~
THE excruciating scream that Amycus let out once he spotted the too-still body of his sister was truly terrifying.
I almost let out a squeak because of how startled I got — in fact, I actually did, I was just lucky that it went unheard in the midst of all his yelling.
"What've they done, the little whelps?" he raged. "I'll Cruciate the lot of 'em 'till they tell me who did it—and what's the Dark Lord going to say? We haven't got him, and they've gorn and killed her!"
Despite the scare I got earlier, I rolled my eyes at his theatrics. Honestly, he should become an actor; Shakespeare would've been proud of him.
"She's only Stunned. She'll be perfectly alright," McGonagall said impatiently, looking at the man with such distaste; stupid, blubbering idiot, her face seemed to say.
"No she bludgering well won't! Not after the Dark Lord gets hold of her! She's gorn and sent for him, I felt me Mark burn, and he thinks we've got Potter!"
If his Mark had burned, then perhaps so had Draco's. My stomach churned uneasily. Please, I thought, don't come here.
"'Got Potter'?" McGonagall said sharply, the boredom gone from her face. "What do you mean, 'got Potter'?"
"He told us Potter and Lovett might try and get inside Ravenclaw Tower, and to send for him if we caught them!"
Harry and I looked at each other wide eyes, feeling my heart beat right through my clothes. "He knows," I mouthed to him. He just nodded solemnly and clenched his jaw. We were losing time.
"Why would Potter or Lovett try to get inside Ravenclaw Tower? Potter belongs in my house and Lovett is a proud Hufflepuff!"
Damn right, I am.
"We was told they might come in here! I dunno why, do I?"
McGonagall glared at him before taking it upon herself to scan the room, her beady eyes almost resembling a hawk's as they swept around the room twice. Even if I was hidden under the Cloak, I still felt bare and seen as she did it.
"We can push it off on the kids," Amycus suddenly said. "Yeah, that's what we'll do. We'll say Alecto was ambushed by the kids, them kids up there, and we'll say they forced her to press her Mark, and that's why he got a false alarm. . .he can punish them. Couple of kids more or less, what's the difference."
Fresh, hot rage bubbled inside me. I smoothly took out my wand from my back pocket and gripped it tightly as I gritted my teeth to prevent myself from saying anything. From my peripheral, Harry and Luna did the same.
"Only the difference between truth and lies, courage and cowardice, a difference, in short, which you and your sister seem unable to appreciate," McGonagall said stiffly, her face pale with cold fury. "But let me make one thing very clear. You are not going to pass off your many ineptitudes on the students of Hogwarts. I will not permit it."
A beat of silence, then, "Excuse me?" Amycus said slowly as he made his way too up close to McGonagall's face. The old witch, however, did not falter or back away and just stared at him with the same disgusted expression.
"It's not a case of what you'll permit, Minerva McGonagall. Your time's over. It's us what's in charge here now, and you'll back me up or you'll pay the price."
Then, he spat on her face and Harry lost his shit.
He pulled the Cloak away from himself, sliding it off from us as well as he did so.
"You shouldn't have done that. Crucio!"
"Oh my god, Harry!" I screamed as Amycus was suddenly lifted mid-air, thrashing and choking with howls of pain, then was slammed against a bookcase, glass shattering around him as he crumpled to the floor.
"Harry—" I whispered, staring at the Death Eater. "What the fu—"
"I see what Bellatrix mean," he said darkly, "you really need to mean it."
"Potter!" McGonagall whispered as she clutched her heart. Her eyes locked on mine and Luna's figure, the shock of it all causing her to stumble backwards. "Lovett—you're here! What—? How—?"
I cringed as she wildly whipped her head between the two of us, deciding who to probably address first; her eyes stopped on Harry at last. "Potter, that was foolish!"
"He spat at you," Harry said casually.
"Potter, I—that was very—very gallant of you—but don't you realize—?"
I sighed through my nose and went to McGonagall, gently grabbing her arm to help her stand upright as I glared at Harry lightly.
