokes aside, what's wrong?"
I sighed and looked into the fire. Finally, I looked back up at him. "All my life I've never given much thought to my biological parents. I never really had any reason to. The Weasleys are my family. But since coming here, it seems that at every opportunity something about them comes up. First it was the teachers giving me weird looks, then it was that mirror and now the man who bloody murdered them is wandering around the woods and almost killed one of my best friends." I closed my eyes and breathed sharply out my nose, trying to keep my emotions in check.
"I know what you mean." He gave me a small smile, "Ever since I found out I was a wizard, it seems that everyone I meet knows more about me than I do. It was hard at first but meeting you, Ron and Hermione have really helped me. You're like the family I never had."
I smiled and reached forward to hug him. He gladly accepted the embrace. "Thanks Harry." I whispered as we broke apart.
"No, thank you Margaret." We smiled at each other for a few more moments then stood up, "We should really go to bed. It's late." I nodded and followed him up the stairs.
"Night, Harry." I called after him.
"Good night, Margaret." He said as he closed his door.
✧ ★ ✧
EXAMS WENT BETTER THAN I EXPECTED. Apparently all those long, grueling study sessions with Hermione paid off. I anticipated I would receive high marks in all my subjects. Well, all my subjects except potions but I wasn't too bothered by it. The four of us walked through a courtyard together after the exams, feeling more cheerful than ever.
"I'd always heard Hogwarts' end-of-the-year exams were frightful, but I've found that rather enjoyable." Hermione spoke matter-of-factly.
"Speak for yourself." Ron snorted. "All right there Harry?" Harry was rubbing his forehead and looked to be in pain.
"My scar. It keeps burning." He gritted his teeth.
"It's happened before." Hermione said.
"Not like this." He scrunched his eyes closed and rubbed the skin below his hairline.
"Perhaps you should see the nurse." I suggested.
"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming." A look of realization spread across Harry's face, "Ah, of course!" He began walking faster, making the three of us run to catch up with him.
"What is it?" Hermione asked earnestly.
"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have one? I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pocket? Why didn't I see it before?"
We approached Hagrid's hut. He sat playing the flute but stopped when we approached. "Hagrid who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?" Harry asked.
"I dunno. I never saw his face. He kept his hood up." The giant shrugged.
"This stranger, though, you and he must have talked." Harry went on.
"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told 'im. I said, 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'" Hagrid seemed unconcerned.
"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry persisted.
"Well, o' course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do yeh come across a three-headed, even if yer in the trade? But I told I'm, I said... I said... 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm 'im. Take Fluffy, for example. Jus' play him a bit o' music and he falls straight to sleep.'" He paused, "I shouldn't have told you that." The four of us glanced at each other and then quickly sprinted away. "Where're you goin'? Wait!" But we ignored him.
We burst into Professor McGonagall's classroom. She looked up from her desk with a slightly irritated look on her face. "We have to see Professor Dumbledore." Harry demanded.
"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London." The Professor explained
"He's gone? Now? But this is important! This is about the Philosopher's Stone!" Harry cried desperately.
McGonagall looked like she had been hit by the Knight Bus. Her mouth was open, and her eyes were wide. "How do you know...?"
"Someone's going to try to steal it!" Harry cut her off.
"I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but I assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly." She added the last part.
Without another choice, we walked out of her classroom and down the corridor. "That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. It was Snape. Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."
"And with Dumbledore gone..." Hermione didn't finish her sentence because the Professor in question suddenly appeared behind us.
"Good afternoon." Spoke Professor Snape. "Now, what would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" He motioned towards a window which looked out onto a beautiful late spring day.
"Uh, w-w-w... we-we were just-" Hermione stammered.
"You ought to be careful. People will think you're... up to something." He glared at me for a moment then quickly turned and walked away.
"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked us.
With a determined look Harry said, "We go down the trapdoor. Tonight."
✧ ★ ✧
LATER THAT NIGHT WE WALKED INTO THE GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM QUIETLY, TRYING NOT TO WAKE ANYONE. We had just got down the stairs and begun crossing the room to the door when a croaking noise could be heard.
"Trevor." Harry spoke quietly.
"Trevor, shh, go! You shouldn't be here!" Ron scolded the toad in a whisper.
"Neither should you." Neville suddenly appeared from behind a chair, "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"
"Now, Neville, listen. We were-" But Harry couldn't finish because Neville cut him off.
"Now! I won't let you!" He stood firmly in his spot in front of the door. "You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again! I-I'll fight you!" He held up his fists.
"Neville, I'm really, really sorry about this." Hermione raised her wand, "Petrificus Totalus." Neville stood frozen for a second before falling backwards and hitting the ground.
Ron gulped, "You're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant, but scary."
