A/N: Written for simplypotterheads' Ollivander's Challenge prompt: "A rainy day in your house's common room."
The rain had started four days ago, and with no indication that it was stopping anytime soon, the students of Hogwarts had taken refuge in their common rooms. Not that they would've been able to enjoy the sun if it made an appearance. The Carrows made sure of that.
Mandy sat in the corner of the Ravenclaw common room, legs curled under her as she pored over a textbook. She wasn't sure what she was reading; the words blurred together, rivers of ink flowing across the page as if the rain from outside had finally permeated the castle and was soaking into the paper. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
The common room had never felt so foreign to her. It was empty, lifeless. Kevin and Lisa hadn't returned for their seventh year. Luna's odd presence had been missing for months, Anthony and Padma had disappeared shortly after the Christmas holiday, and Terry had been forcibly taken from the Great Hall after he announced the news of Harry Potter and the Gringotts dragon. That had been eight hours ago. One by one, they were being picked off. She just wished she knew if any of them were still alive.
Admitting defeat, Mandy closed the textbook. What did NEWTs matter at this point? What did any of it matter? There were whispers of revolution all over the school … careful whispers, of course, but Mandy couldn't bring herself to care enough. She wasn't a fighter. She closed her eyes, wondering if she could convince her parents to go into hiding once the school term was over. Tears sprang up, unbidden and unwanted, but she let them fall anyway. She wished she could open the window and let the rain wash them away, as if it would disguise reality and the pain that surrounded her.
She jolted when a hand covered hers, opening her eyes to find Stephen crouched in front of her chair.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked quietly, moving his hand to press their palms together. In other circumstances, Mandy would've thought the gesture odd; now, she welcomed the small comfort.
She didn't answer aloud, not trusting her voice to keep steady. She hated crying in front of people.
Stephen held up his wand, muttering "Muffliato" under his breath before handing her a crumpled roll of parchment. "I just found this under my pillow," he said, still careful to whisper despite the buzzing charm around them.
Mandy frowned and flattened the parchment. Terry's neat handwriting ran across it, but it wasn't any language she recognized.
"What is this?" she asked.
"He developed the charm in our third year so we wouldn't get caught passing notes." Stephen tapped his wand against the surface, and the letters wiggled into another formation, this time recognizably English.
S, There's a secret room that only students to get to - the Carrows don't know about it. It's safe. Seventh floor. Barnabas the Barmy. Walk past three times, think about this note, and the door will appear. -T
She couldn't make heads or tails of it, but she distantly recalled Terry and Padma disappearing to the seventh floor during their fifth year, and rumors of a room that hid them from Umbridge.
"And you think this is a good idea?" Mandy asked, raising an eyebrow.
Stephen nodded.
"What if it's a trap? Are you sure this is even him? Anyone could've replicated the charm, so that's hardly foolproof. And you can't just go waltzing around the castle - you'll get caught," Mandy whispered. She shuddered at the idea. She'd been lucky enough to avoid punishment from the Carrows, but most of her friends had been on the wrong end of a Crutiatus Curse at least once. Was there a right end of the Crutiatus Curse? Mandy took three deep breaths, forcing the thought from her mind. She hadn't been on either side of one, thank Merlin.
"But Terry could be alive. He could still be in the castle, even," Stephen countered. He squeezed her hand. "I'm going. Tonight. Come with me."
Mandy bit her lip. The variables were too many - she had no idea if the risk was worth the outcome. Searching Stephen's face, she tried to pull every scrap of bravery together. "What time?" she finally asked.
"Just after midnight," he replied. "The Carrows are usually back in the dungeons by then."
She dragged her eyes from his and turned towards the rain pounding against the window. She allowed the muffled noise to center her, grounding her in something tangible. She could count on the rain. She wanted to stand in it, wanted to lose herself in the thick, humid air until her lungs were full of water, wanted to feel the chill in her bones as it soaked through her skin. Rain brought life and washed away death. Her fingers twitched against Stephen's, and it occurred to her that she ought to feel grounded by that contact as well. Humans, however, were less dependable. She had been disappointed one too many times to trust anyone.
"If I'm in the common room when you leave, I'll come with you," she said, the words leaving her in a rush. That gave her an additional seven hours to make a decision, and she'd use every second of it to weigh the pros and cons. She'd probably even make a list.
He opened his mouth as if to say something else, but shut it without a sound. Everyone knew that Mandy couldn't be swayed once she made up her mind. He squeezed her hand once more, rose from his crouch, and left, taking the cloud of white noise with him. The sound of the rain returned in full force.
Mandy retreated to her dormitory. She drew her curtains tight around her bed and let the sound of the storm lull her to sleep.
Later that evening, once the rain had stopped and darkness had fallen over the castle, she awoke to shouts in the common room.
Harry Potter had returned.