"Blood hell, Harry," I said. "You could've killed her; giving her a heart attack like that."
He smiled sheepishly.
McGonagall set her lips in a straight line and yanked her arm away. "Don't think you are off the hook too, Lovett. Do you two not realize the mistake of coming here—?"
"Yeah, we do," Harry assured her. "Professor McGonagall, Voldemort's on the way."
"Oh, are we allowed to say the name now?" Luna asked curiously.
"I don't think it makes any difference what we call him, he already knows where I am—and probably Margo too."
"You must flee," McGonagall whispered. "Now, you two, as quickly as you can!"
"We can't," I told her. "There's something we need to do. That's why we're here, you see, we had to take a look at Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."
"Professor, do you know where it is?" Harry asked.
"The d-diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not—hasn't it been lost for centuries? Potter, Lovett, it was madness, utter madness, for you to enter this castle—"
"We had to. Professor, there's something hidden here that we're supposed to find, and it could be the diadem—it is the diadem," he corrected himself when he saw my sharp look. "If we could just speak to Professor Flitwick—"
Amycus was beginning to stir awake. Without hesitation, McGonagall casted the Imperio Curse on the Death Eater, made her hand over two wands, then lie down next to her brother and bound them together with a silver rope.
"You two," she said with indifference, "if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does indeed know what you are here—"
Just as she said it, Harry double over and clasped Luna's and my shoulders, face scrunched in pain as he went through whatever vision he was seeing again.
"Harry, what is it?" I asked with concern.
"Time's running out," he managed to say, "Voldemort's getting nearer. Professor, we're acting on Dumbledore's orders, I must find what he wanted me to find! But we've got to get the students out while we're searching the castle."
"It's us who Voldemort wants," I told her. "He won't care about the others, whether he kills them or not."
"You're acting on Dumbledore's orders?" she said, as if finally realizing it. Then, she said determinedly, "We shall secure the school against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named while you search for this—diadem."
"Is that possible?"
"I think so," she said, "we teachers are rather good at magic, you know."
I grinned. "Never doubted you once, Professor."
The corners of her lips almost turned up. "I am sure we will be able to hold him off for a while if we all put our best efforts into it. Of course, something will have to be done about Professor Snape—"
"Let me—"
"—and if Hogwarts is about to enter the state of siege, with the Dark Lord at the gates, it would indeed be advisable to take as many innocent people out of the way as possible. With the Floo Network under observation and Apparition impossible within grounds—"
"There's a way," Harry said and told her all about the secret passageway leading into Hog's Head.
"Potter, we're talking about hundreds of students—"
"I doubt old Voldy or his bitches will care who's escaping from that area when he's hell-bent on focusing here—with all due respect, Professor," I added hastily when she blinked at me.
"There's something in that," she agreed. "Come. We must alert the other Heads of House. You'd better put that Cloak back on."
IT was an eventful trip before we went back to the Room of Requirement, one that involved an epic duel between McGonagall and Snape (she won, of course, whilst the latter just fled like the coward he was). Merlin, I've never seen McGonagall move that fast before.
The Room was packed with many more people when we arrived; more familiar faces here and there, belonging to most of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Remus was there too, as well as Kingsley, Bill and Fleur, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and—
"MUM! DAD!"
My legs worked as fast as I could make them, pounding against the stone floors so hard that I felt the reverberations on my teeth.
They opened their arms for me to dive into, both having tears in their eyes. It was like being home again, reminiscing the perfume my mum always wore and the joyous and familiar cries of my dad's voice.
"We—we were so worried," my mum sobbed and stroked my hair.
"Your mum was more worried than I was, though," my dad joked.
Mum hit his shoulder with a sniffle. "He's lying, honey, one night I saw him crying his eyes out in the toilet—"
"Lucille!" dad exclaimed, aghast. "You never—why didn't you tell me—!"