"Sorry Neville." I whispered as we passed by him. Hermione and Harry also both apologized to him. Although I felt bad about putting a spell on my friends, I know the Stone was more important. The four of us squeezed under the invisibility cloak and began making our way down the corridor. It was a very tight fit, but we managed.
We finally arrived at the third floor and Hermione unlocked the door. Stepping into the room, we were greeted by a gust of wind that blew the cloak off of us. Fluffy was snoring while an enchanted harp played music softly from beside him.
"Wait a minute. He's snoring." Ron observed.
"A very astute observation Ronald." I spoke, my tone laced with sarcasm.
"Very funny." He grumbled.
"Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp." Harry said as the four of us approached the sleeping dog.
"Ugh! It's got horrible breath!" Ron plugged his nose.
"Doesn't smell much different from yours." I smirked and he shot me an annoyed look.
"We have to move its paw." Harry said. We looked down to see Fluffy's huge paw rested on top of the trap door.
"What?!" Ron's eyebrows shot up.
"Come on!" Harry grabbed its paw and began pushing. The three of us quickly bent down to help him. "Okay. Push!" It took all of my strength to help push the gigantic paw off the door, but we managed. "I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign. If something bad happens, get yourselves out." Harry paused, "Does it seem a bit quiet to you?" We all froze, realizing the snoring and the music had stopped.
"The harp, it stepped playing." Hermione's eyes got wide. From above us, a huge glop of drool fell onto Ron's shoulder.
"Ew! Yuck! Ugh." We looked up to see Fluffy standing above us, growling.
"Jump! Go!" We all dove through the trap door just in time to escape Fluffy.
We fell into the darkness and landed in mushy, black, ropelike vines. "Whoa. Lucky this plant-thing's here, really." No sooner did the words leave Ron's lips than the vines began to wrap around us, tighter and tighter. Harry, Ron and I screamed and trashed around, trying to loosen the vines' grip.
"Stop moving. This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax. If you don't, it will only kill you faster." Hermione spoke calmly, not moving.
"Kill us faster?! Oh, now I can relax!" Ron spoke sarcastically.
"Do what she says!" I told Ron sternly and relaxed back into the roots. Immediately their grip on me lessened. Hermione was suddenly sucked down through the roots of the plant.
"Hermione!" We called after her.
"Now what are we gonna do?!" Ron panicked.
"Just relax!" We heard Hermione's voice call.
"Hermione, where are you?" Harry yelled.
"Do what I say! Trust me." Hermione ordered again. I was suddenly sucked through the roots and landed on hard ground. Hermione was standing over me.
"Margaret!" I could hear Ron and Harry scream at me from above.
"Are you okay?" Hermione asked me.
"I'm fine." I quickly stood up.
From beside us, Harry fell onto the ground as well. Ron called after him in a panic.
"You alright Harry?" I offered my hand to help him up. He took it and smiled at me.
"Yeah, I'm okay." He dusted off his robes.
"Help!" Ron called again from above.
"He's not relaxing, is he?" Hermione shook her head.
"What do you think?" I rolled my eyes at my brother.
"Help! Help me!" Ron called again.
"We've gotta do something!" Hermione panicked.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"Uh! I remember reading something in Herbology." She was interrupted by Ron's cries yet again, "Um, Devil's Snare, Devil's Scare, it's deadly fun... but will sulk in the sun! That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" Hermione raised her wand towards the roots. "Lumus Solem!" A beam of light shot out of the end of her wand. The vines recoiled and Ron fell through.
"Are you okay?" I asked once he landed.
"Yeah." He stood up, "Whew! Lucky, we didn't panic." I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Lucky Hermione pays attention in Herbology." Harry was suddenly interrupted by a strange sound.
"What is that?" Hermione asked nervously.
"I don't know. Sounds like wings." We looked up to see that the entire room was filled with golden birds.
"Curious. I've never seen birds like these." Hermione spoke with interest. But something about the birds wasn't right. They had wings but their bodies didn't look like birds.
"They're not birds." I spoke, eyeing them cautiously.
"They're keys." Harry finished for me, "And I'll bet one of them fits that door." Across the room was a large wooden door and beside it was a broomstick suspended in the air.
"What's this all about?" Hermione asked, confused.
"I don't know. Strange." Harry looked around.
Ron walked over to the door and took out his wand. "Alohomora!" The lock did nothing. "Well, it was worth a try." He shrugged.
"Ugh! What're we going to do? There must be a thousand keys up there!" Hermione sighed.
"We're looking for a big old fashioned one. Probably rusty like the handle." Ron suggested.