I laughed loudly and pulled away to look at each of them in the face, memorizing the way my mum's shined whenever she smiled at me, or the crinkles around my dad's eyes when he laughed so hard; remembering, in case something ever happened—
"I missed you guys too," I said, my throat beginning to close up.
Dad kissed my cheek, then kissed mum's as well before the three of us stood straighter and faced Harry who was speaking.
"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized. We're fighting."
Cheers and roars worthy of a lion's echoed all around the room, creating such a energized atmosphere despite the dangers and horrors that could possibly lie ahead. Everyone rushed out of the staircase that led out, leaving only us and the rest of the Order behind.
"Hey, hey, hey," I said, halting Ernie as I grabbed his sleeve. "Be careful, okay?"
"I will," he promised before kissing my forehead and rushing out.
"You're under-age!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at Ginny. "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"
"I won't!" Ginny struggled out of her mother's grip. "I'm in Dumbledore's Army—"
"—a teenager's gang!"
"A teenager's gang that's about to take him on, which no one else has dared to do!" Fred said, backing up his sister.
"She's sixteen! She's not old enough! What were you two thinking, bringing her with you—"
"Mum's right, Ginny," Bill interjected gently. "You can't do this. Everyone under-age will have to leave, it's only right."
"I can't go home!" Ginny cried, angry and desperate tears pouring out from her eyes. It startled me; I've never seen Ginny cry like that since. . .I don't even remember. "My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and now knowing and—"
She looked at Harry beseechingly, and when he shook his head she turned to me.
I let out a shaky breath. "Ginny. . .you know—you know that I will let you one-hundred percent. I have no say—I can't—"
"Fine," she said and looked away. "I'll say goodbye now, then, and—"
"Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I—I—"
A hush fell on everyone as Percy emerged from the tunnel, spluttering into the silence as his ears turned red from the lack of replies.
Merlin, this was awkward.
Fleur sucked in a sharp breath and turned to Remus. "So—'ow eez leetle Teddy?"
He blinked. "I—oh—yes—he's fine!" he said too loudly. I cringed. "Yes, Tonks is with him—at her mother's."
There was still silence amongst the Weasleys.
"Here, I've got a picture," Remus shouted again as if that would fix the frozen atmosphere. He showed Fleur, Harry and me as I sidled up near them, cooing at the tiny baby with a tuft of bright turquoise hair.
"He's so cute—"
"I was a fool!" Percy suddenly roared, startling my heart to near shock. Remus had dropped his photograph. "I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a—a—"
"Poor Percy," mum muttered, watching Mr. and Mrs. Weasley rush to hug the son they almost lost.
"I'm just glad he finally saw sense," I said with a small smile.
"Come on," dad said with a grin. "Let's kick some ass."
"Perfect," mum grinned wickedly; something that made me raise my brows. Mum never grinned like that. She held up her already-glowing hand. "I've been waiting to use these again."
Dad barked a laugh. "That's my girl!"
THIS was it.
Standing inside the Great Hall again felt comforting yet different at the same time; partly because it looked completely different with the long tables all moved aside, but mostly because students were rushing around, members of the Order were barking commands and everyone in the vicinity had their wands out with faces set in grim perseverance.
Harry hurried over to me, eyes still farting around the room. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
I frowned. "Didn't they say they went to the bathroom—?"
"We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast!" Kingsley announced atop a platform, referring to the bone-chilling message Voldemort sent to everyones ear: Give me Harry Potter and Margo Lovett, and you will be rewarded.
"A battle plan has been agreed between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix," he continued, then explained the different positions and areas to be guarded all around the castle, assigning teachers and Order members as he did so.
Fred and George left first, giving me swift kisses on the cheek before they did. I didn't let myself think about the negatives for too long.
Everyone started to disperse quickly, running in all directions to do their duties. I breathed deeply, gathering my strength as McGonagall rushed to Harry and I.
"Aren't you supposed to be looking for a something?"