We all looked up at the swarm of keys above us. "There! I see it!" Harry pointed up, "The one with the broken wing." Sure enough, there was a rusty key slowly flapping around with an oddly bent wing. Harry looked at the broom and he scrunched his eyebrows together as if in deep thought.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's too simple." He answered.
"Oh, go on, Harry! If Snape can catch it on that old broomstick, you can! You're the youngest Seeker in a century!" Ron encouraged him.
Harry nodded and grabbed the broom. Suddenly, all the keys clustered together and flew towards him. He climbed onto the broom and tried to grab the rusty one.
"This complicates things a bit." Ron watched as Harry dove back and forth, trying to grab the key.
Finally, Harry caught the key. He dove down and threw it to Hermione who caught it and walked towards the door while Harry distracted the other keys. Hermione quickly unlocked the door, and we rushed in. Harry jumped off the broom and ran in just in time to escape the keys.
"Nice work!" I smiled at him.
"Thanks!" He grinned back in appreciation.
The room we entered was dark and what appeared to be broken statues lay strewn about everywhere. It was eerie and gave me an uneasy feeling, as if something bad was going to happen.
"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Hermione spoke in an uneasy tone.
"Where are we? A graveyard?" Harry looked around, confused.
"This is no graveyard. It's a chessboard." He stepped forward onto a marble slab and suddenly flames leapt up around them, illuminating a giant chessboard, just as Ron had said.
"There's the door." Across the board a wooden door could be seen. We walked towards it but as soon as we reached the line of pawns, they leapt up and drew their swords. Startled, the four of us jumped back.
"Now what?" I asked.
"It's obvious, isn't it? We've got to play our way across the room. Alright, Harry, you take the empty Bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the Queen-side castle. Margaret, you'll be the King-side castle. As for me, I'll take the knight." We all walked to our places on the board.
"What happens now?" Hermione asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
"Well, white moves first. And then... we play." A pawn on the other side moved forward. Ron stopped and studied the board.
"You, don't suppose this is like real wizard's chess? With the smashing of the pieces and everything?" I gulped.
"You there, D5." A black pawn moved forward, becoming diagonal with the white pawn. The white pawn raised its sword and smashed the black one. "Yes, Margaret. I think this is going to be exactly like wizard's chess."
Ron played on. Soon the board was covered with different broken pieces.
"Wait a minute." Harry said.
"You understand right, Harry. Once I make my move, the Queen will take me. Then you're free to check the King." Ron said, his voice shaking with fear.
"No. Ron, no!" Harry protested.
"What is it?" Hermione questioned. I was also confused, not being very familiar with the rules of wizard's chess.
"He's going to sacrifice himself!" Harry exclaimed.
"No, Ron, you can't!" Hermione yelled.
"Ron, please don't do this!" Panicked filled me. I couldn't stand by and do nothing as my brother got hurt.
"Do you want to stop Snape from getting that Stone or not? You have to go on without me!" I took a deep breath and nodded, knowing he was right. "Knight to H5." Ron's horse moved forward and then stopped. "Check." The Queen turned and advanced towards Ron who scrunched his face together and closed his eyes. The Queen stopped in front of him and then smashed her sword into the horse. Ron went flying back and lay on the floor unconscious.
"Ron!" Harry screamed. Hermione started walking towards him. "No, don't move! Don't forget, we're still playing." She moved back to her square. Harry walked diagonally in front of the King. "Checkmate." The King's sword fell onto the ground, signifying their victory.
The three of us ran towards Ron, luckily, he was still breathing and didn't seem seriously hurt. "Take care of Ron. Then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Margaret and I will go on."
Hermione nodded, "You two will be okay. You're both a great witch and wizard. You really are."
"Not as good as you." Harry smiled at her.
"Me? Books and cleverness? There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. Just be careful."
"Thank you, Hermione." I squeezed her hand and the three of us stood up.
Harry and I walked across the room and opened the door. In the next room a staircase descended to an open chamber where the Mirror of Erised stood in the corner. To our shock, Professor Quirrell stood before the Mirror.
"You?" Harry said, confused. "No, I-it can't be, Snape, h-he was the one-" Harry was cut off by the professor.
"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he? Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering Professor Quirrell." He put on his apparently fake stutter and sneered at them.
"But Snape tried to kill Harry that day at the Quidditch match." I spoke, trying to piece it together.
"No, my dear girl. I tried to kill him. And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, I would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his little counter curse." Quirrell smiled evilly at us while Harry and I shared a look of shock and disbelief.
"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry asked, surprised.
"I knew you both were a danger to me right from the start. Especially after Halloween." The Professor's eyes moved between each of us, making me uncomfortable.
"Then-then you let the troll in!" Harry exclaimed. All of our theories were wrong. It had been Quirrell this whole time.