"What? Oh," Harry realized, "oh, yeah!"
I faced my parents with my heart thundering in my chest.
Don't cry don't cry don't cry don't cry
"We'll see each other again," dad smiled softly, grasping my mum's hand in his. "Think of it as a 'see you later'."
Mum nodded and kissed my forehead. "We love you, Margo. Please be safe."
"I love you too," I said quietly. "Please take care of each other."
"Always," dad said. "I love you, kiddo."
"Margo, come on!" Harry called.
It was a challenge to turn away from my parents' smiling faces but I willed myself to run to Harry, the two of us rushing up the marble staircase until we landed on a deserted corridor.
"Any ideas?" I panted as we continued running; no direction in mind, just going to where our legs bothered to take us.
"None," Harry breathed out in reply before slowly coming to a stop as he fumbled with his Marauder's Map, eyes searching for any place to start but came up empty-handed.
"Let's try to retrace our steps," I suggested after seeing him run his hand all over his face in frustration.
"Voldemort thought we'd go to Ravenclaw Tower," he finally said.
"Meaning that he knows we know which Horcrux it is," I concluded, biting my lip as I thought of more possibilities. "The only people we know who have seen the diadem—like actually saw it—is Voldemort himself and Genevieve. . .but that was years ago! There's not even a person alive who's seen it."
"Nobody has seen that diadem in living memory, then," Harry muttered.
A lightbulb winked open above our heads as we stared at one another.
"In living memory," we said at the same time before I followed after him in the same way we'd come.
The sounds of a horde of students marching to the Room of Requirement grew louder as we returned back to the Grand Entrance. Harry grasped my arm and pointed ahead, right towards the Entrance Hall, at a pearly-white floating figure.
"Nick!" Harry began to yell. "NICK! We need to talk to you!"
We forced our way through the flurry of students, fighting and pulling one another as we waded through the opposite way, much like fighting against a strong current of water.
When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, Nearly Headless Nick stood waiting for us.
"Harry! My dear boy! Hello to you too, Margo!"
"Hello, Nick," I said politely.
"Nick, you've got to help us. Who's the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"
The ghost blinked with surprise. "The Grey Lady, of course; but if it is ghostly services you require—?"
"It's got to be her," Harry said to me before turning to Nick again. "D'you know where she is?"
"Let's see. . ." his head wobbled dangerously on his neck as he searched through the crowd of students. Then finally: "That's her over there, the young woman with the long hair."
Our eyes followed to where his transparent arm was pointing, exactly what he described: a tall ghost with long, dark hair. She raised a brow at us before disappearing through the solid wall.
Harry grasped my hand again and we bolted after her, right to the very corridor where her ghost had appeared in.
"Hey—wait—come back!"
She paused mid-glide and slowly turned around to look down at us. She must've been beautiful when she was alive — still is actually, even with a proud and haughty face.
"Are you the Grey Lady?" I asked.
She nodded.
"The ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"
"That is correct."
"Please," Harry said, "we need some help. I need to know anything you can tell me about the lost diadem."
A cold smile appeared on her lips. "I am afraid that I cannot help you."
"WAIT!" I said, rushing forward right into a panel of moonlight that shined from the open archway.
The Grey Lady turned around again, though this time the cold and almost serpentine smile vanished as she stared at me in disbelief.
She glided closer, slow and steady. I refused to back away even if I didn't know what her motives were, especially with that unnameable expression on her face.
At last she said, "Genevieve?"
~
DEAR READERS,
merry christmas my loves!!!!!!!!!!!! it's rlly late rn like 2am and technically not christmas anymore but still
sorry for this late chapter guys 😅 i've been busy today 🥰 twas a good christmas
did you guys like this chapter 🌝 sorry for the slight cliffhanger 😅🙈
no questions today my brain be fried 💔 but merry christmas and happy holidays again my babies i hope you guys had a wonderful christmas and i hope this new chapter brought you guys even a tiny bit of joy 😽
— S.
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