"Very good, Potter, yes. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running about the dungeon, he went to the third floor to head me off. He, of course, never trusted me again." Quirrell turned back towards the mirror, and I noticed Harry wince again. "He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never." A chill went up my spine as he stared intently into the mirror. "Now, what does this mirror do? I see what I desire. I see myself holding the Stone. But how do I get it?"
"Use the boy." A disembodied, inhuman voice spoke. Fear shot through me, and I looked around for the source of the voice but found no one else in the room. Harry and I looked at one another, both thinking the same thing. This was about to get a lot worse.
Quirrell turned towards the two of us. "Come here, Potter! Now!" He slowly started walking down the stairs.
"Harry don't listen to him!" I called.
"Silence!" The Professor yelled at me. Startled, I immediately stopped talking.
Harry stood in front of the mirror. "Tell me, what do you see?" Quirrell demanded. Harry looked at his reflection for a few seconds before Quirrell asked again. "What is it? What do you see?"
"I-I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore; I've won the House Cup." But I knew Harry was lying. The mirror had shown him where the stone was.
"He lies." The inhuman voice spoke again.
"Tell the truth! What do you see?" Quirrell yelled.
"Let me speak to him. Let me speak to both of them." The voice commanded. Sweat ran down the back of my neck and I twisted my hands together uneasily; something wasn't right about this situation.
"Master, you are not strong enough." Quirrell responded.
"I have strength enough for this." replied the voice. Quirrell reached up and began unwrapping his turban. Harry looked up at me and I gave him a reassuring smile but, on the inside, every part of my brain was telling me to run, that something horrible was about to happen. But I stayed put, knowing I might have to help Harry. Quirrell finally finished unwrapping the turban to reveal a horrifying chalk white face attached to the back of his head. Slowly he opened his eyes and gazed at us.
"Harry Potter, we meet again. And Margaret Weasley, we meet for the first time, although I know quite a lot about you. Perhaps more than you do yourself." As he spoke this, I realized who he was. It was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was Voldemort. It was the man who had murdered my parents. My heart caught in my throat, and I felt sick to my stomach.
"Voldemort." Harry looked shocked.
"Yes. You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another. A mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket." Voldemort looked down at Harry's trousers. I could see something heavy inside one of the pockets.
Harry turned and ran up the stairs towards me, "Run Margaret!" He shouted.
I bolted towards the door but from behind me I heard Voldemort shout, "Stop them!" Immediately, fire leapt up blocking all the exits. I jumped back and stood next to Harry, together we turned to face Voldemort, "Don't be fools. Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live?"
"Never!" Harry yelled.
"No!" I shouted at him.
"Oh, but Margaret, you could be the greatest witch the Wizarding World has ever seen. Did you never learn about your parents?" Voldemort sneered.
"I know you killed them!" I spat.
"That's partly true. I killed your mother, pathetic girl." He laughed, "But no. Your father lives. Do you want to know how I know?" Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks, I was too scared to move. "I know because I am your father."
I froze. Whether it was from fear or shock, I couldn't tell. I finally worked up enough courage and shouted through tears, "That's a lie!"
"Oh, but you know it to be true. Haven't you wondered why the Weasley's never told you about your parents? Why have you never seen so much as a picture of them? Why are they never so much as mentioned? Because your so-called family lied to you! They kept it a secret, afraid I might someday come looking for you! And now I have! You will join me or die!" My mind couldn't process what he was saying. It couldn't be true. It had to be a lie. He was manipulating me.
"I will never join you!" But my voice cracked as adrenaline and fear coursed through my veins.
"Kill them!" Quirrell dove towards Harry, putting his hands around his throat.
"Get off of him!" I screamed.
I ran towards Harry and tried to pull Quirrell off him. But Quirrell was too strong and pushed me, sending me flying down the steps before I landed on the floor, hitting my head. The world began to spin and dark spots appeared in my vision as I watched Harry and the Professor wrestle each other. Harry grabbed Quirrell's hand and tried to wrench the man off him but instead the Professor started screaming. His hand began to turn to ash as he backed away from the boy.
"What is this magic?" Quirrell yelled, clearly in pain. I felt my consciousness slipping away but I fought against the darkness, knowing I had to stay awake.
"Fool, get the Stone!" Voldemort yelled. Quirrell walked towards Harry, but he stuck his hands out and touched the Professor's face. He began to scream in pain as it too turned to ash. In the blink of an eye, Quirrell's entire body had disintegrated, leaving just a pile of clothing on the floor. Harry gasped and looked down at his hands and then hurried over to pick up the stone. Suddenly, a black cloud rose from Quirrell's clothes. Harry turned and looked as it turned into the shape of Voldemort's face and then flew through his chest. Harry collapsed on the ground as I lost consciousness. Everything went black.